Is It Really So Strange? (track)
by The Smiths
Year: 1987
From the album Louder Than Bombs (track #1)
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Is It Really So Strange? appears on the following album(s) by The Smiths:
- Louder Than Bombs (track #1) (this album) (compilation) (1987)
- Rank (track #8) (1988)
- Complete (track #48) (compilation) (2011)
- Complete (track #89) (compilation) (2011)
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Is It Really So Strange? 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).
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Showing latest 3 ratings for this track. | Show all 117 ratings for this track.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Track ratings | Avg. track rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/01/2026 00:06 | Rivera | 347 | 86/100 |
| ! | 06/30/2026 10:54 |  DommeDamian | 78,654 | 51/100 |
| ! | 03/30/2026 01:22 | Fritz | 4,468 | 85/100 |
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 tracks can have several thousand ratings)
This track is rated in the top 2% of all tracks on BestEverAlbums.com. This track has a Bayesian average rating of 85.6/100, a mean average of 85.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 86.4/100. The standard deviation for this track is 11.2.
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Great opener to the Louder Than Bombs compilation album and one of my most favorite tracks from The Smiths
DeusExMackia TOP 100 COMMENTER 02/29/2016 20:57 | #161034
A bumbling, jumpy, upbeat sing-a-long, with the perfect dash of melancholy and a splash of Johnny Marr's guitar wizardry.
