My 1001 Albums Journey

Albums Rated

3.24

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1009 albums remaining

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1990s

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Singer-songwriter

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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
Unhalfbricking Fairport Convention	5	3.14	+1.86
The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter The Incredible String Band	4	2.15	+1.85
Time Out Of Mind Bob Dylan	5	3.21	+1.79
Astral Weeks Van Morrison	5	3.27	+1.73
Dub Housing Pere Ubu	4	2.35	+1.65
The Downward Spiral Nine Inch Nails	5	3.35	+1.65
Elvis Presley Elvis Presley	5	3.38	+1.62
3 Feet High and Rising De La Soul	5	3.45	+1.55
Shleep Robert Wyatt	4	2.5	+1.5
Definitely Maybe Oasis	5	3.52	+1.48

You Love Less Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
A Night At The Opera Queen	1	3.96	-2.96
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Elton John	1	3.93	-2.93
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not Arctic Monkeys	1	3.73	-2.73
The Gershwin Songbook Ella Fitzgerald	1	3.53	-2.53
Arrival ABBA	1	3.5	-2.5
Thriller Michael Jackson	2	4.22	-2.22
Merriweather Post Pavilion Animal Collective	1	2.9	-1.9
Colour By Numbers Culture Club	1	2.84	-1.84
The Velvet Underground & Nico The Velvet Underground	2	3.62	-1.62
The Number Of The Beast Iron Maiden	2	3.59	-1.59

Artists

Favorites

Artist	Albums	Average
Bob Dylan	2	5

5-Star Albums (11)

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Popular Reviews

A Night At The Opera

Queen

1/5

Of it's time. Naff. I hadn't realised bohemian rhapsody was on this album and it sounds worse now because it's of this context. Over-written songs, dumbed down music theory and novelty guitar/studio effects are off-putting and Queen's camp music hall rock mixed with the tone of what now appears to be a sincere rendition of god save the queen. Pass the sick bag

2 likes

Thriller

Michael Jackson

2/5

Some total dross mashed discontinuously into a few singles. Buy the greatest hits if you must

1 likes

Parachutes

Coldplay

2/5

Dirge oozing through the rose-tinted memory of elegant light naiveté. Somehow less acceptable now that they're all older, wealthy and churning out indie shlte

1 likes

1-Star Albums (8)

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

All Ratings

Welcome To The Pleasuredome

Frankie Goes To Hollywood

3/5

Softboi mad max concept album. Two tribes now makes more sense but is less enjoyable

Thriller

Michael Jackson

2/5

Some total dross mashed discontinuously into a few singles. Buy the greatest hits if you must

Arrival

ABBA

1/5

Trash

Licensed To Ill

Beastie Boys

3/5

Disappointingly repetitive still. Not quite Devo

The xx

3/5

Interesting but not one of the toppers, even from 2009

Pornography

The Cure

4/5

Bit of a 1 trick pony but at least they spotted the trick 30 years before The XX

Ocean Rain

Echo And The Bunnymen

3/5

So much possibility, so much hubris

Kid A

Radiohead

4/5

Magical, melodic, challenging, obscurantist, cold. I like it but it's like a friend that's really interesting and you have brilliant conversations occasionally but you'd never look to them for help with anything

The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter

The Incredible String Band

4/5

Virtuosic chamber folk free association on the edge of sanity

Darklands

The Jesus And Mary Chain

2/5

A typical artifact of a bad period in recorded music. Was everyone really so smacked up? (rounded up to a 2 because of the sound quality in the mix)

Hounds Of Love

Kate Bush

5/5

Big Bush energy! Something new every listen

Unhalfbricking

Fairport Convention

5/5

Sublime. If only Dylan had been born into a Cumbrian village community and come up with this bunch

Sulk

The Associates

1/5

Ear vomit

The Hour Of Bewilderbeast

Badly Drawn Boy

4/5

Harder and heavier than on first hearing

The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Velvet Underground

2/5

Original album is a 2. Deluxe tracks are a 3. A historical cultural experience at the time I'm sure, but all hype and no lasting value. Like Warhol, it is emblematic of other things that were also going on so you could happily take this out of the cannon without the progression of culture being affected. It's legacy casts a shadow on pop music where people insist on rehashing this nonsense in order to attract attention and fade away, just like VU. Being critical, It's the sound of being a vain, over educated, unskilled, privileged NY moron with too much time on your hands. Young, dumb and full of smack...

Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

The Flaming Lips

3/5

Strong concept album. A lot of fun to see live but then you think to yourself 5min later why did I just spend the last 2hrs immersed in that guy's weird fantasy. The concept is fun but too abstract to be sincere, and too on the nose to momentarily dip into abstract escapism or enjoy the songs as they are. Might be better if re-edited as an instrumental album with a few verse/choruses cut out?

Buffalo Springfield Again

Buffalo Springfield

4/5

Dreampop from heaven's gate. So much better than the Beatles...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

2/5

Like the aimless middle 8 in a mid -80s Springsteen arena gig where the boss has gone backstage for a shit and a new pair of boxers. Minus the redeeming sax solo. The third guitarist has been allowed out front to do some of his Jeff Beck tributes...

Fetch The Bolt Cutters

Fiona Apple

2/5

A lost Joan Armatrading album meets Ani DiFranco? I like it. Don't love it. There are a whole bunch of Lucinda Williams albums that blow this out of the water that don't get so much attention.

Chicago Transit Authority

Chicago

2/5

There's a lot going on! Occasionally a bit too much. This must have sounded wild when it came out but now it feels like hot mess. If you take the guitar out it's the template for bland MOR. Probably sounded much, much better live and a bit looser. It's a shame Terry Kath didn't last long enough to find a band he fit with. All of Chicago's output seems very generously reviewed online

Shleep

Robert Wyatt

4/5

Ethereal beauty meets creative intensity. A 4.5

Dusty In Memphis

Dusty Springfield

3/5

Heavenly highs or is it just a cup of Dexamyl tea? 2.6

All Directions

The Temptations

4/5

Shoo wop doo wop! A lot more going on here than at face value and with the passing of time, the encoded layers are more obvious.

Parachutes

Coldplay

2/5

Dirge oozing through the rose-tinted memory of elegant light naiveté. Somehow less acceptable now that they're all older, wealthy and churning out indie shlte

Definitely Maybe

Oasis

5/5

Champagne and coke turned into music through a Manc filter. Sounds better every time I come back to it (like champagne and coke it's not a good idea to do on repeat, daily). Much more fun to hear on hifi not surrounded by Oasis fans 4.7

Time Out Of Mind

Bob Dylan

5/5

The master at work. Like all his best work, depths you can't fathom and breadth that disappears over the horizon. No need for extremes of novelty, Bob's undersell leaves you coming back for more. 4.8 only so as to leave room for some of his even more fine works.

Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black

Public Enemy

4/5

Funky visceral liberation

Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room

Dwight Yoakam

3/5

Nice. A bit contrived and repressed. The music sounds super trad and so smooth the beauty becomes dull at some points but this is a country thing

A Night At The Opera

Queen

1/5

Dub Housing

Pere Ubu

4/5

Really saying something! 3.7

In It For The Money

Supergrass

3/5

I guess it's alright?

Cosmo's Factory

Creedence Clearwater Revival

4/5

Chooglin

The Downward Spiral

Nine Inch Nails

5/5

Operatic cyber extremism. Stunning. So progressive, it still sounds like it's from the future. Primordial ooze made electric 4.8

Wild Gift

3/5

Alright. Fills in a missing link between punk and new wave. 3.4

Cross

Justice

4/5

A gaye night out in Paris. Much more coherent as an album than the singles would suggest. Surprising musical depth given the poptastic sounds

Smash

The Offspring

2/5

Did not love this the first time. Has not aged well. Get some credit for not being other US punk-ish bands of the same period.

