Either/Or
by Elliott Smith
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Elliott Smith bestography
Either/Or is ranked as the best album by Elliott Smith.
(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 Either/Or on YouTube
Either/Or track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 86 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Either/Or rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 6 hours ago)
Romanelli
imacgill
ERadio
Purplepash
covecove
Mercury
Repo
NowhereMan
Pastiche
arthurbittencourtEither/Or collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 453 members
Either/Or 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 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 1,177 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 08/06/2026 22:52 | thebronze14 | 231 | 80/100 |
| ! | 08/02/2026 20:58 | xhitmanx | 1,572 | 74/100 |
| ! | 06/25/2026 14:15 | Brando1788 | 153 | 77/100 |
| ! | 06/03/2026 02:32 | vicpark_theband | 21 | 84/100 |
| ! | 05/25/2026 02:47 | pinkfreud1981 | 642 | 81/100 |
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 84.1/100, a mean average of 82.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 84.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.3.
Either/Or favourites
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Either/Or comments
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Cupid's Trick and Say Yes are great songs. A few boring ones too but overall liked the mood and feel of the album. I think it will prove to be a grower for me after further listens. (Edited)
imimesis 01/09/2026 16:34 | #312543
Is this the best Elliott Smith album? Probably, because it is the one I've come back to and resonated with the most. However, XO was such a fantastic follow up, and his whole 90s output set a tone for 2000s folk that was unparalleled. RIP, my good man. (Edited)
This is a fantastic singer songwriter album. Elliott Smith's voice is brilliant on here with his emotional style making the music feel so melancholic and sad. This helps to create a great atmosphere that is well maintained throughout the release. The guitar work is sensational as well with it feeling so personal and easily relatable. The song writing is mature and intelligent also and is well worth exploring whilst listening along. Overall, this is an elite Elliott Smith record that demonstrates his vocal and instrumental talents brilliantly. (Edited)
One of the best examples of singer-songwriting. This is an album I can consistently return to, and it only gets better. (Edited)
Solid album
His voice is pitch perfect and fits so well with the musical style. A clear and rare spiritual descendant of Dylan. (Edited)
Jboy56 03/10/2022 06:28 | #282600
Great singer song-writing does always good things for your mind and body.
Bitter, sad and beautiful.
I find this easier to listen to from start to finish than XO, though the latter might be more varied. Both great albums.
One of the quintessential singer-songwriters.
La verdad es que no esperaba encontrarme este pedazo de disco. Música tranquila, gran voz,... Muy buen disco
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