Pearl (studio album)
by Janis Joplin

Pearl by Janis Joplin
Year: 1971
Overall rank: 632nd   
Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 570 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1971 (24th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (146th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (632nd)

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Janis Joplin - Pearl - 1975 US Press Album (NM) in Shrink Ultrasonic Clean
Condition: Used


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Janis Joplin 1971 Pearl LP Record KC-30322, Vinyl, Colombia R-4
Condition: Used

$151.00


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JANIS JOPLIN Pearl COLUMBIA LP VG++ a
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Janis Joplin bestography

Pearl is ranked as the best album by Janis Joplin.

Janis Joplin album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (632nd)
Pearl
Lower ranked (1,716th) »
I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!

(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

Jan
23
Fri
19:00
Sudan Archives
The Masquerade - Hell, Atlanta, United States. United States
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Feb
06
Fri
20:00
Daft Punk Night
Stage Red, Fontana, United States. United States
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Jan
30
Fri
21:00
SkiiTour with CJ.
Ophelia's Electric Soapbox, Denver, United States. United States
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Pearl track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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1.
Average Rating: 84 (109 votes)Comments: View 3
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2.
Track pick (860 - 122 votes)
Average Rating: 86 (122 votes)Comments: View 1
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3.
Average Rating: 80 (86 votes)Comments: View 1
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4.
Average Rating: 80 (90 votes)Comments: View 3
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6.
Average Rating: 79 (80 votes)Comments: View 0
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7.
Track pick (880 - 139 votes)
Average Rating: 88 (139 votes)Comments: View 2
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8.
Average Rating: 83 (119 votes)Comments: View 2
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9.
Average Rating: 79 (77 votes)Comments: View 1
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10.
Average Rating: 82 (85 votes)Comments: View 1
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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Pearl rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 632nd | 1970s rank: 146th | 1971 rank: 24th

Pearl collection

Pearl ratings

Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 570 votes)
   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 570 ratings for this album.

Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
50/100
 !
12/19/2025 07:15 brent13   1,64971/100
 
85/100
 !
12/12/2025 19:12 Tony58   73572/100
 
70/100
 !
12/06/2025 08:24 Exist-en-ciel   4,47770/100
 
10/100
 !
11/23/2025 07:16 NYAndreas   1,43243/100
 
90/100
 !
11/08/2025 04:28 pranafilms   23591/100

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 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 80.1/100, a mean average of 79.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 80.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.6.

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Pearl comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 31 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:  
90/100
From 08/26/2025 08:06 | #310697
What might she have achieved if she hadn't passed away so young? Based on this album, which I think I'm right in thinking was a posthumous release, a huge amount.

It's an outstanding sophomore release, with great songs and accomplished vocals.

What a lose and what might have been.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 01/15/2023 12:47 | #292872
What a voice Janis Joplin has and it is best displayed on this record. She demonstrates to us all aspects of her vocal on this record as she commands songs such as Cry Baby, A Woman Left Lonely and the powerful Me And Bobby McGee. She proves to us on here that there will never be another vocalist like her and she is solely unique in her tone, style and quality making this a vital and special record in the history of music. The arrangements on here are pretty great as well with some brilliant guitar and piano work to back up her voice. The opening track shows us this right from the start with it being an incredible blend of both instrumentation and vocal. Overall, there is still room for improvement on the release and unfortunately we would never be able to see this come to fruition but we can see from this record alone how phenomenal she was as an artist and can only imagine the elite level records she most likely would have gone on to create.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 09/06/2022 17:19 | #289402
Great record
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 07/03/2022 21:53 | #287070
Great voice and arrangements.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 08/26/2021 20:43 | #272877
Really love Janis's voice. Wish she would have been able to record more albums before her untimely demise, but I guess it's useless to think about that.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 08/12/2021 15:13 | #272462
Move Over is one of the great track one, side ones of all time
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 06/18/2021 12:05 | #270789
an enigma and shooting star on the business of making music are indicated her in all their splendour
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 11/14/2020 06:43 | #260786
One of my favorite albums ever. Fav tracks are cry baby, woman left lonely, and get it while you can
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 08/14/2020 15:07 | #257005
Classic! Rating (83.50)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 10/28/2019 18:32 | #244214
Cry Baby, A Woman Left Lonely, McGee, and Get it While You Can are huge tracks. Just a damn shame she died before this could be completed. Despite that this remains one of the most monumental and era-defining albums ever made.
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Best Albums of 1971
1. Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) by Led Zeppelin
2. Who's Next by The Who
3. Hunky Dory by David Bowie
4. What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
5. Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones
6. Blue by Joni Mitchell
7. Tago Mago by Can
8. Meddle by Pink Floyd
9. L.A. Woman by The Doors
10. Tapestry by Carole King
11. Fragile by Yes
12. Bryter Layter by Nick Drake
13. Master Of Reality by Black Sabbath
14. Aqualung by Jethro Tull
15. Ram by Paul & Linda McCartney
16. Electric Warrior by T. Rex
17. Imagine by John Lennon
18. Maggot Brain by Funkadelic
19. There's A Riot Goin' On by Sly & The Family Stone
20. At Fillmore East by The Allman Brothers Band
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