I was just curious to know how reliable music connoisseurs find this list to truly be.

Pretty darn.

I use it as a guide and it's one of the best ones out there because of how massive it is and that it weeds out the outliers. No list is reliable because they are opinions and you need to decide if you agree with the opinion. Henrik's lists take all of those opinions and packs them into one. But, you still might not appreciate an album that a lot of people like.

Well, if by "reliable" you mean "accurate"...

The lists are intended to reflect the consensus of music critics. To a very good approximation, they succeed.

I have a feeling, RR, that you find the lists inadequate for some reason. Perhaps you'll share that reason with us (I just hope it doesn't involve the Beatles).

If you want the lists to be the absolute last word on the best pop music of all time, well, there is no such list. There's a reason the title of the site is ACCLAIMED music, not BEST music.

I find the lists extremely useful and illuminating, but the best list is always the one you make yourself.

I would define reliable as "useful" meaning if an album is highly ranked on AM, I'm more likely to like it.

Well, that's just good correlation. You just happen to have the same tastes as the average critic I suppose. It's useful to anyone who likes to find new music to listen to even if they don't always agree with certain rankings.

With this and Rateyourmusic(don't bother with any album below 3.50),you can't go wrong...

Agreed. The two work well together.

Reliable for what? I think this is the best website in the world, although I often disagree with the rankings. It has been quite valuable to me for music discussion and discovery.

Very interesting thread!

I agree with Moonbeam that this is the best site in the world, but I do find that I very often (at least to a certain extent) agree with the ranking on the website. Of course there are some exceptions (Psychocandy comes to mind), but generally if something is ranked high on AM I tend to like it a lot.

Here is a RateYourMusic top 20 albums as rated by thousands of reviewers

1- The Beatles- Abbey Road (1969)
2- The Beatles- Revolver (1966)
3- Bob Dylan- Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
4- Charles Mingus- The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963)
5- Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (1959)
6-John Coltrane- A Love Supreme (1965)
7-The Velvet Underground- The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
8-Radiohead- OK Computer (1997
9-Bob Dylan- Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
10-Bob Dylan- Blood on the Tracks (1975)
11-The Beatles- The Beatles (1968
12-Bob Dylan- Blonde on Blonde (1966)
13-David Bowie- The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (1972)
14-Pink Floyd- The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
15-Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here (1975)
16-Jimi Hendrix- Are You Experienced? (1967)
17-Television-Marquee Moon (1977)
18-Miles Davis- In a Silent Way (1969)
19-Glenn Gould- Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1956
20-The Clash- London Calling (1979)

Some notes Nirvana and The Rolling Stones are absent. On rate RYM Abbey Road trades places with Sgt. Pepper.

I find it pretty accurate, in that the highest rated albums really are the most critically acclaimed albums of all time.

If you mean an accurate list of the best albums of all time, that's different. Besides everybody having their own personal preferences, there are all the usual shortcomings of critics lists.

-Less well known albums are at a disadvantage
-Older albums are at an advantage
-Artists with lots and lots of good albums split their own votes
-Stuff that's been iconified as representative as a point in musical history is at a huge advantage

But, all that being said, I don't think a more useful compilation of albums to direct you to finding great music exists on the internet.

I use this site as a guide when purchasing albums and
as a guide its pritty much perfect. There are very very few instances where I find that I dislike a highly ranked album. So to Henrik I owe a debt of gratitude for creating a web-site that has had more of an influence on my life then all other sites combined. Also, the people that post on this forum are an incredibly enlightened bunch musically, and I tend to take note when an album which I had previously not heard of; "In the aeroplane over the sea" springs to mind; is discussed with such glowing praise.