Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by Giant2015

These are all albums that mean a lot to me. All of these have changed my life in one way or another, and if you're just discovering some of them from this chart then I hope they bring you as much enjoyment as they did for me. Having to narrow this chart down to 100 albums was much harder than I thought it was going to be, but I ended up sticking with the ones that physically hurt me to cut out of the list. There are more than a thousand other ones I could have chosen from, and I'll probably end up doing a 101-200 chart when I have time if anyone's curious. Also writing these descriptions for each album is taking way longer than I thought so I'll update them periodically when I get around to it.

Honorable mentions:

Low - Things We Lost in the Fire
Adrianne Lenker - Bright Future
Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas
AJJ - Knife Man
Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
Beach House - Teen Dream
Zach Bryan - Zach Bryan
Taylor Swift - Folklore
Ron Sexsmith - Retriever
The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out!!

Current favourite songs:

Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes
Never Meant - American Football
Isn't It a Pity - George Harrison
Venice Bitch - Lana Del Rey
I Know the End - Phoebe Bridgers
I Wish I Was the Moon - Neko Case
Clementine - Elliott Smith
Something to Believe - Weyes Blood
Cow - Sparklehorse
Fall on Me - R.E.M.
Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales - Car Seat Headrest
There are 22 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 90 out of 100 (from 50 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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Classic rock; glam rock; proto-punk

"Give me your hands, 'cause you're wonderful"

While picking a favourite album is an impossible task for me, and my answer will change from day to day, there's something about Ziggy Stardust that just makes it feel like the right answer to me. This is basically the perfect example of what a rock opera should be - epic, exciting and with killer songs that sound just as great on their own as they do in the context of the album. Every single song here is a classic and all of them have ended up stuck in my head for an annoyingly long time at some point or another. Listening to this album for the first time genuinely made me feel like I was in another world.

Favourite songs: "Five Years", "Moonage Daydream", "Starman", "Star", "Ziggy Stardust"
[First added to this chart: 01/25/2016]
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
43,851
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (90/100 - 3536 votes)  90 (3,536 votes)
Comments:
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Indie rock; neo-psychedelia; freak folk; post-rock

"Either way you look at it / You have your fits, I have my fits but feeling is good"

Not only the best Animal Collective album for me but one of the best breakup albums of all time, I think Feels is insanely underrated in general. Listening to this album feels like watching the flowers start to bloom in spring; it's such a warm, colourful and cozy vibe and it perfectly captures the feeling of transition in general, whether it's from one season to another or one stage of a relationship or life to another. To me this is also the album where Animal Collective perfected the balance between their catchy indie pop writing and psychedelic experimentation, never leaning too far into one side or another. Although this album is very bittersweet in a lot of ways, it also feels like a warm hug or a deep conversation with a friend to me - learning to find comfort and meaning in the sadness. The songwriting and production are also beautiful throughout - I haven't been able to find many other songs that can capture the balance of happiness, nostalgia and melancholy the same way tracks like "Grass" or "Turn Into Something" do, and "Banshee Beat" might be one of the most comforting songs ever written.

Favourite songs: "Did You See the Words", "Grass", "Banshee Beat", "Turn Into Something"
[First added to this chart: 02/14/2018]
Year of Release:
2005
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,965
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Average Rating:
Comments:
3. (1) Down 2
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Art rock; indie rock; baroque pop

"My family tree's losing all its leaves"

While it's gotten easy for me to feel a little burnt out on this album (given the number of bands that have tried to make their own version of this album and done it in much worse ways, as well as the generally underwhelming Arcade Fire output over the past decade), every time I do listen to this album it's hard to deny what a classic it is. Part of it may be that it shaped my musical journey (it was basically my gateway into indie music/any genres other than classic rock in general), but it's still hard to overstate how iconic and heartfelt the songwriting is on here. Similar to Ziggy Stardust, it's an album that works both as an overarching concept and as individual songs, and similar to Feels it balances its themes of life and purpose with smaller scale emotional issues in a flawless way. In some ways it may not have aged the best culturally, but this is an album that will never get old for me.

Favourite songs: "Neighborhood 1 (Tunnels)", "Une Annee Sans Lumiere", "Neighborhood 3 (Power Out)", "Wake Up"
[First added to this chart: 06/29/2015]
Year of Release:
2004
Appears in:
Rank Score:
34,611
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Average Rating:
Top rated album (88/100 - 3661 votes)  88 (3,661 votes)
Comments:
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Indie folk; singer-songwriter

"There's a black crow sitting across from me / His wiry legs are crossed"

One of my favourite kinds of album is an album that feels like it can transport you to a certain place and time, and listening to For Emma makes me feel like I'm in the cabin in the woods that Justin Vernon recorded this in. It has such an intimate, rustic and cozy sound that just feels like sitting inside a warm cottage on a cold winter's day for me. I love a lot of Bon Iver's later work and appreciate their experiments in electronics and more abstract song structures, but nothing hits quite like this album for me. Shoutout to "The Wolves (Acts I and II)" as well, which is definitely one of the more underrated cuts in the Bon Iver catalog - the buildup on that song was a mind-blowing moment for me the first time I heard it.

