Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by 
slatsheit 
I've tried to put this chart together the way that I believe everyone should: 1) ***no*** limitations on the number of albums by a single artist, because that would automatically make the chart a bald-faced lie (at least in my case), and 2) to rank every album meticulously in terms of desert island standards, rather than some sort of objective evaluation - with every single rank number, "hm, if I can only take this many albums with me to the desert island, would I rather have this album, or some other album I haven't included yet?" The desire to be absolutely honest with myself and others has led (and will continue to lead, until I die) to numerous revisions.
In terms of how I personally rate albums, I personally consider there to be four levels of "5 stars." The first three, I give 100 ratings to on this site; the others (more numerous) get 95s. 4.5s get 90s, 4s get 80 or 85, 3.5s get 70 or 75, 3s get 60 or 65, and so on. My ratings tend to trend higher on average than most here because if I listen to an album, something grabbed me that made me want to listen to it.
But I digress. #1-15 I would consider 5+++, #16-34 is 5++, 35-75 is 5+, and everything below (and everything contained on my "101-200" and "201-241" custom charts) is a straight 5.
I'm a self-proclaimed Gen X curmudgeon. I hate hip-hop and everything significantly influenced by it on principle - too meta and too non-musical, and I can't stand the non-stop foul language and degradation. That said, it's absolutely not a racial thing - I love and esteem plenty of r 'n' b, soul, and jazz. The first two of those three genres tend to be underrepresented here compared to my actual tastes because those genres are more singles-oriented. Jazz will probably grow in representation in time - up to this point, I generally haven't evaluated the jazz I like vs. the pop/rock because they're so apples and oranges. I do have to cop to having heard far fewer jazz albums than pop/rock albums (hundreds vs. thousands). I like classical more than jazz, and love certain pieces more than some of the pop/rock albums included here. However, classical is virtually impossible to rate in terms of albums, because classical albums are about performances, whereas I approach classical by finding a performance I like and listening to that, whereas my sense of classical favorites is a matter of pieces, not performances. If pop/rock vs. jazz, is apples and oranges, pop/rock vs. classical is apples and sweet potatoes. In terms of the album-oriented stuff I do like, I strongly believe that there was a precipitous drop-off in music in general after about 1988. Shoegaze and Radiohead's OK Computer are the only developments since which are both 1) original and 2) worthwhile. Everything else that is good is synthetic of prior styles. That's not necessarily a bad thing - there are many very good albums in such veins.
- Chart updated: 04/12/2025 01:45
- (Created: 11/08/2024 01:17).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
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This has been my fave since 1987. At least I'm consistent. It defines the rest of my taste. Why is it my favorite? Well, some of it is just deeply personal – it contains a few songs that I remember hearing on the radio in my early childhood in the mid-‘70s, which certainly contributes to my allegiance to it. I also find it to be my single favorite “moment” of The Beatles. Let’s be frank; they’re like four different bands: a) the early period super-synthetic creation of “rock” (as opposed to rock ‘n’ roll) in ’63-’64 (note: they’d still be the greatest of all time because of what they achieved in that period alone if they died in a plane crash on New Year’s Day of ’65, which is uproariously virtually never acknowledged), b) the song-focused, guitar-centered development stage of ’65-’66, c) the high-concept psychedelic period (’67), and d) their final mature phase (India up to the end). I find “b” to be the most timeless, to contain their greatest songwriting, and to have the greatest influence on other music that I love (non-blues-based guitar music, including power pop, in the ‘70s and ‘80s). Rubber Soul is great, but Revolver, with its higher ambitions and boundary-pushing, is the best. I always include the “Paperback Writer”/”Rain” single in my consideration of Revolver (although it would still absolutely be my #1 without them), because they would have been included in any era other than the wacky British mid-'60s. I love that overdriven Casinos guitar sound they used on those single sides, “And Your Bird Can Sing,” “Taxman,” and “I’m Only Sleeping.” George of course goes somewhat off the deep end with his hairiest attempt at the incorporation of Indian music with “Love You To” (love you to what?), but even that fits the overall sound and feel of the album with the grinding tamboura sounding like a heavily distorted guitar. “Yellow Submarine” annoys a lot of folks with its “children’s song” approach, but it’s more of a frat song, with the gang vocals and musique concrete elements. “Dr. Robert” is not my favorite – they really didn’t need to take a last dip into Bakersfield at this point, way too late in the game – but at least the great guitar sound and Lennon’s impishness are there. So those three tracks are a little weaker than the rest, but they don’t drag the album down, because they contribute to the edifice. Everything else – 11 tracks, plus the single sides, which would have been there in any other era – is phenomenal. George, of course, gives us the start-stop rhythmic groove of “Taxman,” but Paul co-opts it with his virtuoso bass lines and absolutely wired guitar solo. “I Want to Tell You,” with its dissonant piano clomping, is a fantastic left-field pop song, George’s best offering here, and absolutely the peer of John and Paul’s tracks – huge contribution to the greatness of the album. Lennon may have hated “And Your Bird Can Sing,” but it’s one of the best things the band ever did with one of his songs, an absolute guitar nirvana with Paul and George’s overdriven harmonic lines driving the song. This is of course the album where John (who was already a demigod by virtue of establishing himself as the best white male singer in pop/rock history from ’63-’65) really stretched out and warped the boundaries of