Overall Chart

Explore the overall rankings of the best albums in history, based on over 2 million album rankings across 60,000 charts. Last updated: 5 hours ago

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111.

Elephant

The White Stripes

"Ball and Biscuit. I have said enough. I'll continue anyway. This album is killer from start to finish, not a bad song on the it. This is the most rockin' album Jack made with this band, and Ball and Biscuit has his finest guitar work ever." Reply

Mike43 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (7 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2003

Appears in:

1,541 charts

Rank Score:

11,278

Rank in 2003:

Rank in 2000s:

Overall Rank:

111

Average Rating:

83 (2,163 votes)

Comments:

130

112.

Bringing It All Back Home

Bob Dylan

"The pinnacle of Bob to me. It has it all in this one and it brings it home darn well. Whatever you want this album has it. Powerful deep lyrics and a somber tone? It's Alright Ma. Hilarious rambling and a story song? 115th Dream. Borderline folk-rap? Subterranean Homesick Blues. Classy love songs..." Reply

- BowieGhostsBub | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1965

Appears in:

1,273 charts

Rank Score:

11,266

Rank in 1965:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

113.

"For years, Tom Waits constructed a visage of a midnight, woebegone crooner slouched over a piano which supported a glass of hard liquor home to a school of swirling cigarette ash. For years, that character would morph and contort into something less and less conventional until the 1980's ushered ...""For years, Tom Waits constructed a visage of a midnight, woebegone crooner slouched over a piano which supported a glass of hard liquor home to a school of swirling cigarette ash. For years, that character would morph and contort into something less and less conventional until the 1980's ushered in a Waits completely detached from society who resembled a vagabond guttersnipe that embraced a new sonic identity. Hobo Waits would first surface in earnest on 1983's Swordfishtrombones, a record characterized by unorthodox percussion motifs, reminiscent of a subterranean city of banished circus mutants planning their ascent. Still, on that LP, he embodied the role of a freak show ringmaster parading his ostracized compatriots through the streets. On Rain Dogs, Waits' ninth full-length release, he more closely examines the lives of the disenfranchised, alleyway dreamers who live in sky-blackening squalor. The album approaches this as a purveying construct rather than a single track one-off that Waits commonly flirted with earlier in his career. However, instead of employing the prior method of getting shit-faced in downtown L.A. while mining for narrative inspiration from Skid Row's finest, Waits decided to put himself in their shoes on Rain Dogs. The music produced seems decidedly out of place when set against the backdrop of a 1980's music landscape dominated by new wave and synth pop tunes. Waits rarely gets enough credit when discussing music's most triumphant reinventionists, but the man who claimed to be born in a taxi cab was guilty of metamorphizing more than once in his checkered career. Rain Dogs just happens to be his finest reawakening. The record begins with "Singapore" which functions as a gothic sea shanty of sorts (if you can imagine such a thing). Similar to the opening track of Swordfishtrombones, "Singapore" shines light on a theatrically-rendered sub-culture with a ragtag group of sailors as his subject. Waits declares, "The captain is a one-armed dwarf, he's throwing dice along the wharf; In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." The track chugs at a steady pace, lead by trumpet and junkyard percussion and invites the listener into the world of Rain Dogs. Second track, Clap Hands, continues the trend of unorthodox percussion, employing the marimba as the spine of the song. The piece is centered around a grotesque locomotive trip through the Big Apple with Waits himself attaching backstories to fellow passengers to pass the time. "Cemetery Polka" arrives third and it features a bizarre roll call of the most aberrant family members one could have. At this family reunion, accordion and farfisa organ take center stage. Waits describes, "Uncle Bill will never leave a will, and the tumor is as big as an egg; He has a mistress, she's Puerto Rican and I heard she has a wooden leg." On "Jockey Full of Bourbon", he recants a tale of a drunken, fragmented evening with the help of conga drums and a baritone sax. Waits invokes the spirit of his idol Jack Kerouac here with his prose, "Schiffer broke a bottle on Morgan's head and I've been stepping on the devil's tail; Across the stripes of a full moon's head, through the bars of a Cuban jail." Waits' lyricism displays shades of influence from Bob Dylan to Allen Ginsberg while effortlessly being raw, idiosyncratic and indigenous. Fifth track, "Tango Till They're Sore" is a waltzy, crooked ballad seemingly played by the town drunk on a 300 year old grand piano. The track is seemingly the last will and wishes of a destitute, easily visualized on the