my attempt at a top ten:
One.Be.Lo - s.o.n.o.g.r.a.m. (2005)
Dandy Warhols - 13 Tales From Urban Bohemia (2000)
Orbital - In Sides (2 CDs) (1996)
Autechre - Incunabula (1993)
Rage Against The Machine - Self-Titled (1992)
Nirvana - Nevermind (1991)
Beastie Boys - Paul’s Boutique (1989)
Soundtrack - Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy (1973)
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1971)
Beatles - Abbey Road (1969)

best by decade:
00s
One.Be.Lo - s.o.n.o.g.r.a.m. (2005)
Amadou Et Mariam - Dimanche A Bamako (2005)
Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow (2002)
Mr. Lif - Emergency Rations & I Phantom (2002)
Hella - Hold Your Horse Is (2002)
Dandy Warhols - 13 Tales From Urban Bohemia (2000)
Immortal Technique - Revolutionary Volume 2 (2003)
Postal Service - Give Up (2003)
Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights (2001)
Eminem - Eminem Show (2002)
Radiohead - Kid A (2000)

90s
Autechre - Incunabula (1993)
Nirvana - Nevermind (1991)
Rage Against The Machine - Self-Titled (1992)
Nirvana - In Utero (1993)
Beastie Boys - Check Your Head (1992)
Orbital - In Sides (2 CDs) (1996)
Pearl Jam - Ten (1991)
Guns N’ Roses - Use Your Illusion II (1991)
Orbital - 2 (1992)
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing… (1996)
Fugees - The Score (1996)
Radiohead - OK Computer (1997)
Boards Of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children (1998)
Metallica - Black (1991)
Tool - Ænima (1998)
Westbam - We’ll Never Stop Living This Way (1999)
Beck - Odelay (1996)
Fatboy Slim - You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby (1998)
Prodigy - Music For The Jilted Generation (1995)
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (1993)

80s
Beastie Boys - Paul’s Boutique (1989)
Metallica - …And Justice For All (1988)
U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987)
Guns N’ Roses - Appetite For Destruction (1987)
Run DMC - Raising Hell (1986)
Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill (1986)
Soundtrack - Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
AC/DC - Back In Black (1980)

70s
Pink Floyd - The Wall (2 CDs) (1979)
ELO - El Dorado (1974)
Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy (1973)
Lynyrd Skynyrd - (pronounced leh-'nerd skin-'nerd) (1973)
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
Deep Purple - Made In Japan Remastered Edition (2 CDs) (1972)
Jimmy Cliff - The Harder They Come (1972)
Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1971)
Led Zeppelin - IV (Zoso) (1971)
Beates - Let It Be (1970)
Black Sabbath - Self Titled (1970)
Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
Led Zeppelin - III (1970)

60s
Sonny Sharrock - Black Woman (1969)
Beatles - Abbey Road (1969)
Led Zeppelin - I (1969)
Led Zeppelin - II (1969)
Beatles - White Album (2 CDs) (1968)
Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
Doors - Strange Days (1967)
Doors - Self-Titled (1967)
Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced? (1967)
Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds - stereo and mono (1966)
Beatles - Revolver (1966)
Soundtrack - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly  (1966)
Beatles - Rubber Soul (1965)

best by genre:
classical
Beethoven's 9th Symphony

electronica
Autechre - Incunabula (1993)

hip-hop
Beastie Boys - Paul’s Boutique (1989)

jazz
Sonny Sharrock - Black Woman (1969)

metal
Metallica - …And Justice For All (1988)

reggae
Jimmy Cliff - The Harder They Come (1972)

rock
Beatles - Abbey Road (1969)
Led Zeppelin - I (1969)

soundtrack
Philip Glass - Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

world
Amadou Et Mariam - Dimanche A Bamako (2005)
 

2009
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Blakroc - Blakroc
Carolina Chocolate Drops - Carolina Chocolate Drops
Dandy Warhols - Dandy Warhols Are Sound
Eminem - Relapse
Soundtrack - Book Of Eli

