American Fool
by John Cougar
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John Cougar bestography
American Fool is ranked 3rd best out of 33 albums by John Mellencamp on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by John Mellencamp is Scarecrow which is ranked number 1946 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 870.
(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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American Fool track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 73 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
American Fool rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  ERadio | Top 55 Music Albums of 1982 | 39/55 | 2 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | Platinum artists Pt 3 | 36/100 | - |
| 2026 |  Tamthebam | Top 100 Music Albums of 1982 | 49/100 | 3 |
| 2026 |  ExTeaSea | Top 82 Music Albums of 1982 | 63/82 | 1 |
| 2026 | Juneof44 | Top 50 Music Albums of 1982 | 48/50 | 0 |
| 2026 |  Romanelli | Top 39 Music Albums of 1982 | 13/39 | 3 |
| 2026 |  junodog4 | Top 20 Music Albums of 1982 | 17/20 | 1 |
| 2026 |  imacgill | Top 100 Music Albums of 1982 | 63/100 | 2 |
| 2026 | joathome | Top 44 Music Albums of 1982 | 40/44 | 1 |
| 2026 | Musicbuff123 | Top 50 Music Albums of the 1980s | 32/50 | 8 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 99 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 350 | |||
American Fool collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 89 members
American Fool 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 130 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 07/18/2026 03:12 | matterhornrider | 5,182 | 81/100 |
| ! | 04/07/2026 03:05 | Exist-en-ciel | 15,986 | 70/100 |
| ! | 03/10/2026 12:14 | cicadelic | 14,091 | 73/100 |
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 71.5/100, a mean average of 70.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 71.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.7.
American Fool favourites
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American Fool forum mentions
pedro1976 02/07/2026 06:37 in What album are you listening to? (cont.) Romanelli 07/28/2023 23:57 in What music video are you watching right now?American Fool comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Bork TOP 100 COMMENTER 07/12/2010 20:03 | #13452 | TOP COMMENT
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Mellencamp's greatest album. As always a couple unnecessary tracks (Danger List and Weakest Moments) keep it from masterpiece status, but this is still a gem.
I do prefer the stuff after he added his true surname, but you cannot deny this stuff. Two all time classics on this album and everything is fun good old rock and roll.
Jboy56 03/26/2024 08:56 | #302687 | TOP COMMENT
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A great album with 2 absolute classics. The rest of the album is solid, but some of these songs use the same rhythmic patterns, which might make them sound the same.
Still recommended (Edited)
timtooky 04/02/2014 20:59 | #108329 | TOP COMMENT
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two really good tracks and a lot of agreeable folkrock. not exactly what i would call "a gem" - but there is a lot of weaker stuff in 1982.
"Jack and Diane" was his biggest hit, reaching No.25 in the UK, although he only ever had one other top 40 hit.
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