Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by 
Hayden 
I like 1000s of albums. Here's 100. I think they're quite good.
- Chart updated: 06/20/2026 09:15
- (Created: 07/29/2011 02:56).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 155 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 90 out of 100 (from 238 votes). Please log in or create an account to leave a comment or assign a rating.
View the complete list of 60,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
[First added to this chart: 12/18/2011]
Year of Release:
1963
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,199
Rank in 1963:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 06/14/2017]
[First added to this chart: 07/08/2023]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,377
Rank in 1971:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 07/08/2023]
[First added to this chart: 12/22/2018]
[First added to this chart: 05/04/2021]
[First added to this chart: 09/19/2015]
[First added to this chart: 03/04/2012]
Year of Release:
2006
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,217
Rank in 2006:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 09/10/2024]
Year of Release:
1996
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,309
Rank in 1996:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 05/04/2021]
Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10
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 | 9 | 9% | |
| 1960s | 18 | 18% | |
| 1970s | 27 | 27% | |
| 1980s | 6 | 6% | |
| 1990s | 12 | 12% | |
| 2000s | 11 | 11% | |
| 2010s | 10 | 10% | |
| 2020s | 7 | 7% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Gil Scott-Heron And Brian Jackson | 1 | 1% | |
| Reinbert De Leeuw / The Schoenberg Ensemble | 1 | 1% | |
| Dirty Three | 1 | 1% | |
| Abner Jay | 1 | 1% | |
| Thelonious Monk | 1 | 1% | |
| Oidupaa Vladimir Oiun | 1 | 1% | |
| Townes Van Zandt | 1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
38 | 38% | |
 |
10 | 10% | |
| |
7 | 7% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
Up 17 from 85th to 68th |
Up 9 from 78th to 69th |
Up 7 from 10th to 3rd |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
Down 36 from 29th to 65th |
Down 35 from 63rd to 98th |
Down 32 from 49th to 81st |
| New entries |
|---|
| Leavers |
|---|
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | Hayden | 1970s decade chart | 2026 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s | Hayden | 1960s decade chart | 2026 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | Hayden | 1990s decade chart | 2026 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | Greendonut227 | Overall chart | 2018 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | Thad | Overall chart | 2020 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | ElectricSoldierPorygon | Overall chart | 2015 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  reeceyboi | Overall chart | 2016 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | Weepingguitarman | Overall chart | 2020 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  baystateoftheart | Overall chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  colonelchibbers | Overall chart | 2024 | |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similarity to your chart(s)
Not a member? Creating an account is quick, easy and FREE!
Join 50,000+ music fans
- Join a community of over 50,000 music fans.
- Create & share your own charts.
- Influence the overall album rankings.
- Post comments in the forums and vote on polls.
- Comment on or rate any album, artist, track or chart.
- Discover new music & improve your music collection.
- Customise the overall chart using a variety of different filters & metrics.
- Create a wishlist of albums.
- Unlock Dark Mode and other member features.
- Help maintain the BEA database.
- Earn member points and gain access to increasing levels of functionality!
- And much more.
Join now It only takes a moment.
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this chart. | Show all 238 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 08/12/2026 21:50 | jnmayles | 34 | 91/100 |
| ! | 08/17/2025 09:39 |  LadyGodiva | 96 | 97/100 |
| ! | 12/24/2024 20:28 | Exist-en-ciel | 165 | 97/100 |
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 89.6/100, a mean average of 89.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 89.8/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 10.5.
Please log in or create an account if you want to be able to leave a rating
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this chart as a favourite | Show all 41 members
Forum mentions
This chart has been referenced 19 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From 
BestEverAlbums 05/26/2025 08:00 in Chart of the day (#4960): By Hayden
BestEverAlbums 05/26/2025 08:00 in Chart of the day (#4960): By Hayden“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Hayden () 1. The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady by Charles Mingus (1963) 2. Sorrow Tears And Blood by Fela Kuti & Africa 70 (1977) 3. Djangology by Django Reinhardt (1961) 4. Searching In Grenoble: The 1978 Solo Piano Concert by Mal Waldron…”
View forum post →From BestEverAlbums 07/13/2022 08:00 in Chart of the day (#3914): By Hayden
BestEverAlbums 07/13/2022 08:00 in Chart of the day (#3914): By Hayden“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Hayden () 1. Ys by Joanna Newsom (2006) 2. The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady by Charles Mingus (1963) 3. Sorrow Tears And Blood by Fela Kuti & Africa 70 (1977) 4. Blood On The Tracks by Bob Dylan (1975) 5. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by…”
View forum post →From Hayden 05/16/2021 20:09 in Chart talk
Hayden 05/16/2021 20:09 in Chart talk“For those who have ever put pen to paper and been cursed with the burden of not knowing when to let go, I think I'm done— (I know this is an odd thing to update— think I'm finally happy with it though)”
View forum post →Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 155 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
From
ForegroundNoise 01/28/2026 16:00 | #312848
ForegroundNoise 01/28/2026 16:00 | #312848
Why did you delete the descriptive lines, they were amazing < / 3 (Edited)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
mianfei 09/14/2024 13:17 | #305278
Interesting and varied chart, unlike anything else here.
Completely unlike my own chart, but I do not mind that at all.
Strange I must say that there is only one album from between 1983 and 1990, yet a fairly even distribution over other periods.
Would be better with notes, especially for the less familiar albums here — of which there are quite an unusual number. (Edited)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
Larcx13 09/10/2024 20:11 | #305213
Larcx13 09/10/2024 20:11 | #305213
amazing diversity (Edited)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
Arthurknight 11/10/2022 07:15 | #291187
Arthurknight 11/10/2022 07:15 | #291187
The mid-covid Nick Cave livestream event felt like such a scam as it was happening. For some reason I got in my head that it was going to be a "live" livestream; but it was still pretty good anyway and ended up sounding very similar to one of his live shows I saw before the lockdowns. Not sure why I felt compelled to comment that here, but I think it communicates something of an appreciation for your choices? (Edited)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
C_Krug2009 06/13/2022 20:56 | #286351
C_Krug2009 06/13/2022 20:56 | #286351
Glad to see Dirty Three get some love. Its a sin to not have the studio recording of Vespertine in favor of the live version though :O (Edited)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Please log in or create an account if you want to be able to add a comment
Your feedback for Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
What do you think of this chart? Leave a comment or rate it below!
Log in or create an account to rate this chart, leave comments and join the discussion.
