As for great wines, there are better and worse years, some exceptional too.

So, what's your year... and why?

Best year for rock'n'roll? Let's list a few candidates, I'd say:

1951: Jackie Branston And His Delta Cats (Ike Turner) playing Rocket 88. Hell, it's the first rock'n'roll record ever?

1966: You mention the very things that made it a great year.

1967: The Velvet Underground release the most seminal album ever, changing everything in the process. Everyone who bought it started a band.

1976: UK/US punk fully crystalises.

1993: Jarvic Cocker upstages Michael Jackson.

Gringo Starr said:

1966!

Revolver - Beatles
Pet Sounds - Beach Boys
Blonde on Blonde - Dylan
Aftermath - Stones
Freak Out - Zappa
Black Monk Time - Monks
Face to Face - Kinks
Psychedelic Sounds - 13th Floor Elevators
A Quick One - The Who
Fresh Cream - Cream
Fifth Dimension - Byrds
Love - Love
Animalism - The Animals
Boom - The Sonics
The Seeds - The Seeds
96 Tears - ? & The Mysterians
Web of Sound - The Seeds
Psychotic Reaction - The Count V
Turn On - The Music Machine
Jacques Dutronc - Jacques Dutronc
The Remains - The Remains
Small Faces - Small Faces

Another year that was equally remarkable was 1977!

John Battles already explained why earlier, but here's my own Holy Trinity :

1956, 1966 and 1976 !!!

1966, period.

2004 - when I start rockin yeah

Wow. They scarcely played together , anymore , at that point, when you could have seen both of them for $3 at CBGBs at one time..... The Ramones and Iggy played together, here , in '88 , and I later read they had'nt shared a bill in 10 years , except one big festival where I don't think they were on the same day(?) . The Dickies were added at the last minute . It was the last time DeeDeee would play with the band in Chicago.
 
Manu said:

If we talk about most intense rock 'n roll years on the personal side, I like to mention '93 at least for the Graspop festival in Belgium I attended, featuring THE CRAMPS AND THE RAMONES. How much would we pay for such a night now?! Was I fully conscious of my chance?..

MikeL said:

2004 was my best year ever for rock'n'roll. I discovered a cool new band that year (the Charms); a band that I discovered the previous year (Manda and the Marbles) played here in Pittsburgh a couple of times, and they had a CD release party in their hometown of Columbus, OH, which I attended; a new local band at the time (the Breakup Society) released a cool debut CD; the Cynics played a couple of local gigs; a couple of bands that I discovered a few years earlier (Cobra Verde and the Paybacks) played here at the 31st Street Pub; a favorite local punk band that broke up a few years before (the Ultimatics) did a one off reunion show at the Pub; I saw both the Darkness and David Bowie in concert; I attended LSUG's Battle of the Bands and the festival at Randall's Island in NYC; I saw the Gore Gore Girls a couple of times here in Pittsburgh when they had that really cute bass player Jen "Deuce" Pirch; I saw the Ramones' documentary "End of the Century." And that's pretty much it. I guess all the stars lined up perfectly that year, and I'll probably never have another year like that again, which saddens me.

 I forgot to mention : Best show performed to 30 people: Arthur Brown.

Bigest letdown : Kingsmen , Larry and The Blue Notes , Jerry Lee Lewis (But, he was better , every time , after that , I saw him.).
 
John Battles said:

Devil's Advocate sez  1986 was'nt too shabby , either.

Cramps - A Date With Elvis.

Roky Erickson - Don't Slander Me.

Pandoras - Stop Pretending.

Link Wray - Live in 85.

Fleshtones - Fleshtones Vs. Reality.

Lithium Xmas -Aneurysm (And the pre - Nirvana debut of their version of "Love Buzz " by The Shocking Blue.).

Ramones - Animal Boy (Some of us were glad there was an album and a tour.).

Motorhead - Orgasmatron (Ditto.) .

Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy and US imports of their first singles.

Washington Dead Cats - Horror Stories from The Washington Dead Cats.

Rockabilly Psychosis and The Garage Disease (Comp. Possibly '85.)

Revenge of The Killer Pussies (Same).

Teddy and The Tall Tops - On The Line EP.

Screamin' Jay Hawkins with The Fuzztones - Live EP.

? and The Mysterians - Live , Dallas , '84.

Sky "Sunlight" Saxon and Firewall "Destiny's Children" (It was STILL better than what most "Straight''artists were coming up with in the REM afterbirth.).

Vile Vinyl , VOL. 1 AND 2  (Comps.)

