On Fire
by Galaxie 500

On Fire by Galaxie 500
Year: 1989
Release date: 1989-10-23
Overall rank: 427th   
Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 594 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1989 (6th)
Award Top 100 albums of the 1980s (62nd)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (427th)

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Product Details
Availability

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Galaxie 500 - On Fire [New Vinyl LP] Rmst
Condition: New


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Galaxie 500 – On Fire LP Vinyl 2020 Reissue VG+ Dream Pop
Condition: Used


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On Fire [Bonus Tracks] by Galaxie 500 (CD, Apr-1997, Rykodisc)
Condition: Brand New


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Galaxie 500 bestography

On Fire is ranked as the best album by Galaxie 500.

Galaxie 500 album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (427th)
On Fire
Lower ranked (1,839th) »
Today

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

Upcoming concerts

Mar
11
Wed
saturdays at your place
Varsity Theater, Minneapolis, United States. United States
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Mar
13
Fri
Walter Trout @ Rialto Theatre
Rialto Theatre-Tucson, Tucson, United States. United States
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Mar
27
Fri
Firehouse
The Showroom at the Golden Nugget, Las Vegas, United States. United States
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On Fire track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 85 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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1.
Track pick (880 - 161 votes)
Average Rating: 88 (161 votes)Comments: View 0
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2.
Average Rating: 84 (139 votes)Comments: View 0
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3.
Average Rating: 86 (143 votes)Comments: View 0
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4.
Track pick (880 - 161 votes)
Average Rating: 88 (161 votes)Comments: View 0
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5.
Average Rating: 84 (135 votes)Comments: View 1
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6.
Average Rating: 86 (138 votes)Comments: View 0
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7.
Average Rating: 85 (135 votes)Comments: View 0
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8.
Average Rating: 81 (122 votes)Comments: View 1
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9.
Average Rating: 82 (122 votes)Comments: View 0
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10.
Track pick (880 - 156 votes)
Average Rating: 88 (156 votes)Comments: View 2
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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

On Fire rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 427th | 1980s rank: 62nd | 1989 rank: 6th

On Fire collection

On Fire ratings

Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 594 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 594 ratings for this album.

Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
65/100
 !
02/12/2026 10:22 Dingerbell   4,00362/100
 
70/100
 !
01/14/2026 23:57 This_is_handsome   76979/100
 
85/100
 !
12/08/2025 14:19 Ilovesuicide   34068/100
 
100/100
 !
11/28/2025 17:30 Kingturtle   7,53073/100
 
75/100
 !
11/18/2025 19:10 Exist-en-ciel   7,56070/100

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 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 81.7/100, a mean average of 80.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 81.9/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.1.

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On Fire comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 40 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:  
90/100
From 05/24/2023 21:08 | #297204
Great album, probably not for everybody, but I totally get the vibe of this record. Some tracks are gorgeous harmony of slow paced instrumentals and vocals. My favorite are: Strange, When Will You Come Home, Decomposing Trees, Tell Me, Another Day, Isn't It A Pity.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 02/01/2023 23:54 | #293489
The group create a unique and engaging sound on this release that has led to me always getting excited when I revisit this album. Musically, it is heavy and slow with each song being beautifully built up with a large amount of attention being put on every track. We open the record with a fantastic cut that sets the tone for the music we are about to experience and is a brilliant introduction. The other bookend of the album closes it off perfectly with a beautiful cover of Isn't It A Pity which they make their own and the quality on the song is stunning. I thoroughly enjoy the different feel their instrumentations brings to us as well as it gives the music an edge a lot of other records don't have. Also, I love the vocal performance on here and it only adds to how special this record is. Overall, this record is consistently great and is slightly under appreciated for how much quality is present all across this release.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 07/18/2022 01:42 | #287557
masterpiece
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 03/30/2022 10:05 | #283600
whoa, my new favorite band
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
55/100
From 09/20/2021 19:49 | #273998
Horrid vocals, amateurish guitar playing, monotonous rhythms, yet somehow pulls through with some euphoric moments, even if On Fire is largely uninteresting. Maybe I'll get slowcore at some point, but for right now it just seems like pointless drivel to me.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 04/08/2021 22:19 | #268352
Que álbum impressionante! Lindas camadas de som e distorção!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
50/100
From 04/08/2021 14:26 | #268325
"Hey, can you strike your guitar on the one, the second off-beat, and the fourth beat"

"For this song?"

"No, the whole album"

"Sure, can you then sing like someone is choking you"

"For this song?"

"No, the whole album"

"I'm sure glad we're not repetitive and bland like the hip hop and pop that posers listen to nowadays"

Wasn't surprised to find out they were American. It clarified a lot rather.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (2 helpful | 4 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 01/27/2021 18:11 | #265185
I've come to appreciate it more in the course of time, but it still hasn't clicked.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
40/100
From 04/16/2020 20:58 | #250043
Give me all the unhelpfuls you like, but I don't see the appeal of this. All songs sound exactly the same to me. Simple hazy chord progressions with somewhat pleasant guitar soloing over a slow beat with little to no dynamism. No hate intended, just my opinion.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (3 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 05/05/2018 01:09 | #214208
Dear SamAndreas

(1) The fact you've never heard of Galaxy 500 and this album shows your complete ignorance right there and completely shred's any semblance of credibility you may have had as a VETERAN 14 Day Member

(2) I thought I'd check out your best Albums List to see how amazing it must be ...... oh wait you don't have one

(3) Your R.E.M comment ? Huh ? That just doesn't make sense my friend & I'm not going to waste my time defending it its so ridiculous

Kind regards
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (6 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1989
1. Doolittle by Pixies
2. Disintegration by The Cure
3. The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses
4. Paul's Boutique by Beastie Boys
5. 3 Feet High And Rising by De La Soul
6. On Fire by Galaxie 500
7. Bleach by Nirvana
8. Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails
9. Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty
10. New York by Lou Reed
11. Like A Prayer by Madonna
12. Technique by New Order
13. The Real Thing by Faith No More
14. The Sensual World by Kate Bush
15. Rhythm Nation 1814 by Janet Jackson
16. Floating Into The Night by Julee Cruise
17. 13 Songs by Fugazi
18. Hats by The Blue Nile
19. Oh Mercy by Bob Dylan
20. Wrong by NoMeansNo
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