Desertshore (studio album)
by Nico
Top albums of 1970 (
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Nico bestography
Desertshore is ranked 2nd best out of 16 albums by Nico on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Nico is Chelsea Girl which is ranked number 612 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 2,788.
(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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Listen to Desertshore on YouTube
Desertshore track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
1
Desertshore rankings
Latest 20 charts that this album appears in:
imacgill
Leonard
DommeDamian
flamingyesdept
LedZep
kadupheming
SuedeSwede
Rhyner
Romanelli
ForegroundNoiseYou can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!
Desertshore collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 90 members
Desertshore ratings
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 295 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
25/100  | 4 days ago | NYAndreas | | 43/100 |
90/100 | 10/22/2025 00:57 | MaxStorm98 | | 89/100 |
90/100 | 10/18/2025 11:57 | cicadelic | | 73/100 |
50/100 | 07/28/2025 17:04 | jon5417 | | 68/100 |
75/100 | 05/12/2025 13:57 | CharonBri | | 75/100 |
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 77.3/100, a mean average of 76.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.6.
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Desertshore favourites
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Desertshore comments
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Its alright
lleon79 07/22/2022 13:56
As others have said... it's a really strange album. Not in a bad way, but didn't expect this. Would I listen to it again? Maybe when it's 1 am and I can't sleep, maybe while drawing at night or just... at night. It's not going to be on my rotation, but I'm glad I got to discover this.
Definitely original album with medieval feeling, I actually like it better than Chelsea Girls.
Jboy56 01/08/2022 17:25
It is a very moody and dark album for dark and haunting Corona days. I bet this requires some previous knowledge of Nico's work. A definite medieval feel to it.
A very otherworldly sounding album, that feels both haunting and beautiful at the same time. The sound is so cohesive and this atmosphere that Cale and Nico create together is stunning. Every song fits the tone of the album masterfully. The arrangement on this album by Cale is magnificent, my personal highlights being the piano, which sounds so delicate and raw, and the string arrangement. While some songs like My Only Child among others do not reach the same heights as tracks like Afraid, the tempo of the album is never lost which maintains the consistency of the album. Overall, it creates an experience that it will be very difficult to forget.
Jbalbinolr 05/02/2021 23:50
Why isn't this in the top 10 albums of 1970?
teague 01/24/2021 22:28
Ended up listening to this because it's one of Björk's favorite records, and I'll do anything she says. And holy cow this is so good. Beautiful, haunting, absolutely captivating in every way imaginable. Nico has never sounded this good, John Cale needs an award for this album alone.
A masterpiece, 'nuff said!
Jameth 05/21/2019 06:34
I first listened to this back-to-back with The Marble Index. It was a worthwhile listen, but it came across as a B-side to other. Some good songs are here, but it isn’t as captivating overall as TMI.
RoundTheBend 04/14/2019 15:57
Nico's voice matches Cale's arrangements better than his own. At times modern/at times takes you to a medieval time. Something I can call both of theirs fantastic (solo).
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