Fuzzbox - Bostin' Steve Austin/We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna USE It. (US/UK. Possibly  '86 and 87.).

Paladins - Debut on Wrestler.

Dwight Yoakum - Guitars , Cadillacs , etc.(It sounded fresh at the time.).

Best shows - Ramones , Divine Horsemen , Plan 9 , Pandoras , Motorhead , Carl Perkins , Blasters , Screamin' Jay Hawkins , John Lee Hooker , (early) Rev. Horton Heat , Ragin' Fire , Voodoo Idols , Bo Diddley , Paladins , Teddy and The Tall Tops , Lithium Xmas , Peyote Cowboys , Shitty Beatles , Mel Coolies ,

Hell , even The Butthole Surfers were still turning in good shows.

Best tour that passed my town - Cramps.

Worst shows - Red Hot Chili Peppers , Flaming Lips , Stickmen with Rayguns .

Not bad and not great - Johnny Thunders , Sid and Billy King.

"Lyres Lyres"!!! Ok, '85 but was so good!

John Battles said:

Devil's Advocate sez  1986 was'nt too shabby , either.

Cramps - A Date With Elvis.

Roky Erickson - Don't Slander Me.

Pandoras - Stop Pretending.

Link Wray - Live in 85.

Fleshtones - Fleshtones Vs. Reality.

Lithium Xmas -Aneurysm (And the pre - Nirvana debut of their version of "Love Buzz " by The Shocking Blue.).

Ramones - Animal Boy (Some of us were glad there was an album and a tour.).

Motorhead - Orgasmatron (Ditto.) .

Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy and US imports of their first singles.

Washington Dead Cats - Horror Stories from The Washington Dead Cats.

Rockabilly Psychosis and The Garage Disease (Comp. Possibly '85.)

Revenge of The Killer Pussies (Same).

Teddy and The Tall Tops - On The Line EP.

Screamin' Jay Hawkins with The Fuzztones - Live EP.

? and The Mysterians - Live , Dallas , '84.

Sky "Sunlight" Saxon and Firewall "Destiny's Children" (It was STILL better than what most "Straight''artists were coming up with in the REM afterbirth.).

Vile Vinyl , VOL. 1 AND 2  (Comps.)

Fuzzbox - Bostin' Steve Austin/We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna USE It. (US/UK. Possibly  '86 and 87.).

Paladins - Debut on Wrestler.

Dwight Yoakum - Guitars , Cadillacs , etc.(It sounded fresh at the time.).

Best shows - Ramones , Divine Horsemen , Plan 9 , Pandoras , Motorhead , Carl Perkins , Blasters , Screamin' Jay Hawkins , John Lee Hooker , (early) Rev. Horton Heat , Ragin' Fire , Voodoo Idols , Bo Diddley , Paladins , Teddy and The Tall Tops , Lithium Xmas , Peyote Cowboys , Shitty Beatles , Mel Coolies ,

Hell , even The Butthole Surfers were still turning in good shows.

Best tour that passed my town - Cramps.

Worst shows - Red Hot Chili Peppers , Flaming Lips , Stickmen with Rayguns .

Not bad and not great - Johnny Thunders , Sid and Billy King.

If we talk about most intense rock 'n roll years on the personal side, I like to mention '93 at least for the Graspop festival in Belgium I attended, featuring THE CRAMPS AND THE RAMONES. How much would we pay for such a night now?! Was I fully conscious of my chance?..

MikeL said:

2004 was my best year ever for rock'n'roll. I discovered a cool new band that year (the Charms); a band that I discovered the previous year (Manda and the Marbles) played here in Pittsburgh a couple of times, and they had a CD release party in their hometown of Columbus, OH, which I attended; a new local band at the time (the Breakup Society) released a cool debut CD; the Cynics played a couple of local gigs; a couple of bands that I discovered a few years earlier (Cobra Verde and the Paybacks) played here at the 31st Street Pub; a favorite local punk band that broke up a few years before (the Ultimatics) did a one off reunion show at the Pub; I saw both the Darkness and David Bowie in concert; I attended LSUG's Battle of the Bands and the festival at Randall's Island in NYC; I saw the Gore Gore Girls a couple of times here in Pittsburgh when they had that really cute bass player Jen "Deuce" Pirch; I saw the Ramones' documentary "End of the Century." And that's pretty much it. I guess all the stars lined up perfectly that year, and I'll probably never have another year like that again, which saddens me.

You're right, just listen to the "Bad part of town" by the Bare Facts... THAT'S the '66 sound, my friends!

