My User Albums Journey

User Albums Journey

Exploring beyond the book, one album at a time

View 1001 Albums Summary

129

Albums Rated

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1990

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Punk

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Wordsmith

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5-Star Albums

1-Star Albums

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Albums

You Love More Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
The Lioness Songs: Ohia	5	3.09	+1.91
Deadwing Porcupine Tree	5	3.26	+1.74
Homogenic Björk	5	3.46	+1.54
For Emma, Forever Ago Bon Iver	5	3.47	+1.53
Origin of Symmetry Muse	5	3.55	+1.45
Wildflowers Tom Petty	5	3.58	+1.42
Songs Of A Lost World The Cure	5	3.66	+1.34
Alive 2007 Daft Punk	5	3.66	+1.34
A Day At The Races Queen	5	3.68	+1.32
Repetition Unwound	4	2.86	+1.14

You Love Less Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Misplaced Childhood Marillion	1	2.94	-1.94
Katamari Damacy Various Artists	1	2.85	-1.85
Funky Kingston Toots & The Maytals	2	3.69	-1.69
The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess Chappell Roan	2	3.51	-1.51
London 0 Hull 4 The Housemartins	2	3.47	-1.47
Donuts J Dilla	2	3.44	-1.44
The Grass Is Blue Dolly Parton	2	3.28	-1.28
Hadestown Anaïs Mitchell	2	3.22	-1.22
HEY WHAT Low	2	3.2	-1.2
No Balance Palace Kashmir	2	3.16	-1.16

5-Star Albums (9)

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Popular Reviews

A Day At The Races

Queen · 2 likes

5/5

Imagine being in a band with Freddie Mercury and insisting on doing lead vocals yourself. Like write it, demo it but when it comes to recording... I mean... am i wrong? I've seen it written that “Drowse” is probably the least essential track in context—but not because it’s bad. It’s because the rest of the album is absurdly strong and unified. Which the album is. Easy 4.5/5

Hadestown

Anaïs Mitchell · 2 likes

2/5

I struggle with musical soundtracks - I love live theatre but the recordings always seem to be missing that vital element of the visual.

The Mantle

Agalloch · 2 likes

4/5

Is this actually really good, or was I just surprised by how much I liked it (expecting it to be terrible). Anyway, a good listen!

Singles

Future Islands · 2 likes

4/5

Seasons is an all time banger

Repetition

Unwound · 1 likes

4/5

Never heard of them but enjoyed it!

4-Star Albums (26)

1-Star Albums (2)

All Ratings

Rip It Off

Times New Viking

2/5

OK, so Pitchfork has this at 8.4/10 and my first impression was that the submitter was in the band? Truth is somewhere in between? I honestly don't know what to make of this. I mean it got better, not to the point of repeat listens but at least bearable. This is my first user submitted album so it has to be a 2, *just in case* I hear something worse than this so i have somewhere to go.

Come On Over

Shania Twain

3/5

Country isn’t my thing, is this country though? Dunno. But 12 singles off one album is hard to deny, a window to an age long gone. And Mutt Lange is a great producer.

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Neutral Milk Hotel

4/5

For everything I’d heard about it I was expecting a masterpiece. It’s good, not great. But I’d listen again I think. 3.5 rounded to a generous 4

Stupid Dream

Porcupine Tree

3/5

Keep It like a Secret

Built To Spill

4/5

An Empty Bliss Beyond This World

The Caretaker

2/5

Felt like I was on hold for an hour. Didn't hate it but it was definitely background music for me.

Brand New Eyes

Paramore

4/5

Really enjoyed that. Can't believe that [according to Last.fm] I'd only played Paramore 4 times in my life (well post 2006) - will do so more from now on.

Music For People In Trouble

Susanne Sundfør

3/5

L'Heptade

Harmonium

3/5

Against all my expectations, I enjoyed this.

Slip

Quicksand

3/5

Not bad, never heard them before but have now followed them online. Sounds like a cross between early Tool and every band in my local scene in the mid 90s!

Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

M83

3/5

Some great stuff early on but I'm always wary of the double album - you've got to have a lot so say, and I'm not sure M83 has quite enough.

