Smart Bar: Chicago 1985 (live album)
by Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth bestography
Smart Bar: Chicago 1985 is ranked 19th best out of 42 albums by Sonic Youth on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Sonic Youth is Daydream Nation which is ranked number 75 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 15,558.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Upcoming concerts
Listen to Smart Bar: Chicago 1985 on YouTube
Smart Bar: Chicago 1985 track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Smart Bar: Chicago 1985 rankings
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 |  Xxnu99etxX | Top 99 Music Albums of the 2010s | 12/99 | 18 |
| 2025 | LittleM1971 | Top 100 Music Albums of 2012 | 25/100 | 4 |
| 2024 |  pavelthevelvet | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s | 23/100 | 16 |
| 2023 | Xxnu99etxX | Experimental (ROCK) | 12/100 | - |
| 2023 | Xxnu99etxX | Top 48 Music Albums of 2012 | 4/48 | 5 |
| 2023 | Xxnu99etxX | No Wave | 5/63 | - |
| 2023 | Xxnu99etxX | Sonic Youth (+ Related) Discography Ranked (WIP) | 4/24 | - |
| 2023 | Xxnu99etxX | Post-punk (plus some gothic rock and no wave) | 8/100 | - |
| 2021 | Xxnu99etxX | Noise rock | 21/100 | - |
| 2018 | PaperVinnie | Top 6 Music Albums of 2012 | 2/6 | 4 |
| 2018 | PaperVinnie | Top Live Albums | 6/17 | - |
| 2018 | PaperVinnie | Top 41 Music Albums of the 2010s | 24/41 | 9 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 12 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 55 | |||
Smart Bar: Chicago 1985 collection
Showing all 4 members who have this album in their collection
Smart Bar: Chicago 1985 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 14 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/04/2025 18:59 | LittleM1971 | 5,821 | 81/100 |
| ! | 03/29/2025 03:00 | PapaShiz86 | 10,904 | 79/100 |
| ! | 11/15/2022 02:49 |  Arthurknight | 9,595 | 72/100 |
| ! | 07/04/2021 06:05 | Xxnu99etxX | 2,861 | 63/100 |
| ! | 01/17/2021 16:18 | LosWochos | 46,643 | 75/100 |
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 4% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.8/100, a mean average of 80.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 80.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.3.
Smart Bar: Chicago 1985 favourites
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Smart Bar: Chicago 1985 comments
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One of my all-time favorite live albums, definitely SY's best.
dougotto 03/02/2015 06:37 | #135908
Really cool noisier live show. Wish I coulda been there
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