Michael Jackson performing from his album "Thriller" in 1983.
Each year, one album taps into the hearts and ears of the public on its way to topping the Billboard year-end album chart.Times have changed, though. In the 2010s, pop stars like Adele and Taylor Swift have dominated the charts, while in the 1950s and early 1960s, musical soundtracks and Broadway cast recordings tended to top the list.
Billboard has been tracking the top album of the year since 1956. From 1992 onward, total album sales were recorded by Nielsen SoundScan. Before 1992, the top album chart was "based on a survey of representative retail outlets that determined a ranking" and was "not a tally of actual sales."
Business Insider compiled all the best-selling albums and their respective notable singles, dating back to 1956, so you can see, and hear, which album was the soundtrack to your birth year (so long as you're between the ages of 1 and 61).
Check out which album made it to the top each year: