Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by 
benpaco 
Order good words bad but all WIPs are WIPs forever when it comes to me so I might as well not wait to publish this. Hoping to actually write descriptions instead of relying on the ones I wrote in literally high school someday but *shrug*
- Chart updated: 08/03/2019 20:45
- (Created: 07/27/2013 05:01).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 65 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 90 out of 100 (from 91 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from Joy Division. (Remove this filter)
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Post Punk
"I'm not afraid anymore"
For an album filled with what many would think of as an overwhelming negativity, that lines always been the one that sticks with me. Unknown Pleasures is raw in the most pure sense. Every emotion, every mood, everything appears over the course of this album.
I first found this album in 6th grade, after receiving my first ever iTunes gift card. I logged onto iTunes to buy a Beatles album, as that's all I listened to, and was shocked to see that they weren't on there. I pulled up the previews for this, as I knew it was a favorite of my dad's. It was alright, but the previews can be deceiving, so I ended up buying a "Best of ELO" instead.
Then, in 7th grade, we bought a record player that converts to MP3. For my dad's birthday, I went to record this and put it on his iPod. From the first drum strike on Disorder, I was taken by the rhythm. By the emotion. By the distortion, by the pain, by the energy.
This album is one of a select few that have, at some point in my existence, stopped me from doing anything exceedingly stupid while I was depressed. I sat down at my computer, in tears from something dumb, a fight with my mom, a breakup, a fight with a friend, etc, and wanted nothing more than to die. This album was the outlet, the release. This let all the pain I felt in my flow from my head through my earbuds into the speakers and back out as Ian's voice, as Hooky's bass, as the whole cacophony of chaos Hannett placed overtop all of it. This album is why my heart still beats.
Favorite song: Disorder. First song I learned to play on bass, and still one of my favorite bass lines to play or listen to. I've shared this story here before, but one of my closest friends and I were hanging out pretty early in our friendship, still getting to know each other, and I threw on "Disorder" on her spotify. She dropped her clothes she'd been pulling out to pack and just started dancing to the bass. That was the moment I knew I'd met a lifelong friend. Chaos should be celebrated. [First added to this chart: 07/26/2013]
"I'm not afraid anymore"
For an album filled with what many would think of as an overwhelming negativity, that lines always been the one that sticks with me. Unknown Pleasures is raw in the most pure sense. Every emotion, every mood, everything appears over the course of this album.
I first found this album in 6th grade, after receiving my first ever iTunes gift card. I logged onto iTunes to buy a Beatles album, as that's all I listened to, and was shocked to see that they weren't on there. I pulled up the previews for this, as I knew it was a favorite of my dad's. It was alright, but the previews can be deceiving, so I ended up buying a "Best of ELO" instead.
Then, in 7th grade, we bought a record player that converts to MP3. For my dad's birthday, I went to record this and put it on his iPod. From the first drum strike on Disorder, I was taken by the rhythm. By the emotion. By the distortion, by the pain, by the energy.
This album is one of a select few that have, at some point in my existence, stopped me from doing anything exceedingly stupid while I was depressed. I sat down at my computer, in tears from something dumb, a fight with my mom, a breakup, a fight with a friend, etc, and wanted nothing more than to die. This album was the outlet, the release. This let all the pain I felt in my flow from my head through my earbuds into the speakers and back out as Ian's voice, as Hooky's bass, as the whole cacophony of chaos Hannett placed overtop all of it. This album is why my heart still beats.
Favorite song: Disorder. First song I learned to play on bass, and still one of my favorite bass lines to play or listen to. I've shared this story here before, but one of my closest friends and I were hanging out pretty early in our friendship, still getting to know each other, and I threw on "Disorder" on her spotify. She dropped her clothes she'd been pulling out to pack and just started dancing to the bass. That was the moment I knew I'd met a lifelong friend. Chaos should be celebrated. [First added to this chart: 07/26/2013]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
21,884
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Post-Punk
"In the shadowplay acting out your own death"
This album had been suffering from something in my chart I could never explain - why I didn't have live albums. It didn't feel right. This has been a favorite for a little more than a year, though, as it conveys some world to itself that just doesn't show up on either of their studio releases. This creates some kind of its own world, it's angry, it's chaotic, and it's beautiful. Should've done this long ago.
