Dream River
by Bill Callahan
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Bill Callahan bestography
Dream River is ranked 2nd best out of 28 albums by Bill Callahan on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Bill Callahan is Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle which is ranked number 1905 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 885.
(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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Dream River track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Dream River rankings
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 2 hours ago).
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Dream River 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 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 125 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/25/2026 17:47 | Exist-en-ciel | 15,324 | 70/100 |
| ! | 05/02/2026 12:33 | JacobMullis | 776 | 88/100 |
| ! | 02/27/2026 23:19 | DaveH68 | 1,363 | 76/100 |
| ! | 02/27/2026 07:41 | Gedi | 341 | 83/100 |
| ! | 01/06/2026 17:27 | cicadelic | 13,482 | 73/100 |
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 5% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.9/100, a mean average of 75.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 12.7.
Dream River favourites
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Dream River comments
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Another excellent and mysterious album from Bill Callahan. As on the previous album it's predominantly acoustic and features some great songs with interesting structures. The sing, small plane, and, summer painter, are the pick of the tracks, at least in my opinion. I love the fact that Bill Callahan albums and songs are like puzzles that you have to work out, i always have a great time trying to solve them. Great stuff.
JoaoMoreira 04/29/2015 02:36 | #140502 | TOP COMMENT
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It's a pretty decent album. I've seen him touring this album and the guitar player is as amazing live as it is on record. Fav tracks: Javelin Unlandedand and Ride My Arrow
A beautifully layered folk album.
PatrickD 12/19/2013 07:28 | #98057
I don't know what I'm missing. Bill Callahan is one of my all time favorite songwriters, but I really think this album is just mediocre.
quincytejani 12/16/2013 23:09 | #97816
I sure do love this album
Mophos 11/16/2013 18:11 | #92932 | TOP COMMENT
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A journey into a warm and peaceful world. Very good album.
One of the most pleasant albums I've heard in a long time. I have only listened to one Smog album before I heard this album. Dream River reminds me of Nick Drake's Bryter Layter; it's the same jazzy/folky sleepy and comfortable sound, yet Bill Callahan has a universe of his own. Music don't have to be radical all the time, sometimes the best stuff is derived from formulas used hundred of times before. This folk sound is so rich is layers and musicality that you can't help but fall in love with the album.
A very fitting album title. The album glides along smoothly with eloquent lyrics and pleasant melodies.
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