Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Sean

A revolving and evolving approximation of my music taste, this chart has been under construction since I was 14.

Often times, the album comments will contain a current take, followed by an earlier written take.

There are 113 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 88 out of 100 (from 135 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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Buy album United States
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One could hear the addiction and the self-destructiveness of Sly Stone while listening to this album. Even the upbeat songs like Runnin Away and Luv' n' Haight are truly dark songs. I am confounded on how to describe this album's ingenuinty; should be among the critical elite [First added to this chart: 03/29/2012]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,316
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Buy album United States
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The best pure rap album since Nas' Illmatic. Kendrick succeeds in giving his concept album a film fell, and there is not one weak track on the whole record. Like Chance, Kendrick mastered both the light subject matter (Backseat Freestyle), to the inner city life (Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst, Real, MAAD City).The narrative on the album is more clear than almost any narrative on any album ever made [First added to this chart: 02/03/2014]
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
25,748
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Buy album United States
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I use to have Legend occcupying this spot but I decided to completely get rid of compilations or greatest hit albums. I put Legend at 17 because I was under the impression that Bob Marley didn't have great deep tracks but was I wrong. Every track is great on Exodus it literally is like listening to a greatest hits album. It is no wonder Time Magazine named this the album of the millennium.
Highest: 16 Lowest: 18
[First added to this chart: 08/08/2011]
Year of Release:
1977
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,402
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Buy album United States
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The African Influence created his best work, including when he was with Garfunkel. The stories within are incredible deep, an very intellectual album at times, that still had great music through and through. Similar to Blood on the Tracks in that it was a semi-conceptual semi-autobiographical album about a recent heartbreak. [First added to this chart: 08/08/2011]
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
11,811
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Buy album United States
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The Talking Heads most Talking Head-esque album. Their weirdest production and weirdest sound it is the Talking Heads best album. Influenced by african sounds and even Joy Division as in the track "The Overload"

H: 23 L: 45
[First added to this chart: 08/05/2011]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
30,707
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Buy album United States
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An album that sounds like angry carnival music is still among the best of a decade epitomized by the demeanor of their eccentric frontman, Jim Morrison. Dark, mysterious, while still maintaining a wit about it. [First added to this chart: 08/05/2011]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
29,091
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Buy album United States
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I am sorry for not listening to Bowie for so long. This is an amazing concept album. Five Years is a mind blowing opening... idk if this album has an amazing message but the music is amazing. The character Ziggy Stardust lives in every rock star ever to live and really defines what it is to be a rockstar even if u r an alien. Ziggy Stardust is what it is to be a rock n roller what it is to be a human being. [First added to this chart: 10/25/2011]
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
50,098
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Comments:
Buy album United States
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One of the best Beatles' solo efforts. The slide guitar and the painful sorrow of George's voice when he sings about love & lost more than justify the length of All Things Must Pass [First added to this chart: 08/10/2017]
Year of Release:
1970
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,599
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Buy album United States
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Overlooked by virtue of being in one of the greatest eras of album music, the Gilded Palace of Sin incredibly combines the past traditions of Country Music with the then groundbreaking psychedelic rock. In doing so, it avoids being a cliche to either genre while addressing the socio-culture issues of the time. [First added to this chart: 01/06/2019]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,599
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Buy album United States
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Amazing through and through, and something very new. A man with a story to tell and who does it perfectly with the music and lyrics and with a great flow throughout the album too. It is a modern day "What's Going On"; however it is more risque, more liberating, and just plain better than it's old-time counterpart. Pyramids is a fantastic epic, and Thinkin Bout You is one of the greatest songs in the last 10 years. Its interludes tie in the semi-conceptual album much like good kid MAAD city. [First added to this chart: 02/04/2013]
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,027
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Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 100. Page 4 of 10

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Decade Albums %


1930s 0 0%
1940s 0 0%
1950s 2 2%
1960s 26 26%
1970s 32 32%
1980s 12 12%
1990s 7 7%
2000s 6 6%
2010s 14 14%
2020s 1 1%
Country Albums %


