Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by 
9999 
A work in progress.
- Chart updated: 08/30/2020 00:15
- (Created: 07/10/2009 04:08).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 41 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 88 out of 100 (from 89 votes). Please log in or create an account to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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What happens when you take a group of super talented singer-songwriters at their artistic peak and assemble them while they're dealing with emotional turmoil that involves the crumbling of their interpersonal relationships? You get pop-rock perfection. That is Rumours. Catchy as hell, engaging, at times sad and angry, at times tender and hopeful, and packed with consistently beautiful melodies and vocal performances, Rumours is an album that is impossible to dislike. An easy on the ears but still deep and resonant masterpiece.
Favourite track: Dreams [First added to this chart: 06/06/2011]
Favourite track: Dreams [First added to this chart: 06/06/2011]
Year of Release:
1977
Appears in:
Rank Score:
29,149
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Blue occupies a special place in my heart, for personal reasons. It's been with me for years by now, carved into my soul like a nostalgic memory. No matter how many new records fall into my hands, how many complex arrangements, existential lyrics and powerful vocals I hear, I always come back to Joni Mitchell's haunting piano pieces, to her intricate guitar playing, broken-hearted voice and raw, painfully honest songwriting.
Favourite track: Blue [First added to this chart: 11/16/2010]
Favourite track: Blue [First added to this chart: 11/16/2010]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
15,245
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Ziggy is theatrical and over-the-top as only the best glam rock can be, but it's also cerebral and ambitious in its thematic choices. On top of that, it's a masterclass in music production and sounds light years ahead everything released during its time. I mean, this is Bowie we're talking about. He's probably the best solo act of all time, in my humble opinion, and Ziggy is his best work. Every single song is pure gold.
Favourite track: Moonage daydream [First added to this chart: 06/10/2011]
Favourite track: Moonage daydream [First added to this chart: 06/10/2011]
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
40,520
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My favourite record from the 90s, hands down. Most of the chord progressions are pretty generic, but the choices in instrumentation are supremely original and textured and the effortless blend of noise and folk gives the songs a very distinctive sound. The lyrics are gorgeous and unbelievably heartbreaking and bittersweet. I get that Jeff Mangum's voice is an acquired taste, but I find it very powerful and emotional. The album as a whole is a musical wonder that never ceases to amaze me.
Favourite track: In the aeroplane over the sea [First added to this chart: 11/16/2010]
Favourite track: In the aeroplane over the sea [First added to this chart: 11/16/2010]
Year of Release:
1998
Appears in:
Rank Score:
29,714
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Is it too soon to call K-Dot's masterpiece the best rap album of all time? I don't think so. No rap album has ever been this big. The ammount of talent put together in To pimp a butterfly is undeniable. Vocal delivery, lyricism, instrumentation, production, you name it. This album excels at everything. Not to mention the huge thematic scope and how tightly every single track works and ties perfectly to the next. So yes, To pimp a butterfly is definitely in the conversation for best rap album ever released.
Favourite track: King Kunta [First added to this chart: 03/25/2015]
Favourite track: King Kunta [First added to this chart: 03/25/2015]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
28,871
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Pink Floyd played in a league of their own during the 70s, and Wish you were here is, in my opinion, their best effort by a mile. There is no filler here. Each one of the five tracks that make the album is outstanding, and the instrumentation is out of this world.
Favourite track: Wish you were here [First added to this chart: 11/16/2010]
Favourite track: Wish you were here [First added to this chart: 11/16/2010]
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
41,579
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Animal Collective may be my favourite band from the 2000s, and this album is the perfect blend of Avey Tare's wacky eccentricity and Panda Bear's Beachboyesque vocal harmonies. It's full of ambitious tracks, and I love the way every one of them evolve. As many times as I've heard Merriweather Post Pavilion, I always find something hidden beneath the multiple layers of production that I hadn't notice before. It's also pretty catchy once you give it a chance. Anyway, for me it's definitely AC's best record yet.
Favourite track: Brother sport [First added to this chart: 09/10/2013]
Favourite track: Brother sport [First added to this chart: 09/10/2013]
Year of Release:
2009
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,693
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This album is big. Everything in it shows greatness. The masterful introduction to each song, Springsteen's passionate and touching vocal delivery, the quality of the lyrics, the Spector-influenced production... Absolutely everything works together to bring to life an incredibly potent moving musical experiences I've ever listened. Love, betrayal, dreams, the search for a better future, the disillusionment in post-Korean-War America... Born to run encapsulates a moment in time, and it does it in the best way possible.
Favourite track: Thunder road [First added to this chart: 11/16/2010]
Favourite track: Thunder road [First added to this chart: 11/16/2010]
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
14,266
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I'm very happy that this record is getting more recognition lately, because it was criminally overlooked for a long time. It took me a while to discover it, and I was completely blown away by its beauty. Seriously, it's almost overwhelming how gorgeous this record is. It's not the solid songwriting, it's not the good vocal performances, it's not even the lovely melodies. It's the sound. This album SOUNDS like nothing else. No other record from the nineties sounds like Souvlaki. Not even Slowdive could recapture the magic in their following projects, which, if you ask me, are far from being great. Souvlaki is an anomaly, but it exists nonetheless. And thank God it does.
