Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by mianfei 
This is a rough guide to the 100 greatest albums I have listened to.
Two albums only per artist – with artists related by personnel counted as one – and with the classical recordings one recording per composition.
Especially the lower-ranked albums on the list will be subject to revision as I have a very large backlog of recordings to listen (and re-listen) to.
- Chart updated: 08/30/2024 13:15
- (Created: 05/13/2019 10:35).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
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This album’s importance can be seen in the way it re-uses traditional songs in a unique manner — to tell the story of Britain’s population during World War One, without so much as changing their lyrics. Dolly Collins’ flute-like pipe organ and Shirley’s dark, deep voice are never seen to the same effect as they are here, not merely on ‘A Song-Story’ itself but also on the second side, with the authentic imagery of ‘Ca the Yowes’, ‘Nellie the Milkman’, ‘Rambleaway’ and Robin Williamson’s ‘God Dog’. More than that, the other traditional instruments – viol, sackbutt – blend in so well as to make a record that is both ancient and timeless like nothing else.
[First added to this chart: 05/13/2019]
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This album’s critical significance lay in how it turned soul music — originally a black genre deriving from gospel — into genuine art of pure wonderment in its vocal and piano dynamics. Laura had largely developed her unique sound on the previous year’s masterpiece ‘Eli and the Thirteenth Confession’ (which might have been included without the two-album limit) but ‘Tendaberry’ surpasses even that with its classically-inspired yet exhilarating dynamics and deep detail about New York’s low-lifes on ‘Gibsom Street’, ‘Mercy on Broadway’, ‘Captain Saint Lucifer’ and the title track. Despite the eerie tone of some of the quietest passages — which recall Talk Talk’s ‘Desire’ two decades before the fact — ‘Tendaberry’ remains oddly accessible yet never ceases to amaze the listener. The whole arty singer/songwriter movement — from Björk to Jane Siberry to Julia Holter — would not be what it became without ‘Tendaberry’’s trailblazing.
[First added to this chart: 05/13/2019]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
814
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The first dream-pop record, or the first synth-pop record? Either way, ‘The United States of America’ was a landmark in the turbulent late 1960s, reconstructing the establishing pop/rock genre with primitive synthesisers and violins rather than guitars, pianos and organs. Whereas later synthesiser artists merely re-created guitar rock and made it more mechanical, Joe Byrd and Dorothy Moskowitz created tones that were unique for the time and have never been reproduced: dancing violins and skeletal rhythms over airy vocals that on the slower songs turn almost into a “spoken melody”. Skeletal yet dreamy, accessible yet eccentric, ‘The United States of America’ still sounds ahead of its time half a century later.
[First added to this chart: 05/13/2019]
Year of Release:
1968
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,794
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A landmark like no other in 1960s rock, what makes ‘The Doors’ so outstanding is that — unlike others like the Velvets, the Beatles or even Hendrix — no one has coming close to emulating this sound. ‘Break on Through (to the Other Side‘ has more claims to the title of “first punk song” than anything on ‘The Velvet Underground and Nico’, and the band even surpasses this on the electrified blues of ‘Back Door Man’ and ‘Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)’. Then, there is the inimitable organ epic of ‘Light My Fire’, and the creepy, goth depths of ‘Twentieth Century Fox’ and ‘Soul Kitchen’ that expand the sound of “rock” in a manner no other band was doing in 1966 (when these songs were recorded). A vision of darkness within the sunshine of Los Angeles that was to be a template expanded on in some ways, but never, ever copied, ‘The Doors’ is essential like no other “canonical” Sixties rock album.
[First added to this chart: 05/13/2019]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
27,423
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Although you might call this a “supergroup” with Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny, ‘Liege and Lief’’s immortality rests on it being the first record to seamlessly fuse traditional folk music with rock instrumentation into its own distinct sound. Rather than minor additions of electric guitars, bass and drums to folk, on ‘Liege and Lief’ a complete use of both genres’ instruments is exploited to the full, updating the dark fairytales of “Old England” for a modern audience. The dark infidelity tale of ‘Matty Groves’ recalls what Lloyd and Verlaine were to do on songs like ‘Venus’ and ‘Friction’ a decade later, and the rhythm of ‘Come All Ye’ is as goth in the 1960s yet as catchy as anything on the radio. Then, ‘Tam Lin’ takes you into a fairy realm that will never want to be departed, and ‘Reynardine’ and ‘The Deserter’ truly touch one’s heart with longing for their times.
