Before We Were Born
by Bill Frisell

Album
Before We Were Born by Bill Frisell
Year: 1989
Overall rank: 15,869th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
76/100 (from 13 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1989 (220th)
Award Top albums of of the 1980s (2,124th)
Award Best albums of all time (15,869th)

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Bill Frisell bestography

Before We Were Born is ranked 4th best out of 37 albums by Bill Frisell on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Bill Frisell is Have A Little Faith which is ranked number 11130 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 108.

Bill Frisell album bestography « Higher ranked (12,697th)
History, Mystery This album (15,869th)
Before We Were Born Lower ranked (17,662nd) »
This Land

(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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Before We Were Born rankings

Before We Were Born rankings summary
Overall rank: 15,869th | 1980s rank: 2,124th | 1989 rank: 220th  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: 5 hours ago)

Before We Were Born collection

Showing all 2 members who have this album in their collection

jnmayles
PurpleHazel

Before We Were Born ratings

Average Rating: 
76/100 (from 13 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 13 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 !		12/06/2025 00:41 Skerns  Ratings distribution  5,21180/100
 
95/100
 !		11/29/2025 00:47 Kingturtle  Ratings distribution  7,57973/100
 
60/100
 !		09/18/2024 18:34 TonySayers61  Ratings distribution  25,65564/100

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 6% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.7/100, a mean average of 78.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 9.7.


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Before We Were Born favourites

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PurpleHazel

Before We Were Born forum mentions

This album has been referenced 3 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
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 NoisyBeast 09/23/2017 16:47 in What album are you listening to right now?
“What album are you listening to right now?”
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From Anonymous 02/03/2017 19:47 in Albums You Added To Your Collection Today
“Dropped in to End of an Ear and found out that they recently purchased a collection with tastes very aligned with mine. Ended up dropping a fifth of a month's pay but I've never been so excited about what I've picked up. I don't even think any of these have repressings; all original. Steve Lacy/Mal…”
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Before We Were Born comments

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Best Albums of  1989
1. Doolittle by Pixies
2. Disintegration by The Cure
3. The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses
4. Paul's Boutique by Beastie Boys
5. 3 Feet High And Rising by De La Soul
6. On Fire by Galaxie 500
7. Bleach by Nirvana
8. Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails
9. Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty
10. New York by Lou Reed