John Battles said:

'66 , THE YEAR OF OUR LORD , THE BATMAN , IS HARD TO DISPUTE.

I played at this big Punk festival (Actually , I played at the after - party.) , commemorating the 30th Anniversary of Punk , in 2006.  I told the remaining few that 1966 was The Year Punk Broke.

2099:

Prince will re-release his timeless hit...

Devil's Advocate sez  1986 was'nt too shabby , either.

Cramps - A Date With Elvis.

Roky Erickson - Don't Slander Me.

Pandoras - Stop Pretending.

Link Wray - Live in 85.

Fleshtones - Fleshtones Vs. Reality.

Lithium Xmas -Aneurysm (And the pre - Nirvana debut of their version of "Love Buzz " by The Shocking Blue.).

Ramones - Animal Boy (Some of us were glad there was an album and a tour.).

Motorhead - Orgasmatron (Ditto.) .

Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy and US imports of their first singles.

Washington Dead Cats - Horror Stories from The Washington Dead Cats.

Rockabilly Psychosis and The Garage Disease (Comp. Possibly '85.)

Revenge of The Killer Pussies (Same).

Teddy and The Tall Tops - On The Line EP.

Screamin' Jay Hawkins with The Fuzztones - Live EP.

? and The Mysterians - Live , Dallas , '84.

Sky "Sunlight" Saxon and Firewall "Destiny's Children" (It was STILL better than what most "Straight''artists were coming up with in the REM afterbirth.).

Vile Vinyl , VOL. 1 AND 2  (Comps.)

Fuzzbox - Bostin' Steve Austin/We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna USE It. (US/UK. Possibly  '86 and 87.).

Paladins - Debut on Wrestler.

Dwight Yoakum - Guitars , Cadillacs , etc.(It sounded fresh at the time.).

Best shows - Ramones , Divine Horsemen , Plan 9 , Pandoras , Motorhead , Carl Perkins , Blasters , Screamin' Jay Hawkins , John Lee Hooker , (early) Rev. Horton Heat , Ragin' Fire , Voodoo Idols , Bo Diddley , Paladins , Teddy and The Tall Tops , Lithium Xmas , Peyote Cowboys , Shitty Beatles , Mel Coolies ,

Hell , even The Butthole Surfers were still turning in good shows.

Best tour that passed my town - Cramps.

Worst shows - Red Hot Chili Peppers , Flaming Lips , Stickmen with Rayguns .

Not bad and not great - Johnny Thunders , Sid and Billy King.

2004 was my best year ever for rock'n'roll. I discovered a cool new band that year (the Charms); a band that I discovered the previous year (Manda and the Marbles) played here in Pittsburgh a couple of times, and they had a CD release party in their hometown of Columbus, OH, which I attended; a new local band at the time (the Breakup Society) released a cool debut CD; the Cynics played a couple of local gigs; a couple of bands that I discovered a few years earlier (Cobra Verde and the Paybacks) played here at the 31st Street Pub; a favorite local punk band that broke up a few years before (the Ultimatics) did a one off reunion show at the Pub; I saw both the Darkness and David Bowie in concert; I attended LSUG's Battle of the Bands and the festival at Randall's Island in NYC; I saw the Gore Gore Girls a couple of times here in Pittsburgh when they had that really cute bass player Jen "Deuce" Pirch; I saw the Ramones' documentary "End of the Century." And that's pretty much it. I guess all the stars lined up perfectly that year, and I'll probably never have another year like that again, which saddens me.

'66 , THE YEAR OF OUR LORD , THE BATMAN , IS HARD TO DISPUTE.

I played at this big Punk festival (Actually , I played at the after - party.) , commemorating the 30th Anniversary of Punk , in 2006.  I told the remaining few that 1966 was The Year Punk Broke.

My vote goes to '66! None More Hip!

EARLY TO MID 80'S WERE A GOOD TIME , ON MANY LEVELS . THERE WAS  A NEW BAND , EVERY WEEK. BUT MOST PEOPLE ONLY CHOOSE TO REMEMBER THE STUFF THAT WAS'NT EVEN GOOD , IN THE FIRST PLACE.   YOU CAN WATCH "URGH" , AND MAYBE NOT AGREE TO LIKING EVERY BAND , BUT , THE IDEA THAT THIS WAS ALL HAPPENING AT THE SAME TIME , AND THEY MADE A FILM ABOUT IT. IT WAS VERY EXCITING , STILL IS.

