Godbluff
by Van Der Graaf Generator

Godbluff by Van Der Graaf Generator
Year: 1975
Release date: 1975-10-10
Overall rank: 1,720th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 196 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1975 (25th)
Award Top albums of of the 1970s (322nd)
Award Best albums of all time (1,720th)

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Van Der Graaf Generator bestography

Godbluff is ranked 2nd best out of 27 albums by Van Der Graaf Generator on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Van Der Graaf Generator is Pawn Hearts which is ranked number 1244 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,400.

Van Der Graaf Generator album bestography « Higher ranked (1,244th)
Pawn Hearts
This album (1,720th)
Godbluff
Lower ranked (2,506th) »
Still Life

(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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Godbluff track list

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

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#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Track pick (860 - 64 votes)
Average Rating: 86 (64 votes)Comments: View 0
2.
Track pick (860 - 67 votes)
Average Rating: 86 (67 votes)Comments: View 1
4.
Track pick (870 - 69 votes)
Average Rating: 87 (69 votes)Comments: View 1

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Godbluff rankings

Godbluff rankings summary
Overall rank: 1,720th | 1970s rank: 322nd | 1975 rank: 25th  Overall chart history
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 3 hours ago).

Godbluff collection

Godbluff ratings

Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 196 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 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 196 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
90/100
 !
05/10/2026 19:28 emnasut  Ratings distribution  15387/100
 
85/100
 !
05/03/2026 20:10 Philly28  Ratings distribution  95269/100
 
25/100
 !
04/30/2026 15:41 Pavloss  Ratings distribution  48850/100
 
80/100
 !
04/25/2026 22:56 Robert Anton Wil  Ratings distribution  1,14984/100
 
85/100
 !
02/07/2026 19:48 Filipe  Ratings distribution  20277/100

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 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 79.1/100, a mean average of 77.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.6.


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Godbluff comments

Showing all 7 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
85/100
"Godbluff" is a super concise record and packs quite a punch. The album starts slowly with the ballad-like "Undercover Man" and keeps marching onwards through "Scorched Earth" and "Arrow" (my favorite here and what a rocker!) and finally finishes with the epic "The Sleepwalkers", probably one of the best songs to showcase what 70s Prog was all about. Something I always found curious was that the first song ends with "You still have time" and the last one ends with "But soon my time is ended". Deliberate?
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
You know how good an album is when you come back to leave a further comment after the original. Keep your eyes open vinyl lovers, this album along with Pawn Hearts, H to He is the Only One and The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other are all about to get re-issued on vinyl! I have listed the rating further to my original rating because I have realised there is so much to hear on this album. Sleepwalkers is an awesome prog offering!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 02/04/2022 11:23 | #280700
This is a classic prog album. Certainly not a casual listen.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 12/22/2018 04:38 | #227626
A true masterpiece. Hammill's poetry and vocals match so well with the foreboding instrumentation.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
This album is so raw and cathartic in the way only Van Der Graaf Generator can be. Undercover Man has some of the greatest lyrics ever, and it really sets the mood for the album well. Manic perfection from start to finish.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
Brilliant album! Sounds awesome on vinyl, considering VDGG were predominantly a keyboards, sax, drums and bass band, the lack of lead or rhythm guitar actually aids the dark and often desolate sound collage.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
Every redundancy and magniloquence is stripped away and it's only the purest VDGG sound that remains. The songs are harsh, even aggressive, but they are as evocative as their classics (and even more). The best track for me is "The Sleepwalkers", with a somehow 'catchy' organ riff, which is actually written in something like 14/8!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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