The Underside Of Power
by Algiers

The Underside Of Power by Algiers
Year: 2017
Release date: 2017-06-23
Overall rank: 3,148th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
76/100 (from 137 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 2017 (49th)
Award Top albums of of the 2010s (527th)
Award Best albums of all time (3,148th)

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Algiers bestography

The Underside Of Power is ranked as the best album by Algiers.

Algiers album bestography « Higher ranked
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This album (3,148th)
The Underside Of Power
Lower ranked (4,999th) »
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(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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The Underside Of Power rankings

The Underside Of Power rankings summary
Overall rank: 3,148th | 2010s rank: 527th | 2017 rank: 49th  Overall chart history
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 3 hours ago).

The Underside Of Power collection

The Underside Of Power ratings

Average Rating: 
76/100 (from 137 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 137 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 !
07/07/2026 21:34 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  15,09770/100
 
50/100
 !
12/29/2025 17:13 mutant  Ratings distribution  1,67156/100
 
65/100
 !
06/20/2025 19:02 Invader666  Ratings distribution  2,62265/100
 
50/100
 !
06/18/2025 22:39 jon5417  Ratings distribution  4,09068/100
 
15/100
 !
04/17/2025 00:25 Proto  Ratings distribution  4,18933/100

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 75.8/100, a mean average of 75.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.1.


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The Underside Of Power favourites

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The Underside Of Power comments

Showing all 6 comments |
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Algiers’ debut two years ago was a trailblazing statement that blended umpteen genres to spectacular effect, so my expecations were sky-high for album number two. Amazingly it’s a close match, with the band doubling down on the gospel- and techno-inspired elements in order to complement the more politically impassioned lyrics.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
Amazing Album. The title track is a banger and Cleveland is just an incredible track.
BUT.
Whoever mastered this needs to be shot. Distorted and squashed to the point where you lose clarity. The Loudness wars need to die.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 02/26/2018 23:32 | #209696
Favorite tracks: Walk Like A Panther, The Underside Of Power, Death March, The Cycle/The Spiral: Time To Go Down Slowly

A-
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
An album full of experimentation and diversity.This album truly is a dream of a melomaniac.

One my favourite albums of 2017.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 07/26/2017 19:33 | #194949
best black artist right now !
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (0 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
No one is more in the bag for this record. It took To Pimp a Butterfly to beat it for my AOTY the year their debut was released.

The Underside of Power does not have the immediacy of Algiers' self-titled, which is really to this record's benefit. There's more room for variety, for atmosphere, for pathos.

That doesn't mean this record is without teeth. The Underside of Power announces itself with a battle cry, and does not go down without a fight. The quieter moments are engrossing, getting you in range for a point blank attack. It's long-form Pixies dynamic writing, and it works.

If we're on the subject of influences, however, The Underside of Power is still drawing from post punk heroes like Joy Division, but is leaning more into the drone of Suicide, and early Swans. Algiers are going for the same aesthetic, but don't let it grow stale. Trying out some more experimental songwriting and album structuring, The Underside of Power leaves a lot to unpack, and has a bevvy of surprising turns in craft.

Really though, this is still just as vital and impassioned as one could want from Algiers. I don't quite know if I like this better than their debut, which remains a miracle to this day. The Underside of Power is a beautiful, fearsome beast of a record. An essential for 2017.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (7 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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