Favourite songs: "Skinny Love", "The Wolves (Acts I and II)", "For Emma", "Re: Stacks"
[First added to this chart: 09/25/2016]
Year of Release:
2007
Appears in:
Rank Score:
11,102
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Average Rating:
Comments:
5. (3) Down 2
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Art rock; art pop; dream pop; electronic

"Has the light gone out for you? Because the light's gone out for me / It is the 21st century"

OK Computer and Kid A will always have a special place in my heart, but it's gotten hard to deny that In Rainbows is the definitive Radiohead album for me. Over the first year of the pandemic I spent a lot of time listening to it on my headphones and walking around the city at night, and seeing a place that's usually so busy and full of life so quiet and isolated feels like a perfect representation of this album to me. All the songs here are beautiful and romantic but with a strong sense of melancholy to them - listening to it always conjures the feeling of being alone in a crowd to me. I love the dark and mechanical vibe of a lot of Radiohead's music, but In Rainbows feels unique in their discography to me as being their most warm, intimate and accessible album, although in a relatively sad way. It scratches an itch for me that none of their other albums really do. There are also at least 6 or 7 songs on here that I think are some of the best songs ever written, and the first half of the album especially is an insane 5-song run of tracks. "Videotape" is my go-to song if I need to cry as well.

Favourite songs: "Nude", "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi", "All I Need", "Videotape"
[First added to this chart: 06/29/2015]
Year of Release:
2007
Appears in:
Rank Score:
44,161
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Average Rating:
Top rated album (90/100 - 3943 votes)  90 (3,943 votes)
Comments:
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Art pop; progressive pop; synthpop; new wave

"This moment in time / It doesn't belong to you"

This is one of the most enchanting and otherworldly pop albums I've ever heard and listening to it makes me feel like the main character in a Disney movie. It's hard to find an album that is this cold and wintery sounding while still being so colourful, lushly arranged and full of life.

Favourite songs: "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)", "Cloudbusting", "Waking the Witch", "Jig of Life"
[First added to this chart: 12/30/2016]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
18,243
Rank in 1985:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (85/100 - 1405 votes)  85 (1,405 votes)
Comments:
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Minimalism; modern classical

I feel like it's not an easy task to create music that works this well as ambient background music for studying but that is also this intricately composed. There are so many layers and interlocking patterns to this that listening to it all the way through feels like a brain massage, but in the prettiest and most soothing way possible. Easily one of the most beautiful albums I have, and surprisingly accessible for being an hour-long minimalist classical piece - there are so many great instrumental hooks woven throughout it. There's something really cinematic and uplifting about it as well, even though it stays pretty low-key in tone throughout - this is one of those albums that makes it impossible for me to stay in a bad mood if I'm listening to it.

Favourite songs: N/A
Year of Release:
1978
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,168
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Comments:
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Hip-hop; neo-soul; contemporary R&B; art pop

"I'm so gifted at finding what I don't like the most"

While I may have trouble listening to Kanye now due to recent events, it's hard to overstate the impact this album had on my musical life - if Arcade Fire was my gateway into any genre other than classic rock, then MBDTF was my gateway into any non-rock genre. One of the most ambitious and richly produced and arranged albums of all time, and I think it manages to fuse so many different genres together pretty seamlessly from track to track in a way that no other album has really been able to. With the hindsight of all of his actions over the past few years, a lot of the songs on here have become even more interesting to listen to - this album definitely creates a unique character study, especially with tracks like Runaway. A lot of the production here comes across a little dated and overblown, but I actually feel like that adds to the charm and character of the album rather than taking away from it. As a side note, the guitar solo on Devil in a New Dress is probably my favourite moment in all of Kanye's discography.

