Swordfishtrombones
by Tom Waits
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Tom Waits bestography
Swordfishtrombones is ranked 2nd best out of 27 albums by Tom Waits on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Tom Waits is Rain Dogs which is ranked number 114 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 11,060.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Swordfishtrombones on YouTube
Swordfishtrombones track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Swordfishtrombones rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 5 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | cicadelic | Top 100 Music Albums of 1983 | 1/100 | 5 |
| 2026 |  Norman Bates | Top 100 Music Albums of 1983 | 27/100 | 4 |
| 2026 |  btener11 | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 72/100 | 28 |
| 2026 |  Helios | Top 90 Music Albums of 1983 | 29/90 | 3 |
| 2026 | Fritz | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 48/100 | 11 |
| 2026 | LittleM1971 | Top 90 Music Albums of 1983 | 80/90 | 1 |
| 2026 |  Patman360 | Top 92 Music Albums of 1983 | 4/92 | 5 |
| 2026 | Hyggevinyl | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 19/100 | 16 |
| 2026 |  sssvnnn | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 47/100 | 11 |
| 2026 |  zags7000 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1983 | 1/100 | 5 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 630 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 4,441 | |||
Swordfishtrombones collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 408 members
Swordfishtrombones ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
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 764 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 10/20/2026 22:46 | Mrump | 550 | 75/100 |
| ! | 10/10/2026 14:25 | Artem | 872 | 77/100 |
| ! | 10/07/2026 02:38 | OldWiseOne1969 | 160 | 82/100 |
Rating metrics:
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 81.4/100, a mean average of 80.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 81.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.9.
Swordfishtrombones favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 128 members
Swordfishtrombones forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 4 days ago in Chart of the day (#5476): By SquishypuffDaveView latest topic →
BestEverAlbums 10/11/2024 20:00 in Album of the day (#5045): Swordfishtrombones by Tom WaitsView latest topic →
View all forum mentions
Swordfishtrombones comments
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Onater 12/29/2016 01:50 | #181197 | TOP COMMENT
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Listening to this is like entering one of those weird antique shops that smells of incense and it's full of religious imagery and wooden statues and there's some creepy old hippy woman at the counter.
ButterThumbz TOP 100 COMMENTER 11/20/2012 10:52 | #55504 | TOP COMMENT
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An intoxicating Voodoo cabaret from a man whose voice alone is enough to get you drunk.
Being new to Tom Waits' stuff I can say he's starting to grow on me. Though I heard Rain Dogs a few times before this (even though I like it), this one just clicked with me almost immediately on first listen. I can't explain why but all I know is that I'm in for an interesting ride into his work
lancashirearab TOP 100 COMMENTER 06/23/2012 05:40 | #45073 | TOP COMMENT
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I saw the video for In The Neighbourhood on TV and went out and bought my first Tom Waits album the next day. I now have many other albums by Tom Waits, but this is still my favourite. Shore Leave is an amazing track.
This is the first I've heard of Tom Waits, and I'm wondering where this has been my entire life. This is daring music, and Waits attacks it with such infectious confidence, as if he's been singing these songs his whole life. There is so much variety in these 15 tracks--every new song feels like a curveball, and the album somehow seems to get better the longer it goes on. Among other things, Swordfishtrombones deftly explores humor, beauty, loneliness, and small-town nostalgia. As others have mentioned, I feel like I'm at a smoke-filled bar listening to various characters animatedly telling stories about their lives. This album sparkles with genius, straddling traditionalism and the avant-garde simultaneously. Americana at its finest. (Edited)
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