Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by 
corenfro 
*Not necessarily in order yet beyond the top 10-20 or so*
I'm going to try to do the "one album per artist" as much as it pains me to do so. Shoutout to the many albums by The Who, The Beach Boys, Miles Davis, Radiohead, Marvin Gaye, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Kanye West, David Bowie, Yes, Genesis, and Kendrick Lamar. Some of them were VERY hard to pick a "only album from X artist" since some have 2 (or more) really important albums w/ vastly different stories that deserve inclusion (smile vs. pet sounds, tommy vs. who's next, kid a vs. ok computer, to pimp a butterfly vs. good kid madd city, lonerism vs. currents, sgt. pepper vs. others, kind of blue vs. bitches brew). But until I can unlock decade charts I must do this to fit a wider variety of music (there are well over 100 great albums that I really want to consider a top 100 album).
On a site littered with contrarians I actually tried to make a "top greatest music albums" list as opposed to a "top obscure albums you've never heard of" list. Because of this, when choosing which album from an artist to include, I generally err on the side of the more euphonic record when in doubt.
Hipsters and snobs: feel free to downvote at how mainstream I am.
- Chart updated: 05/18/2025 00:15
- (Created: 06/07/2015 21:31).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 38 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 90 out of 100 (from 78 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from Marvin Gaye. (Remove this filter)
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“In the morning, I’ll be alright my friend, but soon the night will bring the pain. Flying high in the friendly sky”
What do you get when you combine the smoothest voice in the history of music with the greatest bass lines in the history of music, and hotbox a Motown studio full of ?? An album that is better than anything in its genre and in its decade - which is saying a lot when you consider all that happened in the 1970’s.
If heroin could sing, it still wouldn’t sound as good as Marvin Gaye. I stand very firmly behind my opinion that Marvin Gaye possessed the greatest voice of all time. There are countless things to love about this album musically. There are entire albums' worth of super tight bass lines in like 8 bars of James Jamerson's mastery of the instrument. The smooth aesthetic is the quintessential soul sound. For 1971, it is a crazy well mixed assortment of wind and stringed instruments, and the variety of percussion. However, it’s Marvin’s show, and it’s his voice that carries the listener through the album. The man clearly had enormous talent, and it is displayed in its entirety on “What’s Going On”.
Listening to Marvin Gaye perform live must have been similar to watching Michael Jordan make the final shot of the 1998 NBA finals, or watching Aaron Rodgers play quarterback except better by several orders of magnitude because music is clearly a domain of excellence far superior to sports. One of his studio assistants was questioned at one point what the most difficult thing was when working with Marvin Gaye. The response was that it was so difficult to select which takes of his voice to keep and which to discard, because they were all so beautiful that it felt wrong to delete anything that he recorded.
“What’s Going On” is about discontent - with culture, with politics, with discrimination, with the imperfect self. It came at a time when the Barry Gordy’s Motown record label was interested only in pumping out radio hits for profit and wasn’t interested in any of this introspective, challenging music. Gaye demanded it be released as he envisioned it and was nearly close to breaking ties with the record label.
Marvin Gaye had a wild and remarkable career, plagued by the internal conflict which is was clear from his art, as well as his ongoing struggle with depression and multiple suicide attempts and drug addiction. It’s this struggle that fuels the beauty that is his music. His angelic voice carries just enough of a painful undertone to send shivers down the listener’s spine. That’s “What’s Going On” [First added to this chart: 06/07/2015]
“In the morning, I’ll be alright my friend, but soon the night will bring the pain. Flying high in the friendly sky”
What do you get when you combine the smoothest voice in the history of music with the greatest bass lines in the history of music, and hotbox a Motown studio full of ?? An album that is better than anything in its genre and in its decade - which is saying a lot when you consider all that happened in the 1970’s.
If heroin could sing, it still wouldn’t sound as good as Marvin Gaye. I stand very firmly behind my opinion that Marvin Gaye possessed the greatest voice of all time. There are countless things to love about this album musically. There are entire albums' worth of super tight bass lines in like 8 bars of James Jamerson's mastery of the instrument. The smooth aesthetic is the quintessential soul sound. For 1971, it is a crazy well mixed assortment of wind and stringed instruments, and the variety of percussion. However, it’s Marvin’s show, and it’s his voice that carries the listener through the album. The man clearly had enormous talent, and it is displayed in its entirety on “What’s Going On”.
