The Top 100 Albums by Track Rating*

Although this factor is important in the ranking of The Top 100 Albums of All-Time in the Rock Era*, as you can see, it is nowhere near the way it turned out.  The message is that each factor is important in doing such a ranking--you don't want to rely too much on one thing, but you can't discount it either.  In other words, if one album sold 30 million copies and another album sold 1, no rational person would say that the lower-selling album was better, but if one sold 15 million and the other sold 12 million but won eight Grammy Awards and six tracks still get considerable airplay today, you have to assimilate all that information before you issue the rankings and the one which sold the most isn't necessarily the top one.

As promised, here is the ranking of The Top 100 Albums by Track Rating*, which essentially measures how consistent the album is and rates each song compared to the best-ever track in that genre.

1.      Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder
2.      Days of Future Passed by the Moody Blues
3.      Rumours by Fleetwood Mac
4.      Boston by Boston
5.      Breakfast in America by Supertramp
6.      Cosmo's Factory by Creedence Clearwater Revival
7.      "Magical Mystery Tour" Soundtrack by the Beatles
8.      Listen Without Prejudice by George Michael
9.      Night Moves by Bob Seger
10.    Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel
11.    Bad Company by Bad Company
12.    Shepherd Moons by Enya
13.    Tapestry by Carole King
14.    Scenes From the Southside by Bruce Hornsby & the Range
15.    Getz/Gilberto by Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto
16.    Learning to Crawl by the Pretenders
17.    Led Zeppelin IV by Led Zeppelin
18.    The Stranger by Billy Joel
19.    Stranger in Town by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band
20.    Hysteria by Def Leppard
21.    Equinox by Styx
22.    The Long Run by the Eagles
23.    A Hard Day's Night by the Beatles
25.    Invisible Touch by Genesis
26.    Rapture by Anita Baker
27.    A Song for You by the Carpenters
28.    Abbey Road by the Beatles
29.    Amplified Heart by Everything But the Girl
30.    Different Light by the Bangles
31.    Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey
32.    Room for Squares by John Mayer
33.    Tusk by Fleetwood Mac
34.    Winelight by Grover Washington, Jr.
35.    Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy by Elton John
36.    Crimes of Passion by Pat Benatar
37.    Ropin' the Wind by Garth Brooks
38.    Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles
39.    Wilson Phillips by Wilson Phillips
40.    4 by Foreigner
41.    In Through the Out Door by Led Zeppelin
42.    Make it Big by Wham!
43.    Midnight in San Juan by Earl Klugh
44.    Cars by the Cars
45.    Come Away With Me by Norah Jones
46.    Like a Virgin by Madonna
47.    Phoenix by Dan Fogelberg
48.    The Album by ABBA
49.    Thriller by Michael Jackson
50.    Against the Wind by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band
51.    An Innocent Man by Billy Joel
52.    Can't Slow Down by Lionel Richie
53.    IV by Toto
54.    Main Course by the Bee Gees
55.    Whitney Houston by Whitney Houston
56.    Heart in Motion by Amy Grant
57.    Scarecrow by John Mellencamp
58.    Arrival by ABBA
59.    Falling Into You by Celine Dion
60.    Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette
61.    Diamond Life by Sade
62.    Get Lucky by Loverboy
63.    Guilty by Barbra Streisand
64.    Hotel California by the Eagles
65.    Abraxas by Santana
66.    Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel
67.    Deja Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
68.    Fulfillingness' First Finale by Stevie Wonder
69.    Head Games by Foreigner
70.    Music Box by Mariah Carey
71.    Silk Degrees by Boz Scaggs
72.    Volume One by Travling Wilburys
73.    Fleetwood Mac by Fleetwood Mac
74.    Pieces of You by Jewel
75.    A New World Record by ELO
76.    Back in the High Life by Steve Winwood
77.    Bad by Michael Jackson
78.    Bayou Country by Creedence Clearwater Revival
79.    Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen
80.    Frampton Comes Alive!  by Peter Frampton
81.    Innervisions by Stevie Wonder
82.    Jon Secada by Jon Secada
83.    Like a Prayer by Madonna
84.    Rubber Soul by the Beatles
85.    The End of the Innocence by Don Henley
86.    Venus and Mars by Paul McCartney & Wings
87.    What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
88.    Willy & the Poor Boys by Creedence Clearwater Revival
89.    Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi
90.    Back in Black by AC/DC
91.    Brand New Man by Brooks & Dunn
92.    Double Vision by Foreigner
93.    In Pieces by Garth Brooks
94.    In the Heat of the Night by Pat Benatar
95.   "Purple Rain" Soundtrack
96.    Repeat Offender by Richard Marx
97.    Roll the Bones by Rush
98.    Starland Vocal Band by Starland Vocal Band
99.    There Goes Rhymin' Simon by Paul Simon
100.  Tracy Chapman by Tracy Chapman