Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by DeusExMackia
Yo! Thanks for checking out my list of my favourite albums ever. Like most people on BEA, I listen to an absolute ton of music, a lot of which isn't on here. This then is a list of what I consider to be give or take the best music ever made (in my humble opinion).
As of 28th November 2022, this is the rough outline:
- Positions 1 to 20 are as good as it gets. Ordered based on what I'd choose with a gun to my head, so the ones nearer the top are 'better', but it's all relative.
- 20 to ~60 are the albums I'd consider "runner-up best albums ever", a.k.a. "there's not enough room to fit everything into the top 10" and really might as well just be one big joint position.
- Everything below is structured to reflect how highly I regard it, but all can be considered "albums to listen to before you die (in my humble opinion)".
Also, the comments I have made about each album; for some records I could wax lyrical about them for days, and for others I can barely say a word. This, however, in no way determines whether I like a record more than another. And for quite a few of them, I can't even properly articulate why I love them.
For something extra, here are my favorite artists of all time. It's not properly reflected in my choice of albums.
In a rough-but-no-particular order:
The Smiths, David Bowie, Sonic Youth, Joy Division, Pink Floyd, Kate Bush, Fleetwood Mac, R.E.M., Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Diana Ross, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Idles, Fontaines D.C., Lou Reed, Nirvana, Radiohead, New Order, The Doors, The Clash, Prince, Gorillaz, Pet Shop Boys, Suede, The Rolling Stones, Talking Heads, Madonna, Squid, Little Simz, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen, Pavement, Sophie, Beyoncé, Grace Jones, Lana Del Rey, Kraftwerk, FKA twigs, Slowdive, MBV, Missy Elliott
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Update 23/04/24: Welcome Hounds Of Love to the top 10. It's been a long time coming. Kate Bush is never far from my rotation at any given point, but something about my recent listening to her has hit harder than before. 'The Big Sky' is genuinely insane, and that alone might be why I've finally decided the album deserves to be here. I love it so much.
Update 12/11/23: Some big ol' changes in the midfield. With the leaves falling off the trees I've conveniently remembered how obsessed with Slowdive I've always been, so welcome Souvlaki to the top 20 at last. A few other big moves.
Update 21/09/23: Welcome back Wish You Were Here, gone for 2.5 years, and now back on here because I don't think life is quite right without it. Far lower than before, but that's okay. A recent spur of 60s and 70s listening for me has led to the Stones gaining a new entry, and OK Computer making a return too. Two 2010s EPs from some of the most exciting artists living today - Miss Azealia and Miss Twigs - join the mid-pack in the form of 1991 and M3LL155X respectively.
Update 28/11/22: A great purge has occurred. Wholesale reorder. New entries from across the universe. Shock and Awe in the top 20 - I've finally let go of DSOTM's number 2 spot. It better reflects who I am now and what I love. The beautiful thing with a having a list like this is the work it takes to cultivate it and keep it in tune with who you are. See the previous versions of this chart for my older notes :)
Update 21/01/22: Things continues to move with the addition of albums from 2020 and 2021. We're well on the way to seeing the records from the last 30 years outweighing the records older than 30 years.
Update 30/03/21: It's a shock twist! The Top 10 has been updated for the first time since December 2017. Truly glacial pace of change up there, and not without good reason. Lou Reed's Transformer drops 1 place to 11, and still means the world to me. Welcome in our new Number 10 album, Loveless by My Bloody Valentine. A long time in the climbing for this position, I've finally accepted that I love this album more than ranking will ever be able to quantify, and that it deserves to be up there.
Update 09/02/21: Farewell to Wish You Were Here. Tough decision, but I haven't revisited it for so long now. Having it in the Top 20 seemed hard enough, but to be honest, my taste has changed. Welcoming in Bowie's Glastonbury 2000 set and Talking Heads's Stop Making Sense. Two pieces of absolute live perfection to enjoy whilst we aren't allowed to go to real gigs.
- Chart updated: 1 hour ago
- (Created: 10/20/2014 19:43).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 23 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 89 out of 100 (from 54 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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Weird, wild and expressive - words do not do it justice. Breathtaking but also calming, grand yet also detailed, terrifying yet also outstandingly close to the heart. It's an album for all seasons, all feelings and truly spans the musical spectrum. This is Kate Bush, the queen of avant-garde, at a seminal peak. [First added to this chart: 05/31/2018]
Oh, in all honesty, it doesn't get much better than this, does it? [First added to this chart: 10/23/2014]
I think it's wrong to try and divide R.E.M. into their albums; personally, their discography is such a complete, infinitely intriguing overall work, and its why its taken me literally years to put one of their records on here.
