16 votes

Apple Music's 100 best albums list

13 comments

  1. [6]
    quarkw
    (edited )
    Link
    I'm going to be updating this comment with my thoughts as I work through the list. I decided to just review every album. We'll see if my ADD brain can actually follow through 😅 I'm definitely not...
    • Exemplary

    I'm going to be updating this comment with my thoughts as I work through the list. I decided to just review every album. We'll see if my ADD brain can actually follow through 😅

    I'm definitely not going to maintain a 10 album/day pace, but I'll still try and keep my list updated

    Rank Album Artist Thoughts # Tracks Added to Library # Tracks In Album Percent Added
    100 Body Talk Robyn A few bangers early on but most of this album didn't really resonate with me. I actually think I skipped the last few songs so I'll have to go back to listen to those 5 16 31
    99 Hotel California Eagles Classic rock. What more can I say? 7 9 78
    98 ASTROWORLD Travis Scott Didn't like much on this album but maybe I have to give it another listen. Funny enough, I liked Sick Mode ft Drake the most, even though I'm not really a Drake fan. I also liked Coffee Bean 4 17 24
    97 Rage Against The Machine Rage Against The Machine Liked most of the album, but it's.. a lot to listen to all at once and I got fatigued of their sound. I'll probably revisit the songs that I didn't add 7 10 70
    96 Pure Heroine Lorde It's interesting hearing the influence that Lorde had on pop music. The Apple Music blurb specifically calls out Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo and those the influence on those two seems pretty clear 9 10 90

    My thoughts on each album in the list (continued)

    Rank Album Artist Thoughts # Tracks Added to Library # Tracks In Album Percent Added
    95 Confessions Usher Some classic R&B. I actually only made it half way through, but only because I was worried about falling behind on my list. I'll definitely come back and update this later 8 10/21 80/??
    94 Untrue Burial I would have to say this is my least favorite so far. I do have one song by Burial already in my library that I really enjoy, Come Down To Us, so maybe I just have to give this album another listen down the road. 3 13 23
    93 A Seat at the Table Solange Start of day 2. I'm a little behind. My first no-skip album of the list. I'm a sucker for seamless albums; and funky R&B 21 21 100
    92 Flower Boy Tyler the Creator Haven't really listened to much of his music, but really enjoyed this album an all the features 11 14 79
    91 Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1 George Michael The first song, Praying for Time had super washed out vocals which made it hard to enjoy. Otherwise this probably would've been a 9/10 add. I'm a sucker for catchy pop melodies 8 10 80
    90 Back in Black AC/DC More classic rock 8 10 80
    89 The Fame Monster (Deluxe) Lady Gaga kfwyre pointed out this is actually two albums combined (well an EP and an Album), so I'm separating them out. The Fame Monster was released later but comes first in this Deluxe edition. 20 24 83
    89a The Fame Monster Lady Gaga The second no-skip album. 9 9 100
    89b The Monster Lady Gaga I still enjoyed a lot of this album a lot 11 15 73
    88 I Put a Spell On You Nina Sione It was nice to explore more of her work outside of her most well-known hits 11 12 92
    87 Blue Lines Massive Attack Very different from any of their other work I've listened to. Loved the reggae influence 9 9 100
    86 My Life Mary J Blige I got a similar kind of fatigue from this album that I did for RATM. The songs kind of started blending together. I'll have to revisit it later 7 17 41
    85 Golden Hour Kacey Musgraves I've been wanting to listen to more country. I've heard a few songs from this album, and I loved this whole album, including the disco influences while still staying country. Can't go wrong with a good funky bass line 13 13 100
    84 Doggystyle Snoop Dogg Not sure if this counts as a seamless album, but I really enjoyed Snoop's flow, and the flow of the album itself 13 13 100
    83 Horses Patti Smith I don't know if I've actually heard anything by her before. Her singing style reminded me of Nina's 8 8 100
    82 Get Rich or Die Tryin' 50 Cent So many hard hitters on this album. I can't believe this is my first time listening to it 19 19 100
    81 After the Gold Rush Neil Young I love the lo-fi, homegrown, sound of this album. Most likely if this album had been made today, the character in Young's vocals would've been tuned out by a producer 11 11 100
    80 The Marshall Mathers LP Eminem I've never listened to this full album, and wow, I never realized how graphic and disturbing Eminem's songs can be. A note on skits and interludes. If most of the album is in my library I'll add them for the album-listening experience. But I'll set them so they don't play in library when I shuffle, so that I don't have graphic blowjob sounds randomly blaring in my car while I'm listening to music. 18 18 100
    79 Norma F*****g Rockwell Lana Del Rey I'm not sure why, but Venice Bitch was a huge miss for me. I'll probably give it a second chance later. This album overall has an impressive breadth for a pop album. And similar to Lorde, no doubt Lana Del Rey has had a huge impact on pop. 13 14 93

