Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by calsper

The difficult task of turning something as subjective as the power of music into an objective measure seems both arbitrary and heuristic if one is to avoid leaving readers with an undifferentiated overview.

In this chart I try to take into consideration certain aspects that I regard as crucial in order to rank the top 100 albums in music history, in which I believe a multifaceted approach is needed.

I rank by taking into account components of the individual album related to:
- Memories: my personal testemonies, confessions and experiences related to the music album as a listener, musician and human being
- History: the significance of music history and the vast impact and ways that single recordings have echoed throughout time as seminal artistic testamonies
- State-dependent emotion: the creative impact that I experience in listening and the emotional states that emerge during the course of the album's runtime
- Production: the soundstage, instrumentation, transparency and mastering of certain albums inducted into this chart as musical detail and presence to me is a highly enriching aspect of experiencing music.

This is a wonderful website. I am honored to be part of it and to have the privilege of being inspired by the whole-hearted music lovers in it. ..Enjoy

Best Casper

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This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from Talk Talk. (Remove this filter)

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Tim Friese, the producer of this great band, is worthy of the first denotation for this musical pearl. I mention Friese first, because what Talk Talk are to me, is a reference in complex and naked production at the same time.

The band's discography is simply amazing. The aforementioned nakedness to the bliss production is clear through certain other album of their way too short discography (e.g. "Laughing Stock"), and others such as the amazing "The Colour Of Spring" (which I believe to be the best instrumentation an album has ever put out) but still, to me it never reaches the height of "Spirit Of Eden".

Apart from the production, there are still things to say about the great vocal effort from Mark Hollis - these guys are geniuses in their way of expressing emotion through sound.

By this they hit a nerve for me that musically makes Talk Talk one of my favourite bands.
[First added to this chart: 03/25/2015]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,500
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
The first thing I want to say of this record is this: I think it is unanimously the most impressive instrumentation on any recording. Hollis' voice is so subtle and deeply contemplative - perfectly in synchrony with the music played from this amazing band.

This amazing record from Talk Talk is quite unique as to me it really emphasised the artistic transition from them being pop artists to experimental jazz rockers.

The production is simply fantastic, and Mark Hollis is indeed crying out his heart in perfect harmony - what a contradictory line of thought. The opening track "Happiness is Easy" is one of my favourite tracks and among what I've played the most, when seldom putting on a single track.
[First added to this chart: 03/25/2015]
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,990
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 2. Page 1 of 1

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Decade Albums %


1930s 0 0%
1940s 0 0%
1950s 3 3%
1960s 17 17%
1970s 27 27%
1980s 14 14%
1990s 9 9%
2000s 11 11%
2010s 19 19%
2020s 0 0%
Artist Albums %


The Beatles 5 5%
Radiohead 4 4%
Steely Dan 3 3%
Arcade Fire 2 2%
Bob Dylan 2 2%
Miles Davis 2 2%
Michael Jackson 2 2%
Show all
Country Albums %


United States 51 51%
United Kingdom 31 31%
Mixed Nationality 5 5%
Canada 5 5%
France 3 3%
Australia 1 1%
Ireland 1 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Average Rating: 
90/100 (from 67 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.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 67 ratings for this chart.

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85/100
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03/20/2025 22:50 SomethingSpecial  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,10885/100
 
100/100
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11/08/2022 02:33 Larcx13  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,14186/100
 
80/100
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11/07/2022 21:53 Moondance  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 47585/100
 
95/100
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11/07/2022 14:04 flamingyesdept  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 10384/100
  
90/100
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01/03/2022 17:10 Goliath  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 34886/100

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 2% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 90.4/100, a mean average of 90.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 91.1/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 9.0.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

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Rating:  
80/100
From 11/07/2022 21:57
Some terrific comments that I enjoyed reading. The chart reads like a reshuffling of the best of the best BEA rated albums - which is fine....but the chart didn't excite me like the more adventurous charts do.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 04/28/2022 12:13
Nærmest endnu bedre end 4 år siden.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 01/03/2022 17:11
22 in common, contains many classics, as it should.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
65/100
From 09/02/2018 11:20
The most PC chart I have ever seen on this site, and that’s saying something. Do you even have a taste of your own?
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (1 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 11/23/2017 11:09
11 albums og 18 kunstnere. Vi har virkeligt meget til fælles. Fed liste og endnu bedre beskrivelser, homie
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 11/16/2017 19:57
Good chart like the notes plenty of heavy hitters
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 11/16/2017 18:33
very nice chart
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 08/02/2017 22:33
A lot of great albums and some albums I will have to check out! I liked reading your album reviews. Very good stuff!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 05/01/2017 12:18
It's got all the classics but that's just it, not a single choice I didn't see on basically every chart ever. This is good and bad at the same time. The second thing is that I don't like some of the choices, but descriptions compensate for that. Not that diverse, but still very charming. I'm confused.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 04/28/2017 07:52
Too many albums that everybody seems to like, for my taste. No wonder it resembles the Top 100 rearranged most. Only 2 2digits albums (in less than 100 charts). This is hard too understand for me. There is joy in loving albums that are obscure.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1999
1. Ágætis Byrjun by Sigur Rós
2. The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips
3. Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers
4. 98.12.28 男達の別れ [98.12.28 Otokotachi No Wakare] by フィッシュマンズ [Fishmans]
5. 13 by Blur
6. When The Pawn... by Fiona Apple
7. Keep It Like A Secret by Built To Spill
8. Summerteeth by Wilco
9. Emergency & I by The Dismemberment Plan
10. American Football by American Football
11. 69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Fields
12. Play by Moby
13. The Fragile by Nine Inch Nails
14. Enema Of The State by Blink-182
15. Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory by Dream Theater
16. Showbiz by Muse
17. Slow Riot For New Zerø Kanada by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
18. The Battle Of Los Angeles by Rage Against The Machine
19. Black On Both Sides by Mos Def
20. Mule Variations by Tom Waits
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