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.
View the complete list of 57,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
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 4 Seasons | 2 | 4% | |
| The Beach Boys | 2 | 4% | |
| Fleetwood Mac | 2 | 4% | |
| Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young | 2 | 4% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 50 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 1 from 47th to 48th Face The Music by Electric Light Orchestra |
| Down 1 from 48th to 49th Head 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)
Not a member? Registering is quick, easy and FREE!
Why register?
- Join a passionate community of over 50,000 music fans.
- Create & share your own charts.
- Have your say in the overall rankings.
- Post comments in the forums and vote on polls.
- Comment on or rate any album, artist, track or chart.
- Discover new music & improve your music collection.
- Customise the overall chart using a variety of different filters & metrics.
- Create a wishlist of albums.
- Help maintain the BEA database.
- Earn member points and gain access to increasing levels of functionality!
- ... And lots more!
Register now - it only takes a moment!
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 | 1,004 | 89/100 | |
| ! | 01/19/2025 21:49 | BorderFreeAndrew | 102 | 81/100 |
| ! | 04/19/2018 20:34 | 119 | 77/100 | |
| ! | 02/12/2012 15:58 | TrekkiELO | 75 | 88/100 |
| ! | 08/03/2011 19:35 | Johnnyo | 2,560 | 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
Showing all 3 members who have added this chart as a favourite
Top 50 Greatest Music Albums comments
Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 18 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First |
Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
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.
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.
How is it stubbornness, Omid? These are my favorites, the stuff I like. I neither said they were the best of all time, or that I had listened to all the music of all time to pick them. I'm not trying to tell you what to like; only telling you what I like.
No offence,but it's like stubbornness.your're denying some great music,cause they're up to date,and ignoring new stuffs your've limited yourself to some pioneers,im against these kind of assessments.
"Fair" would indicate an impartial judgement. My list is my favorites. I'm not being unfair, just expressing what I like.
Your are underestimating the modern music,that's not fair.
Thanks Gary. I liked your chart, too. Eyebrows (of surprise) went up at Holy Diver. Can't knock Dio.
Yes, seriously Asia. My memory is that when it came out it was by far better than a lot of crap coming out then. It may not have stood the test of time for some (most?) people, but the memory has for me. Thankls for writing.
Chrisey22 is rude. I hate when people on this site try to "school" others. Some of these users should be banned or given strikes for unnecessary taste bashing. Your list seems honest. I'm curious about Rosanne Cash.
Sorry over the top.
Your feedback for Top 50 Greatest Music Albums
A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
