My 1001 Albums Journey

Albums Rated

2.58

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1039 albums remaining

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1980

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Jazz

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5-Star Albums

1-Star Albums

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Albums

You Love More Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Sincere Mj Cole	5	2.38	+2.62
The Man Machine Kraftwerk	5	3.31	+1.69
Strangeways, Here We Come The Smiths	5	3.44	+1.56
Talking Book Stevie Wonder	5	3.71	+1.29
Millions Now Living Will Never Die Tortoise	4	2.89	+1.11
Viva Hate Morrissey	4	2.96	+1.04

You Love Less Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
More Songs About Buildings And Food Talking Heads	1	3.42	-2.42
At Mister Kelly's Sarah Vaughan	1	3.38	-2.38
Hot Rats Frank Zappa	1	3.36	-2.36
The Modern Lovers The Modern Lovers	1	3.05	-2.05
Wild Gift X	1	2.99	-1.99
Will The Circle Be Unbroken Nitty Gritty Dirt Band	1	2.98	-1.98
The Doors The Doors	2	3.95	-1.95
Fuzzy Logic Super Furry Animals	1	2.94	-1.94
Electric Ladyland Jimi Hendrix	2	3.93	-1.93
I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You Aretha Franklin	2	3.93	-1.93

5-Star Albums (4)

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Popular Reviews

Talking Book

Stevie Wonder · 1 likes

5/5

Not even my favorite Stevie Womder album, but that's why it only gets 5 stars.

1-Star Albums (11)

D.O.A. the Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle

All Ratings

Rumours

Fleetwood Mac

3/5

some great songs, but also lots of filler

At Mister Kelly's

Sarah Vaughan

1/5

probably important at its time, but feels incredibly schmalzy/kitsch and outdated now

Highway to Hell

AC/DC

4/5

better than i had remembered ... stripped-down, bluesy, raw. singer actually sounds good (in contrast to the other guy that came later)

Peter Gabriel

4/5

Immaculate pop music

The Specials

2/5

Influential, but too raw and unpolished for my taste .... rather listen to Madness

The Man Machine

Kraftwerk

5/5

flawless

Electric Ladyland

Jimi Hendrix

2/5

some okay-ish songs, but everything gets ruined by the neverending noodling and jamming. also he can't sing for shit.

Get Rich Or Die Tryin'

50 Cent

3/5

solid album, but hip hop from that era feels more outdated than from any other era. case in point: all the tracks with eminem. cringeworthy.

The Modern Lovers

1/5

uu roduchelig und keine wirklichen hits

Pretenders

3/5

very charming, definitely more raw & unpolished than later albums ... but also a bit all over the place with many "skip" songs

Frank

Amy Winehouse

2/5

Great voice and great talent, but all the songs are lacking in direction and focus.

Beyond Skin

Nitin Sawhney

3/5

Weird, but fascinating

Cloud Nine

The Temptations

2/5

Really wanted to like this, but the songs are just "ok"

Jazz Samba

Stan Getz

4/5

Beautiful album

Go Girl Crazy

The Dictators

3/5

Really solid, raw Rock'N'Roll

Cosmo's Factory

Creedence Clearwater Revival

3/5

If it weren't for the bluesy and the 50s sounding Rock'n'Roll songs, this would have gotten 4 stars. I really like the "southern" vibe with the heavy grooves, but also the Rockabilly-tinged faster songs.

Mermaid Avenue

Billy Bragg

2/5

Not unlistenable, but pretty boring and forgettable.

More Songs About Buildings And Food

Talking Heads

1/5

I respect the hell outta David Byrnes, but this is some unlistenable shit

D.O.A. the Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle

Throbbing Gristle

1/5

Fascinating, but nothing I would want to listen to again in the near future ... or ever again.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill

2/5

Did not understand the hype back then and don't understand it now.

From Elvis In Memphis

Elvis Presley

4/5

Pretty, pretty good

Will The Circle Be Unbroken

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

1/5

Crap

Are You Experienced

Jimi Hendrix

4/5

Not my type of music, but this is a near perfect album: a barrage of hit after hit, guitar playing is on point without excessive noodling.

Talking Book

Stevie Wonder

5/5

Not even my favorite Stevie Womder album, but that's why it only gets 5 stars.

James Brown Live At The Apollo

James Brown

2/5

Not his best work

Celebrity Skin

Hole

4/5

A solid 3-stars alternative rock album. There were better bands during that time, but I am giving it 4 stars because I had ignored it back then (bias towards Courtney Love) and was very surprised (in a good way) when I heard it for the first time today.

Millions Now Living Will Never Die

Tortoise

4/5

I get the impression thar 1001 albums does not choose a band's best albums but has a preference towards early/imfluential albums. So instead of TNT or standards, we get Millions Now Living ...

Blunderbuss

Jack White

3/5

Nice surprise. Catchy, banging song with incredibly juicy and crunchy sounding guitars.

Fuzzy Logic

Super Furry Animals

1/5

Forgettable and annoying at the same time

A Rush Of Blood To The Head

Coldplay

2/5

Some ok somgs, but incredibly shallow and cringe. If I remember correctly, the whiny and over-dramatic vocals were not as much in the foreground on other albums as on this one which makes it an especially unpleasant listening experience.

