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. Mark the ones you own as you read — you do not need an account to start.

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