Brilliant Corners
by Thelonious Monk

Album
Brilliant Corners by Thelonious Monk
Year: 1957
Overall rank: 579th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
81/100 (from 389 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 5 albums of 1957 (2nd)
Award Top 20 albums of of the 1950s (12th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (579th)

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Thelonious Monk bestography

Brilliant Corners is ranked as the best album by Thelonious Monk.

Thelonious Monk album bestography « Higher ranked
- This album (579th)
Brilliant Corners Lower ranked (1,688th) »
Monk's Dream

(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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Brilliant Corners track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 84 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Brilliant Corners
Average Rating: 83 (82 votes)Comments: View 0
2.
Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are
Average Rating: 84 (80 votes)Comments: View 0
3.
Pannonica
Average Rating: 84 (81 votes)Comments: View 2
4.
I Surrender, Dear
Average Rating: 83 (77 votes)Comments: View 1
5.
Track pick (850 - 79 votes)
Bemsha Swing
Average Rating: 85 (79 votes)Comments: View 0

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

Brilliant Corners rankings

Brilliant Corners rankings summary
Overall rank: 579th | 1950s rank: 12th | 1957 rank: 2nd  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)

Brilliant Corners collection

Brilliant Corners ratings

Average Rating: 
81/100 (from 389 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 389 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
95/100
 !		08/27/2026 16:50 HoldenM  Ratings distribution  1,89284/100
 
100/100
 !		06/28/2026 14:35 DrunkenDadGaming  Ratings distribution  4573/100
 
80/100
 !		01/31/2026 20:29 sweetness  Ratings distribution  1,12779/100

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 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.


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Brilliant Corners favourites

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Brilliant Corners forum mentions

This album has been referenced 77 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From BestEverAlbums 09/10/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5431): By Amirkhosro
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Amirkhosro () 1. by (1965) 2. by (1967) 3. by by (1970) 5. (2002) 6. by (1959) 7. (1966) 8. by by (1976) 10. by by (1968) 12. by (1959) 13. by (1959) 14. (1977) 16. by (1998) 18. by by (1989) 20. by (1998) 21. by (1962) 23. by (1980) 24. by…”
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From BestEverAlbums 06/30/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5359): By PurpleHazel
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by ) 1. by (1963) 2. by (1970) 3. by (1965) 4. (1973) 5. by (2005) 6. (1966) 7. by by (1969) 9. (1974) 10. by (1977) 11. by (1985) 12. by (1983) 13. by (1972) 14. by (1969) 15. by (2013) 16. by (1971) 17. (1968) 18. (1958) 19. by (1967) 20. by…”
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From BestEverAlbums 12/01/2025 17:03 in Monthly overall chart movements
“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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Brilliant Corners comments

Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 12 comments |
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Rating:  
95/100
From 08/27/2026 16:50 | #315843
Brilliant Corners is right!
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Reply
Rating:  
80/100
From 05/10/2022 23:36 | #285200 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
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.
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Rating:  
85/100
From 04/24/2022 12:49 | #284570
Beautiful jazz compositions.
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Rating:  
80/100
From 11/11/2021 13:17 | #276151
Definitely less "experimental" and more approachable than other Monk, the melodies are really divine.
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Rating:  
85/100
From 10/25/2020 20:05 | #259781
Sem medo de ousar e assustando ouvintes Thelonious brilha como nunca!
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Best Albums of  1957
1. Here's Little Richard by Little Richard
2. Brilliant Corners by Thelonious Monk
3. The "Chirping" Crickets by The Crickets
4. Saxophone Colossus by Sonny Rollins
5. Birth Of The Cool by Miles Davis
6. 'Round About Midnight by Miles Davis
7. With His Hot And Blue Guitar by Johnny Cash
8. After School Session by Chuck Berry
9. Ray Charles by Ray Charles
10. Cookin' With The Miles Davis Quintet by Miles Davis Quintet