Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Cosmo

This chart is a collection of pieces of my musical psyche...I guess I've tried to create a list of the greatest albums *within my own taste*. There are a few compilation albums included, but only if they are coherent samples of non-album songs, like Hatful of Hollow or the Smile Sessions, for example.

I am often drawn to music that I find beautiful and imaginative, not necessarily influential. The heavy emphasis on 2010s records is owed to it being the music of my time, and thus I have been able to live in its landscape and feel its effects more deeply than, say, 1970s music.

Still very much a work-in-progress.

I hope you like it!

• Chart updated: 11/26/2021 18:15
• (Created: 08/21/2017 23:40).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

There are 9 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 90 out of 100 (from 28 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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81. (63) 18

Saturdays = Youth 

 M83

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"Like a wall of stars
We are ripe to fall."

Favorite Tracks: We Own The Sky, Too Late, Couleurs [First added to this chart: 08/22/2017]

Year of Release:

2008

Appears in:

173 charts

Rank Score:

679

Rank in 2008:

33

Rank in 2000s:

396

Overall Rank:

2,363

Average Rating:

 77 (237 votes)

Comments:

2

82. (81) 1

High Violet 

 The National

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"It's terrible love and I'm walking in spiders."

Highlights: Bloodbuzz Ohio, Little Faith, Terrible Love [First added to this chart: 08/29/2017]

Year of Release:

2010

Appears in:

1,069 charts

Rank Score:

11,616

Rank in 2010:

3

Rank in 2010s:

11

Overall Rank:

128

Average Rating:

 82 (1,309 votes)

Comments:

97

83. (82) 1

Flight Of The Conchords 

 Flight Of The Conchords

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"These aren't tears of sadness because you're leaving me, I've just been cutting onions
I'm making a lasagna...for one."

Favorite Tracks: Not Crying, The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room), Business Time [First added to this chart: 10/02/2019]

Year of Release:

2008

Appears in:

84 charts

Rank Score:

274

Rank in 2008:

77

Rank in 2000s:

866

Overall Rank:

4,922

Average Rating:

 76 (115 votes)

Comments:

8

84. (83) 1

OK Computer 

 Radiohead

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"I'd tell all my friends but they'd never believe me
They'd think that I'd finally lost it completely
I'd show them the stars and the meaning of life
They'd shut me away
But I'd be alright."

Favorite Tracks: Let Down, No Surprises, Lucky [First added to this chart: 08/21/2017]

Year of Release:

1997

Appears in:

4,335 charts

Rank Score:

76,873

Rank in 1997:

1

Rank in 1990s:

1

Overall Rank:

1

Average Rating:

 92 (5,496 votes)

Comments:

841

85. (84) 1

Cake 

 Trashcan Sinatras

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"Looking at my watch and I'm half-past-caring."

Favorite Tracks: Obscurity Knocks, You Made Me Feel, Even the Odd [First added to this chart: 10/02/2019]

Year of Release:

1990

Appears in:

16 charts

Rank Score:

68

Rank in 1990:

219

Rank in 1990s:

2,679

Overall Rank:

16,064

Average Rating:

 73 (24 votes)

Comments:

0

86. (85) 1

Wish You Were Here 

 Pink Floyd

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"Come on you target for faraway laughter,
Come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!
You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon."

Favorite Track: "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" [First added to this chart: 08/21/2017]

Year of Release:

1975

Appears in:

2,913 charts

Rank Score:

50,797

Rank in 1975:

1

Rank in 1970s:

2

Overall Rank:

8

Average Rating:

 91 (3,944 votes)

Comments:

308

87. (86) 1

Melody's Echo Chamber 

 Melody's Echo Chamber

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"Baby, you’re the one
The one at least until tomorrow..."

Favorite Tracks: Quand Vas Tu Rentrer, Bisou Magique, Endless Shore [First added to this chart: 09/08/2018]

Year of Release:

2012

Appears in:

106 charts

Rank Score:

486

Rank in 2012:

59

Rank in 2010s:

526

Overall Rank:

3,092

Average Rating:

 76 (126 votes)

Comments:

4

88. (87) 1

Vespertine 

 Björk

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"This time
I'm gonna keep me all to myself."

