Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Arthurknight

This chart has evolved a lot over the near decade its existed. I think in the past I used to try a lot harder at curating what was more a "recommendations" list, where I'd show off my esoteric finds and scatter in my favourite underrated greats . Other times I told myself the function of a good list was to be in contention with the Overall chart on this site; to be anti conventional music journalism and resist milquetoast taste. Nowadays I'm less ideological about it. To me, this chart is my music-hobbyist refuge where I delight in organising my own personal world of sounds. In short, it may well be the 100 greatest albums of all time (I certainly think so), but that's secondary to it being an outlet for creative expression. I've curated a display that says more about me than the music, to be glanced over by the few fellow BEA users who peruse it and friends at a bar who don't know what they're getting into when they ask me what I listen to.

~~ One Album per Artist. ~~

Notes:
Should you consider it a great injustice that there is very little emphasis on more recent music here, feel free to check out my 21st century decade charts. I'm also very active in making end of year charts which is really where all my heart and soul is poured into with BEA these days.

No Jazz, Hip-Hop, or Electronic albums feature in this chart simply because if they did 100 albums would barely suffice. I find it particularly difficult to compare these genres with other forms of popular music broadly or with each-other (I've similarly exempted classical recordings I especially enjoy for the same reason, but am too lazy to make a classical chart, for now...). In the past I have included these genres, but I've come to dislike it because the limits of 100 albums begins to feel too claustrophobic. Instead, I have made each their own respective custom chart, which you can find here:

Greatest 100 Jazz Albums: https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=32925
Greatest 100 Hip-Hop Albums: https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=32704
Greatest 100 Electronic/IDM Albums: https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=42751

There are 68 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 93 out of 100 (from 119 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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Buy album United States
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"Knowledge is a deadly friend
When no one sets the rules
The fate of all mankind I see
Is in the hands of fools."

10/10

In The Court is often said to be the first prog-rock album. I think declaring this album as that is a sort of half truth but is ultimately a bit short sighted. It has a sort of puritanical taint about it that I don't really like or want to get involved with. What I mean is: any proto-prog or jazz fusion band of the late 60s could just as easily be declared as contemporary to this work, and one could similarly have a crack at declaring this album – at least in part – as a work of proto-prog Jazz fusion. Such a blanket declaration feels a little nuance lacking, it presupposes there was nothing before In The Court, and tends to accompany a sort of elitist suggestion that subsequent artist's releases are unoriginal hackneyed attempts at recreation.

Though it's difficult to suggest an alternative, there isn't exactly a second option, where then is the landmark release if not In The Court? Preceding albums, by comparison, seem a bit aesthetically and conceptually lost. the eponymous United States of America album, Colosseum, and bands in the Canterbury Scene all appear to be (if considering prog as a whole genre in retrospect) dabbling in the style. Perhaps the closest example of an album that could compete for the same title would be Yes's debut, though hardly as impactful of a release as In The Court. What can then be taken from this is that In the Court, though not necessarily the definitive first of its kind; it is no "out of nowhere" release, was the first album to be totally univocal in its embrace of reconstructed rock, and for that had a profound seminal impact. So much so that one could not only declare it the first of the genre, but rather, declare that prog is defined in its totality as a response to In The Court; it was a movement creating album and prog describes the movement.

I find what makes this album so canonical for me is that In The Court has a sort of contained energy to it - something I rarely observe in prog. Other prog albums I adore, such as Third or Close To The Edge, have a great deal of energy but that energy is released chaotically, perhaps to their benefit. However, King Crimson demonstrate a very tight hold of musical form in In The Court. The album has this controlled dynamic about it where the music sort of grips me much more singularly, and focuses my attention on where Fripp, Lake and co. wanted it. I think from this the beauty of the album is experienced in a way that I can appreciate better. King Crimson achieved this largely by avoiding the tendencies of the genre: virtuosity and finesse. This artistic shift of focus is what, to me, defines In The Court as a "Prog-rock" album, the first of its kind, rather than just an extension of the Canterbury scene.

_
[First added to this chart: 10/15/2014]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
31,852
Rank in 1969:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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"Gimme dat ole time religion
It's good enough for me."

10/10

I don't want to be wrong here, or say something non-factual, but one hears a lot of stories about the making of Trout Mask Replica. Intrigue surrounds the entire creative process of Van Vliet's compositional style, the magic bands' transpositional abilities, and the general level of toxicity that shrouded the group's career. One particular rumour I hear a lot is the idea that Beefheart would somehow push bandmembers down a hill, inside of a barrel, and then make them play. The outcome I imagine is the total disorientation of the musicians and therefore the erratic playing you find on the recording.

However, that couldn't be further from the truth. In reality, Beefheart composed most of the songs, and the daze of motifs that stacked together to make them, on the piano. He'd record these bits atop one another with a tape recorder, and then these rough drafts would be transposed by the rest of the band to produce a full band version of the songs that could be also be played live. What this meant is that all the compositional madness in those early versions had to be reproduced artificially and then rehearsed for continual reproduction again. With all these motifs the time signatures/keys/ etc. virtually never matched, making every song poly-rhythmic and poly-tonal with each instrument operating more or less on its own. Considering that, it's a remarkably virtuosic feat by the band to be able to close their ears to the cacophony around them and play a fucking weird guitar riff in 5/7 in C melodic minor overtop of 5/4 D major, while a drum pattern dances between the two.

Case in point, it is a far more meticulously constructed record than this barrel-rolling nonsense would have you believe, which somewhat reduces the entire album down to chance. You could never – if you follow the barrel logic – suppose that the band could tour this music live and make it sound the same each time. Well, go watch and listen to their live performances, and you'll see how tight the madness really is, these are musicians in control of ever note they play.

