Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by BLO 
Here's my personal list of favorite albums. I understand I don't have much past the 70's, so let me know if there's anything newer you think I'd like!
Here are the albums on this list that I consider the most underappreciated that I think you should check out:
Forca Bruta
Our Mother the Mountain
Sunflower
You Don't Mess Around with Jim
Cold Fact
Coming from Reality
Evensong
Heron
Reves/yosoy
Chicago/Chicago II
Exuma
American III: Solitary Man
Un Segundo MTV Unplugged
- Chart updated: 03/28/2024 02:45
- (Created: 11/17/2017 03:34).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 24 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 91 out of 100 (from 46 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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Simon and Garfunkel may have hated each other's guts at this point, but that did not stop them from making a flawless album with some of the best vocal harmonies put to vinyl. The title track is a stunning song that is especially wonderful as it is a love song that can be applied to anyone special in your life-friends, family, and strangers alike. This album has songs that will make you jump out of your bed and dance like no one is watching, in addition to songs reflecting on the struggle of living in America in the 1960s.
[First added to this chart: 11/21/2017]
Year of Release:
1970
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,209
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Comments:
95
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After the Gold Rush and Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere are two sides of the same Neil Young coin. While Gold Rush is a beautiful, serene, and occasionally heavy album, this album is heavy and occasionally serene. Neil Young wrote most of the albums while delirious, and the song structures on most tracks are deceptively simple. However, the guitar playing is phenomenal and the chemistry with crazy horse is impeccable. The softer tracks are also beautiful and heartbreaking.
There are 2 songs this album is rightfully known for: Down by the River and Cowgirl in the Sand. I'll let the guitar speak for itself. [First added to this chart: 10/14/2018]
There are 2 songs this album is rightfully known for: Down by the River and Cowgirl in the Sand. I'll let the guitar speak for itself. [First added to this chart: 10/14/2018]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,363
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It's incredible to think that Stevie Wonder, a man born blind, has such an incredible grasp on songwriting and racism. The man can't even see why certain people hate him, it must be an extremely baffling concept to him more than the average person. Yet his commentary on songs such as "Visions" and "Living for the City" are spot on when it comes to institutional racism. The system ensures that people of color are born into poverty, and imprisoned if they try to leave it. Aside from the political messaging, this album is utterly perfect musically. Living for the City is extremely passionate, and Stevie's vocal performance is inhuman. Golden Lady has an atmosphere unlike any song I've ever heard. The two closing tracks are uplifting and carefree after so many downer moments on the album. This is a perfect 44 minutes everybody should not just experience once, but over and over again until their speakers burn out.
[First added to this chart: 09/14/2020]
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,944
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Let it Be is an album that is widely hated-and loved- inside and outside the Beatles fandom. I think a big portion of the people who hate the album hate it mainly because of Phil Spector's production. Sure, there are some useless filler tracks on that album, and the track order is wack as hell and makes no sense, but Spector was definitely the worst part of that album. For half the tracks he put an extremely over the top orchestra behind everything, and for the other half it sounds like he mixed it underneath a swamp (looking at you Across the Universe).
So here we have Let it Be...naked. As the title implies, the album is heavily stripped down from Spector's over the top production. Across the Universe finally sounds beautiful and transcendent, Long and Winding Road is a low-key good-bye, and Billy Preston's fantastic keyboard playing is more prominent than ever. In addition, the track listing makes much more sense now. Get Back makes for a great opener, and Let it Be is the perfect closer. Best of all, my personal favorite Beatles track (Don't Let Me Down) is included on the album in place of those throwaway jams. If you loved or hated Let it Be, I implore you to listen to this version. It fixes everything wrong with the original. [First added to this chart: 11/18/2017]
So here we have Let it Be...naked. As the title implies, the album is heavily stripped down from Spector's over the top production. Across the Universe finally sounds beautiful and transcendent, Long and Winding Road is a low-key good-bye, and Billy Preston's fantastic keyboard playing is more prominent than ever. In addition, the track listing makes much more sense now. Get Back makes for a great opener, and Let it Be is the perfect closer. Best of all, my personal favorite Beatles track (Don't Let Me Down) is included on the album in place of those throwaway jams. If you loved or hated Let it Be, I implore you to listen to this version. It fixes everything wrong with the original. [First added to this chart: 11/18/2017]
Year of Release:
2003
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,213
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This is what happens when you cross Pet Sounds with Magical Mystery Tour.
[First added to this chart: 11/18/2017]
Year of Release:
1968
Appears in:
Rank Score:
15,308
Rank in 1968:
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The release itself is pretty good, but the fan mixes of this album have opened my eyes to see that this could have been the greatest album ever, and even as a missed opportunity it is brilliant.
[First added to this chart: 02/11/2018]
Year of Release:
2011
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,316
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Over an hour of music and not a single dull moment. An unapologetic combination of sounds from different cultures and eras of music, brought together with a heaping helping of punk. This album will make you want to smash your bass guitar because god damn you can never be as good as The Clash at their peak.
[First added to this chart: 11/19/2017]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
36,260
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[First added to this chart: 02/12/2023]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,739
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I cannot believe this madman simply decided to stop being a writer and become a singer-songwriter instead. Without any knowledge of how to sing, play guitar, or write a melody! Then he goes and releases one of the best pieces of folk to graze anyone's ears. He literally calls the album "Songs of Leonard Cohen" just to rub your nose in the fact that he is the one who wrote "Susanne", one of the greatest songs of all time. The man was clearly a poet, by the time you finish deciphering the meaning behind the second song on the album the thing is finished, begging you to give it another spin.
