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

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 106 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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Art Rock • Jazz-Rock
100/100
Cover Art: 9/10

If You Like This: The For Carnation - self-titled

It's a broodingness that never quite explodes in anger or in sadness, but simply falls deeper into the brooding. It's a beauty that never allows itself to be fully realized.

What strikes you first about this album is its minimalism. And it can be hard to understand, at first. Very hard in fact. The first time I listened to this record, I didn't really hear anything at all. Every once in a while some guy would whisper an incomprehensable phrase, and then fade back while a flute played three notes for a minute and a half. That's what it felt like. That just takes time, but eventually you hear deliberateness instead of silence. Then you begin to marvel at the complexity of the music, in the way one begins to marvel at the complexity of a surface, such as a mirror, a plain wall, if you look at it long enough. The layers and dynamics of this record draw one in, as they have done to me on this record. But after a while, the thing that stands out most about this album is how darn simple it is, on a fundamental level. Some of my favorite moments on Laughing Stock are the choruses, if you could call them that. They are just a short hummable phrase that only appears a few times, but somehow they stick with you so much. I think they are so powerful because they are put in perspective by the ramblings of the woodwinds and lack of melody essentially everywhere else. They are the anchor with which the rest of the fluttering flutes and glittering guitars are tethered down.
This use of melodic and structural contrast is probably the most important aspect of this album. When in the context of the album, Ascension Day is one of may favorite songs of all time. It just feels so powerful. But if you just listen to it on its own, not bookended by Myrrhman and After The Flood, it doesn't have that same power. The minimalism of Myrrhman is what makes the highs of Ascension Day and After The Flood feel so high. Taphead does the same for New Grass, which in turn makes Runeii feel so dark and desolate. Spirit of Eden comes to a close with with Wealth; a prayer, a beautiful, peaceful resolution, a shimmering organ that I imagine as the light blue sky upon which a snow-white dove flaps its wings. Runeii fades Laughing Stock from a dark blue, almost bruised purple, to a deep black, with the threat of shattering into innumerable shards.

Best Moments:
Ascension Day - When the guitars suddenly crash in to those powerful chords
[First added to this chart: 03/28/2018]
Year of Release:
1991
Appears in:
Rank Score:
9,266
Rank in 1991:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Math Rock
100/100
Cover Art: 10/10

If You Like This: Rodan - Rusty; Don Cabellero - Don Cab 2

"Don stepped outside"

Insidious seems to be a good word, in my mind, to describe this album. The album sneaks up on you, all cloak and dagger like. The first time you listen to it, it is a debilitatingly confusing attack on your brain, which most don't defeat. What are all these weird time signatures? Why is he whispering? Who the HELL is Don? Then on the second listen, you get used to the music enough to really begin to listen to the lyrics. Still not enough to actually pull a story line out of them, but enough to get a feeling of vague dread in your gut. On the third or fourth listen or so you begin to understand the story lines, and finally feel the full brunt of them. They are frightening, fascinating, and severely cryptic, and leave you both wanting to know more, but also with the knowledge that their incompleteness is what makes them so amazing in the first place. Probably the least interesting lyrical peice would be "Breadcrumb Trail," which is (not so) coincidentally the most straightforward and complete story given. In contrast, the crown jewels of lyricism on this album would have to be "Good Morning, Captain" and "Don, Aman." If you know the tracks, you also know they are the most cryptic; "Captain" seems to begin right at the end of some long and eventful story, and the way it is sung/spoken we can't even tell who says what in the dialogue. "Don" is about a guy, somewhere, that something happens to, or maybe to his friend, but we miss that part, but we can tell afterward he is angry, or maybe sad, or kinda guilty. As you can tell, I don't have that one quite figured out yet, but that's exactly why it's so amazing.

And as amazing as the lyrics are, the music is just as breathtaking. The guitars are oblique, angular, they hit you from directions guitars aren't allowed to come from. The drums and bass provide an awesomely balanced yet vicious punch. This album truly has some of the cooler drumming I've ever heard. And the way they can all break it down and get super quiet, like most of Don Aman or the build up right before the cresendo of Washer is breathtaking and makes it all the more amazing when they let loose and it feels like they tear the very bottom out of the song and replace it with an indescribable energy. The pinnacle of course being the perfect (and I mean perfect) ending to "Good Morning, Captain," when he starts screaming and all the instruments go into absolute manic mode.

As I have explored more math rock, this album has made me realize something. A lot of math rock that I have listened to really isn't as interesting, despite sounding pretty similar. And I have realized today that that is becuase this music actually goes places; it developes and shifts and builds and falls in a way that is really unique, not just in math rock but in all of music. It has the odd time signatures, the "angular" sound, but it's really what it does with those elements that makes this album so special.

