Small Change
by Tom Waits
Listen & Collect
Complete your collection or upgrade your listening experience.
Tom Waits bestography
Small Change is ranked 6th best out of 27 albums by Tom Waits on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Tom Waits is Rain Dogs which is ranked number 113 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 11,138.
(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 Small Change on YouTube
Small Change track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Small Change rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 2 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  Tamthebam | Best of The 70s Pt.2 (101-200) | 9/100 | - |
| 2026 |  JR | Tom Waits | 5/10 | - |
| 2026 | daCritic | Top 32 Music Albums of 1976 | 13/32 | 3 |
| 2026 | baz1860 | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 64/100 | 35 |
| 2026 | matterhornrider | Top 68 Music Albums of 1976 | 26/68 | 3 |
| 2026 |  bertrandu | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 66/100 | 7 |
| 2026 |  spigelwii | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 42/100 | 58 |
| 2026 | Tamthebam | Top 100 Music Albums of 1976 | 11/100 | 5 |
| 2026 |  Patman360 | Top 88 Music Albums of 1976 | 6/88 | 5 |
| 2026 |  JMGL95 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 97/100 | 1 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 275 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 1,346 | |||
Small Change collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 165 members
Small Change 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 349 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/19/2026 13:44 | bonnequestion | 1,702 | 70/100 |
| ! | 03/30/2026 01:35 | thedudeabides | 169 | 83/100 |
| ! | 03/29/2026 23:54 | baz1860 | 220 | 84/100 |
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 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.8/100, a mean average of 77.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.8.
Small Change favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 47 members
Small Change forum mentions
Romanelli 06/14/2025 16:30 in What album are you listening to? (cont.) Romanelli 06/10/2024 20:25 in What album are you listening to right now?
BestEverAlbums 04/24/2023 20:00 in Album of the day (#4509): Small Change by Tom WaitsSmall Change comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Small change is without doubt the best Tom Waits album of the seventies. Here, he is fully formed, the sozzled barroom troubadour reaches it's peak. Waits is at the top of his game. While, closing time, was uncertain, the heart of Saturday night, slightly immature, and, nighthawks at the diner, a little forced, small change, is the record where Waits completely nails it. Opener, Tom Traubert's blues, is one of Waits' greatest ever songs, beautiful and moving, a stunning track. One step up, is a mock improvisation,again stunning. Other highlights are the excellent, invitation to the blues, the superb, bad liver and a broken heart, and the lovely closing track, I can't wait to get of work. There's no weak tracks, everything is wonderful, the lyrics are extraordinary, the performances perfect, from the cool jazz of, I wish I was in New Orleans, to the smoky title track. Small change, is an inebriated masterpiece. Excellent.
CharlieBarley 07/27/2018 20:59 | #218853 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
My favourite Tom Waits album. It has wit, pathos, gallows humour and some of the finest lyrics put to music. Everyone who has ever been drunk can relate to Tom Traubert's Blues. Or anyone who has ever felt sorry for themselves. It has some great songs. It probably is the ultimate drinking album but I don't drink anymore. But it doesn't stop me relating to this fine album.
This is rapidly becoming one of my all time favorite albums.
It's filled to the brim w/ gems. If you're down on your luck, this album has a unique way of lifting spirits. "The Pian0 Has Been Drinking" has got to one of the funniest karaoke songs all time. See also: "Step Right Up", "Bad Liver & A Broken Heart".
Bork TOP 100 COMMENTER 08/17/2010 04:01 | #14456 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
A bit of an intermediate number in Tom Waits' workshop. Includes a handful of solid songs, including Tom Trauberts Blues and The Piano Has Been Drinkin', but too much is below the standard Mr. Waits has made us used to with the previous albums. The ones that followed would be back on track.
samistake2ice 12/26/2012 22:36 | #59014 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Although its a close race, this has to be my favorite Waits album. Cant get enough. Tom traubert's blues will be played at every special occasion for the rest of my life.
The top-voted comments get featured on our charts, Album of the Day, and the site newsletter.
