My 1001 Albums Journey

Album	You	Global	Diff
Rocks Aerosmith	5	3.11	+1.89
Trio Dolly Parton	5	3.12	+1.88
Vivid Living Colour	5	3.2	+1.8
Hysteria Def Leppard	5	3.2	+1.8
British Steel Judas Priest	5	3.29	+1.71
Fragile Yes	5	3.32	+1.68
2112 Rush	5	3.37	+1.63
1984 Van Halen	5	3.49	+1.51
So Peter Gabriel	5	3.53	+1.47
Moving Pictures Rush	5	3.57	+1.43

Album	You	Global	Diff
Amnesiac Radiohead	1	3.41	-2.41
Future Days Can	1	3.01	-2.01
The Man Who Travis	1	3	-2
Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches Happy Mondays	1	2.99	-1.99
Bone Machine Tom Waits	1	2.85	-1.85
Arular M.I.A.	1	2.84	-1.84
New Boots And Panties Ian Dury	1	2.69	-1.69
Blood On The Tracks Bob Dylan	2	3.66	-1.66
Chore of Enchantment Giant Sand	1	2.63	-1.63
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots The Flaming Lips	2	3.57	-1.57

Artist	Albums	Average
Rush	2	5
Stevie Wonder	2	5
Van Halen	2	5
Deep Purple	3	4.33

Artist	Albums	Average
Radiohead	3	2
Tom Waits	4	2.25

My Bloody Valentine

2/5

A boring, droning mess. I understand that this is seen as a highly influential album for it's genre, possibly the first of its kind for this style, but it doesn't appeal to me other than to serve as background filler, or maybe in a movie/TV show for ambience. These songs have very little movement or development, more resembling a soundscape than actual song. The drums are severely undermixed (and seem to be only programmed...) and the vocals are largely unintelligible. The guitar being the loudest thing at all times is bad enough but not being able to understand the lyrics at all is criminal. I gave it 2 stars only because of its influence.

Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols

3/5

Not as bad as I imagined it would be... truthfully my impression of this is that they were always severely overrated with no longevity (basically a flash in the pan), but after listening to this I can see why it's so influential. Nothing sounded like this in 1977. Negatives: Johnny Rotten's vocals are terrible (on purpose, I know...), the songs are longer than I expected (several overstayed their welcome) and I feel there is a lack of memorable, catchy songs. The energy is definitely there, though. 3 stars because of it being the blueprint, but I don't think I'll come back to it.

Double Nickels On The Dime

Minutemen

3/5

A lot of interesting riffs and grooves on this, but overall it feels like a rambling mess. Many of the songs feel like they didn't know how to end them or when a new part was happening. This makes everything feel shoddy in the songwriting department. But there are moments of brilliance, and the vibe is cool; it really feels like you're in the live room with them while tape was rolling.

Iron Maiden

3/5

I'm familiar with a few of these songs but have never listened to the whole album. It's pretty good, with a very good raw energy. What I keep thinking is that if this is on the 1001 Album list then all of their next 6 albums should be as well because they are all better than this. Was this included because of a moment-in-time impact?

The Trinity Session

Cowboy Junkies

4/5

Very enjoyable album. Beautifully performed and recorded.

Street Signs

Ozomatli

3/5

Very enjoyable, good sounding record. I'm not into this style of music so I don't understand why this record is mandatory listening, but I liked it.

Illinois

Sufjan Stevens

2/5

This is a very interesting listen, quite enjoyable for the songwriting, instrumentation and dynamics... but I don't get the pretense of the long-winded song titles and fluff 40 second tracks (the shortest one is 6 seconds). I feel like it is quite a statement but it could be a stronger statement without the fluff and pretense. Is it highly regarded because of the poetry and obtuseness? I feel like that is the case. Musically it's very good, just a bit too rambley and self-important for me.

American Beauty

Grateful Dead

3/5

Channel Orange

Frank Ocean

2/5

pretty good album, once I got into it and was able to pick out the actual songs. I guess, I don't like this style much. Someone needs to explain to me why this won Grammys though.

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

Neil Young & Crazy Horse

2/5

I like the raw energy of this but it just seems too spontaneous and not worked out, which apparently is typical of everything Neil Young does. Really this album could be 25-28 minutes long as the solos in Down By The River and Cowgirl are needless and unfocused, Running Dry and Round and Round (It Won't Be Long) are much longer than they need to be... again, like the energy but feels too unrehearsed.

AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted

Ice Cube

4/5

Very good, this is how I like rap to be. Even with the cringingly misogynistic lyrics.

The Slider

T. Rex

3/5

Very fun, a bit raw and loose but definitely with a guilty pleasure type of vibe. A lot of good tunes on this. I can hear the influence on bands like Def Lep and GnR.

Deep Purple In Rock

Deep Purple

4/5

In A Silent Way

Miles Davis

3/5

Hot Shots II

The Beta Band

2/5

Gentlemen

The Afghan Whigs

3/5

Underwater Moonlight

The Soft Boys

3/5

Moondance

Van Morrison

3/5

Treasure

Cocteau Twins

3/5

KE*A*H** (Psalm 69)

Ministry

3/5

The Wall

Pink Floyd

4/5

Real Life

Magazine

2/5

I want to like this but the lazy vocals and out of key guitar solos (and synths on occasion) really kill this. Good vibe with ok songs but lazy execution.

Document

R.E.M.

3/5

Nice album, very spirited. Even though I like how this sounds and their vibe, these songs didn't stick out to me too much (note: The One I Love is one of my favorite songs from b.i.t.d.)

Repeater

Fugazi

3/5

Cool record, not a fan of when it gets noisy and I was a little worried because of the thin buzzsaw guitar tone right off the bat in Turnover but it all worked out (got used to it?)

The Blueprint

JAY Z

4/5

This album is loaded with bangers, at least the first 10-11 tracks are all great with a little back-end slippage. A very enjoyable listen.

2112

Rush

5/5

It's hard for me to be unbiased here because Rush is my favorite band ever. Objectively, 2112 is not a perfect album but there's so much energy and fire here that you can't help but feel moved. This is the first of at least 5 albums where they were firing on all cylinders, and it's the right blend of their early rawness (i.e. before synthesizers, double-necked guitars and orchestral percussion) and their expansive vision.

Slayed?

Slade

4/5

Slayed? is just a great, fun, no frills, unabashed, unapologetic, sleazy slab of rock n roll. The way it should be. Not a fan of the mix, the vocals are generally too loud and the drums are often lost under tambourine or shakers, but those issues don't take away from the vibe at all.

Arular

M.I.A.

1/5

This was stupid.

Achtung Baby

U2

3/5

Good album, I prefer the more organic U2 to their '90s sound though. The hits from this record are huge but I feel like the quality dips a bit with the deep cuts.

Tracy Chapman

3/5

Black Sabbath

4/5

This is cruel giving me this the day after Ozzy died!!! But it's best to start at the beginning. The rain, the church bell, that tritone riff of doom that launched 10000 bands, Ozzy's frightful but matter-of-fact vocal delivery... Then a trip through their then-current live set, replete with jazz grooves and blues jams with a unique edge. Killer stuff.

I’m a Lonesome Fugitive

Merle Haggard

3/5

D

White Denim

3/5

Hypnotised

The Undertones

3/5

Listened through twice, still haven't decided if I like the guy's voice or not... But this is a fun listen, very zany and quirky without being weird, and none of the songs over stay their welcome. Terrible album cover though.

Meat Puppets II

Meat Puppets

2/5

The vocals are atrocious, and the playing is often sloppy. Thank God for the instrumentals, they're the best songs musically anyway.

Straight Outta Compton

N.W.A.

4/5

Hell yes.

The Man Who

Travis

1/5

This was the most boring, limp-wristed, derivative, and uneventful pile of crap I've had to sit through. It should be renamed "The Man Who Died of Boredom" in my honor. Driftwood is ok but nowhere near enough to make up for the constantly annoying whiny British vocals. Seriously, why was this ever big, England? Please explain.

25

Adele

3/5

More-than-servicable easy listening pop, expertly presented by Adele.

Figure 8

Elliott Smith

3/5

Good stuff, not my bag but enjoyable. I like that he can play just about every instrument to execute his vision.

The Rolling Stones

2/5

I'm not a Stones guy, but I definitely respect them. For as little as I know about them, I know enough to know that they've made a few iconic albums. This is far from that. Derivative blues, far from finding their voice... I can deal with the fact that oftentimes the loudest thing is the tambourine, shakers, or handclaps (this is 1964 after all), but golly, the performances here are rough, with almost no songs of reputation. I know I'm missing the context of this coming out in '64, but this is rough.

