The Rating Project: Cumulative Results

From April 13 to August 9, 2003 (and with several sporadic sequels to catch subsequent releases), I ran polls in which I asked my site visitors to rate the songs written and/or performed by the Pet Shop Boys on a scale of 0 to 10 as they compare with each other, with 0 indicating "one of the worst PSB songs ever" and 10 indicating "one of the very best PSB songs."

I fully acknowledge that, taken as a group, these are thoroughly unscientific ratings. It would have been far more valid, for instance, to have presented all 200+ songs at once and have my site visitors rate them in one fell swoop, so to speak. That, however, would have been a monster survey to complete and even more monstrous for me to manage. As unscientific as the week-by-week process was, it was far more manageable.

The following table provides the cumulative results of this series of ratings polls. The songs are listed and ranked in descending order based on the average rating they each received. In addition, "album averages" appear near the bottom of this page, followed by a list of various "ratings superlatives and statistics."

Rank
Song (listed from highest average rating to lowest)
Average
Rating
% of
voters
ranking
10
% of
voters
ranking
0
1
Being Boring
8.742
46.5%
0.0%
2
Can You Forgive Her?
8.650
37.8%
0.0%
3
Disappointed (Electronic)
8.431
32.8%
0.0%
4
Left to My Own Devices
8.407
34.6%
0.0%
5
It's a Sin
8.399
36.9%
0.0%
6
Shameless
8.286
29.5%
0.7%
7
Go West
8.217
35.6%
0.0%
8
Integral
8.173
30.1%
0.3%
9
West End Girls
8.145
33.3%
1.2%
10
Always on My Mind
8.062
30.9%
1.2%
11
Fugitive
7.984
25.7%
0.4%
12
So Hard
7.956
23.3%
0.0%
13
Minimal
7.945
21.2%
0.3%
14
Getting Away with It (Electronic)
7.912
22.7%
0.0%
15
Miserablism
7.904
28.8%
0.7%
16
Domino Dancing
7.901
24.2%
0.0%
17
No Time for Tears
7.874
25.2%
1.0%
18
Your Funny Uncle
7.865
27.2%
0.7%
19
After All
7.837
30.6%
1.0%
20
Jealousy
7.830
22.6%
0.0%
21
Somebody Else's Business
7.799
24.0%
0.0%
22
King's Cross
7.792
33.3%
0.6%
23
So Sorry, I Said
7.754
18.0%
0.0%
24
Delusions of Grandeur
7.750
23.2%
0.7%
25
Rent
7.732
22.6%
0.0%
26
I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing
7.728
22.2%
0.0%
27
What Have I Done to Deserve This?
7.714
22.6%
0.0%
28
The Sodom and Gomorrah Show
7.701
17.9%
0.7%
29
Paninaro
7.688
21.8%
0.0%
30
Always
7.677
23.3%
0.0%
31
A Red Letter Day
7.674
21.5%
0.0%
32
My Night (from Closer to Heaven)
7.644
19.1%
0.0%
33
Too Many People
7.640
17.8%
0.7%
34
You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk
7.610
23.6%
0.0%
35
I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More *
7.604
20.3%
0.0%
36
This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave *
7.604
23.3%
0.0%
37
For Freedom
7.598
27.2%
