Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by 
NickVolos 
There is so much great music, it is impossible to fit it all in a 100-entry chart.
Not only that, but it is also impossible to rank your favorite 100 records too - they are your best 100 albums after all.
This is an attempt to chart my taste in strictly rock 'n' roll music as it stands today after 35+ years of actively listening to it. In this attempt I was "forced" to leave out many of my favorites in order to:
1) List one album per artist,
2) "Promote" less known but equably great (to me) albums, and
3) Produce a chart that is equally distributed from the 60's to 10's.
In the process I am using a simple ranking algorithm, for which I posted about, because I still believe that if an album has many great songs, well, that makes it a great album.
- Chart updated: 03/21/2015 12:15
- (Created: 10/02/2013 06:10).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 61 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 91 out of 100 (from 86 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 the 1980s. (Remove this filter)
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The dirty secret behind the vast majority of Lost! Unheard! Masterpieces! is that the back story is almost always far more interesting than the music itself. Certainly that would appear to be the case with Bobb Trimble, an almost unknown singer/songwriter from blue-collar Worcester, MA, whose two albums' worth of surreal acid folk could not have been more out of step with their new wave times. Iron Curtain Innocence was originally released in a tiny vinyl pressing of between 300 and 500 copies and featured a disquieting cover image of the moon-faced Trimble sitting in front of a Sears Portrait Studio-style class photo backdrop, blankly holding both a guitar and a submachine gun, and everything about the album has an air of "that boy ain't right." Another major part of the Trimble legend -- that his live backing group, the Kidds, had an average age somewhere south of adolescence and was broken up by suspicious parents who didn't like this weird guy hanging around their children -- gives rise to darker mutterings and unsupported conjectures that have little to do with the music, and that's what it really boils down to: obscurantist cult records almost never have anything to do with the music, which almost invariably turns out to be considerably less interesting when listened to on its own merits.
Almost, that is. Because as it turns out, Iron Curtain Innocence turns out to be a really good piece of lo-fi psychedelia. In particular, the outstanding first three tracks, "Glass Menagerie Fantasies," "Night at the Asylum," and "When the Raven Calls," are an increasingly disturbing trilogy blending the druggy atmosphere of Pink Floyd's first few post-Syd Barrett albums, the gentle acoustic side of late-era Beatles, and some lo-fi synthesizers and tape loops, culminating in the disquieting climax of the epic "When the Raven Calls." Though the rest of the brief album doesn't quite live up to its outstanding first half, "Killed at the Hands of an Unknown Rock Starr" features some fine space rock guitar noodling and one of the helium-pitched Trimble's most assertive lead vocals, and "Through My Eyes (Hopeless as Hell: D.O.A.)" makes good use of backwards tapes and hand percussion. (allmusic)
Rank Score: 94.38% [First added to this chart: 04/12/2014]
Almost, that is. Because as it turns out, Iron Curtain Innocence turns out to be a really good piece of lo-fi psychedelia. In particular, the outstanding first three tracks, "Glass Menagerie Fantasies," "Night at the Asylum," and "When the Raven Calls," are an increasingly disturbing trilogy blending the druggy atmosphere of Pink Floyd's first few post-Syd Barrett albums, the gentle acoustic side of late-era Beatles, and some lo-fi synthesizers and tape loops, culminating in the disquieting climax of the epic "When the Raven Calls." Though the rest of the brief album doesn't quite live up to its outstanding first half, "Killed at the Hands of an Unknown Rock Starr" features some fine space rock guitar noodling and one of the helium-pitched Trimble's most assertive lead vocals, and "Through My Eyes (Hopeless as Hell: D.O.A.)" makes good use of backwards tapes and hand percussion. (allmusic)
Rank Score: 94.38% [First added to this chart: 04/12/2014]
4
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Rank Score: 92.78%
[First added to this chart: 03/28/2014]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,604
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Rank Score: 92.00%
[First added to this chart: 11/04/2013]
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
35,094
Rank in 1986:
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Overall Rank:
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Comments:
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Rank Score: 91.67%
[First added to this chart: 03/27/2014]
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
657
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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Rank Score: 91.67%
[First added to this chart: 11/17/2013]
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,373
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Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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Rank Score: 91.43%
[First added to this chart: 01/16/2014]
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,784
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Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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Rank Score: 91.25%
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2013]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
28,562
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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Rank Score: 91.00%
[First added to this chart: 11/17/2013]
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,816
