Nah... I've long said there are probably 200 albums in my top 100, but it looks like it is more like 350
Mendelssohn 3--Peter Maag, LSO Dvorak 9--Istvan Kertesz, VPO Borodin 2 and 3--Ernst Ansermet Tchaikovsky 4-6--Yvgeny Mravinsky Tchaikovsky Swan Lake--Seiji Ozawa Boston SO
Thanks. I made the list a couple years ago based on my favorite albums over the years, rather than trying to think of “best”. It isn’t a diverse list because it’s really just the people I like. Consequently, there are albums listed that wouldn’t be on anyone’s list. It started as a project for my son - basically telling him that these are my favorite albums.
Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade, Reiner, Chicago SO Dvorak 7-9, Constantin Silvestri Led Zeppelin II Moody Blues, Days of Future Passed Cat Stevens, Teaser and the Firecat
For now my top 50 favourite albums of any genre of music, the ones I love the most ! 1.Rubber Soul (1965) - The Beatles Hounds Of Love” (1985) - Kate Bush Purple Rain (1984) - Prince And The Revolution A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002) - Coldplay Tango In The Night (1987) - Fleetwood Mac Exile on Main Street (1972) - The Rolling Stones IV (1971) - Led Zeppelin Days Of Future Passed (1967) - The Moody Blues What's Going On (1971) - Marvin Gaye 10.Blue (1971) – Joni Mitchell Ok Computer (1997) - Radiohead Achtung Baby (1991) - U2 Born To Run (1975) - Bruce Springsteen Blue Lines(1991) - Massive Attack Violator (1990) - Depeche Mode The Beatles (The White Album) 1968 - The Beatles Discovery (2001) - Daft Punk Moon Safari (1997) - AIR The Suburbs (2010) - Arcade Fire 20.Daiana (1980) - Daiana Ross So (1986) - Peter Gabriel Post (1995) - Bjork Transformer (1972) - Lou Reed Automatic For The Peolple (1992) - REM Thriller (1982) - Michael Jackson Back To Black (2006) - Amy Winehouse Dare (1981) - The Human League Ray Of Light (1998) - Madonna The Best Of - Bob Dylan 30.The Best Of - Sly & The Family Affair The Joshua Three (1987) - U2 The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill (1998) – Lauryn Hill The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (1972) - David Bowie A Night at the Opera (1975) - Queen White On Blond (1997) - Texas News of the World (1977) - Queen The Man Machine (1978) - Kraftwerk This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours (1998) - Manic Street Preachers The Man Who (1999) - Travis 40.Urban Hymns (1997) - The Verve Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) - Elton John Different Class (1995) - Pulp American Idiot (2004) - Green Day The Doors (1967) - The Doors Closer (1980) - Joy Division Parallel Lines (1980) - Blondie Superunknown (1994) - Soundgarden Nevermind (1991) - Nirvana Disintegratio (1989) - The Cure 50.Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (1987) - The Cure
Thanks! There are a lot of great ''forgotten'' albums here, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Roger Waters , The Kinks : Ray and Dave — two extraordinary talents ! , Van Morrison.
Thanks! Great list and variety of genres : The Beatles , Metallica, Pixies , Angelo Badalamenti , Boards of Canada , The Cure , Depeche Mode , Led Zeppelin , William Basinski , Nirvana , Kraftwerk !
Thanks a lot , great stuff ! I particularly appreciate the richness of genres . Rush , Genesis , The Cure , Pink Floyd , The Beatles , Dawid Bowie , Depeche Mode , The Smiths, The Doors , Enya !
I really like FM’s Tango in the Night, but just could not find room for it, although would be on my list of Top 200. Same for Different Class & Urban Hymns. A few other Albums I forgot to consider were War-U2 and Agaetis Byrjun-Sigur Ros.
Great stuff ! I particularly appreciate the richness of genres : Roxy Music , Talk Talk , Nirvana , The Cars , Doves , Peter Gabriel , David Bowie ,Kate Bush , Suede , Radiohead , Elton John , Muse ,Blondie , The Cure etc.
