On Fire
by Galaxie 500
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Galaxie 500 bestography
On Fire is ranked as the best album by Galaxie 500.
(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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On Fire track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 85 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
#
Track
Rating/Comments
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
On Fire rankings
On Fire rankings summary
Overall rank: 412th | 1980s rank: 58th | 1989 rank: 5th Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Juneof44 | Top 50 Music Albums of 1989 | 15/50 | 4 |
| 2026 | VanillaBean | Shoegaze HW List | 33/70 | - |
| 2026 | cicadelic | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 3/100 | 20 |
| 2026 |  Romanelli | My Overall Chart 1001-1100 | 12/100 | - |
| 2026 | Untitled | Top 26 Music Albums of 1989 | 5/26 | 4 |
| 2026 | TastyandTemptin | Top 47 Music Albums of 1989 | 30/47 | 2 |
| 2026 |  zags7000 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1989 | 100/100 | 0 |
| 2026 |  swed | Top 53 Music Albums of the 1980s | 35/53 | 7 |
| 2026 |  flamingyesdept | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 64/100 | 7 |
| 2026 |  Taka | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 12/100 | 18 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 510 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 3,976 | |||
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!
On Fire collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 188 members
On Fire 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 604 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 15 hours ago | PJDonoghue | 141 | 71/100 |
| ! | 5 days ago | Siromynian | 1,773 | 74/100 |
| ! | 09/20/2026 09:59 | traistboar | 1,794 | 79/100 |
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 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 81.7/100, a mean average of 80.3/100, 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 favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 79 members
On Fire forum mentions
This album has been referenced 147 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From 
BestEverAlbums 10/02/2026 08:18 in Monthly overall chart movements - September 2026
BestEverAlbums 10/02/2026 08:18 in Monthly overall chart movements - September 2026“The overall chart is ever changing, and it's difficult to keep up with the detail of what's happening. So, for those people who are interested, this post attempts to show the latest movements - biggest climbers, movers, new entries and leavers for the top 100, 250, 500 & 1000 over the past month,…”
View forum post →From BestEverAlbums 09/14/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5435): By flamingyesdept
BestEverAlbums 09/14/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5435): By flamingyesdept“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by flamingyesdept () 1. by (1980) 2. by (1986) 3. by (1985) 4. by (1984) 6. by (1983) 8. by (1985) 9. (1986) 10. by (1988) 11. (1980) 12. by (1988) 13. (1984) 14. by (1982) 15. by by by (1989) 18. (1980) 19. (1989) 20. by (1985) 22. by…”
View forum post →From BestEverAlbums 08/02/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5392): By leniad
BestEverAlbums 08/02/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5392): By leniad“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by ) 1. by (1989) 3. by (1984) 4. (1982) 5. by (1980) 6. by (1986) 7. by (1989) 8. by (1985) 9. (1980) 10. by (1984) 11. (1986) 12. by (1983) 13. by (1988) 14. by (1984) 15. (1983) 16. by (1989) 17. by (1989) 18. by (1982) 19. (1980) 20.…”
View forum post →On Fire comments
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From
Brad1770 TOP 100 COMMENTER 08/25/2017 05:58 | #196702 | TOP COMMENT
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Brad1770 TOP 100 COMMENTER 08/25/2017 05:58 | #196702 | TOP COMMENT
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The year is 1989 . What was I doing in 1989 ? I was taking copious drugs whilst listening to the likes of Pixies , Material & The Jesus and Mary Chain . I was NOT listening to Galaxy 500 On Fire . Fast forward 28 years & I'm reading another best of list & note this Album has a 97% all time review rating , intreged I had to check it out & from the opening bars of Blue Thunder it was love at first listen & I became utterly & hopelessly hooked . Slow Core , Dream Pop , Shoe Gaze , Indy Pop call it what you may this is one amazing Album & im so glad I found it . Or did it find me ? If you haven't discovered On Fire yet please do
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 6
From
SamAndreas 04/25/2018 22:43 | #213658 | TOP COMMENT
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Seems like every time I run across a highly-rated album on here that I've never heard of before from someone I've never heard of before, I get the same thing...
1. Emo rock "indie" band more often than not comprised of members "rebelling" against their awful upper middle class lives and Ivy League schools by writing lyrics desperately attempting to turn even the most mundane of events into existential crises.
2. Members must be white, only moderately skilled at playing instruments and fronted by a male lead singer whose only tool to convey emotion is wailing off key and / or singing through his nostrils.
3. Group must have the seal of approval of some terrible hipster publication like Pitchfork, who retrospectively praise it as a neglected and overlooked masterwork. Where it's lacking musically is then proclaimed the epitome of raw emotion.
As much as I love R.E.M. I sometimes almost resent them for helping to spawn some of this nonsense. On the plus side, this album has some musical elements I enjoyed here and there. Unfortunately, what was good was destroyed every time the whiny lead "singer" opened his pie hole. (Edited)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 5
From
Rounder89 05/25/2014 22:36 | #112937 | TOP COMMENT
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When I saw this ranked #2 in a shoe gaze top 100 with, Loveless, number 1 I figured this would be worth listening to and it surely was. Clearly worthy of that title of one of the best shoe gaze albums of all time and a pleasure to listen to.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 5
From
tonagamu TOP 100 COMMENTER 02/16/2013 09:05 | #65227 | TOP COMMENT
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Isn't It A Pity is a damn good song...
This album is a strange experience, the guitars generally sound fantastic, but the vocals can REALLY throw you off if you're not ready for FLAT high notes. Somehow it doesn't steal from the experience for me, however.
LOOK AT MY BLUE THUNDER!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 4
From
Cargusbralem 04/16/2020 20:58 | #250043
Cargusbralem 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. (Edited)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 3
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