American Stars 'N Bars
by Neil Young & Crazy Horse

American Stars 'N Bars by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Year: 1977
Overall rank: 4,519th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 218 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1977 (68th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (750th)
Award Best albums of all time (4,519th)

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Neil Young & Crazy Horse bestography

American Stars 'N Bars is ranked 26th best out of 96 albums by Neil Young on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Neil Young is After The Gold Rush which is ranked number 83 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 14,543.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse album bestography « Higher ranked (4,519th)
American Stars 'N Bars
This album (4,519th)
American Stars 'N Bars
Lower ranked (5,748th) »
Prairie Wind

(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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American Stars 'N Bars track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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

American Stars 'N Bars rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 4,519th | 1970s rank: 750th | 1977 rank: 68th

American Stars 'N Bars collection

American Stars 'N Bars ratings

Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 218 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 218 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 
03/25/2026 06:35 sssvnnn  Ratings distribution  8,34667/100
 
70/100
 
01/06/2026 13:34 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  9,12070/100
 
75/100
 
12/05/2025 14:43 Araldo  Ratings distribution  1,47280/100
 
65/100
 
10/12/2025 20:05 Superunknown  Ratings distribution  28771/100
 
65/100
 
08/08/2025 15:31 iannicolson  Ratings distribution  1,03975/100

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 16% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 74.0/100, a mean average of 73.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.6.

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American Stars 'N Bars favourites

Showing all 13 members who have added this album as a favourite

American Stars 'N Bars comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 13 comments |
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Rating:  
70/100
From 12/11/2024 11:03 | #306439
Hey Babe is one of my favourites ditties of his.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 07/20/2022 04:08 | #287621
It's true this album was assembled from parts, so to speak, but I think it's actually very coherent, and I think it cuts very deep. There's a drunken randiness and meanness to the first side, with a stormy climax. Then you flip the record (you don't have to listen to vinyl, but this was the lp era, and the two-side arc was something they worked with), and it deepens from alcohol to acid, he takes you on a trip, and then he ends with a message: friend, grow your own trip. This is a thoughtful and deeply felt record, is what it sounds like to me, but I guess that's just me.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 05/30/2021 23:44 | #270187
American Stars n' Bars is a record compiled from several sessions over 3 years, so the result is a record that is a bit of a sample of some of Neil Young's styles. There is some folk, rock, country. A lot of this record has a fun element to it and it sounds fairly raw at times. Will to Love and Like a Hurricane are the essential tracks on this one.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 11/14/2020 13:44 | #260791
Belo álbum, consistente... O back vocal e o violão de corda de metal agregaram bastante.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
60/100
From 06/24/2020 14:20 | #254422
A very mixed album in terms of quality. 'Will To Love' and 'Like A Hurricane' are a fine pair of tracks, but the rest of the album doesn't really come close.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 06/14/2020 02:20 | #253500
His worst of the 70s. Still a fine record. Like a Hurricane is the obvious highlight. Hold Back the Tears, Bite the Bullet, and Will to Love being less obvious, but still great in their own right.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 09/01/2018 21:33 | #220367
I think it's a great Neil Young album, easily one of my top five favorites of his. Don't know why it's ranked this low.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 03/15/2017 16:37 | #187461
Not one of Neil Young's best albums but certainly a case could be made for it being underrated and overlooked. American stars'n' bars is possibly Young's least essential album of the seventies(maybe, Comes a time), but there is some good stuff here. Will to love, Hold back the tears, and of course, Like a hurricane, are standouts and the rest of the album is fine too. ASNB is a good record, just not a great one.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 01/15/2017 20:25 | #182823
If you like some country music, then you should like this album. Neil was always trying something different, and it is quiet niece album. My favourite tracks are Star of Bethlehem,Will to love and Like a Hurricane
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 02/29/2016 13:02 | #161012
Not his best record and certainly not his worst. It's worth a listen.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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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
11. Trans Europa Express by Kraftwerk
12. Pink Flag by Wire
13. My Aim Is True by Elvis Costello
14. Lust For Life by Iggy Pop
15. Out Of The Blue by Electric Light Orchestra
16. Talking Heads: 77 by Talking Heads
17. Rocket To Russia by Ramones
18. Suicide by Suicide
19. Bat Out Of Hell by Meat Loaf
20. The Idiot by Iggy Pop