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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Prog Rock • Rock Opera
95/100
CA: 7/10

IYLT: Steven Wilson's more famous project, Porcupine Tree (which is proggier).

"Hey brother, it's been a while now
I bet you thought that I was dead"

THIS is what a rock opera is supposed to be. Epic. In my mind, it is both the natural progression of the more mainstream parts of Animals/WYWH era Pink Floyd and a brave new deviation from the more experimental parts, into uncharted territories. Wilson doesn't just ride the line between anthemic rock and heavy progressive rock, he finds whole new spaces in between the two, and creates one of the more creative pieces in either genre. It builds on itself in amazing ways, and flows so well that sometimes it's hard to know when one song ends and the next begins. It's all so natural. And I might dare to say that it is the best produced album of all time. Just listen to Ancestral and tell me I'm wrong.

And the story is awesome, if not very defined or linear. It is inspired by the life (and more importantly death) of a girl named Joyce Carol Vincent, who, despite having friends and family, died in her apartment and wasn't found until 3 years later. Crazy right. Wilson is able to craft a story that, if not quite a story line, does give a glimpse into how easily we can slip in and out of eachothers lives without noticing.

BM:
Ancestral: "Come baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack if you want to!", and the ensuing, face melting, guitar solo
[First added to this chart: 03/23/2017]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,212
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Buy album United States
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Indietronica • Folk-Hop (my made-up genre name for Hip-Hop-Folk fusion)
95/100
Cover Art: 4/10

IYLT: Frank Ocean - Blonde; Bon Iver - 22, A Million

"It's different now I think
I wasn't older yet
I wasn't wise, I guess"

PSA: Apparently his name is pronounced "Soof-yawn"

I'm calling it now. This album, along with "Hand. Cannot. Erase." by Steven Wilson, will be heralded as the unsung masterpieces of this era. You might as well thank me now it's as good a time as any. (Reading back over this sentence like a year after I wrote it, I should note that was just a note, I'm not that pretentious at all :) )

This is such a complex album. Every note and every rhythm is so fine tuned. Even listening to the rhythms from one bar to the next you realize it is rarely the same time twice. Every single fragment of this album is so meticulously composed. And I do mean composed; while basically all electronic music feels like variations on a pattern, this feels like it was constructed from the ground up every second of the way.

The music is so creative and unique. There really is nothing even comparable. The way Sufjan is able to create moods and build powerful flows with his music is always inspiring, but the way he does it on this album takes it to a whole new level. The willingness to dip into these new tools doesn't act as a cop out for creativity as some artists have used them for (I'm looking at you, Coldplay and Arcade Fire). They instead simply augment his awe-inspiring compositional skills. And the result is truly transcendent above not only both his folk and more electronic albums, but also most electronic music ever.

BM:
I want to be well (5:30ish): When the "I'm not fuckin' around! (and I'm not one to be!)" really reaches its crescendo
[First added to this chart: 07/13/2017]
Year of Release:
2010
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,190
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Comments:
Buy album United States
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Industrial Hip-Hop
95/100
CA: 8/10

"Y'all 'bout to turn shit up?
I'm 'bout to tear shit down
I'm 'bout to air shit out
Now what the fuck they gon' say now?"

This album has made me re-evaluate a lot of how I think about music. As one who comes from a classic rock background, as I suspect most (or at least a good number) on this site do, it's hard not to think of Kanye as one of those new rappers writing pop-rap for a bunch of teenagers to drink and party to. To a certain extent, that not incorrect. But this album is a whole lot more.

While MBDTF was definitely an artistic statement, it was one designed to generate radio hits. Yeezus is, to a certain extent, anti-commercial. Or at least as anti-commercial as any serious album by the most popular artist in the world could be. On Sight is abrasive as hell. The same is true of most of the rest. As hard as it might be to understand coming from the high-brow land of rock n' roll, this is a thoroughly artistic, not commercial, endeavor.

The next hurdle of course is that you might point out, "Look at all the shitty stuff he says! He's just vulgar, obscene, and misogynistic!". Again, you would not be entirely wrong. In defense, I call to the stand Lou Reed. He in fact named this one of his favorite albums of the past decade or so shortly before passing away, but thats not what he's been called to the stand for. Instead, it is for his magnum opus track, Sister Ray. A song almost universally revered by rock "oldheads," it literally details a drug fueled orgy, in the strongest language that 60's would allow. More evidence could be presented, such as the Sex Pistols in general. These artists aren't considered vulgar unintelligent provocateurs, but as visionaries of the art form that is music. The same is true of Kanye West. If one reframes his vulgar digressions as either playful jibes or an attempt to see how far boundaries can be pushed (they are often both), one gets a figure not unlike the late Lou Reed.

