Shiny Happy People (track)
by R.E.M.
Year: 1991
From the album Out Of Time (track #6)
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Shiny Happy People appears on the following album(s) by R.E.M.:
- Out Of Time (track #6) (this album) (1991)
- Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982–2011 (track #20) (compilation) (2011)
- Complete Studio Albums 1988-1996 (track #17) (compilation) (2014)
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Shiny Happy People 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).
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Showing latest 5 ratings for this track. | Show all 246 ratings for this track.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Track ratings | Avg. track rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 07/07/2026 09:46 |  DommeDamian | 74,839 | 51/100 |
| ! | 07/02/2026 12:47 | Siromynian | 17,775 | 71/100 |
| ! | 05/12/2026 14:00 |  AAL2014 | 39,878 | 76/100 |
| ! | 05/05/2026 20:45 | seaniedimes_ | 838 | 78/100 |
| ! | 04/26/2026 14:53 | Pavloss | 2,378 | 60/100 |
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 tracks can have several thousand ratings)
This track is rated in the top 2% of all tracks on BestEverAlbums.com. This track has a Bayesian average rating of 83.2/100, a mean average of 82.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 83.5/100. The standard deviation for this track is 14.5.
Shiny Happy People favourites
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Shiny Happy People comments
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chisholm.matt 02/09/2022 13:27 | #281015
This track is actually one of the best pop songs of all time. I totally agree with Michael when he says on Netflix's Song Exploder that including it on the same album as Losing my Religion is a bit schizophrenic.
VictorVale 01/03/2019 11:49 | #228722
Clássica!
Brad1770 08/07/2018 11:30 | #219363
All but dis-honed by R.E.M this track has never been played live except for their "Shiny Furry Monster's" version for Sesame Street . I'm sure in hind site R.E.M would not have included this on 'Out Of Time' and included "Fretless" instead
Rumoured to possibly be about the Thiamin Square massacre due to Chinese posters of the time with the words Shiny Happy People on them
Goliath 03/03/2018 16:59 | #210014
This people don't hate it, great track.
koner1 08/29/2014 20:57 | #120760
people hate it... i don't see why
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