Pithecanthropus Erectus (studio album) by Charles Mingus

Pithecanthropus Erectus by Charles Mingus
Year: 1956
Overall rank: 920th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 274 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 5 albums of 1956 (3rd)
Award Top 50 albums of the 1950s (22nd)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (920th)
Product Details
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Charles Mingus - Pithecanthropus Erectus - Limited 180-Gram Vinyl with Bonus Tra
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Charles Mingus - Pithecanthropus Erectus [New Vinyl LP] Gatefold LP Jacket, 180
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Pithecanthropus Erectus - Mingus, Charles - Good
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Charles Mingus bestography

Pithecanthropus Erectus is ranked 3rd best out of 53 albums by Charles Mingus on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Charles Mingus is The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady which is ranked number 91 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 13,426.

Charles Mingus album bestography « Higher ranked (231st) This album (920th) Lower ranked (1,259th) »
Mingus Ah UmPithecanthropus ErectusBlues & Roots

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Pithecanthropus Erectus track list

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

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2.
Rating: 79 (60 votes)Comments: 0
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4.
Rating: 81 (55 votes)Comments: 0
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Pithecanthropus Erectus rankings

Pithecanthropus Erectus collection

Pithecanthropus Erectus ratings

Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 274 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 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 274 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
60/100
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06/09/2025 15:24 Invader666  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,25566/100
 
60/100
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05/31/2025 14:28 Elauqsapid  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,65664/100
 
70/100
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05/22/2025 21:09 Svelte8  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,67573/100
 
65/100
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05/12/2025 14:01 CharonBri  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,00175/100
 
30/100
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12/31/2024 06:47 Pienk  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 57680/100

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 79.8/100, a mean average of 78.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 80.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.4.

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Pithecanthropus Erectus comments

Showing all 9 comments |
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Rating:  
90/100
From 04/29/2023 15:05
An excellent album, and certainly ahead of its time. The playing, at times, is prescient of the soon-to-be-arriving Avant-garde Jazz Movement. The playing is somewhere between Hard Bob and Pre-Avant-Garde. Although its middle two pieces do not match the sweeping creativity and performances of the bookend works, the album is still an essential listen for any fan of Jazz. 9/10!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 09/06/2022 15:48
Cant go wrong with Mingus
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
65/100
From 08/05/2022 23:42
A more experimental release from Mingus that leads to some highly interesting moments but also some parts that sound a little scattered. Starting with the highs we have the fantastic 1st and 3rd tracks which are the best on the record. They are so energetic and exciting to listen to with both of them having outstanding performances on them. All the performers seem to come together perfectly on those two songs as they just sound so cohesive and free flowing. However, I do find track 2 to be quite dull and it is missing the flare of the other two songs I previously mentioned. Then there is Love Chant which has some genius moments that sound amazing to the ears but it isn't maintained for the 15 minutes of the song and they do lose their way around the middle section of the record. Overall, some interesting and engaging work present on here and it is definitely worth exploring but this isn't amongst his best work.
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Rating:  
80/100
From 07/04/2022 09:54
Very good experimental jazz album, very innovative.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 11/11/2021 17:09
This is really the Mingus chaos record, which works for some but not everyone. I like it, though.
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Rating:  
80/100
From 10/22/2020 09:46
Better than Clown. Some interesting stuff on here. Sometimes sounds all over the place which can be either amazing or off-putting.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 02/18/2020 15:01
Um passo além do bibop!!
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Rating:  
85/100
From 11/16/2019 16:07
I like how varied and wild this thing is, it's like no other jazz record of the time. Impressive experimentation in a genre that at the time I think wasn't very fond to it.
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Rating:  
70/100
From 01/29/2016 00:49
Pushing the boundaries and I like it. Jazz isn't really my thing, but I like how they did things different in this... blowing whistles and the such.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1956
1. Elvis Presley by Elvis Presley
2. Songs For Swingin' Lovers! by Frank Sinatra
3. Pithecanthropus Erectus by Charles Mingus
4. Ella & Louis by Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
5. Ellington At Newport by Duke Ellington And His Orchestra
6. Lady Sings The Blues by Billie Holiday
7. Elvis by Elvis Presley
8. Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book by Ella Fitzgerald
9. J.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1956) by Glenn Gould
10. The Wildest! by Louis Prima
11. This Is Fats Domino! by Fats Domino
12. Johnny Burnette And The Rock N' Roll Trio by Johnny Burnette & The Rock 'n Roll Trio
13. Music Of India (Three Classical Ragas) by Ravi Shankar
14. Jazz At Massey Hall by The Quintet
15. Calypso by Harry Belafonte
16. Bluejean Bop by Gene Vincent
17. Moondog by Moondog
18. Rock And Rollin' With Fats Domino by Fats Domino
19. Tragic Songs Of Life by The Louvin Brothers
20. Gospel Train by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
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