Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by hoyquarlow

My Best albums ever list.
I resigned myself to write a brief presentation of the albums selected, not because it is that much relevant but rather because it's fun to do. Of course the list isn't poured into concrete ; usually the more you go down on the list the more it is subject to change. But you got the global portrait. Some artists have albums listed back to back, mainly because I never could decide which one I prefer between the two.
And finally, english isn't my former language so there ought to be some mistakes...
Hope you enjoy the list

• Chart updated: 03/13/2025 16:15
• (Created: 12/31/2012 09:57).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

There are 14 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 90 out of 100 (from 32 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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5. (=)

London Calling 

 The Clash

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The Clash were a great band, no doubt about it. Still, London Calling alone is about 10 times better than a Clash best of- almost everyone will agree with that - and should be the obligatory starting point in discovering The Clash's music. I was getting a little bored with music when I first heard that record, but London Calling changed it all within the first 10 songs or so. I had never heard anything quite like it. Everything was just bursting with creativity and greatness. A defining moment in rock history and a true masterpiece in every sense of the word. [First added to this chart: 11/16/2015]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

2,816 charts

Rank Score:

32,425

Rank in 1979:

1

Rank in 1970s:

5

Overall Rank:

20

Average Rating:

 87 (3,148 votes)

Comments:

258

6. (=)

Physical Graffiti 

 Led Zeppelin

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Led Zeppelin might be the band that had the most crystal-perfect career ; Delivering 8 great albums on a 12 years span that feels just long enough, ending the affair in 1980 just before things might had turn bad (maybe). So picking one "best" album out of a discography so good is a near impossible task. I'm going with Physical Graffiti because it's a double album, it got the most lesser known gems, like "Down by the Seaside", "Ten years gone" or "Wanton Song". Although quite hard-rocking, the versatility of Physical Graffiti may be the perfect proof that Zeppelin were not that much a Metal band but rather more like the first alternative band. [First added to this chart: 11/16/2015]

Year of Release:

1975

Appears in:

1,358 charts

Rank Score:

12,432

Rank in 1975:

4

Rank in 1970s:

28

Overall Rank:

104

Average Rating:

 85 (2,046 votes)

Comments:

137

9. (=)

Lust For Life 

 Iggy Pop

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Growing up, Iggy as been like a big brother to me, or a good friend. It is still my favorite vocalist and solo artist, always loved is lyrics and his criminally underated signing. Anyway, I'm pretty happy Iggy did deliver Lust for life, a great album that most people are at least decent enough to give him some credit for. Bowie is behind the wheel, of course, but it's still pretty punkish, still a lot more like a real Iggy Pop record than The Idiot, in comparison. "The Passenger" is a real anthem, but the rest of the album doesn't lack incredible songs, like "Neighborhood threat" or "Some weird sin" . [First added to this chart: 11/16/2015]

Year of Release:

1977

Appears in:

572 charts

Rank Score:

3,474

Rank in 1977:

15

Rank in 1970s:

118

Overall Rank:

513

Average Rating:

 81 (706 votes)

Comments:

53

13. (=)

Aladdin Sane 

 David Bowie

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What first attracted me into Bowie's music when I was quite young, wasn't that much Bowie's otherworldy persona but rather the feeling his music was totally out of time ; From "Space Oddity" to "Heroes" or even the Labyrinth soundtrack (!), I could not pinpoint when all that stuff was made... It felt incredibly old and at the same time crazy futuristic. Aladdin Sane is exactly that, and it is (probably) my favorite Bowie album. The title track, "Time" and "Lady Grinning Soul" are mesmerizing songs, mostly because of the amazing piano of Mike Garson. [First added to this chart: 11/16/2015]

Year of Release:

1973

Appears in:

796 charts

Rank Score:

5,506

Rank in 1973:

9

Rank in 1970s:

76

Overall Rank:

311

Average Rating:

 82 (1,309 votes)

Comments:

82

14. (=)

The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars 

 David Bowie

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Do I prefer Aladdin Sane or Ziggy Stardust? I cannot say. I guess Aladdin is more impressive, it pushes the music forward more, but Ziggy's got more hooks, more catchy songs, it's a more pleasant listen maybe. It got those simple, sing-along songs that you immediately want to learn to play on guitar (even the piano ones like "Lady Stardust"...) I do like the more electronic stuff Bowie did later, but I still prefer by far his glam period, and Ziggy Stardust is pretty much the pinnacle of that era. [First added to this chart: 11/19/2015]

Year of Release:

1972

Appears in:

3,007 charts

Rank Score:

45,452

Rank in 1972:

1

Rank in 1970s:

3

Overall Rank:

7

Average Rating:

 90 (3,525 votes)

Comments:

303

18. (=)

Live Rust 
Live

 Neil Young & Crazy Horse

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I'm usually not a big fan of Live Albums, but I gotta make an exception for Live Rust, which is by a mile the best Live album i've ever heard. When I first heard Live Rust, I was already a fan of Neil's stuff but for some reasons, I have never heard most of the songs on it, so it kinda felt like an entirely new album. Much later I found out that most of the songs here sounds actually better on this live record than on the original albums. The delivery is fantastic, the first half being acoustic while the second half more electric, with mind-blowing and definitive versions of "Cortez the killer" and "Like a Hurricane". [First added to this chart: 11/20/2015]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

