The Lead-In

The Lead-In is a long-form music publication: one definitive, ever-evolving ranking of the hundred greatest albums ever recorded, every placement defended in an essay with pressing guides, session detail and scoring data. Track and value your vinyl collection, build a wishlist, and climb the collector leaderboard.

The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Recorded

  1. 1 What's Going On — Marvin Gaye (1971)
  2. 2 Pet Sounds — The Beach Boys (1966)
  3. 3 Revolver — The Beatles (1966)
  4. 4 Kind of Blue — Miles Davis (1959)
  5. 5 The Dark Side of the Moon — Pink Floyd (1973)
  6. 6 The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill — Lauryn Hill (1998)
  7. 7 Highway 61 Revisited — Bob Dylan (1965)
  8. 8 Innervisions — Stevie Wonder (1973)
  9. 9 London Calling — The Clash (1979)
  10. 10 A Love Supreme — John Coltrane (1965)
  11. 11 Blonde on Blonde — Bob Dylan (1966)
  12. 12 Exile on Main St. — The Rolling Stones (1972)
  13. 13 Songs in the Key of Life — Stevie Wonder (1976)
  14. 14 Abbey Road — The Beatles (1969)
  15. 15 Thriller — Michael Jackson (1982)
  16. 16 Astral Weeks — Van Morrison (1968)
  17. 17 Led Zeppelin IV — Led Zeppelin (1971)
  18. 18 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band — The Beatles (1967)
  19. 19 OK Computer — Radiohead (1997)
  20. 20 The Velvet Underground & Nico — The Velvet Underground (1967)
  21. 21 Are You Experienced — Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967)
  22. 22 The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust — David Bowie (1972)
  23. 23 Illmatic — Nas (1994)
  24. 24 Never Mind the Bollocks — Sex Pistols (1977)
  25. 25 Blood on the Tracks — Bob Dylan (1975)
  26. 26 Purple Rain — Prince (1984)
  27. 27 Who's Next — The Who (1971)
  28. 28 To Pimp a Butterfly — Kendrick Lamar (2015)
  29. 29 There's a Riot Goin' On — Sly & the Family Stone (1971)
  30. 30 Nevermind — Nirvana (1991)
  31. 31 Born to Run — Bruce Springsteen (1975)
  32. 32 It Takes a Nation of Millions — Public Enemy (1988)
  33. 33 Off the Wall — Michael Jackson (1979)
  34. 34 Tapestry — Carole King (1971)
  35. 35 Bitches Brew — Miles Davis (1970)
  36. 36 Rumours — Fleetwood Mac (1977)
  37. 37 Blue — Joni Mitchell (1971)
  38. 38 Electric Ladyland — Jimi Hendrix Experience (1968)
  39. 39 Sign 'O' the Times — Prince (1987)
  40. 40 Paranoid — Black Sabbath (1970)
  41. 41 Remain in Light — Talking Heads (1980)
  42. 42 Let It Bleed — The Rolling Stones (1969)
  43. 43 Hunky Dory — David Bowie (1971)
  44. 44 The Joshua Tree — U2 (1987)
  45. 45 Achtung Baby — U2 (1991)
  46. 46 Bridge Over Troubled Water — Simon & Garfunkel (1970)
  47. 47 The White Album — The Beatles (1968)
  48. 48 Graceland — Paul Simon (1986)
  49. 49 Ready to Die — The Notorious B.I.G. (1994)
  50. 50 Wish You Were Here — Pink Floyd (1975)
  51. 51 Horses — Patti Smith (1975)
  52. 52 Aja — Steely Dan (1977)
  53. 53 3 Feet High and Rising — De La Soul (1989)
  54. 54 Station to Station — David Bowie (1976)
  55. 55 good kid, m.A.A.d city — Kendrick Lamar (2012)
  56. 56 The Queen Is Dead — The Smiths (1986)
  57. 57 Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs — Derek & the Dominos (1970)
  58. 58 Low — David Bowie (1977)
  59. 59 Trans-Europe Express — Kraftwerk (1977)
  60. 60 My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy — Kanye West (2010)
  61. 61 I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You — Aretha Franklin (1967)
  62. 62 Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) — Wu-Tang Clan (1993)
  63. 63 Murmur — R.E.M. (1983)
  64. 64 The Chronic — Dr. Dre (1992)
  65. 65 Loveless — My Bloody Valentine (1991)
  66. 66 Marquee Moon — Television (1977)
  67. 67 Reasonable Doubt — Jay-Z (1996)
  68. 68 Lemonade — Beyoncé (2016)
  69. 69 Unknown Pleasures — Joy Division (1979)
  70. 70 Appetite for Destruction — Guns N' Roses (1987)
  71. 71 Aquemini — OutKast (1998)
  72. 72 The Sun Sessions — Elvis Presley (1956)
  73. 73 Stankonia — OutKast (2000)
  74. 74 Dummy — Portishead (1994)
  75. 75 Curtis — Curtis Mayfield (1970)
  76. 76 Blonde — Frank Ocean (2016)
  77. 77 Blue Lines — Massive Attack (1991)
  78. 78 Paul's Boutique — Beastie Boys (1989)
  79. 79 Pink Moon — Nick Drake (1972)
  80. 80 The Marshall Mathers LP — Eminem (2000)
  81. 81 Daydream Nation — Sonic Youth (1988)
  82. 82 Let's Get It On — Marvin Gaye (1973)
  83. 83 Selected Ambient Works 85-92 — Aphex Twin (1992)
  84. 84 Ray of Light — Madonna (1998)
  85. 85 Doolittle — Pixies (1989)
  86. 86 The College Dropout — Kanye West (2004)
  87. 87 Discovery — Daft Punk (2001)
  88. 88 Madvillainy — Madvillain (2004)
  89. 89 Like a Prayer — Madonna (1989)
  90. 90 Nebraska — Bruce Springsteen (1982)
  91. 91 The Low End Theory — A Tribe Called Quest (1991)
  92. 92 Homogenic — Björk (1997)
  93. 93 Raising Hell — Run-D.M.C. (1986)
  94. 94 Channel Orange — Frank Ocean (2012)
  95. 95 The Black Parade — My Chemical Romance (2006)
  96. 96 Funeral — Arcade Fire (2004)
  97. 97 Endtroducing….. — DJ Shadow (1996)
  98. 98 Rid of Me — PJ Harvey (1993)
  99. 99 Music Has the Right to Children — Boards of Canada (1998)
  100. 100 Is This It — The Strokes (2001)

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