Seventy-Two Pitchfork Perfect Tens, Ranked

(Some time ago, Pitchfork posted a list of all the albums in their archive that have received a perfect-ten review. Of the roughly 150 albums in this catalog, I know seventy-two of them well enough to express an informed if idiosyncratic opinion. Eight of them appear on my own list of fifty favorite albums, and a ninth (Spirit of Eden) would if I allowed myself more than one album per artist. Here they are, ranked extremely subjectively, from favorite to least favorite.)

  1. Astral Weeks by Van Morrison

  2. Disintegration by The Cure

  3. Laughing Stock by Talk Talk

  4. Hounds of Love by Kate Bush

  5. Spirit of Eden by Talk Talk

  6. Rain Dogs by Tom Waits

  7. Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder

  8. The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths

  9. Homogenic by Björk

  10. Purple Rain by Prince and the Revolution

  11. Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul by Otis Redding

  12. Heaven or Las Vegas by Cocteau Twins

  13. For Your Pleasure by Roxy Music

  14. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel

  15. Innervisions by Stevie Wonder

  16. Abbey Road by The Beatles

  17. Sign o’ the Times by Prince

  18. Murmur by R.E.M.

  19. Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 by Sam Cooke

  20. I See a Darkness by Bonnie “Prince” Billy

  21. English Settlement by XTC

  22. Optimo [EP] by Liquid Liquid

  23. Post by Björk

  24. Low by David Bowie

  25. Fear of Music by Talking Heads

  26. Hatful of Hollow by The Smiths

  27. Revolver by The Beatles

  28. Selected Ambient Works Vol. II by Aphex Twin

  29. A Love Supreme by John Coltrane

  30. Another Green World by Brian Eno

  31. Off the Wall by Michael Jackson

  32. Ambient 1: Music for Airports by Brian Eno

  33. Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division

  34. Talking Book by Stevie Wonder

  35. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles

  36. Rubber Soul by The Beatles

  37. Kind of Blue by Miles Davis

  38. 1999 by Prince

  39. Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth

  40. Blue by Joni Mitchell

  41. 20 Jazz Funk Greats by Throbbing Gristle

  42. Appetite for Destruction by Guns N’ Roses

  43. On Fire by Galaxie 500

  44. Closer by Joy Division

  45. London Calling by The Clash

  46. Dirty Mind by Prince

  47. Loveless by My Bloody Valentine

  48. The Beatles by The Beatles

  49. Court and Spark by Joni Mitchell

  50. Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan

  51. Marquee Moon by Television

  52. Warren Zevon by Warren Zevon

  53. The Disintegration Loops by William Baskinski

  54. “Heroes” by David Bowie

  55. Germfree Adolescents by X-Ray Spex

  56. Tonight’s the Night by Neil Young

  57. Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen

  58. Exile on Main St. by The Rolling Stones

  59. Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles

  60. Tapestry by Carole King

  61. Donuts by J Dilla

  62. Reckoning by R.E.M.

  63. OK Computer by Radiohead

  64. The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses

  65. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd

  66. Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang Clan

  67. The Bends by Radiohead

  68. Kid A by Radiohead

  69. Master of Puppets by Metallica

  70. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac

  71. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco

  72. Alive! by KISS

— August 2, 2026


Return to Lists