Mermaid Avenue
by Billy Bragg & Wilco
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Billy Bragg & Wilco bestography
Mermaid Avenue is ranked as the best album by Billy Bragg & Wilco.
(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 Mermaid Avenue on YouTube
Mermaid Avenue track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Mermaid Avenue rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  AAL2014 | Top 60 Music Albums of 1998 | 35/60 | 2 |
| 2026 | jdizzle123456 | Greatest Country Albums of All Time | 32/32 | - |
| 2026 | Skerns | Top 92 Music Albums of 1998 | 5/92 | 5 |
| 2026 |  Helios | Top 90 Music Albums of 1998 | 58/90 | 2 |
| 2026 | adbrack1988 | Top 13 Music Albums of 1998 | 4/13 | 4 |
| 2026 | OFarrio | Top 25 Music Albums of 1998 | 14/25 | 2 |
| 2026 |  junodog4 | Top 20 Music Albums of 1998 | 2/20 | 5 |
| 2026 | brent13 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 71/100 | 6 |
| 2026 |  Romanelli | Top 85 Music Albums of 1998 | 3/85 | 5 |
| 2026 |  Hayden | Top 50 Music Albums of 1998 | 33/50 | 2 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 199 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 783 | |||
Mermaid Avenue collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 98 members
Mermaid Avenue 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 207 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 10/01/2026 22:29 | juanr1096 | 6,345 | 78/100 |
| ! | 06/30/2026 21:33 |  imimesis | 2,129 | 81/100 |
| ! | 05/29/2026 03:37 | Exist-en-ciel | 16,590 | 70/100 |
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 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.1/100, a mean average of 76.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 12.6.
Mermaid Avenue favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 23 members
Mermaid Avenue forum mentions
Romanelli 04/22/2025 22:43 in The Romanelli Music Diary: The Way I Should
Repo 03/17/2024 19:26 in What album are you listening to right now?View all forum mentions
Mermaid Avenue comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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junodog4 TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/15/2012 21:03 | #35274 | TOP COMMENT
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Fantastic partnership in re-imagining the work of Woody Guthrie. Wilco offsets the folksy dead-pan approach of Billy Bragg well in alternating tracks. Sometimes it comes close to hitting the mark, and others they hit a home run. Highlights - California Stars, Ingrid Bergman, Christ for President, and especially Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key. Dy-no-mite.
drivebytornado 03/02/2013 05:05 | #66637 | TOP COMMENT
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Billy Bragg and Wilco got together to record some lyrics by Woody Guthrie that he never recorded before he died. You have to wonder what he would have thought of these, and also what his versions of these songs would have sounded like.
Of course I like the Wilco songs a bit better than the Bragg songs, but they are all good. Natalie Merchant's vocals on "Birds and Ships" are good too. Among my favorite tracks here are "California Stars," "Walt Whitman's Niece" and "One By One."
Bragg, Wilco an Guthrie-what a combination. I am just glad this album happened. The result is a clever, political and great sounding album. California Stars, an Walt Whitman’s Neice are my favourite tracks.
The first three tracks are really fantastic and sell the whole package. Don't overlook "Hesitating Beauty" a deep track which might be the best song on the album.
ShaneSpear TOP 100 COMMENTER 11/21/2012 16:50 | #55587 | TOP COMMENT
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A very nice, relaxing album. I would especially recommended this if you are into Bright Eyes' I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning.
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