Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by 
Droophus 
One of the core missions of this site is to use tons of subjective lists, created by users, reviewers, and music publications to create the most objective list of the best ever albums. When I created my list I accepted that it’s based entirely on my musical upbringing and tastes, but I sought to add the air of objectivity by imposing a methodology to the ranking.
First off I want to describe my personal values and tastes when it comes to music in order to shed some light on where the initial list of 100 best albums comes from. The two key elements for me boil down to fun and power. Those are vague terms for sure, so let me try and explain them. Fun encompasses things like catchiness, how toe tappin it is, does the artist seem to have a good sense of humor and a joie de vivre. The original spirit of early rock n’ roll was uptempo good time rebel music for the youth. That’s my favorite flavor of music and the more an artist embodies that ethos the more likely they are to wind up on this chart. That’s why you see on this chart Beatles over Stones or Ramones over Floyd.
Power can be split into two categories sonically forceful adrenaline pumping and emotional resonance. Good heavy metal isn’t always fun to listen to but if they are doing it right it’ll make you want to rip off your shirt and go screaming into battle. Emotional resonance is the most subjective, the most personal, it’s simply what moves you. A really long, slow song may not be very much fun but if it moves your soul or heart it doesn’t necessarily need to move your feet. John Prines’s Aimless Love album might be the best example on this list of not being very fun, or having any adrenaline pumping tunes, but it hits like a freight train to the heart.
To start this list I just rated every album I owned that I felt like I was familiar enough with to accurately rate. From there I filled the chart with my highest rated albums and roughly sorted them with gut feeling and long held beliefs. This first draft chart troubled me though. I couldn’t rationalize why I put Help! ahead of Sgt. Peppers. I wanted a way to sort based on more concrete factors, so I set about to rating every song on my top 100 chart. Then I could take each album and give it a base score which is the average rating of all the songs on the album. This just gave me a more refined data point, but still very subjective. So I created a methodology that would add at least the air of objectivity.
Average the song scores
Bonus points for perfect songs, plus one for every one, first is 101, second 102 etc.
Loss of bonus points for songs rated 70 or lower, first is 69, second 68 etc.
Times 1.1 if deemed really unique.
Times 1.1 if considered really bold or unusual for the artist.
Times 1.15 if considered revolutionary.
Times 1.1 if top 5 of the genre.
Times 1.1 if considered culturally indispensable.
Times 1.1 if it’s got a Je ne sais quoi deep in the soul feeling.
Times .9 if not a true studio album.
Times .9 if under 10 songs.
Still fairly subjective and unscientific, but it helped give me some rational way to sort albums better.
- Chart updated: 03/28/2020 20:15
- (Created: 12/16/2019 01:46).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There is 1 comment for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 89 out of 100 (from 3 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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[First added to this chart: 12/15/2019]
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[First added to this chart: 01/12/2020]
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[First added to this chart: 01/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,165
Rank in 1971:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 12/15/2019]
Total albums: 5. Page 1 of 1
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 5 | 5% | |
| 1960s | 15 | 15% | |
| 1970s | 42 | 42% | |
| 1980s | 23 | 23% | |
| 1990s | 15 | 15% | |
| 2000s | 0 | 0% | |
| 2010s | 0 | 0% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Bob Dylan | 6 | 6% | |
| The Beatles | 5 | 5% | |
| John Prine | 5 | 5% | |
| The Who | 4 | 4% | |
| Ramones | 3 | 3% | |
| The Damned | 2 | 2% | |
| The Wailers | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 22 from 96th to 74th Revolver by The Beatles |
| Up 22 from 94th to 72nd New York Dolls by New York Dolls |
| Up 21 from 99th to 78th Strictly Business by EPMD |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 22 from 75th to 97th Wiggle by Screeching Weasel |
| Down 21 from 78th to 99th Berry Is On Top by Chuck Berry |
| Down 19 from 79th to 98th The "Chirping" Crickets by The Crickets |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | Droophus | 1970s decade chart | 2020 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | Madrocker | Overall chart | 2019 | |
| The Top 100 Albums | VH1 | Overall chart | 2001 | |
| The most important and influential rock/pop albums ever. | garycottier | Custom chart | 2016 |  |
| Generic List | glynspsa | Custom chart | 2018 | |
| ƵnotMⅡne」Los 100 mejores discos de la historia |  II | Custom chart | 2025 | |
| The 100 All-Time Greatest Albums | Entertainment Weekly | Overall chart | 2013 | |
| Top 100 Albums (Online Amalgam) | musicologist97 | Custom chart | 2019 |  |
| Most Acclaimed Music Albums | Imaybeparanoid | Custom chart | 2015 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  RFNAPLES | Overall chart | 2013 | |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
89/100 (from 3 votes)
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Showing all 3 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
100/100  | 07/09/2020 20:34 |  jnfbn | | 96/100 |
100/100 | 03/28/2020 22:35 | DJENNY | | 100/100 |
100/100 | 03/28/2020 20:20 |  buzzdainer | | 90/100 |
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100/100
From buzzdainer 03/28/2020 20:24
buzzdainer 03/28/2020 20:24
This is a really fun chart to sift through! I really appreciate the thoroughness with which you've approached the task of identifying your 100 top albums, and while we wound up with rather different charts, it's interesting to see the places where we agree. Purple Rain is one that we both love, and I think it's very cool that people with very different musical tastes can agree is an uncontroversial classic. "When Doves Cry" had to be one of the most singularly beautiful and creative things ever recorded.
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