Empyrean Isles (studio album)
by Herbie Hancock

Empyrean Isles by Herbie Hancock
Year: 1964
Overall rank: 2,204th   
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 139 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1964 (13th)
Award Top albums of the 1960s (204th)
Award Best albums of all time (2,204th)

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Herbie Hancock - Empyrean Isles - UHQCD [New CD] Rmst, HqCD Remaster, Japan - Im
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Herbie Hancock bestography

Empyrean Isles is ranked 3rd best out of 42 albums by Herbie Hancock on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Herbie Hancock is Head Hunters which is ranked number 515 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 3,414.

Herbie Hancock album bestography « Higher ranked (1,636th)
Maiden Voyage
This album (2,204th)
Empyrean Isles
Lower ranked (2,626th) »
Sextant

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Empyrean Isles track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track
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1.
Average Rating: 80 (36 votes)Comments: View 0
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2.
Average Rating: 81 (36 votes)Comments: View 0
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3.
Track pick (870 - 51 votes)
Average Rating: 87 (51 votes)Comments: View 1
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4.
Average Rating: 78 (35 votes)Comments: View 0
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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Empyrean Isles rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 2,204th | 1960s rank: 204th | 1964 rank: 13th

Empyrean Isles collection

Empyrean Isles ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 139 votes)
   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 139 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 !
17 hours ago Araldo   71783/100
 
80/100
 !
10/05/2025 08:31 Olli   6,10668/100
 
95/100
 !
08/17/2025 02:55 mttr-in-plc   19288/100
 
80/100
 !
07/09/2025 08:36 slimharpo   1,48169/100
 
80/100
 !
06/17/2025 20:04 idiotican   2,80374/100

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 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.4/100, a mean average of 78.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 10.6.

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Empyrean Isles favourites

Showing all 13 members who have added this album as a favourite

Empyrean Isles comments

Showing all 4 comments |
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Rating:  
85/100
From 04/12/2022 12:12 | #284076
Not as good as Maiden, but still gives a good punch.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 06/27/2019 02:44 | #238376
I'm with the first review--this is a total masterpiece. Adventurous and also fun to listen to--Herbie and Freddie Hubbard both so fluent, spraying melodies within melodies everywhere.

Herbie is such a friggin' genius. I saw him in a trio in Pdx three or four years ago, and I can tell you, it was wild--intensely creative, high-energy, just this side of avant-garde, very funky, it knocked out me and my wife, we still talk about it, we walked out of there energized and inspired. Think about it--that's a full fifty years later, and he is still bringing it. What a player.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/01/2019 02:42 | #228420
A nice, slightly more esoteric companion to the superlative Maiden Voyage.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 01/18/2018 05:23 | #205928
One of The greatest jazz albums. An absolute masterpiece. It's right there with Moncur's Evolution, Mclean's Destination Out, Miles Smiles, Kind of Blue. If you are dabbling in postbop, and are looking to strike it rich on album satisfaction, you won't be disappointed.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1964
1. A Hard Day's Night by The Beatles
2. Getz/Gilberto by Stan Getz & João Gilberto
3. The Times They Are A-Changin' by Bob Dylan
4. Beatles For Sale by The Beatles
5. Out To Lunch! by Eric Dolphy
6. Another Side Of Bob Dylan by Bob Dylan
7. Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica by The Ronettes
8. Ain't That Good News by Sam Cooke
9. Where Did Our Love Go by The Supremes
10. Kinks by The Kinks
11. Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus by Charles Mingus
12. The Sidewinder by Lee Morgan
13. Empyrean Isles by Herbie Hancock
14. Folk Singer by Muddy Waters
15. The Animals by The Animals
16. Song For My Father (Cantiga Para Meu Pai) by Horace Silver Quintet
17. "Live" At The Star-Club, Hamburg by Jerry Lee Lewis
18. Meet The Beatles! by The Beatles
19. Wednesday Morning, 3AM by Simon & Garfunkel
20. The Rolling Stones by The Rolling Stones
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