Foxes in the Snow

Jason Isbell

2/5

I'm a massive fan of Jason Isbell - I did something with this album I haven't done in a decade or more - pre-order it and listen to it without any advance singles... sadly I was disappointed. I found myself wondering if these were actually b-sides from another project. I like the title track and a few others but nothing comes close to his previous best though

Frosting On The Beater

The Posies

4/5

Very familiar sound, loved the opening track!

Kick

INXS

3/5

A few stone cold classic songs here - will "Never Tear Us Apart" ever age? At the same time I think i'm more of a Listen Like Thieves person. The music that was so influential to me couldn't have happened without INXS I'm sure, I was just a little too young to get them back in the day, and now it feels like I've heard half this album (on the radio) 10,000 times. It's hard to be objective, so I'm just going with feels.

Repetition

Unwound

4/5

Never heard of them but enjoyed it!

Dilate

Ani DiFranco

3/5

A Live One

Phish

2/5

Ok, straight up. A 30 minute song is just taking the piss. I gave it a good listen, I know some very nice people with reasonable music taste who love Phish, plus I already listen to Dave Matthews so this is just an extended version of that right. Really extended. But man, it was a lot. Closing track as excellent I will say.

Yeti

Amon Düül II

3/5

I dig it

Psychic

DARKSIDE

2/5

The Lion's Roar

First Aid Kit

4/5

This band is great, this album no exception

Lemonade

Beyoncé

3/5

Really strong production throughout — each track builds its own distinct sound, and there’s a lot to admire in the detail and craft. And yet sometimes I struggle to connect with the music though (not that i'm the target audience); it often doesn’t quite feel *about* anything, even when there’s a clear narrative framework like there is here. Because of that, I respect this more than I like it.

Home Sweet Home

Kano

2/5

Pinkerton

Weezer

3/5

Some of these songs were the soundtrack to my final year of high school. My band tried to play El Scorcho but I could never quite nail that solo. The Good Life remains my favourite ever Weezer song but, relistening for the first time in... i don't know how long... Last.fm says 10 years, I don't feel as connected to these songs (outside of the two mentioned) as I once did. Thanks for the flashback though

No Balance Palace

Kashmir

2/5

Clarity

Jimmy Eat World

3/5

All Hour Cymbals

Yeasayer

4/5

HELLYEAH

2/5

Just goes to show that everything can be somebody's favourite. I reviewed this for my university magazine back in the day, I thought it was great I'd get all these CDs for free - then I listened to them. This isn't the worst one I was sent, which says what I need it to say.

Grace And Danger

John Martyn

4/5

Slapstick

3/5

Ska punk is not my favourite branch of punk, but it was a decent listen. +1 for the cover of a song from Back to the Future

Zuckerzeit

Cluster

2/5

Join Us

They Might Be Giants

2/5

My housemates asked me to turn it down

Quadrophenia

The Who

3/5

I’ve listened to a lot of this band, I feel like they have better records.

Dimanche à Bamako

Amadou & Mariam

3/5

Good different

Revolution

Q65

2/5

Penguin Eggs

Nic Jones

4/5

Love the Nick Drake vibes

Peasant

Richard Dawson

3/5

10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

2/5

Many have said it better than me but blues (outside of Robert Johnson and Django - got a soft spot there) I just don't get. This is probably it at it's finest and it's ok. I don't get why this is more important than any other though. Monday open mic nights with 60 minutes blues jams while I was waiting to play next have biased me perhaps.

Cleopatra

The Lumineers

2/5

Album was OK. Didn't move me much either way - the band's Spotify bio though... stat central - tell me why you make music, what it means to you, rather than how many streams you have, Jeez.

People

The Burning Hell

3/5

Wow, some variety here. I had to turn to Google to convince me I wasn't listening to Jimmy Pop Ali singing here. Interesting, not my thing totally though.

Mouth Sounds

Neil Cicierega

3/5

This would go down well at a party I reckon. I'm too old for parties though.

