Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by 
Applerill 
You can see my favorite songs of all time at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjpLkGbV3Is1H_PPY9WhX8g2qcyhNBzk4
- Chart updated: 3 days ago
- (Created: 03/07/2016 10:53).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 34 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 78 out of 100 (from 64 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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"Boys for Pele is an entirely personal album, containing lyrics that are much too internal and obscure to be meaningful to anyone who isn't actually Tori Amos. If you're not--and, of course, you're not --then you may as well skip it in favor of something a little bit more intelligible--like maybe Gravity's Rainbow, written in Greek."
-Gina Arnold, 1996 review [First added to this chart: 03/07/2016]
-Gina Arnold, 1996 review [First added to this chart: 03/07/2016]
Year of Release:
1996
Appears in:
Rank Score:
905
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I promise I won’t talk about politics for the entirety of these comments, but I think what makes this one of the most powerful works of art in my life is also its commentary on religion. It’s very clear that this is a very atheist record, but as I hear lines like “it takes a long time, but God dies too/but not before He sticks to you” more and more, I realize that this is really about the pressure of escaping CHRISTIAN atheism, which really is just another word for white supremacy.
[First added to this chart: 03/07/2016]
Year of Release:
2000
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,850
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This is the most beautifully sapphic record I’ve ever heard, and by the time you hear the opening couplet, “You have such a beautiful face/ I’ve been dreaming about it between my legs”, you won’t be able to escape its profound lesbian desire. The lyrics are full of explicit, even seemingly flippant sexuality and crassness, but beyond a very slight tinge of edginess there’s such astounding earnestness.
[First added to this chart: 07/14/2020]
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I often feel uncomfortable as a trans girl for liking seemingly hyper-masculine music like this, but there’s just something so vital about the way this music connects to shame. And while you can rightfully feel queasy about a group of cis white dudes making edgy Motown jams, the grunge fusion they make has a sexual energy that makes all these messy emotions feel like the biggest things in the world.
[First added to this chart: 03/07/2016]
Year of Release:
1993
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,323
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Okay, hopefully this will help me avoid being such a hypocrite with these lyrical obsessions. As I’ve become an experimental filmmaker over the past couple years, I’ve found that Feldman really is the Chantal Akerman of music, with the radical stillness capturing something so profound. And in the same ways I’ve seen more Akerman films that those of almost any other directors, this recording has become such a wonderful comfort food to me, where I can’t help but bathe in its space. I guess I should also add that I never listen to this on headphones, not only because I’ve lost too much hearing by playing this sort of stuff on the bus, but also because it’s a sort of music meant to work around the room, not just around your head.
[First added to this chart: 03/07/2016]
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Obviously treating the prospect of a White woman rewriting the Delta blues mythology as a revolutionary pro-social act is... not air-tight in its logic. But she and FLOOD (I always imagine his mixing board like the water-pack device in Super Mario Sunshine) create such a wide aural canvas that I can’t help but soak in its grandeur as a masterpiece. Every song is filled with gravitas, making you think it’s the perfect closer until the next-track one-ups it in righteous anger and despair. Also, if “Blood Roses” off Boys For Pele is my favorite song to perform drag to, “C’Mon Billy” is definitely my favorite song to strip to.
[First added to this chart: 03/07/2016]
Year of Release:
1995
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,648
Rank in 1995:
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I’ve been in this state my whole damned life, so of course I’m gonna consider this a masterpiece. The whole album is an amazing journey of different sounds and feelings, but for the past decade I haven’t been able to stop thinking about “John Wayne Gacy Jr.”. The way Sufjan treats himself no better than its serial killer subject made me realize that that’s how every mortal artist should be with their work, to the point where I opened my 2015 documentary album Document with samples from the track.
[First added to this chart: 07/14/2020]
Year of Release:
2005
Appears in:
Rank Score:
20,359
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Trans girls are often thought of as being “caricatures” of femininity, but from my experience so many of us actually are pretty butch. And this album taught me to be aggressive with my femininity like few other things in my life.
[First added to this chart: 03/07/2016]
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,054
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Much like the Baby Zionov, this comes from a short-lived scene a bunch of RYM trans people started in the mid-2010s called “Davewave”, which mixed jungle with nightcore to make these fun feminine mixes that were meant to make you feel like a girl. At 55 minutes, this is like a 3-course meal to Zionov’s snack, and isn’t quite AS laser-right, but still has some of my favorite cuts I’ve ever heard.
[First added to this chart: 04/09/2016]
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Darn, I’m not gonna be able to escape talking about lyrics, will I? I do indeed think these are the most amazing pop-punk riffs and ballad melodies I’ve ever heard, but I think what has made this an eternal companion to my life is how it shows Avril being able to contain her own multitudes. It shows her be rebellious and bratty in ways I love imitating as a trans girl, but also is full of songs that show her deepest joys and regrets. And while some might think that placing these next to each other hurts “consistency”, it does an amazing job of realizing that life is about both.
