The Life Pursuit
by Belle And Sebastian

Album
The Life Pursuit by Belle And Sebastian
Year: 2006
Release date: 2006-02-06
Overall rank: 1,305th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 331 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 2006 (16th)
Award Top albums of of the 2000s (195th)
Award Best albums of all time (1,305th)

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Belle And Sebastian bestography

The Life Pursuit is ranked 5th best out of 21 albums by Belle And Sebastian on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Belle And Sebastian is If You're Feeling Sinister which is ranked number 137 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 9,677.

Belle And Sebastian album bestography « Higher ranked (1,136th)
Dear Catastrophe Waitress This album (1,305th)
The Life Pursuit Lower ranked (3,151st) »
Push Barman To Open Old Wounds

(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 The Life Pursuit on YouTube

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The Life Pursuit 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.
Act Of The Apostle
Average Rating: 82 (64 votes)Comments: View 0
2.
Track pick (860 - 81 votes)
Another Sunny Day
Average Rating: 86 (81 votes)Comments: View 0
3.
White Collar Boy
Average Rating: 81 (62 votes)Comments: View 0
4.
Track pick (860 - 75 votes)
The Blues Are Still Blue
Average Rating: 86 (75 votes)Comments: View 0
5.
Track pick (860 - 67 votes)
Dress Up In You
Average Rating: 86 (67 votes)Comments: View 0
6.
Sukie In The Graveyard
Average Rating: 84 (63 votes)Comments: View 0
7.
We Are The Sleepyheads
Average Rating: 82 (57 votes)Comments: View 0
8.
Song For Sunshine
Average Rating: 78 (55 votes)Comments: View 0
9.
Funny Little Frog
Average Rating: 84 (67 votes)Comments: View 0
10.
To Be Myself Completely
Average Rating: 79 (53 votes)Comments: View 0
11.
Act Of The Apostle II
Average Rating: 80 (53 votes)Comments: View 0
12.
For The Price Of A Cup Of Tea
Average Rating: 81 (60 votes)Comments: View 0
13.
Mornington Crescent
Average Rating: 82 (55 votes)Comments: View 0

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

The Life Pursuit rankings

The Life Pursuit rankings summary
Overall rank: 1,305th | 2000s rank: 195th | 2006 rank: 16th  Overall chart history
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 5 hours ago).
Filter Filter
Sort Sort by
YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 JoaoMoreiraTop 9 Music Albums of 20061/95
2026 HaydenTop 100 Music Albums of the 2000s44/10011
2026Exist-en-cielTop 100 Music Albums of 200647/1003
2026 JoaoMoreiraTop 62 Music Albums of the 2000s8/6218
2026cicadelicAll Music Guide Albums of the Year 20066/82 -
2026 paladisiac21st century top albums 001-10047/100 -
2026Rm12398Top 24 Music Albums of 20069/243
2026 zags7000Top 100 Music Albums of 200631/1004
2026saltysurpriseTop 39 Music Albums of 200633/391
2026 dihansseTop 69 Music Albums of 200629/693
2026 imacgillTop 100 Music Albums of 20068/1005
2026 TakaTop 100 Music Albums of the 2000s76/1005
2026craabTop 100 Music Albums of the 2000s9/10018
2026blueandthemoonTop 100 Music Albums of 200624/1004
2026lanadeleswiftTop 100 Music Albums of the 2000s31/10014
2026stangetzawayTop 100 Music Albums of the 2000s88/1003
2026 HelsinkiSnorkelTop 44 Music Albums of 20068/444
2026joathomeTop 60 Music Albums of 200629/603
2026shanelovesyou1111Top 69 Music Albums of 200611/694
2026 Graeme2Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s62/1008
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 294
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 1,321
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

The Life Pursuit collection

The Life Pursuit ratings

Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 331 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 331 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 !		07/03/2026 20:46 dhbarrett  Ratings distribution  8,59665/100
 
100/100
 !		05/29/2026 22:38 Mum  Ratings distribution  1100/100
 
55/100
 !		04/13/2026 13:52 colabunga  Ratings distribution  62080/100
 
55/100
 !		04/09/2026 17:45 Dingerbell  Ratings distribution  4,11862/100
 
0/100
 !		03/08/2026 07:01 shanelovesyou111  Ratings distribution  71871/100

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 78.7/100, a mean average of 77.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.9/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.9.


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The Life Pursuit comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 19 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:  
90/100
From 12/24/2025 12:29 | #312295
Album Rating: 82.92
(1,078/13)

Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - The Life Pursuit

06.02.2006

1.Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - Act Of The Apostle 81
2.Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - Another Sunny Day 100
3.Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - White Collar Boy 73
4.Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - The Blues Are Still Blue 72
5.Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - Dress Up In You 97
6.Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - Sukie In The Graveyard 83
7.Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - We Are The Sleepyheads 71
8.Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - Song For Sunshine 73
9.Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - Funny Little Frog 88
10.Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - To Be Myself Completely 73
11.Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - Act Of The Apostle II 98
12.Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - For The Price Of A Cup Of Tea 82
13.Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - Mornington Crescent 87

Ranked in order of preference:

* Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - Another Sunny Day 100
* Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - Act Of The Apostle II. 98
* Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - Dress Up In You 97
* Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - Funny Little Frog 88
* Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - Mornington Crescent 87
* Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - Sukie In The Graveyard 83
* Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - For The Price Of A Cup Of Tea 82
* Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - Act Of The Apostle 81
* Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - White Collar Boy 73
* Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - To Be Myself Completely 73
* Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - Song For Sunshine 73
* Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - The Blues Are Still Blue 72
* Belle And Sebastian (TLP - UK - SCO - Feb 06) - We Are The Sleepyheads 71
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 02/22/2023 17:45 | #294354
A Masterpiece. Might be one of the most inderrated albums of all time
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 04/25/2022 22:47 | #284671
Another solid indie pop record from Belle And Sebastian. Highlights are “Sunny Day”, “Mornington Crescent” and “Act Of The Apostle”.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 09/01/2021 00:22 | #273152
Listening for the first time in 2021. This album is GREAT!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 06/01/2020 14:59 | #252665
A more pop upbeat simpler album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 02/20/2018 20:46 | #208981
A dieci anni dall'esordio i Belle and Sebastian si presentano, dopo qualche cambio di formazione ed alcuni dischi un po' sottotono, in gran forma ed in grado di reggere il confronto con le nuove generazioni del pop. "The life pursuit" ha una delicatezza inferiore rispetto alle prime prove ma in compenso ha una robustezza ed una fisicità maggiori...
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 01/07/2018 17:11 | #204826
Not my favorite B&S album, but any B&S album is better than most things.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 06/14/2016 16:56 | #168690 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Hints of T.Rex and glam rock on some tracks here. The life pursuit, is another fine album from the underrated Belle and Sebastian. Fine songwriting, beautiful melodies, great lyrics, they are simply one of Britain's greatest ever bands. Classic stuff.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 05/11/2016 21:56 | #165760
The progression from one track to the next seems perfect on this record, a really easy to listen to, enjoyable album from start to finsh. This is my preferred Belle & Sebastian (over the more acoustic style).
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 03/18/2016 04:15 | #162125
fantastig first half
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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