rock, with the herky-jerky rhythms and acid testimony of “She Said, She Said,” the backwards guitar and psychedelic languor of “I’m Only Sleeping,” and of course the visionary Tibetan romp that is “Tomorrow Never Knows,” which is of course a psychedelic masterpiece, but also works as ecstatic dance music (try it!). An achievement that put the whole rest of the world on notice. “Rain,” of course, is one of the band’s very best songs, in terms of lyrics and hooks, but especially in terms of Paul’s great bass work, the so-euphonious-it-hurts blizzarding guitars, and the best drumming performance of Ringo’s life, and the vari-speed slowdown which gives it that perfect psycho-pop feel. However, when all is said and done, this album is Paul’s triumph, the only time in the band’s career that he really outdid John. “Got to Get You Into My Life” is catchy as hell, a pop-soul number that greatly expands the character, feel, and influence of the album (and which fits very well alongside “I Want to Tell You”); “Eleanor Rigby” of course furthers the avant-pop excursions of the band with its relentless string octet and Paul’s pensive lyrics; “Good Day Sunshine” injects a little bit of the nostalgic music hall character that was such a big part of British pop at the time (and one of the best examples of Paul doing so) (it's also one of those tracks I heard on the radio as a kid, fwiw); while “For No One” and “Here, There and Everywhere” are sublime, absolutely timeless pop masterpieces and standards. “Paperback Writer” features an absolutely jet-propelled version of that guitar sound that contributed so much to the greatness of the album, plus those delay-treated vocals and kinetic hookiness. The Fab Four’s fabbest, and the greatest album of all time.
[First added to this chart: 11/08/2024]
Year of Release:
1966
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Rank Score:
50,821
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486
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"Oh, Joy Division. They couldn't play their instruments. And that guy couldn't sing. Not to mention New Order's better anyway." Yeah, in a parallel universe in which everyone has a tin ear. Sure, Albrecht and Hook were limited musicians (note: I hesitate to call Stephen Morris, the human drum machine, limited), but their ambitions combined with Martin Hannett's visionary production and Ian Curtiss's power as the greatest self-expressionist that the pop/rock genre has ever produced resulted in a brief but simply monumental catalog of towering greatness. This album resonantly tells Ian's truth - one which is universal from an erroneous but majority-held perspective. He simply faced the darkness whose existence the majority who are in his boat blithely deny, and told the truth about it with an artistic prowess which was and remains unmatched. If someone doesn't like this album, that generally means I don't need to hear a syllable more about the rest of their bubonically fecal musical opinions, but some have successfully fooled me until I found that out. Note: in an effort to be more honest with myself and the world about my personal preferences, I recently moved this up from #11 to #2.
[First added to this chart: 11/08/2024]
Year of Release:
1980
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Rank Score:
15,524
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Not a hip choice, but its obsidian grandeur is simply undeniable. Of course, DSOTM is rooted in Roger Waters’ desire to depict as many major themes as possible – money, war, death, insanity, but it’s the execution that makes it so special – the rich perfection of production, the sense of space, the enveloping gorgeousness. Like Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions, which came out the same year, it segues from track to track, but far more smoothly and musically (not just cross-fading). The languid tempos on most of the tracks bely the urgency of the topics, suggesting a soporific denial in most of us of their importance. While the synthesizers and 3D production suggest a space-aged futurism, the female soul singers, the gorgeous sax, and Gilmour’s virtuosic eruptions root it in bluesyness – once again, the sense of totality, of drawing in the entire world. Very few albums have the unified sense of a immersive and cohesive experience that this one does. It’s beautiful, it’s dark, it’s profoundly impressive. Post-Syd Pink Floyd is extravagantly overrated on this site, but this album is not.
[First added to this chart: 11/08/2024]
Year of Release:
1973
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Rank Score:
62,218
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This album has grown and grown on me in the 33-odd years I've been listening to it. A dramatic rock 'n' roll masterpiece, and forever cool. Bowie didn't need to grow beyond something this great, and yet he did, which is why he's number two in my book after only The Beatles. Of course Mick Ronson is huge to the triumph of this record, with his absolutely ripping-for-’72 guitar tone and playing and his orchestrations – very much a collaborative effort. My favorite here is the soaring “Moonage Daydream,” with its fantastic Ronson guitar work; shortly after it, the rampaging “Suffragette City,” and the myth-making rock glory of “Ziggy Stardust.” Then the super-cool “Soul Love,” of course elevated by concrete-ripping guitar from Ronson, then the dramatic rock masterpiece which is “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide.” “Five Years” is a brilliantly-written song, carried off by Bowie with striking commitment for a sci-fi scenario. “Starman” took a while to grow on me, as I didn’t realize it was a huge hit in the UK, but it’s a tremendous anthem, with the cool Bowie acoustic and Bolder bass verses as well. “Hang on to Yourself” is tremendously fun glam-boogie, the balladry of “Lady Stardust” solidifies the album’s glam bonafides, and “It Ain’t Easy,” while usually cited as the weakest track, is actually quite well-performed, with great guitar work from Ronson. I dig it. “Star” is the weakest track for me, and it *still* has that ripping (sorry for using that word so much) guitar work from Ronson, and Lennon-esque melodic singing choices from Bowie. In short, a masterpiece from beginning to end, and one of the rock era’s most important albums for sure.
