Hope Is Important
by Idlewild
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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.
(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 track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 76 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Hope Is Important 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 | wizardalien | Top 20 Music Albums of 1998 | 15/20 | 2 |
| 2026 | Top 80 Music Albums of 1998 | 36/80 | 3 | |
| 2026 | Johnnyo | Indie albums of the year 1998 by Radio X | 23/25 | - |
| 2026 | LittleM1971 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 47/100 | 11 |
| 2026 | LittleM1971 | Greatest Music Albums: 101-200 | 80/100 | - |
| 2026 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1998 | 10/100 | 5 | |
| 2026 | LittleM1971 | Top 95 Music Albums of 1998 | 4/95 | 5 |
| 2025 | Johnnyo | North of the border | 44/54 | - |
| 2025 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 57/100 | 9 | |
| 2025 | Johnnyo | Top 100 Music Albums of 1998 | 92/100 | 0 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 34 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 93 | |||
Hope Is Important collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 24 members
Hope Is Important 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 40 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 07/28/2026 10:54 | cicadelic | 14,017 | 73/100 |
| ! | 07/16/2026 20:36 | wizardalien | 901 | 48/100 |
| ! | 05/13/2026 08:14 | 2,158 | 71/100 |
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 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 forum mentions
Hope Is Important comments
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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)
Worth getting just for the wonderful "When I argue I see Shapes"
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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