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Ultimate Album Lists

›› Plus - The Ultimate Album List #2

See Also:

›› Guardian 100
›› World Critic Lists

Version: December 1999

Compiled by Johan Stapel October 1997. Updated in October 1998 and in December 1999.
Published in Dutch magazine Heaven, Vol. 2 (2000), Issue 1/2 (Jan/Feb), P. 50-56.


Marvin Gaye


1. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye (1971)
2. The Velvet Underground And Nico - The Velvet Underground And Nico (1967)
3. Revolver - The Beatles (1966)
4. Exile On Main Street - Rolling Stones (1972)
5. Never Mind The Bollocks… - Sex Pistols (1977)
6. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles (1967)
7. Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys (1966)
8. Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan (1966)
9. Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (1968)
10. London Calling - The Clash (1979)
11. The Beatles - The Beatles (1968)
12. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie (1972)
13. Sign 'O' The Times - Prince (1987)
14. Marquee Moon - Television (1977)
15. Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan (1965)
16. The Doors - The Doors (1967)
17. Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen (1975)
18. Horses - Patti Smith Group (1975)
19. Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967)
20. Nevermind - Nirvana (1990)
21. Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division (1979)
22. The Clash - The Clash (1977)
23. It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back - Public Enemy (1988)
24. Blood On The Tracks - Bob Dylan (1975)
25. Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix (1968)
26. Closer - Joy Division (1980)
27. Remain In Light - Talking Heads (1980)
28. The Band - The Band (1969)
29. Beggar's Banquet - Rolling Stones (1968)
30. Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd (1973)
31. Abbey Road - The Beatles (1969)
32. Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band (1969)
33. Graceland - Paul Simon (1986)
34. Songs In The Key Of Life - Stevie Wonder (1976)
35. Stone Roses - Stone Roses (1989)
36. The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths (1986)
37. Rubber Soul - The Beatles (1965)
38. Purple Rain - Prince & The Revolution (1984)
39. Otis Blue - Otis Redding (1966)
40. The Joshua Tree - U2 (1987)
41. Ramones - Ramones (1976)
42. Let It Bleed - Rolling Stones (1969)
43. Rumours - Fleetwood Mac (1977)
44. Transformer - Lou Reed (1972)
45. After The Gold Rush - Neil Young (1970)
46. Forever Changes - Love (1968)
47. Live At The Apollo 1962 - James Brown (1963)
48. Automatic For The People - R.E.M. (1992)
49. Swordfishtrombones - Tom Waits (1983)
50. Blue - Joni Mitchell (1971)
51. Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin (1971)
52. Thriller - Michael Jackson (1982)
53. Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen (1984)
54. Hunky Dory - David Bowie (1971)
55. Achtung Baby - U2 (1991)
56. Murmur - R.E.M. (1983)
57. Berlin - Lou Reed (1973)
58. Bringing It All Back Home - Bob Dylan (1965)
59. Innervisions - Stevie Wonder (1973)
60. Darkness On The Edge Of Town - Bruce Springsteen (1978)
61. This Year's Model - Elvis Costello (1978)
62. Sticky Fingers - Rolling Stones (1971)
63. Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon (1970)
64. Out Of Time - R.E.M. (1991)
65. Pretenders - Pretenders (1979)
66. Low - David Bowie (1977)
67. My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello (1977)
68. Who's Next - The Who (1971)
69. Blue Lines - Massive Attack (1991)
70. Rain Dogs - Tom Waits (1985)
71. Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs - Derek & The Dominoes (1971)
72. There's A Riot Goin' On - Sly & The Family Stone (1971)
73. Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin (1969)
74. The Sun Sessions - Elvis Presley (1987)
75. The Stooges - The Stooges (1969)
76. The Smiths - The Smiths (1984)
77. All Mod Cons - The Jam (1978)
78. Moondance - Van Morrison (1970)
79. Music From Big Pink - The Band (1968)
80. The River - Bruce Springsteen (1980)
81. The Wall - Pink Floyd (1979)
82. Grievious Angel - Gram Parsons (1974)
83. Clear Spot - Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band (1973)
84. For Your Pleasure - Roxy Music (1973)
85. The Notorious Byrd Brothers - The Byrds (1968)
86. We're Only In It For The Money - Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention (1967)
87. Younger Than Yesterday - The Byrds (1967)
88. (What's The Story?) Morning Glory - Oasis (1995)
89. Ten - Pearl Jam (1992)
90. Psychocandy - Jesus & Mary Chain (1985)
91. Steve Mcqueen - Prefab Sprout (1985)
92. Entertainment! - Gang Of Four (1978)
93. Tonight's The Night - Neil Young (1975)
94. Raw Power - Iggy & The Stooges (1973)
95. Harvest - Neil Young (1972)
96. Imagine - John Lennon (1971)
97. The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn - Pink Floyd (1967)
98. Imperial Bedroom - Elvis Costello (1982)
99. Trans Europa Express - Kraftwerk (1977)
100. Talking Book - Stevie Wonder (1972)


