When The Pawn...
by Fiona Apple

When The Pawn... by Fiona Apple
Year: 1999
Release date: 1999-11-09
Overall rank: 422nd   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 544 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 5 albums of 1999 (5th)
Award Top 100 albums of of the 1990s (73rd)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (422nd)

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Fiona Apple bestography

When The Pawn... is ranked 3rd best out of 5 albums by Fiona Apple on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Fiona Apple is The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do which is ranked number 328 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 5,058.

Fiona Apple album bestography « Higher ranked (411th)
Fetch The Bolt Cutters
This album (422nd)
When The Pawn...
Lower ranked (985th) »
Tidal

(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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When The Pawn... track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 85 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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1.
Track pick (870 - 128 votes)
Average Rating: 87 (128 votes)Comments: View 1
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Average Rating: 87 (134 votes)Comments: View 1
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Average Rating: 88 (126 votes)Comments: View 0

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

When The Pawn... rankings

When The Pawn... rankings summary
Overall rank: 422nd | 1990s rank: 73rd | 1999 rank: 5th  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 2 hours ago)

When The Pawn... collection

When The Pawn... ratings

Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 544 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 3 ratings for this album.  | Show all 544 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
95/100
 !
30 minutes ago covecove  Ratings distribution  6,70474/100
 
90/100
 !
09/16/2026 18:52 slatsheit  Ratings distribution  2,07181/100
 
90/100
 !
09/05/2026 17:08 xhitmanx  Ratings distribution  1,60475/100

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 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 82.0/100, a mean average of 81.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 82.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.9.


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When The Pawn... favourites

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When The Pawn... forum mentions

This album has been referenced 120 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
“1640”
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“Today's chart of the day Top 50 Greatest Music Albums by joannajewsom () 1. by (1993) 2. by (1999) 3. by (1963) 4. by (1976) 5. by (1969) 6. (2006) 7. by by (1966) 9. by (1967) 10. by (1980) 12. by by (2003) 15. by by (1995) 18. by (1986) 19. by (1991) 20. by (2015) 21. by (1986) 23. by (2000) 24.…”
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“The overall chart is ever changing, and it's difficult to keep up with the detail of what's happening. So, for those people who are interested, this post attempts to show the latest movements - biggest climbers, movers, new entries and leavers for the top 100, 250, 500 & 1000 over the past month,…”
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When The Pawn... comments

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Rating:  
90/100
From 08/30/2024 17:21 | #305046
Angry and lush and beautiful (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 1
Rating:  
80/100
From 03/27/2023 00:38 | #295496
The Idler Wheel will always be my favourite Fiona Apple album even though this ones better (if that makes any sense) with not one but two killer generational tracks in “Limp” and the unforgettable “Paperbag”

Interestingly at 90 words, upon its release this album held the world record for longest album title in history which it held until 2008. The full album title is transcribed below


‘When the pawn hits the conflicts he thinks like a king
What he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight
And he'll win the whole thing 'fore he enters the ring
There's no body to batter when your mind is your might
So when you go solo, you hold your own hand
And remember that depth is the greatest of heights
And if you know where you stand, then you know where to land
And if you fall it won't matter, cuz you'll know that you're right’ (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 1
Rating:  
90/100
An even bigger improvement over the already impressive debut 'Tidal' (written when she was around 17 to 18 and showing a maturity far beyond her years), 'When the Pawn' sees her linking up with composer and producer Jon Brion to create a soundscape of unorthodox pop music that meshes elements of jazz, rock, and classical music (courtesy of Brion's luscious string arrangements). Wit as sharp as ever but with even more bite when she scorns ('Fast As You Can', 'Limp'), or when she loves ('Paper Bag', 'On the Bound'). Her best album, this is a definitive record for the 90s and a great introduction to the world of Fiona Apple.

Essential picks: Fast As You Can, Limp, On the Bound, Paper Bag (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 2
Rating:  
85/100
From 06/30/2022 17:39 | #286892
This album is more complex than Tidal I think for its rhythms. This album is great. Love the instrumentals on this album. I only know her first two albums but I should be hearing her other stuff. So far I am impressed with her music
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 0
Rating:  
85/100
From 02/05/2022 04:14 | #280768
85

When the Pawn... Tan solo el segundo album de Fiona Apple y ya demuestra el tema principal de sus canciones: la obsesión amorosa. Tiene un buen catálogo de canciones, entre las que sobresaltan Paper Bag, On the Bound y Fast As You Can, que tienen merecidas sus estrellas en este sitio web. Es un serio competidor al título de mejor disco de Fiona Apple junto con The Idler Wheel. Simplemente genial.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 0
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