The barrel thing could have originated from an interview Drumbo (John French) gave in 2004 on Vanity Fair, where he was talking about the atmosphere of the band, and how it was potentially engineered by Van Vliet to undermine the rapport between the band members and maintain his leadership in the group. French goes on to say:

"Something said privately about a third party would be injected into a group ‘talk’, which would usually be quite embarrassing and sometimes humiliating. These talks would go on for days until the targeted person ‘in the barrel’ finally broke down, usually either in tears or just in complete submission to Don."
-John French

It's kind of sad to hear that this great work of art was built out of what was clearly an abusive situation, but in these interviews you also get a deeper appreciation for the massive collaborative effort to make those whacky songs real, in a way this aggressive direction from Beefheart kinda is like tossing someone down a hill in a barrel, just not literally.

There's a particular performance of Golden Birdies from another great – arguably underrated – Beefheart record, Clear Spot, where you watch Zoot Horn Rollo (Bill Harkleroad) playing these short frenetic guitar riffs over only Van Vliet's vocals, and visibly counting, straining his entire face with closed eyes desperately concentrating on counting the rhythm - if you were just listening though you'd hear only random sounds.

_
[First added to this chart: 10/24/2014]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
7,171
Rank in 1969:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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"Every time I hear 'em sayin'
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day."

9.5/10

_
[First added to this chart: 07/26/2014]
Year of Release:
1966
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,778
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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"I can recommend angels
I've watched as they've made a man strong
Oh so strong."

9.5/10

_
[First added to this chart: 01/02/2018]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,275
Rank in 1969:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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"You're asking me will my love grow
I don't know, I don't know
You stick around and it may show
I don't know, I don't know."

9.5/10

The Beatles deserve their place here, in fact it's quite hard to resist including more Beatles. Abbey Road remains a relatively tentative favourite, a sort of gun-to-my-head pick, let's call it. However, to lean into the incessant ordering of best to worst, and to grab the opportunity to give some hot takes:
If your top Beatles pick is Abbey Road, The White Album, or Revolver, I respect you.
If your top Beatles pick is Rubber Soul, or Let it Be, okay I guess?
If your top Beatles pick is Magical Mystery Tour, you're a fool (On the Hill)
If your top Beatles album is Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles for Sale, or Help! You need some help.
I've missed one haven't I...?

_
[First added to this chart: 03/08/2018]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
65,793
Rank in 1969:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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"Now I don't mind choppin' wood
And I don't care if the money's no good."

9.5/10

_
[First added to this chart: 07/26/2014]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,967
Rank in 1969:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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"Oh oh, it look so good
Oh oh, she's made out of wood
Just look and see."

9.5/10

_
[First added to this chart: 06/16/2015]
Year of Release:
1968
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,018
Rank in 1968:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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  • #Sponsored
"And she aches just like a woman
But she breaks just like a little girl."

9.5/10

_
[First added to this chart: 10/18/2016]
Year of Release:
1966
Appears in:
Rank Score:
27,885
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
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  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
"We shall walk and talk
In gardens all misty and wet with rain
And I will never, never, never
Grow so old again."

9.5/10

_
[First added to this chart: 10/23/2014]
Year of Release:
1968
Appears in:
Rank Score:
17,900
Rank in 1968:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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"Well, show me the way
To the next whisky bar
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why."

9.5/10

_
[First added to this chart: 10/23/2014]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
29,277
Rank in 1967:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 14. 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 14 14%
1970s 28 28%
1980s 20 20%
1990s 29 29%
2000s 8 8%
2010s 1 1%
2020s 0 0%
Country Albums %


United States 40 40%
United Kingdom 26 26%
Canada 6 6%
Germany 6 6%
Russia 3 3%
Mixed Nationality 3 3%
Australia 3 3%
Show all
Live? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Average Rating: 
93/100 (from 119 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
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.

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03/19/2024 11:07 Tamthebam  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 54985/100
 
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03/05/2024 19:32 martintho  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 15574/100
 
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02/18/2024 09:24 Tuur  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 4886/100
  
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07/02/2023 08:02 MadhattanJack  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 15484/100
  
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11/10/2022 16:03 Rm12398  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 9989/100

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 93.2/100, a mean average of 93.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 93.8/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 8.2.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 68 comments |
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Rating:  
100/100
From 11/10/2022 16:03
Love the Murmur- R.E.M. placement here! Have always felt that was my favourite record of theirs, so it's nice to see my opinion validated with your chart. “La Máquina De Hacer Pájaros” is fantastic to see here as well. Massively underrated on this site in my opinion. Love the multicultural feel of the list as well. Have recently been trying to get into more international music so your chart may be a great help to do that.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 11/10/2022 09:53
Thanks for the comment and the rating.
Great tastes as well, very heavy on classical rock but still very sold chart
Kudos for including Youth of America 👌
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 11/09/2022 08:36
Fabulous chart. One of the best on the site
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 11/09/2022 02:54
Was really hoping to see a few more exceptional Australian albums in the chart. Otherwise, cool chart and appreciate the effort in putting together your comments.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 10/05/2022 08:04
Still my favourite chart! SMiLE Sessions really is the greatest thing in popular music ♥
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 07/21/2022 11:17
Nice.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 12/21/2021 00:48
Wow Great job and very good list
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 12/07/2020 19:34
one of the best lists on the site. Creative, methodical, and just overall cool
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 09/11/2020 16:18
I'll definitely use this for recs!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 09/11/2020 08:48
Brrrrrrravo!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Artists of the 1980s
1. The Smiths
2. Prince
3. Pixies
4. The Cure
5. Talking Heads
6. U2
7. Metallica
8. Kate Bush
9. R.E.M.
10. The Stone Roses
11. Sonic Youth
12. Michael Jackson
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14. Tom Waits
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