Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by Luigii

Well, it has been a long time since I dabbled in my greatest list. And ever since the events of early 2020, there was a bit of a hankering to go through this list. Wanted to fine comb it since I hit over 1000's albums and hit at least 100 albums with a "100". After doing that, I have less than 100 albums with the "perfect" score so there will be some improvisations to have this list full. Though I do want have this disclaimer where when I have comb through a year, I will have the best of that particular year and hopefully in that album's description will be my top 10. As well as notes for my album pick. But that will be way later. Not expecting that till way later in my life.

In this new list there are at least 4 to 5 categories with how I decide to clump up these album choices.

Tier #1 Masterful (God) (1-34)
These are the records that might have a few quips that prevent them from being perfect, but either due to replay ability or go beyond the medium of music. And these could be anything. Could be crazy. Could be chill. Could hit a happy medium(middle of the road) and if I find it exciting and still holds up over time, it will end up making this list. (And while I don't think this will get done due to time, If I go through each year and find that best album for each year, then this will be that greatest list. Also this type of album will get the dedicated description. Whenever I feel like it.

Tier #2 Demi God/Masterful (35-67)
Similar to tier 1 but those few quips prevent it from being "perfect". Though these albums come real close on hitting that particular high. These particular albums would be top 10 in insert year. But that works when I do my combing.

Tier #3 Demi God (68-92)
Like tier 2, there is more quips where while I would consider these albums as 10/10, these would probably be the top 10. But again depending on the year these could be top 3/top 5 tier or bottom 10 of insert year.

Tier #4 Other (93-100)
This will be gone at some point, but this could be honorable mentions that may be a 100 in the future or False God. Records that I thought were a 100 but don't hold that grade but come real close. Will keep the dropouts noted.

Dropouts #1 https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=62571

Also want to point that after a two year hiatus, I would say I've been slowing approaching being a little more critical of my taste. Though hitting close to 1400 albums this would be the case. And will continue to do so when I hit 2000 and further on.

Next, while I want to have this list to be quite varied in genres, I will say that there will be some bias from me. There will be more of a push of electronic, pop, funk and other genres. Though some albums might get lost in the shuffle like metal and country.

Lastly I want to give a special thanks to a lot of user. First, Jameth for giving the spark to go through this. Komorebi-D for being a best buddy for usually commenting through private messaging. As well as other that provided options or at least made me challenge my perceptions on what I enjoy. In no particular order, want to thank Tha1ChiefRocka, Baystateoftheart, Roundthebend, LedZep, Hayden, Travelful, Repo, Dihansse, Antonio Pedro, Spyglass and others. Just needed to get this descriptor changed. And hopefully later today or later in the week. Enjoyed the three years being here, And here is to more in the future.

Chart Of The Day
10/19/2020 #3283
04/29/2021 #3474
11/07/2021 #3666
There are 55 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 91 out of 100 (from 40 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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From RYM
Genre: Uk Bass, House, Alt R&B, Synthpop, Uk Garage

So, why is this album on the top of your list? Well why not? Though that doesn't really answer the question. Are there more ambitious albums in this list that go farther than this? Well yeah. I could argue the albums that were released in 2015 like To Pimp A Butterfly, The Epic, Vulnicura and No Now go further. But personally, those albums as well as albums from other years as of now don't hold that replay ability throne that Caracal has kept throughout it's release.

Besides, if I went with the first reaction, this would have been stuck at the 8 range. But it has the persistence of playing it over and over that if I want to start strong and have a curve ball from an often maligned record.

I could go in how there are cues that not only does it make parallels to video game music, I would argue this album shares that replay ability of some of my all time favorite games. I would throw in Wario Land 4, Yoshi's Island, Metal Slug 2, Katamari Damacy and plenty of others.