A quote by user louisjwyatt that I found particularly compelling:
"It's like an urban myth set to music"

Best Moment:
Good Morning Captain: "ahhhhww, I miss youuuu!!!" Chunk-gah-gah-chunk-gah-gah-chunk-chaaa (just listen to the last minute or so to know what I mean)
[First added to this chart: 08/25/2017]
Year of Release:
1991
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,731
Rank in 1991:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Blues Rock
95/100
CA: 7/10

In 1961, Bob Dylan released his first album. Only 5 years after that, he was putting out what is widely considered some of the greatest music of all time, with Blonde on Blonde the obvious highlight. A a little under a decade later, he was back with the masterpiece Blood on the Tracks (along with Desire, which is also pretty good). A bit over another decade later and he had the stellar comeback Oh Mercy. And then another ten years, and along comes Time Out Of Mind. This is not just a return to form as it might be with any other (normal) artist. This is his third return to form. And despite the fact that he had three heydays under his belt, this one could very well be his best yet. Its swamped in reverbed-out organs and wavering, twangy blues guitar notes floating in the distance. Dylan was apparently dissatisfied with the production, but I don't know how; it sounds like the most original blues album ever made because of it.

The lyricism is also some of the best and most personal since Blood On the Tracks (aside from a few excellent songs on Oh Mercy). It's all old age and heartache on this one. Dylan perfectly depicts the slow lull of old age, especially on the lengthy, burning closer Highlands. The song perfectly mirrors his lyricism, and adds a whole other layer to them; it too "drifts from scene to scene", wandering lost in the highlands, aging and slowing. Some are more urgent, as with Its Not Dark Yet, and they are done excellently as well. Yet the highlights are probably the ones that deal with love, which feel just as personal and compelling as they did 30 years ago. Make You Feel My Love is the high point of the album in this regard, with both gorgeous lyricism and a wonderful piano based melody to go with it.
[First added to this chart: 04/28/2018]
Year of Release:
1997
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,345
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Comments:
Buy album United States
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95/100 [First added to this chart: 05/07/2018]
Year of Release:
1999
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,139
Rank in 1999:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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(Real) Shoegaze • Noise Pop
95/100
Cover Art: 10/10

If You Like This: Panda Riot - Infinity Maps; Chapterhouse - Whirlpool

"When I look at you
Ohh, I don't know what's real"

Never has an album been so synonymous with a genre, yet so unique within it. Shoegaze is (essentially by definition) Loveless. So I will be talking about what shoegaze is, too. I think the term Shoegaze suffers from a debilitating lack of clarity. Does shoegaze include Slowdive's "Souvlaki" and Ride's "Nowhere" (the only two other albums usually conflated with the core of shoegaze), despite the former being ethereal and dreamy, and the latter essentially being jangly alt-rock? All three of these "core" albums sound so different enough that is hard to imagine them all being in the same genre/subgenre that is shoegaze. If it's that broad, does it include The Jesus and Mary Chain and the Sonic Youth? No, at least to me. My interpretation is actually quite narrow. Ride is just britpop with effects added. Slowdive is often shoegaze, though not always. Other "not real shoegaze bands" include The Cocteau Twins, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Swervedriver, Lush. Even "Just for a Day" and "Isn't Anything" are albums I would consider more post-punk than shoegaze.

Whatever shoegaze is or isn't, I know that Loveless is its heart and soul. To me, the story of Loveless and shoegaze is a sad tale; the genre was essentially started and ended with this album. The shoegaze genre was catapulted into the closest to mainstream it would ever get, yet, Loveless was also the very artistic and commercial pinnacle of the genre it essentially spawned. It was over before it started; every album afterwards would be compared to Loveless, and no album would ever measure up. Even Kevin Shields himself took 20+ to build up the courage to release a follow-up (one that was nonetheless, pretty good).

The album itself creates such interesting collages; each and every track (aside from touched, which kinda sucks) is so brilliant and beautifully noisy. There feel like numerous and constantly shifting layers of noise, so much so that tune and rhythm become secondary to the sheer power of the cacophony. I don't think I could even hum any of the songs on this album besides Soon and maybe Only Shallow. Yet I love (haha, get it, love) every one. Blasting this album is one of the coolest things I can do. It's something to get absolutely lost in. And it seems like it gets even better the louder it gets; as the volume goes up, one can begin to hear more layers under the layers and layers of sound already there. It's truly wondrous.

