Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by Mark6313 
- Chart updated: 03/06/2019 22:45
- (Created: 08/26/2017 23:43).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 12 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 90 out of 100 (from 33 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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My favorite album of all time. By a lot. There is no more of an emotional experience for me in music than what this album brings. A relatively unknown man read the diary of an innocent girl, stuck in the worst events of human history and had a visceral reaction. Along with this his friend had recently killed himself. Jeff Mangum becomes music's Salinger and creates a cult masterpiece before retiring from the craft and escaping the public eye.
The album represents a conflict between Anne's love of life and the peace of death his friend longed for. The question is "Is our existence worth it?" and the answer is "It's difficult but yes." The story deeply analyzes the beauty of sex and nature, human connection, loss from death, spirituality, ways of finding meaning, and the deepest evil found in men on its way to creating the most compelling description of the human experience you will find in musical art. The two-headed boy becomes one of the most intricate and beautiful characters in art. This is a HEAVY album with a lot to process beyond its meme status.
https://medium.com/@joelsettlemoir/analysis-of-neutral-milk-hotels-in-the-aeroplane-over-the-sea-82923c0661af
This is the best explanation I have found. If you really want to understand this album then I really recommend the read.
Favorite Songs: Two Headed Boy Pt 2, Oh Comely, Holland 1945, ITAOTS, The King of Carrot Flowers Pt 1 [First added to this chart: 09/05/2017]
The album represents a conflict between Anne's love of life and the peace of death his friend longed for. The question is "Is our existence worth it?" and the answer is "It's difficult but yes." The story deeply analyzes the beauty of sex and nature, human connection, loss from death, spirituality, ways of finding meaning, and the deepest evil found in men on its way to creating the most compelling description of the human experience you will find in musical art. The two-headed boy becomes one of the most intricate and beautiful characters in art. This is a HEAVY album with a lot to process beyond its meme status.
https://medium.com/@joelsettlemoir/analysis-of-neutral-milk-hotels-in-the-aeroplane-over-the-sea-82923c0661af
This is the best explanation I have found. If you really want to understand this album then I really recommend the read.
Favorite Songs: Two Headed Boy Pt 2, Oh Comely, Holland 1945, ITAOTS, The King of Carrot Flowers Pt 1 [First added to this chart: 09/05/2017]
Year of Release:
1998
Appears in:
Rank Score:
32,859
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Average Rating:
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I dismissed this album on first listen. I was one of the people who said that it was boring and not as good as GKMC because it lacked replay value. I was so wrong.
The album follows a young man who sees the problems going on with industry, for the black community, and especially within himself. He goes on a journey from u to i and decided he will pimp himself to be a guiding light for the future of black men. The record is as inspiring as it is sonically advanced.
Kendrick created the most emotionally and socially compelling concept album of the past decade and in rap history. I thought Illmatic would forever be the best rap album but this takes the cake.
Favorite Tracks: U, Wesley's Theory, These Walls [First added to this chart: 09/05/2017]
The album follows a young man who sees the problems going on with industry, for the black community, and especially within himself. He goes on a journey from u to i and decided he will pimp himself to be a guiding light for the future of black men. The record is as inspiring as it is sonically advanced.
Kendrick created the most emotionally and socially compelling concept album of the past decade and in rap history. I thought Illmatic would forever be the best rap album but this takes the cake.
Favorite Tracks: U, Wesley's Theory, These Walls [First added to this chart: 09/05/2017]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
31,451
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I know I have a lot of Radiohead but it's hard to justify many albums over top tier Radiohead of floyd.
Favorite Tracks: Reckoner, Jigsaw Falling into Place, 15 Step, Nude [First added to this chart: 09/05/2017]
Favorite Tracks: Reckoner, Jigsaw Falling into Place, 15 Step, Nude [First added to this chart: 09/05/2017]
Year of Release:
2007
Appears in:
Rank Score:
43,867
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The number one album on this website, on RYM, and on the internet in general. I personally feel that Radiohead's follow up is better, but this album definitely puts up a good case for its status. The band warns of a future where people sit in a 9-5 job they hate just to get by while slowly deteriorating. The powerful use of double-layering on "Let Down" and the iconic peak of "Karma Police" just one track later demonstrate the reason this is one of the highest moments in modern music. The best song on this album, Paranoid Android, showcases Yorke's finest songwriting. The structure of the song, separated into four overbearing sections mimic "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Happiness is a Warm Gun." .....And the final section. Wow. Perhaps the best moment of Radiohead's career. "Rain down," Yorke cries with palpable feelings of claustrophobia ending in a cynical stanza delivered by a character mimicking Marvin from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Overall an exceptional piece of art.
