Metal Machine Music
by Lou Reed
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Lou Reed bestography
Metal Machine Music is ranked 11th best out of 38 albums by Lou Reed on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Lou Reed is Transformer which is ranked number 146 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 9,219.
(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 Metal Machine Music on YouTube
Metal Machine Music track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 56 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Metal Machine Music rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 1 hour ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  Helios | Top 60 Music Albums of 1975 | 9/60 | 4 |
| 2026 | Juneof44 | Top 50 Music Albums of 1975 | 50/50 | 0 |
| 2026 |  MW19704U | Top 100 Music Albums of 1975 | 49/100 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Leonard | Top 100 Music Albums of 1975 | 86/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | TroutMaskGreg | Top 21 Music Albums of 1975 | 21/21 | 0 |
| 2026 |  neilgee | Top 100 Music Albums of 1975 | 94/100 | 0 |
| 2026 |  Glitterboiii | Sonic Possibilities | 42/100 | - |
| 2026 | LittleM1971 | Top 66 Music Albums of 1975 | 66/66 | 0 |
| 2025 | mostlymor | Top 100 Music Albums of 1975 | 46/100 | 3 |
| 2025 | pjr428 | Top 30 Music Albums of 1975 | 30/30 | 0 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 65 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 126 | |||
Metal Machine Music collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 38 members
Metal Machine Music 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 203 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/29/2026 19:22 |  RockyRaccoon | 7,257 | 84/100 |
| ! | 06/13/2026 20:54 | Ilovesuicide | 373 | 67/100 |
| ! | 03/08/2026 15:35 | SD100852 | 1,351 | 76/100 |
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 has a Bayesian average rating of 47.2/100, a mean average of 46.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 46.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 30.2.
Metal Machine Music favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 11 members
Metal Machine Music forum mentions
gerhard 06/01/2020 00:45 in What are the Ten terrible Records by Great Artists?
CharlieBarley 12/03/2017 00:47 in What album are you listening to right now?
indieshins 10/25/2017 05:06 in Most Challenging Albums to Listen to?View all forum mentions
Metal Machine Music comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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CellarDoor TOP 100 COMMENTER 04/25/2010 17:23 | #10997 | TOP COMMENT
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Your FEEDBACK for Metal Machine Music. Ha ha ha... (Edited)
HyperBully 02/08/2011 01:41 | #18188 | TOP COMMENT
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Haha, I wonder what Lou thinks about the fact that so many people were actually influenced by this record, which was an album he himself has admitted multiple times was an unlistenable throwaway designed to allow him to get out of his recording contract. That said, I'd still rather listen to it than most of the pop garbage that's popular today. I mean, it's Lou Reed.
10/10 best album ever. Best melodies, sound and best everything. This is the definitive pice of music. Beethoven, learn something you ungifted cunt!
I hate to say it, but as dreadful as this album is, it's prophetic. If it weren't for this album. God knows what Sonic Youth and Jesus And Mary Chain would sound like.
desh79 12/22/2016 15:54 | #180729 | TOP COMMENT
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Let's face it, Lou Reed was a genius, but he was crazy as a sack of bees. I remember trying to listen to this... thing... in one whole take, in what I can only call a bout of teenage stupidity, and learned some really interesting things about how the human brain works in the process. How it tries to make sense and create order even when there is none, and how amidst the cacophony, feedback and noise, I was able to hear, well, stuff, after a while. Suddenly I heard sea gulls chirping. I heard ship horns. I saw a little girl waving her mommy goodbye. Suddenly I was at Brighton beach! And off in the distance, just by West Pier, stood Lou Reed. He was pointing at me and laughing at this stupid endeavour I had undertaken. I think I lasted until about the middle of Side B before the room around me started spinning.
I still can't decide whether to give this 0 star, or 5 for the sheer balls of the thing.
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