Glassworks
by Philip Glass

Glassworks by Philip Glass
Year: 1982
Release date: 1982-03-27
Overall rank: 1,811th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 172 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1982 (25th)
Award Top albums of of the 1980s (274th)
Award Best albums of all time (1,811th)

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Philip Glass bestography

Glassworks is ranked as the best album by Philip Glass.

Philip Glass album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (1,811th)
Glassworks
Lower ranked (2,007th) »
Koyaanisqatsi

(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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Glassworks track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Track pick (850 - 51 votes)
Average Rating: 85 (51 votes)Comments: View 0

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Glassworks rankings

Glassworks rankings summary
Overall rank: 1,811th | 1980s rank: 274th | 1982 rank: 25th  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: 2 hours ago)
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 RepoTop 100 Music Albums of 198293/1000
2026 RockyRaccoonTop 50 Music Albums of 19828/504
2026 ssteveTop 25 Music Albums of 19823/255
2026HyggevinylTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s77/1005
2026 RhynerTop 20 Music Albums of 198217/201
2026cicadelicTop 100 Music Albums of 19826/1005
2026 HaydenTop 50 Music Albums of 19823/505
2026Juneof44Top 50 Music Albums of 198245/501
2026Exist-en-cielTop 100 Music Albums of 19828/1005
2026 dihansseTop 64 Music Albums of 198244/642
2026 TamthebamTop 100 Music Albums of 198251/1003
2026Steppenwolf666Top 100 Music Albums of 198274/1001
2026JohnnyoAlbums of the year 1982 by Ultimate Record Collector40/54 -
2026cicadelicTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s84/1003
2026 Robert Anton WilsonTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s41/10012
2026juanr1096Top 56 Music Albums of 198210/564
2026 Patman360Top 98 Music Albums of 198272/981
2026SkernsTop 85 Music Albums of 198265/851
2026 HaydenTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s29/10014
2026Exist-en-cielTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s48/10011
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 149
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 939
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Glassworks collection

Glassworks ratings

Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 172 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 172 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
70/100
 !
17 hours ago scoob73  Ratings distribution  1,76771/100
 
100/100
 !
07/06/2026 23:48 BrianBoehm  Ratings distribution  8794/100
 
100/100
 !
04/25/2026 22:27 Robert Anton Wil  Ratings distribution  1,14984/100
 
80/100
 !
03/10/2026 12:15 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  15,47370/100
 
85/100
 !
02/16/2026 22:12 alexandermause  Ratings distribution  1,58786/100

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 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 81.9/100, a mean average of 81.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 82.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.6.


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Glassworks comments

Showing all 6 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)
Rating:  
90/100
A masterpiece of minimalism consisting of fractured orchestrations and kaleidoscopic melodies. Considering the relaxing nature of these pieces, it’s hard to keep up with them sometimes. Each movement serves as a perfect foil for the one before.
Rating: Excellent
Best track: Glassworks iii: Island
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
Philip Glass trying to create something "walkman-like" and knocking it out of the damn park
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
First heard this album in '83. Opening Flow becomes more
complex, more beautiful every time I listen. This is definitely #1 desert island choice for me. It's the greatest piece I've ever heard.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Amazing. It's so minimalist, but it's not just the same thing over and over again. There's enough change to make it really interesting. Philip Glass is the first classical composer I've listened to for fun, and I absolutely love him.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
Mesmerizing but the counterpoint stuff gets a bit overwhelming after a while... I feel it needs a bit of dynamic added to it by having some ambient tracks or something. Facades was kind of that, but a little late in the album. It's a very similar feel throughout the album. Rubric was impressive because it was more electronic, and I love sax.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
50/100
From 03/31/2014 14:48 | #108171
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Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -3 votes (0 helpful | 3 unhelpful)

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