My 1001 Albums Journey

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3.08

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1052 albums remaining

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1980s

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Albums

You Love More Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea PJ Harvey	5	3.38	+1.62
Surfer Rosa Pixies	5	3.5	+1.5
Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) Wu-Tang Clan	5	3.61	+1.39
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Lauryn Hill	5	3.63	+1.37
Is This It The Strokes	5	3.81	+1.19
Kala M.I.A.	4	2.91	+1.09
Superfuzz Bigmuff Mudhoney	4	2.94	+1.06

You Love Less Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Getz/Gilberto Stan Getz	1	3.65	-2.65
The Doors The Doors	2	3.95	-1.95
Lazer Guided Melodies Spiritualized	1	2.92	-1.92
Da Capo Love	1	2.81	-1.81
Buena Vista Social Club Buena Vista Social Club	2	3.65	-1.65
Brothers The Black Keys	2	3.58	-1.58
Stankonia OutKast	2	3.55	-1.55
A Rush Of Blood To The Head Coldplay	2	3.44	-1.44
Hybrid Theory Linkin Park	2	3.39	-1.39
Aftermath The Rolling Stones	2	3.38	-1.38

5-Star Albums (5)

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Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea

Popular Reviews

Is This It

The Strokes

5/5

It’s hard, looking back now, to remember just how fresh and different this sounded. The world has moved on but this album is still full of the cocksure swagger of people too young to know better. I don’t feel like I can give this an objective rating. So I won’t.

1 likes

Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Wu-Tang Clan

5/5

Full of swagger and energy. One of the all time greats.

1 likes

1-Star Albums (3)

All Ratings

Country Life

Roxy Music

3/5

This is clearly contemporary to ‘70s Bowie. Some wild swings artistically. Bitter-Sweet was a standout.

Aftermath

The Rolling Stones

2/5

A couple of great tunes (Under My Thumb, Out Of Time) in an otherwise unremarkable British ‘60s blues swamp. Going Home was a particular boring slog.

Bookends

Simon & Garfunkel

4/5

Hard to be mad at those folksy harmonies. Some absolute classics here (America, Mrs Robinson, Hazy Shade of Winter). I can trace a through line from Dylan to this to The Kinks ‘Village Green…’

Darkness on the Edge of Town

Bruce Springsteen

4/5

Rather than feeling like a document of the time, this album still feels alive. Great storytelling and the sound of a band that all lift each other up to be better.

Is This It

The Strokes

5/5

Here's Little Richard

Little Richard

3/5

A big influence on the early work of The Beatles, and all the songs here are good. The band are especially tight, and Richard’s vocals have many imitators and no equals. In the end though it was just kinda fine.

Da Capo

Love

1/5

I didn’t enjoy side A of this undoubtedly cutting edge exploration of blues rock. Opening with a harpsichord didn’t instil confidence, and my instincts were sadly accurate. Little did I know that I would look back on these tracks fondly as I slogged through the 18 minute long free-form blues jam of side B.

Hybrid Theory

Linkin Park

2/5

I’d heard the singles before, but never the whole album. In the End is unsurprisingly the best thing on this album. So much of this sounds like a petulant teenage tantrum, with rapping that wouldn’t be out of place on a Lonely Island parody.

Buena Vista Social Club

2/5

I remember when it seemed like the whole world was crazy for BVSC. Tours etc. I bet they were phenomenal live. Not really my thing. Especially at album length.

Kala

M.I.A.

4/5

Really feels like I should be blaring this out of the open window of my car. You could release this today and it would feel absolutely cutting edge. Paper Planes is of course the standout, but doesn’t feel out of place on the album. Truly a unique talent.

Getz/Gilberto

Stan Getz

1/5

Cool and breezy… And kinda boring. Elevator/hold music.

Beyond Skin

Nitin Sawhney

3/5

Surprising how contemporary this feels. The eastern influence has become far more prominent in music since this was released.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill

5/5

Quite simply, a masterpiece.

Actually

Pet Shop Boys

3/5

Feels kind of cold. Like it’s deliberately keeping you at a distance. But as a defence mechanism. Because it’s also fragile.

Guero

Beck

4/5

Not my first choice for Beck albums, but a good time nonetheless.

The Doors

2/5

Some stand out tracks, and some boring bluesy jams. I wonder if we’d still be talking about The Doors if Morrison hadn’t died young, or if they’d just be a footnote on the ‘60s.

Surfer Rosa

Pixies

5/5

Iconic, influential, timeless

Bayou Country

Creedence Clearwater Revival

3/5

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this. Fogerty obviously has an incredible voice, but the blues rock on display here is pretty solid.

Power In Numbers

Jurassic 5

3/5

Some great tunes, and impressive lyrical gymnastics. Feels somewhat dated now.

Superfuzz Bigmuff

Mudhoney

4/5

The foundation of the sounds of my youth. Excellent sludgy guitars.

Planet Rock: The Album

Afrika Bambaataa

3/5

Loose collection of prior singles. Some great tunes, but didn’t really feel cohesive.

Raising Hell

Run-D.M.C.

4/5

Still sounds great!

Lazer Guided Melodies

Spiritualized

1/5

Boring, and not in a fun way.

Roxy Music

3/5

Some great tunes and some big swings. Less cohesive than their later work but the highs are higher.

Red Headed Stranger

Willie Nelson

3/5

Not bad, but not really my thing either. Closer than I would have expected though.

Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea

PJ Harvey

5/5

Quite simply flawless.

Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor

Lupe Fiasco

4/5

I thought this was pretty good. Socially conscious storytelling paired with sharp production.

Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Wu-Tang Clan

5/5

Full of swagger and energy. One of the all time greats.

Come Find Yourself

Fun Lovin' Criminals

3/5

Cool and cruisy. A great soundtrack to a summer afternoon.

Lust For Life

Iggy Pop

3/5

Pretty good. You can clearly hear Bowie all through this. Lacks the raw energy of The Stooges, but still a decent listen.

A Rush Of Blood To The Head

Coldplay

2/5

Some great tunes here, but it’s hard to separate from the meaningless stadium slop that Coldplay have been leaning into for the last couple of decades.

Brothers

The Black Keys

2/5

I enjoyed this, but a day later I find myself unable to recall any specific song.

m b v

My Bloody Valentine

2/5

Took me a minute to get into the vibe of this. Once I got there it was okay. I much prefer Loveless though.

A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector

Various Artists

3/5

Some of these have become the definitive rendition. All of these are good.

Stankonia

OutKast

2/5

There’s signs of brilliance, and the hits are great, but the album is four or five songs too long, and the interludes can go too. .

Heroes to Zeros

The Beta Band

3/5

A nice cruisy Saturday afternoon in the sun with a cold drink. Pleasant and unobtrusive.

That's The Way Of The World

Earth, Wind & Fire

3/5

Not all of this has aged well, but some of it has carried through. Nothing outstanding in either direction.