1.1%
38
Closer to Heaven
7.582
15.4%
0.0%
39
Heart
7.536
17.3%
0.0%
40
One Thing Leads to Another
7.535
17.1%
0.7%
41
You've Got to Start Somewhere (unreleased)
7.522
14.3%
0.9%
42
Flamboyant
7.520
16.2%
0.5%
43
Paninaro '95
7.486
21.7%
0.7%
44
Love Comes Quickly
7.473
23.0%
1.2%
45
I'm Not Scared
7.463
14.2%
0.0%
46
For Your Own Good
7.445
20.9%
0.5%
47
Hallo Spaceboy (duet with David Bowie)
7.438
10.7%
0.0%
48
The Resurrectionist
7.436
17.2%
0.4%
49
Yesterday, When I Was Mad
7.428
18.9%
0.0%
50
Try It (I'm in Love with a Married Man)
7.400
24.0%
2.0%
51
Miracles
7.387
15.1%
0.5%
52
The Theatre
7.378
17.2%
0.6%
53
In Private (Dusty Springfield)
7.370
15.1%
1.7%
54
Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
7.358
11.1%
0.0%
55
Call Me Old-Fashioned (from Closer to Heaven)
7.349
10.1%
0.0%
56
The Truck Driver and His Mate
7.331
15.9%
0.7%
57
Liberation
7.328
21.7%
0.0%
58
Forever in Love
7.308
13.2%
1.3%
59
To Step Aside
7.302
18.0%
0.6%
60
Patience of a Saint (Electronic)
7.292
10.9%
0.8%
61
Home and Dry
7.284
9.9%
0.0%
62
Hit and Miss
7.233
16.7%
0.7%
63
A Powerful Friend (unreleased)
7.222
12.5%
0.0%
64
It Always Comes as a Surprise
7.198
16.3%
0.0%
65
I Didn't Get Where I Am Today
7.185
17.3%
0.6%
66
The Squadron
7.163
18.6%
4.8%
67
Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)
7.158
12.1%
1.2%
68
Bright Young Things
7.149
14.9%
0.5%
69
For All of Us (from Closer to Heaven)
7.148
19.1%
2.2%
70
Positive Role Model
7.136
10.7%
0.7%
71
London
7.099
9.9%
0.0%
72
Do I Have To?
7.093
12.9%
0.7%
73
Nervously
7.088
18.9%
0.6%
74
Was It Worth It? *
7.080
11.1%
0.0%
75
Somewhere *
7.080
14.5%
0.7%
76
Indefinite Leave to Remain
7.054
11.9%
0.4%
77
Between Two Islands
7.026
15.3%
0.7%
78
The End of the World
7.025
14.5%
0.6%
79
Hey, Headmaster
6.993
16.4%
0.0%
80
Suburbia
6.988
13.3%
2.4%
81
It Doesn't Often Snow at Christmas
6.966
11.6%
0.7%
82
In the Night
6.965
12.9%
0.0%
83
Discoteca
6.953
15.7%
0.6%
84
Time on My Hands
6.951
11.3%
0.0%
85
I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too)
6.950
8.2%
1.4%
86
Full Steam Ahead
6.940
15.7%
4.8%
87
Sexy Northerner *
6.938
18.0%
3.3%
88
The Man Who Has Everything *
6.938
11.2%
0.7%
89
Here
6.932
16.7%
0.0%
90
Some Speculation
6.928
15.1%
0.7%
91
It Couldn't Happen Here
6.917
15.5%
0.6%
92
Dreaming of the Queen
6.906
15.6%
0.6%
93
My October Symphony
6.899
17.6%
1.9%
94
She's Madonna (Robbie Williams)
6.895
12.8%
0.5%
95
Se A Vida É (That's the Way Life Is)
6.890
10.5%
1.2%
96
Decadence
6.882
13.4%
0.7%
97
Luna Park
6.880
10.2%
0.7%
98
Nothing Has Been Proved
6.877
10.2%
1.6%
99
Young Offender
6.861
12.2%
0.6%
100
I Made My Excuses and Left
6.836
10.5%
0.7%
101
I'm with Stupid
6.832
6.7%
0.7%
102
We All Feel Better in the Dark
6.823
13.7%
0.7%
103
