Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by RadiosAppear

This is my best effort at a list of some favorites. I've generally tried to minimize the number of albums per artist, as the value of this site seems to be optimized by diversity and less emphasis on the obvious choices. That being said, I caved to the obvious with the inclusion of a couple Beatles' albums (not doing so would be too dishonest), and my love for the original Alice Cooper band was too much to resist. In any event, I'll probably be switching out various favorites depending on my interests and attention at any given moment. This is a pretty good sample, however, of the stuff I'm into, albeit with a slight bias toward my present rotation. I'm generally more interested in the musical/sonic dimensions of music than I am in the lyrical/literary aspects, so my selections have an instrumental lean. But, I love vocals and a good sing-along as much as the next guy. And, of course, there are all the sentimental and personal attachments I have to certain music, so ultimately it's impossible to spell out (in objective terms) why I love the music I love. However, I think everything listed here is pretty inspired and has a lot to offer the open-minded listener.

There are 18 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 85 out of 100 (from 23 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

The entries in this chart have been awarded a zero rank score because the chart has not been updated within the last ten years.

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31. (32) Up1
Buy album United States
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You have to be in the mood for this sort of thing, but it deserves much more attention and credit than it gets. Mind-blowing for the period (late 50s, early 60s). [First added to this chart: 02/07/2011]
Year of Release:
1994
Appears in:
Rank Score:
42
Rank in 1994:
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Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 01/24/2011]
Year of Release:
2002
Appears in:
Rank Score:
934
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Buy album United States
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Two of the best guitarists playing beautifully together. The second half of the album is where you'll find the real gems. [First added to this chart: 02/07/2011]
Year of Release:
1970
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6
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Buy album United States
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Any hip-hop that samples Nilsson knows how to get my attention. [First added to this chart: 01/24/2011]
Year of Release:
2002
Appears in:
Rank Score:
403
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Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 08/01/2011]
Year of Release:
1978
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,288
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Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 01/24/2011]
Year of Release:
1974
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,085
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Comments:
37. (40) Up3
Buy album United States
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It's easy to make fun of jam bands and that scene, but this band's first 3 albums have some killer moments. [First added to this chart: 01/24/2011]
Year of Release:
1990
Appears in:
Rank Score:
92
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Comments:
38. (41) Up3
Hal 
Ireland Hal
Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 01/29/2011]
Year of Release:
2005
Appears in:
Rank Score:
23
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Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Setting aside the childish political pleading on display, this is the best hard-core album ever made. [First added to this chart: 01/24/2011]
Year of Release:
1998
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,081
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Average Rating:
Comments:
40. (43) Up3
Buy album United States
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I like their first album, So Much for the City, just as much. [First added to this chart: 01/24/2011]
Year of Release:
2007
Appears in:
Rank Score:
66
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Comments:
Total albums: 100. Page 4 of 10

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Decade Albums %


1930s 0 0%
1940s 0 0%
1950s 0 0%
1960s 10 10%
1970s 40 40%
1980s 13 13%
1990s 12 12%
2000s 23 23%
2010s 2 2%
2020s 0 0%
Country Albums %


United States 66 66%
United Kingdom 23 23%
Canada 4 4%
Ireland 2 2%
Mixed Nationality 1 1%
Australia 1 1%
Sweden 1 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%
Live? Albums %
No 97 97%
Yes 3 3%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest climbers
Climber Up 4 from 39th to 35th
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
by Devo
Climber Up 4 from 37th to 33rd
Me And Jerry
by Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed
Climber Up 4 from 36th to 32nd
Source Tags & Codes
by ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Biggest fallers
Faller Down 26 from 29th to 55th
Tubular Bells
by Mike Oldfield
Faller Down 13 from 35th to 48th
Nothingface
by Voïvod
Faller Down 10 from 33rd to 43rd
OK Computer
by Radiohead

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Average Rating: 
85/100 (from 23 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
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 23 ratings for this chart.

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RatingDate updatedMemberChart ratingsAvg. chart rating
 
85/100
 Report rating
07/13/2020 00:19 RioBravo  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 20384/100
 
95/100
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03/04/2017 15:12 Seab  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,01793/100
 
100/100
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05/09/2015 16:26 Applerill  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 97675/100
 
90/100
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05/25/2014 21:26 sssvnnn  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,82883/100
 
85/100
 Report rating
03/01/2014 13:06 newjlp  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 9780/100

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 has a Bayesian average rating of 84.8/100, a mean average of 85.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 84.4/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 11.0.

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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:  
85/100
From 07/13/2020 00:18
Nice list. Each pick is a surprise.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 03/01/2014 13:08
Some great stuff here. I'm with you on Secret Treaties and anything by Gillian Welch. Thanks for reintroducing me to Dennis Coffey and Patti Labelle.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 09/30/2013 21:53
Very well done!!
It was a pleasure to read your list.
Humorous , knowledgeable, ingenious - and in the end: lot´s of good music.
I sure come back to study the stuff I don´t know.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 09/14/2012 17:34
Nice variations. Even though we have almost nothing in common, and I don't like some of your picks, I like how honest it is
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/21/2012 22:36
There's lots on this list that I don't know or don't have, but I really appreciate three things about your list:

1. Comments on each album. Nice touch. I think I might do that to mine.

2. Wilco. Should be on every list, especially Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

3. Jon Spencer! WOOOOOOOO! Orange is epic. Why not Acme as well?
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 11/09/2011 21:31
This is a trip-tacular chart. Awesome!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 11/09/2011 14:53
Eclectic, really great except for Steve Vai...
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 11/09/2011 08:50
This chart is good and you should feel good.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 10/22/2011 11:43
Great Stuff
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 08/24/2011 04:37
While our tastes differ in certain areas, your chart has a breadth and depth to it, going beyond the obvious to mine genres like metal, jazz fusion, avant-garde, country, etc that are typically overlooked by music mags when compiling 'Greatest of All-Time' polls. Mostly, there is a love of music for music's sake.
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Best Ever Artists
1. The Beatles
2. Radiohead
3. Pink Floyd
4. David Bowie
5. Bob Dylan
6. Led Zeppelin
7. The Rolling Stones
8. Arcade Fire
9. The Velvet Underground
10. Kendrick Lamar
11. Nirvana
12. Neil Young
13. The Smiths
14. Miles Davis
15. The Beach Boys
16. Kanye West
17. Pixies
18. R.E.M.
19. Jimi Hendrix
20. Bruce Springsteen
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