Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Weepingguitarman

Keeping it one album per artist for the sake of variety, but I'm including recommendations (ACO = Also Check Out) in the notes for other favorites of mine. There is still so much music I want to listen to, so if you don't see your favorite band on here, let me know! Maybe (probably) I just haven't heard of them/gotten around to listening to them yet.

I'll try to include notes for as many as I can, but I'm going to be changing and adding to this chart all the time, so it won't be fast.

• Chart updated: 10/05/2020 03:15
• (Created: 09/07/2016 03:42).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

There are 16 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 92 out of 100 (from 42 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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21. (13) 8

Entertainment! 

 Gang Of Four

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Gang of Four, along with their contemporaries like Wire and Joy Division (but to a greater extent), were so ahead of their time that their influence took 20 years to really make itself shown. Sure, you can hear some of the sharp, angular sounds of new wave in this album, but on the whole it's something else entirely. Each instrument gets used in such creative, unique ways, and they all come together to create an amazingly tight album.

ACO: Solid Gold is definitely worth checking out if you love this album, but doesn't offer anything too new. [First added to this chart: 03/05/2019]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

657 charts

Rank Score:

5,102

Rank in 1979:

5

Rank in 1970s:

90

Overall Rank:

354

Average Rating:

 81 (737 votes)

Comments:

43

22. (31) 9

The Magnolia Electric Co. 

 Songs: Ohia

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This definitely isn't a concept album, but there is still a thematic thread that runs throughout most of its tracks: trying. Making an honest and sincere effort. Something that Jason Molina was very familiar with, and it shows. What we have here is a set of songs, usually deemed alt-country because they try about a million times harder than regular country of the era, while still retaining a lot of the instrumentation and credibility of the genre's roots. Really there's only so much I can say about this one—it speaks for itself.

ACO: Lioness [First added to this chart: 05/30/2017]

Year of Release:

2003

Appears in:

278 charts

Rank Score:

3,334

Rank in 2003:

9

Rank in 2000s:

87

Overall Rank:

541

Average Rating:

 82 (270 votes)

Comments:

13

23.

U.F.O.F. 

 Big Thief

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Year of Release:

2019

Appears in:

254 charts

Rank Score:

1,133

Rank in 2019:

18

Rank in 2010s:

243

Overall Rank:

1,531

Average Rating:

 77 (313 votes)

Comments:

22

24. (39) 15

Songs Of Leonard Cohen 

 Leonard Cohen

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Higher on this list I call Bob Dylan the greatest songwriter of all time. If you disagree with that, so be it, but one of the only other artists I think a reasonable case could be made for is Mr. Leonard Cohen. This album is my evidence. I mean, come on. It opens with Suzanne. That alone must be a pretty convincing argument, but by no means does it stop there. In my opinion, the next track, Master Song, is even better, and by far the most joyous and sing-alongable track, So Long Marianne, opens up the second half of the album. Rather than raving over every track (which I easily could), I’ll provide an example.

I like to think that music is for communicating that which cannot be put into words. Leonard Cohen calls that belief into question, though: he is, for the most part, a writer. The music on this album, while beautiful in its simplicity, mostly serves as a backdrop for the most moving, poignant lyrics I’ve ever heard. Listen to Sisters of Mercy, and you can see Cohen sitting in an armchair as two stranded backpackers crash in his bed. You can feel how the trust they place in him saves his life more than the shelter from the storm he provided saved theirs. You can feel the warm seeping back into his bones, and all of this is accomplished by his poetry as much or more than by the instrumentation. This is what makes Cohen’s songs so powerful.

ACO: Songs of Love and Hate, where the dark undertones on this album bubble to the surface in full force [First added to this chart: 08/13/2017]

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

1,001 charts

Rank Score:

10,237

Rank in 1967:

7

Rank in 1960s:

25

Overall Rank:

150

Average Rating:

 84 (1,085 votes)

Comments:

42

25. (16) 9

Spiderland 

 Slint

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Such a unique album. At no point does it feel weird for the sake of weird, though—every lyric, riff, and drumbeat feels like it wouldn't have been right if it had been done any other way. An intense experience.

