Top 50 Greatest Music Albums
by CW Martin 
Just to make things perfectly clear, I am a dyed in the wool 70's head, and if the world ended in 1985, my music collection would still be about 80% intact. What did the guy say when she told him, "who you think you gonna please with THAT?" Answer: myself! and so this chart.
- Chart updated: 08/06/2010 04:17
- (Created: 07/30/2010 04:18).
- Chart size: 50 albums.
There are 18 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 50 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 70 out of 100 (from 16 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
The entries in this chart have a zero rank score because the chart has not been updated within the last ten years (points from overall charts are decayed over a ten year period).
View the complete list of 57,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
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[First added to this chart: 07/29/2010]
Year of Release:
1966
Appears in:
Rank Score:
39,014
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 07/29/2010]
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[First added to this chart: 07/29/2010]
Year of Release:
1977
Appears in:
Rank Score:
30,771
Rank in 1977:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 07/29/2010]
Year of Release:
1993
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,627
Rank in 1993:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 07/29/2010]
Year of Release:
1970
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,086
Rank in 1970:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 07/29/2010]
Year of Release:
1974
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,341
Rank in 1974:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 07/29/2010]
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[First added to this chart: 07/29/2010]
Year of Release:
1976
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,834
Rank in 1976:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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[First added to this chart: 07/29/2010]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,473
Rank in 1971:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 07/29/2010]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
43,199
Rank in 1967:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 50. Page 1 of 5
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Top 50 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 5 | 10% | |
| 1970s | 24 | 48% | |
| 1980s | 12 | 24% | |
| 1990s | 6 | 12% | |
| 2000s | 3 | 6% | |
| 2010s | 0 | 0% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Electric Light Orchestra | 4 | 8% | |
| Genesis | 3 | 6% | |
| Rosanne Cash | 3 | 6% | |
| The Beach Boys | 2 | 4% | |
| Fleetwood Mac | 2 | 4% | |
| Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young | 2 | 4% | |
| The 4 Seasons | 2 | 4% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 50 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 1 from 47th to 48thFace The Music by Electric Light Orchestra |
| Down 1 from 48th to 49thHead First by The Babys |
| New entries |
|---|
| Within A Mile Of Home by Flogging Molly |
| God Shuffled His Feet by Crash Test Dummies |
| Leavers |
|---|
| Message From The Country by The Move |
| Zenyatta Mondatta by The Police |
Top 50 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 50 Greatest Music Albums | pawuf | Overall chart | 2010 | |
| The Definitive 200 | National Association of Recording Merchandisers | Overall chart | 2007 | |
| The Top 100 Albums | VH1 | Overall chart | 2001 | |
| Top 50 Greatest Music Albums | thestein | Overall chart | 2010 |  |
| Greatest 100 Albums of All Time | The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums with NME | Overall chart | 2006 |  |
| Virgin All-Time Top 1000 Albums | Virgin | Overall chart | 2000 | |
| Top 40 Greatest Music Albums | myermania | Overall chart | 2010 | |
| Top 50 Greatest Music Albums | galileo1957 | Overall chart | 2010 | |
| Top 50 Greatest Music Albums | shim1 | Overall chart | 2010 | |
| Top 50 Greatest Music Albums | TheBond | Overall chart | 2010 | |
Top 50 Greatest Music Albums similarity to your chart(s)
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Top 50 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 16 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 02/19/2025 15:43 |  DommeDamian | 1,004 | 89/100 |
| ! | 01/19/2025 21:49 | BorderFreeAndrew | 102 | 81/100 |
| ! | 04/19/2018 20:34 |  paladisiac | 119 | 77/100 |
| ! | 02/12/2012 15:58 | TrekkiELO | 75 | 88/100 |
| ! | 08/03/2011 19:35 | Johnnyo | 2,565 | 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 has a Bayesian average rating of 70.1/100, a mean average of 60.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 60.3/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 19.9.
Top 50 Greatest Music Albums favourites
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Top 50 Greatest Music Albums comments
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From BorderFreeAndrew 01/19/2025 21:49 | #307088
I may not agree with some of your choices, but the fact that you're not trying to be a hipster elitist is very refreshing.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Johnnyo 08/03/2011 19:37 | #25637
Like most of the chart & most of the artists but I have a problem with Best Of in a top 50 chart. Just my own preference but they don't fit. An album is a moment in time not a collection of songs over 10 - 15 years but I do like the artists that you have picked.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Chrisey22 08/06/2010 07:33 | #14098
Sorry over the top.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
From Chrisey22 08/06/2010 05:49 | #14088
Sorry, to the British liking ELO is akin to liking ABA the poor mans Beatles. John lennon said if the beatles had of carried on they would have turned into ELO.I think yours is the poorest chart i have seen so far. Listen to some 90s and 00s you will find some good stuff and Asia ?
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (1 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
From 
ffudnebbuh 08/04/2010 22:45 | #14033
ffudnebbuh 08/04/2010 22:45 | #14033
Really like ELO "out of the blue', and "Endless Summer"(I prefer early Beach Boys)..classic 70s album...but not crazy about "asia"
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From jeps 08/04/2010 08:45 | #14017
70s is definitely a good time musically to be lost in, there are a lot worse places to be.
And for the 13 bands on my list (since the list is ONLY albums released in 2010), only 9 have been around since before 2005, and of those probably two at most were "big" before 2004 or so. Don't feel too out-of-the-loop, they're mostly modern bands who have at some point been indie rockers.
I did grow up in the generation of music choice, where I can access any music I want at any time, as opposed to previous generations of radio-influence (to a greater extent than simply top-40), so it is a lot easier to follow a larger number of bands now than it was previously. However, the problem with all this new music is how much of it is bad, and needs to be waded through.
There are great gems in there, I encourage you to look, just be careful. To use an analogy of music, for every modern "revolver" out there, there is probably 50 "Shaq Diesel" (or "Songs for gay dogs") albums.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From jeps 08/04/2010 07:52 | #14015
i think this list is a little too 70/80s centric, with a full half being from the 70s, while a mere 14% is from the 90s/00s (when a lot of great music in all genres became available to anyone, worldwide), and has a greatest hits album. other than that, great list
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
Triple Seis 07/31/2010 08:53 | #13896
Triple Seis 07/31/2010 08:53 | #13896
Algunos albums no los conozco pero voy a chequearlos
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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