Hats
by The Blue Nile
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The Blue Nile bestography
Hats is ranked as the best album by The Blue Nile.
(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 Hats on YouTube
Hats track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Hats 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 |  slatsheit | Top 32 Music Albums of 1989 | 8/32 | 4 |
| 2026 |  zags7000 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1989 | 51/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | Hyggevinyl | Top 50 Music Albums of 1989 | 42/50 | 1 |
| 2026 | Exist-en-ciel | Top 100 Music Albums of 1989 | 16/100 | 4 |
| 2026 |  MadhattanJack | Top 74 Music Albums of 1989 | 6/74 | 5 |
| 2026 | Vasco | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 66/100 | 35 |
| 2026 |  Charade | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 42/100 | 55 |
| 2026 |  Norman Bates | Top 100 Music Albums of 1989 | 29/100 | 4 |
| 2026 |  Helios | Top 100 Music Albums of 1989 | 19/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | Cheboygan74 | Top 16 Music Albums of 1989 | 9/16 | 3 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 225 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 1,451 | |||
Hats collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 84 members
Hats 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 228 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 08/19/2026 01:53 | bkogz | 938 | 85/100 |
| ! | 06/22/2026 14:57 |  Taka | 1,097 | 80/100 |
| ! | 05/11/2026 16:51 | Jakor | 5,550 | 70/100 |
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 is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 79.0/100, a mean average of 78.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.4.
Hats favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 44 members
Hats forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 10/11/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5462): By henrygreen0203View latest topic →
Repo 01/30/2024 11:54 in What album are you listening to right now?View all forum mentions
Hats comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Walking down a quiet city street at night, feeling the cool air flow by as you watch the last lights from the surrounding apartment buildings flicker out, losing yourself in your own introspection, contemplating love, loss, and heartbreak before realizing you've been walking for hours, full circle, all the way back to your residence; the sun is just starting to come up. You walk inside, still heartbroken, but perhaps with a bit of serenity now about you. Things will be alright in the end.
The comparison with Talk Talk is right, both play dreamy, mellow, considered music. Both were massively underrated 80s/ early 90s bands, overlooked really because of a lack of image in the video age.
While Talk Talk’s later work plays to the soul in the ether, Blue Nile go straight for the heart. Every second of your doomed or unrequited love affairs are plucked or physically torn at here. From the thrill of your first date, to the rain soaked pavements of disappointment, and every poignant star-crossed second of reflection in between.
Each time I fall for this album it hurts me a little bit more than I want it to. (Edited)
Favourite album of all time... love the relaxing vibe it gives off (Edited)
Skinny TOP 100 COMMENTER 12/22/2021 22:41 | #277825 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Found this comment on Youtube:
"This album is truly perfect... there's is Gaza, there's the no vote, there's Ebola, however there's music and blue nile is my Henrik Larsson. dx"
The sentiment is stunning. Anybody who understands the importance of a great, heroic striker will understand the metaphor. The Blue Nile is my Henrik Larsson. Dexy's Midnight Runners is my Bob Taylor. Black Sabbath is my Dwight Yorke. New Order is my Eric Cantona. Led Zeppelin is my Steve Bull. The Waterboys is my Robbie Keane. We could go all day. A great striker is all you really need for hope, as a child and as an adult. A bloke you know if gonna put the ball in the net, given the opportunity. And for a band, an artist, any band or artist, to mean that much... it's real love.
A perfect moody, romantic record for a rainy Saturday evening.
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