2008
Black Angels - Directions To See A Ghost
Dengue Fever - Venus On Earth
Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
Girl Talk - Feed The Animals
Roots - Rising Down

2007
Amon Tobin - Foley Room
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Eddie Vedder - Into The Wild Soundtrack
Iron & Wine - Shepherd's Dog

2006
AFX (Aphex Twin) - Chosen Lords
Ali Farka Toure - Savane
Black Angels - Passover
Black Keys - Magic Potion & Chulahoma (EP)
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Jim Gaffigan - Beyond The Pale

2005
Amadou & Mariam - Dimanche A Bamako
Aesop Rock - Fast Cars, Danger, Fire And Knives
Ali Farka Toure - Red & Green
Blackalicious - Craft
Boards Of Canada - Campfire Headphase
Edan - Beauty And The Beat
Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
Mike Jones - Who Is Mike Jones?
One.Be.Lo - s.o.n.o.g.r.a.m.
System of a Down - Mezmerize

2004
MF Doom - Special Herbs Vol. 7, 8
Tom Waits - Real Gone
Talib Kweli - Beautiful Struggle
Rokia Traore - Bowmboi
El-P - High Water
Black Keys - Rubber Factory
Tinariwen - Amassakoul
Team Shadetek - Burnerism
David Byrne - Grown Backwards
Orbital - Blue Album
Beastie Boys - To The Five Boroughs

2003
Immortal Technique - Revolutionary Volume 2
Postal Service - Give Up (2003)
Autechre - Draft 7.30 (2003)
Black Keys - thickfreakness (2003)
Chris Clark - Empty The Bones Of You (2003)
Outkast - Love Below/Speakerboxxx
Non-Prophets - Hope (2003)
Zongamin - Self-Titled (2003)
Cinematic Orchestra - Man With A Movie Camera (2003)
Four Tet - Rounds (2003)
Led Zeppelin - How The West Was Won (2003)
Manitoba - Up In Flames (2003)
Prefuse 73 - One Word Extinguisher (2003)

2002
Immortal Technique - Revolutionary Volume 1
Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow (2002)
Boards Of Canada - Geogaddi (2002)
Chemical Brothers - Come With Us (2002)
DJ Shadow - Private Press (2002)
El-P -  Fantastic Damage (2002)
Eminem - The Eminem Show (2002)
Hella - Hold Your Horse Is (2002)
Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights (2002)
Mr. Lif - Emergency Rations & I Phantom (2002)
RJD2 - Deadringer (2002)
Sage Francis - Personal Journals (2002)

2001
Bob Dylan - Love And Theft (2001)
BS2000 - Simply Mortified (2001)
Four Tet - Pause (2001)
Mogwai - My Father, My King (2001)
Prefuse 73 - Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives (2001)
Radiohead - Amnesiac (2001)
Saul Williams - Amethyst Rock Star (2001)
Tenacious D - Self-Titled (2001)
Tool - Lateralus (2001)
Two Lone Swordsmen - Further Reminders (2001)

2000
Air - Virgin Suicides (2000)
Amon Tobin - Supermodified (2000)
Blackalicious - NIA (2000)
Dandy Warhols - Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia (2000)
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
Radiohead - Kid A (2000)
Rage Against The Machine - Renegades (2000)
Soundtrack - Requiem For A Dream (2000)
Two Lone Swordsmen - Tiny Reminders (2000)

1999
Autechre - EP7 (1999)
Autechre - Peel Session (1999)
Eminem - The Slim Shady LP (1999)
Moby - Play (1999)
Orbital - Middle Of Nowhere (1999)
Prodigy - Dirtchamber Sessions (1999)
Rage Against The Machine - Battle of Los Angeles (1999)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication (1999)
Soundtrack - Fight Club by Dust Brothers (1999)
Westbam - We’ll Never Stop Living This Way (1999)

