Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by YikYak Unknown

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

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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Buy album United States
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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:
Rank Score:
44,955
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Buy album United States
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What does Pink Floyd do after making The Dark Side of the Moon? Follows it up with an album with even more grit and beauty.

The Dark Side of the Moon has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I decided I wanted to listen to more of Pink Floyd's music and checked this out. To be honest, I looked at the run-time on each of the songs on the album and was intimidated. I was afraid I wouldn't like it.

Man, was I wrong. This album is perfect all the way through. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V) is an amazing opener to the album. The 8 minutes of opening instrumentals are perfect, only to be opened up with lyrics that not only meet the quality of the instrumentals, but exceed them. Welcome to the Machine and Have a Cigar maintain the greatness, preparing for the title track. And just wow. Wish You Were Here may legitimately be the greatest song of all time. The instrumentals are absolutely incredible, but it's the lyrical beauty that truly puts this song in question of greatest of all time. And the transition into Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX) is flawless, leading into a closer that brings the album full circle, never having a dull or weak moment.

Key Track(s): Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V), Welcome to the Machine, Have a Cigar, Wish You Were Here, Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX) - Yes, I put all of them.

Key Lyric: "Well, I've always had a deep respect,
And I mean that most sincerely.
The band is just fantastic,
That is really what I think.
Oh by the way, which one's Pink?"
[First added to this chart: 05/09/2016]
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
46,261
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Rank in 1970s:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Arguably the first concept album, and so, so good. I always knew The Beatles were good, but didn't know much about them. This was the first album of theirs I heard in its entirety and it did not disappoint.

Key Track(s): Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, With a Little Help from My Friends, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Getting Better, Fixing a Hole, She's Leaving Home, Lovely Rita, A Day in the Life

Key Lyric: "Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain
Where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies
Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers
That grow so incredibly high
Newspaper taxis appear on the shore
Waiting to take you away
Climb in the back with your head in the clouds
And you're gone"
[First added to this chart: 05/09/2016]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
45,577
Rank in 1967:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
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Buy album United States
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I never would've guessed cartoons could write amazing music, but here we are...

Key Track(s): Kids With Guns, Dirty Harry, Feel Good Inc., Every Planet We Reach is Dead, Dare, Demon Days

Key Lyric: "I lost my leg like I lost my way
So no loose ends
Nothing to see me down
How are we going to work this out?"
[First added to this chart: 06/02/2021]
Year of Release:
2005
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,178
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Comments:
Buy album United States
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This album is over 50 and it still feels ahead of its time. And Kanye sampled the first track, which is pretty cool. And it's safe to say 1969 is my 2nd favorite year for music (1967 is 1st): this, Abbey Road, Led Zeppelin I, Led Zeppelin II, Let It Bleed, Tommy, The Velvet Underground and Woodstock.

Key Track(s): 21st Century Schizoid Man, Epitaph, The Court of the Crimson King

Key Lyric: "Knowledge is a deadly friend
If no one sets the rules.
The fate of all mankind I see
Is in the hands of fools."
[First added to this chart: 10/16/2016]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
29,567
Rank in 1969:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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This is a 42 minute song called "The Dark Side of the Moon", not 10 different songs. Waters is saying that if you go mad, he'll "see you on The Dark Side of the Moon". We never actually see The Dark Side of the Moon, but it was always there, but on the opposite side. Waters said that madness is always around, always invisible, waiting to be exposed. It's deep.

Key Track(s): One does not simply listen to part of The Dark Side of the Moon...

Key Lyric: "And all that is now
And all that is gone
And all that's to come
And everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon.

There is no dark side of the moon, really.
Matter of fact, it's all dark."
[First added to this chart: 05/09/2016]
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
63,472
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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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:
Rank Score:
67,417
Rank in 1997:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Is there a more iconic album? Maybe Dark Side, but everyone has imitated the walk, and I mean everyone-I have three different shirts parodying Abbey Road that aren't Beatles related, as well as an actual Abbey Road shirt. Classic album and the last of their really special ones.

Key Track(s): Come Together, Something, Oh! Darling, Octopus's Garden, Here Comes the Sun, You Never Give Me Your Money, She Came In Through the Bathroom Window

Key Lyric: "He roller coaster
He got early warning
He got Muddy Water
He one Mojo filter
He say. "One and one and one is three"
Got to be good looking 'cause he so hard to see
Come together right now over me"
[First added to this chart: 05/11/2016]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
59,931
Rank in 1969:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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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:
Rank Score:
46,081
Rank in 2007:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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There are 3 Beatles albums that get arguably the most love. Sgt. Pepper's for its unique experimentation with the idea of a concept album, Abbey Road for its cultural status and Revolver for it having the true classic Beatles sound and style.

Key Track(s): Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, I'm Only Sleeping, She Said She Said, Good Day Sunshine, And Your Bird Can Sing, Doctor Robert, Got to Get You Into My Life, Tomorrow Never Knows

Key Lyric: "If you drive a car, I'll tax the street
If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat
If you get too cold I'll tax the heat
If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet"
[First added to this chart: 05/09/2016]
Year of Release:
1966
Appears in:
Rank Score:
51,889
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 36. Page 1 of 4

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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%
Radiohead 5 5%
Pink Floyd 5 5%
The Beatles 5 5%
Nirvana 4 4%
Muse 3 3%
Cage The Elephant 3 3%
Show all
Country Albums %


United States 53 53%
United Kingdom 36 36%
Canada 5 5%
Australia 3 3%
Mixed Nationality 3 3%
Live? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest fallers
Faller Down 1 from 63rd to 64th
Black Holes And Revelations
by Muse
Faller Down 1 from 64th to 65th
Lullabies To Paralyze
by Queens Of The Stone Age
Faller Down 1 from 65th to 66th
Boston
by Boston
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BEA's Top 100 re-ranked EyeKanFlyCustom chart2020
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Re-Ranking BEA's Top 100sunnydhammCustom chart2020
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BEA's Top 100 - The Correct Order babyBlueSedanCustom chart2020
An Objective Ranking Of BEA'S Top 100... covecoveCustom chart2017
TOP 100 IN THE FUTURE exileonthehellCustom chart2016
Rearrange Top 100 Larcx13Custom chart2020
Top 100 Greatest Music Albumstim0505Overall chart2025

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Average Rating: 
92/100 (from 85 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
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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).
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02/19/2023 04:28 Moondance  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 47585/100
  
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02/18/2023 16:15 Johnnyo  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,45380/100
  
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04/25/2022 17:09 Cytoma  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 17190/100
  
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04/20/2022 13:50 wizardalien  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 3188/100
  
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11/30/2021 19:44 Mercury  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 25795/100

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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 comments

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Rating:  
90/100
From 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 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 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 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 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 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!
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Rating:  
60/100
From 03/16/2018 15:42
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90/100
From 03/16/2018 15:34
Dang, good stuff!
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Rating:  
80/100
From 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.
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Rating:  
100/100
From 03/16/2018 09:56
Really great stuff with great descriptions!
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Best Artists of 2011
1. Fleet Foxes
2. Bon Iver
3. The Beach Boys
4. PJ Harvey
5. Radiohead
6. The Black Keys
7. Destroyer
8. Adele
9. M83
10. Foo Fighters
11. St. Vincent
12. The Weeknd
13. Kendrick Lamar
14. Drake
15. James Blake
16. Death Grips
17. Florence + The Machine
18. Foster The People
19. Arctic Monkeys
20. The Strokes
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