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

Arctic Monkeys

3/5

Mid.

Stankonia

OutKast

3/5

Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room

Dwight Yoakam

3/5

Goo

Sonic Youth

3/5

The United States Of America

2/5

Uhhh..... First "song" was horrendous but USA saved itself with some of the later songs... barely. I feel like this was some shit slapped together in a college studio that was not meant to go far but somehow did.

Blood Sugar Sex Magik

Red Hot Chili Peppers

3/5

I'm all for a band going into the studio with free rein to be creative and come up with as much material as they can, but I just don't think RHCP are dynamic or versatile enough to warrant what amounts to a double album here. The hit songs (and a few of the deep cuts) are incredible but they're just diluted by tracks that feel like incomplete outtakes and are barely good enough to be B-sides. And Anthony Keidis' lyrics are just embarrassing. Great sounding record that would have been worthy of its reputation if it was pared down to 10 songs.

Californication

Red Hot Chili Peppers

3/5

This is fkd up, making me listen to RHCP two days in a row... This album was more enjoyable than I thought it would be, given I've always hated Scar Tissue, never cared for Californication, and really dislike Around The World (yeah, the song where he rhymes "my johnson" with "woods of Wisconsin"...), but it does have Otherside which I love, and some of the deep cuts were very likable. They're showing some growth; normally I see RHCP as rather one dimensional but thought the non-funk rock tunes were better than before, Anthony Keidis' vocals have improved (a lot) , and I was really surprised by Road Trippin'.

Third/Sister Lovers

Big Star

2/5

There was a time, about 15 years ago, when I was listening to the first Big Star record a lot, just really into the jangle pop vibe and the catchy melodies. Third is nowhere near as good and often feels like a slapped together random mess. As with a lot of albums on this list, if they think this is essential listening, ok I guess I'll take your word for it but I'm not hearing it.

Beggars Banquet

The Rolling Stones

3/5

Porcupine

Echo And The Bunnymen

3/5

Like A Prayer

Madonna

3/5

Skylarking

XTC

4/5

Very enjoyable record, though I wish it was more organic and stripped of the mid '80s production. And I kinda don't like the vocals too much (just don't like their voices personally). The melodies, arrangements, and songwriting are all excellent. Listened to it twice today which is a first (about 50 albums in).

Chore of Enchantment

Giant Sand

1/5

This is utter crap.

The Cars

4/5

An absolute joy to listen to front to back.

Konnichiwa

Skepta

3/5

Vincebus Eruptum

Blue Cheer

4/5

Thanks. It's been a number of years since I've listened to this wild, unhinged slab of proto-metal/proto-grunge/proto-stoner rock.

Born To Be With You

Dion

2/5

Typical 70s easy listening schmaltz that was ruined by Phil Spector's Ball of Mush production style. I think. The songs may or may not be hiding under there but not 100% sure.

Cypress Hill

3/5

The Score

Fugees

3/5

The Sun Rises In The East

Jeru The Damaja

3/5

...The Dandy Warhols Come Down

The Dandy Warhols

2/5

Paul's Boutique

Beastie Boys

3/5

Nothing's Shocking

Jane's Addiction

2/5

Pieces Of The Sky

Emmylou Harris

4/5

Arrival

ABBA

3/5

La Revancha Del Tango

Gotan Project

2/5

Midnight Ride

Paul Revere & The Raiders

4/5

With The Beatles

Beatles

3/5

Brutal Youth

Elvis Costello

3/5

Sex Packets

Digital Underground

3/5

Parklife

Blur

2/5

GI

Germs

2/5

Future Days

Can

1/5

British Steel

Judas Priest

5/5

Pearl

Janis Joplin

4/5

Machine Head

Deep Purple

5/5

More Songs About Buildings And Food

Talking Heads

2/5

Eliminator

ZZ Top

4/5

Ambient 1/Music For Airports

Brian Eno

2/5

Dance Mania

Tito Puente

3/5

Joan Baez

4/5

Franz Ferdinand

3/5

Blood On The Tracks

Bob Dylan

2/5

Electric Prunes

The Electric Prunes

2/5

So

Peter Gabriel

5/5

The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

Pink Floyd

2/5

S.F. Sorrow

The Pretty Things

3/5

Amnesiac

Radiohead

1/5

Talking Book

Stevie Wonder

5/5

evermore

Taylor Swift

3/5

She's So Unusual

Cyndi Lauper

3/5

The Pleasure Principle

Gary Numan

3/5

Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Wu-Tang Clan

4/5

Street Life

The Crusaders

3/5

The Slim Shady LP

Eminem

2/5

Here Are the Sonics

The Sonics

2/5

Cheap Thrills

Big Brother & The Holding Company

3/5

After The Gold Rush

Neil Young

3/5

Calenture

The Triffids

3/5

Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water

Limp Bizkit

1/5

Heaven Or Las Vegas

Cocteau Twins

3/5

Untitled (Black Is)