God Shuffled His Feet

Crash Test Dummies

3/5

Spanish Train And Other Stories

Chris de Burgh

2/5

Great story from the submitter - I suspect my submission will be as much story as album quality too. I'd love to give this more but it didn't do much for me, sorry. "Lady in Red" is my karaoke go to though.

The Hazards of Love

The Decemberists

4/5

Daisies Of The Galaxy

Eels

4/5

There's just something about these guys - there's an edge, but also a beauty

Songs Of A Lost World

The Cure

5/5

Has A Good Home

Final Fantasy

3/5

Interesting...

Homogenic

Björk

5/5

Thank Christ for the Bomb

The Groundhogs

3/5

Solid 3/5

Weighing Souls With Sand

The Angelic Process

2/5

I don't mind a bit of doom... some Pallbearer goes over OK, I even sat through that album that had one 70 minutes long song... the name escapes me... but man, I just can't with this.

Erratic Cinematic

Gerry Cinnamon

3/5

Nice find!

Atrocity Exhibition

Danny Brown

2/5

Reading about this I thought I would hate it, like looking for the zero button. Some of the beats got me though, and i went looking for the lyrics to see if they were as clever as i'd been told. 2.5 but i gotta round down on this one.

To Be Kind

Swans

3/5

This graduated from a 1 to a 3 as it progressed. I can’t see me ever needing to hear it again though.

Deadwing

Porcupine Tree

5/5

Bias exists. I love me some PT.

Singles

Future Islands

4/5

Seasons is an all time banger

A Salty Dog

Procol Harum

2/5

Odyssey Number Five

Powderfinger

4/5

Some Aussie representation! Bear with me. This an interesting one for me. Massive early influence, and—at least in my opinion—one of the “big four” of ’90s Australian rock alongside Silverchair, Something for Kate, and You Am I. I’ve got a long history with them. I worked for their publisher, saw them live 20+ times, and was cheering when they topped the Hottest 100. I even played in a Powderfinger tribute band (for 3 rehearsals). But over the years, I’ve started to look at them more critically. I never quite got from the music the same intellectual depth they showed in interviews. At times, it feels like the focus was on writing anthems for the masses—great ones, undeniably—but often without that deeper layer (with a few notable, more personal exceptions in the catalogue). Odyssey Number Five isn’t my favourite of theirs. I’d take Internationalist and Vulture Street over it pretty comfortably. Part of that might just be fatigue—I’ve heard “My Happiness” so many times I can barely hear it anymore. It was a staple of the busking circuit in the early 2000s, back when coins mattered and pubs still shut at midnight. It’s still music I enjoy hearing when it comes on—but I’ve always had this lingering feeling that they could’ve taken more risks. For a band that thoughtful, I sometimes wish they’d aimed less for the middle and more for the edges.

The Hypnogogue

The Church

2/5

Once Upon a Rhyme

David Allan Coe

2/5

30 Something

Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine

3/5

Temple of Thought

Poets of the Fall

2/5

Katamari Damacy

Various Artists

1/5

I've sworn to listen to every album, it's someone's favourite after all and I appreciate the dedication you've put in to listening to 1100+ albums. So i tried, 3 restarts. I made it through, but this is too different for me, sorry.

Forced Witness

Alex Cameron

3/5

Only God Was Above Us

Vampire Weekend

3/5

Sublime

3/5

The Lioness

Songs: Ohia

5/5

Yeah, this is my jam. Can't believe I've never heard of this before.

Real Life

Joan As Police Woman

4/5

Geogaddi

Boards of Canada

2/5

Tragic Kingdom

No Doubt

3/5

I saw this and thought yes! Immediate 5. Mostly based on memories from high school… then I listened, I don’t remember half of these tracks. And some I loved (Spiderwebs mainly) have dated badly IMO. For mine, Don’t Speak and Sunday Morning stand the test, but not much else. Thanks for the flash back though!

Attack of the Grey Lantern

Mansun

2/5

METAL FORTH

BABYMETAL

3/5

Cool

Stranger In Town

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

4/5

Probs should have been in the main list

AmarElo

Emicida

3/5

Hesistant to be too harsh when I don't speak the language. The production was interesting.

