Roman Candle
by Elliott Smith
Listen & Collect
Complete your collection or upgrade your listening experience.
Elliott Smith bestography
Roman Candle is ranked 6th best out of 9 albums by Elliott Smith on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Elliott Smith is Either/Or which is ranked number 131 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 9,769.
(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 Roman Candle on YouTube
Roman Candle track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Roman Candle rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 6 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | LittleM1971 | Top 92 Music Albums of 1994 | 3/92 | 5 |
| 2026 | AledJames | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 15/100 | 17 |
| 2026 |  DommeDamian | Scaruffi Best Albums of 1994 | 98/100 | - |
| 2026 |  JMGL95 | Top 52 Music Albums of 1994 | 22/52 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Xxnu99etxX | Top 83 Music Albums of 1994 | 16/83 | 4 |
| 2026 |  AAL2014 | Top 76 Music Albums of 1994 | 44/76 | 2 |
| 2026 |  Tamthebam | Top 90 Music Albums of 1994 | 33/90 | 3 |
| 2026 | bonnequestion | Top 32 Music Albums of 1994 | 14/32 | 3 |
| 2026 |  flamingyesdept | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 72/100 | 6 |
| 2026 |  luigybetis | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 51/100 | 50 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 180 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 895 | |||
Roman Candle collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 78 members
Roman Candle 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 282 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 3 days ago | Exist-en-ciel | 16,127 | 70/100 |
| ! | 10/03/2026 06:40 | animals0809 | 98 | 93/100 |
| ! | 08/29/2026 03:28 | dhbarrett | 8,832 | 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 is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.9/100, a mean average of 78.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.1.
Roman Candle favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 35 members
Roman Candle forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 09/17/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5438): By luigybetis
Patman360 04/11/2020 09:26 in Sad / depressing albums that make you feel alive.Roman Candle comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Elliott Smith's work has always been deeply personal. Even at his most pop influenced, Elliott was never writing for anyone other than himself. In the case of Roman Candle, he never even intended for anyone other than himself to hear his art. This is unexpected the start of Smith's career of melancholy genius, showcasing him at his most personal, his most relatable, and his most vulnerable. Elliott Smith is playing directly to the listener with a starkness and a sense of utter sincerity. From when this album begins till when it ends, I feel like I might just have some idea of what it's like inside the troubled mind of this genius, and it makes me want to cry. Possibly the most intensely intimate album ever recorded.
He left us far, far too young (Edited)
A concise collection of tuneful and bittersweet lo-fi folk songs without much in terms of variety except a little harmonica on “No Name #3”, drums on “Kiwi Maddog 20/20”, and electric guitars on the last two tracks. The full Elliott Smith sound might not be fully developed yet but there's still no weak tracks, and highlights like “Condor Ave” and “No Name #1” are some of his best.
Favorites: “Condor Ave”, “Roman Candle”, all the “No Name” tracks, “Last Call” (Edited)
Intimate and beautifully suggestive. Elliott wears his heart on his sleeve and lets us all into his thought process. The depression in this album is overwhelming but its fragile structure makes for an amazing experience. The reason why I rate this album a little lower than Elliott Smith and Either/Or is the poor production quality, which makes the record hard to listen to at points.
Favourite Songs: Roman Candle, Condor Ave., No Name #2, Last Call (Edited)
Nobodyisemo 10/13/2017 01:40 | #199431 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
I could listen to only this album for days. It's my favorite of his. Just a gorgeous, crushing picture of a sad guy and his tenuous relationship with everything around him, but he very obviously desperately wants something to hold dear. Love the minute chord changes, really unbelievable stuff, and it just gets better with each listen. (Edited)
Every Elliott Smith album is just about perfect. I love the debut because the songs sound so intimate. This album always makes me feel good. "No Name #1" in particular is a really charming song. (Edited)
The top-voted comments get featured on our charts, Album of the Day, and the site newsletter.
