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.

• Chart updated: 11/19/2023 15:45
• (Created: 10/09/2015 21:56).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

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.

• Summary
• Composition
• Ratings
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View the complete list of 53,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.

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1. (=)

Pet Sounds 

 The Beach Boys

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Baroque Pop

Score: 98.5

Further Listening:

2. The Smile Sessions 91.8
2a. Endless Summer 88.8
3. Wild Honey 83.0
4. Smiley Smile 80.4
5. The Beach Boys Today! 77.6
6. Friends 76.8
7. Sunflower 76.4
8. Surf's Up 74.4
9. Holland TBD 3.5/5
10. Surfin' U.S.A. TBD 3/5

~ [First added to this chart: 10/09/2015]

Year of Release:

1966

Appears in:

2,779 charts

Rank Score:

45,081

Rank in 1966:

2

Rank in 1960s:

5

Overall Rank:

11

Average Rating:

 88 (3,194 votes)

Comments:

354

2. (=)

A Love Supreme 

 John Coltrane

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Spiritual Jazz • Avant-Garde Jazz

Score: 97.7

Further Listening:

2. Meditations TBD 4/5
3. Coltrane "Live" At The Village Vanguard TBD 4/5
4. Live At Birdland TBD 4/5
5. Impressions TBD 4/5
6. The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording TBD 4/5
7. Ascension 80.0
8. Coltrane - John Coltrane Quartet TBD 4/5
9. Giant Steps TBD 4/5
10. My Favorite Things TBD 4/5

~ [First added to this chart: 02/21/2016]

Year of Release:

1965

Appears in:

1,286 charts

Rank Score:

17,084

Rank in 1965:

3

Rank in 1960s:

19

Overall Rank:

75

Average Rating:

 87 (1,452 votes)

Comments:

99

5. (=)

Superfly 
Soundtrack

 Curtis Mayfield

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Chicago Soul • Film Soundtrack • Funk

Score: 95.8

Further Listening:

2. Curtis 93.2
3. Back To The World 89.2
4. Got To Find A Way TBD 4.5/5
5. There's No Place Like America Today TBD 4.5/5
6. Sweet Exorcist TBD 4/5
7. Roots TBD 4/5
8. Curtis / Live! TBD 4/5

~ [First added to this chart: 02/21/2016]

Year of Release:

1972

Appears in:

493 charts

Rank Score:

3,464

Rank in 1972:

14

Rank in 1970s:

122

Overall Rank:

524

Average Rating:

 81 (554 votes)

Comments:

19

7. (=)

Modern Vampires Of The City 

 Vampire Weekend

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Indie Pop

Score: 94.8

Further Listening:

2. Contra TBD 4/5
3. Vampire Weekend TBD 4/5
4. Father Of The Bride TBD 4/5

~ [First added to this chart: 10/09/2015]

Year of Release:

2013

Appears in:

1,017 charts

Rank Score:

12,097

Rank in 2013:

1

Rank in 2010s:

10

Overall Rank:

120

Average Rating:

 82 (1,350 votes)

Comments:

134

8. (=)

In A Silent Way 

 Miles Davis

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Jazz Fusion • Modal Jazz

Score: 94.8

Further Listening:

2. On The Corner TBD 4.5/5
3. Bitches Brew TBD 4/5
4. Dark Magus TBD 4/5
5. Live-Evil TBD 4/5
6. My Funny Valentine: Miles Davis In Concert TBD 4/5
7. A Tribute To Jack Johnson 80.2
8. Sketches Of Spain 80.0
9. Cookin' With The Miles Davis Quintet - Miles Davis Quintet TBD 4/5
10. Workin' With The Miles Davis Quintet - Miles Davis Quintet TBD 4/5

~ [First added to this chart: 01/21/2017]

Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

764 charts

Rank Score:

7,927

Rank in 1969:

9

Rank in 1960s:

34

Overall Rank:

209

Average Rating:

 86 (864 votes)

Comments:

48

9. (=)

