Psychocandy
by The Jesus And Mary Chain

Psychocandy by The Jesus And Mary Chain
Year: 1985
Release date: 1985-11-18
Overall rank: 297th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 931 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 5 albums of 1985 (5th)
Award Top 50 albums of of the 1980s (39th)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (297th)

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The Jesus And Mary Chain bestography

Psychocandy is ranked as the best album by The Jesus And Mary Chain.

The Jesus And Mary Chain album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (297th)
Psychocandy
Lower ranked (786th) »
Darklands

(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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Psychocandy track list

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

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

Psychocandy rankings

Psychocandy rankings summary
Overall rank: 297th | 1980s rank: 39th | 1985 rank: 5th  Overall chart history
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 3 hours ago).
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 TamthebamTop 100 Music Albums of 198543/1003
2026 imacgillTop 100 Music Albums of 19851/1005
2026FritzTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s61/1008
2026leniadTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s41/10012
2026xhitmanxTop 22 Music Albums of 198520/221
2026 joedecTop 100 Greatest Music Albums78/10023
2026lanadeleswiftTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s13/10018
2026craabTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s73/1006
2026saltysurpriseTop 54 Music Albums of 198516/544
2026pjr428Top 20 Music Albums of 19852/205
2026Juneof44Top 50 Music Albums of 198513/504
2026JohnnyoAlbums of the year 1985 by Ultimate Record Collection2/41 -
2026Exist-en-cielTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s78/1005
2026matterhornriderTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s63/1008
2026 PurplepashTop 100 Greatest Music Albums59/10040
2026cicadelicTop 100 Music Albums of 19855/1005
2026 videoheadcleanerTop 100 Music Albums of 198575/1001
2026culwinTop 64 Music Albums of 198515/644
2026TastyandTemptinTop 34 Music Albums of 19855/344
2026 cestuneblagueTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s27/10015
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 774
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 5,528
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Psychocandy collection

Psychocandy ratings

Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 931 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 931 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
55/100
 !
07/26/2026 02:28 xhitmanx  Ratings distribution  1,52277/100
 
75/100
 !
07/12/2026 16:13 liquidbottle  Ratings distribution  77582/100
 
60/100
 !
06/27/2026 20:27 DommeDamian  Ratings distribution  7,57549/100
 
45/100
 !
06/18/2026 02:02 AvalancheGrips  Ratings distribution  77785/100
 
70/100
 !
06/16/2026 22:52 Ilovesuicide  Ratings distribution  37367/100

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 79.2/100, a mean average of 78.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.5.


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Psychocandy comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 68 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:  
35/100
From 02/06/2025 19:49 | #307446
Liked the first track, but in general I'm not a fan of the shoegaze genre. I find the guitar distortion a bit over the top and for me the volume of the vocals vs the droney guitar doesn't really work. But this is one of the better shoegaze albums, overall I prefer this to Souvlaki by Slowdive and Loveless by My Bloody Valentine although it doesn't have the high-points that Loveless has.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 02/19/2023 17:27 | #294216
An essential listen for anyone who is a fan of shoegaze as the influence this record had is clear. They don't manage to perfect the sound they are going for though as they play along the edge of being too noisy or too quiet which leads to songs like In A Hole which sounds quite messy. However, there are several songs on here where it works brilliantly and I would argue the sound they are going for is performed very well for the majority of the album. The atmosphere they create is dense and dark as well and it is a lot of fun for the listener to be able to be involved in it. Also, they do a great job of standing out at the time this was released and have made one of the most unique and interesting sounding albums that is a lot of fun to explore. Overall, a short but effective record that has an impact on everyone who hears it and is a must listen for any music fan.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 12/10/2022 23:03 | #291880
It was fresh in 1985 and still sounds interesting, the first shoegaze album is really a bunch of amazing songs. You can hear strong influence of bands like The Velvet Underground or The Stooges here merged with 80s alternative scene like The Replacements. Sometimes it is too abrasive and too loud even for noise rock, but you can't say that they aren't creating something new here. My favorite tracks: Just Like Honey, The Hardest Walk, Cut Dead, My Little Underground
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 09/07/2022 01:15 | #289471
Alright record
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 07/02/2022 15:08 | #286969
A fantastic debut album that is credited with being the first/inspired shoegaze. Whatever your views on that genre, Psychocandy is essential listening
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 02/15/2022 23:30 | #281369
some really well written songs but usually they can't really find the balance between way too much noise and no noise at all, unlike bands like SY which do this really well. Occasionally some really boring punk-esque songs in there. The faster songs, counterintuitively to most other punk, have no life. The first 30 seconds of many songs are all they have to offer. The slower songs that build have more emotion and are more fun to listen to in general
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 02/05/2022 17:14 | #280786
Boring punk recorded in steel drum, not for me. I did not get this, I'm too old for this shit.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 08/04/2021 17:14 | #272250
Melhor álbum dos anos 80.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 03/25/2021 16:13 | #267746
Disco fundamental do alternativo. Existem ecos em vários movimentos musicais posteriores!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 10/05/2020 21:25 | #259038
The album is built upon the clashing of the noise driven feedback that serve as the Foil or dichotomy to the beautiful soft spoken 60's inspired pop vocals. The beauty of this record is the dissonance and not the consonance. Noise and screaming feedback makes you uncomfortable and uneasy, then however the vocals bring a sense of comfort by being something you've heard a thousand times before, a simple singable pop melody. The record is highly connected with its successors, but it has the strength to stand on its own.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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