PS: I once saw a comment on this album that said it is the only album that is perfect forwards and backwards. I'm not sure if it's as good, but listening to it backwards is a surprisingly similar experience, and one I would recommend everyone try at least once. It's on youtube if you look for it.
[First added to this chart: 07/11/2017]
Year of Release:
1991
Appears in:
Rank Score:
33,785
Rank in 1991:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Singer-Songerwriter • Indie
95/100
CA: 6/10

"I'm in love with the world
Through the eyes of a girl"

He makes such beautiful songs that seem both very simple and very complex at the same time. He also seems to be able to make things that shouldn't sound very good sound very good, through the way he constructs his chords and stuff. He's really a masterful guitar player, more than anything else.
[First added to this chart: 07/10/2017]
Year of Release:
1997
Appears in:
Rank Score:
11,581
Rank in 1997:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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95/100 [First added to this chart: 11/20/2018]
Year of Release:
1990
Appears in:
Rank Score:
805
Rank in 1990:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Fuzz-Folk • Lo-Fi • Indie Rock
95/100
CA: 6/10

"God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life"

This is the ultimate sing along album. You don't have to be a great singer to do it; Jeff certainly wasn't, by all technical standards. All you have to do is feel the emotion, the power. Yet despite that intangible sing-along quality that his cadence and style of singing has, it is his lyricism that really makes this album the masterpiece it is. He is masterful in his command of words and the way we think about them. For example, this passage from "Oh Comely":

" Soft silly music is meaningful magical,
The movements were beautiful, all in your ovaries.
All of them milking with green fleshy flowers,
While powerful pistons were sugary sweet machines.
Smelling of semen all under the garden
Was all you were needing when you still believed in me. "

He basically just says "sex" in about 50 words, but you get a myriad of connotations and associations from the way that the words are used and combined. Jeff has a strange way of created scenes with no real features, only mirages of half formed images and concepts with no way to describe them. It's either like (a) he describes all the elements of picture, without ever telling you what it is a picture of, or (b) he somehow conveys a picture without ever telling you what any of the individual elements are. One of those analogies is correct, and I can't decide which. Maybe both, at different times, or maybe I'm just making sh*t up. But, I know that Jeff can somehow paint with words in a way unsurpassed by anyone else, even the immortal Bob Dylan.
[First added to this chart: 06/14/2017]
Year of Release:
1998
Appears in:
Rank Score:
39,467
Rank in 1998:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Trip-Hop • Alternative Hip-Hop
90/100
CA: 8/10

IYLT: Air - Moon Safari; UNKLE - Psyence Fiction

"You are my angel
Come from way above"

Name a better produced album. I'll wait.

While we're waiting, let me tell you that this is one of the coolest alums out there. Every beat is so meticulously crafted so as to give every minute of this masterpiece such a dark and woozy feeling, and makes this album one of the most enthralling escapes from the real world. It just sucks you in that way. It opens with one of the top five songs ever created, so its all downhill from there, but lemme tell you, that hill is not very steep. Aside from "The Man Next Door" (I just can't deal with those vocals) this album maintains a remarkable balance between consistently excellent songs and a great variety of sounds and styles.

p.s.: Dummy is good, but it ain't got shit on Mezzanine

Best Moment: The climax of Angel
[First added to this chart: 01/21/2018]
Year of Release:
1998
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,251
Rank in 1998:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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90/100 [First added to this chart: 01/06/2019]
Year of Release:
1994
Appears in:
Rank Score:
64
Rank in 1994:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 25. Page 1 of 3

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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%
Kendrick Lamar 3 3%
Kanye West 3 3%
Talk Talk 3 3%
Radiohead 3 3%
Bob Dylan 3 3%
Show all
Country Albums %


United States 58 58%
United Kingdom 26 26%
Canada 5 5%
Mixed Nationality 5 5%
Australia 2 2%
Ireland 1 1%
New Zealand 1 1%
Show all
Live? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest fallers
Faller Down 1 from 60th to 61st
The Glow Pt. 2
by The Microphones
Faller Down 1 from 61st to 62nd
Souvlaki
by Slowdive
Faller Down 1 from 62nd to 63rd
Yank Crime
by Drive Like Jehu

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similarity to your chart(s)


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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Average Rating: 
92/100 (from 106 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
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n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
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03/30/2020 09:20 RomanRelic  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2984/100

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 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 comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 72 comments |
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Rating:  
100/100
From 01/22/2023 22:17
What a chart!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 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 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)
Rating:  
85/100
From 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)
Rating:  
100/100
From 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)
Rating:  
80/100
From 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)
Rating:  
95/100
From 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)
Rating:  
100/100
From 12/04/2019 10:20
Really nice chart, maybe you like Gorillaz?
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 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)
Rating:  
90/100
From 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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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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