Q magazine is a British magazine that has been around since the mid-‘80s. While its U.S. counterparts seem dead-set on always putting a scantily clad babe on their covers or shoving in non-musical content that supposedly fits the same demographic, Q is all music. Over the years, they’ve put out a number of best-of-all-time album lists. I’ve aggregated 16 of them (see the links at the bottom of the page) for a ranking you won’t find in any of their magazines.
Also, check out annual picks for album of the year.
1. Radiohead OK Computer (1997)
2. Oasis Definitely Maybe (1994)
3. The Stone Roses The Stone Roses (1989)
4. The Verve Urban Hymns (1997)
5. Primal Scream Screamadelica (1991)
6. Blur Parklife (1994)
7. Oasis What’s the Story Morning Glory (1995)
8. Radiohead The Bends (1995)
9. Nirvana Nevermind (1991)
10. U2 Achtung Baby (1991)
11. The Smiths The Queen Is Dead (1986)
12. Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols (1977)
13. Massive Attack Blue Lines (1991)
14. The Beatles Revolver (1966)
15. The Clash London Calling (1979)
16. Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
17. U2 The Joshua Tree (1987)
18. R.E.M. Automatic for the People (1992)
19. David Bowie The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
20. Coldplay A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002)
21. Manic Street Preachers Everything Must Go (1996)
22. Pulp Different Class (1995)
23. The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
24. Jeff Buckley Grace (1994)
25. Kate Bush Hounds of Love (1985)
26. The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed (1969)
27. Guns N’ Roses Appetite for Destruction (1987)
28. Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV (1971)
29. Manic Street Preachers The Holy Bible (1994)
30. Velvet Underground & Nico Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
31. David Bowie Hunky Dory (1971)
32. Nirvana In Utero (1993)
33. The Prodigy Fat of the Land (1997)
34. Prince Sign ‘O’ the Times (1987)
35. Portishead Dummy (1994)
36. Public Enemy It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
37. The Strokes Is This It (2001)
38. The Beatles The Beatles (aka “The White Album”) (1968)
39. Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks (1975)
40. The Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street (1972)
41. Van Morrison Astral Weeks (1968)
42. Coldplay Parachutes (2000)
43. The Beach Boys Pet Sounds (1966)
44. Chemical Brothers Dig Your Own Hole (1997)
45. Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill (1995)
46. Depeche Mode Violator (1990)
47. Madonna Ray of Light (1998)
48. Pearl Jam Ten (1991)
49. Beck Odelay (1996)
50. Stereophonics Word Gets Around (1997)
51. The Beatles Abbey Road (1969)
52. Radiohead Kid A (2000)
53. The Beatles Rubber Soul (1965)
54. Queen A Night at the Opera (1975)
55. Joy Division Unknown Pleasures (1979)
56. The Pixies Doolittle (1989)
57. Joy Division Closer (1980)
58. Red Hot Chili Peppers Californication (1999)
59. Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
60. Fleetwood Mac Rumours (1977)
61. Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (1975)
62. Michael Jackson Thriller (1982)
63. Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti (1975)
64. The Who Who’s Next (1971)
65. The Specials The Specials (1979)
66. Marvin Gaye What’s Going On (1971)
67. Pink Floyd The Wall (1979)
68. Muse Origin of Symmetry (2001)
69. The Human League Dare! (1981)
70. The Jam All Mod Cons (1978)
71. The Cure Disintegration (1989)
72. The Prodigy Music for the Jilted Generation (1994)
73. Happy Mondays Pills ‘N’ Thrills and Bellyaches (1990)
74. Leftfield Leftism (1995)
75. Travis The Man Who (1999)
76. Metallica Metallica (aka “The Black Album”) (1991)
77. Moby Play (1999)
78. R.E.M. Out of Time (1991)
79. PJ Harvey Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000)
80. The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers (1971)
81. Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (2006)
82. Muse Black Holes & Revelations (2006)
83. Gorillaz Demon Days (2005)
84. The White Stripes White Blood Cells (2001)
85. Roxy Music For Your Pleasure (1973)
86. Radiohead In Rainbows (2007)
87. Pink Floyd The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
88. The Jimi Hendrix Experience Electric Ladyland (1968)
89. The Libertines Up the Bracket (2002)
90. Bob Dylan Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
91. Nick Drake Bryter Layter (1970)
92. Amy Winehouse Back to Black (2006)
93. The Small Faces Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake (1968)
94. Bruce Springsteen Born to Run (1975)
95. Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
96. Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (1992)
97. My Bloody Valentine Loveless (1991)
98. David Bowie Low (1977)
99. Oasis Be Here Now (1997)
100. Dexy’s Midnight Runners Searching for the Young Soul Rebels (1980)
Resources and Related Links:
- January 1995: In Our Lifetime: Q’s 100 Best Albums
Critics picked 99 and readers picked the 100th. Link has an incomplete list; only 88 titles are listed.
- February 1998: All Time Top 100 Albums
Readers’ poll.
- June 2000: The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever
Writers’ picks.
- October 2001: The Best 50 CDs of the Last 15 Years
Readers’ poll covering the lifetime of Q magazine, 1986-2001.
- January 2003: Readers’ 100 Greatest Albums Ever
- January-March 2004: The Music That Changed the World
3 special editions in January (covering 1954-69), February (covering 1970-1979), and March 2004 (covering 1980-2004). Each featured a top 20 album list and a top 20 song list.
- July 2004: 50 Best British Albums Ever!
- April 2005: Ultimate Music Collection
Featured lists of must-have albums (from 4 to 11 picks) and tracks (roughly 50) in multiple genres including rock, pop, punk, rap, country, blues, soul, metal, reggae, jazz, folk, electronic, and indie.
- February 2006: Best Albums Ever
Readers’ poll. Top 100 list.
- November 2006: Top 20 Albums and Singles of the Lifetime of Q Magazine
Covers 1986-2006, the first 20 years of Q magazine’s existence.
- November 2007: 21 Albums That Changed Music
21st anniversary issue. List is chronological.
- March 2008: 50 Years of Great British Music
Chronological listing with 10 tracks and 10 albums for each decade (no album list for the ‘50s).
- May 2008: Best British Albums (Readers’ poll)
- February 2011: 250 Best Albums of Q’s Lifetime
Readers poll of best albums from 1986-2011. In celebration of Q Magazine’s 25th anniversary.
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