Eskimo
by The Residents

Eskimo by The Residents
Year: 1979
Overall rank: 4,709th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
75/100 (from 100 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1979 (78th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (780th)
Award Best albums of all time (4,709th)

Listen on Spotify SPOTIFY

The Residents bestography

Eskimo is ranked 3rd best out of 138 albums by The Residents on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by The Residents is Not Available which is ranked number 1861 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 893.

The Residents album bestography « Higher ranked (2,172nd)
Meet The Residents
This album (4,709th)
Eskimo
Lower ranked (4,806th) »
The Third Reich 'N Roll

(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

May
02
Sat
Black Veil Brides: North American Tour 2026
The Astro Theater, La Vista, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Mar
31
Tue
Justin Hayward
Cerritos Center for the Performing , Cerritos, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Apr
28
Tue
Never Ending Fall
The Echo, Los Angeles, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 

Listen to Eskimo on YouTube

Loading content from YouTube...

Eskimo rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 4,709th | 1970s rank: 780th | 1979 rank: 78th
Filter Filter
Sort Sort by
YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 videoheadcleanerTop 100 Greatest Music Albums97/1004
2026 AAL2014Top 75 Music Albums of 197931/753
2026Exist-en-cielTop 100 Music Albums of 197991/1001
2026 videoheadcleanerTop 100 Music Albums of the 1970s15/10017
2026 WasinskiTop 100 Music Albums of 197937/1003
2026 Patman360Top 99 Music Albums of 197997/990
2025 KalosTop 16 Music Albums of 197910/162
2025 Norman BatesTop 100 Music Albums of 197934/1003
2025 videoheadcleanerTop 90 Music Albums of 19795/905
2025 meccaleccaTop 68 Music Albums of 197925/683
2025 MadhattanJackTop 100 Music Albums of 197988/1001
2025 Xxnu99etxXTop 99 Music Albums of the 1970s41/9912
2025 desh79Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s98/1001
2025thekrauterTop 30 Music Albums of 197929/300
2025JohnnyoAlbums of the year 1979 by Acclaimed Music48/65 -
2025OFarrioTop 25 Music Albums of 197912/253
2024OFarrioTop 100 Music Albums of the 1970s66/1007
2024sonicdiscourseThe 70s, Vol. 140/48 -
2024OFarrioTop 100 Greatest Music Albums92/1008
2024sonicdiscourse1979 To-Do List26/89 -
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 76
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 297
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Eskimo collection

Eskimo ratings

Average Rating: 
75/100 (from 100 votes)
  Ratings distribution 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 100 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 
01/20/2026 16:01 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  7,79770/100
 
80/100
 
01/15/2026 13:23 Leginlists  Ratings distribution  2,70183/100
 
65/100
 
10/18/2025 15:03 DommeDamian  Ratings distribution  7,33049/100
 
75/100
 
09/20/2025 06:18 Kalos  Ratings distribution  1,15777/100
 
80/100
 
06/07/2025 05:08 HotZappsBoogaloo  Ratings distribution  1,26983/100

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 is rated in the top 7% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.3/100, a mean average of 75.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 75.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.1.

Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating

Eskimo favourites

Showing all 14 members who have added this album as a favourite

Eskimo comments

Showing all 4 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:  
65/100
From 11/12/2023 12:19 | #299938
This an extreme experience for those who like symbolistic and auditive worlds. VEry well suited for art exhibitions, Relisten index for me is 0
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 09/23/2016 07:28 | #175626
Creo que este es el mejor trabajo de The Residents, aunque también el más hermético.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 03/09/2016 22:29 | #161645
A challenging and innovative recording. Not to everyone's taste but if you like out of the ordinary music and are unfamiliar with this band this record is good place to start.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 01/25/2016 13:33 | #157627
Eskimo is great if you listen to it as an audio-story.
In my opinion is the story of a community of Eskimos who live in the Arctics. Then come the American colonizers, with their machines and their capitalism. After violent brainwashing manipulations (in tracks 4 and 5) eventually the Eskimos are converted to the capitalist religion (with the prayer "CO-CA COLA IS LIFE!")

The story is acted (not simply told) like you are a curious voyeurist, and you can understand it through symbolic sounds (the cry of a baby could be the purity, then there are the american machines in tracks 3 and 4). Every sound has a role in the story, so that when you listen to the machines, the power of their symbolic meaning hits you more than 1000 words)

Of course this is just my interpretation, but it works. This is art, and art is open to interpretations. I just care about the fact that if I listen to Eskimo this way..the effect is really powerful, envolving, vivid, like a movie made of sounds!

Musically is really appreciating their use of "wind" and other natural sounds, it's at the same time one of the early ambient albums, an art performance, kind of tribal music, a fake documentary, a work of field recordings...!

I admit that some parts in tracks 3 4 and 5 are not that vivid, and the album is a bit boring there. That's why my vote is "only" 8,5
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment

Your feedback for Eskimo

Anonymous
Let us know what you think of this album by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!
Log in or register to assign a rating or leave a comment for this album.
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. Armed Forces by Elvis Costello And The Attractions
16. The B-52's by The B-52's
17. Specials by The Specials
18. Setting Sons by The Jam
19. 154 by Wire
20. Singles Going Steady by Buzzcocks
Back to Top