My 1001 Albums Journey

197

Albums Rated

3.37

Average Rating

18%

Complete

892 albums remaining

Rating Distribution

Rating Timeline

Taste Profile

2010

Favorite Decade

Punk

Favorite Genre

other

Top Origin

Curator

Rater Style ?

5-Star Albums

1-Star Albums

Breakdown

By Genre

Top Styles

By Decade

By Origin

Albums

You Love More Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Ys Joanna Newsom	5	2.79	+2.21
The Scream Siouxsie And The Banshees	5	3.04	+1.96
Astral Weeks Van Morrison	5	3.26	+1.74
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables Dead Kennedys	5	3.27	+1.73
Peter Gabriel 3 Peter Gabriel	5	3.29	+1.71
Pornography The Cure	5	3.31	+1.69
Bossanova Pixies	5	3.38	+1.62
Heaven Or Las Vegas Cocteau Twins	5	3.39	+1.61
Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes	5	3.44	+1.56
Unknown Pleasures Joy Division	5	3.47	+1.53

You Love Less Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Cypress Hill Cypress Hill	1	3.14	-2.14
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida Iron Butterfly	1	2.93	-1.93
Southern Rock Opera Drive-By Truckers	1	2.81	-1.81
Brothers In Arms Dire Straits	2	3.74	-1.74
Let's Get Killed David Holmes	1	2.68	-1.68
Superunknown Soundgarden	2	3.65	-1.65
Ill Communication Beastie Boys	2	3.64	-1.64
The Madcap Laughs Syd Barrett	1	2.62	-1.62
Born To Be With You Dion	1	2.61	-1.61
Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water Limp Bizkit	1	2.5	-1.5

Artists

Favorites

Artist	Albums	Average
David Bowie	4	4.5
The Cure	2	5

5-Star Albums (21)

View Album Wall

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Popular Reviews

Tommy

The Who · 3 likes

2/5

At first, I liked it. The musicality was interesting and the 60s English folk influences were enjoyable. But then it’s just essentially a continuous flow of the same thing over and over again for an hour. The rock opera concept itself is imo just an exercise in masturbation. Standout songs to me were The Acid Queen and Welcome. Both of those I listened to twice but on the whole I doubt this is an album I’d ever revisit.

Superunknown

Soundgarden · 1 likes

2/5

This sounds like what some dude would blast at full volume in his Impala after he just gay bashed a kid outside a bar in the mid 90s.

Don't Come Home A Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)

Loretta Lynn · 1 likes

2/5

I enjoy a bit of mournful country every so often but really… are the straights okay?

Songs In The Key Of Life

Stevie Wonder · 1 likes

4/5

So I can say that I’ve never actually sought out Stevie Wonder to listen to. But the fact that I knew so many of these songs (and was like OH this is Stevie Wonder) really speaks to how apparently embedded he is in our cultural DNA. I wouldn’t say I loved everything here, and I’d revisit specific tracks opposed to the entire thing. But all in all a pretty solidly constructed album that, for being so damn long, didn’t wear out its welcome the way I thought it would.

1-Star Albums (8)

Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water

All Ratings

Tommy

The Who

2/5

Kala

M.I.A.

2/5

Frenetic and unique production. Not something I’d sink into often but there’s some interesting textures going on. The songs that give me a more south Asian inspired vibe I like a lot (Jimmy). Lyrical content is on the whole pretty stupid and I would say is one of the weaker parts of the album - Missy or Nicki she is not.

Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

4/5

Why is Nick Cave so great? Why is any artist who cut their teeth in the zero hour immediately after punk so great?

Let's Get Killed

David Holmes

1/5

No.

Grace

Jeff Buckley

5/5

Country Life

Roxy Music

4/5

Freak Out!

The Mothers Of Invention

2/5

Some of it’s cool but there’s just this air of tongue in cheek, pretentious heavy handedness that I find kind of boring.

I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You

Aretha Franklin

3/5

Green

R.E.M.

4/5

Time (The Revelator)

Gillian Welch

4/5

Blue

Joni Mitchell

4/5

Born In The U.S.A.

Bruce Springsteen

3/5

Searching For The Young Soul Rebels

Dexys Midnight Runners

2/5

Some of it’s fun and enjoyable, but a lot of it really drives home why this band is a one hit wonder (at least in the US).

Dust

Screaming Trees

4/5

Live At The Regal

B.B. King

5/5

No frills, no pretension, no overwrought production, no “clever” lyrical quips, no tryhard striving to create something “profound” - B.B. King didn’t need any of that. Grade A badassery, one of the pinnacles of a music genre that’s in the genome of essentially every style of modern music in the United States and beyond. Guy showed more genuine emotion in 34 minutes than some artists do in their entire career. And the fact that this was recorded in Chicago, a city whose Blues cred is second only to the Mississippi delta, only makes me love it more.

