Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by YikYak

Music is really cool. Because no two people ever have the exact same favorites and rankings. It's not like ranking baseball teams, where the number of World Series wins and Hall-of-Famers really determine how legendary your team is. Music is completely open to interpretation and opinion, which is amazing.

I chose my favorites and did not take albums specifically based on commercial success, critical acclaim, or legacy. Everything on here is my personal opinion. Of course, I haven't listened to everything and there is still a lot I have on my album bucket list.

I have a personal bias to guitar-based rock and concept albums.

I considered limiting my chart to one album per artist, but I didn't want to do that. I love a lot of albums by a few artists, like Radiohead, Queens of the Stone Age, Nirvana, The Beatles, and Pink Floyd, where I have at least 4 of their albums on my list. I wouldn't be able to choose just one album for these artists. A one album per artist limit would not show what I truly consider the 100 greatest albums of all time.

My tastes have changed considerably since I started really listening to music, so this chart will always evolve. Right now, I feel pretty satisfied with it, but tomorrow, I may not. The chart is going to change again and again. It is pretty much impossible to rank my favorites, so this is essentially the 100 albums that have stuck with me the most. And even these I could easily switch out for others, especially ones near the bottom.

Chart of the Day on: July 20th, 2016, March 15th, 2018, April 20th, 2022, February 18th, 2023, September 7th, 2023

• Chart updated: 12/02/2023 23:15
• (Created: 05/06/2016 12:45).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

There are 39 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 92 out of 100 (from 85 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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View the complete list of 56,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.

This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from Radiohead. (Remove this filter)

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1. (=)

Kid A 

 Radiohead

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This album is a concept album about having a kid and how it changes your life.
This was taken from another user, but I find it accurate:
1. Everything In its Right Place - that moment when you find out you're going to have your first kid and you need to get everything together.
2. Kid A - the baby is born.
3. The National Anthem - everything is crazy, as the kid gets older.
4. How To Disappear Completely - feeling out of control of your teenager.
5. Treefingers - Trying to switch off, from the pressures of life.
6. Optimistic - Feeling optimistic as your child has left home to build their own life.
7. In Limbo - Missing your child, not sure how to feel.
8. Idioteque - Doing things you couldn't do as your child controlled your life, everything is random!
9. Morning Bell - getting a divorce because nothing is keeping you together anymore.
10. Motion Picture Soundtrack - You have come to the end of your life and look back on old times and say goodbye to everyone.

At first, I was skeptical about this album. I didn't see the appeal. Now I see it. And wow. Just wow is all I can really say. It took a long time for me to recognize it, but now I truly can appreciate an absolute work of art. How To Disappear Completely leaves me speechless.

Key Track(s): Everything In Its Right Place, Kid A, The National Anthem, How to Disappear Completely, Optimistic, Idioteque, Morning Bell, Motion Picture Soundtrack

Key Lyric: "Stop sending letters
Letters always get burned
It's not like the movies
They fed us on little white lies
I think you're crazy, maybe
I think you're crazy, maybe
I will see you in the next life" [First added to this chart: 05/09/2016]

Year of Release:

2000

Appears in:

3,204 charts

Rank Score:

44,707

Rank in 2000:

1

Rank in 2000s:

2

Overall Rank:

9

Average Rating:

 89 (4,437 votes)

Comments:

559

13. (=)

OK Computer 

 Radiohead

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I still remember my first listen to OK Computer: just 20 seconds into Airbag, I knew that I had found something special. The rest of the album was no Let Down (yes the pun was intended haha). The A-side is the best ever in my opinion, but the B-side definitely has a drop in quality. It's still good, but doesn't maintain the greatness.

The 12 songs on this album are the 12 most frequently played songs on my laptop. Seriously.

Key Track(s): Airbag, Paranoid Android, Subterranean Homesick Alien, Exit Music (For a Film), Let Down, Karma Police, No Surprises, Lucky

Key Lyric: "You know, you know where you are with
You know where you are with
Floor collapsing
Floating, bouncing back
And one day....
I am going to grow wings
A chemical reaction
Hysterical and useless" [First added to this chart: 05/09/2016]

Year of Release:

1997

Appears in:

4,403 charts

Rank Score:

67,236

Rank in 1997:

1

Rank in 1990s:

1

Overall Rank:

1

Average Rating:

 92 (5,611 votes)

Comments:

851

20. (=)

In Rainbows 

 Radiohead

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These guys are just so good and never stop creating amazing music. Consistent, song after song is just great. ...And the fact that they released this as a "Pay-What-You-Want" album...

Key Track(s): 15 Step, Nude, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, All I Need, Reckoner, Jigsaw Falling Into Place, Videotape

Key Lyric: "Everybody leaves
If they get the chance
And this is my chance
I get eaten by the worms
And weird fishes
Picked over by the worms
And weird fishes" [First added to this chart: 05/09/2016]

Year of Release:

2007

Appears in:

2,901 charts

Rank Score:

45,879

Rank in 2007:

1

Rank in 2000s:

1

Overall Rank:

6

Average Rating:

 90 (3,920 votes)

Comments:

393

31. (=)

The Bends 

 Radiohead

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This is the album that got me into Radiohead and for good reason. I used to do a college radio show and I liked to pick potential songs that I could play on my show. This was the only album where I picked every song as a potential for the show. When I want to introduce some to Radiohead, this is the album I show them. Street Spirit (Fade Out) may be the greatest album closer of all time.

