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: 03/01/2026 20:45
- (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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This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from the 1990s. (Remove this filter)
"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:
874
Rank in 1996:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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:
1,356
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Average Rating:
Comments:
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:
3,597
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Rank in 1990s:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 03/17/2016]
Year of Release:
1994
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,670
Rank in 1994:
Rank in 1990s:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 03/07/2016]
Year of Release:
1998
Appears in:
Rank Score:
31,242
Rank in 1998:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
I’ve been digging much deeper into death metal this past year, and it’s made me realize that, uncool as it might be in comparison, Chuck seems to have been doing something very special with this final Death album. The amazing riffs come in so many fits and starts that you end up craving them more than ever before, and that push and pull it plays with you makes these caverns you explore seem so much more meaningful.
[First added to this chart: 03/07/2016]
Year of Release:
1998
Appears in:
Rank Score:
566
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Average Rating:
Comments:
I know that my contrarianism might get you to think otherwise, but the post-punk elements in nineties and 2000s indie rock might be my favorite sounds in the world (the Fred Astaire dance studio I frequented years ago described the universal sound as “jive”, but that sounds really sus, so we’ll ignore that for now).
Maybe the high speed energy of those post-punk origins explain why the “slacker” aesthetic works so well here. It’s almost like the laziness gets these huge riffs to slowly careen around the room like they’re early ballet students instead of graduate students who stayed up too late watching The Sopranos. [First added to this chart: 03/07/2016]
Maybe the high speed energy of those post-punk origins explain why the “slacker” aesthetic works so well here. It’s almost like the laziness gets these huge riffs to slowly careen around the room like they’re early ballet students instead of graduate students who stayed up too late watching The Sopranos. [First added to this chart: 03/07/2016]
Year of Release:
1994
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,436
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 09/04/2024]
[First added to this chart: 04/25/2022]
Year of Release:
1999
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,520
Rank in 1999:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
The fucking gayest free jazz album I’ve ever heard.
[First added to this chart: 03/17/2020]
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 | 2 | 2% | |
| 1960s | 5 | 5% | |
| 1970s | 11 | 11% | |
| 1980s | 8 | 8% | |
| 1990s | 17 | 17% | |
| 2000s | 31 | 31% | |
| 2010s | 21 | 21% | |
| 2020s | 4 | 4% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Various Artists | 5 | 5% | |
| Billie Holiday | 1 | 1% | |
| A Motown Tribute To Nickelback | 1 | 1% | |
| 増田順一 [Junichi Masuda] | 1 | 1% | |
| FLUX Quartet | 1 | 1% | |
| Pavement | 1 | 1% | |
| Steve Reich & Musicians | 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 1 from 45th to 46thSalvatore Sciarrino: Orchestral Works by Tito Ceccherini / Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Della RAI |
| Down 1 from 46th to 47thPulse Music by John McGuire |
| Down 1 from 47th to 48thLifting Concrete Lightly by MIMEO |
| Leavers |
|---|
| Dormant Mirrors / Drum by DJ Yo-Yo Dieting |
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 | josh333 | Overall chart | 2016 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | mjp11 | Overall chart | 2025 | |
| The 300 Greatest Albums of All Time (1-100) | Paste | Overall chart | 2024 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  NJ | Overall chart | 2024 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  RaineyWins | Overall chart | 2015 |  |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similarity to your chart(s)
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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 | 110 | 81/100 | |
| 01/25/2025 14:17 |  SomethingSpecial | 1,089 | 85/100 | |
| 12/06/2024 16:31 | DrewHamster | 315 | 79/100 | |
| 08/31/2024 19:31 | leniad | 669 | 85/100 | |
| 06/07/2024 23:14 |  Larcx13 | 1,139 | 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.
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites
Showing all 7 members who have added this chart as a favourite
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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| Best Artists of 1970 | |
|---|---|
| 1. Black Sabbath | |
| 2. Neil Young | |
| 3. George Harrison | |
| 4. Simon & Garfunkel | |
| 5. John Lennon | |
| 6. Miles Davis | |
| 7. Van Morrison | |
| 8. Creedence Clearwater Revival | |
| 9. Led Zeppelin | |
| 10. The Beatles | |
| 11. The Stooges | |
| 12. The Velvet Underground | |
| 13. Grateful Dead | |
| 14. Derek & The Dominos | |
| 15. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young | |
| 16. Crosby, Stills & Nash | |
| 17. Santana | |
| 18. Carlos Santana | |
| 19. Deep Purple | |
| 20. Cat Stevens |
