Spectrum
by Billy Cobham
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Billy Cobham bestography
Spectrum is ranked as the best album by Billy Cobham.
(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 Spectrum on YouTube
Spectrum track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Spectrum rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 4 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  RockyRaccoon | Jazz | 43/100 | - |
| 2026 |  Fischman | Top 100 Music Albums of 1973 | 6/100 | 5 |
| 2026 | Skerns | Top 100 Music Albums of 1973 | 54/100 | 2 |
| 2026 | Exist-en-ciel | Top 100 Music Albums of 1973 | 74/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | stangetzaway | Top 58 Music Albums of 1973 | 19/58 | 3 |
| 2026 | Johnnyo | All that jazz (ish) | 46/77 | - |
| 2026 | byuzak | Top 44 Music Albums of 1973 | 9/44 | 4 |
| 2026 | RockyRaccoon | Top 100 Music Albums of 1973 | 14/100 | 4 |
| 2026 |  ssteve | Top 28 Music Albums of 1973 | 24/28 | 1 |
| 2026 | cicadelic | Top 96 Music Albums of 1973 | 88/96 | 0 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 110 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 343 | |||
Spectrum collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 51 members
Spectrum 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 96 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 07/19/2026 15:26 | xhitmanx | 1,604 | 75/100 |
| ! | 05/11/2026 05:01 | emnasut | 153 | 87/100 |
| ! | 03/31/2026 09:55 | Leginlists | 3,847 | 83/100 |
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 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.6/100, a mean average of 78.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.0.
Spectrum favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 17 members
Spectrum forum mentions
Romanelli 10/30/2024 13:56 in What album are you listening to? (cont.) Romanelli 11/25/2023 23:59 in What album are you listening to right now?View all forum mentions
Spectrum comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Bork TOP 100 COMMENTER 04/22/2011 20:18 | #20607 | TOP COMMENT
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Strong album with an absolute stunner opener. The middle section gets a bit repetitive which keeps it from getting the really high scores.
Fischman TOP 100 COMMENTER 12/05/2016 01:38 | #179597 | TOP COMMENT
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I came to this by way of Cobham having been Mahavushnu's drummer. Even after Mahavishnu, this blew me away. Cobham is an amazingly musical drummer, the songs are great, and the guitar work of Tommy Bolin and bass of Lee Sklar are equally impressive. Together, this makes for a desert island disc for sure.
So funny and playful while still very groovy. Great musicians, (besides Cobham) Bolin, Sklar and Hammer does incredible work. (Edited)
45 years later and tracks like Quadrant 4 is still mind blowing. Then again this album is still mind blowing. The continuation of amazing records from the 70's.
corenfro TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/14/2017 18:54 | #182738 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Agree w/ Bork. some great stuff on here, but not great enough relative to other stuff in the genre earlier in time to get a higher score.
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