Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by 
Romanelli 
With production credits (because producers are important, too). Also track listings, label info and short reviews written by yours truly. I hope this chart is helpful, entertaining, and at least interesting.
- Chart updated: 11/30/2025 23:45
- (Created: 06/01/2012 04:29).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 114 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 89 out of 100 (from 179 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from Jason Isbell. (Remove this filter)
Buy album
- #Sponsored
2013 – SOUTHEASTERN
Produced By DAVID COBB
1. Cover Me Up
2. Stockholm
3. Traveling Alone
4. Elephant
5. Flying Over Water
6. Different Days
7. Live Oak
8. Songs That She Sang In The Shower
9. New South Wales
10. Super 8
11. Yvette
12. Relatively Easy
Maybe the greatest musical joy of the last decade and a half has been watching the growth and rise of Jason Isbell. He joined Drive-By Truckers in 2001, and his powerful songwriting was a big part of that band for the three albums he was with them. But you could tell it wouldn’t last long. You can’t keep a phenomenal songwriter like Isbell to 3 or 4 songs per album for very long. He left the Truckers in 2007, and immediately embarked on a solo career. His writing and his albums have improved ever since, and Southeastern has to rate as one of the very best albums of the 2010’s. Written and recorded in the aftermath of an intervention and rehab, the now sober Isbell lets it all fly free on this album…and it’s beautiful. One song after another is simply masterful, and by the last song you’re not ready for it to end, but you find yourself wishing instead that he’d made this a double album. If you think the album as an art form is dead, then you have simply not heard Southeastern.
The highlights on this album are breathtaking. “Cover Me Up” sets the tone for this most personal and gorgeous work. “Traveling Alone” is everything great about Americana. Then you have the great “Flying Over Water”, “Different Days”, “Live Oak”, and the beautifully touching “Songs That She Sang In The Shower”. Southeastern is an instant classic, an album you will fall in love with immediately, and a truly great work. Isbell’s songs touch the heart, and he paints a picture as fine as anyone ever before him. He’s that rare kind of writer where you find yourself identifying with nearly everything he writes, and you find yourself wishing you could live the world through his eyes. Southeastern is a simple album of amazing songs stacked gently one on top of the other, and it’s absolutely perfect. His follow up, Something More Than Free, continues to show his mastery, but Southeastern is where Isbell reaches the peak. This is a must have, without question. [First added to this chart: 01/19/2023]
Produced By DAVID COBB
1. Cover Me Up
2. Stockholm
3. Traveling Alone
4. Elephant
5. Flying Over Water
6. Different Days
7. Live Oak
8. Songs That She Sang In The Shower
9. New South Wales
10. Super 8
11. Yvette
12. Relatively Easy
Maybe the greatest musical joy of the last decade and a half has been watching the growth and rise of Jason Isbell. He joined Drive-By Truckers in 2001, and his powerful songwriting was a big part of that band for the three albums he was with them. But you could tell it wouldn’t last long. You can’t keep a phenomenal songwriter like Isbell to 3 or 4 songs per album for very long. He left the Truckers in 2007, and immediately embarked on a solo career. His writing and his albums have improved ever since, and Southeastern has to rate as one of the very best albums of the 2010’s. Written and recorded in the aftermath of an intervention and rehab, the now sober Isbell lets it all fly free on this album…and it’s beautiful. One song after another is simply masterful, and by the last song you’re not ready for it to end, but you find yourself wishing instead that he’d made this a double album. If you think the album as an art form is dead, then you have simply not heard Southeastern.
