Sound Affects
by The Jam

Sound Affects by The Jam
Year: 1980
Release date: 1980-11-28
Overall rank: 940th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 393 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1980 (19th)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (143rd)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (940th)

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The Jam - Sound Affects (CD)
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The Jam bestography

Sound Affects is ranked 2nd best out of 21 albums by The Jam on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by The Jam is All Mod Cons which is ranked number 744 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 2,321.

The Jam album bestography « Higher ranked (744th)
All Mod Cons
This album (940th)
Sound Affects
Lower ranked (1,018th) »
Setting Sons

(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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Sound Affects rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 940th | 1980s rank: 143rd | 1980 rank: 19th

Sound Affects collection

Sound Affects ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 393 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 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 393 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 
5 days ago Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  8,04670/100
 
80/100
 
02/28/2026 17:43 DaveH68  Ratings distribution  1,36376/100
 
70/100
 
02/17/2026 11:27 Crunchybuzz  Ratings distribution  1746/100
 
90/100
 
01/07/2026 19:07 g11g12  Ratings distribution  478/100
 
60/100
 
12/05/2025 20:10 Jakor  Ratings distribution  5,25368/100

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 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.4/100, a mean average of 77.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.4.

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Sound Affects comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 16 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Rating:  
40/100
From 02/28/2024 22:52 | #302289
Pleasant enough and there's nothing offensive here, but That's Entertainment is the only standout track
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 12/28/2022 10:04 | #292279
My favourite album by The Jam. They still retain their classic sound from All Mod Cons and Setting Sons but Weller is starting to move on to slightly different styles
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
55/100
From 08/30/2022 15:21 | #289036
A nothing album that feels so empty for the majority of the run time. This is mainly due to the ridiculous number of filler tracks present on here. I think you could cut 7 to 8 songs on here and they would not be missed at all. There are a couple of decent songs which are catchy and then you have one amazing track in That's Entertainment which saves this album from being bad. Every song sounds the same and by the end this repetition just gets so boring that it makes me want to just switch off the record. There doesn't seem to be much experimentation or uniqueness and I feel like I have heard several albums like this before so this just blends into the crowd. Overall, after the several listens I have given this record I have no desire to come back anymore and for some reason this album just doesn't resonate with me at all.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 08/01/2022 18:00 | #288049
This album is mixed bag, there are ones of their best like Set The House Ablaze and That's Entertainment, but there are some filler ones as well.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 12/02/2021 13:50 | #276970
decent material. good melodies and song construction. enjoyable soft punk or new wave sound
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 08/08/2020 06:30 | #256808
My top jam Album. Great production, crashing treble zing guitars, shown as recording them surrounded by corrugated steel sheets. High quality tunes with great skill in song crafting on show.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 10/17/2019 18:29 | #243856
Fantastic album. Their best, in my opinion.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 08/19/2019 18:07 | #241402
One of three classic Jam albums, maybe not as immediate as All Mod Cons and Setting Sons but gets better and and better with repeated listens
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 07/23/2019 18:26 | #240255
Favorite Tracks:But I'm Different Now, Set The House Ablaze, Boy About Town
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 09/16/2018 20:00 | #221180
The Jam mastered their sound on this album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1980
1. Remain In Light by Talking Heads
2. Closer by Joy Division
3. Back In Black by AC/DC
4. Scary Monsters by David Bowie
5. Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables by Dead Kennedys
6. Peter Gabriel (1980) by Peter Gabriel
7. The River by Bruce Springsteen
8. Permanent Waves by Rush
9. Pretenders by Pretenders
10. Seventeen Seconds by The Cure
11. Making Movies by Dire Straits
12. Crazy Rhythms by The Feelies
13. Sandinista! by The Clash
14. Ace Of Spades by Motörhead
15. Boy by U2
16. Heaven And Hell by Black Sabbath
17. Dirty Mind by Prince
18. Gaucho by Steely Dan
19. Sound Affects by The Jam
20. Get Happy!! by Elvis Costello And The Attractions
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