My 1001 Albums Journey

113

Albums Rated

3.27

Average Rating

10%

Complete

976 albums remaining

Rating Distribution

Rating Timeline

Taste Profile

1960

Favorite Decade

Folk

Favorite Genre

other

Top Origin

Wordsmith

Rater Style ?

5-Star Albums

1-Star Albums

Breakdown

By Genre

Top Styles

By Decade

By Origin

Albums

You Love More Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
I See A Darkness Bonnie "Prince" Billy	5	2.98	+2.02
For Your Pleasure Roxy Music	5	2.98	+2.02
Being There Wilco	5	3.23	+1.77
Sea Change Beck	5	3.33	+1.67
It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back Public Enemy	5	3.36	+1.64
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) The Kinks	5	3.38	+1.62
The Village Green Preservation Society The Kinks	5	3.4	+1.6
Reggatta De Blanc The Police	5	3.44	+1.56
On The Beach Neil Young	5	3.45	+1.55
Blonde On Blonde Bob Dylan	5	3.48	+1.52

You Love Less Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness The Smashing Pumpkins	1	3.68	-2.68
Dirt Alice In Chains	1	3.46	-2.46
...And Justice For All Metallica	1	3.42	-2.42
Blue Lines Massive Attack	1	3.39	-2.39
Elvis Presley Elvis Presley	1	3.37	-2.37
You've Come a Long Way Baby Fatboy Slim	1	3.33	-2.33
Inspiration Information Shuggie Otis	1	3.27	-2.27
461 Ocean Boulevard Eric Clapton	1	3.11	-2.11
Eli And The Thirteenth Confession Laura Nyro	1	2.94	-1.94
The Joshua Tree U2	2	3.67	-1.67

Artists

Favorites

Artist	Albums	Average
The Kinks	2	5

5-Star Albums (14)

View Album Wall

Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)

It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back

Popular Reviews

I See You

The xx · 1 likes

2/5

An album so vapid, I don't remember listening to it. At least it wasn't offensive.

Spiderland

Slint · 1 likes

4/5

Such a great album, without which we may have missed out on so much good music directly inspired by it. Every time I listen I want to throw out every song I've written and try again. Should be a 5 then, right? Despite all I said, because of the loud/quiet dynamics and long whispered sections, it's not the most listenable album. A perfect work of art, yes; a perfect album, no.

1-Star Albums (11)

D.O.A. the Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle

All Ratings

Being There

Wilco

5/5

Stankonia

OutKast

3/5

Some great songs, but album is too long and dragged down by skits.

Court And Spark

Joni Mitchell

3/5

Not my bag. Not bad per se, but doesn’t move me. Might suffer from the hype.

Physical Graffiti

Led Zeppelin

4/5

One of my favorite bands, but this album is 6 songs too long. How’s this for a better track listing: 1. In the Light 2. Custard Pie 3. In My Time of Dying 4. Houses of the Holy 5. Trampled Under Foot 6. Down by the Seaside 7. Bron-Yr-Aur 8. Kashmir 9. The Wanton Song 10. Ten Years Gone

...And Justice For All

Metallica

1/5

I remember loving this as 13 year old, but, man, it’s boring! The sound of the drums is a dead horse that doesn’t need any more beating, but really there are just no dynamics on this record - just one continuous sound. It’s possible these songs would rule re-recorded today with boutique pedals and a drummer with emotions.

Moving Pictures

Rush

4/5

Perfect prog-pop mix of nostalgia, cheese, and emotion.

Soul Mining

The The

3/5

Didn’t move me, but was pleasant as a soundtrack to the work day.

Hard Again

Muddy Waters

4/5

Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

4/5

1999

Prince

3/5

The Village Green Preservation Society

The Kinks

5/5

A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector

Various Artists

4/5

For a Christmas album, this is a banger - rating reflects this specificity.

Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)

The Kinks

5/5

Proto-indie rock, without which we'd probably be missing out on so much fun, twee, modern music.

3 Feet High and Rising

De La Soul

3/5

Seventh Tree

Goldfrapp

3/5

A fine album - it didn't move me, but it was pleasant to listen to.

Chelsea Girl

Nico

4/5

More Specials

The Specials

4/5

I weighting the rating based on the half of the album I love. The more they ditch ska and embrace experimentation, the better they get. I don’t think Gorillaz, and other trippy, eclectic bands, would exist without this album.

