Tip Of The Sphere (studio album) by Cass McCombs
Cass McCombs bestography
Tip Of The Sphere is ranked 4th best out of 12 albums by Cass McCombs on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Cass McCombs is Mangy Love which is ranked number 9809 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 120.
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Tip Of The Sphere track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 75 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Tip Of The Sphere rankings
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Tip Of The Sphere collection
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Tip Of The Sphere ratings
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n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
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Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 24 ratings for this album.
Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
---|---|---|---|---|
06/29/2023 07:47 | MilanT | 957 | 79/100 | |
05/20/2021 16:04 | SalsaforMango | 431 | 73/100 | |
08/08/2020 18:28 | TonyF12345 | 3,410 | 76/100 | |
12/17/2019 16:13 | Oselju | 2,859 | 71/100 | |
10/31/2019 04:08 | weston | 3,091 | 71/100 |
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 24% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 73.8/100, a mean average of 72.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 10.6.
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Tip Of The Sphere comments
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Tip Of The Sphere is a bit slow to get going. Opener 'I Followed the River South to What' is thoroughly unlikable. The same guitar plays for the run time, and the vocals aren't much more varied. It gets pretty draining after a minute and then goes on for another six.
Luckily things pick up after this, there's some good storytelling in 'The Great Pixley Train Robbery'; 'Estrella' is little bland but overall inoffensive; the backing synths on 'Absentee' almost sound like they're singing in duet with Cass, or sometimes going off on their own tangent which could be chaotic but the mixing keeps the structure from being damaged. Lead single 'Sleeping Volcanoes' is overtly political but does well to avoid the really blunt commentary that's all too tempting at the moment. It adds up to a track with equal parts of hope, sadness and disillusionment.
The next couple of tracks are similar in terms of having a calming repeated guitar line and rewarding lyrics if you don't drift off. 'American Canyon Sutra' shifts up the pace being anchored by light percussion and a single note on the bass. The lyrics are again expressing disillusionment but they have a sharper edge than those on 'Sleeping Volcanoes'. 'Tying Up Loose Ends' is the most emotionally impactful track here, with lyrics reflecting on the loss of connection to extended family, and more broadly connection to the past and the prior identities it carries.
The ten minute closer had me concerned considering how poor the seven minute opener was, but fortunately 'Rounder' outdoes its opposing bookend completely. There's more upbeat guitars that this time carry some impact when they repeat. It also features one of the stronger vocal performances of the album. It unexpectedly ends with a long instrumental passage which nicely closes out the album.
Tip of the Sphere may have a wobbly start but after this is out of the way it's a very calm and subtle record with great lyrics and guitar work. It maintains a feel throughout but the individual tracks are varied enough to make most stand out. Worth repeated listens for the lyrics if nothing else.
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