[First added to this chart: 05/13/2019]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,809
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Joe S. Harrington may have noted this album (with the spelling “Pomeranz”) in his “Top 100 Albums” from the early 2000s, but ‘You Used to Think’ is much more than a mere footnote. Alongside Van Morrison and Laura Nyro — and perhaps Tim Buckley’s mid-period albums — ‘You Used to Think’ was the first record to truly fuse contemporary folk with jazz. However, ‘You Used to Think’ is as far from mystical romanticism as could be imagined. ‘The French Revolution’’s combination of revolutionary politics and revolutionary sexuality is a quarter-century or more ahead of the 1960s, ‘Anything Goes’’ spoken word style speaks to the despair of the 1980s “indie” era, and the angular guitars of ‘The Slippery Morning’ recall female indie rock of the 1980s like the Raincoats. Yet, all along ‘You Used to Think’ never loses sense of melody or atmosphere, and there are three genuinely beautiful pop songs in the title track, ‘Julius’ and ‘To Leonard from the Hospital’ that can make even the hardest-hearted shed tears. Masterful, beautiful, radical like little else.
[First added to this chart: 05/13/2019]
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Sly Stone and his interracial, mixed-gender “Family” had hinted on the preceding underrated ‘Life’ at their potential, but it was ‘Stand!’ where the group really made the simplest yet most touching and energetic call-to-peace of the anti-Vietnam era. ‘Stand!’ itself showed the band mastering call-and-response like few traditional folk harmony groups, whilst ‘I Want to Take You Higher’ is even more ecstatic and energetic with its whizzy background organ and multiple background vocal channels, and ‘Somebody’s Watching You’ is a trip-hop groove a quarter century before the term. ‘Sing a Simple Song’ is the greatest Sixties anthem for racial unity, yet hits harder as funk than James Brown ever did and as vocal harmony it rivals the greatest ethnic artists. Don’t forget the epic ‘Sex Machine’ or closer ‘You Can Make It If You Try’. As a landmark in mixed-race and mixed-gender bands, the Family Stone surpass the Velvets and have never been surpassed, while as a harmony and funk album, ‘Stand!’ retains a unique power.
[First added to this chart: 05/13/2019]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,840
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Although it never dawned on me as a youngster listening occasionally to Hendrix’ hits on the radio, this album truly marks a new age for the guitar. The techniques and amplification Hendrix uses on ‘Are You Experienced’ would be the basis for almost every innovation in electric-guitar-driven music of the future, from heavy rock to the dense layering of such later “alternative” touchstones as Shields, Poss and Ethan Miller. Before ‘Are You Experienced’ rock guitar could never create anything like the sheer variety of textures shown here, and seldom the intensity seen on ‘Foxy Lady’ and ‘Fire’, nor the moody power of ‘Red House’ and ‘Manic Depression’, where Mitch Mitchell creates drum tones that were equally far removed from the British Invasion or from early rock and roll. Yet, despite the remarkable sonic innovation, the songs on ‘Are You Experienced’ always remain seamlessly tight and solid, even soulful. The first album to be truly “heavy” or to “rock” as we know it, and has to be included for that.
[First added to this chart: 05/13/2019]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
22,516
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The greatest jazz album of all time — or was ‘Third Ear Band’ jazz? One thing is certain, that like Messiaen’s solo piano works, ‘Unit Structures’ took a familiar instrument into a completely new dimension. The atonality is often seen as extremely difficult, but similar to though in a completely different manner from ‘Catalog d‘Oiseaux’ or parts of Nyro’s ‘Tendaberry’, actually is oddly accessible, even danceable on aptly named opening track ‘Steps’. Piercing the heights of pitch and dissonance of sound, trumpeter Edward Stevens and reed player Ken McIntyre act as a perfect complement to Taylor’s unique piano intervals all through the ten minutes. ‘Enter, Evening’, though slower, adds to the dance quotient with Taylor’s leaping fingers hitting like no other pianist, and even more variation of texture from the woodwinds than seen on ‘Steps’, and the medley on the second side takes the quotient of atonal ecstasy even further.
[First added to this chart: 05/13/2019]
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As a departure after a hit single, this is virtually unparalleled, yet deservedly one of the most famous recordings of the late 1960s. After his hit ‘Brown-Eyed Girl’, Van Morrison turned to folk music, and ‘Astral Weeks’ set a tradition for fusion of folk with jazz that so many would follow in the 1970s. Yet, the lush orchestrations of ‘Astral Weeks’ remain something whose power — like Laura Nyro’s best music — rewards only the most patient listener, sounding slight on first listens even with Van’s soulful voice. Nonetheless, ‘Astral Weeks’’ status as a record of unique innovation and power is not dimmed by the heights Morrison would achieve on his next album. The urban romanticism of ‘Astral Weeks’ was imbibed with nostalgia on ‘Sweet Thing’, ‘Cypress Avenue’ and ‘The Way Young Lovers Do’, but the epic ‘Madame George’ and the closer and highest point ‘Slim Slow Slider’ are junkie tales so dark as Nyro’s most disturbing songs.
