Top 40 Greatest Music Albums
by Ahabmann

These are all LP's or CD's that I own. What they all have in common is that they are records that I have listened to again and again, and that to me is the main criteria to be chosen as a great album. I wish that I could choose more than 40, as i am sure I will soon think of others that should be added to the list.

• Chart updated: 05/19/2023 16:15
• (Created: 08/14/2012 16:41).
• Chart size: 40 albums.

• Summary
• Composition
• Ratings
• Favourites
• Comments
• Your feedback

View the complete list of 57,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.

Sort by

• Overall Rank
• Num. Charts
• Avg. Rating
• Num. Ratings
• Release Date
• Title
• Artist

1. (=)

Pet Sounds 

 The Beach Boys

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

Simply a huge leap forward for music. Melodic throughout with excellent lyrics. Superior to anything the Beatles have done mainly because the whole album was masterminded by one man, the genius Brian Wilson. I can not begin to express my hatred for the record company who refused to even promote this album. [First added to this chart: 08/14/2012]

Year of Release:

1966

Appears in:

2,858 charts

Rank Score:

38,822

Rank in 1966:

2

Rank in 1960s:

5

Overall Rank:

11

Average Rating:

 88 (3,281 votes)

Comments:

360

2. (=)

The Dark Side Of The Moon 

 Pink Floyd

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

[First added to this chart: 08/14/2012]

Year of Release:

1973

Appears in:

4,140 charts

Rank Score:

59,873

Rank in 1973:

1

Rank in 1970s:

1

Overall Rank:

2

Average Rating:

 92 (5,335 votes)

Comments:

592

3. (=)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 

 The Beatles

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

I still think this is The Beatles' masterpiece. The whole thing hangs together as a musical whole far better than Revolver, even though it could be argued that the songs on Revolver are just as good, if not better. [First added to this chart: 08/14/2012]

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

3,499 charts

Rank Score:

43,053

Rank in 1967:

1

Rank in 1960s:

3

Overall Rank:

8

Average Rating:

 90 (4,599 votes)

Comments:

491

4. (=)

Tubular Bells 

 Mike Oldfield

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

Outstanding. Unlike anything that had come before. Of course no record company wanted to touch it, but fortunately Richard Branson came along to sign up Oldfield. Sales were steady but modest until The Exorcist used part of the music as it's soundtrack and then Oldfield's career really took off. [First added to this chart: 08/14/2012]

Year of Release:

1973

Appears in:

550 charts

Rank Score:

3,337

Rank in 1973:

14

Rank in 1970s:

118

Overall Rank:

524

Average Rating:

 79 (658 votes)

Comments:

41

5. (=)

Selling England By The Pound 

 Genesis

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

The quintessential prog rock record. I was not even aware of Genesis until I saw them at the Reading Festival in 1973. I was so impressed that I bought this album the following weekend. [First added to this chart: 08/14/2012]

Year of Release:

1973

Appears in:

1,007 charts

Rank Score:

10,542

Rank in 1973:

4

Rank in 1970s:

34

Overall Rank:

125

Average Rating:

 84 (1,272 votes)

Comments:

94

6. (=)

Tapestry 

 Carole King

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

[First added to this chart: 08/14/2012]

Year of Release:

1971

Appears in:

846 charts

Rank Score:

6,460

Rank in 1971:

10

Rank in 1970s:

58

Overall Rank:

249

Average Rating:

 82 (950 votes)

Comments:

50

7. (=)

Abbey Road 

 The Beatles

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

[First added to this chart: 08/14/2012]

Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

3,743 charts

Rank Score:

57,126

Rank in 1969:

1

Rank in 1960s:

1

Overall Rank:

3

Average Rating:

 92 (4,632 votes)

Comments:

476

8. (=)

Court And Spark 

 Joni Mitchell

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

Most guitar oriented rock bands are boring to me, but Dire Straits were exceptional, and never made a bad record-this album was their best. [First added to this chart: 08/19/2012]