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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Rank Score: 91.00%
[First added to this chart: 11/18/2013]
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,074
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Rank Score: 91.00%
[First added to this chart: 11/17/2013]
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
32,897
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 18. Page 1 of 2
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 20 | 20% | |
| 1970s | 20 | 20% | |
| 1980s | 18 | 18% | |
| 1990s | 20 | 20% | |
| 2000s | 18 | 18% | |
| 2010s | 4 | 4% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Sufjan Stevens | 1 | 1% | |
| Minutemen | 1 | 1% | |
| The Doors | 1 | 1% | |
| The National | 1 | 1% | |
| Unwound | 1 | 1% | |
| Green On Red | 1 | 1% | |
| Dadawah | 1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
59 | 59% | |
 |
25 | 25% | |
 |
5 | 5% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 1 from 72nd to 73rd On The Beach by Neil Young |
| Down 1 from 73rd to 74th Phantasmagoria by Curved Air |
| Down 1 from 74th to 75th Perfect From Now On by Built To Spill |
| New entries |
|---|
 How I Quit Smokingby Lambchop |
| Leavers |
|---|
 Nassauby The Sea And Cake |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
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| PPV Overall Ranking | bea | Custom chart | 2021 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | TheNowhereGuy | Overall chart | 2020 |  |
| BEA Forum Regulars' Top 100 (2015) |  HigherThanTheSun | Custom chart | 2015 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  Mechalodon | Overall chart | 2017 | |
| BEA+RYM Overall Rank | Imaybeparanoid | Custom chart | 2017 | |
| The BEA Friendly Chart |  alelsupreme | Custom chart | 2015 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | barbarossa | Overall chart | 2022 | |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
91/100 (from 86 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 86 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
90/100  | 03/20/2025 14:09 | SomethingSpecial | | 85/100 |
100/100 | 01/15/2025 16:47 | Exist-en-ciel | | 99/100 |
90/100 | 01/27/2022 11:42 |  IlMala | | 95/100 |
95/100 | 09/11/2021 17:10 |  DommeDamian | | 89/100 |
100/100 | 02/17/2021 05:43 |  pjohnsongolf | | 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 1% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 91.4/100, a mean average of 92.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 92.0/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 8.2.
Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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90/100
From 
Larcx13 01/06/2021 11:26
Larcx13 01/06/2021 11:26
Nice chart.
Do you like nothing from the 50s?
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
salahshoori 04/18/2020 11:08
salahshoori 04/18/2020 11:08
Wow! This can be the most interesting chart on this site. Thanks for sharing it.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From Reppu1976 06/24/2019 14:20
Great Job! Very diverse chart!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
Paule 06/02/2019 08:45
Paule 06/02/2019 08:45
Awesome chart for people like me who like to expand their music horizon. Great great work!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
75/100
From jeffrey-hodgson 10/12/2018 12:58
Never heard of a lot of these artists, must take a look
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From PeterSmith 04/03/2018 21:01
Listen this is one of a number of impressive charts from you. You really have been putting the effort and listening in. Whereas I don't recognise many of the artists, let alone the albums, I am intrigued about many of your choices. More comments please against your choices.
I've only been getting into this over the last two years having switched off since the early 90s.
I only have 6 albums or your albums in my top 100 for now. I saw the Verve in there and agree it is a cracking album but surprised it scored so highly. I also got your number 1 by Love to listen to just last year and it is infectious. The bit in Red Telephone when he voices over with "We're all normal and we want our freedom" could be a parody from Flight of the Conchords ("New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo")
Also like your thought process behind this top 100 and I'll come back and review my rating after I've tested out a few of your choices, but you are doing great work here and making it easier for guys like me trying to catch up
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
75/100
From 
authorunknown 07/19/2017 21:17
authorunknown 07/19/2017 21:17
Bobb Trimble. Never heard of before. Thanks for that.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From 
LedZep 05/23/2017 14:56
LedZep 05/23/2017 14:56
Extremely interesting, try Rush if you like classic rock and prog and also Godspeed You Black Emperor and Iron Maiden. They're both crucial bands in their respective genres, and neither of these genres is represented here so you might be interested in them :)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From Azkushang 08/15/2015 01:11
Very nice chart man, take a look at mines.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
LadyGodiva 08/04/2015 21:05
LadyGodiva 08/04/2015 21:05
oh this is a thing of beauty - a wonderful chart that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading! Lovely! :)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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| Best Ever Artists | |
|---|---|
| 1. The Beatles | |
| 2. Radiohead | |
| 3. Pink Floyd | |
| 4. David Bowie | |
| 5. Bob Dylan | |
| 6. Led Zeppelin | |
| 7. The Rolling Stones | |
| 8. Arcade Fire | |
| 9. Nirvana | |
| 10. The Velvet Underground | |
| 11. Kendrick Lamar | |
| 12. Neil Young | |
| 13. Miles Davis | |
| 14. The Smiths | |
| 15. The Beach Boys | |
| 16. Kanye West | |
| 17. R.E.M. | |
| 18. Pixies | |
| 19. Jimi Hendrix | |
| 20. Bruce Springsteen |