Top 99 Greatest Music Albums by 
Repo 
- Chart updated: 03/27/2025 09:45
- (Created: 06/17/2014 23:52).
- Chart size: 99 albums.
There are 52 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 99 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 95 out of 100 (from 77 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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Phase 1
Before you try to sell me some lame-ass tripe posing as steak that Rush isn’t metal, I’ve got three things to say to you: 1) Side 1 of 2112 is one of the top five metal moments of the entire 70s. 2) Geddy Lee was perhaps the third best pure metal vocalist of the 70s (just behind Rob Halford and Dio and right ahead of Klaus Meine. And 3) I don’t give a fuck. Rush easily had the some of the heaviest albums of the 70s, and they are beloved by old, grizzled, my-denim-jacket-no-longer-fits-but-I-keep-it-anyways-because-I-can't-bear-to-get-rid-of-th e-patches metalheads, such as myself, everywhere.
Rush’s music can conveniently be broken up into different phases that are bookended by their live albums. While there’s no question that Phase 2 (the Exit Stage Left era) was Rush at their peak, Phase 1 (the All The World's A Stage era) was their heaviest stuff.
And All The World's A Stage live album is the perfect introduction to this metallic hard rock/prog metal phase. Except it’s missing "Necromancer" (from the (mildly) underrated Caress Of Steel). "Necromancer" contains the secret ingredient behind Rage Against The Machine’s formula if you're a nu-metal kid. I’m not kidding. Check it out tag-team style live with "By-Tor & The Snow Dog" (from Fly By Night) If you want to hear just how balls to the wall HEAVY Rush could get...
Link
Rush (Phase 1) Rankings
1. All The World’s A Stage (E)
2. 2112 (E) – "Temple Of Syrinx" is one of the defining metal moments of the 70s
3. Fly By Night (HR)
======================================================================================
4. A Caress Of Steel (R) – "Bastille Day" is essential! Necromancer, & The Fountain of Lamneth are Highly Recommended!
5. Rush – s/t – Rush is still Finding Their Way!
Numbers 1, 2 & 3 are The THREE You Need!!! [First added to this chart: 09/25/2020]
Before you try to sell me some lame-ass tripe posing as steak that Rush isn’t metal, I’ve got three things to say to you: 1) Side 1 of 2112 is one of the top five metal moments of the entire 70s. 2) Geddy Lee was perhaps the third best pure metal vocalist of the 70s (just behind Rob Halford and Dio and right ahead of Klaus Meine. And 3) I don’t give a fuck. Rush easily had the some of the heaviest albums of the 70s, and they are beloved by old, grizzled, my-denim-jacket-no-longer-fits-but-I-keep-it-anyways-because-I-can't-bear-to-get-rid-of-th e-patches metalheads, such as myself, everywhere.
Rush’s music can conveniently be broken up into different phases that are bookended by their live albums. While there’s no question that Phase 2 (the Exit Stage Left era) was Rush at their peak, Phase 1 (the All The World's A Stage era) was their heaviest stuff.
And All The World's A Stage live album is the perfect introduction to this metallic hard rock/prog metal phase. Except it’s missing "Necromancer" (from the (mildly) underrated Caress Of Steel). "Necromancer" contains the secret ingredient behind Rage Against The Machine’s formula if you're a nu-metal kid. I’m not kidding. Check it out tag-team style live with "By-Tor & The Snow Dog" (from Fly By Night) If you want to hear just how balls to the wall HEAVY Rush could get...
Link
Rush (Phase 1) Rankings
1. All The World’s A Stage (E)
2. 2112 (E) – "Temple Of Syrinx" is one of the defining metal moments of the 70s
3. Fly By Night (HR)
======================================================================================
