16 Lovers Lane
by The Go-Betweens
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The Go-Betweens bestography
16 Lovers Lane is ranked as the best album by The Go-Betweens.
(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 16 Lovers Lane on YouTube
16 Lovers Lane track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
16 Lovers Lane rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 5 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | martintho | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 61/100 | 8 |
| 2026 | BoxFL | Top 46 Music Albums of the 1980s | 15/46 | 14 |
| 2026 |  Wasinski | Top 100 Music Albums of 1988 | 43/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | cicadelic | Top 100 Music Albums of 1988 | 38/100 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Helios | Top 100 Music Albums of 1988 | 72/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | daCritic | Top 32 Music Albums of 1988 | 21/32 | 2 |
| 2026 | LittleM1971 | Top 85 Music Albums of 1988 | 20/85 | 4 |
| 2026 |  Norman Bates | Top 100 Music Albums of 1988 | 4/100 | 5 |
| 2026 | stangetzaway | Top 33 Music Albums of 1988 | 1/33 | 5 |
| 2026 | Rm12398 | Top 29 Music Albums of 1988 | 22/29 | 1 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 271 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 1,581 | |||
16 Lovers Lane collection
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16 Lovers Lane 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 267 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 08/03/2026 14:51 |  Milhaud | 2,171 | 71/100 |
| ! | 05/11/2026 16:40 | Jakor | 5,550 | 70/100 |
| ! | 04/29/2026 11:23 |  Tamthebam | 23,330 | 69/100 |
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 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.7/100, a mean average of 78.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.8.
16 Lovers Lane favourites
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16 Lovers Lane forum mentions
dihansse 10/12/2026 19:42 in My discoveries per year
BestEverAlbums 10/02/2026 08:18 in Monthly overall chart movements - September 2026View latest topic →
View all forum mentions
16 Lovers Lane comments
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Onater 01/12/2018 23:45 | #205326 | TOP COMMENT
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Why are all the track ratings on this so low? Normally only interludes and tracks that are actually offensively bad get as low as 73, but that's the average for The Devil's Eye, and Love Goes On, the best song on the album, only has a 77.
The album I want to hear on my deathbed, definitely an injustice that it hasn't dented the top 1000 yet. The best Aussie album ever made, by far.
buzzdainer TOP 100 COMMENTER 11/15/2020 18:09 | #260856 | TOP COMMENT
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Australian jangle pop legends the Go-Betweens really just had this one great album. Everything else they've done has felt patchy to me. I think what makes 16 Lovers Lane such a success is its simplicity and unity of vision: heavy on mellow guitars, light on synths, and jam-packed with the poetry of their native Queensland. The end result is an album emotionally split somewhere between the giddy pleasure of a newfound crush and unabashed heartbreak.
The Go-Betweens had been quietly releasing some very good albums throughout the 1980s, but 16 Lovers Lane is their peak; it features their strongest lineup instrumentally, with new member John Wilsteed officially the bass player but adding lots of guitar parts, and producer Mark Wallis adding an ornate sheen. The album also contains Forster’s most accessible set of songs and McLennan’s most consistent set.
NickVolos TOP 100 COMMENTER 10/09/2013 12:01 | #88039 | TOP COMMENT
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Another gem by this underrated Australian band. Considered by most their best, personally it is my 2nd favorite after "Liberty Belle & the Black Diamond Express", which sounds more edgy and made by the original lineup.
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