Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by 
Onater 
I've been listening to music as albums rather than individual songs since July 2015, and every album on this list is one I have discovered in that time. I previously had 3 favourite tracks from each album in chronological order. I changed that to 2-5 favourite tracks from each in order from best to worst, but now I've decided that I don't need any limit on how many favourite tracks.
I've pretty much moved this over to Rateyourmusic at https://rateyourmusic.com/list/Onater/onaters-top-however-many-albums-2/ because they allow more than 100 there.
Just updated this for the first time in a while and good god was it out of date. The comments and favourite tracks probably still are but whatever. I may have cheated a bit and snuck in a compilation or two.
My Top 20 songs of all time:
20. Tim Buckley - Song To The Siren (Starsailor, 1970)
19. Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come (Ain't That Good News, 1964)
18. Kermit - The Rainbow Connection (The Muppet Movie, 1979)
17. Television - Marquee Moon (Marquee Moon, 1977)
16. Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road (Born To Run, 1975)
15. Joanna Newsom - Peach, Plum, Pear (The Milk-Eyed Mender, 2004)
14. LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends (Sound Of Silver, 2007)
13. Animal Collective - Fireworks (Strawberry Jam, 2007)
12. Sonic Youth - The Diamond Sea (Washing Machine, 1995)
11. Gordon Lightfoot - If You Could Read My Mind (If You Could Read My Mind, 1970)
10. Car Seat Headrest - Beach Life-In-Death (Twin Fantasy, 2018)
9. Joanna Newsom - Cosmia (Ys, 2006)
8. R.E.M. - Nightswimming (Automatic For The People, 1992)
7. Joanna Newsom - Sawdust & Diamonds (Ys, 2006)
6. The Tragically Hip - Escape Is At Hand For The Travellin' Man (Phantom Power, 1998)
5. David Bowie - "Heroes" ("Heroes", 1977)
4. Talking Heads - This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) (Speaking In Tongues, 1983)
3. The Tragically Hip - Bobcaygeon (Phantom Power, 1998)
2. Joanna Newsom - Only Skin (Ys, 2006)
1. The Tragically Hip - Ahead By A Century (Trouble At The Henhouse, 1996)
- Chart updated: 07/26/2019 07:15
- (Created: 04/30/2016 05:27).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 31 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 92 out of 100 (from 86 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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Favourite Tracks: Moanin', The Drum Thunder Suite
[First added to this chart: 05/26/2018]
Year of Release:
1959
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,550
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11
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"Tuesday night at the Bible study, we lift our hands and pray over your body, but nothing ever happens."
This is an album that is inseparable from my memories of it: I first listened to it during what would have to have been the best week of my life, and it will always bring me back to that.
First listen February 2017
Favourite Tracks: Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland Illinois, Casimir Pulaski Day, The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us!, Go! Chicago! Go! Yeah!, Come On! Feel The Illinoise!, John Wayne Gacy Jr. [First added to this chart: 03/04/2017]
This is an album that is inseparable from my memories of it: I first listened to it during what would have to have been the best week of my life, and it will always bring me back to that.
First listen February 2017
Favourite Tracks: Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland Illinois, Casimir Pulaski Day, The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us!, Go! Chicago! Go! Yeah!, Come On! Feel The Illinoise!, John Wayne Gacy Jr. [First added to this chart: 03/04/2017]
Year of Release:
2005
Appears in:
Rank Score:
23,121
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"Well, I don't need anybody, because I learned, I learned to be alone. And I said anywhere, anywhere, anywhere I lay my head, boys, I will call my home."
Favourite Tracks: Anywhere I Lay My Head, Hang Down Your Head, Downtown Train, Tango 'Til They're Sore, Clap Hands, Singapore [First added to this chart: 09/15/2016]
Favourite Tracks: Anywhere I Lay My Head, Hang Down Your Head, Downtown Train, Tango 'Til They're Sore, Clap Hands, Singapore [First added to this chart: 09/15/2016]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,113
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"You can hide beneath your covers and study your pain, make crosses from your lovers, throw roses in the rain. Waste your summers praying in vain for a savior to rise from these streets."