SAULT

2/5

There's A Riot Goin' On

Sly & The Family Stone

2/5

All Things Must Pass

George Harrison

5/5

1977

Ash

3/5

Tea for the Tillerman

Cat Stevens

4/5

Rocks

Aerosmith

5/5

One of the greatest rock albums of all time. Aerosmith at their grittiest and sleaziest, Rocks grooves like a MF. Playlisted: Lick and a Promise ("he grabbed a guitar and a couple a beers, now the crowd will keep screaming for more") Nobody's Fault (one of my favorite songs EVER) Sick As A Dog (great riff written by Tom Hamilton)

It's Too Late to Stop Now

Van Morrison

3/5

The Boatman's Call

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

2/5

Me Against The World

2Pac

3/5

Rock Bottom

Robert Wyatt

2/5

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx

Raekwon

4/5

Sunshine Hit Me

The Bees

2/5

Roots

Sepultura

3/5

Manassas

Stephen Stills

3/5

Graceland

Paul Simon

3/5

The Joshua Tree

U2

4/5

Bayou Country

Creedence Clearwater Revival

3/5

Songs In The Key Of Life

Stevie Wonder

5/5

It should be illegal for one person to have this much talent. So many bangers in this one, even the throwaway tracks at the end were great. WTF Stevie Wonder. Playlisted: Contusion Summer Soft Ordinary Pain Joy Inside My Tears If It's Magic Another Star Saturn

Close To You

Carpenters

2/5

Damaged

Black Flag

3/5

Elvis Presley

3/5

461 Ocean Boulevard

Eric Clapton

2/5

On The Beach

Neil Young

2/5

Crocodiles

Echo And The Bunnymen

3/5

Sweet Baby James

James Taylor

3/5

Tapestry

Carole King

5/5

Live At The Regal

B.B. King

3/5

Miriam Makeba

3/5

Surf's Up

The Beach Boys

2/5

Emergency On Planet Earth

Jamiroquai

2/5

Kenya

Machito

3/5

Crime Of The Century

Supertramp

2/5

(Pronounced 'Leh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd)

Lynyrd Skynyrd

4/5

Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches

Happy Mondays

1/5

I was willing to give this 2 stars, figuring that there was some good reason why it was a thing back in 1990. Even after Bob's Yer Uncle which is a truly horrible song, I was willing to give the album a full and fair listen. But after that it was yet another song with a single unchanging drum pattern for 5 fucking minutes and it really pissed me off. The hi hat just started feeling like an ice pick in my ears and I was done. One star. Playlisted: Loose Fit, Grandbag's Funeral, Kinky Afro.

Ace of Spades

Motörhead

4/5

Headquarters

The Monkees

3/5

Countdown To Ecstasy

Steely Dan

3/5

Psychocandy

The Jesus And Mary Chain

2/5

Infected

The The

3/5

Kind Of Blue

Miles Davis

4/5

John Barleycorn Must Die

Traffic

3/5

Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

The Flaming Lips

2/5

A Rush Of Blood To The Head

Coldplay

3/5

2/5

Elephant

The White Stripes

4/5

Vol. 4

Black Sabbath

4/5

Live!

