Solid Air
by John Martyn
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John Martyn bestography
Solid Air is ranked as the best album by John Martyn.
(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 Solid Air on YouTube
Solid Air track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Solid Air 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 | LittleM1971 | Top 61 Music Albums of 1973 | 44/61 | 1 |
| 2026 | Juneof44 | Top 50 Music Albums of 1973 | 7/50 | 4 |
| 2026 | Johnnyo | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 48/100 | 53 |
| 2026 |  EyeKanFly | Top 40 Music Albums of 1973 | 16/40 | 3 |
| 2026 | Johnnyo | 1 album per artist - greatest albums of all time | 36/100 | - |
| 2026 | Moondance | Top 100 Music Albums of 1973 | 9/100 | 5 |
| 2026 |  videoheadcleaner | Top 80 Music Albums of 1973 | 3/80 | 5 |
| 2026 |  Hayden | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 50/100 | 10 |
| 2026 | javicho07 | Top 42 Music Albums of 1973 | 36/42 | 1 |
| 2026 | amirmishali | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 93/100 | 2 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 241 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 1,412 | |||
Solid Air collection
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Solid Air 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 260 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 05/29/2026 21:11 | mash | 1,498 | 89/100 |
| ! | 02/28/2026 21:32 | DaveH68 | 1,363 | 76/100 |
| ! | 02/17/2026 17:30 | alexandermause | 1,590 | 86/100 |
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 77.6/100, a mean average of 76.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.6.
Solid Air favourites
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Solid Air forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 10/04/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5455): By ThaCrookedSpoke BestEverAlbums 09/12/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5433): By JohnnyoSolid Air comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
maitredj 12/02/2011 13:32 | #31880 | TOP COMMENT
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I always feel grateful to hear John Martyns voice. He shares a lot of himself. This album is both deep and playful and somehow manages to comfort my emotions and then rip them apart again. Solid Air is like an old friend. It never fades. Everyone should own this
Dear John mumbles his way through some great tracks here - the title track and May you never being the best. The way the album works with a mix of vocal, Ecoplex guitar and booming acoustic bass is a miracle. There is nothing that sounds quite like this -
Probably his most popular album, though not as challenging or inventive as some before. His friend Nick Drake got upset at him for "selling out" with this album, and while it's not exactly selling out, it is not a step forward from Inside Out. Rather he is sticking with tried and true forms on Solid Air, and it is a pleasant and very good album. (Edited)
Brilliant late night album. Solid air, is one of those great chill out records. Featuring guest appearances from Danny Thompson and namesake Richard, it's a great record kicking of with John Martyn's tribute to Nick Drake on the title track. Elsewhere, over the hill, is one of the standout tracks, as is, go down easy. Essential acoustic guitar music.
This is what 'maitredj' wrote back in 2011 ~ "I always feel grateful to hear John Martyns voice. He shares a lot of himself. This album is both deep and playful and somehow manages to comfort my emotions and then rip them apart again. Solid Air is like an old friend. It never fades. Everyone should own this" ~ quite simply, I couldn't say how I feel about John Martyn, his voice or this album any better.
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