Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by KitchenSink Unknown

wanted to write more detailed notes but that didn't seem to be happening and I was tired of having this be private so idk consider the chart to be in beta or something. will expand on whatever thoughts and blurbs are here and fill out the rest as soon as the 'ol brain decides I can. it's been a weird and exhausting few years for everyone

(will probably reorder drastically once I unlock the full 100. or not who knows tbh)
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Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 01/14/2023]
Year of Release:
2013
Appears in:
Rank Score:
105
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Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 01/14/2023]
Year of Release:
1995
Appears in:
Rank Score:
112
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Comments:
Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 07/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
116
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Comments:
Buy album United States
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free jazz consisting entirely of percussion, sublime in its simplicity and how easily it burrows its way into your brain, dynamic yet hypnotic. not a single snare hit or cymbal crash feels out of place [First added to this chart: 07/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1965
Appears in:
Rank Score:
122
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Comments:
Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 07/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1991
Appears in:
Rank Score:
321
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 07/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1991
Appears in:
Rank Score:
128
Rank in 1991:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Anthony brings in the computers again and boy is it a hoot [First added to this chart: 07/12/2020]
Year of Release:
2011
Appears in:
Rank Score:
86
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Buy album United States
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this album has been with me so long I don't even know how to talk about it anymore so even when I eventually expand these blurbs who knows what will be here. probably just a recording of me humming the synth melody from the jungle line at 3AM and then immediately passing out.

if you know me you know that's as firm an endorsement as any
[First added to this chart: 07/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,481
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Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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ok listen this dude's status as the "father of electronic" music is vastly overstated given all the electronic pioneers that predated him and established the musical frameworks he built upon, B U T originator or not he's just really fucking good. hell his best pieces here aren't even the electronic ones. if anything his approach to percussion is way more distinctly innovative than his approach to electronics and tape music. but honestly like the bleep bloops are also incredible so I don't even know what I'm getting. feel like I'm talking a lot of shit for a collection of music i adore so much lmao
it's good music you should listen to it
[First added to this chart: 07/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1998
Appears in:
Rank Score:
192
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Comments:
Buy album United States
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the master Levan gets Sly & Robbie in the studio and inflects immaculately produced slickly sung disco with just a touch a dub and the results quite literally forever changed how I listen to music [First added to this chart: 07/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
119
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Total albums: 76. Page 1 of 8
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Decade Albums %


1930s 0 0%
1940s 0 0%
1950s 1 1%
1960s 7 7%
1970s 20 20%
1980s 9 9%
1990s 27 27%
2000s 15 15%
2010s 15 15%
2020s 4 4%
Artist Albums %


Various Artists 6 6%
OutKast 1 1%
Abner Jay 1 1%
Chico Buarque 1 1%
John Coltrane 1 1%
1.8.7. 1 1%
Sortsind 1 1%
Show all
Country Albums %


United States 48 48%
Mixed Nationality 11 11%
United Kingdom 3 3%
Jamaica 3 3%
Germany 2 2%
Brazil 2 2%
France 2 2%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 76 76%
Yes 24 24%
Live? Albums %
No 95 95%
Yes 5 5%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 97 97%
Yes 3 3%

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

There have been no changes to this chart.
TitleSourceTypePublishedCountry
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s KitchenSink1990s decade chart2024Unknown
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s KitchenSink1970s decade chart2025Unknown
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s KitchenSink1980s decade chart2024Unknown
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s KitchenSink1960s decade chart2025Unknown
Top 30 Hip Hop Albums of the 90'ssaltysurpriseCustom chart2019
Best Hip-Hop Albums of All Time joannajewsomCustom chart2020Unknown

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Average Rating: 
93/100 (from 24 votes)
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02/08/2025 07:29 SomethingSpecial   1,10585/100
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02/06/2025 12:29 LedZep   1,10484/100
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12/23/2024 23:18 Exist-en-ciel   14398/100
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08/24/2024 22:17 TheKing   7890/100
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08/05/2024 05:53 babsfanatic87   298/100

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This chart is rated in the top 1% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 93.3/100, a mean average of 95.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 96.5/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 7.6.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

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Rating:  
90/100
From 08/24/2025 11:19 | #310634
One of a kind chart. Love it!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 02/06/2025 12:38 | #307437
Genuinely one of the coolest lists around. Could easily imagine my overall chart looking something like this (in spirit, at least) if it was focused more on the recent discoveries and forgotten gems, rather than on the stuff I've been loving since the high school lol.

