Overall Chart

Explore the overall rankings of the best albums in history, based on over 2 million album rankings across 59,000 charts.
Last updated: 6 hours ago.

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501.

St. Vincent

"The first half of this album was so much stronger than the 2nd half. It will be interesting to see where she goes next. Great guitar work and futuristic sounding alternative rock album w/ commentary on the world of social media and the digital age." Reply

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

Year of Release:

2014

Appears in:

582 charts

Rank Score:

3,433

Rank in 2014:

Rank in 2010s:

Overall Rank:

501

Average Rating:

79 (803 votes)

Comments:

502.

The Yes Album

Yes

"The first of the big five brought us classic Yes in a big way. Right from the first few bars, you can tell this is a very special collection of musicians." Reply

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

Year of Release:

1971

Appears in:

509 charts

Rank Score:

3,430

Rank in 1971:

Rank in 1970s:

111

Overall Rank:

502

Average Rating:

82 (721 votes)

Comments:

503.

American Football (1999)

American Football

"an_outlaw, I'm sorry for your loss. It's an essential emo album and has nice post-rock instrumentation at points. The album cover is pretty neat because of the overlapping film and the words running over to the bottom looks cool. I like it." Reply

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

Year of Release:

1999

Appears in:

387 charts

Rank Score:

3,428

Rank in 1999:

Rank in 1990s:

Overall Rank:

503

Average Rating:

80 (505 votes)

Comments:

504.

The Who Sell Out

The Who

"Man, this record just gets better and better the more I return to it. A phenomenal headphones album. The Who Sell Out is super ambitious as the band dove into a more psych sound and a heavier one in certain cases, all the while maintaining a superb mind for melody. Of course let’s not pass by the..." [+] Reply

AAL2014 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

636 charts

Rank Score:

3,423

Rank in 1967:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

504

Average Rating:

80 (876 votes)

Comments:

505.

69 Love Songs

The Magnetic Fields

"There are absolutely no fillers on this lp and in my opinion this is the nearest you will get to pop perfection. I don't find the fact that there are 69 love songs included here impressive but that Merritt manages to sustain this level of quality over the ensuing 3 hours. Complaining about this m..." [+] Reply

johnner | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1999

Appears in:

533 charts

Rank Score:

3,423

Rank in 1999:

Rank in 1990s:

Overall Rank:

505

Average Rating:

80 (630 votes)

Comments:

506.

Avalon

Roxy Music

"The Roxy Music album that's guaranteed to please the ladiessss. Track after track of slick, sultry sophistication. Ol' Byron Ferrari was a suave devil, and when you put this record on you too will feel like him. An after-disco/wine bar essential. Every dream home should have one!" Reply

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

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

500 charts

Rank Score:

3,415

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

506

Average Rating:

79 (655 votes)

Comments:

507.

De-Loused In The Comatorium

The Mars Volta

"Sounds like King Crimson playing for Fidel Castro in a summer holiday" Reply

- MiltonAda99 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2003

Appears in:

495 charts

Rank Score:

3,413

Rank in 2003:

Rank in 2000s:

Overall Rank:

507

Average Rating:

79 (684 votes)

Comments:

508.

