The Fine Art Of Surfacing (studio album)
by The Boomtown Rats

The Fine Art Of Surfacing by The Boomtown Rats
Year: 1979
Overall rank: 3,983rd   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 73 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1979 (67th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (683rd)
Award Best albums of all time (3,983rd)

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Availability

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Boomtown Rats The Fine Art of Surfacing with Bonus Track From Japan CD 15tracks
Condition: Brand New


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The Boomtown Rats The Fine Art Of Surfacing Record 1979 Columbia 8 track
Condition: Very Good


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The Boomtown Rats The Fine Art Of Surfacing vinyl LP
Condition: Used


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The Boomtown Rats bestography

The Fine Art Of Surfacing is ranked as the best album by The Boomtown Rats.

The Boomtown Rats album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (3,983rd)
The Fine Art Of Surfacing
Lower ranked (6,609th) »
A Tonic For The Troops

(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
05
Fri
19:30
ALT AZ Ugly Sweater Xmas Show w/ ROME
Marquee Theatre, Tempe, United States. United States
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Nov
22
Sat
20:00
A.J. Croce Presents CROCE PLAYS CROCE
Caesars Atlantic City, Atlantic City, United States. United States
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Dec
31
Wed
20:30
Lettuce
The Bellwether, Los Angeles, United States. United States
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The Fine Art Of Surfacing track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track
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2.
Rating: 81 (25 votes)Comments: View 1
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8.
Rating: 79 (17 votes)Comments: View 0
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9.
Rating: 79 (18 votes)Comments: View 0
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Track pick Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

The Fine Art Of Surfacing rankings

The Fine Art Of Surfacing collection

The Fine Art Of Surfacing ratings

Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 73 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 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 73 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 Report rating
09/23/2025 01:20 MadhattanJack  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 5,20165/100
 
65/100
 Report rating
08/24/2025 14:58 Imaybeparanoid  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 7,28271/100
 
100/100
 Report rating
07/13/2025 17:16 rfowler  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 44385/100
 
15/100
 Report rating
03/10/2025 13:36 Squonk007  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 70224/100
 
75/100
 Report rating
08/20/2024 10:30 Tamthebam  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 22,77069/100

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 4% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.7/100, a mean average of 75.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.2.

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The Fine Art Of Surfacing favourites

Showing all 10 members who have added this album as a favourite

The Fine Art Of Surfacing comments

Showing all 3 comments |
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Rating:  
70/100
From 08/08/2020 10:01
Some rats albums were horrendous but I liked this one. The production from Visconti raises it above others as well as a handful of great tunes. 'Someone's looking at you' excels in this regard. Great guitar sound and keyboards.
#256814 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 01/04/2015 20:59
Smart, dark (but not humorless) rock songs featuring the narrative enthusiasm of Bob Geldof's singing, the superb piano/synth playing of Johnny Fingers, the consistently outstanding drumming of Simon Crowe, brattily fun backup vocals, and the best detail-oriented rock production I've ever heard.
#130828 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 10/29/2014 04:23
Wore this record out a long time ago...Good dance parties, good memories.
Sounds a little dated now
#125677 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1979
1. London Calling by The Clash
2. The Wall by Pink Floyd
3. Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division
4. Fear Of Music by Talking Heads
5. Off The Wall by Michael Jackson
6. Entertainment! by Gang Of Four
7. Breakfast In America by Supertramp
8. Rust Never Sleeps by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
9. Highway To Hell by AC/DC
10. Reggatta De Blanc by The Police
11. Tusk by Fleetwood Mac
12. Damn The Torpedoes by Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers
13. Ambient 1: Music For Airports by Brian Eno
14. Metal Box by Public Image Ltd.
15. The B-52's by The B-52's
16. Armed Forces by Elvis Costello And The Attractions
17. Specials by The Specials
18. 154 by Wire
19. Singles Going Steady by Buzzcocks
20. Setting Sons by The Jam
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