Earthling (studio album)
by David Bowie

Earthling by David Bowie
Year: 1997
Overall rank: 3,582nd   
Average Rating: 
71/100 (from 309 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1997 (57th)
Award Top albums of the 1990s (599th)
Award Best albums of all time (3,582nd)

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Product Details
Availability

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David Bowie Earthling CD 1996 Virgin Records
Condition: Very Good


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David Bowie Earthling CD Virgin 1997 Alternative Rock Electronic NEW + SEALED
Condition: Brand New


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David Bowie - Earthling (2021 Remaster) [New Vinyl LP] Rmst
Condition: New


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David Bowie bestography

Earthling is ranked 19th best out of 94 albums by David Bowie on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by David Bowie is The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars which is ranked number 7 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 43,596.

David Bowie album bestography « Higher ranked (3,024th)
Reality
This album (3,582nd)
Earthling
Lower ranked (5,538th) »
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(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

Dec
14
Sun
12:00
The Rock and Roll Playhouse plays Music of David Bowie & More For Kids
The Showbox, Seattle, United States. United States
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Jan
08
Thu
19:30
David Bowie Birthday Bash ft. The True Believers
SPACE, Evanston, United States. United States
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Jan
11
Sun
09:45
SCHOOL OF ROCK SEATTLE presents: Best of the 2010's / David Bowie / The Clash
The Crocodile, Seattle, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
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Earthling track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Average Rating: 82 (71 votes)Comments: View 1
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2.
Average Rating: 78 (53 votes)Comments: View 1
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4.
Average Rating: 80 (56 votes)Comments: View 1
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5.
Average Rating: 78 (53 votes)Comments: View 1
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6.
Average Rating: 77 (53 votes)Comments: View 0
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8.
Average Rating: 84 (94 votes)Comments: View 0
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9.
Average Rating: 74 (47 votes)Comments: View 0
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Earthling rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 3,582nd | 1990s rank: 599th | 1997 rank: 57th

Earthling collection

Earthling ratings

Average Rating: 
71/100 (from 309 votes)
   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 309 ratings for this album.

Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
100/100
 !
5 days ago Kingturtle   7,08173/100
 
70/100
 !
12/03/2025 23:33 DommeDamian   7,29149/100
 
65/100
 !
11/19/2025 16:46 Juneof44   2,55069/100
 
95/100
 !
11/12/2025 22:53 NYAndreas   1,43243/100
 
60/100
 !
11/09/2025 14:45 Deckiller   86076/100

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 has a Bayesian average rating of 71.3/100, a mean average of 70.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 71.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.3.

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Earthling comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 22 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:  
75/100
From 10/03/2025 14:41 | #311184
Best tracks: I'm Afraid of Americans, Little Wonder, Dead Man Walking.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/16/2025 16:54 | #307052
Be it because I'm afraid of Americans too, it is a grat album, one of my favourites. I particularly like the sound: I feel it synthetic with shades of metal. I miss this artist, he was full of surprises
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 09/29/2022 02:29 | #290036
This is AT LEAST a 9.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 09/17/2022 05:34 | #289723
This Album ahs his highs and downs but very interesting piece of art and industrial rock from the GOAT
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
65/100
From 01/10/2021 08:00 | #264132
I too am afraid of Americans. Solid record, basically it's if David Bowie sung over NIN instrumentals.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 01/08/2021 14:55 | #264035
Not my favorite Bowie' album, but definitely a very interesting one with highlights such as "Little Wwonder" and "Dea Man Walking". The combination of electronic elements with hard rocking guitars makes this an innovative album
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
60/100
From 05/11/2020 10:13 | #251284
This to me is proof of the man's genius. Its by no means a great album, but for a 50 year old man to not only record a drum'n'bass album, but actually do a decent job shows how remarkable he was.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 12/31/2019 19:02 | #246257
Interesting experiment.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 06/01/2018 11:06 | #215869
A 50 year old David introduces some drum & bass elements, prompting a predictable ageist & crass negative response from many "open-minded" music followers and critics.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 03/11/2018 01:01 | #210618
This is actualy a kinda interesting album, it should definitely be I little higher in his discog
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1997
1. OK Computer by Radiohead
2. Homogenic by Björk
3. Either/Or by Elliott Smith
4. The Lonesome Crowded West by Modest Mouse
5. F♯ A♯ ∞ [F-Sharp, A-Sharp, Infinity] by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
6. Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space by Spiritualized®
7. Perfect From Now On by Built To Spill
8. Urban Hymns by The Verve
9. The Colour And The Shape by Foo Fighters
10. The Boatman's Call by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
11. I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One by Yo La Tengo
12. The Fat Of The Land by The Prodigy
13. The Mollusk by Ween
14. Blur by Blur
15. Buena Vista Social Club by Buena Vista Social Club
16. Time Out Of Mind by Bob Dylan
17. Homework by Daft Punk
18. Third Eye Blind by Third Eye Blind
19. Mogwai Young Team by Mogwai
20. Dots And Loops by Stereolab
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