In The City
by The Jam

Album
In The City by The Jam
Year: 1977
Release date: 1977-05-20
Overall rank: 3,170th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
75/100 (from 219 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1977 (53rd)
Award Top albums of of the 1970s (548th)
Award Best albums of all time (3,170th)

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The Jam bestography

In The City is ranked 4th best out of 22 albums by The Jam on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by The Jam is All Mod Cons which is ranked number 764 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 2,251.

The Jam album bestography « Higher ranked (1,022nd)
Setting Sons This album (3,170th)
In The City Lower ranked (3,299th) »
The Gift

(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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In The City rankings

In The City rankings summary
Overall rank: 3,170th | 1970s rank: 548th | 1977 rank: 53rd  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 2 hours ago)

In The City collection

In The City ratings

Average Rating: 
75/100 (from 219 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 3 ratings for this album.  | Show all 219 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 !		07/21/2026 00:53 xhitmanx  Ratings distribution  1,60475/100
 
70/100
 !		07/09/2026 06:30 Liedzeit  Ratings distribution  2,52674/100
 
75/100
 !		07/03/2026 19:18 RasmV  Ratings distribution  2,61473/100

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 7% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.1/100, a mean average of 74.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 75.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 12.9.


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In The City favourites

Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite  | Show all 24 members

InUtero93
matterhornrider
Cardboardfolder
tim0505
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Alalan

In The City forum mentions

This album has been referenced 40 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From BestEverAlbums 08/24/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5414): By Graeme2
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Graeme2 () 1. (1973) 2. by (1989) 3. by by (1988) 5. (2002) 6. by by by (1972) 9. (1996) 10. by by (2003) 12. (1994) 13. by (1984) 14. by by by (1973) 17. by by (1977) 19. by (1979) 20. by (1970) 21. by (1992) 23. by (1969) 24. by (1993) 25.…”
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From BestEverAlbums 07/15/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5374): By Dankel
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by ) 1. by by (1979) 3. by by (1973) 5. by (1977) 7. by (2004) 8. by (1979) 9. by (2007) 10. by (1996) 11. by (1981) 12. by (1988) 13. by (1980) 14. by (1978) 15. by by (1977) 17. by (1992) 18. by (1980) 19. by (1990) 20. by (1978) 21. by by…”
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From Liedzeit 07/09/2026 06:29 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
“What album are you listening to? (cont.)”
View forum topic (6 mentions) →

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In The City comments

Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 13 comments |
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Rating:  
95/100
From 02/14/2014 18:12 | #103141 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Energy, fire and skill. What makes it great to me, or rather, confirms it is that every one I spoke to when it came out had a different favourite track.

Terse, violent slashing chords from Weller with great bass and drums counterpoint. Highly underrated. The Jam's best album IMHO. (Edited)
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Rating:  
95/100
From 08/25/2011 10:56 | #26615 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Fast and furious with edge and punch. Amazing drumming and slick guitar work by Weller. The best Jam album in my opinion.


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Rating:  
90/100
From 12/23/2016 06:44 | #180777 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Just one of those near-perfect punk albums from the right time and right place. Every track is instantly lovable, even the completely idiotic Batman cover.

"In The City" is the clear crowning jewel here. (Edited)
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Rating:  
80/100
From 05/24/2016 17:55 | #166790 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
The Jam's debut album is an energetic record full of rock and soul and a huge Who influence. In the city, displays Paul Weller's influences loudly and proudly. It's clear even from this early record that Weller is a huge talent who's going to be around for a while. I've changed my address, is a great track, as is, away from the numbers(probably the LP's most Who sounding cut), and, non-stop dancing. There's an enjoyable version of, slow down, and there's even a take on the theme from Barman, just like The Who did just over a decade before. All in all, a good start, but the best was yet to come. (Edited)
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Rating:  
90/100
From 12/11/2014 19:50 | #129216 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
First listen in ages. Sounds bloody great. Seeing them live at this time must have been an experience. (Edited)
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Best Albums of  1977
1. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac
2. Animals by Pink Floyd
3. Marquee Moon by Television
4. Low by David Bowie
5. Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols by Sex Pistols
6. Aja by Steely Dan
7. The Stranger by Billy Joel
8. Exodus by Bob Marley & The Wailers
9. "Heroes" by David Bowie
10. The Clash by The Clash