Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Cosmo Unknown

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!

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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This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from The Smiths. (Remove this filter)

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Buy album United States
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"If a twelve ton truck kills the both of us
To die by your side, well...
The pleasure and the privilege is mine."

Favorite Tracks: There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, I Know It's Over, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
[First added to this chart: 08/21/2017]
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
39,257
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
23. (=)
Louder Than Bombs 
Compilation
Buy album United States
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"There is a better world
There must be..."

Favorite Tracks: Half a Person, Asleep, Rubber Ring
[First added to this chart: 08/22/2017]
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,699
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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"Last night I dreamt
That somebody loved me
No hope, no harm
Just another false alarm..."

Favorite Tracks: Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me, Girlfriend in a Coma, I Won't Share You
[First added to this chart: 08/22/2017]
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,380
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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"Haven't had a dream in a long time
See, the life I've had
Can make a good man bad"

Favorite Tracks: Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want, Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, William It Was Really Nothing
[First added to this chart: 08/21/2017]
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,838
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
94. (93) Down1
Buy album United States
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"I decree today that life is simply taking and not giving."

Favorite Track: "Still Ill"
[First added to this chart: 09/01/2017]
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,696
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 5. Page 1 of 1

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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%
Slowdive 3 3%
Cocteau Twins 3 3%
Radiohead 3 3%
Frank Sinatra 3 3%
The Beach Boys 3 3%
Show all
Country Albums %


United States 52 52%
United Kingdom 32 32%
Canada 4 4%
France 3 3%
Australia 3 3%
Iceland 2 2%
New Zealand 1 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 97 97%
Yes 3 3%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 98 98%
Yes 2 2%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest climbers
Climber Up 8 from 78th to 70th
Frank Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely
by Frank Sinatra
Climber Up 7 from 38th to 31st
Pang
by Caroline Polachek
Climber Up 5 from 80th to 75th
Blue Day
by Slowdive
Biggest fallers
Faller Down 20 from 40th to 60th
House Of Balloons
by The Weeknd
Faller Down 18 from 63rd to 81st
Saturdays = Youth
by M83
Faller Down 8 from 68th to 76th
Electric Ladyland
by The Jimi Hendrix Experience

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Average Rating: 
90/100 (from 28 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
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.

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75/100
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12/24/2021 20:17 sssvnnn  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,81683/100
 
90/100
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11/26/2021 20:21 Larcx13  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,07286/100
  
95/100
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09/16/2020 01:01 jnfbn  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 31496/100
  
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09/15/2020 23:28 Lgk21  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 14195/100
  
95/100
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09/15/2020 17:07 EyeKanFly  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 20788/100

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

Showing all 9 comments |
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Rating:  
90/100
From 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 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 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 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 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 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 06/03/2018 00:19
Great list!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 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 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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Recognised  Decade Charts (2020s)
1. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s: Staff Picks by Billboard (2019)
2. Top 100 Albums of the Decade by Crack Magazine (2019)
3. The Needle Drop's Top Albums Of The 2010s by The Needle Drop (2019)
4. The A.V. Club's 50 best albums of the 2010s by The A.V. Club (2019)
5. Top 50 Albums of the 2010s by The Wild Honey Pie (2019)
6. NME's Greatest Albums of The Decade: The 2010s by New Music Express (2019)
7. Gorilla vs. Bear Albums of the 2010s by Gorilla vs. Bear (2019)
8. The 50 best albums of the decade – 2010 to 2019 by Independent (2019)
9. BrooklynVegan's Top Albums of 2010s by BrooklynVegan (2020)
10. The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s by Pitchfork (2019)
11. All The Best Albums Of The 2010s, Ranked by Uproxx (2019)
12. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s by Rolling Stone (2019)
13. The 100 Best Albums Of The 2010s by Stereogum (2019)
14. The 101 Best Albums of the 2010s by Spin (2020)
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. Top 100 Albums of the 2010s by Consequence of Sound (2019)
18. The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s by Paste (2019)
19. Tiny Mix Tapes 2010s: Favorite 100 Music Releases of the Decade by Tiny Mix Tapes (2019)
20. BEST OF 2011 - 2020: Die besten Alben des Jahrzehnts by laut (2020)
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