Methodology

To determine the 100 best pop albums of all time, 24/7 Tempo generated an index composed of data from Billboard and the Recording Industry Association of America. A custom score measuring an album’s performance on the Billboard 200 chart was created, covering albums released between 1967 (the chart’s first year) and Jan. 15, 2022. The score is based on a tally whereby a week at No. 1 is worth 200 points, a week at No. 2 is worth 199 points, and so on, up to a week at No. 200 worth 1 point. To this was added each album’s total certified U.S. album sales from the Recording Industry Association of America – which tracks album sales in the American market with a threshold of 500,000 units. Both numbers were weighted equally. Only albums classified as pop, pop rock, or pop rap and given a rating of at least 4 out of 5 on the music database AllMusic were included.