Big Science
by Laurie Anderson
Log in or create an account to rate this album, leave comments or join the discussion.
Listen & Collect
Complete your collection or upgrade your listening experience.
Laurie Anderson bestography
Big Science is ranked as the best album by Laurie Anderson.
(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 Big Science on YouTube
Loading content from YouTube...
Big Science track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 79 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
#
Track
Rating/Comments
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Big Science rankings
Big Science rankings summary
Overall rank: 1,146th | 1980s rank: 176th | 1982 rank: 17th Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 1 hour ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Skerns | Top 85 Music Albums of 1982 | 15/85 | 4 |
| 2026 | Juneof44 | Top 50 Music Albums of 1982 | 28/50 | 2 |
| 2026 |  ExTeaSea | Top 82 Music Albums of 1982 | 1/82 | 5 |
| 2026 |  Helios | Top 90 Music Albums of 1982 | 25/90 | 4 |
| 2026 | daCritic | Top 25 Music Albums of 1982 | 3/25 | 5 |
| 2026 |  Leonard | Top 100 Music Albums of 1982 | 6/100 | 5 |
| 2026 |  sssvnnn | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 41/100 | 12 |
| 2026 |  ERadio | Top 55 Music Albums of 1982 | 34/55 | 2 |
| 2026 | ExTeaSea | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 69/100 | 31 |
| 2026 | pjerske | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 73/100 | 6 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 245 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 1,532 | |||
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!
Big Science collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 88 members
Big Science 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 235 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 05/22/2026 04:24 | brent13 | 2,179 | 66/100 |
| ! | 05/07/2026 23:44 |  cestuneblague | 8,261 | 80/100 |
| ! | 03/01/2026 17:17 | Leonard | 6,619 | 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 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.1/100, a mean average of 77.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.7.
Please log in or create an account if you want to be able to leave a rating
Big Science favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 35 members
Big Science forum mentions
This album has been referenced 86 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From 
BestEverAlbums 09/14/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5435): By flamingyesdept
BestEverAlbums 09/14/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5435): By flamingyesdept“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by flamingyesdept () 1. by (1980) 2. by (1986) 3. by (1985) 4. by (1984) 6. by (1983) 8. by (1985) 9. (1986) 10. by (1988) 11. (1980) 12. by (1988) 13. (1984) 14. by (1982) 15. by by by (1989) 18. (1980) 19. (1989) 20. by (1985) 22. by…”
View forum post →From BestEverAlbums 09/07/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5428): By ExTeaSea
BestEverAlbums 09/07/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5428): By ExTeaSea“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by ExTeaSea () 1. by by (1982) 3. by (1980) 4. (1981) 5. by (1981) 6. by by (1981) 8. by (1980) 9. by by (1985) 11. by (1983) 12. by (1987) 13. by (1986) 15. by (1988) 16. (1986) 17. by by (1982) 20. (1982) 21. by by by by by (1981) 27. by…”
View forum post →From BestEverAlbums 08/16/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5406): By skrapoel
BestEverAlbums 08/16/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5406): By skrapoel“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by skrapoel () 1. by (2000) 2. by (1980) 3. by (1982) 4. by (1982) 5. by by (1989) 8. by (1977) 10. by (1985) 11. by (1982) 12. by (1981) 13. by (1986) 14. by (2005) 15. by by (2000) 17. by (2002) 18. (2005) 19. by (1996) 21. by (2010) 22. by…”
View forum post →Big Science comments
Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 10 comments |
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
From
dividesbyzero 02/28/2014 19:30 | #104848 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Laurie Anderson is not just a musician, but also a performance artist. Now, while I have no trouble defending the music on Big Science, I am well aware that it was originally presented (and arguably is meant to be presented) as a full performance piece, with the music only being a portion. Just to clarify, Big Science makes it onto my list purely by the merit of its music, and not any performance art with which it is associated. Now as for the music in question, holy shit. I mean like seriously. Minimalist and monochrome sure, and with a shit-ton of spoken word samples, but emotionally evocative and deeply unsettling in equal proportion as well. Laurie Anderson, with the hi-tech tools at her disposal, can engender the height of emotional response from the listener with the fewest possible compositional pieces by arranging them in a way that is "perfect", by the merit of it feeling slightly off-kilter, just enough so that even the most non-musical pieces become memorable (Edited)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 4
From
hairymarx1 TOP 100 COMMENTER 07/31/2011 17:38 | #25361 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
This avant-garde classic is essentially a subtle exploration of the banality of the mechanized consumer society charateristic of the modern metropolis.The songs are sketches of life within an ordered society - slow, repetitive and colloquial, halfway between the hypnotic and the dreamlike. Layers of filtered vocals, spoken more than sung, hint at a future without emotion or feeling. (Edited)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 5
From
timtooky 03/31/2014 18:27 | #108193 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
timtooky 03/31/2014 18:27 | #108193 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
without the background history and the total packet of the art performance the muusic appears exotic, strange and annoying. not my cup of tea.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 3
From
ExTeaSea TOP 100 COMMENTER 08/26/2018 15:31 | #220122 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
ExTeaSea TOP 100 COMMENTER 08/26/2018 15:31 | #220122 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Took me a few listens to completely appreciate this strangely beautiful album. First listen I'm all like what the heck am I listening to? Haha but now I love it's uniqueness and charm.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 1
From
garycottier TOP 100 COMMENTER 06/22/2016 16:22 | #169476 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
A quirky little album. Big science, is full of brilliant little stories and characters. It's amazing to think what a massive hit, oh superman, was, considering it's not exactly chart material. It's all lovely and atmospheric. Still, totally unique.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 0
What do you think of this album? Join the conversation!.
The top-voted comments get featured on our charts, Album of the Day, and the site newsletter.
The top-voted comments get featured on our charts, Album of the Day, and the site newsletter.
Log in or create an account to rate this album, leave comments or join the discussion.
