Scarecrow
by John Cougar Mellencamp
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John Cougar Mellencamp bestography
The best album by John Mellencamp is Scarecrow which is ranked number 1932 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 876.
(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 Scarecrow on YouTube
Scarecrow track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Scarecrow rankings
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 1 hour ago).
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Scarecrow 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 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 201 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 04/22/2026 15:54 | classicjoe | 507 | 78/100 |
| ! | 03/19/2026 22:28 | Exist-en-ciel | 15,354 | 70/100 |
| ! | 03/08/2026 23:55 | Musicbuff123 | 361 | 70/100 |
| ! | 02/07/2026 12:19 | Juneof44 | 2,616 | 69/100 |
| ! | 01/31/2026 02:55 | mrmcrook | 1,108 | 77/100 |
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 75.9/100, a mean average of 74.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.9.
Scarecrow favourites
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Scarecrow comments
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One of his better. Bit front heavy, the back half mostly plodding along but his style of singer songwriter Americana has a bit of flow within the rhythms which makes it quite catchy in a foot tapping way and hooks you in.
This album has a good balance of hit singles and more serious content album tracks. The lyrics of the songs are superior to the average singer songwriter. The songs are about ordinary folk in mid west America or small town America. This singer is well known in the US but I feel he is under rated in the UK and don't know why. This is a good album and has a few big hit songs as well.
I got interested in Cougar when I heard him on American Bandstand in 1980 singing I need A Lover. I saw him the first time he performed in my area and then again in 1985 for his Scarecrow tour. This is a special album with a different sound than his previous music without being overly POP. This is his best album.
Jboy56 08/11/2024 07:41 | #304708 | TOP COMMENT
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Mellencamp, often considered as the poor mans Bruce. it he can very well stand on his own. Good material and very good album throughout
It appears to be thoughtfully well-written, and performed with energy and spirit, but it doesn't strike me as anything that would blow you away. I can always appreciate the connection to small town America though.
A Side: Small Town
llibnanoon 06/24/2020 13:24 | #254416
Amazing songwriting on this one!
TerryTezza 06/19/2019 07:10 | #237842 | TOP COMMENT
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A brilliant concept album from start to finish.
nocturnaldelight 09/07/2018 10:00 | #220702
One of the best Mellencamp albums with a lot of good songs like "Small Town" and "Between A Laugh And A Tear". Nevertheless the album takes a little bit of time to grow and seems a little inconsistent (album rating: 74,17 %)
Nice fellow. Great writer of songs. Maybe not the best of singers
Best songs are Lonely Ol' Night, Minutes To Memories and Rumbleseat. Perhaps I'm biased because I'm a Hoosier, but he sings songs about the heartland and I can identify with them, even if he is a liberal and I'm not.
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