Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by
Spyglass 
My chart is ordered from best to worst. These albums I have chosen are albums that go above and beyond the boundaries of music, and have brilliance to share in whatever forms they take. All of the albums I've chosen are very special to me in one way or another, even if they're outside of my comfort zone, because a comfort zone doesn't matter when you're trying to comprehend all forms of music.
I've added little stories that describe my feelings when listening to each album. They're quite odd, but I love a little odd now and then.
- Chart updated: 11/11/2020 00:15
- (Created: 04/03/2020 22:07).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
The user that created this chart is banned. This chart does not count towards the overall rankings.
There are 28 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 93 out of 100 (from 45 votes). Please log in or create an account to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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Hard Rock
"I went out for a drive to the bar, and a song about a stairway to heaven played on the radio in my truck. When the song was over, I turned the radio off to let the song soak in my mind. The scenery I had experienced when hearing the song lingered in my mind until I opened the bar doors, reminded of the western saloon entrance. I saw Music himself drinking a gin and tonic. He wasn't the Devil, contrary to most people's assumption, but that dazzling grin on his face carried a vanity unmatched. Despite the shudder down my spine, I sat down next to him and bought a drink. As soon as I sat down, I heard that same strange song from the radio playing in the bar. I asked Music, 'How did you write something so incredible?' He showed me that infamous grin of his and simply replied. 'God makes better music than the devil.'" [First added to this chart: 04/03/2020]
"I went out for a drive to the bar, and a song about a stairway to heaven played on the radio in my truck. When the song was over, I turned the radio off to let the song soak in my mind. The scenery I had experienced when hearing the song lingered in my mind until I opened the bar doors, reminded of the western saloon entrance. I saw Music himself drinking a gin and tonic. He wasn't the Devil, contrary to most people's assumption, but that dazzling grin on his face carried a vanity unmatched. Despite the shudder down my spine, I sat down next to him and bought a drink. As soon as I sat down, I heard that same strange song from the radio playing in the bar. I asked Music, 'How did you write something so incredible?' He showed me that infamous grin of his and simply replied. 'God makes better music than the devil.'" [First added to this chart: 04/03/2020]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
35,960
Rank in 1971:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Baroque Pop
"I could be a friend to the whole world if I wanted. I could be a friend to all the little boys and girls, the guys at the pub, the ladies at the beach... but the world doesn't want that, so I'll strum along with my own love and have a chat with my old friend, Sloop John B. We could talk about the social and political advancements in relationships with chicks, the unimportance of marijuana and its brothers, and the joy of rambling on as a tool for maintaining focus. As the bells jingle and the horns honk, we find a new meaning to life and a musical outlook on siblinghood. And to all that, I say, Yes. It would be nice." [First added to this chart: 04/03/2020]
"I could be a friend to the whole world if I wanted. I could be a friend to all the little boys and girls, the guys at the pub, the ladies at the beach... but the world doesn't want that, so I'll strum along with my own love and have a chat with my old friend, Sloop John B. We could talk about the social and political advancements in relationships with chicks, the unimportance of marijuana and its brothers, and the joy of rambling on as a tool for maintaining focus. As the bells jingle and the horns honk, we find a new meaning to life and a musical outlook on siblinghood. And to all that, I say, Yes. It would be nice." [First added to this chart: 04/03/2020]
Year of Release:
1966
Appears in:
Rank Score:
36,079
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Folk Pop / Singer-Songwriter
"I remember my first vist to a meditation chamber. I'll never forget what that ghostly voice said to me when I sat down on the center of the sheep's wool carpet: Lay down, and close your eyes. Ignore the thunder and rain, and imagine yourself in a meadow, in the arms of the one you trust the most. You could be swimming in your woman's tears, you could be wishing you were someone else, or you could be gently stroking a woman for something vaguely dirty. Either way, you've got some powerful emotion you want to let out. There are many ways to unleash it and calm your nerves, so I suggest you try, and you'll find yourself in that meadow again." [First added to this chart: 04/03/2020]
"I remember my first vist to a meditation chamber. I'll never forget what that ghostly voice said to me when I sat down on the center of the sheep's wool carpet: Lay down, and close your eyes. Ignore the thunder and rain, and imagine yourself in a meadow, in the arms of the one you trust the most. You could be swimming in your woman's tears, you could be wishing you were someone else, or you could be gently stroking a woman for something vaguely dirty. Either way, you've got some powerful emotion you want to let out. There are many ways to unleash it and calm your nerves, so I suggest you try, and you'll find yourself in that meadow again." [First added to this chart: 04/03/2020]
Year of Release:
1970
Appears in:
Rank Score:
11,598
Rank in 1970:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Art Rock / Experimental Rock
"Do not tell me the intangible can't be broken. We have broken the sound barrier by tormenting our instruments to the point of no return to sanity. All they can play now is our distress. We have broken the thoughts and wills of people by the whips in our hands and the heels of our boots. We break hearts, and we break apart truths to twist them into our lies. And so, why can we not break the boundaries of music?" [First added to this chart: 04/04/2020]
"Do not tell me the intangible can't be broken. We have broken the sound barrier by tormenting our instruments to the point of no return to sanity. All they can play now is our distress. We have broken the thoughts and wills of people by the whips in our hands and the heels of our boots. We break hearts, and we break apart truths to twist them into our lies. And so, why can we not break the boundaries of music?" [First added to this chart: 04/04/2020]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
36,930
Rank in 1967:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Cool Jazz
"There there, I know your pain. And I'm here to tell you that someone else out there shares your pain. You're not alone. My saxophone and I have been everywhere. We know the look of a brother in need of a hug. There's no other look in an eye like the brotherless soul. If you don't know who your brother in this world is, I'll take his place until you find him. And something that helps me overcome my abysmal levels of sorrow is to talk through my saxophone, so it can talk back to me. It works every time." [First added to this chart: 04/03/2020]
"There there, I know your pain. And I'm here to tell you that someone else out there shares your pain. You're not alone. My saxophone and I have been everywhere. We know the look of a brother in need of a hug. There's no other look in an eye like the brotherless soul. If you don't know who your brother in this world is, I'll take his place until you find him. And something that helps me overcome my abysmal levels of sorrow is to talk through my saxophone, so it can talk back to me. It works every time." [First added to this chart: 04/03/2020]
Year of Release:
1959
Appears in:
Rank Score:
20,963
Rank in 1959:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Indie Rock / Chamber Pop
"For a little while, I remembered what it was like to be a teenager. But I wasn't living in a big city. I was in a poem written by a nobody who would become very influential two-hundred years later. It's like my life became squeezed into one semi-prehistoric suburbia where color TV's were still fairly advanced. All around me there were women crying out poems of distress, trying desparately to find one piece of their own melancholy they could connect with mine as if we were the same people living different lives. It's amazing how people go everywhere when you're stuck in a small, rural town... or even trapped in a poem." [First added to this chart: 04/03/2020]
"For a little while, I remembered what it was like to be a teenager. But I wasn't living in a big city. I was in a poem written by a nobody who would become very influential two-hundred years later. It's like my life became squeezed into one semi-prehistoric suburbia where color TV's were still fairly advanced. All around me there were women crying out poems of distress, trying desparately to find one piece of their own melancholy they could connect with mine as if we were the same people living different lives. It's amazing how people go everywhere when you're stuck in a small, rural town... or even trapped in a poem." [First added to this chart: 04/03/2020]
Year of Release:
2004
Appears in:
Rank Score:
31,164
Rank in 2004:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
East Coast Hip Hop
"When purifying the diamond, processing too many times can damage it. The purification must be done just right, and if you're lucky, you'll understand everything that makes the diamond shine as the most popular gem on the planet should. Eventually, when the white jewel reflects the sun, it will glow white to the point it appears black. This is the last stage of purification, and can be done incorrectly and has been messed up by many amateurs in the past. But when that diamond is pure, it will shine of a very faint color: blue." [First added to this chart: 04/03/2020]
"When purifying the diamond, processing too many times can damage it. The purification must be done just right, and if you're lucky, you'll understand everything that makes the diamond shine as the most popular gem on the planet should. Eventually, when the white jewel reflects the sun, it will glow white to the point it appears black. This is the last stage of purification, and can be done incorrectly and has been messed up by many amateurs in the past. But when that diamond is pure, it will shine of a very faint color: blue." [First added to this chart: 04/03/2020]
Year of Release:
2001
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,330
Rank in 2001:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Art Pop/ Prog Pop
"Innovation. Organization. Demonstration. Exaggeration. Surrealism. Forget about the whole 'sugar, spice and everything nice' combo that all women strive for. That comes to me naturally, but that is not what defines me. You can call me a woman, but you can never lump me in with the rest of the women on the planet." [First added to this chart: 04/04/2020]
"Innovation. Organization. Demonstration. Exaggeration. Surrealism. Forget about the whole 'sugar, spice and everything nice' combo that all women strive for. That comes to me naturally, but that is not what defines me. You can call me a woman, but you can never lump me in with the rest of the women on the planet." [First added to this chart: 04/04/2020]
