Alas, I Cannot Swim
by Laura Marling
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Laura Marling bestography
Alas, I Cannot Swim is ranked 6th best out of 9 albums by Laura Marling on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Laura Marling is Song For Our Daughter which is ranked number 1641 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,045.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Alas, I Cannot Swim on YouTube
Alas, I Cannot Swim track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Alas, I Cannot Swim rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 2 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  Tamthebam | Top 90 Music Albums of 2008 | 38/90 | 3 |
| 2026 |  zags7000 | Top 100 Music Albums of 2008 | 11/100 | 5 |
| 2026 | cicadelic | Top 100 Music Albums of 2008 | 43/100 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Graeme2 | Folk | 43/100 | - |
| 2026 |  covecove | Top 100 Music Albums of 2008 | 47/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | cicadelic | Digital Aurgasm Albums Of The Year 2008 | 24/50 | - |
| 2026 | cicadelic | CultureDeluxe Best Albums 2008 | 15/49 | - |
| 2026 | cicadelic | Music Australia Guide Best Albums 2008 | 48/50 | - |
| 2026 |  Norman Bates | Top 100 Music Albums of 2008 | 28/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | Graeme2 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 40/100 | 12 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 94 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 318 | |||
Alas, I Cannot Swim collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 36 members
Alas, I Cannot Swim 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 95 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/09/2026 19:55 | Exist-en-ciel | 16,612 | 70/100 |
| ! | 06/09/2026 14:25 | cicadelic | 14,296 | 73/100 |
| ! | 02/28/2026 00:00 | DaveH68 | 1,363 | 76/100 |
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 6% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.7/100, a mean average of 76.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 11.8.
Alas, I Cannot Swim favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 11 members
Alas, I Cannot Swim forum mentions
Rhyner 03/20/2026 17:45 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
LedZep 09/22/2021 10:47 in You must listen to the album below you.
BestEverAlbums 05/15/2019 20:00 in Album of the day (#3074): Alas, I Cannot SwimView latest topic →
View all forum mentions
Alas, I Cannot Swim comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Graeme2 TOP 100 COMMENTER 11/27/2013 16:18 | #94965 | TOP COMMENT
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For me this is by far her best album. Diminshing returns with each one she does to the point I havnt got the last. This is when she sounded least contrived and wasn't sounding like people expect eg. Joni mitchell. Music press will tell you each one she does is better that the last.
Excellent debut album. It sets the stage for her songwriting ability. Very good album and a gem of an artist.
I am able to listen to this album straight through at any time and place. Her first masterpiece.
Laura Marling's weakest album. Of course, that still makes it one of the greatest of all time.
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