Brutal Youth
by Elvis Costello
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Elvis Costello bestography
Brutal Youth is ranked 11th best out of 37 albums by Elvis Costello on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Elvis Costello is This Year's Model which is ranked number 332 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 5,017.
(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 Brutal Youth on YouTube
Brutal Youth track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 76 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Brutal Youth rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 4 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  Helios | Top 100 Music Albums of 1994 | 86/100 | 1 |
| 2026 |  spigelwii | Top 9 Music Albums of 1994 | 5/9 | 3 |
| 2026 |  slatsheit | Top 20 Music Albums of 1994 | 20/20 | 0 |
| 2026 |  AAL2014 | Elvis Costello: So Far.. | 5/5 | - |
| 2026 |  paladisiac | Top 100 Music Albums of 1994 | 61/100 | 2 |
| 2026 | mikepen | Top 34 Music Albums of 1994 | 20/34 | 2 |
| 2026 | craab | Top 11 Music Albums of 1994 | 3/11 | 4 |
| 2026 | AAL2014 | Top 73 Music Albums of 1994 | 64/73 | 1 |
| 2026 | paladisiac | top 65r albums (64), #0501-0600 | 95/100 | - |
| 2026 | Johnnyo | Top 100 Music Albums of 1994 | 33/100 | 3 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 74 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 326 | |||
Brutal Youth collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 49 members
Brutal Youth 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 95 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 4 days ago |  EyeKanFly | 8,985 | 65/100 |
| ! | 08/13/2026 03:44 | stareaterogni0n | 574 | 71/100 |
| ! | 08/12/2026 19:45 |  MetalMan67 | 6,251 | 71/100 |
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 70.4/100, a mean average of 69.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 70.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.1.
Brutal Youth favourites
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Forum mentions
neilgee 06/19/2025 13:05 in What album are you listening to? (cont.) neilgee 11/20/2024 16:51 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)Brutal Youth comments
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Quite an interesting vocal performance from Declan. Though not always technically graceful, the emotion is there and it mostly works. I also liked the cohesive band sound. And while it doesn't have as many great songs as some of his previous albums, there are several fine moments and it's very good all the way through. I also like how he has expanded his musical repertoire, there is a fair amount of stylistic variety. It's a solid and mature album. Best: "Pony St.", "Sulky Girl", "Just About Glad". (Edited)
Very middle of the road. It's not bad but I find it nothing more than pleasant background music (Edited)
Jboy56 03/15/2022 06:47 | #282844 | TOP COMMENT
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Very safe album from Elvis. Album is long and has so many similar songs that it comes tobe a tad tedious listen in just one sitting. (Edited)
This record is so underrated. One of my favorites in his entire catalogue. I get the opinion that the production is less punchy than his earlier stuff, but I like it this way. Very little filler. Excellent all around.
Sandinistar 09/09/2018 02:54 | #220788 | TOP COMMENT
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With Brutal Youth Elvis returns to his highest form, and while only half the songs on the record are memorably good, those that are are very memorable. "13 Steps Lead Down" and "Clown Strike" are highlights to me
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