Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by Ashmark Unknown

Music is often about time and place. This means that some of my choices resonate with me more or less than they may touch you. Still, I am sure we can mostly agree that great music is timeless! About timing, I think Vic Chesnutt captured it best: “when I ran off and left her, she wasn’t holding a baby. She was holding a bottle and a big grudge against me.”
*This is a chart of the 100 or so albums that I need to be happy. My other charts are records of highly rated albums which I may rate highly, occasionally enjoy or put on the list as a reminder to listen to when I have time. All these charts will evolve.
There are 10 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 86 out of 100 (from 14 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 02/16/2018]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
24,862
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (86/100 - 3506 votes)  86 (3,506 votes)
Comments:
Buy album United States
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A work of genius. Absorbing from beginning to end. [First added to this chart: 02/16/2018]
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
42,826
Rank in 1972:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (90/100 - 3556 votes)  90 (3,556 votes)
Comments:
Buy album United States
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I have played this hundreds of times. It never disappoints. Knopfler’s guitar and Withers’ drums are perfect. [First added to this chart: 02/16/2018]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
828
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
4. (5) Up 1
Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 01/28/2020]
Year of Release:
2000
Appears in:
Rank Score:
41,442
Rank in 2000:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (89/100 - 4479 votes)  89 (4,479 votes)
Comments:
Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 02/18/2018]
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
59,402
Rank in 1973:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (92/100 - 5340 votes)  92 (5,340 votes)
Comments:
Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 02/18/2018]
Year of Release:
1997
Appears in:
Rank Score:
63,131
Rank in 1997:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (92/100 - 5656 votes)  92 (5,656 votes)
Comments:
Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 02/16/2018]
Year of Release:
1994
Appears in:
Rank Score:
17,956
Rank in 1994:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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  • #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 02/18/2018]
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
44,229
Rank in 1975:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (91/100 - 4065 votes)  91 (4,065 votes)
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Devoted a year of my life almost exclusively listening to this and her earlier albums. No regrets. [First added to this chart: 02/16/2018]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
18,037
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (85/100 - 1419 votes)  85 (1,419 votes)
Comments:
Buy album United States
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One of a kind. A marmite band-I love the early albums. [First added to this chart: 02/16/2018]
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
33,349
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (88/100 - 2932 votes)  88 (2,932 votes)
Comments:
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 8 8%
1970s 28 28%
1980s 25 25%
1990s 17 17%
2000s 10 10%
2010s 11 11%
2020s 0 0%
Country Albums %


United Kingdom 44 44%
United States 40 40%
Canada 8 8%
Mixed Nationality 5 5%
Australia 1 1%
Jamaica 1 1%
Ireland 1 1%
Compilation? Albums %
No 95 95%
Yes 5 5%
Live? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest climbers
Climber Up 27 from 100th to 73rdSubstance
by New Order
Climber Up 5 from 69th to 64thLet's Dance
by David Bowie
Climber Up 3 from 88th to 85thDiamond Life
by Sade
Biggest fallers
Faller Down 18 from 75th to 93rdViet Cong
by Viet Cong
Faller Down 15 from 77th to 92ndArrow
by Heartless Bastards
Faller Down 12 from 82nd to 94thCommon As Light And Love Are Red Valleys Of Blood
by Sun Kil Moon
New entries
New entry The Doors
by The Doors
New entry Slowhand
by Eric Clapton
TitleSourceTypePublishedCountry
Rearrange Top 100 Larcx13Custom chart2020
BEA's Top 100 re-ranked EyeKanFlyCustom chart2020
Overall for yours truly RoundTheBendCustom chart2020
BEA's Top 100 - The Correct Order babyBlueSedanCustom chart2020
BEA top 100 reranked - 2020 LedZepCustom chart2023
Re-Ranking BEA's Top 100sunnydhammCustom chart2020
Top 100 Greatest Music Albumstim0505Overall chart2025
My Ranking of the BEA top 100 sszwalbenestCustom chart2021
My Personal Ranking of Best Ever Albums' Top 100 Xxnu99etxXCustom chart2022
BEA Top 100 Reorganized According To My TastebonnequestionCustom chart2025

