Kind of Blue — Miles Davis

Miles Davis's 'Kind of Blue' transcends genre as the best-selling jazz album in history, with over 5 million copies sold in the U.S. alone since its 1959 release. Its revolutionary modal jazz framework, built around just 5 studio hour-long sessions, created an improvisational freedom that still shapes modern music. The album's opening track, 'So What,' features a bassline that has been sampled over 200 times—a cultural impact that eclipses the influence of 'Rumours' (#7) in terms of cross-genre reach. With a 58-minute runtime and a single seamless suite of six compositions, 'Kind of Blue' remains a universal touchstone for musicians, outperforming the average jazz album in sales by a factor of 40.