Hounds Of Love

Kate Bush

5/5

💯perfect album, no notes.

L.A. Woman

The Doors

3/5

Not a bad album, but it's buoyed by Morrison's voice. Without that, it's just a collection of mostly mid-tier blues rock.

Peter Gabriel 3

Peter Gabriel

4/5

Le Tigre

3/5

I love every one of these songs individually, but I tire of them fairly quickly as an album. Perfect mixtape fodder, boring album.

Pretzel Logic

Steely Dan

3/5

Incredible musicianship. Schmaltzy, saccharine smoothness. Pretentious pricks.

The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths

4/5

Such a good album. Despite all his faults, Morrissey is one of the greatest lyric writers of the 20th century, although the music doesn't always live up to them. Just shy of a 5 star album.

My Aim Is True

Elvis Costello

3/5

Fun, danceable album, but I wish I liked his voice.

Armed Forces

Elvis Costello & The Attractions

3/5

Led Zeppelin II

Led Zeppelin

4/5

SCC. A couple of stinkers, but mostly perfect.

White Blood Cells

The White Stripes

3/5

I appreciate the White Stripes for doing something different, I've never been able to get behind them fully. LIkes: Lyrics, melodies, and energy level. Dislikes: Jack's voice and guitar tone.

I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You

Aretha Franklin

3/5

Nothing but respect for Aretha - she can do no wrong with her voice, and this is entirely a pleasant experience. But...is this an album, or a compilation of ballads? There is no adventure or excitement here, just a perfect voice singing bog-standard R&B/soul grooves.

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

The Smashing Pumpkins

1/5

A month in to this project, and I've reached the first album I couldn't finish. A couple of good songs, but they weren't kidding when they called it infinite.

Close To The Edge

Yes

4/5

Good shit, but didn’t get to listen closely enough for a review. Will definitely revisit.

Channel Orange

Frank Ocean

2/5

b o r i n g

1984

Van Halen

5/5

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

4/5

Had only heard the hits, which are SCCs. The rest of the album isn't exactly groundbreaking, but it sure was fun.

Penthouse And Pavement

Heaven 17

2/5

Probably deserves a higher rating, but I know nothing about the genre except I don't really enjoy it. Based on the number of bands associated with Heaven 17 I imagine they're groundbreaking in some way. Good for them.

Floodland

Sisters Of Mercy

4/5

Felt like a vampire in a night club.

Dirt

Alice In Chains

1/5

The. Worst.

War

4/5

A very good, but not perfect, album. In a world where U2 followed this thread they could have done great things; instead, their God complex kicked in and they were reduced to producing drivel (with an occasional bright spot) catered to hollow masses.

Ananda Shankar

3/5

This was fine. Not amazing by any standards. Maybe it was more groundbreaking at it's release?

Melodrama

Lorde

3/5

Compared to her contemporary pop-girlies, this is very listenable. Still not my bag.

Inspiration Information

Shuggie Otis

1/5

Boring background funk

Bayou Country

Creedence Clearwater Revival

4/5

The is album makes my choogles choog:

Elvis Presley

1/5

During the first track I thought, "This is going to be an easy 4 or maybe even 5, despite the terrible mix." By track two I was proven wrong. By track 3 I was annoyed by his voice and the audio levels. By track 4 I remembered why I don't listen to Elvis. The deification of Elvis Presley is a great example of how the lack of choice can influence the popularity of mediocre talent.

I See A Darkness

Bonnie "Prince" Billy

5/5

Stone cold classic. Lyrics that cut through the faf. Strong songwriting delivered with great fragility.

Aja

Steely Dan

3/5

Good for a lark, but not something I come back to a lot. I was just talking to a friend about Steely Dan last week and told them they're the kind of band I like on a play list, but not the kind of band who's records I would collect. Also, they're insufferable, pretentious dorks (trust me - takes one to know one), which makes them hard to like.

American Beauty

Grateful Dead

2/5

Every once in a while I listen to some live Dead and it's okay, but not spectacular. Album Dead doesn't move me at all.

Thriller

Michael Jackson

5/5

Too bad about the pedophilia or whatever was going on.

Siamese Dream

The Smashing Pumpkins

3/5

I finished it! Listened to it twice, even. Not entirely my cup of tea, but there are couple of bangers and nothing that pissed me off.

