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Music: All-Time Greatest, Nos. 100-76

Music: All-Time Greatest, Nos. 100-76

Bee Gees, Ramones, N.W.A, White Stripes, Patti Smith, Led Zeppelin albums in this batch -- see how we rank 'em

By EW Staff

Updated July 12, 2013 at 09:00 PM EDT

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100. Ramones, Ramones (1976)

Take teen angst and heartbreak, add glue sniffing, then repeat-repeatrepeat until the neighbors complain. Now, that's rock & roll!

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2 of 25

99. Erykah Badu, Mama's Gun (2000)

A freethinking, all-weirdos-welcome basement confessional, buoyed by backroom-juke jazz (''Green Eyes''), guitar heroics (''Penitentiary Philosophy''), and Badu's slinky warble.

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3 of 25

98. Queens of the Stone Age, Songs for the Deaf (2002)

Calling it ''stoner rock'' is reductive, but it's also apropos: Songs for the Deaf offers all the brain-buzzing joys of a peyote-fueled walkabout — without the sunburn or scorpion stings.

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Amazon
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Continued on next slide.

4 of 25

97. Dusty Springfield, Dusty in Memphis (1969)

So much more than ''Son of a Preacher Man.'' Dusty is a huskyhoneyed Tennessee postcard as sun-dappled and bittersweet as anything. When she cooed lines like ''Just a little lovin'/Early in the mornin'/Beats a cup of coffee/For starting off the day,'' you knew you'd never need Folgers again.

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Amazon
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5 of 25

96. Dixie Chicks, Home (2002)

Their fiddle-sawing, flag-waving neo-bluegrass masterpiece holds up so goddarn well, we'll bet George W. Bush is secretly harmonizing along with it right now.

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6 of 25

95. Various Artists, Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack (1977)

The definitive disco album, heavy on latter-day Bee Gees hipshakers: ''Stayin' Alive.'' ''Night Fever.'' ''Jive Talkin'.'' Polyester melts, but this Fever still burns.

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iTunes

Continued on next slide.

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94. Beyoncé, B'Day (2006)

Sasha was two years away from achieving her full official Fierce-ness, but here she had something even funkier: a killer mix of dance-floor scorchers (''Déjà Vu,'' ''Ring the Alarm'') and to-the-left kiss-offs (''Irreplaceable'').

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8 of 25

93. N.W.A, Straight Outta Compton (1988)

''You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge...'' And with those words, gangsta rap was born. A profane, rat-a-tat distress call from South Central.

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9 of 25

92. Elliott Smith, Either/Or (1997)

In a voice barely louder than a whisper, the preternaturally gifted, emotionally fragile folkie (in 2003, he died at 34 in a possible suicide, though the circumstances of his death remain murky) unfurled one of the most quietly devastating bedroom records ever made.

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10 of 25

91. Sly and the Family Stone, There's a Riot Goin' On (1971)

This zonked-out funk bummer is full of bad vibes and molasses tempos — the sound of a tattered genius trying hard to keep it together.

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11 of 25

90. The White Stripes, White Blood Cells (2001)

A 16-song rampage of bleeding-raw guitar riffs and carnal rhythms honored the roots of blues rock while dragging it into the 21st century by the seat of its red-and-white pants.

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12 of 25

89. Sleater-Kinney, Dig Me Out (1997)

How do you start a grrrl-punk riot? With just words, drums, and guitars, the Olympia, Wash., trio delivered an underground classic that sounds as ferocious as the day it was made.

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Continued on next slide.

13 of 25

88. New Order, Power, Corruption & Lies (1983)

Shimmering hooks + lingering Joy Division moodiness = a definitive dancepunk classic.

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14 of 25

87. Dolly Parton, Coat of Many Colors (1971)

Never mind the wigs and sequins; Parton could dazzle with nothing but hard-won tales of joy and heartbreak, sung in a voice as high and clear as Appalachian mountain air.

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Amazon
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15 of 25

86. PJ Harvey, Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea (2000)

Lush orchestration. Backup vocals by Thom Yorke. A love song for Vincent Gallo. Of all this album's great surprises, the best one is this: Harvey never sounded so happy.