[First added to this chart: 11/08/2024]
Year of Release:
1972
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Rank Score:
44,827
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There was this YouTuber from Britain (edit: Andy Edwards) who made hay eviscerating this album around a year or so ago, but his claims were rather undercut by pretty much every argument he made being an objective mischaracterization. This remains one of the two or three most emotionally powerful albums ever made, and one of the most transcendently beautiful as well. Of course, the album featured a central grouping of jazz musicians, with additional musicians on strings and horns. The end combination blends folk, blues, jazz, and r & b into Van’s musical and vocal pursuit and expression of transcendence. The methodology of having the musicians “follow the vocalist” where he leads adds to the loose, tentative, free-form character of the music. My favorite track here is definitely “Ballerina,” whose surging buildups never quite come to a climax but find a goosebumps-inspiring ecstasy in the journey. Great work from Connie Kay on brushed drums and Warren Smith Jr. on vibes. Also fantastic is “Cypress Avenue,” with its expression of confounded longing (if you can get past the perhaps-unsettling lyrics) and cyclic harpsichord and strings backing. I also love the sometimes-maligned “The Way Young Lovers Do,” with its uncharacteristic uptempo jazz-r & b romp. Love Van’s ecstatic vocals, which certainly aren’t any worse than his wonderful performance on the rest of the album, and the horn charts and rhythmic backing are fantastic. “Sweet Thing” has a frolicsome energy and joy just as appropriate to “young lovers,” “Astral Weeks” opens up the album’s mystical world beautifully with the repetitive bass line and string quivers, and “Beside You” has a more contemplative character. “Slim Slow Slider” takes the album out on a tragic note of loss, with John Payne’s soprano sax dancing sadly with Davis and Kay and fading out with a sudden change of pulse. To me, “Madame George” is the least musically-interesting track. I like Davis’s bass work for sure, and the lyrics are quite good, but it just doesn’t seem to go on much of a musical journey. But the album as a whole takes the listener on a gorgeous musical and mystical trip.
[First added to this chart: 11/08/2024]
Year of Release:
1968
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Rank Score:
16,894
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I love The Stones' catalog prior to this album as well - my top five is The Beatles, Bowie, Nick Drake, The Stones, and Joy Division, with Slowdive peeking in just outside - but this album is on an even higher level of lived-in resonance than what they had done before. The album rocks throughout atop Keith’s omnipresent open-tuned Tele rhythm work. And it’s all about rhythm. The band touches on hard rock (“Rocks Off,” “Happy,” “All Down the Line,” “Soul Survivor”), blues (Slim Harpo’s “Shake Your Hips,” Robert Johnson’s “Stop Breaking Down,” “Turd on the Run,” “Ventilator Blues”), gospel (“Sweet Black Angel,” “I Just Want to See His Face”), country (“Sweet Virginia,” “Torn and Frayed,” “Loving Cup”), and full-band r & b (“Let It Loose,” “Shine a Light”), but many of those examples involve the cross-blending of several genres. As I said, what most makes the album is that The Stones establish on every track that they are ***masters*** of everything they touch – every single style they do here, they make their own, and convey resonantly that, on some level, they have lived this music. It’s a mastery even more profound than what they had achieved on their three prior masterpiece studio albums. The ’63 Stones would have been absolutely elated if they heard this album then and learned how good they would end up at what they were doing (and Brian would have been jealous as hell that he didn’t live to play on it) then, and at everything else as well. Some have complained about the use of horns being too pervasive on the album, which is like complaining that the Sistine Chapel ceiling has too much of the color blue or some such nonsense. Fantastic female backing vocals ornament many of the tracks. Much is made of the lo-fi, grimy character of the production (especially after the gleaming polish of Sticky Fingers) and Jagger’s vocals being overwhelmed in the mix, but that’s part of its character and its roots in older forms, and a huge part of the greatness of the album. Of course, the masterpiece among many masterpieces is the absurdly great laid back rhythm groove of “Tumbling Dice,” but “Shine a Light” absolutely gives it a run for the money as the best track. But this is the best double album of all time in that every single track is a gem. No exceptions.
