My 1001 Albums Journey

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3.57

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1980s

Favorite Decade

Hard-rock

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Wordsmith

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5-Star Albums

1-Star Albums

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Albums

You Love More Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Architecture And Morality Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark	5	3.05	+1.95
This Is Hardcore Pulp	5	3.14	+1.86
Step In The Arena Gang Starr	5	3.17	+1.83
Cupid & Psyche 85 Scritti Politti	4	2.39	+1.61
Green Onions Booker T. & The MG's	5	3.4	+1.6
The ArchAndroid Janelle Monáe	5	3.45	+1.55
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots The Flaming Lips	5	3.57	+1.43
Moving Pictures Rush	5	3.58	+1.42
Aladdin Sane David Bowie	5	3.61	+1.39
Bringing It All Back Home Bob Dylan	5	3.64	+1.36

You Love Less Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
The Doors The Doors	2	3.95	-1.95
Off The Wall Michael Jackson	2	3.78	-1.78
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Kanye West	2	3.42	-1.42
At Mister Kelly's Sarah Vaughan	2	3.38	-1.38
Garbage Garbage	2	3.38	-1.38
Astral Weeks Van Morrison	2	3.27	-1.27
Rust In Peace Megadeth	2	3.24	-1.24
It's A Shame About Ray The Lemonheads	2	3.13	-1.13
Trio Dolly Parton	2	3.13	-1.13
NEU! 75 Neu!	2	3.09	-1.09

5-Star Albums (16)

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Popular Reviews

Bringing It All Back Home

Bob Dylan

5/5

Fuck yeah, a record I own for historical appreciation that also has an immediate and engaging sound, I use this to test speakers haha. This is during the beginning of the "electric Dylan" stylistic shift, so the second half is acoustic but still has excellent energy. I don't listen to a lot of Dylan, but when I do, it's usually this record.

1 likes

Endtroducing.....

DJ Shadow

3/5

I love DJ shadow, but perhaps controversially not this album so much. Some tracks are too long/meandering, but no one else was making beats like this at the time, at least in America, hence all the mid -90s hype for Entroducing. I continued to follow his career to this day, and he's also awesome live, where every track is manipulated/remixed uniquely for each show. Midnight in a Perfect World is my favorite on this album. Made with 2 turntables and a sampler, no computer, pretty impressive.

1 likes

Cupid & Psyche 85

Scritti Politti

4/5

This sounds like "diet Prince"... All the dated sounds but not enough funk and guitar heroics. If "85" wasn't stamped on the cover one would be able to guess when this was produced. It's okay, don't think I'd ever go back to this however.

1 likes

All Ratings

Green Onions

Booker T. & The MG's

5/5

Bud dum bud dum baa dum x infinity Doo doo .... doo doo doo doo do do doo doo

Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

The Flaming Lips

5/5

Classic Bouncing balls and psychedelic puppies

Destroyer

KISS

4/5

Vol. 4

Black Sabbath

5/5

Has two of my favourite Black Sabbath songs... and this is just before Ozzy started going off the rails.

Our Aim Is To Satisfy

Red Snapper

3/5

Surprised to see this "cult" acid jazz / trip hop album in the list, I totally had this burned on an mp3 CD back in the day. It's kind of like Massive Attack but a bit higher BPM. Nothing amazing, but very well produced and great background / session music.

It's A Shame About Ray

The Lemonheads

2/5

More like Evan Dumbo amirite?

The ArchAndroid

Janelle Monáe

5/5

This Is Hardcore

Pulp

5/5

The College Dropout

Kanye West

4/5

I get the protest of Kanye West (Ye) now, but this was an important record for Hip Hop and had much beats. I fucked with the first few albums but don't go back to them. Fuck Ye

Rust In Peace

Megadeth

2/5

Hail To the Thief

Radiohead

4/5

Step In The Arena

Gang Starr

5/5

Highly influential, Guru and Premier are absolute legends, and this is probably their best LP.

