Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Robert Anton Wilson

This would stand as my 100 desert island record list - as long as anthology box sets are not allowed of course.

Usually, I showcase albums that I had a "moment" with. A "moment" is a period of at least a month when the album was on repeat and made it almost impossible for me to listen to something else during that period. Sometimes when I discovered a new band late -I often do that, it was a series of album that played on repeat - like when I discovered STP on their second album (both albums were on repeat on a reversible cassette), or when I discovered Muse, they already had 5 albums.

The ordering is not really reliable. True objectivity is a myth. When you feel like listening to music by the Offspring it ranks higher in your gut than Miles Davis or St. Vincent -even if your head tells you that Miles should rank highest!! The gut and the ears listen, the head tries to order things and create a chart that would be be true both to me and to the reality of the "objective" world -But hey! It is not the objective world that gives me goosebumps when I listen to great music.

Chart corrected early 2023, years after the chart was first posted. Not really additions but significant shifts in position. I just realised that some albums that had been extremely significant for me I haven't listened to in a while and do not feel like listening to now. It does not mean they are less important for me, I would still go mad if they were to be "disappeared", but currently they go-to-ness is lower.

Finally, I must admit that I wanted to showcase diversity with my chart, hence why the first 5 albums are not all Pink Floyd;)

• Chart updated: 02/26/2024 22:45
• (Created: 06/05/2011 02:23).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

There are 69 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 90 out of 100 (from 120 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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

View the complete list of 53,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.

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

Sort by

• Overall Rank
• Num. Charts
• Avg. Rating
• Num. Ratings
• Release Date
• Title
• Artist
• Date Added

17. (84) 67

Rain Dogs 

 Tom Waits

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

A toss-up between Rain Dogs, Swordfishtrombone and Frank's Wild years which constitute a sort of trilogy of albums and mark the rise of the cooperation between Tom And Kathleen Brennan (his wife). He moves away (not far but still ... away) from the piano-based songwriter and becomes much more experimental with the music, lyrics and themes. Tom Waits was already a cult artist when this trilogy of albums made him unavoidable to any music aficionado. [First added to this chart: 12/14/2011]

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,116 charts

Rank Score:

13,002

Rank in 1985:

2

Rank in 1980s:

14

Overall Rank:

109

Average Rating:

 84 (1,309 votes)

Comments:

85

92. (29) 63

Blood Money 

 Tom Waits

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

Going out on a limb here listing this album which is not often (if ever) found on best-of charts. Tom has so many landmark albums. For whatever reason, this is the album of him I listen to most. When he finished his "Frank" trilogy, he became experimental to the point of becoming hermetic (e.g. The Black Rider, Bone Machine). Then he came back closer to his origins but changed in the process. I find this album marks a brilliant integration of so many of his persona (for other fans this happens with the albums Alice or Mule Variations). Highlights for me on this album are: Misery Is the River of the World, Everything Goes to Hell, God's Away on Business, Starving in the Belly of a Whale. [First added to this chart: 04/28/2017]

Year of Release:

2002

Appears in:

148 charts

Rank Score:

746

Rank in 2002:

35

Rank in 2000s:

359

Overall Rank:

2,191

Average Rating:

 78 (185 votes)

Comments:

8

Total albums: 2. Page 1 of 1

Don't agree with this chart? Create your own from the My Charts page!

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Decade	Albums	%
1930s	0	0%
1940s	0	0%
1950s	1	1%
1960s	8	8%
1970s	43	43%
1980s	15	15%
1990s	25	25%
2000s	6	6%
2010s	2	2%
2020s	0	0%

Artist	Albums	%
Genesis	3	3%
King Crimson	3	3%
Pink Floyd	2	2%
Tom Waits	2	2%
Yes	2	2%
The Who	2	2%
Led Zeppelin	2	2%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	47	47%
	35	35%
	9	9%
	2	2%
	2	2%
	1	1%
	1	1%
Show all

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest climbers
Up 67 from 84th to 17th Rain Dogs by Tom Waits
Up 35 from 51st to 16th Led Zeppelin II by Led Zeppelin
Up 34 from 63rd to 29th Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath

Biggest fallers
Down 88 from 11th to 99th Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis
Down 88 from 12th to 100th Olé Coltrane by John Coltrane
Down 63 from 29th to 92nd Blood Money by Tom Waits

