Balaklava
by Pearls Before Swine

Balaklava by Pearls Before Swine
Year: 1968
Overall rank: 6,425th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
76/100 (from 61 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1968 (97th)
Award Top albums of the 1960s (492nd)
Award Best albums of all time (6,425th)

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Product Details
Availability

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Balaklava Vinyl Record Pearls Before Swine
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 BALAKLAVA Rare Psych Folk ESP #1075 White Label Hard to Find
Condition: Used

$125.00


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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
-
This album (6,425th)
Balaklava
Lower ranked (8,123rd) »
One Nation Underground

(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 rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 6,425th | 1960s rank: 492nd | 1968 rank: 97th
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 DommeDamianTop 31 Music Albums of 19688/314
2026 DommeDamianTop 62 Music Albums of the 1960s26/6212
2026 HaydenTop 100 Music Albums of 196859/1002
2026 DommeDamianFeb 26: 101-20041/100 -
2026 FischmanTop 100 Music Albums of 1968100/1000
2026 RockyRaccoonTop 100 Music Albums of 196887/1001
2026 Norman BatesTop 100 Music Albums of 196863/1002
2026 RockyRaccoonEarly Psychedelic Rock Pt. 248/100 -
2026 sssvnnnTop 65 Music Albums of 196811/654
2025 IgtonumamaTop 100 Music Albums of the 1960s63/1008
2025WayneMCTop 100 Music Albums of 196861/1002
2025amirmishaliTop 98 Music Albums of 196843/983
2025JohnnyoAlbums of the year 1968 by Acclaimed Music69/73 -
2025 idioticanTop 73 Music Albums of the 1960s36/7310
2025 IgtonumamaGreatest Psychedelic Albums15/100 -
2024 ArthurknightTop 100 Music Albums of 196845/1003
2024PapaShiz86Top 50 Music Albums of 196848/500
2024 meccaleccaTop 100 Music Albums of 196847/1003
2024 DommeDamianTop 100 Greatest Music Albums93/1007
2023bloosyTop 85 Music Albums of the 1960s47/859
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 60
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 203
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Balaklava collection

Balaklava ratings

Average Rating: 
76/100 (from 61 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 61 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 
02/09/2026 00:25 Martini  Ratings distribution  75095/100
 
60/100
 
01/02/2026 20:34 Fischman  Ratings distribution  11,89066/100
 
75/100
 
04/13/2025 21:53 sealskin0  Ratings distribution  19277/100
 
85/100
 
11/25/2024 19:10 DommeDamian  Ratings distribution  7,33449/100
 
80/100
 
01/12/2024 02:05 idiotican  Ratings distribution  2,80374/100

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 75.9/100, a mean average of 76.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.4.

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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.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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".
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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. Waiting For The Sun by The Doors
12. A Saucerful Of Secrets by Pink Floyd
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. Os Mutantes by Os Mutantes
18. Wheels Of Fire by Cream
19. Sweetheart Of The Rodeo by The Byrds
20. S.F. Sorrow by The Pretty Things