Cosmic Thing
by The B-52's

Cosmic Thing by The B-52's
Year: 1989
Release date: 1989-06-27
Overall rank: 2,043rd   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 209 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1989 (26th)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (309th)
Award Best albums of all time (2,043rd)

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The B-52's - Cosmic Thing [New Vinyl LP] Black
Condition: New


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The B-52's – Cosmic Thing CD 1989 Reprise Records Pop Rock ft. Love Shack
Condition: Like New


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The B-52's Cosmic Thing LP Vinyl Original Pressing
Condition: Used


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The B-52's bestography

Cosmic Thing is ranked 2nd best out of 15 albums by The B-52's on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by The B-52's is The B-52's which is ranked number 886 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,953.

The B-52's album bestography « Higher ranked (886th)
The B-52's
This album (2,043rd)
Cosmic Thing
Lower ranked (2,416th) »
Wild Planet

(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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Cosmic Thing track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Cosmic Thing rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 2,043rd | 1980s rank: 309th | 1989 rank: 26th

Cosmic Thing collection

Cosmic Thing ratings

Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 209 votes)
  Ratings distribution 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 209 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
90/100
 
04/11/2026 03:01 imacgill  Ratings distribution  2,73279/100
 
70/100
 
04/03/2026 22:21 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  9,69470/100
 
65/100
 
12/31/2025 17:03 EyeKanFly  Ratings distribution  8,63965/100
 
70/100
 
12/07/2025 13:22 Pluto11  Ratings distribution  12,16772/100
 
65/100
 
12/07/2025 12:41 Juneof44  Ratings distribution  2,60169/100

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 15% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 74.2/100, a mean average of 73.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.3.

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Cosmic Thing comments

Showing all 8 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Rating:  
15/100
From 04/26/2021 07:34 | #268989
There isn't alot on here for me. I can take away Love Shack and Roam but the rest is poor.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
From 01/15/2019 03:17 | #229696
I prefer their earlier albums but this is a great album. What makes it a slight miss is that the songs that aren't good are not worth playing. Roam is the best of the 5 songs I listen to
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 05/28/2017 21:24 | #191603
Love Shack is one of my least favourite B52's tracks, Roam one of their best, and that sums this album up for me. A few too many tracks that are shown up a litte too much by the best of the others - Roam, Dry Country - still a decent listen though.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
60/100
From 04/26/2016 06:42 | #164555
I decent, summer album. Check out the two part harmonies with the female singers.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 01/22/2015 03:30 | #132172
Massive comeback, but still a little inconsistent. Stick with a compilation or their debut.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 08/08/2013 02:19 | #83482
Right as everyone wrote them off as dead after Ricky Wilson's death and the subsequent failure of the underrated "Bouncing Off The Satellites", they came back bigger than ever. I am partial to the earlier records and admit that "Love Shack" isn't one of my fave B-52's songs but as a whole a very solid album that deserves to be known for more than that one overplayed hit.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 04/29/2012 14:19 | #41189
Solid album
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 06/15/2011 23:54 | #23141
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Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -3 votes (1 helpful | 4 unhelpful)
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