Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by RoundTheBend

Here's my old 2013 chart: http://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=31041

In 2016 I listened to something like 1,600 albums (selected first from the top 100 of each decade on this site, but then some gems and recommendations) and reassessed what music I truly thought was good in that moment, rating them song for song and averaging out the album. I feel like I only scratched the surface in some areas while in others it was liberating discoveries. Obviously there were some reassessments of known favorites.

Along the way I discovered some prejudices with my own initial gut checks... like I thought I had to put Nevermind in my top 10 (not because of popularity, but because I thought it was a top 10 album) and maybe that is true and maybe it isn't. I realize this process is ever changing, and in 6 months it might change again, but no, I don't need to have my top 10 the gut check what "should" be in my top 10. The mathematical approach I did was both blind and at times shocking. It also wasn't perfect.

Some give me a hard time for liking my "big artists", but ever since I was 14 I kind of made this decision that I like big bands... they have great discographies, and felt other artists failed at creating something with true staying power, even if it was pretty cool for the time. Somehow my favorite aesthetic is that pop (very loose use of this term) group like Nirvana or U2 who can both appeal to the blue collar and the white collar - that sweet sour pop yet not pop, the artist who happens to play in the medium of pop, if you will... or maybe it's the pop artisan who aspires to make great art. To me great art best puts a mirror against humanity and conveys emotions and discusses ideas in powerful/meaningful ways. Great musicians are those who can do it in a beautifully tonal landscape.

I've also decided to go one artist per album on my overall. There's times when I say, why would I not put a 100 album on my list just because I want another artist on my list, who maybe really has an 80 album, then I realized at the end of this project, I wouldn't be able to fit all of my 80 or higher albums on this list... or 5 lists, so here it is 1 album per artist with the lowest score of 86.6.

Well it's 2018 now... I'm ready to revamp again (sometimes I look at it and I'm disappointed and sometimes I look at it and say, yeah, that feels about right), but this time incorporating my review of western music before 1950... WIP that probably will take a year or so... idk.

Starting to add descriptors and genre's from RYM to be a little more conscious of why I love these albums. It's a bit of unconscious competency for me sometimes. I will never use the genre's pop rock, indie rock, singer/songwriter to describe anything but garbage that doesn't have enough style to be unique. Also have decided I need to stop my stream of conscious ramblings and quote more thought out writings about albums. I usually am writing on this site after a 10 hour work day and mostly sound like incoherent ramblings than anything really constructive, even if I know better. I saw someone else do this as well and thought it a nice touch to their chart. If it's in quotes and references a user, it's not my words.

• Chart updated: 02/22/2021 03:15
• (Created: 06/02/2011 05:12).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

There are 82 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 88 out of 100 (from 137 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 the 1970s. (Remove this filter)

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17. (=)

Hot Rocks 1964–1971 
Compilation

 The Rolling Stones

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Blues Rock, Rock & Roll, Psychedelic Rock
rebellious, hedonistic, eclectic, conscious

I would put Some Girls or Exile On Maint St. here, but honestly feel like this is their/his best collection of songs and The Rolling Stones really aren't album oriented rock, even if Some Girls and Exile on Main St. are near solid.

What I love about this album is how it takes us chronologically through their career in the 60s and captures really key performances during times when their albums nearly sucked, but some key early blues performances showed the diamond in the rough. It also really encapsulates to me what my father and those in his generation loved about this band. Side note: my father and his brother were at Altamont and this band is a big part of my family. More importantly - damn are these performances good.

Hot Rocks 1964-1971 1971 97.3
Some Girls 1978 89.5
Exile On Main St. 1972 88.8
Sticky Fingers 1971 85.5
Beggars Banquet 1968 85
Let It Bleed 1969 85
Tattoo You 1981 81.8
A Bigger Bang 2005 77.5
It's Only Rock 'N' Roll 1974 77
Out Of Our Heads 1965 75
Aftermath 1966 70
Between The Buttons 1967 70
The Rolling Stones No. 2 1965 65
Their Satanic Majesties Request 1967 60
Steel Wheels 1989 60
Black And Blue 1976 56.2 [First added to this chart: 06/01/2011]

Year of Release:

1971

Appears in:

99 charts

Rank Score:

670

Rank in 1971:

54

Rank in 1970s:

446

Overall Rank:

2,390

Average Rating:

 84 (270 votes)

Comments:

10

18. (=)

The Dark Side Of The Moon 

 Pink Floyd

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Art Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Space Rock
philosophical, atmospheric, mellow, introspective

It's concise and intriguing the whole time. No meandering.

