My 1001 Albums Journey

160

Albums Rated

3.21

Average Rating

15%

Complete

929 albums remaining

Rating Distribution

Rating Timeline

Taste Profile

2010s

Favorite Decade

Funk

Favorite Genre

other

Top Origin

Wordsmith

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5-Star Albums

1-Star Albums

Breakdown

By Genre

By Decade

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Albums

You Love More Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Golden Hour Kacey Musgraves	5	3.09	+1.91
The Beach Boys Today! The Beach Boys	5	3.27	+1.73
A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector Various Artists	5	3.31	+1.69
Cloud Nine The Temptations	5	3.41	+1.59
Live! Fela Kuti	5	3.44	+1.56
Sign 'O' The Times Prince	5	3.45	+1.55
It's Blitz! Yeah Yeah Yeahs	5	3.49	+1.51
Illinois Sufjan Stevens	5	3.5	+1.5
Funeral Arcade Fire	5	3.56	+1.44
Brothers The Black Keys	5	3.57	+1.43

You Love Less Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Hysteria Def Leppard	1	3.22	-2.22
Loveless My Bloody Valentine	1	3.17	-2.17
Rocks Aerosmith	1	3.12	-2.12
Southern Rock Opera Drive-By Truckers	1	2.82	-1.82
Highway to Hell AC/DC	2	3.66	-1.66
1984 Van Halen	2	3.5	-1.5
Aja Steely Dan	2	3.46	-1.46
Strangeways, Here We Come The Smiths	2	3.44	-1.44
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) The Kinks	2	3.39	-1.39
Bossanova Pixies	2	3.38	-1.38

5-Star Albums (24)

View Album Wall

A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector

Popular Reviews

Led Zeppelin IV

Led Zeppelin

5/5

I don't even know what to say about this one. This album is part of the fabric of my life. I remember being ten years old, listening to it as loud as possible with my friends' parents. Songs on this album underscored crushes on boys in Zeppelin t-shirts. I've listened to it on many car rides to cottages in the summer, from my first time having the car for a weekend in high school through to the last summer pre-pandemic. It's impossible to be objective, it's one of the greatest albums of my life.

13 likes

Bug

Dinosaur Jr.

2/5

Noise rock and out of key vocals. Dissonance isn't my thing, I guess. Less rock, more cringe for me.

11 likes

Kid A

Radiohead

5/5

What an absolutely transformative album. The first three tracks were too much noodle and clang for me to feel anything other than cold and sad indifference - a little too weird for me to really enjoy. How to Disappear Completely burrowed into my soul. Treefingers expanded through me. I wanted to just lay down with my eyes closed and listen, focus. I'm at a spa, floating, inside a computer at a perfect ambient temperature. I emerged on another plane. I was on the ride until Idioteque, which brought be back to my earthly body. Motion Picture Soundtrack is beautiful, and I was genuinely sad to find the end of the album. Had a nice sit in silence after, what can you even play to follow it?

3 likes

Vol. 4

Black Sabbath

5/5

Dynamic, melodic. Easy to see why this album makes a best list. I could do without the beeps and bops in the middle, but it works well as a transition in tone. Love Laguna Sunrise, what a nice breath of fresh air.

1 likes

3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of...

Arrested Development

3/5

Great sampling. I really respect what they did with rap thematically and every song has a distinct sound. I already loved People Everyday and it remains a favourite. I got a little bored and lost in the back half. Tennessee is another solid single.

1 likes

1-Star Albums (4)

All Ratings

Highway 61 Revisited

Bob Dylan

4/5

Pure Americana. Starts and finishes strong, the title track stands out in the middle with a slide whistle. Overall, an enjoyable evening listen with a similar style throughout.

Loveless

My Bloody Valentine

1/5

Lots of gritty guitar, scratchy static noises I find distracting and not really ambient.

Vol. 4

Black Sabbath

5/5

Aja

Steely Dan

2/5

Like a mix of Fleetwood Mac, Hall and Oates, and Barry Manilow. I prefer the first two, but the title track swings a little too Manilow for me. Peg is a feel-good classic. Generally, the album feels like it's missing soul and is too rehearsed or produced to get at my rock or jazz tendencies. It ain't natural.

