Tin Machine
by Tin Machine

Tin Machine by Tin Machine
Year: 1989
Overall rank: 10,096th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
69/100 (from 72 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1989 (143rd)
Award Top albums of of the 1980s (1,423rd)
Award Best albums of all time (10,096th)

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Tin Machine bestography

Tin Machine is ranked as the best album by Tin Machine.

Tin Machine album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (10,096th)
Tin Machine
Lower ranked (14,328th) »
Tin Machine II

(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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Tin Machine rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 10,096th | 1980s rank: 1,423rd | 1989 rank: 143rd

Tin Machine collection

Tin Machine ratings

Average Rating: 
69/100 (from 72 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 72 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
70/100
 !
05/29/2026 21:41 serpico  Ratings distribution  84386/100
 
85/100
 !
05/10/2026 16:28 Brandon8  Ratings distribution  1,04789/100
 
60/100
 !
03/05/2026 03:08 AAL2014  Ratings distribution  4,00675/100
 
75/100
 !
03/02/2026 21:34 traistboar  Ratings distribution  1,73979/100
 
100/100
 !
01/25/2026 12:04 DJStuart79  Ratings distribution  5,98259/100

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 has a Bayesian average rating of 68.9/100, a mean average of 67.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 68.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.5.

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Tin Machine favourites

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Tin Machine comments

Showing all 5 comments |
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Rating:  
60/100
Big Bowie fan - but 80s felt like he started to lose his way a bit. Yeah it is harder rock for him and there are tracks I really like including Heaven's In Here, Crack City, Under The God and the Lennon cover - Working Class Hero; there is enough that I can't get into to leaves me rating this at 60
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
20/100
This is genuinely one of the worst albums I’ve heard, as well as the most disappointing, since I don’t really dislike anything up to this point. Come on bowie, why’d you cover working class hero. Crack city is the bane of my existence. At least II has Goodbye Mr. Ed.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
A pleasant diversion from Bowie's m-d to late 80s pop fests of "Let's Dance" and "Tonight" - this album rocks and rocks hard. Stunt guitarist Reeves Gabriel amps up the pyrotechnics to eleven and the rhythm section of the Sales brothers provide ample foundation. This combination wakes Bowie up from his pop slumber. Highlights include "Under The God", the title track, and a re-working of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero". Remember this album came out a full 2 years BEFORE Nirvana!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
This album is pretty awesome. Grunge before people knew what grunge was, this is one of Bowie's better albums. The guitar work from Reeves Gabrels is the highlight, being the best guitarist Bowie has worked with since Mick Ronson on Ziggy Stardust. I'd recommend this to any Bowie fan.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
50/100
For me this is Bowie's lowest point. Even Tonight and Never Let Me down had a couple okay tracks.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (2 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
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