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.

• Summary
• Composition
• Ratings
• Favourites
• Comments
• Your feedback

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

This chart is currently filtered to only show non soundtrack albums. (Remove this filter)

Sort by

• Overall Rank
• Num. Charts
• Avg. Rating
• Num. Ratings
• Release Date
• Title
• Artist
• Date Added

1. (=)

7 

 Beach House

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

"I had a good run playing horses in my mind
On a hillside I remember
I am loving losing life."

Favorite Track: Dark Spring, L'Inconnue, Drunk in LA [First added to this chart: 05/03/2018]

Year of Release:

2018

Appears in:

463 charts

Rank Score:

3,245

Rank in 2018:

4

Rank in 2010s:

77

Overall Rank:

552

Average Rating:

 80 (674 votes)

Comments:

71

2. (=)

In Dreams 

 Roy Orbison

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

"The twilight is gone and no songbirds are singing."

Favorite Tracks: Dream, In Dreams, Blue Bayou [First added to this chart: 10/02/2019]

Year of Release:

1963

Appears in:

106 charts

Rank Score:

445

Rank in 1963:

14

Rank in 1960s:

291

Overall Rank:

3,313

Average Rating:

 74 (96 votes)

Comments:

4

3. (=)

Pet Sounds 

 The Beach Boys

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

"I know perfectly well I'm not where I should be."

Favorite Tracks: I Just Wasn't Made For These Times, You Still Believe In Me, Caroline No [First added to this chart: 08/22/2017]

Year of Release:

1966

Appears in:

2,779 charts

Rank Score:

45,058

Rank in 1966:

2

Rank in 1960s:

5

Overall Rank:

11

Average Rating:

 88 (3,197 votes)

Comments:

354

4. (=)

Lonerism 

 Tame Impala

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

"Everything is changing
And there’s nothing I can do
My world is turning pages
While I am just sitting here."

Favorite Tracks: Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control, Apocalypse Dreams, Endors Toi [First added to this chart: 08/21/2017]

Year of Release:

2012

Appears in:

1,349 charts

Rank Score:

16,814

Rank in 2012:

2

Rank in 2010s:

7

Overall Rank:

79

Average Rating:

 85 (1,847 votes)

Comments:

184

5. (=)

The Queen Is Dead 

 The Smiths

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

"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:

2,425 charts

Rank Score:

39,071

Rank in 1986:

1

Rank in 1980s:

1

Overall Rank:

17

Average Rating:

 88 (2,836 votes)

Comments:

264

6. (=)

Souvlaki 

 Slowdive

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

"Your messed-up world will thrill me."

Favorite Track: Machine Gun, When The Sun Hits, Souvlaki Space Station [First added to this chart: 08/21/2017]

Year of Release:

1993

Appears in:

882 charts

Rank Score:

12,285

Rank in 1993:

4

Rank in 1990s:

22

Overall Rank:

117

Average Rating:

 85 (980 votes)

Comments:

76

7. (8) 1

Disintegration 

 The Cure

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

"You make me feel like I'm living at the edge of the world...
'It's just the way I smile,' you said."

Favorite Tracks: Pictures of You, Plainsong, The Same Deep Water As You [First added to this chart: 08/21/2017]

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,761 charts

Rank Score:

27,756

Rank in 1989:

2

Rank in 1980s:

4

Overall Rank:

32

Average Rating:

 86 (1,966 votes)

Comments:

150

8. (9) 1

All Mirrors 

 Angel Olsen

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

"I'm just living in my head."

Favorite Tracks: Chance, Lark, Spring [First added to this chart: 10/23/2019]

Year of Release:

2019

Appears in:

281 charts

Rank Score:

1,282

Rank in 2019:

13

Rank in 2010s:

211

Overall Rank:

1,359

Average Rating:

 79 (270 votes)

Comments:

16

9. (7) 2

Heaven Or Las Vegas 

 Cocteau Twins

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

"I want to love, I've all the wrong glory
But is it Heaven or Las Vegas?
But you're much more brighter than the sun is to me."

Favorite Tracks: Frou-frou Foxes In Midsummer Fires, Cherry-coloured Funk, Heaven or Las Vegas [First added to this chart: 08/21/2017]

Year of Release:

1990

Appears in:

784 charts

Rank Score:

9,829

Rank in 1990:

2

Rank in 1990s:

32

Overall Rank:

160

Average Rating:

 84 (816 votes)

Comments:

52

10. (=)

An Invitation To Her's 

 Her's

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

"I wouldn't dream this any other way."

Favorite Tracks: Under Wraps, Blue Lips, Harvey [First added to this chart: 10/02/2019]

Year of Release:

2018

Appears in:

7 charts

Rank Score:

86

Rank in 2018:

244

Rank in 2010s:

2,802

Overall Rank:

13,168

Average Rating:

 73 (7 votes)

Comments:

0

• « prev
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• ...
• 9
• 10
• next »
• Goto Page: 

Total albums: 98. Page 1 of 10

Don't agree with this chart? Create your own from the My Charts page!

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%
Cocteau Twins	3	3%
Radiohead	3	3%
Frank Sinatra	3	3%
The Beach Boys	3	3%
Tame Impala	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

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts

• Top 84 Music Albums of the 2010s by Cosmo (2019)
• Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by martinjaa (2023)
• Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by LukasAntoine00s (2023)
• Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by quincytejani (2020)
• Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Franz-Aussie (2018)
• Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by benschrier00 (2019)
• Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by SUPERJEFF6 (2024)
• Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by TheNowhereGuy (2020)
• Albums To LIsten To for One Peach Martine Pt 1 by smrtboi2120 (2022)
• Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s by flamingyesdept (2024)

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.

Sort ratings

• Rating
• Date updated
• Member

Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
75/100	12/24/2021 20:17	sssvnnn	2,824	83/100
90/100	11/26/2021 20:21	Larcx13	1,092	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.

• Related links:
• Top charts

Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites

Showing all 3 members who have added this chart as a favourite

Cheboygan74

boppare

travelful

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing all 9 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Maximum Rated First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

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)

Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment

Your feedback for Top 100 Greatest Music Albums

Let us know what you think of this chart by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!