What Does Anything Mean? Basically
by The Chameleons

Album
What Does Anything Mean? Basically by The Chameleons
Year: 1985
Release date: 1985-05-20
Overall rank: 3,215th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 126 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1985 (40th)
Award Top albums of of the 1980s (473rd)
Award Best albums of all time (3,215th)

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The Chameleons bestography

What Does Anything Mean? Basically is ranked 3rd best out of 13 albums by The Chameleons on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by The Chameleons is Script Of The Bridge which is ranked number 778 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 2,226.

The Chameleons album bestography « Higher ranked (2,455th)
Strange Times This album (3,213th)
What Does Anything Mean? Basically Lower ranked (21,615th) »
Tony Fletcher Walked On Water.... La La La La La - La La - La - La

(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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What Does Anything Mean? Basically rankings

What Does Anything Mean? Basically rankings summary
Overall rank: 3,215th | 1980s rank: 473rd | 1985 rank: 40th  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: 1 hour ago)

What Does Anything Mean? Basically collection

What Does Anything Mean? Basically ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 126 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 126 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 !		08/12/2026 23:49 serpico  Ratings distribution  91485/100
 
75/100
 !		05/08/2026 12:12 DrTchock97  Ratings distribution  74876/100
 
100/100
 !		05/03/2026 11:18 Timhop  Ratings distribution  2888/100

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 77.6/100, a mean average of 76.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.5.


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What Does Anything Mean? Basically favourites

Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite  | Show all 15 members

MadhattanJack
mash
Untitled
slatsheit
MaxStorm98
dukeboxkool
matterhornrider
LittleM1971
MichaelAngelo
TodFitz

What Does Anything Mean? Basically forum mentions

This album has been referenced 19 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From BestEverAlbums 10/01/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5452): By LittleM1971
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by LittleM1971 () 1. by (1989) 2. by by (1984) 4. (1980) 6. by (1988) 7. by (1985) 8. by (1980) 9. by (1986) 10. by (1988) 11. by (1983) 12. (1985) 13. (1989) 14. (1984) 15. by (1980) 16. by (1980) 17. by by (1987) 20. (1982) 21. by (1984)…”
(2 mentions across Chart of the Day topics)
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From matterhornrider 05/22/2026 21:55 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
“What album are you listening to? (cont.)”
View post →

From Brigand99 03/27/2024 02:07 in What is the best "Manchester" album?
“If you ask me, this one is the Manchester GOAT: But there's also... Most people rate higher, which is understandable, except it's a compilation album. And the Buzzcocks also gave rise to Magazine, who were less Manchester-oriented but still were formed there, so they should count: Here's one most…”
View topic (2 mentions) →

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What Does Anything Mean? Basically comments

Showing all 5 comments |
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Rating:  
95/100
From 12/04/2012 15:06 | #56718 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Not quite as good as "Script of the Bridge" but nonetheless a truly great album (Edited)
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Rating:  
65/100
From 10/22/2012 01:37 | #53120 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
If only they were as good as their reputation, the album is passable but the over-wrought singing and over exaggerated lyricism is embarrassing. However, In Shreds is a good song. (Edited)
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Rating:  
80/100
From 05/19/2013 14:28 | #76596 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
The best track, "Perfume Garden" is unlisted. The tracklisting is all wrong anyway. Whatever, very good record, and an improvement on their first. (Edited)
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Rating:  
95/100
From 12/01/2011 17:49 | #31837 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
a flawless post punk masterpiece ! so underrated (Edited)
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Rating:  
25/100
From 04/26/2014 21:22 | #110156 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
scrpit of the bridge is miles above this "inhibited" one. it feels like they are a bit disoriented and don't know what to do with the songs... (Edited)
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Best Albums of  1985
1. Hounds Of Love by Kate Bush
2. Rain Dogs by Tom Waits
3. Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits
4. Meat Is Murder by The Smiths
5. Psychocandy by The Jesus And Mary Chain
6. Songs From The Big Chair by Tears For Fears
7. The Head On The Door by The Cure
8. Tim by The Replacements
9. Steve McQueen by Prefab Sprout
10. Rum Sodomy & The Lash by The Pogues