Back In The USA
by MC5

Album
Back In The USA by MC5
Year: 1970
Release date: 1970-01-15
Overall rank: 6,139th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 133 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1970 (105th)
Award Top albums of of the 1970s (953rd)
Award Best albums of all time (6,139th)

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MC5 bestography

Back In The USA is ranked 2nd best out of 10 albums by MC5 on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by MC5 is Kick Out The Jams which is ranked number 1038 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,686.

MC5 album bestography « Higher ranked (1,038th)
Kick Out The Jams This album (6,139th)
Back In The USA Lower ranked (13,203rd) »
High Time

(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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Back In The USA track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 76 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

Sort Sort by
#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Tutti-Frutti
Average Rating: 75 (19 votes)Comments: View 0
#Sponsored
2.
Tonight
Average Rating: 78 (24 votes)Comments: View 0
#Sponsored
3.
Teenage Lust
Average Rating: 77 (20 votes)Comments: View 0
#Sponsored
4.
Let Me Try
Average Rating: 75 (21 votes)Comments: View 0
#Sponsored
5.
Looking At You
Average Rating: 78 (23 votes)Comments: View 0
#Sponsored
6.
High School
Average Rating: 76 (19 votes)Comments: View 0
#Sponsored
7.
Call Me Animal
Average Rating: 74 (15 votes)Comments: View 0
#Sponsored
8.
The American Ruse
Average Rating: 77 (18 votes)Comments: View 0
#Sponsored
9.
Shakin' Street
Average Rating: 75 (17 votes)Comments: View 0
#Sponsored
10.
The Human Being Lawnmower
Average Rating: 73 (14 votes)Comments: View 0
#Sponsored
11.
Back In The USA
Average Rating: 77 (20 votes)Comments: View 1
#Sponsored

Back In The USA rankings

Back In The USA rankings summary
Overall rank: 6,139th | 1970s rank: 953rd | 1970 rank: 105th  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)

Back In The USA collection

Back In The USA ratings

Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 133 votes)
  Ratings distribution 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 133 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
70/100
 !		18 hours ago Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  16,80470/100
 
75/100
 !		09/26/2026 20:48 culwin  Ratings distribution  1,63175/100
 
65/100
 !		09/22/2026 23:14 ecocruzr  Ratings distribution  31868/100

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 12% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 74.4/100, a mean average of 74.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 11.7.


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Back In The USA favourites

Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite  | Show all 16 members

matterhornrider
Repo
MoggieMiner
TonySayers61
musicfilmluvr
jampolenta73
MW19704U
vruslov
WayneMC
JamieG3

Back In The USA forum mentions

This album has been referenced 21 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From BestEverAlbums 07/15/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5374): By Dankel
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by ) 1. by by (1979) 3. by by (1973) 5. by (1977) 7. by (2004) 8. by (1979) 9. by (2007) 10. by (1996) 11. by (1981) 12. by (1988) 13. by (1980) 14. by (1978) 15. by by (1977) 17. by (1992) 18. by (1980) 19. by (1990) 20. by (1978) 21. by by…”
(1 mentions across Chart of the Day topics)
View latest topic →

From LittleM1971 08/29/2025 18:23 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
“What album are you listening to? (cont.)”
View topic (5 mentions) →

From dihansse 04/18/2025 20:10 in My discoveries per year
“Two albums of 1970 I listened to: First an album I already own/know: The thing with this album is: even songs I normally wouldn't like so much like El Condor Pasa or Cecilia, I do like just because of the way those two guys who have started to say so long and farewell to each other (in any case…”
View topic (2 mentions) →

View all forum mentions

Back In The USA comments

Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 6 comments |
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Rating:  
65/100
From 01/31/2019 03:31 | #231032 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
I was actually pretty disappointed by this. Maybe it's the fact that a lot of the proto punk from this era that we still talk about is absolutely timeless, but I can't imagine a time will ever come where I prefer this to a Velvet Underground or Gang Of Four record or anything. It seems lackluster and less innovative than everything else that was going on.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 2
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Rating:  
85/100
From 12/29/2014 15:44 | #130365 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
It's hard for me to believe that these guys weren't popular upon the release of "Back in the USA."
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 2
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Rating:  
70/100
From 03/04/2022 22:13 | #282280 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Solid Rock n Roll album. First half good, second half tailing off a bit. For myself 'Let Me Try' is best track and hidden gem of the album
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Rating:  
95/100
From 02/19/2016 12:22 | #160198 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Way ahead of their time this record is revolutionary. (Edited)
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Rating:  
95/100
From 09/05/2026 16:20 | #315996 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Excellent album. Highlights being Tonight and High School, with Teenage Lust and Looking At You also being enjoyable as well.
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Best Albums of  1970
1. Paranoid by Black Sabbath
2. After The Gold Rush by Neil Young
3. All Things Must Pass by George Harrison
4. Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel
5. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band by John Lennon
6. Bitches Brew by Miles Davis
7. Moondance by Van Morrison
8. Led Zeppelin III by Led Zeppelin
9. Cosmo's Factory by Creedence Clearwater Revival
10. Fun House by The Stooges