1998
Air - Moon Safari (1998)
Autechre - LP5 (1998)
Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty (1998)
Beta Band - The Three E.P.’s (1998)
Boards Of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children (1998)
DJ Shadow - Preemptive Strike (2 CDs) (1998)
Fatboy Slim - You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby (1998)
Godspeed You Black Emperor! - F#A#infinity (1998)
Offspring - Americana (1998)
REM - Up (1998)
Tool - Ænima (1998)

1997
Biosphere - Substrata (1997)
Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole (1997)
Cornershop - When I Was Born For The 7th Time (1997)
Crystal Method - Vegas (1997)
Daft Punk - Homework (1997)
Led Zeppelin - BBC Sessions (2 CDs) (1997)
Offspring - Ixnay on The Hombre (1997)
Prodigy - The Fat Of The Land (1997)
Radiohead - OK Computer (1997)
Wyclef Jean - The Carnival (1997)

1996
2PAC - All Eyez On Me (2 CDs) (1996)
Aphex Twin - Richard D. James Album (1996)
Beck - Odelay (1996)
B12 - Time Tourist (1996)
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing… (1996)
Fatboy Slim - Better Living Through Chemistry (1996)
Fugees - The Score (1996)
Future Sound Of London - Dead Cities (1996)
Orbital - In Sides (2 CDs) (1996)
Rage Against The Machine - Evil Empire (1996)
Soundgarden - Down On The Upside (1996)
Tortoise - Millions Now Living Will Never Die (1996)
White Zombie - Supersexy Swingin’ Sounds (1996)

1995
Aphex Twin - …I Care Because You Do (1995)
Aphex Twin - Donkey Rhubarb Single (1995) (worth the philip glass remix alone)
Autechre - Tri Repetae ++ (2 CDs) (1995)
Boards Of Canada - Twoism (1995)
Kronos Quartet - Performs Philip Glass (1995)
Prodigy - Music For The Jilted Generation (1995)
Radiohead - The Bends (1995)
Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (2 CDs) (1995)

1994
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Volume II (2 CDs) (1994)
Autechre - Amber (1994)
Beastie Boys - Ill Communication (1994)
Future Sound Of London - Lifeforms (2 CDs) (1994)
Global Communication - 76:14 (1994)
Green Day - Dookie (1994)
NIN - Downward Spiral (1994)
Nirvana - Unplugged In New York (1994)
Offspring - Smash (1994)
Orbital - Snivilisation (1994)
Soundgarden - Superunknown (1994)
Stone Temple Pilots - Purple (1994)

1993
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient 85-92 (1993)
Autechre - Incunabula (1993)
B12 - Electro-Soma (1993)
Cypress Hill - Black Sunday (1993)
Nirvana - In Utero (1993)
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream (1993)
Tool - Undertow (1993)
Various Artists - Artificial Intelligence (1993)

1992
AC/DC - Live (1992)
Alice In Chains - Dirt (1992)
Baaba Maal - Lam Toro (1992)
Beastie Boys - Check Your Head (1992)
Dr. Dre - Chronic (1992)
Orbital - 2 (1992)
Polygon Window (aka Aphex Twin) - Surfing On Sine Waves (1992)
Rage Against The Machine - Self-Titled (1992)
REM - Automatic For The People (1992)
Stone Temple Pilots - Core (1992)

1991
Guns N’ Roses - Use Your Illusion II (1991)
LFO - Frequencies (1991)
Metallica - Black (1991)
Nirvana - Nevermind (1991)
Orbital - Self-Titled (1991)
Pearl Jam - Ten (1991)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magic (1991)
Schoolly D - Am I Black Enough For You? (1991)
Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory (1991)

1990
Dread Zeppelin - Un-Led-Ed (1990)
Tribe Called Quest - People’s Instinctive Travels and The Paths of Rhythm (1990)
Depeche Mode - Violator (1990)

1989
Beastie Boys - Paul’s Boutique (1989)
Nirvana - Bleach (1989)
De La Soul - 3 Feet High And Rising (1989)
Guns N’ Roses - Lies (1989)
NIN - Pretty Hate Machine (1989)

