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 13 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 89 out of 100 (from 28 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 the 1980s. (Remove this filter)
If I were being completely OB-jective, then this would be the all-time #1 album, since this is actually XTC's "best" album. And they knew it, too — that's why they needed the deep-sea diving suits. The original title was going to be "Work Under Pressure," but "Black Sea" was just easier to pronounce underwater.
[First added to this chart: 05/25/2022]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,574
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Comments:
This is Hitchcock at the peak of his powers, which at the time included mass hypnosis, producing streams of an unidentified liquid from the apex of his head ("the tops"), and the ability to make carrots disappear, seemingly without eating them.
[First added to this chart: 05/25/2022]
Most people pick "Treasure" or "Heaven or Las Vegas" as the best Cocteau Twins album, but if you bought the US vinyl LP version with the fancy gatefold cover when it first came out, as I did, you got a special "golden ticket" that gained you admission to the strange-yet-wonderful chocolate factory just up the street.
[First added to this chart: 05/25/2022]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
986
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This is the album that made me want to play guitar, and not just PLAY guitar, but play guitar through a dizzying array of effects pedals and studio trickery, "just like Dave Fielding." Admittedly, I already had a guitar and knew how to play, and I was even in a band and everything. I just didn't WANT to before I heard this album.
[First added to this chart: 05/25/2022]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
475
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Most people will tell you this is XTC's best album, but that's only because they haven't heard the fully-remastered 2010 corrected-polarity vinyl double-LP original-artwork reissue which completely ruins the whole experience, forcing it to be ranked below Go 2, Black Sea, and Drums & Wires. Still, it's good enough for the #13 spot, proving once again that it doesn't matter if the pubic hair on your album cover is a stylized drawing or a photo of the real thing, as long as the photo wasn't taken surreptitiously without the person's consent.
[First added to this chart: 05/25/2022]
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,462
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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 favorite. I consider it Terry Hall's best work, and by a fairly wide margin. It's even possible that the stained glass background on the album cover is real.
[First added to this chart: 06/26/2022]
I listened to the song "Sense of Purpose" from this album so many times, I actually developed a semblance of perfect pitch from it. It's in the key of A, you see, so if I had to identify a key or a note from another song, I would just play "Sense of Purpose" back in my head, from memory, and compare whatever else I was hearing to that. These days you can just use your smartphone, but back in the 1980s this was actually considered a moderately useful talent. That's probably not why they named the band "The Sound," though — I'm sure that was just a coincidence.
[First added to this chart: 05/25/2022]
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,020
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This will sound really nerdy, but the first thing I did when I got my first copy of the Sound Forge digital audio editor back in the 90s was to cut 'n' paste repeating sections of "All Cats Are Grey" so as to increase the run-time from 5:28 to over 9 minutes, thereby making it almost twice as depressing as the original version.
[First added to this chart: 06/26/2022]
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,120
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Comments:
Easily the best Banshees album, and for me at least, also the best John McGeoch album, the best proto-Goth album, and my favorite album made by anyone directly associated with the original ca. 1977 wave of British punk. And yet, despite this heaping-upon of accolades, I still can't help but think the choice of title was directly influenced by Alice Cooper's song "Black Juju" from their Love it to Death album. Am I nuts? Probably.
[First added to this chart: 06/28/2022]
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,967
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Comments:
If you've read this far, you're probably aware that the Dukes were actually XTC recording as a psychedelic-60s pastiche band, so this is technically an XTC album, compiled from their "25 O'Clock" Dukes mini-LP and the full-length "Psonic Psunspot." Back in the mid-80s, it was still possible to keep your recording and release plans secret right up until the day a record appeared in the shops, so I didn't know about "25 O'Clock" at all until I physically encountered it in my favorite record shop. Maybe that's why I'm ranking this so highly — I love surprises! I also love chocolate-chip ice cream, so naturally I bought this compilation too.
[First added to this chart: 06/28/2022]
Total albums: 32. Page 1 of 4
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| 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 | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
72 | 72% | |
| |
21 | 21% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
 |
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 | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | MadhattanJack | 1990s decade chart | 2023 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | MadhattanJack | 1970s decade chart | 2023 | |
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| Top 70's & 80's Punk/New Wave | saltysurprise | Custom chart | 2020 |  |
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| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | Timo | Overall chart | 2020 |  |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | LittleM1971 | Overall chart | 2026 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | MadhattanJack | 2000s decade chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | DanielU | 1980s decade 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 28 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/04/2026 16:55 | jnmayles | 23 | 89/100 | |
| 11/16/2025 19:54 |  Dankel | 175 | 84/100 | |
| 08/02/2025 21:26 | Vulgarplacards | 1 | 90/100 | |
| 07/12/2025 16:21 |  baystateoftheart | 95 | 96/100 | |
| 07/12/2025 15:32 | BorderFreeAndrew | 110 | 81/100 |
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 3% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 89.3/100, a mean average of 88.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 90.6/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 13.9.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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From Dankel 11/16/2025 19:56 | #311696
Dankel 11/16/2025 19:56 | #311696
Great Chart! Lots of interesting stuff. Would have given it 100% but I can't really get into shoegaze. My main takeaway from this chart is I must play more XTC and Original Mirrors! I had forgotten their existence.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Vulgarplacards 08/02/2025 21:27 | #310391
Great choices, some new to me- I’ll seek them out!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From baystateoftheart 07/12/2025 16:23 | #310077
baystateoftheart 07/12/2025 16:23 | #310077
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)
From BorderFreeAndrew 07/12/2025 15:32 | #310076
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)
From 
urmom22 07/03/2025 01:27 | #309865
urmom22 07/03/2025 01:27 | #309865
That's really suuuuuuuuper super girl
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From matterhornrider 06/08/2025 02:34 | #309287
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) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
seb7 08/12/2024 16:03 | #304734
seb7 08/12/2024 16:03 | #304734
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 | #302747
CassidyInc 03/29/2024 22:12 | #302747
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)
From Steppenwolf666 10/10/2023 15:53 | #299436
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)
From Tony58 06/19/2023 17:11 | #297679
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)
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