The Disintegration Loops I
by William Basinski

The Disintegration Loops I by William Basinski
Year: 2002
Release date: 2002-08-00
Overall rank: 1,580th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 166 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 2002 (26th)
Award Top albums of the 2000s (255th)
Award Best albums of all time (1,580th)

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William Basinski ‎– The Disintegration Loops / 4CD Album
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William Basinski - The Disintegration Loops (Arcadia Archive Edition) [Box Set]
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THE DISINTEGRATION LOOPS (ARCADIA ARCHIVE EDITION) BY William Basinski AUDIOCD
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William Basinski bestography

The Disintegration Loops I is ranked as the best album by William Basinski.

William Basinski album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (1,580th)
The Disintegration Loops I
Lower ranked (2,565th) »
The Disintegration Loops

(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

Apr
17
Fri
William Basinski
Slowdown, Omaha, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Apr
18
Sat
KGNU Presents: William Basinski with Paul Riedl
Ophelia's Electric Soapbox, Denver, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Apr
28
Tue
WILLIAM BASINSKI with Kelly Moran
Star Theater, Portland, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 

Listen to The Disintegration Loops I on YouTube

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The Disintegration Loops I track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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The Disintegration Loops I rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 1,580th | 2000s rank: 255th | 2002 rank: 26th
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 BozoTyrannusTop 100 Greatest Music Albums77/10024
2026 DommeDamianTop 100 Music Albums of the 2000s12/10018
2026 AAL2014Top 44 Music Albums of 200224/442
2026 DommeDamianTop 43 Music Albums of 20024/435
2026 RockyRaccoonElectronic61/100 -
2026 PurplepashTop 71 Music Albums of 200271/710
2026Cheboygan74Top 24 Music Albums of 200224/240
2026AdymanTop 50 Greatest Music Albums47/508
2026 arthurbittencourtTop 100 Music Albums of the 2000s85/1003
2026jdizzle1234562000-201966/100 -
2025MaxStorm98Top 56 Music Albums of 200222/563
2025 EyeKanFlyTop 75 Music Albums of 20028/755
2025jdizzle123456Top 99 Music Albums of the 2000s32/9914
2025 desh79Top 100 Music Albums of 200213/1004
2025 flamingyesdeptTop 100 Music Albums of the 2000s48/10011
2025ElauqsapidTop 17 Music Albums of 200215/171
2025ThuramThugoodRanked - William Basinski (All inc. collab.) (USA) - Ranked22/27 -
2025pjerskeTop 100 Music Albums of the 2000s46/10011
2025 sssvnnna m b i e n t22/100 -
2025panapsalTop 97 Music Albums of 200233/973
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 139
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 1,079
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

The Disintegration Loops I collection

The Disintegration Loops I ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 166 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 166 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
90/100
 
02/10/2026 18:54 DommeDamian  Ratings distribution  7,32849/100
 
80/100
 
01/24/2026 11:39 haz215  Ratings distribution  11473/100
 
75/100
 
01/07/2026 02:47 AAL2014  Ratings distribution  3,63375/100
 
50/100
 
12/29/2025 18:01 mutant  Ratings distribution  1,67156/100
 
30/100
 
09/12/2025 09:15 Purplepash  Ratings distribution  4,78875/100

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 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.9/100, a mean average of 76.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 18.8.

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The Disintegration Loops I comments

Showing all 5 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
80/100
From 06/09/2020 15:01 | #253189
Haunting and unforgettable.

Also fun to mute the score of a silent film and play this over it instead.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
60/100
From 05/28/2020 16:24 | #252412
Very good album to listen while doing something else.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 09/29/2015 11:41 | #150682
From Wikipedia:
The Disintegration Loops is a series of four albums by American avant-garde composer William Basinski released in 2002 and 2003. All tracks have the same form of ambient music fragments played in a tape loop that slowly deteriorates as it passes by the tape head, creating all the more noises and cracks in the music as the theme progresses. The recording coincided with the 9/11 attacks and the album covers and accompanying videos feature a still skyline of New York City with smoke and dust rising from the World Trade Center site.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 09/14/2014 21:15 | #121955
This album is dying! Slowly and beautifully, for all eternity...
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 08/18/2014 14:37 | #119740
Destroying my soul and ego slowly but completely, tears coming out from my half-closed eyes, the whole world fading out from my view, fireworks burning inside of my brain, the future arriving in some obscure places...

It's a beautiful tragedy
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 2002
1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco
2. Turn On The Bright Lights by Interpol
3. A Rush Of Blood To The Head by Coldplay
4. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips
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6. You Forgot It In People by Broken Social Scene
7. Sea Change by Beck
8. ( ) [Svigaplatan] by Sigur Rós
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