Key Track(s): Planet Telex, The Bends, High and Dry, Fake Plastic Trees, (Nice Dream), Just, My Iron Lung, Black Star, Street Spirit (Fade Out)

Key Lyric: "She looks like the real thing
She tastes like the real thing
My fake plastic love
But I can't help the feeling
I could blow through the ceiling
If I just turn and run" [First added to this chart: 05/09/2016]

Year of Release:

1995

Appears in:

2,670 charts

Rank Score:

30,405

Rank in 1995:

1

Rank in 1990s:

4

Overall Rank:

22

Average Rating:

 87 (3,903 votes)

Comments:

315

79. (78) 1

Hail To The Thief 

 Radiohead

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Wow, more Radiohead. I know, big surprise. It's not their fault. In the late 90s, they were the artist that was trying way too hard when no one else was.

Key Track(s): 2+2=5, Sail to the Moon, Backdrifts, There There, A Punchup at a Wedding, A Wolf at the Door

Key Lyric: "You had to piss on our parade
You had to shred our big day
You had to ruin it for all concerned
In a drunken punch-up at a wedding" [First added to this chart: 05/13/2016]

Year of Release:

2003

Appears in:

1,188 charts

Rank Score:

8,266

Rank in 2003:

2

Rank in 2000s:

30

Overall Rank:

185

Average Rating:

 81 (2,352 votes)

Comments:

164

Total albums: 5. Page 1 of 1

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Decade	Albums	%
1930s	0	0%
1940s	0	0%
1950s	0	0%
1960s	15	15%
1970s	11	11%
1980s	6	6%
1990s	27	27%
2000s	30	30%
2010s	11	11%
2020s	0	0%

Artist	Albums	%
Queens Of The Stone Age	6	6%
Pink Floyd	5	5%
The Beatles	5	5%
Radiohead	5	5%
Nirvana	4	4%
Muse	3	3%
Cage The Elephant	3	3%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	53	53%
	36	36%
	5	5%
	3	3%
	3	3%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest fallers
Down 1 from 63rd to 64th Black Holes And Revelations by Muse
Down 1 from 64th to 65th Lullabies To Paralyze by Queens Of The Stone Age
Down 1 from 65th to 66th Boston by Boston

New entries
Fever To Tell by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Let England Shake by PJ Harvey

Leavers
Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea by PJ Harvey
The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

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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 85 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
90/100	02/19/2023 04:28	Moondance	475	85/100
90/100	02/18/2023 16:15	Johnnyo	2,464	80/100
85/100	04/25/2022 17:09	Cytoma	171	90/100
95/100	04/20/2022 13:50	wizardalien	31	88/100
95/100	11/30/2021 19:44	Mercury	257	95/100

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 92.2/100, a mean average of 91.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 93.0/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 9.2.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

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Rating:  

90/100

From Moondance 02/19/2023 04:38

With 17 artists and 10 albums in common, there is a shared love of certain artists/albums. There is also a big divide between us in other music preferences - which to quote you: "Music is completely open to interpretation and opinion, which is amazing".
That said, I find this chart and the comments within it to be some of the best I have seen on this site ~ & I greatly appreciate the time & effort required to make insightful, considered commentary.
Love that you have 3 albums from Australia, including a few outliers. Although not in my top 100, I do have Atlas Genius in my year chart ~ so we are in quite a distinguished minority group there ~ all power to us!

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

Rating:  

90/100

From Johnnyo 02/18/2023 16:16

Really great chart. Great comments too. I keep on trying to get my act together to add more description to my charts but always get distracted. Great job

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

Rating:  

85/100

From sssvnnn 02/28/2021 18:37

good chart.
Very good top 10.

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

Rating:  

100/100

From mrmcrook 02/17/2021 03:52

Well done. Best of all lists I've looked at. Know and love 80% of whats on it. Will be checking out that which I haven't heard. Double thumbs up. Great notes as well.

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

Rating:  

100/100

From jdenny2018 11/06/2018 17:52

"Music is really cool" should be the motto for this website.

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

Rating:  

85/100

From ForegroundNoise 11/06/2018 09:42

I'd already given this chart a rating but since it's chart of the day I'll leave a comment.

Love the passion that comes through on your chart. Even though I'd disagree with that interpretation of Kid A (I'd give that distinction to HTTT since it was the album that Thom Yorke wrote a lot of lyrics about shielding yuor child from the cruelty of the world after the birth of his firstborn) I share your love of that album and our chart's descriptions are spookily similar! - nice to see a like-minded music fan.

Since you are a self-professed lover of 'guitar-based rock and concept albums' then I'll give you a rec in that order: The Microphones' 'The Glow Pt.2' has a loose concept of a figure who feels disconnected from the world of modernity (I Want Wind To Blow, My Roots Are Strong And Deep, I Want To Be Cold, I Felt My Size) who experiences love and loss (I Am Bored, I Felt Your Shape) before resolving to reconnect to the elemental world through his suicide (Samurai Sword) with the album closing to the sound of the narrator's blood pouring back into the earth from whence he came (My Warm Blood).

This one's a personal favourite I think you'd enjoy but feel free to check out my chart since I think there's a number of things there you might like!

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

Rating:  

60/100

From Boltzmann 03/16/2018 15:42

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Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -4 votes (1 helpful | 5 unhelpful)

Rating:  

90/100

From n8rob 03/16/2018 15:34

Dang, good stuff!

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

Rating:  

80/100

From SamNassiri98 03/16/2018 14:48

A lot of albums in common which is good but the ranking leaves a lot to be desired. I appreciate the effort you took in writing above each album.

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

Rating:  

100/100

From Ulf 03/16/2018 09:56

Really great stuff with great descriptions!

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

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