Haut de gamme / Koweït, rive gauche

Koffi Olomide

2/5

I appreciate the music, but the songs could have been catchier.

I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You

Aretha Franklin

2/5

I prefer the later material ... just cannot get into this bluesy stuff

The ArchAndroid

Janelle Monáe

2/5

Great potential and incredible voice, but the songs don't hold up.

Lost Souls

Doves

3/5

Surprisingly enjoyable. Meandering, melancholic ... would serve as great background music in a Japanese bar or something

Strangeways, Here We Come

The Smiths

5/5

Probably my least favorite Smiths album ... but that's why it only gets 5 stars.

Our Aim Is To Satisfy

Red Snapper

1/5

Is there any other genre that has aged as poorly as Acid Jazz? Maybe Trip Hop. Unbearable.

Sincere

Mj Cole

5/5

Wonderfully eccentric and eclectic, but always full of dancefloor energy. Moody, vibey while effortlessly moving between garage and 2 step, gospel harmonies and classical movements, dry synth sounds and acoustic instrumentation, sparse/stripped-down beats and lush arrangements. Sounds fresh and relevant though being almost a quarter of a century old.

Hot Rats

Frank Zappa

1/5

Anyone complaining about today's pop music will have to explain to me how people in the 60s voluntarily listened to 45 minutes of annoying guitar wanking. Edit: and now also saxophone wanking, for fuck's sake.

Home Is Where The Music Is

Hugh Masekela

4/5

Really like how funky the songs are. Really enjoyed the moments when all the instrumentation comes together ... drums + (electric) piano + horn section is such a powerful combo. Could do without the endless amounts of screeching sax soloing, but somehow that seems to be an Afrobeat staple.

Brilliant Corners

Thelonious Monk

2/5

I like Monk's playing and his solo albums, but in a band conext that kind if 50s Jazz is super annoying. Cheesy melodies + endless soloing from instruments that NOBODY wants to hear a solo from ... like bass or drums.

Rock Bottom

Robert Wyatt

1/5

I'm sorry I complained about 50s Jazz yesterday. I'rather listen to hours of saxophone solos than having to sit through this pretentious crap.

Live At The Regal

B.B. King

3/5

I was ready to give this 1 star cause it's Blues ... but as it turns out, it just cannot be hated. It's basicay the same song played 10 times, but the song is pretty good

The Doors

2/5

Bettter than expected, with some songs being actually enjoyable. The theatralics ruin it for me, though.

Viva Hate

Morrissey

4/5

Relistening to this album, I am very much relieved that the knowledge of Morrissey's later trajectory hasn't ruined it the slightest bit. Quite the opposite, it is a shockingly great album, sounding carefree and tongue-in-cheek even in its most insidious moments (Bengali On Platform). Production is great, with lush arrangements that never lose clarity and punch (the splash cymbal deserves its own Grammy). Any hint of too much musical theatrics is immediately countered by Morrissey's trademark scathing humor. Lastly, the cadence of Alsatian Cousin (slow burning intro jam) and Little Man, What Now? (pensive interlude) into Everyday Is Like Sunday (climactic banger) might be the best album opening of all times.

Live At The Star Club, Hamburg

Jerry Lee Lewis

2/5

Feels outdated in such a stark way that I am asking myself if it was even still relevant at the time of its release. Formulaic songs with the same 3 blues chords and progressions. One bonus point for the raw and unpolished production and the fact that the songs (and the whole album) are actually quite short.

Five Leaves Left

Nick Drake

2/5

I always thought Nick Drake was an emo artist from the 80s/90s who killes himself with a knife, but I guess I was mixing things up. Pleasantly surprised by the songs, although they sometimes have that 60s "kitsch folk" vibe where you could picture him singing about fairytales amd stuff. Plus a bit boring.

Wild Gift

1/5

Wikipedia writes: "Wild Gift showcases the band's unique punk rock style, which infuses roots rock, country, blues, R&B, and rockabilly." Which translates to: It's a huge pile of crap. On top of that, it also sounds like crap. For an album desperately trying to be "punk", the complete lack of punch and abrasiveness is DISGUSTING. Seriously, the drums sound like someone is beating on cardboard ... with chopsticks.

Porcupine

Echo And The Bunnymen

3/5

Imagine having written The Cutter and realizing that no song you write from that point on will ever be half as good as that one. Consequently, Echo & The Bunnymen went on to male an utterly mediocre album. 3 stars nonetheless cause The Cutter is on it.

Urban Hymns

The Verve

2/5

Bittersweet Symphony seems to have been a really happy accident ... if you listen to the rest of this album full of whiny low-energy music that is endlessly dragging on without going anwhere. The singer looks kinda cool on the album cover though.

Want Two

Rufus Wainwright

1/5

Self-important and pompous yet cringeworthyly amateurish sounding circus shit. Having to suffer through him whinily declaiming his ill-fitting lyrics makes me newly appreciate how well-crafted chart pop music actually is. Edit: And it speaks to his narcissism to have his voice mixed so loud when he can't sing for shit.