Balaklava
by Pearls Before Swine
Listen & Collect
Complete your collection or upgrade your listening experience.
Pearls Before Swine bestography
Balaklava is ranked as the best album by Pearls Before Swine.
(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 Balaklava on YouTube
Balaklava track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Balaklava 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)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | amirmishali | Top 100 Music Albums of 1968 | 43/100 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Norman Bates | Top 100 Music Albums of 1968 | 64/100 | 2 |
| 2026 |  RockyRaccoon | Top 100 Music Albums of 1968 | 96/100 | 0 |
| 2026 | RockyRaccoon | Early Psychedelic Rock #101-200 | 79/100 | - |
| 2026 |  Fischman | Top 100 Music Albums of 1968 | 100/100 | 0 |
| 2026 |  DommeDamian | Scaruffi Best Albums of 1968 | 7/61 | - |
| 2026 |  Hayden | Top 100 Music Albums of 1968 | 59/100 | 2 |
| 2026 |  sssvnnn | Top 64 Music Albums of 1968 | 10/64 | 4 |
| 2026 | DommeDamian | Top 32 Music Albums of 1968 | 7/32 | 4 |
| 2026 | DommeDamian | Top 62 Music Albums of the 1960s | 26/62 | 12 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 60 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 199 | |||
Balaklava collection
Showing all 20 members who have this album in their collection
Balaklava 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 62 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/24/2026 16:00 | Exist-en-ciel | 15,858 | 70/100 |
| ! | 02/09/2026 00:25 |  Martini | 762 | 95/100 |
| ! | 01/02/2026 20:34 | Fischman | 11,856 | 66/100 |
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 5% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.8/100, a mean average of 76.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.4.
Balaklava favourites
Showing all 8 members who have added this album as a favourite
Balaklava forum mentions
Jboy56 02/10/2023 15:14 in What album are you listening to right now? Norman Bates 02/14/2018 17:52 in In Remembrance Of Those Who Are Gone
NickVolos 02/04/2015 13:28 in Recommendations ThreadBalaklava comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
One of the most creative (but widely unknown) figures of the late 1960s was Tom Rapp, who in 1968 was the leading figure behind the masterpiece 'Balaklava' - a concept album inspired by the anti-militarist struggle of the same name. The running theme of the album is of apocalyptic death and desolation but told within the framework of humanities quest for salvation among the fatalistic ruins and bleak despair of war. The imagery conjured up by the music is one of dense macabre symbolism and the atmosphere mournful. Rap's art is closer to the surrealism of Dali and Ernst than it is to the psychedelic LSD "trip".
A unique vision brilliantly realized. If you like challenging music from this era this record is a must listen.
CellarDoor TOP 100 COMMENTER 10/01/2012 16:49 | #51583 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Sounds VERY similar to a Leonard Cohen album. There's even a cover of "Suzanne".
Jboy56 02/10/2023 15:43 | #293877 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Quite unique style of music in 1968, poetic and enigmatic. Nice
The top-voted comments get featured on our charts, Album of the Day, and the site newsletter.
