Balaklava (studio album)
by Pearls Before Swine

Balaklava by Pearls Before Swine
Year: 1968
Overall rank: 6,493rd   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
76/100 (from 59 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1968 (101st)
Award Top albums of the 1960s (505th)
Award Best albums of all time (6,493rd)

Listen on Spotify Spotify
Product Details
Availability

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


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


eBay
eBay
PEARLS BEFORE SWINE BALAKLAVA Rare Psych Folk ESP #1075 White Label Hard to Find
Condition: Used

$125.00


Go to store

  My favourite store:  

Pearls Before Swine bestography

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

Pearls Before Swine album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (6,493rd)
Balaklava
Lower ranked (8,034th) »
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).

Upcoming concerts

Nov
19
Wed
18:00
Say Anything x Motion City Soundtrack
House of Blues Houston, Houston, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Dec
05
Fri
20:00
Brandy & Monica: The Boy Is Mine Tour
Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Nov
24
Mon
19:00
Pentatonix: Christmas in the City Tour
Heritage Bank Center, Cincinnati, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Discover more upcoming concerts

Listen to Balaklava on YouTube

Loading content from YouTube...

Balaklava track list

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

Sort by
#
Track
Rating/Comments
3.
Rating: 80 (11 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
4.
Rating: 80 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
5.
Rating: 81 (9 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
6.
Rating: 79 (11 votes)Comments: View 1
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
7.
Rating: 81 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
8.
Rating: 78 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
10.
Rating: 79 (11 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
11.
Rating: 76 (4 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify

Balaklava rankings

Sort by

Latest 20 charts that this album appears in:

Sort by
YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2025 RockyRaccoonTop 100 Music Albums of 196877/1001
2025JohnnyoAlbums of the year 1968 by Acclaimed Music69/73 -
2025amirmishaliTop 98 Music Albums of 196843/983
2025 sssvnnnTop 63 Music Albums of 196811/634
2025 HaydenTop 100 Music Albums of 196859/1002
2025 Norman BatesTop 100 Music Albums of 196863/1002
2025 RockyRaccoonEarly Psychedelic Rock Pt. 224/100 -
2025 idioticanTop 73 Music Albums of the 1960s36/7310
2025 DommeDamianTop 29 Music Albums of 19688/294
2025 IgtonumamaGreatest Psychedelic Albums15/100 -
2025 DommeDamianTop 33 Music Albums of the 1960s29/333
2025WayneMCTop 100 Music Albums of 196861/1002
2025 IgtonumamaTop 100 Music Albums of the 1960s63/1008
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
2023 DommeDamianScaruffi Best Albums of 19687/62 -
2023 IgtonumamaTop 100 Music Albums of 19684/1005
2023Steppenwolf666The 100 Best Psychedelic Rock Albums Of The Golden Age58/100 -
Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 58
Total Rank Score: The total rank score. 199

You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Balaklava collection

Balaklava ratings

Average Rating: 
76/100 (from 59 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 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.

Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 Report rating
04/13/2025 21:53 sealskin0  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 19277/100
 
85/100
 Report rating
11/25/2024 19:10 DommeDamian  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 7,18249/100
 
80/100
 Report rating
01/12/2024 02:05 idiotican  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,80374/100
 
60/100
 Report rating
10/06/2023 14:21 replacementlevel  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 7,66770/100
 
65/100
 Report rating
06/28/2023 23:04 EyeKanFly  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 7,97565/100

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 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.

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

Balaklava favourites

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

Balaklava comments

Showing all 4 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Maximum Rated First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
75/100
From 02/10/2023 15:43
Quite unique style of music in 1968, poetic and enigmatic. Nice
#293877 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 02/15/2016 13:10
A unique vision brilliantly realized. If you like challenging music from this era this record is a must listen.
#159799 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 10/01/2012 16:49
Sounds VERY similar to a Leonard Cohen album. There's even a cover of "Suzanne".
#51583 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 07/31/2011 17:32
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".
#25358 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment

Your feedback for Balaklava

Anonymous
Let us know what you think of this album by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!
Log in or register to assign a rating or leave a comment for this album.
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
Back to Top