Music time! For the past 250 working days a few of us at work have been using 1001albumsgenerator to trawl through a bunch of albums that are “must listen to”. We got a quarter of the way through and I thought it might be a thing to do if I ranked them by which I liked best! :)

To do this I used the lovely open-source RankMyFavs, which pits each album up against another and makes you pick the one you prefer. It’s an oddly addictive and fun thing to do when waiting for something to load, or when I can’t sleep.

The thing that astonished me is that the top 200 is full of music I could stick on any time and not mind, and that some of my favourite albums are in there relatively low! The Velvet Underground would be in my top 10 if you asked me, but here they get a lowly 39! It’s also lovely to have heard some “new-to-me” music, or to give an album a proper listen. Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Kate Bush, The Specials, and Ian Dury were all things I’d heard songs of, but wow they were great to properly take the time to listen to. :) It’s definitely widened my music taste a little!

With the caveat that this is subject to my whimsy on a given day, done for fun, and there’s 751 albums still to go, off I go!

  1. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
  2. Pixies - Doolittle.
  3. Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left
  4. Talking Heads - Remain In Light
  5. Radiohead - OK Computer
  6. Dinosaur Jr - You’re Living All Over Me
  7. The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico
  8. Gang of Four - Entertainment
  9. Sonic Youth - Dirty
  10. Nick Drake - Pink Moon
  11. Pearl Jam - Ten
  12. R.E.M - Green
  13. Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
  14. Brian Wilson - Smile
  15. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
  16. Johnny Cash - American IV - The Man Comes Around
  17. The Specials - The Specials
  18. PJ Harvey - Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
  19. Sonic Youth - EVOL
  20. Jeff Buckley - Grace
  21. The B-52’s - The B-52’s
  22. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
  23. Talking Heads - Fear of Music
  24. Sugar - Copper Blue
  25. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell
  26. Metallica - Metallica
  27. Ash - 1977
  28. Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
  29. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica
  30. Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True
  31. Cat Stephens - Tea for the Tillerman
  32. Radiohead - The Bends
  33. Rush - Moving Pictures
  34. Big Brother and the Holding Company - Cheap Thrills
  35. Iron Maiden- The Number of the Beast
  36. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
  37. The Waterboys - Fisherman’s Blues
  38. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
  39. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground
  40. Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters
  41. Pulp - This is Hardcore
  42. The Mamas and the Papas - If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
  43. Beck - Odelay
  44. Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters
  45. Ian Dury - New Boots and Panties
  46. Cheap Trick - At Bodokan
  47. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
  48. The Stooges - Raw Power
  49. The Beatles - Abbey Road
  50. Tom Tom Club - Tom Tom Club
  51. The Prodigy - The Fat of the Land
  52. Can - Tago Mago
  53. The Cars - The Cars
  54. Blur - Blur
  55. Gang Starr - Step in the Arena
  56. Bad Brains - I against I
  57. Paul Simon - Graceland
  58. Boston - Boston
  59. Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
  60. Tom Waits - Heartattack and Vine
  61. Elton John - Madman Across The Water
  62. U2 - The Joshua Tree
  63. Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
  64. The Clash - The Clash
  65. The Doors - The Doors
  66. Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young - Deja Vu
  67. Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go
  68. Gary Newman - The Pleasure Principle
  69. Lou Reed - Berlin
  70. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus
  71. War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
  72. Depeche Mode - Violator
  73. Public Image Limited - Metal Box
  74. The Isley Brothers - 3 + 3
  75. Elliot Smith - Figure 8
  76. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
  77. David Bowie - Low
  78. Billy Joel - The Stranger
  79. Vivid - Living Color
  80. Talking Heads - Talking Heads 77
  81. Cocteau Twins - Heaven Or Las Vegas
  82. Simon & Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme
  83. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bayou Country
  84. Run D.M.C - Raising Hell
  85. OutKast - Skanktonia
  86. Carpenters - Close to You
  87. Paul Simon - Paul Simon
  88. The Pogues - Rum, Sodamy and Lash
  89. Brian Eno - Another Green World
  90. The Incredible String Band - The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter
  91. Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen
  92. The Offspring - Smash
  93. The Saints - Eternally Yours
  94. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Now I Got Worry
  95. The Smiths - Meat Is Murder
  96. John Martyn - One World
  97. Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
  98. Radiohead - Amnesiac
  99. The Beatles - Rubber Soul
  100. The Ramones - The Ramones
  101. Green Day - American Idiot
  102. Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town
  103. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
  104. Deep Purple - Made In Japan
  105. System of a Down - System of a Down
  106. The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
  107. Michael Jackson - Bad
  108. Khaled - Kenza
  109. Stevie Wonder - Fulfillingness’ First Finale
  110. Aretha Franklin - Lady Soul
  111. Faith No More - The Real Thing
  112. The Doors - Morrison Hotel
  113. The Smiths - Strangeways, Here We Come
  114. Dwight Yoakam - Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room
  115. Tim Buckley - Greetings From L.A.
  116. Cardigans - First Band on the Moon
