Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by
M42K0 
Hey, everybody o/
This is the list of albums I've carefully listened and rated in the past year or so (every song, then took their average and weighted average, and rarely added/subtracted a point or two). I usually don't put an album on the list until I've listened to it enough to be certain of its qualities and to understand where on the list I should put it. This is why there are so many Springsteen's albums - he's one of the rare artists I've had a chance to listen to that carefully.
All the suggestion are warmly welcomed. Hope you like the picks and that I gave you some incentive to research more about great music.
(And if not, I didn't care much about you anyways. Ha.)
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Albums that have ratings of 70+ but didn't make it to the list:
Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (71)
Michael Buble - Crazy Love (71)
Bruce Springsteen - The River (71)
Eagles - Desperado (70)
Grimes - Art Angels (70)
- Chart updated: 10/02/2016 19:15
- (Created: 11/02/2015 05:42).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 9 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 88 out of 100 (from 19 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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In my opinion, the greatest live album ever made. Bruce sang almost every song from his first 3 (probably my 3 favorite Springsteen's) albums, and showed what a master performer, a poet, he is. The energy and emotion he brought in front of his first European crowd just can't be compared to any music artist since.
Best tracks: Most of them got 100/100 from me. Listen to "Thunder Road", "Lost in the Flood" and "Backstreets" if you want to feel the emotion. If you want to listen to some groovy rock music, go with "Born to Run", "She's the One", "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and "Rosalita".
(after some time I actually decided to type out song ratings for this album anyways)
100/100: Thunder Road, Lost In The Flood, Born To Run, Backstreets, Jungleland, Rosalita (Come Out Tonight), 4th Of July Ausbury Park (Sandy)
95/100: Tenth Avenue Freeze Out, She's The One, E Street Shuffle/Havin' A Party
90/100: Spirit In The Night, It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City, Detroit Medley, For You, Quarter To Three
85/100: /
80/100: Kitty's Back
Average song rating: 94.69/100
Weighted song average: 95.50/100
Album rating: 99/100
--- [First added to this chart: 11/03/2015]
Might be very subjective, but I consider this to be the greatest album of all time. It has literally every single aspect I expect from such an album: beautiful lyrics, perfect arrangements, has very vibrant harmonies and is filled with honesty and feeling of love and freedom. In my opinion, "Born To Run" is the pinnacle of rock music.
100/100: Thunder road, Backstreets, Born to Run, Jungleland
95/100: Meeting Across the River
90/100: Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, Night, She's the One
Average song rating: 95.62/100
Weighted song average: 95.83/100
Album rating: 97.5/100
--- [First added to this chart: 11/03/2015]
First you'll love it cause "IIII LOOOOVEEE YOOOUU JEEESUUUS CHRIIIIIST" just sounds awesome. Then you learn what it is about, read the lyrics, listen to it hundreds of times. Then you'll love it cause it's somehow both simple and deeply hurting at the same time. This is an album that doesn't grow on you - it's rather that you grow to understand how big and immensely aching it is.
100/100: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Holland 1945
95/100: The King Of Carrot Flowers Part 1, The King Of Carrot Flowers Parts 2 & 3, Communist Daughter, Two-Headed Boy Part 2
90/100: Two-Headed Boy, The Fool, Ghost, Untitled
85/100: Oh Comely
Average song rating: 93.18/100
Weighted song average: 93.33/100
Album rating: 96.5/100
--- [First added to this chart: 01/07/2016]
Might look weird to some people here, but this is probably my favorite prog rock album ever made. "Watcher of the Skies" is one hell of an opener, with "Supper's Ready" (one of the greatest prog rock songs of all time - in rank with Shine on You Crazy Diamond) being one of the best "closers" ever in rock music. I've put this album a bit above "Selling England by the Pound" because its more subtle and homogeneous, but equally rewarding.
100/100: Supper's Ready
95/100: Watcher of the Skies, Time Table
90/100: Get 'Em Out By Friday, Can-Utility And The Coastliners, Horizons
Average album rating: 93.33/100
Weighted song average: 92.50/100
Album rating: 95/100
--- [First added to this chart: 11/03/2015]
What every rock album should be - rich, but not overly aggressive about it's superiority and progressiveness (that's something I only forgive to Genesis cause they rock even while being overly complicated and pretentious). Every song blends perfectly and neither lyrics nor music appear specially progressive and complex until you dig in. Then you realize it's one of greatest pieces of music ever recorded.
100/100: Brain Damage, Eclipse
95/100: Time, Us And Them
90/100: Breathe, The Great Gig In The Sky, Money
85/100: /
80/100: Speak To Me, On The Run, Any Colour You Like
Average song rating: 90.00/100
Weighted song average: 90.00/100
Album rating: 94.5/100
--- [First added to this chart: 11/07/2015]
I like to think of this record as a mixture of "Velvet Underground And Nico", "Close To The Edge" and "Led Zeppelin IV". "VU & Nico" because of how influential it was; "Close To The Edge" because of how masterfully it tamed prog rock and made it sound rich, but calculated and approachable at the same time; and "Zeppelin IV" because the band just sounds so perfectly fused together. Have you heard "21st Century Schizoid Man" yet? No? Then what the fuck are you waiting for!?
100/100: 21st Century Schizoid Man
95/100: The Court Of The Crimson King
90/100: I Talk To The Wind, Epitaph
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65/100: Moonchild
Average song rating: 88.00/100
Weighted song average: 91.67/100
Album rating: 94/100
--- [First added to this chart: 03/18/2016]
The richest album ever. Gives you so much first couple of times you listen to it it'll sound like way too much. Then you grow and learn to appreciate it. Probably the most perplexing album I've ever heard. Incredible how deep and layered all the narratives are, and music is still way out of boundaries for any other conventional rock album from that time.
100/100: Dancing With The Moonlit Knight, Firth Of Fifth
95/100: The Battle Of Epping Forest, The Cinema Show
90/100: I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
...
...
...
75/100: After The Ordeal
70/100: /
65/100: More Fool Me
60/100: Aisle Of Plenty
Average song rating: 85.00/100
Weighted song average: 86.67/100
Album rating: 94/100
--- [First added to this chart: 11/03/2015]
The most mystical and yet uninhibited album ever made. How it's made is just incredible, and when you mix that with the fact it's so unique nobody ever dared to made an album like this one, it's definitely deserving of this spot.
100/100: Astral Weeks
95/100: Sweet Thing, Madame George
90/100: Cyprus Avenue, The Way Young Lovers Do, Ballerina
85/100: Beside You, Slim Slow Slider
Average song rating: 91.25/100
Weighted song average: 90.83/100
Album rating: 93/100
--- [First added to this chart: 11/03/2015]
Holy... "To Pimp a Butterfly" and this in the same year?! The best acoustic album of the decade. Sufjan just never ever disappoints. The first album he actually sings about himself and his emotions. All the songs are so painfully sincere and so perfectly fit each other I couldn't imagine album without any of them, or any of them separated as a single. Again, brutally honest. Always amazes me how he manages to say so so much in such a small amount of words. Literally makes music speak for him.
100/100: Death With Dignity, Should Have Known Better, 4th Of July, The Only Thing
95/100: /
90/100: Eugene, John My Beloved, No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross
85/100: All Of Me Wants All Of You, Carrie and Lowell
80/100: Drawn To The Blood, Blue Bucket of Gold
Average song rating: 90.91/100
Weighted song average: 91.11/100
Album rating: 93/100
--- [First added to this chart: 01/07/2016]
- So subjective! Third Springsteen's album already!
- Mate, please... Go listen to Sandy, Rosie and New York City Serenade. Then come back and tell me if you still mean what you just said.
100/100: 4th Of July Asbury Park (Sandy), New York City Serenade
95/100: Incident on the 57th Street, Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
90/100: The E Street Shuffle, Kitty's Back
...
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70/100: Wild Billy's Circus Story
Average song rating: 91.43/100
Weighted song average: 94.00/100
Album rating: 92.5/100
--- [First added to this chart: 11/07/2015]
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
Decade | Albums | % | |
---|---|---|---|
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|
1930s | 0 | 0% | |
1940s | 0 | 0% | |
1950s | 0 | 0% | |
1960s | 17 | 17% | |
1970s | 36 | 36% | |
1980s | 10 | 10% | |
1990s | 12 | 12% | |
2000s | 18 | 18% | |
2010s | 7 | 7% | |
2020s | 0 | 0% |
Artist | Albums | % | |
---|---|---|---|
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|
Bruce Springsteen | 9 | 9% | |
Genesis | 4 | 4% | |
Pink Floyd | 4 | 4% | |
Bob Dylan | 4 | 4% | |
David Bowie | 3 | 3% | |
Van Morrison | 3 | 3% | |
The Beatles | 3 | 3% | |
Show all |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