United States 55 55%
United Kingdom 33 33%
Canada 5 5%
Mixed Nationality 3 3%
Jamaica 2 2%
Australia 2 2%
Live? Albums %
No 97 97%
Yes 3 3%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Average Rating: 
88/100 (from 135 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
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).
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RatingDate updatedMemberChart ratingsAvg. chart rating
 
80/100
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11/20/2022 22:43 Moondance  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 45584/100
 
100/100
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11/20/2022 22:34 henrygreen0203  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 4691/100
 
85/100
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11/20/2022 22:07 wizardalien  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 3188/100
 
95/100
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11/20/2022 20:28 samora  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 796/100
  
100/100
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04/01/2022 14:39 Larcx13  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,09286/100

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This chart is rated in the top 6% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 88.5/100, a mean average of 88.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 88.6/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 9.2.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 113 comments |
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Rating:  
80/100
From 11/20/2022 22:59
Somewhere along the line you seem to have shifted Pet Sounds to #1 above Highway 61 ~ unforgiveable (LOL)!
Anyway, your chart overall is cool enough. To me, it seems a bit too 'safe' and I'm not a fan of charts where a large percentage of valuable chart space is devoted to only a small number of artists. While I respect your artist loyalty, there's nothing in your chart to surprise me or to tempt me to go in search of an unknown artist/album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 11/20/2022 22:35
Chock full of BEA favorites with several hidden gems thrown in for your discovery. This chart is WELL worth your time.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 11/20/2022 20:30
Great list! 30 albums in common, that is a lot! Great to see 4 Dylan albums, and to find two A Tribe Called Quest albums near the end. And well done on the notes!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 04/01/2022 14:41
Approaches perfection... Very nice chart.. and I'm not even a big fan of some of these artists but the short descriptions and the quality of your choices can't be disputed.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 01/16/2022 04:37
Great notes, extremely thorough, but the actual choices are just... not as diverse as I would like to see
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 06/24/2020 04:46
amazing list, but a bit too much of the boss lol
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 04/26/2020 01:38
When i first looked at your list, i immediately thought to myself "oh brother, another copy cat". but after reading your beautiful descriptions of each album, i have to say, congratulations. You have an incredible list.
I'm very familiar with your albums and i appreciate you taking the time to describe in detail what makes you love that particular album. thankyou
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 12/17/2019 10:23
23 albums in common ! Wow !
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 10/08/2019 10:13
Usually a list with lots of notes automatically makes me appreciate it lots. That's mostly the case with this one, but I do have a small problem with some of them. It feels like lots of the write-ups boil down to "this album is so great, it has a great history", not adding too much to why YOU like it. This being said, I generally don't have anything major against the notes, some of them are really great. The one for Lonerism for instance really stood out for me, to just name one!

Lots of the picks also seem a bit safe, although I am convinced these are the album's you love. Here are some recommendations that might suit you, whilst still being a slight change of pace:

Have You in my Wilderness by Julia Holster
98.12.28 Otokotachi No Wakare by Fishmans
White Light from the Mouth of Infinity by Swans
Faust IV by Faust
Sov Gott Roe-Mari by International Harvester

Really lovely list nonetheless!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 11/26/2018 09:20
I'd already left a rating on this chart but since it's chart of the day I'll leave a comment. Your notes are so so good; so much detail and I love the way you talk about your favourite albums! The modern inclusions (especially hip hop) mark your taste out from just being a classic rock affair, though I do think there's little in the way of alternative picks (maybe stemming from your focus on your favourite 'big' artists?), I'd be really interested to see what this chart with a 1-album-per-artist rule would look like
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Best Ever Albums
1. OK Computer by Radiohead
2. The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd
3. Abbey Road by The Beatles
4. Revolver by The Beatles
5. Kid A by Radiohead
6. In Rainbows by Radiohead
7. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles
8. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
9. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars by David Bowie
10. The Velvet Underground & Nico by The Velvet Underground & Nico
11. Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys
12. Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) by Led Zeppelin
13. The Beatles (The White Album) by The Beatles
14. Nevermind by Nirvana
15. Funeral by Arcade Fire
16. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel
17. The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths
18. Doolittle by Pixies
19. To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar
20. London Calling by The Clash
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