For Alto
by Anthony Braxton

For Alto by Anthony Braxton
Year: 1971
Release date: 1971-00-00
Overall rank: 5,840th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 72 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1971 (93rd)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (925th)
Award Best albums of all time (5,840th)

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Anthony Braxton For Alto vinyl
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For Alto by Anthony Braxton (2000-07-25)
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Anthony Braxton vinyl records Alto saxophone improv
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Anthony Braxton bestography

For Alto is ranked 2nd best out of 50 albums by Anthony Braxton on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Anthony Braxton is Saxophone Improvisations Series F which is ranked number 5135 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 270.

Anthony Braxton album bestography « Higher ranked (5,135th)
Saxophone Improvisations Series F
This album (5,840th)
For Alto
Lower ranked (12,045th) »
Quartet (Santa Cruz) 1993

(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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For Alto rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 5,840th | 1970s rank: 925th | 1971 rank: 93rd
Filter Filter
Sort Sort by
YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 DommeDamianTop 34 Music Albums of 197030/34 -
2026 AfterHoursTop 100 Greatest Music Albums74/10026
2026Exist-en-cielTop 100 Music Albums of 197071/100 -
2025 Norman BatesTop 100 Music Albums of 197019/100 -
2025 Xxnu99etxXTop 99 Music Albums of the 1970s37/9913
2025 Norman BatesTop 100 Music Albums of the 1970s97/1001
2025JohnnyoAlbums of the year 1971 by Acclaimed Music45/75 -
2024 ArthurknightTop 100 Music Albums of 197021/100 -
2024LosWochosTop 100 Music Albums of 197091/100 -
2024thekrauterTop 99 Music Albums of the 1970s41/9912
2023andresoetemanTop 40 Greatest Music Albums33/4014
2023thekrauterTop 94 Music Albums of the 1960s65/94 -
2023 Xxnu99etxXTop 47 Music Albums of 197010/47 -
2023 Xxnu99etxXExperimental (not necessarily ROCK)67/100 -
2022 paladisiacTop 100 Music Albums of 197098/100 -
2022 EyeKanFly1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die (part 2)27/100 -
2022 HaydenNo Coda69/100 -
2022 ArthurknightTop 100 Greatest Jazz Albums94/100 -
2022BassCadetTop 70 Greatest Music Albums10/7054
2021 Xxnu99etxXJazz38/100 -
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 51
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 232
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

For Alto collection

For Alto ratings

Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 72 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 72 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 
01/04/2026 02:41 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  9,75470/100
 
5/100
 
11/23/2025 07:33 NYAndreas  Ratings distribution  1,43344/100
 
70/100
 
05/26/2025 21:22 DommeDamian  Ratings distribution  7,33449/100
 
80/100
 
03/25/2025 00:56 nocturnes  Ratings distribution  3987/100
 
80/100
 
11/23/2024 18:44 PapaShiz86  Ratings distribution  11,36979/100

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 14% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 74.3/100, a mean average of 73.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 20.2.

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For Alto favourites

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For Alto comments

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From 03/17/2019 20:26 | #233695
This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -3 votes (0 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
Rating:  
40/100
From 08/03/2018 01:16 | #219107
Yeah...no. I will admit that there are a few tracks I do like off this album. The intro for Jack Gell was a nice interlude intro. Also love the hell out of Susan Axelrod. Probably the best track that plays to the strengths of the qualities this album has. Also thought Murray De Pillars was also good. Now I do admire how this album is quite raw and naked where it's only Anthony. It does create an interesting presence. And though I'm not head over heels for Ann and Peter Allen that track feels like the prototype for lowercase music.

But even when I do have some nice things to say, I don't like the album at all. The Cecil track is oddly enough the only track that I forgot. Weirdly enough it just went in one ear and out the other. However tracks 2, 7 and 8 are so annoying to me. The qualities of being raw and naked just become this weird form of punishment where if this was release this decade, people would make fun of this shit instantly. And unlike Karma or The Epic where I do like how the atonal qualities of the sax create an interesting counterpoint, this is just work.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 07/16/2012 20:15 | #46648
I'm a passionate defender of the avant-garde, and I never thought I'd say this, but there are moments where the screeching noises on this album make it hard for me to listen to. The rest of the album sortof makes up for it, but Saxophone Improvisations is a similar type of solo sax album from Braxton, and is a far better album. I'd like For Alto a lot better if I didn't have Saxophone Improvisations to listen to instead.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1971
1. Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) by Led Zeppelin
2. Who's Next by The Who
3. Hunky Dory by David Bowie
4. What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
5. Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones
6. Blue by Joni Mitchell
7. Tago Mago by Can
8. Meddle by Pink Floyd
9. L.A. Woman by The Doors
10. Tapestry by Carole King