  117. Otis Redding - Otis Blue (Otis Redding Sings Soul)
  118. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Devotional Songs
  119. Beastie Boys - Ill Communication
  120. Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis
  121. Solomon Burke - Rock n’ Soul
  122. The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette
  123. Basement Jaxx - Remedy
  124. Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
  125. Fairport Convention - Liege and Lief
  126. Ali Farka Touré - Savane
  127. Elis Regina - Vento De Maio
  128. Abdullah Ibrahim - Water From An Ancient Well
  129. Nick Drake - Bryter Layter
  130. M.I.A. - Arular
  131. Beck - Sea Change
  132. Miles Davis - In a Silent Way
  133. Black Sabbath - Vol. 4
  134. Q-Tip - The Renaissance
  135. Avalanches - Since I Left You
  136. The Dandy Warhols - …The Dandy Warhols Come Down
  137. Paul Revere and the Raiders - Midnight Ride
  138. Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
  139. Crosby, Stills and Nash - Crosby, Stills and Nash
  140. The Beatles - With the Beatles
  141. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
  142. Buzzcocks - Another Music in a Different Kitchen
  143. The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle
  144. Michael Jackson - Thriller
  145. Stan Getz - Getz/Gilberto
  146. Fugees - The Score
  147. The Police - Synchronicity
  148. Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum
  149. The Byrds - Younger Than Yesterday
  150. Songhoy Blues - Music in Exile
  151. Giant Sand - Chore of Enchantment
  152. Muddy Waters - At Newport 1960
  153. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
  154. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - This Year’s Model
  155. Rod Stewart - Gasoline Alley
  156. Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
  157. The Dictators - Go Girl Crazy
  158. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
  159. Rocket From The Crypt - Scream, Dracula, Scream
  160. Meatloaf - Bat Out Of Hell
  161. Fiona Apple - Tidal
  162. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
  163. Nas - Illmatic
  164. Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove
  165. The Strokes - Is This It
  166. Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
  167. Jamiroquai - Emergency on Planet Earth
  168. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
  169. Van Halen - Van Halen
  170. Emmylou Harris - Pieces of the Sky
  171. Moby - Play
  172. Roni Size - New Forms
  173. David Holmes - Let’s Get Killed
  174. Oasis - Definitely Maybe
  175. The Band - Music From Big Pink
  176. B.B. King - Live at the Regal
  177. The Band - The Band
  178. Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street
  179. Shack - H.M.S. Fable
  180. Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head
  181. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
  182. Coldplay - Parachutes
  183. Depeche Mode - Music For the Masses
  184. Heaven 17 - Penthouse and Pavement
  185. Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs
  186. Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator)
  187. Soft Cell - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
  188. Stevie Wonder - Talking Book
  189. Neil Young - On the Beach
  190. The Blue Nile - A Walk Across the Rooftops
  191. Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger
  192. Queen - Queen II
  193. Def Leppard - Hysteria
  194. Mylo - Destroy Rock & Roll
  195. Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells a Story
  196. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
  197. Rolling Stones - Aftermath
  198. Yes - The Yes Album
  199. Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind
  200. Pet Shop Boys - Behaviour
  201. The Stranglers - Rattus Norvegicus
  202. James Brown - Live at the Apollo
  203. Ms. Dynamite - A Little Deeper
  204. Jazmine Sullivan - Heux Tales
  205. The Who - Live at Leeds
  206. Stan Getz - Jazz Samba
  207. Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
  208. Afrika Bambaataa - Planet Rock: The Album
  209. Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley
  210. CHIC - C’est Chic
  211. Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
  212. Ella Fitzgerald - The Gershwin Songbook
  213. Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
  214. Marty Robbins - Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs
  215. Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
  216. MJ Cole - Sincere
  217. The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
  218. Lenny Kravitz - Let Love Rule
  219. The Bees - Sunshine Hit Me
  220. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III
  221. King Crimson - Lark’s Tongue in Aspic
  222. Slade - Slayed?
  223. Fleetwood Mac - Tusk
  224. Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of the Bewilderbeast
  225. Curtis Mayfield - There’s No Place Like America Today
  226. Erykah Badu - Mama’s Gun
  227. LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out
  228. The Charlatans - Tellin’ Stories
  229. Frank Sinatra - Songs For Swingin’ Lovers!
  230. Blood, Sweat & Tears - Blood, Sweat & Tears
  231. Loretta Lynn - Don’t Come Home A Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)
  232. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
  233. Cee-Lo Green - …is the soul machine
  234. The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out
  235. Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic
  236. Eminem - The Slim Shady L.P.
  237. Happy Mondays - Bummed
  238. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
  239. Prince - 1999
  240. Hot Chip - In Our Heads
  241. Black Keys - Brothers
  242. The Who - Tommy
  243. The Who - The Who Sell Out
  244. Destiny’s Child - Survivor
  245. Van Morrison - Moondance
  246. Adam and the Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier
  247. Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85
  248. Steely Dan - Aja
  249. Various Artists - A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
  250. Kid Rock - Devil Without a Cause