Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by Mr November

Ok, so the intro to my chart has read "Work In Progress, Progress is slow. The more I work on this the more I think my order needs sorting. I will get there." for about 5 years now and whilst I have added more notes to the albums the intro has been too daunting a task. The problem is I have a tendency to take an inordinate amount of time editing my writing, it's not uncommon for me to spend 10 minutes composing a text message. I've therefore decided what I'm going to do is try to explain my modus operandi bit by bit and come back and tidy it up when I feel I've covered everything I want to. In the meantime if you read a sentence that seems confused or out of place I hope you can, as Mudhoney would put it, Let it Slide until I get round to clarifying my thoughts. Hopefully it won't take another 5 years :)
The first thing I need to say is this chart is totally subjective, they are the albums that mean the most to me. I personally believe it's not possible to do this objectively, when you listen to an album you are going into it with your own unique personal history and there are so many factors that will influence your listening experience. I find most of the albums in my chart were contemporary when I got into them. There's something magical about buying a hard copy of an album from a record shop on the day of release, to know you're part of a group of like minded individuals performing that ritual on the same day. I'm much more inclined to give my time up and persevere with an album that has this ritual attached to it than I am to say a 40 year old album that I'm listening to on Spotify or Youtube. You are listening to an album that has been shaped by the world you're living in.
Another reason that will explain why there's no albums by some musical greats like Bowie, Led Zep, The Kinks, The Stones etc is that I invariably first heard these artists through greatest hits albums which I've refrained from including in my chart. When I subsequently listen to original albums that contain some songs from greatest hits albums I'm already really familiar with I find either the other songs tend to get overshadowed or else the ones I know get overplayed.
The next factor I will call the rule of 'First come, first served', if I like an album enough for me to seek out other albums by the same artist those subsequent albums have a lot of catching up to do. Invariably my favourite album by an artist is the one that made me fall in love with their music in the first place. As I write 8 of my top 10 were the first album I heard by that particular artist. For example, Gentlemen is generally regarded as The Afghan Whigs' pinnacle but I discovered them through Black Love, by the time I got round to purchasing Gentlemen the songs from Black Love were burnt into my soul and as much as I love Gentlemen, Black Love already has my heart. Had I heard Gentlemen first then the story would most likely (80% more?) be different. Like I said, it's all subjective.

• Chart updated: 10/31/2025 20:45
• (Created: 03/12/2011 18:13).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

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1. (=)

Alligator 

 The National

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Bought The National's 2nd album, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, on the back of a positive review in Uncut but never really connected with it. I was somewhat wary then when the same magazine gave their 3rd album, Alligator, album of the month but the review was so compelling I had to give them another go. By the end of the first play I was hooked and by the time I saw them live a few months later it had become my favourite album and probably will be till the end of my life. The beautifully restrained guitars allow the cryptic doomed romanticism of Matt Berninger to take you into the secret meeting in the basement of his brain and it's a wonderful place to spend an hour ( or several). The drums like the guitars never fall into predictable patterns but at the same time never threaten to divert your attention from the lyrics. Dancing with my wife to The Geese of Beverly Road at our wedding had me grinning with a tear in my eye as we sang along with " We're the heirs to the glimmering world." A perfect moment to define a perfect album. [First added to this chart: 03/12/2011]

Year of Release:

2005

Appears in:

514 charts

Rank Score:

3,667

Rank in 2005:

7

Rank in 2000s:

76

Overall Rank:

471

Average Rating:

 80 (733 votes)

Comments:

30

2. (=)

Black Love 

 The Afghan Whigs

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Another album I bought having read a great review (this time in the NME). The album is laid out like a novel, the lyric " to make it good you have to start at the end" in Bulletproof is a clue to the album's structure. In the opening song Greg Dulli is saying goodbye because of a crime he's committed but doesn't tell us exactly what has happened. As the album continues the story unfolds as more clues are dropped song by song. You are drawn into Greg's seedy, paranoid world of lies and double crosses and every song becomes important to the album as a whole. Having said that the songs still work on their own, Crime Scene builds the atmosphere brilliantly, My Enemy and Honky's Ladder rock, Going to Town is the perfection of the Whigs mission to fuse grunge and Motown (funky and dirty as hell with one of my favourite lines "When you say, now we got hell to pay, don't worry baby that's ok, I know the boss") and Faded is the perfect epic closer with Dulli's voice straining and cracking making you believe every word [First added to this chart: 03/12/2011]

