The Top 100 Albums of All Time
by Dave's Music Database on Sunday, 13 March 2011 at 22:56
Originally posted 3/13/2011.
Creating a list of the best albums of all time was really the bread and butter for the inspiration behind Dave’s Music Database more than a decade ago. This aggregate list was created by compiling more than 150 best-of lists from all manner of music publications and entities and crunching those figures into a database along with sales figures, chart results, critical ratings, and various awards. (Click links to see detailed sources).Note: all 100 albums link to DMDB web pages which give details about an album's sales, chart figures, single releases, critical rating, and a review. Many of the pages also include videos of songs from the album and links to related pages.
1. The Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
2. Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
3. Michael Jackson: Thriller (1982)
4. Nirvana: Nevermind (1991)
5. Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin IV (1971)
6. Fleetwood Mac: Rumours (1977)
7. The Beatles: The Beatles (aka “The White Album”) (1968)
8. The Beatles: Revolver (1966)
9. U2: The Joshua Tree (1987)
10. The Beatles: Abbey Road (1969)
11. David Bowie: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
12. The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds (1966)
13. The Clash: London Calling (1979)
14. The Rolling Stones: Exile on Main Street (1972)
15. The Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols (1977)
16. Velvet Underground & Nico: Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
17. The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced? (1967)
18. Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run (1975)
19. The Beatles: Rubber Soul (1965)
20. Bob Dylan: Blonde on Blonde (1966)
21. The Doors: The Doors (1967)
22. AC/DC: Back in Black (1980)
23. Prince & the Revolution: Purple Rain (1984)
24. Marvin Gaye: What's Going On (1971)
25. Radiohead: OK Computer (1997)
26. Pink Floyd: The Wall (1979)
27. The Who: Who’s Next (1971)
28. Guns N’ Roses: Appetite for Destruction (1987)
29. Eagles: Hotel California (1976)
30. The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland (1968)
31. Bee Gees/various artists: Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack (1977)
32. R.E.M.: Automatic for the People (1992)
33. Paul Simon: Graceland (1986)
34. Simon & Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
35. Van Morrison: Astral Weeks (1968)
36. Carole King: Tapestry (1971)
37. Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks (1975)
38. Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin II (1969)
39. Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
40. South Pacific: cast album (1949)/soundtrack (1958)
41. Prince: Sign 'O' the Times (1987)
42. Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
43. Public Enemy: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
44. The Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers (1971)
45. The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead (1986)
46. Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (1975)
47. Pearl Jam: Ten (1991)
48. Miles Davis: Kind of Blue (1959)
49. Patti Smith: Horses (1975)
50. U2: Achtung Baby (1991)
51. Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
52. Bruce Springsteen: Born in the U.S.A. (1984)
53. Neil Young: After the Gold Rush (1970)
54. Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti (1975)
55. The Rolling Stones: Let It Bleed (1969)
56. Joni Mitchell: Blue (1971)
57. Stevie Wonder: Innervisions (1973)
58. The Rolling Stones: Beggars Banquet (1968)
59. Alanis Morissette: Jagged Little Pill (1995)
60. The Who: Tommy (1969)
61. The Police: Synchronicity (1983)
62. Television: Marquee Moon (1977)
63. Ramones: Ramones (1976)
64. Oasis: What's the Story Morning Glory (1995)
65. Derek and the Dominos: Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs (1970)
66. Metallica: Metallica (aka 'The Black Album') (1991)
67. Neil Young: Harvest (1972)
68. Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell (1977)
69. Love: Forever Changes (1967)
70. Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms (1985)
71. The Stone Roses: The Stone Roses (1989)
72. David Bowie: Hunky Dory (1971)
73. Talking Heads: Remain in Light (1980)
74. West Side Story: cast album (1957)/soundtrack (1961)
75. Jeff Buckley: Grace (1994)
76. Beck: Odelay (1996)
77. Van Morrison: Moondance (1970)
78. Queen: A Night at the Opera (1975)
79. Van Halen: Van Halen (1978)
80. Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
81. Black Sabbath: Paranoid (1970)
82. The Sound of Music: cast album (1959)/soundtrack (1965)
83. Massive Attack: Blue Lines (1991)
84. The Band: The Band (1969)
85. Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young: Déjà Vu (1970)
86. Blondie: Parallel Lines (1978)
87. The Clash: The Clash (1977)
88. Lauryn Hill: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)
89. John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band (1970)
90. Joy Division: Closer (1980)
91. Grease Soundtrack: various artists (1978)
92. James Brown: Live at the Apollo Volume 1 (1962)
93. Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin I (1969)
94. Radiohead: The Bends (1995)
95. Slippery When Wet: Bon Jovi (1986)
96. John Lennon: Imagine (1971)
97. Portishead: Dummy (1994)
98. Red Hot Chili Peppers: Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)
99. Bob Marley & the Wailers: Legend (1984)
100.John Coltrane: A Love Supreme (1965)