The Way Out
by The Books
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The Books bestography
The Way Out is ranked 2nd best out of 6 albums by The Books on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by The Books is The Lemon Of Pink which is ranked number 2310 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 703.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to The Way Out on YouTube
The Way Out track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
The Way Out rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 6 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  Purplepash | Top 100 Music Albums of 2010 | 47/100 | 3 |
| 2026 |  baystateoftheart | 2010 Honorable Mentions | 20/38 | - |
| 2026 |  SquishypuffDave | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 6/100 | 95 |
| 2026 | cicadelic | Blow Up Critics Playlist 2010 | 1/50 | - |
| 2026 |  drstuey | Top 24 Music Albums of 2010 | 4/24 | 4 |
| 2026 | jdizzle123456 | Top 100 Music Albums of 2010 | 40/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | Foxforce5 | Top 18 Music Albums of 2010 | 17/18 | 1 |
| 2026 |  arthurbittencourt | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s | 73/100 | 6 |
| 2026 | juanr1096 | Top 100 Music Albums of 2010 | 49/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | Exist-en-ciel | Top 100 Music Albums of 2010 | 52/100 | 2 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 85 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 469 | |||
The Way Out collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 24 members
The Way Out 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 album. | Show all 88 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/25/2026 21:10 | Exist-en-ciel | 15,701 | 70/100 |
| ! | 09/12/2025 08:50 | cicadelic | 14,048 | 73/100 |
| ! | 05/10/2025 02:08 | Proto | 4,312 | 33/100 |
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 albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 7% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.2/100, a mean average of 74.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 75.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.8.
The Way Out favourites
Showing all 10 members who have added this album as a favourite
The Way Out forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 07/11/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5370): By Nagaiwolfwood
Romanelli 11/15/2023 22:32 in Albums You Added To Your Collection Today
LedZep 04/20/2020 12:53 in You must listen to the album below you: canon editionThe Way Out comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Mercury TOP 100 COMMENTER 12/25/2012 17:21 | #58882 | TOP COMMENT
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Wow! This album is actually really impressive. It's playful and super creative. The song "The Story of Hip Hop" really sums up all the greatest qualities of this whole album-it's upbeat and well produced and really it's own genre. It's the books at their best. And right at the end of that track you get the idea that that story could be a metaphor or could have a bigger meaning. Or maybe that's just rubbish and it has no deeper meaning. It's really all about what significance you place on it. For me the whole record flows well. The spoken word samples meld very very nicely. The instrumentation is serene and precise. The music never seems predictable. It's not a perfect record, not every track clicks 100% for me at least. But it is one of the greatest albums of 2010 and Soooooooo ridiculously underrated! Check it out!
SquishypuffDave TOP 100 COMMENTER 11/15/2012 06:11 | #55049 | TOP COMMENT
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Profound and playful in equal measures, what could have been a cynical mockery of spiritual inquest turns out to be a joyous soul-searching experience.
The Books has made musical digression its science. Formed in 1999 by guitarist Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong, The Books is certainly one of the best-kept secrets of the indie scene. It is a leading band of the avant-garde thanks to its first two albums "Thought For Food" (2002) and "The Lemon Of Pink" (2003), which are classics of folktronica. Their latest album, "The Way Out", is based on an organic foundation (cello, banjo or guitar), a collage of disparate beats and lyrics more spoken than sung, which articulate an absurd statement. "The Way Out" is particularly mastered, measured and melodically accessible. A fourth tour de force that arises after 5 long years of absence.
8/10
Best track: "The Story Of Hip Hop"
Sometype 03/01/2017 21:33 | #186622 | TOP COMMENT
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Awfully awfully awfully underrated
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