ACO: Millions Living Will Never Die by Tortoise. Dave Pajo is all over it [First added to this chart: 10/10/2016]

Year of Release:

1991

Appears in:

1,020 charts

Rank Score:

13,732

Rank in 1991:

4

Rank in 1990s:

18

Overall Rank:

95

Average Rating:

 84 (1,234 votes)

Comments:

120

26. (48) 22

The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady 

 Charles Mingus

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Apparently composed as a ballet, and it shows. Although Mingus was a legend on the bass (see: Money Jungle) and a great pianist (see: Mingus Plays Piano) this album proves pretty definitively that his greatest talent was as a bandleader, and that if your list of the greatest composers of the 20th century doesn't have Charlie Mingus pretty close to the top, you best broaden your horizons.

ACO: Blues & Roots [First added to this chart: 01/28/2017]

Year of Release:

1963

Appears in:

938 charts

Rank Score:

14,033

Rank in 1963:

1

Rank in 1960s:

22

Overall Rank:

92

Average Rating:

 86 (991 votes)

Comments:

73

27. (5) 22

Deathconsciousness 

 Have A Nice Life

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There is no way that two guys from Connecticut should have been able to come out of nowhere and make an album that feels so... huge. That's the best way I can describe it. It's like something out of a Lovecraft story. The last track alone would be enough to secure this as one of my favorite albums, but the journey there is so dynamic and unique and beautiful and terrifying that I have no choice but to listen to the whole album any time I want to hear it.


ACO: Giles Corey, Dan's solo project [First added to this chart: 10/10/2016]

Year of Release:

2008

Appears in:

353 charts

Rank Score:

4,788

Rank in 2008:

5

Rank in 2000s:

59

Overall Rank:

375

Average Rating:

 81 (424 votes)

Comments:

34

28. (34) 6

Helplessness Blues 

 Fleet Foxes

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The instrumentation. The lyrics. The melodies. Even the album cover. Everything about this album goes into making it one of the most captivating and cohesive albums I've ever heard. It's just so well put together, from the opening Montezuma to the climax on Shrine/Argument to the denouement on Grown Ocean. If for some reason you haven't got around to listening to Fleet Foxes yet, listen to Fleet Foxes.

ACO: Sun Giant. And s/t. And Crack-Up. [First added to this chart: 10/10/2016]

Year of Release:

2011

Appears in:

890 charts

Rank Score:

9,465

Rank in 2011:

1

Rank in 2010s:

16

Overall Rank:

166

Average Rating:

 82 (1,286 votes)

Comments:

104

29. (24) 5

Murmur 

 R.E.M.

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I listened to this album a few times in high school, and it didn't seem like much to me. It wasn't until I went away to university that I really started to get it. Maybe that's a coincidence, or maybe there's something to the tag 'college rock'. Either way, this album's brilliance isn't flashy or dramatic—it's the way the band gels together to create something bright and welcoming and doesn't falter from start to finish.

ACO: Reckoning [First added to this chart: 02/04/2018]

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

1,102 charts

Rank Score:

10,660

Rank in 1983:

1

Rank in 1980s:

19

Overall Rank:

141

Average Rating:

 83 (1,381 votes)

Comments:

94

30. (50) 20

The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do 

 Fiona Apple

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The fact that an album built around piano, drums, and vocals as inventive, spectacular, and vital as The Idler Wheel came out in this decade is inspirational. There is always room for growth, and there is always room for improvement, and I cannot wait to hear what Fiona Apple does next.

ACO: When The Pawn [First added to this chart: 10/10/2016]

Year of Release:

2012

Appears in:

566 charts

Rank Score:

5,710

Rank in 2012:

7

Rank in 2010s:

41

Overall Rank:

316

Average Rating:

 81 (746 votes)

Comments:

64

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Total albums: 100. Page 3 of 10

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Decade	Albums	%
1930s	0	0%
1940s	0	0%
1950s	1	1%
1960s	9	9%
1970s	20	20%
1980s	17	17%
1990s	23	23%
2000s	16	16%
2010s	14	14%
2020s	0	0%

Artist	Albums	%
Broken Social Scene	1	1%
MF DOOM	1	1%
Girls	1	1%
Sun Ra	1	1%
The Fall	1	1%
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy	1	1%
The Velvet Underground	1	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	70	70%
	19	19%
	6	6%
	1	1%
	1	1%
	1	1%
	1	1%
Show all

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest climbers
Up 38 from 41st to 3rd Karma by Pharoah Sanders
Up 37 from 51st to 14th If You're Feeling Sinister by Belle And Sebastian
Up 30 from 100th to 70th Ys by Joanna Newsom

