The Apple Music 100 Best Albums is a list of the best albums in history created by the streaming service Apple Music based upon an opinion survey and curated music ranking. Its team crafted the list alongside a group of artists that included Pharrell Williams, J Balvin, Maren Morris, and Charli XCX. The list is an editorial statement rather than being data-based, and does not take into account any streaming figures on Apple Music or any other streaming service.

The list named Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill as the best album, followed by Michael Jackson's Thriller and then the Beatles' Abbey Road. The list received mostly negative reviews from fans and critics.

Background The lowest 10 placements (#91–100) of the list were announced on May 13, 2024, via a press release by Apple. It was also revealed that the whole list would be released as a countdown revealing 10 albums each day for the next 9 days. To accompany the list, Apple Music unveiled a dedicated microsite to analyze and discuss the albums.

Reception

The list received mostly negative reviews from fans and critics. Aidin Vaziri of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that "the selection sharply contrasts with the traditional rankings by legacy music publications, such as Rolling Stone." Ben Cohen of The Wall Street Journal wrote that the list "was clearly a stunt to get attention and sell subscriptions to Apple Music", with its ultimate goal being to "get people to actually engage with these albums", while Chris Willman of Variety wrote that the list "exists almost expressly to make you mad". Multiple critics cited recency bias, with the list overrepresenting newly released albums.

Gwilym Mumford of The Guardian called the list "certainly baffling in places", noting the absence of artists such as Johnny Cash, Diana Ross, the Supremes, and the Who, as well as the list's underrepresentation of country music. Ryan Teague Beckwith of MSNBC commented that the list generously represents rock and hip-hop, while only including "token nods" to jazz, folk, reggae, and punk, and neglecting to include blues, gospel, or world music albums. Many fans criticized the list's placement of 1989 (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift at number 18, topping highly-regarded pop albums such as Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys and Hounds of Love by Kate Bush, with Cohen calling the placement "absurd".

Several critics commended Apple Music's unorthodox placement of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill as the greatest album of all time. In response to the placement, Lauryn Hill said, "I appreciate the acknowledgement, I really do, but I'd be remiss not to also acknowledge all of the music and artists who informed and inspired me ... The leaders of community and movements that sparked me, the social dynamics and music scenes, both older and current at the time, that intrigued and inspired me to contribute."

Complete list +Apple Music 100 Best Albums Number Album Artist Release year 1 The Miseducation of Lauryn HillLauryn Hill1998 2 Thriller Michael Jackson1982 3 Abbey Road The Beatles1969 4 Purple Rain Prince and the Revolution1984 5Blonde Frank Ocean2016 6 Songs in the Key of Life Stevie Wonder1976 7 Good Kid, M.A.A.D City Kendrick Lamar2012 8 Back to Black Amy Winehouse2006 9 Nevermind Nirvana1991 10 Lemonade Beyoncé2016 11 Rumours Fleetwood Mac1977 12 OK Computer Radiohead1997 13 The Blueprint Jay-Z2001 14 Highway 61 Revisited Bob Dylan1965 15 21 Adele2011 16 Blue Joni Mitchell1971 17 What's Going On Marvin Gaye1971 18 1989 (Taylor's Version) Taylor Swift2023 19 The Chronic Dr. Dre1992 20 Pet Sounds The Beach Boys1966 21 Revolver The Beatles1966 22 Born to Run Bruce Springsteen1975 23 Discovery Daft Punk2001 24 The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars David Bowie1972 25 Kind of Blue Miles Davis1959 26 My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Kanye West2010 27 Led Zeppelin II Led Zeppelin1969 28 The Dark Side of the Moon Pink Floyd1973 29 The Low End Theory A Tribe Called Quest1991 30 When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? Billie Eilish2019 31 Jagged Little Pill Alanis Morissette 1995 32 Ready to Die The Notorious B.I.G.1994 33 Kid A Radiohead2000 34 It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back Public Enemy 1989 35 London Calling The Clash1979 36 Beyoncé Beyoncé2013 37 Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) Wu-Tang Clan 1993 38 Tapestry Carole King1971 39 Illmatic Nas 1994 40 I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You Aretha Franklin1967 41 Aquemini Outkast1998 42 Control Janet Jackson1986 43 Remain in Light Talking Heads1980 44 Innervisions Stevie Wonder1973 45 Homogenic Björk 1997 46 Exodus Bob Marley and the Wailers1977 47 Take Care Drake2011 48 Paul's Boutique Beastie Boys 1989 49 The Joshua Tree U2 1987 50 Hounds of Love Kate Bush 1985 51 Sign o' the Times Prince 1987 52 Appetite for Destruction Guns N' Roses1987 53 Exile on Main Street The Rolling Stones1972 54 A Love Supreme John Coltrane1965 55 Anti Rihanna2016 56 Disintegration The Cure1989 57 Voodoo D'Angelo2000 58 (What's the Story) Morning Glory? Oasis 1995 59 AM Arctic Monkeys2013 60 The Velvet Underground & Nico The Velvet Underground and Nico1967 61 Love Deluxe Sade1992 62 All Eyez on Me 2Pac1996 63 Are You Experienced The Jimi Hendrix Experience1967 64 Baduizm Erykah Badu1997 65 3 Feet High and Rising De La Soul 1989 66 The Queen Is Dead The Smiths1986 67 Dummy Portishead 1994 68 Is This It The Strokes 2001 69 Master of Puppets Metallica1986 70 Straight Outta Compton N.W.A1988 71 Trans-Europe Express Kraftwerk 1977 72 SOS SZA2022 73 Aja Steely Dan1977 74 The Downward Spiral Nine Inch Nails1994 75 Supa Dupa Fly Missy Elliott1997 76 Un Verano Sin Ti Bad Bunny2022 77 Like a Prayer Madonna1989 78 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Elton John1973 79 Norman Fucking Rockwell! Lana Del Rey2019 80 The Marshall Mathers LP Eminem2000 81 After the Gold Rush Neil Young 1970 82 Get Rich or Die Tryin' 50 Cent2003 83 Horses Patti Smith1975 84 Doggystyle Snoop Dogg 1993 85 Golden Hour Kacey Musgraves2018 86 My Life Mary J. Blige1994 87 Blue Lines Massive Attack1991 88 I Put a Spell on You Nina Simone1965 89 The Fame Monster Lady Gaga2009 90 Back in Black AC/DC 1980 91 Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 George Michael1990 92 Flower Boy Tyler, the Creator2017 93 A Seat at the Table Solange2016 94 Untrue Burial2007 95 Confessions Usher2004 96 Pure Heroine Lorde2013 97 Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine1992 98 Astroworld Travis Scott2018 99 Hotel California Eagles1976 100 Body Talk Robyn2010

