Top 20 Greatest Music Albums
by s_swimley

Since my tastes are really varied, I tried not to duplicate too many artists. Though my formative years were during the "Grunge" heyday, I certainly have an appreciation of all eras. With an LP and CD collection over 800, spanning everything from Mozart to Motorhead, it's hard to pick out 20 unique albums. What I tried to to is take what I believe to be either the defining album of an artist's career or a groundbreaking album that paved the way for other artisits and a new movement. However, these are the albums I find myself putting on no matter what the situation calls for or what mood I'm in....perennial favorites if you will.

• Chart updated: 04/06/2010 12:49
• (Created: 09/26/2008 00:45).
• Chart size: 20 albums.

• Summary
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• Ratings
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1.

Abbey Road 

 The Beatles

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Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

3,735 charts

Rank Score:

57,282

Rank in 1969:

1

Rank in 1960s:

1

Overall Rank:

3

Average Rating:

 92 (4,628 votes)

Comments:

476

2.

Ten 

 Pearl Jam

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Year of Release:

1991

Appears in:

1,843 charts

Rank Score:

18,327

Rank in 1991:

3

Rank in 1990s:

7

Overall Rank:

51

Average Rating:

 82 (2,345 votes)

Comments:

181

3.

The Dark Side Of The Moon 

 Pink Floyd

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Year of Release:

1973

Appears in:

4,132 charts

Rank Score:

60,078

Rank in 1973:

1

Rank in 1970s:

1

Overall Rank:

2

Average Rating:

 92 (5,333 votes)

Comments:

592

4.

Appetite For Destruction 

 Guns N' Roses

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Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,400 charts

Rank Score:

11,221

Rank in 1987:

2

Rank in 1980s:

15

Overall Rank:

117

Average Rating:

 78 (1,950 votes)

Comments:

168

5.

Led Zeppelin II 

 Led Zeppelin

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Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

1,954 charts

Rank Score:

20,939

Rank in 1969:

3

Rank in 1960s:

13

Overall Rank:

41

Average Rating:

 87 (2,748 votes)

Comments:

176

6.

The Joshua Tree 

 U2

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Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,863 charts

Rank Score:

18,323

Rank in 1987:

1

Rank in 1980s:

6

Overall Rank:

52

Average Rating:

 83 (2,458 votes)

Comments:

229

7.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 

 The Beatles

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Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

3,493 charts

Rank Score:

43,310

Rank in 1967:

1

Rank in 1960s:

3

Overall Rank:

8

Average Rating:

 90 (4,592 votes)

Comments:

491

8.

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Nevermind 

 Nirvana

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Year of Release:

1991

Appears in:

3,222 charts

Rank Score:

37,766

Rank in 1991:

1

Rank in 1990s:

2

Overall Rank:

13

Average Rating:

 87 (4,335 votes)

Comments:

413

9.

Aja 

 Steely Dan

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Year of Release:

1977

Appears in:

820 charts

Rank Score:

9,011

Rank in 1977:

6

Rank in 1970s:

40

Overall Rank:

162

Average Rating:

 83 (1,009 votes)

Comments:

65

10.

Workingman's Dead 

 Grateful Dead

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Year of Release:

1970

Appears in:

272 charts

Rank Score:

1,483

Rank in 1970:

32

Rank in 1970s:

239

Overall Rank:

1,175

Average Rating:

 79 (435 votes)

Comments:

19

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Total albums: 20. Page 1 of 2

Top 20 Greatest Music Albums composition

Country	Albums	%
	10	50%
	7	35%
	2	10%
	1	5%

Top 20 Greatest Music Albums similar charts

Title	Source	Type	Published	Country
Greatest 100 Albums of All Time	The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums with NME	Overall chart	2006
The Top 100 Albums	VH1	Overall chart	2001
Top 100 Albums	ABC	Overall chart	2006
100 Greatest Albums Ever	Q	Overall chart	2006
Top 50 Greatest Music Albums	joem92	Overall chart	2010
Virgin All-Time Top 1000 Albums	Virgin	Overall chart	2000
100 Greatest Albums Ever	Q	Overall chart	2003
Top 500 Albums of All Time	Rolling Stone	Overall chart	2003
The Definitive 200	National Association of Recording Merchandisers	Overall chart	2007
Top 100 Albums Ever	Consequence of Sound	Overall chart	2010

Top 20 Greatest Music Albums similarity to your chart(s)

Top 20 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 13 ratings for this chart.

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• Rating
• Date updated
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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
80/100  !	04/11/2015 18:23	calsper	646	71/100
55/100  !	04/05/2012 14:34	armoury	175	82/100
75/100  !	07/14/2011 16:32	Triple Seis	1,251	79/100
70/100  !	04/25/2009 06:50	telefunker	901	49/100
60/100  !	03/18/2009 17:08	damon-albarn	43	66/100

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 72.6/100, a mean average of 62.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 62.3/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 17.5.

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Top 20 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing all 8 comments |
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Rating:  

55/100

From armoury 04/05/2012 14:34 | #39450

good chart but too classics based and way too small

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

Rating:  

80/100

From joannajewsom 10/15/2008 08:44 | #1530

I like the changes you've made.

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Rating:  

60/100

From maxxy 10/09/2008 05:51 | #1470

I agree with bananabrother--lot better.

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Rating:  

55/100

From banana brother 10/09/2008 03:19 | #1469

Great changes, i love the brubeck and mingus adds

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From s_swimley 10/09/2008 02:08 | #1468

I think maxxy was pretty accurate with the rough draft comment. I went back through my collection to find some more "worthy" entries and this is what I've come up with. Yes, a lot is mainstream, but I believe a component of a great album is it's popularity and ability to reach people.

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

Rating:  

80/100

From joannajewsom 09/27/2008 03:20 | #1336

You lost me at #12

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Rating:  

60/100

From maxxy 09/26/2008 06:18 | #1328

you should get some less mainstream stuff.

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Rating:  

60/100

From maxxy 09/26/2008 06:17 | #1327

uuhh seems like a rough draft

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