Top 50 Greatest Music Albums
by thepurplemartin 
- Chart updated: 01/07/2025 02:15
- (Created: 02/13/2024 18:41).
- Chart size: 50 albums.
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[First added to this chart: 02/13/2024]
Year of Release:
2004
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,433
Rank in 2004:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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[First added to this chart: 02/13/2024]
Year of Release:
1994
Appears in:
Rank Score:
16,597
Rank in 1994:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 02/13/2024]
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
17,627
Rank in 1972:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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[First added to this chart: 02/13/2024]
Year of Release:
2007
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,984
Rank in 2007:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 02/16/2024]
Year of Release:
2008
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,332
Rank in 2008:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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[First added to this chart: 02/13/2024]
Year of Release:
1997
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,255
Rank in 1997:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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[First added to this chart: 04/03/2024]
Year of Release:
2001
Appears in:
Rank Score:
9,986
Rank in 2001:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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Out of all of Björk’s 90s/early 00s output, this one took the longest time to really sink in and grow on me, in spite of — or perhaps because of — how obvious this album is on its face. It’s a perfect encapsulation of the honeymoon phase, unbridled in its glee and unabashed in its sensuality. It’s shockingly intimate, almost to the point where you feel, at times, embarrassed, like you just walked in on a couple mid-coitus. However, what elevates Vespertine even beyond just an eloquent and powerful romance album, is that it’s not just about love for a partner; it’s about a courageous love of life.
Björk’s optimism is intoxicating, but it’s grounded and mature in a way that reveals just how effective of a communicator she is, and how intentionally this album was crafted. While Vespertine is perhaps a little more one-dimensional than her other work up to this point, it utilizes that focus to maximize her message, and her lyrics feel overwhelmingly potent. This is genuine poetry and uncompromising art, free from inhibition.
And all that’s before we’ve even talked about the music.
Vespertine is, unquestionably in my mind, the album that cements Björk as one of the greatest producers of all time. It’s her first album that fully commits to a consistent, overarching palette of sounds and instruments, with crystalline harps spinning around pillowy synthesizers and glitchy percussion, and angelic choirs and lush strings building up to glorious climaxes. The result is an entirely singular experience within both her own discography and the world of music in general. Where her prior material had built upon and pushed the boundaries of dance-pop, show tunes, and trip-hop, Vespertine had set foot on entirely new ground, and stepped into the future.
While it’s bold in its ideas, Vespertine proves that experimental music doesn’t have to be abrasive or dissonant or hard to parse. Indeed, there are certainly unconventional elements throughout, but it never clutters itself up to the point of becoming unpleasant or grating. Even at its most freeform and cryptic, it remains tangible and enjoyable at a surface level in a way that her later work is not.
As a whole, Vespertine is a masterpiece, a rare union of perfect songwriting and euphoric production, a crowning jewel in Björk’s discography, and the sonic embodiment of her joy at the most joyous time of her life. Even though we now know that this love story doesn’t get the happy ending it seemingly deserved, this part never fails to put a smile on my face. [First added to this chart: 02/13/2024]
Björk’s optimism is intoxicating, but it’s grounded and mature in a way that reveals just how effective of a communicator she is, and how intentionally this album was crafted. While Vespertine is perhaps a little more one-dimensional than her other work up to this point, it utilizes that focus to maximize her message, and her lyrics feel overwhelmingly potent. This is genuine poetry and uncompromising art, free from inhibition.
And all that’s before we’ve even talked about the music.
Vespertine is, unquestionably in my mind, the album that cements Björk as one of the greatest producers of all time. It’s her first album that fully commits to a consistent, overarching palette of sounds and instruments, with crystalline harps spinning around pillowy synthesizers and glitchy percussion, and angelic choirs and lush strings building up to glorious climaxes. The result is an entirely singular experience within both her own discography and the world of music in general. Where her prior material had built upon and pushed the boundaries of dance-pop, show tunes, and trip-hop, Vespertine had set foot on entirely new ground, and stepped into the future.
While it’s bold in its ideas, Vespertine proves that experimental music doesn’t have to be abrasive or dissonant or hard to parse. Indeed, there are certainly unconventional elements throughout, but it never clutters itself up to the point of becoming unpleasant or grating. Even at its most freeform and cryptic, it remains tangible and enjoyable at a surface level in a way that her later work is not.
As a whole, Vespertine is a masterpiece, a rare union of perfect songwriting and euphoric production, a crowning jewel in Björk’s discography, and the sonic embodiment of her joy at the most joyous time of her life. Even though we now know that this love story doesn’t get the happy ending it seemingly deserved, this part never fails to put a smile on my face. [First added to this chart: 02/13/2024]
Year of Release:
2001
Appears in:
Rank Score:
9,350
Rank in 2001:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 02/13/2024]
Year of Release:
1999
Appears in:
Rank Score:
15,030
Rank in 1999:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 02/16/2024]
Total albums: 50. Page 1 of 5
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Top 50 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 1 | 2% | |
| 1970s | 3 | 6% | |
| 1980s | 5 | 10% | |
| 1990s | 9 | 18% | |
| 2000s | 12 | 24% | |
| 2010s | 14 | 28% | |
| 2020s | 6 | 12% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Kanye West | 5 | 10% | |
| Portishead | 3 | 6% | |
| Björk | 2 | 4% | |
| Black Midi | 2 | 4% | |
| Kate Bush | 2 | 4% | |
| Mac Miller | 2 | 4% | |
| Electric Wizard | 1 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| |
23 | 46% | |
 |
16 | 32% | |
 |
3 | 6% | |
 |
2 | 4% | |
 |
2 | 4% | |
 |
2 | 4% | |
 |
1 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 50 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 38 from 45th to 7th Discovery by Daft Punk |
| Up 32 from 48th to 16th Dopethrone by Electric Wizard |
| Up 21 from 34th to 13th Kids See Ghosts by Kids See Ghosts |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 34 from 14th to 48th Michigan by Sufjan Stevens |
| Down 31 from 12th to 43rd Head Hunters by Herbie Hancock |
| Down 18 from 20th to 38th It's Album Time by Todd Terje |
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Top 50 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.
N.B. The average rating for this chart will not be reliable as it has been rated very few times.
Showing all 2 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 01/25/2025 14:15 |  SomethingSpecial | 1,104 | 85/100 |
| ! | 09/15/2024 00:16 |  sssvnnn | 2,865 | 83/100 |
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Top 50 Greatest Music Albums comments
Showing all 1 comments |
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From thepurplemartin 09/11/2024 18:12 | #305241
I will be writing in notes for at least my perfect 10/10 albums within this list (at the time of writing, the top 23 albums) but writing up well-thought out, inspired blurbs, short as they may be, is a slow process for me so it will take much time before they are all completed.
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