I will confess that occasionally I look hard at the 3% that I’ve allocated for the Daredevils (especially when I’m trying to free up a spot for something else). But…I suppose it’s a comfort food thing as I love all three of those albums. I scribble a list of candidates, as well…all champing at the bit to knock off an album from the list: Potential Candidates: U2 ‘War’ ‘82?’ Simon & Garfunkel Boz Scaggs s/t The Kinks ‘Lola’ The Kinks ‘Arthur’
I debated whether to list one album per artist, as I prefer that balance on song/year threads. However, it would have meant too many core albums omitted, so I've allowed myself three. To save space and as I can't upload a document, my 100 are in the spoiler tags below. Around 60 of these would feature if I did the list again at a later point, the others are likely subject to change depending on listening habits at the time. If we widened the criteria to 250 albums, I would expect there to be a more diverse selection, more room for ancillary genres to flourish. Alphabetical order, rather than by preference. Spoiler: Top 100 albums
Agreed. I can't imagine reading someone's favorite 100 list, nor compiling one for myself. That's not enjoyable.
Wow, your choices prior to 2000 have some parallels to mine. Specifically, Interiors, Darkness, Pirates, Born to Run, and some others.... Interiors and Pirates don't get much attention it seems, but they are world class for sure. 2 of the very few albums I can spin anytime.
Me too.... 1967 is a difficult year for me to choose a single favorite, and it generally changes between Sgt. Pepper, but Days usually edges out in front for me.
This would be different tomorrow but here we go for today: Abba-Arrival Abba- The Visitor ABC-The Lexicon of Love Alison Krauss-Paper Airplane America-1st album Antonio Carlos Jobin-Wave Bangles-Different Light The Bats-Foothills Beach Boys-Today! Beach Boys- Summer Days Beach Fossils-Somersault Beatles-A Hard Days Night Beatles-Rubber Soul (US) Beatles-Abbey Road Beck-Morning Phase Bee Gees-Main Course Bing Crosby-Bing With A Beat Bruce Springsteen-Born To Run Bruce Springsteen-The Wild, The Innocent Burton Cumming-My Own Way to Rock Camera Obscura-Lets Get Out Of This Country Carly Simon-Hot Cakes Carly Simon-Another Passenger Carole King-Tapestry Chris Connor-A Jazz Date With Count Basie and His Orchestra-88 Basie Street Creedence-Green River Creedence-Willie and the Poor Boys CS&N-Self Titled CSN&Y-Deja Vu Daft Punk-Random Access Memories Dan Fogelberg-Souvenirs Death Cab For Cutie-Plans Del Lords-Johnny Comes Marching Home Diana Krall-The Look Of Love Dire Straits-Making Movies Dire Straits-Love Over Gold Doobie Brothers-Livin' On the Fault Line Eliane Elias-Sings Jobin Eliane Elias-I Thought About You Ella Fitzgerald-Ella Swing Brightly With Nelson ELO-Out of the Blue ELO-Secret Messages Elvis Costello-This Years Model Elvis Costello-Get Happy Everything But the Girl-Amplified Heart Fleetwood Mac-Fleetwood Mac Frank Sinatra-Songs For Swingin' Lovers Frank Sinatra-Come Dance With Me Frank Sinatra-In the Wee Small Hours Frank Sinatra-September of My Years Go Betweens-16 Lovers Lane Grass Roots-Move Along Harry Styles-Fine Line Heart-Dreamboat Annie Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass-Ninth Jackson Browne-Jackson Browne Jackson Browne Late For the Sky Jackson Browne-The Pretender James Taylor-Mudslide Slim Jethro Tull-Songs From the Wood Jethro Tull-Thick As A Brick Jethro Tull-Benefit John Denver-Rocky Mountain High Joni Mitchell-Court and Spark Joni Mitchell-For the Roses Joni Mitchell-Hejira Kacey Musgraves-Golden Hour Katydids-Shangri-La Kevin Mahogany-Big Band Led Zeppelin-IV Led Zeppelin-Houses Of The Holy Linda Ronstadt-Hasten Down the Wind Lionel Richie-Can't Slow Down Loggins & Messina-Mother Lode Loggins & Messina-Full Sail Marshall Crenshaw-Marshall Crenshaw Melissa Manchest-Better Days, Happy Endings Monkees- Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Moody Blues- A Question Of Balance Mumford and Sons-Wilder Mind Neil Diamond-Tap Root Manuscript Neil Young-Comes A Time Oscar Peterson Trio- A Jazz Portrait of Frank Sinatra Paul Desmond-Tale Ten Paul McCartney-Ram Paul McCartney-Band on the Run Paul Revere and the Raiders- Spirit of '67 Paul Simon- There Goes Rhymin Simon Paul Simon-Rhythm Of the Saints Pink Floyd-Wish You Where Here Prince-1999 Pure Bathing Culture-Night Pass REM-Murmur REM-Reckoning Rolling Stone-Aftermath (UK) Rolling Stones- Beggars Banquet Rolling Stones-Between the Buttons (UK) Roseanne Cash- Kings Record Shop Simon& Garfunkel- Bookends Whoops, I hit post before I was done but this is a good start.