LIKE YOUR PIC OF THE DETROIT/NYC "SUPERGROUP" RAMONICS RENDEZSTOOGE BAND.

That's quite a good thumb rule for the 50's to 70's, fully agree! And I heard that 1960 was the worst one, trapped in between 56-58 birth and early British bommers by 62... Now, if we turn ourselves to more recent period, I guess the most exciting one probably was around 80-81 with the Songs the Lord Taught Us by the Cramps, the Fire of Love by Gun Club and all the "garage revivalist" wave coming up...

Just "Jessie's Girl"? Did'nt Aldo Nova and Donny Iris break big in that year , too?

KIDDING ASIDE , It's so hard to nail it down to one year , but , someone said these things happened in 10 year intervals -  

1956 - Rock'n'Roll (Though hardly new.) is at it's peak.

1966 - Garage Punk and early Psych peaks.

1976 - US and UK Punk BUSTS OPEN WIDE , with Western Europe , Canada , Australia , etc. right at their heels.

That's not to discount the importance of the years '54 , '55 , '64 , '65 ,  OR '77 , or The Postwar Blues and R'n'B , some of which we might as well call Rock'n'Roll (Wynonie Harris , Big Joe Turner , Amos Milburn , The Treniers , Louis Jordan , Johnny Otis and Louis Prima.), because Rockin is Fuckin'.   

hey hamster,i thought that was funny.

1981 - Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield

Sorry, couldn't resist.

1977! The year I was born, and my favorite year in music.  I will add these albums to your list:

Pink Flag - Wire

Talking Heads: 77

Cheap Trick, In Color - Cheap Trick

This is the Modern World - The Jam

Exodus - Bob Marley & The Wailers

Pure Mania - The Vibrators

The Boys - The Boys

Trans-Europe Express - Kraftwerk

Radios Appear - Radio Birdman

Spiral Scratch - Buzzcocks

L.A.M.F - The Heartbreakers

Life on the Line - Eddie & the Hot Rods

Gringo Starr said:

1977

Marquee Moon - Television
Never Mind the Bullocks - Sex Pistols
The Clash - The Clash
My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello
Rocket To Russia - Ramones
Lust For Life - Iggy Pop
Suicide - Suicide
The Idiot - Iggy Pop
Damned Damned Damned - The Damned
Leave Home - Ramones
In The City - The Jam
Blank Generation - Richard Hell & The Voidoids
(I'm) Stranded - The Saints
Young Loud and Snotty - The Dead Boys
Germacide - The Germs

I tend to agree on those two "millesimes", even if I would add 1973 with Raw Power and the 1st NY Dolls album. 1973, a raw and wild year announcing the end of f*** prog rock and the explosion of US punk! The Ramones would start just 1 year later (see the 1974 video on Youtube)... 

Gringo Starr said:

1977

Marquee Moon - Television
Never Mind the Bullocks - Sex Pistols
The Clash - The Clash
My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello
Rocket To Russia - Ramones
Lust For Life - Iggy Pop
Suicide - Suicide
The Idiot - Iggy Pop
Damned Damned Damned - The Damned
Leave Home - Ramones
In The City - The Jam
Blank Generation - Richard Hell & The Voidoids
(I'm) Stranded - The Saints
Young Loud and Snotty - The Dead Boys
Germacide - The Germs

1977

Marquee Moon - Television
Never Mind the Bullocks - Sex Pistols
The Clash - The Clash
My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello
Rocket To Russia - Ramones
Lust For Life - Iggy Pop
Suicide - Suicide
The Idiot - Iggy Pop
Damned Damned Damned - The Damned
Leave Home - Ramones
In The City - The Jam
Blank Generation - Richard Hell & The Voidoids
(I'm) Stranded - The Saints
Young Loud and Snotty - The Dead Boys
Germacide - The Germs

1966!

Revolver - Beatles
Pet Sounds - Beach Boys
Blonde on Blonde - Dylan
Aftermath - Stones
Freak Out - Zappa
Black Monk Time - Monks
Face to Face - Kinks
Psychedelic Sounds - 13th Floor Elevators
A Quick One - The Who
Fresh Cream - Cream
Fifth Dimension - Byrds
Love - Love
Animalism - The Animals
Boom - The Sonics
The Seeds - The Seeds
96 Tears - ? & The Mysterians
Web of Sound - The Seeds
Psychotic Reaction - The Count V
Turn On - The Music Machine
Jacques Dutronc - Jacques Dutronc
The Remains - The Remains
Small Faces - Small Faces

Another year that was equally remarkable was 1977!