"By condensing the sonic explorations of Meddle to actual songs and adding a lush, immaculate production to their trippiest instrumental sections, Pink Floyd inadvertently designed their commercial breakthrough with Dark Side of the Moon. The primary revelation of Dark Side of the Moon is what a little focus does for the band. Roger Waters wrote a series of songs about mundane, everyday details which aren't that impressive by themselves, but when given the sonic backdrop of Floyd's slow, atmospheric soundscapes and carefully placed sound effects, they achieve an emotional resonance. But what gives the album true power is the subtly textured music, which evolves from ponderous, neo-psychedelic art rock to jazz fusion and blues-rock before turning back to psychedelia. It's dense with detail, but leisurely paced, creating its own dark, haunting world." -Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic

The Dark Side Of The Moon 1973 97
The Wall 1979 91.9
Meddle 1971 88.3
Atom Heart Mother 1970 87
Wish You Were Here 1975 86
The Final Cut 1983 85
The Endless River 2014 79
A Momentary Lapse Of Reason 1987 78.5
The Division Bell 1994 75
Animals 1977 73
The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn 1967 70
A Saucerful Of Secrets 1968 65
Ummagumma 1969 [First added to this chart: 02/03/2012]

Year of Release:

1973

Appears in:

4,123 charts

Rank Score:

62,962

Rank in 1973:

1

Rank in 1970s:

1

Overall Rank:

2

Average Rating:

 92 (5,315 votes)

Comments:

591

44. (=)

Déjà Vu 

 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

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Folk Rock, Country Rock, Contemporary Folk
mellow, melodic/soundscape palette, harmonious, bittersweet

Deja Vu 1970 93.5
Crosby, Stills & Nash 1969 80 (I know, but still)
4 Way Street 1971 70
American Dream 1988 60 [First added to this chart: 06/01/2011]

Year of Release:

1970

Appears in:

770 charts

Rank Score:

5,260

Rank in 1970:

15

Rank in 1970s:

83

Overall Rank:

332

Average Rating:

 83 (892 votes)

Comments:

57

48. (=)

Moondance 

 Van Morrison

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Folk Rock, Blue-Eyed Soul, Jazz Pop
mellow, romantic, warm, poetic [First added to this chart: 07/08/2016]

Year of Release:

1970

Appears in:

990 charts

Rank Score:

9,052

Rank in 1970:

7

Rank in 1970s:

42

Overall Rank:

169

Average Rating:

 84 (1,145 votes)

Comments:

76

52. (=)

Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits 
Compilation

 Creedence Clearwater Revival

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Swamp Rock, Country Rock, Southern Rock
raw, political, passionate, uplifting

Cosmo's Factory could go here, but no album of theirs is better than this. [First added to this chart: 07/08/2016]

Year of Release:

1976

Appears in:

146 charts

Rank Score:

606

Rank in 1976:

40

Rank in 1970s:

479

Overall Rank:

2,607

Average Rating:

 84 (402 votes)

Comments:

20

53. (=)

London Calling 

 The Clash

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Punk Rock, New Wave, Ska/Reggae
energetic, rebellious, urban, political [First added to this chart: 07/08/2016]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

2,814 charts

Rank Score:

32,307

Rank in 1979:

1

Rank in 1970s:

5

Overall Rank:

20

Average Rating:

 87 (3,150 votes)

Comments:

258

54. (=)

Paranoid 

 Black Sabbath

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Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Traditional Doom Metal
dark, heavy, war, ominous [First added to this chart: 07/08/2016]

Year of Release:

1970

Appears in:

1,716 charts

Rank Score:

19,062

Rank in 1970:

1

Rank in 1970s:

16

Overall Rank:

51

Average Rating:

 86 (2,091 votes)

Comments:

139

55. (=)

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band 

 John Lennon

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Contemporary Folk, Rock
introspective, raw, political, rebellious [First added to this chart: 07/08/2016]

Year of Release:

1970

Appears in:

1,109 charts

Rank Score:

9,650

Rank in 1970:

5

Rank in 1970s:

38

Overall Rank:

148

Average Rating:

 83 (1,419 votes)

Comments:

128

89. (=)

Specials 

 The Specials

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[First added to this chart: 02/03/2012]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

395 charts

Rank Score:

1,923

Rank in 1979:

16

Rank in 1970s:

193

Overall Rank:

905

Average Rating:

 78 (463 votes)

Comments:

20

99. (=)

What's Going On 

 Marvin Gaye

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Tied for last place are this and Raising Hell by Run-D.M.C. and Go by Jonsi. [First added to this chart: 07/08/2016]

Year of Release:

1971

Appears in:

