Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by xMUSICSNOBx

Chart of the day:
February 6th, 2016
August 7th, 2016
May 25th, 2019
October 24th, 2022

There are 29 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 88 out of 100 (from 46 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

View the complete list of 53,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.

Share this chart
Share | |
Collector's summaryLog in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!
Sort by
1. (=)
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
My first time hearing this album was freshman year, I was waiting outside a rival high school in my hometown, killing time before a performance from their theatre department. I absolutely couldn't stand it. The SECOND time I heard this album was in my junior year of high school. I was playing video games with a friend and they put this on. I was entranced immediately, I must have missed something the first time. The next day I scraped together some cash and took the trek to the next suburb over to buy it on vinyl. Just goes to show that good music will find you, no matter what.
I'm not exactly sure what I could say for this album that hasn't been said a million times before. Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood almost broke up the band at the peak of their career in an effort to pursue what was in their
hearts, as opposed to cashing in on an OK Computer sequel. It paid off. This album is a masterclass in songwriting, production, world building, lyric writing, and originality. It creates a universe and destroys it in front of you in less than an hour. No matter how many times you listen to it, you can always find something new, and it can always touch your heart, and your brain, in a new but somehow familiar way.

"I'm not here, this isn't happening"
"I laugh until my head comes off, I swallow 'til I burst .... Here I'm alive, everything all of the time"
"I will see you in the next life."
[First added to this chart: 07/24/2016]
Year of Release:
2000
Appears in:
Rank Score:
51,383
Rank in 2000:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
My first time hearing this album was long enough ago that I can't remember it. 90's baby problems. But what I do know is that there wasn't a day of my childhood that this CD wasn't in my portable player on my hip. It absolutely painted my entire childhood, and all these years later it still resonates just as strongly. Biting guitars that rip through the monotony of my daily life and remind me of where I came from. An album that absolutely shaped the way I feel and would feel going forward. Poignant, visceral, timeless. Will always love this album.

"Send me a kiss goodnight, and everything will be alright, tell me I won't feel a thing."
"I'm the son of rage and love, the Jesus of Suburbia."
"She said I can't take this place, I'm leaving it behind. She said I can't take this town, I'm leaving you tonight."
"I made a point to burn all of the photographs, she went away and then I took a different path. I remember the face, but I can't recall her name."
[First added to this chart: 09/20/2015]
Year of Release:
2004
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,097
Rank in 2004:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
My first time hearing this album was at the optimal age for it's full impact. I was in my late teens, dealing with finding my place in the world. On a pre-dawn plane flight, alone. I remember thinking "this album says everything I'm feeling." I can't say I feel the same way anymore as an adult. But this album helped me identify the deepest emotions I was experiencing. Still to this day though, this album provides emotional release, as well as incredible instrumentation that feels new every time you hear it. Beautiful compositions and heart wrenching lyrics throughout. I will love this forever.

"I'm not your friend, I'm not your lover, I'm not your family."
"I'm not scared to die, I'm a little bit scared of what comes after."
"They say in heaven there's no husbands and wives, and on the day that I show up they'll be completely out of their forgiveness supplies, and I cant use the telephone to tell you that I'm dead and gone, so you won't know."
[First added to this chart: 09/20/2015]
Year of Release:
2006
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,537
Rank in 2006:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
My first time hearing this album was when I was around 19-20, on a folk kick, drowning the sorrows of the barrage of lights and voices the world forces on a young person with ancient sounding music. I had already heard their debut and loved it, and this album would end up growing on me even more than the Self Titled did. I firmly believe that if Josh Tillman (Father John Misty, who plays drums on this album) and Robin Pecknold had continued to work together, they would've grown to change the world. Harmonies soaring everywhere, accompanied by expert guitar and so much dynamic that it'll make your heart soar and then drop every song. Conceptually, the album takes you on such an incredible journey through lost love, escapism, and self-discovery that I haven't heard rivaled by another concept record. You can't help but sing once you know the words, and you can't help but cry when you know the story.

