Spin’s 100 Greatest Albums

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This is not an official Spin magazine list; rather it is a consolidation of nine major lists published by the magazine:

The 25 Greatest Albums of All Time (April 1989)
Top Ten College Cult Classic Albums (1990)
100 Alternative Albums (Dec. 1995)
Top 90 Albums of the ‘90s (1999?)
Best Albums That You’ve Never Heard Of (2000)
The 50 Most Essential Punk Records (2001)
“Most Influential Albums Not Recorded by The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Elvis, or The Rolling Stones.” (April 2003, pp. 84-85).
100 Greatest Albums 1985-2005 (July 2005)
125 Best Albums of the Past 25 Years (April 2010)

Albums are in rank order, with the #1 album being the top left corner, #2 to its immediate right, etc. Hover your mouse over an album to get the name of the album and the recording act. You can also click on an album to link to its DMDB page.

Also, check out Spin’s annual picks for album of the year. They have made such picks since 1990. However, by looking at the consolidated lists described above, the list has been expanded back to 1965.

Most of the aforementioned all-time and annual lists can all be found at Rocklist.net.

If you want to comment on this list, go to Dave’s Music Database on Facebook.

Spin’s 100 Greatest Albums

It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back: Public Enemy (1988)

A Tribe Called Quest: The Low-End Theory (1991)

Velvet Underground & Nico: Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)

Nine Inch Nail: The Downward Spiral (1994)

De La Soul: 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)

Public Enemy: Fear of a Black Planet (1990)

Wu-Tang Clan: Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)

The Minutemen: Double Nickels on the Dime (1984)

The Notorious B.I.G.: Ready to Die (1994)

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the…: Sex Pistols (1977)

Lucinda Williams: Lucinda Williams (1988)

Rage Against the Machine: The Battle of Los Angeles (1999)

The Jesus and Mary Chain: Psychocandy (1985)

Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994)

Lauryn Hill: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)

Chemical Brothers: Dig Your Own Hole (1997)

Boogie Down Productions: Criminal Minded (1987)

The Pogues: Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash (1985)

X-Ray Spex: Germ-Free Adolescents (1978)

Guns N’ Roses: Appetite for Destruction (1987)

Rage Against the Machine: Rage Against the Machine (1992)

Public Image Ltd.: Metal Box (aka “Second Edition”) (1979)

Dinosaur Jr.: You’re Living All Over Me (1987)

The Descendents: Milo Goes to College (1982)

Devo: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo (1978)

Oasis: What’s the Story Morning Glory? (1995)

PJ Harvey: Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000)

This page last updated April 23, 2010.