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Average Rating: 
86/100 (from 14 votes)
  Help 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).
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RatingDate updatedMemberChart ratingsAvg. chart rating
 
85/100
 !
03/20/2025 22:29 SomethingSpecial   1,09685/100
 
85/100
 !
07/09/2020 12:47 Goliath   35186/100
 
95/100
 !
06/20/2020 15:13 WillyMac   9586/100
 
95/100
 !
03/26/2020 19:28 Fincher   5385/100
The chart has been updated since this rating was assigned   
90/100
 !
01/28/2020 15:34 TheSmiths82-87   1,83083/100

Rating metrics: Help 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 has a Bayesian average rating of 86.2/100, a mean average of 86.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 86.4/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 6.4.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing all 7 comments |
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Rating:  
95/100
From 06/20/2020 15:17 | #253986
This is an excellent list, and not just because we have 20 artists in common. Your inclusion of Jane Siberry and The Weakerthans, which do not make my top 100 but are very good and underappreciated on BEA, is surprising in a good way. The biggest thing that I'm taking away from your list is that I need to listen to Car Seat Headrest...
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 02/23/2018 22:34 | #209364
Although I defintitely like this chart. I think it's a bit unfair to only use Greatest Hits compilations, because then you're simply ranking bands instead of albums. Anyway, just my opinion. Nevertheless, you've got a great taste for music!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 02/22/2018 05:13 | #209177
The Kiss - 3am, full volume, deserted freeway. Awesome musical space and time moment. (Lights on though lol). Possibly my favourite driving song. Nice chart! Pretty much like everything on here.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 02/20/2018 20:21 | #208976
10 bonus points for Whip Smart. I love that album. It's so Superior to her first album but I don't know why everyone seems to hate it. I'm the only person I know that likes it. At least until now. Lol
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 02/16/2018 17:27 | #208458
I'm liking what I see here. I am not a huge fan of some of it. But thats obvious. But the Prefab Sprout and Smiths is nice and of course I'm a great lover of Wilco and that Winehouse record.

I'm looking forward to your top 40 when you're ready. And of course your top 50 and then 100 when that comes.

Anyway, glad to have you around.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 02/16/2018 15:43 | #208447
I'm not a really fan of war by U2 haha but thanks for all the comments. Nice taste too!
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Rating:  
80/100
From 02/16/2018 02:50 | #208408
Nice list, and thank you for the kind comments on some of mine! You've got lots of great classic rocks here. You've also got some later 80's stuff that's pretty good. Relating to that, I think I have a couple albums you might like. They fall under the genre of shoegaze, which is essentially kind of a continuation of what the Cocteau Twins, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and Echo and the Bunnymen where doing in the 80's. If you haven't checked it out, I think you might like it.

Slowdive - Just For A Day. A great one to start out with. It has some similarities with the Cure and Bunnymen, but more dreamy. Their follow up to this one, Souvlaki, is also wonderful, but maybe a little more different from what you have on your chart.
Ride - Nowhere. A pretty good shoegaze record that comes from the britpop end of the spectrum. I personally don't love it too much but many people do, and I think it's a great starting point.
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless. My #1 of all time at the moment. This is an album that I would give at least a couple listens; its well worth it, even if you don't "get" it first time around.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Artists of 1991
1. Nirvana
2. My Bloody Valentine
3. Pearl Jam
4. Slint
5. U2
6. A Tribe Called Quest
7. Talk Talk
8. Red Hot Chili Peppers
9. Metallica
10. Massive Attack
11. Primal Scream
12. R.E.M.
13. Guns N' Roses
14. Soundgarden
15. Pixies
16. Michael Jackson
17. Temple Of The Dog
18. Mercury Rev
19. Queen
20. Crowded House
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