Keep It Like A Secret
by Built To Spill

Keep It Like A Secret by Built To Spill
Year: 1999
Release date: 1999-02-02
Overall rank: 442nd   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 521 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1999 (6th)
Award Top 100 albums of the 1990s (77th)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (442nd)

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Built to Spill - Keep It Like a Secret [New Vinyl LP]
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Built To Spill bestography

Keep It Like A Secret is ranked 2nd best out of 13 albums by Built To Spill on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Built To Spill is Perfect From Now On which is ranked number 276 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 5,988.

Built To Spill album bestography « Higher ranked (276th)
Perfect From Now On
This album (442nd)
Keep It Like A Secret
Lower ranked (1,010th) »
There's Nothing Wrong With Love

(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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Keep It Like A Secret track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 85 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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

Keep It Like A Secret rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 442nd | 1990s rank: 77th | 1999 rank: 6th
Filter Filter
Sort Sort by
YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026matterhornriderTop 100 Music Albums of the 1990s39/10012
2026blueandthemoonTop 100 Greatest Music Albums46/10055
2026 CrhmgsTop 100 Greatest Music Albums46/10055
2026bonnequestionBest American Albums37/100 -
2026 covecoveTop 100 Music Albums of 19992/1005
2026sunnydhammTop 28 Music Albums of 19996/284
2026OFarrioTop 26 Music Albums of 199910/263
2026chavaloricardinTop 100 Greatest Music Albums19/10081
2026 SomethingSpecialTop 100 Music Albums of the 1990s28/10015
2026 meezusTop 95 Greatest Music Albums76/9521
2026 videoheadcleanerTop 80 Music Albums of 199949/802
2026 RepoTop 56 Music Albums of 19991/565
2026cicadelicTop 100 Music Albums of the 1990s78/1005
2026 RomanelliMy Overall Chart: 901-100036/100 -
2026 ExTeaSeaTop 89 Music Albums of 199915/894
2026 BroknsocialShawnTop 35 Music Albums of the 1990s13/3513
2026 DingerbellTop 10 Music Albums of 19995/103
2026 ssteveTop 53 Music Albums of 19995/535
2026 seb7Top 99 Music Albums of the 1990s10/9918
2026 AAL2014Top 48 Music Albums of 19998/484
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 469
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 3,828
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Keep It Like A Secret collection

Keep It Like A Secret ratings

Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 521 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 521 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 
03/05/2026 03:40 lanadeleswift  Ratings distribution  3,60586/100
 
90/100
 
02/25/2026 15:41 Map  Ratings distribution  50181/100
 
85/100
 
02/18/2026 02:29 nextorgd  Ratings distribution  1,17484/100
 
75/100
 
02/01/2026 14:38 Milhaud  Ratings distribution  1,89470/100
 
70/100
 
12/29/2025 18:16 mutant  Ratings distribution  1,67156/100

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 82.0/100, a mean average of 80.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 82.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.8.

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Keep It Like A Secret comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 37 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:  
100/100
From 07/10/2023 17:02 | #298044
Un álbum muy consistente, cada una de las canciones son buenas, principalmente "Carry The Zero" simplemente es una de las mejores canciones que he escuchado en mucho tiempo. Los arreglos de guitarra son interesantes y en general toda la instrumentación es genial, tal vez el único aspecto negativo es el apartado vocal, el cual no está mal pero no destaca en absoluto.

A very consistent album, every song is good, mainly "Carry The Zero" is simply one of the best songs I've heard in a long time. The guitar arrangements are interesting and in general all the instrumentation is great, perhaps the only negative aspect is the vocal section, which isn't bad but doesn't stand out at all.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 05/14/2023 17:11 | #296953
Intenso sem ser piegas.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 12/26/2021 20:15 | #278018
This album has always struggled to truly click with me and I feel the same on this listen. I think this is because the choruses aren't as punchy as on other releases and can sound quite repetitive on some songs. Also, I think it is one of the weakest vocal performances on a Built To Spill album with them sounding a bit dull and boring. There is a few filler tracks present as well which could be cut from the track list. Despite this, I do love the instrumentation which is brilliant and is the main reason I get drawn back to this album time and time again. Some songs on here are fantastic as well, such as the closing track which is brilliant. Overall, not the groups best album but it has its moments and well worth a listen so you can be impressed by the musicianship.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 04/16/2020 01:11 | #250002
The instrumentation and songwriting are great on this album, the vocals are not as strong. But overall a great experience.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 02/20/2020 02:03 | #248034
My favorite Built to Spill album. Perfect From Now On is great but it’s a little harder to digest. These songs are a little more punchy and less dense, but in a great way. A really great record.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 07/04/2019 14:13 | #238908
Really good album.

Favorites: Center Of The Universe, Carry The Zero, Time Trap
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 05/26/2019 11:56 | #236739
Bad Light is by far the worst rated song here, and it's my favourite from the album. That speaks volumes of the quality of this masterpiece. Perfect From Now On is still a bit better, but that's just nuances.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 03/05/2019 06:41 | #233084
I love Perfect From Now On, but I think this one may be every bit as good.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 02/25/2019 21:45 | #232629
For me, this album takes the expansive, adventurous sound of Perfect From Now On and compresses it into its most compact, perfect form. Brimming with melodic invention and some of Doug Martsch’s tightest songwriting, every track on Keep It Like a Secret is a knockout in its own way. It hooked me from my very first listen, years ago, and I’m still playing it today. Easily one of my all-time favorites!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 12/15/2018 19:51 | #227200
I'm not normally a big shoegaze fan, but this album really stands out. Historic, essential and monumental indie for a reason.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (0 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
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