@ianhaney,

you can do this by using the standard album link and modifying one setting.Settings > groups > One level, This will display one album level and allow you to link to the next level, but this will display the cover image.

Other options is to use a taxonomy widget that works with with custom taxonomies to display just the titles – this is what we use on our site, check the sidebar on the galleries page – or you can create your on template. Use “ims_album” taxonomy to pull the names.