Between 1996 and 2005, Chart Attack Magazine published 3 lists of the Top Canadian Albums of all time. These lists were voted on by the public, musicians, and members of the Canadian recording industry. While each top 50 list had different selections, 17 albums in total appeared in the top ten across all 3 lists. This ranking includes all albums that made the top ten on either the 1996, 2000 or 2005 lists.
17 – Cowboy Junkies – The Trinity Session (1988)
The Trinity Session has to be one of the most fascinating experiments in music, with the band apparently choosing to record the entire album by performing around a single microphone. There is a haunting quality to this album, and while there’s not a lot of variety in the musical arrangement, it has a very cohesive sound from start to finish, and the finished product is much stronger than it deserves to be based on the concept. Call it personal preference, but the Cowboy Junkies sound is just not really for me, and I have a hard time ranking it as high as the others as half the songs are covers.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 9th place (1996 list) 36th place (2000 list) 46th place (2005 list)
16 – The Lowest of the Low – Shakespeare My Butt (1991)
In the case of Shakespeare My Butt, I have almost the opposite feeling as I do with The Trinity Session. This is very much my sound, and I enjoy every song on it. I had very little familiarity with The Lowest of the Low coming into this, but I have been won over as a fan of the band. This album plays almost like a Greatest Hits, with every song being worthy as a single. If I have an issue with it Shakespeare My Butt it’s also that it plays like a Greatest Hits of all original material, with a few too many songs as well. I didn’t get a distinct vibe from the album as a whole, which is really only an issue when comparing it to so many other albums on this list. In the end that is exactly what this list is doing though, ranking it against the other top ten entries. The fact that it remained in the top ten on all 3 lists, even rising as high as 6th says a lot for the appreciation and longevity this album holds.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 10th place (1996 list) 6th place (2000 list) 7th place (2005 list)
15 – The Tragically Hip – Up to Here (1989)
The Tragically Hip are Canada’s biggest and most respected band of all time. I’m as a much of a fan as anyone, yet I question the inclusion of Up to Here as one of two Hip albums to crack the top ten. It’s filled with some of their biggest hits, and was their breakthrough album, becoming their first of 3 back to back albums to achieve Diamond certification. At the same time, it’s not as fully realized of an album as most that followed. The Hip really hit their stride on future releases composing albums that demanded to be listened to and experienced from start to finish. ‘Up to Here’ gets about 75% of the way there. You cue it up, have the time of your life hearing Blow at High Dough, New Orleans is Sinking, 38 Years Old, Boots or Hearts, Everytime You Go, and maybe feel like skipping a track or two along the way. They were still figuring out their sound, so there is a mix of identities on Up to Here that’s not there any any of their future albums. That’s not to say it isn’t a hugely important album in regards to the evolution of Canadian music, it’s just that the band themselves hadn’t quite evolved fully yet. If a new poll were to be done today, I have no doubt Day For Night, Phantom Power, Man Machine Poem and maybe a few others would rank higher as well.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 4th place (1996 list) 22nd place (2000 list) 32nd place (2005 list)
14 – Rheostatics – Whale Music (1992)
One of two Rheostatics albums to crack the top 10, and their only album to remain in the top 10 on all 3 lists. Whale Music may be an absolute masterpiece. From the opening minute of ‘Self Serve Gas Station’ you can immediately understand what a wild blend of genres the band was going for. It’s part 70s crossed with Neil Young, which is a bizarre combo that the Rheostatics are able to pull off. My familiarity with Rheostatics came a few years after this, and I feel now that I really missed out by not going back to hear their earlier albums. Whale Music is almost a rock symphony with such an enormous sound being made up of countless instruments, yet it never feels too loud or overbearing. In the end I can’t help but think my ranking it lower on this list is a result of enjoying another Rheostatics album even more. Perhaps without a 2nd album on the list this would have been easily in the top 10.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 5th place (1996 list) 4th place (2000 list) 10th place (2005 list)
13 – The Weakerthans – Left and Leaving (2000)
If you start Left and Leaving you might think you have The Weakerthans figured out after a few songs, then another song hits and you have to reassess all over again. Are they folk, punk, post punk, garage rock? You’d think with so many different genres being explored each song would sound like a completely different band, but miraculously it all blends together seamlessly. Elegy for Elsabet is the best example of what the Weakerthans are. Slow tempo, soft melody, and grinding distortion. While I’m not in a place to rank Left of Leaving any higher on my personal list, I can say it was the only album I felt the need to hear a second time in order to form an opinion. This is one that probably grows even better the more you hear it. With it only being new enough to appear on the final 2005 list, I can only imagine it would hold a top ten position if a new poll were conducted today.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 6th place (2005 list)
12 – The Band – Music From Big Pink (1968)