Rage Against The Machine

5/5

Wonderful Rainbow

Lightning Bolt

2/5

One of those bands that I would love to see live but hate to listen to on record.

Transformer

Lou Reed

3/5

It's good, if not overrated like anything related to The Velvet Underground. Thanks for contributing the bassline to "Can I Kick It" by A Tribe Called Quest

Superunknown

Soundgarden

5/5

Blur

3/5

m b v

My Bloody Valentine

3/5

Pretenders

4/5

This was more punk/garage rock than I was expecting, if a bit too "shiny" production in parts. I like how the bass is way out front in the mix. They are fans of phaser and flanger FX.

Astral Weeks

Van Morrison

2/5

Meh. Van doesn't do it for me.

Dire Straits

5/5

This is the only fancy "master quality" record I own. Love this album, especially because it sounds timeless unlike their later more famous records in the 80s. "Sultans of Swing" is an all time bop.

I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You

Aretha Franklin

3/5

This album actually sounds better in Mono... like a lot of Atlantic / Motown records from the 60s and early 70s. Default version on YT Music is mono, not sure about other services. Amazing voice, but not the most amazing sounding backing group... needs some Wrecking Crew magic or something imo. 3 stars for the song selection, especially the two Sam Cooke ones. This would be a great album to put on the background while playing cards with your parents haha

What's Going On

Marvin Gaye

5/5

Classic

Trio

Dolly Parton

2/5

I don't listen to much country. Like much of late 80s stuff, sounds "digitally recorded" in a not so awesome way imo. Too many slow jams in a row, very samey sounding... Less than the sum of its parts...The Audioslave of female country artists? DX7 synth on only one song, in 1987, not bad. Top Track: Those Memories of You

At Mister Kelly's

Sarah Vaughan

2/5

Ehh... Can't bother to go through this, agree makes me think of fallout or a rickety old diner with 10 cent hot dogs

A Date With The Everly Brothers

The Everly Brothers

3/5

I'm enjoying this a lot more than expected... The best songs are straight 12 bar blues jingles. Some morbidity in the lyrics at points. Won't go back to this but glad I went here, and read the Wikipedia while listening.

NEU! 75

Neu!

2/5

Ja! Learned from Wikipedia that this is a Speakerboxx/The Love Below kinda deal, 1 artist per side. I prefer the earlier more ambient pieces.. You can tell the shift when the (bad) vocals take over. Appreciate it historically but definitely prefer the evolution of this sound into influencing so many bands I like.

Bringing It All Back Home

Bob Dylan

5/5

Songs From A Room

Leonard Cohen

4/5

I thought "Bird on a Wire" was a Neville Brothers song, which is a shame. I really enjoyed this and need to spend more time with Leonard.

Endtroducing.....

DJ Shadow

3/5

Smile

Brian Wilson

2/5

Meh

Unknown Pleasures

Joy Division

4/5

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

Arctic Monkeys

3/5

This album came out when I was in Korea... we used to frequent Club FF, styled as an "indie bar", and "I bet you look good on the dancefloor" was heard multiple times a night. I think I prefer where Arctic Monkeys went with their sound as they matured (e.g. A&M) compared to this debut. Some great singles, but the sound wasn't that distinct from their peers... yet.

Golden Hour

Kacey Musgraves

3/5

I've heard some of these songs in the background of life at the time, she was very popular. Enjoyed most of these songs, well produced and she has a nice voice. Some creative use of vocoder as well. Wikipedia tells me she's "woke" compared to most contemporary country singers, I appreciate that. I really like the song with the vocoder on the chorus. I'll give this three stars but probably wouldn't go back to this unless I had someone visiting that liked country and I wanted to appease their tastes while not subjecting myself to Morgan Wallen or some other crap

Beggars Banquet

The Rolling Stones

4/5

Believe it or not I never listen to this album before. I know all the singles but I'm glad I listened to the whole thing because it turns out the rolling Stones are a pretty damn good blues fan. I appreciate it the quality of the recording but like many albums in the 60s some things are painfully to the left and I can't hear him cuz I'm tired of hearing in my left ear so I think I missed a solo or two. Regardless, sympathy for the devil's still my favorite rolling Stones song, and this is probably a five-star album for most but I'll say four for me.

