Helplessness Blues (studio album) by Fleet Foxes

Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes
Year: 2011
Release date: 2011-05-03
Overall rank: 167th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 1,286 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Best album of 2011 (1st)
Award Top 20 albums of the 2010s (16th)
Award Top 200 albums of all time (167th)
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Fleet Foxes bestography

Helplessness Blues is ranked 2nd best out of 8 albums by Fleet Foxes on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Fleet Foxes is Fleet Foxes which is ranked number 133 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 11,418.

Fleet Foxes album bestography « Higher ranked (133rd) This album (167th) Lower ranked (634th) »
Fleet FoxesHelplessness BluesCrack-Up

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Riverfront Park, Harrisburg, United States. United States
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Helplessness Blues track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 85 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Track pick
Rating: 88 (292 votes)Comments: 4
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2.
Rating: 84 (242 votes)Comments: 0
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3.
Rating: 84 (237 votes)Comments: 1
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4.
Rating: 82 (233 votes)Comments: 1
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7.
Rating: 81 (223 votes)Comments: 1
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8.
Rating: 85 (246 votes)Comments: 5
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12.
Rating: 86 (257 votes)Comments: 2
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Track pick Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Helplessness Blues rankings

Helplessness Blues collection

Helplessness Blues ratings

Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 1,286 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 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 1,286 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 Report rating
02/29/2024 15:10 DriftingOrpheus  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 62081/100
 
85/100
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02/28/2024 20:44 SD100852  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 99275/100
 
90/100
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02/27/2024 10:32 videoheadcleaner  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 11,24485/100
 
85/100
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02/25/2024 17:32 pinkfreud1981  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 60980/100
 
95/100
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02/15/2024 09:04 miltiadis2001  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 65584/100

Rating metrics: 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 is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 81.9/100, a mean average of 80.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 82.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.0.

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Helplessness Blues comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 104 comments |
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Rating:  
50/100
From 01/12/2024 07:05
So much modern indie folk is afraid to embrace ANY minimalism. Many of these songs, most notably "Sim Sala Bim" and the title track, would work better as stripped-down acoustic ballads. Why does everything have to eventually crescendo into a chorus of wailing? Plus, more often than not, the harmonic content of the gigantic chamber-orchestra arrangements and obnoxiously loud vocal harmonies is not even interesting enough to justify its inclusion in the mix. Even on "Bitter Dancer," a relatively quiet moment, the vocal harmony blocks accompanying the main melody are mixed obscenely loud, to the point that they sound horribly pitchy. "Blue Spotted Tail" is a beautiful moment, and proof that lots of these songs are complete just with a guitar and a single voice. In short, Helplessness Blues' bloated instrumental accompaniments just feel tasteless and empty due to uninspired arranging and bad mixing. Complaints aside, I will commend it for some lovely acoustic guitar sounds, decent folk-pop songwriting, and commitment to a melancholy mood.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 06/13/2023 20:17
Takes the sounds of their first album and makes them into something more grand and mature. Lyrically not as catchy but with a lot more to say.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 01/17/2023 17:29
While it is executed with the subtlety and beauty that Fleet Foxes always show, I can’t help but feel at times towards the end it starts to drag. The debut is still the record I go to more frequently.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 08/07/2022 04:38
Fave songs: Helplessness Blues, The Shrine/Argument, and Montezuma.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 05/05/2022 10:16
There is a lot of beautiful moments on this record but the album on the whole drags on a little too long. This record does have some amazing songs in the form of Helplessness Blues, Montezuma and Battery Kinzie. All of these stick to the folk style they are going for and they work very well. They have done a great job in making this modern folk sound that really suits their vocalist and the instrumentation is of a high quality as well. The acoustic guitar being a stand out for me especially on songs like Blue Spotted Tail. However, the album is to drawn out and it does get very repetitive by the closing track. There are quite a few cuts I find to be unnecessary as well that could be removed. Overall, the record is amazing in spells but is let down by the filler and the bloated nature of the release.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 03/26/2022 13:35
Folk rock of the 2010's
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 01/02/2022 20:27
Disco correcto
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 12/14/2021 18:52
A charming and beautiful record. I’d like to propose that the title track be adopted as the new US national anthem.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 10/05/2021 13:35
Lindíssimo, mas não é fácil de escutar.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 09/29/2021 16:31
Runs a little long, but holy cow it's amazing. Definitely better than the eponymous debut.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 2011
1. Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes
2. Bon Iver, Bon Iver by Bon Iver
3. The Smile Sessions by The Beach Boys
4. Let England Shake by PJ Harvey
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