Favorite Tracks: Paranoid Android, Let Down, The Tourist [First added to this chart: 09/05/2017]
Favorite Tracks: Paranoid Android, Let Down, The Tourist [First added to this chart: 09/05/2017]
Year of Release:
1997
Appears in:
Rank Score:
63,618
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Average Rating:
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This album, along with Abbey Road, are the two most iconic images in rock. Pink Floyd prove their mastery of every sound you could imagine, creating a very advanced record for the time period in terms of instrumentation and incredibly smooth blending of the tracks. The orchestral feel of songs like "Us and Them" and the crescendos in the final two tracks of the album are breathtaking.
Lyrically, this album is a warning. The first three tracks represent the tendency of people to waste their lives "You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today And then one day you find ten years have got behind you No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun." Universally chilling and an extremely compelling idea. The Great Gig represents death in one of the most beautiful singing preformances found on a rock record.
The second half of the album gives us examples of harmful pieces of human life. Money, the root of all evil. Us and Them, the constant black and white outlook on the world where you're with or against a cause, idea, or person. Brain Damage, insanity. All of this leads to the sun, a symbol of hope, becoming eclipsed, leaving us only with the dark side of the cold, dead moon.
Favorite Tracks: Time (the best song ever written), Us and Them, Brain Damage, Eclipse [First added to this chart: 09/05/2017]
Lyrically, this album is a warning. The first three tracks represent the tendency of people to waste their lives "You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today And then one day you find ten years have got behind you No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun." Universally chilling and an extremely compelling idea. The Great Gig represents death in one of the most beautiful singing preformances found on a rock record.
The second half of the album gives us examples of harmful pieces of human life. Money, the root of all evil. Us and Them, the constant black and white outlook on the world where you're with or against a cause, idea, or person. Brain Damage, insanity. All of this leads to the sun, a symbol of hope, becoming eclipsed, leaving us only with the dark side of the cold, dead moon.
Favorite Tracks: Time (the best song ever written), Us and Them, Brain Damage, Eclipse [First added to this chart: 09/05/2017]
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
60,051
Rank in 1973:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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I listened to this and OK Computer for the first time in one sitting. I liked OK Computer despite thinking Thom's voice was annoying. However, I didn't care for this album at all, I wasn't sure how it was music. I checked out Radiohead as Rolling Stone ranked Kid A as the best album of the 2000's and upon first listen I thought they were just being ridiculous Rolling Stone.
Finally it clicked. This album is like no other in my opinion. There is a clear story in this album despite what Yorke might say. Try to really delve into the lyrics. The song "Kid A" is the biggest give-away. "We've got heads on sticks and you've got ventriloquists," is essentially the story. The album creates a cold ambiance to enforce lyrics that depict an Orwellian future where individuality and freedom are suppressed. You realize that we are in the future that OK Computer warned about. The album reflects an elite class pulling the strings of history and providing "fodder for the animals, living on animal farm." (direct Orwell reference)
The emotions of the album can be cut with a knife. The experimentation and boldness of the album is unsurpassed. The lyrics, if you ignore Yorke's misinformation, create a hauntingly disturbing but unfortunately true picture of our world.
Radiohead would be the best artist of the 2000's if they only released this album. This album is the 2000's and beyond.
Favorite Tracks: Everything in it's Right Place, Kid A, How to Disappear Completely, Optimistic, Idioteque [First added to this chart: 09/05/2017]
Finally it clicked. This album is like no other in my opinion. There is a clear story in this album despite what Yorke might say. Try to really delve into the lyrics. The song "Kid A" is the biggest give-away. "We've got heads on sticks and you've got ventriloquists," is essentially the story. The album creates a cold ambiance to enforce lyrics that depict an Orwellian future where individuality and freedom are suppressed. You realize that we are in the future that OK Computer warned about. The album reflects an elite class pulling the strings of history and providing "fodder for the animals, living on animal farm." (direct Orwell reference)
The emotions of the album can be cut with a knife. The experimentation and boldness of the album is unsurpassed. The lyrics, if you ignore Yorke's misinformation, create a hauntingly disturbing but unfortunately true picture of our world.
Radiohead would be the best artist of the 2000's if they only released this album. This album is the 2000's and beyond.
Favorite Tracks: Everything in it's Right Place, Kid A, How to Disappear Completely, Optimistic, Idioteque [First added to this chart: 09/05/2017]
Year of Release:
2000
Appears in:
Rank Score:
42,304
Rank in 2000:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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The lyrical wordsmithing on this song is unparalleled. There are two 10/10's in the rap genre and this is one of them. Nas perfected rapping when he was only 19 and delivers what is generally the consensus choice for the peak of the genre. NY State of Mind is a top 5 hip-hop song.
