My 1001 Albums Journey

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3.98

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1033 albums remaining

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1990

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5-Star Albums

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Albums

You Love More Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Goodbye And Hello Tim Buckley	5	2.83	+2.17
You're Living All Over Me Dinosaur Jr.	5	3.09	+1.91
Crooked Rain Crooked Rain Pavement	5	3.24	+1.76
Entertainment Gang Of Four	5	3.25	+1.75
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Wilco	5	3.3	+1.7
Channel Orange Frank Ocean	5	3.32	+1.68
Ágætis Byrjun Sigur Rós	5	3.37	+1.63
Songs Of Leonard Cohen Leonard Cohen	5	3.38	+1.62
Diamond Life Sade	5	3.43	+1.57
Blackstar David Bowie	5	3.48	+1.52

You Love Less Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
The Marshall Mathers LP Eminem	2	3.48	-1.48
Street Life The Crusaders	2	3.09	-1.09

5-Star Albums (21)

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Popular Reviews

You're Living All Over Me

Dinosaur Jr. · 22 likes

5/5

Is it perfect? No. Does it try to be? No. Does it hit you like a wall of crushing bricks, with great melodies buried behind the Marshall stacks? YES. Perfect imperfection.

Automatic For The People

R.E.M. · 21 likes

5/5

One of the best albums, all-time. And best closing 3 songs ever. Sweetness Follows is underrated.

Songs Of Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen · 17 likes

5/5

There are certain albums that are ‘of one.’ There are only a few songs that, separately, I would mention. But as an album, they all become parts of a masterpiece. Sparse but melodic, the focus goes instinctually to the words and the overall ‘feel’ of the album. Great, great album.

Blackstar

David Bowie · 15 likes

5/5

Zero bad tracks - Lazarus and I Can't Give Everything Away are tops

The Low End Theory

A Tribe Called Quest · 11 likes

5/5

An album I didn't even need to listen to for the rating. Absolute classic Native Tongues, and maybe my favorite. The entirety of the second half of this album has a sequencing and flow unlike many of its kind. All are highlights.

All Ratings

Peace Sells...But Who's Buying

Megadeth

3/5

Germs

3/5

Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

3/5

The Hissing Of Summer Lawns

Joni Mitchell

4/5

First half much better than the second

Street Life

The Crusaders

2/5

Great title track, and Carnival is decently good. The rest is elevator music.

Ágætis Byrjun

Sigur Rós

5/5

Staralfur and Olsen olsen are personal standouts, but ALL are great.

The Score

Fugees

5/5

The singles are the keepers, but also top quality for How Many Mics, Zealots, Score, Mask and No Woman. Not much filler. Remixes are forgettable.

Kings Of The Wild Frontier

Adam & The Ants

4/5

Lots of good tracks - Los Rancheros and Making History are keepers.

Blackstar

David Bowie

5/5

Zero bad tracks - Lazarus and I Can't Give Everything Away are tops

Arise

Sepultura

3/5

Not my style, but done well? I like Altered State the best, I think.

Automatic For The People

R.E.M.

5/5

One of the best albums, all-time. And best closing 3 songs ever. Sweetness Follows is underrated.

Remain In Light

Talking Heads

5/5

Still like FoM better, but great album. The outtakes are stellar too.

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Simon & Garfunkel

5/5

Sounds more like a collection of songs than an 'album'. But the songs! Besides the all-timers, Keep the Customer Satisfied and Only Living Boy are additional standouts.

Play

Moby

4/5

Overlong, but decent LP. The hits are still good. Why Does My Heart and Machete are overlooked. The back half of the album is a downbeat EP in itself - really good. 3.5 stars, rounded up.

The Marshall Mathers LP

Eminem

2/5

The back half of this one is trash, full of misogyny and homophobia. I still like most of the singles and the rhymes (for how they are constructed), but this one is a tough listen anymore.

Illmatic

Nas

5/5

Instant classic, from the day it was released. Not a bad track on here. Best hip-hop album of all-time? Best album of all-time?

Deserter's Songs

Mercury Rev

4/5

I had to double-take that this wasn't a Flaming Lips album. Recording history makes sense. Holes, Opus 40, and Goddess are particular highlights. Great album overall.