Sign 'O' The Times

Prince

5/5

The groove really takes over, I don't think I could listen without moving my head. U got the look is an easy favourite. I could never take the place of your man and it's gonna be a beautiful night make me wish I could have gone to a Prince party. What a fun vibe. Adore is so good, lemme light a candle and get a snuggle on.

Bug

Dinosaur Jr.

2/5

Noise rock and out of key vocals. Dissonance isn't my thing, I guess. Less rock, more cringe for me.

Brothers

The Black Keys

5/5

Hard to imagine what it would feel like to listen to this one with fresh ears. This album is bluesy and lo-fi, but also forms the soundtrack to my 20's, and invariably my relationship with Scott. The Black Keys are one of the artists we shared an enjoyment of when we met, exemplified by this album. Next Girl, Howlin' for You, and Tighten Up I liked in the pre-Scott era of my life. Together, I've grown to love Sinister Kid and Ten Cent Pistol for long car rides. The pandemic, stay home life, and turning 30 brought me to a place to really appreciate Everlasting Light, Black Mud, and Never Gonna Give You Up.

Dance Mania

Tito Puente

3/5

This album is mambo in a Latin club. Not very dynamic, but a good time.

Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)

Eurythmics

3/5

Love is a Stranger is a fun, breezy, synth pop start. The darker, new wave tone of most of the album isn't for me. Sweet Dreams is, of course, a great classic dance track.

Hot Rats

Frank Zappa

3/5

Dynamic, interesting. I had no idea what would come next and was eager to find out. Nothing stood out to make it into regular listening for me.

Cloud Nine

The Temptations

5/5

This little pitstop on the evolution of soul into funk through Motown is everything I needed. It's uplifting and melodic but also raw at times. The title track as an album opener is such a heavy hitter.

Shadowland

k.d. lang

3/5

Powerful vocals, but I am generally bored by the song arrangements. Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes and Black Coffee are best. I don't think any are making it into rotation for me.

Kid A

Radiohead

5/5

The Low End Theory

A Tribe Called Quest

4/5

Overall, the bass lines and jazzy rap hit right. Lost me on a couple songs. Really serves as a time capsule to 1991 in so many ways. The Busta feature on Scenario is a standout favourite for me.

The Colour Of Spring

Talk Talk

2/5

I only knew one song, It's My Life, by Talk Talk prior to listening. This album is much more jazz-infused Pink Floyd than the 80's synth pop I was expecting. The songs drag on in a way I don't find very interesting.

Led Zeppelin IV

Led Zeppelin

5/5

3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of...

Arrested Development

3/5

Something Else By The Kinks

The Kinks

3/5

1984

Van Halen

2/5

It's hard to genuinely listen to this and not feel like it was put on ironically. These songs have appeared in too many things and it's such a fake, put-on vibe. The musical talent is undeniable, but the styling is not for me.

The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators

The 13th Floor Elevators

2/5

I find the bubbling of the electric jug distracting. Easy to see how these guys were influencial founders of the psychedelic rock scene.

Black Sabbath

4/5

What terrifying cover art. N.I.B. is a standout favourite. Great melodic arrangements throughout, while also making me want to... Rock out?

L'Eau Rouge

The Young Gods

2/5

Wow, this is definitely different. The sonic styles between La fille de la mort and Rue des tempetes showcases quite a range. Charlotte brings back the creepy French clown vibe. Props to the lyrics for embracing taboo themes like female masterbation and menstruation, but did it also have to be a horror? Okay this was really a rollercoaster leading to this man becoming a father, then killing her? It's a little unclear what's going on, even once you get past my terrible French and lack of access to reasonable translations. I was originally confused by the Dark Cabaret genre label but I get it now, at least. I was curious what was around every new song, but it isn't something I would recommend or want to listen to again.

A Night At The Opera

Queen

5/5

It starts so heavy and powerful, then gets a little dorky. You're my best friend is such a feel good moment. There's a switch to a more folksy sound with '39 before heading back to classic rock. Seaside Rendezvous is full ridiculous campy cabaret I would have loved to see live in a small theatre. Prophet's Song is a little too rock opera and inconsistent for me. I couldn't figure out if Good Company featured a banjo or ukelele and learned of the combo instrument for the first time. How quirky and fun. Bohemian Rhapsody, what a masterpiece. Not possible to listen without joining in. Didn't really need the patriotic closer, but wow what a tight set of tracks showcasing real DYNAMIC range.

