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.

There are 6 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 40 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 84 out of 100 (from 10 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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1. (=)

Pet Sounds 

 The Beach Boys

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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:

2,850 charts

Rank Score:

39,657

Rank in 1966:

2

Rank in 1960s:

5

Overall Rank:

11

Average Rating:

 88 (3,276 votes)

Comments:

360

2. (=)

The Dark Side Of The Moon 

 Pink Floyd

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

Year of Release:

1973

Appears in:

4,127 charts

Rank Score:

61,349

Rank in 1973:

1

Rank in 1970s:

1

Overall Rank:

2

Average Rating:

 92 (5,329 votes)

Comments:

592

3. (=)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 

 The Beatles

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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:

3,484 charts

Rank Score:

44,011

Rank in 1967:

1

Rank in 1960s:

3

Overall Rank:

8

Average Rating:

 90 (4,589 votes)

Comments:

491

4. (=)

Tubular Bells 

 Mike Oldfield

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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:

548 charts

Rank Score:

3,425

Rank in 1973:

14

Rank in 1970s:

118

Overall Rank:

515

Average Rating:

 79 (654 votes)

Comments:

41

5. (=)

Selling England By The Pound 

 Genesis

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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:

1,005 charts

Rank Score:

10,726

Rank in 1973:

4

Rank in 1970s:

34

Overall Rank:

124

Average Rating:

 84 (1,268 votes)

Comments:

94

6. (=)

Tapestry 

 Carole King

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

Year of Release:

1971

Appears in:

841 charts

Rank Score:

6,482

Rank in 1971:

10

Rank in 1970s:

58

Overall Rank:

252

Average Rating:

 82 (946 votes)

Comments:

50

7. (=)

Abbey Road 

 The Beatles

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

Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

3,726 charts

Rank Score:

58,041

Rank in 1969:

1

Rank in 1960s:

1

Overall Rank:

3

Average Rating:

 92 (4,622 votes)

Comments:

476

8. (=)

Court And Spark 

 Joni Mitchell

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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:

510 charts

Rank Score:

3,246

Rank in 1974:

6

Rank in 1970s:

122

Overall Rank:

539

Average Rating:

 82 (580 votes)

Comments:

38

9. (=)

The Stone Roses 

 The Stone Roses

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

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,016 charts

Rank Score:

23,359

Rank in 1989:

3

Rank in 1980s:

5

Overall Rank:

33

Average Rating:

 86 (2,293 votes)

Comments:

203

10. (=)

Rubber Soul 

 The Beatles

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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:

2,345 charts

Rank Score:

27,227

Rank in 1965:

2

Rank in 1960s:

9

Overall Rank:

28

Average Rating:

 88 (3,371 votes)

Comments:

261

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Total albums: 40. Page 1 of 4

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Top 40 Greatest Music Albums composition

Decade	Albums	%
1930s	0	0%
1940s	0	0%
1950s	0	0%
1960s	7	18%
1970s	21	53%
1980s	6	15%
1990s	4	10%
2000s	1	3%
2010s	1	3%
2020s	0	0%

Artist	Albums	%
Steely Dan	4	10%
Pink Floyd	4	10%
The Beatles	4	10%
Mike Oldfield	3	8%
Joni Mitchell	3	8%
Bob Dylan	2	5%
Neil Young	2	5%
Show all

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

Top 40 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest climbers
Up 2 from 30th to 28th Hergest Ridge by Mike Oldfield
Up 1 from 38th to 37th Older by George Michael
Up 1 from 25th to 24th On The Beach by Neil Young

Biggest fallers
Down 3 from 20th to 23rd Signing Off by UB40
Down 1 from 12th to 13th No Angel by Dido
Down 1 from 14th to 15th Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd

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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.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
85/100	02/21/2025 15:36	SomethingSpecial	1,108	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.

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Top 40 Greatest Music Albums comments

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Rating:  

75/100

From Martinborras 09/22/2014 18:56

Nice

#122429 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

80/100

From BraddlesHendo 11/29/2013 09:58

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

#95297 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

65/100

From junodog4 10/26/2013 19:59

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

#89310 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

95/100

From skelter54 09/21/2013 22:06

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

#86404 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

95/100

From ffudnebbuh 07/18/2013 12:24

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

#81810 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

80/100

From SingingPeasant96 03/25/2013 11:01

Nice classic collection.

#69878 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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