Garden Ruin
by Calexico
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Calexico bestography
Garden Ruin is ranked 7th best out of 20 albums by Calexico on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Calexico is Feast Of Wire which is ranked number 2727 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 579.
(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 Garden Ruin on YouTube
Garden Ruin track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 75 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Garden Ruin rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 7 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Juneof44 | Top 50 Music Albums of 2006 | 16/50 | 4 |
| 2026 | blueandthemoon | Top 100 Music Albums of 2006 | 33/100 | 3 |
| 2026 |  paladisiac | all-time fav arteests (pts) #196-290* | 4/95 | - |
| 2025 | Johnnyo | Top 77 Music Albums of 2006 | 52/77 | 2 |
| 2025 | paladisiac | top albums, #1501-1600* | 50/79 | - |
| 2025 | paladisiac | Top 100 Music Albums of 2006 | 16/100 | 4 |
| 2024 |  EyeKanFly | AM Bubbling Under 2000s 09 | 80/100 | - |
| 2024 |  buzzdainer | Top 83 Music Albums of 2006 | 3/83 | 5 |
| 2024 | paladisiac | 2000s, #101-200 | 94/100 | - |
| 2024 | cmoshier | Top 100 Music Albums of 2006 | 75/100 | 1 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 29 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 67 | |||
Garden Ruin collection
Showing all 19 members who have this album in their collection
Garden Ruin 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 38 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/29/2026 20:53 |  Milhaud | 2,149 | 71/100 |
| ! | 02/27/2026 17:28 | Map | 523 | 81/100 |
| ! | 12/31/2025 16:58 | EyeKanFly | 8,848 | 65/100 |
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 has a Bayesian average rating of 71.6/100, a mean average of 70.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 71.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 11.0.
Forum mentions
pedro1976 04/19/2025 06:44 in What album are you listening to? (cont.) pedro1976 03/03/2025 12:14 in What album are you listening to? (cont.) pedro1976 02/17/2025 14:09 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)Garden Ruin comments
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This is the less-Calexico record, an attempt to be more indie-pop.
The result is a solid album, but something is missing. (Edited)
buzzdainer 06/28/2016 16:32 | #170066
Something of a departure from the mariach-indie rock of Calexico's earlier recordings, Garden Ruin is, relatively speaking, a straightforward indie rock album. I think it works to their benefit, as this album really showcases their hard-hitting lyrics and driving Arizona rock sound. "Cruel" is the strongest track here, and indeed, probably the best of all their songs, period.
I really loved "All Systems Red," but the rest seemed to be pretty forgettable.
Simple music and ditties for the broken hearted. Should please some with its little charms. Can't see it becoming one of my favorite ever but it did gie pleasure for a while.
paladisiac 12/09/2011 22:13 | #49438
\"garden ruin\" is calexico\'s least-instrumental album (there are no instrumentals!), keeping the same latin-inflected musicianship they\'ve become known for, focusing more on song than orchestrating songs. Garden Ruin is probably the most pop-accessible. I call this alt-mariachi. I agree with allmusic.com that they\'ve moved more into wilco or iron&wine territory on this album, incorporating more \"pop\" elements into their music. On \"cruel\", with trademark calexico horns, the world\'s so cruel that \"Birds refuse to fly / No longer trust the sky / Drifting out beyond the signals / Even the horizon is gone / Weather flees underground\". \"bisbee blue\"\'s warm melody gives the song a lazy summer day. \"roka\" is an inviting dance of death (\"Just close our eyes / Pretend we forget / North country dreams / Twist this dance of death\"), partially sung in spanish. i love the harmonies in \"lucky dime\". These songs feel well-worn and ragged yet strikingly pretty, like a flowering cactus on the side of a hot, old, dusty road. Most songs are somewhat hushed, especially vocally, but \"letter to bowie knife\" brings the roaring mustang down that old, dusty road with the closest thing to a catchy chorus (\"it\'s too late\") and guitar riff on the album. \"deep down\" also brings the rock as does the storm of \"all systems red\" (\"When the dread is flowing down my veins / I want to tear it all down and build it up again\").
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