Radio Ethiopia
by Patti Smith Group
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Patti Smith Group bestography
Radio Ethiopia is ranked 2nd best out of 13 albums by Patti Smith on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Patti Smith is Horses which is ranked number 197 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 7,535.
(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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Radio Ethiopia track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Radio Ethiopia rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 2 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  Glitterboiii | Top 50 Music Albums of 1976 | 20/50 | 3 |
| 2026 |  neilgee | Top 100 Music Albums of 1976 | 89/100 | 1 |
| 2026 |  Rhyner | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 48/100 | 11 |
| 2026 |  covecove | Favorite Albums 500-401 | 31/100 | - |
| 2026 |  ExTeaSea | Top 60 Music Albums of 1976 | 12/60 | 4 |
| 2026 |  sssvnnn | Top 100 Music Albums of 1976 | 5/100 | 5 |
| 2026 |  JMGL95 | Top 33 Music Albums of 1976 | 28/33 | 1 |
| 2026 |  Kalos | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 85/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | BurndenAce | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 67/100 | 7 |
| 2026 | cicadelic | Top 67 Music Albums of 1976 | 3/67 | 5 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 213 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 916 | |||
Radio Ethiopia collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 101 members
Radio Ethiopia 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 252 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 05/24/2026 14:04 | ThuramThugood | 3,034 | 67/100 |
| ! | 05/16/2026 20:39 | duelek | 2,135 | 75/100 |
| ! | 02/26/2026 18:03 | NyanTanis | 33 | 80/100 |
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 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.0/100, a mean average of 78.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.4.
Radio Ethiopia favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 29 members
Forum mentions
neilgee 09/27/2025 10:36 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
pedro1976 08/31/2024 20:02 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)Radio Ethiopia 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)
Album Rating: 88.43
(619/7)
1.Ask The Angels. 74
2.Ain't It Strange. 95
3.Poppies. 94
4.Pissing In A River. 100
5.Pumping (My Heart). 91
6.Distant Fingers. 78
7.Radio Ethiopia. 87
8.Abyssinia. (N/a. 76. N/a) (Edited)
splashfoop 05/16/2021 07:05 | #269827
This is better than Horses. Horses is pretty great, but is not as consistent and musical as this one. Also the title track is one of the greatest songs ever made.
I'm really glad that this is AOTD but what's with all the "horses is overrated" and "radio ethiopia might be better than horses" bs? horses isn't even in the top 100 on this site and it belongs in the top 50 minimum. I'm familiar with all but 5 of the albums above it and it's easily better than over half of them, I'd go comment on it and I've always planned to (I consider it weekly) but I'm really not in the mood to write the 3 page essay that I know that comment is going to be. it's so misunderstood and actually UNDERRATED b/c very few ppl can relate to a schizophrenic junkie. if only you could you wouldn't be saying the s*&^ I see in half these comments. she's only second to bob dylan in the poetry department and isn't beaten in the emotional/delivery department. if radio ethiopia and easter had the instrumental virtuosity of horses they'd belong in the top 200 as well. they don't though and aren't quite up to the poetry or delivery of horses either so NO, sorry, they don't compare with horses. (Edited)
More rawer than Horses, a great record. The production and Patti's voice brings another classic that should gain some more recognition on this site.
Obviously not as great as, horses, but still a very good album. This record needs to climb out from under the shadow of it's predecessor and be accepted on it's own terms. Very good. (Edited)
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