4. A Caress Of Steel (R) – "Bastille Day" is essential! Necromancer, & The Fountain of Lamneth are Highly Recommended!
5. Rush – s/t – Rush is still Finding Their Way!
Numbers 1, 2 & 3 are The THREE You Need!!! [First added to this chart: 09/25/2020]
4
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1983, Speed Metal and the Great White North
Well that didn’t take long. Anvil were quickly dethroned as the speed metal champs of the Great White North only a year into their reign. They gave it a good fight. Upping their own metal game with Forged In Fire but that was no match for Exciter. Many still consider Heavy Metal Maniac the quintessential speed metal album. The bench post by which all speed metal is gauged & tallied. It’s basic, brutal no holds barred metal with zero commercial aspirations. It is Priest and Iron Maiden on steroids. All bulked out and full of brawn. You could even call it simple minded, but that would just make you a killjoy. A compact & tight brick of a band that just wanted to rock out, drink some beer and have fun. So not that far removed from Anvil. lol. Kind of makes me want to move to Canada. The older I get, the more I appreciate that approach to life. Don’t over think things. Drink a few beers on a Saturday night with friends. And, of course, rock out! [First added to this chart: 09/06/2020]
1983, Speed Metal and the Great White North
Well that didn’t take long. Anvil were quickly dethroned as the speed metal champs of the Great White North only a year into their reign. They gave it a good fight. Upping their own metal game with Forged In Fire but that was no match for Exciter. Many still consider Heavy Metal Maniac the quintessential speed metal album. The bench post by which all speed metal is gauged & tallied. It’s basic, brutal no holds barred metal with zero commercial aspirations. It is Priest and Iron Maiden on steroids. All bulked out and full of brawn. You could even call it simple minded, but that would just make you a killjoy. A compact & tight brick of a band that just wanted to rock out, drink some beer and have fun. So not that far removed from Anvil. lol. Kind of makes me want to move to Canada. The older I get, the more I appreciate that approach to life. Don’t over think things. Drink a few beers on a Saturday night with friends. And, of course, rock out! [First added to this chart: 09/06/2020]
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APT PUPILS
1982 and The Rise of Speed Metal
Ok. Before delving further into the extreme metal genre, I’m going to take a small step back to cover another pivotal subgenre that had a massive impact on the metal scene – Speed Metal. As we’ve discussed earlier, the beginnings of Speed Metal started in the late 70s with Judas Priest (Stained Glass, Killing Machine & British Steel) and then got a steroid injection in 1981 from their apt pupils – Raven & Accept. The importance of Priest on this genre cannot be overstated and in a lot of ways their Painkiller album from 1990 could now be considered the platonic ideal of the entire Speed Metal scene! Meanwhile, back in 1981, both Raven and Accept released two speed metal landmarks with Rock Until You Drop (which has grown on me since I started this project! It’s important, fellas!) and Breaker respectively.
The next vital band in the genre were metal documentary stars and all-around good guys - Anvil. They released two crucial, if not quite seminal, albums in the early 80s with Metal on Metal and Forged In Fire. Metal on Metal was the second best Speed Metal album of 1982 (right behind Accept’s Restless & Wild) and thus a major influence on the burgeoning Thrash Metal scene. However, Forged in Fire saw Anvil taking a quantum leap in both songwriting and power (equivalent actually to the leap they took from their debut LP Hard ‘N’ Heavy(which is a really fun & dumb metal album btw!!!) to Metal On Metal. But I digress! Forged In Fire is definitely the pinnacle of their oeuvre. They would leap no further. Instead they would churn out consistently good Speed Metal albums to drink Molson Bradors and other cheap Canadien lagers to at the local pub for the rest of their lives. Which honestly is good enough for me! I ain't picky! Everything they’ve recorded is worth a listen. Just remember, that…
THE TWO THAT MATTER R…
1. Metal On Metal ( 1982) (R)
2. Forged In Fire (1983) (HR) [First added to this chart: 07/05/2020]
1982 and The Rise of Speed Metal
Ok. Before delving further into the extreme metal genre, I’m going to take a small step back to cover another pivotal subgenre that had a massive impact on the metal scene – Speed Metal. As we’ve discussed earlier, the beginnings of Speed Metal started in the late 70s with Judas Priest (Stained Glass, Killing Machine & British Steel) and then got a steroid injection in 1981 from their apt pupils – Raven & Accept. The importance of Priest on this genre cannot be overstated and in a lot of ways their Painkiller album from 1990 could now be considered the platonic ideal of the entire Speed Metal scene! Meanwhile, back in 1981, both Raven and Accept released two speed metal landmarks with Rock Until You Drop (which has grown on me since I started this project! It’s important, fellas!) and Breaker respectively.