That said, I don't think that he is immune from criticism. I'm still unsure how I feel about the politics surrounding using Billy Holiday's "Blood On The Leaves" as the basis for a song about ecstacy fueled affairs. But overall the album is a pretty awesome listen. Just a quick shoutout to the real highlights of the album: I Am A God is a banger, and quite a good distillation of Kanye himself; a self-aware, yet flamboyantly excessive exercise in self-worship. New Slaves is a surpringly nuanced look at what it means to be black and successful in America. And Hold My Liquor is possibly Kanye's greatest accomplishment of all time.
[First added to this chart: 12/08/2017]
Year of Release:
2013
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,309
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Average Rating:
Comments:
15. (=)
Buy album United States
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Modern Pop
95/100
CA: 7/10

I have been slowly convinced that this is not just a masterpiece of pop, but of music as an art form. It is currently in my top ten. I never would have expected a modern chart-pop album to end up in my top ten, but there it is. It's so fine tuned, so well crafted, so monolithic at its most powerful and so desolate at its most... desolate? Maybe its because I come from a rock background (basically an anti-pop background, really) but I feel like I don't have the right vocabulary, lexicon, even mindset, to talk about pop music correctly. It's spoken of in different terms. Reading pitchfork reviews alone can tell you that talking about pop is just different. What makes pop pop is its ability to tap in to a more primal, immediate enjoyment, it seems. But even that sentiment seems wrong. Oh well. I'll have to resign myself to saying its the best darn album I've discovered this whole year, and leave it at that.

I get annoyed when reviews are posted both under the album and on the user's chart, but these words felt right enough. Sorry
[First added to this chart: 10/13/2018]
Year of Release:
2017
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,741
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Buy album United States
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95/100 [First added to this chart: 09/10/2018]
Year of Release:
2016
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,498
Rank in 2016:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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95/100 [First added to this chart: 02/20/2018]
Year of Release:
2016
Appears in:
Rank Score:
14,436
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Buy album United States
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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]
Year of Release:
2016
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,391
Rank in 2016:
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Comments:
Buy album United States
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Blackgaze • Post-Metal
95/100
CA: 10/10

IYLT: Alcest - Souvernirs D'Un Autre Monde; Opeth - Blackwater Park

"I want to dreeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam!"

I don't really want to have this album this high, in a cerebral sense. Though I don't want to feel this way, this album makes me realize I don't really want to be that guy that likes the one critically acclaimed, pseudo-commercial black metal album out there. But when I listen to it, I honestly can't give a flying fuck what I want to think. Sunbather is just too awesome, too powerful, too monolithic to ignore. At some point after having gotten through most of the album, usually around the back end of Vertigo, I just get this feeling of awe about it. It's a massive majestic album that I can't help but love.

If you are not accustomed to the shrieked/growled vocals that are prevalent in certain genres of extreme metal, do not fret, for I will tell you a fact. Nobody (with no or little background in metal), ever, in all of history, hears this vocal style for the first time and thinks "Oh that is just so pleasant and nice and enjoyable." Unless you were raised listening to Slayer, it just doesn't happen. It didn't happen for me either, at first. My first comment on this album went something along the lines of "wow that's beautiful music, but why does the singer sound like he's trying to shred his vocal chords?" I now love the vocal delivery on this album. Here's the secret: Just keep listening to it. I would recommend just coming back to this album and Opeth's "Blackwater Park" every month or so. You will begin to like it. (I choose these albums becuase they are so amazing musically that that part is easy to enjoy). It takes time, but not too much. Good luck!
[First added to this chart: 01/06/2018]
Year of Release:
2013
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,695
Rank in 2013:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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95/100 [First added to this chart: 12/11/2017]
Year of Release:
2011
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,314
Rank in 2011:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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95/100 [First added to this chart: 12/27/2017]
Year of Release:
2016
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,822
Rank in 2016:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 21. 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

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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.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
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01/22/2023 22:16 Rm12398  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 9989/100
 
80/100
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07/13/2022 22:08 Applerill  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 97675/100
 
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12/10/2020 00:38 ars2458  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 3178/100
 
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06/14/2020 12:47 BraddlesHendo  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 49191/100
 
90/100
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03/30/2020 09:20 RomanRelic  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2984/100

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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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