Favorite Tracks: Cocoon, Aurora, Pagan Poetry [First added to this chart: 10/21/2017]

Year of Release:

2001

Appears in:

790 charts

Rank Score:

9,613

Rank in 2001:

4

Rank in 2000s:

26

Overall Rank:

164

Average Rating:

 83 (971 votes)

Comments:

58

89. (88) 1

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 

 The Beatles

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"Picture yourself in a boat on a river
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes."

Favorite Tracks: She's Leaving Home, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, A Day in the Life [First added to this chart: 08/29/2017]

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

3,416 charts

Rank Score:

50,842

Rank in 1967:

1

Rank in 1960s:

3

Overall Rank:

7

Average Rating:

 90 (4,485 votes)

Comments:

480

90. (89) 1

Station To Station 

 David Bowie

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Favorite Tracks: Wild Is The Wind, Word on a Wing, Station To Station [First added to this chart: 12/31/2018]

Year of Release:

1976

Appears in:

1,057 charts

Rank Score:

13,318

Rank in 1976:

2

Rank in 1970s:

27

Overall Rank:

103

Average Rating:

 85 (1,507 votes)

Comments:

95

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Total albums: 100. Page 9 of 10

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Decade	Albums	%
1930s	0	0%
1940s	0	0%
1950s	8	8%
1960s	8	8%
1970s	10	10%
1980s	11	11%
1990s	8	8%
2000s	10	10%
2010s	38	38%
2020s	7	7%

Artist	Albums	%
The Smiths	5	5%
Beach House	4	4%
Radiohead	3	3%
Frank Sinatra	3	3%
The Beach Boys	3	3%
Tame Impala	3	3%
Slowdive	3	3%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	52	52%
	32	32%
	4	4%
	3	3%
	3	3%
	2	2%
	1	1%
Show all

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest climbers
Up 8 from 78th to 70th Frank Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely by Frank Sinatra
Up 7 from 38th to 31st Pang by Caroline Polachek
Up 5 from 80th to 75th Blue Day by Slowdive

Biggest fallers
Down 20 from 40th to 60th House Of Balloons by The Weeknd
Down 18 from 63rd to 81st Saturdays = Youth by M83
Down 8 from 68th to 76th Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience

New entries
The Beach Boys Today! by The Beach Boys

Leavers
London Calling by The Clash

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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 28 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
75/100	12/24/2021 20:17	sssvnnn	2,827	83/100
90/100	11/26/2021 20:21	Larcx13	1,091	86/100
95/100	09/16/2020 01:01	jnfbn	314	96/100
95/100	09/15/2020 23:28	Lgk21	141	95/100
95/100	09/15/2020 17:07	EyeKanFly	207	88/100

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 2% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 90.1/100, a mean average of 92.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 91.5/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 6.0.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

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Rating:  

90/100

From Larcx13 11/26/2021 20:21

Good list to find some more recent stuff

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

Rating:  

95/100

From Lgk21 09/15/2020 23:30

Cool stuff, I like that you have so many 2010s albums.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

95/100

From EyeKanFly 09/15/2020 17:08

Great chart, unafraid to go heavy on great recent albums! Love to see Telstar on here too

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

100/100

From Keatownrodriguez 09/15/2020 14:54

Thought it was a pretty good list with lots of classic albums... then I saw A Brief Inquiry and was mega impressed!!!

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

90/100

From ForegroundNoise 09/28/2019 09:01

What a breath of fresh air this chart is!! It's nice to see someone unafraid to put modern picks right up there with the classics, '7' is such a good pick for no.1 (definitely my favourite Beach House album too). As far as I can tell a large part of the governing rule of what sways you is how 'beautiful' an album is, so here's a few picks I think'll be up your street:

Joanna Newsom - Ys
Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
Arthur Russell - World Of Echo
Jim O'Rourke - Eureka
Fishmans - Long Season

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

90/100

From boppare 05/28/2019 13:16

Happy to see Ceres & Calypso so high up :)!

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

85/100

From jdenny2018 06/03/2018 00:19

Great list!

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

80/100

From LedZep 12/08/2017 00:55

Fantastic. Can’t disagree with all the Smiths albums/compilations. Every single of these 6 deserves to be on my chart too, but I have 3 per artist rule. Although the chart is mainly indie, there are several hidden gems and unexpected picks, as well as some classics you can’t disagree with. Great chart all in all.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

95/100

From stangetzaway 09/09/2017 01:25

A great eclectic bunch and some fine jazz picks in there. Keep it up!

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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