Biggest fallers
Down 23 from 11th to 34th The Wall by Pink Floyd
Down 22 from 5th to 27th Deathconsciousness by Have A Nice Life
Down 19 from 23rd to 42nd Let Love In by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

New entries
Tim by The Replacements
This Nation's Saving Grace by The Fall
U.F.O.F. by Big Thief
Fever To Tell by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Floating Into The Night by Julee Cruise
Peasant by Richard Dawson
Yasimika by Djeli Moussa Diawara
Ruins by Grouper
To Bring You My Love by PJ Harvey
Loud City Song by Julia Holter
Madonna by Madonna
I Could Live In Hope by Low
Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend
A Love Supreme by John Coltrane
Caught Up by Millie Jackson
Purple Mountains by Purple Mountains
Superfly by Curtis Mayfield
Nowhere by Ride
Things Fall Apart by The Roots

Leavers
Hospice by The Antlers
I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One by Yo La Tengo
Odessey And Oracle by The Zombies
Led Zeppelin by Led Zeppelin
Pink Moon by Nick Drake
Joe's Garage Act I, II & III by Frank Zappa
For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver
Endtroducing..... by DJ Shadow
Ramones by Ramones
Sound Of Silver by LCD Soundsystem
Your Queen Is A Reptile by Sons Of Kemet
69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Fields
Left Hand Path by Entombed
Late Registration by Kanye West
Turn On The Bright Lights by Interpol
Revolver by The Beatles
There's A Riot Goin' On by Sly & The Family Stone
Mogwai Young Team by Mogwai
Solo Piano by Philip Glass

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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 42 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
85/100	07/13/2022 22:08	Applerill	976	75/100
95/100	12/28/2020 02:19	jeitee	22	75/100
90/100	12/27/2020 18:23	pjohnsongolf	273	89/100
100/100	12/27/2020 09:15	Mercury	256	95/100
100/100	06/03/2020 21:38	ssteve	207	92/100

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 91.9/100, a mean average of 92.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 93.3/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 7.5.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites

Showing all 12 members who have added this chart as a favourite

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

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Rating:  

95/100

From jeitee 12/28/2020 02:20

love the notes on a lot of these albums. looking forward to seeing if you add notes to ys and loud city song

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

Rating:  

90/100

From pjohnsongolf 12/27/2020 18:23

Great chart man! I will definitely check some stuff out!

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Rating:  

85/100

From NowhereMan 12/27/2020 11:08

A really great read revisiting. Picked up a few new recommendations too; thanks!

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

Rating:  

90/100

From Johnnyo 01/02/2019 07:45

Really love your chart and the notes against each entry really add to the enjoyment. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

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

Rating:  

95/100

From foxytreeko 09/05/2018 21:12

One of my favorite charts I have ever seen on this site, I love your picks and descriptions of what each of these albums mean to you! Can't wait until you finish commenting on the rest of your chart!

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

Rating:  

95/100

From Komorebi-D 03/12/2018 04:23

Dude this chart is work of art. I adore every single title on here except for three and that’s only because I haven’t heard them. We practically have the exact same taste. This is excellent!

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

Rating:  

95/100

From Antonio-Pedro 02/13/2018 23:48

I'm so happy I dug upon this chart, there is so much beauty in your notes on the middle to the end part, makes justice to the whole list, also loved your annotation on Steve reich's record, really wll thought and is probably going to get me to listen to it again.
Also I'm a very personal person with my notes, and as much as there some personal touch here I think you have a quite cool feature to present your favorite records in an objective way, as you're telling them their own inner beauties, that's cute, I like it.

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

Rating:  

100/100

From Lgk21 01/03/2018 23:11

This is a great chart in part because of the great selections of albums but also because of the quality of your descriptions.

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

Rating:  

100/100

From HoldenM 01/03/2018 21:47

Nary a bad record in sight.

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

Rating:  

100/100

From ForegroundNoise 01/03/2018 12:35

AHHhhh what an incredible chart!! Especially the notes!! Love the #1 pick and the inclusion of Blood Visions, I'm sure you know way more stuff than I do but in case you haven't listened, check out these underground beauties:

Rodan - Rusty
Bark Psychosis - Hex
This Heat - Deceit
Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
Fishmans - Long Season

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