Lifes Rich Pageant
by R.E.M.
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R.E.M. bestography
Lifes Rich Pageant is ranked 6th best out of 36 albums by R.E.M. on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by R.E.M. is Automatic For The People which is ranked number 45 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 18,587.
(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 Lifes Rich Pageant on YouTube
Lifes Rich Pageant track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Lifes Rich Pageant 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 | matterhornrider | Top 101-200 Greatest Music Albums | 72/100 | - |
| 2026 |  ExTeaSea | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 13/100 | 18 |
| 2026 |  Purplepash | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 88/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | blueandthemoon | Top 24 Music Albums of 1986 | 3/24 | 5 |
| 2026 |  Leonard | Top 100 Music Albums of 1986 | 19/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | saltysurprise | Top 52 Music Albums of 1986 | 23/52 | 3 |
| 2026 | culwin | Top 59 Music Albums of 1986 | 13/59 | 4 |
| 2026 | pjr428 | Top 31 Music Albums of 1986 | 25/31 | 1 |
| 2026 |  Romanelli | My Overall Chart: 601-700 | 70/100 | - |
| 2026 | LittleM1971 | Greatest Music Albums: 501-600 | 20/100 | - |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 527 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 3,435 | |||
Lifes Rich Pageant collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 426 members
Lifes Rich Pageant 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 770 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 07/27/2026 01:27 | xhitmanx | 1,604 | 75/100 |
| ! | 07/26/2026 19:38 |  flamingyesdept | 2,944 | 77/100 |
| ! | 07/23/2026 02:19 | stryker700 | 295 | 90/100 |
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 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 79.6/100, a mean average of 78.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.3.
Lifes Rich Pageant favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 129 members
Forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 13 hours ago in Chart of the day (#5435): By flamingyesdept BestEverAlbums 09/07/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5428): By ExTeaSea BestEverAlbums 09/01/2026 16:00 in Monthly overall chart movementsLifes Rich Pageant 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)
HoldenM 03/24/2025 00:41 | #308167
Much better on re-listen. I'm just so much more used to this band and there's less pressure on them from me to blow me away like I was hoping they would. Really special. (Edited)
Starts as finishes as well as anything REM have ever done.
Actually scrub that, starts and ends as good as anything ever. Starting with Hyena though is a run of less spectacular material before the return to greatness of Swan and Superman.
A definite evolution from the more ‘college’ sound of their first 3 albums. (Edited)
Solid R.E.M. album showing college rock shifting from sound similar to jangle pop to something more original with punk flavour. A lot of beautiful lyrics from more rebellious ones on first couple tracks to more poetic ones like Swan Swan H which is one of my favorites here. I also really love Fall On Me, Cuyahoga, I Believe ane Begin The Begin. (Edited)
Jboy56 03/30/2022 18:03 | #283612
I Like this better than almost any other REM album. (Edited)
teague 08/24/2021 22:35 | #272806
This is where they really found their sound. Undeniably R.E.M. (Edited)
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