The highlights on this album are breathtaking. “Cover Me Up” sets the tone for this most personal and gorgeous work. “Traveling Alone” is everything great about Americana. Then you have the great “Flying Over Water”, “Different Days”, “Live Oak”, and the beautifully touching “Songs That She Sang In The Shower”. Southeastern is an instant classic, an album you will fall in love with immediately, and a truly great work. Isbell’s songs touch the heart, and he paints a picture as fine as anyone ever before him. He’s that rare kind of writer where you find yourself identifying with nearly everything he writes, and you find yourself wishing you could live the world through his eyes. Southeastern is a simple album of amazing songs stacked gently one on top of the other, and it’s absolutely perfect. His follow up, Something More Than Free, continues to show his mastery, but Southeastern is where Isbell reaches the peak. This is a must have, without question. [First added to this chart: 01/19/2023]
Year of Release:
2013
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,468
Rank in 2013:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 05/31/2012]
Total albums: 2. Page 1 of 1
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 10 | 10% | |
| 1970s | 21 | 21% | |
| 1980s | 11 | 11% | |
| 1990s | 32 | 32% | |
| 2000s | 22 | 22% | |
| 2010s | 4 | 4% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Beatles | 3 | 3% | |
| The Band | 3 | 3% | |
| Drive-By Truckers | 3 | 3% | |
| Wilco | 2 | 2% | |
| Jason Isbell | 2 | 2% | |
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 2 | 2% | |
| The Jayhawks | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 2 from 39th to 37th Decoration Day by Drive-By Truckers |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 1 from 37th to 38th Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1 by The Traveling Wilburys |
| Down 1 from 38th to 39th The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd |
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | jeffrey-hodgson | Overall chart | 2018 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | maverick470 | Overall chart | 2015 | |
| Outside The BEA Top 1000 | Romanelli | Custom chart | 2015 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | somefatguy157 | Overall chart | 2020 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | Manso | Overall chart | 2020 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  RFNAPLES | Overall chart | 2013 | |
| AllMusic's Greatest Albums | musicologist97 | Custom chart | 2019 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | tim0505 | Overall chart | 2025 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | jay020281 | Overall chart | 2020 | |
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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 179 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 05/19/2025 19:46 | StreakyNuno | 131 | 82/100 |
| ! | 05/19/2025 12:26 |  Repo | 558 | 100/100 |
| ! | 03/15/2025 22:29 | BlueNote | 91 | 74/100 |
| ! | 01/29/2025 12:37 |  SomethingSpecial | 1,105 | 85/100 |
| ! | 01/15/2025 18:01 | Exist-en-ciel | 125 | 99/100 |
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 6% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 88.6/100, a mean average of 87.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 88.7/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 12.5.
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites
Showing latest 20 members who have added this chart as a favourite | Show all 29 members
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 114 comments |
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From StreakyNuno 05/19/2025 19:47 | #309063
I like the Chart but The Black Crowes album, even though it is an excellent album, is an exaggeration to consider it the best ever.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Repo 05/19/2025 12:28 | #309062
Repo 05/19/2025 12:28 | #309062
A wondrous labor of love! GREAT notes!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
CassidyInc 03/29/2024 22:06 | #302746
CassidyInc 03/29/2024 22:06 | #302746
Neat chart, but the write ups and historical perspective you've included for many of these albums make it something special. I had a good chuckle when I finally arrived to Loveless, the album I was most excited to hear your thoughts on, and there was nothing there!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Moondance 03/06/2023 07:40 | #294755
What I found most intriguing is where you actually argue in your comments why an album isn't that great - which is an unusual way to create a greatest 100 chart. A bit too US-orientated for my liking and too many so-so bands. Good to see one album each from Australia & New Zealand.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From samora 10/25/2022 14:15 | #290788
Great chart, with impressive comments; very inspirational!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From leniad 07/12/2022 00:28 | #287280
would appreciate more variety from coutries, genres
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Albumlover6789 02/03/2022 23:20 | #280650
Lots of new music to discover here
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
rockbluesfolkjaz 10/19/2021 18:18 | #275181
rockbluesfolkjaz 10/19/2021 18:18 | #275181
There's a lot of excellent choices here. Many of which I'll be listening to as well. Thanks for this list!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Johnnyo 07/18/2021 16:41 | #271703
Stunning chart. I own 83 of the albums in your chart so it's inevitable that I'm going to love it. Also love the notes. Great addition.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From henrygreen0203 05/04/2021 18:55 | #269359
Nothing but great records here!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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| Best Artists of 1979 | |
|---|---|
| 1. The Clash | |
| 2. Pink Floyd | |
| 3. Joy Division | |
| 4. Talking Heads | |
| 5. Neil Young | |
| 6. Neil Young & Crazy Horse | |
| 7. Michael Jackson | |
| 8. Supertramp | |
| 9. Gang Of Four | |
| 10. AC/DC | |
| 11. The Police | |
| 12. Fleetwood Mac | |
| 13. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers | |
| 14. Tom Petty | |
| 15. Gary Numan | |
| 16. Brian Eno | |
| 17. Public Image Ltd. | |
| 18. Buzzcocks | |
| 19. The B-52's | |
| 20. Elvis Costello |