On The Beach

Neil Young

5/5

An all time great. The thin, reedy vocals and filtered overall sound might not be everyone's cup of tea, but to me it matches the lyrical themes of depression, loss, anxiety, and moving on perfectly. Truly an album that everyone, especially people who make music themselves, should listen to at least once before they die.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Elton John

3/5

If you took every good song that Elton John released and stuck them together, it would be a 5/5, perfect, all-time great, fun and moving double-album. Instead we get a bunch of albums of mostly cheesy filler, each with a few stand out tracks.

Younger Than Yesterday

The Byrds

3/5

While I appreciate albums like this, they definitely show their age. I can hear the bones of what came after, and I understand why they're on this list, but they just don't capture my attention.

Zombie

Fela Kuti

4/5

I'm not very knowledgeable about the genre, but I know I dug this.

Sunday At The Village Vanguard

Bill Evans Trio

4/5

Great listen! Very cool snapshot of the era.

Want One

Rufus Wainwright

4/5

Rufus Wainwright has one of my favorite singing voices of all time, moving and creative lyrics, and beautiful melodies, but something stops me from giving this a 5. For all I love it, it is not something I come back to very often. Sorry, Rufus!

Different Class

Pulp

3/5

A perfectly fine indie-rock album.

I See You

The xx

2/5

An album so vapid, I don't remember listening to it. At least it wasn't offensive.

The Joshua Tree

2/5

Look at us! We love America! We love Elvis! Edge - hold this spotlight on me while I vamp.

Talking Heads 77

Talking Heads

3/5

Not their best effort, but I always appreciate some Talking Heads in my ears.

Hot Buttered Soul

Isaac Hayes

3/5

Not my thing, hard to rate. Hard to believe it was any kind of hit with only 4 songs, one of which is spoken word.

Eli And The Thirteenth Confession

Laura Nyro

1/5

There are very few Laurel Canyon type singer-songwriters I can stand. This isn't one of those. Boring, overproduced, warbly muzak.

If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears

The Mamas & The Papas

4/5

Heroes

David Bowie

4/5

Heroes to Zeros

The Beta Band

3/5

Nice background music. No reason to be on a list of albums you must hear before you die.

Planet Rock: The Album

Afrika Bambaataa

3/5

Fun album.

After The Gold Rush

Neil Young

4/5

Not as high a peak as some Neil Young, but still speaks to the soul.

Highway to Hell

AC/DC

3/5

So dumb it's fun!

Honky Tonk Heroes

Waylon Jennings

3/5

It's fine for what it is, but I'm not a honky tonk guy.

Rock 'N Soul

Solomon Burke

3/5

High Violet

The National

3/5

Easy listening for hipsters. Nothing offensive, but nothing to knock my socks off.

Funeral

Arcade Fire

4/5

Adele

3/5

No denying her incredible voice, but suffers from Top 40 production cheese. Just too glossy for it to be in any regular rotation.

Jagged Little Pill

Alanis Morissette

4/5

It's showing it's age, but there's no doubt how influential and cool this album was in the nineties.

461 Ocean Boulevard

Eric Clapton

1/5

Boring blues rock from a boring twat.

My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

Brian Eno

4/5

Peter Gabriel

4/5

American IV: The Man Comes Around

Johnny Cash

4/5

I adore this album. Cash's voice was never better than when it was barely holding together. The arrangements are mostly perfect and gave new life to songs from other artists that would otherwise be forgettable.

Tracy Chapman

3/5

Beautiful voice, but only a couple of tracks that I come back to.

Blue Lines

Massive Attack

1/5

Most of the things I hate about 90s music all wrapped up in one place.

The Stooges

4/5

Classic, informative album.

Ágætis Byrjun

Sigur Rós

4/5

If You're Feeling Sinister

Belle & Sebastian

3/5

Not my favorite Belle & Sebastian, but I would never say no to listening.

Gold

Ryan Adams

2/5

Boring ass millennial easy-listening written by a sexual predator. Perfect your next blind date at Starbucks.

Let It Be

The Replacements

4/5

Rising Above Bedlam

Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart

1/5

Os Mutantes

3/5

I enjoyed this, but it was a little too sedated to keep me super interested. I would live to see it live, though!

D.O.A. the Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle

Throbbing Gristle

1/5

Just not enough music to make it enjoyable.

Green

R.E.M.

