Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by ObsoleteEntity

I began this chart by trying to remain as objective as possible. I wanted to make a chart that highlighted the most influential music of all time, but I quickly realized that music is anything but objective. It is personal. So, simply stated, this chart is the soundtrack of my life, balanced against the objective measures of its impact on the future, the influence on others, the overall message (as I believe greatness must have a message), the consideration of being "ahead of its time", and the talent/genius it took to create and implement the vision of sound.

FYI: I could add, but will not, all the albums from Led Zep, Beatles, Hendrix, Marley, Doors, and Smiths.

There is more than one album per artist.

• Chart updated: 04/17/2021 14:45
• (Created: 03/22/2015 22:28).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

There are 14 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 89 out of 100 (from 47 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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1. (=)

Electric Ladyland 

 The Jimi Hendrix Experience

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Have YOU ever been to Electric Ladyland? I have. Incredible use of studio effects. [First added to this chart: 03/22/2015]

Year of Release:

1968

Appears in:

1,687 charts

Rank Score:

17,519

Rank in 1968:

2

Rank in 1960s:

14

Overall Rank:

59

Average Rating:

 86 (1,983 votes)

Comments:

109

2. (=)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 

 The Beatles

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A masterpiece, a game changer. [First added to this chart: 03/22/2015]

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

3,483 charts

Rank Score:

43,627

Rank in 1967:

1

Rank in 1960s:

3

Overall Rank:

8

Average Rating:

 90 (4,590 votes)

Comments:

491

3. (=)

Paranoid 

 Black Sabbath

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The album simply rocks. The birth of the metal mindset. The impact of this album can not be overstated. Slow Motion Punk. [First added to this chart: 04/28/2015]

Year of Release:

1970

Appears in:

1,726 charts

Rank Score:

18,907

Rank in 1970:

1

Rank in 1970s:

16

Overall Rank:

50

Average Rating:

 86 (2,099 votes)

Comments:

139

4. (=)

The Dark Side Of The Moon 

 Pink Floyd

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New layers are revealed with each listen. Genius. [First added to this chart: 03/22/2015]

Year of Release:

1973

Appears in:

4,124 charts

Rank Score:

60,775

Rank in 1973:

1

Rank in 1970s:

1

Overall Rank:

2

Average Rating:

 92 (5,332 votes)

Comments:

592

5. (=)

Disintegration 

 The Cure

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Another masterpiece. Orchestral, if you will. [First added to this chart: 03/22/2015]

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,833 charts

Rank Score:

26,240

Rank in 1989:

2

Rank in 1980s:

4

Overall Rank:

30

Average Rating:

 86 (2,054 votes)

Comments:

152

6. (=)

The Cars 

 The Cars

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Smooth post punk, classic rock, pop. All these descriptors are fair game for this album. I've always thought they helped create and define 80s music. [First added to this chart: 04/16/2016]

Year of Release:

1978

Appears in:

727 charts

Rank Score:

5,685

Rank in 1978:

3

Rank in 1970s:

73

Overall Rank:

297

Average Rating:

 81 (814 votes)

Comments:

65

7. (=)

The Doors 

 The Doors

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Break on through....baby. Their first album. What a great way to start. [First added to this chart: 07/28/2015]

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

2,417 charts

Rank Score:

26,996

Rank in 1967:

3

Rank in 1960s:

10

Overall Rank:

29

Average Rating:

 87 (2,847 votes)

Comments:

208

8. (=)

Howlin' Wolf 
Compilation

 Howlin' Wolf

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Camping with Kevvy!! The Wolf is unlike any other. If you listen intently, you will see that he throws everything at you, including the kitchen sink. [First added to this chart: 06/29/2015]

Year of Release:

1962

Appears in:

211 charts

Rank Score:

1,270

Rank in 1962:

2

Rank in 1960s:

143

Overall Rank:

1,350

Average Rating:

 80 (220 votes)

Comments:

9

9. (=)

Twitch 

 Ministry

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This album changed my views on music. I listened to it 3 to 4 times per day for a good year. [First added to this chart: 05/31/2015]

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

31 charts

Rank Score:

167

Rank in 1986:

107

Rank in 1980s:

1,086

Overall Rank:

7,474

Average Rating:

 71 (43 votes)

Comments:

1

10. (=)

