1001 Albums Summary

Listening statistics & highlights

170
Albums Rated
3.27
Average Rating
16%
Complete
919 albums remaining

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1950s
Favorite Decade
Punk
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
18
5-Star Albums
8
1-Star Albums

Taste Analysis

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You Love More Than Most

Albums you rated higher than global average

AlbumYouGlobalDiff
Tragic Songs of Life 5 2.58 +2.42
Wild Gift 5 3 +2
Here Are the Sonics 5 3.16 +1.84
Crooked Rain Crooked Rain 5 3.24 +1.76
Entertainment 5 3.25 +1.75
Sound Affects 5 3.26 +1.74
British Steel 5 3.3 +1.7
It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back 5 3.37 +1.63
One Nation Under A Groove 5 3.42 +1.58
Odessey And Oracle 5 3.42 +1.58

You Love Less Than Most

Albums you rated lower than global average

AlbumYouGlobalDiff
Diamond Life 1 3.42 -2.42
The College Dropout 1 3.31 -2.31
American Beauty 1 3.24 -2.24
Walking Wounded 1 2.97 -1.97
Truth And Soul 1 2.97 -1.97
More Specials 1 2.96 -1.96
Maverick A Strike 1 2.75 -1.75
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan 2 3.63 -1.63
In The Court Of The Crimson King 2 3.6 -1.6
Blood Sugar Sex Magik 2 3.51 -1.51

5-Star Albums (18)

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Popular Reviews

1/5
I heard all of the singles off of this when it came out in 1998 on MTV or the radio, and I'll ask now what I asked then: If you are outside of the demographic where rap-rock/nü-metal was popular (not in the age range to be an aggro-douche at Woodstock 99), what is there to like about this? An artistic persona that's just as contrived as Vanilla Ice without any of the backlash, "old school" rap stylings on Welcome 2 the Party that owe less to Run-DMC's King of Rock than to some middle-aged white doofus dropping "My name is Steve and I'm here to say...". This is as credible as an unfunny rapping grandma sketch that you'd find from a bad improv group in Des Moines. The language or misogyny on this aren't the main offenders for me - instead this album just feels contrived and cynical and lazy. To those who claim that this album is good or important because it blends metal and hip hop and country, who cares? I can mash rockabilly, Tuvan throat singing, and Portuguese fado together, and that doesn't result in anything good simply because nobody's blended those genres together. And the lasting influence of this album is pretty much limited to bro-country artists who learned that cynically adopting a faux-redneck persona and singing about eating riblets at Applebee's and drinking cheap beer in a field (you know, "simple pleasures" that these musicians wouldn't be caught anywhere near) will move a few units. On the plus side, the guitars on the track Devil Without a Cause are pretty cool.
21 likes
3/5
I think this the weakest of the albums from Stevie's "classic period", so it suffers a bit in being compared to them. Compared to most other albums from most other artists, it's outstanding, but compared to his body of work, it's doesn't hit the same highs. For 1001 Albums, I think the average person would understand Stevie Wonder's brilliance with Innervisions and Songs In the Key of Life, so having four albums represented seems like overkill. The big singles both work: Boogie on Reggae Woman is slinky and funky, while You Haven't Done Nothin does have a Superstition vibe to it. Heaven is 10 Zillion Years Away is also a standout. The slower tracks don't have the same immediacy - Creepin isn't bad, but Too Shy to Say is pretty dull excepting the steel guitar from Sneaky Pete Kleinow. Again, I like this album, but it's never going to be my Stevie Wonder album of choice.
8 likes
The Mamas & The Papas
2/5
This is way more anodyne than I thought it would be based on my prior knowledge of California Dreamin' and even Monday, Monday. I Call Your Name sounds like an ad for toothpaste. Spanish Harlem gets rid of whatever minimal amount of edge or soul Ben E. King's version had, and leaves us with something that sounds like Up with People or a recording of a glee club from Mayberry.
5 likes
Grateful Dead
1/5
I just listened to the same song nine times, and then they played Truckin'. I have never liked the Dead - we're supposed to be enamored of them live, but why would I want to hear this boring batch of songs only with extra noodling on top of them? They've also always struck me as inauthentic - dipshit hippies in San Francisco who view themselves as purveyors of a combination of Delta blues and Appalachian roots music with some jazz thrown in who actually record the same lame country song over and over again. But this track has steel guitar! And there's mandolin on this other one! Still the same boring, chugging, midtempo song. The Dead are terrible, as are all of their jam band progeny. The only reason this isn't absolute bottom tier is because they at least refrained from having some asshole on this credited with electric washboard or electrojug or some other faux-country/folk bullshit. Fight me, hippy.
5 likes
The Zombies
5/5
Side A of this album is just a Murderer's Row of baroque-leaning psych pop gems. Care of Cell 44 and A Rose for Emily get mentioned a lot, but I'll throw my two cents behind Hung Up on a Dream which has the swirling psychedelic sound in all the best possible ways. Side B is a bit more uneven, but still delightful. The instrumentation throughout the album is always tasteful, but never feels restrained. Just an absolute joy of an album from top to bottom.
4 likes

1-Star Albums (8)

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Wordsmith

Reviews written for 69% of albums. Average review length: 414 characters.