Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by 
tgarritsen 
There are a number of different factors you can take into consideration when putting your chart together, but for me it comes down to the question which album is the most important to me. I can think of many albums that I appreciate for their perfect musicianship by it's makers, but that just don't resonate the same way as these ones, so I left those out. Instead I chose the albums that I connect emotionally with the most. The albums I wouldn't want to live without. That shaped and still shape me. That play a special role in my live or that I identify with on a deep level.
Since I quite like lyrics in music I added my favorite lines of each album that always draws me further into the music.
- Chart updated: 12/15/2024 17:45
- (Created: 10/10/2013 01:35).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 82 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 87 out of 100 (from 111 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
View the complete list of 58,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
"Now some folks say that we should be glad for what we have/Tell me would you be happy in village ghetto land"
[First added to this chart: 10/09/2013]
Year of Release:
1976
Appears in:
Rank Score:
15,592
Rank in 1976:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street/When gang banging make me kill a nigga blacker then me/Hypocrite"
[First added to this chart: 05/23/2015]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
30,313
Rank in 2015:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"And for everyone who thinks that life is just a game/Do you like the part your playing?"
[First added to this chart: 10/10/2013]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
15,082
Rank in 1967:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"There's no time for hatred, only questions/What is love, where is happines, what is life, where is peace"
[First added to this chart: 11/12/2013]
Year of Release:
1994
Appears in:
Rank Score:
17,816
Rank in 1994:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make"
[First added to this chart: 10/09/2013]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
55,787
Rank in 1969:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Everybody leaves/If they get the chance/And this is my chance"
[First added to this chart: 12/31/2016]
Year of Release:
2007
Appears in:
Rank Score:
42,416
Rank in 2007:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Yesterday belongs to the dead"
[First added to this chart: 02/15/2017]
Year of Release:
2004
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,879
Rank in 2004:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Question ain't do we have resources to rebuild/It's do we have the will"
[First added to this chart: 03/17/2015]
Year of Release:
2014
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,372
Rank in 2014:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"And the heat goes on where the hands has been"
[First added to this chart: 10/17/2013]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
27,131
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"You've got all that is really needed/To save a dying world from its funk less ness"
[First added to this chart: 04/27/2014]
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,444
Rank in 1975:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10
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 | 4 | 4% | |
| 1960s | 27 | 27% | |
| 1970s | 29 | 29% | |
| 1980s | 5 | 5% | |
| 1990s | 11 | 11% | |
| 2000s | 8 | 8% | |
| 2010s | 13 | 13% | |
| 2020s | 3 | 3% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Beatles | 6 | 6% | |
| Stevie Wonder | 3 | 3% | |
| Kendrick Lamar | 3 | 3% | |
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 3 | 3% | |
| The Doors | 2 | 2% | |
| Nina Simone | 2 | 2% | |
| Erykah Badu | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 51 from 92nd to 41stDéjà Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young |
| Up 7 from 31st to 24thAll Things Must Pass by George Harrison |
| Up 7 from 10th to 3rdForever Changes by Love |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 30 from 30th to 60thElectric Mud by Muddy Waters |
| Down 10 from 16th to 26thThe Velvet Underground & Nico by The Velvet Underground & Nico |
| Down 7 from 8th to 15thHeart Of The Congos by The Congos |
| New entries |
|---|
| Wall Of Eyes by The Smile |
| Scaring The Hoes by JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown |
| Leavers |
|---|
| They Say I'm Different by Betty Davis |
| Today! by Mississippi John Hurt |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Greatest Artists | tgarritsen | Custom chart | 2022 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | juanr1096 | Overall chart | 2025 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | Bjartmar03 | Overall chart | 2025 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | sweetness | Overall chart | 2025 |  |
| The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time | Rolling Stone | Overall chart | 2020 | |
| Ya joking? Should've been higher! All Time edition |  Purplepash | Custom chart | 2026 |  |
| BEA Top 100 Reorganized According To My Taste | bonnequestion | Custom chart | 2025 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  pranafilms | Overall chart | 2026 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | LosWochos | Overall chart | 2021 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | Tidus1997 | Overall 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 111 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03/25/2025 20:08 | DrewHamster | 315 | 79/100 | |
| 03/09/2025 10:07 |  SomethingSpecial | 1,089 | 85/100 | |
| 09/19/2024 12:46 |  LedZep | 1,103 | 84/100 | |
| 07/26/2023 01:48 | leniad | 669 | 85/100 | |
| 07/25/2023 10:37 | Moondance | 476 | 85/100 |
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 14% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 87.4/100, a mean average of 86.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 87.5/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 9.7.
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites
Showing all 5 members who have added this chart as a favourite
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 82 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 leniad 07/26/2023 01:48 | #298341
great
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Moondance 01/14/2023 04:10 | #292826
Can't argue with the rationale for your chart - the highest emotional connection for you.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Johnnyo 01/13/2023 13:12 | #292798
Excellent chart
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From samora 11/11/2022 09:32 | #291218
Great list! 22 albums in common with my top-100, and some very nice ones. Great to see Black Messiah at 11!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
seb7 12/19/2020 22:20 | #262953
seb7 12/19/2020 22:20 | #262953
Very cool list
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Purplepash 07/03/2019 12:00 | #238853
Purplepash 07/03/2019 12:00 | #238853
We may only have 7 albums in common and a very different all time chart but I'm guessing about a third of these 100 are on my decade charts, so a lot I like here.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
DommeDamian 07/03/2019 11:40 | #238850
DommeDamian 07/03/2019 11:40 | #238850
Pos for number 1
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (0 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
From 
Boltzmann 11/10/2018 14:16 | #224254
Boltzmann 11/10/2018 14:16 | #224254
The intro to your chart really put me off. I basically read: “If I am honest about what I actually like, the result might get ridiculed by people, so I started judging music on aspects that are completely unrelated to music.” C’mon man, fuck what people think, this sounds a bit - hey you’re dutch - ‘laf’. Music is just beautiful sounds; books are about the message.
I was surprised to see that your chart consists of a lot of different genres and it shows a lot of variation in accessible music and more experimental picks. So yeah, I like your chart, but I’m not a fan of the intro, but don’t change it because of my criticism, ‘cause then you’re doing exactly what I’m criticizing. Plus most people probably agree with what you described in your intro.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (3 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
From 
Tamthebam 11/10/2018 09:57 | #224246
Tamthebam 11/10/2018 09:57 | #224246
Great chart 15 albums in common and great to see Erykah and Frank Ocean in a chart along with T.Rex, Bowie, Joni the Stones & Neil Young. To top all that Stevie's Songs In The Key Of Life, what's not to like
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
ForegroundNoise 11/10/2018 09:05 | #224244
ForegroundNoise 11/10/2018 09:05 | #224244
Some really nice picks and great attentions to detail with the notes, well done!!
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.
