Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by daftpunter 
When I was five my mom bought me a 45 of Pleasant Valley Sunday that I played on my little multi-disk player with my Peter Pan 45's. In the fifth grade my buddy Owen turned me on to Kiss and Queen. Some guy at a record store recommended to my Mom Sweet's Desolation Boulevard and K.C. and the Sunshine Band. My high school buddy's dad owned an AOR station so we had access to a ton of music (though half the albums were worthless because Dad would put finger nail polish on the album cuts to control the dj's). That's also where I developed my nervous twitch when I hear the Beatles too often. We discovered the Rolling Stone Record Guide, The Trouser Press Record Guide, and Robert Christgau (the 1001 albums/songs books have been added to the reference of late). For my freshman year in college Grandmom gave me $1000 for spending money for the year that I blew in about three weeks at the local record store(ooh, that reminds me, I've GOT to listen to Damn the Torpedoes soon!). Over the past thirty years I've put together a collection of music reflecting the eclectic and clasic, usually without ever having heard the music I'd purchased. But the collection is diverse, consisting of about 2500 pieces of vinyl and 1500 cd's. I've discovered the Public library system that has given me access to inumerable albums. And you'll notice that the list doesn't have a bunch of surprises, accepting maybe the order. Because great is still great. The top 20 have been pretty consistant over the years. The next 80 are an incomplete and ever changing array. As far as the more recent albums not making the charts, I direct you to the decade (and soon yearly) charts. Albums that supplant truly classic works have a truly high standard to achieve. It's taken decades for some albums to click.
I'm beginning to warm to Cage The Elephant, The Black Keys, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard ...some other similar bands so there's still hope for some 2000's to make it to the list. Thanks to my boys for their recommendations.
Alright...it's time. 10 year anniversary of this list and it's a bit stale. Maybe not a great word...how about dated. Commenters are right...there IS great music made in this century. Great albums? I'm going to start working through the year album charts and find some gems I've recently discovered. Probably 1500 albums....maybe more since...and note...I won't subscribe to a music service. I have to OWN an album before I rate it. Are YOU that into albums? Damn that was pretentious. New list coming! Midway through another year and I STILL can't touch my top ten...
- Chart updated: 10/12/2022 05:45
- (Created: 09/16/2011 08:34).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 74 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 88 out of 100 (from 97 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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Freddie Mercury was always a bit too campy for me. But I bought every album he and his mates put out. The songs were great, but what I bought them for was Brian May's guitar. This album has everything that made Queen great, and different. Overdubbed/Operatic vocals and guitars, upbeat uplifting songs about friends, lovers and yes CARS! An honest to G-d love song to a car. Death on Two Legs and Bohemian Rhapsody to even the vibe, and the Prophet Song...More over the top and dare I say better than the previous mentioned Bohemian Rhapsody. To a Beach Boys fan is there anything better?! Anyone who wants to study overdubs, look no further. Watched them on tour for "The Game". They walked offstage during Bohemian Rhapsody's opera section. Brian May comes back on and rips into the solo that you know had almost as many overdubs as the vocals and absolutely crushes it. I struggle to not make this a top ten because, in all honesty, I have more great memories of this, the third album I ever purchase, than any other I own. Because no other record has the bombast, the production, the musicianship of A Night At The Opera. Magical.
[First added to this chart: 09/18/2011]
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,333
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129
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I listen to this album more than any other album. Though I'm nearing 50 I'm always a teenager when this is on. "Show a little faith, there's magic in the night...you ain't a beauty, but eh, you're all right." Seriously? Did he just say what every punk that settles for a girl thinks on a Saturday night? When she says yes: "From your front door to my front seat, the door's open but the ride ain't free." The new Dylan? Dylan NEVER had a lyric that great, and that's only ONE song (Thunder Road).
[First added to this chart: 09/16/2011]
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
17,246
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For those of us who think punk is just a bunch of snot nosed, zipper pierced, morons moshing...well, they're almost right. Then there's the great one's (see London Calling, Generic Flipper). Nothing sounds like Gang of Four. The edge tried on Achtung Baby. Someday he'll get it right.
[First added to this chart: 09/16/2011]
Year of Release:
1979
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Rank Score:
5,094
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I remember riding the team bus to football games in college and having some muscle headed defensive lineman fratboy taking my earphones off my head, listening for a couple of seconds, and asking me what was this crap I had in my walkman. When I said R.E.M. flipside Aztec Camera he asked me why I listened to that ***t. Thirty years later he's probably bald, fat, sitting in a bar with his schwantz in one hand and a beer in the other listening to Cinderella play on the same friggin jukebox his dad listened to. Their best album.
[First added to this chart: 09/16/2011]
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,777
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Why this and not The Velvet Underground and Nico? Because I believe Sweet Jane and Rock & Roll are the best two songs ever put on one piece of plastic. How come Lou became such a miserbable cuss? Those two songs alone affirm the beauty of the genre: Rock and Roll! The rest of the album is brilliant also, btw.
