An Awesome Wave
by alt-J

An Awesome Wave by alt-J
Year: 2012
Release date: 2012-05-25
Overall rank: 264th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 1,008 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 2012 (6th)
Award Top 50 albums of the 2010s (30th)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (264th)

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alt-J bestography

An Awesome Wave is ranked as the best album by alt-J.

alt-J album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (264th)
An Awesome Wave
Lower ranked (1,208th) »
This Is All Yours

(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
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Sister Hazel
Avondale Brewing Co., Birmingham, United States. United States
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Apr
17
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MJ The Illusion
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Apr
11
Sat
Yelawolf -Prof -That Mexican OT 2026
Toyota Center Kennewick, Kennewick, United States. United States
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An Awesome Wave track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

An Awesome Wave rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 264th | 2010s rank: 30th | 2012 rank: 6th
Filter Filter
Sort Sort by
YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 ExTeaSeaTop 88 Music Albums of 20123/885
2026lanadeleswiftTop 88 Music Albums of 20124/885
2026Foxforce5201 - 30020/100 -
2026 AleJohnMariTop 100 Greatest Music Albums4/10097
2026brent13Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s71/1006
2026leniadTop 100 Music Albums of the 2010s54/1009
2026 RomanelliMy Overall Chart: 1301-140080/100 -
2026araidernomoreTop 100 Music Albums of the 2010s49/10010
2026 greatsonTop 100 Music Albums of the 2010s70/1006
2026Foxforce5Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s14/10017
2026martinthoTop 100 Music Albums of 201239/1003
2026Rm12398Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s100/1000
2026FelipeBoorkesTop 100 Greatest Music Albums68/10033
2026rubensTop 100 Greatest Music Albums20/10080
2026wizardalienTop 100 Music Albums of the 2010s15/10017
2026 arthur237Top 100 Greatest Music Albums89/10012
2026pinkfreud1981Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s71/1006
2026matterhornriderTop 100 Music Albums of the 2010s91/1002
2026araidernomoreTop 7 Music Albums of 20123/74
2026 xo66Top 100 Greatest Music Albums40/10060
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 695
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 6,197
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

An Awesome Wave collection

An Awesome Wave ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 1,008 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 1,008 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
60/100
 
03/01/2026 15:16 BoxFL  Ratings distribution  2,58452/100
 
70/100
 
03/01/2026 07:47 TroutMaskGreg  Ratings distribution  1,70169/100
 
65/100
 
02/25/2026 22:23 DaveH68  Ratings distribution  1,36376/100
 
85/100
 
01/29/2026 15:58 araidernomore  Ratings distribution  43876/100
 
65/100
 
01/27/2026 18:32 Charlesd  Ratings distribution  4380/100

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 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.1/100, a mean average of 76.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.5.

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An Awesome Wave comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 73 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)

From 07/18/2023 14:59 | #298192
Good album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 04/24/2022 14:26 | #284575
Cracking album with unique vocal - seen it described as Folktronica. Only got to it in 2021 so need to follow up on this to check their sound out further
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 12/28/2021 17:50 | #278128
What a unique sound - don't even know how to describe it, you'll just have to listen for yourself. My highlights are Dissolve Me, Bloodflood and Something Good. Very consistent album - no filler tracks.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 11/24/2021 00:22 | #276623
This album has a lot a lot of fun and quirky moments that will make you want to come back for more. Songs like Breezeblocks and Something Good really demonstrate how sonically pleasing the record can be. The vocal is very unique and while it can be annoying in places it is also incredible at certain points. Atmospherically, it creates a joyful but relaxed vibe which is consistently maintained. It can feel a little slow at times as well and some tracks do feel like filler. Overall. a pretty good album that shows a lot of potential for the future.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 11/05/2020 16:16 | #260213
One of the best british indie albums of all time, with very unique vocals.

Top tracks:
- Intro
- Tesselate
- Breezeblocks
- Something Good
- Dissolve Me
- Taro
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 09/29/2019 18:44 | #243202
Such a great, consistent, original and refreshing record ! I really think it should be rated better than 78/100.

It is growing like a wave, to finish on the amazing Taro, my favourite track on the album. No filler.

Standouts: Tessellate, Breezeblock, Fitzpleasure, Taro.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (2 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 09/19/2019 02:23 | #242792
Highlights:

Breezeblocks
Taro
Tessellate
Something Good
Matilda
Intro
Fitzpleasure
Ms
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (0 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 07/22/2019 23:16 | #240221
An awesome wave is based on dreamy atmosphere and liltly vocals. The effect is very sweet but sometimes it comes on a little to strong.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 04/29/2019 21:25 | #235646
Pleasantly surprised. Not meaning that I expected shit, but fairly worthy of the hype it gets. Enjoyable experience.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 03/23/2018 20:30 | #211580
Best pop record of the decade?

Top 3:
- Something Good [9]
- Dissolve Me [9]
- Intro / Breezeblocks / Tesselate (can't decide) [9]

Worst:
- Ms [7]
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (1 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
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