Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by Q (1997)

Wow. I've gotta say, of all the "greatest of all time" lists, this has got to be one of the very worst.

From desh79 12/30/2016 15:29 | #181323

I know the list was very much of its time and it was also made via a public poll, but any "greatest albums ever"-list that has Fat of the Land at 9, Be Here Now (which even Noel Gallagher admitted was disappointing) at 13, and Jagged Little Pill at 19 is absolutely stark raving bonkers. I think I more or less stopped reading Q magazine at that point.

This website and Rate Your Music have OK Computer at the top of the albums, so why shouldn't it be top of this list? Some people are so stupid and yes in general it is the best Radiohead album...

Lists based upon popular polls are always problematic, because they can be too spur-of-the-moment and involve people who might have read the relevant magazine, but never actually even tested its recommendations.

This 1997 list by British magazine ‘Q’, which at the time I was reading quite frequently though I did not see any difference with ‘Rolling Stone’, is a perfect reflection of the flaws of popular polls. Too many spur-of-the-moment choices makes it even worse than other generally very bad lists from rock magazines. In general, these lists should be taken sceptically and used only to see if unknown music of value can be found – which is a genuine rarity.

So great! People votes are the best thing to go by!

15 albums in common:
OK Computer by Radiohead (200 points)
The Bends by Radiohead (194 points)
Nevermind by Nirvana (159 points)
Urban Hymns by The Verve (154 points)
Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience (151 points)
Blue Lines by Massive Attack (125 points)
Rumours by Fleetwood Mac (119 points)
Ten by Pearl Jam (108 points)
Pablo Honey by Radiohead (106 points)
Led Zeppelin IV by Led Zeppelin (104 points)
Grace by Jeff Buckley (103 points)
The Fat of The Land by The Prodigy (98 points)
Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette (98 points)
Forever Changes by Love (66 points)
Placebo by Placebo (24 points)
18 artists in common:
Nirvana
Radiohead
Alanis Morissette
U2
Björk
The Verve
Massive Attack
Fleetwood Mac
Led Zeppelin
The Prodigy
Nick Drake
Jeff Buckley
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Love
Pearl Jam
The Chemical Brothers
Placebo
The Jimi Hendrix Experience

This is the famous Ok Computer list. Must of annoyed the hell out of Thom Yorke.

Most are interesting, but some are very predictable

lots of great 90s stuff in it, and british music rules !

I understand this chart is a thing of its time but having 'Be Here Now' at #13 is unbelievable. Even just the inclusion of 'Pablo Honey' is bizarre (despite being a crazy Radiohead fan). This poll must've had a lot of naive voters. Still, it's nice to see a 'best of' chart acknowledge Manic Street Preachers - one of the finest, but forgotton bands of the 90s.

From andy_hunter 08/29/2012 10:56 | #49551

I quite like Q, they pick relatively indie stuff but aren't afraid to pick some mainstream stuff if its actually good. They're sort of a halfway point between Rolling Stone and Pitchfork. This would be an excellent chart but they messed up the order so badly! For example, 'Here Be Now' ahead of 'Defiantly Maybe' what the hell is that about?!