Year of Release:

1974

Appears in:

513 charts

Rank Score:

3,206

Rank in 1974:

6

Rank in 1970s:

121

Overall Rank:

544

Average Rating:

 82 (583 votes)

Comments:

38

9. (=)

The Stone Roses 

 The Stone Roses

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

[First added to this chart: 08/14/2012]

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,031 charts

Rank Score:

22,991

Rank in 1989:

3

Rank in 1980s:

5

Overall Rank:

33

Average Rating:

 86 (2,303 votes)

Comments:

203

10. (=)

Rubber Soul 

 The Beatles

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

Guitars, bass and drums. No fancy production, just strong melodic songs throughout. It never descends into a heavy metal morass. The whole thing has a pre Hendrix, mid sixties sound, but updated for the late 80's. No screaming lyrics about Satan, or the pits of hell. Just pure, simple great rock music. Why aren't there more records like this? [First added to this chart: 08/14/2012]

Year of Release:

1965

Appears in:

2,350 charts

Rank Score:

26,629

Rank in 1965:

2

Rank in 1960s:

10

Overall Rank:

29

Average Rating:

 88 (3,379 votes)

Comments:

262

• « prev
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• next »

Total albums: 40. Page 1 of 4

Top 40 Greatest Music Albums composition

Country	Albums	%
	23	58%
	11	28%
	5	13%
	1	3%

Top 40 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Top 40 Greatest Music Albums similar charts

Title	Source	Type	Published	Country
Top 40 Greatest Music Albums	hardrockcafe63	Overall chart	2022
Top 40 Greatest Music Albums	Rimbaud65	Overall chart	2016
Top 40 Greatest Music Albums	loverockmog	Overall chart	2021
Top 40 Greatest Music Albums	billyshears	Overall chart	2016
Top 40 Greatest Music Albums	bushboibeats	Overall chart	2017
Top 40 Greatest Music Albums	MysteriousMrM	Overall chart	2019
Top 40 Greatest Music Albums	PopWombat76	Overall chart	2016
Top 37 Greatest Music Albums	Owens	Overall chart	2018
Top 40 Greatest Music Albums	gdb316	Overall chart	2021
Top 40 Greatest Music Albums	MrDudeoo	Overall chart	2015

Top 40 Greatest Music Albums similarity to your chart(s)

Top 40 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 10 ratings for this chart.

Sort by

• Rating
• Date updated
• Member

Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
85/100  !	02/21/2025 15:36	SomethingSpecial	1,104	85/100
80/100  !	08/29/2019 06:10	yoizillmatic	5	96/100
80/100  !	11/08/2016 14:49	TheSmiths82-87	1,831	83/100
90/100  !	02/21/2016 16:22	tim0505	107	80/100
75/100  !	09/22/2014 18:56	Martinborras	300	79/100

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 84.2/100, a mean average of 82.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 82.5/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 8.7.

• Related links:
• Top charts

Top 40 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing all 6 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)

Rating:  

75/100

From Martinborras 09/22/2014 18:56 | #122429

Nice

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

80/100

From BraddlesHendo 11/29/2013 09:58 | #95297

I agree with your rating of Arctic Monkeys album being pretty shite

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

65/100

From junodog4 10/26/2013 19:59 | #89310

There's some great music made today... Nothing wrong with what is on your chart, but check out some contemporary stuff.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

95/100

From skelter54 09/21/2013 22:06 | #86404

Very nice, i have all the LP's except Dido & Geroge Michael.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

95/100

From ffudnebbuh 07/18/2013 12:24 | #81810

nice collection, like the variety. nice to see Jackson Browne represented here.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

80/100

From SingingPeasant96 03/25/2013 11:01 | #69878

Nice classic collection.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Your feedback for Top 40 Greatest Music Albums

Let us know what you think of this chart by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!