First listen January 2016
Favourite tracks: Thunder Road, Jungleland, Born To Run, Backstreets [First added to this chart: 05/17/2016]
First listen January 2016
Favourite tracks: Thunder Road, Jungleland, Born To Run, Backstreets [First added to this chart: 05/17/2016]
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
17,240
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"The unending amends you've made are enough for one life, be done. I believe in innocence, little darlin', start again, I believe in everyone."
Normally I wouldn't let an album get away with being over 2 hours long but it's Joanna Newsom and she's literally perfect so I'm fine with it. Any one of these three discs alone would be good enough to be album of the year. Put all three together, and there really isn't any doubt.
Favourite Tracks: Good Intentions Paving Company, Have One On Me, '81, Easy, Does Not Suffice, Baby Birch, Go Long [First added to this chart: 08/01/2017]
Normally I wouldn't let an album get away with being over 2 hours long but it's Joanna Newsom and she's literally perfect so I'm fine with it. Any one of these three discs alone would be good enough to be album of the year. Put all three together, and there really isn't any doubt.
Favourite Tracks: Good Intentions Paving Company, Have One On Me, '81, Easy, Does Not Suffice, Baby Birch, Go Long [First added to this chart: 08/01/2017]
Year of Release:
2010
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,973
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DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN dun DUN dun DUN dun dun dun dun dun DUN dun dun DUN dun dun dun DUN dun dun dun dun DUN dun dun
Favourite Tracks: Augures printaniers - Danses des adolescentes, Rondes printanières, Introduction, Jeux des cités rivales [First added to this chart: 04/15/2019]
Favourite Tracks: Augures printaniers - Danses des adolescentes, Rondes printanières, Introduction, Jeux des cités rivales [First added to this chart: 04/15/2019]
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"Where you gonna be? Where will you spend eternity? I'm gonna be perfect from now on. I'm gonna be perfect, starting now."
First listen April 2017
Favourite Tracks: Randy Described Eternity, Untrustable/Part 2 (About Someone Else), Velvet Waltz, I Would Hurt A Fly, Kicked It In The Sun [First added to this chart: 05/13/2017]
First listen April 2017
Favourite Tracks: Randy Described Eternity, Untrustable/Part 2 (About Someone Else), Velvet Waltz, I Would Hurt A Fly, Kicked It In The Sun [First added to this chart: 05/13/2017]
Year of Release:
1997
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,379
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"It's an anthem in a vacuum on a hyperstation, daydreaming days in a daydream nation."
Noisy, heavy, and dissonant, yet thoroughly beautiful. It's like the crumbling remains of a post-apocalyptic city where all that remains are the kids and their guitars.
Favourite Tracks: Teen Age Riot, The Sprawl, Trilogy, 'Cross The Breeze, Candle, Total Trash [First added to this chart: 08/18/2016]
Noisy, heavy, and dissonant, yet thoroughly beautiful. It's like the crumbling remains of a post-apocalyptic city where all that remains are the kids and their guitars.
Favourite Tracks: Teen Age Riot, The Sprawl, Trilogy, 'Cross The Breeze, Candle, Total Trash [First added to this chart: 08/18/2016]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
17,673
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"Yours is the only version of my desertion that I could ever subscribe to. That is all that I can do."
Favourite Tracks: Obstacle 1, Untitled, PDA, Say Hello To The Angels, Hands Away, NYC [First added to this chart: 05/26/2018]
Favourite Tracks: Obstacle 1, Untitled, PDA, Say Hello To The Angels, Hands Away, NYC [First added to this chart: 05/26/2018]
Year of Release:
2002
Appears in:
Rank Score:
14,959
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Comments:
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"You were right about the stars; each one is a setting sun."
