But at times many albums I rated at 4.5 were bumped up to 5-stars through just growing on me enough or standing the test of time or something else.
The list I have below of course has many repeated artists (Rush of course being one).
But I need to add how there are many albums on this list I rate above others on this list, i.e. if I were rating them out of 10 or 100, some could be between 9-9.9 or 90-99, etc.
But also of course there are many missing here and some that honestly I don't know if belong (Led Zeppelin III and not I, II, Houses of the Holy, In through the Out Door, etc).
This list is taken from what I have rated on my rateyourmusic account, and then I will admit to inserting a few titles just off the top of my head (some were not in there when I copied it, or I deleted them from this list accidentally, like Ghost Reveries for example).
That being said, after putting up the 5-star album list and now this 4.5-star album list, as long as it may take me, I will now mean to put up the 4-star album list which will be likely 4, 5, 6 times as long (500-700 albums?). I likely won't include images, or decide to make it in more than 1 entry.
But I could easily see EDITING THIS LIST based on seeing some of the titles on the 4-star list that I feel are 4.5 now (or even should have been, but I wasn't thinking straight when I rated them at 4-stars at the time).
I.e. there's like 120 or 125 albums here, but I could easily add I dunno, 20, 50 or more. Including EP's which there are very few, but I have been rating EPs higher in recent years and probably feel some of my favorite EPs belong here.
RANKING THESE? they are NOT ranked, they are just listed in Chronological Order. I could try, but for now, I'm not going to bother. Like the 5-star list, I hate trying to rank so many albums that I feel so strongly about. I get a headache trying to do so.
*The Beatles - Rubber Soul (1965)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced (1967)
The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland (1968)
Blind Faith - Blind Faith (1969) [Deluxe Edition]
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)
Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother (1970)
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III (1970)
Genesis - Trespass (1970)
Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Tarkus (1971)
Genesis - Nursery Cryme (1971)
Yes - Fragile (1971)
Pink Floyd - Obscured by Clouds (1972)
Renaissance - Ashes Are Burning (1973)
The Who - Quadrophenia (1973)
Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans (1973)
Queen - Sheer Heart Attack (1974)
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti (1975)
Renaissance - Scheherazade and Other Stories (1975)
Renaissance - Live at Carnegie Hall (1976)
Rush - 2112 (1976)
Al Di Meola - Elegant Gypsy (1977)
Rush - Permanent Waves (1980)
Rush - Moving Pictures (1981)
Rush - Signals (1982)
The Police - Synchronicity (1983)
Pat Metheny Group - First Circle (1984)
Rush - Grace Under Pressure (1984)
U2 - The Unforgettable Fire (1984)
Fates Warning - The Spectre Within (1985)
U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987)
Giraffe - The View From Here (1988)
Fates Warning - No Exit (1988)
King's X - Out of the Silent Planet (1988)
Faith No More - The Real Thing (1989)
Fates Warning - Perfect Symmetry (1989)
Rush - Presto (1989)
Jellyfish - Bellybutton (1990)
King's X - Faith Hope Love (1990)
Fates Warning - Parallels (1991)
King's X - King's X (1992)
Cynic - Focus (1993)
Enchant - A Blueprint of the World (1993)
Savatage - Handful of Rain (1994)
Jeff Buckley - Grace [Legacy Edition] (1994)
Queensrÿche - Promised Land (1994)
Spock's Beard - Beware of Darkness (1996)
Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Lost Trident Sessions (1999)
Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory (1999)
Transatlantic - SMPTe (2000)
Porcupine Tree - Lightbulb Sun (2000)
Fates Warning - Disconnected (2000)
Zero Hour - The Towers of Avarice (2001)
King's X - Manic Moonlight (2001)
Clann Zú - Rua (2002)
Ours - Precious (2002)
3 - Half Life (2002)
OSI - Office of Strategic Influence (2003)
Mew - Frengers (2003)
Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (2003)
Fair to Midland - Inter.Funda.Stifle (2004)
The Velvet Teen - Elysium (2004)
Bend Sinister - Through the Broken City (2005)
The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute (2005)
Klimt 1918 - Dopoguerra (2005)
Time of Orchids - Sarcast While (2005)
dredg - Catch Without Arms (2005)
Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself (2005)
Opeth - Ghost Reveries (2005)
Oceansize - Everyone Into Position (2005)
Mew - And the Glass Handed Kites (2005)
Mutemath - Mutemath (2006)
Pure Reason Revolution - The Dark Third (2006)
The Dear Hunter - Act I: The Lake South, the River North (2006)
Kacica - Kacica (2006)
dredg - Live at the Fillmore (2006)
House of Fools - Live and Learn (2007)
Fair to Midland - Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True (2007)
Oceansize - Frames (2007)
Kacica - Mosaic (2008)
Eroica - Hisen the Architect (2008)
The Reign of Kindo - Rhythm, Chord and Melody (2008)
夢中夢 [Mutyumu] - イリヤ -Il y a- (2008)
Warpaint - Exquisite Corpse (2008)
note. - my city of ghosts, stars and hours (2009)
Umphrey's McGee - Mantis (2009)
The Antlers - Hospice (2009)
Pure Reason Revolution - Amor Vincit Omnia (2009)
Long Distance Calling - Avoid the Light (2009)
dredg - The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion (2009)
The Dear Hunter - Act III: Life and Death (2009)
Ramona Falls - Intuit (2009)
Mew - No More Stories / Are Told Today / I'm Sorry / They Washed Away // No More Stories / The World Is Grey / I'm Tired / Let's Wash Away (2009)
Local Natives - Gorilla Manor (2009)
Lehto and Wright - Children's Songs (2010)
Jazzkamikaze - Supersonic Revolutions (2010)
Foals - Total Life Forever (2010)
Janelle Monáe - The ArchAndroid (2010)
Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here (2010)
Cloud Cult - Light Chasers (2010)
Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz (2010)
Warpaint - The Fool (2010)
Mercies - Three Thousand Days (2011)
Kimbra - Vows (2011)
Mutemath - Odd Soul (2011)
3 - The Ghost You Gave to Me (2011)
East of the Wall - The Apologist (2011)
Gatherer - So Be It (2012)
Brice Plays Drums - Man the Animal Cannon (2012)
Vuvuzela - The Hollow Choir (2012)
The Red Paintings - The Revolution Is Never Coming (2013)
The Reign of Kindo - Play With Fire (2013)
Fjokra - Thoughtsteps (2014)
Vennart - The Demon Joke (2015)
Kaddisfly - Horses Galloping on Sailboats (2015)
Foals - What Went Down (2015)
Cloud Cult - The Seeker (2016)
Fates Warning - Theories of Flight (2016)
Marillion - F*** Everyone and Run (2016)
Dirt Poor Robins - The Raven Locks Act 3 (2017)
Mutemath - Play Dead (2017)
The Family Crest - The War: Act I (2018)