Also this is maybe the first chart on BEA where there are only 3 metal albums (if I counted right), and I haven't heard 2 of them. Good shit, gotta finally listen to that Sortsind album and research Abruptum (have no idea who they are).

I'm not too big on house, but that Frankie Knuckles set is killer. I'll surely give it another go someday.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 08/22/2022 10:16 | #288816
love love love it gabe!! big shout out to the mikeq & rp boo here :)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 08/17/2022 16:47 | #288557
Fascinating chart. Probably the most original chart that I have seen. Great stuff
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Rating:  
100/100
From 06/29/2021 15:47 | #271149
Keep the comments coming. They make an enjoyable read, and get me excited for all this music I haven't heard yet.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 06/29/2021 15:32 | #271148
Messiaen and Geto Boys together in the top 10 is very funny.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 06/29/2021 10:41 | #271143
Awesome chart, dude! Everything I look for in a good chart (my main criteria is unique, often non-canon picks that give me an idea of the person behind the chart). I've saved it to my favourites for future reference 'cause there's a whole tonne I haven't heard on here.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 02/09/2021 11:36 | #266058
This is really the rare true one-of-a-kind chart, and I love seeing that because it is so rare and so interesting.

For a start, the combination of genres is utterly unlike anything I have ever seen before on this site or any other, and one hardly knows from whom it is “coming” upon reading it, especially without notes (and the lack of notes is really one of only two quibbles about this chart). Secondly, I have never really seen a chart with so much music so completely unknown to myself, even with some albums where I have actually heard of the relevant artist. Thirdly, in a manner that reminds me slightly of the numerous rare live albums in David Keenan’s 2003 “The Best Albums Ever...Honest” this chart is notable for the presence of several remix albums that are very rarely seen on any sort of greatest album chart.

As an all-time chart, I do not really quibble about the numerous compilations on this list as they can often be the only or merely best way to represent many artists. I do have more reservations about various-artists albums, because they are likely to be much less unified statements than even a compilation by one artist.

As a last word, re Messiaen, ‘Catalogue d‘Oiseaux’ is undoubtedly my favorite classical recording, but I wonder if you have heard the 1994 rendition by Carl-Axel Dominique or the 2001 by Paul Kim which I have been exceedingly impressed by without having heard it fully?
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Rating:  
95/100
From 02/02/2021 17:42 | #265596
wierd fuckin list dude. I love it.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (2 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
From 01/27/2021 16:19 | #265180
Really dug the Lacelot Layne comp. Jimmy and I had a quick note on it in the 'what album are you listening to' thread, but that gets buried within a second. Great stuff. Also gave Cree Records' recent Ben Molatzi comp a spin too and really dug that (total different genre, just... same label).

As for Amalia, fado in general might be one of the rare genres of music that doesn't translate directly to disc very well (which may be why there aren't too many fado records...), but the live recording makes it explode. Helps that she put on a stellar performance (and that somebody actually recorded it). It needs that layer overtop of humanity watching to make it pop. Not sure there's ever been a better example of the genre in album form (Busto, Encontro & Com Que Voz are all excellent too though, and Celeste Rodrigues' 1958 live record Lisbon's Great Celeste Rodrigues comes in a solid second for me). If you ever have the chance to stop by Lisbon or Porto and catch a live fado performance at some sort of weird underground cramped hole in the wall bar after a couple shots of whoknowswhat, I'd recommend it. It isn't stadium concert stuff, it's important it's intimate.

I'll keep refining the poems. Should be able to be happy with them all eventually. As new entries come along, they get something written for them as well.
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Best Ever Albums
1. OK Computer by Radiohead
2. The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd
3. Abbey Road by The Beatles
4. Revolver by The Beatles
5. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
6. In Rainbows by Radiohead
7. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars by David Bowie
8. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles
9. Kid A by Radiohead
10. The Velvet Underground & Nico by The Velvet Underground & Nico
11. Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys
12. Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) by Led Zeppelin
13. Nevermind by Nirvana
14. The Beatles (The White Album) by The Beatles
15. Funeral by Arcade Fire
16. The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths
17. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel
18. Doolittle by Pixies
19. To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar
20. London Calling by The Clash
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