Another act that has had multiple albums crack the top ten, The Band’s debut ‘Music From Big Pink’ will forever battle it out with their self titled 2nd album. Regardless of which one you choose, what’s incredible is how The Band spent years working as backing bands for other artists, and yet at their first effort to write and record something on their own, they put out a collection of songs this incredible. ‘The Weight’ will probably always be their signature song, but there are countless other classic on here like ‘Caledonia Mission’ and ‘Tears of Rage’. It is unavoidable that with two The Band releases on here, they do have to be compared, and while there is a more raw and at times immediate sound on Music from Big Pink’ it also carries a little bit more of a studio recorded sound than the follow up. The only criticisms I have with this album is only when compared to its superior follow up. The quality of songwriting, vocals and instrumentation is absolutely phenomenal, and its one of those albums that can be listened to again and again without ever getting old.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 8th place (1996 list) 20th place (2000 list) 14th place (2005 list)
11 – Joni Mitchell – Blue (1971)
Considering Joni Mitchell’s Blue held the top spot in the 2000 list, and is generally regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time around the world, I almost feel like I have to defend a ranking at 11th. Simply put, this is not my preferred genre, and what Joni Mitchell I have heard in the past never really clicked with me. And yet I was surprised how many songs on Blue won me over even within a few seconds, specifically Carey, California and This Flight Tonight. Lyrically this album reads like a great novel, and Joni has a unique and powerful voice that makes the songs come alive. If I were a fan of folk music from the time period, this likely would be right at the top. As someone who occasionally gets driven up the wall by folk music, the fact that I rank this just outside the top 10 is a bit of a miracle.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 3rd place (1996 list) 1st place (2000 list) 3rd place (2005 list)
10 – Neil Young – After the Gold Rush (1970)
Neil Young’s sound has arguably been the most influential in the Canadian music industry for the last 50 years. After the Gold Rush is both the real beginning of Young developing his solo sound as well as a subtle transition away from the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young sound. It’s a bit of a shock to hear how much of this album is made up of softer piano accompanied tracks, and not the heavier guitar sound Young would embrace so much later on. One of the other pleasant surprises is how much Young is able to pack into very short and to the point songs. For a guy who would build his career on some 10-15 minute long songs, he does some of the best work of his career here on songs like ‘Till the Morning Comes’ and ‘Cripple Creek Ferry’ that barely crack the 90 second mark. It’s a more sombre and at times darker album, yet the sounds Young produces are at times angelic.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 7th place (1996 list) 12th place (2000 list) 5th place (2005 list)
9 – Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It In People (2005)
Broken Social Scene are a tough act to describe to anyone who’s unfamiliar with them. They’re sort of a band, but not quite a super group. They’re more like a genre-less act with a huge expansion pack added on. They’re a band that can be enjoyed by just hearing a random song come on shuffle, but can only be fully appreciated by listening to an album as a whole. ‘You Forgot It In People’ is filled with songs that you can completely escape into. If you start it without distractions, you can carry from one song to the next and not even realize one has ended. At times you have no idea whether you’ve been listening to a song for 3 minutes, 8 minutes, or a day and a half. It’s a one of a kind album and experience that will only leave you with the dilemma of only feeling compelled to listen to it as a whole the next time and never again on shuffle.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 4th place (2005 list)
8 – Rheostatics – Melville (1991)
Melville is weird, quirky and brilliantly melodic. Vocally it sounds like David Bowie’s Hunky Dory, and musically it sounds almost as complex as any of Rush’s 70s prog rock. Melville is not just a perfect representation of who the Rheostatics are, but it’s almost the perfect representation of a distinct Canadian sound. ‘Record Body Count’ clocks in at less than 2 minutes, but it’s the type of song I just want to listen to over and over again on repeat. ‘Horses is probably the best example of everything the band is capable of doing with a single song. It’s an unusual composition, where every instrument part almost sounds like it’s at odds with the others, and yet the song fits together perfectly. Of the two Rheostatics albums that have cracked the top 10, Whale Music seems to be the overall favourite, although personally I found Melville to be far superior on the whole.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 16th place (1996 list) 5th place (2000 list) 44th place (2005 list)
7 – Sarah McLachlan – Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (1993)
The biggest surprise of ranking all of these top ten albums was in listening to Fumbling Towards Ecstasy for the first time. It was impossible to be alive in the 90s and not know so many of these songs based just on radio and video airplay, and no matter how many times I heard Possession or Hold On, I couldn’t be paid to be a fan of Sarah McLachlan. That’s not to say I considered them bad songs, just that it wasn’t something I was into. Listening to the entire album start to finish was a very different experience. Individual songs can+ be ignored as not being the right style for me, but as a whole, this album is kind of incredible. It was also way ahead of its time in 1993, and a very unlikely commercial hit, going 5 times platinum. I think even in 2024 this would be an unlikely hit, and yet millions around the world bought into it. Sarah’s voice is obviously phenomenal, and there is so much going on musically throughout the album.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 11th place (1996 list) 7th place (2000 list) 19th place (2005 list)
6 – Rush – Moving Pictures (1981)