"Remember when you had me cut your hair? Call me Delilah then, I wouldn't care."
"If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore, and you could wait tables and soon run the store."
"In the morning waking up to terrible sunlight, all diffuse like skin abuse the sun is half it's size, when you talk you hardly even look in my eyes .... In the morning holding every letter that I wrote, in the driveway pulling away putting on your coat, in the morning washing off my name from your throat."
"Why in the night sky are the lights hung, why is the earth moving round the sun, floating in the vacuum with no purpose not-a-one"
"Wide-eyed walker, don't betray me, I will wake one day, don't delay me, wide-eye leaver, always going."
[First added to this chart: 10/09/2022]
Year of Release:
2011
Appears in:
Rank Score:
9,465
Rank in 2011:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
My first time hearing this album is probably one of the most memorable first listens for me ever. The day the album came out I went out on a journey to the north of my state alone. I got trapped in a snow storm and forced to push through driving 'til about 3 AM in a blizzard. This album was on repeat the whole time. It immediately melted into my soul and became a part of me. The way the album is structured and the way the lyrics are composed makes you feel like you're in an intensive therapy session. It speaks right into you, so don't forget to listen intently. But if you're looking for something just to dance to, this album can provide that as well. Matty Healy of the 1975 described it as "the apocalyptic dread of being a teenager, in a major key." And I couldn't have put it better than that. It experiments with tone throughout, but it pulls no punches. An album for an entire era of people afraid of their phones, begging for something real.

"Irony's okay I suppose, culture is to blame."
"Take something and then make it brand new, try to do anything 14 times. Love yourself like someone you love, don't take any of my advice. Write a letter to your future self who won't change, don't let the internet ruin your time. They can take anything as long as it's true, what they can't take is you telling them lies."
"Your death it wont happen to you, it happens to your family and your friends."
"A war has been incited, and guess what? You're all invited, and you're famous. Modernity has failed us."
[First added to this chart: 10/09/2022]
Year of Release:
2018
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,699
Rank in 2018:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
My first time hearing this album was the day The Beatles music finally was available on streaming. I was immediately enraged that even though I had already heard much of their music, I had never been told by anyone to give this album a shot. This album is a fever dream, a demented carnival, a bad trip. Wonky instrumentation that could come from a broken music box, paired with non-sensible ramblings and hypnotic melodies. I would’ve never imagined that the B-Sides of the masterful Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band would be even better than the main drag of songs. From the mystical beauty of Strawberry Fields Forever, to the unnerving calm of Your Mother Should Know, to the swirling funhouse irreverence of I Am The Walrus. This album is a house of mirrors, good luck getting out.

“Please don’t be long, for I may be asleep.”
“Well on the way, head in the clouds, the man of a thousand voices talking perfectly loud.”
“See how they run like pigs from a gun”
“Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.”
[First added to this chart: 07/06/2016]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
16,063
Rank in 1967:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
The first time I heard this album I was working my first full time day job. I was a janitor at a local church, and this album had just come out. Alone in this massive building, I put on my headphones, I began to work, and I began to learn. I learned what it means to be black in America, I learned about the inequalities and racism that are ingrained into our country that have not stopped plaguing black people for even one moment in hundreds of years, I learned about Kendrick Lamar’s relationship to Compton, the pitfalls of success, and how to come home with grace. I learned about how to pay homage to your influences and elders without apeing them. I learned the true importance of helping those in need. I learned how to be self-confident and not narcissistic. And I learned first and foremost what happens when you put the best rappers, producers, jazz instrumentalists, and writers in the world in one room with one goal. You get a piece of genius that transcends genre and re-writes the rules. Seems like this album is always teaching me, to this day.

“You ain’t no brother, you ain’t no disciple, you ain’t no friend.”
“The world is a ghetto with big guns and picket signs, but it can do what it want whenever it want I don’t mind.”
“When shit hits the fan, is you still a a fan?”
[First added to this chart: 11/30/2015]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
37,240
Rank in 2015:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
The first time I heard this album I was in pain. I had lost my first love, and I let this album sing me to sleep for months after. This album isn’t just a love story, regardless of what the title may suggest. This album is about all facets of love. It muses on true love, sure. But it shows you all sides of that coin. The near-breakups, the infidelities, the before and after, the day you meet and the day you die together. All the firsts and lasts. The first humans to love, all the way up to us. This album doesn’t just show you traditional love, this album shows you love as mutual hate, love as the fantasy in the first handshake, the debased love of a desperate kiss to keep a broken thing together, Adam and Eve, nuclear bombs, and one night stands. Lush instrumentals, mandolins, harpsichords, and trumpets. Holding up the philosophical ramblings of a man trying to explain the story of how he stumbled into the best thing that ever happened to him. Humor and sorrow throughout. Josh Tillman (formerly of fleet foxes) is brilliant under the Father John Misty moniker, and he’s brilliant without it. A masterpiece from one of my favorite artists to ever do it. I might spend my whole life searching for the love he has for Emma. But if I get even close to it, I’ll die happy.

