Evol
by Sonic Youth
Listen & Collect
Complete your collection or upgrade your listening experience.
Sonic Youth bestography
Evol is ranked 4th best out of 44 albums by Sonic Youth on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Sonic Youth is Daydream Nation which is ranked number 74 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 14,809.
(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 Evol on YouTube
Evol track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Evol rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 2 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  RockyRaccoon | Top 46 Music Albums of 1986 | 6/46 | 4 |
| 2026 | TastyandTemptin | Top 40 Music Albums of 1986 | 4/40 | 5 |
| 2026 | Cheboygan74 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 66/100 | 7 |
| 2026 |  zags7000 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1986 | 35/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | Mrump | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 15/100 | 17 |
| 2026 | Steppenwolf666 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1986 | 69/100 | 2 |
| 2026 | LittleM1971 | Top 89 Music Albums of 1986 | 8/89 | 5 |
| 2026 | Rm12398 | Top 20 Music Albums of 1986 | 13/20 | 2 |
| 2026 | Johnnyo | Albums of the year 1986 by Acclaimed Music | 14/53 | - |
| 2026 | areminder | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 2/100 | 98 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 419 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 2,212 | |||
Evol collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 193 members
Evol 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 538 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 10 hours ago | Exist-en-ciel | 16,518 | 70/100 |
| ! | 10/10/2026 13:49 | stereosanctity | 41 | 77/100 |
| ! | 10/03/2026 18:01 | Siromynian | 1,789 | 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 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.5/100, a mean average of 76.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.0.
Evol favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 71 members
Evol forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 29 hours ago in Chart of the day (#5476): By SquishypuffDaveView latest topic →
Purplepash 10/05/2025 03:22 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
Romanelli 02/29/2024 16:00 in The Romanelli Music Diary: TwentysomethingView all forum mentions
Evol comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
drakonium 04/13/2013 13:19 | #72804 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
One of the most interesting records from their incredible discography. There are still a few traces of their noisy beginnings, but not that much actually. There are melodies here. And damn great ones. This may not be the most instantly rewarding of their indie period, but with time, it clearly becomes one of the best.
And the cover is absolutely awesome *o*
The first album of their to incorporate rock song structures, though its still quite noisy. This along with the addition of drummer Steve Shelley, began their rapid ascent to indie royalty.
RockyRaccoon TOP 100 COMMENTER 11/10/2013 15:50 | #91696 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Mesmerizing. I tried to listen to this for the first time while I was doing something and I had to stop and listen. I almost like this as much as "Daydream Nation", it's really close.
"I never gave a damn 'bout the meter man, 'til i was the man who had to read the meters, man" - Mike Watt
Favorite Tracks: Tom Violence, Shadow of a Doubt, Green Light, Secret Girls
8.0
A-
A great noisy album that shifts from dark to light, from intense to calm, EVOL, is a great Sonic Youth album before their records became more accessible and straightforward. A fantastic album for the right time and mood.
The top-voted comments get featured on our charts, Album of the Day, and the site newsletter.