Odessa
6.810
17.9%
2.4%
104
Tonight Is Forever
6.782
10.9%
1.2%
105
Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend
6.773
9.6%
0.7%
106
Daydreaming (Dusty Springfield)
6.772
6.7%
1.7%
107
It Must Be Obvious
6.759
11.0%
0.7%
108
Something Special (from Closer to Heaven)
6.756
5.6%
0.0%
109
Falling
6.755
6.3%
0.0%
110
The Survivors
6.750
16.3%
1.7%
111
If Looks Could Kill *
6.732
12.0%
0.7%
112
Friendly Fire *
6.732
11.3%
2.0%
113
Two Divided by Zero
6.727
10.9%
1.2%
114
The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On
6.704
13.0%
0.7%
115
A Different Point of View
6.694
7.2%
1.7%
116
Nyet
6.690
13.8%
3.4%
117
One in a Million
6.689
10.0%
0.6%
118
Out of My System (from Closer to Heaven)
6.686
7.9%
3.4%
119
To the Battleship
6.679
15.5%
4.8%
120
How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?
6.673
8.2%
0.6%
121
I Want to Wake Up
6.667
11.9%
0.6%
122
It's Alright
6.648
12.3%
1.9%
123
New York City Boy
6.643
17.0%
4.9%
124
DJ Culture
6.630
6.8%
0.6%
125
Up Against It *
6.628
9.9%
2.9%
126
To Speak Is a Sin *
6.628
6.7%
0.6%
127
Casanova in Hell
6.624
7.8%
1.4%
128
To the Shore
6.619
16.7%
4.8%
129
A New Life
6.614
12.9%
0.7%
130
A Little Black Dress (unreleased)
6.597
3.6%
0.0%
131
One More Chance
6.595
13.1%
1.2%
132
If There Was Love (Liza Minnelli)
6.582
5.9%
0.0%
133
Don Juan
6.576
9.5%
2.0%
134
I Get Along
6.574
4.3%
0.0%
135
Single
6.570
9.3%
1.2%
136
Absolutely Fabulous
6.568
13.8%
3.3%
137
Only the Wind
6.553
8.2%
0.0%
138
"Comrades!"
6.551
18.0%
4.5%
139
Losing My Mind
6.550
7.5%
0.7%
140
Twentieth Century
6.542
7.6%
1.1%
141
It's Just My Little Tribute to Caligula, Darling (from Closer to Heaven)
6.523
9.0%
1.1%
142
The Ghost of Myself
6.477
10.2%
0.8%
143
The View from Your Balcony
6.455
8.0%
1.4%
144
To Face the Truth
6.453
7.5%
0.6%
145
Betrayed
6.420
10.1%
0.7%
146
Euroboy
6.390
8.9%
0.0%
147
I Want You Now (Liza Minnelli)
6.385
3.4%
0.0%
148
The Samurai in Autumn
6.383
7.4%
1.2%
149
In Denial
6.368
15.9%
4.9%
150
Occupy Your Mind (Dusty Springfield)
6.351
7.6%
1.7%
151
Numb
6.343
8.0%
1.7%
152
Lies
6.342
7.8%
0.8%
153
Night Falls
6.341
7.1%
3.5%
154
Before
6.337
13.4%
2.9%
155
KDX 125
6.333
6.6%
1.3%
156
Later Tonight
6.321
9.1%
1.8%
157
Radiophonic
6.319
8.8%
0.5%
158
Girls and Boys
6.307
6.5%
1.4%
159
That's My Impression
6.305
8.2%
2.0%
160
A Man Could Get Arrested
6.298
10.2%
1.4%
161
One of the Crowd
6.281
8.2%
2.7%
162
Break 4 Love
6.277
9.3%
2.0%
163
We Came from Outer Space
6.256
6.6%
0.7%
164
I Want a Lover
6.248
9.1%
1.2%
165
Jack the Lad
6.241
11.6%
0.0%
166
Don't Drop Bombs (Liza Minnelli)
6.216
5.0%
1.7%
167
Run Girl Run! (from Closer to Heaven)
6.214
10.1%
2.2%
168
Tall Thin Men (unreleased)
6.186
6.3%
0.0%
169
We're the Pet Shop Boys
6.183
5.7%
3.4%
170
My Head Is Spinning
