Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Strangel

These albums are my favourites. This is not meant to be a 'Greatest Album's' chart, although I would strongly argue for each of my chosen albums in being considered for a greatest albums list. My interest is more toward the alternative/indie and electronic genres with a tendency toward experimentation in the music. I also need to be able to comfortably immerse myself in the music. So while I appreciate, and want to explore the work of Autechre (for example), I get far more pleasure from listening to Burial which has more reverie to the sound rather than almost pure math and tech. Aphex Twin, in fact, manages to bridge these aspects perfectly.

It might be noted that Radiohead dominates the list which simply expresses my belief that they have the uncanny ability to release album after album of near perfect alternative music, shifting the landscape of what's possible whilst always remaining relevant. I don't apologise for this. They are that good.

• Chart updated: 02/07/2024 05:15
• (Created: 07/04/2016 14:26).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

There are 31 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 89 out of 100 (from 50 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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17. (=)

Master Of Puppets 

 Metallica

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For a period of time in the 80s Metallica were at the pinnacle of alternative music. They were innovative, edgy, controversial, and above-all, relevant to a groundswell of angry youths wanting to rebel against a generally aloof, removed ruling class. Ironically, when grunge came about, Metallica's attempt to remain relevant means they lost relevance. The sound and lyrics coming from Master of Puppets is what engaged this generation of misfits and because they were the leaders of this genre, they could so easily have progressed without alienating their fan base so radically. MoP is grand in scale, with a very tight group of musicians, powerfully projecting intricate compositions. Add to this themes revolving around the senselessness of War, drug addiction, and religious hypocrisy, and you have a thrashing metal album with real integrity.

Rating: 96/100

ALBUM HIGHLIGHT: The title track is an epic metal masterpiece. [First added to this chart: 07/05/2016]

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

1,230 charts

Rank Score:

13,255

Rank in 1986:

2

Rank in 1980s:

13

Overall Rank:

105

Average Rating:

 83 (1,764 votes)

Comments:

116

33. (=)

Ride The Lightning 

 Metallica

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More raw than Master of Puppets yet more fulfilled as an album than Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightening was my favourite Metallica album for much of my teenage years. It had epic frenetic guitar hooks that blew my mind and one of the most moving metal ballads of all time that dared to broach the topic of suicidal thoughts and thus suffered the consequence of being blamed for every teenage suicide involving Metallica fans thereafter. I also enjoyed the biblical imagery in Creeping Death, the referencing of Lovecraft in Call of Ktulu, and the brilliant take on the futility of war in For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Rating: 94/100

ALBUM HIGHLIGHT: Cliff Burton was an amazing and unique bass player and his intro to For Whom the Bell Tolls will always be a favourite, nostalgic riff for me. [First added to this chart: 07/05/2016]

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

870 charts

Rank Score:

9,216

Rank in 1984:

2

Rank in 1980s:

22

Overall Rank:

175

Average Rating:

 84 (1,307 votes)

Comments:

78

52. (=)

...And Justice For All 

 Metallica

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Who needs a prominent bass component when the sound is so full and coherent without it? Cliff Burton was such a vital piece to the Metallica sound yet his absence gave James and Kirk an unbridled release of creative power. Newstead’s legacy suffers as a result but he came good in The Black Album. Every time I hear this album it still blows me away such is the epic nature of each track.

ALBUM HIGHLIGHT: One is a classic track as a whole but wow, the heavy thrashing that takes hold toward the end and Kirk’s solo to go with it are next level. [First added to this chart: 07/05/2016]

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

609 charts

Rank Score:

5,024

Rank in 1988:

5

Rank in 1980s:

47

Overall Rank:

360

Average Rating:

 79 (1,119 votes)

Comments:

50

91. (=)

Metallica 

 Metallica

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[First added to this chart: 08/08/2016]

Year of Release:

1991

Appears in:

918 charts

Rank Score:

7,207

Rank in 1991:

9

Rank in 1990s:

47

Overall Rank:

240

Average Rating:

 78 (1,508 votes)

Comments:

89

Total albums: 4. 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	7	7%
1970s	7	7%
1980s	5	5%
1990s	29	29%
2000s	34	34%
2010s	17	17%
2020s	1	1%

Artist	Albums	%
Radiohead	8	8%
The Beatles	4	4%
Aphex Twin	4	4%
Metallica	4	4%
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds	3	3%
Pearl Jam	3	3%
Sigur Rós	3	3%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	42	42%
	41	41%
	6	6%
	5	5%
	3	3%
	1	1%
	1	1%
Show all

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

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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 50 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
90/100	11/19/2023 10:55	Bach	942	78/100
95/100	06/17/2020 14:47	DriftingOrpheus	79	91/100
75/100	10/07/2019 23:23	pctrooper	336	88/100
100/100	08/30/2019 10:38	Timooosterink	131	90/100
90/100	06/26/2019 12:35	Granny-Smith	142	88/100

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 5% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 88.7/100, a mean average of 86.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 89.3/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 17.2.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites

Showing all 8 members who have added this chart as a favourite

Timooosterink

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

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Rating:  

100/100

From Timooosterink 08/30/2019 10:38

Love your chart! I agree on amok it is a very underated album.

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

Rating:  

90/100

From Granny-Smith 06/26/2019 12:36

I like your chart. Have a lot Artists and Albums in common.

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

Rating:  

90/100

From Paule 03/06/2019 11:36

Good list! We share the Radiohead "problem". I suggest you to dive into some older Krautrock and Ambient music. You will find a lot of Radioheads work is influenced by that stuff and there are some gems to be found.

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

Rating:  

95/100

From Kurtco 01/29/2019 18:22

We have 31 albums and 21 artists in common... It's very funny!

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

Rating:  

95/100

From Kurtco 01/29/2019 18:18

I find your chart very interesting and complete. You have musical tastes very similar to mine. Radiohead is one of my favorite bands!
I'm glad you like Icelandic music: Sigur Rós and Björk. I agree with you that "Vespertine" is Björk's best album: It's a real masterpiece. You put a lot of recent music in your chart and it's nice to see AMOK of Atoms For Peace in your rankings. This is surely one of Thom Yorke's underrated albums. I'm really happy to see artists not very well known as Burial, Nick Cave or Amon Tobin who are part of my favorite artist. The 90s are really well represented in your chart with great artists like Nirvana, Aphex Twin, Tool or Massive Attack. Really very good job and very good choice!

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

Rating:  

90/100

From guzguzgarbit 01/21/2019 20:08

Good choices, great descriptions, great diversity (even with 8 Radiohead albums!). I particularly appreciate the presence of some electronic (Four Tet, Jon Hopkins, Burial...) among all the rock picks.

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

Rating:  

95/100

From jhuik 11/16/2018 14:00

I don't agree with your top ten, or some other picks, or (as has been noted by others) the excess of Radiohead, but who gives a shit about my opinion. I love the passion in your descriptions and the personalized responses. Great chart!

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

From Strangel 07/19/2018 01:19

Ahh well, what can you do? They're that good. It's not like Pablo Honey is on the chart just coz Radiohead. Pablo Honey was an objectively average to good album and thus hasn't got anywhere near this chart. Their subsequent albums were all objectively created to a much higher level and the artistic merit of each universally critically acclaimed. Subjectively (which is what this chart mainly expresses), the music deeply resonates with me so why wouldn't their very best be difficult to supplant by another artist's work?

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

Rating:  

80/100

From fps74 07/18/2018 05:04

Radiohead! Radiohead everywhere!

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

Rating:  

90/100

From foxytreeko 07/09/2018 14:11

Great list, love your descriptions. We have 13 albums and 16 artists in common

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

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