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Bob Dylan

"1964 was a turbulent year for the United States of America. Injustice violated the air with a stench that, at its best, resembled cigar smoke caked into waterlogged, whiskey-stained clothing. At its worst, it conjured the fragrance of rotting corpses piled into black plague mass graves. A societa...""1964 was a turbulent year for the United States of America. Injustice violated the air with a stench that, at its best, resembled cigar smoke caked into waterlogged, whiskey-stained clothing. At its worst, it conjured the fragrance of rotting corpses piled into black plague mass graves. A societal powder keg was ready to burst, sending shrapnel in the form of violence and revolution across the land. Chronicles of this time in history are aplenty, but Bob Dylan's 'The Times They are A-Changin' occupies a place of poignance and societal relevance as our newest decade commences. The greatest art tends to come rocket-strapped with perennial staying power and universal application. Bob Dylan's third LP effort slides comfortably into those categories and classifications. It touches upon righteous, homely, American ethnocentrism, the painful ineffectiveness of the justice system and selective poverty. Despite Dylan rejecting the label of "Protest Songs", journalists flocked to confine his writing to an ideological box that they could present to the curious and quick-to-judge public. Dylan coyly sat on the fence during interviews which felt more like police interrogations, never confirming or denying anything. Still, the lyricism said more than Dylan ever could, surely illuminating the fact that the poet staunchly sympathized with the plight of the racially suppressed and disenfranchised. The inner shade of Dylan's heart was never in doubt with his position usually reserved for artists of color, those with intentions of questioning the status quo when it came to inequality in the United States. To hear a mid-western, white youth comment on the hypocrisy of American military conquest, the hideousness of white nationalism and imbalanced nature of wealth distribution was refreshing to millions and for thousands more fortunate, feather ruffling. 'The Times They are A-Changin' is concurrently a pinpoint, flaming arrow aimed at the controversial topics of the 1960's and a philosophical thought cloud of ideas and wisdom. All this from a scrawny, Minnesota-born New Yorker who could seemingly wear both hats and walk in all kinds of shoes. The record greets us with the eternal strums of an acoustic guitar as Dylan's voice, strained and imperfect, a survivor of house fire, arrives with its own visage. The seminal opener chugs along at a fixed tempo, adorned with harmonica bursts that enliven the docile guitar tones. The harmonica, a humble and inexpensive instrument that acted as a trusted companion for many, was Dylan's weapon of choice during his early years. He declares, "Come mothers and fathers throughout the land and don't criticize what you can't understand." His prophetic and anthemic rallying cry has endured for nearly 60 years since it first graced ears. The album turns to a significantly grimmer beast with the introduction of second track, 'Ballad of Hollis Brown', a look at a poverty-stricken farmer in rural South Dakota. Dylan takes his tale of desperation and uses it as an allegory for those struggling with destitution. The metaphors are intentionally fatalistic, but many could view them as exaggerated. Here, Dylan's goal is to establish perspective, not provide a factual retelling. It's merely a painting of despair to be learned from. Dylan sings, "Your brain is a-bleedin' and your legs can’t seem to stand; Your eyes fix on the shotgun that you’re holding in your hand." The expanding wage distribution, in Dylan's estimation, provides a slow death with one alternative. One of Dylan's darkest, yet powerful statements. Next, he confronts an extremely prevalent bias during the middle of the 20th century in the United States. 'With God on Our Side' creates an image of an elitist America, one that can do no wrong and is justified, no matter the bloodshed. Dylan sees toxic patriotism acting as a slow, indoctrinating cancer (another contemporary issue). He wails, "The First World War, boys, it came and it went; The reason for fightin' I never did get but I learned to accept it, accept it with pride; For you don’t count the dead when God’s on your side." The arrogance needed to assume God identifies with a specific country's crusade is elephantine, however, it's a belief typified by the Pledge of Allegiance and by swearing upon a bible. Dylan's character comes to the realization that God's love is reserved for people and not places and that a country is just a plot of land and nothing more. Sadly, it's usually the prize for which fighting is done. The Vietnam War enveloped the decade and Dylan's parable is forever an unheeded warning. The second half of the record begins with 'Only a Pawn in Their Game', another narration confronting hatred and prejudice, this time by way of propaganda and inculcation. The track examines lower-income, white southerners who are brainwashed into hating their black neighbors with an end goal of sustained oppression. Dylan illustrates this with syntax, "A South politician preaches to the poor white man “You got more than the blacks, don’t complain; You’re better than them, you been born with white skin." The simple instrumentation of 'Pawn' and the stressed rhyme repetition make sure that the message doesn't get clouded beneath the music. However, Dylan doesn't refuse the chance to include a romantic ballad on the LP. 'Boots of Spanish Leather' is a letter-exchanged anecdote of longing and gradual realization. The song is tinted by delicately plucked strings and alternating perspectives that create a gloomy overtone that comes to fruition when the narrator surmises the final fate of his crumbling union across a vast ocean. "I’m sure your mind is a-roamin'; I’m sure your thoughts are not with me but with the country to where you’re goin." The record arrives at an uptick in morale with 'When the Ship Comes In', an affirmative, inspirational testification that the future holds brighter days and that those who engage in tyranny and bigotry will eventually be overcome. Finally, LP centerpiece, 'The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll', draws inspiration from the murder of an African-American barmaid by the wealthy William Zantzinger. The track directs scrutiny at the murderer for devaluing the life of a woman he deemed "lesser than" and the justice system for (mostly) turning a blind eye. Dylan delivers the verdict, "And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance, William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence." The track is a microcosm of the record's major themes and an unsettling reminder that justice remains imbalanced. Dylan was just 23 years of age when 'Times' was first pressed, but his incredible perception was decades his senior. The clairvoyance of his prose is even parts astonishing and tragic given that little has changed since his pen first hit the paper. The poetry of these 10 tracks easily sit amongst the scribe's most visceral compositions. The album presents Dylan at perhaps his most uncompromising and forthright, functioning as his final, unabashed protest record. Oddly, the LP is often shunned from the 1960's landmark music rolodex with albums such as 'Highway 61 Revisited', 'Bringing It All Back Home' and even 'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan' achieving a higher sense of reverence. Strangely enough, its content makes it a contender for his most topical, underrated and pertinent enterprise, both in 1964 and 2021. Dylan's uncanny ability to find the pulse of the given zeitgeist has never been in doubt, as he's strung together lyrical encapsulations at will for 60 years. Here, he weaves sorrow and hope into a homogeneous, digestible whole the likes of which none could reproduce. The power of 'Times' does not lie in division, but in a belief that human morality will win out. It's a beautiful sentiment and an eternal principle. In some ways, we're still waiting. "And we’ll shout from the bow your days are numbered And like Pharoah’s tribe they’ll be drowdned in the tide and like Goliath, they’ll be conquered." -When the Ship Comes In Standout Tracks: 1. The Times They are A-Changin' 2. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll 3. When the Ship Comes In 94.4" [+] Reply

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

Year of Release:

1964

Appears in:

596 charts

Rank Score:

3,409

Rank in 1964:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

508

Average Rating:

81 (954 votes)

Comments:

509.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme

Simon & Garfunkel

"Obviously, bridge over troubled water, is the most famous and successful Simon and Garfunkel album, and quite rightly gets a lot of praise, but personally, this is my favourite S&G record. It's got a great feel for the time and place, both lyrically and musically. It protests against the older ge..." [+] Reply

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

Year of Release:

1966

Appears in:

589 charts

Rank Score:

3,407

Rank in 1966:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

509

Average Rating:

80 (664 votes)

Comments:

510.

The Holy Bible

Manic Street Preachers

"I am not a big Manics fan but this is right up there. Dark, dirty and deep with great melodies, cut throat guitar and the sort of lyrics that lead you to understand why Richie couldn't go on. Full of raw power, emotion and soul this is seminal and 100 shades darker than most self professed angry ..." [+] Reply

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

Year of Release:

1994

Appears in:

462 charts

Rank Score:

3,393

Rank in 1994:

Rank in 1990s:

Overall Rank:

510

Average Rating: