My 1001 Albums Journey

100

Albums Rated

3.31

Average Rating

Complete

989 albums remaining

Rating Distribution

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Taste Profile

1960

Favorite Decade

Folk

Favorite Genre

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Wordsmith

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5-Star Albums

1-Star Albums

Breakdown

By Genre

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Albums

You Love More Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
m b v My Bloody Valentine	5	2.72	+2.28
Gentlemen The Afghan Whigs	5	2.9	+2.1
The Gilded Palace Of Sin The Flying Burrito Brothers	5	2.92	+2.08
Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle Bill Callahan	5	3.02	+1.98
Rid Of Me PJ Harvey	5	3.12	+1.88
Let England Shake PJ Harvey	5	3.15	+1.85
Pink Flag Wire	5	3.21	+1.79
From Elvis In Memphis Elvis Presley	5	3.34	+1.66
Home Is Where The Music Is Hugh Masekela	5	3.35	+1.65
Red Headed Stranger Willie Nelson	5	3.35	+1.65

You Love Less Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
2112 Rush	1	3.37	-2.37
Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears	1	3.17	-2.17
Tubular Bells Mike Oldfield	1	3.1	-2.1
Felt Mountain Goldfrapp	1	3	-2
Yeezus Kanye West	1	2.76	-1.76
Odessa Bee Gees	1	2.72	-1.72
Boston Boston	2	3.7	-1.7
Music Madonna	1	2.68	-1.68
Sheer Heart Attack Queen	2	3.64	-1.64
Oracular Spectacular MGMT	2	3.62	-1.62

Artists

Favorites

Artist	Albums	Average
Bob Dylan	2	5
PJ Harvey	2	5

Least Favorites

Artist	Albums	Average
Madonna	2	1.5

5-Star Albums (19)

View Album Wall

David Bowie · 1 likes

4/5

This album is a classic, even if it sounds a little brittle. I feel like all of the discourse/reviews of the album really miss just how FUN it is on top of everything else.

69 Love Songs

The Magnetic Fields · 1 likes

3/5

This is some theater kid shit. Some great songs from what I listened to but I just cannot possibly do 3 hours of it.

Boston

Boston · 1 likes

2/5

This is the musical equivalent of a hot dog stand. It doesn’t matter how you dress it up, it still is just a wet fart in the end.

1-Star Albums (7)

All Ratings

The Doors

3/5

Pink Flag

Wire

5/5

From Elvis In Memphis

Elvis Presley

5/5

Superfly

Curtis Mayfield

4/5

A great template for a newer sound, love the guitar as almost percussion instrument

Sign 'O' The Times

Prince

3/5

I can appreciate this one, but really didn’t enjoy more than a couple songs.

A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector

Various Artists

4/5

Definitely one of my favorite Christmas compilations now

The Marshall Mathers LP

Eminem

2/5

Great production, skilled lyricist, but none of the writing aged well. This was some 13-year old fantasy stuff, and it was a really tough listen. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more consistently homophobic or misogynistic album.

Appetite For Destruction

Guns N' Roses

4/5

Definitely some weaker songs here, but this is such a fun guitar album - I think the riffs and solos carry even the weakest songs like they were KG dragging the Wolves to the conference finals.

Playing With Fire

Spacemen 3

3/5

The last song was such an amazing payoff for an album that came close to doing some really cool things but instead seemed content to fade out before making the leap. It was relaxing and enjoyable overall, but I don’t see myself coming back to it again.

Smash

The Offspring

3/5

It’s fun and catchy, but there’s nothing groundbreaking here. I gotta say, Americana is my favorite Offspring album and I’m curious why they chose this one

Achtung Baby

4/5

I really enjoyed this one musically - I thought it was an underrated headphone album and aside from some of th lyrics was a great listen

Tubular Bells

Mike Oldfield

1/5

This album sucks so much butt. It was everything I don’t enjoy about prog rock and classical music all at once.

Highway 61 Revisited

Bob Dylan

5/5

This is one of my favorite albums of all time, and it was really good to hear that it stands up to my memory of it. Lyrically it’s untouchable, but one of the best parts is how much it feels like you’re in the room while it’s being created; there aren’t any apparent overdubs and there are mistakes and instruments out of tune and people finding their place in the song in real time. The whole thing is so alive and magical.

At San Quentin

Johnny Cash

3/5

Definitely a good glimpse into why Johnny Cash is so revered. The songs can be a little same-y but the performances and the rapport with the audience and band are great.

Ramones

5/5

Could have lived with less Nazi references, but it’s really something to hear a bad arrive so fully formed. Their subject matter, style, and delivery are all in place right out the gates and it really a tour de force Completely unrelated, but I meant to rate San Quintin 4/5.

Blood, Sweat & Tears

1/5

This is a lot of really well played nothing, if this were to have pivoted and been an instrumental/jazz album instead I think I would rate it much higher. Even then, the music wasn’t terribly memorable. I find the lyrics to be pretty shallow and uninteresting; in general this seems like a way station on the sad slide from soul/r&b into yacht rock.

Foo Fighters

3/5

I don't think I've listened to a full Foo Fighters album in a long time - I've kind of thought of them like a John Mellencamp where the singles are catchy and enjoyable and I wouldn't change the station if they were on but the album tracks weren't worth a full dive. Listening to this one again after all this time changed my mind a bit - the singles are clearly the stars, but it's overall very catchy. The lyrics are pretty forgettable, but they don't get in the way of the hooks and the melodies and most of the non-single tracks are still pretty dang fun. It's definitely a bit front-loaded and could stand to be 2-3 songs shorter, but way more fun than I remembered and definitely earns it place on radio rotation.

Made In Japan

Deep Purple

2/5

If you told me this was a Spinal Tap album, my only question would be "why isn't it funny?"

Will The Circle Be Unbroken

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

4/5

I’m a sucker for this instrumentation and these traditional. Really enjoyed the format too.

Homework

Daft Punk

3/5

I started out strong on this, loving the beats and the energy, and very quickly got tired of it. I'm sure there's more nuance to someone who is a big fan of this genre, but by the end I was exhausted and barely able to tell songs apart. Went from a 4 to a 3 about halfway through for me. Frankly the 3 feels generous.

Heaven Or Las Vegas

Cocteau Twins

3/5

This is very much a specific sound, it lives in that space very well. I can’t understand 80% of the words though, I don’t really understand or appreciate albums without a lyrical purpose.

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

David Bowie

4/5

This album is a classic, even if it sounds a little brittle. I feel like all of the discourse/reviews of the album really miss just how FUN it is on top of everything else.

Talking Heads 77

Talking Heads

4/5

Today I found out that David Byrne is a huge bike dork and cycling advocate and nothing has surprised me less.

Home Is Where The Music Is

Hugh Masekela

5/5

This was so much fun fun, it’s everything I want out of a jazz album

Murder Ballads

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

3/5

I love murder ballads in the abstract - they're definitely in that folk/field/traditional song set that I'm attracted to. The lyrics here are well done, the instrumentation is great. I am lukewarm on Nick Cave's execution though - he falls too far into that "Theater Kid" subset where it's too far over the top and too much of a "look at me playing a part" style that takes me out of the song a bit.

Rapture

Anita Baker

2/5

Oh man, I recognized the opening from MF DOOM, but I really don't love soft R&B/slow jams. Great voice, but same issue I had yesterday with Nick Cave - it's performance > song. This is some department store background music.

The Wall

Pink Floyd

3/5

There are some truly great songs in here, and some really amazing guitar playing. There's also an absurd amount of bloat between gratuitous transitions/interludes and self important expository tracks. If Ziggy Stardust was an example of a concept album done right, this is an example of why people hate concept albums. There's a 4 or 5 start album buried under at least 25-35 minutes of garbage.

Low

David Bowie

4/5

I loved the first half of this album, such a great drum sound and production that serves the song. The second half wasn’t as gripping, but still interesting especially in contrast to the first.

Let England Shake

PJ Harvey

5/5

Everything about this album is exciting and cohesive, everything is timeless and in olace

808 State

3/5

I liked it more than Daft Punk, but this really isn't for me.

To Pimp A Butterfly

Kendrick Lamar

5/5

The Predator

Ice Cube

4/5

This album was a bit too long and has some…dated…insults but was a lot of fun overall

Wild Wood

Paul Weller

3/5

Throwing Muses

2/5

This feels a little too much like a bad PJ Harvey imitation. Just couldn't get into it.

Dire Straits

3/5

Man, good guitar and such. I love Brothers in Arms, but this didn't quite have the same variety and engagement for me as that. Wild that Knopfler is British with his inflection.

Led Zeppelin II

Led Zeppelin

5/5

I hadn’t listened to this intently in so long, it kind of took me by surprise how immediate it is and how hard the music itself hits. Is it all stolen? Yeah, but man do I get why it influenced generations.

Vanishing Point

Primal Scream

2/5

With the exception of one or two songs, this just sounded like the music used for action sequences on late-2000s tv shows on the USA network.

The Stone Roses

3/5

I found the music interesting to a point, but didn’t dig the vocals or the lyrics. I generally don’t care for this era of britpop though.

The Last Broadcast

Doves

4/5

This is like an awesome version of Coldplay

A Rush Of Blood To The Head

Coldplay

3/5

Kind of funny getting this one the day after I referred to Doves as a way better/more interesting version of Coldplay. I think this album is underrated, and if it weren't for songs like "Clocks" and the band following that thread more, they would be regarded very differently.

Deloused in the Comatorium

The Mars Volta

2/5

This is just Rush for people born after 1990

Sheer Heart Attack

Queen

2/5

I don’t love multiple movements in a song, overproduction, or layered harmonies so this is very much not for me

Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle

Bill Callahan

5/5

This album was the first time I’d really paid attention to Bill Callahan (I think I had a Smog album before this), and I remember being pretty floored. Holds up great

Music

Madonna

1/5

A bunch of terrible lyrics and bland music held together by ear candy

3 Feet High and Rising

De La Soul

4/5

Man, this was a blast. Longer than necessary but still great. Biggest downside is that apparently this pioneered skits on albums, which was a terrible thing.

Come Away With Me

Norah Jones

3/5

Pretty surprised by how much I enjoyed this

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

5/5

It’s amazing that he did something like this so young

Gentlemen

The Afghan Whigs

5/5

A really dark record that is criminally overlooked. Really pleasantly surprised to find it on this list. Be Sweet has one of the best payoffs I can think of.

Stankonia

OutKast

3/5

Maybe I was just not in the mood for it, but this felt way less consistent than I remembered. The highs were still really high, but the rest was kinda meh and bloated.

Gris Gris

Dr. John

4/5

Man, this is the Tom Waits album that never was

Siembra

Willie Colón & Rubén Blades

3/5

It was fun, but it’s hard to fully enjoy songs without understanding the words

The Joshua Tree

4/5

I really wish Bono wasn’t Bono

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

OutKast

2/5

This is functionally two albums, both of which have a lot of filler. Again, chalking it up to not being in the right headspace, but this was pretty exhausting as a full-album listen. Highs are high, lows are way more frequent than they needed to be and skits are among the worst things to happen to hip-hop.

The Modern Dance

Pere Ubu

4/5

This is some genuine weirdo music, everything the Talking Heads think they are.

Rid Of Me

PJ Harvey

5/5

I love this album, especially the sound of it. I love sparse arrangements and harsh sounds and dynamics.

London Calling

The Clash

5/5

Absolutely a top 10 for me. Such a great combination of other styles tied together

Peace Sells...But Who's Buying

Megadeth

2/5

Dave Mustaine is an amazing guitar player, a terrible lyricist, an an embarrassing edgelord

2112

Rush

1/5

I cannot imagine a worse sounding idea than a 20 minute multi-movement futuristic space opera about some Ayn Rand bullshit sung in THAT voice

Oracular Spectacular

MGMT

2/5

There were a couple huge hits and a lot of synth noodling without purpose

Kenya

Machito

4/5

A bop and a half

Yeezus

Kanye West

1/5

I didn’t like the Eminem album because it was juvenile, misogynistic, and gross but at least he was clever. This is hopefully one of the lamest set of lyrics I’ll ever hear, assuming I don’t have to listen to the albums that came after this.

