The Last Of The True Believers
by Nanci Griffith
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Nanci Griffith bestography
The Last Of The True Believers is ranked 2nd best out of 23 albums by Nanci Griffith on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Nanci Griffith is Little Love Affairs which is ranked number 6325 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 211.
(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 track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 79 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
The Last Of The True Believers rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 4 hours ago)
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O.T.The Last Of The True Believers collection
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The Last Of The True Believers ratings
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Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 58 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/02/2026 19:27 |  Mauce | 790 | 82/100 |
| ! | 03/13/2026 15:54 | jonny5244 | 8,462 | 63/100 |
| ! | 02/05/2026 14:41 |  HoldenM | 1,865 | 84/100 |
| ! | 01/08/2026 16:01 | Jakor | 5,525 | 70/100 |
| ! | 12/19/2025 02:56 | LI2023 | 4 | 95/100 |
Rating metrics:
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(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album has a Bayesian average rating of 72.6/100, a mean average of 71.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 72.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 18.5.
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The Last Of The True Believers comments
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HoldenM 02/05/2026 14:41 | #313012 | TOP COMMENT
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Breathtaking. (Edited)
"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 (Edited)
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