Illuminations (studio album)
by Buffy Sainte-Marie

Illuminations by Buffy Sainte-Marie
Year: 1969
Overall rank: 3,357th   
Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 84 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1969 (73rd)
Award Top albums of the 1960s (288th)
Award Best albums of all time (3,357th)

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Product Details
Availability

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Buffy Sainte-Marie Illuminations First Pressing CD Rare
Condition: Like New


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Illuminations by Buffy Sainte-Marie Vinyl LP 1969 Vanguard Original US Pressing
Condition: Used


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Buffy Sainte-Marie - Illuminations - 1969 Psych - EX - Ultrasonic Clean
Condition: Used


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Buffy Sainte-Marie bestography

Illuminations is ranked as the best album by Buffy Sainte-Marie.

Buffy Sainte-Marie album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (3,357th)
Illuminations
Lower ranked (6,770th) »
It's My Way!

(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

Feb
27
Fri
19:00
Hairball
Trilith LIVE, Fayetteville, United States. United States
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Jan
14
Wed
20:00
Dale Watson
Neighborhood Theatre Tap Room, Charlotte, United States. United States
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Feb
22
Sun
18:00
Badflower
House of Blues Chicago, Chicago, United States. United States
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Illuminations track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track
Rating/Comments
2.
Average Rating: 76 (13 votes)Comments: View 0
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4.
Average Rating: 78 (15 votes)Comments: View 0
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5.
Average Rating: 79 (16 votes)Comments: View 0
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6.
Average Rating: 78 (16 votes)Comments: View 0
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8.
Average Rating: 77 (16 votes)Comments: View 0
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9.
Average Rating: 77 (15 votes)Comments: View 0
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10.
Average Rating: 77 (17 votes)Comments: View 0
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11.
Average Rating: 77 (13 votes)Comments: View 0
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12.
Average Rating: 81 (17 votes)Comments: View 0
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Illuminations rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 3,357th | 1960s rank: 288th | 1969 rank: 73rd

Illuminations collection

Illuminations ratings

Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 84 votes)
   Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
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 84 ratings for this album.

Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
60/100
 !
12/07/2025 04:48 JoshN125   18268/100
 
75/100
 !
09/22/2025 06:53 cicadelic   11,46673/100
 
90/100
 !
06/17/2025 10:43 sebfox   2,63079/100
 
10/100
 !
05/10/2025 02:13 Proto   3,85333/100
 
80/100
 !
11/02/2024 18:22 baystateoftheart   2,79572/100

Rating metrics: Help 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 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.5/100, a mean average of 76.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.9.

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Illuminations favourites

Showing all 8 members who have added this album as a favourite

Illuminations comments

Showing all 2 comments |
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Rating:  
80/100
From 08/28/2020 23:44 | #257553
What’s the best album no one has heard of ? Music snobs have preached the the virtues of this album for decades and with good reason. Coming out in 69 this album was swamped by the land mark releases from The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin and very much suffered as the hippie summer of love folk sound from 2 years prior was waning in popularity for an edgier harder sound

Regardless it remains a remarkable album full of passion and exceptional song writing who’s legend hopefully continues to grow with each generation
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Rating:  
100/100
From 09/09/2016 00:53 | #174580
Una de los voces más hermosas que haya escuchado.
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Best Albums of 1969
1. Abbey Road by The Beatles
2. In The Court Of The Crimson King (An Observation By King Crimson) by King Crimson
3. Led Zeppelin II by Led Zeppelin
4. Let It Bleed by The Rolling Stones
5. Led Zeppelin by Led Zeppelin
6. The Velvet Underground by The Velvet Underground
7. Five Leaves Left by Nick Drake
8. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
9. In A Silent Way by Miles Davis
10. Hot Rats by Frank Zappa
11. Tommy by The Who
12. The Band by The Band
13. Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
14. Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire by The Kinks
15. The Stooges by The Stooges
16. Crosby, Stills & Nash by Crosby, Stills & Nash
17. Green River by Creedence Clearwater Revival
18. Stand! by Sly & The Family Stone
19. Willy And The Poor Boys by Creedence Clearwater Revival
20. Karma by Pharoah Sanders
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