Stardust

Willie Nelson

3/5

Deserter's Songs

Mercury Rev

3/5

In The Wee Small Hours

Frank Sinatra

4/5

Tusk

Fleetwood Mac

4/5

Beggars Banquet

The Rolling Stones

4/5

Tea for the Tillerman

Cat Stevens

3/5

Really enjoyable low key folk, never really gave him a listen and I may explore a bit more.

Hail To the Thief

Radiohead

4/5

Superunknown

Soundgarden

2/5

This sounds like what some dude would blast at full volume in his Impala after he just gay bashed a kid outside a bar in the mid 90s.

White Ladder

David Gray

3/5

Everything sounds vaguely familiar here. I can’t tell if he’s a “musicians’ musician” that has incredible influence etc or if it’s just the late 90s. It’s not at all bad, it’s not amazing, it just *is*. I don’t think I’d add any songs to my regular rotation but I somewhat enjoy most of it.

The Rising

Bruce Springsteen

4/5

Overall really enjoyed this. I think I like it more than Born in the USA (a previous listen on this list). It’s possible that exposure is giving me a deeper appreciation for the artist. Worlds apart is a song I really liked.

Psychocandy

The Jesus And Mary Chain

4/5

Queen II

Queen

2/5

I’ll say that I didn’t completely hate it, but like the rest of Queen’s output, it really does not do anything for me. I just don’t like that 70s excess prog-ish sound. It’s so self-aggrandizing and artificially constructed. So while it wasn’t the worst thing I’ve listened to on this list, it didn’t change my opinion of Queen at all. Not a fan.

Is This It

The Strokes

3/5

Catchy if not inventive 00s indie.

Brothers In Arms

Dire Straits

2/5

So a lot of these songs were like “oh, this is dire straits? Yea I know this song” and then they went on wayyyyyy too long. Every single song on this album needs to be cut by 2-6 minutes. Shoutout to “Brothers in Arms” being a pivotal moment in the West Wing. But that’s about the only shoutout I can give it. This is way too adult contemporary for me and way too cheesy and schmaltzy.

Foxbase Alpha

Saint Etienne

4/5

Fun and poppy. It’s very 90s but they did some interesting things on the album and I think they married straight electronica with classic pop pretty effectively. Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Stoned to Say the Least, and Like the Swallow are standouts for me. But an honorable mention to Wilson for being batshit.

A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector

Various Artists

4/5

Merry Christmas and stuff!

Adele

4/5

Merry Christmas and stuff!

Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water

Limp Bizkit

1/5

In 2000, I was 12. This was so fucking cool to listen to and to have someone really speak to all that 12 year old suburban rage. But now I’m 36, and by god are the lyrics childish and terrible, the music boring, and everything about it a joke. Fred Durst is and has always been a malignant twat and this is such a boring way to be “edgy.”

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

David Bowie

5/5

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Kanye West

4/5

In Our Heads

Hot Chip

3/5

Bayou Country

Creedence Clearwater Revival

4/5

Bossanova

Pixies

5/5

Everything about this is top tier for me.

John Prine

3/5

Songs From The Big Chair

Tears For Fears

3/5

The Who Sell Out

The Who

2/5

I feel like people can’t actually take this stuff seriously, I don’t know.

Like A Prayer

Madonna

3/5

Fleet Foxes

5/5

The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter

The Incredible String Band

2/5

Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus

Spirit

3/5

The Dark Side Of The Moon

Pink Floyd

4/5

Blood On The Tracks

Bob Dylan

3/5

Shelter from the Storm is a great song but overall this isn’t my favorite Bob record. I generally enjoy the earlier stuff. 3.8 stars, almost a four.

Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs

Marty Robbins

4/5

Chirping Crickets

Buddy Holly & The Crickets

4/5

Astral Weeks

Van Morrison

5/5

Illmatic

Nas

4/5

Play

Moby

2/5

The xx

4/5

Cut

The Slits

3/5

Fun House

The Stooges

4/5

One Nation Under A Groove

Funkadelic

4/5

Head Hunters

Herbie Hancock

3/5

The Good, The Bad & The Queen

3/5

Unknown Pleasures

Joy Division

5/5

What's That Noise?

Coldcut

3/5

Some interesting and enjoyable stuff here but it’s a bit uneven for the length.

