Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by BorderFreeAndrew

Over the years I've listened to about 20,000 albums. These are the ones that I'm most likely to keep coming back to, i.e. - the 100 that I'd take to a desert island. Sorry for the lack of reviews/descriptions for each listing. For me, music is a visceral experience, so I try not to intellectualize it too much.

Some have asked why I don't have more from the 2010's and 2020's. Well, if BEA allowed a Top 300 list, you would see several from the last 10 years, as I do still enjoy discovering newer music. There just hasn't been anything recent that I love enough to take the place of these 100. When there is, I will edit the list to reflect that.

• Chart updated: 04/19/2025 20:45
• (Created: 06/07/2016 00:46).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

• Summary
• Composition
• Ratings
• Favourites
• Comments
• Your feedback

View the complete list of 57,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.

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• Title
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1. (=)

Astral Weeks 

 Van Morrison

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Fave song: Ballerina (my all-time favorite song) [First added to this chart: 06/06/2016]

Year of Release:

1968

Appears in:

1,533 charts

Rank Score:

16,359

Rank in 1968:

3

Rank in 1960s:

17

Overall Rank:

66

Average Rating:

 84 (1,709 votes)

Comments:

138

2. (=)

3rd 

 Big Star

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Fave song: Nighttime [First added to this chart: 06/06/2016]

Year of Release:

1978

Appears in:

371 charts

Rank Score:

2,342

Rank in 1978:

14

Rank in 1970s:

165

Overall Rank:

739

Average Rating:

 80 (443 votes)

Comments:

32

3. (=)

Hounds Of Love 

 Kate Bush

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Fave song: Hounds of Love [First added to this chart: 06/08/2016]

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,412 charts

Rank Score:

18,153

Rank in 1985:

1

Rank in 1980s:

7

Overall Rank:

53

Average Rating:

 85 (1,407 votes)

Comments:

103

4. (=)

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band 

 John Lennon

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Fave song: Love [First added to this chart: 06/08/2016]

Year of Release:

1970

Appears in:

1,108 charts

Rank Score:

9,482

Rank in 1970:

5

Rank in 1970s:

37

Overall Rank:

147

Average Rating:

 83 (1,428 votes)

Comments:

128

5. (=)

Forever Changes 

 Love

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Fave song: Alone Again Or [First added to this chart: 06/08/2016]

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

1,503 charts

Rank Score:

15,375

Rank in 1967:

5

Rank in 1960s:

19

Overall Rank:

77

Average Rating:

 85 (1,633 votes)

Comments:

151

6. (=)

Who's Next 

 The Who

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Fave song: Baba O'Riley [First added to this chart: 06/02/2024]

Year of Release:

1971

Appears in:

2,190 charts

Rank Score:

21,078

Rank in 1971:

2

Rank in 1970s:

10

Overall Rank:

40

Average Rating:

 86 (2,567 votes)

Comments:

201

7. (=)

Five Leaves Left 

 Nick Drake

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Fave song: Fruit Tree [First added to this chart: 06/08/2016]

Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

989 charts

Rank Score:

8,876

Rank in 1969:

7

Rank in 1960s:

30

Overall Rank:

165

Average Rating:

 85 (1,077 votes)

Comments:

50

8. (=)

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Country Life 

 Roxy Music

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Fave song: Out of the Blue [First added to this chart: 06/08/2016]

Year of Release:

1974

Appears in:

327 charts

Rank Score:

1,572

Rank in 1974:

19

Rank in 1970s:

229

Overall Rank:

1,105

Average Rating:

 78 (412 votes)

Comments:

14

9. (=)

Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus 

 Spirit

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Fave song: Animal Zoo [First added to this chart: 06/08/2016]

Year of Release:

1970

Appears in:

171 charts

Rank Score:

816

Rank in 1970:

47

Rank in 1970s:

377

Overall Rank:

2,015

Average Rating:

 79 (220 votes)

