The Last Of The True Believers
by Nanci Griffith

The Last Of The True Believers by Nanci Griffith
Year: 1986
Overall rank: 4,639th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
73/100 (from 57 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1986 (61st)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (669th)
Award Best albums of all time (4,639th)

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Nanci Griffith bestography

The Last Of The True Believers is ranked as the best album by Nanci Griffith.

Nanci Griffith album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (4,639th)
The Last Of The True Believers
Lower ranked (6,082nd) »
Little Love Affairs

(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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The Last Of The True Believers rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 4,639th | 1980s rank: 669th | 1986 rank: 61st

The Last Of The True Believers collection

The Last Of The True Believers ratings

Average Rating: 
73/100 (from 57 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 57 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 
02/05/2026 14:41 HoldenM  Ratings distribution  1,75883/100
 
50/100
 
01/08/2026 16:01 Jakor  Ratings distribution  5,14668/100
 
100/100
 
12/19/2025 02:56 LI2023  Ratings distribution  495/100
 
30/100
 
08/21/2025 09:43 RemainInLight  Ratings distribution  3,21336/100
 
70/100
 
04/01/2025 02:16 AAL2014  Ratings distribution  3,63375/100

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 has a Bayesian average rating of 73.0/100, a mean average of 71.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 73.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 18.2.

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Rating:  
85/100
From 02/05/2026 14:41 | #313012
Breathtaking.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 03/27/2021 20:55 | #267836
"The Last of the True Believers" is the fourth studio album by Nanci Griffith and the most generally the highly acclaimed album by critics and fans.

Producer Jim Rooney captured lightning in a bottle with Griffith's third album "Once in a Very Blue Moon." But would lightning strike twice?

Yes! Rooney carefully crafted the record in similar to her Philo debut. It's organic and dynamic and has aged fairly well, compared to lots of overproduced 80s music. It's a delicate, detailed style that compliments her folk material and her country-folk vocals. Backing bluegrass musicians Bela Fleck, Mark O'Connor and Roy Huskey Jr. return, and so does Lyle Lovett, on the heels of his own career, who contributes harmony vocals and appears on the front cover.

The material on the record is very strong, probably the most consistent out of all Griffith's records. All songs are written or co-written by Griffith, except Tom Russell's St Olav's gate and the collaboratively written "Goin' Gone."

A career highlight is the sentimental and nostalgic "Love at the Five and Dime." "One of These Days" is another early sentimental Griffith favorite, and "The Wing and the Wheel" is another suburb sentimental treat. But it's not all sickly sweet. There are plenty of upbeat tracks, especially "Looking for the Time" and "Fly By Night."

The Last of the True Believers is not only a career highlight, but also the end of an era. Following the release, Griffith finally scored a four record deal with MCA, and the most successful material of her career would come out of this late 80s early 90s period.

Again, the album cover contains references to the songs. The woman on the left references "Looking for the Time" and the dancing couple in the storefront are inspired by "Love at the Five and Dime." And perhaps Griffith herself references "Fly By Night," as she stands alone in on the streets watching the lonely hearts go by.

Essential.

Career Highlight: Love at the Five and Dime
Gems: St Olav's Gate, Looking for the Time, One of These Days, Fly By Night and Wing and the Wheel
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1986
1. The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths
2. Master Of Puppets by Metallica
3. Graceland by Paul Simon
4. So by Peter Gabriel
5. Skylarking by XTC
6. The Colour Of Spring by Talk Talk
7. Reign In Blood by Slayer
8. Lifes Rich Pageant by R.E.M.
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19. True Blue by Madonna
20. Your Funeral... My Trial by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
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