Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by baystateoftheart

How I Stopped Worrying And Learned To Love The Chart (Sort Of)

It would be fair to label me a perfectionist. So naturally, making this chart has been a time-consuming process. Since creating it in 2015, I’ve tested out dozens of different rating criteria, inclusion criteria, note styles, and so on. None of this experimentation has been satisfying, because a chart that represents one’s personal taste is not something that can be perfected unless that taste is static. I guarantee I couldn’t listen to all 100 albums in this chart without my preferences changing in the process, let alone assess recorded music more broadly without radical turnover. So here we are: as a perfectionist, I have come to terms with the fact that this chart will never approach perfection. It will remain a laggy approximation of the music I love. And truthfully, that is all it needs to be. BEA has given me a valuable nudge to let a project be simply good enough.

This introductory reflection serves in place of written notes describing what I love about each of these records. Because while musical preferences ebb and flow, insights and thoughts generated by a piece of music feel more ephemeral still, and that is perhaps as it should be.

Edits to the chart I'm working on:

1. Scoring more of my favorite albums to add them
2. Creating a further listening section for each artist

Now for our regularly-scheduled programming.

There are 26 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 91 out of 100 (from 49 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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Collector's summary (filtered)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from United Kingdom. (Remove this filter)

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Buy album United States
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Gothic Rock • Post-Punk

Score: 93.6

Further Listening:

2. Standing On A Beach: The Singles TBD 4.5/5
3. Seventeen Seconds TBD 4/5
4. The Head On The Door TBD 4/5
4a. Boys Don't Cry TBD 3.5/5
5. Faith TBD 3.5/5
6. Bloodflowers TBD 3.5/5
6a. Galore: The Singles 1987-1997 TBD 3.5/5
7. Pornography TBD 3/5
8. Wish TBD 3/5
9. Three Imaginary Boys TBD 3/5
10. Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me TBD 3/5

~
[First added to this chart: 10/09/2015]
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
27,763
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
19. (=)
Buy album United States
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Trip Hop

Score: 92.8 (US Version)

Further Listening:

2. Roseland NYC Live TBD 4.5/5
3. Portishead TBD 4/5
4. Third TBD 4/5

~
[First added to this chart: 02/21/2016]
Year of Release:
1994
Appears in:
Rank Score:
17,138
Rank in 1994:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Psychedelic Pop • Baroque Pop

Score: 92.6

Further Listening:

1. Begin Here TBD 3/5

~
[First added to this chart: 10/09/2015]
Year of Release:
1968
Appears in:
Rank Score:
15,315
Rank in 1968:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
26. (=)
Buy album United States
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Future Garage • Dubstep

Score: 91.8

Further Listening:

1. Rival Dealer TBD 4.5/5
2. Truant / Rough Sleeper TBD 4/5
3. Street Halo TBD 4/5
4. Kindred TBD 3.5/5

~
[First added to this chart: 11/07/2018]
Year of Release:
2007
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,141
Rank in 2007:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Glam Rock • Pop Rock

Score: 91.8

Further Listening:

2. Station To Station 91.2
3. Low 85.6
4. Hunky Dory 83.8
5. "Heroes" TBD 4/5
6. Space Oddity TBD 4/5
7. ★ (Blackstar) TBD 4/5
8. Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) TBD 3.5/5
9. Lodger TBD 3.5/5
10. The Man Who Sold The World TBD 3.5/5

~
[First added to this chart: 10/09/2015]
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
49,993
Rank in 1972:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
32. (=)
Buy album United States
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Bubblegum Bass • Electropop • Hyperpop

Score: 91.2

~
[First added to this chart: 08/02/2018]
Year of Release:
2017
Appears in:
Rank Score:
853
Rank in 2017:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Singer/Songwriter • Chamber Folk • Contemporary Folk

Score: 91.2

~
[First added to this chart: 11/05/2017]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
9,337
Rank in 1969:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Art Rock • Funk Rock

Score: 91.2

~
[First added to this chart: 01/21/2017]
Year of Release:
1976
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,289
Rank in 1976:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
42. (=)
LP1 
Buy album United States
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Art Pop • Alternative R&B

