Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by Boo69 
Hi, I was brought up on a diet of Michael Jackson records and Queen's Greatest Hits but I didn't truly love music until I heard R.E.M. and Radiohead in the mid 90s (when I was at the impressionable age of 15). Music soon became my main focus in life and I began building a collection of brit pop and soft rock records, which I loved at the time but I deem most to be quite average now. It wasn't until the end of the millennium when alot of 'greatest ever album' lists were published in the music press that I began to open my eyes (and ears) to older music. I began to purchase as many of these 'classic' records as I could regardless of what style of music it was. Some records I struggled with but mostly I found these records to justify their 'classic' status and I had a great time discovering them. It shaped my taste in music, and you'll see from my list that I like blues influenced guitar bands and male and female singer songwriters but ultimately I like any music that moves or connects with me regardless of style.
This list represents my favourite albums in my collection. I do give some weight to how influential or important an album was but generally this list contains the albums that I like to listen to the most or have had the biggest impact on my life. Albums will move up or down the list occasionally as I will re-assess it from time to time but the top 10 is pretty much set in stone. I have not applied a one album per artist rule or ignored the perceived classics just to be different, so the majority of this list will be familiar to other BEA members with a similar sized collection. Please feel free to give recommendations as I am always on the look out for new artists. I will add comments to each album gradually (as time permits).
- Chart updated: 04/27/2013 22:09
- (Created: 03/25/2013 17:29).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 11 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 86 out of 100 (from 28 votes). Please log in or create an account to leave a comment or assign a rating.
The entries in this chart have a zero rank score because the chart has not been updated within the last ten years (points from overall charts are decayed over a ten year period).
View the complete list of 60,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
After being besotted with The Bends I couldn't wait for this album to be released and it didn't disappoint when it did. At the time I still preferred it's predecessor but over time I have come to appreciate this album more. It's a popular album on BEA, but it's popular for a reason...it's brilliant.
Favourite songs: Paranoid Android, Lucky [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Favourite songs: Paranoid Android, Lucky [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Year of Release:
1997
Appears in:
Rank Score:
59,499
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If I had grown up with this album it would probably be my No1. It is as close to perfect as any album has ever come, from the front cover, to the lyrics, the order of the songs, and of course the music. It flows beautifully and has some quite beautiful moments. It still sounds more modern than most records released today and it's themes are just as relevant.
Favourite songs: Time, The Great Gig In The Sky [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Favourite songs: Time, The Great Gig In The Sky [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
56,352
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A classic example of an album that I wasn't expecting much from but ultimately being blown away when I heard it. It's a perfect summer record, why it didn't sell in the millions I'll never know but the fact that it always charts on 'greatest ever album' lists despite it's relatively low sales speaks volumes.
Favourite songs: Andmoreagain, You Set The Scene [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Favourite songs: Andmoreagain, You Set The Scene [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
14,895
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Recorded before but released after the death of singer Ian Curtis, this album is a suicide note in both it's lyrics and music. It is however both beautiful and moving, and made all the more real by his death. The second half of the album is truly astonishing. An album that should be in everyone's collection.
Favourite songs: The Eternal, Decades [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Favourite songs: The Eternal, Decades [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
14,383
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The first album that truly blew me away and made me realise how good music could be. It barely left my CD player for over a year. Twelve great songs sequenced perfectly. It's probably the most perfect set of accessible rock tunes that also bring out deep emotion and feeling.
Favourite songs: Fake Plastic Trees, Street Spirit [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Favourite songs: Fake Plastic Trees, Street Spirit [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Year of Release:
1995
Appears in:
Rank Score:
27,463
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Like Forever Changes this is a record that deserved to sell in the millions and yet despite it's relatively small audience it always seems to have a place in 'best album' lists. For any fans of guitar music I would implore them to listen to this record as it is a guitar lovers dream, full of solo's, but more importantly great songs.
Favourite songs: Marquee Moon, Torn Curtain [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Favourite songs: Marquee Moon, Torn Curtain [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Year of Release:
1977
Appears in:
Rank Score:
18,705
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Comments:
Albums by female singers are quite often sneered at by the male buying public. Whether this is because they struggle to relate to the lyrics or they feel embarrassed to listen to them I don't know. It's probably a bit of both but by not listening to them they are missing out on some beautiful music and non more so than Tori Amos' debut. Tori has an exceptional and quite beautiful voice and her piano playing can be compared to the very best in history. This is a very personal record but has a mood and beauty to it that I have yet to find on any other record.
Favourite songs: Winter, Mother [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Favourite songs: Winter, Mother [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Year of Release:
1992
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,792
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All 4 band members were on their top form on this record. The songs are great, with several anthems that seem set to be timeless. A great album to play loud and rock out to.
Favourite songs: Baba O'Riley, Behind Blue Eyes [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Favourite songs: Baba O'Riley, Behind Blue Eyes [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
20,350
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How do you follow up an album as critically and comercially successful as Dark Side Of The Moon? I don't think Pink Floyd could have done a much better job. Shine On You Crazy Diamond is a fantastic tribute to Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett and the songs in between are great too. Like it's predecessor the songs flow perfectly encouraging the listener to take in the whole album. No band has ever understood the art of album making better than Pink Floyd. As with most Floyd records I find it's best to listen to it through a set of headphones.
Favourite songs: Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Wish You Were Here [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Favourite songs: Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Wish You Were Here [First added to this chart: 03/25/2013]
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
41,898
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Not as emotive as it's follow up but equally as depressing and sombre. Joy Division knew how to reach into a dark place in all of us but they also knew how to write a song and this is full of remarkable and original examples of songwriting. Don't ignore Joy Division's other material either as they wrote many great songs that didn't appear on their albums.
Favourite songs: New Dawn Fades, She's Lost Control [First added to this chart: 03/26/2013]
Favourite songs: New Dawn Fades, She's Lost Control [First added to this chart: 03/26/2013]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
20,521
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Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 20 | 20% | |
| 1970s | 37 | 37% | |
| 1980s | 12 | 12% | |
| 1990s | 19 | 19% | |
| 2000s | 11 | 11% | |
| 2010s | 1 | 1% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| R.E.M. | 7 | 7% | |
| Led Zeppelin | 6 | 6% | |
| The Beatles | 5 | 5% | |
| Radiohead | 5 | 5% | |
| Pink Floyd | 4 | 4% | |
| The Who | 4 | 4% | |
| David Bowie | 3 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
There have been no changes to this chart.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
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 3 ratings for this chart. | Show all 28 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 03/21/2025 10:36 |  SomethingSpecial | 1,089 | 86/100 |
| ! | 03/28/2017 00:37 | Seab | 1,998 | 93/100 |
| ! | 11/17/2016 09:21 | TheSmiths82-87 | 1,828 | 83/100 |
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 has a Bayesian average rating of 86.0/100, a mean average of 86.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 86.1/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 9.3.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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From
greatson 11/11/2015 16:59 | #152807
greatson 11/11/2015 16:59 | #152807
Great classical Chart!
It could become a bit more adventurous...
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
Oselju 06/04/2015 09:59 | #142991
Oselju 06/04/2015 09:59 | #142991
Morissette just before Carole King ??? ;)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
BraddlesHendo 11/15/2014 02:14 | #127004
Have some similar choices great stuff
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
daveybaker 05/01/2013 07:07 | #74897
Great chart, extra 5pts for the descriptions.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
meccalecca 04/25/2013 19:58 | #74437
meccalecca 04/25/2013 19:58 | #74437
I give you a 95/100 just for including the first two Magazine albums.
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