1988
EPMD - Strictly Business (1988)
Enya - Watermark (1988)
Metallica - …And Justice For All (1988)
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988)
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (1988)
Soundtrack - Powaqqatsi (1988)

1987
Public Enemy - Yo! Bum Rush The Show (1987)
U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987)
Guns N’ Roses - Appetite For Destruction (1987)

1986
Metallica - Master of Puppets (1986)
Run DMC - Raising Hell (1986)
Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill (1986)

1985
Run DMC - King Of Rock (1985)

1984
Metallica - Ride the Lightning (1984)

1983
Metallica - Kill ‘Em All (1983)

1982
Afrika Bambaataa - Looking For the Perfect Beat (1982)
Soundtrack - Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

1981
Rush - Moving Pictures (1981)

1980
Talking Heads - Remain In Light (1980)
Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables (1980)
AC/DC - Back In Black (1980)

1979
Led Zeppelin - In Through The Out Door (1979)
Pink Floyd - The Wall (2 CDs) (1979)

1978
Van Halen - Self-Titled (1978)

1977
Pink Floyd - Animals (1977)

1976
Led Zeppelin - Presence (1976)
Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains The Same, The Soundtrack From The Film (2 CDs) (1976)

1975
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (1975)
Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks (1975)
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti (2 CDs) (1975)

1974
ELO - El Dorado (1974)
Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (1974)
Kraftwerk - Autobahn (1974)

1973
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Catch A Fire (1973)
Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters (1973)
Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy (1973)
Lynyrd Skynyrd - (pronounced leh-'nerd skin-'nerd) (1973)
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (1973)

1972
Black Sabbath - Vol. 4 (1972)
Deep Purple - Machine Head (1972)
Deep Purple - Made In Japan Remastered Edition (2 CDs) (1972)
Jimmy Cliff - The Harder They Come (1972)
Neu! - Self-Titled (1972)
Savoy Brown - Hellbound Train (1972)

1971
Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1971)
Who - Live At Leeds (1971)
Pink Floyd - Meddle (1971)
Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality (1971)
Led Zeppelin - IV (Zoso) (1971)
Miles Davis - Live-Evil (1971)

1970
Beatles - Let It Be (1970)
Black Sabbath - Self Titled (1970)
Jimi Hendrix - Band Of Gypsys (1970)
Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo’s Factory (1970)
Savoy Brown - Raw Sienna (1970)
Who - Who’s Next (1970)
Led Zeppelin - III (1970)
Last Poets - Self-Titled (1970)
Van Morrison - Moondance (1970)

1969
Beatles - Abbey Road (1969)
Led Zeppelin - I (1969)
Led Zeppelin - II (1969)
Savoy Brown - Blue Matter (1969)
Sonny Sharrock - Black Woman (1969)
Velvet Underground - Self-Titled (1969)
Ten Years After - Stonedhenge (1969)
Pink Floyd - Ummagumma (2 CDs) (1969)
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (2 CDs) (1969)

1968
Beatles - White Album (2 CDs) (1968)

1967
Pink Floyd - Piper At The Gates of Dawn (1967)
Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
Doors - Strange Days (1967)
Doors - Self-Titled (1967)
Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced? (1967)
Soundtrack - Graduate (1967)
Who - The Who Sell Out (1967)
Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)

1966
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds - stereo and mono (1966)
Beatles - Revolver (1966)
Soundtrack - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly  (1966)
Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde (1966)

1965
Beatles - Rubber Soul (1965)
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisted (1965)
John Coltrane - Ascension (1965)

1964
Ravi Shankar - Ragas & Talas (1964)

1963
Lee Morgan - Sidewinder (1963)
Soundtrack - Great Escape (1963)

1962
 

1961
 

1960
 

1959
John Coltrane - Giant Steps (1959)
Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue (1959)

1958
 

1957
John Coltrane - Bluetrain (1957)

1956
Ravi Shankar - Three Ragas (1956)

1955
 

1954
 

1953
 

1952
 

1951
Miles Davis - Collectors’ Items (1951)

1950