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,028
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Space Ambient / Progressive Electronic
"There's corruption everywhere. There's corruption in the shadows of the streets you walk through endlessly without a guide you can see. There's corruption in the neon lights that serve you your beer. There's corruption in the jazz music played at the clubs you pass while going to work. There's corruption in the human. There's corruption in the robot. Whatever rights people claim to kill passively are nothing but another excuse to assume dominance of one form or another. In the end, robots and humans are only different because of their parts." [First added to this chart: 04/03/2020]
"There's corruption everywhere. There's corruption in the shadows of the streets you walk through endlessly without a guide you can see. There's corruption in the neon lights that serve you your beer. There's corruption in the jazz music played at the clubs you pass while going to work. There's corruption in the human. There's corruption in the robot. Whatever rights people claim to kill passively are nothing but another excuse to assume dominance of one form or another. In the end, robots and humans are only different because of their parts." [First added to this chart: 04/03/2020]
Year of Release:
1994
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,364
Rank in 1994:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Thrash Metal / Heavy Metal
"I am the bombast of the classical era, reborn in lightning and thunder. I am the enemy of your slug-like hands across the acoustic guitar. I am the nursery rhyme you hear in your head when the reaper comes for your wasted soul. Death fears me, for he is my slave. The world loves me, for I am the harbinger of the destruction to come for all before me and the ruler of a new world. I am metal." [First added to this chart: 11/10/2020]
"I am the bombast of the classical era, reborn in lightning and thunder. I am the enemy of your slug-like hands across the acoustic guitar. I am the nursery rhyme you hear in your head when the reaper comes for your wasted soul. Death fears me, for he is my slave. The world loves me, for I am the harbinger of the destruction to come for all before me and the ruler of a new world. I am metal." [First added to this chart: 11/10/2020]
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,763
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 3 | 3% | |
| 1960s | 16 | 16% | |
| 1970s | 29 | 29% | |
| 1980s | 12 | 12% | |
| 1990s | 19 | 19% | |
| 2000s | 14 | 14% | |
| 2010s | 7 | 7% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Jay-Z | 2 | 2% | |
| Charles Mingus | 2 | 2% | |
| Vangelis | 2 | 2% | |
| Johnny Cash | 2 | 2% | |
| Metallica | 2 | 2% | |
| Frank Zappa | 2 | 2% | |
| Led Zeppelin | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
|
51 | 51% | |
|
26 | 26% | |
|
9 | 9% | |
|
2 | 2% | |
|
2 | 2% | |
|
2 | 2% | |
|
2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
Up 1 from 12th to 11th |
Up 1 from 11th to 10th |
Up 1 from 10th to 9th |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
Down 3 from 9th to 12th |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums forum mentions
This chart has been referenced 2 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From
BestEverAlbums 06/29/2020 08:00 in Chart of the day (#3171): By Spyglass
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Spyglass () 1. Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) by Led Zeppelin (1971) 2. Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys (1966) 3. Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel (1970) 4. The Velvet Underground & Nico by The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) 5.…”
(1 mentions across Chart of the Day topics)View latest topic →
From
RoundTheBend 06/11/2020 01:15 in A Peep Through A Spyglass: My Chart Building Diary
“My overall chart is finally finished. I'm confident in this. It was worth spending hours a day on it for almost a week. I've considered every album I wanted to add to it, and I've completed all of the little stories for every album. Now I can try and work my decade and year charts around this one.…”
View post →Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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From
BozoTyrannus 06/09/2020 00:00 | #253118
Love the notes throughout, they've made me reappraise some albums I tend to keep overlooking. Also, we have very little albums in common, which always excites me. Few things are as exciting as new discoveries.
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From
baystateoftheart 06/10/2020 23:30 | #253266
I may not like all of them, but this is a great blend of albums with some cool recs to check out.
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From
jnfbn 06/29/2020 10:37 | #254720
The notes themselves deserves 110/100, brilliant work and a great list! As one trying to write something for my own chart for a veery loooong time, i had a great time going through it and tbh it inspired me!!!
And how beautifully this sums up Fleetwood Mac's Rumours:
''Let us all sing about how the hate we have for each other brings us together as friends.''
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From
StefanR10 06/08/2020 16:25 | #253079
Good chart i like your collection only one point there is only one Beatles album here. but ok I gave you 85 point for good album and much diversity.
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From
dihansse 06/03/2020 20:23 | #252818
When a chart can be eclectic and consistent at the same time. Love your write-ups.
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