The Yacht Rock Canon — 15 Smooth Sailing Classics Ranked

The doobie-best, west-coast soft rock records that defined a sound and a whole aesthetic.

Yacht rock went from a joke to a genre to a whole lifestyle in about a decade, and the canon deserves to be taken seriously. We ranked the 15 records that built the sound — immaculate productions, session legends, and choruses that sail — and the brief was the canon, not the meme. The 15 records on this list are the ones that defined the yacht rock sound, and the ones that have outlived the joke that named them. Yes, the Doobie Brothers are here. Yes, Steely Dan is at the top. No, we will not be taking questions.

The history is the part that makes the canon make sense. Yacht rock — the name was coined as a joke in a 2005 web series, but the sound it named was real — is the West Coast soft rock sound that emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, built around the session players of Los Angeles, the productions of the era, and the choruses that defined the sound. The sound was not called yacht rock at the time — it was called West Coast soft rock, or AOR, or simply pop — but the sound was real, and the records that defined it are the ones that have outlived the joke that named them. The canon is the one that the sound built, and the one that the joke named.

The sound is the part that makes the canon distinctive. The yacht rock sound — a smooth, jazz-informed, session-player-driven soft rock that owed as much to the Steely Dan productions as to the Doobie Brothers harmonies — is one of the most distinctive sounds in the history of rock. The productions — immaculate, layered, and built around the best session players in Los Angeles — are the thing that makes the records sound the way they do, and the thing that has made the canon so enduring. The choruses — the smooth, sailing, singalong choruses that defined the sound — are the thing that makes the records feel the way they do, and the thing that has made the canon so beloved. The yacht rock sound is the sound of a generation of session players and producers who took the soft rock of the 1970s and made it immaculate, and the sound that has outlived the joke that named it.

15. Christopher Cross — 'Christopher Cross' (1979). The record that won the first-ever Grammy for Album of the Year, and the one that defined the yacht rock sound. The record is built around the session players of Los Angeles, the productions of the era, and the choruses that defined the sound. 'Sailing' is the song that everyone knows; the whole record is the one that defined the canon.

14. Toto — 'Toto' (1978). The record that taught the genre to write a hook, and the one that defined the session-player-driven sound. The record is built around the session players who would become Toto, and the productions that would define the yacht rock sound. 'Hold the Line' is the song that everyone knows; the whole record is the one that defined the canon.

13. Michael McDonald — 'If That's What It Takes' (1982). The record that taught the genre to sing, and the one that defined the soul-informed yacht rock sound. The record is built around the McDonald voice — the soulful, gravelly, soaring voice that would define the sound — and the productions that would define the canon. 'I Keep Forgettin'' is the song that everyone knows; the whole record is the one that defined the canon.

12. Boz Scaggs — 'Silk Degrees' (1976). The record that taught the genre to groove, and the one that defined the disco-adjacent yacht rock sound. The record is built around the session players who would become Toto, and the productions that would define the canon. 'Lowdown' is the song that everyone knows; the whole record is the one that defined the canon.

11. England Dan & John Ford Coley — 'Nights Are Forever Without You' (1976). The record that taught the genre to harmonize, and the one that defined the duo yacht rock sound. The record is built around the harmonies that would define the sound, and the productions that would define the canon. 'I'd Really Love to See You Tonight' is the song that everyone knows; the whole record is the one that defined the canon.

10. Ambrosia — 'Life Beyond L.A.' (1978). The record that taught the genre to prog, and the one that defined the prog-adjacent yacht rock sound. The record is built around the prog-informed arrangements that would define the sound, and the productions that would define the canon. 'How Much I Feel' is the song that everyone knows; the whole record is the one that defined the canon.

9. Player — 'Player' (1977). The record that taught the genre to ballad, and the one that defined the ballad yacht rock sound. The record is built around the ballads that would define the sound, and the productions that would define the canon. 'Baby Come Back' is the song that everyone knows; the whole record is the one that defined the canon.

8. Andrew Gold — 'What's Wrong with This Picture?' (1976). The record that taught the genre to pop, and the one that defined the pop-adjacent yacht rock sound. The record is built around the pop hooks that would define the sound, and the productions that would define the canon. 'Lonely Boy' is the song that everyone knows; the whole record is the one that defined the canon.

7. Little River Band — 'Sleeper Catcher' (1978). The record that taught the genre to harmonize, and the one that defined the Australian yacht rock sound. The record is built around the harmonies that would define the sound, and the productions that would define the canon. 'Reminiscing' is the song that everyone knows; the whole record is the one that defined the canon.

6. The Doobie Brothers — 'Takin' It to the Streets' (1976). The record that taught the genre to soul, and the one that defined the Michael McDonald-era Doobie Brothers sound. The record is built around the McDonald voice that would define the sound, and the productions that would define the canon. 'Takin' It to the Streets' is the song that everyone knows; the whole record is the one that defined the canon.

5. Fleetwood Mac — 'Rumours' (1977). The record that taught the genre to crossover, and the one that defined the West Coast soft rock sound. The record is built around the productions that would define the sound, and the harmonies that would define the canon. 'Dreams' is the song that everyone knows; the whole record is the one that defined the canon.

4. The Doobie Brothers — 'Minute by Minute' (1978). The record that taught the genre to groove, and the one that defined the Michael McDonald-era Doobie Brothers sound. The record is built around the McDonald voice that would define the sound, and the productions that would define the canon. 'What a Fool Believes' is the song that everyone knows; the whole record is the one that defined the canon.

3. Kenny Loggins — 'Keep the Fire' (1979). The record that taught the genre to soundtrack, and the one that defined the soundtrack-adjacent yacht rock sound. The record is built around the Loggins voice that would define the sound, and the productions that would define the canon. 'This Is It' is the song that everyone knows; the whole record is the one that defined the canon.

2. Steely Dan — 'Aja' (1977). The record that taught the genre to jazz, and the one that defined the jazz-informed yacht rock sound. The record is built around the session players who would define the sound, and the productions that would define the canon. 'Peg' is the song that everyone knows; the whole record is the one that defined the canon.

1. Steely Dan — 'Gaucho' (1980). The record that defined the yacht rock sound, and the one that every yacht rock record since has been descending from. The record is built around the session players who would define the sound, the productions that would define the canon, and the choruses that would define the genre. 'Hey Nineteen' is the song that everyone knows; the whole record is the one that defined the canon — and the one that every yacht rock record since has been trying to copy. Pour something cold and put the record on.

Yes, the Doobie Brothers are here. Yes, Steely Dan is at the top. No, we will not be taking questions. Pour something cold and put the record on.