Favorite song: New Dawn Fades. Something beautiful happens either in the recording or in the sound equipment and everything breaks right towards the end of this and there's something so much darker about the sound after it. It's wonderful. [First added to this chart: 07/12/2014]
"In the shadowplay acting out your own death"
This album had been suffering from something in my chart I could never explain - why I didn't have live albums. It didn't feel right. This has been a favorite for a little more than a year, though, as it conveys some world to itself that just doesn't show up on either of their studio releases. This creates some kind of its own world, it's angry, it's chaotic, and it's beautiful. Should've done this long ago.
Favorite song: New Dawn Fades. Something beautiful happens either in the recording or in the sound equipment and everything breaks right towards the end of this and there's something so much darker about the sound after it. It's wonderful. [First added to this chart: 07/12/2014]
Total albums: 2. Page 1 of 1
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 7 | 7% | |
| 1970s | 5 | 5% | |
| 1980s | 14 | 14% | |
| 1990s | 11 | 11% | |
| 2000s | 31 | 31% | |
| 2010s | 32 | 32% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Beatles | 5 | 5% | |
| The Smiths | 3 | 3% | |
| Bon Iver | 3 | 3% | |
| Milo | 2 | 2% | |
| Kendrick Lamar | 2 | 2% | |
| Hightide Hotel | 2 | 2% | |
| Joy Division | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 48 from 96th to 48th Nothing Was Missing, Except Me by Hightide Hotel |
| Up 44 from 97th to 53rd Naturally by Hightide Hotel |
| Up 36 from 79th to 43rd Electro-Shock Blues by Eels |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 14 from 66th to 80th Meat Is Murder by The Smiths |
| Down 13 from 68th to 81st The Freed Man by Sebadoh |
| Down 13 from 70th to 83rd Eyes Open by Snow Patrol |
| New entries |
|---|
| Going By by Told Slant |
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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 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 91 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 03/20/2025 14:45 |  SomethingSpecial | 1,105 | 85/100 |
| ! | 02/17/2021 06:03 |  pjohnsongolf | 272 | 89/100 |
| ! | 05/14/2020 16:53 |  Keatownrodriguez | 84 | 95/100 |
| ! | 01/28/2020 08:36 |  Liedzeit | 76 | 85/100 |
| ! | 01/28/2020 08:28 |  DommeDamian | 1,004 | 89/100 |
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 89.8/100, a mean average of 90.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 90.3/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 8.4.
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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From Keatownrodriguez 05/14/2020 16:53 | #251432
Keatownrodriguez 05/14/2020 16:53 | #251432
I knew you had a special chart, but then I saw you but the Kimi No Na Wa soundtrack, major props
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From DommeDamian 01/28/2020 08:29 | #247245
DommeDamian 01/28/2020 08:29 | #247245
Massive respect your way!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
ForegroundNoise 01/27/2020 09:47 | #247211
ForegroundNoise 01/27/2020 09:47 | #247211
Sure, I'd be lying if I said these albums were my kinda thing. And yeah, maybe it'd be nice to see a few less American albums dominating the roster. But goddamn, how can I give a chart anything less than perfect when that 'Disorder' anecdote makes me brim with joy like that?
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
Antonio-Pedro 01/13/2019 04:03 | #229615
Antonio-Pedro 01/13/2019 04:03 | #229615
Miss you Ben, hope everything is going well with life, wishing you the best <3
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Reppu1976 02/10/2018 00:42 | #207505
Nice chart!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From lobotheduck21 11/07/2017 03:09 | #200876
Good to see more appreciation of Norwegian Wood
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
JulianR 09/30/2017 08:12 | #198914
JulianR 09/30/2017 08:12 | #198914
I can tell you put effort into it, which is what really counts
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
Repo 08/21/2017 04:14 | #196439
Repo 08/21/2017 04:14 | #196439
Hey Ben! How are you doing? It's Repo. Don't know if you found that out yet or not. Anyways, love your chart as always. Great to see Tuxedo Moon still so high. Totally love your write-up for Rubber soul!! Peace, brother! Keep up the good fight.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
craola 08/20/2017 14:03 | #196389
craola 08/20/2017 14:03 | #196389
i love this chart, and i'm sorry i haven't been here before (?) not sure how that's possible?
and for as little overlap as we have, i love most of the albums here (that i've listened to).
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Steppenwolf666 05/18/2017 16:20 | #191013
Very interesting, I must investigate some of this stuff.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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