Favourite songs: "Dark Fantasy", "Power", "Devil in a New Dress", "Runaway"
[First added to this chart: 01/25/2016]
Year of Release:
2010
Appears in:
Rank Score:
22,768
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Average Rating:
Top rated album (85/100 - 2360 votes)  85 (2,360 votes)
Comments:
9. (27) Up 18
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Singer-songwriter; contemporary folk

"Only a phase, these dark cafe days"

Joni Mitchell is rightly appreciated for her lyrics and guitar / piano skills, but I feel like she's a little underappreciated for her composition skills in general. I can't think of another musician who is this good at finding the perfect chord progressions, melodies and instrumental arrangement choices to go with every lyric, almost to the point where each song feels like a short film with its own soundtrack rather than just a song. The songs on here are pretty simple and sparse overall but she still manages to do so much with so few pieces. The simple and peppy dulcimer chords on All I Want always make me feel the excitement that comes with a new relationship, while the sombre piano arrangement on The Last Time I Saw Richard paints a vivid picture of a lonely cafe like the one Joni is sitting in in the song. This is also a great album if you need to cry as she packs so much emotion into each song without ever coming across as cheesy or overdramatic. Just a straightforward and emotionally devastating listen.

Favourite songs: "All I Want", "Blue", "A Case of You", "The Last Time I Saw Richard"
[First added to this chart: 10/23/2016]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
16,232
Rank in 1971:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (85/100 - 1506 votes)  85 (1,506 votes)
Comments:
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Folk rock; pop rock; singer-songwriter; art pop

"Forgetting to give back / Isn't it a pity?"

George Harrison might be the only Beatle whose post-Beatles output I prefer to his Beatles songs. This is such a nostalgic and pretty album, but one that also has a lot to say about the human experience and existence in general. In that way it's a deceptively heavy album, but one that still goes down as a super easy listen. Also a perfect album to listen to on fall road trips - it has such a cozy and rustic sound that pulls me in every time I listen to it, and every time I try to listen to just one song from it I end up listening to the whole thing, which is especially impressive for a double album.

Favourite songs: "Wah-Wah", "Isn't It a Pity (Version One)", "What Is Life", "Let It Down", "Beware of Darkness", "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)", "Awaiting On You All", "Hear Me Lord"
Year of Release:
1970
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,427
Rank in 1970:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (85/100 - 1316 votes)  85 (1,316 votes)
Comments:
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 0 0%
1960s 5 5%
1970s 25 25%
1980s 9 9%
1990s 13 13%
2000s 24 24%
2010s 18 18%
2020s 6 6%
Country Albums %


United States 52 52%
United Kingdom 27 27%
Canada 9 9%
Mixed Nationality 3 3%
France 2 2%
Iceland 1 1%
Brazil 1 1%
Show all
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest climbers
Climber Up 47 from 66th to 19th
Clube Da Esquina
by Milton Nascimento / Lô Borges
Climber Up 44 from 77th to 33rd
Karma
by Pharoah Sanders
Climber Up 43 from 83rd to 40th
Fantasies
by Metric
Biggest fallers
Faller Down 55 from 21st to 76th
Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
by Coldplay
Faller Down 54 from 41st to 95th
Sticky Fingers
by The Rolling Stones
Faller Down 53 from 15th to 68th
Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
by of Montreal
New entries
New entry Music For 18 Musicians
by Steve Reich
New entry All Things Must Pass
by George Harrison
New entry Thriller
by Michael Jackson
New entry Either/Or
by Elliott Smith
New entry Have One On Me
by Joanna Newsom
New entry Blue Rev
by Alvvays
New entry Worry.
by Jeff Rosenstock
New entry The Dance Of The Moon And The Sun
by Natural Snow Buildings
New entry Igor
by Tyler, The Creator
New entry Automatic For The People
by R.E.M.
New entry Songs In The Key Of Life
by Stevie Wonder
New entry Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
by Big Thief
New entry XO
by Elliott Smith
New entry Nonagon Infinity
by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
New entry Leaves Turn Inside You
by Unwound
New entry Odessey And Oracle
by The Zombies
New entry Exodus
by Bob Marley & The Wailers
New entry Stranger In The Alps
by Phoebe Bridgers
New entry The Stone Roses
by The Stone Roses
New entry The Stranger
by Billy Joel
New entry Meat Is Murder
by The Smiths
New entry Contra
by Vampire Weekend
New entry You Will Never Know Why
by Sweet Trip
New entry The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess
by Chappell Roan
New entry American Football
by American Football
New entry A Creature I Don't Know
by Laura Marling
New entry Heaven To A Tortured Mind
by Yves Tumor
New entry Melodrama
by Lorde
New entry Sawayama
by Rina Sawayama
New entry Brat
by Charli XCX
New entry Arvo Pärt: Tabula Rasa
by Keith Jarrett / Gidon Kremer; Dennis Russell Davies / Staatsorchester Stuttgart; The 12 Cellists Of The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra; Saulius Sondeckis / Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra / Alfred Schnittke
New entry #1 Record
by Big Star
New entry Breakfast In America
by Supertramp
New entry Get Up With It
by Miles Davis
TitleSourceTypePublishedCountry
BEA 100 (One Album per Artist) BozoTyrannusCustom chart2020
My Personal Ranking of Best Ever Albums' Top 100 Xxnu99etxXCustom chart2022
If The BEA Overall Chart Had A One Album Per Artist Rule... RomanelliCustom chart2025
Albums To LIsten To for One Peach Martine Pt 1smrtboi2120Custom chart2022Unknown
Ya joking? Should've been higher! All Time edition PurplepashCustom chart2025
My Most Scrobbled Artists RhynerCustom chart2021
Overall for yours truly RoundTheBendCustom chart2020
Rearrange Top 100 Larcx13Custom chart2020
Going With My Gut: The Overall Chart Top 100 Re-ranked CharlieBarleyCustom chart2024
My Ranking of the BEA top 100 sszwalbenestCustom chart2021

