The Milk-Eyed Mender (studio album)
by Joanna Newsom

The Milk-Eyed Mender by Joanna Newsom
Year: 2004
Release date: 2004-03-23
Overall rank: 660th   
Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 375 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 2004 (10th)
Award Top albums of the 2000s (102nd)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (660th)

Listen on Spotify Spotify
Product Details
Availability

eBay
eBay
Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender NEW Sealed Vinyl LP Album
Condition: New


eBay
eBay
JOANNA NEWSOM - THE MILK-EYED MENDER NEW VINYL
Condition: New


eBay
eBay
JOANNA NEWSOM - The Milk-eyed Mender - CD - **Excellent Condition**
Condition: Very Good


  My favourite store:  

Joanna Newsom bestography

The Milk-Eyed Mender is ranked 3rd best out of 7 albums by Joanna Newsom on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Joanna Newsom is Ys which is ranked number 174 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 8,553.

Joanna Newsom album bestography « Higher ranked (354th)
Have One On Me
This album (660th)
The Milk-Eyed Mender
Lower ranked (785th) »
Divers

(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

Feb
17
Tue
19:30
The Ten Tenors
Balboa Theatre, San Diego, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Feb
06
Fri
20:00
The Drifters
Flagstar Strand Theatre for the Per, Pontiac, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Feb
07
Sat
19:00
Big Time Rush: In Real Life Worldwide
Addition Financial Arena, Orlando, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Discover more upcoming concerts

Listen to The Milk-Eyed Mender on YouTube

Loading content from YouTube...

The Milk-Eyed Mender track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 84 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

Sort by
#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Track pick (870 - 102 votes)
Average Rating: 87 (102 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
2.
Track pick (880 - 112 votes)
Average Rating: 88 (112 votes)Comments: View 2
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
3.
Average Rating: 85 (93 votes)Comments: View 1
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
4.
Average Rating: 84 (86 votes)Comments: View 1
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
5.
Average Rating: 82 (76 votes)Comments: View 1
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
6.
Average Rating: 82 (74 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
7.
Average Rating: 84 (76 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
8.
Average Rating: 81 (70 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
9.
Track pick (890 - 141 votes)
Average Rating: 89 (141 votes)Comments: View 3
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
10.
Average Rating: 81 (69 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
11.
Average Rating: 77 (67 votes)Comments: View 1
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
12.
Average Rating: 86 (91 votes)Comments: View 2
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

The Milk-Eyed Mender rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 660th | 2000s rank: 102nd | 2004 rank: 10th

The Milk-Eyed Mender collection

The Milk-Eyed Mender ratings

Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 375 votes)
   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 375 ratings for this album.

Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
90/100
 !
12/21/2025 06:20 zags7000   20,41064/100
 
80/100
 !
11/30/2025 00:34 Skerns   5,05980/100
 
80/100
 !
11/28/2025 17:20 Exist-en-ciel   4,34770/100
 
80/100
 !
10/07/2025 02:40 JacobMullis   72388/100
 
60/100
 !
09/06/2025 17:15 thepardunk   2,54769/100

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 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 80.0/100, a mean average of 78.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 80.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.7.

Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating

The Milk-Eyed Mender comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 17 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
90/100
From 01/12/2023 14:00 | #292751
A beautifully crafted debut album by Joanna Newsom that demonstrates so much potential and promise which makes me extremely excited to explore future releases. The harp is at the centre of this album with it softly guiding us from song to song with immense delicacy and beauty. The way she plays it is absolutely stunning and it elevates every track to the next level. This also makes it such a unique listen and quite a personal album which allows us to connect to her so easily and feel involved with the music. Lyrically, it is great as well with there being a lot to explore for us as she goes into the themes of love and heartbreak with the use of intelligent wordplay. The vocal might not be for everyone but to me it sounds beautiful and it adds an extra edge and punch to the delivery of her words. Overall, this is such an emotional and powerful record that is packed full of quality and musical brilliance which makes me extremely excited to revisit this album and discover more of her discography.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 07/15/2021 17:58 | #271641
An unusual debut for the Nevada born harpist/multi-instrumentalist. Not often does one hear "pop harp." This is a groundbreaking exploration of music and Newsom gives her audience plenty to appreciate through her music and lyrics.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
60/100
From 02/07/2021 15:23 | #265960
Lately I've been making some baby steps towards Ys. Sadly, no luck with this one yet.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 02/06/2017 22:00 | #185024
Yes, the vocals are slightly more grating in comparison to her subsequent work, but what remains is a magical journey through different cycles of love and loss, expertly and profoundly written by Newsom herself. A great debut.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 08/03/2016 21:37 | #172214
First album I listened to from her and I'm instantly hooked. This is fantastic. Never has an album had such an emotional impact on me first time listening, the music is beautiful, her voice the same. Wonderful.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 05/26/2016 16:15 | #166955
Joanna Newsom's debut album. The milk eyed mender, is a fascinating and quirky acoustic record, with some stunning songs. Newsom is obviously a huge talent, a Joni Mitchell for the millennium, and like Mitchell, Newsom is totally unique, she's both knowing and playful and innocent sounding all at the same time. Bridges and balloons, gets things of to a great start and the record switches from one superb moment to another. This side of the blue, sprout and the bean, and, the book of right on, are all excellent, but best track is closing cut, clam,crab,cockle,cowrie, it's absolutely beautiful. A brilliant album. I'm in love.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 01/01/2016 18:00 | #155499
My favourite album from her .. maybe her most accesible, but this one pleased me more than Ys and Have One On Me.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 09/17/2015 01:32 | #149900
I'm completely blown away! Where has Joanna Newsom been hiding all my life!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
35/100
From 01/15/2014 18:14 | #100709
This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -18 votes (2 helpful | 20 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 07/10/2013 03:00 | #80868
Joanna Newsom is the best thing to happen to me since Bob Dylan.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment

Your feedback for The Milk-Eyed Mender

Anonymous
Let us know what you think of this album by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!
Log in or register to assign a rating or leave a comment for this album.
Best Albums of 2004
1. Funeral by Arcade Fire
2. Madvillainy by Madvillain
3. American Idiot by Green Day
4. The College Dropout by Kanye West
5. Hot Fuss by The Killers
6. Franz Ferdinand by Franz Ferdinand
7. Good News For People Who Love Bad News by Modest Mouse
8. Antics by Interpol
9. Mm..Food by MF DOOM
10. The Milk-Eyed Mender by Joanna Newsom
11. Hopes And Fears by Keane
12. Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
13. Brian Wilson Presents Smile by Brian Wilson
14. Seven Swans by Sufjan Stevens
15. A Ghost Is Born by Wilco
16. Sung Tongs by Animal Collective
17. Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge by My Chemical Romance
18. Our Endless Numbered Days by Iron & Wine
19. The Libertines by The Libertines
20. Leviathan by Mastodon
Back to Top