3/5

I always think I'm going to love R.E.M., but they never quite get me there.

Sound of Silver

LCD Soundsystem

3/5

For Your Pleasure

Roxy Music

5/5

Supa Dupa Fly

Missy Elliott

3/5

Bandwagonesque

Teenage Fanclub

4/5

I've been aware there was a band called Teenage Fanclub, but I believe this is the first time I've heard them, and I don't know how this album isn't more talked about when we talk about the 90s. Sounds like they took the Beatles, Kinks, et al and did Britpop better than any of the more radio friendly versions could ever dream.

It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back

Public Enemy

5/5

Historic album, what else can one say?

All Things Must Pass

George Harrison

4/5

On songwriting alone, this album is a solid 5. George Harrison was a man with so many fascinating contradictions, and this record offers a fun peek into his mind. However, he needed a producer who was comfortable saying no - everything is so busy the songs end up diluted.

My Generation

The Who

3/5

Nice, quick album of mostly forgettable tunes. Like with many other british invasion bands, it was probably impossible to make an album that was actually representative of what was I'm assuming a loud, violent, and raw live show.

So Much For The City

The Thrills

2/5

There is zero reason for this album to be on the list. It's not terrible, it just has no original thought.

Caetano Veloso

4/5

I know almost nothing about tropicalia, but dug this.

Back At The Chicken Shack

Jimmy Smith

3/5

Not bad, but not terribly original or as "out there" as I would prefer. Great to have on at barbecue or game night to set the mood.

Sea Change

Beck

5/5

If you love this album, I can guess your age within 3 years, how tight your jeans are, and if you’ve sat cross legged on the floor of a two-bedroom house that four roommates shared while a scene-famous artist played a secret show.

I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight

Richard Thompson

4/5

The Calvary Cross is one of my favorite songs of all time, and my guitar playing owes a lot to Richard Thompson. The rest of the album is great, but I can see how the sort of Village folk subjects and singing voices can turn people off.

Life Thru A Lens

Robbie Williams

2/5

Very 90s and UK>. Very boring.

Destroy Rock & Roll

Mylo

3/5

It's fine, but dance music is not really my jam.

Deep Purple In Rock

Deep Purple

3/5

Awesome riffs, marred by classic rock vocals. Can hear both influences they pulled from and things they influenced.

Back To Black

Amy Winehouse

3/5

There are a couple of real bangers on here, but doesn't keep me engaged. I'd much rather listen to the Dap Kings with Sharon Jones.

American Pie

Don McLean

2/5

American Pie as a single surely deserves to be on this list. However, the brand of meandering and monotonous modern folk that fills out the rest of the album isn't enough to make the whole thing a must listen. I'm starting to have my doubts about the breadth of musical knowledge the book's author has. Did I get fooled by a Rolling Stone reading, boomer dad?

The Hissing Of Summer Lawns

Joni Mitchell

3/5

While beautiful, it all turns into elevator music.

The Last Broadcast

Doves

3/5

Like many of the albums on this list: it's not offensive to hear, but I'm baffled by its inclusion here.

Reggatta De Blanc

The Police

5/5

Finally another album that actually belongs on a list of must listens. While not something I listen to all the time, it's influential, creative, and fun to put on.

Blonde On Blonde

Bob Dylan

5/5

Classic Bob. Pretentious, sure, but I love this era of his music.

Spiderland

Slint

4/5

B-52's

The B-52's

3/5

Perfect for playlists, karaoke, or watching live at a bar. Would never throw on the album just to listen to.

The Poet

Bobby Womack

2/5

Does this do anything new or original with the genre? This feels like the kind of generic soul music a man in a sitcom puts on after ignoring all of his wife's needs and desire for years, forgetting an anniversary, then buying flowers and cooking her the one and only meal he knows how to cook (that he assumes is her favorite, but she thinks is mid) as an apology - and somehow she forgives everything and they are more in love than ever before. Some of the lyrics are funny, though.

The Cars

5/5

Not a single miss on this album, just a bunch of perfect pop songs.

3 + 3

The Isley Brothers

3/5

One hit after another, but a little too smooth for my taste.

You've Come a Long Way Baby

Fatboy Slim

1/5

It's so hard for me to rate dance music - it triggers a lizard brain mixed response of revulsion and boredom. This must be good by the standards of people who like dance music, but I just can't see it. Fun video, though.