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Average Rating: 
90/100 (from 50 votes)
  Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
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85/100
 !
08/25/2025 12:55 Johnnyo   2,54680/100
The chart has been updated since this rating was assigned   
85/100
 !
03/20/2025 16:53 SomethingSpecial   1,10685/100
The chart has been updated since this rating was assigned   
100/100
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01/15/2025 17:22 Exist-en-ciel   12599/100
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95/100
 !
12/11/2023 18:06 skrapoel   792/100
The chart has been updated since this rating was assigned   
90/100
 !
03/25/2021 20:02 Rhyner   1,45499/100

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This chart is rated in the top 3% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 89.9/100, a mean average of 90.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 90.7/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 8.8.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

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Rating:  
85/100
From 08/25/2025 12:56 | #310677
Very good chart. Like it a lot.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 06/13/2020 10:11 | #253422
I like your chart very good artists and some underrated musicians i give you a high rating for the collection. Good taste.
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Rating:  
90/100
From 09/11/2019 03:17 | #242443
David Bowie is not even close to being proto punk, but good chart nevertheless
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Rating:  
95/100
From 08/27/2019 06:59 | #241734
I'm revisiting this chart and my comment on it since it was chart of the day again a couple of days ago.

Whatever reason I gave it an 80 before clearly doesn't hold now; the detail you've put into each note both with your rating and album score is a really nice touch. I get a strong sense of your personality and taste from this lovely chart so I have upped my score accordingly :)
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Rating:  
95/100
From 08/23/2019 10:25 | #241580
Love this chart! Love how high you rated Feels by Animal Collective, it's excellent. Nice seeing St. Vincent on a top 100. Perhaps I shall put one of hers on my main chart.
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Rating:  
95/100
From 06/19/2019 22:07 | #237894
Great chart!
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Rating:  
100/100
From 03/02/2019 15:49 | #232871
Fantastic list and the work you have put in to it is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your descriptions and explanations because allows others (less knowledgeable like me) to check out albums they are not familiar or intimate with. What makes your list a 100 for me is the diversity of musical genres, your interesting ranking of albums by some of the great artists (for god’s sake where is Dark Side of the Moon) and the inclusion of lower ranked albums generally that you have personally connected with. Not pretentious at all, I will be checking out your other charts. By the way, I felt the same way as you about the Stones but recently came to love Exile as a whole album. Cheers! [I love Japan- Obscure Alternatives; Gord Downie-Coke Machine Glow]
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Rating:  
100/100
From 01/21/2019 02:52 | #230165
Very nice list! Lots of great albums all varied in different genres and decades too. Nice Job!
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Rating:  
90/100
From 01/20/2019 16:19 | #230105
Solid!
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Rating:  
90/100
From 01/20/2019 12:56 | #230085
Great chart. Can't say I agree with every album you have on the top spots but, hey, it's a personal chart that I respect and I like your comments. Also, though we have not that many albums in common, some of them are ones which I don't tend to have in common with other users.
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Best Albums of 1968
1. The Beatles (The White Album) by The Beatles
2. Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
3. Astral Weeks by Van Morrison
4. Odessey And Oracle by The Zombies
5. The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks
6. Beggars Banquet by The Rolling Stones
7. White Light/White Heat by The Velvet Underground
8. Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel
9. Music From Big Pink by The Band
10. At Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash
11. A Saucerful Of Secrets by Pink Floyd
12. Waiting For The Sun by The Doors
13. Lady Soul by Aretha Franklin
14. We're Only In It For The Money by The Mothers Of Invention
15. The Notorious Byrd Brothers by The Byrds
16. Cheap Thrills by Big Brother And The Holding Company
17. Wheels Of Fire by Cream
18. Os Mutantes by Os Mutantes
19. Sweetheart Of The Rodeo by The Byrds
20. S.F. Sorrow by The Pretty Things
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