My 1001 Albums Journey

106

Albums Rated

3.28

Average Rating

10%

Complete

983 albums remaining

Rating Distribution

Rating Timeline

Taste Profile

2000s

Favorite Decade

Hard-rock

Favorite Genre

Top Origin

Wordsmith

Rater Style ?

5-Star Albums

1-Star Albums

Breakdown

By Genre

By Decade

By Origin

Albums

You Love More Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Closer Joy Division	5	3.21	+1.79
You Want It Darker Leonard Cohen	5	3.33	+1.67
Opus Dei Laibach	4	2.4	+1.6
Wild Is The Wind Nina Simone	5	3.64	+1.36
Faust IV Faust	4	2.78	+1.22
Axis: Bold As Love Jimi Hendrix	5	3.79	+1.21
American IV: The Man Comes Around Johnny Cash	5	3.89	+1.11
Kala M.I.A.	4	2.91	+1.09
When I Was Born For The 7th Time Cornershop	4	2.92	+1.08
Led Zeppelin III Led Zeppelin	5	3.96	+1.04

You Love Less Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Paul's Boutique Beastie Boys	1	3.47	-2.47
Odessey And Oracle The Zombies	1	3.42	-2.42
Beautiful Freak Eels	1	3.27	-2.27
BEYONCÉ Beyoncé	1	2.86	-1.86
Night Life Ray Price	1	2.81	-1.81
Definitely Maybe Oasis	2	3.53	-1.53
If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears The Mamas & The Papas	2	3.43	-1.43
Coat Of Many Colors Dolly Parton	2	3.42	-1.42
Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs Derek & The Dominos	2	3.39	-1.39
Melodrama Lorde	2	3.32	-1.32

Artists

Favorites

Artist	Albums	Average
Jimi Hendrix	2	5

5-Star Albums (7)

View Album Wall

Popular Reviews

Night Life

Ray Price

1/5

The introduction monologue was so hilariously bereft of confidence that I was started on a good foot. The first track was really great and holds up well. As the album progressed it slowly became apparent that every song would feature identical instrumentation, singing and lyrics. I can see why this didn’t make it on the fallout soundtrack. Rating: 1.5

1 likes

4-Star Albums (38)

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

1-Star Albums (5)

All Ratings

Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

3/5

3.5, some decent tracks in there, need a bit more experience with the genre to appreciate it

Van Halen

3/5

the well established radio songs on this album were of course great and lots of fun to listen to, can only imagine how innovative the instrumental work was at the time. Most of the other songs are pretty rough lyrically but I had to kind of laugh at the performative swagger. Rating: 2.5

Coat Of Many Colors

Dolly Parton

2/5

This one wasn’t really for me in instrumentation, musical texture or lyrics. Bit of a lack of diversity in the songs for me. Rating: 2

Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs

Derek & The Dominos

2/5

Seems like the pinaccle of boomer albums. Claptons ego is on full display. These are some pretty silly lyrics. I felt like the run time was too long for me, but I enjoyed many of the instrumentals and a lot of the guitar work. Rating: 2.25

Fear Of A Black Planet

Public Enemy

4/5

Great album, loved the high energy production and amazing performance. The lyrics are top notch and have sadly held true as our society continues to get dumber and more bigoted. But art like this album gives me hope that voices like Public Enemy can continue to reach the mainstream and educate. I loved the texture of the production, gave the whole album a raw and immediate edge. This is one I’ll keep coming back to, there’s great depth here. Rating 4.5

You Want It Darker

Leonard Cohen

5/5

This was a truly visceral emotional experience, sparse and simple keeping a perfect length for this retrospection on life. It’s an album I can see myself coming back to periodically to take in its genius. Rating: 5

At Budokan

Cheap Trick

4/5

At Folsom Prison

Johnny Cash

4/5

Pretty fun, can see why this is a seminal live album. Rating: 4

The Suburbs

Arcade Fire

3/5

When this came out 15 years ago I was a highschooler and I could not have been bothered, but listening now was a bit better than expected. There's definitely more compelling and timeless similar albums from this time, such as Helplessness Blues. With all that being said it does deserve at least another play. Rating 3.5

Bookends

Simon & Garfunkel

3/5

Live 1966 (The Royal Albert Hall Concert)

Bob Dylan

3/5

This wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected it to be, I think most people find to cool to dislike Bob Dylan since everything he did here was aped to oblivion by plenty of other popular musicians in the intervening years. I preferred the solo set, with its minimalist hypnotic vibes. I didn't really get much from the electric set, it just felt so generic. I started to finally understand and appreciate the vocal delivery near the end of the album. I do feel vindicated in knowing that I too can tunelessly dick around with a harmonica. Rating: 3.0