6.156
3.9%
0.7%
171
All or Nothing (Miyuki Motegi)
6.146
1.7%
0.0%
172
Nightlife
6.144
8.7%
2.7%
173
Girls Don't Cry
6.142
4.3%
0.5%
174
Stormy Meetings
6.134
7.3%
4.9%
175
Was That What It Was?
6.129
6.8%
0.0%
176
I Want a Dog
6.086
4.3%
1.9%
177
How I Learned to Hate Rock and Roll
6.041
5.8%
0.7%
178
Casting a Shadow
6.038
7.0%
1.6%
179
Why Don't We Live Together?
6.024
9.1%
2.4%
180
Drama in the Harbour
6.023
9.8%
3.7%
181
Psychological
5.962
4.5%
0.3%
182
Metamorphosis
5.924
11.0%
3.5%
183
Men and Maggots
5.918
5.9%
3.5%
184
Violence
5.903
6.1%
1.8%
185
Nine Out of Ten (from Closer to Heaven)
5.895
1.1%
2.2%
186
Postscript
5.883
10.6%
3.9%
187
The Calm Before the Storm
5.862
2.9%
0.7%
188
Confidential
5.843
6.5%
3.6%
189
You Know Where You Went Wrong
5.811
8.2%
2.7%
190
Birthday Boy
5.790
6.8%
6.2%
191
One and One Make Five
5.761
4.4%
4.4%
192
Music for Boys
5.746
6.2%
2.1%
193
I Can't Say Goodnight (Liza Minnelli)
5.719
2.5%
2.5%
194
Love Life (Alcazar)
5.705
2.5%
1.7%
195
Sail Away
5.696
5.5%
1.6%
196
Silver Age
5.679
4.7%
1.6%
197
Our Daily Bread
5.667
6.9%
3.4%
198
Shopping
5.637
6.5%
1.2%
199
Saturday Night Forever
5.605
8.1%
5.2%
200
You Choose
5.599
5.6%
5.6%
201
Screaming
5.595
4.7%
3.9%
202
In My House
5.593
5.6%
3.1%
203
Footsteps
5.588
8.8%
5.5%
204
E-mail
5.562
1.9%
1.2%
205
The Night I Fell in Love
5.556
8.0%
9.3%
206
Happiness Is an Option
5.549
6.0%
5.5%
207
The Living Daylights (aka "James Bond Instrumental #2) (unreleased)
5.545
3.6%
0.9%
208
Love Is a Catastrophe
5.463
13.0%
8.1%
209
Bubadubadubadum (aka "All My Wasted Time") (unreleased)
5.461
7.1%
0.9%
210
Searching for the Face of Jesus
5.426
4.7%
2.7%
211
Disco Potential
5.400
6.5%
4.3%
212
In the Club or in the Queue (unreleased)
5.382
3.6%
1.8%
213
Party Song
5.348
3.5%
2.5%
214
Jack and Jill Party (Pete Burns)
5.324
1.7%
3.5%
215
Blue on Blue
5.287
5.3%
1.1%
216
Boy Strange
5.236
6.0%
7.7%
217
If Love Were All
5.199
4.8%
6.2%
218
Transparent
5.135
1.2%
1.8%
219
God Willing
5.134
1.9%
0.8%
220
Hedonism (from Closer to Heaven)
5.093
2.2%
5.6%
221
Vampires
5.088
2.2%
3.3%
222
The Only One
5.066
2.7%
3.3%
223
Electricity
4.988
6.4%
4.7%
224
The Noise (unreleased)
4.962
1.8%
1.8%
225
Oh, Dear (aka "Walking Down the High Street") (unreleased)
4.879
4.5%
2.7%
226
Opportunities (Reprise)
4.867
2.4%
5.5%
227
What Keeps Mankind Alive?
4.763
8.2%
8.2%
228
Hit Music
4.732
0.6%
1.8%
229
Generic Jingle
4.729
8.6%
9.4%
230
Tranquilizer (Superchumbo)
4.508
7.4%
7.4%
231
K-Hole (from Closer to Heaven)
4.318
1.1%
10.1%
232
Je T'Aime… Moi Non Plus
4.288
4.7%
10.2%
233
Do the Right Thing (Ian Wright)
4.268
0.8%
4.2%
234
Pet Shop Boys (b-side of the original "West End Girls" single)
3.829
3.6%
7.1%
235
The Sound of the Atom Splitting
3.638
5.4%
23.8%