Sea Change

Beck

4/5

This album is so much darker than I remembered, or maybe I am hearing it differently than when I was in high school. Beck has captured melancholy in a beautiful way. This album brings feelings of wanderlust and apathy together. Lost Cause is the standout favourite, although Golden Age is a tight second.

Rumours

Fleetwood Mac

5/5

A big personal favourite. Not only as a sonic masterpiece as an album, but each song can stand on its own. I can't think of another group with 3 different lead vocalists that works so well. It's endured for over 40 years as one of the GOATs and remains endearing to each subsequent generation. What more could you ask for? Picking a favourite song is absolutely impossible, there are so many moods represented. If I'm looking for motivation - The Chain. Reading before bed - Songbird. Having a peaceful sunny weekend - Dreams, Never Going Back Again.

69 Love Songs

The Magnetic Fields

3/5

There are 69 songs, I'll give them that. The concept of a large volume of under produced, not-all-that-in-key songs really doesn't do it for me. I am struggling to find the appeal, and I lose respect for the artistic process with every new song. Editing, refinement and actual emotions are things I value much more than hearing an exposé of the process. I enjoy Peter Gabriel's version of The Book of Love, the original doesn't stand out from the sea of tracks. I enjoyed The One You Really Love, Papa Was a Rodeo, Love is Like a Bottle of Gin, and Zebra but not enough to want to listen again. Things get a little weird on the third disc (Experimental Music Love, For We Are the King of the Boudoir, Xylophone Track), but it's too little, too late. I'm bored, I'm tired, and my Spotify algorithm is confused.

Ocean Rain

Echo And The Bunnymen

3/5

Okay

Run-D.M.C.

3/5

This is one I really wanted to like, after hearing about its place in hip-hop history. It sounds influencial, but not something I want to add to my listening rotation. It's Like That is the standout favourite.

Rage Against The Machine

4/5

What a banger of an album. The bass lines and lyrics are equally powerful. It's a tragedy the same themes of injustice are still at play 30 years later. Bombtrack, Killing In the Name, Take the Power Back, Know Your Enemy are my top picks.

All Directions

The Temptations

4/5

Love that funky vibe. I didn't expect the social commentary on white flight in Run Charlie Run. I have to keep adjusting my perception of the Temptations. Papa Was A Rolling Stone and I Ain't Got Nothin are top tracks, although I preferred the more funky sounds of the Cloud Nine album overall.

Golden Hour

Kacey Musgraves

5/5

Oh yes, Slow Burn is such a mood. Also really enjoy Butterflies, Space Cowboy, and High Hopes. Mother hit a nerve, it's short and bittersweet but being so far away from my family right now gave it punch. This album is just what I needed. I really appreciate her California country vibe.

Fred Neil

3/5

This album seems like it should be my style but something isn't really clicking for me. Sweet Cocaine and Cynicrustpetefredjohn Raga are top picks.

A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector

Various Artists

5/5

Iconic holiday classic. Even moreso realizing this is the original Christmas (baby please come home).

Veckatimest

Grizzly Bear

2/5

Two weeks is good, the rest don't give me enough melody or feeling. Dory gives me feels but in the way it sounds like the vocals are at odds with the instrumentals. It took work not to turn it off.

Ace of Spades

Motörhead

3/5

Celebrity Skin

Hole

3/5

Siembra

Willie Colón & Rubén Blades

3/5

Love the West Side Story reference in Pedro Navaja. The songs are long and get the hips moving. This album doesn't stand out to me, as an outsider to the salsa genre.

Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Wu-Tang Clan

4/5

Classic old school rhymes, great sampling. Best tracks for me are Shame and CREAM.

Catch A Fire

Bob Marley & The Wailers

4/5

The perfect antidote to this morning's dark freezing January temperatures. I wish I was lounging on a beach in the sun. Concrete Jungle, Baby We've Got A Date, and of course, Stir it Up are the top tracks for me.

Tea for the Tillerman

Cat Stevens

4/5

This album is the embodiment of the good kind of classic rock and folk for me. Hard to wrap my mind around it being 50 years old and still so relevant. Wild World was a favourite before today. The version of Father and Son as a duet between his older and younger selves on the 50th anniversary rerecording hits harder than the original but it's a classic sound.