Year of Release:

1996

Appears in:

77 charts

Rank Score:

432

Rank in 1996:

69

Rank in 1990s:

575

Overall Rank:

3,420

Average Rating:

 76 (104 votes)

Comments:

4

3. (=)

The Stone Roses 

 The Stone Roses

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Summer of 89, listening to Terry Christian on Key 103 whilst doing my homework on a Sunday night. He'd already played Elephant Stone and Made of Stone which I'd thought were really good but my mind was blown when he finished his show with I am the Resurrection. I bought my first copy of the NME soon after and my love affair with music had begun. My brother got the album on vinyl that christmas ( I got 3 feet high and rising on cd) and every time he left the house I would swipe the record from his room and listen to it over and over. It's not just a collection of great songs either, it's wonderfully produced, there is an atmosphere that is established before the bassline to Adored rumbles in and is still there as the final coda of Resurrection closes the album out. The band rightly get a lot of plaudits for this album but I think John Leckie's contribution is often overlooked. I once read an interview with the band where John Squire said they thought they were making a much louder rock record than Leckie was producing. No doubt this is the album I've listened to most in my life. [First added to this chart: 03/12/2011]

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,021 charts

Rank Score:

23,230

Rank in 1989:

3

Rank in 1980s:

5

Overall Rank:

33

Average Rating:

 86 (2,297 votes)

Comments:

203

4. (=)

Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot 

 Sparklehorse

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My first Sparklehorse cd was the Rainmaker single which I bought because I liked the band name, the single cover and the fact that it was only £1 in the cheap cd section of Vibes in Bury. (I'm such a happy consumer). I remember the opening chords reminding me of a Country music Teen Spirit, an impression that's strange in that although the 2 songs aren't particularly similar I think a lot of parallels can be drawn between the life and work of messrs Linkous and Cobain. Although I always love listening to Vivadixie wherever I may be it is best savoured on your own, through headphones in the dead of night, with the lights off. The album is suffused with an otherworldly twilit atmosphere. Homecoming Queen immediately draws you into this strange fairytale world. The production is beautifully intimate, you hear fingers sliding along fretboards and Mark's voice often fed through effects feels like he's right there whispering in your ear. Brittle ghosts of songs are juxtaposed with blasts of guitar rock, Someday I Will Treat You Good sounds like Crazy Horse at their visceral best. As you can probably tell from the abundance of adjectives I'm struggling to describe how this album makes me feel but that's because it takes me to a place borne of somebody elses imagination where I'm not quite sure what's what. Give it a listen, if you don't get it that's fine but if you do then you'll know exactly what I'm trying to get at and my words will become graciously redundant. [First added to this chart: 03/12/2011]

Year of Release:

1995

Appears in:

154 charts

Rank Score:

1,046

Rank in 1995:

28

Rank in 1990s:

298

Overall Rank:

1,624

Average Rating:

 77 (170 votes)

Comments:

11

5. (=)

Hit To Death In The Future Head 

 The Flaming Lips

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Introduced to me by my friend Ian circa 93 this album is responsible for my love of the Lips and my discovery of Mercury Rev, Built to Spill etc. Acid drenched garage rock with a melodic heart. Their major label debut, this gave the Lips the funds to make their ideas a reality using a variety of instrumentation not seen on their early albums.You get the impression they felt like kids in a sweet shop. The instrumentation list which is included in the liner notes reads like something out of a 1967 Brian Wilson cheese and marijuana induced dream. As you'll have probably noticed by now I tend to be drawn to music that's on the darker side but this album is full of a joyous energy that never fails to make me smile. [First added to this chart: 03/12/2011]

Year of Release:

1992

Appears in:

75 charts

Rank Score:

326

Rank in 1992:

76

Rank in 1990s:

722

Overall Rank:

4,331

Average Rating:

 74 (127 votes)

Comments:

6

6. (=)

Slanted And Enchanted 

 Pavement

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The best tape I ever owned was given to me by my mate Christine in early 93. It had Doolittle on one side and Slanted and Enchanted on the other. This album is full of lyrics which I don't understand but which make perfect sense to me. It's got 14 songs, feels like it's longer and yet I'm always left wanting more when it finishes. Summer Babe, Zurich is Stained, Here, Our Singer are perfect, In the Mouth a Desert is even better than them. It is Slanted and it is Enchanted. Amazingly it's not even my favourite Pavement record, that's the Watery Domestic EP but until someone starts the BestEverEP's website I'll not even try to explain the magic of those 4 songs. [First added to this chart: 03/12/2011]