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 19 ratings for this chart.
Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
---|---|---|---|---|
90/100 ![]() | 02/02/2018 07:39 | ![]() | ![]() | 74/100 |
95/100 ![]() | 07/02/2017 06:38 | york59 | ![]() | 87/100 |
85/100 ![]() | 02/11/2017 19:24 | NamibiaStarr | ![]() | 85/100 |
70/100 ![]() | 02/04/2017 11:21 | ![]() | ![]() | 90/100 |
100/100 ![]() | 02/04/2017 04:06 | borninhockeytown | ![]() | 91/100 |
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 7% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 88.2/100, a mean average of 85.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 89.5/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 19.9.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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I've had to bump up my rating, as I like your update(s).

Crimson a taste in music is not right or wrong its indefinable. Why not have a live album at number one, what is an album?
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Very diverse and interesting chart! I love the inclusion of Funeral, Illinois, and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, which are also among my all-time favorites. Lots of stuff for me to dig into here.

Awesome list...thanks for the look on my page! Looking forward to listening some of the Springsteen and Genesis albums I haven't listened to yet.

10 springsteen on the chart and a little less than 10 on the honorable mentions.
Well alright then.

Yup, just as I wrote it. The number of his albums on the list will certainly fall below 10 the moment I start fill all the 100 spots and start cutting albums out. :)

A lot of the Boss, but I can see why :D Great :)

Honestly, as you probably noticed, it's still in progress.
Thanks for the comment. :) Appreciate it a lot.
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