And there are other things I could go on about this album. Hell, if I really put the time and effort of going into this album, I'd probably have a master thesis on this. I will leave it at if you haven't listen to it or gave it a few listens, I'd say try it out. Maybe I'm over inflating how amazing this album is. But I love it, And even if it falls out of favor, it got enough listens to last a life time.
[First added to this chart: 04/17/2017]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
122
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From RYM
Genre: Dance Pop, Contemporary R&B, Electropop, Alt Rock, Pop Rock

There is definitely a bit of skepticism picking an album from 2020, the current year that I write about this as my second favorite album. It is also quite situational when I'm picking an album from a brand new artist where I suspect she is quite capable of creating/releasing more ambitious music. That's in the future. But in the current time, Rina released an album that while I was trying to be a bit hesitant with my score, ended up loving it in a couple of listens.

I think I even compared it to Caracal where I haven't felt this immediate obsession of adoring this album. An album that is quite varied in its genre output while sounding all around great. Having cues from video games. "There is a lot of them to count and explaining them could take a while." Being a piece of a huge puzzle that is the start of 2000's nostalgia which I'm quite excited for. And like my favorite album shares this quality of imagination where as a listener can just visualize what is going on as the album goes from beginning to end. Hope her future shines bright as her humble beginnings.
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
Year of Release:
2020
Appears in:
Rank Score:
733
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Comments:
3. (=)
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From RYM
Genre: Microhouse, Deep House, Dub Techno

Ah 2019. While that year doesn't have much albums under my listening belt "as of now" the year became a bit of digging for past years. And while going through the top 100 for 2000, I noticed the album cover for this. Being curious I decided to go to Rate Your Music to see what type of music this album was. And when I see not only Deep House but also Microhouse, I went at quick as possible to listen to this fully. And after my first listen I was mostly impressed. For turning 20 years old in 2020, this doesn't sound dated at all. I could imagine savvy club goers knew this would be an album herald as a house classic in the future. Love the vast, spacious ambient pads. Sometimes they could be quite aquatic other times can emulate what dreams could sound like if we ever get that technology. Love the sticky hooks and the steady progressions each track has. And while this might be a hot take for early 2000's dance music, this is better than Discovery. Discovery is an excellent album for its importance in dance music and for Interstella5555. But there is something about Vocalcity's vibe that I feel so tantalizing that I can't resist. Plus if you love Discovery, do listen to this. I might sound a little antagonistic towards Discovery, but I do love that album.
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
Year of Release:
2000
Appears in:
Rank Score:
290
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From RYM
Genre: Art Pop, Electronic, Trip Hop, IDM, Chamber Pop

By near the tail end of 2016, I started to venture into more albums to get more acquainted with some of the classics within electronic music. And Bjork was always in a backlog of artists that I wanted to try out. And listening to Homogenic for the first time, I thought is good. Really good. But not an all time favorite. Except for Alarm Call. That track got at least 10 to 15 repeats during that first time.

However, after four years and going through her discography, not only is she one of my favorite artist but she has several albums that I would give a 10/10. And it was a toss up between this and Medulla on which album I would consider her best. And while I love Medulla, Homogenic just gets way more plays from me. An album that I could consider as near perfect due to its flow, its sound design as well as stuff that wouldn't be a big deal like the cover. And I'm glad I gave multiple listens to this because I don't know if I would had the desire to go through her entire work. Can't wait for another album and hopefully enjoy it.
[First added to this chart: 04/16/2017]
Year of Release:
1997
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,165
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From RYM
Genre: 16-Bit Video Game Music, Lounge, Jazz Pop, Lullabies

Soundtracks usually never get the due diligence from the normal album. And while movie ost's can tend to have more appreciation due to the amount of time the medium has existed, we haven't gotten to that point yet with video games. And I say yet, because I expect more people would share a video game ost as one of the most important due to technical limitations of the 80's/90's and maybe early 2000's or by an emotional standpoint.