Favourite track: Machine gun [First added to this chart: 08/18/2015]
Favourite track: Machine gun [First added to this chart: 08/18/2015]
Year of Release:
1993
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,372
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What can I say about The Beatles that hasn't been said a thousand times already? They are the biggest legends in modern music, and for good reason. While I'm not a huge fan of their pre-1965 output, the run from Help! onwards is pure genius, and it all culminates in this record. Abbey Road is their masterpiece, if you ask me, and I almost wish they had never released Let it be so they had gone out with a bang.
Favourite track: Come together [First added to this chart: 11/16/2010]
Favourite track: Come together [First added to this chart: 11/16/2010]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
53,572
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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 | 1 | 1% | |
| 1960s | 8 | 8% | |
| 1970s | 19 | 19% | |
| 1980s | 9 | 9% | |
| 1990s | 16 | 16% | |
| 2000s | 19 | 19% | |
| 2010s | 28 | 28% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Beatles | 3 | 3% | |
| David Bowie | 3 | 3% | |
| Pink Floyd | 2 | 2% | |
| Animal Collective | 2 | 2% | |
| Fiona Apple | 2 | 2% | |
| Kate Bush | 2 | 2% | |
| Brockhampton | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| |
53 | 53% | |
 |
29 | 29% | |
 |
5 | 5% | |
| |
4 | 4% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
Up 44 from 76th to 32nd |
Up 41 from 70th to 29th |
Up 35 from 57th to 22nd |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
Down 53 from 24th to 77th |
Down 39 from 16th to 55th |
Down 38 from 55th to 93rd |
| New entries |
|---|
| Leavers |
|---|
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| Going With My Gut: The Overall Chart Top 100 Re-ranked |  CharlieBarley | Custom chart | 2024 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | Jamie | Overall chart | 2021 | |
| BEA Top 100 Reorganized According To My Taste | bonnequestion | Custom chart | 2026 | |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similarity to your chart(s)
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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 89 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 03/20/2025 22:27 |  SomethingSpecial | 1,089 | 86/100 |
| ! | 10/24/2021 16:26 |  Goliath | 352 | 86/100 |
| ! | 06/28/2021 11:41 |  Cytoma | 170 | 90/100 |
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 12% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 87.7/100, a mean average of 86.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 87.9/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 11.8.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums forum mentions
This chart has been referenced 8 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From 
BestEverAlbums 06/26/2021 08:00 in Chart of the day (#3532): By 9999
BestEverAlbums 06/26/2021 08:00 in Chart of the day (#3532): By 9999“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by 9999 () 1. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac (1977) 2. Blue by Joni Mitchell (1971) 3. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars by David Bowie (1972) 4. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel (1998) 5. To Pimp A…”
View forum post →From BestEverAlbums 04/20/2019 08:00 in Chart of the day (#2736): By 9999
BestEverAlbums 04/20/2019 08:00 in Chart of the day (#2736): By 9999“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by 9999 () 1. Blue by Joni Mitchell (1971) 2. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel (1998) 3. Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen (1975) 4. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac (1977) 5. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From…”
View forum post →From BestEverAlbums 01/08/2017 09:00 in Chart of the day (#1909): By 9999
BestEverAlbums 01/08/2017 09:00 in Chart of the day (#1909): By 9999“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by 9999 () 1. Blue by Joni Mitchell (1971) 2. Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen (1975) 3. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel (1998) 4. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars by David Bowie (1972) 5.…”
View forum post →Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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From
PeterSmith 10/26/2018 21:48 | #223361
Hola, I really like your chart. It is a really good mix of decades and genres. I recognised and have many of the albums and on many occasions have similar favourite tracks you mention and equally also don't love some you call out.
I especially love your comments throughout and I actually read them all because they were so interesting and personal.
Unfortunately I am struggling with your number 1 - it's just not landing with me (yet?).
There are a number I have on my list for later listening and I'll come back later to check some of your other picks that I don't know.
Given some of your choices I was maybe a little surprised that Bon Iver never made it - but hey there is only room for 100. But if you haven't heard them give them a listen especially For Emma Forever Ago. You might also like Sigur Ros - very ethereal and electronic.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 1
From
CharlieBarley 01/08/2017 16:55 | #182035
CharlieBarley 01/08/2017 16:55 | #182035
29 albums in common! I have given you 100% even though there is one album I don't like - Wilco - but I have only heard it twice and that's a bit early to judge then dismiss an album. The rest of your choices are excellent. You clearly have a love for music and you have a very eclectic taste. There are one or 2 to check out especially the Spanish artists and I will. I have always loved Spanish guitar, like the classical music artists Rodrigo and Villa-Lobos. And one of my fave songs of all time features a Spanish-sounding guitar: Make Me Smile by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel. Overall, mate, a fantastic chart. And your notes are enlightening and fun and a pleasure to read. Considering they are not even in your native tongue that is quite an achievement!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 1
From
replacementlevel 08/31/2013 02:09 | #84846
I'm surprised how few lists here have "Blue" at the top. Good stuff.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 2
From
hahol 01/08/2017 22:34 | #182056
Eclectic chart. Joni at the top is just awesome. Great comments too.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 2
From
dihansse 06/14/2016 16:40 | #168685
dihansse 06/14/2016 16:40 | #168685
This chart is just great with fantastic personal comments. It is also always interesting to be introduced to albums which are not part of the non anglo-Saxon canon so I will certainly check out some of them.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 1
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