The Pretender (studio album)
by Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne bestography
The Pretender is ranked 3rd best out of 19 albums by Jackson Browne on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Jackson Browne is Running On Empty which is ranked number 2013 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 819.
(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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The Pretender track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
The Pretender rankings
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The Pretender 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 143 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 12/27/2025 05:27 | Exist-en-ciel | 4,830 | 70/100 |
| ! | 09/17/2025 19:36 |  dihansse | 6,224 | 75/100 |
| ! | 07/21/2025 14:40 | RemainInLight | 3,152 | 36/100 |
| ! | 06/03/2025 19:15 |  Norman Bates | 9,971 | 75/100 |
| ! | 05/29/2025 15:06 | Cyrax | 1,765 | 61/100 |
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 15% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 74.2/100, a mean average of 73.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.0.
The Pretender favourites
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The Pretender comments
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Possibly Jackson Browne's greatest album. Chock-full of great, wistful songwriting and beautiful piano, guitar, and orchestration. Starts and finishes with the two best songs on the record (The Fuse, title track) and has lots of excellent moments in between (Your Bright Baby Blues, Here Come Those Tears Again, The Only Child, etc.). In having listened to Browne's classic period albums, this is the one to resonate with me most on first listen.
Album Rating: 70.13
(561/8)
1.The Fuse. 69
2.Your Bright Baby Blues. 69
3.Linda Paloma. 67
4.Here Come Those Tears Again. 68
5.The Only Child. 66
6.Daddy's Tune. 68
7.Sleep's Dark And Silent Gate. 77
8.The Pretender. 77
VictorVale 02/04/2022 15:51 | #280717
Muito radiofônico e isso é uma crítica positiva!
A great record from Jackson Browne during his peak. The Pretender comes at a key point in his career since his wife had killed herself prior to this album's release. His former mother in law gets a writing credit with Browne on the album's highest charting single Here Come Those Tears Again, which is one of the album's strongest tracks. The title track has stood the test of time and is among Browne's best songs and one of the best songs of the era. Linda Paloma is a real outlier on this album and brings it down a bit. I don't completely hate the song but it doesn't really belong on the record. Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate is gold among the deep cuts.
Not in the same class as, Late for the sky, but pleasant enough. Good, competent country/rock. Nothing less, nothing more.
poppmusic 04/24/2017 05:07 | #189745
This album could have been as good as "Automatic for the People" (that's the first thing that comes to mind in terms of mood). Alas, it is not. But it has it's moments (the underrated "Your Bright Baby Blues" being the high point). Love many of the songs lyrically but it is just over-produced at key moments. And "Linda Paloma" is just offensively stupid, unfortunately.
Absolutely fantastic album. I'm really surprised how unpopular Jackson Browne is on this site. This album is just as good as Late For The Sky. Every song is based around ingenius lyrics. Linda Paloma tends to take some flak compared to the rest of the songs, but it's supposed to have a mexican kind of vibe to it, which relates to the lyrics of the song.
I used to love this record. Once in a while I give it a spin and still enjoy it. The title track is the best cut.
swhaze 12/29/2014 15:40 | #130363
I'd only heard Jackson Brown's hits before this, and I like those a lot. I hadn't realized that many of his songs have what I would call minimal music, with the main thrust being in the lyrics.
This is perfect collection of songs with the exception of Linda Paloma. Otherwise listen to a Great artist with superb guitarbacking by David Lindley and Lowell George on some tracks.
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