My 1001 Albums Journey

Albums Rated

3.37

Average Rating

Complete

1054 albums remaining

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1960s

Favorite Decade

Rock

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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
British Steel Judas Priest	5	3.3	+1.7
Parklife Blur	5	3.38	+1.62
Blackstar David Bowie	5	3.48	+1.52
Queen II Queen	5	3.49	+1.51
Aladdin Sane David Bowie	5	3.61	+1.39
In Rainbows Radiohead	5	3.84	+1.16
Millions Now Living Will Never Die Tortoise	4	2.88	+1.12

You Love Less Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Talking With the Taxman About Poetry Billy Bragg	1	2.97	-1.97
Licensed To Ill Beastie Boys	2	3.56	-1.56
Document R.E.M.	2	3.56	-1.56
Little Earthquakes Tori Amos	2	3.23	-1.23
Frampton Comes Alive Peter Frampton	2	3.19	-1.19
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo Devo	2	3.13	-1.13
Make Yourself Incubus	2	3.07	-1.07

Artists

Favorites

Artist	Albums	Average
David Bowie	2	5

5-Star Albums (6)

View Album Wall

Popular Reviews

The Colour Of Spring

Talk Talk

4/5

You need to be in the right mood for this one, but if you are, it's great. You can really lose yourself in it.

10 likes

Parklife

Blur

5/5

Arguably the definitive Britpop album, Blur's Parklife carries you along with its bouncy pop hooks and dry lyricism.

9 likes

Frampton Comes Alive

Peter Frampton

2/5

Framptom Comes Alive (barely). Boring dad rock. Thank God punk came along.

7 likes

Talking With the Taxman About Poetry

Billy Bragg

1/5

I didn't know quite to expect from this - I've not listened to much 1980s indie, but I'm a fan of stuff in the vague orbit of it, so I was curious. I'm sad to say I had a strong negative reaction to this album. Bragg's voice was an immediate turn-off, and this simplistic acoustic sound lives and dies on the quality of its singer. It's just so overblown and grating. Beyond that, any attempts at more complex instrumentation felt gimmicky. I'm loathe to use the word \"preachy\" - I usually don't mind artists being political, in and of itself - but this was really it. It just oozes this tone of smug condescension (even though my political views probably aren't a world away from his). Similarly, any attempts at romance or sentimentality rang hollow.

6 likes

British Steel

Judas Priest

5/5

Wow! I've never really been into metal but this was great!

2 likes

1-Star Albums (1)

All Ratings

Parklife

Blur

5/5

Arguably the definitive Britpop album, Blur's Parklife carries you along with its bouncy pop hooks and dry lyricism.

Abraxas

Santana

3/5

It took a few tracks for me to get into it, but it's a decent slice of Latin rock. "Se a Cabo" and "Hope You're Feeling Better" were the highlights.

Beggars Banquet

The Rolling Stones

4/5

While not entirely my thing, Beggar's Banquet had enough classics to keep up the momentum.

Superfly

Curtis Mayfield

3/5

I had some fun with it. "Think" and the title track were my favourites.

British Steel

Judas Priest

5/5

Wow! I've never really been into metal but this was great!

Aladdin Sane

David Bowie

5/5

Of the seven Bowie albums on the list, this is probably the least essential (well, this or Young Americans), but I do love it anyway. It's the sound of Ziggy Stardust coming undone, and it's a fun, wild ride.

Something Else By The Kinks

The Kinks

4/5

I was lukewarm on the first half. The second was fantastic.

Electric Warrior

T. Rex

4/5

A lovely, energetic slice of glam rock.

Talking With the Taxman About Poetry

Billy Bragg

1/5

The Rise & Fall

Madness

4/5

I'm very familiar with Madness's singles, but I've never given their albums a listen. I really should have, because this was fun! Beyond the hit singles "Our House" and "Tomorrow's Just Another Day", highlights include "Primrose Hill" and "New Delhi".

Infected

The The

2/5

There are some inspired bits of song-writing here, but the production is so 80s it hurts. The only way it could be more 1986 is if it wore a fluorescent headband.

The Band

3/5

Some interesting bits of instrumentation elevate it above generic sixties blues rock and I quite enjoyed it, but I'm unlikely to ever listen to this again.

Make Yourself

Incubus

2/5

Only slightly less nauseating than I expected.

Elastica

3/5

Unlike the best of their Britpop contemporaries, Elastica never feel like more than the sum of their influences. Still a decent listen, but even at a relatively brisk 37 minutes it feels padded. The singles are all bangers though.

Frampton Comes Alive

Peter Frampton

2/5

Framptom Comes Alive (barely). Boring dad rock. Thank God punk came along.

Good Old Boys

Randy Newman

2/5

If you've heard \"You've Got a Friend in Me\", you've heard the entirety of this album*. I'm in no rush to hear Randy's other album on the list (why on Earth are there two here?!). *Apart from the song where he straight up drops the n-word half-a-dozen times. I don't remember that in Toy Story.

The Sun Rises In The East

Jeru The Damaja

3/5

I've never listened to much hip-hop. This was alright.

Blackstar

David Bowie

5/5

Bowie's final masterpiece.

Licensed To Ill

Beastie Boys

2/5

Lots of yelling over samples. This hasn't aged well at all.

Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo

Devo

2/5

Q: What did Bowie and Eno get up to between \"Heroes\" and Lodger? A: Not much, apparently

The Colour Of Spring

Talk Talk

4/5

You need to be in the right mood for this one, but if you are, it's great. You can really lose yourself in it.

Surrealistic Pillow

Jefferson Airplane

4/5

Perhaps inessential outside the biggest hits, but I enjoyed it too much to really care.

Bayou Country

Creedence Clearwater Revival

4/5

Why haven't I listened to CCR before?

Africa Brasil

Jorge Ben Jor

3/5

Chill vibes

The Last Broadcast

Doves

3/5

Some great songs, particularly in the first half, alongside a lot of bland, Coldplay-ish padding. A shame really, there was some real promise here. That this is apparently among the best UK rock albums of the early 2000s just reinforces my opinion that this wasn't a great period for it.

Document

R.E.M.

2/5

Boring and vaguely irritating. One or two classics does not an album make.

Either Or

Elliott Smith

4/5

I'm not a *huge* fan of the sound - it's a little dreary for my tastes - but there's some excellent song-writing here. Much better than I expected.

Little Earthquakes

Tori Amos

2/5

Boring.