Gold Mother
by James
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James bestography
Gold Mother is ranked 4th best out of 30 albums by James on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by James is Laid which is ranked number 2094 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 798.
(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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Gold Mother track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 77 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Gold Mother rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 5 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Juneof44 | Top 50 Music Albums of 1990 | 44/50 | 1 |
| 2026 | wizardalien | James Studio Albums Ranked | 3/9 | - |
| 2026 |  imacgill | Top 100 Music Albums of 1990 | 46/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | wizardalien | Manchester, so much to answer for | 37/57 | - |
| 2026 |  Norman Bates | Top 100 Music Albums of 1990 | 87/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | LittleM1971 | Greatest Music Albums: 401-500 | 59/100 | - |
| 2026 |  Tamthebam | Top 100 Music Albums of 1990 | 84/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | Foxforce5 | Top 27 Music Albums of 1990 | 13/27 | 3 |
| 2026 | wizardalien | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 67/100 | 7 |
| 2026 |  neilgee | Top 100 Music Albums of 1990 | 19/100 | 4 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 71 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 161 | |||
Gold Mother collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 34 members
Gold Mother 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 71 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 05/17/2026 10:39 | libbyshuss | 99 | 79/100 |
| ! | 04/24/2026 21:32 | Gedi | 367 | 83/100 |
| ! | 08/09/2025 13:06 |  Igtonumama | 10,784 | 63/100 |
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 72.5/100, a mean average of 71.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 72.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.0.
Gold Mother favourites
Showing all 3 members who have added this album as a favourite
Forum mentions
pedro1976 12/24/2025 19:50 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)Gold Mother comments
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Album Rating: 83.60
(836/10) - original tracklisting
(1,014/12) - with extra bonus tracks
04.06.1990
James (UK): Gold Mother
Difficult to rate due to the different versions / track listings. Rating based on original 1990 release.
1.Come Home. 87
2.Government Walls. 99
3.God Only Knows. 73
4.You Can't Tell How Much Suffering (On A Face That's Always Smiling). 73
5.Crescendo. 80
6.How Was It For You? 76
7.Hang On. 88
8.Walking The Ghost. 98
9.Gold Mother. 79
10.Top Of The World. 83
Bonus:
11. Sit Down. 84
12. Lose Control. 94 (Edited)
Didn't realise the original didn't contain Sit Down, which obviously improves the album when added. Walking The Ghost is probably my 2nd favourite James song and definitely in my top 100. I also like Government Walls and How Was It For You?
One of my favourite albums ever at the time of release. Then they released another version 18 months later with Sit Down on. I bought that too
johnner 11/01/2012 00:01 | #53836 | TOP COMMENT
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Essential Madchester album and the soundtrack to the glorious summer of 1990.
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