The Big Heat
by Stan Ridgway

The Big Heat by Stan Ridgway
Year: 1986
Overall rank: 10,509th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
73/100 (from 37 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1986 (151st)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (1,492nd)
Award Best albums of all time (10,509th)

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Stan Ridgway The Big Heat Richard Album
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Stan Ridgway The Big Heat Original 1985 3-Track 12” Vinyl EP French Import
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Stan Ridgway 3 CD Lot. - The Big Heat, The Way I Feel Today , The Best Of .....
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Stan Ridgway bestography

The Big Heat is ranked as the best album by Stan Ridgway.

Stan Ridgway album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (10,509th)
The Big Heat
Lower ranked (30,236th) »
Mosquitos

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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The Big Heat rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 10,509th | 1980s rank: 1,492nd | 1986 rank: 151st
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 DommeDamianFeb 26: 201-3005/100 -
2026 DommeDamianTop 63 Music Albums of the 1980s24/6313
2026culwinTop 59 Music Albums of 198630/593
2026 WasinskiTop 100 Music Albums of 198649/1003
2026 DommeDamianTop 14 Music Albums of 19862/145
2026 DommeDamianFavorite albums with great replay value50/81 -
2026 imacgillTop 100 Music Albums of 198649/1003
2026matterhornriderTop 56 Music Albums of 198617/564
2026cicadelicTop 100 Music Albums of 198669/1002
2026 DommeDamianFavorite album covers18/85 -
2026OlliTop 100 Music Albums of 198638/1003
2025martinthoTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s53/10010
2025mostlymorTop 100 Music Albums of 198635/1003
2025JohnnyoAlbums of the year 1986 by Acclaimed Music50/53 -
2024 meccaleccaTop 70 Music Albums of 198662/701
2024 DommeDamianScaruffi Best Albums of 19863/86 -
2024cicadelicSounds End Of The Year Lists 198634/50 -
2024 Sandrof1969Top 20 Music Albums of 19862/205
2024 ArthurknightTop 100 Music Albums of 198696/1000
2024cicadelicQ Magazine Recordings Of The Year 198630/50 -
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 47
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 113
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

The Big Heat collection

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The Big Heat ratings

Average Rating: 
73/100 (from 37 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 37 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 
5 days ago cicadelic  Ratings distribution  12,60673/100
 
75/100
 
07/15/2025 22:13 culwin  Ratings distribution  1,44275/100
 
75/100
 
03/14/2025 04:51 Moondance  Ratings distribution  20,34872/100
 
85/100
 
06/04/2024 11:00 DommeDamian  Ratings distribution  7,33449/100
 
75/100
 
06/18/2023 20:49 LosWochos  Ratings distribution  46,91075/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album has a Bayesian average rating of 73.2/100, a mean average of 73.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 73.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 9.8.

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The Big Heat favourites

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The Big Heat comments

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Rating:  
75/100
From 02/17/2018 10:08 | #208516
L'esordio solista dell'ex Wall of Voodoo Stan Ridgway; un album di canzoni a metà tra il metropolitano e la tradizione americana, un personaggio che si pone come un cowboy moderno.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 11/08/2017 06:37 | #200976
Unfortunately this album is very overlooked, but it's very good. The highlights are The Big Heat, Pile Driver, and Camouflage, and the song Walkin' Home Alone is the best on the album. I'd say it's worth a listen if you want to hear something that has been unfortunately forgotten.
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Best Albums of 1986
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