Tubular Bells

Mike Oldfield

4/5

Excepting the rote Exorcist passage this was quite compelling for me, just pretentious enough in that special prog rock way. This is nice long form music to soundtrack your day. Rating 4.0

Led Zeppelin III

Led Zeppelin

5/5

Yeah, what else can be said, this was amazing. Been a while since I listened to a full album from LZ and gladly, this is front to back bangers. I’m in awe of the performances across the board, and there’s such a great variety of sounds throughout the album. Rating: 5

Foo Fighters

3/5

I’ve always found FF to be a bit generic for lack of better word, but there is catharsis here for Dave Grohl in getting out of the shadow of Nirvana. This album overstayed its welcome a tiny bit for me with a lack of diversity in songwriting. However, I believe that this is another case of fatigue due to Dave’s outsized influence on what would later be considered generic, radio friendly accessible songwriting. While this may not be a master work, it showcases a talented musician who changed the face of mainstream rock in the 90s and 00s. The album is solid with some standout cutting edge radio rock tracks. Rating: 3.25

Exit Planet Dust

The Chemical Brothers

3/5

This was pretty good, my experience with Chemical Brothers is that they usually have 2 or 3 real standouts per record and a lot of repetition. I’d say this album follows suit, with the first three tracks establishing a great energy. Listened to the record twice and can’t really remember too much else about it, but I will certainly return to it again. Rating: 3.0

McCartney

Paul McCartney

3/5

American IV: The Man Comes Around

Johnny Cash

5/5

Really enjoyed this one, and I’ll be returning to it, just a masterpiece. Rating: 5

1989

Taylor Swift

3/5

People will hate Taylor Swift and 1989 on principle and while I went in with said stance I will concede that the album is completely fine. This is tightly designed pop music that is showing its age 10 years on. Ultimately the album references for me a time in popular music which I am not positively nostalgic of. 1989 targets a young audience and leaves a saccharine impression but at the end of it all you cannot completely deny the sweet tooth for catchy, massive choruses. Rating: 3.5

First Band On The Moon

The Cardigans

4/5

Dookie

Green Day

4/5

Dookie held up pretty well honestly, this was a fun listen and more detailed than I remembered it to be. Rating: 4.25

Odelay

Beck

4/5

Blur

3/5

Safe As Milk

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

3/5

Wasn’t quite as wacky as I expected, and there’s some decent tracks on here. Beefhearts performances are amazing. The instrumental back half dragged a bit for me. Rating: 3.75

We Are Family

Sister Sledge

4/5

This slapped what else is there to say Rating: 4.0

Live At The Regal

B.B. King

3/5

It was fine. The performances were next level. Rating: 3.0

Happy Trails

Quicksilver Messenger Service

2/5

Generic psych mindlessness. This is a much worse grateful dead Rating: 2.0

Night Life

Ray Price

1/5

Tres Hombres

ZZ Top

4/5

This was a fun romp, this feels like it is a foundational album for future rock and even metal. There’s some nice heavy riffs in here that allude to the parallel sound of black sabbath or the later on High on Fire. This album will stay in rotation when I want something fun and immediate. Tasting: 4.25

Warehouse: Songs And Stories

Hüsker Dü

2/5

I don’t know what to say about this one, it barely held my attention. Not to be completely unfair as I could tell there were some diamonds in the rough but finding them would require me to relisten which I have no desire to do. As a band unit they definitely shone but the repetition in songwriting and production was too fatiguing. I hadn’t listened to the band before and I will give them another chance with their earlier, more seminal work. Rating: 2.0

Abraxas

Santana

4/5

Solid groovy album, this is what virtuoso playing should be instead of unfounded wankery. Rating: 4.0

Queen II

Queen

4/5

Yeah plain and simple, Queen cooked with this one. I like that I didn’t know a single song here but could feel the reverberation of influence up to current prog music. The jacked up guitars and vocal harmonies were sick and I loved the heavy staccato riffing that’s all over this thing. Rating: 4.5

Africa Brasil

Jorge Ben Jor

3/5

Lots of great groove to like here. Without being a complete coward I couldn’t get into the vocals due to the language barrier. Rating: 3.5

Home Is Where The Music Is

Hugh Masekela

3/5

Got about halfway through, everything I heard was pretty interesting, I’ll have to come back to this one. Rating: 3.5

Done By The Forces Of Nature

Jungle Brothers

4/5

This was great, and kept getting more poignant and enjoyable as the album went on. Rating: 4.0

Wild Is The Wind

Nina Simone

5/5

This is the best album I’ve yet heard from the list. Haunting, sorrowful and beautifully idiosyncratic, Nina clearly has been a persistent influence on a wide range of current music. This is one of the most personal feeling albums I’ve heard in a while, with capstone performances that stare directly through you. Rating: 5.0

Cheap Thrills

Big Brother & The Holding Company

3/5

On Janis’s singing alone this gets a 7. Rating: 3.5

Kala

M.I.A.

