Cheap Thrills
by Big Brother And The Holding Company

Big Brother And The Holding Company bestography
Cheap Thrills is ranked as the best album by Big Brother And The Holding Company.
(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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Listen to Cheap Thrills on YouTube
Cheap Thrills 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.
Cheap Thrills rankings
Cheap Thrills collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 220 members
Cheap Thrills 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 413 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 38 hours ago | gregthealien | 1,048 | 75/100 |
| ! | 01/22/2026 17:21 | Exist-en-ciel | 7,369 | 70/100 |
| ! | 01/15/2026 00:18 | This_is_handsome | 769 | 79/100 |
| ! | 01/11/2026 15:18 | AledJames | 1,468 | 69/100 |
| ! | 09/18/2025 18:22 | ShenBapiro | 359 | 80/100 |
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 79.1/100, a mean average of 78.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.6.
Cheap Thrills favourites
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Cheap Thrills comments
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This album is pretty average in my opinion with there being just one song that is really worth listening to and the rest feeling like filler. Obviously, the vocal is phenomenal and it makes what would be a very dull album into one that is reasonably entertaining. Once you look past the voice though the music is pretty simplistic and feels very repetitive by the time you get to the end. It also doesn't take any risks and feels like a safe record that blends in with other generic rock releases. Overall, I was quite disappointed revisiting this album as I love the big single and Joplin's voice is fantastic but the rest falls flat in my opinion.
Not always sure "Pearl" is her best album; there's a lot of good stuff here. But apparently they were stressful sessions and management was determined to split her off from the band by the end.
Blisteringly hot blues rock. Rivals the likes of Blue Cheer and The Velvet Underground for the title of most raucous release of 1968.
the energy of Janis. decent stuff
Great album. Love her voice
Janis is untouchable and the song material is almost as consistently great, though the half-assed effort to make it seem like a live album feels like the cheapest thrill.
60/100.
Best songs: Summertime, Piece of My Heart
Worst song: Oh, Sweet Mary
Pretty good album!
A powerful psychedelic album with plenty of edge and energy. Janis Joplin sounds like what Grace Slick might have sounded like if she gargled with Whisky regularly. Love 'Piece of my Heart'. Parts of Joplin's vocal style reminds me of a female version of Robert Plant.
Janis is Amazing and The Holding Company can jam with the best of them. Rating (82.86)
Good stuff. Janis Joplin's piercing vocals really make this album.
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