A word about the subsequent Goats Head Soup – that album was so disappointing to so many critics and fans because it was supposedly so much less ambitious and “lazy.” It is universally considered the end of their winning streak. Well, naturally, it’s not the masterpiece its four predecessors were, but it’s still a fantastic, 4.5-star album, their last album aside from Some Girls to approach being a masterpiece. Yes, it’s a musical expression of world-weariness, but that character is hard-won, and in its often-non-rocking character and mix of stylistic explorations, is best seen as a return to the style of an album like Between the Buttons, through the lens of what they’d been through, and how they’d grown, musically in the intervening years. Some critics thought It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll was better, which shows that some critics were abject idiots. [First added to this chart: 11/08/2024]
A word about the subsequent Goats Head Soup – that album was so disappointing to so many critics and fans because it was supposedly so much less ambitious and “lazy.” It is universally considered the end of their winning streak. Well, naturally, it’s not the masterpiece its four predecessors were, but it’s still a fantastic, 4.5-star album, their last album aside from Some Girls to approach being a masterpiece. Yes, it’s a musical expression of world-weariness, but that character is hard-won, and in its often-non-rocking character and mix of stylistic explorations, is best seen as a return to the style of an album like Between the Buttons, through the lens of what they’d been through, and how they’d grown, musically in the intervening years. Some critics thought It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll was better, which shows that some critics were abject idiots. [First added to this chart: 11/08/2024]
Year of Release:
1972
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Rank Score:
20,308
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I don't like putting this one this high either because it isn't hipster (nor reflective of me as a person and music connoisseur) enough, but once again, I cannot deny it. For me, unlike most folks out there, this is pretty much absolutely immune to the "don't ever need to hear it again" phenomenon. The narrative usually goes that “Led Zeppelin were untouchable for their first six albums,” and to regard that stretch as the best six-album run ever, etc. Well, yeah, I have three of them in my top 100, and they are all fantastic, but to me, this is absolutely the mountaintop. The first two albums (the other two I have in my top 100) have their own sound and charm, are great in and of themselves, and diverge in sound and approach to most of this one, and the third obviously changed things up considerably and interestingly. On the other hand, one could argue that Houses and Physical Graffiti built on and expanded upon what they did here, but to me, that was *clearly* a lesser band by virtue of Robert Plant’s loss of the top end of his range (e.g. listen to the strained high notes on “The Song Remains the Same”), less puissant and less creative than what they did here. And they did so many different things! My favorite track here is the opening “Black Dog,” with its amazingly creative rhythm as created by John Paul Jones (probably the single greatest achievement of his distinguished career) and the unstoppable Page riffage. Love it. “Rock and Roll” has perhaps become a little bit underrated. The lumbering dinosaur shows definitively that yes, it can absolutely rock and roll as opposed to just “rocking,” hammering, or headbanging. Of course Bonham ripped off Little Richard’s drummer from the beginning of “Keep a-Knockin’,” but his brawny drum work makes that approach even better, Plant’s high vocals soar, and the band as a whole just cooks. “The Ballad of Evermore” includes one of the very, very few guest artist cameos on an LZ album, and it’s brilliant and perfect – the late, transcendently great Sandy Denny contributing co-lead vocals (as a side observation, this freaking album has sold 24 million copies in the US alone. Most of the people who have purchased it must be drooling idiots, because none of Denny’s three albums with Fairport nor any of her solo albums have sold jack. They should have *all* gone platinum, at least, as a result of the exposure here – absolute horse poop that they didn’t. I’m actually on the verge of working myself up to a physical temper tantrum writing this, it pisses me off so much and is so profoundly unjust). Great mandolin work from Page, and very welcome fantasy nerd lyrics from Plant that serve to elevate the artistry of the band. Little need be said about “Stairway,” with its fantastic arrangement and song-long build up in instrumentation. The imagery is obviously great, but I’m no fan whatsoever of the subject matter of the song and what Plant and Page are recommending. “Misty Mountain Hop” has a swinging hard rock groove, very cool. That’s the thing with Zep – they could *really* swing it when they wanted to. “Four Sticks” is underrated, with its challenging rhythms, eastern influence that far predates “Kashmir,” Page’s clanging 12-string chords, and the synth work at the end. “Going to California” is gorgeous, with wonderful singing from Plant, a very fitting tribute to Ms. Mitchell. “When the Levee Breaks” hammers things home with Bonham’s pile-driving drumbeat (and that absolutely inevitable high-hat throughout) and Page’s churning guitar work. I will admit that that final track is a bit of a caveat to what I said about the album being immune to being overplayed – I’ve gotten a wee bit weary of it, and it’s been sampled way too many times at this point. But there are very few albums in the history of pop/rock music that can compete with it on a track-for-track basis. I do have to knock it down a handful of places in terms of personal preference due to my “Stairway” resistance and “Levee” ennui, but it’s still monumentally great.
[First added to this chart: 11/08/2024]
Year of Release:
1971
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Rank Score:
40,048
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Part of why this album has fallen from favor is that people don't appreciate "This Song is Over" enough. It's just as good as the other multiple pillars of this album, and the supporting tracks operate at a stratospheric level as well. The greatness of the pre-Tommy era notwithstanding, this is simply The Who at their most powerful.
