Glassworks
by Philip Glass

Glassworks by Philip Glass
Year: 1982
Release date: 1982-03-27
Overall rank: 1,780th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 171 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1982 (24th)
Award Top albums of of the 1980s (267th)
Award Best albums of all time (1,780th)

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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 (1,780th)
Glassworks
Lower ranked (1,990th) »
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 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Average Rating: 85 (50 votes)Comments: View 0

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Glassworks rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 1,780th | 1980s rank: 267th | 1982 rank: 24th

Glassworks collection

Glassworks ratings

Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 171 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 171 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
100/100
 !
07/06/2026 23:48 BrianBoehm  Ratings distribution  8794/100
 
100/100
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04/25/2026 22:27 Robert Anton Wil  Ratings distribution  1,14984/100
 
80/100
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03/10/2026 12:15 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  14,57670/100
 
85/100
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02/16/2026 22:12 alexandermause  Ratings distribution  1,58786/100
 
100/100
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01/20/2026 08:13 Leschoses  Ratings distribution  10585/100

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 82.0/100, a mean average of 81.8/100, 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 |
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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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