Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by 
JulianR 
Hey!
I am quite excited to discuss literally anything about music ("literal" used in the literal, not figurative sense). I don't really know anyone that listens to the breadth and depth of music that I do. So if you disagree with something I say, or just want to talk about music, totally message me. Also if you want recommendations, or have some for me, totally message me or comment. Thank you!
Just as a heads up, the descriptions for these albums could have been written yesterday, or 18 months ago. They may not be totally reflective of my opinions on them now, though they were at one point at least.
Chart of the Day: 2/21/18, 4/23/19
Questions, comments, concerns, and especially recommendations are all heavily encouraged
Thanks
- Julian
- Chart updated: 02/07/2020 06:45
- (Created: 12/14/2016 01:31).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 72 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 92 out of 100 (from 107 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
View the complete list of 57,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from Kendrick Lamar. (Remove this filter)
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Jazz Rap • Avant-Garde Jazz • Trap-Rap
95/100
CA: 8/10
"I got 100 on my dash, got 200 in my trunk
Name in the grab bags, put my Bible in the trunk"
It feels odd to call this one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. And I don't even really think of it that way; it's just a really good album. And yet, when I'm here comparing it to the others on my chart, they don't quite hold up. Yet it's hard to not think of it as "A bunch of B-sides." That phrase, though, has resulted in some of the greatest albums of all time being overlooked. The Final Cut and Amnesiac are two that come to mind, for me at least. Just because these tracks were passed over the first time around doesn't mean they are necessarily worse. These albums shouldn't be disregarded just because of their "b-sides" status.
I personally think this is Kendrick's most fearless works. It's almost anti-commercial, which I think results in his best and most experimental works. He frees himself from the obligations of having to create something easily marketed and sold, or even something coherent and whole, and it ends up feeling more cohesive than any of his other works. The jazz on this album seems like less of a finishing touch and more of a backbone of the music, which is a definite positive. TPAB was certainly jazzy, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that an instrumental version of the album would be jazz. This record is actually jazz. Listen to Untitled 5, not the rapping but underneath. It is awesome electrified jazz set to a pounding drum loop. It is avant-garde. Or listen to the wacky beauty of Untitled 04.
Something about this 34 minute collage of B-Sides is just such an amazing listening experience, even compared with either of his magnum opus'.
I could do without the little rehearsal/writing/jam session for 04 at the end of 07, but I've appreciated it more with repeat listens. [First added to this chart: 01/06/2018]
95/100
CA: 8/10
"I got 100 on my dash, got 200 in my trunk
Name in the grab bags, put my Bible in the trunk"
It feels odd to call this one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. And I don't even really think of it that way; it's just a really good album. And yet, when I'm here comparing it to the others on my chart, they don't quite hold up. Yet it's hard to not think of it as "A bunch of B-sides." That phrase, though, has resulted in some of the greatest albums of all time being overlooked. The Final Cut and Amnesiac are two that come to mind, for me at least. Just because these tracks were passed over the first time around doesn't mean they are necessarily worse. These albums shouldn't be disregarded just because of their "b-sides" status.
I personally think this is Kendrick's most fearless works. It's almost anti-commercial, which I think results in his best and most experimental works. He frees himself from the obligations of having to create something easily marketed and sold, or even something coherent and whole, and it ends up feeling more cohesive than any of his other works. The jazz on this album seems like less of a finishing touch and more of a backbone of the music, which is a definite positive. TPAB was certainly jazzy, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that an instrumental version of the album would be jazz. This record is actually jazz. Listen to Untitled 5, not the rapping but underneath. It is awesome electrified jazz set to a pounding drum loop. It is avant-garde. Or listen to the wacky beauty of Untitled 04.
Something about this 34 minute collage of B-Sides is just such an amazing listening experience, even compared with either of his magnum opus'.