But if I had to pick one, it has to be this one. Automatic For The People reaches for something above us, above our culture and yet reaches deep into the psyche. Personal yet distant, dramatised yet honest. A numbness of modern living no one seems able to address, bottled into am album. [First added to this chart: 01/14/2021]
The benchmark for all albums. Forget the huge sales of Rumours, the music here is of a totally different class and quality. [First added to this chart: 10/23/2014]
If you're reading this, I'm sure you're probably little bored of all the Bowie albums on this list. But here me out - you do not get festival headline sets of this calibre very often. Glastonbury 2000 is overwhelmingly perfect, filling you with a sense that you're witnessing an elderstatesmen of all music at one of his absolute high points. Far enough into his career to take full stock of all of his best hits, performed by probably his best band ever (Gail, Earl, Mike, WHAT A COMBO) and twinkingly with that Glastonbury magic, this is peak live Bowie. I well up every time I hear the crowd cheer, it's a touching little reminder of how fucking special David Bowie was and is. [First added to this chart: 02/11/2021]
77 minutes of speaker-breaking pure adrenaline. [First added to this chart: 05/13/2018]
Yeah, Purple Rain the album is the peak of his studio efforts. But when it's played live, blown up to full scale, and performed the way they performed it on the night in Syracuse, new heights never before conceivable are found. 'Live' is quite simply the summation of human existence: passion, love, expression, sex, energy, more sex, life itself. That 19 minute Purple Rain is nirvana incarnate. Truly an album that makes you want to cry with joy and dance yourself into oblivion in equal measure. [First added to this chart: 10/09/2023]
It's very difficult choosing a favourite Prince album, but this is the quintessential one after all. One of pop's most stunning, most comprehensive and outstanding events. A towering achievement of perfectly overblown production, massive guitars and equally massive synths, with Prince's showmanship on display in every single moment. The emotions are raw, the hooks are big and the delivery is biblical. Awe-inspiring and insanely entertaining. [First added to this chart: 01/14/2019]
I'm ranking the full setlist from the film version here, as the shorter vinyl release simply doesn't do justice to what Talking Heads achieve here. Deliberate theatrics, an unbelievably powerful sense of rhythmn, and good lord, so much community and friendship on stage. Every musician here just sounds and looks like they're having the most fun they've ever had, and my god do the Talking Heads clean up when it comes to live energy. Compels you to dance no matter where you're listening to it. Awe inspiring live music perfection. [First added to this chart: 02/11/2021]
In all honesty, choosing even three songs from NFR! is impossible. The sheer weight of its escapism into the decaying world of the American dream and the dying hope of celebrtisied, sun-drench Californian romance is intoxicating and all consuming. Within the classic rock influenced sound and husky vocals is a record that became an instant classic the moment it graced us with its presence. Del Rey reaches out to you on the album sleeve for NFR!, welcoming you in to a world that is burning from in the inside out, both with the vapidity of California celebridom and with the wildfires strewn across the mountains in the background. I've yet to escape its desolation. [First added to this chart: 03/10/2020]
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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 | 20 | 20% | |
1980s | 18 | 18% | |
1990s | 20 | 20% | |
2000s | 7 | 7% | |
2010s | 25 | 25% | |
2020s | 7 | 7% |
Artist | Albums | % | |
---|---|---|---|
|
|||
David Bowie | 7 | 7% | |
Radiohead | 4 | 4% | |
Pink Floyd | 3 | 3% | |
Kendrick Lamar | 3 | 3% | |
Nirvana | 3 | 3% | |
The Smiths | 3 | 3% | |
Sonic Youth | 3 | 3% | |
Show all |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
Biggest climbers |
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Up 7 from 14th to 7th Hounds Of Love by Kate Bush |
Up 1 from 7th to 6th Substance 1987 by New Order |
Up 1 from 6th to 5th Endtroducing..... by DJ Shadow |
Biggest fallers |
---|
Down 6 from 5th to 11th Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division |
Down 1 from 11th to 12th Aladdin Sane by David Bowie |
Down 1 from 12th to 13th Blond by Frank Ocean |
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Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
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03/30/2024 17:17 | Johnnyo | 2,014 | 80/100 | |
07/26/2022 00:35 | Rm12398 | 99 | 89/100 | |
07/25/2022 12:05 | wizardalien | 31 | 88/100 | |
12/07/2021 12:35 | Cytoma | 171 | 90/100 | |
06/12/2021 14:46 | bobnickmad | 23 | 88/100 |
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This chart is rated in the top 4% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 89.3/100, a mean average of 89.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 89.9/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 7.1.
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Great chart. Lovin the accompanying notes
So no Beatles?
Picks are absolutely fantastic and the commentary on how your music taste changes throughout must be great to look back on from a personal perspective. Great list!
Any chart with this much commentary attached to it is an amazing one in my book!
Gorillaz! I love every chart with gorillaz!
Nice chart, I like a lot of your picks for best tracks, crazy how you're so into Bowie, only think a couple of his albums are really up there with the best of all time
@Sandinistar very good question, they're up there mainly for personal reasons, as in they have personal meaning to myself. They all mean a lot to me in one way or another.
I'm intrigued, because almost all of your Top 10 are highly regarded albums that I like okay and think are good but think are overrated because they fail as cohesive albums. Would like to understand why you think they're all great, because I'm not opposed to that view I just don't fully get it.
Ha it's taken me long enough to figure out how this site works, but here I am bby xoxo
Love your music, you're such an inspiration, I can't wait for Saturday Night Alternative to start up again.
Ha it's taken me long enough to figure out how this site works, but here I am bby xoxo
Love your music, you're such an inspiration, I can't wait for Saturday Night Alternative to start up again.
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