Sunshine Superman

Donovan

3/5

Funky, psychedelic, and a whole lot of sitar. I didn't make any new discoveries on this one, just reminded of the tracks I love: Sunshine Superman and Season of the Witch.

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Simon & Garfunkel

3/5

Oh yes, a family favourite. The title track cuts deep every time, hard not to feel and sing along. Also love El Condor Pasa, Cecilia, The Boxer, and The Only Living Boy In New York. How can these all be from the same album!?

Document

R.E.M.

3/5

It's surprising this is from 1987 not 1997, what a pioneering sound. Clearly inspiring for the grunge alternative scene that followed, you can hear the tendrils this type of album left for artists to come. I didn't realize It's The End of the World wasn't a Great Big Sea original. I'm partial to their sped up, more manic cover.

Toys In The Attic

Aerosmith

2/5

Kenza

Khaled

4/5

Daydream Nation

Sonic Youth

3/5

I feel like I'm right at the intersection between the Velvet Underground and indie bands that followed like Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene. This album is a little too distorted and noisy for my delicate sensibilities, but the melodic instrumental stretches are nice.

Mr. Tambourine Man

The Byrds

3/5

This album is reminiscent of listening to the oldies AM radio station in my parents' kitchen growing up. Hard to listen by myself and not miss them.

Live Through This

Hole

4/5

(What's The Story) Morning Glory

Oasis

5/5

I spent many nights laying on my best friend's floor gossiping about our transition to high school and summer camp changes while listening to this album. Once your adolescent heart has seen a boy with hockey hair play Wonderwall on an acoustic guitar by a campfire, what's left? I started listing favourites and realized it's 9/12, so it's easier to say swamp songs and cast no shadow resonate the least with me.

Like Water For Chocolate

Common

2/5

I wasn't into the first half but things took a turn with The 6th Sense. I was getting a misogynistic vibe, but Common artfully addressed that angle on A Film Called (PIMP). Lots being said but this album wasn't for me.

A Walk Across The Rooftops

The Blue Nile

2/5

The biggest meh of 80's pop that I've never heard of and will immediately forget.

Music in Exile

Songhoy Blues

2/5

Great beats, a little too repetitive for me to get into.

Five Leaves Left

Nick Drake

4/5

A little boring but in a nice, background music sort of way. Melodic, warm, soothing.

Kilimanjaro

The Teardrop Explodes

2/5

Dookie

Green Day

4/5

I was only familiar with the International Superhits, and they remain the only songs I will continue to listen to on their own. In their defense, it's 5/15 tracks, which is a pretty sizeable portion. Solid songs, the rest just don't grab me in 2022.

Joan Armatrading

3/5

Red Headed Stranger

Willie Nelson

3/5

At Mister Kelly's

Sarah Vaughan

3/5

Groovin'

The Young Rascals

3/5

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx

Raekwon

2/5

Most of this album is too hard for me to vibe with, Guillotine was my favourite.

Rocks

Aerosmith

1/5

Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

4/5

Rubber Soul

Beatles

4/5

This is the first Beatles album to come up and I've gotta say, there are better. It's wild to like 8 songs off an album and feel that way but it's the Beatles.

Parallel Lines

Blondie

4/5

A great first two tracks had me excited to hear what else this album had. I got a little bored and lost in the middle. The hits I already knew are the only ones that resonated with me - Hanging On The Telephone, One Way Or Another, Sunday Girl, Heart Of Glass.

Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1

George Michael

3/5

Strangeways, Here We Come

The Smiths

2/5

The Velvet Underground

3/5

Live 1966 (The Royal Albert Hall Concert)

Bob Dylan

3/5

I was a little tired of the Bob Dylan vibe, and I'm certain that influenced my resistance to this album. Tell Me Momma was the first skip in my step as a departure from things already heard, or at least that felt tired.

Can't Buy A Thrill

Steely Dan

4/5

Southern Rock Opera

Drive-By Truckers

1/5

The Wall

Pink Floyd

5/5

Dust

Screaming Trees

2/5

The Gershwin Songbook

Ella Fitzgerald

3/5

The Notorious Byrd Brothers

The Byrds

3/5

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill

5/5

Blackstar

David Bowie

3/5

Tapestry

Carole King

5/5

(Pronounced 'Leh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd)

Lynyrd Skynyrd

3/5

A Northern Soul

The Verve

3/5

Horses

Patti Smith

3/5

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

3/5

Frampton Comes Alive

Peter Frampton

3/5

Crocodiles

Echo And The Bunnymen

2/5

Pretty boring

The Beach Boys Today!