curb near a dive bar as light from the nearest window backlights him for his small gathering of similars. Waits promises, "I'll tell you all my secrets, but I lie about my past; Send me off to bed forevermore." It's a proposition that receives further treatment later in the LP. "Big Black Mariah" showcases a howling Waits describing this Mariah as a black hearse coming for New Orleans' recently deceased. The song includes an appearance from Keith Richards on guitar which is a match made in heaven with Waits' one of a kind vocal delivery. Waits concludes, "He's got a wooden coat, this boy is never coming home." Eighth track, "Hang Down Your Head", is far more digestible than previous entries. Waits recruits a softer touch in the solemn, reflective track. The cut is vaguely Springsteenian, if the boss had swallowed glass while smoking a cigar.. The end result is something profoundly earnest and devoid of any decoration, strengthening the pathos within. Speaking of pathos, Waits doubles down on ninth track "Time", an understated guitar stroll evocative of his 1970's output. Here, Waits isn't trying to rekindle a former love. He knows he's incapable of it and urges his paramour to move on. It's symbolic of Waits giving himself to abstraction and leaving the world of lounges and muses behind. The title track introduces itself with wheezing accordion and chronicles a man who champions his position on the outskirts of society. These Rain Dogs are a proud bunch that shoo away taxis in favor of walking through torrential downpour and dance all night long, free of societal restraints and commitments. It's also a track that doubles as a rallying cry for Earth's outcasts during Waits' live sets. The LP winds down with one of its most enduring cuts. "Downtown Train" was made famous by Rod Stewart's rendition, but it's Waits' original that retains the piece's soul and depth. Waits pens a siren song for a nameless beloved as he rides a New York City train in the hopes that she will be amongst those in attendance. He questions if he himself would be good enough for his soulmate and how she'll be illuminated amongst all the "Brooklyn girls looking to break out of their little worlds". Waits' delivery here is so remarkably passionate and vulnerable that it provides lucidity to his character's eternal strife. The record culminates with the hyper-appropriate "Anywhere I Lay My Head", a jubilant, triumphant funeral march celebrating the life and times of defiant transient. Sonically, it wouldn't be out of place at Mardi Gras, with brass tones sending the narrator off into the great beyond. He declares, "I don't need anybody because I learned, I learned to be alone and I say anywhere, anywhere, anywhere I lay my head, boys; I will call my home." It's a glowing, stirring epitaph that symbolizes America's homeless and calls upon to the listener to undergo a paradigm shift. A miraculous end to a poignant record. Waits' prophetic prose on Rain Dogs would be distinctly pertinent both within the walls of a philosophy classroom and sketched onto the stall of a subway toiletry. Few men can walk such a thin line and Waits' approach to this principle was never more dynamic than on Rain Dogs. His provocative commentary and crystal clear imagery are bolstered even further by the daring sonic experimentation that helped define the album. In a few short years, Waits graduated from barfly, lonesome anthems to concept albums about hobo culture and sideshow empowerment. Only Tom himself could make the transition between these two abstracts an unbridled success. Even with the runaway acclaim garnered with Rain Dogs and subsequent albums, Waits has rarely seen consistent recognition as one of history's finest songsmiths and innovators. However, to those who know his work well, it never fails to shine as brightly as a silver dollar intertwined amongst the discarded waste of a city's populace. His underground appeal is his lifeblood and Rain Dogs is his inspirational tale to endlessly entertain an audience of three that feels like three-hundred huddled around a barrel of fire to escape old man winter's scorn. "Well it's 9th and Hennepin And all the donuts have names that sound like prostitutes And the moon's teeth marks are on the sky Like a tarp thrown all over this And the broken umbrellas like dead birds And the steam comes out of the grill Like the whole goddamned town is ready to blow" -9th & Hennepin 1. Anywhere I Lay My Head 2. Tango Till They're Sore 3. Time 94" Reply

DriftingOrpheus | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,149 charts

Rank Score:

11,179

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

113

Average Rating:

84 (1,357 votes)

Comments:

114.

Rage Against The Machine

"One of the rare examples of rap combined with metal, which doesn't come off as cringe for me. Energy is absolutely unparalleled and lyrics are equally furious and guitar playing is top notch with many brilliant parts." Reply

- mv3k | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1992

Appears in:

1,313 charts

Rank Score:

11,133

Rank in 1992:

Rank in 1990s:

Overall Rank:

114

Average Rating:

83 (1,674 votes)

Comments:

115.