[First added to this chart: 09/16/2011]
Year of Release:
1970
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Rank Score:
6,875
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Bob gets shot in an assassination attempt, moves to England, and records Three Little Birds. Not to mention One Love. Genius.
[First added to this chart: 09/16/2011]
Year of Release:
1977
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,402
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For almost thirty years I put this album on only in spurts. I'm not a fan of jam bands. The dead make me ill. Who is Phish again? It's not Southern Rock like Skynyrd. I thought of putting Idlewind South in place of this disc, then I went back and listened again, and again... it's the best live album ever.
[First added to this chart: 09/16/2011]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,202
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Best rap album ever made. Not because they're white and Jewish (ok, so it helps me relate) but because it's smart, funny, and the best sample album ever. I catch a riff i've never heard before each listen. Party idea: Put the album on and see who can name each song riff they ripp off. Winner calls out the shots.
[First added to this chart: 09/16/2011]
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
7,246
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It's good to be soooo rich, so talented, so strung out on junk, booze and pills that you have to hole yourself up in a dank, musty, nasty old castle in France to record the most dirty sounding album a major band ever produced. The reason the Stones were so good for so long is with all their money their leader, Keith, was a junkie and lived the blues living like a king. A junkie is still a junkie. A good path to the blues. Shouldn't have gone straight. Screwed up the mojo.
[First added to this chart: 09/16/2011]
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
22,605
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In 1983 we needed a shot of rockabilly NOT played by the stray cats. The Blasters play American Roots rock. With a voice, the voice, Phil Alvin, that should have launched them into the stratosphere of stardom. Lucky for us you can catch them playing in front of 200 people on a tour (without brother Dave, of course). Tight, jumpy, intellegent, fun with no pretentions. Just rock and roll.
[First added to this chart: 09/16/2011]
Total albums: 100. Page 2 of 10
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 3 | 3% | |
| 1960s | 15 | 15% | |
| 1970s | 52 | 52% | |
| 1980s | 19 | 19% | |
| 1990s | 11 | 11% | |
| 2000s | 0 | 0% | |
| 2010s | 0 | 0% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| The Rolling Stones | 3 | 3% | |
| The Kinks | 3 | 3% | |
| Bob Dylan | 3 | 3% | |
| The Beatles | 3 | 3% | |
| Ramones | 2 | 2% | |
| The Who | 2 | 2% | |
| Bruce Springsteen | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
There have been no changes to this chart.Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
88/100 (from 97 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 97 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
80/100  | 06/19/2023 20:06 |  MadhattanJack | | 84/100 |
90/100 | 06/19/2023 10:40 |  Tamthebam | | 85/100 |
 95/100 | 10/11/2022 05:20 | leniad | | 85/100 |
| 85/100 | 10/10/2022 21:26 | Moondance | | 84/100 |
| 100/100 | 10/10/2022 21:19 | iannicolson | | 90/100 |
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 7% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 88.4/100, a mean average of 86.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 88.6/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 17.0.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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95/100
From leniad 10/11/2022 05:20
great picks
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85/100
From Moondance 10/10/2022 21:29
Loved the commentary on the soundtrack of your life + music. I can appreciate the joy and wonder of your journey. Good to see Aztec Camera among the usual suspects.
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100/100
From 
Larcx13 10/10/2022 11:26
Larcx13 10/10/2022 11:26
Great work put on here 👏
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95/100
From stuartdurrant 10/22/2020 18:28
Best List I've seen
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From BraddlesHendo 10/22/2020 18:05
Great commentary and one of the better lists here
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100/100
From 
DommeDamian 10/22/2020 09:12
DommeDamian 10/22/2020 09:12
better than last time.
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100/100
From DommeDamian 05/10/2018 20:26
DommeDamian 05/10/2018 20:26
Small amount in common, but still a fair bunch of great albums. Very good descriptions too, sir.
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85/100
From 
LedZep 01/15/2018 15:58
LedZep 01/15/2018 15:58
So nice and diverse. Loveit
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100/100
From 
Arthurknight 01/07/2018 10:51
Arthurknight 01/07/2018 10:51
Ah thank you for the very kind words! The descriptions are in progress, the other 90 will be eventually covered; I’m very gradual with these things, I’m sure you’d be the one to understand.
I very much like your chart too. Your opening description I find very eloquent, and I much adore anyone who takes the time to tell the stories about their experiences of music because it is so vital in the sharing of ones love and appreciation of an artform that carries as much value in when, where and how we listen to it as the songs themselves. Many of the albums you have here were once on my chart since supplanted - to use your words. Shoot out the Lights, for instance, is a long favourite of mine. Thank you for sharing what only years and years of dedicate listening could produce.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From 
bobbyb5 09/08/2017 12:45
bobbyb5 09/08/2017 12:45
10 bonus points for Psychedelic Furs.
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