“Don’t ever doubt this, my steadfast conviction, my love, you’re the one I wanna watch the ship go down with.”
“The first time you let me stay the night despite your own rules, you took off early to go cheat your way through film school, you left a note in your perfect script “stay as long as you want” and I haven’t left your bed since.”
“Don’t let me die in a hospital, I’ll save the big one for the last time we make love.”
[First added to this chart: 06/06/2018]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,181
Rank in 2015:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
The first time I heard this album I was a sophomore in high school. Around Christmas time. I remember there was a party going on upstairs, my parents had a bunch of their friends over and despite my extroversion I wanted nothing to do with it. I went downstairs with my school computer and threw in a pair of cheap apple corded headphones. I put this album on and I was immediately transported to Manhattan at dawn. It was my introduction to true 2K indie rock. I was watching Ezra Koenig paint me portraits of an adult life and grown-up experiences that I hadn’t yet experienced or understood. I thought I knew everything until I heard this. The nuanced expressions of love, fame, heartbreak, nihilism, and culture showed me a side of my mind I hadn’t yet explored. It defined a good portion of my early teens. I took it with me whenever I went and it shaped and molded itself to match my surroundings. This album can speak about anything with both genuine apathy and genuine intrigue. Money, love, God, city life, strangers, and friends. And as Ezra’s beautiful guitar work and sincere lyricism meets Rostam Batmanglij’s serene synth skylines, I soared about my life for the first time and looked down on it, and I felt like I was truly moving forward for the first time. Later on I would take this album with me on my first trip to New York City, and as I breathed in the air and looked around me, I felt a sense of Deja Vu, without ever having been to Williamsburg before.

“You ought to spare your face the razor, because no one’s gonna spare the time for you.”
“The gloves are off, the wisdom teeth are out, what you on about? I feel it in my bones.”
“A man of faith said hidden eyes could see what I was thinking. I just smiled and told him, that was only true of Hannah, and we glided on through Waverly to Lincoln.”
“Through the fire and through the flames, you don’t even say your name, only: I Am That I Am.”
“You take your time, young lion.”
[First added to this chart: 09/20/2015]
Year of Release:
2013
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,091
Rank in 2013:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
The first time I heard this album was the first time I looked in a mirror and didn’t like what I saw. I was on the way back from a show my band had played in high school, and I felt as though I didn’t belong anywhere. Not with the music scene kids, not with my family, not with my girlfriend, not with my neighbors, not with my friends, not with anyone. I remembered an album suggestion that had been made to me by a friend going through a similar experience, and when Morrissey launched into his visceral dethroning of the queen, I felt I had found someone who shared my distain for simply being alive. His rage didn’t have to be screamed, he crooned through his isolation as if he already knew the answer to the question of “where do I belong?”, and that it was a resounding: “nowhere.” I had found myself in a dead end life, devoid of true passion, and full of alienation, fear, and resentment, BUT, someone else had already been there. Luckily I didn’t stay there my whole life, like Steven Patrick Morrissey did. But the tongue-in-cheek back-talk of Frankly Mr. Shankly, the relatable smugness of Cemetery Gates, and the beautiful morbidity of There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, were safe havens for me in that time. The next show my band played, I waltzed on stage like a king, and jangled my guitar like Johnny Marr, and I realized that I could MAKE myself belong wherever I wanted to, if I just had the right attitude.

“If you’re so funny, then why are you on your own tonight?”
“I dread a sunny day, so I’ll meet you at the cemetery gates.”
“If a double decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side, the pleasure, the privilege, is mine.”
“It’s so easy to laugh, it’s so easy to hate, it takes strength to be gentle and kind.”
[First added to this chart: 01/20/2017]
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
39,166
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10

Don't agree with this chart? Create your own from the My Charts page!

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Decade Albums %


1930s 0 0%
1940s 0 0%
1950s 0 0%
1960s 9 9%
1970s 3 3%
1980s 4 4%
1990s 11 11%
2000s 23 23%
2010s 50 50%
2020s 0 0%
Artist Albums %


Brand New 5 5%
Radiohead 4 4%
The Beatles 4 4%
Pierce The Veil 3 3%
La Dispute 3 3%
Arctic Monkeys 3 3%
Nirvana 3 3%
Show all
Country Albums %


United States 72 72%
United Kingdom 24 24%
Canada 3 3%
Australia 1 1%
Live? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest climbers
Climber Up 54 from 72nd to 18th
Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
by Wu-Tang Clan
Climber Up 41 from 54th to 13th
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
by Arctic Monkeys
Climber Up 21 from 36th to 15th
A Place Where The Sun Is Silent
by Alesana
Biggest fallers
Faller Down 7 from 12th to 19th
Deja Entendu
by Brand New
Faller Down 7 from 13th to 20th
OK Computer
by Radiohead
Faller Down 7 from 14th to 21st
Pretty. Odd.
by Panic! At The Disco

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similarity to your chart(s)


Not a member? Registering is quick, easy and FREE!


