A few weeks ago I published a list of Top 100 Albums of all time based on the summed score of all the polls they were listed on. The list was compiled from 88 Top 100 album polls (actually some polls ranked up to a 1000 Albums) from the major aggregators such as: Rolling Stone, New Music Express, Entertainment Weekly and many others. I’ve also included the RIAA top 100 albums by sales for 2012 and 2017. No special reason for the years I chose. The Grammy’s Best Albums of the Year are also included, starting with Henry Mancini’s 1959 album, Music from Peter Gunn, all the way through 2018 with Bruno Mars’ 2016 album, 24K Magic. The polls range in time from 1974 to 2017, with the just stated exception of the Grammys. Every album was assigned a score based on its ranking in the various polls. An album that was ranked number 1 in a particular poll was given a score of 100. An album ranked at 100 was given a score of 1.  The album’s scores from all the polls were then summed.  The album with the greatest sum was ranked as the number 1 album.  The next highest sum was ranked number 2, and so on. The list I posted on 1 February 2018 had The Beatles’ Sgt. Peppers album as 1. It was included in 83 polls with a summed score of 7333.

Obviously the more polls an album is listed on, the more likely they will make a list based on its summed score.  To counter this effect I have published below a list based on an album’s average score in the various polls. This was accomplished simply by taking the summed score and dividing it by the number of polls an album is listed on. No surprise, but Sgt. Pepper is still the number one album of all time. It has an average score of 88 (7333 divided by 83) and an average rank of 13.  Some of the exceptions, and there are many, are additions to the list that scored high in individual polls but not in enough polls to get them into the previous list of sums, either because they are too recent or they have fallen out of favor through the years. One example is the fairly recent Kings of Leon’s 2008 album; Only by the Night. It is only listed on 10 polls but scores high on all ten so it shows up in the average list but not the sum list. In a later post I will list the all differences between the sum and average lists.

Now for what it’s worth, agree or disagree, my list:

                  Rank    —    Artist    —    Album     —    Year

1      Beatles  —  The Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band  —  1967
2      Beatles  —  Revolver  —  1966
3      Nirvana —  Nevermind —  1991
4      Pink Floyd —  The Dark Side of the Moon —  1973
5      Beatles  —  The White Album  —  1968
6      Bob Dylan  —  Highway 61 Revisited  —  1965
7      Bob Dylan  —  Blonde on Blonde  —  1966
8      Beach Boys  —  The Pet Sounds  —  1966
9      Beatles  —  Abbey Road  —  1969
10    Elvis Presley  —  The Sun Sessions  —  1976
11    Radiohead  —  OK Computer  —  1997
12    U2  —  The Joshua Tree  —  1987
13    Miles Davis  —  Kind of Blue  —  1959
14    Jimi Hendrix  —  Are You Experienced  —  1967
15    Coldplay  —  X and Y  —  2005
16    Sex Pistols  —  Never Mind the Bollocks  —  1977
17    Beatles  —  Rubber Soul  —  1965
18    Muse  —  Origin of Symmetry  —  2001
19    Van Morrison  —  Astral Weeks  —  1968
20    Michael Jackson  —  Thriller  —  1982
21    Pearl Jam  —  Ten  —  1991
22    Rolling Stones  —  Exile on Main Street  —  1972
23    Velvet Underground  —  The Velvet Underground plus Nico  —  1967
24    Clash  —  London Calling  —  1979
25    Stone Roses  — The Stone Roses  —  1989
26    Paul McCartney  —  Band on the Run  —  1973
27    R.E.M.  — Automatic for the People  —  1992
28    Fleetwood Mac  —  Rumours  —  1977
29    Rolling Stones  —  The Let it Bleed  —  1969
30    Bob Dylan  —  Blood on the Tracks  —  1975
31    Live  —  Throwing Copper  —  1994
32    Bruce Springsteen  —  Born to Run  —  1975
33    Radiohead  —  The Bends  —  1995
34    David Bowie  —  The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust  —  1972
35    Tool  —  Aenima  —  1996
36    Kings of Leon  —  Only by the Night  —  2008
37    Television  —  Marquee Moon  —  1977
38    Love  —  Forever Changes  —  1967
39    Queens of the Stone Age  —  Songs for the Deaf  —  2002
40    Who  —  Who’s Next  —  1971
41    Metallica  —  Metallica Black Album  —  1991
42    Marvin Gaye  —  What’s Going On  —  1971
43    Primal Scream  —  Screamadelica  —  1991
44    Joni Mitchell  —  Blue  —  1971
45    Smiths  —  The Queen is Dead  —  1986
46    Arctic Monkeys  —  Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not  —  2006
47    Band  —  The Band  —  1969
48    Boston  —  Boston  —  1976
49    Supertramp  —  Breakfast in America  —  1979
50    James Brown  —  Live at The Apollo  —  1963
51    Alanis Morissette  —  Jagged Little Pill  —  1995
52    Led Zeppelin  —  IV  —  1971
53    Meat Loaf  —  Bat Out of Hell  —  1977
54    Van Halen  —  Van Halen  —  1978
55    Adele  —  21  —  2011
56    Pink Floyd  —  The Wall  —  1979
57    Smashing Pumpkins  —  Siamese Dream  —  1993
58    David Bowie  —  Hunky Dory  —  1971
59    Patti Smith  —  Horses  —  1975
60    Public Enemy  —  It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back  —  1988
61    Guns N’ Roses  —  Appetite for Destruction  —  1987
62    Oasis  —  Morning Glory  —  1995
63    Prince  —  Purple Rain  —  1984
64    Rolling Stones  —  Sticky Fingers  —  1971
65    Prodigy  —  The Fat of the Land  —  1997
66    Michael Jackson  —  Bad  —  1987
67    Rolling Stones  —  Beggars’ Banquet  —  1968
68    Blur  —  Parklife  —  1994
69    Clash  —  The Clash  —  1977
70    Stevie Wonder  —  Innervisions  —  1973
71    Bruce Springsteen  —  Born in The U.S.A.  —  1984
72    John Lennon  —  Plastic Ono Band  —  1970
73    Oasis  —  Definitely Maybe  —  1994
74    Dire Straits  —  Brothers in Arms  —  1985
75    U2  —  The Unforgettable Fire  — 1984
76    Pink Floyd  —  Wish You Were Here  — 1975
77    Portishead  —  Dummy  —  1994
78    Derek and The Dominos  —  Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs  —  1970
79    Jimi Hendrix  —  Electric Ladyland  —  1968
80    Red Hot Chili Peppers  —  Californication  —  1999
81    Bob Marley and The Wailers  —  Legend  —  1984
82    Mike Oldfield  —  Tubular Bells  —  1973
83    Keane  —  Hopes and Fears  —  2004
84    Joy Division  —  Unknown Pleasures  —  1979
85    Queen  —  Innuendo  —  1991
86    Bruce Springsteen  —  Darkness on the Edge of Town  —  1978
87    Ramones  —  Ramones  —  1976
88    Doors  —  The Doors  —  1967
89    Eagles  —  Hotel California  —  1976
90    Moody Blues  —  The Days of Future Past  —  1967
91    Led Zeppelin  —  Led Zeppelin  —  1969
92    Simon and Garfunkel  —  Bridge Over Troubled Water  —  1970
93    My Bloody Valentine  —  Loveless  —  1991
94    Carole King  —  Tapestry  —  1971
95    Captain Beefheart  —  Trout Mask Replica  —  1969
96    U2 —  Achtung Baby  —  1991
97    AC/DC  —  Back in Black  —  1980
98    Paul Simon  —  Graceland  —  1986
99    Steely Dan  —  Aja  —  1977
100  Bruce Springsteen  —  The River  —  1980