Telefone 

 Noname

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Conscious Hip Hop • Jazz Rap

Score: 94.8

Further Listening:

2. Room 25 TBD 4/5

~ [First added to this chart: 11/11/2017]

Year of Release:

2016

Appears in:

115 charts

Rank Score:

715

Rank in 2016:

35

Rank in 2010s:

376

Overall Rank:

2,261

Average Rating:

 78 (142 votes)

Comments:

5

11. (=)

To Pimp A Butterfly 

 Kendrick Lamar

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Conscious Hip Hop • West Coast Hip Hop • Jazz Rap

Score: 94.4

Further Listening:

2. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City 93.8
3. DAMN. TBD 4/5
4. Section.80 TBD 4/5
5. Untitled Unmastered. TBD 3.5/5

~ [First added to this chart: 02/15/2018]

Year of Release:

2015

Appears in:

1,775 charts

Rank Score:

37,203

Rank in 2015:

1

Rank in 2010s:

1

Overall Rank:

19

Average Rating:

 89 (2,223 votes)

Comments:

364

13. (=)

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City 

 Kendrick Lamar

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West Coast Hip Hop • Conscious Hip Hop

Score: 93.8

~ [First added to this chart: 10/09/2015]

Year of Release:

2012

Appears in:

1,479 charts

Rank Score:

25,750

Rank in 2012:

1

Rank in 2010s:

3

Overall Rank:

35

Average Rating:

 88 (1,954 votes)

Comments:

204

15. (=)

Curtis 

 Curtis Mayfield

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Chicago Soul

Score: 93.2

~ [First added to this chart: 07/13/2017]

Year of Release:

1970

Appears in:

351 charts

Rank Score:

2,321

Rank in 1970:

24

Rank in 1970s:

173

Overall Rank:

771

Average Rating:

 80 (370 votes)

Comments:

16

16. (=)

Boxer 

 The National

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Indie Rock • Post-Punk Revival

Score: 93.0

Further Listening:

2. Trouble Will Find Me 92.4
3. Alligator TBD 4/5
4. High Violet 81.0
5. Cherry Tree TBD 4/5
6. Sleep Well Beast TBD 3.5/5
7. I Am Easy To Find TBD 3.5/5
8. Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers TBD 3.5/5

~ [First added to this chart: 02/21/2016]

Year of Release:

2007

Appears in:

972 charts

Rank Score:

10,643

Rank in 2007:

4

Rank in 2000s:

22

Overall Rank:

142

Average Rating:

 82 (1,185 votes)

Comments:

91

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Total albums: 53. Page 1 of 6

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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%

Artist	Albums	%
Fela Kuti & Africa 70	8	8%
Jenny Hval	3	3%
Curtis Mayfield	3	3%
Joni Mitchell	3	3%
Kendrick Lamar	2	2%
The Beach Boys	2	2%
The Magnetic Fields	2	2%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	53	53%
	17	17%
	9	9%
	8	8%
	3	3%
	2	2%
	2	2%
Show all

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

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

New entries
The Dock Of The Bay by Otis Redding

Leavers
Outside Your Room EP by Slowdive

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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 49 ratings for this chart.

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• Date updated
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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
95/100	11/12/2023 22:42	Johnnyo	2,014	80/100
95/100	01/09/2022 23:23	AAL2014	163	92/100
95/100	10/19/2021 04:43	seb7	105	91/100
100/100	02/17/2021 05:53	pjohnsongolf	273	89/100
100/100	12/03/2020 18:06	RoundTheBend	374	92/100

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

seb7

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 26 comments |
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Rating:  

95/100

From Johnnyo 11/12/2023 22:42

Fantastic chart

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

Rating:  

95/100

From seb7 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 pctrooper 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 ForegroundNoise 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 mickilennial 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 Jameth 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 DommeDamian 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 Boltzmann 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 C_Krug2009 03/15/2018 19:15

Glad to see FlyLo!

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

Rating:  

95/100

From LedZep 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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