Of course much is made of this being the “remains” of Pete Townshend’s Lifehouse project. I don’t care about that. What I care about is that it features 1) forward-looking usage of synthesizers and early forms of sequencers, 2) ripping distorted guitar work from Pete on a level only otherwise found on Live at Leeds, but not nearly as muddy, 3) very strong rock vocals from the once-rather-limpid Roger Daltrey, 4) the best drumming of Keith Moon’s career (!), and 5) an absolutely fantastic set of songs. “Behind Blue Eyes” is probably my favorite, with its introspective lyrics, Daltrey handling the ballad-tempo material with a masculinity that is both vulnerable and fierce, and especially that climax of Pete windmilling the freak out of his guitar – one of the most violently intense guitar moments in the history of rock, for sure. Not far behind at all is the masterpiece “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” with its great synth patterns, slashing guitar work, incredible fills and soloing from Moon, and Roger’s scream at the end. So powerful. “Baba O’Reilly” of course contains the most impressive synth work on the album, and rocks like nobody’s business. The aforementioned “This Song is Over” is a soaring, majestic masterpiece which provided the basis (or should have) for the ‘80s arena rock of U2. “I sing my song to the free/To the free!” Love it. “Bargain” is another fantastic rock track, elevated greatly by Pete’s tender vocals in the bridge. The other four tracks are less ambitious, but still fantastic – the romp of “Goin’ Mobile,” the knowingly melancholic “Love Ain’t for Keepin’,” John Entwistle’s horn-accented “My Wife,” and the dynamically anthemic “Gettin’ in Tune.” In all, a bracing hard rock journey far more impressive than their two surrounding, finished rock operas ever were. [First added to this chart: 11/08/2024]
Of course much is made of this being the “remains” of Pete Townshend’s Lifehouse project. I don’t care about that. What I care about is that it features 1) forward-looking usage of synthesizers and early forms of sequencers, 2) ripping distorted guitar work from Pete on a level only otherwise found on Live at Leeds, but not nearly as muddy, 3) very strong rock vocals from the once-rather-limpid Roger Daltrey, 4) the best drumming of Keith Moon’s career (!), and 5) an absolutely fantastic set of songs. “Behind Blue Eyes” is probably my favorite, with its introspective lyrics, Daltrey handling the ballad-tempo material with a masculinity that is both vulnerable and fierce, and especially that climax of Pete windmilling the freak out of his guitar – one of the most violently intense guitar moments in the history of rock, for sure. Not far behind at all is the masterpiece “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” with its great synth patterns, slashing guitar work, incredible fills and soloing from Moon, and Roger’s scream at the end. So powerful. “Baba O’Reilly” of course contains the most impressive synth work on the album, and rocks like nobody’s business. The aforementioned “This Song is Over” is a soaring, majestic masterpiece which provided the basis (or should have) for the ‘80s arena rock of U2. “I sing my song to the free/To the free!” Love it. “Bargain” is another fantastic rock track, elevated greatly by Pete’s tender vocals in the bridge. The other four tracks are less ambitious, but still fantastic – the romp of “Goin’ Mobile,” the knowingly melancholic “Love Ain’t for Keepin’,” John Entwistle’s horn-accented “My Wife,” and the dynamically anthemic “Gettin’ in Tune.” In all, a bracing hard rock journey far more impressive than their two surrounding, finished rock operas ever were. [First added to this chart: 11/08/2024]
Year of Release:
1971
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Rank Score:
21,738
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This guy is *still* underrated. Even greater than Joy Division in terms of song-for-song greatness over the course of a brief catalog. All but maybe two songs ("Know" and "Bryter Layter") on the three albums he produced during his lifetime are of masterpiece-level quality. This is his most substantial album, and yes, I will gladly die on the hill that it's the best album of 1969. Fight me. Nick’s already-gorgeous compositions, singing, and guitar playing are complemented by beautiful strings arrangements by Robert Kirby on “Way to Blue,” “Day Is Done,” “Thoughts of Mary Jane,” and “Fruit Tree,” and even more luminously by Harry Robinson’s Ravel-style ornamentation of the immortal “River Man.” “’Cello Song” unsurprisingly features accompanying cello, “Thoughts of Mary Jane” has lovely flute work, and Richard Thompson provides some very tasteful electric guitar work on “Time Has Told Me.” “Three Hours” and “’Cello Song” feature nice conga work; “Saturday Sun” has drums and vibes that perfectly complement the song. Danny Thompson of Pentangle plays double bass on most of the tracks. Said Thompson and Paul Harris on piano provide accompaniment that helps make “Man in a Shed” the only song on one of Drake’s albums that might be considered playful. It’s certainly winsomely sly. My favorites? All of it. Absolutely all of it. Picking favorites out of these ten songs is like choosing which of your ten fingers you get to keep. A brilliant, melancholy, timeless statement of genius.
[First added to this chart: 11/08/2024]
Year of Release:
1969
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Rank Score:
8,986
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"Oh, they were just bubblegum back then." If you can listen to this without hearing the songwriting and performance mastery and the gorgeous resonance of production and arrangement, then you, sir or madam, have a tin ear.
