Top 40 Greatest Music Albums
by devonjaz 
These are my person favorite albums, not a definitive ranking of the best records of all time.
- Chart updated: 10/10/2017 19:15
- (Created: 04/07/2015 01:54).
- Chart size: 40 albums.
There are 2 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 40 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 85 out of 100 (from 2 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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A perfect album in every sense of the word. The Beatles' swan song ended up being their most solid from start to finish. The greatest rock band of all time created my favorite album of all time.
[First added to this chart: 04/06/2015]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
57,323
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The Beatles' second best album in my mind, was the first that they decided they were no longer just some boy band, but a group of young adults ready to make a difference. Many would put the more experimental Revolver above this album, but I feel as an album, Rubber Soul is more solid overall.
[First added to this chart: 04/06/2015]
Year of Release:
1965
Appears in:
Rank Score:
26,723
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While there are albums that mean more to me and I would technically rank higher than Stevie Wonder's Innervision, there is not an album that I have listened to in my life that is so ridiculously perfect. I hate the term perfect, as nothing can have absolutely no flaws, but Stevie Wonder's Innervisons come damn close. Every track on this album is grade, and something I could listen to at any time. The best part about Innervisions is the flow and connectivity the whole thing posses. The one track that seems a little bit out of place with the tone of the album is Higher Ground which comes smack in the middle of the record. Higher Ground makes up for that and then some by being such a fucking great track, and it also makes sense in a way as it adds some variety to split the record in half. Innervisions is phenomenal; perfect.
[First added to this chart: 05/17/2015]
Year of Release:
1973
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Rank Score:
12,549
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The Queen Is Dead is a really interesting album. NME called it the greatest of all time. I wouldn't go that far, but it is damn good. In my life, I don't there is a single album that has a great flow as the Queen Is Dead. Every song connects and sounds wonderful. Lyrically as always, the Smiths prove to be one of the most skilled. I really don't know what to say other than the Queen Is Dead is one of the best albums of the 1980s, and certainly one of the most influential. This album has rose so much for me over time. To me, The Smiths are the definition of a band that gets better every time you listen to them. At this point in time, I would put them in my top 5 favorite groups of all time.
[First added to this chart: 05/17/2015]
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
33,894
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The greatest concept album of all time, is also my favorite album from the psychedelic rock grandfathers, Pink Floyd. The Wall is amazing, start to finish. It may not be as constantly outstanding like Dark Side, but I feel as a piece of art, it outshines it's more well known predecessor.
[First added to this chart: 04/06/2015]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
25,137
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1973 was one of the greatest years in music. House of the Holy by Led Zeppelin, Innervisions by Stevie Wonder, and Quadrophenia by The Who. I am a huge fan of rock opera/concept albums. I have such a hard time determining whether The Wall by Pink Floyd or Quadrophenia by The Who wins out, both are such phenomenal albums. I find the story on The Wall a bit more interesting, but I probably enjoy the music of Quadrophenia a bit more. Either way, both are fantastic. Quadrophenia tells the story of a young boy named Jimmy going insane, or is? Is it just the ever changing world around him that can't keep up with him. Every track on this album is wonderful and moves with such flow. The Who is one of the most underrated bands of all time in my opinion. People certainly know them and they do have a lot of love, but in my opinion, they deserve just as much love and attention as the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin receive and Quadrophenia makes turns this statement into a fact.
[First added to this chart: 10/13/2015]
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
7,019
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Kid A is a record that is hard to explain. It is beautiful, terrifying, calming psychedelic, and robotic. It is kaleidoscopic. Kid A is one of the most important records released in the 2000s. After the commercial and critical hit OK Computer, everyone expected Radiohead's follow up to be OK Comupter 2, but instead, Radiohead decided to blow everyone's expectations out of the water. The production on Kid A is still something that surprises, and has never been replicated today. The National Anthem excites and scares, while tracks like How To Disappear Completely will make you cry. Kid A rebels and revolutionizes.