Scoring method

· One point for each album that was included in a list.
· One bonus point for an album that was included in any list's Top 10.
· One extra bonus point for an album that reached #1 in a list.
· In case of albums with an equal total score, advantage was given for albums had the most list       appearances.

Sourcees:

• NME All Time 100 Albums (NME, 1985)
• NME Readers All-Time Top 100 Albums (NME, 1988)
• NME 50 Greatest Albums Of The 60's (NME, 1993)
• NME 50 Greatest Albums Of The 70's (NME, 1993)
• NME 50 Greatest Albums Of The 80's (NME, 1993)
• New Musical Express Writers Top 100 (NME, 1993)
• 100 Best Lps 1986-1994 (Q, 1994)
• The 50 Best Albums Of The '70s (Q, 1998)
• Q Readers All Time Top 100 Albums (Q, 1998)
• 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made (MOJO, 1995)
• MOJO Readers 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made (MOJO, 1996)
• Top 100 Albums Of The Last 20 Years (Rolling Stone, 1987)
• 50 Essential Recordings From The Fifties (Rolling Stone, 1990)
• 100 Greatest Albums Of The 80s (Rolling Stone, 1990)
• 100 Most Influential Alternative Releases Of All Time (Rolling Stone, 1996)
• Rolling Stone 200: The Essential Rock Collection (Rolling Stone, 1997)
• Beste Albums Van De Jaren 70 (OOR, 1979)
• De 100 Van De Eeuw (OOR, 1987)
• Beste Albums Van De Jaren 80 (OOR, 1989)
• Eindlijst 20 Jaar OOR (OOR, 1991)
• Beste Albums Van De Jaren 60 (Aloha, 1970)
• Sounds All Time Top 100 Albums (Sounds, 1985)
• Wilde Wereld LP Top100 (VPRO, 1987)
• Top 100 Rock 'N' Roll Albums Of All Time (Gambaccini, 1987)
• The 25 Greatest Albums Of All Time (Spin, 1989)
• Top Ten College Cult Classic Albums (Spin, 1990)
• Village Voice Top Albums Of The 1980's (Comp. Jeff Brown, 1990)
• Records That Shook The World (Vox, 1991)
• The Vultures 100 Best Albums Of All Time (Times Magazine, 1993)
• 100 Besten Platten Der Rock-Geschichte (ME/Sounds, 1993)
• CD Top 200 Of All Time (Comp. By De Laet, 1996-1997 – Internet Poll)
• Die Besten Alben Aus 5 Jahrzehnten (Rolling Stone, German Ed., 1997)
• Best 50 Albums Of All Time (Juice, 1997)
• The Guardian 100 Best Albums Ever (Guardian, 1997)
• Virgin All-Time Album Top 1000 List (Comp. Colin Larkin, 1998)
• Alternative Top 100 Albums Ever (Guardian, 1999)
• Studio Brussels Album Top 100 (1999)


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Ultimate Album List #2

Thanks to Martin Griffiths For compiling this list.