In my review of Revolver, I talked about the 4 eras of The Beatles, and how they would have still had a huge case for Greatest of All-Time in the pop/rock genre even if they had died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve of 1964. They were the artists who created the new genre of rock as opposed to rock-n-roll, the amalgamation of the various prior musics of the prior 10 years under a driving beat, using brilliant and sophisticated chord progressions based on pure unstudied instinct, with powerfully dynamic singing. The single track that did the most to encapsulate their achievement was “She Loves You,” (yes, I know it isn’t on this album; I’m setting the table) the song that took them from being a nice chart sensation in the UK to being the reason to get out of bed in the morning. Hard driving, springing in with a thunderous drum roll and the blasting of the breathlessly desperate chorus that was so great it couldn’t wait, full of energy, enthusiasm, and hooks, and ending with a vocal harmony chord that made the hair on your arm stand up on end. The most important song in the rock genre, and also certainly one of its greatest (and unacknowledged on this site – average rating of 84? Anyone who voted it lower than 95 ought to be slapped mercilessly in the face until the demons leave them). There was zero need whatsoever for The Beatles to improve on that record (attribution: Greil Marcus said this years before I did, but he hit the nail on the head, and I agree with his take precisely), and to be honest, even though With the Beatles is a great album by most standards, it should have been a huge, crushing letdown for the UK record-buying public after that single. But then they put out the UK album A Hard Day’s Night. This LP stands out from the other four before Rubber Soul by virtue of having 1) zero covers – all Lennon McCartney material, and 2) no duff tracks whatsoever. Moreover, there is a polished richness to the performance, sound, and production which is a quantum leap over everything they had done before (although “Twist and Shout” and “She Loves You” were better than any single song here, they’re also a lot more raw). This is absolutely the first rock – or even rock-n-roll, or anything associated with the rock-n-roll to rock progression – album to contain excellent, four-star-and-above tracks from beginning to end. Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting was better and more sophisticated as well, growing by leaps and bounds. Another huge advance for the band was the gift to George by the US Rickenbacker guitar company of a 12-string semi-acoustic guitar. Its fat, ringing tone announced itself with the very first famous chord of the album at the opening of the title track. It enriched their sound and made it even more exciting and euphonious. John and Paul gave George a track to sing, “I’m Happy Just to Dance with You.” Had Lennon sung it instead, or even Paul, I think people would appreciate that it’s an excellent pop-rock gem, well-written, catchy, propulsive, great harmonies. But there are a ton of better songs here – the breathless title track, which is like “She Loves You” grown up, gone to college, more self-confident, and fit for posh society and fame; “I Should Have Known Better,” with that glorious “that when I tell you that I love you” hook; the gorgeous harmonizing of “If I Fell,” and the moonlight on the canal in a gondola romantic beauty of Paul’s “And I Love Her,” the first sign that he really might be almost as talented as John. Paul does almost as well on the cocky Bakersfieldish “Can’t Buy Me Love” and the swell “Things We Did Today,” with its great transitions from minor to major keys. But on nine of these songs, Lennon takes the lead – and that’s a damn good thing, because from 1963-65, he was the best white male pop/rock singer that there has ever been (note: don’t get me wrong – the John of 1966-69 was a towering genius of vision and songwriting, but his best era of singing was behind him. The comparison that comes to mind is Eddie Van Halen setting aside the guitar to put synths on his band’s albums, although even that analogy limps. Lennon was a genius at everything, but the soulful singing wasn’t his focus anymore by Revolver, to these ears). His passion, his sensitivity in expressing emotion, the beautiful tone of his, that catch it had when he leaned into it, his commitment, the soulfulness – no one’s ever done it better. Among white male folks, anyway. It takes the likes of Aretha and Stevie to beat him. And the rest of those John-led songs range from borderline masterpiece – the sober major/minor “I’ll Be Back,” the exciting girl-groupy pop of “Tell Me Why,” the assertive, self-confident, “Anytime at All,” and the gruff Bakersfield of the underrated “I’ll Cry Instead” – down to the merely great “You Can’t Do That,” and the worst-of-the-lot-but-still-better-than-almost-anyone-else “When I Get Home.” Just listen to the man blow, and blow, and blow. He absolutely rules, and this is a freaking great album. Take the weakest 8 songs here and line them up against the 8 Lennon McCartney songs from With the Beatles or Beatles for Sale. Whoops, those two albums each just got crushed like an overripe grape. Now do the 8 LMs from Please Please Me – closer, but the weaker tracks from AHDN still win. Help’s greatest tracks certainly measure up to the best stuff here, but about half that album is the weakest stuff the band did in the pre-Rubber Soul period. I consider AHDN to feature 4 outright masterpiece tracks, 7 borderline-masterpiece tracks, a great one, and a still decent one. That’s a more solid track record than later albums which are more highly rated here and elsewhere can boast. Justice for A Hard Day’s Night! [First added to this chart: 11/08/2024]
