Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by 
FlorianJones 
Please leave suggestions if you have any, I'm always eager to find something great.
I'm currently in the long process of adding comments. Someday I'll have a (good) comment for each entry.
- Chart updated: 06/20/2019 21:45
- (Created: 04/05/2014 23:21).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 42 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 88 out of 100 (from 64 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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"Is This It?"
Top Tracks: Barely Legal, Someday, Last Nite [First added to this chart: 04/07/2014]
Top Tracks: Barely Legal, Someday, Last Nite [First added to this chart: 04/07/2014]
Year of Release:
2001
Appears in:
Rank Score:
28,121
Rank in 2001:
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"You were right about the stars; each one is a setting sun"
Top Tracks: I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, Jesus Etc., Heavy Metal Drummer [First added to this chart: 04/07/2014]
Top Tracks: I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, Jesus Etc., Heavy Metal Drummer [First added to this chart: 04/07/2014]
Year of Release:
2002
Appears in:
Rank Score:
17,130
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"So can you understand why I want a daughter while I'm still young?"
"I wanna hold her hand and show her some beauty before all this damage is done."
One day I was walking through Wal-Mart of all places when I saw this CD sitting right there on a shelf. The cover looked cool, so I bought it having no knowledge of what the music inside would be like. At the time I had very little musical background and had only heard a few dozen albums in my life. Needless to say I absolutely loved everything I heard. This album shaped the way I view and critique music and is a huge part of who I am.
In addition to that little story, I have to say that this album is just great. The ways that it describes suburban life, and coming to grips with the transition from childhood to adulthood could not possibly be more relatable for me even if I had written the lyrics myself. The songwriting is perfect, the musicianship is perfect, the production is perfect, I just love everything about it.
Top Tracks: The Suburbs, We Used To Wait, Sprawl II [First added to this chart: 04/07/2014]
"I wanna hold her hand and show her some beauty before all this damage is done."
One day I was walking through Wal-Mart of all places when I saw this CD sitting right there on a shelf. The cover looked cool, so I bought it having no knowledge of what the music inside would be like. At the time I had very little musical background and had only heard a few dozen albums in my life. Needless to say I absolutely loved everything I heard. This album shaped the way I view and critique music and is a huge part of who I am.
In addition to that little story, I have to say that this album is just great. The ways that it describes suburban life, and coming to grips with the transition from childhood to adulthood could not possibly be more relatable for me even if I had written the lyrics myself. The songwriting is perfect, the musicianship is perfect, the production is perfect, I just love everything about it.
Top Tracks: The Suburbs, We Used To Wait, Sprawl II [First added to this chart: 04/07/2014]
Year of Release:
2010
Appears in:
Rank Score:
19,075
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"I remember you was conflicted, misusing your influence. Sometimes I did the same. Abusing my power, full of resentment, resentment that turned into a deep depression. Found myself screaming in the hotel room. I didn't wanna self destruct. The evils of Lucy was all around me, so I went running for answers until I came home. But that didn't stop survivor's guilt. Going back and forth trying to convince myself the stripes I earned, or maybe how A1 my foundation was. But while my loved ones was fighting the continuous war back in the city, I was entering a new one. A war that was based on apartheid and discrimination. Made me wanna go back to the city and tell the homies what I learned. The word was respect. Just because you wore a different gang color than mine doesn't mean I can't respect you as a black man, forgetting all the pain and hurt we caused each other in these streets. If I respect you, we unify and stop the enemy from killing us. But I don't know, I'm no mortal man, maybe I'm just another nigga"
Top Tracks: These Walls, u, The Blacker The Berry [First added to this chart: 04/03/2015]
Top Tracks: These Walls, u, The Blacker The Berry [First added to this chart: 04/03/2015]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
31,226
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"Candy screen wrappers of silkscreen fantastic, requiring memories both lovely and guilt free"
Often overshadowed by the vastly more popular "Velvet Underground and Nico," this album never gets the credit it deserves. It is my favorite Velvet Underground release, not only for the quality of the songwriting (which is impeccable by the way) but for what it has inspired. The whole of modern indie rock (which you can see I quite like) wouldn't be the same without this album laying out the blueprint decades ahead of it's time.
Top Tracks: Jesus, Beginning To See The Light, The Murder Mystery [First added to this chart: 04/07/2014]
Often overshadowed by the vastly more popular "Velvet Underground and Nico," this album never gets the credit it deserves. It is my favorite Velvet Underground release, not only for the quality of the songwriting (which is impeccable by the way) but for what it has inspired. The whole of modern indie rock (which you can see I quite like) wouldn't be the same without this album laying out the blueprint decades ahead of it's time.
Top Tracks: Jesus, Beginning To See The Light, The Murder Mystery [First added to this chart: 04/07/2014]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,515
Rank in 1969:
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[First added to this chart: 09/28/2016]
Year of Release:
2016
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,652
Rank in 2016:
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"The meteoroid is a stone that's devoid of the fire that propelled it to thee"
Top Tracks: Emily, Monkey & Bear, Cosmia [First added to this chart: 02/04/2015]
Top Tracks: Emily, Monkey & Bear, Cosmia [First added to this chart: 02/04/2015]
Year of Release:
2006
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,448
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Buy album
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"On candystripe legs the spiderman comes softly through the shadow of the evening sun"
The obvious highlight of Robert Smith's career. Full of great sweeping symphonic instrumentation. This masterpiece completely envelops you with the first notes in Plainsong, and it doesn't let go for over 70 minutes.
