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Dec 9, 2025
Science picks out the most acclaimed album in history
Far Out Magazine
There is a Peep Show quote that will go down in history along with anything that the quill of old William Shakespeare produced: "People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis. You can't trust people." But can you trust critics?
Well, there are some who would argue that you can trust music critics even less. The thousand "that's just your opinion, man" gifs I have received over the years are testimony to that. Alas, at least my 'opinion' is professionally accountable and, in the case of Far Out, entirely independent.
The issue is that not every opinion online is independent nor accountable, objective, or delivered with any prior knowledge, training, or basis. In a world of trolls, sponsored posts, and underhand tactics, finding anything verifiable is a task unto itself. This makes the work of Henrik Franzon all the more incredible.
This humble Swede, who would prefer not to be contacted, began a journey in 1994 that resulted in the most complete and accredited database of musical criticism in, well, human history. His rigorous data science has been able to pry the great from the good of music to assert the most acclaimed music ever released.
As Franzon explains, "In the late 1990s, I wrote a computer program to determine 'ultimate' lists of albums and song." His mission was to scientifically determine what the pages of the music press had decreed as the greatest. His method is a complex one designed to be as fair and fitting as possible, and the process has been arduously rolling since 2001, gathering critical reviews into one mass database.
The result of all this number crunching places one classic rock album proudly on the first-place podium. Much like IMDb's safe standing for Shawshank Redemption, which has been first in the top 250 films ranking since 2008 and never lower than fourth, Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys proves impossible to topple, sitting ahead of Nirvana's Nevermind and Revolver by The Beatles in second and third place, respectively, and The Velve