Favourite tracks: Jesus Etc, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, Poor Places, Radio Cure, Ashes Of American Flags [First added to this chart: 07/04/2016]
Favourite tracks: Jesus Etc, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, Poor Places, Radio Cure, Ashes Of American Flags [First added to this chart: 07/04/2016]
Year of Release:
2002
Appears in:
Rank Score:
20,599
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Comments:
Total albums: 100. Page 3 of 10
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 4 | 4% | |
| 1960s | 9 | 9% | |
| 1970s | 16 | 16% | |
| 1980s | 11 | 11% | |
| 1990s | 24 | 24% | |
| 2000s | 23 | 23% | |
| 2010s | 13 | 13% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Joanna Newsom | 4 | 4% | |
| Radiohead | 3 | 3% | |
| Swans | 3 | 3% | |
| Tom Waits | 3 | 3% | |
| Miles Davis | 2 | 2% | |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor | 2 | 2% | |
| The Tragically Hip | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 14 from 19th to 5th Just Got Back From The Discomfort - We're Alright by The Brave Little Abacus |
| Up 11 from 88th to 77th Dummy by Portishead |
| Up 11 from 72nd to 61st F♯ A♯ ∞ (LP Version) by Godspeed You! Black Emperor |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 14 from 68th to 82nd The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady by Charles Mingus |
| Down 12 from 71st to 83rd Since I Left You by The Avalanches |
| Down 11 from 74th to 85th For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver |
| Leavers |
|---|
 In A Silent Wayby Miles Davis |
| Blood On The Tracks by Bob Dylan |
| Push The Sky Away by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds |
| At The Mountains Of Madness by Electric Masada |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
92/100 (from 86 votes)
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 86 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
95/100  | 03/30/2021 01:12 |  DriftingOrpheus | | 91/100 |
 100/100 | 11/29/2019 15:48 |  ForegroundNoise | | 87/100 |
90/100 | 10/04/2019 19:14 | pctrooper | | 88/100 |
100/100 | 08/12/2019 11:05 | Timooosterink | | 90/100 |
| 95/100 | 06/14/2019 13:34 |  gidgidi | | 88/100 |
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 1% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 92.0/100, a mean average of 92.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 92.7/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 6.9.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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100/100
From ForegroundNoise 11/29/2019 15:49
ForegroundNoise 11/29/2019 15:49
Not sure why I hadn't already given this 100, since your chart is obviously a brilliant labour of love. One of my faves on this site for sure!!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From Timooosterink 11/29/2019 10:27
nice
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From pctrooper 10/04/2019 19:14
Great choices. you crushed it.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From Timooosterink 08/12/2019 11:06
Nice chart! I like the effort you have put into this
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From gidgidi 06/14/2019 13:34
gidgidi 06/14/2019 13:34
Great picks!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
85/100
From mianfei 06/14/2019 07:10
It is rare to see a chart with so many as sixteen artists in common with my own (this figure includes Steven Osborne for his Messiaen works). Moreover, there are others in my large backlog of recordings to listen to , including ‘Escalator Over the Hill’.
One recording I would recommend you that it seems you haven’t heard is ‘I’m the One’ by Annette Peacock. Little-known on this site, ‘I’m the One’ is undoubtedly a masterful work of soul power that surpasses most black artists at soul music. The title track and ‘Pony’ turn funk into lush soundscapes of both beauty and personal power.
Two other recommendations are the Trees Community’s ‘The Christ Tree’ and Victoria Williams’ ‘Swing the Statue’. These in many ways predate the “freak folk” of the mid-2000s by thirty and fifteen years respectively, with the former being the most beautifully transcendent psalms as communitarian music-making and the latter a deeply personal work of wonder at the beauty of little things.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
Glitterboiii 01/26/2019 18:36
Glitterboiii 01/26/2019 18:36
Fantastic chart! So many of my favorites up here!
Please update this like in any way so Twin Fantasy gets its points.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
100/100
From ForegroundNoise 12/10/2018 09:29
ForegroundNoise 12/10/2018 09:29
Absolutely love the notes you've added and the lyrics from each album too, really great stuff :)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Azbest2000 05/13/2018 17:54
Professionaly made list. You have an eclectic taste and it's clear to see that you are really interested in music.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
DommeDamian 11/24/2017 07:05
DommeDamian 11/24/2017 07:05
By any means one of the greatest charst, man. The descriptions really hits hard, as of how well-written and well-structured they are. Keep up the phenomenal work :)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.