The Ascension
by Sufjan Stevens
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Sufjan Stevens bestography
The Ascension is ranked 7th best out of 34 albums by Sufjan Stevens on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Sufjan Stevens is Illinois which is ranked number 43 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 19,309.
(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 The Ascension on YouTube
The Ascension track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
The Ascension rankings
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 3 hours ago).
Rhyner
flamingyesdept
Purplepash
videoheadcleaner
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Kalos
ExTeaSeaThe Ascension collection
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The Ascension 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 300 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 07/28/2026 16:39 |  Tamthebam | 23,146 | 69/100 |
| ! | 05/05/2026 19:41 | ecocruzr | 143 | 68/100 |
| ! | 05/02/2026 14:52 | TonySayers61 | 25,141 | 64/100 |
| ! | 03/28/2026 21:47 | Rivera | 2,047 | 82/100 |
| ! | 03/25/2026 10:26 | Exist-en-ciel | 15,327 | 70/100 |
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 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.9/100, a mean average of 75.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.3.
The Ascension favourites
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The Ascension comments
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imimesis 01/26/2025 02:06 | #307220
Sufjan at his absolute most hypnotic, transcendental, confessional, introverted, aspie self as only Sufjan can do. Not his best record, but there are a good handful of absolute bangers: Sugar, Run Away with Me, Landslide, Tell Me You Love Me, Video Game, and then leaving us with the two epic tracks to close it all out.
lleon79 06/08/2022 01:02 | #286100
I've been listening to this album again ever since those first months after release, and I must say I no longer connect with it that much that I consider it to be a 10/10 (I think my emotional state around that time contributed to my attachment to the themes and sounds on this), but I still think it's a very good record.
VictorVale 04/05/2022 17:53 | #283842
Uso extraordinário dos elementos eletrônicos!
Interesting project but lacks consistency in my opinion, its a good album with good production but Sufjan can do it better as we know
Some mixing issues here and there. Best example of that is in the song "Death Star" - those high-pitched bells kind of hurt in the ears XD
mdbaxter 01/08/2021 20:15 | #264052
Not for me. The lyrics are ok but I don't find anything else very appealing. There are a few moments that I find compelling but for the most part I didn't enjoy this.
pjohnsongolf 12/24/2020 23:59 | #263167 | TOP COMMENT
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This is a very good album! Sufjan is a very talented lyricist and musician no matter what genre he does. I do feel like this album is a bit too long for me or else my rating would be higher.
America is the best song I’ve heard in 2020
9/10
I feel torn. On the one hand beautiful songs, on the other hand experimental sound constructs. Highlight: Sugar
Good album by Sufjan, there is much material for me to digest but some incredibly catchy and memorable moments particularly at the end of the record.
One word. Talent. Another cracking record from Sufjan. Love the electronic layering. Some of it is almost too hypnotic.
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