Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by WilliamFrayer 
DISCLAIMER: I am uncultured swine with limited knowledge of broader styles/genres and I have aimed to reflect that concept on this chart. I try to get better every once in a while though.
It's still not fully there because I didn't have infinite time to tweak it, but it'll get there within the next 10 years I'm sure.
- Chart updated: 04/05/2025 03:15
- (Created: 03/23/2017 01:07).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 11 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 92 out of 100 (from 38 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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Best Tracks: All of them!
Every single time I listen to this album I feel like I'm being taken on a mystical musical journey through some fantasy world. From start to finish it's incredibly extravagant and beautifully orchestrated. If you haven't yet listened to this one do it now!!
Favorite: Only Skin [First added to this chart: 12/08/2017]
Every single time I listen to this album I feel like I'm being taken on a mystical musical journey through some fantasy world. From start to finish it's incredibly extravagant and beautifully orchestrated. If you haven't yet listened to this one do it now!!
Favorite: Only Skin [First added to this chart: 12/08/2017]
Year of Release:
2006
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,550
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Best Tracks: The Stars Of Track And Field, Seeing Other People, Me And The Major, Like Dylan In The Movies, Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying, If You're Feeling Sinister, Judy And The Dream Of Horses
Let me just say that I very very much enjoy twee pop, and this is the quintessential twee pop record. At least in terms of what I've listened to so far. I can't help but put this album as my second perfect record because there's honestly no weak moments on this whole thing. Pure bliss.
Favorite: Judy And The Dream Of Horses [First added to this chart: 09/23/2017]
Let me just say that I very very much enjoy twee pop, and this is the quintessential twee pop record. At least in terms of what I've listened to so far. I can't help but put this album as my second perfect record because there's honestly no weak moments on this whole thing. Pure bliss.
Favorite: Judy And The Dream Of Horses [First added to this chart: 09/23/2017]
Year of Release:
1996
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,286
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Best Tracks: The King Of Carrot Flowers Part 1, The King Of Carrot Flowers Parts 2 & 3, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Two-Headed Boy, Holland 1945, Ghost, Two-Headed Boy Part 2
This album could certainly arguably be my favorite album of all time as well, and I had it at the top of this chart when I first made it, but I think its few shortcoming(s) put it a little below the top for me. Every song is amazing, and the album experience is incomparable to any other. Impeccable execution by Jeff Mangum, and the overall simplicity of the core of each song makes it easily-accessible, heartwarming, and magical all at once.
Favorite: Two-Headed Boy Part 2 [First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]
This album could certainly arguably be my favorite album of all time as well, and I had it at the top of this chart when I first made it, but I think its few shortcoming(s) put it a little below the top for me. Every song is amazing, and the album experience is incomparable to any other. Impeccable execution by Jeff Mangum, and the overall simplicity of the core of each song makes it easily-accessible, heartwarming, and magical all at once.
Favorite: Two-Headed Boy Part 2 [First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]
Year of Release:
1998
Appears in:
Rank Score:
32,892
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Best Tracks: Blister In The Sun, Kiss Off, Please Do Not Go, Add It Up, Prove My Love, Gone Daddy Gone, Good Feeling
I was personally on board with this album after my first listen, but I was skeptical of my initial enjoyment. Luckily, after many many repeated listens, I appreciated it even more every single time. Apart from what I view as the only filler track on the album (To The Kill), this album is perfect. Basically everything I like about music right here.
Favorite: Add It Up [First added to this chart: 01/23/2018]
I was personally on board with this album after my first listen, but I was skeptical of my initial enjoyment. Luckily, after many many repeated listens, I appreciated it even more every single time. Apart from what I view as the only filler track on the album (To The Kill), this album is perfect. Basically everything I like about music right here.
Favorite: Add It Up [First added to this chart: 01/23/2018]
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,063
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
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Best Tracks: Come Together, Oh! Darling, I Want You (She's So Heavy), Here Comes The Sun, You Never Give Me Your Money, Sun King/Mean Mr. Mustard/Polythene Pam/She Came In Through The Bathroom Window, Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End/Her Majesty
The Beatles are the reason that I started listening to music other than what was on the radio at the time, and I can't thank them enough for that. Every single album of theirs is undoubtedly a classic in my mind, but Abbey Road takes the cake for me. This album was a combination of every Beatle's experiences throughout their journey of the sixties from Paul's Oh! Darling to George's Here Comes The Sun to John's You Never Give Me Your Money to even Ringo's Octopus's Garden. The personality of this album cannot be ignored for me, and it holds some of the Beatles' best work. It's impossible to imagine how they could've followed up this one.
Favorite: Oh! Darling [First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]
The Beatles are the reason that I started listening to music other than what was on the radio at the time, and I can't thank them enough for that. Every single album of theirs is undoubtedly a classic in my mind, but Abbey Road takes the cake for me. This album was a combination of every Beatle's experiences throughout their journey of the sixties from Paul's Oh! Darling to George's Here Comes The Sun to John's You Never Give Me Your Money to even Ringo's Octopus's Garden. The personality of this album cannot be ignored for me, and it holds some of the Beatles' best work. It's impossible to imagine how they could've followed up this one.
