Javelin
by Sufjan Stevens

Javelin by Sufjan Stevens
Year: 2023
Release date: 2023-10-06
Overall rank: 855th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
81/100 (from 295 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Best album of 2023 (1st)
Award Top 20 albums of the 2020s (13th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (855th)

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Sufjan Stevens - Javelin [New CD] Explicit
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Sufjan Stevens - Javelin (Record) Orange Crush Color New Sealed AKR 171
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Sufjan Stevens bestography

Javelin is ranked 6th best out of 34 albums by Sufjan Stevens on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Sufjan Stevens is Illinois which is ranked number 43 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 19,782.

Sufjan Stevens album bestography « Higher ranked (771st)
Seven Swans
This album (855th)
Javelin
Lower ranked (1,523rd) »
The Ascension

(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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Javelin track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 84 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Javelin rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 855th | 2020s rank: 13th | 2023 rank: 1st
Filter Filter
Sort Sort by
YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026VanillaBeanTop 52 Music Albums of the 2020s34/525
2026 ExTeaSeaTop 100 Music Albums of 202348/1003
2026mjp11Best of the 2020s (2/20/2025)2/100 -
2026VascoTop 100 Greatest Music Albums76/10025
2026 cestuneblagueTop 100 Music Albums of the 2020s55/1006
2026leniadTop 100 Music Albums of the 2020s100/1000
2026VanillaBeanTop 30 Music Albums of 20238/304
2026Exist-en-cielTop 100 Music Albums of 20231/1005
2026StreakyNunoTop 64 Music Albums of the 2020s8/6411
2026stevengnzTop 35 Music Albums of 202333/350
2026sunnydhammTop 33 Music Albums of 202331/330
2026RiveraTop 100 Music Albums of the 2020s57/1006
2026 TamthebamTop 97 Music Albums of 20231/975
2026lanisTop 52 Music Albums of the 2020s16/529
2026replacementlevelTop 75 Music Albums of the 2020s45/755
2026gregthealienTop 100 Music Albums of the 2020s2/10012
2026 paladisiacmy CURRENT favorite artists30/100 -
2026blueandthemoonTop 100 Music Albums of the 2020s12/10011
2026 imimesisTop 100 Music Albums of the 2020s8/10011
2026Juneof44Top 75 Music Albums of the 2020s18/7510
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 387
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 1,993
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Javelin collection

Javelin ratings

Average Rating: 
81/100 (from 295 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
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.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
25/100
 
32 hours ago willTPD  Ratings distribution  2373/100
 
100/100
 
04/16/2026 15:45 Agent007  Ratings distribution  3086/100
 
85/100
 
03/24/2026 11:55 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  9,57770/100
 
80/100
 
02/28/2026 23:50 Map  Ratings distribution  50081/100
 
100/100
 
02/12/2026 20:35 Devilwoac  Ratings distribution  1,13797/100

Rating metrics: Help 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 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 81.5/100, a mean average of 79.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 81.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.4.

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Javelin comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 12 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)

Rating:  
100/100
From 10/05/2025 20:09 | #311221
Ok for some this will not be his best work, but to me, it's a classic!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 12/25/2024 17:38 | #306642
Heartbreakingly beautiful he really captures that feeling of loss and heartbreak without being too melodramatic. Illinois, Carrie & Lowell, 7 Swans and Javelin are amazing albums. Different from each other but his genius is present in all 4 of these albums. Javelin is special to me as is Carrie & Lowell they are both in my Top 100 both rank 90/100.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
20/100
From 01/01/2024 19:58 | #300834
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Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -5 votes (4 helpful | 9 unhelpful)
Rating:  
10/100
From 01/01/2024 02:36 | #300816
This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -6 votes (4 helpful | 10 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 12/18/2023 16:03 | #300537
Album Rating: 82.70
(827/10)

06.10.2023

Sufjan Stevens (UK): Javelin

1.Goodbye Evergreen. 79
2.A Running Start. 73
3.Will Anybody Ever Love Me? 94
4.Everything That Rises. 75
5.Genuflecting Ghost. 75
6.My Red Little Fox. 86
7.So You Are Tired. 91
8.Javelin (To Have And To Hold). 79
9.Shït Talk. 95
10.There’s A World. 80
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (1 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 11/08/2023 19:07 | #299877
Creo que, a veces, las expectativas que nosotros mismos nos generamos sobre algo terminan jugando en nuestra contra, deteriorando nuestra experiencia... lamentablemente eso fue lo que me pasó con este álbum. Pero no me malentiendan, "Javelin" es bueno y va de menos a más, solo que no me enganchó lo suficiente como para decir ¡wow!

canciones favoritas:
*Everything That Rises
*Genuflecting Ghost
*Shit Talk.

English review:
I think that sometimes the expectations we generate for ourselves about something end up working against us, deteriorating our experience... unfortunately that's what happened to me with this album. But don't get me wrong, "Javelin" is good and goes from strength to strength, it just didn't hook me enough to say wow!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (2 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 11/03/2023 20:58 | #299771
His best work since Carrie & Lowell. Delicate, powerful and heartwrenching. AOTY candidate, to me.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (7 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 10/30/2023 01:41 | #299698
Excellent. Poor guy.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (3 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 10/29/2023 19:59 | #299696
For me, Sufjan’s thirteenth studio offering perfectly matches in mood its autumnal release date. Sonically, it is almost ‘folklore’-esque at times and I found it to be the perfect musical accomplice for making apple crumble during one cold afternoon late in October. This quality sits in juxtaposition with the emotive, personal lyric writing, conveying the trauma he’s experienced during the last year or so. Overall, I think this contrast is what makes for a very good album, if not an all time classic.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (2 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 10/19/2023 21:32 | #299556
This sounds like an amalgamation of several of his albums to date. You can hear the sounds of Carrie and Lowell, Illinois, Age of Adz, and Seven Swans easily throughout the whole album. This is really his first real album since Seven Swans in his early work where he hasn’t taken an entirely new sonic route for a new album. It’s very good but doesn’t have the originality and intense creativity of his past work. It’s a great album but far from his best but I’ll give him plenty of leeway considering all he’s been through recently. All love to Sufjan :)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (7 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
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