Fela Kuti

3/5

Bone Machine

Tom Waits

1/5

Highway 61 Revisited

Bob Dylan

3/5

Movies

Holger Czukay

2/5

Pretzel Logic

Steely Dan

3/5

Fun House

The Stooges

3/5

69 Love Songs

The Magnetic Fields

2/5

Heartattack And Vine

Tom Waits

3/5

Made In Japan

Deep Purple

4/5

Gold

Ryan Adams

3/5

Fear Of Music

Talking Heads

3/5

Are You Experienced

Jimi Hendrix

4/5

Hearts And Bones

Paul Simon

2/5

Fromohio

fIREHOSE

3/5

Get Behind Me Satan

The White Stripes

3/5

Sunshine Superman

Donovan

3/5

Da Capo

Love

3/5

At Fillmore East

The Allman Brothers Band

4/5

Picture Book

Simply Red

3/5

Dub Housing

Pere Ubu

1/5

Clearly I don't know what I'm doing with my life. What i really should be doing is finding a guy that sounds like Jar-Jar Binks, bring him to my band's rehearsal space and just record us hanging on shit and sometimes playing half-assed grooves for 35 minutes. Maybe if I'm lucky in 40+ years some critic will think it's awesome and deem it mandatory listening.

Alien Lanes

Guided By Voices

2/5

A Seat at the Table

Solange

3/5

Car Wheels On A Gravel Road

Lucinda Williams

4/5

Van Halen

5/5

This is 5 stars on so many levels. Playlisted: I'm The One, Little Dreamer, On Fire

Siamese Dream

The Smashing Pumpkins

4/5

Medúlla

Björk

3/5

Bossanova

Pixies

3/5

Whatever

Aimee Mann

3/5

Bat Out Of Hell

Meat Loaf

3/5

Mask

Bauhaus

2/5

London Calling

The Clash

4/5

Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs

Derek & The Dominos

4/5

Green

R.E.M.

3/5

Jagged Little Pill

Alanis Morissette

3/5

Bug

Dinosaur Jr.

3/5

Killing Joke

3/5

A Hard Day's Night

Beatles

4/5

A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector

Various Artists

4/5

Automatic For The People

R.E.M.

3/5

Happy Sad

Tim Buckley

2/5

Devil Without A Cause

Kid Rock

2/5

Faust IV

Faust

2/5

Rattus Norvegicus

The Stranglers

3/5

American Idiot

Green Day

4/5

The Number Of The Beast

Iron Maiden

4/5

Parachutes

Coldplay

2/5

Merriweather Post Pavilion

Animal Collective

2/5

Oar

Alexander 'Skip' Spence

2/5

Fuzzy Logic

Super Furry Animals

3/5

Heroes to Zeros

The Beta Band

2/5

Tuesday Night Music Club

Sheryl Crow

3/5

Slipknot

3/5

Buffalo Springfield Again

Buffalo Springfield

3/5

The Specials

3/5

Behaviour

Pet Shop Boys

3/5

Moving Pictures

Rush

5/5

As if I needed an excuse to listen to Moving Pictures on a random day... More than 5 stars. Playlisted: Red Barchetta, The Camera Eye, Vital Signs.

american dream

LCD Soundsystem

3/5

Coles Corner

Richard Hawley

3/5

Lost In The Dream

The War On Drugs

2/5

Red Headed Stranger

Willie Nelson

3/5

Synchronicity

The Police

4/5

This would be a 5 star album if not for Mother and the lyrics to Walking In Your Footsteps. Playlisted: O My God, Synchronicity II, King of Pain

I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

Sinead O'Connor

3/5

Electric

The Cult

3/5

The Dark Side Of The Moon

Pink Floyd

3/5

Look, I know that this is a great album. I definitely love Time and Us and Them and a few other moments throughout. It just doesn't click for me and I've tried many times over the years to "get it". I think part of the problem is the sequencing; having On the Run and Great Gig where they are taking up all this time on side 1 just kills any momentum. Never liked Money but starting to dig I'll it a little bit, and the rest of side 2 is cool. Just doesn't hit for me overall. There i said it, The Dark Side of the Moon is a 3 star album.

Seventh Tree

Goldfrapp

3/5

Boy In Da Corner

Dizzee Rascal

3/5

Rage Against The Machine

5/5

Coincidentally I had to the urge to listen to this yesterday! So listening through it two days in a row (well, except for Killing In The Name, I just don't like it, it's overrated) brought me back many years when it was in regular rotation. I still remember the summer of 1993 when my friends and I first heard about that band with that Bombtrack song, and then getting into the album was a revelation. This is the sound of a band firing on all cylinders. And it's crazy how every lyric is somehow more relevant today than they were 34 years ago. Playlisted: Take The Power Back, Bullet In The Head, Fistful of Steel

Selling England By The Pound

Genesis

4/5

John Prine

3/5

Aja

Steely Dan

3/5

Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite

Maxwell

3/5

sexy time