Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by 
babyBlueSedan 
My favorite albums, or "The 100 albums I'd keep if iTunes had a capacity of 100 albums."
The theme of this update, as with the past couple, is upheaval. Every time I update this I claim to be moving new favorite up higher while still stubbornly putting albums I used to love but never listen to anymore near the top. I won't know for sure if I've been more successful this time around until I update this again. But I hope that this current iteration shook things up a bit and added a bit more variety, even if that variety is in the form of albums most people have heard of. I've tried to include as many artists and genres where possible, partially because I want to appear more interesting than I actually am, but in the end this is still very rock and pop oriented. In particular, this iteration makes obvious my current love of plaintive folk/singer-songwriter stuff.
I've also relaxed my artist limits just a bit to highlight the artists I really love, but I still couldn't include everything I wanted because spots are so limited. In some cases I decided what to include based on what I wanted to write about. I recommend checking out my decade charts for more deep cuts.
Also, I appreciate all the kind and generous comments - they're my main motivation for updating this every couple years or so.
- Chart updated: 05/30/2020 02:15
- (Created: 07/31/2013 04:33).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 98 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 94 out of 100 (from 149 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 Sufjan Stevens. (Remove this filter)
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Like walking into a museum where all of the exhibits are about you
My most moving listen to this album didn't happen in Illinois. It happened in Maine, as my family was driving through the pine forests on a rainy afternoon. At that point I was familiar with all the ins and outs of the album, from the "real" songs to the interludes and the songs that are kind of in between. I knew when I'd feel overwhelming joy and when I'd have to hold back my tears. But as we'd been driving for a while our conversation had died down and I was left to focus on the music perhaps moreso than ever. And for some reason it was on that listen that I realized how deep the instrumental pieces on this album are, and how indebted to minimalism they are. And for some reason, that was the final piece of the puzzle for my enjoyment of Illinois. It's pretty silly really. Illinois already had two of my three favorite Sufjan Stevens songs. It already had enough instruments and beautiful moments to fill up more than a full album of material. But I guess getting moved by even what seems like the mortar that holds the bricks of the album together was what convinced me that the entire thing is perfect.
I can't imagine picking up this album without knowing anything about it and trying to figure out what to expect. I mean, look at those song titles. The second song has three titles that are three times as long as your typical song title. There are song titles that take longer to scroll by on your iPod than for the song to play. And those song titles are only the first hint at the absolute excess of this album. The thing is ridiculously long. It led to Stevens joking that he would make 50 albums, each dedicated to one of the 50 states, which is an impossible project. When you finally do hit play on this, you'll discover that there are not one, not two, but three opening tracks. The first track is really track -1, a short little preview of what's to come, like the trailer to a movie. Track two is really track zero, an instrumental that feels like a fanfare for the play that we're about to see. And then finally comes "Come On Feel the Illinoise," the real opening song. You know it's an opening song because it sounds like an opening song. And it starts like five minutes into the album. And like many of these songs, it's drowned in instruments, in this case horns. The orchestration on this album actually took me a while to get into, because I thought the tracks needed some room to breath. But I was so, so wrong. From the strings on "Predatory Wasp" to the banjo and concertina(?) on "Decatur," these songs need those flourishes and accents to reach greatness. The album needs a four minute closing track that, like the one before it, feels like riffs on variations on a single note. It needs every extra note and backing vocal that was crammed into it.
But more than anything, it needs the quiet moments. The ones that really are just a guitar and Stevens's voice. Because those are the ones that take all the joy, all the celebrating, and make it human. Stevens has always been a very personal writer, and that continues here despite the framing of the album as being about the state of Illinois. These songs sprout up as tidbits of Illinois history, but they grow and flower into so much more. The first tear-jerking moment on the album is "John Wayne Gacy Jr," where Stevens contemplates the horrible things Gacy did while wondering how much of those evil urges are inside of all of us. He sings fairly nonchalantly, not allowing himself to be moved by the horrors within, until he shivers "Oh my God" in a way that will chill your bones. Later on Stevens charts moments of life's journey, recalling his simultaneous feelings of fear and liberation as he grew up on "Chicago" and not knowing what to make of past relationships on "Predatory Wasp" (a song I could write much more about if I let this summary go completely off the rails). And most important of all, there's the album's centerpiece. "Casimir Pulaski Day" is not only the starkest song on the album but also the song that's most disconnected from the Illinois lore that birthed it. I don't find most of Stevens's musings on God and religion too relatable to my own life, but this one is too beautiful to ignore even if you're an atheist to your core. Stevens sings about a childhood friend dying of cancer, recalling how guilty her father felt and how he didn't know how to express his feelings for her given her short time on Earth. He seeks refuge in God, hoping that He will save her, but: "Tuesday night at the Bible study, we lift our hands and pray over your body, but nothing ever happens." This isn't a song about God saving the day. It's a song about God doing nothing and needing to figure out how to keep your faith afterwards. It's the epitome of despair, a song I can't listen to - and can barely think about - without crying. It's completely removed from the joy and hope that fills the rest of the album. But like those instrumentals that communicate both anticipation and uncertainty, it's part of the glue that holds this album together and helps to make it what it is.