My 5th post, with 34 more choices. So far I am up to 55 choices, this brings me up to 89 total. I'm going to add notation about the type of music, since my tastes run toward the obscure, avant-garde and progressive, and lesser known artists. Arti e Mestieri - Tilt (1974) Italian prog with some fusion Cynic - Traced in Air (2008) Prog, technical-metal. Iceberg - Sentiments (1977) Fusion band from Spain. Joseph Schwantner - ...And the Mountains Rising Nowhere (1977) Contemporary classical. Le Orme - Felona e Sorona (1973) Italian classic prog Hiromi Uehara - Time Control (2007) Japanese fusion keyboardist Sammla Mammas Mana - Matild (1973) Avant-prog from Sweden Setna - Guerison (2013) Zeuhl, like a jazzier Magma Bruford - One of a Kind (1979) Fusion U.K. - S/T (1978) Prog Allan Holdsworth - i.o.u. (1982) Fusion at its best Elliott Carter - Violin Concerto (1990) Avant-garde classical Elliott Carter - Three Occasions for Orchestra (1989) Avant-garde classical Milton Babbitt - Composition for 12 instruments (1954) Serial classical Joan Tower - Silver Ladders (1986) Contemporary classical PFM - L'isola di niente (1974) Italian classic prog ELP - Tarkus (1973) Prog King Crimson - ItCotCK (1969) Prog Magma - Köhntarkösz (1974) Magma - Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré (2009) Zeuhl Area - Arbeit Macht Frei (1973) Area - Maledeiti (1977) Italian prog, fusion Thinking Plague - In Extremis (1998) Avant-garde prog Azimuth - Départ, with Ralph Towner (1980) Chamber-jazz Jean luc Ponty - Imaginary Voyage (1976) Jean luc Ponty - Enigmatic Ocean (1977) Genesis - Selling England (1973) Genesis - Foxtrot (1972) Yes - Going for the One (1977) Hatfield and the North - Rotter's Club (1975) Hatfield and the North - Hatfield and the North (1974) Banco - As in the Last Supper (1976) Italian prog Banco - Di Tera (1978) The Contortionist - Language (2014) Progressesive technical-metal
I'd like to make my list, but beyond the top 5 I'd struggle to rank them. But still... A playlist of my top 100 albums would be nice to work through, one or two a day, for a couple of months or so. Revisit some old faves I haven't played in a while. Can't imagine it'd make an interesting read for anyone but me, being stuffed with my favourite bands and probably not much variety. Having just one album per band would mean it's not really all my fave albums. To rank them I'm thinking of looking at Last.Fm data. Scrobbling since 2006 it gives a good insight into most played albums. I'd have to weight some stuff for albums from the decades before digital... It's the kind of boring music library related task/project that I'd probably enjoy, being the anorak I am.
