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.
View the complete list of 57,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from the 1990s. (Remove this filter)
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Grunge
"All in all is all we are"
I think this would possibly be where Nevermind was if I found it sooner. There's a lot of more introspective tunes on here as opposed to Nevermind - their albums kind of followed a pattern of "I hate everything", "I hate everything around me", "I hate myself", and this is a really interesting look at that, especially given what happened to Kurt in the end.
Favorite song: "Dumb". It's simple, it decays, but damn does it hit. [First added to this chart: 07/26/2013]
"All in all is all we are"
I think this would possibly be where Nevermind was if I found it sooner. There's a lot of more introspective tunes on here as opposed to Nevermind - their albums kind of followed a pattern of "I hate everything", "I hate everything around me", "I hate myself", and this is a really interesting look at that, especially given what happened to Kurt in the end.
Favorite song: "Dumb". It's simple, it decays, but damn does it hit. [First added to this chart: 07/26/2013]
Year of Release:
1993
Appears in:
Rank Score:
17,575
Rank in 1993:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Lo-fi Folk
"The potential you'll be
You'll never see
Promises you'll only make"
It's hard not to like at least one Elliott Smith song. Even the pop radio oriented friends I have, or those that really hate folk, I can find at least a song to show them. This album has it's fun moments, of course, but there's a certain weight to everything here that's just always clicked with me since I first found it. Don't think I knew him before joining the site, so thanks BEA.
Favorite song: It's an incredibly hard chance, but I'll pick "Angeles". Hauntingly gorgeous. [First added to this chart: 02/23/2014]
"The potential you'll be
You'll never see
Promises you'll only make"
It's hard not to like at least one Elliott Smith song. Even the pop radio oriented friends I have, or those that really hate folk, I can find at least a song to show them. This album has it's fun moments, of course, but there's a certain weight to everything here that's just always clicked with me since I first found it. Don't think I knew him before joining the site, so thanks BEA.
Favorite song: It's an incredibly hard chance, but I'll pick "Angeles". Hauntingly gorgeous. [First added to this chart: 02/23/2014]
Year of Release:
1997
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,405
Rank in 1997:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
22. (=)
Safe Mode: On Certain images on this site may contain sensitive content and are flagged as 'unsafe'. BestEverAlbums.com does not display these images by default, but you may choose to show or hide these images from your profile page. If you choose to hide these images, you'll see an image with a warning message instead of the actual image. If you choose to show them, you'll see these images no differently than regular (safe) images.
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Grunge
"I'm so ugly
But it's OK
Cuz so are you"
That lyric might actually best sum up the album and the whole grunge movement. This keeps an angst to it while also keeping a power in itself, and I think that's why I like this so much more than most grunge. And it's not solely grunge, either, there's other influences coming in clearly here. I've never quite been able to put my finger on why I like this album so much, so it's hard to write about, but I think it really is in that anger and angst and power all intertwined and none overexploited.
Favorite song: In Bloom. There was a very interesting feel to this one. Nevermind was my transition out of Beatles/Stones/Kinks/etc music and into more modern things. In Bloom was almost like the Kinks, The Beatles, and the Stones collaborated in some new genre. And I liked it. [First added to this chart: 07/26/2013]
"I'm so ugly
But it's OK
Cuz so are you"
That lyric might actually best sum up the album and the whole grunge movement. This keeps an angst to it while also keeping a power in itself, and I think that's why I like this so much more than most grunge. And it's not solely grunge, either, there's other influences coming in clearly here. I've never quite been able to put my finger on why I like this album so much, so it's hard to write about, but I think it really is in that anger and angst and power all intertwined and none overexploited.
Favorite song: In Bloom. There was a very interesting feel to this one. Nevermind was my transition out of Beatles/Stones/Kinks/etc music and into more modern things. In Bloom was almost like the Kinks, The Beatles, and the Stones collaborated in some new genre. And I liked it. [First added to this chart: 07/26/2013]
Year of Release:
1991
Appears in:
Rank Score:
37,838
Rank in 1991:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Hip Hop
[First added to this chart: 01/16/2016]
Year of Release:
1991
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,262
Rank in 1991:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 11/17/2017]
Year of Release:
1998
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,436
Rank in 1998:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Hip Hop
[First added to this chart: 01/16/2016]
Year of Release:
1998
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,408
Rank in 1998:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 07/26/2013]
Year of Release:
1991
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,235
Rank in 1991:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Alternative Rock
"Nightswimming deserves a quiet night" [First added to this chart: 07/26/2013]
"Nightswimming deserves a quiet night" [First added to this chart: 07/26/2013]
Year of Release:
1992
Appears in:
Rank Score:
19,166
Rank in 1992:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Slowcore
[First added to this chart: 01/16/2016]
Year of Release:
1994
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,517
Rank in 1994:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Alternative Rock
[First added to this chart: 08/13/2013]
Year of Release:
1997
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,248
Rank in 1997:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 11. Page 1 of 2
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 | 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 |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 74 Music Albums of the 2000s | benpaco | 2000s decade chart | 2016 | |
| My Top 100 Greatest Albums of All Time (One Album Per Artist) | Rm12398 | Custom chart | 2023 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | FlapJackJoey | Overall chart | 2025 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | tim0505 | Overall chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | elton229 | Overall chart | 2023 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | Mannyb | Overall chart | 2021 | |
| BEA's Top 100 re-ranked |  EyeKanFly | Custom chart | 2020 | |
| Overall for yours truly |  RoundTheBend | Custom chart | 2020 | |
| Rearrange Top 100 |  Larcx13 | Custom chart | 2020 |  |
| BEA's Top 100 - The Correct Order |  babyBlueSedan | Custom chart | 2020 | |
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 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
Showing all 16 members who have added this chart as a favourite
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 65 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 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)
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.
