My 1001 Albums Journey

121

Albums Rated

3.51

Average Rating

11%

Complete

968 albums remaining

Rating Distribution

Rating Timeline

Taste Profile

1990

Favorite Decade

Soul

Favorite Genre

Top Origin

Wordsmith

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5-Star Albums

1-Star Albums

Breakdown

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Albums

You Love More Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Brown Sugar D'Angelo	5	2.92	+2.08
Moby Grape Moby Grape	5	2.94	+2.06
The Message Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five	5	3.28	+1.72
Ágætis Byrjun Sigur Rós	5	3.37	+1.63
Smash The Offspring	5	3.37	+1.63
Blue Lines Massive Attack	5	3.38	+1.62
Come Away With Me Norah Jones	5	3.38	+1.62
The Fat Of The Land The Prodigy	5	3.4	+1.6
Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes	5	3.43	+1.57
A Rush Of Blood To The Head Coldplay	5	3.44	+1.56

You Love Less Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Moving Pictures Rush	1	3.57	-2.57
Hail To the Thief Radiohead	1	3.44	-2.44
Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea PJ Harvey	1	3.38	-2.38
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady Charles Mingus	1	3.32	-2.32
Daydream Nation Sonic Youth	1	3.3	-2.3
Fun House The Stooges	1	3.28	-2.28
Gentlemen The Afghan Whigs	1	2.9	-1.9
Scott 2 Scott Walker	1	2.64	-1.64
Aladdin Sane David Bowie	2	3.61	-1.61
Arrival ABBA	2	3.51	-1.51

5-Star Albums (28)

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People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm

Popular Reviews

You've Come a Long Way Baby

Fatboy Slim · 1 likes

4/5

Fresh sound at the time where techno meets rock & alternative blended with unique samples. Knocking one star off because a couple tracks have some annoying (ear pain) sounds which detract from an otherwise great album.

1-Star Albums (10)

Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea

All Ratings

Highway 61 Revisited

Bob Dylan

4/5

A classic. Great songs and lyrics, but have to knock a star off due to Dylan's vocals. While distinct, swooping into the actual pitch--or not hitting it at all--gets old. I can see why Dylan covers by other artists are often more popular.

Moving Pictures

Rush

1/5

Never really liked prog rock, but tried to listen with an open mind. Nope, still don't like it.

A Rush Of Blood To The Head

Coldplay

5/5

Blue Lines

Massive Attack

5/5

Great album. Love trip hop / chillhop.

Dummy

Portishead

5/5

Smooth.

The Bends

Radiohead

4/5

Great album, only a couple weaker tracks.

The Blueprint

JAY Z

3/5

Not my favorite genre, but a good listen

A Short Album About Love

The Divine Comedy

2/5

Meh.

Veckatimest

Grizzly Bear

2/5

A few good tracks, but a lot of them sounded like experimental noise.

The Cars

5/5

Solid album--didn't realize how many well-known Cars singles were from this one album

L.A. Woman

The Doors

3/5

Decent. Not sure I'd repeat listen much, but glad to know more about The Doors' deeper tracks.

World Clique

Deee-Lite

4/5

Fun party music. Better than I expected.

Bright Flight

Silver Jews

2/5

Rough listen. Song composition and lyrics were decent, but singer's voice was painful.

Timeless

Goldie

4/5

Solid double album--lots of great tracks. Love the drum & bass.

Hot Rats

Frank Zappa

3/5

Some tracks were excellent grooves, and some were horrendous horns.

The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady

Charles Mingus

1/5

Has occasional glimmers of the band coming together, but so much of it was a grating, discordant cacophony. Exhausting. Painful.

The Sun Rises In The East

Jeru The Damaja

4/5

Good lyrics/flow/beats. Hip hop isn't even my jam, but this was a solid album.

Little Earthquakes

Tori Amos

2/5

Beautiful voice, but the music was a chore.

KIWANUKA

Michael Kiwanuka

5/5

Beautiful.

Made In Japan

Deep Purple

4/5

Genre-defining. Lots of solos, which you don't hear any more, and some were a bit long, but all were great.

In Utero

Nirvana

5/5

Raw grunge. Such a clean break from the polished big hair/glam rock of the 80s.

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

The Smashing Pumpkins

5/5

Peak grunge.

Porcupine

Echo And The Bunnymen

3/5

Didn't love it, but I could hear how it likely influenced many bands to come after them, so credit for the groundbreaking sound.

Surf's Up

The Beach Boys

4/5

Could have been as big as The Beatles. Only complaint is the album is too short.