Year of Release:

1992

Appears in:

890 charts

Rank Score:

7,037

Rank in 1992:

4

Rank in 1990s:

46

Overall Rank:

228

Average Rating:

 82 (1,170 votes)

Comments:

89

7. (=)

Ill Communication 

 Beastie Boys

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A perfect double album, the sound of a band spreading their wings. What The White Album is to most people, Ill Communication is to me. Bursting with ideas, a single album just wasn't big enough to hold The Beastie's at their peak. I generally think with a little more quality control most double albums would make better single albums and whilst Ill Communication would make a wonderful 10 to 14 track hip-hop album I believe it would suffer from not having the hardcore punk songs and 70's cop soundtrack instrumentals. It is commonly percieved that Paul's Boutique was their finest moment but not having heard that album till after I'd heard Ill Communication and Check Your Head it always sounded dated to me, stuck in '89. Ill Commounication just sounds so much more evolved, less reliant on samples and much more organic with the B-boys guitar, bass and drums at it's heart. An album I never tire of. [First added to this chart: 03/12/2011]

Year of Release:

1994

Appears in:

407 charts

Rank Score:

2,383

Rank in 1994:

23

Rank in 1990s:

125

Overall Rank:

730

Average Rating:

 78 (531 votes)

Comments:

22

8. (=)

Screamadelica 

 Primal Scream

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The perfect synthesis of Rock n' Roll and acid house it was pretty hard to avoid this album when at Uni in the early 90's. It's as much Andy Weatherall's album as it is Primal Scream's but I think that having a band with attitude and the swagger of Bobby Gillespie in particular fronting it has helped it immensely. The highlights are definitely the house songs but the the gospel of Movin' On Up and the country of Damaged give it a soul that isn't there on a lot of electronic albums. The arc of the album explicitly follows the acid experience with song titles like Movin' On Up, Don't Fight it Feel it, Inner Flight, Damaged, I'm Comin' Down but for me the masterstroke is how the euphoric trip of Higher Than The Sun returns as a dark paranoid dub inspired comedown driven by Jah Wobble's perfectly judged bassline. Using the same song to show both sides of the coin, genius. Screamadelica is a product of a very specific time in the history of UK music and stands alone as the landmark of the rock/acid house explosion [First added to this chart: 03/12/2011]

Year of Release:

1991

Appears in:

754 charts

Rank Score:

5,250

Rank in 1991:

10

Rank in 1990s:

62

Overall Rank:

326

Average Rating:

 79 (929 votes)

Comments:

64

9. (=)

London Calling 

 The Clash

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I was never a fan of punk music in my youth and other than hearing Should I Stay Or Should I Go and London Calling after being re-released off the back of a Levi's ad had never listened to The Clash. That is until I watched Grosse Point Blank. Despite the soundtrack containing classics like Monkey Gone to Heaven and Blister in the Sun the song that really hit me was Rudy Can't Fail. I bought London Calling as soon as I could and was amazed at the quality and variety of the album. It could maybe have shed a song or two (Lover's Rock in particular) but there is very little waste and the first 14 songs from the clarion call of London Calling to the Spectoresque Card Cheat are phenomenal.About 4 or 5 songs in you start to think where can it go next but it just keeps throwing out these brilliant songs one after another. I'm sure this would be higher in my chart had I been born 10 years earlier. It holds such a place in my heart that my wife and I ended up naming our first child Joseph Dylan after Messrs Strummer and Zimmerman. Truly one of the greatest albums ever. [First added to this chart: 03/13/2011]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

2,820 charts

Rank Score:

31,192

Rank in 1979:

1

Rank in 1970s:

5

Overall Rank:

20

Average Rating:

 87 (3,158 votes)

Comments:

259

10. (=)

