Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by 
jbfarmer 
Growing up in a small town in Idaho, I’m surprised that my music taste ever became what it is. My dad was a music major for a few years in college, so I guess that combined with my obsession with the piano from a young age kinda just evolved over the years. There was a point where I was the only person I knew that liked my music outside of my family. I collected records and checked out this website all by myself. Eventually I had friends that I could relate to with this stuff. Feel free to check out their charts, too! keatownrodriguez and pjohnsongolf
A lot of these albums mean a lot to me and have been the soundtracks to important phases of my twenty years of life. There’s always more work to be done on this chart, but I can feel pretty good about it for now. After making this chart, I feel more like I just wrote an autobiography so I hope you can enjoy my story.
- Chart updated: 08/27/2022 18:45
- (Created: 07/13/2018 07:02).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 2 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 88 out of 100 (from 3 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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I really like this debit from Courtney Barnett. It was angsty, tender, or playful at just the right moments. She really forged a unique sound, and her accent sticking around when she sings is a nice bonus. The lyrics are probably some of the best I’ve ever seen, and I really like how she tells her stories. Another one of those summer work albums for me. I listened to this album on repeat when I got stuck on a boring task sitting in a chair outside for an hour at a time or so. Seriously, though, this album always gets me head-banging on”Pedestrian at Best” and “Depreston” puts me in a totally different pool of thoughts. Really nice variety.
Favorite Tracks: Elevator Operator, Pedestrian at Best, Depreston, Small Poppies [First added to this chart: 12/13/2018]
Favorite Tracks: Elevator Operator, Pedestrian at Best, Depreston, Small Poppies [First added to this chart: 12/13/2018]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,895
Rank in 2015:
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Comments:
52
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This is my brother’s absolute very album of all time, and also his favorite band. As a consequence to that fact, I’ve heard it many, many times, and it just keeps getting better. These guys are nuts! The production is perfection, the songwriting is downright gorgeous, and overall I think these guys are the complete package. This album gives me winter vibes, as opposed to my many summer albums I have on this list. Most of my memories with these tunes are from my Sophomore year when we had a crazy snow year (8 Snow Days where we didn’t go to school) so we listened to a lot of music with our friends in the basement. A lot of those tracks that Keaton played were The 1975 songs that he was just starting to discover. We’ve had a lot of fun keeping up with their newest releases, and A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships has been my favorite by them at times, but I think this albums takes the cake these days because of the beautifully simple moments it contains.
Favorite Tracks: Love Me, She’s American, Somebody Else, Paris [First added to this chart: 03/10/2022]
Favorite Tracks: Love Me, She’s American, Somebody Else, Paris [First added to this chart: 03/10/2022]
Year of Release:
2016
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,092
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I love The Police to death. I had a compilation Cd of their stuff with some Sting songs on it, too. I listened to that a lot the winter of my Freshman year. I have a lot of good memories going for drives in the snow with my cousin and shooting guns with him at the range when it was cold while listening to The Police. This is also the odd reason that “Fields of Gold” always makes me think of winter. Synchronicity is a great album, but I think I like the songs that I like on Zenyatta Mondatta even more. Sting is one of my favorite vocalists, Andy Summers is probably my favorite guitarist ever, and Stewart Copeland is easily one of my favorite drummers. These guys had tons of talent and refused to do what everyone else was doing. The result of this was a timeless sound and some really great records.
Favorite Tracks: Don’t Stand so Close to Me, Driven to Tears, Bombs Away, Canary in a Cole Mine [First added to this chart: 12/13/2018]
Favorite Tracks: Don’t Stand so Close to Me, Driven to Tears, Bombs Away, Canary in a Cole Mine [First added to this chart: 12/13/2018]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,650
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I think all instrumental albums aspire to do what Chon did with this one. In my opinion, this is math rock at it’s best. The melodies are catchy, the grooves are solid, and the virtuosity of the music doesn’t ever get in the way of the music itself. I also love that they took it down and played acoustic a little while in there. So much instrumental music out there is hard to remember it seems insignificant. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE instrumental music. But when there aren’t vocals or lyrics, a songwriter has to make up for that with other things to keep a listener’s interest. Chon did it right. This album is unforgettable.
Favorite Tracks: Ghost, Rosewood, Petal, If [First added to this chart: 02/17/2022]
Favorite Tracks: Ghost, Rosewood, Petal, If [First added to this chart: 02/17/2022]
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Another really great instrumental album. If you’re not familiar with him, William Joseph is a super-talent. He is a wonderful pianist and even better writer. He got his big break with David Foster in his early 20’s and you can hear some of David’s influence in the album. Piano solo songs with orchestra and a drum kit. William himself sometimes calls it “classical pop”. I was about 11 when my piano teacher gave me a William Joseph sing to learn. I got really curious and watched a lot of his YouTube videos and decided I wanted to be William Joseph when I grew up. I saw him in concert, started writing music, and long story short got an opportunity to play my original music for him. He like it enough that he taught me songwriting lessons for a couple years after that. I was so lucky to learn from someone I looked ho to so much. But I was his biggest fan before I was his student, and you’ll see why if you listen to this album.
