Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by 
BozoTyrannus 
Trying to limit it to just one entry per artist, and only including studio albums (though some live albums have definitely slipped in)
At least for now.
- Chart updated: 18 hours ago
- (Created: 05/07/2020 19:44).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 12 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 89 out of 100 (from 27 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
View the complete list of 58,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
[First added to this chart: 05/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1968
Appears in:
Rank Score:
36,855
Rank in 1968:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 05/12/2020]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
30,403
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 05/12/2020]
Year of Release:
2002
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,785
Rank in 2002:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 07/16/2020]
Year of Release:
1996
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,540
Rank in 1996:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 01/21/2023]
[First added to this chart: 06/09/2020]
[First added to this chart: 05/12/2020]
Year of Release:
2009
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,195
Rank in 2009:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 05/12/2020]
Year of Release:
2016
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,368
Rank in 2016:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
9. (=)
[First added to this chart: 06/09/2020]
[First added to this chart: 07/18/2020]
Year of Release:
1991
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,137
Rank in 1991:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10
Don't agree with this chart? Create your own from the My Charts page!
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 2 | 2% | |
| 1940s | 2 | 2% | |
| 1950s | 6 | 6% | |
| 1960s | 13 | 13% | |
| 1970s | 20 | 20% | |
| 1980s | 12 | 12% | |
| 1990s | 15 | 15% | |
| 2000s | 14 | 14% | |
| 2010s | 15 | 15% | |
| 2020s | 1 | 1% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Brian Eno | 1 | 1% | |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 1 | 1% | |
| Cornelius Meister / ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien / Aida Garifullina | 1 | 1% | |
| Superorganism | 1 | 1% | |
| Klaus Schulze | 1 | 1% | |
| Stan Getz & João Gilberto | 1 | 1% | |
| Bruce Springsteen | 1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
46 | 46% | |
 |
18 | 18% | |
 |
5 | 5% | |
 |
5 | 5% | |
 |
4 | 4% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 1 from 41st to 42ndCreole Soul by Etienne Charles |
| Down 1 from 42nd to 43rdAfter Midnight by Nat King Cole |
| Down 1 from 43rd to 44thBeethoven: The 9 Symphonies by Leonard Bernstein / Wiener Philharmoniker |
| New entries |
|---|
| Your Neighborhood by The Toxhards |
| Leavers |
|---|
| Blade Runner by Vangelis |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Favorite Artists | BozoTyrannus | Custom chart | 2020 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | marleykeys | Overall chart | 2023 |  |
| My Personal Ranking of Rate Your Music's Top 100 |  Xxnu99etxX | Custom chart | 2020 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | Tidus1997 | Overall chart | 2020 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  LAF2 | Overall chart | 2018 | |
| Ranking the BEA top 1000 by track score | Johnnyo | Custom chart | 2025 | |
| PPV Overall Ranking | bea | Custom chart | 2021 |  |
| Rearrange Top 100 |  Larcx13 | Custom chart | 2020 |  |
| Overall for yours truly |  RoundTheBend | Custom chart | 2020 | |
| BEA's Top 100 - The Correct Order |  babyBlueSedan | Custom chart | 2020 | |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similarity to your chart(s)
Not a member? Registering is quick, easy and FREE!
Why register?
- Join a passionate community of over 50,000 music fans.
- Create & share your own charts.
- Have your say in the overall rankings.
- Post comments in the forums and vote on polls.
- Comment on or rate any album, artist, track or chart.
- Discover new music & improve your music collection.
- Customise the overall chart using a variety of different filters & metrics.
- Create a wishlist of albums.
- Help maintain the BEA database.
- Earn member points and gain access to increasing levels of functionality!
- ... And lots more!
Register now - it only takes a moment!
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
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 27 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/15/2025 17:56 | Exist-en-ciel | 153 | 98/100 | |
| 05/13/2023 19:12 |  MadhattanJack | 278 | 85/100 | |
| 05/13/2023 13:28 |  Tamthebam | 651 | 85/100 | |
| 09/04/2022 06:20 | Johnnyo | 2,572 | 80/100 | |
| 09/03/2022 22:16 | Moondance | 476 | 85/100 |
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 is rated in the top 4% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 89.1/100, a mean average of 90.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 90.4/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 6.4.
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 12 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)
From Johnnyo 09/04/2022 06:20 | #289245
Very interesting chart. Love the variety
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Moondance 09/03/2022 22:18 | #289240
A really cool chart - spanning the decades 1930-2010 and 22 countries across planet Earth. We only have a handful of albums in common but I can appreciate the journey (& the fun) you have taken to put together this chart.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
ffudnebbuh 09/03/2022 16:26 | #289231
ffudnebbuh 09/03/2022 16:26 | #289231
There are a few that I haven't heard, but most of it is really good music. ..thanks for sharing
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From PeterSmith 12/27/2021 13:04 | #278060
Respect for this chart. I don't know most of it but you are obviously well researched and have a large and varied palette. Comments would have been the icing on the cake.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From mianfei 07/05/2020 12:03 | #255039
What’s really striking about this chart is that it is much more than what would be expected from the top few entries which are standard canonical fare.
After the first page one sees such unexpected figures from the past as “Bird” Parker, Leadbelly, Andres Segovia, Bessie Smith, The Mighty Sparrow, Lord Invader and Lord Beginner with Felix and His Internationals, Nat “King” Cole, Benny Goodman and Bo Diddley. There are modern surprises too – Alcest, The Olivia Tremor Control, Amanda Palmer and Federico Durand.
Although I have never listened to the artists listed previously, it is truly refreshing to see ‘Philosophy of the World’ here too, and pleasing to see ‘Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished’.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Larcx13 06/19/2020 12:56 | #253890
Larcx13 06/19/2020 12:56 | #253890
Love that youre doing 1 album per artist. Ive done the same for now but once Im able to add 100 I think I'll break that rule. You kept it going which is a tough one to do Im sure. Good list!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From vancevisuals 06/17/2020 21:24 | #253775
Great choice for # 1. You've also have my favorite albums by Pink Floyd, Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix and Black Sabbath on your list as well
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
StefanR10 06/17/2020 11:30 | #253748
StefanR10 06/17/2020 11:30 | #253748
Nice chart, i see you have Leadbelly here and one album from the 1940s and some classic music. I like it in give you a high rating not to high but over average.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From NowhereMan 05/27/2020 16:00 | #252327
NowhereMan 05/27/2020 16:00 | #252327
Klaus Schulz!!!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
From RoundTheBend 05/19/2020 03:16 | #251701
RoundTheBend 05/19/2020 03:16 | #251701
Great recording selection for Bach's Cello Suites. Dig the chart overall too.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Your feedback for Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
Let us know what you think of this chart by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!
If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.
A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
| Best Ever Artists | |
|---|---|
| 1. The Beatles | |
| 2. Radiohead | |
| 3. Pink Floyd | |
| 4. David Bowie | |
| 5. Bob Dylan | |
| 6. Led Zeppelin | |
| 7. The Rolling Stones | |
| 8. Arcade Fire | |
| 9. Nirvana | |
| 10. Neil Young | |
| 11. The Velvet Underground | |
| 12. Kendrick Lamar | |
| 13. Miles Davis | |
| 14. The Smiths | |
| 15. R.E.M. | |
| 16. The Beach Boys | |
| 17. Kanye West | |
| 18. Bruce Springsteen | |
| 19. Pixies | |
| 20. The Cure |