Let England Shake

PJ Harvey

3/5

Interesting. Curious. Not my favourite PJ album. A bit of the Julian Copes filtering through. Maybe not enough? Feels throughout that she could've gone weirder in every moment 3.4

If I Should Fall From Grace With God

The Pogues

3/5

Not bad but not even the best Irish diaspora traditional or revivalist music of that era. I've heard Fairytale that many times now it can do one. Some innovation bringing the tradition forwards with affection but also derivative and repetitive in parts. Their best works are overshadowed by the mythology of 'The Pogues'

3 Feet High and Rising

De La Soul

5/5

So funky, so abstract. There's a lot going on here. Sometimes not enough. Sometimes it loses its way - especially in the deluxe re-release, but overall a groundbreaking banger that still sounds great 4.5

The Soft Bulletin

The Flaming Lips

4/5

Indie electro psychedelic rock with John Bonham on drums. Still not sure about Wayne Coyne's voice. 3.6

Machine Gun Etiquette

The Damned

3/5

Exciting stuff! Some of the lyrics/attitude are a bit smug but this is probably played up as part of the act. Has aged better than many other works of the period. 3.4

Brutal Youth

Elvis Costello

3/5

Really nice album if you employ some active listening. Not Elvis' best and not the best ever but very enjoyable.

Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

4/5

O children, Lift up your voice, lift up your voice, Children, Rejoice, rejoice 4.4

Giant Steps

The Boo Radleys

3/5

Nice indie artefact. In the end a bit bland but showing the Boo Radleys were a load more than wake up Boo. 3.4

Mask

Bauhaus

3/5

A really frustrating album. Only when you get so bored you want to turn it off do they do something interesting 3.4

Bringing It All Back Home

Bob Dylan

5/5

Hard to 'hear in context' but still sounds like a collection of bangers. Every song has been heavily polished. It's just a great record. Almost underrated 😂

Who Killed...... The Zutons?

The Zutons

3/5

An assembly of similar-sounding, skiffle-inflected catchy singles filled with kitsch hooks. Ends up feeling a bit of a 1 trick pony and a retro rehash without the overwhelming power of Oasis or even Ocean Colour Scene. Well-made but lukewarm and a bit damp

(Pronounced 'Leh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd)

Lynyrd Skynyrd

4/5

Freebird... 3.5

New Forms

Roni Size

4/5

So funky, so tight

It's Blitz!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

3/5

It's OK 2.7

Let It Be

The Replacements

4/5

Rich and complex. Full of possibilities and something new each listen. Some killer individual tracks surrounded by some less-inspiring, but still good variations 4.4

Ill Communication

Beastie Boys

3/5

Dense, funky, in-your face. Continuing the Beastie's development into a musically more complex vehicle. Having said this, I found it difficult to listen to as an album through headphones as it feels like they're hammering the words direct into your skull. There's too much reverb and distortion on the samples and vocals and the beats have been compressed into brad nails. i tried it again on the hi-fi and it wasn't much better. taken a track at a time in a shuffled playlist there are some killer tracks but 1 at a time is plenty

Elvis Presley

5/5

The production is so bold, the performances strong and beautiful. Technology has come on but contemporary recordings are rarely so rich. Shows what you can do with ambition, dedication and the time, space and lack of distractions.

Dance Mania

Tito Puente

3/5

Technically excellent. Strong energy and emotion. What's the Latin term for funky? Anyway, some of the rhythms and melodies are so heavily played and copied, it's almost a caricature. OK, but not hugely enjoyable on this occasion

Take Me Apart

Kelela

2/5

Trialing some ambitious and expert musical/studio play in a generally dull and conservative genre. Some good song concepts and lyrics but then are sometimes wasted on facile personal stories

Siamese Dream

The Smashing Pumpkins

4/5

Warm overwhelming rollers and delicate alt rock berceuses. A high point for the Pumpkins 4.4

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

Arctic Monkeys

1/5

Jive Bunny for indie pop. Cherry-picked highlights stolen from 5 years of indie and mashed into over-produced radio friendly slop. Clearly they can play their instruments but their art is forgettable marketing dross.