Actually

Pet Shop Boys

4/5

Classic synth-pop album, full of hits. It couldn't happen here and the last two are great, plus the Dusty track, and It's A Sin one of the best synth tracks of the 80's.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Wilco

5/5

Absolute classic album. Top 200 for me. Essential listening.

Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space

Spiritualized

4/5

Great album. Title track and Electricity are must-haves, and the back half is appropriately druggy and fuzzy - perfect ending. Maybe a touch long.

Fear and Whiskey

Mekons

4/5

A tale of 2 completely different sides to an album. The first side is decent (first song is great and Hard to be Human is very good), but the second side is quality alt-country cowpunk, and definitely worth the listen.

Goodbye And Hello

Tim Buckley

5/5

Eclectic album from a 20yo. Reminds me of a Love album, with the strings and instrumentation. Tracks 1,3,5,6,7,9,10 are all highlights. Recommended.

My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

Brian Eno

3/5

I don't know how to rate this one. I understand it is 'good' and an innovation at the time, but it also doesn't really do anything for me. Tracks 3, 4, 5, and 8 are the strongest, to me. But it's a 3 star album, maybe 3.5

Too Rye Ay

Dexys Midnight Runners

4/5

Surprisingly good album. Not just a one-hit wonder. The Van cover is good, and Until I Believe is great, too.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill

5/5

Modern classic. Perfect blend of neo-soul and rap. All the singles are fantastic, especially Everything Is Everything

Immigrés

Youssou N'Dour

3/5

Pretty good. The only standout for me was Pitchie Mi, but the others were good.

Paul Simon

3/5

Ehhhh. Lot of filler here. The singles are fantastic, and Duncan is a highlight, along with the Hobo duo. But a lot of the rest is just not for me.

Ogden's Nut Gone Flake

Small Faces

3/5

2 half-albums. The first side is a stone classic; the second side is a spoken-word psych mess. Maybe there's good stuff in there, but it is hiding behind all the other fluff.

Out Of The Blue

Electric Light Orchestra

5/5

Classic double album that seems shorter than its 70 minutes. The suite on Side 3 is perfect.

You're Living All Over Me

Dinosaur Jr.

5/5

Is it perfect? No. Does it try to be? No. Does it hit you like a wall of crushing bricks, with great melodies buried behind the Marshall stacks? YES. Perfect imperfection.

Bone Machine

Tom Waits

3/5

I have to be in a certain mood for Tom Waits. This album is good, but not great, in my opinion. I like quite a few of the songs, but it seems really disjointed. But definitely a 3.5 star more than a 3.

Elvis Presley

3/5

Hmm, I don’t know. The cultural impact of this album is immense, but...I don’t know. I feel like the original versions of the big songs here are better, and some of the ballads are easily skippable. I do like the reinterpretation of Blue Moon, and One-Sided Love Affair is pretty good, but the album as a whole is...I don’t know. How about 3 stars?

A Girl Called Dusty

Dusty Springfield

4/5

Not available on Spotify USA. Recreated using the American versions, but in this case, I think the US albums are better, including the singles/B-sides. Fantastic album either way. You Don’t Own Me, 24 Hours, and Nothing are all great. US ‘version’ is a 5 star.

Songs Of Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen

5/5

Harvest

Neil Young

5/5

Classic. Yeah, the strings on Man Maid and World are a rough go, but there are so many great songs on here that you can forgive that excess. Eminently listenable.

American Pie

Don McLean

3/5

Well, hmm. Not sure. Obv the title track is a classic, and I'm a big fan of Everybody Loves Me, Baby, but the majority leaves me cold. I do like the end songs, so it bumps up to a slight 3.

The Low End Theory

A Tribe Called Quest

5/5

Make Yourself

Incubus

3/5

On first listen, this was a 2. But I gave it another spin, and realized that it had some quality tunes, just not in a genre that I usually love. The title track was especially good to these ears.

Crooked Rain Crooked Rain

Pavement

5/5

Not a perfect album, but close. I'd never noticed before how much Malkmus sounds like Tweedy and Wilco here. Never been a huge fan of Cut Your Hair, but Fillmore Jive is a classic tune to end it. Essential album.

