The Lead-In

The 100 Greatest Albums, Ranked

The Lead-In’s definitive countdown from 100 to 1 — every placement defended in an essay with a pressing guide and scoring data.

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)

© The Lead-In · an independent, reader-supported music publication.