It's also one of the only times I've thought an artist was being cruel to their listeners. I mean really: "In the morning in the winter shade, on the 1st of March on the holiday, I thought I saw you breathing." Sufjan, are you trying to hurt us? [First added to this chart: 05/29/2020]
My most moving listen to this album didn't happen in Illinois. It happened in Maine, as my family was driving through the pine forests on a rainy afternoon. At that point I was familiar with all the ins and outs of the album, from the "real" songs to the interludes and the songs that are kind of in between. I knew when I'd feel overwhelming joy and when I'd have to hold back my tears. But as we'd been driving for a while our conversation had died down and I was left to focus on the music perhaps moreso than ever. And for some reason it was on that listen that I realized how deep the instrumental pieces on this album are, and how indebted to minimalism they are. And for some reason, that was the final piece of the puzzle for my enjoyment of Illinois. It's pretty silly really. Illinois already had two of my three favorite Sufjan Stevens songs. It already had enough instruments and beautiful moments to fill up more than a full album of material. But I guess getting moved by even what seems like the mortar that holds the bricks of the album together was what convinced me that the entire thing is perfect.
I can't imagine picking up this album without knowing anything about it and trying to figure out what to expect. I mean, look at those song titles. The second song has three titles that are three times as long as your typical song title. There are song titles that take longer to scroll by on your iPod than for the song to play. And those song titles are only the first hint at the absolute excess of this album. The thing is ridiculously long. It led to Stevens joking that he would make 50 albums, each dedicated to one of the 50 states, which is an impossible project. When you finally do hit play on this, you'll discover that there are not one, not two, but three opening tracks. The first track is really track -1, a short little preview of what's to come, like the trailer to a movie. Track two is really track zero, an instrumental that feels like a fanfare for the play that we're about to see. And then finally comes "Come On Feel the Illinoise," the real opening song. You know it's an opening song because it sounds like an opening song. And it starts like five minutes into the album. And like many of these songs, it's drowned in instruments, in this case horns. The orchestration on this album actually took me a while to get into, because I thought the tracks needed some room to breath. But I was so, so wrong. From the strings on "Predatory Wasp" to the banjo and concertina(?) on "Decatur," these songs need those flourishes and accents to reach greatness. The album needs a four minute closing track that, like the one before it, feels like riffs on variations on a single note. It needs every extra note and backing vocal that was crammed into it.
But more than anything, it needs the quiet moments. The ones that really are just a guitar and Stevens's voice. Because those are the ones that take all the joy, all the celebrating, and make it human. Stevens has always been a very personal writer, and that continues here despite the framing of the album as being about the state of Illinois. These songs sprout up as tidbits of Illinois history, but they grow and flower into so much more. The first tear-jerking moment on the album is "John Wayne Gacy Jr," where Stevens contemplates the horrible things Gacy did while wondering how much of those evil urges are inside of all of us. He sings fairly nonchalantly, not allowing himself to be moved by the horrors within, until he shivers "Oh my God" in a way that will chill your bones. Later on Stevens charts moments of life's journey, recalling his simultaneous feelings of fear and liberation as he grew up on "Chicago" and not knowing what to make of past relationships on "Predatory Wasp" (a song I could write much more about if I let this summary go completely off the rails). And most important of all, there's the album's centerpiece. "Casimir Pulaski Day" is not only the starkest song on the album but also the song that's most disconnected from the Illinois lore that birthed it. I don't find most of Stevens's musings on God and religion too relatable to my own life, but this one is too beautiful to ignore even if you're an atheist to your core. Stevens sings about a childhood friend dying of cancer, recalling how guilty her father felt and how he didn't know how to express his feelings for her given her short time on Earth. He seeks refuge in God, hoping that He will save her, but: "Tuesday night at the Bible study, we lift our hands and pray over your body, but nothing ever happens." This isn't a song about God saving the day. It's a song about God doing nothing and needing to figure out how to keep your faith afterwards. It's the epitome of despair, a song I can't listen to - and can barely think about - without crying. It's completely removed from the joy and hope that fills the rest of the album. But like those instrumentals that communicate both anticipation and uncertainty, it's part of the glue that holds this album together and helps to make it what it is.
