Hope Is Important
by Idlewild

Hope Is Important by Idlewild
Year: 1998
Overall rank: 12,686th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
71/100 (from 40 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1998 (197th)
Award Top albums of of the 1990s (2,013th)
Award Best albums of all time (12,686th)

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Idlewild bestography

Hope Is Important is ranked 3rd best out of 12 albums by Idlewild on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Idlewild is The Remote Part which is ranked number 3230 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 471.

Idlewild album bestography « Higher ranked (12,686th)
Hope Is Important
This album (12,686th)
Hope Is Important
Lower ranked (30,206th) »
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(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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Hope Is Important rankings

Hope Is Important rankings summary
Overall rank: 12,686th | 1990s rank: 2,013th | 1998 rank: 197th  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 4 hours ago)

Hope Is Important collection

Hope Is Important ratings

Average Rating: 
71/100 (from 40 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 3 ratings for this album.  | Show all 40 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
70/100
 !
07/28/2026 10:54 cicadelic  Ratings distribution  14,01773/100
 
45/100
 !
07/16/2026 20:36 wizardalien  Ratings distribution  90148/100
 
75/100
 !
05/13/2026 08:14 Milhaud  Ratings distribution  2,15871/100

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 71.5/100, a mean average of 69.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 71.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.7.


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Hope Is Important favourites

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Hope Is Important forum mentions

This album has been referenced 6 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
“What album are you listening to? (cont.)”
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“What album are you listening to right now?”
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“All vinyl... Another very welcome reissue from Music on vinyl. UK original UK original”
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Hope Is Important comments

Showing all 3 comments |
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Rating:  
45/100
From 07/16/2026 20:39 | #315307
When I Argue I See Shapes is a great song, been one of my favourites for a long long time. Also liked Film for the Future and I'm Happy To Be Here Tonight. There's some other great stuff here as well, but then there's always a few 2 minute duds as well. The Remote Part for me was them at their best, but I preferred this to their second album. (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 0
Rating:  
85/100
From 12/21/2012 13:44 | #58445
Worth getting just for the wonderful "When I argue I see Shapes"
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 3
From 12/29/2011 20:11 | #33966
When going into a room you should really make your intentions known. Tell us why you are here and we'll get things done faster than we could. You know, good service? Unless you're a spy ofcourse and then you might not want to have your intentions known. Sneak about... a little, go in the draws. But yeah, you usually want to tell people what you want when going into some... hypothetical room. What intentions did Idlewild want with their debut? A picture of a paddling boat smashed apart on the shore, inspected by onlookers in a photo that was taken before the Titanic set sail. These are going to be soft vanilla cream trend joiners aren't they? Follow in the footsteps of early R.E.M. or a Pixies gone tame. Well... no. The answer is no! THIS IS LOUD! THIS IS SCREAMING AT THE BARKING DOGS! "WHAT DO YOU SAY IF YOU'VE TAKEN ME OVER, YOU SAY YOU'RE TAKING ME OVER, YOU SAY YOU'RE TAKING ME OVER" he is howling seconds into the album in a farcry from 'Love Steals Us From Loneliness' while 'You Don't have Heart' has the band ripping hinges of your doors with vocals, wooden sticks and metal strings! 'Everyone Says That Your so Fragile' because that song made light work of you and your Bob Marley wish washed mind! Guitars stab at acts like Oasis in 'A Film For The Future' with a rabid ferocity that you won't here again until... well 'Paint Nothing' comes on! These are more rabid than The Sex Pistols yet mostly remembered for their Starsailor esque inroads. Oh... so what about them later tunes and ballads? Well songs such as 'I'm Happy To Be Here Tonight' certainly anticipate them. They are much more refined in that direction with 'The Bronze Medal' on their next album. For now it is best to want the heavy screeching dush this album gives in spades. The My Bloody Valentine calling back of 'I'm a Message' is a highlight while 'Safe And Sound' is the half way point between Alice In Chains and the latest cream of the butter farm bands that was 90's UK music. Do You like guitar music? Do you like incoherence and a hidden gem? Take this one.
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