The Soft Bulletin 

 The Flaming Lips

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As a Lips fan since 93 when Ian (one of my university housemates) introduced me to Hit to Death in the Future Head I was excited to read very positive reviews ahead of the release of The Soft Bulletin as many critics seemed to have regarded them as a bit of a novelty act in the past. Having lost the best guitar player I've ever seen live, Mr Ronald Jones, Stephen Drozd stepped into the void and it is his musical experimentation mixed with Wayne Coyne's ear for a melody that makes this the Lips masterpiece. It opens in usual Lips style with Race for the Prize flying out of the blocks but soon slows down and turns in on itself, reminiscent of Pet Sounds. I actually think this makes a far more fitting sequel to Pet Sounds than the sanitized version of Smile that was eventually released. I want Feeling Yourself Disintegrate played at my funeral and for there to be plenty of smiles amongst the tears. [First added to this chart: 03/20/2011]

Year of Release:

1999

Appears in:

1,269 charts

Rank Score:

10,997

Rank in 1999:

2

Rank in 1990s:

24

Overall Rank:

119

Average Rating:

 83 (1,521 votes)

Comments:

119

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Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Country	Albums	%
	66	66%
	28	28%
	2	2%
	2	2%
	1	1%
	1	1%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

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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 109 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
80/100  !	08/28/2024 12:38	Tamthebam	633	85/100
75/100  !	08/28/2024 11:27	mianfei	168	62/100
95/100  !	03/18/2023 06:06	leniad	673	85/100
90/100  !	03/18/2023 00:10	Moondance	476	85/100
90/100  !	03/17/2023 17:54	Johnnyo	2,543	80/100

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 5% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 88.8/100, a mean average of 89.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 89.1/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 9.1.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 81 comments |
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Rating:  

75/100

From mianfei 08/28/2024 11:27 | #304994

This is a very well-written and interesting chart. The notes are always very welcome, and many of the choices interesting, notably Cop Shoot Cop and perhaps ‘Shabooh Shoobah’ and Pale Saints.

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

Rating:  

95/100

From leniad 03/18/2023 06:07 | #295137

i like thtat you didnt create this list based in logic or in an objectively way, just the albums you grew to care about and that represented something important the year they were release
continue like this friend

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

90/100

From Moondance 03/18/2023 00:21 | #295129

I love this chart ~ we might only have 4 albums/12 artists in common ~ but the backstory of why these are your top 100 albums is written with such 'lived' passion and honesty that it resonates deeply with me. I like it that BEA peer pressure & group think has been put aside and you simply record your personal journey through the history of modern music ~ which is a true delight. I am a bit surprised that US albums feature so prominently (seeing you are English) and that only 6 albums feature from outside the US/UK bubble. What I like most of all, being a passionate fellow BEA user (perhaps a generation older than you), is that your chart has plenty of offerings that I will now spend time discovering. BTW ~ I really like the concept that the first album to draw your attention to a particular artist (more often than not) rates above the higher ranking albums from that artist. I share & understand that feeling ~ it's like a first love usually holds a special place in our hearts.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

100/100

From HoldenM 03/17/2023 20:19 | #295126

Still one of the best to do it.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

90/100

From Johnnyo 03/17/2023 17:55 | #295121

Love this chart. I may not agree with all of the selections, but the quality is undeniable. Great stuff

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

100/100

From EyeKanFly 03/20/2022 17:49 | #283129

Awesome chart, lots of unfamiliar albums by familiar artists, I must dive into this further. Excellent write-ups, great story for every album (haven't read through all of it but 10-15 or so and I must say, you seem to remember much more about when/where/how you got into an album than I do).

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

From Mr November 06/15/2021 14:05 | #270669

Thanks for all the wonderful feedback. I hadn't updated for a while but with this chart being the best part of 10 years old it's been insightful to come back and see how I feel about it now. There are some albums that, though I still love them, are way too high in this chart (Recently listened to Richmond Fontaine for the first time since I made this chart) so I'm going to have a tidy up, move some stuff around and hopefully get round to adding my thoughts to every entry. I've recently thought of a new metric for judging how much I love an album which is to see how quickly I can remember the track listing. Surprising how few albums I can just real off the track list of, really separates the wheat from the chaff.

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

Rating:  

100/100

From salahshoori 09/13/2020 10:34 | #258167

One of the greatest charts on this site.

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

Rating:  

100/100

From bonnequestion 08/02/2020 20:11 | #256613

Charts like these are the reason why I visit this website almost every day. Good job and keep it up!

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

100/100

From DommeDamian 04/29/2018 20:22 | #213888

Not having much in common, but I'm pretty jealous of your intellectual, intelligent writing.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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