Score: 90.2

~
[First added to this chart: 10/09/2015]
Year of Release:
2014
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,414
Rank in 2014:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Twee Pop • Indie Pop

Score: 89.4

~
[First added to this chart: 12/26/2018]
Year of Release:
2018
Appears in:
Rank Score:
405
Rank in 2018:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 17. Page 1 of 2

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Decade Albums %


1930s 0 0%
1940s 0 0%
1950s 0 0%
1960s 15 15%
1970s 29 29%
1980s 8 8%
1990s 11 11%
2000s 10 10%
2010s 27 27%
2020s 0 0%
Country Albums %


United States 53 53%
United Kingdom 17 17%
Canada 9 9%
Nigeria 8 8%
Norway 3 3%
Australia 2 2%
Mixed Nationality 2 2%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest climbers
Climber Up 1 from 100th to 99th
Give Up
by The Postal Service

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similarity to your chart(s)


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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Average Rating: 
91/100 (from 49 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 49 ratings for this chart.

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RatingDate updatedMemberChart ratingsAvg. chart rating
  
95/100
 Report rating
11/12/2023 22:42 Johnnyo  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,01580/100
  
95/100
 Report rating
01/09/2022 23:23 AAL2014  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 16392/100
  
95/100
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10/19/2021 04:43 seb7  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 10591/100
  
100/100
 Report rating
02/17/2021 05:53 pjohnsongolf  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 27389/100
  
100/100
 Report rating
12/03/2020 18:06 RoundTheBend  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 37492/100

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 90.6/100, a mean average of 91.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 91.6/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 7.4.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites

Showing all 6 members who have added this chart as a favourite

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 26 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Maximum Rated First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
95/100
From 11/12/2023 22:42
Fantastic chart
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 10/19/2021 04:45
Great list of a lot of awesome albums spanning basically all years and genres. Love it! Thanks for your rating on my chart 😊
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 04/24/2020 21:44
This is an excellent chart and I like your soul and hip-hop picks. Thanks for recommending Kate Tempest to me.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 11/22/2019 08:43
Really fascinating mix of classic and contemporary side-by-side. I love the approach you take to your chart making as well, a few written notes and this would be a top-rated chart for me!!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 11/16/2019 08:23
"4 artists in common"

this is a cursed image
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 09/27/2019 18:07
I had a blast surveying your chart Bay! You're genre selection is rangier than most, keep it up. Even with all of the genres on display, you obviously have an underlying predilection for the sugary, yet you do a great job of separating the good from the saccharine. I don't think I do a very good job of letting pop work its magic, but I do know where I'm coming if I'm in need of something sweet.

There are a bunch of picks from the back half of your chart that I'm gonna queue up, that I haven't already...Blowout Comb, Construção, and a few others.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 10/26/2018 15:09
Your diversity's on top. Illmatic, Blood On The Tracks, SILY, etc. Check out my chart.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 03/17/2018 13:55
I saw you put Here’s Little Richard at no. 1 in your ‘50s chart, so I thought your all time chart must be good. I was not wrong.
Nice to see Carly Rae Jepsen and The Ronettes unironically on a chart.
Great work!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 03/15/2018 19:15
Glad to see FlyLo!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 02/02/2018 21:14
Love the way you rate songs on albums and rank all the albums of a certain band. Also Pet Sounds is so good!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of the 1950s
1. Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis
2. Mingus Ah Um by Charles Mingus
3. Time Out by The Dave Brubeck Quartet
4. Blue Train by John Coltrane
5. Elvis Presley by Elvis Presley
6. In The Wee Small Hours by Frank Sinatra
7. Here's Little Richard by Little Richard
8. The Shape Of Jazz To Come by Ornette Coleman
9. Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
10. Berry Is On Top by Chuck Berry
11. Lady In Satin by Billie Holiday
12. Songs For Swingin' Lovers! by Frank Sinatra
13. Brilliant Corners by Thelonious Monk
14. Somethin' Else by Cannonball Adderley
15. Saxophone Colossus by Sonny Rollins
16. Chet Baker Sings by Chet Baker
17. The "Chirping" Crickets by The Crickets
18. Buddy Holly by Buddy Holly
19. Birth Of The Cool by Miles Davis
20. Moanin' In The Moonlight by Howlin' Wolf
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