[First added to this chart: 05/13/2019]
Year of Release:
1968
Appears in:
Rank Score:
17,158
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Total albums: 12. Page 1 of 2
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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|
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| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 12 | 12% | |
| 1970s | 30 | 30% | |
| 1980s | 16 | 16% | |
| 1990s | 21 | 21% | |
| 2000s | 10 | 10% | |
| 2010s | 9 | 9% | |
| 2020s | 2 | 2% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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| Van Morrison | 2 | 2% | |
| Steely Dan | 2 | 2% | |
| Sky Cries Mary | 2 | 2% | |
| Talk Talk | 2 | 2% | |
| Roxy Music | 2 | 2% | |
| Julia Holter | 2 | 2% | |
| Joanna Newsom | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
53 | 53% | |
 |
27 | 27% | |
 |
5 | 5% | |
 |
4 | 4% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 1 from 87th to 86th The Power Of The True Love Knot by Shirley Collins |
| Up 1 from 86th to 85th The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle by Bruce Springsteen |
| Up 1 from 23rd to 22nd Funkentelechy Vs. The Placebo Syndrome by Parliament |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 3 from 17th to 20th Laughing Stock by Talk Talk |
| Down 2 from 21st to 23rd Aviary by Julia Holter |
| Down 2 from 85th to 87th Witchy Activities And The Maple Death by Monika Roscher Bigband |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | mianfei | 1970s decade chart | 2023 | |
| Top 65 Music Albums of the 1990s | mianfei | 1990s decade chart | 2021 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | hairymarx1 | Overall chart | 2016 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  The Gollux | Overall chart | 2024 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | boyd94 | Overall chart | 2025 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  paologabriel | Overall chart | 2025 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  AfterHours | Overall chart | 2025 | |
| PPV Overall Ranking | bea | Custom chart | 2021 | |
| Mojo 100 Greatest Albums of All Time (1995) | WayneMC | Custom chart | 2019 | |
| RYM Average Rating | Imaybeparanoid | Custom chart | 2016 | |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
86/100 (from 44 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 44 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
85/100  | 03/06/2025 20:34 | SomethingSpecial | | 85/100 |
95/100 | 11/29/2024 21:59 | oilnoilnoilnoil | | 93/100 |
 100/100 | 01/14/2024 06:23 | shanelovesyou111 | | 82/100 |
| 100/100 | 10/25/2023 17:49 |  sageamagoo | | 92/100 |
| 100/100 | 03/25/2023 12:27 |  LedZep | | 84/100 |
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 has a Bayesian average rating of 86.3/100, a mean average of 84.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 86.4/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 20.0.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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95/100
From oilnoilnoilnoil 11/29/2024 22:00
Awesome chart! Love the comments! I'm coming here for my next music recommendation.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
Hayden 09/14/2024 14:57
Hayden 09/14/2024 14:57
Thank you Mianfei— you may very well be right. That sole entry from the 80s window isn't even technically an album! Please Don't Play "A Rainy Night In Georgia" is much closer to an EP than anything. I only recently removed an 80s album (Accordion & Voice by Pauline Oliveros), albeit from early on in the decade.
Candidates from that window? MBV's You Made Me Realise, Swordfishtrombones, Lubomyr Melnyk's The Voice Of Trees, maybe After Dinner's s/t— but I'm not going to act like the mid-80s were my favourite time for music. I lean far more towards the vibe of '80-82.
Hope you find something you like though. I have about 3-4 albums being swapped out somepoint soon. Going through a slight rejig.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From sageamagoo 01/15/2024 19:59
sageamagoo 01/15/2024 19:59
Hejira blew my mind, clearly a landmark work of fusion and poetry! This is exactly the kind of music I've spent my life searching for. Hearing the essential contributions women have made to music could not be more important to me, and your chart is full of exactly that.
Not hard to tell when someone's true passion lies in exploring the depths of this world's music. Your chart is learned with a lifetime of research and I will happily reference it for my own pursuits.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From zrommeke 03/25/2023 11:41
Impressive, interesting, inspiring!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From uphill 01/05/2023 15:26
Laika, Linda Perhacs, Joanna Newsom... lots of stuff that i would also rate high...
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
70/100
From Santiago 08/26/2021 04:57
I have discovered some artists that seem interesting and I am looking forward to listen to their records. On the other hand there are some artists that I know, but I think they are just OK and not good enough to be considered for the top positions of a "Greatest Music Album" chart. Thanks for posting this chart!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
75/100
From Moondance 07/06/2021 00:28
A thought provoking chart and your commentary on the first 50 albums reveals the deepest reflection in your music journey and should be applauded. I was a little disappointed not to see a single Australian artist/album make the top 100 grade.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From 
seb7 07/05/2021 21:34
seb7 07/05/2021 21:34
Not my picks, but a diverse chart nonetheless. Love seeing Hejira getting love.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
DommeDamian 07/05/2021 21:23
DommeDamian 07/05/2021 21:23
Oh my god this is great work buddy!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From Johnnyo 07/05/2021 15:54
Really nice and unique chart. I like it a lot
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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