The Basement Tapes 

 Bob Dylan & The Band

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Always a great listen. It's funny, thoughtful, introspective, with great music dancing around behind it. I recently found out that this album was actually made in 67. That mandated a move up the chart simply for the innovative factors alone. [First added to this chart: 03/22/2015]

Year of Release:

1975

Appears in:

283 charts

Rank Score:

1,588

Rank in 1975:

16

Rank in 1970s:

227

Overall Rank:

1,094

Average Rating:

 79 (370 votes)

Comments:

17

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Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Decade	Albums	%
1930s	0	0%
1940s	0	0%
1950s	2	2%
1960s	23	23%
1970s	38	38%
1980s	23	23%
1990s	7	7%
2000s	6	6%
2010s	1	1%
2020s	0	0%

Artist	Albums	%
The Beatles	6	6%
Miles Davis	3	3%
The Cure	3	3%
The Smiths	3	3%
Neil Young	3	3%
Bob Dylan	3	3%
The Doors	3	3%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	56	56%
	33	33%
	4	4%
	3	3%
	3	3%
	1	1%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest climbers
Up 21 from 92nd to 71st July by July
Up 21 from 91st to 70th Breathe Awhile by Arcadium

Biggest fallers
Down 2 from 70th to 72nd The Stooges by The Stooges
Down 2 from 71st to 73rd Blood On The Tracks by Bob Dylan
Down 2 from 72nd to 74th Songs About Fucking by Big Black

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts

Title	Source	Type	Published	Country
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s	ObsoleteEntity	1970s decade chart	2021
AllMusic's Greatest Albums	musicologist97	Custom chart	2019
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums	album guru joe	Overall chart	2013
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums	StefanR10	Overall chart	2020
TOP 100 IN THE FUTURE	exileonthehell	Custom chart	2016
BEA+RYM Overall Rank	Imaybeparanoid	Custom chart	2017
Most Acclaimed Music Albums	Imaybeparanoid	Custom chart	2015
An Objective Ranking Of BEA'S Top 100...	covecove	Custom chart	2017
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums	RFNAPLES	Overall chart	2013
An Objective Ranking of the BEA Top 100	PaperVinnie	Custom chart	2018

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similarity to your chart(s)

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 47 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
85/100	03/20/2025 15:23	SomethingSpecial	1,106	85/100
85/100	02/27/2022 18:47	dougcummings	22	70/100
85/100	09/08/2021 19:49	RioBravo	201	84/100
100/100	09/08/2021 19:02	desh79	1,278	93/100
95/100	09/08/2021 11:23	Cytoma	171	90/100

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 4% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 89.1/100, a mean average of 88.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 89.8/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 14.8.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites

Showing all 8 members who have added this chart as a favourite

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

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Rating:  

100/100

From salahshoori 07/29/2021 00:47

Great chart! Any chart with July on it, is lovely.

#272026 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

80/100

From seb7 12/10/2020 19:56

Interesting list

#262496 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

85/100

From vancevisuals 11/21/2018 22:11

Like the chart
Electric Ladyland is my favorite Hendrix as well

#225422 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

85/100

From ForegroundNoise 11/21/2018 09:16

Really great picks and love the notes you've put to (almost) all the albums. Keep it up!

#225382 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

100/100

From patriciatoledo 12/23/2017 20:54

I think I'm in love

#203780 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

80/100

From MW19704U 10/09/2017 17:42

Inspiring Collection!

#199316 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)

Rating:  

100/100

From Repo 07/11/2017 18:59

Insanely great chart. Love seeing MBM, Ministry and DRI so high!!! Camping with Kevvvy is always a good idea. lol. Really awesome chart. Feel free to leave me some mellow recs in The Mellow Zone (it;s in the Music Diaries portion of the forum.) I LOVE your taste, Peace, brother!

#194078 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)

Rating:  

90/100

From LedZep 02/12/2017 13:21

Diverse, and I haven't listened to many albums here but I like the outlook. I'm also a metal fan (at least for the criteria on this page) so I like most of your choices

#185461 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

80/100

From corenfro 01/29/2017 22:55

Love the comments. Lots of great stuff from the 60's / 70's.

#184538 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

5/100

From SaulCortes1992 12/21/2016 02:00

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#180636 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -14 votes (0 helpful | 14 unhelpful)

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