Safe Mode: On

Houses Of The Holy

Led Zeppelin

"I remember one summer when when I was a kid, I came home to my family, who were outside by the barn shucking corn. It was one of those balmy, late summer afternoons in south Georgia. After helping out for a while, I walked into our hundred year old house and got some iced tea. I walked upstairs a..." Reply

- Jthomp81 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +8 votes (8 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1973

Appears in:

1,344 charts

Rank Score:

11,073

Rank in 1973:

Rank in 1970s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

116.

Oasis

"I prefer this album to Morning Glory. Is there anyone out there who agrees?" Reply

- becai | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +15 votes (17 helpful | 2 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1994

Appears in:

1,291 charts

Rank Score:

10,681

Rank in 1994:

Rank in 1990s:

Overall Rank:

116

Average Rating:

80 (1,901 votes)

Comments:

151

117.

Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

The Flaming Lips

"Want to say thank you to all the BEA folks out there; if it wasn't for all of you, I never would have discovered this amazing record. It instantly became one of my all time favorites." Reply

- | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +10 votes (10 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2002

Appears in:

1,333 charts

Rank Score:

10,637

Rank in 2002:

Rank in 2000s:

Overall Rank:

117

Average Rating:

83 (1,691 votes)

Comments:

107

118.

Appetite For Destruction

Guns N' Roses

"This sleazy album is a breakneck freight train ride from the start to the end of the line. Ugly, dirty, rude, hateful, dangerous and rough. "Appetite for Destruction" was the sound of the American dream gone wrong. By virtue of its grittiness, this never was intended for mainstream success. So ap..." Reply

~SMiLE~ | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,410 charts

Rank Score:

10,572

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

119.

"its amazing how good this album actually is. should be way higher on the list. "the gash", my personal favorite." Reply

The Gollux | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (6 helpful | 1 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1999

Appears in:

1,297 charts

Rank Score:

10,466

Rank in 1999:

Rank in 1990s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

120.

"Coming off the About Today EP & Boxer, I thought this one would follow along the same lines. While those were brilliant in their own rite, I was so wrong about this one. From the first track I was completely floored. One of the best of the decade." Reply

Komorebi-D | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2010

Appears in:

1,184 charts

Rank Score:

10,433

Rank in 2010:

Rank in 2010s:

Overall Rank:

120

Average Rating:

82 (1,354 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 10,000. Page 12 of 1,000

Overall Chart composition

Decade	Albums	%

1930s	2	0%
1940s	35	0%
1950s	301	3%
1960s	710	7%
1970s	1,414	14%
1980s	1,396	14%
1990s	1,593	16%
2000s	1,731	17%
2010s	1,987	20%
2020s	831	8%

Artist	Albums	%

Neil Young	42	0%
Bob Dylan	37	0%
The Rolling Stones	36	0%
Miles Davis	33	0%
David Bowie	32	0%
The Beatles	29	0%
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard	25	0%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	5,028	50%
	2,655	27%
	427	4%
	336	3%
	221	2%
	156	2%
	138	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	9,736	97%
Yes	264	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	9,737	97%
Yes	263	3%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	9,884	99%
Yes	116	1%

Overall Chart chart changes

Biggest climbers Biggest climbers in top 100 since last month
Up 3 from 81st to 78th A Moon Shaped Pool by Radiohead
Up 2 from 71st to 69th Carrie & Lowell by Sufjan Stevens
Up 2 from 69th to 67th Songs In The Key Of Life by Stevie Wonder
Up 2 from 65th to 63rd Thriller by Michael Jackson
Up 2 from 46th to 44th Marquee Moon by Television

Biggest fallers Biggest fallers in top 100 since last month
Down 3 from 68th to 71st Blue by Joni Mitchell
Down 2 from 47th to 49th Exile On Main St. by The Rolling Stones
Down 2 from 63rd to 65th Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones
Down 2 from 93rd to 95th Master Of Puppets by Metallica
Down 1 from 7th to 8th In Rainbows by Radiohead

Popular Charts

1. 100 Best Albums - 2024 Edition by Apple Music (2024)

2. Top 100 Albums by ABC (2006)

3. The Top 100 Albums by VH1 (2001)

4. The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone (2020)

5. The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time by New Music Express (2013)

6. 200 Greatest Albums of All Time by Uncut (2016)

7. Virgin All-Time Top 1000 Albums by Virgin (2000)

8. The Definitive 200 by National Association of Recording Merchandisers (2007)

9. Die 100 besten Alben der Musikgeschichte by radioeins (2019)

10. Mojo Readers: The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made by Mojo (1996)