Yoshi's Island is one of those ost's where while I would argue other games have a soundtrack that is more ambitious. This was does speak to me due to being that game that made me the Nintendo fan I am and will continue being till I'm gone.
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
Year of Release:
1995
Appears in:
Rank Score:
76
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Buy album United States
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From RYM
Genre: IDM, Glitch, Glitch Hop, Ambient, Post Industrial

In a breadth, I would argue Boards of Canada to be my favorite act from Warp. While they have a short discography, that discography is consistent. Like I would say there lowest point would still be a lite to decent 9. But Autechre is an act that while there is some stuff that leaves me hanging from there vast and challenging catalogue, other times they floor me with some of the best electronic music. Chiastic Slide is probably the best with Tri Repetae and Draft 7.30 coming behind.

I remember the first time listening to this and loving it. Though, after finishing it up I went on to other records or other albums from the duo. And even when I would listen to new music, the outro to Chiastic was one of those tracks that I would replay over again on how addicting it was. Sounds like a funk track but from the future.

Then in early 2020, when I had death in the family, I had this sudden craving to listen to this again. And I ended up finding things that I loved about it that I wasn't thinking of on the first visit. Like how each track feels like it's own little world. Or even during its minimal moments, it sounds hypnotic and can get lost in the sound design.

There are more ambitious albums from Autechre but this hits a sweet spot I didn't know I needed.
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
Year of Release:
1997
Appears in:
Rank Score:
351
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Buy album United States
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From RYM
Genre: New Age, Progressive Electronic

Ah new age. Like smooth jazz, new age music usually has this stigma of being considered somewhat lame. My guess is probably the players that exist within the confines of the genre. Or in a music sense, after the ending of the 80's into the beginning of the 90's where music listeners wanting much more. But now, I'd argue genres like new age and smooth jazz are more sincere due to hitting a certain quality that is usually welcoming. And Suzanne Ciani is one of those artists that really hits me with pure enjoyment.
[First added to this chart: 07/20/2017]
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
98
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From RYM
Genre: New Age, Ambient
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
Year of Release:
1978
Appears in:
Rank Score:
61
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Buy album United States
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From RYM
Genre: Spiritual Jazz, Soul Jazz, Free Jazz
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,849
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From RYM
Genre: Smooth Jazz, Jazz Funk, Soul Jazz
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
Year of Release:
1976
Appears in:
Rank Score:
231
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Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Decade Albums %


1930s 0 0%
1940s 0 0%
1950s 0 0%
1960s 2 2%
1970s 14 14%
1980s 6 6%
1990s 22 22%
2000s 24 24%
2010s 29 29%
2020s 3 3%
Country Albums %


United States 42 42%
United Kingdom 24 24%
Japan 8 8%
Canada 6 6%
Germany 5 5%
France 3 3%
Iceland 3 3%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%
Live? Albums %
No 98 98%
Yes 2 2%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 98 98%
Yes 2 2%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

There have been no changes to this chart.
TitleSourceTypePublishedCountry
Top 45 Music Albums of the 2000sLuigii2000s decade chart2018
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums colonelchibbersOverall chart2024
Top 39 Music Albums of the 1990sLuigii1990s decade chart2018
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums DaVGManiacOverall chart2018
Top 100 Greatest Music Albumsjuanr1096Overall chart2025
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums seb7Overall chart2025
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums JoeingramOverall chart2024
Top 47 Music Albums of the 2010sLuigii2010s decade chart2018
Top 100 Greatest Music AlbumsKurtcoOverall chart2019
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums AntiOverall chart2023

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Average Rating: 
91/100 (from 40 votes)
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80/100
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04/16/2025 15:33 DrewHamster   31679/100
 
80/100
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03/20/2025 15:33 SomethingSpecial   1,09885/100
 
90/100
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07/13/2022 22:19 Applerill   97375/100
 
90/100
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11/08/2021 07:10 Tamthebam   65085/100
The chart has been updated since this rating was assigned   
70/100
 !
10/11/2021 22:17 mianfei   17062/100

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This chart is rated in the top 2% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 90.9/100, a mean average of 92.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 92.1/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 9.8.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

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Rating:  
70/100
From 10/11/2021 22:22 | #274868
“sssvnnn” has most of the details of the chart right. It is quite diverse and we'll thought-out, and the notes although limited to the first few albums do offer an interesting, even refreshing perspective that I will say is better than anything I could offer about my own work here.