It's also one of the only times I've thought an artist was being cruel to their listeners. I mean really: "In the morning in the winter shade, on the 1st of March on the holiday, I thought I saw you breathing." Sufjan, are you trying to hurt us? [First added to this chart: 05/29/2020]
Year of Release:
2005
Appears in:
Rank Score:
23,080
Rank in 2005:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
166
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Like walking into your mother's funeral
Sorry, that was too easy. Like walking into an empty house after a relative's death and seeing their wedding picture on the mantle
Sufjan Stevens has tried a lot of different styles. He's made orchestral, state-themed albums, electronic folk albums, soundtracks, and an album of electronic noise. And somehow despite it all, he never loses that human touch; his sensitive, whispered vocals add a type of grace to even the most abrasive tracks on the Age of Adz. Despite this, I still think he's at his best when he strips all the unnecessary noise away and creates sparse, somber folk like this.
From the first song it's clear that this is an album about confusion and loss. The album is of course named after his mother and stepfather and deals primarily with his mother's death. But it is not a sorrowful album; confusion and uncertainty are the primary emotions here. There is of course a lot of sadness, but the album finds Stevens exploring his relationship with his mother and with death more than it finds him longing for her. In an interesting way this turns the album into an album about Stevens rather than his mother.
Stevens has always been a private person - there's not a lot of autobiographical information in most of his songs and those that seem to be about him are often incredibly abstract and dense (thinking "Predatory Wasp" and "Dress Looks Nice On You" here). But this album finds him exposing himself more than ever before. On "All Of Me Wants All Of You" he mentions masterbating while his mother was home, and "Eugene" finds him talking about growing up with his stepfather (who called him Subaru because he couldn't pronounce his name). On "The Only Thing" he ponders suicide as a way to escape from his grief ("the only thing that keeps me from cutting my arms - cross-hatch, warm bath, Holiday Inn after dark") and on "No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross" the usually clean Stevens mutters "fuck me I'm falling apart". And as usual, Stevens faith plays a large role in the albums. Turns out The Only Thing that keeps Stevens afloat is his faith, and the Subaru part of "Eugene" is particularly beautiful when taken in the context of his stepfather metaphorically baptizing him when he gives him his new name.
But it would be amiss to end this review without mentioning "Fourth Of July," the heaviest song on this album by a long shot. It's difficult for me to even write about this song without tearing up. I think lyrically it's the best song Stevens has written - it's written as a conversation between him and his mother as they call each other names like "my little loon" and "my firefly." And it's on this song that he confronts his mother's death most directly:
"Did you get enough love, my little dove, why do you cry?"
"The hospital asked should the body be cast before I say goodbye, my star in the sky. Such a funny thought to wrap you up in cloth does it suit you alright my firefly?"
(for the record I teared up while typing that second one)
And of course the refrain of "we're all gonna die" makes it pretty bleak. I saw Stevens perform at Eaux Claires, and after this song he sat pounding on his piano for literally over two minutes yelling "we're all gonna die" and it was heartbreaking. It's rare that an album can be such a clear window into an artist's soul, but this one is. [First added to this chart: 08/16/2015]
Sorry, that was too easy. Like walking into an empty house after a relative's death and seeing their wedding picture on the mantle
Sufjan Stevens has tried a lot of different styles. He's made orchestral, state-themed albums, electronic folk albums, soundtracks, and an album of electronic noise. And somehow despite it all, he never loses that human touch; his sensitive, whispered vocals add a type of grace to even the most abrasive tracks on the Age of Adz. Despite this, I still think he's at his best when he strips all the unnecessary noise away and creates sparse, somber folk like this.
From the first song it's clear that this is an album about confusion and loss. The album is of course named after his mother and stepfather and deals primarily with his mother's death. But it is not a sorrowful album; confusion and uncertainty are the primary emotions here. There is of course a lot of sadness, but the album finds Stevens exploring his relationship with his mother and with death more than it finds him longing for her. In an interesting way this turns the album into an album about Stevens rather than his mother.
