Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by WilliamFrayer

DISCLAIMER: I'm a white straight male who is pretty uncultured and I have aimed to reflect that on this chart.

List of perfect songs (not represented on this chart)

1.) The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset
2.) Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
3.) Uncle Tupelo - Moonshiner
4.) New Order - Age of Consent
5.) Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
6.) Coldplay - Sparks
7.) LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean
8.) The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize??
9.) Red Hot Chili Peppers - Soul To Squeeze
10.) The Stranglers - Golden Brown
11.) The Walkmen - The Rat
12.) Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
13.) The National - Fake Empire
14.) The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet
15.) The Velvet Underground - Stephanie Says
16.) Massive Attack - Paradise Circus
17.) Getz/Gilberto - The Girl From Ipanema
18.) Weezer - California Kids
19.) Blur - The Universal
20.) R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe
21.) Carpenters - (They Long to Be) Close to You
22.) Beulah - If We Can Land a Man On the Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart
23.) Electric Light Orchestra - Mr. Blue Sky
24.) The Smiths - Is it Really So Strange?
25.) Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye

• Chart updated: 09/08/2021 22:45
• (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 93 out of 100 (from 34 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

• Summary
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View the complete list of 53,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.

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1. (=)

Ys 

 Joanna Newsom

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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

10/10 [First added to this chart: 12/08/2017]

Year of Release:

2006

Appears in:

749 charts

Rank Score:

9,209

Rank in 2006:

2

Rank in 2000s:

28

Overall Rank:

175

Average Rating:

 82 (827 votes)

Comments:

85

3. (=)

In The Aeroplane Over The Sea 

 Neutral Milk Hotel

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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

9.9/10 [First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]

Year of Release:

1998

Appears in:

2,379 charts

Rank Score:

39,524

Rank in 1998:

1

Rank in 1990s:

3

Overall Rank:

16

Average Rating:

 87 (2,868 votes)

Comments:

425

4. (=)

Violent Femmes 

 Violent Femmes

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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

9.9/10 [First added to this chart: 01/23/2018]

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

875 charts

Rank Score:

8,190

Rank in 1983:

2

Rank in 1980s:

25

Overall Rank:

201

Average Rating:

 81 (971 votes)

Comments:

73

6. (=)

Freshman Year 

 Hop Along

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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

9.8/10 [First added to this chart: 09/08/2021]

Year of Release:

2005

Appears in:

2 charts

Rank Score:

88

Rank in 2005:

242

Rank in 2000s:

2,394

Overall Rank:

12,996

Average Rating:

 72 (2 votes)

Comments:

0

11. (10) 1

#1 Record 

 Big Star

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Best Tracks: Feel, The Ballad Of El Goodo, In The Street, Thirteen, Don't Lie To Me, When My Baby's Beside Me, My Life Is Right, Give Me Another Chance

I guess I was kidding myself by not including this album on my chart for quite a while now. I must've forgotten that power pop is awesome and this is power pop perfection. I've remembered now though.

Favorite: Thirteen

9.6/10 [First added to this chart: 03/05/2020]

Year of Release:

1972

Appears in:

529 charts

Rank Score:

4,293

Rank in 1972:

11

Rank in 1970s:

99

Overall Rank:

416

Average Rating:

 82 (636 votes)

Comments:

43

12. (11) 1

Pinkerton 

 Weezer

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Best Tracks: Tired of Sex, Why Bother?, Across the Sea, The Good Life, El Scorcho, Pink Triangle, Falling For You, Butterfly

The Blue Album is a very fun and extremely catchy listen, but Pinkerton really catches my attention a lot more every time I put it on. The juxtaposition of Rivers singing about his unfulfilling sex/love life on Tired of Sex and Across the Sea and happy, carefree songs like The Good Life and Falling For You is always striking but welcoming. Rivers is arguably too personal on this record... but that's what makes it special.

Favorite: Tired of Sex

9.6/10 [First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]

Year of Release:

1996

Appears in:

1,076 charts

Rank Score:

11,818

Rank in 1996:

2

Rank in 1990s:

27

Overall Rank:

126

Average Rating:

 83 (1,536 votes)

Comments:

144

13. (=)

Mount Eerie 

 The Microphones

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Best Tracks: The whole thing I guess

There are a lot of albums where people claim you have to listen to the whole thing for the correct experience, and if that sentiment applies to anything it's this record here. A very immersive experience from start to finish.

Favorite: I. The Sun

9.6/10 [First added to this chart: 01/22/2018]

Year of Release:

2003

Appears in:

171 charts

Rank Score:

1,573

Rank in 2003:

21

Rank in 2000s:

176

Overall Rank:

1,128

Average Rating:

 80 (220 votes)

Comments:

5

15. (19) 4

Get Disowned 

 Hop Along

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Best Tracks: Some Grace, Tibetan Pop Stars, Diamond Mine, Laments, Young and Happy!, Get Disowned

Hop Along is so good and I have so much trouble deciding which of theirs is my favorite. Clearly I've now decided Freshman Year is my favorite, but this is up there too. Again, I'd recommend their newest stuff first if you haven't heard them before. And then slowly work your way back. Or just don't listen to them and go about your day. Most people do that.

