Strange Times
by The Chameleons
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The Chameleons bestography
Strange Times is ranked 2nd best out of 13 albums by The Chameleons on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by The Chameleons is Script Of The Bridge which is ranked number 802 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 2,156.
(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 Strange Times on YouTube
Strange Times track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Strange Times rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 2 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | cronadigallina | Top 99 Music Albums of 1986 | 31/99 | 3 |
| 2026 | Untitled | Top 25 Music Albums of 1986 | 5/25 | 4 |
| 2026 |  JMGL95 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 13/100 | 18 |
| 2026 |  dihansse | Top 51 Music Albums of 1986 | 24/51 | 3 |
| 2026 | cicadelic | Top 100 Music Albums of 1986 | 56/100 | 2 |
| 2026 | Rm12398 | Top 20 Music Albums of 1986 | 3/20 | 5 |
| 2026 |  imacgill | Top 100 Music Albums of 1986 | 16/100 | 4 |
| 2026 |  ssteve | Top 29 Music Albums of 1986 | 7/29 | 4 |
| 2026 | BurndenAce | Top 75 Music Albums of the 1980s | 53/75 | 6 |
| 2026 | LittleM1971 | Top 89 Music Albums of 1986 | 7/89 | 5 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 119 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 656 | |||
Strange Times collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 50 members
Strange Times 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 147 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/15/2026 09:20 |  RasmV | 2,614 | 73/100 |
| ! | 07/07/2026 01:23 |  serpico | 914 | 85/100 |
| ! | 07/03/2026 20:17 | Untitled | 1,811 | 77/100 |
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 78.2/100, a mean average of 77.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.1.
Strange Times favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 22 members
Strange Times forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 10/01/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5452): By LittleM1971 BestEverAlbums 08/07/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5397): By Cheboygan74Strange Times comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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I have been listening to this band and this album in particular for about twenty years now... i never tire of them or it... so No 1 for me.
One of the greatest underrated bands
The first half of this record is simply phenomenal with it ending on the groups best ever song in Swamp Thing. It is dark and atmospheric and has some brilliant performances on every track. The vocals throughout the whole record is a massive highlight for me as it suits the style of music they are going for perfectly and the harsher, deeper tone of the vocal appeals to me massively. Instrumentally, it is fantastic with the guitar work being the peak of this. They really take tracks like Mad Jack and Soul In Isolation to another level and it gives the music an edge that is vital for it to stand out. The lyrics are smart as well and are enjoyable to dive into and explore. They deal with difficult and dark themes which suits the mood and environment the group are trying to build. The second half is a little bit weaker than the first and does drag the quality of the record down as the music slows and loses a bit of its punch. Overall, another under rated classic from The Chameleons who deserve more appreciation and this record deserves to be discussed a lot more than it is.
Shuffle brought this up - listening to it now - this is a great great under-recognized and under appreciated album.
Truly excellent example of post-punk with sparkling guitars and intelligent lyrics featuring the epic single Swamp Thing.
Very underappreciated album. Strange Times should be considered as one of the milestones of post-punk/gothic rock/new wave era. Soul in Isolation and Swamp Thing are hauntingly beautiful tracks.
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