    Anyone following this? I know most people are probably on Spotify but the list is publicly viewable, and you can just pull up the albums on whatever streaming service you prefer.

    They released the first 10 albums (or is 91-100 the last 10), and are releasing 10 albums every day.

    I'm trying to give each album a full listen, as I always feel like I have a long list of classic albums/artists (and TV shows and Movies, but that's a different story) that I've been meaning to listen to, and this seemed like a fun and digestible way to get through some of my backlog.

    But I only managed to get through about half yesterday. We'll see if I can catch up but Lady Gaga's Fame is a whopping hour and a half! At least there'll be a good chunk of those songs that I'm already familiar with and can skip.

    So far I'm pleasantly surprised by the variety of genres. I'm currently on #94: Untrue, by Burial. I would have to say this is my least favorite so far. I do have one song by Burial already in my library that I really enjoy, Come Down To Us, so maybe I just have to give this album another listen down the road.

    8 votes
    1. [5]
      kfwyre
      Link Parent
      The Fame Monster was released as a separate EP over a year after The Fame released. Combining them and adding in the bonus tracks for the deluxe edition bloats the whole thing a bit and makes it...

      The Fame Monster was released as a separate EP over a year after The Fame released. Combining them and adding in the bonus tracks for the deluxe edition bloats the whole thing a bit and makes it feel a bit like a mishmash, IMO.

      I think The Fame is good but not “Top of All Time” worthy. Monster alone is what I would have put on the list.* It’s a much tighter, more interesting experience with greater range. I genuinely think that “Bad Romance” is one of the greatest pop singles of all time.


      * If I had to include something from her. I am a huge Gaga fan, but I don’t know if any of her works “should” be in the top 100 albums of all time. Like a lot of pop artists, her work is far more single oriented.

      2 votes
      1. quarkw
        Link Parent
        I personally don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a very pop/single-oriented album in a best of list. If they’re avoiding artist duplicates I feel like this choice makes sense. IMO there...

        I personally don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a very pop/single-oriented album in a best of list. If they’re avoiding artist duplicates I feel like this choice makes sense. IMO there are enough noteworthy songs in The Fame to include it through the Deluxe Edition, if they’re trying to avoid taking up an unnecessary slot

        2 votes
      2. [3]
        updawg
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        Why are you saying the tracks are "added?" Edit: clearly scrolled too far and replied to the wrong comment.

        Why are you saying the tracks are "added?"

        Edit: clearly scrolled too far and replied to the wrong comment.

        1. [2]
          quarkw
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          Those are tracks that I added to my library after listening, or were already in my library. Oh, I thought you were replying to my top-level. The Fame Monster Deluxe Edition, which they listed is...

          Those are tracks that I added to my library after listening, or were already in my library.

          Oh, I thought you were replying to my top-level. The Fame Monster Deluxe Edition, which they listed is actually two albums in one: The Fame Monster (2010), with The Fame (2008) added as Disk 2

          1 vote
          1. updawg
            Link Parent
            You answered it properly at first. I must have scrolled too far and replied to the wrong comment.

            You answered it properly at first. I must have scrolled too far and replied to the wrong comment.

  2. [4]
    datavoid
    Link
    Apple once again accidentally made an experience that barely functions on Android, wonder how many thousand man hours that took

    Apple once again accidentally made an experience that barely functions on Android, wonder how many thousand man hours that took

    6 votes
    1. tomf
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      its so awful. https://100best.music.apple.com/content/us/en-us/summaryData.json might be more useful if your browser formats it. 100-51 pos. artist title 51 Prince Sign O' The Times 52 Guns N'...

      its so awful. https://100best.music.apple.com/content/us/en-us/summaryData.json might be more useful if your browser formats it.

