The Bells
by Lou Reed

The Bells by Lou Reed
Year: 1979
Overall rank: 20,381st   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
72/100 (from 63 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1979 (246th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (2,523rd)
Award Best albums of all time (20,381st)

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Product Details
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Lou Reed "The Bells" Pristine NEVER PLAYED Original 1979 First Edition Pressing!
Condition: Used


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Lou Reed - The Bells - 1979 Arista, VG/VG
Condition: Used


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Lou Reed THE BELLS (CD) Album
Condition: Brand New


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Lou Reed bestography

The Bells is ranked 22nd best out of 37 albums by Lou Reed on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Lou Reed is Transformer which is ranked number 144 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 9,592.

Lou Reed album bestography « Higher ranked (19,753rd)
The Raven
This album (20,381st)
The Bells
Lower ranked (20,381st) »
The Bells

(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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The Bells rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 20,381st | 1970s rank: 2,523rd | 1979 rank: 246th

The Bells collection

The Bells ratings

Average Rating: 
72/100 (from 63 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 63 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
65/100
 
01/25/2026 12:08 Pluto11  Ratings distribution  12,07372/100
 
65/100
 
01/20/2026 19:22 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  7,80870/100
 
70/100
 
10/02/2025 19:35 TroutMaskGreg  Ratings distribution  1,70569/100
 
75/100
 
08/07/2024 18:52 dihansse  Ratings distribution  6,26375/100
 
60/100
 
04/27/2024 11:59 TonySayers61  Ratings distribution  23,88764/100

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 has a Bayesian average rating of 72.0/100, a mean average of 71.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 71.9/100. The standard deviation for this album is 12.1.

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The Bells favourites

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The Bells comments

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Rating:  
80/100
From 11/07/2017 04:34 | #200885
This is definitely an off the wall release with disco and jazz thrown in but does not fail to have some fascinating moments especially tracks 6 through 9 which really save this from being a total shit show.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
55/100
From 08/20/2015 19:22 | #148179
Just for Lou Reed-superfans.
A listless record, with few ideas, and a weird sax played by Don Cherry.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1979
1. London Calling by The Clash
2. The Wall by Pink Floyd
3. Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division
4. Fear Of Music by Talking Heads
5. Off The Wall by Michael Jackson
6. Entertainment! by Gang Of Four
7. Breakfast In America by Supertramp
8. Rust Never Sleeps by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
9. Highway To Hell by AC/DC
10. Reggatta De Blanc by The Police
11. Tusk by Fleetwood Mac
12. Damn The Torpedoes by Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers
13. Ambient 1: Music For Airports by Brian Eno
14. Metal Box by Public Image Ltd.
15. Armed Forces by Elvis Costello And The Attractions
16. The B-52's by The B-52's
17. Specials by The Specials
18. Setting Sons by The Jam
19. 154 by Wire
20. Singles Going Steady by Buzzcocks
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