XTC 
Aliases: The Dukes Of Stratosphear.
The best album credited to XTC is Skylarking which is ranked number 375 in the overall greatest album chart with a total rank score of 4,937.
XTC is ranked number 172 in the overall artist rankings with a total rank score of 13,904.
- Members: N.B. The member list may not contain a full list of members (and there may be notable omissions). If a member has never released a solo album, or their solo albums do not appear on BEA, they will not be able to be listed as a member. These omissions are not meant to cause offense to anybody. The member list is solely meant as an additional navigation aid to browse between the items listed on the site.
- Andy Partridge
- Barry Andrews
- See also:
- The League Of Gentlemen
- Shriekback
- Robert Fripp & The League Of Gentlemen
- Harold Budd & Andy Partridge
- Monstrance
- Peter Blegvad & Andy Partridge
Upcoming concerts
Listen to XTC on YouTube
XTC best albums
The following albums by XTC are ranked highest in the greatest album charts:
37
This may not be a complete discography for XTC.This listing only shows those albums by this artist that appear in at least one chart on this site. If an album is 'missing' that you think deserves to be here, you can include it in your own chart from the My Charts page!
XTC bestography composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1970s | 3 | 0% | |
| 1980s | 13 | 0% | |
| 1990s | 9 | 0% | |
| 2000s | 5 | 0% | |
| 2010s | 0 | 0% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
XTC best tracks
Include tracks from compilations & live albums | Exclude tracks from compilations & live albums The same track can appear on multiple albums, so excluding tracks from compilations and live albums helps to remove duplicates from this list.
XTC 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 artist. | Show all 78 ratings for this artist.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Artist ratings | Avg. artist rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
70/100  | 4 days ago | Stevo796 | | 74/100 |
70/100 | 07/20/2023 21:23 | Johnnyo | | 73/100 |
100/100 | 04/16/2023 07:35 |  melisandre | | 86/100 |
100/100 | 08/30/2022 20:47 |  MadhattanJack | | 82/100 |
80/100 | 01/17/2022 16:58 | MoonageDaydream | | 85/100 |
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 artists can have several thousand ratings)
This artist is rated in the top 2% of all artists on BestEverAlbums.com. This artist has a Bayesian average rating of 80.8/100, a mean average of 80.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 81.6/100. The standard deviation for this artist is 17.1.
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XTC favourites
Showing latest 20 members who have added this artist as a favourite | Show all 22 members
XTC comments
Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 11 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Maximum Rated First |
Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
My two favourite albums by XTC are Black Sea (from 1980) and Apple Venus (from 1999). To the uninitiated these two albums sound like two very different bands. That's your first clue that the musical genius here is mind-boggling. To call them a new wave band is liking calling the Beatles a Mersey Beat band... This band suffered more than almost any other from the anti-British sentiment in the USA which reared it's ugly head in the 80s, and therefore they are criminally underappreciated there. If you don't know them, listen to Apple Venus first, then Black Sea, then Skylarking as a bridge between the two. This is a top notch modern rock band.
Really strong early new wave artist....not enough people know them, like Marillion...
DaVGManiac 09/03/2018 09:51
Just when I thought that there couldn't be any more underappreciated artists, this band stumbled upon my radar. Filled with cheerful, catchy tunes, their earlier records sound more like The Clash (Black Sea, Drums and Wires), while the newer ones sound more like The Beach Boys (Apple Venus Volume 1). Even though the discography isn't strong enough for me in order to give them a higher score, the top 5 albums are essential in every music collection.
paladisiac 01/04/2018 19:11
They remind me of elvis costello. That's a good thing for me.
No Rag and Bone Buffet?
For anyone new to XTC I would recommend listening to a couple of their albums before deciding if you like them or not (or go for the singles collection Fossil Fuel.) The early stuff is MASSIVELY different to the later stuff. I think most people start with Skylarking but the first one I heard was Drums and Wires, and it's still my favorite.
My favorite band, you really can't go wrong with XTC.
Ottokar 08/03/2014 10:08
What a band! For 15 years each album was better than the last - I can't think of any other band where I would say that.
XTC are criminally overlooked and underrated, and they are SO good. it's crazy - go swindon!
one of the most underrated bands ever !
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