Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by 
MadhattanJack 
- Chart updated: 07/15/2025 23:15
- (Created: 08/28/2021 02:46).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 11 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 89 out of 100 (from 26 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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This album was released about two weeks before I went off to college. I think I would have been better off if it had come out two weeks after I got there, because then I wouldn't have ended up ranking it so highly, but I guess beggars can't be choosers.
[First added to this chart: 05/25/2022]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,938
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
50
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This album really "blew my mind," as they say. It's a "mindblower," which is a little like a snow-blower, except that it serves no practical purpose during a heavy snowfall. Anyway, they say the same thing about Radiohead's "OK Computer," released just two years earlier, but "OK Computer" doesn't need any ranking help from me on this particular website.
[First added to this chart: 05/25/2022]
Year of Release:
1999
Appears in:
Rank Score:
11,205
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All the Pixies' albums from 1988 to 1992 were great, and any one of them would be appropriate for an all-time top 100 list, but "Bossanova" has the best track sequencing and the most sonic/stylistic diversity of them all. It also has the best title, even though none of the tracks are actually bossanovas. Honestly, it's almost *too* good, as though there must have been some sort of bizarre conspiracy involved, which there probably was.
[First added to this chart: 05/25/2022]
Year of Release:
1990
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,015
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I didn't want my top 20 to exclude anything made after the year 2011, so I picked this, the fourth Beach House album, and the one with the song "Irene" on it — my favorite song of theirs. Besides, the third album, "Teen Dream," came out in 2010 so that one was ineligible.
[First added to this chart: 05/25/2022]
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
7,918
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Of all the albums that I bought because they were recommended to me by an anonymous person on the internet, this is my second-favorite. It's a bummer that Jellyfish only made two albums, but you just have to take what you can get, I guess. Still, I've always wondered if they might have stayed together longer if they'd called themselves "Swordfish" or "Tunafish" instead.
[First added to this chart: 05/25/2022]
Year of Release:
1993
Appears in:
Rank Score:
925
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Back in the 70s, the closing track on Side A of this album, "Frankenstein," is what finally convinced me to sit down and read Mary Shelley's classic horror novel of the same name. That, in turn, ultimately led me to become an avid reader of 19th-Century horror and mystery fiction. But I still prefer the Dolls' version.
[First added to this chart: 05/25/2022]
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,828
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This is one of only three albums from the 1960s on this chart, and while I've got it as the highest-ranked of the three (deservingly so, not to mention that the other two are both Beatles albums), I'd just like to apologize to all the 60s-rock fans out there for my failure to properly appreciate this particular decade sufficiently. I've kept all of Radiohead's albums out of the chart in an attempt to compensate, but I understand that this probably isn't enough.
[First added to this chart: 06/28/2022]
Year of Release:
1966
Appears in:
Rank Score:
40,497
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This is, in my opinion, Tuxedomoon's only truly great album. Thankfully, in this case at least, the rest of the world seems to agree with me; it's their top-ranked album on BEA, at least. It's also the only Ralph Records release on this chart, which seems... wrong, somehow. After all, Ralph is the greatest record label of all time, so you'd think there would be more of their stuff here.
[First added to this chart: 06/28/2022]
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I guess what he's trying to say is that if you *can* still feel, you should listen to this record because it's really good and you'll probably like it. But if you ask me, that's an example of needlessly limiting your market demographic.
[First added to this chart: 06/28/2022]
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What can I say about the late, great Elliott Smith that hasn't already been said? I guess I could say that he could teleport himself back and forth to the fourth planet in the Tau Ceti system 12 light-years away by just snapping his fingers, but that probably wouldn't be true, would it. Suffice to say that all six of his solo albums were really good, but I just happen to like this one the best.