I didn't use so many polls to compile it, but it does end up with the same top 2 as Johan Stapel's list (List removed at authors request). I used the following top 100s for my chart:

NME Readers 1988
NME Writers 1985 and 1993
MOJO Writers 1995
MOJO Readers 1996
World Critics List 1987
Rolling Stone 1987
Guardian 1997
Sounds 1985


For each poll an album scored 100 for a number 1 placing, 99 for #2 all the way down to 1 point for #100. The total score was then worked out as a percentage of the maximum possible score for that album, so more recent albums weren't discriminated against. An album had to be nominated in at least 3 polls to qualify (yes, I had a lot of time on my hands :) The top 100 in order of %age score are as follows (Only 116 albums qualified)




1. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
2. The Velvet Underground And Nico - The Velvet Underground
3. Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
4. Never Mind The Bollocks - Sex Pistols
5. Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
6. Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan
7. Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
8. Revolver - The Beatles
9. Exile On Main Street - Rolling Stones
10. Nevermind - Nirvana
11. The Beatles - The Beatles
12. Automatic For The People - Rem
13. The Clash - The Clash
14. Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles
15. Horses - Patti Smith
16. Marquee Moon - Television
17. London Calling - The Clash
18. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
19. Forever Changes - Love
20. Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
21. Are You Experienced? - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
22. The Doors - The Doors
23. Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones
24. Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
25. Blood On The Tracks - Bob Dylan
26. Abbey Road - The Beatles
27. It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back - Public Enemy
28. The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths
29. Otis Blue - Otis Redding
30. Closer - Joy Division
31. The Band - The Band
32. Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band
33. Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division
34. Beggars Banquet - The Rolling Stones
35. Hunky Dory - David Bowie
36. Bringing It All Back Home - Bob Dylan
37. Blue - Joni Mitchell
38. Darkness On The Edge Of Town - Bruce Springsteen
39. Live At The Apollo - James Brown
40. Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon
41. Innervisions - Stevie Wonder
42. Rubber Soul - The Beatles
43. Electric Ladyland - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
44. The Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd
45. Sign 'O' The Times - Prince
46. This Years Model - Elvis Costello
47. Low - David Bowie
48. Blue Lines - Massive Attack
49. Who's Next - The Who
50. Transformer - Lou Reed
51. Psychocandy - Jesus And Mary Chain
52. Born In The Usa - Bruce Springsteen
53. All Mod Cons - The Jam
54. Kind Of Blue - Miles Davis
55. For Your Pleasure - Roxy Music
56. The Joshua Tree - U2
57. My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello
58. Remain In Light - Talking Heads
59. Lust For Life - Iggy Pop
60. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground
61. Station To Station - David Bowie
62. Get Happy! - Elvis Costello
63. Led Zeppelin Ii - Led Zeppelin
64. After The Goldrush - Neil Young
65. Sticky Fingers - Rolling Stones
66. Swordfishtrombones - Tom Waits
67. Ramones - The Ramones
68. Led Zeppelin Iv - Led Zeppelin
69. The Smiths - The Smiths
70. Moondance - Van Morrison
71. Rain Dogs - Tom Waits
72. Imperial Bedroom - Elvis Costello
73. Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
74. Grievous Angel - Gram Parsons
75. Young Americans - David Bowie
76. Songs In The Key Of Life - Stevie Wonder
77. Trans-Europe Express - Kraftwerk
78. A Love Supreme - John Coltrane
79. Entertainment - Gang Of Four
80. Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
81. There's A Riot Going On - Sly And The Family Stone
82. Searching For The Young Soul Rebels - Dexy's Midnight Runners
83. The Notorious Byrd Brothers - The Byrds
84. Heroes - David Bowie
85. Layla - Derek And The Dominoes
86. Steve Mcqueen - Prefab Sprout
87. Tonight's The Night - Neil Young
88. I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight - Richard And Linda Thompson
89. Graceland - Paul Simon
90. Music From Big Pink - The Band
91. New York Dolls - New York Dolls
92. The Scream - Siouxsie And The Banshees
93. We're Only In It For The Money - Frank Zappa And The Mothers Of Invention
94. Clear Spot - Captain Beefheart
95. The Stooges - The Stooges
96. Imagine - John Lennon
97. La Woman - The Doors
98. Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin
99. Younger Than Yesterday - The Byrds
100. Natty Dread - Bob Marley