Brief Candles (track)
by The Zombies
Year: 1968
From the album Odessey And Oracle (track #5)
Listen on Spotify SPOTIFY
Brief Candles appears on the following album(s) by The Zombies:
- Odessey And Oracle (track #5) (this album) (1968)
- Odessey And Oracle (Revisited): The 40th Anniversary Concert - Live At The Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, 2008 (track #5) (2009)
- Time Of The Zombies (track #21) (compilation) (1973)
- Zombie Heaven (track #36) (compilation) (1997)
Listen & Collect
Complete your collection or upgrade your listening experience.
Listen to Brief Candles on YouTube
Brief Candles 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 track. | Show all 299 ratings for this track.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Track ratings | Avg. track rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 08/04/2026 10:08 | Leginlists | 615 | 84/100 |
| ! | 01/07/2026 00:11 | alexandermause | 17,953 | 85/100 |
| ! | 12/10/2025 20:59 | Exist-en-ciel | 170,900 | 71/100 |
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 1% of all tracks on BestEverAlbums.com. This track has a Bayesian average rating of 86.9/100, a mean average of 86.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 87.3/100. The standard deviation for this track is 11.5.
Brief Candles favourites
Showing all 8 members who have added this track as a favourite
Brief Candles comments
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
Very pretty song with great, euphoric choruses. The verses are a little bare, but the sad, beautiful lyrics make up for it. (Edited)
Amazing (Edited)
Beautiful... (Edited)
Beautifully written lyrics and the music is just out of this world. (Edited)
"His sadness makes him smile" is one of the most simple, striking, relatable lyrics in the entire rock canon. In album that's packed to the brim with what would be described as centerpieces in lesser works, this song might be the jewel in the crown. (Edited)
