We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite
by Max Roach
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Max Roach bestography
We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite is ranked as the best album by Max Roach.
(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 We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite on YouTube
We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 1 hour ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Juneof44 | Top 50 Music Albums of 1960 | 6/50 | 5 |
| 2026 |  Hayden | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s | 14/100 | 17 |
| 2026 | Hayden | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 44/100 | 55 |
| 2026 | Rivera | Jazz | 69/100 | - |
| 2026 |  Tamthebam | Top 90 Music Albums of 1960 | 33/90 | 3 |
| 2026 | jdizzle123456 | Greatest Jazz Albums of All Time | 13/50 | - |
| 2026 | Weepingguitarman | Top 16 Music Albums of 1960 | 10/16 | 2 |
| 2026 |  AAL2014 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s | 36/100 | 13 |
| 2026 | matterhornrider | Top 22 Music Albums of 1960 | 8/22 | 3 |
| 2026 | pjerske | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s | 60/100 | 8 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 142 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 673 | |||
We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite collection
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We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite 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 122 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/25/2026 14:16 |  Dingerbell | 4,197 | 63/100 |
| ! | 06/07/2026 18:35 |  CellarDoor | 8,945 | 79/100 |
| ! | 03/01/2026 16:55 | sweetness | 1,127 | 79/100 |
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 4% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.3/100, a mean average of 75.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 19.0.
We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite favourites
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We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite forum mentions
Rhyner 07/27/2026 17:17 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
CharlieBarley 08/18/2021 07:39 in What album are you listening to right now?
LedZep 04/24/2021 17:55 in I'm going back to the startView all forum mentions
We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite comments
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A very interesting record. Challenging and angry not for all tastes.
An interesting and unique listen that shocked me quite a lot when I first heard it. They start with the best song on the record with Driva'man which has fantastic performances both vocally and instrumentally. The rest of the record then follows suit but it isn't as strong as the opening track. I do love the percussion solo on All Africa very much. The vocals are also extremely haunting and add an edge to the music that makes it stand out against other jazz records. However, the music can be a little slow and repetitive at times. The performances are a little weak in a few areas and it is quite easy to switch off whilst listening to this album. Overall, a unique and interesting listen but not one that I am dragged back to very often.
'Tears for Johannesburg' is my favorite track on 'We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite'; it's where it all comes together for a big finale.
'All Africa' is another standout track on the album.
Abbey Lincoln, and Max Roach nicely accompany each other on vocals, and Roach's drum, and Olatunju's congas sound great together.
'Driva' man' is good opener, and 'Freedom Day' is pretty cool. I'm not crazy about 'Triptych: Prayer/Protest/Peace'. (Edited)
This album, man..
This album is so wonderful, oh my god. I had no idea who Max Roach was (even liking jazz since my childhood), and I finished this album totally impressed. It is so fast-paced yet so meticulous, so angry yet so sensible. My favorite track is "Freedom Day", with the amazing Abbey Lincoln. Recommend!
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