Que c'est triste Venise

Charles Aznavour

3/5

Hadestown

Anaïs Mitchell

2/5

I struggle with musical soundtracks - I love live theatre but the recordings always seem to be missing that vital element of the visual.

The Colour And The Shape

Foo Fighters

4/5

This or the next album are hands down peak FF. What I loved about the Foos in the 90s was probably what i came to tire of, you always knew what you were going to get. Few risks, few experiments - a greatest hits act. Which is fine, sometimes I wish i had a band like that. But this takes me back, to jam rooms in high school, painstakingly learning Monkey Wrench only to discover that Hey Johnny Park was far more fun to play.

Walls of Jericho

Helloween

3/5

I like some metal, generally thrash is a bit beyond me but this was ok. It's always the voice though, I'd like a little more grit and a little less opera

Recipe for Hate

Bad Religion

4/5

Bad Religion are my 11th most listened to artist according to Last fm, so yes, I'm familiar with this record. I haven't listened to them in 18 months since finishing Greg Graffin's book which I found to be a massive disappointment, i wrote on GoodReads "They say don’t meet your idols and maybe don’t read their memoirs either. I wanted to enjoy this book so much and expected to, being that I hold Graffin's lyric writing on the level above a lot of other musicians. This book, however, contained many detailed stories about seemingly irrelevant events and repeated declarations of naïveté or innocence of popular culture, while passing over the creation of five albums in one chapter. I’ve previously read a book bio of the band and much preferred that one." Maybe this is my gateway back in, some cracking tracks here - thanks to the submitter for relighting the fire.

A Day At The Races

Queen

5/5

Somewhere In The Between

Streetlight Manifesto

3/5

The Black Parade

My Chemical Romance

4/5

At one point in my life i thought MCR was just like all the other third grade shit going round in the early 90s. I was pretty wrong there.

Pop

GAS

2/5

The Mantle

Agalloch

4/5

Is this actually really good, or was I just surprised by how much I liked it (expecting it to be terrible). Anyway, a good listen!

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

3/5

I struggle with instrumental music. Some of this was beautiful though. I'll admit that 3 songs in i thought i was finished and reluctantly pushed on, but it was worth it.

A Beginner's Mind

Sufjan Stevens

3/5

Choirs Of The Eye

Kayo Dot

3/5

This tickles my prog metal leanings, some of it a little too intense for me though tbh. It was a cool listen, not sure if I'd revisit, but I'm happy to have this on the list.

London 0 Hull 4

The Housemartins

2/5

A Complicated Woman

Self Esteem

2/5

I'm not quite sure how to take this record, there’s plenty to admire here — the ambition, the scale, the layered production, the sheer force of personality. It wants to be bold, confrontational and emotionally expansive. But for me, it rarely got me where I wanted it to. There are flashes of something stronger — moments of vulnerability and a few striking arrangements — but as a whole it felt strangely exhausting, i kept checking to see how many tracks were left. I suppose I respect the intent more than I enjoyed the experience.

What If Leaving Is a Loving Thing

Sahara Hotnights

2/5

Transmissions

STARSET

2/5

Ah... i dunno... It’s built to sound big, but maybe not necessarily feel deep? Is this a standout in this genre? Can't say I'm convinced.

Life Goes On

Carla Bley

2/5

Could be the greatest album of it's type ever... i don't know enough to comment accurately. Pretty sleepy now.

The Presidents of The United States of America

The Presidents Of The United States Of America

3/5

Great flashback, used to play Peaches in my high school band

Breakfast In America

Supertramp

3/5

"Progressive Pop" sounds like something that should land right in my lane, but somehow it never quite does.

Phantom Power

The Tragically Hip

4/5

Aside from 2 streams in 2017, this is the first time I've really heard this band. What a pleasant surprise!

