My 1001 Albums Journey

Albums Rated

3.15

Average Rating

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1050 albums remaining

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1970s

Favorite Decade

Jazz

Favorite Genre

Top Origin

Wordsmith

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5-Star Albums

1-Star Albums

Breakdown

By Genre

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Albums

You Love More Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Elephant Mountain The Youngbloods	5	3.08	+1.92
S&M Metallica	5	3.26	+1.74
The Specials The Specials	5	3.3	+1.7
Pretzel Logic Steely Dan	5	3.39	+1.61
Birth Of The Cool Miles Davis	5	3.65	+1.35
Kid A Radiohead	5	3.71	+1.29

You Love Less Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Graceland Paul Simon	1	3.74	-2.74
It's A Shame About Ray The Lemonheads	1	3.13	-2.13
Very Pet Shop Boys	1	2.94	-1.94
Disintegration The Cure	2	3.85	-1.85
Guitar Town Steve Earle	1	2.81	-1.81
Born In The U.S.A. Bruce Springsteen	2	3.7	-1.7
Rust Never Sleeps Neil Young & Crazy Horse	2	3.53	-1.53
It's Blitz! Yeah Yeah Yeahs	2	3.49	-1.49
Iron Maiden Iron Maiden	2	3.4	-1.4
Music for the Masses Depeche Mode	2	3.37	-1.37

5-Star Albums (6)

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1-Star Albums (4)

All Ratings

Metallica

4/5

Listened to this enough times in my lifetime - not my favourite Metallica album but it has my favourite Metallica song on it, Through The Never, and some other bangers.

At Mister Kelly's

Sarah Vaughan

4/5

Maggot Brain

Funkadelic

4/5

The Velvet Underground

3/5

An okay album, but simply just that.

At San Quentin

Johnny Cash

4/5

Hunky Dory

David Bowie

4/5

Surfer Rosa

Pixies

3/5

Cultural significance might actually play a big part here....I can completely appreciate how this album would've been a breath of fresh air in the late eighties after the excesses of glam rock and super pristine productions. It's noisy, fresh, highly energetic but melodious. It's not my natural type of music to listen to, but I'll always have a soft spot for Where Is My Mind from Beaver days, and I really liked Turkish Disco. The influence on grunge and bands like Deerhoof is patently obvious.

It's Blitz!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

2/5

Failed to grab me and not as energising as their debut. Karen O undoubtedly a brilliant singer.

Birth Of The Cool

Miles Davis

5/5

My favourite jazz album, probably spun in its entirety once a quarter. There isn't a track I dislike - the arrangements are still fresh and interesting today, with nothing overly long or short. Rouge is a particular standout, penned by John Lewis; it never bores me. I've got Louis to thank for introducing me to this album - it is indispensable in the world of jazz!

Coat Of Many Colors

Dolly Parton

4/5

So on a first listen, I found it to be one-dimensional but pleasant enough. I subsequently read the Wikipedia article for further context and listened again....the title track's subject and lyrics are undeniably poignant, the story itself enhancing the song to another level. Musically, it is still mostly uniform, but I guess that's the point with this style. I love the strategic placement of the kick drum on Travelling Man, with She Never Met A Man and My Blue Tears the other standouts for me.

The La's

2/5

I just don't get it, I honestly don't. I'm admittedly not a fan of the jangly 90s sound, and the album was more diverse than I expected, but the songs just don't resonate with me (and aren't even that good)? I remain bemused.

Diamond Life

Sade

3/5

It evokes images of an over-aged Bond seducing someone far younger in the Roger Moore era...not something I'll specifically be revisiting in a hurry. Having said that, Hang On To Your Love and Frankie's First Affair are pretty neat, but the album's dripping candle production isn't my favourite.

The World is a Ghetto

War

3/5

Like a weird hybrid of Steely Dan, Captain Beefheart and Blood, Sweat and Tears. Fairly enjoyable but not captivating, I'm not minded to give it multiple spins.

Born In The U.S.A.

Bruce Springsteen

2/5

I like rock, but not this kind of rock. It is interesting that the album/title track have been unfairly labelled as unashamed patriotism, but that's about it for me.

This Year's Model

Elvis Costello & The Attractions

4/5

Thoroughly enjoyed this, the influence on early Blur quite apparent. Mostly cracking tunes, highlights being This Year's Girl, Pump It Up (obvs), Chelsea (why on earth was this substituted on the US LP) and Living in Paradise, the latter having a stonking bassline. I'm not usually one for punk, but this is melodic and has the right amount of spike. Definitely one to add to the collection!

Elephant Mountain

The Youngbloods

5/5

What a treat to listen to for the first time! Tasteful playing, lovely laid-back grooves and cool songwriting, I'll definitely be replaying this album. On Sir Francis Drake, Rain Song and Ride The Wind were particular favourites.

