Tracy Chapman
by Tracy Chapman

Album
Tracy Chapman by Tracy Chapman
Year: 1988
Release date: 1988-04-05
Overall rank: 425th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 648 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1988 (6th)
Award Top 100 albums of of the 1980s (61st)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (425th)

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Tracy Chapman bestography

Tracy Chapman is ranked as the best album by Tracy Chapman.

Tracy Chapman album bestography « Higher ranked
- This album (425th)
Tracy Chapman Lower ranked (4,974th) »
Crossroads

(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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Tracy Chapman track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Track pick (870 - 151 votes)
Talkin' Bout A Revolution
Average Rating: 87 (151 votes)Comments: View 2
2.
Track pick (890 - 221 votes)
Fast Car
Average Rating: 89 (221 votes)Comments: View 2
3.
Across The Lines
Average Rating: 80 (106 votes)Comments: View 0
4.
Behind The Wall
Average Rating: 77 (101 votes)Comments: View 0
5.
Baby Can I Hold You
Average Rating: 83 (134 votes)Comments: View 3
6.
Mountains O' Things
Average Rating: 77 (99 votes)Comments: View 0
7.
She's Got Her Ticket
Average Rating: 76 (99 votes)Comments: View 0
8.
Why?
Average Rating: 78 (96 votes)Comments: View 0
9.
For My Lover
Average Rating: 81 (107 votes)Comments: View 0
10.
If Not Now...
Average Rating: 78 (98 votes)Comments: View 0
11.
For You
Average Rating: 76 (89 votes)Comments: View 0

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Tracy Chapman rankings

Tracy Chapman rankings summary
Overall rank: 425th | 1980s rank: 61st | 1988 rank: 6th  Overall chart history
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 1 hour ago).

Tracy Chapman collection

Tracy Chapman ratings

Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 648 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 648 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
70/100
 !		07/15/2026 08:24 Purplepash  Ratings distribution  4,95575/100
 
75/100
 !		07/12/2026 20:49 markl73  Ratings distribution  62178/100
 
75/100
 !		07/12/2026 17:40 liquidbottle  Ratings distribution  77582/100
 
100/100
 !		05/16/2026 21:34 CharlieBarley  Ratings distribution  3,25781/100
 
100/100
 !		04/29/2026 06:58 ASOARE  Ratings distribution  2,32576/100

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 is rated in the top 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.3/100, a mean average of 76.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.3.


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Tracy Chapman comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 36 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
80/100
From 02/26/2026 21:31 | #313309
Remarkable debut album whose songwriting stands out. She actually can bring a tear to my eye when listening to her lyrics and voice. I can vison her playing guitar and writing these songs by herself before she ever stepped into a studio. Her choice of subject in her lyrics says a lot about her experiences. Again....a masterpiece!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 04/11/2025 09:55 | #308460
shortlisted for album of the year at the Grammys in 1989. The winner was Faith by George Michael. This should probably have won
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
45/100
From 05/16/2024 23:18 | #303568
What a voice. Fast Car is a masterpiece. The rest of the album is unspectacular but saved by her amazing voice.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 09/07/2022 01:10 | #289453
Solid record
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 03/24/2022 16:54 | #283311
Macetou muito nesse primeiro álbum! Que timbre lindo de voz!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 01/06/2022 11:37 | #278740
El debut de Tracy Chapman es uno de los más destacados de la historia. Ninguno de sus discos posteriores está a la altura de este.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 11/21/2021 15:28 | #276509 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Like Mary Chapin-Carpenter and Rosanne Cash, Tracy Chapman was among many female folk singer-songwriters that emerged in the new corporate era who were literary and socially conscious.

It's fitting that her debut was released on the Elektra label, the same label that helped non-mainstream singer-songwriters like Mickey Newbury, Nanci Griffith and Sara Hickman.

This is a really fine debut, well worth your time.

A Side: Fast Car
B Side: Baby Can I Hold You
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/18/2021 08:48 | #264593
Dido the comment below
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (2 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 12/19/2020 17:26 | #262938
Remarkable songwriting on a debut album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 07/04/2018 19:27 | #217766
This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -6 votes (0 helpful | 6 unhelpful)

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