Why register?


Register now - it only takes a moment!

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Average Rating: 
88/100 (from 46 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 46 ratings for this chart.

Sort ratings
RatingDate updatedMemberChart ratingsAvg. chart rating
 
90/100
 Report rating
08/31/2023 09:36 DeusExMackia  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 12582/100
  
100/100
 Report rating
10/25/2022 18:34 DJENNY  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 4,409100/100
  
80/100
 Report rating
10/24/2022 21:52 Moondance  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 45484/100
  
100/100
 Report rating
10/24/2022 10:32 Timooosterink  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 13190/100
  
85/100
 Report rating
10/24/2022 10:23 Johnnyo  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,01380/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some charts can have several thousand ratings)

This chart is rated in the top 9% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 88.2/100, a mean average of 86.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 88.7/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 15.2.

Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites

Showing all 5 members who have added this chart as a favourite

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 29 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Maximum Rated First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
80/100
From 10/24/2022 22:10
What I like about your chart is:
1 ~ your notes link your musical taste DNA to the albums and reveal an honesty in your choices and in you;
2 ~ we have TWO albums in common ~ and considering there are 2 generations between us and we grew up on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean, I would have been disappointed if we had more in common;
3 ~ the 2 common albums we have are separated by 44 years of music: 1969 Abbey Road & 2013 AM. I love it that music can transcend the generations;
4 ~ I used your chart to explore music that has been unknown to me ~ I didn't find anything that excited me, but I enjoyed the deeper journey into 2000's & 2010's;
5 ~ half your chart has albums outside the BEA top 1000 ~ I respect that deeply.
What I didn't like:
1 ~ only 4 countries represented in the chart, and of that 96% is US & UK. Over time you will find that there are heaps of exceptional music out there worthy of including in a top 100 chart;
2 ~ only 1 Australian album! Nice to see one, but ..... I'd be happy to make some suggestions if you are interested.
Overall, I enjoyed spending time with your chart ~ thank you.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 10/24/2022 10:23
Love the notes. Very enjoyable read
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 05/23/2019 00:49
great notes!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 05/22/2019 20:34
this chart is the most effectively descriptive one I've ever seen, very nice
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 05/22/2019 08:28
Your notes are a really nice touch, with a great attention to detail!!

That said I still find the chart far too weighted to the modern era (which comes about from the rather intense focus on alternative/pop rock) alongside no picks from outside the anglophonic bubble.

Would be very interested to see where this chart goes if you pushed yourself out of your comfort zone a little ... I feel like you might be missing out!!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 11/13/2018 08:51
Album personality. LOL
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 05/24/2018 01:18
I dig the Brand New and Basement picks, also the Seahaven album was a nice add. I enjoyed reading your descriptions a lot. Lot of diversity, but I respect your leaning toward demo/hardcore/alternative bands. Cool chart!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 04/21/2018 20:04
Cool to see American Prayer and Evol. Both unique albums
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 03/05/2018 17:14
Love the text and enjoy scrolling through.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 09/06/2017 09:15
Fantastic descriptions and I love the inclusion of the personality indicators. Don't often see a chart so heavily weighted towards the 2010s, I personally agree that music has been amazing these last 7 years. Ignore the people calling you out in comments simply on subjective taste, great chart.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment

Your feedback for Top 100 Greatest Music Albums

Anonymous
Let us know what you think of this chart by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!
Log in or register to assign a rating or leave a comment for this chart.
Best Ever Artists
1. The Beatles
2. Radiohead
3. Pink Floyd
4. David Bowie
5. Bob Dylan
6. Led Zeppelin
7. The Rolling Stones
8. Arcade Fire
9. The Velvet Underground
10. Kendrick Lamar
11. Nirvana
12. Neil Young
13. The Smiths
14. Miles Davis
15. The Beach Boys
16. Kanye West
17. Pixies
18. R.E.M.
19. Jimi Hendrix
20. Bruce Springsteen
Back to Top