Sixty-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 140 albums in this catalog, I know sixty-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. Abbey Road by The Beatles

  16. Sign o’ the Times by Prince

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

  18. English Settlement by XTC

  19. Optimo [EP] by Liquid Liquid

  20. Post by Björk

  21. Low by David Bowie

  22. Fear of Music by Talking Heads

  23. Hatful of Hollow by The Smiths

  24. Revolver by The Beatles

  25. Selected Ambient Works Vol. II by Aphex Twin

  26. A Love Supreme by John Coltrane

  27. Another Green World by Brian Eno

  28. Off the Wall by Michael Jackson

  29. Ambient 1: Music for Airports by Brian Eno

  30. Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division

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

  32. Rubber Soul by The Beatles

  33. Kind of Blue by Miles Davis

  34. 1999 by Prince

  35. Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth

  36. Blue by Joni Mitchell

  37. 20 Jazz Funk Greats by Throbbing Gristle

  38. Appetite for Destruction by Guns N’ Roses

  39. Closer by Joy Division

  40. London Calling by The Clash

  41. Dirty Mind by Prince

  42. Loveless by My Bloody Valentine

  43. The Beatles by The Beatles

  44. Court and Spark by Joni Mitchell

  45. Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan

  46. Marquee Moon by Television

  47. Germfree Adolescents by X-Ray Spex

  48. Tonight’s the Night by Neil Young

  49. Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen

  50. Exile on Main St. by The Rolling Stones

  51. Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles

  52. Tapestry by Carole King

  53. Donuts by J Dilla

  54. OK Computer by Radiohead

  55. The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses

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

  57. The Bends by Radiohead

  58. Kid A by Radiohead

  59. Master of Puppets by Metallica

  60. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac

  61. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco

  62. Alive! by KISS

— April 20, 2025


Return to Lists