4/5

Pretty interesting album, just got locked in to the dense hypnotic layers. I’ll return to this one. Rating: 8

Ellington at Newport

Duke Ellington

3/5

Faust IV

Faust

4/5

This was pretty great, I was fully onboard for a lot of this. In true krautrock fashion there were so many echoes of music to come in the 90s and on, really enjoyed that component. Rating: 4.0

Beautiful Freak

Eels

1/5

Guitar Town

Steve Earle

3/5

Definitely Maybe

Oasis

2/5

This one didn’t do much for me, since I kind of got lost in the drawn out repetition of the album around the third track. It is pretty sonically enjoyable so I can’t roast it too much. Rating: 2.5

Low-Life

New Order

3/5

Basket of Light

Pentangle

3/5

Rating: 3.5

Melodrama

Lorde

2/5

Rating: 2.5

Joanna Newsom

3/5

This was a challenge for me, and I appreciate the artistry but doubt I’ll seek it out again. Rating: 3.5

Vento De Maio

Elis Regina

3/5

Rating: 3.5

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

Arctic Monkeys

4/5

This was pretty fun, not gonna lie. Rating: 4.0

Let's Get It On

Marvin Gaye

4/5

Immigrés

Youssou N'Dour

4/5

It’s nice to get an album that solidly grooves, and with an overall bright tone. The more you lock in with this album the better it gets. Rating: 4.0

Talking Book

Stevie Wonder

3/5

The funk tracks singularly lift the rest of the filler out of the muck. Rating: 3.5

Brothers

The Black Keys

3/5

Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge

Mudhoney

3/5

Pretty solid, actually felt like this lifted far above the ‘influential’ tag that everyone on here is using as an insult. Felt more like modern rock songwriting than 90s grunge in a way. Rating: 3.5

Fisherman's Blues

The Waterboys

4/5

When I Was Born For The 7th Time

Cornershop

4/5

This just kept getting better the further I got into it, I appreciate how this wasn’t really limited by genre. Rating: 4.0

In Rainbows

Radiohead

4/5

This is an album I have a lot of nostalgia for, and am very familiar with. There was definitely a time when this was my favourite album and it certainly reaches very high to this day. Rating: 4.5

Dry

PJ Harvey

4/5

I liked it, it’s nice to have a grunge era album that actually tries to push against the dogmatic strictures of the genre. Rating: 4.0

If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears

The Mamas & The Papas

2/5

This album was a little too corny for me. With such a focus on the vocals you get these amazing harmonies and performances but are forced to suffer through the cornball hippy platitudes. The lyricism and production texture of the album just makes me think this was cooked up in a lab for maximum profits. Rating: 2.5

Dirt

Alice In Chains

4/5

Really solid nostalgic album for me. Dirt is a radio album that, for once isn't shit. It is chock full of harrowing vocals and epic riffs. Rating: 4.5

Phaedra

Tangerine Dream

3/5

If you ever wanted to enter the sewers with Mario for an hour, this is the album for you. It didn't resonate super emotionally for me, but I can appreciate how sick of a soundscape this is. Rating: 3.5

Since I Left You

The Avalanches

4/5

This was really fun and delightful to listen to, a good mix of many genres, per its plunderphonic origin. Rating: 4.0

Young Americans

David Bowie

4/5

Great album, can't really go wrong with Bowie. Top notch production and performances. Rating: 4.0

Are You Experienced

Jimi Hendrix

5/5

Jimi is goated for this one, that is for sure. Let's talk about the sound of this album as a whole: out of this world guitar and drum work that continues to be cheaply imitated to this day. This is a touchstone of modern rock as a genre, and a gem of an early psych album. Rating: 5.0

3 + 3

The Isley Brothers

3/5

Closer

Joy Division

5/5

So fucking bleak, but compelling. A portrait of absolute darkness, in a way a pure state. Rating: 5.0