I've been making lists and charts since the 80s, so it's almost second nature to me. Here's my latest, just-updated Top 100. I'll split it into two lots of 50. Numbers in brackets are the album's ranking on my previous list of 2016. A (-) means a first appearance in my Top 100. (RE) obviously means it's a re-entry, an old favourite returning to the list. THE TOP 100 ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME (7/8/2022) 1 (1) HATS The Blue Nile 1989 2 (4) SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR Tears For Fears 1985 3 (2) HUMAN'S LIB Howard Jones 1984 4 (3) SO Peter Gabriel 1986 5 (5) INTO THE GAP Thompson Twins 1984 6 (8) TANGO IN THE NIGHT Fleetwood Mac 1987 7 (7) HOUNDS OF LOVE Kate Bush 1985 8 (6) ACTUALLY Pet Shop Boys 1987 9 (11) ACHTUNG BABY U2 1991 10 (26) THE NIGHTFLY Donald Fagen 1982 11 (87) 24 YEARS OF HUNGER Eg & Alice 1991 12 (10) A WALK ACROSS THE ROOFTOPS The Blue Nile 1984 13 (21) BLACK LIGHT Groove Armada 2010 14 (16) SIGN O' THE TIMES Prince 1987 15 (17) THE LEXICON OF LOVE ABC 1982 16 (9) DARE! The Human League 1981 17 (-) BLADERUNNER (O.S.T.) Vangelis 1982 18 (RE) CHALK MARK IN A RAIN STORM Joni Mitchell 1988 19 (13) NEW GOLD DREAM (81-82-83-84) Simple Minds 1982 20 (12) PURPLE RAIN O.S.T. Prince & The Revolution 1984 21 (14) RUMOURS Fleetwood Mac 1977 22 (-) BECOMING X Sneaker Pimps 1996 23 (25) FROM LANGLEY PARK TO MEMPHIS Prefab Sprout 1988 24 (36) A SECRET WISH Propaganda 1985 25 (20) THE WILD HEART Stevie Nicks 1983 26 (58) IT'S BETTER TO TRAVEL Swing Out Sister 1987 27 (31) NOW AND ZEN Robert Plant 1988 28 (29) THE COLOUR OF SPRING Talk Talk 1986 29 (18) HEJIRA Joni Mitchell 1976 30 (44) BLACK TIE, WHITE NOISE David Bowie 1993 31 (-) WORLD MACHINE Level 42 1985 32 (RE) HOTEL CALIFORNIA Eagles 1976 33 (23) SECRET OF THE BEEHIVE David Sylvian 1987 34 (-) THE LUXURY GAP Heaven 17 1983 35 (37) BLACK CELEBRATION Depeche Mode 1986 36 (30) SOLITUDE STANDING Suzanne Vega 1987 37 (-) SPIRIT OF EDEN Talk Talk 1988 38 (-) HEAVEN OR LAS VEGAS Cocteau Twins 1990 39 (33) ARCHITECTURE & MORALITY O.M.D. 1981 40 (41) NIGHT RIDE HOME Joni Mitchell 1991 41 (19) HUNTING HIGH AND LOW a-ha 1985 42 (-) EVERY OPEN EYE Chvrches 2015 43 (-) INFORM. EDUCATE. ENTERTAIN. Public Service Broadcasting 2014 44 (RE) THE SEEDS OF LOVE Tears For Fears 1989 45 (32) ROCK A LITTLE Stevie Nicks 1985 46 (15) REVOLVER The Beatles 1966 47 (38) BORN TO DIE Lana Del Rey 2012 48 (27) CUPID & PYSCHE 85 Scritti Politti 1985 49 (RE) CLUTCHING AT STRAWS Marillion 1987 50 (75) NOTORIOUS Duran Duran 1986 EG.
I'll start with my favorite bands/artists and their albums that would make it into my top 100.... Soundgarden Superunknown Down on the Upside Badmotorfinger Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon Wish You Were Here Animals Sinead O'Connor The Lion and the Cobra I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got Buckethead Colma Electric Tears Metallica And Justice For All Black album Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction Elastica - Elastica M.I.A. - Kala Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss Mad Season - Above Alice In Chains - Facelift Nazareth - Hair of the Dog David Lee Roth - Eat Em and Smile The Four Horsemen - Nobody Said It Was Easy Live - Throwing Copper Heart - Dog and Butterfly New Radicals - Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too Queensryche - Empire Black Sabbath - Paranoid Megadeth - Rust In Peace INXS - Kick Don Henley - The End of the Innocence Luscious Jackson - Natural Ingredients Audioslave- Audioslave Portishead - Third U2 - The Joshua Tree AC/DC - Highway to Hell Black Crowes - Shake Your Moneymaker I almost made it to the halfway point. I gotta go to the store. Even if I had finished, tons would've been left out. Hard to narrow it down...