*These songs may appear to be tied in their average ratings, but that's only because the figures are rounded to the nearest thousandth. If we increase the degree of precision, rounding to the nearest hundred-thousandth, the apparent ties are broken. Thus, in each of these cases, one song can be fairly ranked above the other:

I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More
7.60440
This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave
7.60377

Was It Worth It?
7.08025
Somewhere
7.08000

Sexy Northerner
6.93836
The Man Who Has Everything
6.93750

If Looks Could Kill
6.73239
Friendly Fire
6.73228

Up Against It
6.62791
To Speak Is a Sin
6.62778

Album Averages

Average ratings for albums can be calculated in several different ways. One is the "Average of Song Averages" method: take the average rating for each song on the album and then average those averages together. Another is the "Average of Voter Averages" method: take the average rating for each voter who provided ratings for the songs on that album and then average those averages together. Finally, there's the "Average of All Ratings" method: take every rating for every song that album and then average those ratings together. The following table provides a simple illustration of these methods:

  Song ASong BSong CVoter Averages  
Voter 1
4
7
8
6.333
  
Voter 2
0
5
9
4.667
  
Voter 3
6
10
3
6.333
  
Song Averages
3.333
7.333
6.667
  
Average of Song Averages
= 5.778
        Average of Voter Averages
= 5.778		Average of All Ratings
= 5.778

As you can see, all three of these methods produce the same final result.

The following "Average Rating" figures are for each regular "studio" album by the Pet Shop Boys; Discography, PopArt, Disco, Disco 2, and Essential aren't included. Disco 3 is included, however, by virtue of its large number of "new" songs. If a song appears on more than one album (such as "I Want a Dog" on both Introspective and Alternative), its rating is counted in the calculations for both albums.

Ranking
Album
Average Rating
1
Introspective
7.428
2
Behaviour
7.282
3
Disco 3
7.141
4
Very
7.088
5
Actually
6.972
6
Fundamental
6.852
7
Relentless
6.754
8
Please
6.603
9
Battleship Potemkin
6.595
10
Bilingual
6.568
11
Alternative
6.560
12
Nightlife
6.342
13
Release
6.224

Note that "In My House" is not included in the calculations for Introspective because it is included as part of a medley with "Always on My Mind." The low rating of "In My House" by itself would pull the average rating for the album down to 7.166, thus putting Introspective at a ranking of #2 and elevating Behaviour to first place.

If we were to include Discography in the rankings, its average rating would be 7.653, putting it in the first-place position. After all, it is a "greatest hits" album. Interestingly, PopArt would have an average rating of 7.505—lower than Discography, but still higher than any of the other albums.

One of my site visitors has suggested, however, that these "Average Rating" figures aren't really fair because brief (and often not very popular) tracks like "Opportunities (Reprise)" and "God Willing" are given equal weight to other, longer tracks. Wouldn't it be fairer to "weight" album tracks according to their length? That is, a longer song, which takes up more of the album, would "count more" than a shorter song that takes up less of the album? So he suggested a system whereby the average rating for each song is multiplied by its length (number of seconds), the resulting totals are then added, and that sum is divided by the total number of seconds on the album, resulting in a "Weighted Rating" for each album. (And this allows us to include "In My House" in the calculations for Introspective based on the 2:36 portion of "Always on My Mind/In My House" taken up by that portion of the medley.) The results are not radically different, but we find several very noteworthy shifts in rankings:

Ranking
Album
Weighted
Rating
1
Behaviour
7.340
2
Introspective
7.334
3
Very
7.174
4
Disco 3
7.113
5
Actually
7.000
6
Fundamental
6.941
7
Please
6.774 *
8
Battleship Potemkin
6.774 *
9
Relentless
6.763
10
Bilingual
6.589
11
Alternative
6.527
12
Nightlife
6.332
13
Release
6.191

*These albums may appear to be tied in their average ratings, but that's only because the figures are rounded to the nearest thousandth. If we increase the degree of precision, rounding to the nearest hundred-thousandth, the apparent ties are broken. Thus, in each of these cases, one album can be fairly ranked above the other:

Please
6.77396
Battleship Potemkin
6.77380

Discography ends up with a weighted rating of 7.637, while PopArt winds up with 7.507, thereby parallelling the results of the "unweighted" ratings.

Ratings Superlatives and Statistics