Back In The High Life
by Steve Winwood
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Steve Winwood bestography
Back In The High Life is ranked as the best album by Steve Winwood.
(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 Back In The High Life on YouTube
Back In The High Life track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 76 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Back In The High Life rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 5 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | blueandthemoon | Top 24 Music Albums of 1986 | 17/24 | 2 |
| 2026 | machiaj | Top 40 Music Albums of the 1980s | 23/40 | 9 |
| 2026 |  Romanelli | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 39/100 | 12 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | Platinum decade 1980s Pt 2 | 84/100 | - |
| 2026 | Finky | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 38/100 | 13 |
| 2026 | shanelovesyou1111 | Top 65 Music Albums of 1986 | 33/65 | 3 |
| 2026 | machiaj | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 85/100 | 15 |
| 2026 | Romanelli | My Overall Chart: 201-300 | 65/100 | - |
| 2026 | fabm0 | List 1986 | 26/100 | - |
| 2026 | Rivera | 201-300 | 14/100 | - |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 79 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 269 | |||
Back In The High Life collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 60 members
Back In The High Life 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 05/05/2026 09:39 | classicjoe | 507 | 78/100 |
| ! | 02/28/2026 16:49 | DaveH68 | 1,363 | 76/100 |
| ! | 12/16/2025 00:30 | Btel74 | 726 | 76/100 |
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 has a Bayesian average rating of 71.5/100, a mean average of 70.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 71.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.1.
Back In The High Life favourites
Showing all 5 members who have added this album as a favourite
Back In The High Life forum mentions
Romanelli 10/09/2022 17:41 in What album are you listening to right now? Romanelli 05/01/2017 11:40 in The Romanelli Music Diary: Mexican MoonBack In The High Life comments
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A good pop record from an artist that deserves more recognition than he received in his heyday. Nice to see Mr. Winwood bank some cash.
When it comes to this artist, I have many albums he is featured, in my collection. Some nice short pop tunes that I'm not used to from him, but he deserves the recognition for a really good album. This album reminds me of some of music Phil Collins put out as a solo artist. (Edited)
jhuik TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/04/2013 04:33 | #60015 | TOP COMMENT
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Breezy title track, fine lead single Higher Love and the song Split Decision... these all stand the test of time, really.
Shortlisted for album of the year at the Grammys in 1987. The winner was Graceland by Paul Simon. (Edited)
Romanelli TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/15/2012 21:02 | #35273 | TOP COMMENT
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Not as fine as Arc Of A Diver, but one of Winwood's best records.
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