Statistics

Genres The following table lists the genres of the albums included on the list, which are based on Apple Music's assigned genre.

Genre Number of albums Percentage Hip-Hop/Rap 2121% Rock18 18% Pop 16 16% Alternative 14 14% R&B/Soul 11 11% Electronic 4 4% Hard rock 33% Jazz 3 3% Motown 2 2% Punk 2 2% Singer-songwriter22% Country 1 1% Latin 1 1% Metal 1 1% Roots Reggae 1 1%

Number of albums from each decade

Decade Number of albums Percentage 1950s11% 1960s 10 10% 1970s 18 18% 1980s 17 17% 1990s 23 23% 2000s 11 11% 2010s 17 17% 2020s 3 3%

Artists with multiple albums The following table lists the artists who have two albums included on the list.

ArtistTopLow NotesThe Beatles321One album in the top 10Prince451One album in the top 10; includes one album credited to Prince and the RevolutionStevie Wonder644One album in the top 10Beyoncé1036One album in the top 10; only woman with 2 albums on the listRadiohead1233One album in the top 20Dr. Dre1970One album in the top 20; count includes one album credited to N.W.A

Record labels with multiple albums The following table lists the record labels who have multiple albums included on the list. This is based on the labels under which each album was released originally, not the current copyright holders.

+ Label Parent Number of albums Notes Interscope Records Universal Music Group 10 Capitol Records 6 Polydor Records 4 Aftermath Entertainment 3 Founded by hip hop producer and rapper Dr. Dre in 1996 Def Jam Recordings3 Island Records 3 Motown 3 Republic Records 3 Virgin Records 3 A&M Records 2 Founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Priority Records 2 Roc-A-Fella Records2Defunct American hip hop label founded by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in 1994. Columbia RecordsSony Music Entertainment 13 Epic Records 6 Arista Records 4 RCA Records 4 Reprise RecordsWarner Music Group 4 Founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. Warner Records 4 Also known as Warner Bros. Records. Atlantic Records 3 Elektra Records 3 Parlophone2Label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. Sire Records 2 Death Row Records Independent Labels 3 Founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey. Rough Trade Records 2 Independent label based in London, England. Formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis. Top Dawg Entertainment 2 Founded in 2004 by record producer Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith.Parkwood Entertainment RecordsParkwood Entertainment2American label founded by American singer-songwriter Beyoncé in 2010.

Albums by artist's country of origin

Country Number of albums 63 22 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

See also Album era All Time Top 1000 Albums Critic's Choice: Top 200 Albums NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time Footnotes

References

External links Apple Music 100 Best Albums by Apple Music