Pithecanthropus Erectus
by Charles Mingus
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Charles Mingus bestography
Pithecanthropus Erectus is ranked 3rd best out of 54 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 93 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 12,106.
(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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Pithecanthropus Erectus track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Pithecanthropus Erectus rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 5 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Untitled | Top 29 Music Albums of the 1950s | 18/29 | 8 |
| 2026 |  neilgee | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1950s | 31/100 | 14 |
| 2026 |  junodog4 | Top 20 Music Albums of 1956 | 13/20 | 2 |
| 2026 |  DommeDamian | Top 22 Music Albums of the 1950s | 10/22 | 12 |
| 2026 | pjerske | Top 27 Music Albums of the 1950s | 2/27 | 19 |
| 2026 |  Repo | Top 28 Music Albums of 1956 | 20/28 | 2 |
| 2026 | leniad | Top 29 Music Albums of the 1950s | 22/29 | 6 |
| 2026 | matterhornrider | JAZZ | 35/40 | - |
| 2026 |  RockyRaccoon | Jazz | 68/100 | - |
| 2026 |  Skinny | My record collection (J-P) | 39/83 | - |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 265 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 1,973 | |||
Pithecanthropus Erectus collection
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Pithecanthropus Erectus 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 281 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 10/14/2026 19:38 | pharoahstune | 255 | 79/100 |
| ! | 10/05/2026 16:28 |  Dingerbell | 4,184 | 63/100 |
| ! | 06/10/2026 06:46 | brent13 | 2,227 | 66/100 |
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 79.5/100, a mean average of 78.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.3.
Pithecanthropus Erectus favourites
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Pithecanthropus Erectus forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 10/02/2026 08:18 in Monthly overall chart movements - September 2026View latest topic →
BestEverAlbums 07/02/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5361): By deadhouseView latest topic →
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Pithecanthropus Erectus comments
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RoundTheBend TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/29/2016 00:49 | #158025 | TOP COMMENT
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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.
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. (Edited)
Larcx13 10/22/2020 09:46 | #259561 | TOP COMMENT
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Better than Clown. Some interesting stuff on here. Sometimes sounds all over the place which can be either amazing or off-putting. (Edited)
This is really the Mingus chaos record, which works for some but not everyone. I like it, though. (Edited)
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!
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