Favorite Tracks: Within, Eternal, Piano Fantasy, Se Si Perde Un Amore [First added to this chart: 03/10/2022]
Favorite Tracks: Within, Eternal, Piano Fantasy, Se Si Perde Un Amore [First added to this chart: 03/10/2022]
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Andy Hackbarth is probably the most talented Indie singer-songwriter that comes to my mind. He would tour to my little town in Idaho, and eventually I got to work with him a little bit and open for some of his shows. Well before our friendship kicked off, I listened to his album “The Last Love Song” constantly throughout elementary school on a little MP3 player I got for Christmas. His sound on Treadmill Horses is a little different than his other stuff. Think “campfire music on the Oregon Trail” and you might get an idea for how a couple of the tracks feel. I think everyone should here Andy’s stuff, and this album is a great place to start. You won’t be disappointed, so please just GO LISTEN TO IT!
Favorite tracks: 1939, Lolita, My Baby Don’t Run [First added to this chart: 12/13/2018]
Favorite tracks: 1939, Lolita, My Baby Don’t Run [First added to this chart: 12/13/2018]
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Too much time spent screaming “DEBASER” with my friends in the car to not love this album this much. Pixies are just fun all the time, and are always there when I need an energy shot. Great stuff.
Favorite Tracks: Debaser, This Monkey’s Gone to Heaven, Wave of Mutilation, Crackity Jones [First added to this chart: 12/13/2018]
Favorite Tracks: Debaser, This Monkey’s Gone to Heaven, Wave of Mutilation, Crackity Jones [First added to this chart: 12/13/2018]
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
36,803
Rank in 1989:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
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Thanksgiving break in Denver senior year. Figured we’d go fund some random local band and see how it was. Didn’t know any of their music. Sat down, got BLOW AWAY! We were not expecting to live this band so much, but holy cow we’re they good! Indie band with a retro 70’s sound. Clean guitar motifs, great grooves, and great vocal texture. Such a fun memory and such a fun album.
Favorite Tracks: My Emotions are Blinding, please Don’t Ruin This For Me, Island Music [First added to this chart: 12/13/2018]
Favorite Tracks: My Emotions are Blinding, please Don’t Ruin This For Me, Island Music [First added to this chart: 12/13/2018]
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She’s brilliant, she’s exceptional, she’s a queen.
Favorite tracks: Babooshka, The Wedding List, Army Dreamers
Favorite tracks: Babooshka, The Wedding List, Army Dreamers
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,503
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Comments:
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This might come as a shocker, but my favorite Queen song of all time is “Killer Queen”. Our school out on an air concert some years, and we wanted to do a few songs for it. Our main act was “Killer Queen”. We got all dressed up, and had three of us standing out there, but my brother was dressed up as Freddie Mercury backstage. He didn’t come out until the song started, and the school went insane. He really surprised everybody and lived up his moments as Freddie. We had such a good time, and our friend that had already graduated sat in the front row and was grinning ear to ear. Plus, “Brighten Rock” is a total jam, so I really don’t have a hard time saying this is Queen’s best album. This is right where it belongs for me.
Favorite Tracks: Killer Queen, Brighten Rock, Stone Cold Crazy [First added to this chart: 12/13/2018]
Favorite Tracks: Killer Queen, Brighten Rock, Stone Cold Crazy [First added to this chart: 12/13/2018]
Year of Release:
1974
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,087
Rank in 1974:
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Total albums: 100. Page 2 of 10
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 2 | 2% | |
| 1960s | 7 | 7% | |
| 1970s | 19 | 19% | |
| 1980s | 14 | 14% | |
| 1990s | 9 | 9% | |
| 2000s | 20 | 20% | |
| 2010s | 23 | 23% | |
| 2020s | 6 | 6% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Journey | 1 | 1% | |
| Pixies | 1 | 1% | |
| Arcade Fire | 1 | 1% | |
| Elvis Presley | 1 | 1% | |
| Carpenters | 1 | 1% | |
| Death Cab For Cutie | 1 | 1% | |
| Rage Against The Machine | 1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 1 from 19th to 20th Sheer Heart Attack by Queen |
| Down 1 from 20th to 21st Eddie And The Cruisers by John Cafferty And The Beaver Brown Band |
| Down 1 from 21st to 22nd Talking Book by Stevie Wonder |
| New entries |
|---|
 Never For Everby Kate Bush |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
88/100 (from 3 votes)
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
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N.B. The average rating for this chart will not be reliable as it has been rated very few times.
Showing all 3 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
100/100  | 12/19/2023 03:28 | ChiefyArchie | | 100/100 |
80/100 | 09/24/2022 14:21 |  mutley88 | | 79/100 |
 100/100 | 04/11/2022 16:16 |  Larcx13 | | 86/100 |
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100/100
From ChiefyArchie 12/19/2023 03:32
Never in history has more thought and time been put into a greatest albums of all time chart. This man is a legend and the only reason I ever found this website. The pure craziness and drastic differences from one artist to the next should tell you how much he knows music. I don’t have all the same favorite artists or albums, but I have major respect for this chart.
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80/100
From mutley88 09/24/2022 14:49
mutley88 09/24/2022 14:49
This is everything a BEA chart should be, though a lot of the albums on here aren't my cup of tea, the personal comments make it great would've rated 100 if every album had a comment. Came to this through a shared love for the Chicago album and would probably have skipped through it if not for the comments. I get how experience shapes the music we come to love, for example "Take Me Home Country Roads" A tune I once regarded with disdain has become a favourite memory now of a drunken karoake night in Thailand. I would like to return here years from now to see how it evolves over a time. If BEA had been around in my 20's it would have been a completely different chart to the one now, probably contain a lot more cheesy 80's synthpop.
Hope that is a typo in the Nirvana comment & that your brother loved & not lived a long time ago, was bit worried there. Never knew Robert Smith did a song with Blink 182.
as a postscript while typing this had that Plini album playing in the background, it's a grower. Nice one
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A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.