Talking Timbuktu
by Ali Farka Touré With Ry Cooder

Album
Talking Timbuktu by Ali Farka Touré With Ry Cooder
Year: 1994
Release date: 1994-03-29
Overall rank: 4,828th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
75/100 (from 64 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1994 (96th)
Award Top albums of of the 1990s (791st)
Award Best albums of all time (4,828th)

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Ali Farka Touré With Ry Cooder bestography

Ali Farka Touré With Ry Cooder album bestography « Higher ranked
- This album (4,828th)
Talking Timbuktu Lower ranked »
-

(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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Talking Timbuktu track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

Sort Sort by
#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Bonde
Average Rating: 82 (19 votes)Comments: View 0
2.
Soukora
Average Rating: 80 (18 votes)Comments: View 0
3.
Gomni
Average Rating: 82 (16 votes)Comments: View 0
4.
Sega
Average Rating: 79 (16 votes)Comments: View 0
5.
Amandrai
Average Rating: 82 (16 votes)Comments: View 0
6.
Lasidan
Average Rating: 82 (16 votes)Comments: View 0
7.
Keito
Average Rating: 80 (16 votes)Comments: View 0
8.
Banga
Average Rating: 78 (16 votes)Comments: View 0
9.
Ai Du
Average Rating: 81 (17 votes)Comments: View 0
10.
Diaraby
Average Rating: 82 (16 votes)Comments: View 0

Talking Timbuktu rankings

Talking Timbuktu rankings summary
Overall rank: 4,828th | 1990s rank: 791st | 1994 rank: 96th  Overall chart history
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 5 hours ago).

Talking Timbuktu collection

Talking Timbuktu ratings

Average Rating: 
75/100 (from 64 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 64 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 !		05/23/2026 05:40 ScottJones  Ratings distribution  12283/100
 
75/100
 !		04/16/2026 04:56 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  15,14970/100
 
90/100
 !		03/13/2026 20:05 HoldenM  Ratings distribution  1,84184/100
 
40/100
 !		02/04/2026 13:57 Jakor  Ratings distribution  5,43770/100
 
85/100
 !		09/03/2025 20:33 Cardboardfolder  Ratings distribution  3,73188/100

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 11% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 74.5/100, a mean average of 74.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.9/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.0.


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Talking Timbuktu favourites

Showing all 8 members who have added this album as a favourite

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Talking Timbuktu comments

Showing all 9 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:  
75/100
From 05/23/2026 05:40 | #314557 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
I like the intricate interweaving guitars, and neat percussion throughout. The vocals have a lot of character. A very good album to chill with, has a hypnotic quality. Best: "Lasidan", "Ai Du", "Diaraby". "Ai Du" sounding like an American blues track, and "Diaraby" a very good song. Most of the album could have used some better songs, but I still like it.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 03/13/2026 20:05 | #313540
One of the most gorgeous albums.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 10/23/2022 11:20 | #290722 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Amazing album, from start to finish. Top tracks are Soukora, Lasidan and the incredible Diaraby at the end. Takes me straight back to the beautiful landscapes and people of Mali.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
65/100
From 09/04/2020 22:29 | #257766 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
I like it... I don't really understand it though.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 02/03/2020 04:03 | #247435
Lovely. Not on par with Buena Vista Social Club, but still worthwhile.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 08/29/2019 06:35 | #241865
Not the best of it's type but a decent album. Very good opening track
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 07/20/2019 15:35 | #239991
Favorite Tracks:Bonde, Banga, Diaraby
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 04/19/2019 15:35 | #235222 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Not exactly my thing. I may listen to it every couple of years, but I'm sure others will enjoy it.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 02/13/2016 19:20 | #159568 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
This album contains a wonderful blending of African & Western sounds.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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