I guess specifically talking about “best,” for Aerosmith Toys in the Attic is the most common pick, and they have a weird career without that one if they still have the pop hits and what was their “comeback” in the real world ends up being mostly what they’re known for. If you think Rocks is their best then they might have a shorter peak the first time around but it’s closer to what really happened.

Tom Petty - not 100% what has the most consensus, going by Rate your Music the top three are Wildflowers (1994) > Full Moon Fever (1989) > Damn the Torpedoes (1979). That looks like reverse order of career impact though.

Black Crowes - I’d put Southern Harmony ahead of Shake Your Moneymaker, and so does Rate Your Music. Moneymaker is the bigger hit and has more famous songs and came out first, so if it’s not just an issue of whichever one came out first being destined to be more popular then they’re more obscure if they lose Moneymaker they’re more obsucre than if they lose Southern Harmony. Those are the two albums that really matter.

Alot of people do think that Eliminator is the best ZZ Top album. The other obvious pick is Tres Hombres. Eliminator outsells the stuff before it combined by so much that I guess it’s still huge, they have radio hits from some of the albums in between those two albums anyway. I’d pick Tres Hombres or Deguello, but Eliminator is the most popular and the one that it changes their career the most to lose. I’m honestly not sure how Afterburner is received if there is no Eliminator. It was their second biggest hit but has a much more mixed reputation and the songs haven’t lasted as well as some of the ’70s albums that didn’t sell nearly as much. Would it be fresher and more exciting if there was no Eliminator, or would people just not care? I’m guessing the latter.