Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by microjude 
Where in the *@#$! are the Beatles? Dylan? Hendrix? Nirvana? Thriller? Appetite for Destruction? Born In The USA? Back in Black? Well to tell you the truth I am just tired of hearing them (ok, GNR and Dylan I never cared for). I have heard the hits off them so many times (in some cases for decades) that I never listen to those cds anymore. I thought I'd keep this list to cds that I personally go back to again and again. Perhaps not cultural landmarks, but honestly my favorites.
- Chart updated: 09/18/2025 01:15
- (Created: 09/20/2008 06:32).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 45 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 84 out of 100 (from 77 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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Bit of a cheat being a compilation, but it flows like an actual album. Other than Hand In Glove, unless you could track down and then afford each 45 this is the only way you could hear these songs in the US.
[First added to this chart: 11/16/2009]
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,392
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Perhaps it has lost some of its original punch than when it came out in 1989, but I still think this cd is fabulous. It is one of the few albums I remember just being completely floored by and playing over and over again for weeks on end. There really was nothing sounding remotely like it back in '89 (in the states at least).
[First added to this chart: 11/16/2009]
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
22,475
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No wordsmith so just giving opinions off the top of my head about albums. If you have any interest scrolling further through this list you'll find I'm a big Replacements fan. Through their (awesome) song, "Alex Chilton", Big Star's lead singer, I decided to give their cds a try and couldn't believe how I missed this band for so long. Their first is their most consistent. Not a bad song in the bunch. Ofter associated with Power Pop, but I really don't see that. They seem to me a classic 70s band taking their British Invasion love and reinterpreting it in exciting ways.
[First added to this chart: 11/16/2009]
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,876
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Hard to pick a favorite from the Pixies, but here's your winner in my humble opinion. So many of their best songs (or anyone's) on this one. Debaser, Wave of Mutilation, Here Comes Your Man, La La Love You, Hey to name a few. Kim Deal's unique voice is what gets me and she is a big part of this album's success, but everything works on this one.
[First added to this chart: 11/16/2009]
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
30,851
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Double albums when pulled off succesfully always rank higher for me. Again, not a song on here I do not either like a lot or are my favorites from possibly the best band ever.
[First added to this chart: 06/10/2011]
Year of Release:
1975
Appears in:
Rank Score:
11,858
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Another artist with so many fantastic albums to choose from. This one makes it to the top since, again, a flawless double album and is at the peak of my favorite Prince era - the mid to late 80s. Shows all aspects of Prince's sound - dance, pop, funk, metal and soul all mixed together perfectly.
[First added to this chart: 11/16/2009]
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,622
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They were excellent throughout their whole career. Every one of their releases in my favs (well, Get Behind Me Satan was a bit off the mark). They somehow found a new way to make the Blues new and refreshing after 100s of band in the seventies reinterpretations.
[First added to this chart: 11/16/2009]
Year of Release:
2000
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,728
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Average Rating:
Comments:
8. (=)
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Love Kyuss and this one is their closest to the sound, but transforms it into something new at the same time. Quite the groove album.
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2011]
Year of Release:
1998
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,208
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Every IRS album is a masterpiece. Each Warner Bros album gets worse and worse. I know this is a very unpopular sentiment. but I think by the time they became superstars with Automatic for the People they were no longer R.E.M., but Michael Stipe with R.E.M. Every album after it seemed like variations of Automatic. This one is one of the albums I never get tired of no matter how many, many times I've played it over the decades. Classic R.E.M. IRS era to me.
[First added to this chart: 06/02/2012]
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,248
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Even today this album is still fresh and the purest rock (not just punk) record ever. Was a kid when they came out. Lived in the US suburbs, so never heard an actual song of course - just heard about their antics. Was interested in discovering what the hub bub was all about when I was finally able to track down the cassette. Wasn't expecting much really, but geez louise this one I loved for evermore the moment I first got to listen to it.
[First added to this chart: 11/16/2009]
Year of Release:
1977
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,460
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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 | 2 | 2% | |
| 1960s | 6 | 6% | |
| 1970s | 32 | 32% | |
| 1980s | 36 | 36% | |
| 1990s | 14 | 14% | |
| 2000s | 6 | 6% | |
| 2010s | 3 | 3% | |
| 2020s | 1 | 1% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Rolling Stones | 4 | 4% | |
| R.E.M. | 3 | 3% | |
| The Smiths | 3 | 3% | |
| The Kinks | 3 | 3% | |
| Van Halen | 3 | 3% | |
| Led Zeppelin | 3 | 3% | |
| Van Morrison | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
There have been no changes to this chart.Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
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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 77 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/20/2026 12:07 | BorderFreeAndrew | 110 | 81/100 | |
| 01/20/2026 10:03 |  MadhattanJack | 297 | 86/100 | |
| 07/12/2024 07:45 |  Tamthebam | 651 | 85/100 | |
| 07/11/2024 20:47 | Johnnyo | 2,576 | 80/100 | |
| 09/16/2022 22:38 | 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 has a Bayesian average rating of 84.3/100, a mean average of 83.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 84.1/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 12.0.
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums favourites
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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From BorderFreeAndrew 01/20/2026 12:08 | #312720
Love to see the focus on more under-appreciated artists and albums from the 80's (and late 70's)!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Moondance 09/16/2022 22:44 | #289717
Super cool chart, given your opening comments. Good to see The Models among 4 aussie albums. Also great to see some lesser known artists hit your top 100 - Love & Rockets, Stephen Stills & Manassas, and the old Boz Scaggs! What can I say? - except, thanks for sharing your chart.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From cronadigallina 09/15/2019 13:07 | #242628
Yeah, the same for me! I like your chart because there are not the same sickening albums as always. Thank you
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From panapsal 06/05/2019 08:07 | #237126
nice chart !!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
jdenny2018 06/01/2018 16:24 | #215895
jdenny2018 06/01/2018 16:24 | #215895
Nice list
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From Ulf 06/01/2018 08:26 | #215864
cool stuff
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Johnnyo 06/01/2018 08:13 | #215862
Really great, personal chart. I get the over saturation point about some albums / artists and my favs for these artists tend not to be the usual suspects so, for dylan, my fav album is hurricane, for Springsteen it’s darkness and for acdc, ohh that’s hard, probably highway to Hell.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
LedZep 05/03/2017 15:12 | #190236
LedZep 05/03/2017 15:12 | #190236
I was also tired of many of those bands you've mentioned, but then I realised best Dylan, Nirvana and Springsteen songs are never played on the radio. Try In Utero rather than Nevermind, Nebraska and The River over Born in the USA and Blood on the Tracks over Highway 61... But I also totally understand that, I have the same problem with RHCP, ACDC, Guns n Roses, Bon Jovi and nothing can make me listen to those albums anymore
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Kuzh69 10/18/2016 04:07 | #177067
Thanks for the nice comment..... speaking of comments, I love the fact that
u don't give a f@@@ about popularity, and your list is what albums you
REALLY want to listen to, and don't care what anybody on this site thinks.
You are just being honest, and that's and how it should be.
By the way, my favorite underrated albums on your list are: fables and
reckoning(R.E.M.), the swing(inxs), candy o(cars),and east side story(squeeze).
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
louisjwyatt 09/29/2015 20:02 | #150699
louisjwyatt 09/29/2015 20:02 | #150699
Awesome chart! Like many, I don't typically condone putting compilations in a chart, but Louder Than Bombs is definitely one of those exceptions. Also really interesting seeing Van Halen in here, though I'm not a fan of them. Definitely a thematic chart, though it is wonderfully diverse.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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