Wrecking Ball (studio album)
by Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris bestography
Wrecking Ball is ranked as the best album by Emmylou Harris.
(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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Wrecking Ball track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 79 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Wrecking Ball rankings
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Wrecking Ball 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 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 171 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 12/15/2025 21:45 |  Martini | 733 | 96/100 |
| ! | 12/14/2025 21:43 | Exist-en-ciel | 4,270 | 70/100 |
| ! | 12/08/2025 02:44 |  Kingturtle | 7,441 | 73/100 |
| ! | 09/16/2025 10:40 |  eclab | 1,551 | 84/100 |
| ! | 07/16/2025 07:14 | habibi333 | 902 | 73/100 |
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 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.3/100, a mean average of 77.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.7.
Wrecking Ball favourites
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Wrecking Ball comments
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Like Johnny cash, Emmylou is an exemplary interpreter of other people’s songs. This is a Stella example of her doing this at its best. Great vocals, great artist
IMO she's not just the greatest female country singer of all time, she is the greatest country singer of all time, and this is her best album. Most surprising track - a cover of Hendrix's May This Be Love that absolutely sizzles.
Sounds amazing. Great songs. Extraordinary vocals.
Dark and heavy. Trying to connect with my father I gave him this. He liked stomping joyus country. He listened to this record once. He said it was to sad. Well, it is. I love mirroring when those phases enter my life
buzzdainer 08/08/2016 13:51 | #172495
Wrecking Ball is both the title of this album and an apt description of the approach Daniel Lanois brings with him into the recording studio and producer's booth, a style that makes every artist he works with sound vaguely like U2. Heavy-handed though Lanois may be, on this album he successfully transforms Emmylou from an aging Nashville star into an ethereal, haunting cry in the night. “Deeper Well," co-penned by Lanois and Harris, works so well because it doesn’t try to paint over Harris’s aging voice with fuzzy pastels but instead draws the listener right to the heart of the song's dirgy meaning with spooky echo reverb and gritty vocals.
Produced by Daniel Lanois, wrecking ball, is a fine record. Lanois' trademark soundscapes are evident on a fine set of songs from the likes of Bob Dylan and Neil Young. It's a good record but I would have preferred a bit more diversity. A lot of it sounds similar but that doesn't take anything away from the quality of the music, just wish there was a little more variety. Some absolutely beautiful moments though on a very good album.
zags7000 06/16/2015 08:14 | #143911
Personally she's the greatest female country singer ever. Everything up to and including Roses in the Snow was amazing. After that it was hit or miss. Something were really good and some were just average but nothing as special of those earlier albums. Then came Wrecking Ball. This deserves to be alongside those previous albums as some of the greatest in country music.
I love this album. Heartfelt flawless delivery. Also love the production by Daniel Lanois. Album flows well from start to finish. A+ MEZ
I'm glad to see that this album gets at least a little love on this site. I thought it might be down there in obscurity with Daniel Lanois' albums. I feel like more people might love it if they heard it. In some ways I feel like this is a Daniel Lanois album with Emmylou Harris on vocals. It contains a couple of his best songs and sort of picks up where "The Beauty of Wynona" left off sonically. Of course most the songs are covers. I feel like there may be a world of good country music out there that I don't have exposure to. I would like Emmylou Harris to be my guide.
Romanelli 11/26/2011 15:39 | #31419
The best work by far by one of the most important voices in modern music. Wrecking Ball is a brave collection of excellent songs, should be rated much higher.
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