Social Distortion
by Social Distortion
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Social Distortion bestography
Social Distortion is ranked as the best album by Social Distortion.
(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 Social Distortion on YouTube
Social Distortion track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Social Distortion 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 | vruslov | Top 95 Music Albums of 1990 | 37/95 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Repo | 1990: Punk | 10/17 | - |
| 2026 | Ranger | Top 60 Music Albums of the 1990s | 32/60 | 10 |
| 2026 | Exist-en-ciel | Top 90 Music Albums of 1990 | 77/90 | 1 |
| 2026 |  Dankel | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 19/100 | 76 |
| 2026 |  Romanelli | Top 90 Music Albums of 1990 | 55/90 | 2 |
| 2026 |  Leonard | Top 100 Music Albums of 1990 | 53/100 | 2 |
| 2026 |  neilgee | Top 100 Music Albums of 1990 | 47/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | xhitmanx | Top 27 Music Albums of 1990 | 5/27 | 4 |
| 2026 |  zags7000 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1990 | 43/100 | 3 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 130 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 532 | |||
Social Distortion collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 62 members
Social Distortion 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 146 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 07/27/2026 21:41 | traistboar | 1,786 | 79/100 |
| ! | 04/07/2026 11:12 | Exist-en-ciel | 15,688 | 70/100 |
| ! | 12/05/2025 23:45 | mketchum | 61 | 81/100 |
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 5% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.9/100, a mean average of 74.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.5.
Social Distortion favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 19 members
Social Distortion forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 07/15/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5374): By Dankel
pedro1976 03/27/2025 10:28 in What album are you listening to? (cont.) pedro1976 12/04/2022 08:04 in What album are you listening to right now?Social Distortion comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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This self-titled debut on Epic Records really set the style and formula for Social Distortion for decades to come. It is supprted by the band's three most well-known songs: Ball and Chain, Story of My Life and their cover of Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire. The band further embraced their rock'n'roll and country roots on their excellent Epic follow-up Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell, but the self-titled record hits the sweet spot between punk and rockabilly and it remains representative of the band's style.
Mike Ness delivers Springsteen-inspired hard-times lyrics, with hybrid vocals split between a punk snarl and a nasal twang. The music is classic rock'n'roll, with some blues and folk, all delivered with punk speed and energy.
The group's hybrid sound did not reinvent the wheel. Alternative groups like X, The Blasters, Gun Club, Rank and File and early Meat Puppets had already experimented with rockabilly and country played with a punk attitude. But this album was the most accessible album to come out of the era, and it garnered the band some mainstream success.
The songs tend to be long and drawn out, and the lyrics and vocals can be an acquired taste. But the standout tracks are really excellent and the remaining tracks really grow on you, perhaps with the exception of the final track Drug Train.
Essential.
Condensed to a 7" Single:
A-Side: Story of My Life
B-Side: Ball and Chain
Despite repeated listening, I never understood what the big deal about this album is.
Really good album that tails off a little towards the end.
Favorites: Story Of My Life, Sick Boys, Ring Of Fire, Ball And Chain.
elo269megv 10/18/2018 17:05 | #222727
First 6 songs are great, last 4 are decent... Enjoyable listen all the way through. Overall: 77/100
RoundTheBend TOP 100 COMMENTER 05/22/2016 22:27 | #166672 | TOP COMMENT
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Story of My Life, Ring of Fire, Ball and Chain are classic singles. Very solid songs. The rest I didn't get into yet.
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