Balaklava (studio album)
by Pearls Before Swine

Balaklava by Pearls Before Swine
Year: 1968
Overall rank: 6,551st   
Average Rating: 
76/100 (from 59 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1968 (101st)
Award Top albums of the 1960s (507th)
Award Best albums of all time (6,551st)

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Product Details
Availability

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Pearls Before Swine Balaklava (CD) GET1010 get back 1998 ISSUE In Card Sleeve
Condition: Very Good


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PEARLS BEFORE SWINE The Best Of (One Nation Underground/Balaklava) 2-LP Adelphi
Condition: Used


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PEARLS BEFORE SWINE: “Balaklava” LP TOM RAPP 1968 BASE RECORD/ESP ITALIAN ISSUE
Condition: Used


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Pearls Before Swine bestography

Balaklava is ranked as the best album by Pearls Before Swine.

Pearls Before Swine album bestography « Higher ranked
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This album (6,551st)
Balaklava
Lower ranked (6,551st) »
Balaklava

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Balaklava track list

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

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Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Average Rating: 76 (8 votes)Comments: View 0
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2.
Average Rating: 81 (11 votes)Comments: View 0
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3.
Average Rating: 80 (11 votes)Comments: View 0
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4.
Average Rating: 80 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
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5.
Average Rating: 81 (9 votes)Comments: View 0
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6.
Average Rating: 79 (11 votes)Comments: View 1
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7.
Average Rating: 81 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
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8.
Average Rating: 78 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
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9.
Average Rating: 73 (8 votes)Comments: View 0
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10.
Average Rating: 79 (11 votes)Comments: View 0
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11.
Average Rating: 76 (4 votes)Comments: View 0
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Balaklava rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 6,551st | 1960s rank: 507th | 1968 rank: 101st

Balaklava collection

Balaklava ratings

Average Rating: 
76/100 (from 59 votes)
   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 59 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 !
04/13/2025 21:53 sealskin0   19277/100
 
85/100
 !
11/25/2024 19:10 DommeDamian   7,29749/100
 
80/100
 !
01/12/2024 02:05 idiotican   2,80374/100
 
60/100
 !
10/06/2023 14:21 replacementlevel   7,71670/100
 
65/100
 !
06/28/2023 23:04 EyeKanFly   8,23365/100

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 5% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.1/100, a mean average of 76.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.5.

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Balaklava favourites

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Balaklava comments

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Rating:  
75/100
From 02/10/2023 15:43 | #293877
Quite unique style of music in 1968, poetic and enigmatic. Nice
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 02/15/2016 13:10 | #159799
A unique vision brilliantly realized. If you like challenging music from this era this record is a must listen.
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Rating:  
80/100
From 10/01/2012 16:49 | #51583
Sounds VERY similar to a Leonard Cohen album. There's even a cover of "Suzanne".
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Rating:  
70/100
From 07/31/2011 17:32 | #25358
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".
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Best Albums of 1968
1. The Beatles (The White Album) by The Beatles
2. Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
3. Astral Weeks by Van Morrison
4. Odessey And Oracle by The Zombies
5. The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks
6. Beggars Banquet by The Rolling Stones
7. White Light/White Heat by The Velvet Underground
8. Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel
9. Music From Big Pink by The Band
10. At Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash
11. A Saucerful Of Secrets by Pink Floyd
12. Waiting For The Sun by The Doors
13. Lady Soul by Aretha Franklin
14. We're Only In It For The Money by The Mothers Of Invention
15. The Notorious Byrd Brothers by The Byrds
16. Cheap Thrills by Big Brother And The Holding Company
17. Wheels Of Fire by Cream
18. Os Mutantes by Os Mutantes
19. Sweetheart Of The Rodeo by The Byrds
20. S.F. Sorrow by The Pretty Things
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