Oar

Alexander 'Skip' Spence

3/5

Very off-putting at first, but it grows on you. The end of the album is the best part. Spotify has the expanded edition with snippets of "unfinished" songs (even if most of Oar proper is full of songs that could have used a little polish.) Not sure if Oar is essential listening, but it has its moments.

Ingenue

k.d. lang

2/5

This one is not for me. One of those that I understand how some people love it, but for me the songs are just...there. Flat and samey. Gorgeous voice, of course, and the single is decent, but sounds like it should be on a different album completely. Not a 1001 album, even if I account for why other people like it.

Diamond Life

Sade

5/5

Timeless album. Not sure I will ever get tired of this one. First three songs are perfect, although I would prefer the US version of Smooth Operator to the UK version (on Spotify).

Underwater Moonlight

The Soft Boys

4/5

Great album. Cheap Trick-ish, proto-REM by Robyn Hitchcock. The deluxe version more than doubles the original release, but they made a good choice with the songs they did. I Wanna Destroy You, the title track and the bonus track Wey Wey Hep Uh Hole are my favorites, but all here are quality tracks. Maybe with a little more time listening this could be a 5 star, but for now, it is a solid 4 star album.

We Are Family

Sister Sledge

4/5

Essential disco album, featuring Nile and Bernie from Chic. The Spotify version substitutes the radio edit of the title track instead of the full 8-minute version. YMMV for disco, but this should be at least a 3 star for everyone. 4 star for me, almost a 5, but a little filler takes it down a notch.

Electric Warrior

T. Rex

5/5

One of my favorite albums, all-time. Top to bottom, it is great. Effortless psych boogie. Sure, The Motivator is just a Bang A Gong part 2, but this is an essential album. If I don't give this 5 stars, I'm not sure there are any 5 star albums.

Let's Stay Together

Al Green

4/5

Great soul album. Title track is obviously the hit, but quality throughout the rest of the tracks, too.

If I Should Fall From Grace With God

The Pogues

4/5

This is a tough one. The songs are all great, and I can see why it would be an all-timer for some, but this isn’t a type of music I would search out very often. But as an album, it is fantastic. Obv Fairytale, but Lullaby and Majestic Shannon are almost as timeless. Solid 4, and a 4.5 on some days.

Live!

Fela Kuti

3/5

Good to great. The 16-minute drum solo track at the end is unnecessary, but the rest is some very good afro jazz funk. I liked tracks 1 & 3 the best. Maybe a little too directionless compared to his studio offerings.

Cut

The Slits

4/5

Great album. What struck me was how much the songs changed, in-song. Great listening album, with bits and pieces popping up to raise your interest. Grapevine, obv, plus Newton and Instant Hit were the big ones for me.

Entertainment

Gang Of Four

5/5

At first this was a 4, but upon repeat listens it really deserves its 5 status. I'm not sure what it even means in this context, but the one word I think about this album is 'angular'. Great stuff from top to bottom, and Contract really stood out to me, especially since it isn't considered one of the top tracks on here. Full album experience.

The La's

4/5

Solid power pop album. Really great stuff in here, espec I Can't Sleep and Looking Glass. And, There She Goes is an all-timer. This one will get repeat listens, for sure.

Kick Out The Jams (Live)

MC5

3/5

First punk record? Definitely at least proto-punk here. Very good, top-to-bottom, with lots of raw energy throughout. Not something I would probably listen to a whole bunch, but enjoyable. Spotify edits out the famous opening for some reason.

Back To Black

Amy Winehouse

5/5

One of the artists I am still, even today, sad is gone. This is a great album, and a style that wasn't being done in those days. A great loss. The title track is so good, and Rehab, of course. Classic album, all-timer for me.

Channel Orange

Frank Ocean

5/5

Classic - Thinkin About You, Sweet Life, Pyramids and Bad Religion are my favorites, but every non-interlude track is great.

Low-Life

New Order

4/5

Good-to-great. The original vocals on Sub-culture are so off-melody though - the remix cleans that up, at least. Sunrise/Elegia are the real highlights here.

La Revancha Del Tango

Gotan Project

3/5

Ehhh...not sure this should be on the list anymore. It seems very dated by today's standards. But I'm sure it was groundbreaking in its day. Nothing I really would search out to listen to in its entirety again, but some individual tracks are decent.