50 Song Memoir
by The Magnetic Fields

50 Song Memoir by The Magnetic Fields
Year: 2017
Release date: 2017-03-10
Overall rank: 4,634th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 91 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 2017 (91st)
Award Top albums of the 2010s (825th)
Award Best albums of all time (4,634th)

Listen on Spotify SPOTIFY
Product Details
Availability

eBay
eBay
∞ THE MAGNETIC FIELDS 50 Song Memoir 5CD Stephin Merritt 2017 ∞
Condition: Very Good


eBay
eBay
The Magnetic Fields **PROMO 5 CD SET** 50 Song Memoir
Condition: Very Good


eBay
eBay
The Magnetic Fields : 50 Song Memoir CD Box Set 5 discs (2017) Amazing Value
Condition: Very Good


  My favourite store:  

The Magnetic Fields bestography

50 Song Memoir is ranked 3rd best out of 15 albums by The Magnetic Fields on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by The Magnetic Fields is 69 Love Songs which is ranked number 510 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 3,404.

The Magnetic Fields album bestography « Higher ranked (4,451st)
The Charm Of The Highway Strip
This album (4,634th)
50 Song Memoir
Lower ranked (4,644th) »
Holiday

(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 50 Song Memoir on YouTube

Loading content from YouTube...

50 Song Memoir track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

Sort Sort by
#
Track
Rating/Comments

50 Song Memoir rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 4,634th | 2010s rank: 825th | 2017 rank: 91st

50 Song Memoir collection

50 Song Memoir ratings

Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 91 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
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 91 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
55/100
 
04/16/2026 02:38 davidleewrong  Ratings distribution  2,35881/100
 
75/100
 
08/22/2025 11:37 SomethingSpecial  Ratings distribution  1,75482/100
 
80/100
 
06/11/2025 17:29 jon5417  Ratings distribution  4,07168/100
 
70/100
 
05/21/2025 02:14 EyeKanFly  Ratings distribution  8,63965/100
 
70/100
 
04/14/2025 07:35 dukeboxkool  Ratings distribution  2,15572/100

Rating metrics: Help 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 12% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 74.5/100, a mean average of 74.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.3.

Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating

50 Song Memoir favourites

Showing all 8 members who have added this album as a favourite

50 Song Memoir comments

Showing all 6 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

From 07/15/2019 17:00 | #239567
Having squeezed out sixty-nine love songs for the album of the same name almost two decades ago, Stephin Merritt somehow found the energy to hammer out another ultra-long album this year, this time themed around his fifty years on the planet. Sure it’s not all gold, but I can’t imagine many other artists managing such a feat so well.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 02/24/2018 10:05 | #209447
All'uscita di questa ultima fatica dei Magnetic Fields pensavo che l'operazione in se fosse un po' stucchevole, spocchiosa e pure un filino pacchiana; considerazione capziosa in verità perché da uno come Stephen Merrit che realizza un disco mastodonte con dentro 69 canzoni d'amore ( una più bella dell'altra… ) ci si può anche aspettare che diciotto anni dopo ne realizzi pure uno appena di poco meno monumentale costituito da cinquanta canzoni, una per ogni anno della sua vita. Si auto celebra, il signor Magnetic Fields, e va bene così, anche perché l'ispirazione, almeno nelle prime due parti delle cinque di cui è composta l'opera, è grosso modo ai livelli di "69 love songs" e il resto è comunque buono, meglio di altre cose pubblicate da Merrit negli ultimi quindici anni. Quasi una sorpresa ritrovarlo così…
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 11/10/2017 14:45 | #201115
this is some magic stuff!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 06/11/2017 12:59 | #192396
While it's definitely a step up from their previous two album releases, this is a decidedly hit-and-miss affair, even compared with 69 Love Songs, which features some of the band's finest moments. The concept works to a degree and it is not a bad album, but probably for fans only.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 03/10/2017 18:32 | #187254

Disc 1: 7.5/10
Disc 2: 8/10
Disc 3: 7.5/10
Disc 4: 8.5/10
Disc 5: 8/10

50 Song Memoir: 7.9/10
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (1 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 03/08/2017 23:29 | #187158
It's true, it's Merritt's best since '69 Love Songs' with some monster, killer songs on offer that easily rank as his best - even if it includes some of his oddest arrangements to date. There is one big difference though, where '69 Love Songs' favoured a more spartan instrumentation 'Memoir' is a hell of a lot more colourful, even at times psychedelic befitting his familial background. Even so, he still finds room for the kind of piano-led compositions last seen on '69' or 'i'. Whatever, he's on top form here and this is gonna be glued to my stereo for a long, long time.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (7 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment

Your feedback for 50 Song Memoir

Anonymous
Let us know what you think of this album by adding a comment or assigning a rating below.
The top comments are featured on our aggregated charts!
Log in or register to assign a rating or leave a comment for this album.
Best Albums of 2017
1. Damn. by Kendrick Lamar
2. Melodrama by Lorde
3. Flower Boy by Tyler, The Creator
4. A Deeper Understanding by The War On Drugs
5. Slowdive by Slowdive
6. A Crow Looked At Me by Mount Eerie
7. Sleep Well Beast by The National
8. American Dream by LCD Soundsystem
9. Crack-Up by Fleet Foxes
10. Pure Comedy by Father John Misty