Chronic Town
by R.E.M.
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R.E.M. bestography
Chronic Town is ranked 12th best out of 36 albums by R.E.M. on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by R.E.M. is Automatic For The People which is ranked number 46 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 18,701.
(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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Chronic Town track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Chronic Town rankings
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 54 minutes ago).
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Chronic Town 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 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 240 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 07/20/2026 23:20 |  NowhereMan | 1,455 | 77/100 |
| ! | 06/23/2026 18:11 |  JR | 1,111 | 81/100 |
| ! | 05/12/2026 03:27 |  AAL2014 | 4,075 | 75/100 |
| ! | 05/09/2026 17:58 |  cestuneblague | 8,244 | 80/100 |
| ! | 05/05/2026 03:26 | CrozetBeat | 33 | 95/100 |
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 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.8/100, a mean average of 77.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.0.
Chronic Town favourites
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Chronic Town comments
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Brad1770 10/08/2017 08:42 | #199260
‘Chronic Town’ sparkles with “Wolves Lower” , “Gardening At Night” and “1,000,000” but peaks with the amazing “Carnival Of Sorts” setting the scene for one of the great bands of our times
Cool EP. Murmur does sound a lot like this.
10/10
nitomano 12/26/2016 05:07 | #181002
Highlights: Gardering At Night, Wolves Lower
R.E.M.'s best release. The only weak cut is "Stumble". The rest is basically perfect. The songs are energized (even on the sections where things seem to be quiet) to the point where it all sounds psychotic. Stipe's hooks are wonderful and always unpredictable, and Peter Buck's riffs are so good they defined what Jangle Pop would sound like for the next 5+ years. "Carnival of Sorts" might be the band's best song now that I think about it.
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A lovely EP from REM, already producing great songs even before the release of Murmur. All five tracks are magnificent to listen to and provide the basis for REM's early sound. Undoubtedly would be listed to one of the greatest EPs of all time
Jimmy Dread 05/03/2015 14:33 | #140757 | TOP COMMENT
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For me, this is R.E.M's finest (just shy of half an) hour. The first 4 tracks are all zingers, and whilst Stumble is a little short of high watermark set by what comes before it doesn't detract from what - along with MBV's "Sunny Sundae Smile" and Buzzcocks' "Spiral Scratch" - is one of the top 3 EPs ever.
Best Track: Gardening at Night
Possibly the greatest EP ever
A stunning debut from a great band. Not their best album, but this five song E.P. really is the quintessential R.E.M. album.
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