Glassworks
by Philip Glass
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Philip Glass bestography
Glassworks is ranked as the best album by Philip Glass.
(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 Glassworks on YouTube
Glassworks track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Glassworks rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Exist-en-ciel | Top 100 Music Albums of 1982 | 8/100 | 5 |
| 2026 | cicadelic | Top 100 Music Albums of 1982 | 6/100 | 5 |
| 2026 |  RockyRaccoon | Top 51 Music Albums of 1982 | 8/51 | 4 |
| 2026 |  Rhyner | Top 20 Music Albums of 1982 | 17/20 | 1 |
| 2026 |  dihansse | Top 65 Music Albums of 1982 | 45/65 | 2 |
| 2026 |  Repo | Top 100 Music Albums of 1982 | 93/100 | 0 |
| 2026 | Skerns | Top 85 Music Albums of 1982 | 64/85 | 1 |
| 2026 |  Patman360 | Top 99 Music Albums of 1982 | 73/99 | 1 |
| 2026 |  Robert Anton Wilson | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 41/100 | 12 |
| 2026 |  ssteve | Top 26 Music Albums of 1982 | 3/26 | 5 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 149 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 926 | |||
Glassworks collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 53 members
Glassworks 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 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 172 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 08/28/2026 06:56 | scoob73 | 1,769 | 71/100 |
| ! | 07/06/2026 23:48 | BrianBoehm | 87 | 94/100 |
| ! | 04/25/2026 22:27 | Robert Anton Wil | 1,149 | 84/100 |
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 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.
Glassworks favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 27 members
Glassworks forum mentions
neilgee 04/29/2021 15:26 in What album are you listening to right now?
RoundTheBend 06/25/2020 01:57 in An Idiot Listens to Western Music: Coll (2021)
jdenny2018 02/07/2019 17:39 in Another 'I'm in hospital again - rec me!'Glassworks comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
RoundTheBend TOP 100 COMMENTER 04/30/2016 03:49 | #164867 | TOP COMMENT
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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.
IanFrance 07/16/2021 22:32 | #271674 | TOP COMMENT
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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
Space-Dementia 07/01/2016 21:09 | #170285 | TOP COMMENT
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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.
timtooky 03/31/2014 14:48 | #108171 | TOP COMMENT
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I'm quite sure to remember that most of these enigmatic, sophisticated but mainly enjoyable compositions (i don't want to call them songs) occur in the movie koyaanisqatsi. wonderful (in parts hypnotic) music reminding me of j.s.bach and wagner. (Edited)
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.
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