Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by 
jhuik 
I am now in my 60's. Music has meant many, many different things to me over the years, but these days it often means 'tinged with pain' as I have hearing loss and tinnitus. But I still love music ... that love just has a new form, some of it based on the memory of PURE LOUD NOISE (no longer possible for me) or just memory, and some of that love still able to thrive and evolve.
As I have said for over ten years on this site: Below are albums that have meant a lot to me, albums I have listened to innumerable times, albums that are duly classic or that I just fuckin like a lot for whatever reason. I have loved music for decades, have followed other lovers, and no one has perfect taste uncorrupted by bias or other limitations. When rating or commenting don't ever forget that any list of 'best ever' is ALWAYS a ridiculous exercise.
- Chart updated: 06/12/2025 23:45
- (Created: 12/24/2010 02:29).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 85 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 89 out of 100 (from 133 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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A visionary troubadour creates a meandering masterpiece of poetical celt folk. Eight of the most beautiful songs ever. One of the most perfect works of art ever recorded. Decades later I love this more than ever.
[First added to this chart: 12/24/2010]
Year of Release:
1968
Appears in:
Rank Score:
16,993
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
138
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A turn in the studio that turned album creation into an art form all its own. This was a gift from having older siblings. I still listen to this at least once every few months and it remains a striking collection of widely varied songs... a burst of joy here, a bold love song there, a melancholy dabble here, a miniature comic play there – all of it pulled together in a cohesive work of art.
[First added to this chart: 12/24/2010]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
44,831
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Four horsemen of rock godhood ride through the sonosphere led by a true avatar named Jimmy Page. Reread that track list... wow. Stairway, Rock and Roll, Goin to California, Levee, Evermore. Sure, even I have times where want to dismiss this as dad rock or something like that... but come on, let's get real. And then listen to Battle of Evermore again.
[First added to this chart: 12/24/2010]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
40,255
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One of the most beautiful, saddest, most thoughtful and melodic things ever recorded, by a guy who might be the most underrated rock musician in history.
[First added to this chart: 03/31/2017]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,077
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Can you hear the merry gypsy play? This whole album is a mystic music caravan celebrating life, a collection of songs like splinters of sunshine on a path through the forest of life: let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic! This was the first great Van I loved when I was just a kid. Does it peeter out a bit in the end or is that ending just overshadowed by the amazing opening songs?
[First added to this chart: 12/24/2010]
Year of Release:
1970
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,988
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Exploratory, experimental and original, but accessible and assured. One of my favourite artists currently. It does fitzpleasure, it really is something good. Splashes of sonically rich, successful artistic creation throughout. A sound for the decade.
[First added to this chart: 10/03/2015]
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,553
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Marvellous poetry and rich orchestration. I rate this album here on its own merits entirely and the decades of pleasure I've derived from it, not just to correct its lack of appreciation on this site. I first bought this when I read a raving review of it and at the time it grew into my favourite album. People thought I was weird because I didn't really care for the latest rock radio stuff but here was a guy who was reaching for the stars and digging deep, not worried about topping the charts or lining his pockets. A gorgeously orchestrated dive into the Pan within and the Sea and world without. Big music achieved.
[First added to this chart: 12/24/2010]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,900
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Steven Wilson is a brilliant artist, and in my opinion this is PT's finest hour (though they have many fine hours for sure). Hard, gorgeous, intelligent, punctuated often by musical bliss. Amazing how much this continues to grow on me to this day, having more casually liked it for so many years. This album contains so many amazing sequences, solos AND songs.
[First added to this chart: 04/13/2012]
Year of Release:
2005
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,554
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Pantheistic panrock from a pantheon of rock gods, flashing music and instruments in a four-man melody army of some musical megapocalypse.
[First added to this chart: 01/21/2012]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
21,447
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Fresh synth, smashing drums and power vocals screaming some of the smartest lyrics ever... a declaration that rock and roll matters more than anything. Incredible track list ranging from those ragingly perfect bookends to the beautiful Behind Blue Eyes to the stirring Love Aint for Keeping to... all the rest of it. Moving down, though: it's been a long time since I've listened to this.