I could do without the little rehearsal/writing/jam session for 04 at the end of 07, but I've appreciated it more with repeat listens. [First added to this chart: 01/06/2018]
Year of Release:
2016
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,195
Rank in 2016:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
52
Buy album
- #Sponsored
90/100
[First added to this chart: 07/27/2018]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
32,714
Rank in 2015:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Rap
90/100
CA: 7/10
"I’m usually a true firm believer of bad karma
Consequences from evil will make your past haunt ya"
This is one of the most enthralling stories I've heard recorded to wax. Kendrick gives me, a middle class white kid living in a rural and overwhelmingly white small town, a window into the lives of those growing up in the hardest parts of America. The first time I listened, the experience truly started with the track The Art of Peer Pressure, the most narrative of all the songs on the album. This song serves as the main link between the two sides of Kendrick's experience: one, the social and economic pressures pushing him to be violent, criminal, or just to do things he doesn't want to; the other, his own consciousness fighting against these pressures, and not always winning. This struggle puts in context the less... shall we call them, cerebral, moments of the album, such as Backstreet Freestyle. We realize, maybe not on the first listen but eventually, that this "drugs, money, bitches" mentality that appears from time to time isn't Kendrick being crude or unsavory, but him showing us the pressures of being young, black, and poor in Compton. This album has truly opened my mind to what other people are really experiencing in this world. [First added to this chart: 12/08/2017]
90/100
CA: 7/10
"I’m usually a true firm believer of bad karma
Consequences from evil will make your past haunt ya"
This is one of the most enthralling stories I've heard recorded to wax. Kendrick gives me, a middle class white kid living in a rural and overwhelmingly white small town, a window into the lives of those growing up in the hardest parts of America. The first time I listened, the experience truly started with the track The Art of Peer Pressure, the most narrative of all the songs on the album. This song serves as the main link between the two sides of Kendrick's experience: one, the social and economic pressures pushing him to be violent, criminal, or just to do things he doesn't want to; the other, his own consciousness fighting against these pressures, and not always winning. This struggle puts in context the less... shall we call them, cerebral, moments of the album, such as Backstreet Freestyle. We realize, maybe not on the first listen but eventually, that this "drugs, money, bitches" mentality that appears from time to time isn't Kendrick being crude or unsavory, but him showing us the pressures of being young, black, and poor in Compton. This album has truly opened my mind to what other people are really experiencing in this world. [First added to this chart: 12/08/2017]
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
23,143
Rank in 2012:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 3. Page 1 of 1
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 13 | 13% | |
| 1970s | 12 | 12% | |
| 1980s | 8 | 8% | |
| 1990s | 25 | 25% | |
| 2000s | 21 | 21% | |
| 2010s | 21 | 21% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| The Flaming Lips | 5 | 5% | |
| Pink Floyd | 4 | 4% | |
| Kanye West | 3 | 3% | |
| Talk Talk | 3 | 3% | |
| Radiohead | 3 | 3% | |
| Bob Dylan | 3 | 3% | |
| Kendrick Lamar | 3 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
58 | 58% | |
 |
26 | 26% | |
 |
5 | 5% | |
 |
5 | 5% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 1 from 60th to 61st The Glow Pt. 2 by The Microphones |
| Down 1 from 61st to 62nd Souvlaki by Slowdive |
| Down 1 from 62nd to 63rd Yank Crime by Drive Like Jehu |
| New entries |
|---|
 Turn On The Bright Lightsby Interpol |
| In The Flat Field by Bauhaus |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
92/100 (from 107 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 107 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
95/100  | 04/16/2025 15:35 | DrewHamster | | 79/100 |
100/100 | 01/22/2023 22:16 | Rm12398 | | 89/100 |
80/100 | 07/13/2022 22:08 |  Applerill | | 75/100 |
85/100 | 12/10/2020 00:38 | ars2458 | | 78/100 |
100/100 | 06/14/2020 12:47 | BraddlesHendo | | 91/100 |
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 92.0/100, a mean average of 92.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 92.6/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 10.3.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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100/100
From Rm12398 01/22/2023 22:17
What a chart!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From Juneof44 04/29/2021 06:58
I really appreciate your effort, a solid chart and i love the rating to the cover
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Foxforce5 02/05/2021 03:26
Thanks for the hard work. I came to your chart after reading your comments about Rubber Soul and Bringing It All Back Home being ‘transitional’ albums and thought to myself ‘there’s someone with a similar pair of ears’!
Anyhow, your comments inspired me to listen to the ‘transitional’ Bon Iver album, and I’ll give Lorde another go. I mean listening is what it’s all about, right?
In answer to your question on Mezzanine, Pet Sounds is better produced, so now you know.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
85/100
From ars2458 12/10/2020 00:38
Wow, I truly love FEFEA and Age of Adz, but I don't have the depth on older stuff. I am going to give those specific albums a chance. I have listened to Bowie and Pink Floyd, but not those albums, so maybe I will hear something different this time.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From Vegetariat 02/03/2020 10:16
Great list with wonderful notes and recommendations. Your description of Loveless and Shoegaze is as touching as it is true. You're right about Touched, haha
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
80/100
From mianfei 12/16/2019 13:05
Although the list is really an odd mix of soul/hip of and progressive rock/post-rock (if I am not mistaken, I did see a similar combination somewhere else on this site on an earlier browse last autumn), there is not that much of real note in the chart.
However, the lack of really unusual albums and a grouping of genres that is merely on the “eccentric” side is certainly compensated for by some impressive notes, which substantially add to the rating.
Some albums you might not have heard that I could attempt to recommend based on your taste:
— ‘Yeti’ by Amon Düül II
— ‘H to He Who Am the Only One’ and ‘Pawn Hearts’ by Van der Graaf Generator
— ‘A Return to the Inner Experience’, ‘This Timeless Turning’ and ‘Moonbathing on Sleeping Leaves’ by Sky Cries Mary
— ‘Gala’ and ‘Spooky’ by Lush
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From bonnequestion 12/04/2019 12:41
Very nice and unique chart, very inspiring! And also, good job on all those comments.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From Timooosterink 12/04/2019 10:20
Really nice chart, maybe you like Gorillaz?
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From 
kynes 12/04/2019 09:07
kynes 12/04/2019 09:07
the final cut getting some deserved appreciation is nice to see! i will always have respect for users who take the time to write significant blurbs for many of the records in their charts
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From pctrooper 11/12/2019 23:34
Not a huge fan of all these albums, but I really like the chart with its descriptions and stuff.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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