[First added to this chart: 11/15/2016]
Year of Release:
2000
Appears in:
Rank Score:
42,307
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To Pimp A Butterfly does what the Beatles' best selling album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band did to rock and roll, to rap. If this statement was said to anyone who knows anything about music, this is a bold assertion. Kendrick Lamar not only delivers the best album of the past five years, but also quite possibly the most solid, and artistic rap album in history. To Pimp A Butterfly is beautiful, scary, has a sexy jazzy beat, kaleidoscopic, and psychedelic all at the same time. These are all terms rarely associated with the rap genre, but Lamar truly delivers with this album. Lamar tells the story of an inner psychological breakdown by being trapped inside the ghetto, or his roots, and being followed by "Lucy" or Lucifer. Lamar's story is both deeply personal and yet everyone who listens to it, can someone find a way to apply the message to their life. It is easily up their with Pink Floyd's The Wall as one of the great concept albums. One of the most impressive parts of TPAB is Lamar's constantly changing tone while rapping. The emotion found in Lamar's voice is staggering, a feat most rappers would only dream of achieving. TPAB is clearly meant to be listened to as a whole, one big long story that tells the tale of a man struggling, who begins to find his way. Listening to the album this way holds the most merit, but also proves to be the most enjoyable way of listening to Lamar's masterpiece. Every song shows a new side to the artist, while still fitting the jazzy, sax and base filled album. To Pimp A Butterfly has proved to be one of my favorite works of music of all time, and this is coming from someone who is mainly a rock fan. Recommended to anyone and everyone looking for more substance to their music in 2015.
[First added to this chart: 04/06/2015]
Year of Release:
2015
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Rank Score:
31,505
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Tame Impala is everything I could ever ask for from a band in 2016. To me, Kevin Parker is doing exactly what John Lennon would be doing if he were still alive in the modern era. Their music is distinctly 60s psych rock, but with a modern production style. This gives their sound such a nostalgic and familiar basis, but with a unique flair that makes it their own. Lonerism is Tame's crowning achievement thus far.
[First added to this chart: 07/13/2016]
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
14,597
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This Radiohead entry is probably controversial. Kid A's darker and jazzier brother. This album is not perfect. OK Computer could be argued as a perfect album, but Amnesiac is certainly flawed (Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors). This album has such a unique sound. It takes the electronic rock sound explored in Kid A and incorporated jazz and IDM. It is just too weird, unique, and brilliant to be ignored. While albums like OK Computer and The Bends stay more consistent throughout maybe than Amnesiac does, the sounds incorporated in this album are too interesting to keep me away. The best tracks that show this uniqueness are Pyramid Song, Knives Out, and Life in a Glasshouse.
[First added to this chart: 11/15/2016]
Year of Release:
2001
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Rank Score:
10,086
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Total albums: 40. Page 1 of 4
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Top 40 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 1 | 3% | |
| 1960s | 5 | 13% | |
| 1970s | 9 | 23% | |
| 1980s | 3 | 8% | |
| 1990s | 4 | 10% | |
| 2000s | 9 | 23% | |
| 2010s | 9 | 23% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Radiohead | 6 | 15% | |
| The Smiths | 3 | 8% | |
| Frank Ocean | 2 | 5% | |
| Tame Impala | 2 | 5% | |
| Kanye West | 2 | 5% | |
| The Beatles | 2 | 5% | |
| Stevie Wonder | 2 | 5% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 40 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 16 from 28th to 12th In Rainbows by Radiohead |
| Up 1 from 21st to 20th Hunky Dory by David Bowie |
| Up 1 from 20th to 19th Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 9 from 31st to 40th Continuum by John Mayer |
| Down 7 from 30th to 37th Rumours by Fleetwood Mac |
| Down 5 from 18th to 23rd AM by Arctic Monkeys |
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Top 40 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.
N.B. The average rating for this chart will not be reliable as it has been rated very few times.
Showing all 2 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/29/2017 08:01 | TheSmiths82-87 | 1,831 | 83/100 |
| ! | 05/09/2015 12:31 | LittleMatt | 107 | 80/100 |
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Top 40 Greatest Music Albums comments
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From jackbrown8786 07/28/2016 10:13 | #171899
bad logic: "AM's Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is the best album of the 00's, period." yet you have a couple 00's albums ranked higher....
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From LittleMatt 05/09/2015 12:31 | #141136
Good start, keen to see more
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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