20 Golden Greats
by Buddy Holly
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Buddy Holly bestography
20 Golden Greats is ranked 4th best out of 23 albums by Buddy Holly on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Buddy Holly is Buddy Holly which is ranked number 653 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 2,625.
(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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20 Golden Greats track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
20 Golden Greats 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 |  AAL2014 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1978 | 82/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | matterhornrider | 60 Favorite Compilation Albums | 12/60 | - |
| 2026 | munson | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 45/100 | 53 |
| 2026 |  swed | Top 68 Music Albums of the 1970s | 68/68 | 0 |
| 2026 | Exist-en-ciel | Top 100 Music Albums of 1978 | 24/100 | 4 |
| 2026 |  MadhattanJack | Top 89 Music Albums of 1978 | 58/89 | 2 |
| 2025 | munson | Top 36 Music Albums of the 1970s | 6/36 | 17 |
| 2025 | AAL2014 | The Greatest Greatest Hits | 26/30 | - |
| 2024 | LosWochos | Top 100 Music Albums of 1978 | 25/100 | 4 |
| 2024 |  CharlieBarley | 701-800 Favourite Songs | 25/100 | - |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 40 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 116 | |||
20 Golden Greats collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 71 members
20 Golden Greats 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 140 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 01/03/2026 04:46 |  Martini | 762 | 95/100 |
| ! | 12/31/2025 04:22 | Exist-en-ciel | 15,702 | 70/100 |
| ! | 07/04/2025 03:59 | Chavin | 44 | 78/100 |
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 78.2/100, a mean average of 77.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 18.2.
20 Golden Greats favourites
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20 Golden Greats forum mentions
20 Golden Greats comments
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swhaze TOP 100 COMMENTER 05/08/2014 03:35 | #111147 | TOP COMMENT
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Nine Top Ten hits in barely two years and then a fateful flight on a small plane (some claim was called the American Pie) and Buddy Holly entered the realm of rock & roll legend. I consider this album a must have.
ffudnebbuh TOP 100 COMMENTER 09/28/2009 21:57 | #6403 | TOP COMMENT
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When I was 4, I asked for "Oh boy" 45 for Christmas, although I was obviously too young to really get Buddy Holly or understand what he was all about, I really liked his "hiccup" vocals, the melody, the simplicity of this song and when I was older, around the time when "Born to run" and "Horses" came out, I really starting getting into his music..you can see how much of his music, everly brothers, elvis is in the music of the Beatles. I like to follow the evolution and progression of pop/rock music from the blues to the present.
Buddy wrote the most beautifully elegant songs of any rock and roller I've ever heard. I wonder what sort of musician he would have grown into, had he not died in that fateful airplane crash in Clear Lake Iowa at age 23 in 1959. In the two short years since he began recording music, Buddy had already written 2 dozen songs that were destined to become American rock and roll classics. No other first generation American rocker (not even Elvis) ever came close to accomplishing what Buddy did in those two short years as a performing recording artist.
One of the first albums purchased from the Columbia House Music Club. Can not believe the amount of classic songs included on the album. It is fantastic to see how many of the songs on this album end up being covers for others.
It's a shame this is out of print now...
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