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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23. (=)

Doolittle 

 Pixies

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The indie rock album that inspired Kurt Cobain and the grunge movement. How does that exactly happen?

Key Track(s): Debaser, Wave of Mutilation, Here Comes Your Man, Monkey Gone to Heaven, There Goes My Gun, Hey, Gouge Away

Key Lyric: "If Man is 5, if Man is 5, if Man is 5
Then the Devil is 6, then the Devil is 6,
Then the Devil is 6, then the Devil is 6, and if the Devil is 6
Then God is 7, then God is 7, then God is 7" [First added to this chart: 08/06/2016]

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,542 charts

Rank Score:

33,204

Rank in 1989:

1

Rank in 1980s:

2

Overall Rank:

19

Average Rating:

 88 (2,938 votes)

Comments:

293

29. (=)

Back In Black 

 AC/DC

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Relaxing hard rock. I didn't think that could be a thing. But here it is.

Key Track(s): Hells Bells, Shoot to Thrill, Back in Black, You Shook Me All Night Long

Key Lyric: "Rock 'n' roll ain't noise pollution
Rock 'n' roll ain't gonna die
Rock 'n' roll ain't noise pollution
Rock 'n' roll it will survive (yes it will)" [First added to this chart: 03/10/2017]

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,268 charts

Rank Score:

10,357

Rank in 1980:

3

Rank in 1980s:

19

Overall Rank:

136

Average Rating:

 80 (1,872 votes)

Comments:

141

59. (=)

Bleach 

 Nirvana

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Nirvana's debut: so much angst, but the surprising highlight is the one song that doesn't sound like one of theirs.

Key Track(s): Blew, About a Girl, School, Love Buzz, Negative Creep, Scoff

Key Lyric: "I'm standing in your line
I do hope you have the time
I do pick a number, too
I do keep a date with you" [First added to this chart: 05/09/2016]

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

635 charts

Rank Score:

3,610

Rank in 1989:

7

Rank in 1980s:

72

Overall Rank:

487

Average Rating:

 76 (1,301 votes)

Comments:

61

69. (68) 1

Pretty Hate Machine 

 Nine Inch Nails

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This is Industrial music, not Indie. There needs to be a clarification since they are polar opposites. Industrial can best be described as a mix of metal and electronic.

Key Track(s): Head Like a Hole, Terrible Lie, Down In It, Kinda I Want To

Key Lyric: "God money's not looking for the cure.
God money's not concerned with the sick amongst the pure.
God money let's go dancing on the backs of the bruised.
God money's not one to choose" [First added to this chart: 05/13/2016]

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

491 charts

Rank Score:

3,522

Rank in 1989:

8

Rank in 1980s:

74

Overall Rank:

502

Average Rating:

 79 (698 votes)

Comments:

45

76. (75) 1

Remain In Light 

 Talking Heads

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I used to not really care about 80's alternative, but recently it has been really growing on me.

Key Track(s): Born Under Punches, Crosseyed and Painless, Once In a Lifetime

Key Lyric: "And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself-Well...How did I get here?" [First added to this chart: 11/12/2016]

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

2,022 charts

Rank Score:

28,497

Rank in 1980:

1

Rank in 1980s:

3

Overall Rank:

26

Average Rating:

 87 (2,280 votes)

Comments:

196

88. (=)

Hounds Of Love 

 Kate Bush

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[First added to this chart: 07/04/2021]

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,398 charts

Rank Score:

18,514

Rank in 1985:

1

Rank in 1980s:

7

Overall Rank:

54

Average Rating:

 85 (1,394 votes)

Comments:

102

Total albums: 6. 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%
The Beatles	5	5%
Radiohead	5	5%
Pink Floyd	5	5%
Nirvana	4	4%
The White Stripes	3	3%
Muse	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	2,455	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

Showing all 12 members who have added this chart as a favourite

mrmcrook

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 39 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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