Stevens has always been a private person - there's not a lot of autobiographical information in most of his songs and those that seem to be about him are often incredibly abstract and dense (thinking "Predatory Wasp" and "Dress Looks Nice On You" here). But this album finds him exposing himself more than ever before. On "All Of Me Wants All Of You" he mentions masterbating while his mother was home, and "Eugene" finds him talking about growing up with his stepfather (who called him Subaru because he couldn't pronounce his name). On "The Only Thing" he ponders suicide as a way to escape from his grief ("the only thing that keeps me from cutting my arms - cross-hatch, warm bath, Holiday Inn after dark") and on "No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross" the usually clean Stevens mutters "fuck me I'm falling apart". And as usual, Stevens faith plays a large role in the albums. Turns out The Only Thing that keeps Stevens afloat is his faith, and the Subaru part of "Eugene" is particularly beautiful when taken in the context of his stepfather metaphorically baptizing him when he gives him his new name.
But it would be amiss to end this review without mentioning "Fourth Of July," the heaviest song on this album by a long shot. It's difficult for me to even write about this song without tearing up. I think lyrically it's the best song Stevens has written - it's written as a conversation between him and his mother as they call each other names like "my little loon" and "my firefly." And it's on this song that he confronts his mother's death most directly:
"Did you get enough love, my little dove, why do you cry?"
"The hospital asked should the body be cast before I say goodbye, my star in the sky. Such a funny thought to wrap you up in cloth does it suit you alright my firefly?"
(for the record I teared up while typing that second one)
And of course the refrain of "we're all gonna die" makes it pretty bleak. I saw Stevens perform at Eaux Claires, and after this song he sat pounding on his piano for literally over two minutes yelling "we're all gonna die" and it was heartbreaking. It's rare that an album can be such a clear window into an artist's soul, but this one is. [First added to this chart: 08/16/2015]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
18,391
Rank in 2015:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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 | 4 | 4% | |
| 1970s | 9 | 9% | |
| 1980s | 8 | 8% | |
| 1990s | 23 | 23% | |
| 2000s | 28 | 28% | |
| 2010s | 28 | 28% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Modest Mouse | 3 | 3% | |
| Kanye West | 2 | 2% | |
| Songs: Ohia | 2 | 2% | |
| Sufjan Stevens | 2 | 2% | |
| Kendrick Lamar | 2 | 2% | |
| American Football | 1 | 1% | |
| Aesop Rock | 1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 44 from 79th to 35th E•MO•TION by Carly Rae Jepsen |
| Up 35 from 45th to 10th Songs About Leaving by Carissa's Wierd |
| Up 29 from 76th to 47th The Glow Pt. 2 by The Microphones |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 32 from 57th to 89th Dig Me Out by Sleater-Kinney |
| Down 29 from 26th to 55th The Suburbs by Arcade Fire |
| Down 29 from 52nd to 81st Crack The Skye by Mastodon |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
94/100 (from 149 votes)
where:
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 149 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
90/100  | 01/16/2023 22:04 | Johnnyo | | 80/100 |
90/100 | 05/21/2022 09:11 |  Timestarter | | 90/100 |
 100/100 | 09/11/2021 15:03 |  AvalancheGrips | | 89/100 |
95/100 | 08/31/2021 21:02 | leniad | | 85/100 |
100/100 | 04/28/2021 09:45 |  DriftingOrpheus | | 91/100 |
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 1% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 93.6/100, a mean average of 93.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 94.1/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 7.6.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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90/100
From Johnnyo 01/16/2023 22:05
Great chart and the work that has gone into each entry. Wow! Brilliant stuff
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From leniad 08/31/2021 21:02
good writing and good taste
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From weyesgroove 09/29/2020 16:32
cool chart man. love the descriptions.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
Keatownrodriguez 10/28/2019 21:19
Keatownrodriguez 10/28/2019 21:19
Any chart with this much time put into it is so cool to me
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From pctrooper 10/04/2019 19:23
These notes are so detailed and helpful for advocating your choices. You must really know how to listen to music and listen to it hard. Great albums, too.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From eharrell 07/24/2019 00:02
Best Chart ever
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From tk421ucopy 07/23/2019 19:24
incredible. you have a different taste in music, but wow these descriptions are prime
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
DommeDamian 07/23/2019 12:00
DommeDamian 07/23/2019 12:00
Is there a limit of how much inspiration, this chart can give?
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From xXhermitXx 10/18/2018 04:05
Holy crap what a chart, have a bunch in common with me and a whole list of new ones to check out, i also loved your descriptions.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
jdenny2018 10/18/2018 01:19
jdenny2018 10/18/2018 01:19
This is one of the most amazing things I've ever read
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.