Low

David Bowie

3/5

Meh. It was fine. More instrumentals than I thought.

Cosmo's Factory

Creedence Clearwater Revival

5/5

The definitive southern rock band.

Iron Maiden

4/5

Pure heavy metal. \m/

Vauxhall And I

Morrissey

3/5

Mediocre, meandering, inoffensive. Elevator music version of The Smiths.

The Suburbs

Arcade Fire

2/5

I don't get the hype. So many songs lacked any dynamics, eventually sounding like a wall of noise. Nothing memorable or catchy, and so much repetition of simple beats (bang on every quarter note!) or chords/notes. Just... blech.

Foo Fighters

4/5

Great rock. Some songs are a little too simple/formulaic for my taste, but all of them got my head banging.

Urban Hymns

The Verve

4/5

Better than I thought. More than a one- (or two-) hit wonder.

...And Justice For All

Metallica

4/5

Frenetic, tight metal album.

Darkdancer

Les Rythmes Digitales

3/5

Okay, but a bit simple for my tastes.

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

Devo

4/5

Weird, different. Love it.

Transformer

Lou Reed

3/5

It was fine. A few great tracks with a number of forgettable ones.

Brown Sugar

D'Angelo

5/5

Smooth grooves. Digging it.

Heavy Weather

Weather Report

2/5

Well, that was a jazz album.

Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea

PJ Harvey

1/5

Seeing all the awards this artist & album received but trying to figure out what I'm missing. Just seems like boring, depressing, low-energy, pretentious dreck to me. I know taste is subjective, so maybe it's just me or the my mood today. /shrug

Rage Against The Machine

5/5

Guero

Beck

5/5

Beck can nail so many genres and blend them together seamlessly. This album is no exception. It's no wonder he's been producing so much great music for decades.

Phrenology

The Roots

3/5

Some tracks were good to great, some were forgettable, and some were just off putting--trying to be experimental but came out as noise.

Suzanne Vega

2/5

It's fine for what it is. Which is nothing memorable.

Billion Dollar Babies

Alice Cooper

3/5

Interesting... hard rock with a whimsical, musical sound. Good but not great.

More Songs About Buildings And Food

Talking Heads

3/5

Some catchy songs, some forgettable ones. Definitely that "Talking Heads" sound--punchy, half-singing, etc. No need for a repeat listen.

Led Zeppelin III

Led Zeppelin

4/5

Aladdin Sane

David Bowie

2/5

Weird. I know David Bowie, I recognize the famous album cover, but I didn't recognize any of the songs. Nor did I particularly care for any of them.

Scott 2

Scott Walker

1/5

A man way too in love with his own voice (whose defining feature is a too-slow vibrato).

Manassas

Stephen Stills

4/5

Great blend of blues, bluegrass, southern rock, and other genres, with vocal harmonies and varied instruments--guitars, harmonica, banjo, etc.--to form a wonderful album.

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Arctic Monkeys

4/5

Decent alternative/garage/rock/punk album.

War

4/5

U2 during their great years.

Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret

Soft Cell

4/5

Fun, quirky album. They sound like they'd put on a fun live show.

People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm

A Tribe Called Quest

5/5

Love the chill hop, excellent rhymes & flow.

Talking Heads 77

Talking Heads

3/5

Punchy, quirky, sometimes catchy. A product of its time. But not something I'd repeat listen much.

Blue

Joni Mitchell

3/5

Initially liked her voice and interesting melodies, but as the album wore on, it became tiring and all over the place. Unique, and glad I gave it a listen, but wasn't for me.

Come Away With Me

Norah Jones

5/5

Beautiful songs, wonderful voice, and soft, relaxing jazz backing. Perfect for a glass of red wine by the fireplace.

Arrival

ABBA

2/5

Well, I can now say I've listened to an ABBA album. Silly and upbeat, but definitely not my jam.

Maggot Brain

Funkadelic

4/5

Gotta have that funk.

The Gershwin Songbook

Ella Fitzgerald

5/5

Only could find "The Very Best of The Gershwin Songbook" which was 12 songs, not the entire 59-song set. But it is some of the very best of its genre.

Behaviour

Pet Shop Boys

3/5

It's fine background music... nothing too complex requiring active listening.

Crosby, Stills & Nash

4/5

I'm a sucker for guitars and harmonies.

Goodbye And Hello

Tim Buckley

3/5

Decent, and has that 60's baroque pop sound, but nothing too groundbreaking or memorable.