In my review of Revolver, I talked about the 4 eras of The Beatles, and how they would have still had a huge case for Greatest of All-Time in the pop/rock genre even if they had died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve of 1964. They were the artists who created the new genre of rock as opposed to rock-n-roll, the amalgamation of the various prior musics of the prior 10 years under a driving beat, using brilliant and sophisticated chord progressions based on pure unstudied instinct, with powerfully dynamic singing. The single track that did the most to encapsulate their achievement was “She Loves You,” (yes, I know it isn’t on this album; I’m setting the table) the song that took them from being a nice chart sensation in the UK to being the reason to get out of bed in the morning. Hard driving, springing in with a thunderous drum roll and the blasting of the breathlessly desperate chorus that was so great it couldn’t wait, full of energy, enthusiasm, and hooks, and ending with a vocal harmony chord that made the hair on your arm stand up on end. The most important song in the rock genre, and also certainly one of its greatest (and unacknowledged on this site – average rating of 84? Anyone who voted it lower than 95 ought to be slapped mercilessly in the face until the demons leave them). There was zero need whatsoever for The Beatles to improve on that record (attribution: Greil Marcus said this years before I did, but he hit the nail on the head, and I agree with his take precisely), and to be honest, even though With the Beatles is a great album by most standards, it should have been a huge, crushing letdown for the UK record-buying public after that single. But then they put out the UK album A Hard Day’s Night. This LP stands out from the other four before Rubber Soul by virtue of having 1) zero covers – all Lennon McCartney material, and 2) no duff tracks whatsoever. Moreover, there is a polished richness to the performance, sound, and production which is a quantum leap over everything they had done before (although “Twist and Shout” and “She Loves You” were better than any single song here, they’re also a lot more raw). This is absolutely the first rock – or even rock-n-roll, or anything associated with the rock-n-roll to rock progression – album to contain excellent, four-star-and-above tracks from beginning to end. Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting was better and more sophisticated as well, growing by leaps and bounds. Another huge advance for the band was the gift to George by the US Rickenbacker guitar company of a 12-string semi-acoustic guitar. Its fat, ringing tone announced itself with the very first famous chord of the album at the opening of the title track. It enriched their sound and made it even more exciting and euphonious. John and Paul gave George a track to sing, “I’m Happy Just to Dance with You.” Had Lennon sung it instead, or even Paul, I think people would appreciate that it’s an excellent pop-rock gem, well-written, catchy, propulsive, great harmonies. But there are a ton of better songs here – the breathless title track, which is like “She Loves You” grown up, gone to college, more self-confident, and fit for posh society and fame; “I Should Have Known Better,” with that glorious “that when I tell you that I love you” hook; the gorgeous harmonizing of “If I Fell,” and the moonlight on the canal in a gondola romantic beauty of Paul’s “And I Love Her,” the first sign that he really might be almost as talented as John. Paul does almost as well on the cocky Bakersfieldish “Can’t Buy Me Love” and the swell “Things We Did Today,” with its great transitions from minor to major keys. But on nine of these songs, Lennon takes the lead – and that’s a damn good thing, because from 1963-65, he was the best white male pop/rock singer that there has ever been (note: don’t get me wrong – the John of 1966-69 was a towering genius of vision and songwriting, but his best era of singing was behind him. The comparison that comes to mind is Eddie Van Halen setting aside the guitar to put synths on his band’s albums, although even that analogy limps. Lennon was a genius at everything, but the soulful singing wasn’t his focus anymore by Revolver, to these ears). His passion, his sensitivity in expressing emotion, the beautiful tone of his, that catch it had when he leaned into it, his commitment, the soulfulness – no one’s ever done it better. Among white male folks, anyway. It takes the likes of Aretha and Stevie to beat him. And the rest of those John-led songs range from borderline masterpiece – the sober major/minor “I’ll Be Back,” the exciting girl-groupy pop of “Tell Me Why,” the assertive, self-confident, “Anytime at All,” and the gruff Bakersfield of the underrated “I’ll Cry Instead” – down to the merely great “You Can’t Do That,” and the worst-of-the-lot-but-still-better-than-almost-anyone-else “When I Get Home.” Just listen to the man blow, and blow, and blow. He absolutely rules, and this is a freaking great album. Take the weakest 8 songs here and line them up against the 8 Lennon McCartney songs from With the Beatles or Beatles for Sale. Whoops, those two albums each just got crushed like an overripe grape. Now do the 8 LMs from Please Please Me – closer, but the weaker tracks from AHDN still win. Help’s greatest tracks certainly measure up to the best stuff here, but about half that album is the weakest stuff the band did in the pre-Rubber Soul period. I consider AHDN to feature 4 outright masterpiece tracks, 7 borderline-masterpiece tracks, a great one, and a still decent one. That’s a more solid track record than later albums which are more highly rated here and elsewhere can boast. Justice for A Hard Day’s Night! [First added to this chart: 11/08/2024]
Year of Release:
1964
Appears in:
Rank Score:
7,291
Rank in 1964:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 56. Page 1 of 6
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 1 | 1% | |
| 1960s | 40 | 40% | |
| 1970s | 36 | 36% | |
| 1980s | 17 | 17% | |
| 1990s | 5 | 5% | |
| 2000s | 1 | 1% | |
| 2010s | 0 | 0% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| The Beatles | 8 | 8% | |
| The Rolling Stones | 4 | 4% | |
| Stevie Wonder | 4 | 4% | |
| Pink Floyd | 4 | 4% | |
| David Bowie | 3 | 3% | |
| Bruce Springsteen | 3 | 3% | |
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 3 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
There have been no changes to this chart.Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mojo Readers: The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made | Mojo | Overall chart | 1996 |  |
