The Guardian's Alternative Top 100 Albums Ever

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Top 100 alternative albums as chosen by the Guardian. The list was first published on Friday January 29, 1999.

Pages: 1 2 3

  1. 1.
    Bryter Layter
    by Nick Drake

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  2. 2.
    Rain Dogs
    by Tom Waits

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  3. 3.
    The Band
    by The Band

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  4. 4.
    No Other
    by Gene Clark

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  5. 5.
    Five Leaves Left
    by Nick Drake

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  6. 6.
    A Hard Day's Night
    by The Beatles

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  7. 7.
    Curtis
    by Curtis Mayfield

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  8. 8.
    A Wizard, A True Star
    by Todd Rundgren

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  9. 9.
    All Things Must Pass [BOXED EDITION]
    by George Harrison

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  10. 10.
    Something/Anything?
    by Todd Rundgren

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  11. 11.
    The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
    by Pink Floyd

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  12. 12.
    #1 Record/Radio City
    by Big Star

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  13. 13.
    The Gilded Palace of Sin
    by The Flying Burrito Brothers

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  14. 14.
    I Am
    by Earth Wind & Fire

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  15. 15.
    Grace
    by Jeff Buckley

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  16. 16.
    Isn't Anything
    by My Bloody Valentine

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  17. 17.
    Scott 4
    by Scott Walker

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  18. 18.
    Buffalo Springfield Again
    by Buffalo Springfield

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  19. 19.
    New York Tendaberry (Exp)
    by Laura Nyro

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  20. 20.
    Fresh
    by Sly & the Family Stone

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  21. 21.
    ?
    Holland
    by The Beach Boys

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  22. 22.
    Searching for the Young Soul Rebels
    by Dexy's Midnight Runners

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  23. 23.
    Court and Spark
    by Joni Mitchell

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  24. 24.
    ?
    Giant Steps
    by The Boo Radleys

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  25. 25.
    Countdown To Ecstasy
    by Steely Dan

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  26. 26.
    Dusty in Memphis
    by Dusty Springfield

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  27. 27.
    Music for a New Society
    by John Cale

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  28. 28.
    For Your Pleasure
    by Roxy Music

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  29. 29.
    Maggot Brain
    by Funkadelic

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  30. 30.
    ?
    Hats
    by The Blue Nile

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  31. 31.
    Fear of a Black Planet
    by Public Enemy

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  32. 32.
    I'm Your Man
    by Leonard Cohen

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  33. 33.
    Fear of Music
    by Talking Heads

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  34. 34.
    Risqué
    by Chic

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  35. 35.
    Every Picture Tells a Story
    by Rod Stewart

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  36. 36.
    The Hissing of Summer Lawns
    by Joni Mitchell

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  37. 37.
    A Love Supreme
    by John Coltrane

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  38. 38.
    Raw Power
    by Iggy & the Stooges

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  39. 39.
    Berlin
    by Lou Reed

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  40. 40.
    Tim Hardin 2
    by Tim Hardin

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  41. 41.
    Fun House
    by The Stooges

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  42. 42.

  43. 43.
    Young Americans [ECD]
    by David Bowie

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  44. 44.
    Tonight's the Night
    by Neil Young

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  45. 45.
    Raising Hell
    by Run-D.M.C.

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  46. 46.
    Young, Gifted and Black
    by Aretha Franklin

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  47. 47.
    Rock Bottom

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  48. 48.
    The Spotlight Kid/Clear Spot
    by Captain Beefheart

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  49. 49.
    Music from Big Pink
    by The Band

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  50. 50.
    The Heart of Saturday Night
    by Tom Waits

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Created by Robot Co-op on Nov 30, 2005.
 

Comments

penguinmdh
Pittsburgh

Housecleaning! — 2 years ago

The numbering is once again correct. Thanks Ivan and Daniel!

There are 101 albums in the source list. Number 89 is used twice.

I deleted a couple of stray albums (Todd & 1+2) that did not show up in the source list.


what gives? — 2 years ago

I’d like to point out that this is not the correct list from The Guardian. Look at the source list.

Also, if you have not read the source, you may not know that this list was constructed by requiring the compilers to leave off all the “established classics.” Which makes for an interesting, but certainly not defining list.


penguinmdh
Pittsburgh

Numbering Problems — 2 years ago

It appears that the numbering algorithm is not working. Please let us know when it is fixed, and I will be happy to correctly reorder this list.


Sumit
London

Untitled — 2 years ago

UK broadsheets’ musical coverage is totally and utterly teh suck, as this list demonstrates pretty clearly.


Greg
Columbus

Beach Boys "Today!" makes 2 appearances — 2 years ago

It’s at 59 and 95..obviously, one of those is wrong.


Paola
Côte d'Azur

I promised to myself long time ago — 2 years ago

... I’d never comment lists. And I know, it’s a game, but, if you write the “best ever”... c’mon… two albums by Nick Drake in the top five, two albums by Todd Rundgren in the top ten, and the only album issued in the last 25 years they could think of for the top ten is Rain Dogs? Nothing more alternative than Tom Waits since 1980?!

(I know, the Guardian is a newspaper, their target is very general, blahblah, but… whoa!)


kaffeine
Montreal

interesting, varied — 2 years ago

Unlike the Q list, this has samples of many pop genres, and while I don’t agree with the entire selection, I can see some well-thought-out choices on this list.