Setting Sons
by The Jam
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The Jam bestography
Setting Sons is ranked 3rd best out of 22 albums by The Jam on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by The Jam is All Mod Cons which is ranked number 775 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 2,231.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Setting Sons on YouTube
Setting Sons track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Setting Sons rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 5 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Rm12398 | Top 35 Music Albums of 1979 | 14/35 | 3 |
| 2026 | WayneMC | BBC Music Magazine: 1979-The 23 Greatest Albums | 22/23 | - |
| 2026 | Rivera | Best Of Rest 3 | 25/100 | - |
| 2026 | matterhornrider | Top 67 Music Albums of 1979 | 22/67 | 3 |
| 2026 | stangetzaway | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 25/100 | 15 |
| 2026 |  Taka | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 62/100 | 8 |
| 2026 | LittleM1971 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 2/100 | 20 |
| 2026 | tim0505 | Top 48 Music Albums of 1979 | 10/48 | 4 |
| 2026 |  covecove | Favorite Albums 200-101 | 97/100 | - |
| 2026 |  ssteve | Top 38 Music Albums of 1979 | 29/38 | 1 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 292 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 1,701 | |||
Setting Sons collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 176 members
Setting Sons ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
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 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 352 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 08/30/2026 19:05 |  djrodo | 1,035 | 81/100 |
| ! | 07/10/2026 22:13 |  junodog4 | 3,010 | 70/100 |
| ! | 05/22/2026 08:55 | platus | 5,896 | 74/100 |
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 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.6/100, a mean average of 77.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.0.
Setting Sons favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 59 members
Setting Sons forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 10/02/2026 08:18 in Monthly overall chart movements - September 2026View latest topic →
BestEverAlbums 07/15/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5374): By DankelView latest topic →
neilgee 04/04/2026 17:58 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)View all forum mentions
Setting Sons comments
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There are quite a few great song on this release and the energy of the group is perfect. Songs like Thick As Thieves and Little Boy soldier are brilliant and I always sing a long when I hear them. Then there is The Eton Rifles which is a thrilling listen. All of these songs and a few more have fantastic instrumental performances with a very diverse ensemble as well. Wellers vocal is great due to it being monotone yet can also easily display a vast emotional range. The lyrics are fun to explore as well and are generally well written. However, I am not a fan of the cover that closes the album out and I think it is a weak cut. Alongside this, there are a few other pretty average songs which struggle to keep me entertained. Furthermore, I am quite tired of their style by the closing tracks as well as they are quite repetitive in terms of their sound. Overall, there are lots of moments to enjoy on here and also moments that are pretty average or bad but I do enjoy revisiting this record when I do. (Edited)
The second of The Jam's three masterpieces, setting sons, is a rip roaring record full of energy and great songs. The Who influences are still there but they sound more and more like themselves with each release. The album starts frantically with the three song blitz of, girl on the phone, thick as thieves, and, private hell. Other highlights include, Smithers-Jones, a wonderful song from Bruce Foxton, and the superb, Eton rifles. Another excellent album then from The Jam. (Edited)
Stunning album. Articulate, biting social commentary and a brilliant distillation of what was going on in England at the time. Thinking mans music par excellence (Edited)
The Jam's best album in my opinion, every track is brilliant.
Sandinistar 09/27/2018 21:39 | #221767 | TOP COMMENT
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The peak of Weller's career as a songwriter and lyricist, though it's not as enjoyable of a listen as some of the other Jam albums. Side one is okay, but doesn't do much for me. Then the run from "Burning Sky" to "Eton Rifles" is four terrific songs, one after another, the most consistent stretch of good material on any Jam album. I don't understand the criticism of "Heatwave" here - it's an adequate cover of a great song, and while it lacks the spontaneity of The Who's version, at least they used the correct words here.
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