Empires And Dance
by Simple Minds

Empires And Dance by Simple Minds
Year: 1980
Overall rank: 7,907th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 97 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1980 (131st)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (1,129th)
Award Best albums of all time (7,907th)

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Product Details
Availability

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SIMPLE MINDS - EMPIRES AND DANCE LP VERY GOOD CONDITION VERY RARE GREAT MUSIC!
Condition: Used


eBay
eBay
Simple Minds ‎– Empires And Dance 1980 Virgin V 2247 RE Jacket VG Vinyl NM-
Condition: Used


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eBay
SIMPLE MINDS - Empires And Dance - CD - Limited Edition 2002 MINT UK
Condition: Like New


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Simple Minds bestography

Empires And Dance is ranked 6th best out of 26 albums by Simple Minds on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Simple Minds is New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) which is ranked number 773 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 2,227.

Simple Minds album bestography « Higher ranked (6,087th)
Sons And Fascination/Sister Feelings Call
This album (7,907th)
Empires And Dance
Lower ranked (8,999th) »
Live In The City Of Light

(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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Empires And Dance rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 7,907th | 1980s rank: 1,129th | 1980 rank: 131st
Filter Filter
Sort Sort by
YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026cicadelicMelody Maker End Of Year Critic Lists - 198010/13 -
2026SkernsTop 100 Music Albums of 198072/1001
2026LittleM1971Top 90 Music Albums of 198058/902
2026MoondanceTop 100 Music Albums of 198069/1002
2026 MadhattanJackTop 100 Music Albums of 198025/1004
2026Foxforce5Top 25 Music Albums of 198017/252
2026cicadelicTop 98 Music Albums of 198079/981
2025JohnnyoGreatest albums of 1980 by U R C50/64 -
2025TheSmiths82-87Top 23 Music Albums of 198020/231
2025 LeonardTop 100 Music Albums of 198061/1002
2025 MadhattanJackTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s86/1003
2025 sssvnnnTop 84 Music Albums of 198027/843
2025skrapoelTop 51 Music Albums of 198046/511
2025BorderFreeAndrewTop 100 Music Albums of 198044/1003
2025mostlymor1980 Part 268/98 -
2025 imacgillTop 100 Music Albums of 198057/1002
2025JohnnyoGreatest albums of the '80's (301 - 400) by U R C60/100 -
2025 slatsheitTop 67 Music Albums of 198031/673
2024WayneMCUncut: The 500 Greatest Albums Of The 1980s (301-400)60/100 -
2024JamesMowbrayTop 100 Music Albums of 198048/1003
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 68
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 160
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Empires And Dance collection

Empires And Dance ratings

Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 97 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 97 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
90/100
 
04/15/2026 00:35 TerryTezza  Ratings distribution  76778/100
 
75/100
 
03/09/2026 10:56 cicadelic  Ratings distribution  12,72673/100
 
40/100
 
11/12/2025 20:36 NYAndreas  Ratings distribution  1,43344/100
 
70/100
 
09/01/2025 03:41 zags7000  Ratings distribution  20,46864/100
 
65/100
 
07/09/2025 06:19 traistboar  Ratings distribution  1,67379/100

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 23% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 73.6/100, a mean average of 72.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 73.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.4.

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Empires And Dance favourites

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Empires And Dance comments

Showing all 2 comments |
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Rating:  
70/100
From 04/23/2022 09:28 | #284518
Very meaningless music. Child of its time, perhaps.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 06/23/2012 06:48 | #45112
Simple Minds are so uncool I am probably setting myself up with this one, but when it came out it was so fresh and different. Even the band admit that this was much more exciting than the stadium sounds that made them millions.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1980
1. Remain In Light by Talking Heads
2. Closer by Joy Division
3. Back In Black by AC/DC
4. Scary Monsters by David Bowie
5. Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables by Dead Kennedys
6. Peter Gabriel (1980) by Peter Gabriel
7. The River by Bruce Springsteen
8. Permanent Waves by Rush
9. Pretenders by Pretenders
10. Seventeen Seconds by The Cure