Rattus Norvegicus

The Stranglers

4/5

First time I heard this around 2005 (at 21/22) I could see the musicality, but it sounded really dated compared to the angular indie/electro coming out at the time and not as raw as Gang of Four. Listening to it again now it sounds amazing! I don't know why exactly. The obvious theory would be that they're more subtle than some of their contemporaries and this is a strength. I just wasn't ready to hear this at the time because of being 21 (too many hormones/not enough life) and, maybe having heard more music now I'm feeling references I wasn't in a position to connect before. Anyway, nice album

Illmatic

Nas

3/5

Beats and samples are sick. Full on NYC attitude and some catchy chorus hooks but ultimately let down by Nas the man

There's No Place Like America Today

Curtis Mayfield

4/5

A beautiful album

Merriweather Post Pavilion

Animal Collective

1/5

Listened to this 3 days ago and I'm still; angry about the time it wasted

Face to Face

The Kinks

3/5

It's alright

Club Classics Vol. One

Soul II Soul

4/5

Never listened to this album as a whole before. It's actually a really progressive post-diasporic collage. Impressive. Not sure what happened to Soul II Soul after this but something has been missing ever since (Nellee Hooper?). Certainly Jazzie B's output has never reached these heights...

Are You Experienced

Jimi Hendrix

5/5

All time classic 5

Songs Of Love And Hate

Leonard Cohen

4/5

Deep. At points, impenetrable and trivially obscure. Musically more complex than the sparse palette suggests. Interesting and emotionally satisfying

Document

R.E.M.

2/5

Dull

The Low End Theory

A Tribe Called Quest

4/5

Word is what?

Colour By Numbers

Culture Club

1/5

As a whole, even worse than Boy George's USA accent. Unforgivable drivel

Haunted Dancehall

The Sabres Of Paradise

3/5

Wilmotic 3.5

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

John Lennon

4/5

Whimsical, crude, warm, dynamic, experimental, limited, beautiful - very humane. A lot like John

The Gershwin Songbook

Ella Fitzgerald

1/5

Not as interesting as its contemporaries and has not aged well

Microshift

Hookworms

2/5

Some nice moments with a load of waiting around in between for something to change or happen. Really nothing special

Astral Weeks

Van Morrison

5/5

An all-time favourite

The Number Of The Beast

Iron Maiden

2/5

Occasional intelligently designed sections but then let down by lyrics and generic-sounding stretches. Sometimes it's like espresso in your eye and others it's actually boring

If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears

The Mamas & The Papas

2/5

Fine at low volume in a coffee shop but not for my cans!

Teenager Of The Year

Frank Black

4/5

Complicated and bright. Just like teenage Frank

Billion Dollar Babies

Alice Cooper

4/5

Just the right side of schlock in this rock - earnest, grand and powerful music counterbalanced by silly, fun lyrics but with enough sincere social satire to make you suspend your gag reflex (that makes Queen unpalatable for example). Some great music that was/is underrated and much referenced throughout the 80s

3 + 3

The Isley Brothers

5/5

Super funky tunes. Amazing band. The lyrics speak to black suffering while coding it in terms that remain universally accessible. There's hope and uplifting optimism for the modern world. Several songs talk about the pains and struggles of being a man and are more complex and poignant than many soul or funk songs of that era. I actually cried at one point

Strange Cargo III

William Orbit

4/5

My awareness of Orbit's work came primarily from late 90s collaborations/remixes in naff mainstream pop so I haven't explored his earlier catalogue. This is much more interesting and varied.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Elton John

1/5

Pass