Beyond Skin

Nitin Sawhney

3/5

Illinois

Sufjan Stevens

5/5

Revolver

Beatles

4/5

Orbital 2

Orbital

4/5

1999

Prince

3/5

Let It Bleed

The Rolling Stones

4/5

4.5~

In Utero

Nirvana

4/5

Kimono My House

Sparks

3/5

The Village Green Preservation Society

The Kinks

3/5

Bryter Layter

Nick Drake

4/5

Aladdin Sane

David Bowie

4/5

Southern Rock Opera

Drive-By Truckers

1/5

Black Sabbath

3/5

Led Zeppelin II

Led Zeppelin

3/5

Pyromania

Def Leppard

2/5

Oedipus Schmoedipus

Barry Adamson

4/5

KIWANUKA

Michael Kiwanuka

3/5

Cosmo's Factory

Creedence Clearwater Revival

4/5

OK Computer

Radiohead

4/5

I See A Darkness

Bonnie "Prince" Billy

2/5

Electric

The Cult

3/5

Tidal

Fiona Apple

4/5

At San Quentin

Johnny Cash

3/5

Pornography

The Cure

5/5

Scum

Napalm Death

1/5

I’m upset this exits and that I experienced it.

Songs From A Room

Leonard Cohen

4/5

Born To Run

Bruce Springsteen

4/5

Surf's Up

The Beach Boys

3/5

Debut

Björk

4/5

Different Class

Pulp

3/5

I’m about reaching my limit on 90s Brit pop. It was fine.

The Suburbs

Arcade Fire

5/5

Crime Of The Century

Supertramp

2/5

There’s nothing that tries so hard and yet does so little as 70s prog

Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols

4/5

There’s nothing that tries so hard and yet does so little as 70s prog

Young Americans

David Bowie

4/5

There’s nothing that tries so hard and yet does so little as 70s prog

The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Velvet Underground

4/5

Lust For Life

Iggy Pop

4/5

The Downward Spiral

Nine Inch Nails

4/5

Ah, there’s something about 90s rage and cynicism that’s way more appealing than today’s rage and cynicism.

Dub Housing

Pere Ubu

3/5

Picture Book

Simply Red

2/5

Diamond Life

Sade

4/5

Don't Come Home A Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)

Loretta Lynn

2/5

I enjoy a bit of mournful country every so often but really… are the straights okay?

Metal Box

Public Image Ltd.

3/5

A bit self indulgent for sure but there’s some interesting things happening

The Hour Of Bewilderbeast

Badly Drawn Boy

4/5

Definitely a surprising like from me!

C'est Chic

CHIC

3/5

Nevermind

Nirvana

4/5

Rattus Norvegicus

The Stranglers

4/5

Broken English

Marianne Faithfull

3/5

There’s some stuff I really like here and some stuff I’m not wild about. 3.5 or a 3.75

Automatic For The People

R.E.M.

4/5

Pink Moon

Nick Drake

4/5

Buffalo Springfield Again

Buffalo Springfield

3/5

Vol. 4

Black Sabbath

3/5

Trafalgar

Bee Gees

2/5

It was kind of a boring experience.

You Want It Darker

Leonard Cohen

4/5

Ten

Pearl Jam

3/5

I feel like I am intimately acquainted with damn near every song on this album by virtue of just being a human being alive in the 90s. I didn’t dislike this as much as I’d expected to. I think overall I am just not a fan of guitar driven ~*~rock~*~ music and gravelly mumbled lyrics. This is a 3 (opposed to the initial 2 I was going to give it) because 1) for better or worse, Jeremy has been stuck in my head since 8am and 2) I like Eddie Vedder’s politics. Also, it was nice to finally learn after 30 years that it’s “Jeremy spoke in class today” and not “tether me spoken yeah yeaaaah yeah.” One should strive to learn at least one new thing every day.

Slippery When Wet

Bon Jovi

2/5

Tank Battles

Dagmar Krause

3/5

For the most part, I enjoyed this. The random YouTube playlist I found had songs in both English and German und die Lieder auf deutsch sind natürlich viel besser. Super interesting Wikipedia reads on both Dagmar Krause and Hanns Eisler as well.

In It For The Money

Supergrass

3/5

Foo Fighters

3/5

Joan Armatrading

4/5

Born To Be With You

Dion

1/5

Why am I listening to he’s got the whole world in his hands like I’m eight years old and back in Sunday school? Insipid. I’m sure that with over 40 releases, there’s a chance of finding something I like but I’m surely not about to go digging.

Architecture And Morality

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

4/5

I don’t think I’ve ever listened to anything they’ve done. But I will say I’m quite enjoying the sound. I like this blend of New Order/poppy Cure, Kraftwerk, and more “challenging” kosmische Musik.

