Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by AwaitingAndrew

These are my personal favorite albums! I know there are people who won't agree with some inclusions on the list, but these albums were discovered by me at just the right time in my life or were otherwise just too good to ignore. The top ten albums are my quintessential list of perfect and meaningful albums where I can never skip a single track, and so I've provided commentary on each of them. The list will move around periodically as my mood changes, but the albums will remain mostly the same. 2023: I've finally updated this again nearly three years after my last update!

There are 7 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 89 out of 100 (from 23 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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

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Buy album United States
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The best from one of the all-time greatest bands in my opinion. This is their beginning to becoming more commercially accessible, as evidenced in such tracks as Your Own Special Way, but it undoubtedly remains a progressive rock record. The instrumentals on Wind and Wuthering are insanely good. I always hated that it was Steve Hackett's last record with the band, their least recognized member but quite possibly the most essential. You'll read more about my growing up with Phil Collins and Genesis a bit later on my list.

Favorite Track: Afterglow
[First added to this chart: 06/07/2016]
Year of Release:
1976
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,377
Rank in 1976:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
9. (=)
Buy album United States
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My mom often played either the classic rock or the mix stations as I was growing up, which meant I heard a good amount of Phil Collins. Then, Tarzan came out, and I loved it and its soundtrack. Then a few years later, Brother Bear and I was hooked again. Like him or not, I don't think anyone can deny that Collins reaches greater heights with Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford. This album is the pinnacle of the 1980s for me: its sound is on the surface often in tune with the Phil Collins I grew up loving as a child yet at the same time is so much more complex.

Favorite Track: Man Of Our Times
[First added to this chart: 06/07/2016]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,883
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Favorite Track: Ripples [First added to this chart: 06/07/2016]
Year of Release:
1976
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,890
Rank in 1976:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Favorite Track: I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) [First added to this chart: 06/24/2016]
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,735
Rank in 1973:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Favorite Track: No Son Of Mine [First added to this chart: 06/07/2016]
Year of Release:
1991
Appears in:
Rank Score:
616
Rank in 1991:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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 6 6%
1960s 6 6%
1970s 16 16%
1980s 8 8%
1990s 9 9%
2000s 24 24%
2010s 29 29%
2020s 2 2%
Artist Albums %


Genesis 5 5%
Anberlin 4 4%
Radiohead 4 4%
From Indian Lakes 4 4%
Copeland 4 4%
Foo Fighters 3 3%
Night Beds 3 3%
Show all
Country Albums %


United States 66 66%
United Kingdom 25 25%
Canada 4 4%
Germany 2 2%
Mixed Nationality 2 2%
Japan 1 1%
Live? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 95 95%
Yes 5 5%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest climbers
Climber Up 12 from 92nd to 80th
Oncle Jazz
by Men I Trust
Climber Up 6 from 98th to 92nd
Dizzy Up The Girl
by Goo Goo Dolls
Climber Up 6 from 97th to 91st
The Phantom Of The Opera At The Royal Albert Hall
by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Biggest fallers
Faller Down 9 from 27th to 36th
Sometimes
by City And Colour
Faller Down 8 from 43rd to 51st
Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music
by Ray Charles
Faller Down 7 from 83rd to 90th
...But Seriously
by Phil Collins
TitleSourceTypePublishedCountry
Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s AwaitingAndrew2010s decade chart2025
Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s AwaitingAndrew2000s decade chart2025
Top 100 Greatest Music AlbumsTinyBlueMusicOverall chart2021
Top 100 Greatest Music AlbumsjackqOverall chart2023
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s AwaitingAndrew1970s decade chart2025
Top 100 Greatest Music Albumstim0505Overall chart2025
Top 100 Greatest Music AlbumsMetaKoopa99Overall chart2023
Top 100 Greatest Music AlbumsRiveraOverall chart2025
Top 100 Greatest Music AlbumsDakatalbumOverall chart2019Unknown
my top 100 on 2011/01/01 paladisiacCustom chart2017

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similarity to your chart(s)


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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Average Rating: 
89/100 (from 23 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
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85/100
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09/24/2025 18:16 Johnnyo  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,52880/100
  
85/100
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03/02/2025 11:20 SomethingSpecial  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,10885/100
  
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07/17/2024 15:06 Alfaro  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 275/100
  
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09/02/2023 04:14 LoxiasV  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 489/100
  
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12/08/2021 20:52 rockbluesfolkjaz  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 7487/100

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This chart is rated in the top 4% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 89.0/100, a mean average of 88.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 90.4/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 9.7.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing all 7 comments |
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Rating:  
85/100
From 09/24/2025 18:17
Quite a varied chart you have here. I like it.
#311042 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 12/08/2021 20:53
Interesting chart. A lot of quality music I must check out soon, besides the few that are on my list!
#277255 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 11/22/2019 20:48
Your chart is really unique and I like it a lot. Very dreamy stuff here. I have never listened to Lydia, but gave Illuminate a try based on some of your other picks. Usually this style turns me off a bit but I thought the album was really intense and fascinating.
#245087 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 10/19/2019 07:36
Such an amazing chart! I checked out Night Beds because of this chart and I'm enjoying it! I also spent some more time listening to From Indian Lakes because of this chart. Great band! And I love a lot of the lesser known releases from Relient K, Underoath, Copeland, Acceptance, Lydia, Tenth Avenue North, and Anberlin. A lot of great, underrated albums in there. You also had a great mix from all eras. Abbey Road is my favorite Beatles album too! And Animals is my favorite Pink Floyd album as well! I don't share the same love for Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, but do prefer those to a lot of BEA favorites from those eras. Overall, fantastic chart! Thanks for sharing the comments as well.
#243895 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 02/27/2018 03:09
Grace is a cool choice at #1. I still maintain Buckley has one of the greatest voices of all time. This is also reminding me I need to get into Genesis more.
#209711 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 10/25/2017 01:33
Wow, I love your chart. It feels very personal and honest to your tastes. I love bands like Copeland, Anberlin and Relient K--but also have great respect for influential giants like Radiohead, The Beach Boys, and Jeff Buckley. This is a great mix
#200041 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 05/12/2017 20:05
Don't like post Gabriel Genesis but the chart is very nice, a lot of new things to check out!
#190704 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1977
1. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac
2. Animals by Pink Floyd
3. Marquee Moon by Television
4. Low by David Bowie
5. Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols by Sex Pistols
6. Aja by Steely Dan
7. The Stranger by Billy Joel
8. Exodus by Bob Marley & The Wailers
9. "Heroes" by David Bowie
10. The Clash by The Clash
11. Trans Europa Express by Kraftwerk
12. Pink Flag by Wire
13. My Aim Is True by Elvis Costello
14. Out Of The Blue by Electric Light Orchestra
15. Lust For Life by Iggy Pop
16. Talking Heads: 77 by Talking Heads
17. Rocket To Russia by Ramones
18. Suicide by Suicide
19. Bat Out Of Hell by Meat Loaf
20. The Idiot by Iggy Pop
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