228 charts

Rank Score:

1,277

Rank in 1979:

24

Rank in 1970s:

270

Overall Rank:

1,358

Average Rating:

 82 (348 votes)

Comments:

10

22. (=)

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Houses Of The Holy 

 Led Zeppelin

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[First added to this chart: 11/16/2015]

Year of Release:

1973

Appears in:

1,330 charts

Rank Score:

12,014

Rank in 1973:

3

Rank in 1970s:

31

Overall Rank:

113

Average Rating:

 85 (2,035 votes)

Comments:

116

26. (25) 1

The Wall 

 Pink Floyd

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[First added to this chart: 11/16/2015]

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

2,245 charts

Rank Score:

26,644

Rank in 1979:

2

Rank in 1970s:

7

Overall Rank:

31

Average Rating:

 86 (3,484 votes)

Comments:

266

28. (=)

Sticky Fingers 

 The Rolling Stones

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[First added to this chart: 11/16/2015]

Year of Release:

1971

Appears in:

1,639 charts

Rank Score:

17,567

Rank in 1971:

5

Rank in 1970s:

19

Overall Rank:

63

Average Rating:

 86 (1,911 votes)

Comments:

135

33. (34) 1

Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) 

 Led Zeppelin

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[First added to this chart: 11/21/2015]

Year of Release:

1971

Appears in:

3,146 charts

Rank Score:

40,753

Rank in 1971:

1

Rank in 1970s:

4

Overall Rank:

11

Average Rating:

 90 (3,985 votes)

Comments:

304

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition

Decade	Albums	%
1930s	0	0%
1940s	0	0%
1950s	0	0%
1960s	10	10%
1970s	25	25%
1980s	27	27%
1990s	28	28%
2000s	8	8%
2010s	2	2%
2020s	0	0%

Artist	Albums	%
The Cure	5	5%
David Bowie	4	4%
Pixies	4	4%
Nirvana	4	4%
The Smiths	4	4%
Led Zeppelin	4	4%
The Beatles	3	3%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	44	44%
	43	43%
	5	5%
	2	2%
	2	2%
	2	2%
	1	1%
Show all

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes

Biggest climbers
Up 2 from 26th to 24th Antics by Interpol
Up 1 from 82nd to 81st No Need To Argue by The Cranberries
Up 1 from 81st to 80th Live Through This by Hole

Biggest fallers
Down 3 from 59th to 62nd Rubber Soul by The Beatles
Down 3 from 79th to 82nd The Cars by The Cars
Down 2 from 32nd to 34th Meat Is Murder by The Smiths

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums similarity to your chart(s)

Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings

Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 32 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
85/100	01/26/2025 12:16	SomethingSpecial	1,100	85/100
100/100	04/29/2024 11:59	BraddlesHendo	496	91/100
90/100	08/09/2023 23:10	Moondance	475	85/100
90/100	08/09/2023 13:09	Tamthebam	625	85/100
95/100	08/09/2023 10:44	RevolverCB72	81	83/100

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 is rated in the top 3% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 89.7/100, a mean average of 90.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 90.9/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 6.4.

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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 14 comments |
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Rating:  

100/100

From BraddlesHendo 04/29/2024 12:00

Love to talk music all day with you

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

Rating:  

90/100

From Moondance 08/09/2023 23:15

Cool chart - nice to see all the love for The Cure. Enjoyed the comments up to your top 18 ¬ it takes effort to write comments; I've only managed to do my top 12 albums so far.

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

Rating:  

95/100

From KineticEchoes02 02/24/2022 08:35

Really good chart! You have great taste - many albums in common. Great descriptions, and awesome to see Midnight Oil in there, among The Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, Bowie, Floyd and Led Zep for starters.

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

Rating:  

95/100

From CharlieBarley 11/14/2021 07:32

Disintegration at number one. Brilliant. I need to place it higher up my own list. You have many albums I should have in my own chart, or used to have.

Great to see the Cure, Bowie, Pogues, Pixies, Smith's and Iggy Pop.

I want to check out more French music like Jacques Brel. I like Francis Cabrel.

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

Rating:  

90/100

From Johnnyo 05/01/2021 09:10

Excellent chart

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

Rating:  

85/100

From vancevisuals 06/27/2020 02:11

Sabotage is one of the great underrated albums

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

Rating:  

100/100

From 911Turbo 06/26/2020 17:34

great list. i enjoy seeing modern music .
i don't listen to the smiths, but i find your description inspirational(referring that your ill! aren't we all.)
if you have the time i really would like to read your thoughts about the other albums.
enjoy.

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

Rating:  

100/100

From 911Turbo 06/26/2020 17:33

great list. i enjoy seeing modern music .
i don't listen to the smiths, but i find your description inspirational(referring that your ill! aren't we all.)
if you have the time i really would like to read your thoughts about the other albums.
enjoy.

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

Rating:  

90/100

From StefanR10 06/26/2020 10:10

Nice to see so what. And I like you have the cure at number 1 so i give you for the good chart a 90. And good to see some description on the albums maybe next time more diversive.

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

Rating:  

95/100

From DommeDamian 06/26/2020 08:15

This is what I'm talking about, in terms of the term 'great chart'. Very rock-inspired like a lot, but descriptions always, and will always work.

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

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