Broken Social Scene

3/5

Bricks Are Heavy

4/5

HEY WHAT

Low

2/5

Some good tracks and some wtf ones

Older

Lizzy McAlpine

2/5

Sleepy

Script Of The Bridge

The Chameleons

3/5

not bad

For Emma, Forever Ago

Bon Iver

5/5

Stop Making Sense

Talking Heads

4/5

Sparkle In The Finish

The Ike Reilly Assassination

4/5

Huh, who knew - this was cool

Artaud

Pescado Rabioso

3/5

Crimson

Edge Of Sanity

3/5

Djarimirri

Gurrumul

4/5

I do need to listen to more Gurrumul, the voice is healing. I do think that in places the orchestral sound detracts from, rather than adds to the songs. This voice and a guitar any day.

For All Happy Endings

David & The Citizens

2/5

OK, but needed to be 20 mins shorter i reckon

I Had a Dream That You Were Mine

Hamilton Leithauser

2/5

Alive 2007

Daft Punk

5/5

So good

Funky Kingston

Toots & The Maytals

2/5

Preface, I do not enjoy reggae. I feel like this album was on the original list 10-15 times.

Origin of Symmetry

Muse

5/5

Last fm tells me i haven't listened to this full album in 15 years. Strap in! Edit: I missed this album ❤️

MOMENTUM

Calibro 35

4/5

Well that was better than I expected

Donuts

J Dilla

2/5

Cool but... demo like, hard to get into

The Decline

NOFX

3/5

Yep, it's NOFX

Oceanic

ISIS

3/5

Music is excellent but the vocals get a little tiring for me. I like a little more melody in my vocals.

The Grass Is Blue

Dolly Parton

2/5

Dolly is great, a treasure. Still country though

Black Celebration

Depeche Mode

3/5

The Simple Plan

August is Falling

2/5

I teach a lot of students who could be really good artists bit choose to make fun of others instead. Not a fan.

Pop Art

Transvision Vamp

2/5

I liked "I Want Your Love" back in the day, always wondered why I never heard more songs. Now I know.

Jane Doe

Converge

3/5

Oh some of these riffs are crushing, but a little more melody please!

Images and Words

Dream Theater

3/5

Prog metal fan here but this is a little too polished for me. I like rougher edges, and this guys voice, while technically amazing, is not doing it for me. It feels like a bunch of dudes going “look out how good I am” rather than “we’re a band”

This Land

Gary Clark Jr.

3/5

Clark is always sold as a blues guitarist, but honestly (aside from my bias against blues - too many pub jam nights with waaaay too long songs) I find his neo soul, funk or harder rock stuff so much more appealing. Also, trivia fact, his wife was born in my hometown.

RENAISSANCE

Beyoncé

3/5

Some great track here, but 23 songwriters!? On one track. C'mon. And 16 tracks is a touch long. I'd love to hear the single LP version of this... (and most albums truth be told)

10,000 gecs

100 gecs

3/5

Kinda cool, kinda strange

Enema Of The State

blink-182

3/5

God I listened to this so much when I was in my 20s and hardly ever since. I was surprised (stupidly) by how aged it sounds. Production is fine, but as I got older and snobbier I want a little more politics in my punk and a little less wee and poo

Twilight Override

Jeff Tweedy

2/5

A triple album! That’s like asking someone their favourite holiday spot and being handed a Lonely Planet guidebook for an entire hemisphere.

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You

Big Thief

3/5

The last 2 albums I've been served have a run time of more than 3 hours. I feel them washing over me. There is some gold here. Some stuff i could skip too.

LUX

ROSALÍA

4/5

Recency bias - Immediate disqualif.... hang on - is this actually pretty good? It's kind of huge, strange, possibly overpraised, maybe I that's what I'm here for? I’m still wary of the recency bias, and part of me wonders whether the sheer ambition is doing some heavy lifting, but this feels far more like an actual *album* than a moment with a few big songs attached — bold, overwhelming, occasionally beautiful, and probably future edition bound for good reason. I mean, these orchestrations alone!

The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess

Chappell Roan

2/5

It still hasn't been long enough since I heard these songs multiple times a day on the radio. Sorry. Catchy but I don’t see it standing the test of time.

Misplaced Childhood

Marillion

1/5

I remember discovering prog metal and thinking "how good, i'm gonna explore everything that came before" - I didn't like what i found, with very few exceptions. This is not an exception.

Wildflowers

Tom Petty

5/5