The Bends

Radiohead

3/5

Not my favorite Radiohead era but so many classics tracks on this one. They really hit their stride from OK Computer through Hail to the Thief imo

Country Life

Roxy Music

4/5

I enjoyed this more than I was expecting to! A bit of a "kitchen sink" approach to some of the songs but definitely offers variety. I like it better than their later work. Top Track: Out of the Blue

The Doors

2/5

The doors are like the epitome of overrated Rock band for me. Hammond organ is cool and all, but it dominates the mix on some of these tracks... I just don't get how this is a good album. There's a friggin polka in the middle!

Go Girl Crazy

The Dictators

2/5

I listened to the whole thing... there's a reason this went out of print for a long time.

Off The Wall

Michael Jackson

2/5

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Kanye West

2/5

Power and Runaway are bangers, the album as a whole is way too long. Not going to actively revisit this one though because reasons

Architecture And Morality

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

5/5

I really dig this, must've been very avant garde at the time. Albums like this make this whole 1001 commitment worth it.

Here's Little Richard

Little Richard

3/5

12-bar proto rock, gets old quickly but I can picture the room where this was recorded and glad I listened to this.

Wish You Were Here

Pink Floyd

4/5

Justified

Justin Timberlake

2/5

There are some jams on here from a production perspective, from Timbaland and others... I feel like this album dates itself moreso than the one with SexyBack on it.

Are You Experienced

Jimi Hendrix

4/5

A Columbia House variant of this was one of my first CDs. The sound of the band is great, way better than their contemporaries... Amazing rhythm section. Not all of these tracks are classics, but since he died young, most of them are.

Aladdin Sane

David Bowie

5/5

This was a really interesting album for me, considering I've never listened to earlier Bowie outside of singles. This is truly art, rock, with complex arrangements and very interesting choices of keys and time signatures. I especially enjoyed the piano on the title track and also how the styles switch from basic rock to something proggy and otherworldly, so unique. I can't help but think of influences when I hear Bowie during this phase of his career, so many artists cop this s***.

Eliminator

ZZ Top

4/5

Raise your horns 🤘, it's time to rock! I never realized how "new wave" this sounded based on the singles. Kinda repetitive musically (12 bar blues scale for almost everything), but that's their MO.

Cupid & Psyche 85

Scritti Politti

4/5

Foo Fighters

4/5

Came out hot right out of the gate... Probably my favorite Foo Figh

Garbage

2/5

Meh, didn't get into Garbage back when, still not a fan. Way too "slick" for Grunge, and not melodically interesting.

Music For The Jilted Generation

The Prodigy

3/5

Not as interesting as their later work. Two Stone cold classics on here with Voodoo People and No Good though. I hope this breakbeat music comes back someday, I loved it when I was a kid.

Music for the Masses

Depeche Mode

4/5

This album is when Depeche Mode starts getting interesting to me. Minor key galore, dark lyrical themes, and arena ready synthetic textures. Doesn't sound 1987, sounds timeless.

Medúlla

Björk

2/5

This album is kind of experimental, not that Bjork's other albums aren't experimental. My first thought was where are the beats? Then where is the line started and the beats made me uncomfortable. Bjork's music is very uncomfortable on this and most albums after this one. Appreciate the artistry but not sure I get enjoyment from this mishmash of dark choirs and scary opera.

Moving Pictures

Rush

5/5

5 stars no notes. My favorite Rush album.

O.G. Original Gangster

Ice T

4/5

Tracks vary in quality but some of the classics make up for this. Prefer this album to his 80s stuff. What ICE-T lacks in talent is covered by his ego/id as the "OG".

Fear Of A Black Planet

Public Enemy

4/5

Catch A Fire

Bob Marley & The Wailers

4/5

Automatic For The People

R.E.M.

4/5

(What's The Story) Morning Glory

Oasis

3/5