Buy
by James Chance & The Contortions
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James Chance & The Contortions bestography
Buy is ranked as the best album by James Chance & The Contortions.
(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 Buy on YouTube
Buy track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 76 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Buy 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 |  sssvnnn | Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 | 26/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | OFarrio | Top 28 Music Albums of 1979 | 18/28 | 2 |
| 2026 |  Patman360 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 | 31/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | PurpleHazel | Top 41 Music Albums of 1979 | 15/41 | 3 |
| 2026 | matterhornrider | Top 67 Music Albums of 1979 | 54/67 | 1 |
| 2026 |  O.T. | Top 52 Music Albums of 1979 | 50/52 | 0 |
| 2026 | juanr1096 | Top 52 Music Albums of 1979 | 35/52 | 2 |
| 2026 | cicadelic | Top 99 Music Albums of 1979 | 81/99 | 1 |
| 2026 |  Hayden | Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 | 87/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | Exist-en-ciel | Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 | 73/100 | 1 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 88 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 372 | |||
Buy collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 24 members
Buy 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 98 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 04/08/2026 08:17 |  ssteve | 2,595 | 76/100 |
| ! | 01/19/2026 20:51 | Exist-en-ciel | 15,670 | 70/100 |
| ! | 08/17/2025 15:36 | Proto | 4,300 | 33/100 |
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 5% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.8/100, a mean average of 75.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.7.
Buy favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 13 members
Buy forum mentions
MadhattanJack 06/22/2024 02:33 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
Applerill 04/03/2015 15:39 in Musical random chatBuy comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Very frenetic punk with a discordant sax wailing in free form (Edited)
Combining the cocophonous syncopations of Beefheart, the free-form spastic rhythms of Albert Ayler and the funky dance beats of James Brown, Chance creates a new form of destructured dissonant music for the new wave generation every bit as daring and innovative as the Pop Group and Rip Rig And Panic. (Edited)
The top-voted comments get featured on our charts, Album of the Day, and the site newsletter.
