The Way It Is
by Bruce Hornsby And The Range

The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby And The Range
Year: 1986
Release date: 1986-04-17
Overall rank: 5,892nd   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
70/100 (from 86 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1986 (85th)
Award Top albums of of the 1980s (847th)
Award Best albums of all time (5,892nd)

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Bruce Hornsby & the Range, The Way It Is, audioCD
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Bruce Hornsby And The Range: The Way It Is - LP (Indianapolis Pressing)
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Bruce Hornsby And The Range Lp The Way It Is On Rca - Vg+/ Vg+
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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 5892 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 230.

Bruce Hornsby And The Range album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (5,892nd)
The Way It Is
Lower ranked (15,843rd) »
Scenes From The Southside

(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 Way It Is track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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

The Way It Is rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 5,892nd | 1980s rank: 847th | 1986 rank: 85th

The Way It Is collection

The Way It Is ratings

Average Rating: 
70/100 (from 86 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 86 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 !
06/24/2026 16:07 Brando1788  Ratings distribution  15276/100
 
30/100
 !
02/16/2026 00:49 mianfei  Ratings distribution  1,40162/100
 
60/100
 !
01/25/2026 13:19 Ilolahti  Ratings distribution  12081/100
 
75/100
 !
01/14/2026 23:20 traistboar  Ratings distribution  1,71379/100
 
70/100
 !
08/23/2025 22:25 machiaj  Ratings distribution  80571/100

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 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.

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The Way It Is favourites

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The Way It Is comments

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Rating:  
85/100
From 01/30/2021 19:51 | #265373 | TOP COMMENT
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.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 11/22/2017 11:54 | #201794 | TOP COMMENT
Nice pop ballads. An album played 'easy'.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 08/01/2010 03:48 | #13926 | TOP COMMENT
I've always loved "Mandolin Rain". This album always puts me in a reflective mood.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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