      100-51
      pos. artist title
      51 Prince Sign O' The Times
      52 Guns N' Roses Appetite for Destruction
      53 The Rolling Stones Exile On Main Street (2010 Remaster)
      54 John Coltrane A Love Supreme
      55 Rihanna ANTI (Deluxe)
      56 The Cure Disintegration (2010 Remaster)
      57 D'Angelo Voodoo
      58 Oasis (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
      59 Arctic Monkeys AM
      60 The Velvet Underground & Nico The Velvet Underground & Nico (45th Anniversary Edition)
      61 Sade Love Deluxe
      62 2Pac All Eyez On Me
      63 The Jimi Hendrix Experience Are You Experienced (Deluxe Version)
      64 Erykah Badu Baduizm
      65 De La Soul 3 Feet High and Rising
      66 The Smiths The Queen Is Dead
      67 Portishead Dummy
      68 The Strokes Is This It
      69 Metallica Master of Puppets (Remastered)
      70 N.W.A Straight Outta Compton
      71 Kraftwerk Trans-Europe Express (2009 Remaster)
      72 SZA SOS
      73 Steely Dan Aja
      74 Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral
      75 Missy Elliott Supa Dupa Fly
      76 Bad Bunny Un Verano Sin Ti
      77 Madonna Like a Prayer
      78 Elton John Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (2014 Remaster)
      79 Lana Del Rey Norman F*****g Rockwell!
      80 Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP
      81 Neil Young After the Gold Rush
      82 50 Cent Get Rich or Die Tryin' (Bonus Track Version)
      83 Patti Smith Horses
      84 Snoop Dogg Doggystyle
      85 Kacey Musgraves Golden Hour
      86 Mary J. Blige My Life
      87 Massive Attack Blue Lines (2012 Mix/Master)
      88 Nina Simone I Put a Spell On You
      89 Lady Gaga The Fame Monster (Deluxe Edition)
      90 AC/DC Back In Black
      91 George Michael Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 (2017 Remastered)
      92 Tyler, The Creator Flower Boy
      93 Solange A Seat at the Table
      94 Burial Untrue
      95 USHER Confessions (Expanded Edition)
      96 Lorde Pure Heroine
      97 Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine
      98 Travis Scott ASTROWORLD
      99 Eagles Hotel California
      100 Robyn Body Talk
      2 votes
    2. quarkw
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      The “special events” experience for Apple Music are frustrating on iOS too. There’s no great way to browse the top list in the music app on iOS. It just takes you to the webpage linked, which is...

      The “special events” experience for Apple Music are frustrating on iOS too. There’s no great way to browse the top list in the music app on iOS. It just takes you to the webpage linked, which is what I’ve used

      1 vote
    3. bhrgunatha
      Link Parent
      It's a nightmare with a desktop browser too :(

      It's a nightmare with a desktop browser too :(

      1 vote
  3. [2]
    TreeFiddyFiddy
    Link
    This is great, please keep going. I'm rediscovering a lot of albums I haven't heard in years and love reading your mini reviews of them all

    This is great, please keep going. I'm rediscovering a lot of albums I haven't heard in years and love reading your mini reviews of them all

    1 vote
    1. quarkw
      Link Parent
      I'm glad you're enjoying my mini reviews! I'll definitely keep it going, but I may take some breaks here and there. And Billie Eilish's new album just dropped so I'll need to check that out before...

      I'm glad you're enjoying my mini reviews! I'll definitely keep it going, but I may take some breaks here and there. And Billie Eilish's new album just dropped so I'll need to check that out before I continue the list!

  4. AspiringAlienist
    Link
    Very surprised to see Burial in this list. While his influence on ‘intelligent dance music’ (for lack of a better term) is unparalleled, it’s not the easiest music to listen to. Definitely an...

    Very surprised to see Burial in this list. While his influence on ‘intelligent dance music’ (for lack of a better term) is unparalleled, it’s not the easiest music to listen to. Definitely an album to listen to in one sitting. Now I at least expect Aphex Twin to be somewhere down the list.