The next vital band in the genre were metal documentary stars and all-around good guys - Anvil. They released two crucial, if not quite seminal, albums in the early 80s with Metal on Metal and Forged In Fire. Metal on Metal was the second best Speed Metal album of 1982 (right behind Accept’s Restless & Wild) and thus a major influence on the burgeoning Thrash Metal scene. However, Forged in Fire saw Anvil taking a quantum leap in both songwriting and power (equivalent actually to the leap they took from their debut LP Hard ‘N’ Heavy(which is a really fun & dumb metal album btw!!!) to Metal On Metal. But I digress! Forged In Fire is definitely the pinnacle of their oeuvre. They would leap no further. Instead they would churn out consistently good Speed Metal albums to drink Molson Bradors and other cheap Canadien lagers to at the local pub for the rest of their lives. Which honestly is good enough for me! I ain't picky! Everything they’ve recorded is worth a listen. Just remember, that…
THE TWO THAT MATTER R…
1. Metal On Metal ( 1982) (R)
2. Forged In Fire (1983) (HR) [First added to this chart: 07/05/2020]
Total albums: 3. Page 1 of 1
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Top 99 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 1 | 1% | |
| 1950s | 3 | 3% | |
| 1960s | 9 | 9% | |
| 1970s | 28 | 28% | |
| 1980s | 37 | 37% | |
| 1990s | 3 | 3% | |
| 2000s | 9 | 9% | |
| 2010s | 9 | 9% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Real Estate | 3 | 3% | |
| Bert Jansch | 2 | 2% | |
| Bob Dylan | 2 | 2% | |
| Townes Van Zandt | 2 | 2% | |
| Saint Vitus | 2 | 2% | |
| Accept | 2 | 2% | |
| Beach House | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
49 | 49% | |
 |
29 | 29% | |
 |
5 | 5% | |
 |
4 | 4% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 99 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 89 from 94th to 5th Self Portrait by Bob Dylan |
| Up 82 from 93rd to 11th Fading Frontier by Deerhunter |
| Up 44 from 62nd to 18th Cluster & Eno by Cluster & Eno |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 38 from 60th to 98th Rock Until You Drop by Raven (UK) |
| Down 3 from 16th to 19th Hank Williams Sings by Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys |
| Down 3 from 17th to 20th Johnny Burnette And The Rock N' Roll Trio by Johnny Burnette & The Rock 'n Roll Trio |
| New entries |
|---|
 Midnight Blueby Kenny Burrell |
Top 99 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Bullshit: Repo's Top Metal Albums! | Repo | Custom chart | 2023 | |
| Favorite 1980s Metal Albums |  NoisyBeast | Custom chart | 2017 | |
| Top 34 Music Albums of the 1970s | Repo | 1970s decade chart | 2020 | |
| The Hitchhiker's Guide To The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal |  MW19704U | Custom chart | 2024 | |
| Top 99 Music Albums of the 1970s | Exist-en-ciel | 1970s decade chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | Exist-en-ciel | 2000s decade chart | 2025 | |
| Favorite 1980s Metal Albums II | NoisyBeast | Custom chart | 2017 | |
| Top 100 80's Hard Rock Albums | saltysurprise | Custom chart | 2020 | |
| NWOBHM (1979-1984) | Repo | Custom chart | 2023 | |
| 1982: Metal | Repo | Custom chart | 2024 | |
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Top 99 Greatest Music Albums ratings
95/100 (from 77 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 77 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 100/100  | 06/01/2025 12:40 | SomethingSpecial | | 85/100 |
| 100/100 | 01/28/2025 15:58 |  Robert Anton Wil | | 91/100 |
| 100/100 | 12/23/2024 23:22 | Exist-en-ciel | | 99/100 |
| 100/100 | 11/06/2024 20:37 |  sageamagoo | | 92/100 |
| 90/100 | 04/30/2024 20:50 | BorderFreeAndrew | | 80/100 |
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 95.3/100, a mean average of 95.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 96.6/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 9.0.
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Top 99 Greatest Music Albums comments
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100/100
From sageamagoo 11/06/2024 21:17
sageamagoo 11/06/2024 21:17
I feel refreshed seeing the authentic fruits of your musical explorations - you lived a whole different era from the majority here on BEA. The world is not so narrow, I wish more specialist listeners brought online exposure to the unique acts that impressed them. I intend to check out Exciter, Black Hole, The Vibrators and Naked Raygun to fill in my blind spot around more interesting forms of punk and metal being cooked up by non-mainstream acts on through the 80's. Woo also seriously piques my interest. There is great public value in the experience you have shared.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
DommeDamian 10/09/2023 09:56
DommeDamian 10/09/2023 09:56
Have I ever properly thanked you for making me check out Mazzy Star, Yo La Tengo, Real Estate early 70s-era Dylan, as well as revisiting Townes Van Zandt? Either way, thank you again.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Foxforce5 06/28/2023 09:46
There are 3 elements to a great chart for me.