Foxbase Alpha

Saint Etienne

3/5

It was enjoyable in a not-terribly-memorable way

Stand!

Sly & The Family Stone

3/5

If a jam band had nothing but a wah pedal and an insanely good bass player, this would be the outcome

69 Love Songs

The Magnetic Fields

3/5

This is some theater kid shit. Some great songs from what I listened to but I just cannot possibly do 3 hours of it.

In Our Heads

Hot Chip

4/5

This was some good fun

Bookends

Simon & Garfunkel

3/5

There are some great moments, but I didn’t realize the history of unnecessary skits and sound effects went back this far.

Eliminator

ZZ Top

4/5

This was a lot of big, dumb fun

Felt Mountain

Goldfrapp

1/5

Forgotten James Bond songs and fragrance commercial music

Ellington at Newport

Duke Ellington

3/5

I kind of tapped out on this. Big band jazz doesn’t do it for me at all, but I appreciate what’s going on.

Diamond Life

Sade

4/5

I dig this one, felt way ahead of it’s time

Red Headed Stranger

Willie Nelson

5/5

Such a weird album for that time and genre

The Gilded Palace Of Sin

The Flying Burrito Brothers

5/5

The Chronic

Dr. Dre

3/5

Beats do some heavy lifting. Another example of skits making 0 impact in anything but 7th grade lunch table humor.

Axis: Bold As Love

Jimi Hendrix

4/5

Electric Ladyland is the better album, but this is still great

Eternally Yours

The Saints

3/5

It was cool to learn that this came out even before the Damned released anything, but it felt very generic even though it was so early to the game.

The Band

5/5

One of my favorite albums, love how everything fits together and Al the voices.

Hard Again

Muddy Waters

3/5

I really enjoyed this, but it was wildly repetitive

Siamese Dream

The Smashing Pumpkins

4/5

If we only rate on guitar and drums, this is a 5/5. If we consider Billy Corgan’s singing and lyrics, less. Thank god his personality isn’t part of the rating.

Now I Got Worry

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

3/5

Gets a little annoying after a while, hard to understand too. Nonetheless, kind of hard not to enjoy the energy and excitement.

Adele

2/5

These songs all sound like the inner monologue of a very bats ke reality tv show person

So Much For The City

The Thrills

2/5

Musically pretty fun, the vocals got really old really fast though.

The Rise & Fall

Madness

2/5

This album was insanely annoying to me, but in a lot of different and inventive ways.

The Man Machine

Kraftwerk

2/5

I enjoy parts in theory, but mostly I appreciate it as an influence on other groups I like.

Kala

M.I.A.

3/5

Man, this was a fun and timely album that actually said something. And then she tarnished it all by being a moron, scammer, and supporting people who are opposed to everything it seems like this album stood for.

Talk Talk Talk

The Psychedelic Furs

4/5

I dug this, would definitely listen again. Wouldn’t mind less saxophone though

Boston

2/5

This is the musical equivalent of a hot dog stand. It doesn’t matter how you dress it up, it still is just a wet fart in the end.

American IV: The Man Comes Around

Johnny Cash

4/5

A few true classics carried further by the gravity of an aged, but powerful voice padded by some cutting room floor stuff.

m b v

My Bloody Valentine

5/5

I can’t understand a word but that’s totally fine. I love the textures of this, it’s the musical equivalent of watching the waves or trees in the wind in a National Park.

That's The Way Of The World

Earth, Wind & Fire

2/5

This is just an album about hugging and kissing for people who only like Schoolhouse Rock

Paul's Boutique

Beastie Boys

4/5

Some of the most annoying voices ever recorded, but the production is just so insanely good.

Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches

Happy Mondays

4/5

I really like these grooves, even if I couldn’t quote a thing