Real Life
by Magazine
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Magazine bestography
Real Life is ranked as the best album by Magazine.
(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 Real Life on YouTube
Real Life track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Real Life rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 4 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Cheboygan74 | Top 12 Music Albums of 1978 | 2/12 | 5 |
| 2026 | Skerns | Top 98 Music Albums of 1978 | 43/98 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Purplepash | Top 25 Music Albums of 1978 | 11/25 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Hayden | Top 100 Music Albums of 1978 | 87/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | bertdepoortere | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 88/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | Untitled | Top 25 Music Albums of 1978 | 20/25 | 1 |
| 2026 | OFarrio | Top 17 Music Albums of 1978 | 9/17 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Repo | Top 99 Music Albums of 1978 | 65/99 | 2 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | List 1978 | 72/100 | - |
| 2026 | LittleM1971 | Top 67 Music Albums of 1978 | 32/67 | 3 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 279 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 1,558 | |||
Real Life collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 97 members
Real Life 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 249 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 07/06/2026 23:55 | Purplepash | 5,016 | 75/100 |
| ! | 06/05/2026 20:08 | Joost1223 | 38 | 83/100 |
| ! | 03/16/2026 23:59 | plasmicmist | 1,990 | 76/100 |
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 78.7/100, a mean average of 77.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.9/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.2.
Real Life favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 38 members
Real Life forum mentions
Purplepash 07/07/2026 00:05 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
dihansse 02/25/2026 21:50 in My discoveries per yearView all forum mentions
Real Life comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
meccalecca TOP 100 COMMENTER 04/17/2013 17:38 | #73606 | TOP COMMENT
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Under-appreciated classic. Deserves to be as beloved as "Chairs Missing" (Edited)
Glad to know I'm not the only one who consider this album as an underrated masterpiece. Howard Devoto envisioned a unique sound right in the middle of the punk glorious days and delivered with his band one of the first statements of post punk. A circus atmosphere makes me feel the album as a true performance on stage although this is a studio album.
If I have to encourage you to listen to one song only, please give "Burst" a chance. It sounds like a dark and intimate post punk act by Ziggy Stardust. My favourite in the album closely followed by "My Tulpa" and "Shot by Both Sides" (Edited)
Ex Buzzcock's frontman Howard Devoto hires a punk guitarist, prog keyboardist and funky bassist then adds his own idiosyncratic vocals to create something that really shouldn't work - but actually still sounds great today. (Edited)
Brilliant and underrated album. I think they would have been more popular if the lyrics hadnt been so obscure and Howard Devoto's voice and singing style is not to everyones taste. So many great songs on this album but Motorcade is probably the best.
Great track after great track after great track, but yeah the vocals are a bit harder to get into.
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