Africa Brasil

Jorge Ben Jor

3/5

Fun album, the second half really kicking things off, but hasn't caused me to stop in my tracks. Backing vocals are cracking. Rod Stewart has obviously scarred Taj Mahal for life, the scoundrel.

My Aim Is True

Elvis Costello

3/5

Growing on me with more listens. It's neat songwriting overall. There are tunes which are much better than others, Blame It On Cain being an example, but it doesn't have the same urgency as This Year's Model. There is an argument that it's a better vocal performance however!

3 Feet High and Rising

De La Soul

4/5

Properly kicks off with Bonham's amazing beat from The Crunge and doesn't let up from there. Say No Go is a banger. For me, it doesn't hit the heights of A Tribe Called Quest, but is a great album nonetheless.

Infected

The The

3/5

Bloody weird album. I found it interesting and impressive as a sound collage, but with the artificial tone and the songs not presenting anything I could cling on to, repeated listening is unlikely.

S&M

Metallica

5/5

The impact this album had on me as a teenager is substantial, hours spent playing along to it and analysing the DVD footage. I therefore feel conflicted about its rating, as it's incredibly hard to disassociate my formative experience from listening to it today; for example, Of Wolf and Man was a firm favourite as a 15 year old, but I'm a bit indifferent to it now. Nevertheless, the overlaying orchestral music is excellent, with Metallica at the height of their powers before they fell prey to the post-St. Anger period. The Call of Kthulu, Master of Puppets, Fuel and Battery are simply awesome. What a way for Jason Newsted to bow out.

Guitar Town

Steve Earle

1/5

Why?

Music for the Masses

Depeche Mode

2/5

Very much of its time, I wasn't gripped.

The Specials

5/5

Hitching a lift on the back of Alessio's scooter up north, the warm surroundings and non-stop laughter, lying face down to breathe in the dew from the earliest morning grass, launching ourselves off the pier to reset, culminating in drinking a blend of teas in the morning haze having, with any luck, escaped the threat of an antiquing. All that was left was wondering how to get home....this album is its soundtrack and even then, is still a classic in its own right.

Sign 'O' The Times

Prince

3/5

What started off as promising, the lyrics and groove of the opener being cool and interesting, descended into too long an album filled with pretty average material. Might get better with multiple listens but the sterile production is hard to listen to for an extended period of time.

Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs

Marty Robbins

3/5

I find Western music generally easy to listen to, this album being no different in that respect. Nice tales with harmonies splashed here and there.

Very

Pet Shop Boys

1/5

Simply not for me on any level.

Fear Of A Black Planet

Public Enemy

3/5

Feel like I need to give this more spins to really dig into its significance, especially on The Bomb Squad's work. But I liked what I heard on a first impression.

Rust Never Sleeps

Neil Young & Crazy Horse

2/5

My default stance is one of loathing when it comes to Neil Young, but I may yet come round.

3 + 3

The Isley Brothers

3/5

Funky but only fairly remarkably.

Pretzel Logic

Steely Dan

5/5

I'm a sucker for this type of layered, harmonicas complex music in short snippets. Really enjoyed it.

Kid A

Radiohead

5/5

It's taken me a while to truly appreciate Radiohead, and the musical shift to go from their guitar-led angst to this album of classics, rooted in electronica and polyrhythms, is a ballsy and very well executed artistic statement.

Iron Maiden

2/5

This album is kinda hilarious, not what I was expecting at all until it reached the end. Can appreciate why it was popular, but some of the guitar solos are very iffy and it cements my backing away from the fence take on Maiden.

Graceland

Paul Simon

1/5

I made it through three and a half songs before sending it back. Off to a terrible start with some sort of accordion static noise, it never got better. It made me think that Vampire Weekend listened to Graceland and thought 'we could do this so much better'.

Clube Da Esquina

Milton Nascimento

3/5

Enjoyable, a very leisurely listen. Not gravitating towards future listening however.

It's A Shame About Ray

The Lemonheads

1/5

One long song?

Disintegration

The Cure

2/5

Upon it's opening, I was transported to a world of David Lynch and an alternative Twin Peaks-esque universe. So things were looking up, but then I found the sludgy pace, reverb melted drums and the outright dreary nature of it somewhat soul-destroying. Perhaps I should have read the album title more closely. It has cleverly multi-layered moments, Lullaby being the pick of the bunch, but I found it tough going overall.

Jazz Samba

Stan Getz

4/5

I could listen to Stan Getz all day, one of the finest saxophone players ever to grace the planet. It's a lovely album, but not quite top of the top for me.

Adele

3/5

As Verity's favourite artist, I have listened to this album multiple times. First half is much stronger than the second, some good times and there is no doubting the vocal talent.