Discover America
by Van Dyke Parks
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Van Dyke Parks bestography
Discover America is ranked 2nd best out of 7 albums by Van Dyke Parks on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Van Dyke Parks is Song Cycle which is ranked number 2540 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 624.
(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 Discover America on YouTube
Discover America track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 76 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Discover America rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 5 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  Norman Bates | Top 100 Music Albums of 1972 | 63/100 | 2 |
| 2026 |  sssvnnn | Top 100 Music Albums of 1972 | 42/100 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Sandrof1969 | Top 40 Music Albums of 1972 | 8/40 | 4 |
| 2026 | blueandthemoon | Top 40 Music Albums of 1972 | 37/40 | 1 |
| 2025 |  neilgee | Top 100 Music Albums of 1972 | 75/100 | 1 |
| 2025 | Johnnyo | Greatest albums of the '70's (301 - 400) by U R C | 15/100 | - |
| 2025 | Johnnyo | Greatest albums of 1972 by Ultimate Record Collector | 37/51 | - |
| 2024 | Ashmark | Top 74 Music Albums of 1972 | 46/74 | 2 |
| 2024 |  meccalecca | Top 54 Music Albums of 1972 | 24/54 | 3 |
| 2024 |  Cardboardfolder | Top 56 Music Albums of 1972 | 26/56 | 3 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 35 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 99 | |||
Discover America collection
Showing all 11 members who have this album in their collection
Discover America 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 37 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/02/2026 15:28 |  EyeKanFly | 8,985 | 65/100 |
| ! | 01/03/2026 06:09 | Exist-en-ciel | 16,085 | 70/100 |
| ! | 01/03/2025 05:26 | PapaShiz86 | 11,776 | 79/100 |
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 has a Bayesian average rating of 71.9/100, a mean average of 70.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 71.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 18.7.
Discover America favourites
Showing all 4 members who have added this album as a favourite
Discover America forum mentions
meccalecca 02/12/2014 15:06 in Listening to the History of Popular MusicDiscover America comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Sandrof1969 02/12/2018 17:29 | #207872
L'America che Van Dyke Parks invitava a scoprire nel titolo di questo stupendo album era in realtà da riscoprire: era l'America degli anni trenta e quaranta del Novecento, il cinema, i cantanti di colore, le bands di jazz, la musica delle Antille, i Four Mills Brothers, Bing Crosby, Bela Lugosi, in un viaggio andata e ritorno tra Hollywood e Trinidad come simboleggiato dai due autobus della copertina.
This guy had such potential. Should be great but it's very self indulgent.
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