Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by 
Norman Bates 
- Chart updated: 08/27/2016 07:45
- (Created: 05/29/2009 21:18).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 108 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 90 out of 100 (from 169 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
View the complete list of 57,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
Buy album 
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 10/31/2011]
Year of Release:
2011
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,029
Rank in 2011:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 10/31/2011]
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
17,641
Rank in 1972:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 08/09/2010]
Year of Release:
1966
Appears in:
Rank Score:
39,178
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 08/09/2010]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
21,832
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 08/09/2010]
Year of Release:
1965
Appears in:
Rank Score:
15,731
Rank in 1965:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 10/31/2011]
Year of Release:
1963
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,981
Rank in 1963:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 08/09/2010]
Year of Release:
1974
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,052
Rank in 1974:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 10/31/2011]
Year of Release:
1968
Appears in:
Rank Score:
9,027
Rank in 1968:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 10/31/2011]
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 08/09/2010]
Year of Release:
1991
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,749
Rank in 1991:
Rank in 1990s:
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 | 5 | 5% | |
| 1960s | 21 | 21% | |
| 1970s | 32 | 32% | |
| 1980s | 10 | 10% | |
| 1990s | 22 | 22% | |
| 2000s | 8 | 8% | |
| 2010s | 2 | 2% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Beach Boys | 2 | 2% | |
| Nick Drake | 2 | 2% | |
| John Coltrane | 2 | 2% | |
| Charles Mingus | 2 | 2% | |
| The Velvet Underground | 2 | 2% | |
| Cat Power | 2 | 2% | |
| Tim Buckley | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| |
55 | 55% | |
 |
24 | 24% | |
 |
6 | 6% | |
| |
4 | 4% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 1 from 53rd to 54th #3 by Diabologum |
| Down 1 from 54th to 55th The Modern Lovers by The Modern Lovers |
| Down 1 from 55th to 56th L'Homme À Tête De Chou by Serge Gainsbourg |
| New entries |
|---|
| E2-E4 by Manuel Göttsching |
| Leavers |
|---|
| The Beatles (The White Album) by The Beatles |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | Norman Bates | 1970s decade chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | Mr.Music | Overall chart | 2017 |  |
| BEA Forum Regulars' Top 100 (2015) |  HigherThanTheSun | Custom chart | 2015 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | boyd94 | Overall chart | 2025 |  |
| RYM Average Rating | Imaybeparanoid | Custom chart | 2016 | |
| The BEA Friendly Chart |  alelsupreme | Custom chart | 2015 | |
| 200 Greatest albums of all time (1 - 100) - Uncut 2016 | Johnnyo | Custom chart | 2020 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | Norman Bates | 1990s decade chart | 2025 | |
| 200 Greatest Albums of All Time | Uncut | Overall chart | 2016 | |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similarity to your chart(s)
Not a member? Registering is quick, easy and FREE!
Why register?
- Join a passionate community of over 50,000 music fans.
- Create & share your own charts.
- Have your say in the overall rankings.
- Post comments in the forums and vote on polls.
- Comment on or rate any album, artist, track or chart.
- Discover new music & improve your music collection.
- Customise the overall chart using a variety of different filters & metrics.
- Create a wishlist of albums.
- Help maintain the BEA database.
- Earn member points and gain access to increasing levels of functionality!
- ... And lots more!
Register now - it only takes a moment!
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 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 169 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 01/15/2025 17:32 | Exist-en-ciel | 143 | 98/100 |
| ! | 01/27/2022 10:36 |  IlMala | 178 | 95/100 |
| ! | 08/24/2021 22:40 |  DriftingOrpheus | 78 | 91/100 |
| ! | 01/19/2021 22:55 |  KitchenSink | 14 | 100/100 |
| ! | 07/12/2020 01:45 | RioBravo | 201 | 84/100 |
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 3% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 89.5/100, a mean average of 89.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 89.7/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 10.8.
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites
Showing latest 20 members who have added this chart as a favourite | Show all 49 members
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 108 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First |
Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
From 
Hayden 10/22/2025 07:57 | #311417
Hayden 10/22/2025 07:57 | #311417
Molina's got a new one up her sleeve too— couple weeks or so I think— looking forward to it. Argentina is underrepresented on that chart... fact I've only squeezed five albums from there compared to Bolivia's seven, etc, etc... sometimes 100 entries just isn't enough. Meanwhile, nearly a quarter of that chart is Brazil, but Brazil's Brazil, and I just can't do anything about that—
& I'm not familiar with Totó la Momposina! Colombie seems like it could be up my alley, it'll be going in the evergrowing, ridiculously endless queue (you'd think this would get shorter over time, but)— I know Susana Baca, but strangely I've yet to hear her s/t (which seems to be her 'big one')— I was in Lima this time last year for their Day of Creole Song, which had some great vibes for a day celebrating traditional music (mind, they mix it with Halloween, which was unexpectedly big too). Def a different side of Peru's sound compared with the typical huayno, etc, and a genre that's prime didn't land on wax as much as it should have... (a la fado).
I've been thinking of giving the chart a slight fresh coat of paint after a deeper dive into my lesser-listened countries in central America (El Salvador, Honduras, Belize), but haven't quite been hitting the jackpot with gems from there.
Peru's a great country to discover music from, and one of the more underappreciated spots in South America. Possibly because it isn't as rhythmic and 'Latin' sounding as Cuba, Brazil, Colombia, etc— it leans much more towards that European melancholy than say... samba— entire country just never really gets its flowers—
Always appreciate the recs though, and I look forward to the day your main gets an update ;)—
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From KitchenSink 01/19/2021 22:58 | #264696
KitchenSink 01/19/2021 22:58 | #264696
ace chart as usual my friend, and clearly I need to listen to Bembeya Jazz National because that they seem very up my alley
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From pctrooper 10/24/2019 22:07 | #244087
Hey man this chart is pretty cool. I think I will pick up some recommendations from the latter half.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
arthurbittencourt 01/11/2019 14:27 | #229491
arthurbittencourt 01/11/2019 14:27 | #229491
deep
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
Julelios 12/03/2018 09:42 | #226075
Julelios 12/03/2018 09:42 | #226075
Intéressant
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
ribeiro85 01/05/2018 15:08 | #204630
ribeiro85 01/05/2018 15:08 | #204630
A worldwide experience
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
JulianR 09/22/2017 04:08 | #198498
JulianR 09/22/2017 04:08 | #198498
great picks! good to see a chart that doesn't just have the one token jazz album
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
DommeDamian 08/29/2017 04:57 | #196887
DommeDamian 08/29/2017 04:57 | #196887
Master chart
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Lgk21 03/22/2017 23:50 | #187899
Great selections, awesome to see some love for The Beach Boys, Nick Drake and Mingus.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
CharlieBarley 10/05/2016 12:52 | #176372
CharlieBarley 10/05/2016 12:52 | #176372
Good to see The Smiths, Dylan, Beatles and The Cure. Unconventional and broad-ranging chart. Music from a lot of different countries. Good work Mr Bates!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Your feedback for Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
Let us know what you think of this chart by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!
If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.
A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