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Amazon
iTunes

Continued on next slide.

16 of 25

85. Tom Waits, Rain Dogs (1985)

Not just a collection of lovingly battered cabaret jams, Dogs gave birth to Waits' oft-copied archetype: the shape-shifting troubadour always on the hunt for a cigarette and a bad idea.

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17 of 25

84. Patti Smith, Horses (1975)

Insisting that Jesus died for somebody's sins but not hers, Smith treats rock & roll like the only true religion — with all the agony and ecstasy and ''Gloria'' hosannas that implies.

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18 of 25

83. James Brown, In the Jungle Groove (1986)

This speaker-rattling comp has some of the Godfather of Soul's best work, including the endlessly sampled ''Funky Drummer.''

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82. Pavement, Slanted and Enchanted (1992)

Slacker savants armed with a dog-eared thesaurus and non sequiturs about ''fruit-covered nails'' turn a so-sloppy-it's-tight sound into indie-rock art.

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20 of 25

81. Pixies, Doolittle (1989)

Black Francis shreds his larynx on lines about brimstone and heavenbound monkeys while loud/quiet guitar squalls inspire a thousand alt-rock wannabes to start their own bands.

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21 of 25

80. Elton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)

Elton was at the peak of his powers — ''Candle in the Wind,'' ''Bennie and the Jets,'' and the title track are all stacked in the first 20 minutes — on this sprawling opus of an album.

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Continued on next slide.

22 of 25

79. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

''Stairway to Heaven.'' ''Black Dog.'' ''When the Levee Breaks.'' It's been a long time — been a long time! — since anyone rock & rolled quite like this.

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23 of 25

78. Björk, Post (1995)

The heart of both a musical anarchist and a pop virtuoso beat beneath her elfin Icelandic skin; Post may be the wildest outlier ever to go platinum.

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24 of 25

77. My Bloody Valentine, Loveless (1991)

A front-runner for Loudest Band Ever, the Irish alterna-gods redefined the sonic boundaries of indie rock by setting bitter love poems afloat in a swirling ectoplasm of distortion.

Download it:
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Continued on next slide.

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76. Talking Heads, Remain in Light (1980)

Hypnotic and haunting, David Byrne & Co.'s polyrhythmic art-rock odyssey is like the soundtrack to the weirdest (and funkiest) sci-fi film never made.

Download it:
Amazon
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Replay gallery

Up Next

By EW Staff

Account

Music: All-Time Greatest, Nos. 100-76

1 of 25

100. Ramones, Ramones (1976)

1 of 25

2 of 25

99. Erykah Badu, Mama's Gun (2000)

2 of 25

3 of 25

98. Queens of the Stone Age, Songs for the Deaf (2002)

3 of 25

4 of 25

97. Dusty Springfield, Dusty in Memphis (1969)

4 of 25

5 of 25

96. Dixie Chicks, Home (2002)

5 of 25

6 of 25

95. Various Artists, Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack (1977)

6 of 25

7 of 25

94. Beyoncé, B'Day (2006)

7 of 25

8 of 25

93. N.W.A, Straight Outta Compton (1988)

8 of 25

9 of 25

92. Elliott Smith, Either/Or (1997)

9 of 25

10 of 25

91. Sly and the Family Stone, There's a Riot Goin' On (1971)

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11 of 25

90. The White Stripes, White Blood Cells (2001)

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12 of 25

89. Sleater-Kinney, Dig Me Out (1997)

12 of 25

13 of 25

88. New Order, Power, Corruption & Lies (1983)

13 of 25

14 of 25

87. Dolly Parton, Coat of Many Colors (1971)

14 of 25

15 of 25

86. PJ Harvey, Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea (2000)

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16 of 25

85. Tom Waits, Rain Dogs (1985)

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17 of 25

84. Patti Smith, Horses (1975)

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83. James Brown, In the Jungle Groove (1986)

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82. Pavement, Slanted and Enchanted (1992)

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81. Pixies, Doolittle (1989)

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80. Elton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)

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79. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

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78. Björk, Post (1995)

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77. My Bloody Valentine, Loveless (1991)

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76. Talking Heads, Remain in Light (1980)

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