The Way It Is
by Bruce Hornsby And The Range
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Bruce Hornsby And The Range bestography
The best album by Bruce Hornsby is The Way It Is which is ranked number 5906 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 231.
(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 The Way It Is on YouTube
The Way It Is track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
The Way It Is 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)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  zags7000 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1986 | 75/100 | 1 |
| 2026 |  Squonk007 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 21/100 | 16 |
| 2026 |  NowhereMan | Top 14 Music Albums of 1986 | 8/14 | 3 |
| 2026 | Moondance | Top 100 Music Albums of 1986 | 3/100 | 5 |
| 2026 | tim0505 | Top 25 Music Albums of 1986 | 8/25 | 4 |
| 2026 | matterhornrider | Top 58 Music Albums of 1986 | 57/58 | 0 |
| 2026 |  Patman360 | Top 92 Music Albums of 1986 | 12/92 | 4 |
| 2026 | Squonk007 | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 82/100 | 18 |
| 2026 |  Tamthebam | Top 100 Music Albums of 1986 | 44/100 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Leonard | Top 100 Music Albums of 1986 | 54/100 | 2 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 72 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 231 | |||
The Way It Is collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 54 members
The Way It Is 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 86 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 08/04/2026 12:38 |  Ilolahti | 146 | 81/100 |
| ! | 06/24/2026 16:07 | Brando1788 | 154 | 77/100 |
| ! | 02/16/2026 00:49 | mianfei | 1,405 | 62/100 |
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 70.4/100, a mean average of 68.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 70.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 18.7.
The Way It Is favourites
Showing all 6 members who have added this album as a favourite
Forum mentions
neilgee 08/28/2025 21:52 in What album are you listening to? (cont.) neilgee 06/18/2025 20:52 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
Romanelli 12/25/2024 17:33 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)The Way It Is comments
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Great debut for Bruce Hornsby and the Range. The Way it is is a very easy listen and the songs are consistently impactful. Huey Lewis produces a few songs on this album and his influence is most present on Down the Road Tonight. Mandolin Rain and the title track are the obvious standouts. A great band with some great musicianship.
NowhereMan 11/22/2017 11:54 | #201794 | TOP COMMENT
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Nice pop ballads. An album played 'easy'.
I've always loved "Mandolin Rain". This album always puts me in a reflective mood.
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