[First added to this chart: 12/24/2010]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
21,863
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Total albums: 27. Page 1 of 3
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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 | 22 | 22% | |
| 1980s | 12 | 12% | |
| 1990s | 22 | 22% | |
| 2000s | 21 | 21% | |
| 2010s | 17 | 17% | |
| 2020s | 1 | 1% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Bruce Springsteen | 4 | 4% | |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers | 3 | 3% | |
| The Tragically Hip | 3 | 3% | |
| Van Morrison | 3 | 3% | |
| Porcupine Tree | 3 | 3% | |
| Led Zeppelin | 2 | 2% | |
| Pink Floyd | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 30 from 95th to 65th If I Should Fall From Grace With God by The Pogues |
| Up 2 from 77th to 75th Tupelo Honey by Van Morrison |
| Up 2 from 76th to 74th The Joshua Tree by U2 |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 32 from 67th to 99th The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest |
| Down 14 from 63rd to 77th Are You Experienced by The Jimi Hendrix Experience |
| Down 11 from 65th to 76th Bee Thousand by Guided By Voices |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Most Spins | jhuik | Custom chart | 2013 | |
| Best/ Favourite Songs of All Time | jhuik | Custom chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | maverick470 | Overall chart | 2015 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | TinyBlueMusic | Overall chart | 2021 |  |
| Overall Top 100 Ranked Correctly |  Mother Nature's Son | Custom chart | 2014 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | tim0505 | Overall chart | 2025 |  |
| TOP 100 IN THE FUTURE |  exileonthehell | Custom chart | 2016 |  |
| An Objective Ranking Of BEA'S Top 100... |  covecove | Custom chart | 2017 |  |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
89/100 (from 133 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 133 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 85/100  | 03/24/2025 22:09 | Moondance | | 85/100 |
| 85/100 | 03/24/2025 08:46 |  NowhereMan | | 82/100 |
| 90/100 | 02/09/2025 10:25 |  SomethingSpecial | | 85/100 |
| 80/100 | 08/11/2024 11:56 |  Tamthebam | | 85/100 |
| 90/100 | 06/22/2024 09:39 |  dihansse | | 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 6% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 88.6/100, a mean average of 88.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 88.8/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 11.2.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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80/100
From hailey 12/13/2018 16:52
Really good chart in my opinion, I like all the descriptions you gave each album and i agree with most of the albums you have on there. Well, of the ones that i have listened to.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From 
CharlieBarley 08/21/2018 23:09
CharlieBarley 08/21/2018 23:09
Refreshingly good. Great notes and some top picks. And some to check out too. Great stuff.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
80/100
From 
JulianR 03/13/2018 04:04
JulianR 03/13/2018 04:04
Haha I've come back to this chart for whatever reason, and that comment was supposed to have an exclamation mark. Anyway, tons of great stuff! Props for Hand Cannot Erase, its such an underappreciated album
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
ForegroundNoise 01/20/2018 09:17
ForegroundNoise 01/20/2018 09:17
It's a shame there's not more emphasis on experimental and electronic music but each to their own I guess! Still, astounding chart - love the bios and the careful picks so can appreciate a good taste when I see one
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From jhuik 11/30/2017 01:47
jhuik 11/30/2017 01:47
@scotsindie lol.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
5/100
From scotsindie 11/22/2017 10:33
This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | -9 votes (0 helpful | 9 unhelpful)
80/100
From PaperVinnie 11/08/2017 16:14
The only pick I strongly disagree with is Ten, but nice still.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
80/100
From JulianR 10/07/2017 05:00
JulianR 10/07/2017 05:00
good stuff?
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From jhuik 04/23/2017 22:55
jhuik 04/23/2017 22:55
You're right LedZep. I think they are prog-influenced, though, and others see it, too (e.g. http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=94658) but yes, it is a bit obtuse to call them prog. I edited that comment as per yours. (y)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From 
LedZep 04/23/2017 13:23
LedZep 04/23/2017 13:23
Totally agree with Mellon Collie description, listened to that album for the first time a several days ago, it's fantastic. Love the chart, but what you wrote about Alt-J really upset me, they aren't prog rock at all :/ As a prog fan I had to notice that sorry, it's a great chart all in all
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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