1,634 charts

Rank Score:

19,528

Rank in 1971:

4

Rank in 1970s:

15

Overall Rank:

49

Average Rating:

 85 (1,945 votes)

Comments:

145

Total albums: 10. Page 1 of 1

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Decade	Albums	%
1930s	0	0%
1940s	1	1%
1950s	6	6%
1960s	17	17%
1970s	10	10%
1980s	16	16%
1990s	19	19%
2000s	26	26%
2010s	5	5%
2020s	0	0%

Artist	Albums	%
Little Richard	1	1%
The Velvet Underground	1	1%
Minutemen	1	1%
Arcade Fire	1	1%
The Anniversary	1	1%
Chuck Berry	1	1%
The Postal Service	1	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	67	67%
	21	21%
	3	3%
	2	2%
	2	2%
	1	1%
	1	1%
Show all

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

New entries
Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps by Igor Stravinsky / Columbia Symphony Orchestra

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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 137 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
75/100	03/27/2025 15:52	DrewHamster	317	79/100
90/100	11/15/2024 19:22	StreakyNuno	127	82/100
100/100	04/05/2024 10:52	spigelwii	2	100/100
95/100	05/25/2021 09:27	BlueNote	91	74/100
100/100	02/17/2021 05:37	pjohnsongolf	273	89/100

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 12% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 87.8/100, a mean average of 87.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 87.9/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 11.4.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

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Rating:  

100/100

From spigelwii 04/05/2024 10:52

A really incredible chart, and a shining example of what we should all be striving for on this site. Very inspirational to me as I continue to rate and review all the music that I've collected over the years.

Oh, and your choices? The first one that jumped out was Get Behind Me Satan as the best White Stripes album. You are OBVIOUSLY a person of excellent taste.

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

Rating:  

90/100

From WillyMac 03/29/2021 14:42

Very eclectic and wide-ranging. I love your choices from the 1950s and the way you don't go overboard on the 1970s like so many charts on this site. Your inclusion of compilation albums was surprising to me... both surprising to see them, and surprisingly good choices.

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

Rating:  

95/100

From EyeKanFly 01/04/2021 14:35

I rated your chart 85/100 back in 2013 and I think I gotta come back and bump that up a bit. I don't personally follow the 1-album-per-artist rule and I'm also not huge on adding compilations, but the amount of thought and effort you've put into the notes for every album here really shows. One thing I love is how even though you've limited yourself to a album per artist, you've also ranked the other albums (at least for the top half or so of the chart). This gives a fuller picture of your preferences, which is really incredible. You get the best of both worlds: diversity of artists PLUS a true ranking of your favorite albums even. There's some fantastic stuff here, lot's in common but also a lot I need to revisit or check out for the first time.

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

Rating:  

85/100

From ExTeaSea 11/27/2020 04:08

Interesting chart! 20 artists in common. Love your notes for Mellon Collie. Some of the best notes for any album on this site. It's my all time favorite album.

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

From salahshoori 09/21/2020 03:52

It's an outstanding chart. It would be a crime if I rated your chart any less than perfect.

Our tastes might differ a little and that's the way it should be, what would be the point of user charts if all the users had the same taste in music?

I don't agree with your way of rating albums though. I believe an album should be an experience as a whole. A "great" album has to be able to change your state, mentally. A collection of 10/10 songs isn't necessarily a great album IMHO.
Thanks for sharing!

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

Rating:  

90/100

From WillyMac 08/23/2020 13:28

Hard to knock virtually any of your choices (that I've heard). Loved that you ranked other albums by the same band, and find them very different than how I would rank most of them, but appreciate that your perspective is unique. Thx.

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

From RoundTheBend 06/18/2020 03:15

Thanks for all the kind comments. I have updated this charts comments/descriptors, etc. over the past 4 years, but not the rankings/inclusions much. I desperately need to revamp since I have a spreadsheet/took a more deliberate approach on music I like, but wasn't as pencil headed about. I'm just afraid to touch anything... haha.

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Rating:  

100/100

From Jameth 06/15/2020 19:03

I don’t think I’ve been here since last year, and I’m honestly a little stunned at all the power pop and alternative...given how much classical and jazz you seem to listen to. But hey, it’s your chart, so kick it your way.

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Rating:  

85/100

From StefanR10 06/15/2020 12:12

Good work I like it a little bit much of compilations but ok they have great songs on it. So I gone you 85 points.

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Rating:  

95/100

From LankyLen 10/16/2019 11:41

Points for Mellon Collie and Graceland I’m the top 10. I can’t justify a greatest hits collection on the list though, although those songs are great.

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

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