The Shepherd's Dog (studio album)
by Iron & Wine

The Shepherd's Dog by Iron & Wine
Year: 2007
Release date: 2007-09-25
Overall rank: 1,705th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 193 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 2007 (31st)
Award Top albums of the 2000s (270th)
Award Best albums of all time (1,705th)

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Iron & Wine bestography

The Shepherd's Dog is ranked 2nd best out of 17 albums by Iron & Wine on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Iron & Wine is Our Endless Numbered Days which is ranked number 1189 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,476.

Iron & Wine album bestography « Higher ranked (1,189th)
Our Endless Numbered Days
This album (1,705th)
The Shepherd's Dog
Lower ranked (1,852nd) »
The Creek Drank The Cradle

(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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The Shepherd's Dog track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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The Shepherd's Dog rankings

The Shepherd's Dog collection

The Shepherd's Dog ratings

Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 193 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 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 193 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
90/100
 Report rating
06/20/2025 12:09 Scrabbler  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 23379/100
 
90/100
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11/18/2024 16:20 davidleewrong  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,31881/100
 
75/100
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09/29/2024 21:40 Banner  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 4,88380/100
 
25/100
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08/18/2024 15:08 Proto  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 3,57634/100
 
75/100
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07/31/2024 21:43 Toffuey  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 47679/100

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 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.2/100, a mean average of 76.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.0.

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The Shepherd's Dog comments

Showing all 9 comments |
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Rating:  
90/100
From 10/19/2018 04:48
Such a beautiful album. The songs have a really amazing quality to them, sometimes dreamy, sometimes groovy, sometimes in between, but always quite unique. I find the rhythms on this album so engaging and interesting for some reason, despite their simplicity. Like on Peace Beneath The City, it's held together by a simple little swing beat emphasized by two hand claps, but something about it just implies so much more grooviness than this song justifies. I don't know how

85/100 (Very Good)
#222746 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 03/03/2014 23:17
A beautiful laid back album.
#105334 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 04/27/2013 12:21
Every one of Sam Beam's albums have grown immensely on me since discovering Iron And Wine, even though I loved them all from the start. The contrast between this and The Creek Drank The Cradle is immense, yet both are absolute masterpieces. He's taken a couple small steps back in my eyes since this album, but all 5 LPs are well worth listening to.
#74558 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 02/06/2013 20:31
Real gem right here. Much more progressive than his previous albums and after a first listen I can tell it'll be a grower. He creates some really rich, reverberated landscapes of sound which is something unique with folk, but works surprisingly well.
#64254 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 01/04/2013 04:28
One of my all-time favourite albums. As many people have commented on different albums that mean a lot to them, I can't understand why this isnt ranked higher ... especially the #44 ranking in 2007 albums.
#60012 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 06/23/2012 16:15
Lo fi indie of the highest order. Resurrection Fern is undeniably gorgeous.
#45164 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 12/14/2011 14:37
I have loved the progression Sam Beam has taken from "Creek Drank the Cradle", especially his last two EPs "In The Reins" and "Woman King". He doesn't sound like he's simply writing odes to marshlands anymore. He has some verve and determination and something resembling rock all the while maintaining the poet-on-his-backwood-porch appeal. He continues his progression to a more assertive "rock" sound on "The Shepherd's Dog".
#32930 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 12/11/2011 23:01
Very good album. Definitely cool how he expands his sound a little bit with each album...doesn't stagnate like a lot of artists.
#32712 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 09/09/2010 06:07
Flightless Bird, American Mouth is beautiful
#15022 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 2007
1. In Rainbows by Radiohead
2. Sound Of Silver by LCD Soundsystem
3. For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver
4. Boxer by The National
5. Neon Bible by Arcade Fire
6. Favourite Worst Nightmare by Arctic Monkeys
7. Oracular Spectacular by MGMT
8. Untrue by Burial
9. Graduation by Kanye West
10. Strawberry Jam by Animal Collective
11. Fear Of A Blank Planet by Porcupine Tree
12. Person Pitch by Panda Bear
13. Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? by of Montreal
14. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon
15. Wincing The Night Away by The Shins
16. Kala by M.I.A.
17. Sky Blue Sky by Wilco
18. † [Cross] by Justice (FR)
19. We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank by Modest Mouse
20. Into The Wild (Music For The Motion Picture) by Eddie Vedder
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