With 19 albums in a near 40 year career, I assumed nailing down a single Rush album to be called their best would have been a lot harder. The more I looked into it I found that 1981’s Moving Pictures is almost unanimously considered Rush’s best album. Only 2112 actually made any of the Chart Attack lists in future polls. Having heard maybe half of Rush’s discography, I can say I personally love Moving Pictures. I also see this as their transition album, not so much as moving away from the band based lengthy prog rock of the 70s, but slowly working a more radio friendly sound. If that was the intention it clearly paid off, as Moving Pictures is by far their best selling album worldwide. It’s impossible to not have Limelight and Tom Sawyer stuck in your head for days on end, but the real winner on this album is the 11 minute classic Rush epic ‘The Camera Eye’.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 15th place (1996 list) 8th place (2000 list) 18th place (2005 list)
5 – The Tragically Hip – Fully Completely (1992)
Even as a huge fan of The Hip I did question ‘Up to Here’s inclusion on any of the lists over so much more of the band’s catalogue. I have no questions about the inclusion of ‘Fully Completely. It was the biggest album of the band’s career, and coming off of Up to Here and Road Apples, it should have been impossible to top. While Courage is an uplifting stadium rock song opener, the majority of the album sounds noticeably darker than the preceding albums. The finished sound is the biggest stadium rock sound The Hip ever produced, with even a slower acoustic song like Wheat Kings seeming tailor made to have 30,000 people singing along with it. Much like ‘Up to Here’ there’s a very long list of Greatest Hits on this album, with 7 of the 12 songs still frequently played on the radio more than 30 years later. I would personally consider the band’s next album ‘Day For Night’ to be their greatest masterpiece, but Fully Completely would not be far behind.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 6th place (1996 list) 10th place (2000 list) 8th place (2005 list)
4 – The Band – The Band (1969)
The endless debate on The Band’s 1968’s debut ‘Music From Big Pink’ and this the 1969 follow up isn’t even close as far as I’m concerned. Big Pink is an amazing album. ‘The Band’ is a perfect album. This is like roots rock symphony. A more complete album than their debut with a fuller and stronger instrumental sound. While ‘The Weight’ is easily their most identifiable song, but this album features so many of their best that are as good as The Wight, if not better. Up on Cripple Creek, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and especially Jawbone are legendary. ‘The Band’ captures a more live based sound and genuinely sounds like everyone’s in the group is at the top of their game during the making of it.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 22nd place (1996 list) 11th place (2000 list) 9th place (2005 list)
3 – Sloan – Twice Removed (1994)
While Twice Removed wasn’t an instant massive success in Canada, it quickly took on legendary status. Only 2 years after it was released it was named as the greatest Canadian album of all time in the first ever poll. I remember at the time there was some talk of whether it was too new to really be considered greater than anything by Neil Young, The Tragically Hip, Joni Mitchell or Rush. Ten years later it was again named as the greatest Canadian album of all time, so it clearly has withstood the test of time. While Chris Murphy writes and sings more songs than the other members, the split is pretty close between all of the members. Only Coax Me and People of the Sky were ever released as singles, but I would argue that any single song on this album could have been released as a single and become a classic. The sound of Twice Removed gives you the maximum emotion of whatever song is cued up, whether it be with humour in ‘Penpals’, a bit of sadness in ‘Bells On’, or innocence with ‘Snowsuit Sound’.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 1st place (1996 list) 3rd place (2000 list) 1st place (2005 list)
2 – Neil Young – Harvest (1972)
Neil Young’s Harvest is the perennial runner up on Chart Attack’s polls. I had heard Harvest several times over the years, and as much as I enjoyed it, I’ve never had as much appreciation for it as I do now. When I began listening through these 17 albums, Harvest was the first one I cued up, and as each album came up after it, all I could think of was how much more I appreciated what Neil Young did. The opening two tracks ease you into the sound, and then come track 3 ‘A Man Needs a Maid’ the album fully arrives. With just the slightest use of percussion, piano and strings, the album builds to such an epic level, yet it’s soft and melodic throughout. Acoustic favourites like Old Man, The Needle and the Damage Done and Heart of Gold never get old, but it’s one of the few more rock oriented songs ‘Alabama’ that show you where Neil Young would go later in his career, and it might be the greatest masterpiece song on this masterpiece of an album.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 2nd place (1996 list) 2nd place (2000 list) 2nd place (2005 list)
1 – Sloan – One Chord to Another (1996)
While Twice Removed is unofficially the greatest Canadian album of all time, One Chord to Another is even better as far as I’m concerned, and many including at least one member of the band itself. To me this is Sloan fully formed. One Chord to Another features an even more retro sound than on previous albums. The production values are unbelievably strong, which is even more impressive when you consider the band paid for it in pocket change as far as the music industry is concerned. This is a low budget indie album with a million dollar production sound. While Twice Removed took a step back as far as the heavier rock songs go, One Chord to Another has the perfect balance of slower songs, power pop, and heavier rock songs. For the first time Patrick Pentland’s songs have put him on equal footing with Chris Murphy as a front man with ‘The Good in Everyone’ and ‘Everything You’ve Done Wrong’ being the two biggest hits on the album. While I can listen to any Sloan album from start to finish and never get bored, One Chord to Another is the one I could put on repeat for 12 hours straight and never get bored.
Chart Attack Poll Position: 9th place (2000 list) 13th place (2005 list)
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