Listening to Marvin Gaye perform live must have been similar to watching Michael Jordan make the final shot of the 1998 NBA finals, or watching Aaron Rodgers play quarterback except better by several orders of magnitude because music is clearly a domain of excellence far superior to sports. One of his studio assistants was questioned at one point what the most difficult thing was when working with Marvin Gaye. The response was that it was so difficult to select which takes of his voice to keep and which to discard, because they were all so beautiful that it felt wrong to delete anything that he recorded.
“What’s Going On” is about discontent - with culture, with politics, with discrimination, with the imperfect self. It came at a time when the Barry Gordy’s Motown record label was interested only in pumping out radio hits for profit and wasn’t interested in any of this introspective, challenging music. Gaye demanded it be released as he envisioned it and was nearly close to breaking ties with the record label.
Marvin Gaye had a wild and remarkable career, plagued by the internal conflict which is was clear from his art, as well as his ongoing struggle with depression and multiple suicide attempts and drug addiction. It’s this struggle that fuels the beauty that is his music. His angelic voice carries just enough of a painful undertone to send shivers down the listener’s spine. That’s “What’s Going On” [First added to this chart: 06/07/2015]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
19,581
Rank in 1971:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
145Total albums: 1. Page 1 of 1
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 1 | 1% | |
| 1960s | 12 | 12% | |
| 1970s | 24 | 24% | |
| 1980s | 10 | 10% | |
| 1990s | 14 | 14% | |
| 2000s | 14 | 14% | |
| 2010s | 21 | 21% | |
| 2020s | 4 | 4% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Caribou | 1 | 1% | |
| St. Vincent | 1 | 1% | |
| Solange | 1 | 1% | |
| U2 | 1 | 1% | |
| Derek & The Dominos | 1 | 1% | |
| Jethro Tull | 1 | 1% | |
| Beck | 1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
54 | 54% | |
 |
29 | 29% | |
 |
5 | 5% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 1 from 10th to 11th Igor by Tyler, The Creator |
| Down 1 from 11th to 12th How I'm Feeling Now by Charli XCX |
| Down 1 from 12th to 13th Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
90/100 (from 78 votes)
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 78 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 100/100  | 03/15/2025 17:55 |  EyeKanFly | | 88/100 |
| 80/100 | 03/15/2025 12:39 | SomethingSpecial | | 85/100 |
| 85/100 | 03/15/2025 09:02 |  NowhereMan | | 82/100 |
| 100/100 | 12/24/2024 22:07 | Exist-en-ciel | | 99/100 |
| 75/100 | 09/19/2024 12:53 | LedZep | | 84/100 |
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 90.0/100, a mean average of 89.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 90.6/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 13.5.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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100/100
From 
DommeDamian 09/11/2024 14:00
DommeDamian 09/11/2024 14:00
A highlight on this site. Also love the authenticity in your descriptions
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From thepurplemartin 09/11/2024 12:41
I’m really fascinated to see how brat sounds into the future and how influential it’ll end up being. It almost sounds like it could be an end cap of an era as much as it could be the start of an entirely new one, but time will tell. Great list, I personally can’t do no duplicate artists, but I respect your effort!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From Johnnyo 01/25/2023 10:43
Love the note accompanying this entries. Don’t agree with the one album per artist thing but that’s a personal choice. Not going to criticise you for that. Great chart
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
85/100
From Moondance 01/25/2023 10:06
Nice chart with a fairly even split across the decades (which is not something you see that often). Overall, a bit too USA focussed ~ and only one album from south of the Equator....
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From roberto71 08/15/2020 13:53
Very good selection of classic rock albums. Particularly Tommy and Moody Blues. I don't know why you never see Tommy too much anymore. I guess it's not as popular as it used to be for some strange reason.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From 
Goliath 07/25/2020 16:39
Goliath 07/25/2020 16:39
I find it difficult to condone the one album per artist thing, seems arbitrary to me, what's the rational? I agree with you on the 'top obscure albums you've never heard of' comment, this site is full of charts containing albums that make me think, can those albums really be favorites or just 'clever' picks?
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (2 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
100/100
From DommeDamian 07/19/2020 09:54
DommeDamian 07/19/2020 09:54
YOU GET A FAVORITE FROM ME!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
jnfbn 07/19/2020 09:52
jnfbn 07/19/2020 09:52
Remarkable descriptions, great chart!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From 
ExTeaSea 03/08/2020 04:24
ExTeaSea 03/08/2020 04:24
27 artists in common! That's a bunch! Great chart!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From 
qwert9579 01/02/2020 00:45
qwert9579 01/02/2020 00:45
A lot of work has clearly gone into this. incredible
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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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.