New entries
Trouble At The Henhouse by The Tragically Hip
Vs. by Pearl Jam
Recycled by Nektar
World Record by Van Der Graaf Generator

Leavers
Riot Act by Pearl Jam
Phantom Power by The Tragically Hip
MTV Unplugged In New York by Nirvana
After The Gold Rush by Neil Young

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts

• Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s by Robert Anton Wilson (2012)
• Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by maximm67 (2011)
• Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by jeffrey-hodgson (2018)
• Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s by Robert Anton Wilson (2012)
• Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by IlMala (2022)
• Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Manso (2020)
• Top of the Progs I: The Classic Era by Robert Anton Wilson (2024)
• Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by fabm0 (2024)
• OVERALL CHART by pentapolin (2014)
• Best Rock Albums 1-100 by srogers900 (2022)

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 120 ratings for this chart.

Sort ratings

• Rating
• Date updated
• Member

Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
100/100	04/21/2024 19:50	Larcx13	1,093	86/100
95/100	03/17/2024 01:07	mrmcrook	404	92/100
95/100	01/08/2024 02:27	KineticEchoes02	111	88/100
90/100	01/07/2024 20:30	Moondance	455	85/100
100/100	09/28/2022 20:58	IlMala	177	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 3% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 89.5/100, a mean average of 89.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 89.8/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 10.3.

• Related links:
• Top charts

Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites

Showing all 19 members who have added this chart as a favourite

panapsal

vruslov

Radioscope

awesomness425

HoldenM

manurock

JoaoMoreira

BasdeWit97

KBJAG

undercoverman

Hermes_requite

BrandonB

madwomanmoon

filippeeters

Xavygravy

Johnnyo

Music Manic

mooseboy101

GARY

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 69 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Maximum Rated First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  

95/100

From mrmcrook 03/17/2024 01:09

Great chart. Enjoyable notes being informative but with the personal touch. Has made me add a few albums to my Wishlist.

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

Rating:  

95/100

From KineticEchoes02 01/08/2024 02:32

Loving this chart - great work! Really enjoyed your writeups too. There's a lot I need to check out in here. Very eclectic, great diversity in genres among the classics, and would agree that basically all your prog choices deserve a spot on this list.

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

Rating:  

90/100

From Moondance 09/14/2021 00:22

I've revisited this chart and have to say that I was engaged with your comments (from 1 - 100) more than any other chart I have checked out on this site. I really liked the personal 'lived' connection between you & the albums and you not being afraid to include outliers (like Samantha Fish).
Good to see one Aussie band make the list. I appreciate the conundrum of including 'After The Goldrush' or 'Harvest'. I've gone for 'Harvest' in my own list.
After revisiting the chart, I have also revisited my ranking.

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

Rating:  

90/100

From rockbluesfolkjaz 09/13/2021 19:40

Very nice list. I can relate to many. The others make me think enough to listen.

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

Rating:  

95/100

From Steppenwolf666 03/12/2021 10:16

Outstanding. I think I have about 90% of these records because most of them are must have masterpieces.

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

Rating:  

90/100

From StefanR10 09/09/2020 20:01

A really good mixed collection. I find something new but there are some classics here very good selected.

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

Rating:  

100/100

From DommeDamian 09/09/2020 08:23

RAW list.

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

Rating:  

90/100

From EyeKanFly 02/02/2020 21:41

Interesting list. Not a lot from the past 2 decades but what is there is definitely not the expected. Love the explanation of a "moment" - I certainly had one of those when I was introduced to Muse as well!

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

Rating:  

95/100

From ExTeaSea 08/26/2018 17:17

Happy to see so much prog on a list! You even have Triumvarat!

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

Rating:  

95/100

From JulianR 10/08/2017 07:35

great chart! you really put the work in on this, and I love tons of the picks! I'm not really well versed in prog, but I would have to recommend Steven Wilson's "Hand Cannot Erase" if you haven't heard it. One of the greatest albums of all time IMO (I think it's like fifth on ym overall chart rn). Also his main project Porcupine Tree has some great stuff, but a little more metal oriented.

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

Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment

Your feedback for Top 100 Greatest Music Albums

Let us know what you think of this chart by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!