I just scrolled through 1200 Classic Rock albums on my itunes list. I only listed the most essential and most accessible to a new listener or someone that is trying to get into the band. I tried to list albums that I would listen to from beginning to end. I left out some bands and some albums because they had some little to some filler or too much filler. This is what I would pass on to a 14 year old kid and go "Hey man check these out!" Hell it is what my uncle did to me from when I was 5 in 1978 until about 16 in 1989 when I started to recommend albums to him.

AC/DC - Back in Black
AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
AC/DC - High Voltage
AC/DC - Highway to Hell
AC/DC - If You Want Blood (You Got It)
Aerosmith - Aerosmith (first album)
Aerosmith - Rocks
Aerosmith - Toys In The Attic
The Allman Brothers Band - Eat a Peach
Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies
Alice Cooper - Killer
Bad Company - Bad Company
Bad Company - Straight Shooter
The Beatles - Abbey Road
The Beatles - Revolver
The Beatles - Sgt Peppers
The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles - White Album
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Black Sabbath - Masters of Reality
Black Sabbath - Vol 4
Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Black Sabbath - Sabotage
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
Black Sabbath - Mob Rules
Blind Faith - Blind Faith
Boston - Boston
Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick - In Color
Cheap Trick - Dream Police
Cheap Trick - Live at Budokon
Cheap Trick - Heaven Tonight
Chicago - Chicago Transit Authority
Cream - Disraeli Gears
Cream - Wheels of Fire
Cream - Fresh Cream
Croscy, Stills, Nash -Crosby, Stills, Nash
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Deja Vu
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
The Doors - The Doors
The Doors - Morrison Hotel
The Eagles - Hotel California
The Eagles - The Long Run
Eric Clapton - Slowhand
Eric Clapton - 461 Ocean Blvd
Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Tarkus
Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
Frank Zappa - Sheik Yerbouti
Frank Zappa - Over-Nite Sensation
Frank Zappa - Apostrophe
Foreigner - Foreigner
Foreigner - Double Vision
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
Genesis - A Trick of the Tail
Grateful Dead - Blues For Allah
Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead
Heart - Little Queen
Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers
Jimi Hendrix - Axis:Bold as Love
Jimi Hendrix - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
Jimi Hendrix - Live at Woodstock
Jimi Hendrix - Wild Blue Angel (Live at the Isle of Wight Festival)
Johnny Winter - Second Winter
Journey - Evolution
Kansas - Point of No Return
The Kinks - Lola Vs. The Powerman
Kiss - Kiss
Kiss - Love Gun
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
Led Zeppelin - Houses of The Holy
Led Zeppelin - Presence
Led Zeppelin - III
Led Zeppelin - IV
Led Zeppelin - I
Led Zeppelin - II
Lynyrd Skynyrd -Pronouced (first album)
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Second Helping
Montrose - Montrose
The Moody Blues - Days of Future Past
Mott the Hoople - All the Young Dudes
Mountain - Climbing!
Neil Young - Everyone Knows this is Nowhere
Neil Young - Harvest
Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Oz
Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman
Pink Floyd - Animals
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of The Moon
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive!
The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
The Police - Synchronicity
Robin Trower - Bridge of Sighs
Robin Trower - Twice Removed From yesterday
Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells a Story
Rod Stewart - Never A Dull Moment
The Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya Ya's Out
The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet
The Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed
The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
The Rolling Stones - Some Girls
Rush - Fly By Night
Rush - 2112
Rush - A Farewell to Kings
Rush - Hemispheres
Rush - Permanent Waves
Rush - Moving Pictures
Rush - Signals
Santana - Santana
Santana - Abraxas
Santana - Santana III
Steely Dan - Can't Buy a Cheap Thrill
Steely Dan - Aja
Steppenwolf - Steppenwolf
Steve Miller Band - Fly Like an Eagle
Steve Miller Band - Book of Dreams
Styx - The Grand Illusion
Styx - Pieces of Eight
Styx - Paradise Theater
Supertramp - Breakfast In America
Sweet - Desolation Boulevard
T. Rex - The Slider
T. Rex - Electric Warrior
T. Rex - Tanx
Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent - Cat Scratch Fever
Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
Traffic - John Barleycorn Must Die
Van Halen - Van Halen
Van Halen - Fair Warning
Van Halen - 1984
The Who - Tommy
The Who - Live at the Isle of Wight
The Who - Who's Next
Yes - Close To The Edge
Yes - Fragile
Yes - Going For The One
Yes - Relayer
Yes - The Yes Album
ZZ Top - Tres Hombres

I like the Doobie Brothers but there really isn't an album I can listen to from beginning to end from them.

I TRUCKING HATE Springsteen (sorry). I also can't stand Bob Dylan...(again sorry) U2 is a great band from the 80's I like the first 4 albums but it is not something I would pass on as classic rock. (U2 is NOT Classic Rock) Yes I did forget The Clash. Go ahead and add..
The Clash - London Calling
The Clash - The Clash
Blue Cheer - Vincebum Eruptum

My list is not perfect and it will forget a few artists... I like The Doobie Brothers, Janis Joplin, James Gang, Humble Pie, Small Faces, The Faces, Grand Funk Railroad, George Thorogood, Free, Foghat, Eddie Money, Deep Purple, CCR, Buffalo Springfield, Bob Seger, Blue Oyster Cult, Blackfoot, Billy Thorpe, Joe Walsh, Jefferson Starship, John Mayall, Loverboy, MC5, Nazareth, The Outlaws, Pat Benatar, Pat Travers, Wings, Queen, Rainbow, Reo Speedwagon, Robert Plant, Roxy Music, Ten Years After, Tom Petty, Tommy Bolin, Uriah Heep, The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, Waren Zevon, West, Bruce, and Laing, .38 Special, The Pretenders, King Crimson, Electric Light Orchestra, Billy Squier, The Band, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Argent, April Wine, Captain Beefheart.

I like all the above bands but I am not going to go "Hey son listen to this album by REO Speedwagon - REO Speedwagon II" I would say "hey listen to these two tracks on the album "Music Man" and "Golden Country" or "Hey son here is a Greatest Hits of "Grand Funk Railroad" if you find this accessible then I will loan you my copy of "E Pluribus Funk" so you can listen to songs like "I Come Tumblin'" or " People Lets Stop The War" But I would most likely only do this after he had listened to the first 100 albums I listed in my earlier post.

There is nothing wrong with 5 Cheap Trick albums or 3 Styx albums. I love the classic 7 albums from Styx along with their Wooden Nickel label stuff but I named the three big ones that are easily accessible to someone starting out with classic rock. Either the person will hate Styx or they will like them or they will only like a greatest hits album by them. That goes for any of the bands I listed in this specific response post.

I just reread the original posting and I will narrow it down to my personal desert island choices and I will limit it to 10 choices.

Rush - Permanent Waves
Robin Trower - Bridge of Sighs
Yes - The Yes Album
Jimi Hendrix - Wild Blue Angel (Isle of Wight concert)
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
The Who - Tommy
The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
Johnny Winter - Second Winter
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti

If you have it then light it up. Best listen would be to have headphones on while lying down staring at the ceiling along with the lights dimmed.

"Crew Slut" always put a smile on my face when I hear it.

Now that you have Dark Side of the Moon you will want to follow it up with in this order....

Wish You Were Here
Animals
Meddle
The Wall
and then everything else...