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: 09/15/2023 13:45
• (Created: 06/07/2015 21:31).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

There are 36 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 90 out of 100 (from 72 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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12. (11) 1

The Joshua Tree 

 U2

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Disclaimer, I had listened to this album a substantial number of times before I saw visual evidence of the terribleness of Bono’s mullet in the 80’s. I try to keep my opinion of things unbiased by things as silly as a terrible mullet, but I can’t unsee what I’ve seen.

Is there a more life-affirming album than The Joshua Tree? Bono’s soaring voice and with The Edge’s great guitar delays and effects take the listener through a spiritual, socially conscious atmosphere of the most intense of human feeling. The Joshua Tree is like breathing clean air. It was meant to be listened to while driving across America, and has an intensely personal meaning to me as the album first came to life for me while driving through Colorado’s mountains after a breakup. Songs like “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “With or Without You” paint a picture of someone in transition.

But in all the desolation of some of the topics of the album: death, loss, heroin addiction, discontent, there is one unbreakable theme of this album: hope. U2’s unbreakable mission of hope is on full display on this album. The songs are dripping with a sense of seeking spiritual renewal. If you close your eyes and listen to Bono’s beautiful tenor, and some of the best guitar work in rock that doesn’t distract with lengthy solos, you might just find some spiritual renewal on the Joshua Tree. [First added to this chart: 06/07/2015]

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,813 charts

Rank Score:

19,910

Rank in 1987:

1

Rank in 1980s:

6

Overall Rank:

52

Average Rating:

 83 (2,389 votes)

Comments:

226

Total 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	14	14%
1970s	24	24%
1980s	10	10%
1990s	14	14%
2000s	18	18%
2010s	17	17%
2020s	2	2%

Artist	Albums	%
Bon Iver	1	1%
Sampha	1	1%
Grimes	1	1%
Elliott Smith	1	1%
The Mothers Of Invention	1	1%
The Stone Roses	1	1%
Björk	1	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	57	57%
	28	28%
	5	5%
	3	3%
	2	2%
	1	1%
	1	1%
Show all

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest climbers
Up 2 from 8th to 6th To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar
Up 1 from 10th to 9th Igor by Tyler, The Creator
Up 1 from 6th to 5th Forever Changes by Love

Biggest fallers
Down 3 from 4th to 7th Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys
Down 2 from 9th to 11th Heaven Or Las Vegas by Cocteau Twins
Down 1 from 7th to 8th The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd

New entries
How I'm Feeling Now by Charli XCX

Leavers
The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert by Benny Goodman

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• BEA's Top 100 re-ranked by EyeKanFly (2020)

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 72 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
85/100	01/01/2024 07:49	Moondance	454	84/100
90/100	01/26/2023 02:03	Rm12398	99	89/100
85/100	01/25/2023 20:56	MadhattanJack	155	84/100
90/100	01/25/2023 13:11	Tamthebam	550	85/100
90/100	01/25/2023 10:42	Johnnyo	2,013	80/100

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 90.2/100, a mean average of 89.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 90.8/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 13.8.

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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:  

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) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

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)

Rating:  

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)

Rating:  

90/100

From 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)

Rating:  

100/100

From DommeDamian 07/19/2020 09:54

YOU GET A FAVORITE FROM ME!

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

Rating:  

100/100

From jnfbn 07/19/2020 09:52

Remarkable descriptions, great chart!

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

Rating:  

90/100

From 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)

Rating:  

95/100

From qwert9579 01/02/2020 00:45

A lot of work has clearly gone into this. incredible

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

From Thad 01/02/2020 00:09

I don't really think this is "too mainstream" or anything. Cocteau Twins & Love in the top ten prove that enough on their own. Not sure where you're getting the idea that everyone is having an obscurity contest, this chart is pretty standard -- especially considering the most similar chart to it is "If the BEA chart had a one album per artist rule"

No problems or anything, I just think your hostility towards obscure music seems a bit unwarranted.

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

Rating:  

100/100

From ForegroundNoise 01/01/2020 19:58

Brilliant, detailed, and varied. Maybe not my taste but it is exactly the kind of chart this site needs more of. Fantastic!

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

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