Sixty-One 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 140 albums in this catalog, I know sixty of them well enough to express an informed if idiosyncratic opinion. Six of them appear on my own list of fifty favorite albums, and a seventh (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. Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder

  7. The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths

  8. Homogenic by Björk

  9. Purple Rain by Prince and the Revolution

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

  11. Heaven or Las Vegas by Cocteau Twins

  12. For Your Pleasure by Roxy Music

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

  14. Abbey Road by The Beatles

  15. Sign o’ the Times by Prince

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

  17. English Settlement by XTC

  18. Optimo [EP] by Liquid Liquid

  19. Post by Björk

  20. Low by David Bowie

  21. Fear of Music by Talking Heads

  22. Hatful of Hollow by The Smiths

  23. Revolver by The Beatles

  24. Selected Ambient Works Vol. II by Aphex Twin

  25. A Love Supreme by John Coltrane

  26. Another Green World by Brian Eno

  27. Off the Wall by Michael Jackson

  28. Ambient 1: Music for Airports by Brian Eno

  29. Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division

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

  31. Rubber Soul by The Beatles

  32. Kind of Blue by Miles Davis

  33. 1999 by Prince

  34. Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth

  35. Blue by Joni Mitchell

  36. 20 Jazz Funk Greats by Throbbing Gristle

  37. Appetite for Destruction by Guns N’ Roses

  38. Closer by Joy Division

  39. London Calling by The Clash

  40. Dirty Mind by Prince

  41. Loveless by My Bloody Valentine

  42. The Beatles by The Beatles

  43. Court and Spark by Joni Mitchell

  44. Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan

  45. Marquee Moon by Television

  46. Germfree Adolescents by X-Ray Spex

  47. Tonight’s the Night by Neil Young

  48. Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen

  49. Exile on Main St. by The Rolling Stones

  50. Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles

  51. Tapestry by Carole King

  52. Donuts by J Dilla

  53. OK Computer by Radiohead

  54. The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses

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

  56. The Bends by Radiohead

  57. Kid A by Radiohead

  58. Master of Puppets by Metallica

  59. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac

  60. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco

  61. Alive! by KISS

— January 7, 2024


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