Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by halloallesgoed 
I know having this many albums that are already rated really high on the site on your list isn't appreciated, but I feel like if so many people have liked these, then these are the albums I have the best chance of falling in love with.
I don't know where else to start frankly and that´s just what I´m doing, starting, so the chart probably will change a lot in the future.
If you have recommendations based on this list I'ld love to hear them!
- Chart updated: 11/20/2018 21:45
- (Created: 03/16/2015 22:10).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 13 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 92 out of 100 (from 40 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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This album is very special to me. Every time I listen to it I learn something new, see a song from a different perspective or get reminded of an important truth.
Like with 'I know there's an answer'. I always heard it as if the isolated people that think they can do it alone were the people around me, not being able to keep an open mind, about all the great music made, for instance.
At a later point in life I found myself in an isolated position with not too many friends and I didn't see a lot of people every day. At this time I was the person who thought he could do it alone and it taught me something new.
It also never fails to make me happy, Such a wonderful overall feeling I get from these songs. It's so warm, really good for winterevenings.
'I know so many people who think they can do it alone
They isolate their heads and stay in their safety zones
Now what can you tell them
And what can you say that won't make them defensive?' [First added to this chart: 03/17/2015]
Like with 'I know there's an answer'. I always heard it as if the isolated people that think they can do it alone were the people around me, not being able to keep an open mind, about all the great music made, for instance.
At a later point in life I found myself in an isolated position with not too many friends and I didn't see a lot of people every day. At this time I was the person who thought he could do it alone and it taught me something new.
It also never fails to make me happy, Such a wonderful overall feeling I get from these songs. It's so warm, really good for winterevenings.
'I know so many people who think they can do it alone
They isolate their heads and stay in their safety zones
Now what can you tell them
And what can you say that won't make them defensive?' [First added to this chart: 03/17/2015]
Year of Release:
1966
Appears in:
Rank Score:
39,177
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Just a great collection of songs with a coherent feel that's immersive even if the lyrics are incomprehendable. Visions of Johanna is my favorite Dylan song.
'We sit here stranded, though we're all doin our best to deny it' [First added to this chart: 03/17/2015]
'We sit here stranded, though we're all doin our best to deny it' [First added to this chart: 03/17/2015]
Year of Release:
1966
Appears in:
Rank Score:
24,909
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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The best hip-hop record I have ever heard and I am honoured to have been right there with my headphones the day it was released. Nothing else matters in moments like those, and those are the moments you live for, to be excited like a kid on christmas.
'loving you is complicated' [First added to this chart: 07/22/2015]
'loving you is complicated' [First added to this chart: 07/22/2015]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
31,545
Rank in 2015:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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So simple yet incredibly unique. Really unlike anything else, don't think there ever will come anything like this, even if NMH comes back with a new album.
As for lyrics I really like the first song because it switches from innocent childlike wonder and discovering to really sad violence which must be what a bad childhood feels like. [First added to this chart: 03/17/2015]
As for lyrics I really like the first song because it switches from innocent childlike wonder and discovering to really sad violence which must be what a bad childhood feels like. [First added to this chart: 03/17/2015]
Year of Release:
1998
Appears in:
Rank Score:
33,042
Rank in 1998:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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I don't think I will ever hear such pure emotion put on a record. Every singer is really an actor trying to recapture the feeling he or she had when the song was written. This guy though was feeling terrible, all allone in a cabin and decided to play some music. the words he just added while playing, whatever fits and feels right he sang. he recorded it in the same cabin at the same timeperiod and so there was no acting involved. amazing. I think thats where the dissapointment in the follow up comes from. it doesn't have this unique pureness.
[First added to this chart: 04/10/2015]
Year of Release:
2007
Appears in:
Rank Score:
11,044
Rank in 2007:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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It took me a lot of listens to realise this album isn't boring at all. It is a very sad album, but not a 'cry your eyes out' sad, it's the kind of sad when you've cried enough and you're still depressed. His voice represents this emotion perfectly. It's the kind of album for when you're tired of being comforted. I don't mean to sound so dangerously depressed, it's just the kind of album it is.
'Each night, I bury my love around you,
You're linked to my innocense' [First added to this chart: 12/09/2016]
'Each night, I bury my love around you,
You're linked to my innocense' [First added to this chart: 12/09/2016]
Year of Release:
2002
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,176
Rank in 2002:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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This is my favorite jazz album and the first jazz album I heard that sounded so different to the others I had heard that I started to doubt how jazz it really was. But I let the people better versed in the genre make that call and just sit back and enjoy the music. It all fits together so inexplicably well that when you all of a sudden hear a spanish guitar it makes perfect sense.
[First added to this chart: 12/15/2016]
Year of Release:
1963
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,005
Rank in 1963:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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Isaac Brock is one of my absolute favorite lyricists. The moon & antarctica is probably their tightest record, but what can I say, I just love the way they get loose. For this there's quite some credit due to the drummer. Favorite MM track is on here, called Cowboy Dan, and it perfectly encapsulates this album's theme of anxiously seeing the grey of commercialism creeping into your life.
'Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation, drinks and gets mean
He goes to the desert, fires his rifle in the sky
And says, "God, if I have to die, you will have to die"
Because Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
"I didn't move to the city, the city moved to me
And I want out desperately"' [First added to this chart: 04/10/2015]
'Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation, drinks and gets mean
He goes to the desert, fires his rifle in the sky
And says, "God, if I have to die, you will have to die"
Because Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
"I didn't move to the city, the city moved to me
And I want out desperately"' [First added to this chart: 04/10/2015]
Year of Release:
1997
Appears in:
Rank Score:
7,923
Rank in 1997:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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Great, once you understand what they're going for and you give in to the madness and shout along. May take a few listens to get into, but from the first listen you should know something special is going on here. 'Hey' is my favorite song on here, because of that insanely funky guitar and the strange lyrics about whores and breaking babies that flow so well (the lyrics I mean).
'friend or foe..?
There goes my gun' [First added to this chart: 03/17/2015]
'friend or foe..?
There goes my gun' [First added to this chart: 03/17/2015]
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
31,677
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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After not really getting 'kind of blue' (though I know I will someday, having loved other Miles Davis albums that maybe should be on this chart as well and not really having a reason to dislike it) I thought jazz wasn't for me. And the first time I heard this I didn't think it was any different from all the jazz I had heard before. I'm glad I gave it some more tries, and perhaps the fact that this is his sonic ode to god and their love supreme helped me connect with it even without lyrics. I just didn't know what emotions jazz was supposed to convey, because it wasn't put into words. I'm fine now though.
[First added to this chart: 12/09/2016]
Year of Release:
1965
Appears in:
Rank Score:
15,759
Rank in 1965:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 51. Page 1 of 6
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 17 | 17% | |
| 1970s | 25 | 25% | |
| 1980s | 13 | 13% | |
| 1990s | 15 | 15% | |
| 2000s | 23 | 23% | |
| 2010s | 7 | 7% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Beatles | 5 | 5% | |
| David Bowie | 3 | 3% | |
| Kanye West | 3 | 3% | |
| Bob Dylan | 3 | 3% | |
| Radiohead | 3 | 3% | |
| The Smiths | 3 | 3% | |
| Wilco | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 1 from 97th to 98th Histoire De Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg |
| Down 1 from 98th to 99th Station To Station by David Bowie |
| Down 1 from 99th to 100th Illinois by Sufjan Stevens |
| New entries |
|---|
| 2012-2017 by Against All Logic |
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Top 100 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 40 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 07/30/2022 10:32 |  Applerill | 974 | 75/100 |
| ! | 02/29/2020 01:50 |  CA Dreamin | 134 | 88/100 |
| ! | 12/12/2019 21:34 | leniad | 673 | 85/100 |
| ! | 05/03/2019 21:04 |  flamingyesdept | 103 | 84/100 |
| ! | 04/04/2019 22:08 |  Rhyner | 1,456 | 99/100 |
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 92.0/100, a mean average of 92.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 93.5/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 8.8.
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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From leniad 12/12/2019 21:34 | #245642
Really like your picks and the explanation on every album , good chart
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
ForegroundNoise 04/04/2019 12:13 | #234495
ForegroundNoise 04/04/2019 12:13 | #234495
Wow, such a great chart! Even if a little bit too saturated with the classics for me ... I love the charm of your notes, keep them up!!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Rivera 04/03/2019 13:17 | #234449
Great choices, great chart. Well done!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
DommeDamian 04/03/2019 12:02 | #234446
DommeDamian 04/03/2019 12:02 | #234446
Wow what a great chart. The descriptions is sweetly written, and hits home pretty much everysingle one of them. And props 4 MMLP
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From backhudson 04/04/2018 21:58 | #212304
Great chart, good write ups!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Ulf 04/04/2018 12:07 | #212281
Very great albums and great descriptions
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From DJENNY 03/24/2018 03:06 | #211601
Love love love this chart.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
JulianR 01/28/2018 21:07 | #206712
JulianR 01/28/2018 21:07 | #206712
great stuff! You definitely must check out the Smile Sessions. It can be a little harder to get into, as its a little more out there than Pet Sounds, but after numerous listens it becomes another masterpiece, almost on par with Pet Sounds
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From platus 07/30/2017 07:58 | #195164
Very good chart
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
corenfro 07/29/2017 21:48 | #195150
corenfro 07/29/2017 21:48 | #195150
Good list - don't worry about having many top rated albums in your list - they're rated highly for a reason. A lot of people on the site don't like the accept that overwhelming consensus might mean a piece of art is pretty darn good and that if you don't have a list of obscure artist no one has ever heard of it must be a terrible list.
I enjoyed reading your comments!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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| Best Ever Artists | |
|---|---|
| 1. The Beatles | |
| 2. Radiohead | |
| 3. Pink Floyd | |
| 4. David Bowie | |
| 5. Bob Dylan | |
| 6. Led Zeppelin | |
| 7. The Rolling Stones | |
| 8. Arcade Fire | |
| 9. Nirvana | |
| 10. Neil Young | |
| 11. The Velvet Underground | |
| 12. Kendrick Lamar | |
| 13. Miles Davis | |
| 14. The Smiths | |
| 15. The Beach Boys | |
| 16. R.E.M. | |
| 17. Kanye West | |
| 18. Pixies | |
| 19. Bruce Springsteen | |
| 20. Jimi Hendrix |