Favorite: Tibetan Pop Stars

9.5/10 [First added to this chart: 03/05/2020]

Year of Release:

2012

Appears in:

27 charts

Rank Score:

261

Rank in 2012:

104

Rank in 2010s:

972

Overall Rank:

5,143

Average Rating:

 75 (30 votes)

Comments:

1

18. (12) 6

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City 

 Kendrick Lamar

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Best Tracks: Sherane A.k.a. Master Splinter’s Daughter, Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe, The Art Of Peer Pressure, Money Trees, Good Kid, M.a.a.d City, Swimming Pools, Sing About Me/I’m Dying Of Thirst

To Pimp A Butterfly might very well be Kendrick's true masterpiece, but I can't ignore how flawless this album is. Every single track is a banger. I don't really know what else to say about it. Personal and engaging.

Favorite: Money Trees

9.4/10 [First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]

Year of Release:

2012

Appears in:

1,479 charts

Rank Score:

25,807

Rank in 2012:

1

Rank in 2010s:

3

Overall Rank:

35

Average Rating:

 88 (1,952 votes)

Comments:

204

19. (21) 2

The Black Parade 

 My Chemical Romance

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Best Tracks: The End., Dead!, Welcome To The Black Parade, I Don't Love You, Mama, Disenchanted, Famous Last Words

My previous comment on this album was "If I wasn't a coward I'd give this album the 10/10 that it deserves." and now it's gone from an 8.7 to a 9.4. So, I'm getting there.

Favorite: Disenchanted

9.4/10 [First added to this chart: 05/16/2017]

Year of Release:

2006

Appears in:

465 charts

Rank Score:

5,545

Rank in 2006:

5

Rank in 2000s:

49

Overall Rank:

324

Average Rating:

 74 (785 votes)

Comments:

83

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Total albums: 58. Page 1 of 6

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Decade	Albums	%
1930s	0	0%
1940s	0	0%
1950s	0	0%
1960s	16	16%
1970s	15	15%
1980s	13	13%
1990s	14	14%
2000s	20	20%
2010s	22	22%
2020s	0	0%

Artist	Albums	%
The Beatles	4	4%
The Smiths	4	4%
Hop Along	3	3%
Joanna Newsom	2	2%
Weezer	2	2%
Joni Mitchell	2	2%
Violent Femmes	2	2%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	58	58%
	28	28%
	6	6%
	4	4%
	3	3%
	1	1%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest climbers
Up 34 from 91st to 57th Painted Shut by Hop Along
Up 25 from 72nd to 47th Paranoid by Black Sabbath
Up 14 from 87th to 73rd Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy by The Who

Biggest fallers
Down 29 from 48th to 77th The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd
Down 19 from 20th to 39th The Velvet Underground by The Velvet Underground
Down 18 from 14th to 32nd Pink Moon by Nick Drake

New entries
Somewhere City by Origami Angel
Pang by Caroline Polachek
Rustic Bullshit by Talons'
Soviet Kitsch by Regina Spektor
The Dream Is Over by PUP
2020 by Richard Dawson

Leavers
MTV Unplugged In New York by Nirvana
The Glow Pt. 2 by The Microphones
Forever Changes by Love
Live At Massey Hall 1971 by Neil Young
Just Got Back From The Discomfort - We're Alright by The Brave Little Abacus
Graceland by Paul Simon

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

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 34 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
90/100	06/20/2022 17:53	Applerill	976	75/100
95/100	02/28/2022 12:31	Cytoma	171	90/100
100/100	12/15/2021 06:09	MCOTho	44	92/100
100/100	09/21/2021 01:19	leniad	687	85/100
90/100	08/25/2020 07:25	ssteve	207	92/100

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 92.7/100, a mean average of 93.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 94.7/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 7.0.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites

Showing all 8 members who have added this chart as a favourite

MCOTho

troy

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DJENNY

Purplepash

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Lgk21

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 11 comments |
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From WilliamFrayer 02/26/2022 10:14

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.

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Rating:  

100/100

From MCOTho 12/15/2021 06:17

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)

Rating:  

100/100

From leniad 09/21/2021 01:19

love your chart friend

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Rating:  

95/100

From pctrooper 10/21/2019 20:02

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)

Rating:  

100/100

From DommeDamian 11/28/2018 20:45

Keep on perfecting your chart

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

100/100

From Lgk21 01/02/2018 22:40

This is excellent. Every choice was clearly well thought out.

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Rating:  

100/100

From Onater 01/01/2018 21:38

I think this might be my list from another timeline

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Rating:  

90/100

From zrommeke 01/01/2018 18:45

Damn good chart!

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Rating:  

90/100

From RandolphCarterJr 07/11/2017 06:13

Wow high marks for ...Like Clockwork. I love it!

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Rating:  

100/100

From DommeDamian 05/27/2017 08:43

11 artists in common?! =Youre not an everyday user with an everyday chart - if gnomesayin'

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