Favorite: Oh! Darling [First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
57,349
Rank in 1969:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Best Tracks: Sirens, The Cactus, Failure, The Big House, Of My Brothers And The Bear, Laments Of A Mattress, Bruno Is Orange, Bride And Groom Hot Air Balloon, The Goose & The Wren, Workers, A Drummer's Arm
Yep that's right. I've added another Hop Along album to this chart and it's in my top 10 right off the bat. I feel like this album has been in my conceptual top 10 for a while now, I just never added it to this one because the album didn't even exist on this website until I had to add it manually (!?!?). Which leads me to believe that no one on here has listened to it before. Which is a shame. If you've never listened to Hop Along before, or you're unfamiliar with the Anti-folk genre, then I would be very hesitant to recommend this album specifically. Maybe listen to their newest record to get an idea. But, eventually, I would truly think it's in your best interest to listen to this album one day. One day.
Favorite: The Cactus [First added to this chart: 09/08/2021]
Yep that's right. I've added another Hop Along album to this chart and it's in my top 10 right off the bat. I feel like this album has been in my conceptual top 10 for a while now, I just never added it to this one because the album didn't even exist on this website until I had to add it manually (!?!?). Which leads me to believe that no one on here has listened to it before. Which is a shame. If you've never listened to Hop Along before, or you're unfamiliar with the Anti-folk genre, then I would be very hesitant to recommend this album specifically. Maybe listen to their newest record to get an idea. But, eventually, I would truly think it's in your best interest to listen to this album one day. One day.
Favorite: The Cactus [First added to this chart: 09/08/2021]
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Best Tracks: Great No One, Future Me Hates Me, You Wouldn't Like Me, Little Death, Happy Unhappy, Whatever
Okay so power pop is a genre that exists. This album also exists. My immense enjoyment of every song on this album also exists. If you have ears, then what are you doing not listening to this??? Do it now!!
Favorite: You Wouldn't Like Me [First added to this chart: 06/08/2019]
Okay so power pop is a genre that exists. This album also exists. My immense enjoyment of every song on this album also exists. If you have ears, then what are you doing not listening to this??? Do it now!!
Favorite: You Wouldn't Like Me [First added to this chart: 06/08/2019]
Year of Release:
2018
Appears in:
Rank Score:
520
Rank in 2018:
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Comments:
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Best Tracks: Tell Me Why, After The Gold Rush, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Don't Let It Bring You Down, When You Dance I Can Really Love
Ooh baby this has really grown on me recently. Very intimate and engaging song after song. I can't help but sing along to every single one. The minimalism Young shows on this record, at least in comparison to the albums he made with Crazy Horse (or even Harvest), is really effective to me.
Favorite: Tell Me Why [First added to this chart: 06/13/2018]
Ooh baby this has really grown on me recently. Very intimate and engaging song after song. I can't help but sing along to every single one. The minimalism Young shows on this record, at least in comparison to the albums he made with Crazy Horse (or even Harvest), is really effective to me.
Favorite: Tell Me Why [First added to this chart: 06/13/2018]
Year of Release:
1970
Appears in:
Rank Score:
14,696
Rank in 1970:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Best Tracks: There There, Passing Through A Screen Door, Dismantling Summer, The Devil In My Bloodstream, Teenage Parents, I Just Want To Sell Out My Funeral
This album is pretty much the main reason why I'm feeling motivated to update this chart for the first time in ~4 years. I think that's for a lot of different reasons, but mainly I just felt like it was wrong to have this chart out in the world without this album on there at all. So here it is. Pretty much the best pop punk imaginable.
Favorite: Passing Through A Screen Door
This album is pretty much the main reason why I'm feeling motivated to update this chart for the first time in ~4 years. I think that's for a lot of different reasons, but mainly I just felt like it was wrong to have this chart out in the world without this album on there at all. So here it is. Pretty much the best pop punk imaginable.
Favorite: Passing Through A Screen Door
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Best Tracks: Care of Cell 44, Maybe After He's Gone, Hung Up On A Dream, This Will Be Our Year, Friends of Mine, Time of the Season
No one knows for sure what the Zombies could have made if they hadn't split apart after creating this album, but I can't imagine them topping this one. Every song is so catchy and has so much potential to be a radio single that someone could easily convince me that this was a greatest hits record if I knew nothing else about it.
Favorite: Care of Cell 44 [First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]
No one knows for sure what the Zombies could have made if they hadn't split apart after creating this album, but I can't imagine them topping this one. Every song is so catchy and has so much potential to be a radio single that someone could easily convince me that this was a greatest hits record if I knew nothing else about it.