Let's Get It On

Marvin Gaye

4/5

Start the fireplace, pour some wine, turn this on softly in the background. Oh, and hopefully your partner is with you too.

Crime Of The Century

Supertramp

4/5

I like Supertramp. They're not GREAT, but they're good. Definitely a unique sound, and tunes are catchy enough. 3.5 round up to 4.

Public Image: First Issue

Public Image Ltd.

1/5

Wikipedia says the lead vocalist left the Sex Pistols to pursue a more "experimental sound." That's the nicest description I can think of for this noise. Boy was this a rough listen.

Is This It

The Strokes

5/5

Just a perfect garage rock band/album. Had this in regular rotation in the early 2000's, so this took me back.

Deep Purple In Rock

Deep Purple

4/5

Another solid rock/metal album.

The Soft Bulletin

The Flaming Lips

3/5

I really want to like this band. The varied instruments and somewhat more complex and interesting musical arrangements should be up my alley, but I don't really like the lead singer's straining voice, and, well, I just don't vibe with them.

All That You Can't Leave Behind

2/5

These guys fell so hard from their peak. This album was just bland and boring. A couple semi-decent tracks bumps it to a 2, but if this were a no-name band, this nobody would have heard of it.

Moby Grape

5/5

Fantastic rock & roll album. Great guitar work by all the members, from rhythm to finger picking to leads/solos. Harmonies. Drums with flair that get your feet tapping. Solid 5.

Boston

5/5

There's a reason practically every track was in the rotation of every classic rock station for decades. Great album.

Birth Of The Cool

Miles Davis

3/5

Great jazz album, just wished I liked jazz more.

Music for the Masses

Depeche Mode

4/5

Great 80's synth-pop-rock sound. More instrumentals than I expected. Worth another listen.

The Rise & Fall

Madness

4/5

Good album. Unique sound with a blend of different instruments. And all the songs had that band's sound, despite the various songs having influences from different genres.

The Message

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five

5/5

Back when rap/hip hop was fun (before gangsta), plus bonus Stevie Wonder tribute. Great stuff!

Highly Evolved

The Vines

4/5

Good garage rock album. A few duds but mostly solid.

Paul's Boutique

Beastie Boys

4/5

Fun hip hop. Love these guys.

Homework

Daft Punk

4/5

Classic late 90's techno. Some great songs here, but knocking off one star due to the trend of the era to add some annoyingly screechy sounds to various tracks. Still a good listen overall.

Happy Trails

Quicksilver Messenger Service

2/5

Some good songs mixed with some plodding ones where they seemed to be having fun but I wasn't. Maybe groundbreaking at the time?

Boy In Da Corner

Dizzee Rascal

3/5

Don't love most rap/hip-hop, but this was good stuff.

The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths

3/5

Decent album, and The Smiths definitely have their own unique sound, but a number of tracks were just kind of there… not too many grabbed me.

Murmur

R.E.M.

3/5

Some killer tracks that show the future promise of this band, but some mediocre tracks too.

Want One

Rufus Wainwright

3/5

Song composition was above average, but nothing too groundbreaking or memorable. Vocals were a bit too dominant. None of the tracks were standouts. This album was just kind of... there.

Fun House

The Stooges

1/5

I know, let’s keep the drums and rhythm guitar keep a steady sound, while making the most obnoxious, annoying, screeching, unpleasant noises with vocals and a saxophone! How groundbreaking!

The Doors

4/5

Very much 60s psychedelic rock. Classic album.

Nilsson Schmilsson

Harry Nilsson

3/5

Mixed bag. Unique sound and some memorable songs. Some have a circus-like feel. His biggest hit (Without You) was his probably my least favorite.

Here's Little Richard

Little Richard

5/5

Do a lot of these songs sound the same? Yes. Are they all great? Yes. Just makes you want to get up & dance, and Little Richard BRINGS the energy.

Antichrist Superstar

Marilyn Manson

2/5

Some good heavy metal riffs, but the dark edgelord schtick appeals to a more teenage-angsty audience than me.

Exile On Main Street

The Rolling Stones

4/5

Weird that an English rock group does a great job with an American southern rock sound with influences of blues and gospel, but here we are.

Tommy

The Who

3/5

Good songs, some good recurring themes, a weird mix of lengths (ranging from silly ditties to epic suites). While I liked some individual songs a lot, the album as a whole didn't grab me. Might need another listen, but I've got hundreds of others to go.

Gentlemen

The Afghan Whigs

1/5

Definitely not a "must-listen" album by any definition. A few okay guitar hooks, but awful, nails-on-chalkboard vocals.

