Music For 18 Musicians (studio album) by Steve Reich

Music For 18 Musicians by Steve Reich
Year: 1978
Overall rank: 577th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 304 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1978 (10th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (139th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (577th)
Product Details
Availability

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Steve Reich - Music For 18 Musicians [New Vinyl LP] 140 Gram Vinyl
Condition: New


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Steve Reich, Music For 18 Musicians, CD, 1998
Condition: Very Good


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Steve Reich/Music For 18 Musicians
Condition: Used

$122.98


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Steve Reich bestography

Music For 18 Musicians is ranked as the best album by Steve Reich.

Steve Reich album bestography « Higher ranked This album (577th) Lower ranked (6,951st) »
-Music For 18 MusiciansOctet / Music For A Large Ensemble / Violin Phase

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Music For 18 Musicians track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 86 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Music For 18 Musicians rankings

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Music For 18 Musicians ratings

Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 304 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 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 304 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 Report rating
02/07/2024 09:07 wadwicz5  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 73386/100
 
95/100
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01/30/2024 02:24 Hayden  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 6,51572/100
 
90/100
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01/26/2024 23:11 thepardunk  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,09673/100
 
80/100
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01/19/2024 18:50 Svelte8  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,15573/100
 
65/100
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01/17/2024 15:23 TheWongs  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 46670/100

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 82.6/100, a mean average of 81.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 82.9/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.9.

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Music For 18 Musicians comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 17 comments |
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Rating:  
80/100
From 02/01/2022 23:53
This is a brilliant composition of music that is amazing at creating so many images and stories in your mind. The performances on some of the instruments as well are brilliant and so emotional at times that it makes it so easy to connect to the music. It also gives us a very rich and grand experience and allows you to explore so much in the sound and discover the nuances that are all over this record. It is the perfect album to put on, switch off the lights and get comfortable in a warm chair and just enjoy the journey you are taken on. However, it can feel a little slow at times and could be shortened a little. Also, some of the sections are a little weaker than others. Overall, a very important album that always delivers a great experience and fantastic musical quality that would be even better live.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 10/29/2020 16:22
Very interesting music it is like a color game it repeats and then comes out in a completely new way. You can feel the tension is rising until the end of the album. Very good new classical music. Glad to have heard it.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
From 03/03/2018 12:15
The ultimate minimalist statement.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 11/23/2017 00:51
Loving the ECM version that just came out too
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 11/07/2017 14:00
Despite being divided into multiple 'sections', Reich's minimalist masterpiece is performed in one take, and so has the curious property of being seemingly immobile and yet constantly washing over you. Listening to the strings undercut the vocals on Section VII has a desperate urgency that is difficult to put into words. Reich's music somehow makes you feel you've heard this a million lifetimes before and will hear it a million lifetimes over again all without uttering a single lyric.

Most of this is copied from the description of the album in my overall chart, do check it out if you have the time!!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 10/24/2017 03:02
It might technically be called classical music, but being a person coming from a rock-oriented background, it seems a lot more like ambient electronic than anything else. It seems like something Brian Eno could have made. It barely even sounds like it was made with acoustic instruments (at least the version I have).
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 09/26/2017 09:33
On 'Music...', Reich modernises classical music for the 20th century, creating a piece that seems both to move so slowly and yet take your breath away.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 04/22/2017 03:37
Nuanced and expansive. Similar to, but not as varied as Philip Glass's glassworks. The concepts overstay their welcome slightly. The whole thing could have been half as long and still had the same effect on me. Must be very impressive to see performed live.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 11/27/2016 17:11
Vast and deep as an ocean.
Also one of the most influential pieces of music written in the second half of the XXs.
It's everywhere. So much it has become invisible.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 03/25/2015 00:34
So excited about this on first listen!!!!!!!!!!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (2 helpful | 1 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1978
1. Darkness On The Edge Of Town by Bruce Springsteen
2. Parallel Lines by Blondie
3. The Cars by The Cars
4. This Year's Model by Elvis Costello
5. Van Halen by Van Halen
6. Die Mensch·Maschine [The Man-Machine] by Kraftwerk
7. Some Girls by The Rolling Stones
8. The Kick Inside by Kate Bush
9. More Songs About Buildings And Food by Talking Heads
10. Music For 18 Musicians by Steve Reich
11. Hemispheres by Rush
12. Dire Straits by Dire Straits
13. Ambient 1: Music For Airports by Brian Eno
14. 3rd by Big Star
15. All Mod Cons by The Jam
16. Outlandos D'Amour by The Police
17. Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! by Devo
18. Chairs Missing by Wire
19. The Modern Dance by Pere Ubu
20. Powerage by AC/DC
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