Figure 8
by Elliott Smith
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Elliott Smith bestography
Figure 8 is ranked 4th best out of 9 albums by Elliott Smith on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Elliott Smith is Either/Or which is ranked number 131 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 9,793.
(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 Figure 8 on YouTube
Figure 8 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.
Figure 8 rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 4 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | blueandthemoon | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 16/100 | 84 |
| 2026 | craab | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 52/100 | 10 |
| 2026 | javicho07 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 11/100 | 18 |
| 2026 |  btener11 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 95/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | martintho | 100 best albums of the century | 8/100 | - |
| 2026 | bonnequestion | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 47/100 | 11 |
| 2026 |  imacgill | Top 100 Music Albums of 2000 | 16/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | BoxFL | Top 46 Music Albums of the 2000s | 27/46 | 9 |
| 2026 | JoshN125 | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 23/100 | 75 |
| 2026 | SUPERJEFF6 | 100 Albums | 76/100 | - |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 383 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 2,574 | |||
Figure 8 collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 220 members
Figure 8 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 519 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 10/03/2026 06:46 | animals0809 | 98 | 93/100 |
| ! | 08/29/2026 03:26 | dhbarrett | 8,883 | 65/100 |
| ! | 07/26/2026 04:43 |  Tamthebam | 23,332 | 69/100 |
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 80.2/100, a mean average of 79.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 80.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.9.
Figure 8 favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 73 members
Figure 8 forum mentions
neilgee 09/13/2026 10:03 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
BestEverAlbums 08/14/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5404): By pctrooperView latest topic →
BestEverAlbums 11/15/2025 21:00 in Album of the day (#5445): Figure 8 by Elliott SmithView latest topic →
View all forum mentions
Figure 8 comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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I'm a huge Elliott Smith fan and I love this record. However, this is certainly not his best work. There are a lot of excellent songs but there is also a bit of filler, which simply doesn't exist on his earlier albums. The sound is bigger and takes away a bit of the intimacy but it works really well at points. This is still of super album, Elliott Smith has one of the best discographies out there, so give it a listen.
His very best work in my opinion, it seemed as if Elliott was only getting better & better with each release. In Figure 8 he dives deeper in production by implementing more instruments and sounds. His vocal arrangements remind me so much of The Beatles. Entirely grateful to have found this album, as it now stands out to be my absolute favorite of all time & it never gets old. (Edited)
Brad1770 TOP 100 COMMENTER 09/02/2021 12:15 | #273206 | TOP COMMENT
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Sadly this would be ES’s swan song, within 3 years he’d be gone forever
‘XO’ will always hold a special place in my heart but time has been kind to ‘Figure 8’ which seemingly simply gets better with age as a Beatles-esque love letter to his favourite band
I still find it spooky that the final song on Elliott’s last official album is a track titled “Bye” (Edited)
IMO the best Elliott Smith album, yes it does take a long time to really appreciate it which is why some of the reviewers score low, my advice is keep plugging away and it will draw you in and be with you forever. (Edited)
This is probably my fav Elliott's album. Much more sounds and experimentation than his previous albums and, at the same time, more accesible songs. Best tracks for me are Happiness (that damn Beatle song), Stupidity Tries, Everything Means Nothing to Me.
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