The Spice Of Life
by Marlena Shaw

The Spice Of Life by Marlena Shaw
Year: 1969
Overall rank: 10,000th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 27 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1969 (148th)
Award Top albums of the 1960s (719th)
Award Best albums of all time (10,000th)

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Marlena Shaw bestography

The Spice Of Life is ranked as the best album by Marlena Shaw.

Marlena Shaw album bestography « Higher ranked
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This album (10,000th)
The Spice Of Life
Lower ranked (99,075th) »
Take A Bite

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

Mar
21
Sat
Garden Grove + Just A Girl
House of Blues Houston, Houston, United States. United States
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Mar
28
Sat
Ian Munsick: Eagle Flies Free Tour With Special Guest: Ben Haggard
Choctaw Grand Theater, Durant, United States. United States
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Apr
04
Sat
Moonchild: Waves Tour
Lincoln Theatre, Washington, United States. United States
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The Spice Of Life rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 10,000th | 1960s rank: 719th | 1969 rank: 148th
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 flamingyesdeptTop 100 Music Albums of the 1960s95/1001
2026LittleM1971Top 79 Music Albums of 196930/793
2026Exist-en-cielTop 80 Music Albums of 196943/802
2025dukeboxkoolTop 100 Music Albums of 196996/1000
2025ThuramThugoodTop 100 Greatest Music Albums93/1008
2025 drstueyTop 45 Music Albums of 19699/454
2025ThuramThugoodTop 100 Music Albums of the 1960s7/10019
2025byuzakTop 43 Music Albums of 196917/433
2025ThuramThugoodTop 67 Music Albums of 19696/675
2025BorderFreeAndrewTop 100 Music Albums of 196955/1002
2024 mutley88Top 52 Music Albums of 196939/521
2024 flamingyesdeptTop 83 Music Albums of 196934/833
2024 drstueyTop 100 Music Albums of the 1960s25/10015
2024JakorTop 90 Music Albums of 196954/902
2023 IgtonumamaTop 100 Music Albums of 196951/1003
2023Rm12398Top 100 Music Albums of 196998/1000
2022MARTINBORSTop 100 Music Albums of the 1960s94/1001
2022MARTINBORSTop 46 Music Albums of 196928/462
2021 Jimmy DreadTop 100 Music Albums of the 1960s85/1003
2020 LadyGodivaSuper Happy Fun Fun!82/100 -
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 34
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 119
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

The Spice Of Life collection

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The Spice Of Life ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 27 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help 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 27 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 
12/16/2025 00:55 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  8,15870/100
 
80/100
 
01/16/2025 07:51 LittleM1971  Ratings distribution  5,91981/100
 
80/100
 
03/10/2023 17:52 Igtonumama  Ratings distribution  10,79163/100
 
80/100
 
11/06/2022 09:38 drstuey  Ratings distribution  2,69773/100
 
50/100
 
10/31/2022 13:00 jonny5244  Ratings distribution  8,43563/100

Rating metrics: Help 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 77.9/100, a mean average of 80.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 80.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 10.2.

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The Spice Of Life favourites

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The Spice Of Life comments

Showing all 2 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Rating:  
85/100
From 03/28/2017 01:51 | #188307
Laura Nyro-esque jazzy soul. Fab standouts with Woman of the Ghetto and California Soul, but great throughout.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 07/08/2016 23:56 | #170920
Brilliant bluesy jazz album. Full of great songs and Marleena is on top form throughout. Woman of the ghetto, is a stunning track.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1969
1. Abbey Road by The Beatles
2. In The Court Of The Crimson King (An Observation By King Crimson) by King Crimson
3. Led Zeppelin II by Led Zeppelin
4. Let It Bleed by The Rolling Stones
5. Led Zeppelin by Led Zeppelin
6. The Velvet Underground by The Velvet Underground
7. Five Leaves Left by Nick Drake
8. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
9. In A Silent Way by Miles Davis
10. Hot Rats by Frank Zappa
11. Tommy by The Who
12. The Band by The Band
13. Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
14. Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire by The Kinks
15. The Stooges by The Stooges
16. Crosby, Stills & Nash by Crosby, Stills & Nash
17. Green River by Creedence Clearwater Revival
18. Stand! by Sly & The Family Stone
19. Willy And The Poor Boys by Creedence Clearwater Revival
20. Karma by Pharoah Sanders