Dear Science
by TV On The Radio
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TV On The Radio bestography
Dear Science is ranked as the best album by TV On The Radio.
(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 Dear Science on YouTube
Dear Science track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 84 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Dear Science rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | cicadelic | Delusions Of Adequacy Top 50 of 2008 | 4/51 | - |
| 2026 |  LebowskiRams | Top 16 Music Albums of 2008 | 2/16 | 5 |
| 2026 | Hyggevinyl | Top 59 Music Albums of 2008 | 16/59 | 4 |
| 2026 |  imimesis | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 95/100 | 6 |
| 2026 |  imacgill | Top 100 Music Albums of 2008 | 6/100 | 5 |
| 2026 | cicadelic | The Hype Machine Music Blog Zeitgeist 2008 | 2/50 | - |
| 2026 |  Norman Bates | Top 100 Music Albums of 2008 | 79/100 | 1 |
| 2026 |  zags7000 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 2/100 | 20 |
| 2026 | matterhornrider | Top 25 Music Albums of 2008 | 8/25 | 4 |
| 2026 | Skerns | Top 86 Music Albums of the 2000s | 27/86 | 14 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 576 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 3,107 | |||
Dear Science collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 297 members
Dear Science 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 655 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/07/2026 14:24 | Devilwoac | 1,529 | 97/100 |
| ! | 07/16/2026 11:56 | glebrus | 469 | 81/100 |
| ! | 06/18/2026 01:56 |  AvalancheGrips | 784 | 85/100 |
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 78.4/100, a mean average of 77.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.9.
Dear Science favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 121 members
Dear Science forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 09/01/2026 16:00 in Monthly overall chart movements BestEverAlbums 08/01/2026 16:00 in Monthly overall chart movements BestEverAlbums 07/22/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5381): By jhuikDear Science comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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The Gollux 10/06/2010 01:10 | #15508 | TOP COMMENT
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seriously? "fall out boyish"??? what a horrible thing to say. i dont hear it.
jhuik TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/01/2012 23:06 | #34149 | TOP COMMENT
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A strong album certainly, but I also feel it is a bit overrated by music critics. They are reaching for something unique and new, but they have yet to make a really great album.
A masterpiece. TV On The Radio's energetic, soulful sound is infectious and gets better with each listen.
'Dear Science' will always hold a special place in my heart, as it was one of the first 'indie' albums that I loved. It's a remarkably consistent album -- for me, the only bad song is 'Lover's Day' which, as others have mentioned, is lacking in anything resembling subtlety, with the band being as blatant about the song's sexual subject as outright saying 'I'm gonna make you cum'.
If I were to describe TV on the Radio to someone who hadn't heard of them, they're like Prince meets Joy Division; they have Prince's falsettos mixed with the guitar (often bass-heavy) riffs of Joy Division.
The best songs are 'Dancing Choose', 'Shout Me Out' and 'DLZ', but there are several other great tracks on the album really. I do find it puzzling that TV on the Radio's critical acclaim doesn't match their reception on sites like this one, they have everything a hipster could want: they're influenced by some of the greats, David Bowie talked about how much he loved them (he sung on Return to Cookie Mountain) and they have introspective, esoteric lyrics.
I couldn't choose between 'Return to Cookie Mountain' and 'Dear Science' for my favourite TV on the Radio album, you should give them both a listen.
Why is it that the majority of the best albums of the naughties came out in 2008 it truly was one of the most important years for modern music in general
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