Favorite Tracks: NY State of Mind, It Ain't Hard to Tell [First added to this chart: 09/05/2017]
Favorite Tracks: NY State of Mind, It Ain't Hard to Tell [First added to this chart: 09/05/2017]
Year of Release:
1994
Appears in:
Rank Score:
16,337
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Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
18,147
Rank in 1985:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
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Year of Release:
2001
Appears in:
Rank Score:
7,677
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
10. (=)
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[First added to this chart: 11/28/2017]
Year of Release:
2010
Appears in:
Rank Score:
22,674
Rank in 2010:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
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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 | 1 | 1% | |
| 1960s | 12 | 12% | |
| 1970s | 16 | 16% | |
| 1980s | 11 | 11% | |
| 1990s | 21 | 21% | |
| 2000s | 27 | 27% | |
| 2010s | 12 | 12% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Radiohead | 6 | 6% | |
| The Beatles | 4 | 4% | |
| Pink Floyd | 4 | 4% | |
| Bob Dylan | 3 | 3% | |
| Kanye West | 3 | 3% | |
| Neutral Milk Hotel | 2 | 2% | |
| Kendrick Lamar | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 71 from 92nd to 21st Blond by Frank Ocean |
| Up 32 from 49th to 17th Ænima by Tool |
| Up 4 from 22nd to 18th Blonde On Blonde by Bob Dylan |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 10 from 12th to 22nd The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars by David Bowie |
| Down 10 from 13th to 23rd Rumours by Fleetwood Mac |
| Down 8 from 8th to 16th Funeral by Arcade Fire |
| New entries |
|---|
| Hounds Of Love by Kate Bush |
| The Glow Pt. 2 by The Microphones |
| Undun by The Roots |
| The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me by Brand New |
| Leavers |
|---|
| The Suburbs by Arcade Fire |
| The Stranger by Billy Joel |
| The Joshua Tree by U2 |
| The Doors by The Doors |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
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.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 33 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 04/27/2025 12:53 |  DommeDamian | 1,004 | 89/100 |
| ! | 01/11/2022 17:32 | GthanSwagson | 15 | 97/100 |
| ! | 02/17/2021 19:21 | sweetness | 75 | 84/100 |
| ! | 02/05/2020 00:37 |  Rhyner | 1,456 | 99/100 |
| ! | 02/04/2020 21:09 | pctrooper | 332 | 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 3% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 89.6/100, a mean average of 90.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 90.7/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 8.6.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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From GthanSwagson 01/11/2022 17:33 | #279156
This is probably the best chart I've seen on this site. Our top albums are super similar!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
gidgidi 06/21/2019 12:30 | #237990
gidgidi 06/21/2019 12:30 | #237990
I love this chart, 46 albums in common. Maybe update the Radiohead captions to match the ranking :)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Shattypants 01/15/2019 23:55 | #229734
Amazing chart
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From DommeDamian 01/15/2019 11:52 | #229712
DommeDamian 01/15/2019 11:52 | #229712
OMG Yes yes yes
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
ForegroundNoise 01/15/2019 09:50 | #229706
ForegroundNoise 01/15/2019 09:50 | #229706
I'd already left a rating but since it's chart of the day I thought I'd leave a comment too.
Such an amazing chart, I forgot how personal your notes were too so I've upped the rating to 95/100. Great inclusions of classic rock alongside hip hop that's great to see.
Fantastic stuff!!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From LedZep 04/09/2018 19:15 | #212602
LedZep 04/09/2018 19:15 | #212602
It's very diverse which I really like. Good choice with the best Metallica album. Ride The Lightning is my fave too :)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From panapsal 04/09/2018 17:50 | #212595
nice classic chart !! very balanced choices ...
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Ulf 02/21/2018 09:53 | #209065
Great chart and interesting to read all the text.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
JulianR 01/08/2018 03:31 | #204968
JulianR 01/08/2018 03:31 | #204968
Nice picks! Your NMH comments need some updating though :)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
Strangel 12/24/2017 12:05 | #203812
Strangel 12/24/2017 12:05 | #203812
Great chart. Need to leave room for increasing my rating once you’ve made comments for each album.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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| Best Artists of the 1980s | |
|---|---|
| 1. The Smiths | |
| 2. Prince | |
| 3. Pixies | |
| 4. The Cure | |
| 5. Talking Heads | |
| 6. U2 | |
| 7. Metallica | |
| 8. Kate Bush | |
| 9. R.E.M. | |
| 10. The Stone Roses | |
| 11. Sonic Youth | |
| 12. Michael Jackson | |
| 13. Bruce Springsteen | |
| 14. Iron Maiden | |
| 15. Prince And The Revolution | |
| 16. Tom Waits | |
| 17. Joy Division | |
| 18. New Order | |
| 19. Talk Talk | |
| 20. Rush |