Rocks

Aerosmith

4/5

This album rocks.

The Fat Of The Land

The Prodigy

5/5

So many songs to get pumped up to. Techno/bass/EDM perfection.

Tidal

Fiona Apple

5/5

Sultry voice with excellent range. Musical composition is complex but catchy, with a range of instruments all perfect for the songs' moods. Fantastic album.

Heartbreaker

Ryan Adams

4/5

Great album. Most songs have a soothing, relaxing, southern sound with guitar, harmonica, banjo, and piano, with a few more upbeat, foot-stomping tunes.

Honky Tonk Heroes

Waylon Jennings

3/5

Well-titled album. Pure honky tonk. A fun listen.

Daydream Nation

Sonic Youth

1/5

Oof, not much good to say about this album. Weak/yelling vocals paired with instruments making noise (fuzz and feedback) that occasionally broke into the faint sounds of actual music. A painful listen.

Penance Soiree

The Icarus Line

1/5

Not a single memorable track on the album. Only thing I’ll remember is how awful this album was.

Sex Packets

Digital Underground

3/5

Some good tracks here, with fun/silly lyrics. They definitely have that sound, but all the tracks have a similar sound, so I was getting bored by the end.

The Age Of The Understatement

The Last Shadow Puppets

4/5

Good album. Reminds me of 70's Bond film music, but with a hint of grunge/garage rock. Might want to give this one another listen.

On The Beach

Neil Young

3/5

Well, it's a Neil Young album. Sounds like Neil Young, so if you like Neil Young, you'll like this Neil Young album. I like Neil Young just fine, but don't love him. In fact, I'd say I like him and his music 3/5 stars.

Tusk

Fleetwood Mac

3/5

Some decent tracks, some meh ones. Definitely can hear the influences of early punk.

Doolittle

Pixies

3/5

Some 5-star tracks, but not a strong album overall.

Grace

Jeff Buckley

5/5

Musical genius, powerful vocals. A top album.

Ágætis Byrjun

Sigur Rós

5/5

Excellent relaxing, ambient music with nonsense lyrics so as not to distract from the _feeling_ of the music.

Parklife

Blur

3/5

A few good tracks, some mediocre tracks, and some duds. Meh.

Talking Book

Stevie Wonder

4/5

I mean, it's Stevie Wonder. What's not to love? And Superstition is one of the best songs of all time.

You've Come a Long Way Baby

Fatboy Slim

4/5

Blood Sugar Sex Magik

Red Hot Chili Peppers

5/5

Killer album combining high-energy punk with funk.

Graceland

Paul Simon

4/5

Wonderful composition of world music with Paul Simon's gentle voice.

Smash

The Offspring

5/5

Hard-charging pogo pop-punk mosh pit killer album. I'm amped!

Fleet Foxes

5/5

Beautiful album and band.

Let It Bleed

The Rolling Stones

4/5

Someday I should look into how an English rock band nailed an entire album of American honky-tonk sound. Also Merry Clayton performs the best backing vocal track of all time on Gimme Shelter, with her voice cracking with emotion. Frisson every time.

Play

Moby

5/5

Fresh (at the time) sound, some great tracks. There's a reason so many of these tracks were used in movies and commercials, and got constant radio play.

Achtung Baby

3/5

A mixed album--a few good tracks and some highly mediocre ones, but I can appreciate them trying to change up their sound.

Fragile

Yes

3/5

Some interesting sounds. Very experimental but I don't see a cohesive "whole" with this album. Meh.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme

Simon & Garfunkel

4/5

Gentle harmonies, pretty songs. The lone (bad) outlier was A Simple Desultory Philippic--I thought my player had switched to Bob Dylan, but apparently this was written/performed to mock the man's style. LOL.

Younger Than Yesterday

The Byrds

3/5

Standard psychedelic rock album--nice sound that takes you back to the 60's, but no standout tracks.

Black Holes and Revelations

Muse

4/5

Definitely a standard alternative rock feel, but enough unique sounds to make it their own and be fresh.

Pet Sounds

The Beach Boys

5/5

Most of these songs were heard frequently on the radio and in movies as a kid, 20-30 years after they came out, which says a lot about the band and the album.

Hail To the Thief

Radiohead

1/5

Some people love Radiohead. I, for the life of me, can't understand how or why. I couldn't make it halfway through. Just awful.

Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

3/5

Jazz... I can appreciate it for the technical skills involved, but I don't love the genre, especially on a recorded album. More than any other genre, jazz should be *experienced* live. That said, this is a decent album, and Take Five will always be a classic.