Favorite: Care of Cell 44 [First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]
Year of Release:
1968
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,797
Rank in 1968:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10
Don't agree with this chart? Create your own from the My Charts page!
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 16 | 16% | |
| 1970s | 14 | 14% | |
| 1980s | 14 | 14% | |
| 1990s | 13 | 13% | |
| 2000s | 19 | 19% | |
| 2010s | 19 | 19% | |
| 2020s | 5 | 5% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Beatles | 4 | 4% | |
| The Smiths | 4 | 4% | |
| Hop Along | 3 | 3% | |
| Kendrick Lamar | 2 | 2% | |
| Weezer | 2 | 2% | |
| Pixies | 2 | 2% | |
| Nick Drake | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 42 from 68th to 26th Rustic Bullshit by Talons' |
| Up 3 from 34th to 31st The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses |
| Up 1 from 100th to 99th Let It Be by The Replacements |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 23 from 28th to 51st Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys |
| Down 10 from 12th to 22nd Pinkerton by Weezer |
| Down 10 from 29th to 39th The Lonesome Crowded West by Modest Mouse |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  Space-Dementia | Overall chart | 2019 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  Glitterboiii | Overall chart | 2023 | |
| Top albums by track rating average (1-100) |  II | Custom chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | sebfox | Overall chart | 2020 | |
| My Personal Ranking of Best Ever Albums' Top 100 |  Xxnu99etxX | Custom chart | 2022 |  |
| Going With My Gut: The Overall Chart Top 100 Re-ranked |  CharlieBarley | Custom chart | 2024 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  Komorebi-D | Overall chart | 2018 | |
| My Ranking of the BEA top 100 |  sszwalbenest | Custom chart | 2021 | |
| BEA's Top 100 re-ranked |  EyeKanFly | Custom chart | 2020 | |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
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 38 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 08/27/2025 16:52 | RAPPSTHYME | 14 | 81/100 |
| ! | 08/25/2025 13:36 | Johnnyo | 2,560 | 80/100 |
| ! | 06/16/2025 13:36 |  NowhereMan | 292 | 82/100 |
| ! | 03/20/2025 16:46 |  SomethingSpecial | 1,104 | 85/100 |
| ! | 06/20/2022 17:53 |  Applerill | 974 | 75/100 |
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 92.2/100, a mean average of 93.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 93.8/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 7.2.
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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From WilliamFrayer 02/26/2022 10:14 | #281942
I'll probably delete this comment at some point but I figured I'd address the last commenter since I have Chart of the Day today and some people might see.
I have a silly disclaimer on my chart that admittedly isn't that funny, but it's meant to be a joke. I didn't mean to trigger anyone. But now deleting it would feel like a cop out so I'll still leave it there for now.
The purpose of the disclaimer has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that I'm self-conscious about the variety of genres that are present on my chart here, and more specifically, the lack thereof. Mostly general rock music and a few basic/predictable outliers. I realize that it's something that I shouldn't feel self-conscious about because no one can listen to and enjoy every type of music. But it's a distant goal that I have to eventually have more variety with the genre representation in my favorite albums.
I could keep going but this is already too long so I'll leave it here. Thanks for viewing my chart! I'll update it again eventually I'm sure.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
MCOTho 12/15/2021 06:17 | #277522
MCOTho 12/15/2021 06:17 | #277522
Hey we have the same favorite album! Also a ton of other stuff in common. I think that your disclaimer is extremely disturbing though. Only bigots care about race, sexuality, and gender and make broad generalizations on the basis of such things. I really thought people with good taste in music couldn't possibly be influenced by insane ideologies, but I guess that's not true. This chart makes me happy and disgusted at the same time. I hope you grow out of your racism - cause you clearly aren't just another NPC listening to whatever they put on the radio. Still gotta give you 100 though as that's what this site is supposed to be about - music - not race. Shit ruins everything.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From leniad 09/21/2021 01:19 | #274007
love your chart friend
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From pctrooper 10/21/2019 20:02 | #243983
Whoo yeah, ya got good charting skills! I really like picks 50-60, and I quite dig the second half of your list overall.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
DommeDamian 11/28/2018 20:45 | #225805
DommeDamian 11/28/2018 20:45 | #225805
Keep on perfecting your chart
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Lgk21 01/02/2018 22:40 | #204450
This is excellent. Every choice was clearly well thought out.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
Onater 01/01/2018 21:38 | #204351
Onater 01/01/2018 21:38 | #204351
I think this might be my list from another timeline
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From zrommeke 01/01/2018 18:45 | #204348
Damn good chart!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From RandolphCarterJr 07/11/2017 06:13 | #194058
Wow high marks for ...Like Clockwork. I love it!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From DommeDamian 05/27/2017 08:43 | #191503
DommeDamian 05/27/2017 08:43 | #191503
11 artists in common?! =Youre not an everyday user with an everyday chart - if gnomesayin'
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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