Pearl
by Janis Joplin

Album
Pearl by Janis Joplin
Year: 1971
Release date: 1971-01-11
Overall rank: 610th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 581 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1971 (24th)
Award Top albums of of the 1970s (136th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (610th)

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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 (610th)
Pearl Lower ranked (1,720th) »
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).

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Pearl track list

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

Sort Sort by
#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Move Over
Average Rating: 84 (114 votes)Comments: View 3
2.
Track pick (860 - 127 votes)
Cry Baby
Average Rating: 86 (127 votes)Comments: View 1
3.
A Woman Left Lonely
Average Rating: 80 (90 votes)Comments: View 1
4.
Half Moon
Average Rating: 80 (95 votes)Comments: View 3
5.
Buried Alive In The Blues
Average Rating: 76 (86 votes)Comments: View 0
6.
My Baby
Average Rating: 79 (84 votes)Comments: View 0
7.
Track pick (880 - 143 votes)
Me And Bobby McGee
Average Rating: 88 (143 votes)Comments: View 2
8.
Mercedes Benz
Average Rating: 83 (124 votes)Comments: View 2
9.
Trust Me
Average Rating: 79 (82 votes)Comments: View 1
10.
Get It While You Can
Average Rating: 82 (89 votes)Comments: View 1

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Pearl rankings

Pearl rankings summary
Overall rank: 610th | 1970s rank: 136th | 1971 rank: 24th  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 2 hours ago)

Pearl collection

Pearl ratings

Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 581 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 3 ratings for this album.  | Show all 581 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 !		4 days ago Siromynian  Ratings distribution  1,70876/100
 
70/100
 !		09/10/2026 10:40 NowhereMan  Ratings distribution  1,49477/100
 
90/100
 !		08/30/2026 01:53 xhitmanx  Ratings distribution  1,60475/100

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 80.2/100, a mean average of 79.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 80.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.2.


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Pearl favourites

Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite  | Show all 102 members

barrski67
Pluto11
glebrus
Iglou2981
Deckard
AbsurdCheesecake
slatsheit
bigchocolate1967
Gammarus1979
backyardmusic101

Pearl forum mentions

This album has been referenced 50 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From BestEverAlbums 09/28/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5449): By junodog4
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s by junodog4 () 1. by (1971) 2. by (1971) 3. by (1973) 5. by (1972) 6. by (1975) 7. by (1970) 8. by (1972) 9. by (1973) 10. by (1970) 11. by (1972) 13. by by (1975) 15. by (1975) 16. by (1971) 17. by (1978) 18. by (1979) 19. by (1971) 20.…”
View forum post →

From BestEverAlbums 08/21/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5411): By Juneof44
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Juneof44 () 1. by (1966) 2. by (1969) 3. by (1973) 4. by (1967) 5. by (1971) 7. by (1979) 8. by (1971) 9. by (1986) 10. (1994) 11. by (1959) 12. (1964) 13. by by (1965) 15. by (1975) 16. by by (1969) 18. by (2007) 19. (1972) 21. (1971) 22.…”
View forum post →

From mrmcrook 02/19/2026 22:21 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
“What album are you listening to? (cont.)”
View forum topic (4 mentions) →

View all forum mentions

Pearl comments

Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 32 comments |
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Rating:  
80/100
From 09/06/2012 00:31 | #50069 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Raw and personal. Not as polished or focused as Cheap Thrills, but much more passionate. The overproduced, saccharine soaked popsters of today could learn a thing or two listening to Janis get every ounce out her voice.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 4
Reply
Rating:  
85/100
From 08/08/2014 14:54 | #119035 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Pearl is deserving of a place in rock n roll's immortal LPs catalog, Joplin's "Pearl" is great music even if you were not a big fan of the lady's no hold barred gut blues style.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 4
Reply
Rating:  
95/100
From 12/26/2011 06:05 | #33756 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Just great rock & roll music from start to finish. Even the unfinished Buried Alive in the Blues is brilliant. Absolutely essential listening.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 4
Reply
Rating:  
85/100
From 07/17/2013 03:56 | #81700 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
The masterpiece of an incredible woman. It's a rubbish she died so prematurely.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 3
Reply
Rating:  
100/100
From 06/10/2015 09:14 | #143446 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Such a powerful voice unlike any other. This should be an album that is a requirement to listen to for all current and future generations.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 2
Reply
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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