1. Some great words to tell us why the album is there.
2. A similar taste to your own - a musical message in a bottle
3. Some new picks for my own wish list.
This chart is bristling with new recommendations for my playlist. Whole genres I’ve never explored.
2 out of 3 ain’t bad.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
85/100
From mianfei 10/28/2022 03:50
One really interesting and diverse list, quite unlike anything I have ever seen here or anywhere else! Many very unusual choices and genres make this a great list. The chart has virtually nothing in common with my own chart or other lists by major magazines, Joe S. Harrington, David Keenan or Piero Scaruffi.
The notes are better than anything I have seen outside of Harrington or Keenan, too.
A minor quibble of mine is the way in which albums of the same genre are clustered together. (When I see that I always wonder if the compiler is not being careful enough to be sure they are being ranked as accurately as thought possible.) even with this reservation, it is an exceptionally interesting and well-written list.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From DommeDamian 10/25/2022 08:24
DommeDamian 10/25/2022 08:24
Still wanna the greatest charts ever made on both this site and others like RYM. I think you've inspired me to do the same one day by making a chart of lesser known records, and outta those picks, create an alternate universe so flamboyant, colorful, and exciting based on descriptions and stuff.
I think something in the beautiful Donovan description summed it up "these songs doesn't know that radio exists", because some of the favorites on this chart raises this question; what would musicians/artists do if radio never existed". The answer lies in that they probably would make something so flamboyantly authentic as a lotta these wondrous records, and we could only listen to music by hand and choice etc.
God bless!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
85/100
From Moondance 10/24/2022 03:20
What I like about this chart:
1. we have ZERO albums in common:
2. we have only 4 artists in common, and that may very well become 1 artist in common when I do a review of my chart over the next month;
3. the 1 artist we have in common is Dylan - although our album preferences differ significantly (I am sure that doesn't come as any surprise - you can check out my '64 Dylan albums rated' chart if you have time :));
4. this chart oozes someone who actually breathes, eats, smells, tastes, touches, feels music more than hears it;
5. knowing the effort needed to make even short comments on album choices, the EFFORT in this chart is EXTRAordinary;
6. rather than a regurgitation of the BEA top 100, this chart has only 6 albums rated in the top 1000! and the highest ranking album is at #197 on the overall chart;
7. this chart actually made me go on a wild musical album/artist discovery hunt - I didn't actually find anything that I 'fell in love with' but sometimes the journey is more valuable than the end point ~ at least it gave me a few hours of hope; that maybe out there, somewhere, there is an artist/album undiscovered in my musical universe who will excite me in ways that I cannot explain;
8. ...and finally, the 2 Australian albums - excellent choices!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
seb7 08/29/2022 05:28
seb7 08/29/2022 05:28
super frikin interesting. love this chart!!!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
SuedeSwede 07/11/2022 09:17
SuedeSwede 07/11/2022 09:17
naang naang!! <3 hope ur doing well friend
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From seb7 02/16/2022 00:47
seb7 02/16/2022 00:47
man this is great. I can't even say I agree with A SINGLE ONE of your picks but damn this is very well put together chart. Just the passion you seem to have for music is insane and I love it!!!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
Timestarter 08/05/2021 09:25
Timestarter 08/05/2021 09:25
What a unique list :)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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| Best Artists of the 1960s | |
|---|---|
| 1. The Beatles | |
| 2. The Velvet Underground | |
| 3. Jimi Hendrix | |
| 4. Bob Dylan | |
| 5. The Beach Boys | |
| 6. The Jimi Hendrix Experience | |
| 7. The Velvet Underground & Nico | |
| 8. Led Zeppelin | |
| 9. The Doors | |
| 10. The Rolling Stones | |
| 11. John Coltrane | |
| 12. King Crimson | |
| 13. Frank Zappa | |
| 14. The Kinks | |
| 15. Love | |
| 16. Van Morrison | |
| 17. Neil Young | |
| 18. Charles Mingus | |
| 19. Miles Davis | |
| 20. The Zombies |