Without naming names, I am inclined to be critical about many of the choices based upon personal experience and (to some extent) my quarter-century history of reading professional music critics.

A few albums I might recommend you:

— ‘New York Tendaberry’ by Laura Nyro
— ‘Music of My Mind’ by Stevie Wonder
— ‘Future Days’ by Can
— ‘Magnetic Flip’ by Birdsongs of the Mesozoic
— ‘Silver Apples of the Moon’ by Laika
— ‘Ekstasis’ by Julia Holter
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 07/20/2021 19:13 | #271765
.... Damn... that's quite a lot of work you put into to this!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 10/28/2020 07:51 | #259872
Likewise to your chart. There's very little of this chart that musically interests me, but your case makes more than up for it.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 10/28/2020 00:26 | #259863
Holy shit this is a lot of recommendations! I thought I'd see some more (a lot more) overlap with my tastes. This was a great read and I'll come back soon to dive into the comments more but overall holy shit dude this is amazing! I thought I knew a lot of music but man I probably never even heard of 40% of this list and probably haven't listened to more than 20 of these albums. Thanks for this.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 10/20/2020 04:12 | #259456
Saw the album cover and was like - yup! Great work mate.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 10/02/2020 11:29 | #258921
Man this is beyond dope! I'm really surprised to see Sawayama so high so soon after its release, but I really like the diversity, unpredictability and a big number of non-conventional choices. And it's not obscure just for the sake of it, in fact a lot of people might give you tough time for having Disclosure at 1. But I think it shows how sincere the chart is.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 05/03/2020 18:40 | #250853
Well, don’t go changing things on my account. Two years is a long time though, so I get it...I’m about to overhaul mine. I had only heard like 400 albums when I made mine, and now I’m pushing 1800. So, let’s just say it’s gonna be different.

But, I just came to say I’ve got some good headphones coming in the mail, and you’ll be hearing from me soon when I give Pop another play.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 04/23/2020 22:34 | #250448
Forgot to drop you a word, man. Our interests don’t seem to overlap much, but you still have some awesome albums here, and your list is personal and doesn’t parrot a thousand other lists. Keep on, man, and finish up your chart!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 04/23/2020 13:40 | #250422
just spreading some love man
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 04/09/2020 08:43 | #249691
<3
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Recognised  Decade Charts (2020s)
1. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s: Staff Picks by Billboard (2019)
2. NME's Greatest Albums of The Decade: The 2010s by New Music Express (2019)
3. Top 100 Albums of the Decade by Crack Magazine (2019)
4. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s by Rolling Stone (2019)
5. The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s by Pitchfork (2019)
6. Top 50 Albums of the 2010s by The Wild Honey Pie (2019)
7. BrooklynVegan's Top Albums of 2010s by BrooklynVegan (2020)
8. The 50 best albums of the decade – 2010 to 2019 by Independent (2019)
9. The Needle Drop's Top Albums Of The 2010s by The Needle Drop (2019)
10. All The Best Albums Of The 2010s, Ranked by Uproxx (2019)
11. The A.V. Club's 50 best albums of the 2010s by The A.V. Club (2019)
12. Gorilla vs. Bear Albums of the 2010s by Gorilla vs. Bear (2019)
13. The 101 Best Albums of the 2010s by Spin (2020)
14. The 100 Best Albums Of The 2010s by Stereogum (2019)
15. The 50 Best Albums of the Decade by Deep Cuts (2019)
16. Die 100 besten Alben der 10er Jahre by Musikexpress.de (2020)
17. Tiny Mix Tapes 2010s: Favorite 100 Music Releases of the Decade by Tiny Mix Tapes (2019)
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19. Top 100 Albums of the 2010s by Consequence of Sound (2019)
20. BEST OF 2011 - 2020: Die besten Alben des Jahrzehnts by laut (2020)
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