The Beach Boys

5/5

Woodface

Crowded House

4/5

What a pleasant surprise.

Illinois

Sufjan Stevens

5/5

Aftermath

The Rolling Stones

3/5

Nowhere

Ride

2/5

The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter

The Incredible String Band

2/5

The Who Sell Out

The Who

3/5

British Steel

Judas Priest

2/5

Maggot Brain

Funkadelic

3/5

Sticky Fingers

The Rolling Stones

4/5

Another Green World

Brian Eno

3/5

That's The Way Of The World

Earth, Wind & Fire

4/5

Harvest

Neil Young

5/5

Funeral

Arcade Fire

5/5

Highway to Hell

AC/DC

2/5

Natty Dread

Bob Marley & The Wailers

3/5

Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine

Cee Lo Green

3/5

This is my first time hearing about this album, despite being really into anything the Neptunes touched in this era. Cee-Lo presents a real variety of styles, some more soulful straight-up singing, some raps, but not much endures as something I'd love to hear again. Soul Machine feels under developed, especially next to The Art of Noise, a classic Neptunes production. Childz Play is FUN. I'm missing the catchy vibe I associate with Cee-Lo.

Surrealistic Pillow

Jefferson Airplane

4/5

This seems to be one of those albums where I hoped to discover new loves, and am leaving with my old favourites. Somebody to Love, My Best Friend, Embryonic Journey, and White Rabbit all exemplify the good kind of psychedelic folk I love.

Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea

PJ Harvey

3/5

If I heard this when I was 13, I would have really liked it, and would still like it for the nostalgia of that time. As it is, I'm 31 and it really doesn't resonate with me. It feels well-crafted, and the Thom Yorke feature was nice.

The Hissing Of Summer Lawns

Joni Mitchell

4/5

This Is Fats Domino

Fats Domino

3/5

Blueberry Hill teleported me immediately to my late grandparents' kitchen. While obviously much more a song of their youth, it reminds me of visiting them in the nineties - their dark red stone kitchen with the bird chirping in the corner.

Me Against The World

2Pac

3/5

In The Court Of The Crimson King

King Crimson

3/5

Having never heard of King Crimson before, it was really surprising to hear the song sampled in Kanye's Power. The juxtaposition between the cacophony of how 21st Century Schizoid Man ends and I Talk To The Wind's soft and sweet beginning makes it interesting.

Actually

Pet Shop Boys

2/5

Nothing was actually bad, but it felt like it could have been summed up by a single 3 minute montage in an 80s movie

NEU! 75

Neu!

2/5

I liked the more ambient tracks than the more rolling stones songs. Overall, not something I'll need to revisit.

Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols

3/5

The ArchAndroid

Janelle Monáe

3/5

Music for the Masses

Depeche Mode

3/5

Africa Brasil

Jorge Ben Jor

4/5

Trans Europe Express

Kraftwerk

3/5

Live!

Fela Kuti

5/5

Shake Your Money Maker

The Black Crowes

3/5

Revolver

Beatles

5/5

Dub Housing

Pere Ubu

2/5

You Want It Darker

Leonard Cohen

3/5

The Scream

Siouxsie And The Banshees

2/5

Slippery When Wet

Bon Jovi

4/5

Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

Frank Sinatra

3/5

New York Dolls

2/5

Seventh Tree

Goldfrapp

3/5

Rain Dogs

Tom Waits

3/5

Band On The Run

Paul McCartney and Wings

4/5

Electric Warrior

T. Rex

3/5

Haunted Dancehall

The Sabres Of Paradise

2/5

Live At The Regal

B.B. King

4/5

What a fun, moody live album, really makes you wish you were there for it. There aren't any standout songs for me, but the whole vibe sounds like a great night.

Rings Around The World

Super Furry Animals

2/5

This was pretty boring. Hopefully, they had fun, at least.

Live And Dangerous

Thin Lizzy

2/5

I need a lot more from a live album. I don't love the source material and it wasn't enriched by the mediocre live recording.

Connected

Stereo MC's

3/5

Inoffensive but a little dull.