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.
- Chart updated: 09/24/2022 17:45
- (Created: 08/06/2011 01:55).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
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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Soft & beautiful Pet Sounds is Baroque Pop at its best. It is arguably the best engineered album of all time as the studio innovations were never seen before. Goes deep inside the psyche of the human mind and emotions, certainly more than it lets one in the first listen.
[First added to this chart: 08/05/2011]
Year of Release:
1966
Appears in:
Rank Score:
45,145
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Comments:
354
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The perfect folk album where everything flows perfectly. The bitterness despair and confusion is all in Highway 61 revisited. The lyrical writing is not only the greatest in rock history, but in a class with James Joyce, Hemingway and Shakespeare for its impact on the reader/listener. Of course as my number 1, there is some unsaid emotional impact on me that cannot be quantified. The feelings from Like A Rolling Stone to Desolation Row are what rise it above the rest of my top 25, all of which could be #1.
[First added to this chart: 08/05/2011]
Year of Release:
1965
Appears in:
Rank Score:
31,116
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One can see why headphones are tested for Aja. As my girlfriend has said, it sounds like one long song. This can often be a criticism of an album, but my love for Aja does not stand for its' diversity of sound. The musicianship is among the tightest, while the lyricism, especially Deacon Blues, delivers a perfect complement.
[First added to this chart: 12/15/2011]
Year of Release:
1977
Appears in:
Rank Score:
9,450
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The essential Jazz Album. Every song, every note hits you. In such an improvisational art form everything seems perfectly planned. The music plays to my soul. Its mystique leaves one at a lost in describing its power. Favorite track: Blue in Green.
[First added to this chart: 08/07/2011]
Year of Release:
1959
Appears in:
Rank Score:
25,077
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Comments:
7. (=)
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Soulful, dark, narcissistic, insecure, few of the thousands of adjectives that could be used to describe Kanye's and Hip-Hop's greatest album. Every song is fantastic and while listening one clearly sees how accurate the album's title is. Beautiful, Dark and twisted. In this album two of the deepest songs "Blame Game" and his greatest song "Runaway" a 9 minute epic about how people think about him while the opening 4 tracks really set the dark self-loathing attitude of the album.
One of the greatest case studies of the human ego. Kanye wielded his then suffering reputation to create an album of me against the world. It contains his best beats, his best societal analysis (Gorgeous, So Appalled), and his best humor (Monster, Devil in a New Dress), and introspection (Runaway, Power). The work truly deserves a "toast for the" biggest douchebag of them all. [First added to this chart: 08/05/2011]
One of the greatest case studies of the human ego. Kanye wielded his then suffering reputation to create an album of me against the world. It contains his best beats, his best societal analysis (Gorgeous, So Appalled), and his best humor (Monster, Devil in a New Dress), and introspection (Runaway, Power). The work truly deserves a "toast for the" biggest douchebag of them all. [First added to this chart: 08/05/2011]
Year of Release:
2010
Appears in:
Rank Score:
26,196
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One of the most shocking and innovative hip-hop albums to date. Some of the best rap verses in the last 15 years over Steely Dan and Charles Mingus like beats. Sometimes an album has a certain subject matter (i.e the deterioration of British society, economic hardships with London Calling) which perfectly fits the time of its release. To Pimp A Butterfly is the ultimate black lives matter album in the black lives matter time. I will have a lot of trouble determining which is superior TPAB, or GKMC.
[First added to this chart: 03/16/2015]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
37,253
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The greatest breakup/heartbreak album of all time and the most personal of all the Dylan albums. Damn it really makes me feel like I'm in the story for every song. And the thing is with most albums they will have one or two songs that completely break off the theme or the album will not even have the theme. The loneliness and depression of the Dylan's separation lurks throughout the album and the songs tell such a great story that Blood on the Tracks has even been consider for a movie idea.
[First added to this chart: 08/05/2011]
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
23,657
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The greatest guitar album of all time. Jimi is able to harness the power of an Are You Experienced? song in 15 minutes instead of 3 and have the psychedelic aspects of Axis. While his guitar abilities and catchy-ness were displayed in his first two albums, his ability to flow throughout the album and tell a story were fully displayed here.
[First added to this chart: 08/05/2011]
Year of Release:
1968
Appears in:
Rank Score:
18,707
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An album that took me a long time to understand, but once unlocked, the flow, message and rhythm is among the best of R&B. As real as music gets.
[First added to this chart: 08/08/2011]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
19,737
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Authur Lee and his band Love really did it on Forever Changes. There are no huge hits in this album but there are 10 amazing deep tracks especially "Alone Again Or," "Andmoreagain," "The Red Telephone". This is folk rock at its best!
Highest: 26 L: 42 [First added to this chart: 08/05/2011]
Highest: 26 L: 42 [First added to this chart: 08/05/2011]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
17,169
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Total albums: 55. Page 1 of 6
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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% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Bruce Springsteen | 5 | 5% | |
| The Beatles | 5 | 5% | |
| The Rolling Stones | 4 | 4% | |
| Bob Dylan | 4 | 4% | |
| Pink Floyd | 3 | 3% | |
| Talking Heads | 3 | 3% | |
| Kanye West | 3 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| New entries |
|---|
 Cosmo's Factoryby Creedence Clearwater Revival |
| Leavers |
|---|
 American Beautyby Grateful Dead |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
88/100 (from 135 votes)
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).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 135 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
80/100  | 11/20/2022 22:43 | Moondance | | 84/100 |
100/100 | 11/20/2022 22:34 | henrygreen0203 | | 91/100 |
85/100 | 11/20/2022 22:07 | wizardalien | | 88/100 |
95/100 | 11/20/2022 20:28 | samora | | 96/100 |
 100/100 | 04/01/2022 14:39 | Larcx13 | | 86/100 |
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).
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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 comments
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80/100
From Moondance 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)
100/100
From henrygreen0203 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)
95/100
From samora 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)
100/100
From Larcx13 04/01/2022 14:41
Larcx13 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)
80/100
From 
seb7 01/16/2022 04:37
seb7 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)
90/100
From 0129114 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)
100/100
From 
911Turbo 04/26/2020 01:38
911Turbo 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)
95/100
From 
Julelios 12/17/2019 10:23
Julelios 12/17/2019 10:23
23 albums in common ! Wow !
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
80/100
From 
doubleA 10/08/2019 10:13
doubleA 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)
80/100
From 
ForegroundNoise 11/26/2018 09:20
ForegroundNoise 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
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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| Best Artists of 1968 | |
|---|---|
| 1. The Beatles | |
| 2. Jimi Hendrix | |
| 3. The Jimi Hendrix Experience | |
| 4. Van Morrison | |
| 5. The Zombies | |
| 6. The Kinks | |
| 7. The Velvet Underground | |
| 8. The Rolling Stones | |
| 9. The Band | |
| 10. Simon & Garfunkel | |
| 11. Johnny Cash | |
| 12. The Byrds | |
| 13. Aretha Franklin | |
| 14. Frank Zappa | |
| 15. Pink Floyd | |
| 16. The Doors | |
| 17. The Mothers Of Invention | |
| 18. Big Brother And The Holding Company | |
| 19. Os Mutantes | |
| 20. Cream |