Hunky Dory
by David Bowie

Album
Hunky Dory by David Bowie
Year: 1971
Release date: 1971-12-17
Overall rank: 48th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
87/100 (from 2,470 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 5 albums of 1971 (4th)
Award Top 20 albums of of the 1970s (14th)
Award Top 50 albums of all time (48th)

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David Bowie bestography

Hunky Dory is ranked 2nd best out of 97 albums by David Bowie on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by David Bowie is The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars which is ranked number 6 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 40,397.

David Bowie album bestography « Higher ranked (6th)
The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars This album (48th)
Hunky Dory Lower ranked (67th) »
Low

(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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Hunky Dory track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 86 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

Sort Sort by
#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Track pick (910 - 902 votes)
Changes
Average Rating: 91 (902 votes)Comments: View 13
2.
Track pick (890 - 684 votes)
Oh! You Pretty Things
Average Rating: 89 (684 votes)Comments: View 7
3.
Eight Line Poem
Average Rating: 80 (490 votes)Comments: View 4
4.
Track pick (950 - 1153 votes)
Life On Mars?
Average Rating: 95 (1,153 votes)Comments: View 31
5.
Kooks
Average Rating: 83 (510 votes)Comments: View 5
6.
Quicksand
Average Rating: 86 (520 votes)Comments: View 3
7.
Fill Your Heart
Average Rating: 80 (469 votes)Comments: View 6
8.
Andy Warhol
Average Rating: 84 (507 votes)Comments: View 4
9.
Song For Bob Dylan
Average Rating: 82 (485 votes)Comments: View 3
10.
Queen Bitch
Average Rating: 87 (533 votes)Comments: View 3
11.
The Bewlay Brothers
Average Rating: 86 (505 votes)Comments: View 2

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

Hunky Dory rankings

Hunky Dory rankings summary
Overall rank: 48th | 1970s rank: 14th | 1971 rank: 4th  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 5 hours ago)

Hunky Dory collection

Hunky Dory ratings

Average Rating: 
87/100 (from 2,470 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).
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Showing latest 3 ratings for this album.  | Show all 2,470 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 !		20 hours ago JoshN125  Ratings distribution  35977/100
 
80/100
 !		4 days ago OldWiseOne1969  Ratings distribution  16082/100
 
85/100
 !		09/30/2026 06:46 Siromynian  Ratings distribution  1,77374/100

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 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 87.1/100, a mean average of 86.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 87.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.2.


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Hunky Dory favourites

Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite  | Show all 685 members

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Hunky Dory forum mentions

This album has been referenced 225 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From BestEverAlbums 09/30/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5451): By ffudnebbuh
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by ffudnebbuh () 1. by (1967) 2. by (1975) 3. by (1972) 5. by (1956) 6. by (1968) 7. (1981) 8. by by (1991) 10. by (2010) 11. by (2009) 12. (1977) 13. by (2015) 14. by (1989) 15. by (1964) 16. by (1998) 17. by (1973) 18. by (1963) 19. by (1977)…”
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From BestEverAlbums 09/29/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5450): By DeusExMackia
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by DeusExMackia () 1. by (1971) 2. by (1985) 3. by (1988) 4. by (1984) 5. by (1967) 6. (1987) 7. (1991) 8. (1996) 9. by (1976) 10. (1972) 11. by (1973) 12. (2016) 13. by by (2019) 15. by by (1972) 18. by (1979) 19. by (2020) 20. (1977) 21. by…”
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From BestEverAlbums 09/28/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5449): By junodog4
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s by junodog4 () 1. by (1971) 2. by (1971) 3. by (1973) 5. by (1972) 6. by (1975) 7. by (1970) 8. by (1972) 9. by (1973) 10. by (1970) 11. by (1972) 13. by by (1975) 15. by (1975) 16. by (1971) 17. by (1978) 18. by (1979) 19. by (1971) 20.…”
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Hunky Dory comments

Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 160 comments |
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Rating:  
80/100
From 12/02/2019 09:43 | #245297 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
This might be the only album that I enjoy significantly more because of the lyrics. It makes me think maybe I do care about lyrics after all, but my standards are just exceptionally high. Especially on 'Quicksand'. There's something so magically confusing about a chorus that belts "don't believe in yourself". I really feel what he expresses in that song: the pondering, the doubting, the sinking in the quicksand of one's thought. Perfect analogy. And the way he expresses it through his voice and even instrumentation is accurate to the lyrical content. THAT's how you do good lyrics. Not make very interesting lines and then don't express them in your deliverance. Then I'd rather have someone who expresses a feeling accurately through the music while not really through the lyrics. One of them is at least a musician; the other one just a poet who lost its way and somehow ended up in music.
And another thing: lyrics in music have to land immediately. You don't have time to sit and ponder like in poetry. Even with cryptic lines like "So I turned myself to face me, but I never caught a glimpse" SOMEthing lands immediately, even though it might be just a glimpse of what is really meant. The feeling is clear.
That's how lyrics are done. And David Bowie does it perfectly. (Edited)
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Rating:  
90/100
From 09/26/2012 18:30 | #51253 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Fun album to listen. I don't find it inconsistent at all, every song in here contributes something to the album as a whole. (Edited)
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Rating:  
90/100
From 05/11/2020 10:00 | #251277 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Brilliant. This is the beginning of the greatest solo artist in modern music. Where to start? Changes announces the, er, changes in the style. Life on Mars is quite simply one of the greatest songs ever written, takes the structure of the dire My Way and turns it into something magical. Then what about the madness of Bewley Brothers? The quirky fun of Kooks? The playful Nietschze-love of Oh You Pretty Things (always makes me think of Peter Noone's baby faced grin as he songs, 'you gotta make way for the Homo Superior'). The sheer joy of Queen Bitch. One of the all time greats. (Edited)
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Rating:  
100/100
From 07/31/2017 23:11 | #195277 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Bought it at the Record Exchange in Houston when I was in high school, and the sound of it was immediately a salve and an obsession. Many many years later it still sounds great. I couldn't possibly tire of it. (Edited)
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Rating:  
85/100
From 07/18/2012 00:14 | #46714 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Its lack of consistency drops it below Ziggy for best Bowie album. The high points are higher, but I flails in places.
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Best Albums of  1971
1. Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) by Led Zeppelin
2. Who's Next by The Who
3. What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
4. Hunky Dory by David Bowie
5. Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones
6. Blue by Joni Mitchell
7. Tago Mago by Can
8. Meddle by Pink Floyd
9. L.A. Woman by The Doors
10. Tapestry by Carole King