Real Life (studio album) by Magazine
Top 20 albums of 1978 (
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Magazine bestography
Real Life is ranked as the best album by Magazine.
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Real Life track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
1
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Real Life rankings
Latest 20 charts that this album appears in:
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Real Life collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 94 members
Real Life ratings
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 241 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
90/100  | 05/06/2025 00:41 | ForARide | | 88/100 |
70/100 | 02/20/2025 13:08 | SomethingSpecial | | 82/100 |
70/100 | 02/12/2025 14:19 | Daredevil42 | | 73/100 |
85/100 | 11/27/2024 04:51 |  slatsheit | | 81/100 |
70/100 | 11/22/2024 12:01 |  Dingerbell | | 62/100 |
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 77.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.9.
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Real Life favourites
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Real Life comments
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Great track after great track after great track, but yeah the vocals are a bit harder to get into.
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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"
Favorite Tracks:Shot By Both Sides, Burst, The Great Beautician In The Sky
Goliath 05/11/2019 17:53
This is in my top 100, a truly unique album.
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.
planetneutral 05/18/2018 12:30
I liked this more than I expected. Definitely some weaker songs, but very solid as a debut.
exileonthehell 02/14/2016 05:52
Nice, it's a little bit funky but that's what makes it good
Very enduring album.
meccalecca 04/17/2013 17:38
Under-appreciated classic. Deserves to be as beloved as "Chairs Missing"
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