I See You

The xx

2/5

I really, really, really am not vibing with either vocalist. With no vocals, I bet the rating would be a 3.5 or a 4 for the music.

All Things Must Pass

George Harrison

4/5

This is the first time I’ve listened to this all the way through and I really liked it more than I expected to. This review is without the Apple Jam. I don’t like the Apple Jam, I don’t vibe with the Apple Jam, and I’ll never listen to the Apple Jam again. It’s the third LP and can be safely set aside and ignored.

Guero

Beck

2/5

Eh…..

Faith

George Michael

2/5

“I want your sex” is what a middle schooler would do when tasked with writing a song about “Sex teehee 🤭” I’ll just listen to Duran Duran instead.

Peter Gabriel 3

Peter Gabriel

5/5

Peter Gabriel is so badass.

Savane

Ali Farka Touré

4/5

It should surprise no one that “desert blues” works so well as a genre when you consider the fact that west African musical traditions are essentially at the heart of pretty much all American popular music. And in a country that has no shortage of incredible artists blending ancient tradition with ~modern~ sound, AFT was definitely a master.

Hot Rats

Frank Zappa

2/5

Extended guitar solos might be my least favorite thing.

Leftism

Leftfield

3/5

-1 star for the vocals throughout. With no vocals, it’d be a 4

Rhythm Nation 1814

Janet Jackson

2/5

Please, educate me on the burdens of the poor. I echo reviewer sentiments about the production. To me, for being so overwrought it sounds kinda flat.

Opus Dei

Laibach

3/5

Tja… Unerwartet. Ich finde die Platte nicht besonders gut aber sie ist geisteskrank und ganz anders als die langweile Menge von scheißdoofen Britpopplatten die normalerweise hier auftauchen.

Ill Communication

Beastie Boys

2/5

Musically, I think this is relatively well constructed with a few interesting things going on. However, I don’t see any evidence of the finesse other reviewers seem to find in either the lyricism or the vocal delivery. It’s just … not very good.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme

Simon & Garfunkel

4/5

Cypress Hill

1/5

Maybe if I were 12 years old I’d think super lame songs about weed, violence, and saying fag would be the height of sophistication. Maybe.

Songs In The Key Of Life

Stevie Wonder

4/5

The Madcap Laughs

Syd Barrett

1/5

Give me a break.

Heaven Or Las Vegas

Cocteau Twins

5/5

Dreamy and ethereal. For the aggressively ignorant monolinguals, it’s called glossolalia.

Disintegration

The Cure

5/5

Violator

Depeche Mode

5/5

True perfection.

Future Days

Can

4/5

Parachutes

Coldplay

3/5

It’s inoffensive and slightly uninspired Dad Rock but I can’t deny there are some catchy songs here. A 3 feels like the perfect score for Coldplay.

Germs

3/5

Swordfishtrombones

Tom Waits

4/5

Hot Fuss

The Killers

3/5

Harvest

Neil Young

4/5

After The Gold Rush

Neil Young

4/5

Tracy Chapman

4/5

Strangeways, Here We Come

The Smiths

4/5

Straight Outta Compton

N.W.A.

3/5

It’s interesting to note that if you check the other ratings of some of the more vitriolic one star reviews you see that if there’s an album made by black folks you can guarantee it’ll be in their “lowest rated albums” section. You can hide behind pearl clutching outrage and fake virtue all you want but I see through it. That being said I do find the lyrics and delivery to be a bit dated but the beats are pretty solid.

Destroy Rock & Roll

Mylo

3/5

Surrealistic Pillow

Jefferson Airplane

4/5

This, at its core, is not something I’d normally like. Almost everything “psychedelic” from the “summer of love” is autofellating up its own ass schlock. This is a universal truth. But Grace Slick is a badass and it’s more than clear she was able to corral those dweebs and with them create something great.

A Short Album About Love

The Divine Comedy

2/5

The World is a Ghetto

War

4/5

Effortlessly cool.

Elephant

The White Stripes

3/5

Jack White is kind of a twat and certainly isn’t the genius he thinks he is. I really liked “In the Cold, Cold Night” and the more repetitive hypnotic songs were pretty good, as were the punky ones.

The Undertones

3/5

Teen Dream

Beach House

4/5

The Blueprint

JAY Z

4/5

Heavy Weather

Weather Report

2/5

Heroes

David Bowie

5/5

Zombie

Fela Kuti

4/5

...The Dandy Warhols Come Down

The Dandy Warhols

3/5

Easy to listen to if uninspiring.

Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

Dead Kennedys

5/5

45 years old and the angry, biting lyrics are just as relevant today as they were then. From worsening income inequality to progressive purity tests to people shooting up schools to bombing children, there’s a song here for everyone in 2025.

Vincebus Eruptum

Blue Cheer

2/5

Name something better than white dweebs from the Bay Area playing “the blues” - doesn’t exist.

Remain In Light

Talking Heads

4/5

Penance Soiree

The Icarus Line

2/5

Like any millennial, I am often nostalgic for the 00s and my formative years. But please, no more mid 00s frat bro rock.

The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths

5/5

Funeral

Arcade Fire

4/5

Dummy

Portishead

4/5

Figure 8

Elliott Smith

4/5

The Clash

4/5

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx

Raekwon

4/5

Moon Safari

Air

3/5

Nilsson Schmilsson

Harry Nilsson

3/5

I fully expected to go into this ready to write a scathing sarcastic review, but you know what, it was kinda neat!

Elvis Presley

2/5

Look I get it. In the 50s white folks weren’t listening to black artists so of course you needed a white southerner to be the King of Rock and Roll. With that reductive statement aside, I have never vibed with Elvis and do not enjoy his music in almost any capacity.

Murmur

R.E.M.

3/5

Not bad, an enjoyable listen. I think I like the later stuff much better though.

Chelsea Girl

Nico

3/5

This is such a wildly inconsistent album. This is my first time revisiting it since I was in high school, where the sort of mythic velvet underground chanteuse vibes afforded this album a bigger presence in our lives than it really deserved. That said, These Days is a classic and Winter Song is way too English folk adjacent for me not to love. Everything else, eh.

Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle

Bill Callahan

4/5

Ramones

5/5

Ambient 1/Music For Airports

Brian Eno

4/5

L.A. Woman

The Doors

3/5

Not sure I buy into the whole Jim Morrison mystique but The Doors have some solid songs.

Hounds Of Love

Kate Bush

5/5

Permission to Land

The Darkness

2/5

I get that it’s “fun” and they don’t take themselves all that seriously, I just don’t enjoy this type of music at all and would never listen again.

Pearl

Janis Joplin

3/5

Abbey Road

Beatles

4/5

Crooked Rain Crooked Rain

Pavement

4/5

Live At The Star Club, Hamburg

Jerry Lee Lewis

2/5

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Iron Butterfly

1/5

This is like the Platonic Ideal of “music I actively do not like.” It transcends the mundane “eh, I could do without this” into something else. It’s a 2 for music and a 1 for lyrics, rounded down.

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

John Lennon

2/5

I think this is proof that John was carried by Paul and George (and Ringo?) especially considering the general caliber of their solo output. The Apple Music description of this album says these are “some of the most nakedly emotional songs ever recorded.” Someone tell me what I need to do to reach that level of delusion because I feel like it would make 2026 a lot more bearable. With those obligatory hot takes out of the way, Working Class Hero is an incredible song. Far and away the highlight of this album for me. Look at Me has some great music and an intriguing melody if you can divorce that from the silly pseudo-existential lyrics.

Surfer Rosa

Pixies

4/5

Let's Stay Together

Al Green

4/5

Stripped

Christina Aguilera

3/5

This is such a 2000s sound and it takes me right back to 2003 and middle school where these songs were EVERYWHERE. Good thing I can mostly look back on those troubled times these days and just feel a general ephemeral nostalgic vibe with few concrete memories.

The Scream

Siouxsie And The Banshees

5/5

Ahhh, the Banshees’ debut. I’m a huge, huge fan of Siouxsie and the Banshees. I do think they really hit their stride and had the best output with the addition of Budgie, but let’s not pretend their debut isn’t also great. There are so many artists who really elevated punk in the late 70s and early 80s, but the Banshees take the cake. The almost mythical status of this album (and let’s be real, damn near all of their discography) is well deserved.

Iron Maiden

3/5

My Aim Is True

Elvis Costello

3/5

S.F. Sorrow

The Pretty Things

2/5

In general, I am not a fan of these overwrought, head-up-its-ass 60s psych rock “masterpieces” (and I’m sure if I go back I’ve used identical wording on another review). There were a few songs during this long journey where I was like “hmm I can get into this, maybe” but not enough to where I’d ever revisit this again.

Forever Changes

Love

3/5

Joanna Newsom

5/5

This is one of my all time favorite albums and a desert island album. Whether it’s a classic breakup song where you’ve lost yourself in the other person, a myth about the formation of Ursa Major, or an ode to a dead friend, I love all these songs. I could get lost during the journey of Only Skin over and over again and never get tired.