[First added to this chart: 06/23/2018]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,224
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Comments:
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Listening to Gene Clark's other work, it's hard to believe that he had something like this album inside of him. His other solo works sound like mid-tier Byrd albums. But something happened to Mr. Clark when he made this album. It's almost as if suddenly he poured his entire pure, misunderstood soul into the recording booth, backed by soaring, lush instrumentation. His vocal performance on this album is unlike anything I have ever heard, especially on "Strength of Strings" and "Some Misunderstanding". He sounds so vulnerable, so desperate, yet so powerful and wise. It breaks my heart that Gene Clark died thinking this album was a failure. I hope David Geffen has trouble sleeping at night for what he did to Clark and his magnum opus.
[First added to this chart: 02/24/2022]
Year of Release:
1974
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,639
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Comments:
Total albums: 100. Page 2 of 10
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 22 | 22% | |
| 1970s | 54 | 54% | |
| 1980s | 8 | 8% | |
| 1990s | 5 | 5% | |
| 2000s | 3 | 3% | |
| 2010s | 4 | 4% | |
| 2020s | 4 | 4% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
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|
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| The Beatles | 7 | 7% | |
| The Beach Boys | 5 | 5% | |
| Electric Light Orchestra | 4 | 4% | |
| The Rolling Stones | 3 | 3% | |
| Neil Young | 3 | 3% | |
| Simon & Garfunkel | 3 | 3% | |
| Jorge Ben | 3 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
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| |
42 | 42% | |
 |
37 | 37% | |
 |
6 | 6% | |
 |
6 | 6% | |
 |
4 | 4% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 1 from 96th to 97th Expensive Shit by Fela Kuti & Africa 70 |
| Down 1 from 97th to 98th OK Computer by Radiohead |
| Down 1 from 98th to 99th Norman Fucking Rockwell! by Lana Del Rey |
| New entries |
|---|
 Five Leaves Leftby Nick Drake |
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- BEA Top 100 Reorganized According To My Taste by bonnequestion (2024)
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
91/100 (from 46 votes)
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.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 46 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 90/100  | 04/02/2023 16:57 | Johnnyo | | 80/100 |
| 90/100 | 04/02/2023 16:14 |  Tamthebam | | 85/100 |
| 90/100 | 04/02/2023 14:29 |  Goliath | | 86/100 |
| 85/100 | 11/07/2022 21:08 |  Applerill | | 75/100 |
| 100/100 | 06/05/2022 16:04 |  EyeKanFly | | 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 91.2/100, a mean average of 91.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 92.4/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 8.7.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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90/100
From Johnnyo 04/02/2023 16:57
Great chart.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
85/100
From mrmcrook 03/26/2021 01:09
Love your notes. Gave me good insight to a few I'll be checking out
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From BLO 12/07/2020 00:03
Thanks for your comment Boltzmann! I can see why the wording of my description confused you, but I have obviously listened to every album front to back on every one of my charts. I meant that I hadn't listened to most of the albums in the top 500 or so in the overall chart, and thus don't be angry if I don't put Loveless or whatever on my chart.
I'm sorry you found my chart "bland". Feel free to hit me with any recommendations that aren't dull!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From leniad 12/05/2020 03:29
like a lot of your choices but i think half 1970s is a lot, and the 70s are my favourite decade jajaja
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From BraddlesHendo 12/05/2020 02:04
I’m going out to buy that Chicago album ASAP . Great list
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From StefanR10 12/04/2020 21:22
StefanR10 12/04/2020 21:22
Really cool here. I found one new album from a band from Mexico but the rest is everything i can go with. Beatles, Radiohead, Neil Young and David Bowie superb collection.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
85/100
From 
sssvnnn 12/04/2020 20:09
sssvnnn 12/04/2020 20:09
Very classical and Beatlesque chart...
I like it. You love good songs and melodies: Same as me.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
Boltzmann 12/04/2020 17:18
Boltzmann 12/04/2020 17:18
"Here is a list of my favorite albums, I haven't listened to them all"... that's not how that works, I'd say drop one of these sentences. Impressive how your chart is still extremely predictable and bland.
Sunflower by The Beach Boys is great though, and indeed underappreciated. This mf was making shoegazing in the '70s.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From 
seb7 12/04/2020 15:57
seb7 12/04/2020 15:57
Almost perfect list. I agree with almost every pick!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From ThuramThugood 04/19/2020 02:33
Pretty good. Not a fan of Fleet Foxes myself, as they remind me of stroking stoats in the West Country. Good to see Forever Changes by Love ranked so high.
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| Best Artists of 1976 | |
|---|---|
| 1. Stevie Wonder | |
| 2. David Bowie | |
| 3. Ramones | |
| 4. Eagles | |
| 5. Boston | |
| 6. Genesis | |
| 7. Rush | |
| 8. Bob Dylan | |
| 9. The Modern Lovers | |
| 10. Joni Mitchell | |
| 11. Thin Lizzy | |
| 12. Electric Light Orchestra | |
| 13. Rainbow | |
| 14. AC/DC | |
| 15. Steely Dan | |
| 16. Led Zeppelin | |
| 17. Queen | |
| 18. Jean Michel Jarre | |
| 19. Jorge Ben | |
| 20. Aerosmith |