Drums And Wires
by XTC
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XTC bestography
Drums And Wires is ranked 4th best out of 30 albums by XTC on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by XTC is Skylarking which is ranked number 371 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 4,457.
(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 Drums And Wires on YouTube
Drums And Wires 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.
Drums And Wires 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 |  zags7000 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 | 89/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | OFarrio | Top 28 Music Albums of 1979 | 8/28 | 4 |
| 2026 |  flamingyesdept | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 89/100 | 2 |
| 2026 | MasterOfPuppets | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 100/100 | 0 |
| 2026 |  Romanelli | My Overall Chart: 701-800 | 52/100 | - |
| 2026 | martintho | Top 88 Music Albums of 1979 | 79/88 | 1 |
| 2026 |  ExTeaSea | Top 65 Music Albums of 1979 | 2/65 | 5 |
| 2026 | blueandthemoon | Top 22 Music Albums of 1979 | 7/22 | 4 |
| 2026 |  ERadio | Top 90 Music Albums of 1979 | 38/90 | 3 |
| 2026 | bertdepoortere | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 76/100 | 5 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 275 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 1,280 | |||
Drums And Wires collection
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Drums And Wires 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 331 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 10/10/2026 04:58 | brent13 | 2,226 | 66/100 |
| ! | 09/30/2026 07:34 |  djrodo | 1,035 | 81/100 |
| ! | 08/04/2026 09:01 |  MetalMan67 | 6,250 | 71/100 |
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 77.8/100, a mean average of 76.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.4.
Drums And Wires favourites
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Drums And Wires forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 09/28/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5449): By junodog4View latest topic →
neilgee 09/18/2023 16:41 in What album are you listening to right now?View all forum mentions
Drums And Wires comments
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meccalecca TOP 100 COMMENTER 04/22/2013 19:27 | #74187 | TOP COMMENT
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It's hard to put a finger on XTC. I understand why some people don't love them. They manage to be disorienting without the traditional means. The guitars frequently enter into repetitive hypnotic states, with a jagged bounce. Drums & Wires may be their finest collection, and a solid entry point for someone looking into XTC for the first time. I personally prefer Big Express by a hair, but "Making Plans For Nigel, Helicopter, Scissor Man are all classics. (Edited)
benpaco 08/02/2013 00:55 | #82942 | TOP COMMENT
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Love this album. One of the reasons I think 79 was the best year for music EVER (Edited)
A great album that demonstrates XTC's knack for marrying melodies and rhythm to make catchy yet interesting tracks that set them apart from similar artists from the 70s/80s. Making Plans for Nigel is surely one of the best album openers of all time, and the next four tracks keep up the energy and are all brilliant in their own right (particularly When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty). The album then loses its flow with a set of more straightforward songs bringing the quality down, thankfully however Scissor Man and Complicated Game ensure the album finishes on a strong note. Overall a very good album that's full of personality and memorable tracks.
Pure genious. They're so underrated from the mass, but very well-considered by those who work in music. Dave Gregory's effort in this album is so huge with his dissonant solos ("Day in Day out"), his schizophrenic riffs ("Millions") and his great arpeggios ("Ten Feet Tall"). There are both well-written pop songs ("Making Plans For Nigel", "Life Begins at The Hop") and authentic pieces of art ("Roads Girdle the Globe", "Scissor Man"). Surely one of the most influential albums of those years.
wooolf 10/02/2017 10:23 | #198993 | TOP COMMENT
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Instant like!
Should be in top 1000 at least :)
Great production too..
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