Dream River
by Bill Callahan

Dream River by Bill Callahan
Year: 2013
Release date: 2013-09-17
Overall rank: 2,732nd   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
76/100 (from 124 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 2013 (54th)
Award Top albums of the 2010s (448th)
Award Best albums of all time (2,732nd)

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Bill Callahan bestography

Dream River is ranked 2nd best out of 27 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 1962 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 845.

Bill Callahan album bestography « Higher ranked (1,962nd)
Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
This album (2,732nd)
Dream River
Lower ranked (3,401st) »
Knock Knock

(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 rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 2,732nd | 2010s rank: 448th | 2013 rank: 54th

Dream River collection

Dream River ratings

Average Rating: 
76/100 (from 124 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 124 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
65/100
 
02/27/2026 23:19 DaveH68  Ratings distribution  1,36376/100
 
75/100
 
02/27/2026 07:41 Gedi  Ratings distribution  20783/100
 
85/100
 
01/06/2026 17:27 cicadelic  Ratings distribution  12,61773/100
 
80/100
 
10/07/2025 14:43 JacobMullis  Ratings distribution  74388/100
 
85/100
 
08/03/2025 21:54 BorderFreeAndrew  Ratings distribution  15,18774/100

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 5% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.8/100, a mean average of 75.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 12.7.

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Dream River favourites

Showing all 12 members who have added this album as a favourite

Dream River comments

Showing all 8 comments |
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Rating:  
90/100
From 06/04/2016 00:24 | #167772
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.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 04/29/2015 02:36 | #140502
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
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 02/28/2014 06:48 | #104787
A beautifully layered folk album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 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.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 12/16/2013 23:09 | #97816
I sure do love this album
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 11/16/2013 18:11 | #92932
A journey into a warm and peaceful world. Very good album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 10/06/2013 12:40 | #87704
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.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 09/27/2013 22:21 | #86999
A very fitting album title. The album glides along smoothly with eloquent lyrics and pleasant melodies.
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