Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by CharlieBarley

Welcome one, welcome all. These are some of my favourite albums of all time. Each album means something to me, even the relatively new ones. Just over half of them I discovered in the period of the early 1990s when I was aged 16-20, although not all of those albums are 90's albums. That was when I got into music in a big way, as many teenagers do. Then current music and many classic albums. And my personal discovery of music is ongoing. For me, music is a form of connection with something greater, of solace, of self-expression and a way of channelling feelings. There are many memories here. And new ones are still being created. I have tried to make this chart represent periods from many different stages in my life also. It is subject to change as I remember other albums I like or as I discover new, or even older albums. Enjoy!

• Chart updated: 11/24/2025 13:15
• (Created: 08/06/2016 19:37).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

• Summary
• Composition
• Ratings
• Favourites
• Comments
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2. (=)

Songs In The Key Of Life 

 Stevie Wonder

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Stone cold Seventies classic. Its ambitious and clever and it's just great. It's now my favourite Stevie Wonder album. It's terrific. It's also an album you could put on at a party. So many good tracks and some real classics. They just keep on coming. My favourites are Sir Duke, Isn't She Lovely, Pastime Paradise, Have A Talk With God, As, Love's In Need Of Love Today, and the very danceable Another Star. This is a masterpiece. It's pretty amazing and a real trip to listen to. So many good songs. One double album it is worth taking the time to listen to. Plus it cheers you up instantly. Particularly if you happen to be having a bad day. Having a good day? Put this album on and you'll be on cloud nine. [First added to this chart: 06/19/2018]

Year of Release:

1976

Appears in:

1,307 charts

Rank Score:

15,709

Rank in 1976:

1

Rank in 1970s:

21

Overall Rank:

74

Average Rating:

 85 (1,364 votes)

Comments:

90

4. (=)

Nebraska 

 Bruce Springsteen

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Awesome [First added to this chart: 05/22/2021]

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

730 charts

Rank Score:

5,825

Rank in 1982:

5

Rank in 1980s:

37

Overall Rank:

285

Average Rating:

 80 (997 votes)

Comments:

54

5. (=)

What's Going On 

 Marvin Gaye

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Just an exceptional album from one of the Kings of Motown. I first heard this album when volunteering on a community radio station, quite a few years ago, and a radio Technician was playing it. I knew it was held in high esteem by the music critics but I had never heard it. I knew What's Going On and Robert Palmer's cover of Mercy Mercy Me but I had no idea how good this album was. Musically its sublime, but it is also very satisfying on a spiritual level. Glad I discovered it. [First added to this chart: 10/18/2016]

Year of Release:

1971

Appears in:

1,637 charts

Rank Score:

18,995

Rank in 1971:

4

Rank in 1970s:

15

Overall Rank:

49

Average Rating:

 85 (1,950 votes)

Comments:

145

7. (=)

Pet Sounds 

 The Beach Boys

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I knew this was an excellent album straight away. I admired Brian Wilson's genius, versatility and ear for a good tune. But the whole album as a piece didn't grab me straight away, in the same way that Simon & Garfunkel or The Beatles did. It's hard to explain. But over time I've kept coming back to it and now I just love it. I think Mr Wilson was light years ahead of his time. This is an amazing album to play all year round for me, and, as many know, God Only Knows is the one song Paul McCartney wishes he'd written. It's one of those perfect songs and it's a darn near perfect album. Caroline, No and Don't Talk are terrific too. Deserves all the praise it gets. [First added to this chart: 11/11/2016]

Year of Release:

1966

Appears in:

2,854 charts

Rank Score:

39,177

Rank in 1966:

2

Rank in 1960s:

5

Overall Rank:

11

Average Rating:

 88 (3,275 votes)

Comments:

360

9. (=)

Darkness On The Edge Of Town 

 Bruce Springsteen

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Some days I think this is my favourite Springsteen album. For the moment, it's not.

I like many of his albums especially his 70's and 80's ones. And The Rising from the 2000's.

On this album, the title track is my favourite, and one of my favourite songs of his. But all the tracks on here are good. Badlands. Adam Raised A Cain. Racing In The Street. It's just brilliant.

At the moment my top 5 albums by the Boss would be: Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Born To Run, Nebraska, Born In The USA, and then The Rising. I also really like The Wild, The Innocent & The E-Street Shuffle. That one is just outside the top 5.

Anyway this is an awesome album, I think. It sounds good any time of day and any time of year. I love it. [First added to this chart: 05/24/2017]

Year of Release:

1978

Appears in:

905 charts

Rank Score:

7,241

Rank in 1978:

1

Rank in 1970s:

52

Overall Rank:

219

Average Rating:

 82 (1,173 votes)

Comments:

80

11. (=)

Highway 61 Revisited 

 Bob Dylan

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Awesome album from Mr Dylan and now my favourite album of his. It is a real barnstormer of an album. The music has a dynamic quality, it's sublime and the lyrics are pure poetry. A truly fantastic album. [First added to this chart: 10/31/2016]

Year of Release:

1965

Appears in:

2,363 charts

Rank Score:

27,394

Rank in 1965:

1

Rank in 1960s:

8

Overall Rank:

27

Average Rating:

 89 (2,817 votes)

Comments:

228

13. (=)

Escape 

 Journey

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This is going in. We know the big songs on it. Don't Stop Believing. Open Arms. They bookend the album. Anyway it's a cracker. And I'm an eighties kid. So there. [First added to this chart: 10/23/2025]

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

201 charts

Rank Score:

1,067

Rank in 1981:

22

Rank in 1980s:

247

Overall Rank:

1,597

Average Rating:

 70 (260 votes)

Comments:

20

15. (=)

Innervisions 

 Stevie Wonder

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Wow. What an album. I first bought this after hearing a lyric rapped by Lauryn Hill in the Fugees track " How Many Mics? " from their classic album The Score. She rapped: "Go ask Alice if you don't believe me. I get in her visions like Stevie ". I was intrigued. So I bought this album. Innervisions. Great title. One of the best purchases I have ever made. It's an excellent album. My favourite track is Don't You Worry Bout a Thing, but every track is good. Higher Ground. Living For The City. Misstra Know-It All. Too High. This record just has classic after classic. And it just flows as an album, as all good albums do. It's one of my favourite Stevie Wonder album. But he has many great albums. If you haven't heard this it's an absolute must-listen! [First added to this chart: 10/18/2016]

Year of Release:

1973

Appears in:

1,216 charts

Rank Score:

12,568

Rank in 1973:

2

Rank in 1970s:

25

Overall Rank:

95

Average Rating:

 85 (1,329 votes)

Comments:

79

20. (=)

Parallel Lines 

 Blondie

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Pure childhood nostalgia. I was a child of the late 70s/early 80s and what a great time to be alive. Star Wars, E.T. and Indiana Jones were on at the Pictures and music was awesome and there was plenty of cheese to boot. Parallel Lines was never cheesy though, just perfect. A favourite of my Dad's, who had a serious crush on Deborah Harry, he used to play it in the car when I was very small. Right from the angry, vibrant opening of Hanging On The Telephone you are in for a real treat of an album. Never fails to make me smile. [First added to this chart: 10/18/2016]

Year of Release:

1978

Appears in:

857 charts

Rank Score:

6,160

Rank in 1978:

2

Rank in 1970s:

67

Overall Rank:

270

Average Rating:

 81 (979 votes)

Comments:

61

23. (=)

Born To Run 

 Bruce Springsteen

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Terrific album. [First added to this chart: 05/31/2025]

Year of Release:

1975

Appears in:

1,606 charts

Rank Score:

15,429

Rank in 1975:

3

Rank in 1970s:

22

Overall Rank:

76

Average Rating:

 83 (1,977 votes)

Comments:

132

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Total albums: 44. Page 1 of 5

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Country	Albums	%
	44	44%
	42	42%
	4	4%
	3	3%
	2	2%
	2	2%
	1	1%
Show all

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts

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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 119 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
90/100  !	02/08/2025 07:26	SomethingSpecial	1,105	85/100
95/100  !	08/12/2024 20:20	pedro1976	107	85/100
95/100  !	05/05/2024 02:15	matterhornrider	95	93/100
100/100  !	01/31/2024 20:26	Moondance	476	85/100
95/100  !	01/19/2024 20:48	dihansse	309	84/100

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 1% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 92.9/100, a mean average of 92.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 93.4/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 7.6.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 89 comments |
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From CharlieBarley 05/25/2025 14:05 | #309135

Cheers Pedro!
sorry about the late reply
Haven't checked my emails in a week Bro

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

Rating:  

95/100

From pedro1976 05/19/2025 11:50 | #309061

pretty cool list - some treasure here for sure

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

From CharlieBarley 05/13/2024 17:05 | #303504

Hey RTB! HOW You doing Bud?!
Good to see you on here.

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

Rating:  

100/100

From RoundTheBend 05/13/2024 05:14 | #303494

Great new chart mate! Good to see you still active.

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

From CharlieBarley 05/05/2024 06:14 | #303365

Thanks MHR!

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

Rating:  

95/100

From matterhornrider 05/05/2024 02:17 | #303362

Nice Top 100, with diversity in Music genres and covering so many decades. I loved your commentary as well. Cheers

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

From CharlieBarley 01/31/2024 21:00 | #301633

Thanks Moondance.
Nice comment. I do try and be honest about my tastes.
I will have to check your chart out, see if I have read it.
Have a good day Bud.

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

Rating:  

100/100

From Moondance 01/31/2024 20:27 | #301632

There is so much to like about this chart. The intro is spot on - how music is a connection to something greater in one's life (& that's why certain albums, often dismissed by the masses, can find a home in someone's greatest 100 chart). Your chart speaks honestly (no peer pressure) and it is the kind of chart I like to spend time with and will read from no.1 to no.100. Definitely one of my favourite charts on this site. Nicely put together CB - could very well be my first 100!

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

From CharlieBarley 01/20/2024 01:41 | #301330

I know! It was a good discovery

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

Rating:  

95/100

From dihansse 01/19/2024 20:48 | #301324

Funny that you discovered Out Of Time on Belgian radio ;)

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