Backless
by Eric Clapton

Backless by Eric Clapton
Year: 1978
Overall rank: 10,545th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
71/100 (from 76 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1978 (152nd)
Award Top albums of of the 1970s (1,474th)
Award Best albums of all time (10,545th)

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Eric Clapton bestography

Backless is ranked 7th best out of 61 albums by Eric Clapton on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Eric Clapton is Unplugged which is ranked number 1626 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,057.

Eric Clapton album bestography « Higher ranked (8,427th)
Eric Clapton
This album (10,545th)
Backless
Lower ranked (10,798th) »
Clapton

(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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Backless rankings

Backless rankings summary
Overall rank: 10,545th | 1970s rank: 1,474th | 1978 rank: 152nd  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 4 hours ago)

Backless collection

Backless ratings

Average Rating: 
71/100 (from 76 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 76 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
65/100
 !
01/18/2026 12:28 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  15,46870/100
 
60/100
 !
12/05/2025 11:53 Leginlists  Ratings distribution  3,78283/100
 
75/100
 !
09/03/2025 02:35 machiaj  Ratings distribution  80571/100
 
75/100
 !
05/12/2025 14:09 platus  Ratings distribution  5,87474/100
 
80/100
 !
12/08/2024 11:24 spinout  Ratings distribution  3,47681/100

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 71.1/100, a mean average of 70.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 70.9/100. The standard deviation for this album is 11.7.


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Backless favourites

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Backless comments

Showing all 9 comments |
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Rating:  
85/100
Bluesy and well produced this is a grower for me with Promises a classic track. It was a successful release I’m sure partly due to the momentum of Slowhand. I have this on par with There’s One in Every Crowd & No Reason to Cry. (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 05/15/2020 20:08 | #251489
Nice bluesy record. "Promises" is the stand out! (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
I wore out my original vinyl copy of this album and was so pleased to find a near mint second hand replacement yesterday which having been deep cleaned to remove the dust, plays perfectly. Despite the cover versions I love this album, particularly 'I'll Make Love to You Anytime' and 'Roll It'. Feels very much like a band album and not a solo effort. An under-appreciated gem. (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
55/100
From 02/20/2016 13:40 | #160310
This is an OK record. Better that what was to follow.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
i actually like the 3 self-penned ones the best with the exeption of the Dylan starter. (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 09/27/2015 02:51 | #150549
Best Track: Tulsa Time
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 02/01/2015 22:20 | #133669
Meh... It's alright. His reliance on covers tells me that he was a far better player than songwriter.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
The last album Clapton recorded with his regular 1970's band sounds much more like a "band" album than a solo effort. Some good rockin' blues and country tunes here, particularly Tulsa Time, which somehow fits perfect at the end of the album. Promises and If I Don't Be There By Morning are also standout tracks. (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
The lesser known follow up to Slowhand. Clapton covers Dylan (twice), JJ Cale (as usual), and "Tulsa Time". A forgotten Clapton album, much better than many of his other efforts. (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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