[First added to this chart: 07/28/2019]
Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 1 | 1% | |
| 1960s | 5 | 5% | |
| 1970s | 11 | 11% | |
| 1980s | 7 | 7% | |
| 1990s | 17 | 17% | |
| 2000s | 33 | 33% | |
| 2010s | 21 | 21% | |
| 2020s | 4 | 4% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Various Artists | 5 | 5% | |
| Steve Reich & Musicians | 1 | 1% | |
| Booker Little | 1 | 1% | |
| The Residents | 1 | 1% | |
| Natalie Prass | 1 | 1% | |
| Something Like Elvis | 1 | 1% | |
| Kubus | 1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| |
58 | 58% | |
 |
10 | 10% | |
 |
10 | 10% | |
 |
5 | 5% | |
 |
4 | 4% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 2 from 80th to 82nd Everything Based by DJ Spinz & Lil B |
| Down 2 from 81st to 83rd Synecdoche, New York by Jon Brion |
| Down 2 from 82nd to 84th Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul by Otis Redding |
| New entries |
|---|
| Il Portale Delle Indipendenti - Das Erste Mädchen by Mama Bär / Rudolf Eb.er |
| Demons Dance Alone by The Residents |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | Applerill | 2000s decade chart | 2020 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | Applerill | 1990s decade chart | 2023 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s | Applerill | 2010s decade chart | 2021 | |
| Top 50 Music Albums of the 1970s | Applerill | 1970s decade chart | 2023 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | Weepingguitarman | Overall chart | 2020 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | mjp11 | Overall chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | josh333 | Overall chart | 2016 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  NJ | Overall chart | 2024 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  RaineyWins | Overall chart | 2015 |  |
| The 300 Greatest Albums of All Time (1-100) | Paste | Overall chart | 2024 | |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
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 64 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 05/04/2025 23:17 | BorderFreeAndrew | 99 | 81/100 |
| ! | 01/25/2025 14:17 |  SomethingSpecial | 1,105 | 85/100 |
| ! | 12/06/2024 16:31 | DrewHamster | 317 | 79/100 |
| ! | 08/31/2024 19:31 | leniad | 673 | 85/100 |
| ! | 06/07/2024 23:14 |  Larcx13 | 1,145 | 86/100 |
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 78.5/100, a mean average of 77.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.3/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 24.7.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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From Larcx13 06/07/2024 23:14 | #303903
Larcx13 06/07/2024 23:14 | #303903
Tit for tat.
Cheers.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
From 0129114 06/23/2023 14:10 | #297742
holy cringe this is absolute fucking trash lmao
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (5 helpful | 5 unhelpful)
From 
IgnacioJoaquin 11/08/2022 02:56 | #291138
IgnacioJoaquin 11/08/2022 02:56 | #291138
one of the best and most important charts on this site tbh
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (1 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
From 
seb7 06/29/2022 06:58 | #286775
seb7 06/29/2022 06:58 | #286775
Its truly an interesting chart. do I consider some of your picks straight-up not that good? i guess so. In any case, keep on listening and loving music and being you!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
Goliath 11/09/2021 10:58 | #276032
Goliath 11/09/2021 10:58 | #276032
I have mixed feelings about charts like this. Yes they are very useful for flagging up overlooked albums that may be worth looking at, albums that are not widely known. These charts usually get a high score from other users for being different and interesting. But should they appear on a Greatest Albums list and count towards the greatest overall chart? The prime (but obviously not only) objective of this site is to identify the greatest albums ever recorded (I believe) and boring as it may seem 'Greatest Charts' without any conventional choices should be regarded with caution. I love charts such as this, but they should be titled something like 'Greatest albums you should listen to because I think they're great'. But I'm very aware that many users only look at the Top 100 Greatest charts, so the only way to get noticed is to create them as 'Top 100 Greatest' charts. A quandary.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (3 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
From 
indieshins 11/09/2021 03:08 | #276026
indieshins 11/09/2021 03:08 | #276026
What a weird and eccentric chart. I mean that as the highest compliment, I think more charts should strive for this rather than regurgitating canon picks. I like that you've got some really corny pop in there right up alongside artsy stuff - you're right, life should have both! Great work, I'll be checking some of these albums out!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
DommeDamian 11/08/2021 20:07 | #276011
DommeDamian 11/08/2021 20:07 | #276011
goddamn the effort.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From RioBravo 07/02/2021 00:27 | #271226
Morton Feldman just barely edging out Avril Lavigne in the top 10 is the best postmodern provocation I've ever seen around here.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
KitchenSink 01/07/2021 23:52 | #264014
KitchenSink 01/07/2021 23:52 | #264014
loads of great music (and some uh less great music imho) but more than that just consistently the most perplexing chat on BEA. at a certain point I just have to respect the audacity of it all. 2 hours of fart sounds? punk af
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
RoundTheBend 12/23/2020 06:11 | #263102
RoundTheBend 12/23/2020 06:11 | #263102
Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others is also probs my favorite Smiths track.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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