The Sounds Of India
by Ravi Shankar
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Ravi Shankar bestography
The Sounds Of India is ranked 2nd best out of 42 albums by Ravi Shankar on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Ravi Shankar is Music Of India (Three Classical Ragas) which is ranked number 2360 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 685.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to The Sounds Of India on YouTube
The Sounds Of India track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 76 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
The Sounds Of India rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 1 hour ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  Helios | Top 30 Music Albums of 1958 | 4/30 | 5 |
| 2026 | Exist-en-ciel | Top 55 Music Albums of 1958 | 52/55 | 0 |
| 2026 |  Hayden | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1950s | 83/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | Weepingguitarman | Top 17 Music Albums of 1958 | 10/17 | 2 |
| 2026 | Hayden | Top 97 Music Albums of 1958 | 10/97 | 5 |
| 2026 |  NoisyBeast | 1960's ~ Wish List | 90/99 | - |
| 2026 |  Tamthebam | Top 90 Music Albums of 1958 | 78/90 | 1 |
| 2025 |  EyeKanFly | Top 31 Music Albums of 1958 | 17/31 | 2 |
| 2025 |  Igtonumama | Top 100 Music Albums of 1958 | 13/100 | 4 |
| 2025 |  djnizzi | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1950s | 93/100 | 2 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 45 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 123 | |||
The Sounds Of India collection
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The Sounds Of India 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 56 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/26/2026 15:09 | Hayden | 7,928 | 72/100 |
| ! | 06/01/2026 20:08 | AledJames | 1,704 | 69/100 |
| ! | 03/27/2026 02:26 | stareaterogni0n | 589 | 70/100 |
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 has a Bayesian average rating of 72.9/100, a mean average of 72.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 73.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.9.
The Sounds Of India favourites
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The Sounds Of India forum mentions
Romanelli 03/03/2022 12:58 in Albums You Added To Your Collection Today
RoundTheBend 02/28/2020 16:07 in You must listen to the album below you: canon edition
paladisiac 02/15/2018 18:39 in What album are you listening to right now?The Sounds Of India comments
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Let's face it. Ravi Shankar was pretty much the closest that he could be to "rock star" status as an Eastern musician in the late 60s and early 70s. This virtuoso sitar player from India was one of key ambassadors for Eastern music during this time, thanks in part to an early endorsement from The Beatles. He would later appear at Woodstock to play in front of half a million music fans. This made perfect sense at the time given the influence that Indian music had upon Rock music during the Psychedelic era. This album is a wonderful introduction to Ravi & Indian music in general. His teaching narratives throughout the album are geared to help Western listeners understand the mechanics of this genre. I suppose the styling might wear upon the nerves of some listeners due to their constant drones Ravi improvises over. Those who grasp the brilliance of Ravi's improvisations with fully acknowledge what a BAD ASS he was on this album.
Used to spin it a LOT when I was in my 20s.
A perfect place to start getting into Hindustani classical music. Other albums often have one only raga lasting 50 minutes and things like that, wich can be tiresome for a first time listener.
So, if you never listened to this type of music before my advice would be to make this album the starting point.
Jasonconfused TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/22/2013 00:19 | #62444 | TOP COMMENT
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It's hard for me to say much about it since I lack the expertise, but it was quite enjoyable and a nice departure from Western music.
A splendid introduction to Raga / Hindustani classical music for western-world audiences; educational and beautiful.
planetneutral 01/13/2018 05:20 | #205365 | TOP COMMENT
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Classical Indian doesn't entrance me quite as much as it used to, but if you're going to listen to anyone, it should probably be Ravi Shankar.
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