Paul's Boutique

Beastie Boys

1/5

Damn. this is actual trash. Rating: 1.0

Germs

2/5

Wasn’t that bad, pretty definitive sounding early hardcore record. It just didn’t push the envelope for me in this day and age. Rating: 2.5

Back to Mystery City

Hanoi Rocks

2/5

Movies

Holger Czukay

3/5

Weird but compelling. Will need to check back In with this on my own time, not the best soundtrack for work, bit too intricately produced. Rating: 3.0

Fragile

Yes

4/5

Solid nostalgic album. It was a fun listen to take me back to being a kid discovering this lite prog. I was fully invested about 80% of the time, but got some prog fatigue by the end Rating: 4.0

Crosby, Stills & Nash

3/5

3.5

Adele

4/5

The album really delivers on the concept that there are no surprises, but in a powerful way. The opener sets the stage perfectly for this melancholic tour de force. The lyrics don’t mean much to me, but I could listen to Adele sing anything. Rating: 4.5

Live And Dangerous

Thin Lizzy

3/5

This is good, but extremely boring haha Rating: 2.5

Walking Wounded

Everything But The Girl

2/5

I don’t have much against the overall sound of the album, but it was so mellow it became wallpaper. Rating: 2.5

Trout Mask Replica

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

3/5

Ray Of Light

Madonna

3/5

Axis: Bold As Love

Jimi Hendrix

5/5

Again blown away by how modern and truly unmatched Jimi is, this album is just a joy to listen to. Rating: 4.5

NEU! 75

Neu!

3/5

This is pretty tame as far as the genre goes, not bad by any means but overall just a bit more mellow than I wanted. Rating: 3.0

BEYONCÉ

Beyoncé

1/5

Couldn’t do it.

Disintegration

The Cure

3/5

Rating: 3.5

Odessey And Oracle

The Zombies

1/5

Meat Is Murder

The Smiths

4/5

Tea for the Tillerman

Cat Stevens

4/5

Banger after banger Rating: 4.0

Darkness on the Edge of Town

Bruce Springsteen

3/5

This was exactly what I expected it to be, but very solid at that. Rating: 3.5

Untitled (Black Is)

SAULT

4/5

Damn, this is a haunting, powerful and also strongly optimistic album. The power of the albums words lie in the relative simplicity and monolithic power of the messaging. Rating: 4.5

Thriller

Michael Jackson

3/5

Not much for me to add to the discussion here. There’s the obvious mega-hits and then there’s the rest of this. Rating: 3.5

The Clash

4/5

Really enjoyed this, just a nice early glance at the Clash’s songwriting skills. It was angry where it needed to be and had a biting raw edge. Rating: 4.0

It's A Shame About Ray

The Lemonheads

3/5

Generic in a good and nostalgic way, like it’s a hermetically sealed time capsule from 1992. It’s calming in a way that only this uptempo college rock can be. Rating: 3.5

Rum Sodomy & The Lash

The Pogues

4/5

Revolver

Beatles

3/5

For many of these nostalgic albums I’m at a give and take of memory versus objectivity. When I was 13, this was hot shit, but in 2025 it has substantially cooled off. Rating: 3.5

Document

R.E.M.

4/5

This is the first album in a while that I actually want to return to, I feel that there is a tonne of depth below the surface which was fantastic in its own right. Rating: 4.5

Iron Maiden

3/5

Nice, unrefined version of iron maiden, I feel that every other album amps the quality on all fronts. The vocals are nowhere near Dickinsons power and charisma, but you can hear the raw early version of the band cooking. Rating: 3.5

Time (The Revelator)

Gillian Welch

4/5

Joan Armatrading

4/5

461 Ocean Boulevard

Eric Clapton

3/5

Kind of annoying but much better than I expected. White British man rips off every genre. Rating: 3.5

Opus Dei

Laibach

4/5

Actually I dig this, self aware and different, comical and ridiculous. Rating: 4.0

Blue

Joni Mitchell

4/5

Really beautiful melancholic album, was an experience to just be in this realm for this short time. Rating: 4.5

Cloud Nine

The Temptations

3/5

Wasn’t really into this, but it was by no means bad. It just feels like paint by numbers via ChatGPT of an exploitation movie soundtrack.

American Beauty

Grateful Dead

3/5

If you’re a newcomer to the dead, It’s an alright starting point, but it’s easily trounced by the plethora of live tapes out there. The appeal of this band has always been the more free quality of their live output. Rating: 3.5

Surf's Up

The Beach Boys

2/5

Channel Orange

Frank Ocean

3/5

Damaged

Black Flag

2/5

Pieces Of The Sky

Emmylou Harris

3/5