Comments:

11

10. (=)

The Harder They Come 
Soundtrack compilation

 Various Artists

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Fave song: Johnny Too Bad [First added to this chart: 06/08/2016]

Year of Release:

1972

Appears in:

214 charts

Rank Score:

1,119

Rank in 1972:

29

Rank in 1970s:

293

Overall Rank:

1,522

Average Rating:

 80 (198 votes)

Comments:

13

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Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Country	Albums	%
	57	57%
	30	30%
	4	4%
	2	2%
	2	2%
	2	2%
	1	1%
Show all

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts

Title	Source	Type	Published	Country
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s	BorderFreeAndrew	1970s decade chart	2020
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s	BorderFreeAndrew	1960s decade chart	2025
Top 100 Greatest Artists	flamingyesdept	Custom chart	2025
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s	BorderFreeAndrew	1990s decade chart	2025
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s	Norman Bates	1960s decade chart	2025
Greatest Albums of All Time (2000)	flamingyesdept	Custom chart	2023
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s	badger	1970s decade chart	2021
One Album Per Artist	flamingyesdept	Custom chart	2022
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums	davidhuret	Overall chart	2017
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s	WayneMC	1970s decade chart	2025

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 32 ratings for this chart.

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• Rating
• Date updated
• Member

Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
85/100  !	09/27/2025 12:28	Johnnyo	2,557	80/100
60/100  !	07/08/2025 18:10	Applerill	974	75/100
85/100  !	03/05/2025 15:46	slatsheit	26	88/100
85/100  !	02/08/2025 18:08	DeusExMackia	133	82/100
85/100  !	02/08/2025 11:03	SomethingSpecial	1,104	85/100

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 86.8/100, a mean average of 82.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 87.2/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 20.8.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites

Showing all 3 members who have added this chart as a favourite

DeusExMackia

troy

Weepingguitarman

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 18 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Rating:  

85/100

From Johnnyo 09/27/2025 12:28 | #311112

Very nice chart

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

Rating:  

85/100

From slatsheit 03/05/2025 15:46 | #307882

Excellent! Love the high Nick Drake and Laura Nyro inclusions.

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

Rating:  

85/100

From DeusExMackia 02/08/2025 18:09 | #307492

Your taste is very hard to love, and yet love it I do. This list is so out of character for this site and therefore all the more better. 85/100 is an arbitrary way of saying "I don't agree with you but I support your every decision". Kate Bush forever.

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

Rating:  

100/100

From baystateoftheart 12/15/2024 20:33 | #306522

Excellent desert island chart! Love to see The Harder They Come at #10 in particular. For what it's worth, if mine were a desert island chart instead of simply the albums I enjoy most, there wouldn't be more than two Fela albums.

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

From BorderFreeAndrew 12/01/2024 17:23 | #306342

If anyone wants to see my reply to my dear friend and #1 fan AvalancheGrips' comment, it's available at his Top 100 chart (as long as it's remained published).

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

Rating:  

15/100

From AvalancheGrips 05/13/2024 00:21 | #303488

This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -4 votes (2 helpful | 6 unhelpful)

Rating:  

15/100

From AvalancheGrips 05/12/2024 21:42 | #303485

This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -3 votes (2 helpful | 5 unhelpful)

From CellarDoor 04/30/2024 22:30 | #303291

Cognitive dissonance

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (2 helpful | 1 unhelpful)

Rating:  

90/100

From Moondance 11/13/2023 06:20 | #299951

Although we both favour the 70's & 60's above every other decade - and rightfully so - we have no albums in common & only 6 artists in common. Despite that, I really liked your chart - it just goes to show what a remarkably diverse world we enter when we journey through modern music and how music & lyrics impact on us in mysterious ways!

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

Rating:  

90/100

From DommeDamian 05/30/2022 03:57 | #285805

Oh hey AlRog, I didn't know it was you =)

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

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