Having recently shared the 2020 Grampies and then my top 100 favorite albums from 2011 through 2020, I got to thinking about my favorite albums "of all time," and so I've been tinkering with that over the past few weeks, trying to figure out how to compile such a list and how to go about ranking that many albums across multiple genres and from so many different seasons in my music-listening lifetime. It's a subjective consideration, in any case, so it's not like I can get this "wrong." But it has been an interesting experiment.
To challenge myself and to "even the playing field" (somewhat), I determined that I would include only one entry from any one artist, lest the list end up dominated by a dozen of my all-time favorite artists. In a number of cases, deciding between representative "favorite albums" from some of those artists was especially difficult, so there are entries in which a second album is listed parenthetically (in a few cases even a third), but each artist still gets only one "slot" in the list of my 100 all-time favorite albums.
Ranking all these albums in order of preference is practically an impossible task, though I've attempted it. As surely as the relative positioning of these albums has shifted in various ways over the past many years, I have no doubt that it will continue to fluctuate in my listening habits and enjoyment in the years ahead. But for this present time, for this particular listing, you can see (below) how it all shook out.
My 100 Favorite Albums of All Time (at this time) by 100 Different Acts/Artists
1. Shinedown - Threat To Survival (2015) (Sound of Madness, 2008; Amaryllis, 2012)
2. Joe Bonamassa - Redemption (2018) (Blues of Desperation, 2016)
3. Led Zeppelin - IV (1971) (II, 1969)
4. Lori McKenna - The Balladeer (2020) (The Tree, 2018)
5. Black Stone Cherry - Folklore & Superstition (2008) (Black Stone Cherry, 2006)
6. Def Leppard - Pyromania (1983)
7. Evanescence - Fallen (2003)
8. AC/DC - Back in Black (1980)
9. Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Oz (1980) (Scream, 2010)
10. Train - California 37 (2012) (Bulletproof Picasso, 2014)
11. Daughtry - Break the Spell (2011) (Daughtry, 2006)
12. Guns N’ Roses - Appetite for Destruction (1987)
13. Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970) (Heaven and Hell, 1980)
14. Boston - Boston (1976)
15. Linkin Park - One More Light (2017)
16. Theocracy - As the World Bleeds (2011) (Ghost Ship, 2016)
17. Bon Jovi - Lost Highway (2007) (What About Now, 2013)
18. Will Hoge - Small Town Dreams (2015)
19. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
20. Taylor Swift - evermore/folklore (2020) (1989, 2014)
21. Cody Jinks - The Wanting (2019) (Lifers, 2018)
22. All That Remains - The Order of Things (2015)
23. Megadeth - Th1rt3en (2011)
24. Tim McGraw - Sundown Heaven Town (2014) (Set This Circus Down, 2001; Two Lanes of Freedom, 2013)
25. Eric Church - Chief (2011) (Mr. Misunderstood, 2015)
26. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour (2018) (Pageant Material, 2015)
27. The Decemberists - The King Is Dead (2011)
28. Joe Satriani - Surfing with the Alien (1987)
29. Volbeat - Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie (2016) (Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies, 2013)
30. John Cougar Mellencamp - Scarecrow (1985) (American Fool, 1982)
31. Big & Rich - Horse of a Different Color (2004)
32. Queen - The Game (1980)
33. Billy Joel - Glass Houses (1980) (The Stranger, 1977)
34. Lifehouse - Almeria (2012)
35. Matchbox Twenty - More Than You Think You Are (2002) (Mad Season, 2000)
36. Hootie & The Blowfish - Cracked Rear View (1994)
37. Sister Hazel - Lighter in the Dark (2016)
38. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound (2017) (Reunions, 2020)
39. Switchfoot - Vice Verses (2011)
40. Ashley McBryde - Girl Going Nowhere (2018)
41. Kenny Chesney - Welcome to the Fishbowl (2012) (Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates, 2007)
42. Alter Bridge - The Last Hero (2016) (Walk the Sky, 2019)
43. Asia - Asia (1982)
44. Van Halen - Diver Down (1982)
45. Van Zant - Get Right with the Man (2005)
46. U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987) (Rattle and Hum, 1988)
47. Jet - Get Born (2003)
48. Kid Rock - Born Free (2010) (First Kiss, 2015)
49. Halfway to Hazard - Halfway to Hazard (2007)
50. Five For Fighting - Slice (2010)
51. Mat Kearney - Just Kids (2015) (Young Love, 2011)
52. Brad Paisley - Time Well Wasted (2005)
53. Uncle Kracker - Midnight Special (2012)
54. Joshua Kadison - Painted Desert Serenade (1993)
55. REO Speedwagon - Hi InFidelity (1980)
56. Styx - Paradise Theater (1981)
57. Andy Black - The Shadow Side (2016)
58. Breaking Benjamin - Dear Agony (2009)
59. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll (1981)
60. Judas Priest - Ram It Down (1988) (British Steel, 1980)
61. Foreigner - 4 (1981)
62. Quiet Riot - Metal Health (1983)
63. Jason Aldean - Relentless (2007)
64. Johnny Cash - American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002)
65. The Avett Brothers - True Sadness (2016)
66. David Nail - The Sound of a Million Dreams (2013)
67. Anna Nalick - Wreck of the Day (2005)
68. Montgomery Gentry - Back When I Knew It All (2008)
69. Miranda Lambert - Platinum (2014)
70. TEN - Gothica (2017) (Illuminati, 2018)
71. Amaranthe - Amaranthe (2011)
72. Sturgill Simpson - High Top Mountain (2013) (Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, 2014)
73. Rodney Atkins - Honesty (2003)
74. Metallica - Metallica (1991)
75. Pat Benatar - Precious Time (1981) (Crimes of Passion, 1980)
76. Redlight King - Something for the Pain (2011)
77. Pink - M!ssundaztood (2001)
78. Saxon - Call to Arms (2011)
79. Steve Azar - Waitin’ on Joe (2002)
80. Zac Brown Band - Jekyll & Hyde (2015) (The Foundation, 2008)
81. Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride (2007)
82. Jo Dee Messina - Delicious Surprise (2005)
83. Slash - Slash (2010) (Apocalyptic Love, 2012)
84. Brooks & Dunn - Hillbilly Deluxe (2005) (Cowboy Town, 2007)
85. Bryan Adams - Cuts Like a Knife (1983)
86. Rod Stewart - A Spanner in the Works (1995) (Vagabond Heart, 1991)
87. Marcel - You, Me, and the Windshield (2003)
88. Aldo Nova - Aldo Nova (1982)
89. Dio - Holy Diver (1983)
90. Jimmy Page - Outrider (1988)
91. Cinderella - Long Cold Winter (1988)
92. Whitesnake - Whitesnake (1987) (Slip of the Tongue, 1989)
93. Trace Adkins - Dangerous Man (2006) (Songs About Me, 2005)
94. Keith Anderson - C’Mon! (2008)
95. ABBA - Voulez-Vous (1979)
96. Supertramp - Breakfast in America (1979)
97. Plain White T’s - Every Second Counts (2006)
98. Electric Light Orchestra - Discovery (1979)
99. John Kilzer - Memory in the Making (1988)
100. The Saints - All Fools Day (1987)
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