| AllMusic's Greatest Albums | musicologist97 | Custom chart | 2019 |  |
| Ya joking? Should've been higher! All Time edition |  Purplepash | Custom chart | 2025 |  |
| BEA Top 100 Reorganized According To My Taste | bonnequestion | Custom chart | 2025 | |
| 200 Greatest albums of all time (1 - 100) - Uncut 2016 | Johnnyo | Custom chart | 2020 | |
| 200 Greatest Albums of All Time | Uncut | Overall chart | 2016 | |
| My Personal Ranking of Best Ever Albums' Top 100 |  Xxnu99etxX | Custom chart | 2022 | |
| Going With My Gut: The Overall Chart Top 100 Re-ranked |  CharlieBarley | Custom chart | 2024 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | album guru joe | Overall chart | 2013 | |
| BEA+RYM Overall Rank | Imaybeparanoid | Custom chart | 2017 |  |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
89/100 (from 5 votes)
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
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Showing all 5 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
100/100  | 08/18/2025 04:18 |  LadyGodiva | | 97/100 |
 90/100 | 04/02/2025 10:14 |  pedro1976 | | 85/100 |
| 90/100 | 04/01/2025 00:42 |  Arthurknight | | 89/100 |
| 90/100 | 01/29/2025 12:20 |  SomethingSpecial | | 85/100 |
| 100/100 | 12/14/2024 22:44 |  Rhyner | | 99/100 |
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100/100
From LadyGodiva 08/18/2025 04:16
LadyGodiva 08/18/2025 04:16
Nice list - lost of albums that I love here :) A little Beatles heavy but hey… you love what you
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90/100
From Arthurknight 04/01/2025 00:34
Arthurknight 04/01/2025 00:34
Thanks for pointing out the Overall Chart and how it can be distorted. It's true, technically, but this would be a much more valid critique of me making custom charts for certain genres instead of placing their best in the greatest. Right now, they're hardly counting for the Overall Chart, when they could be counting a lot more. I've thought about that a little bit over the years since the website as a whole has a massive rock bias as it stands, but it doesn't outweigh how annoying it is for me to try and compare them in good faith (I, like you, have my genre preferences).
You've made me think a little bit about that line in my description. It's been there for over a decade now and had you strolled in at the start and said what you've said it'd ring a lot more true. Back then, I enforced it on myself to get away from a list that had double ups on double ups. It was also part of an impetus to go and listen to new things. Today, all the albums in the list are -- I think -- 5/5 records, and consequently there's actually a very small cross section of possible records I could consider that this rule presently excludes, here they are:
The Beatles - The Beatles [White Album]
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
David Bowie - Station to Station
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Good Son
Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left
Nick Drake - Pink Moon
Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
The Fall - Hex Enduction Hour
Guided by Voices - Alien Lanes
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
The Velvet Underground - White Light / White Heat
The Wrens - Album 4.5 (bootleg wouldn't qualify)
Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
Neil Young - After the Gold Rush
Neil Young - Tonight's the Night
Would I add any of them to my list though? Maybe like 1 or 2 at any random given day, or certainly I'd be more likely right after listening to one of them, but I think they fight against my no. 100 on pretty equal footing and there's at least as many more left out that are from artists not in the list at all. This is a result of 10+ years of such a rule. I just have a very wide tastes now and I kind of like it that way. It doesn't mean anything really because I'd still defend the rule as it stands but food for thought. Interested in hearing more from you mate keep in touch.
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90/100
From Arthurknight 03/26/2025 08:27
Arthurknight 03/26/2025 08:27
Thanks for your comment. I wouldn't describe our tastes as majorly divergent, at least not from where I'm sitting. There's only a handful of records in your list I don't rate at least an 8, and many more I utterly adore.
Regarding the one artist limit, I can see why you might take issue with it considering the effect it would have on your list, but I'll hazard a minor challenge to your reasoning. You -- correctly -- dismiss the premise of objectivity in the construction of your list, and instead defer to your heart. I do so too, but isn't there a tension here with how you rationalise what a list should be?
I don't have a problem with your rules per se; do your thing. However, you argue that a list with restriction is in some way a lie. You then go on to volubly articulate all the ways your own list is limited in favour of how you personally imagine and derive joy from music. My point being, we are both using the list to document and convey us and how we see our own tastes, far more so than making a claim to what is good. It seems you're aware of that but it's lost on me you'd consider my version of how to demonstrate mine somehow me lying to myself.
Simply put, I kind of figure that when someone sees I like Neil Young's On The Beach that they can also figure I like the rest of catalogue; and if they're so curious as to what extent that information is readily available on my profile. Moreover, it's compelling for me to make that commitment to a favourite by an artist that I could otherwise proliferate my list with indiscriminately, and it frees me up to self-express a modicum more and to make recommendations.
A list can do more than one thing at a time.
In any case, I enjoyed reading through your list. I appreciated picks like New York Tendaberry and the wild self-reporting of being a Gen-Xer (with that Joe Jackson live album, I promise you we can tell), however I am also left without anything new to go discover which leaves me wanting.
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