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)
There are 14 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 93 out of 100 (from 24 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

View the complete list of 57,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.

Share this chart
Collector's summary (filtered)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!
This chart is currently filtered to only show compilation albums. (Remove this filter)
Sort by
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
heartbreaking, yet paradoxically life-affirming in a quiet empathetic sort of way. makes me cry in ways I don't fully understand [First added to this chart: 07/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1991
Appears in:
Rank Score:
89
Rank in 1991:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
so this is actually a sort of expanded quasi-reissue of 2 separate collections of recordings taken in the 50s of the BaMbuti of Northeastern Congo. As is occasionally the case with folkways, there is an element of exoticization in the way these recordings are presented, as well as a centering of the white dude who took the recordings rather than the actual musicians (this is somewhat remedied in the above reissue), but all that considered, the actual music contained herein is fucking fantastic. I'll write more on the specifics later but basically if you're into harmonically complex polyphonic singing that lulls you into a trance paired the occasional dope percussion jam then please listen. and even if you're not into that shit please listen because after this maybe you will be :O [First added to this chart: 07/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1992
Appears in:
Rank Score:
93
Rank in 1992:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
this album was later reissued as "Women in Electronic Music" so as to reflect the fact that everyone here is a woman, but quite frankly I'm ready to believe that this wasn't a planned arrangement so much as there just happens to genuinely be that many absurdly creative and comically ahead of their time women sitting at the earliest beginnings of a bajillion separate trends in electronic music. and beyond just being innovative everything here is genuinely so fucking good. some of these tracks are available in various forms elsewhere, if not necessarily contained in any proper LP format, so more than being some kind of greatest hits album or even "history of electronic music" compilation designed purely for educational purposes, it really does feel like an expertly curated assortment of deep cuts and legendary (or at least legendary if you have an interest in early electronic music) historical tracks. this was assembled with love, flows from track to track like the best of albums, and i guarantee you that if this thing was all male composers reissues of it would never have tacked on "men in electronic music". not sure what my point is here beyond my point with all of these albums which is Listen To This also music of the spheres is a top 10 track of all time objectively [First added to this chart: 07/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1977
Appears in:
Rank Score:
107
Rank in 1977:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 07/12/2020]
Year of Release:
2011
Appears in:
Rank Score:
80
Rank in 2011:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
CAN U FEEELLLL ITTTTT [First added to this chart: 07/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1998
Appears in:
Rank Score:
77
Rank in 1998:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
27. (=)
Motherlode 
Compilation
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 05/29/2022]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
80
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 12/19/2020]
Year of Release:
2003
Appears in:
Rank Score:
67
Rank in 2003:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 12/19/2020]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
85
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
32. (=)
Family Tree 
Compilation
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 07/12/2020]
Year of Release:
2007
Appears in:
Rank Score:
94
Rank in 2007:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 07/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
100
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 24. Page 1 of 3
Don't agree with this chart? Create your own from the My Charts page!

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%
Country Albums %


United States 48 48%
Mixed Nationality 11 11%
United Kingdom 3 3%
Jamaica 3 3%
Japan 2 2%
Russia 2 2%
Germany 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

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similarity to your chart(s)


Not a member? Registering is quick, easy and FREE!


Why register?


Register now - it only takes a moment!

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Average Rating: 
93/100 (from 24 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).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 24 ratings for this chart.

Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberChart ratingsAvg. chart rating
The chart has been updated since this rating was assigned   
85/100
 !
02/08/2025 07:29 SomethingSpecial   1,10585/100
The chart has been updated since this rating was assigned   
100/100
 !
02/06/2025 12:29 LedZep   1,10484/100
The chart has been updated since this rating was assigned   
100/100
 !
12/23/2024 23:18 Exist-en-ciel   14398/100
The chart has been updated since this rating was assigned   
95/100
 !
08/24/2024 22:17 TheKing   7890/100
The chart has been updated since this rating was assigned   
95/100
 !
08/05/2024 05:53 babsfanatic87   298/100

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 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.

Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites

Showing all 10 members who have added this chart as a favourite

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 14 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

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
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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?
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment

Your feedback for Top 100 Greatest Music Albums

Anonymous
Let us know what you think of this chart by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!
Log in or register to assign a rating or leave a comment for this chart.
Email  Address
Forgotten passwords and other site notifications are sent to the email address saved on your profile.

If you've changed your email address recently, please remember to update it on your profile page.

(If you can't remember your password, and your email address is out of date, please contact us for assistance getting back into your account).
Back to Top