[First added to this chart: 06/28/2022]
Year of Release:
2000
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,424
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Rank in 2000s:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 21. Page 1 of 3
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 3 | 3% | |
| 1970s | 21 | 21% | |
| 1980s | 32 | 32% | |
| 1990s | 26 | 26% | |
| 2000s | 10 | 10% | |
| 2010s | 7 | 7% | |
| 2020s | 1 | 1% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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| XTC | 7 | 7% | |
| David Bowie | 3 | 3% | |
| Roxy Music | 3 | 3% | |
| I Like Trains | 2 | 2% | |
| Slowdive | 2 | 2% | |
| Robyn Hitchcock And The Egyptians | 2 | 2% | |
| Cocteau Twins | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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72 | 72% | |
| |
21 | 21% | |
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1 | 1% | |
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1 | 1% | |
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1 | 1% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
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1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
There have been no changes to this chart.Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | MadhattanJack | 1980s decade chart | 2023 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | MadhattanJack | 1990s decade chart | 2023 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | MadhattanJack | 1970s decade chart | 2023 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums |  Secondsoul | Overall chart | 2015 | |
| Top 70's & 80's Punk/New Wave | saltysurprise | Custom chart | 2020 |  |
| Best albums of all time | Fast 'n' Bulbous | Overall chart | 2021 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | Timo | Overall chart | 2020 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | LittleM1971 | Overall chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | DanielU | 1980s decade chart | 2020 |  |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | Secondsoul | 1990s decade chart | 2015 | |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
89/100 (from 26 votes)
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 26 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
90/100  | 08/02/2025 21:26 | Vulgarplacards | | 90/100 |
 100/100 | 07/12/2025 16:21 |  baystateoftheart | | 96/100 |
| 90/100 | 07/12/2025 15:32 | BorderFreeAndrew | | 80/100 |
| 90/100 | 07/03/2025 01:26 |  urmom22 | | 93/100 |
| 95/100 | 06/08/2025 02:32 | matterhornrider | | 92/100 |
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 87.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 90.4/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 14.4.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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90/100
From Vulgarplacards 08/02/2025 21:27
Great choices, some new to me- I’ll seek them out!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From baystateoftheart 07/12/2025 16:23
baystateoftheart 07/12/2025 16:23
Great unique choices, and the entertaining write-ups especially make it shine. Your notes about excluding Radiohead do make me wonder what a totally unaltered list of your favorites would be like.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From BorderFreeAndrew 07/12/2025 15:32
Kudos for a refreshingly unique chart. And for being even more obsessed with XTC than I used to be.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From urmom22 07/03/2025 01:27
urmom22 07/03/2025 01:27
That's really suuuuuuuuper super girl
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From matterhornrider 06/08/2025 02:34
7 Albums by the amazing XTC, no problem with me. So many bands I love here and so many Albums I look forward to listening to.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From 
seb7 08/12/2024 16:03
seb7 08/12/2024 16:03
Very cool and fairly specific taste. Dig it!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
CassidyInc 03/29/2024 22:12
CassidyInc 03/29/2024 22:12
Fun chart with some downright hilarious write-ups. I listened to an XTC album (Skylarking) yesterday at your suggestion. Unfortunately not a vibe for me.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From Steppenwolf666 10/10/2023 15:53
Great chart, not because of the music, because of the hilarious comments. Of course it could be a great chart music wise, but I wouldn't know, although the few albums in it I do know are very good. I would never have thought of checking out XTC's go2, but now I just might! P.S. The DIV I DED album is now in another chart.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
85/100
From Tony58 06/19/2023 17:11
Very interesting chart. Glad to see included a number of artists I like who don't usually get as much recognition as they deserve, eg The Auteurs, The Associates and Lush. Also, I enjoyed the witty comments, eg on the Beatles and Paul McCartney albums!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From Moondance 05/06/2023 22:17
I've had a lot of fun checking out this chart and reading the comments. Definitely different to most BEA charts and that's what I really like. It ooooozes personality & sincerity (no BEA peer pressure here!)
I love it that we only have 1 album in common.
I love it that a citizen of the USA significantly favours the music of the UK (very very rare in my observation of BEA charts).
I love it that I can return to this chart and (hopefully) discover an album/artist (or 2) who has evaded my line of sight & hearing for the past 50 - 10years ¬ and be everly grateful for the guided discovery.
I love it that someone from the northern hemisphere has included 1 album from Australia (that is not Nick Cave, AC/DC, Tame Impala or KG&TLW) AND 1 album from New Zealand (any album from NZ is amazing!).
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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