Top Tracks: Plainsong, Pictures of You, Disintegration [First added to this chart: 04/07/2014]
The obvious highlight of Robert Smith's career. Full of great sweeping symphonic instrumentation. This masterpiece completely envelops you with the first notes in Plainsong, and it doesn't let go for over 70 minutes.
Top Tracks: Plainsong, Pictures of You, Disintegration [First added to this chart: 04/07/2014]
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
26,222
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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"Sound of silver talk to me. Makes you want to feel like a teenager, until you remember the feelings of a real life emotional teenager. Then you think again."
Top Tracks: Get Innocuous!, Sound of Silver, New York I Love You, But You're Bringing Me Down [First added to this chart: 11/17/2014]
Top Tracks: Get Innocuous!, Sound of Silver, New York I Love You, But You're Bringing Me Down [First added to this chart: 11/17/2014]
Year of Release:
2007
Appears in:
Rank Score:
11,846
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Buy album
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"Borderline schizo, sorta fine tits though"
I didn't use to care much for rap, but if you feel the same as I did, give this a listen. It may just change your opinion. It certainly changed mine.
Top Tracks: Raid, America's Most Blunted, All Caps [First added to this chart: 10/30/2014]
I didn't use to care much for rap, but if you feel the same as I did, give this a listen. It may just change your opinion. It certainly changed mine.
Top Tracks: Raid, America's Most Blunted, All Caps [First added to this chart: 10/30/2014]
Year of Release:
2004
Appears in:
Rank Score:
14,186
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Comments:
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 | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 3 | 3% | |
| 1970s | 13 | 13% | |
| 1980s | 15 | 15% | |
| 1990s | 5 | 5% | |
| 2000s | 32 | 32% | |
| 2010s | 32 | 32% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| David Bowie | 6 | 6% | |
| Sufjan Stevens | 5 | 5% | |
| Spoon | 3 | 3% | |
| The National | 3 | 3% | |
| Bob Dylan | 2 | 2% | |
| Wire | 2 | 2% | |
| Animal Collective | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 50 from 78th to 28thBitte Orca by Dirty Projectors |
| Up 37 from 82nd to 45thHelplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes |
| Up 28 from 75th to 47thTrans Europa Express by Kraftwerk |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 42 from 55th to 97thMm..Food by MF DOOM |
| Down 28 from 57th to 85thHissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? by of Montreal |
| Down 23 from 60th to 83rdMichigan by Sufjan Stevens |
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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 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 64 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 03/20/2025 17:16 |  SomethingSpecial | 1,098 | 85/100 |
| ! | 04/08/2019 08:39 |  splashfoop | 165 | 78/100 |
| ! | 04/07/2019 17:43 | NSPE | 350 | 77/100 |
| ! | 02/28/2018 07:08 |  JulianR | 570 | 75/100 |
| ! | 02/18/2018 01:32 |  Nacho212 | 4 | 98/100 |
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 10% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 87.9/100, a mean average of 87.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 88.2/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 10.9.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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From JulianR 02/28/2018 07:08 | #209775
JulianR 02/28/2018 07:08 | #209775
This is one of those charts that just gets more interesting the further you go. There are so many great and underappreciated album hidden in the back half of it! I also feel like this is one of the few charts that I would consider similar to mine. Even though we only have 21 albums in common, thats still kinda a lot, and I feel like our tastes in general are pretty similar. Nice work, keep going!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
ForegroundNoise 02/17/2018 11:34 | #208527
ForegroundNoise 02/17/2018 11:34 | #208527
Really love this chart, so many picks I adore! If I were to make any criticism I'd just ask why such a neglect of the 60s and 90s? You've got a crazy high score so if you're just not too fond of those eras then don't worry but since you asked for recommendations here's a few underground favourites of mine from each that maybe you'll enjoy :)
The Red Krayola - The Parable Of Arable Land
Fishmans - Long Season
Bark Psychosis - Hex
Rodan - Rusty
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Ulf 02/17/2018 09:40 | #208511
Pretty neat though you definitely have a lot of music to discover from before 2000. :)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From HoldenM 02/12/2017 16:46 | #185474
HoldenM 02/12/2017 16:46 | #185474
Nothing but praise. Love your taste to pieces.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Lgk21 02/12/2017 16:12 | #185472
Cool choices.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
LedZep 02/12/2017 13:18 | #185460
LedZep 02/12/2017 13:18 | #185460
Pretty solid, maybe too much 00' records but that's ok. Love the descriptions!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From zrommeke 02/12/2017 12:12 | #185450
Nice list!!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
xMUSICSNOBx 04/20/2016 16:06 | #164181
xMUSICSNOBx 04/20/2016 16:06 | #164181
Your top ten is immaculately curated. To Pimp.. in the top ten? This guy. Love it. Lift Your Skinny Fists is so good too, gotta admit, a little ballsy putting an hour and a half long instrumental record in your top ten, but seriously, so good.
8/10 Homie, keep up the good listening.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
M42K0 02/04/2016 06:43 | #158656
M42K0 02/04/2016 06:43 | #158656
To all the critics: Sufjan Stevens IS the greatest music artist of 21st century and honestly deserves to have at least 2-3 spots in everybody's greatest albums list.
Also, although this list is heavily 21st century oriented, we do have a pretty similar taste. Also, love the captions.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From n8rob 12/02/2015 00:41 | #153769
Please yes. Apparently I've already rated and commented on this chart. Congrats on Chart of the Day! A truly wonderful list.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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