Childish Things
by James McMurtry
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James McMurtry bestography
Childish Things is ranked 6th best out of 13 albums by James McMurtry on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by James McMurtry is Complicated Game which is ranked number 9770 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 125.
(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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Childish Things track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 76 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Childish Things rankings
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 3 hours ago).
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  paladisiac | top 65r albums (66), #0201-0300* | 29/77 | - |
| 2024 |  buzzdainer | Top 82 Music Albums of 2005 | 27/82 | 3 |
| 2024 | henrygreen0203 | Top 34 Music Albums of 2005 | 6/34 | 4 |
| 2024 | paladisiac | 2000s 65rating (66-65.46), #001-100* | 28/55 | - |
| 2023 | cicadelic | Robert Christgau: Dean's List 2005 | 40/81 | - |
| 2023 | paladisiac | Top 100 Music Albums of 2005 | 37/100 | 3 |
| 2022 | paladisiac | my fav (alt)country / americana | 85/100 | - |
| 2017 | ecwashere | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 81/100 | 4 |
| 2016 |  samistake2ice | Top 27 Music Albums of 2005 | 5/27 | 4 |
| 2016 | samistake2ice | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 47/100 | 11 |
| 2015 | samistake2ice | 100 Favorite Country Albums | 88/100 | - |
| 2014 | samistake2ice | My KICK-ASS Texas Chart! YeeHaw!! | 36/100 | - |
| 2014 | samistake2ice | New Millennial Songwriter (ripoff) | 51/100 | - |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 13 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 30 | |||
Childish Things collection
Showing all 5 members who have this album in their collection
Childish Things 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 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 11 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 05/25/2025 12:26 |  sssvnnn | 8,408 | 67/100 |
| ! | 05/24/2023 23:39 | BorderFreeAndrew | 15,605 | 74/100 |
| ! | 05/14/2017 08:02 |  zags7000 | 20,488 | 64/100 |
| ! | 03/10/2017 20:06 | paladisiac | 7,317 | 65/100 |
| ! | 10/29/2016 17:45 | Imaybeparanoid | 7,396 | 71/100 |
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 75.6/100, a mean average of 78.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 9.3.
Childish Things favourites
Childish Things comments
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Pushing on through the Bush era, McMurtry succeeds with capturing the frustrations of small town, post-industrial, twenty-first century America in the track "We Can't Make it Here," a song that has garnered him a lot of attention. As far as the album itself, it's very honest and straightforward despite its weaknesses, but it is also indicative that he's ready to step it up a notch and make some great critically- acclaimed records.
Track Pick: "We Can't Make It Here"
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