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.

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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:

8,199

Rank in 1983:

2

Rank in 1980s:

25

Overall Rank:

201

Average Rating:

 81 (971 votes)

Comments:

73

20. (17) 3

Strangeways, Here We Come 

 The Smiths

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Best Tracks: A Rush And A Push & The Land Is Ours, I Started Something I Couldn't Finish, Girlfriend In A Coma, Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before, Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me, Paint A Vulgar Picture, I Won't Share You

Obviously there's no true objectivity when regarding musical opinion... but having said that, this is objectively the best Smiths album. Excluding maybe their compilations, this is their only album where I enjoy every single song presented, and it's honestly the Smiths album I've always hoped existed. I still can't figure out why this album is continually their most overlooked when it's so so good. Don't sleep on this one.

Favorite: I Started Something I Couldn't Finish

9.4/10 [First added to this chart: 10/11/2018]

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

725 charts

Rank Score:

6,376

Rank in 1987:

4

Rank in 1980s:

36

Overall Rank:

275

Average Rating:

 81 (1,104 votes)

Comments:

64

22. (=)

Remain In Light 

 Talking Heads

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Best Tracks: Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On), The Great Curve, Once In A Lifetime, Houses In Motion, Seen and Not Seen

If it weren't for the perfection of the first six songs of this masterpiece, I might not have cared that the last two tracks aren't as upbeat and catchy as the rest. With that being said, the last two tracks definitely aren't bad by any stretch of my imagination, just a little weaker compared to the others. David Byrne's eccentric vocal performance on each song is like no other, and everything about the production of this album was way ahead of its time. Who knows where music would be today without this.

Favorite: The Great Curve

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

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,966 charts

Rank Score:

30,730

Rank in 1980:

1

Rank in 1980s:

3

Overall Rank:

27

Average Rating:

 87 (2,223 votes)

Comments:

192

34. (35) 1

The Stone Roses 

 The Stone Roses

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Best Tracks: I Wanna Be Adored, She Bangs The Drums, Bye Bye Badman, Made Of Stone, Shoot You Down, This Is The One, I Am The Resurrection

I didn't actually already have this one on my chart, which is strange. I probably had it on here at one point and then somehow it disappeared. I must've decided I didn't like it as much as I thought I did, but then I changed my mind again, obviously.

Favorite: Made Of Stone

9.1/10 [First added to this chart: 08/24/2017]

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,973 charts

Rank Score:

25,876

Rank in 1989:

3

Rank in 1980s:

5

Overall Rank:

34

Average Rating:

 86 (2,226 votes)

Comments:

202

45. (=)

The Queen Is Dead 

 The Smiths

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Best Tracks: The Queen Is Dead, Frankly Mr. Shankly, Cemetry Gates, Bigmouth Strikes Again, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

Boy are these guys pretentious. Everything about the Smiths on paper seems like something I really wouldn't like at all, and yet I love it quite a lot. Marr's contributions are really what make the sound work for me, I'm sure, although Morrissey does undoubtedly bring lots of charm to it.

Favorite: The Queen is Dead

9.0/10 [First added to this chart: 11/17/2017]

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

2,424 charts

Rank Score:

39,127

Rank in 1986:

1

Rank in 1980s:

1

Overall Rank:

17

Average Rating:

 88 (2,836 votes)

Comments:

264

60. (58) 2

Doolittle 

 Pixies

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Best Tracks: Debaser, I Bleed, Here Comes Your Man, Monkey Gone To Heaven, Mr. Grieves, La La Love You, No. 13 Baby, Hey, Silver, Gouge Away

Lots of energy and catchy songs. Not much to say except that every song is fun to listen to.

Favorite: Monkey Gone To Heaven

8.9/10 [First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,492 charts

Rank Score:

37,394

Rank in 1989:

1

Rank in 1980s:

2

Overall Rank:

18

Average Rating:

 88 (2,871 votes)

Comments:

289

76. (73) 3

Hatful Of Hollow 

 The Smiths

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Best Tracks: William It Was Really Nothing, What Difference Does It Make?, This Charming Man, How Soon Is Now?, Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, Reel Around The Fountain, Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want

If this was a true studio album of theirs I'd likely have it higher.

Favorite: Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want

8.7/10 [First added to this chart: 12/28/2017]

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

607 charts

Rank Score:

6,819

Rank in 1984:

6

Rank in 1980s:

33

Overall Rank:

258

Average Rating:

 86 (1,005 votes)

Comments:

47

87. (83) 4

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Surfer Rosa 

 Pixies

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Best Tracks: Bone Machine, Break My Body, Gigantic, River Euphrates, Where Is My Mind?, Vamos

Favorite: Where Is My Mind?

8.7/10 [First added to this chart: 08/24/2017]

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

1,289 charts

Rank Score:

13,540

Rank in 1988:

2

Rank in 1980s:

12

Overall Rank:

98

Average Rating:

 85 (1,822 votes)

Comments:

112

90. (88) 2

The Dreaming 

 Kate Bush

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Best Tracks: Sat In Your Lap, Pull Out The Pin, Suspended In Gaffa, Night Of The Swallow, Get Out Of My House

Kate Bush makes music.

Favorite: Get Out Of My House

8.6/10 [First added to this chart: 09/17/2018]

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

624 charts

Rank Score:

6,624

Rank in 1982:

2

Rank in 1980s:

34

Overall Rank:

265

Average Rating:

 81 (754 votes)

Comments:

56

92. (89) 3

Hallowed Ground 

 Violent Femmes

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Best Tracks: Country Death Song, I Hear The Rain, Never Tell, Jesus Walking On The Water, Hallowed Ground, Black Girls

What if punk but god??

Favorite: Never Tell

8.6/10 [First added to this chart: 02/25/2021]

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

135 charts

Rank Score:

780

Rank in 1984:

34

Rank in 1980s:

322

Overall Rank:

2,113

Average Rating:

 77 (157 votes)

Comments:

12

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Total albums: 13. Page 1 of 2

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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%
Nick Drake	2	2%
Björk	2	2%
The Strokes	2	2%
Queens Of The Stone Age	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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• My Personal Ranking of Best Ever Albums' Top 100 by Xxnu99etxX (2022)
• Going With My Gut: The Overall Chart Top 100 Re-ranked by CharlieBarley (2024)
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• My Ranking of the BEA top 100 by sszwalbenest (2021)
• BEA's Top 100 re-ranked by EyeKanFly (2020)

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	686	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

IgnacioJoaquin

DJENNY

Purplepash

scwrlw

Lgk21

Laurensexauer

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.

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

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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