Brilliant Corners
by Thelonious Monk
Listen & Collect
Complete your collection or upgrade your listening experience.
Thelonious Monk bestography
Brilliant Corners is ranked as the best album by Thelonious Monk.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Brilliant Corners on YouTube
Brilliant Corners track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 84 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Brilliant Corners rankings
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 3 hours ago).
junodog4
AAL2014
baystateoftheart
Patman360
videoheadcleaner
ExTeaSea
Helios
JR
neilgeeBrilliant Corners collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 167 members
Brilliant Corners 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 388 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/28/2026 14:35 | DrunkenDadGaming | 45 | 73/100 |
| ! | 01/31/2026 20:29 | sweetness | 1,127 | 79/100 |
| ! | 12/29/2025 01:41 | brent13 | 2,128 | 67/100 |
| ! | 12/21/2025 10:01 | Exist-en-ciel | 14,715 | 70/100 |
| ! | 12/05/2025 22:10 | Araldo | 1,472 | 80/100 |
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 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 81.0/100, a mean average of 79.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 81.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.6.
Brilliant Corners favourites
Showing latest 20 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 71 members
Brilliant Corners comments
Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 11 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First |
Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
The piano playing on this release is simply phenomenal and Monk commands this album right from the opening track. There is a lot of high quality content for us to dive into on here which starts right from the off with the best track on the album which is Brilliant Corners. The complexity of the song and the genius performances we are treated to are exceptional. What a way to start an album and it sets an example for the rest of the cuts to follow. No song manages to top it but a few come close. One of my favourites is the softer track Pannonica, I find myself getting drawn back to hear this over and over again. The percussion goes under rated as well and dominates songs like the closing track and elevates it to another level. Overall, a recording full of outstanding musical prowess with Monk firmly at the helm as he guides on an experience of jazz greatness.
Beautiful jazz compositions.
Definitely less "experimental" and more approachable than other Monk, the melodies are really divine.
VictorVale 10/25/2020 20:05 | #259781
Sem medo de ousar e assustando ouvintes Thelonious brilha como nunca!
2nd-Impressions 09/23/2020 21:00 | #258606
Aside from the title track, which on it's own is a pretty good recording, the record as a whole doesn't really speak to me. It might require another listen, but for now, it's simply a decent album.
Fischman 12/30/2018 14:47 | #228335 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
My favorite Monk; full of his melodic and harmonic inventiveness, yet highly listenable throughout the program.
Probably Thelonious Monk's greatest album. Superb music and excellent performances, brilliant corners, is as good as it's title suggests.
Brilliant is the perfect title for this record.
Space-Dementia 03/04/2016 02:10 | #161223 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
The core melodies of each song are great, but the solos go a little too much off track, in my opinion, to the point where you just want the solo to stop so the main melody can play again. That being said, it was still a fun listen and Monk is definitely a very talented musician.
A cornerstone record in any jazz collection.
Your feedback for Brilliant Corners
The top-voted comments get featured on our charts, Album of the Day, and the site newsletter.
