planetneutral's Master Rating Log 2021-

planetneutral · 2020-12-30T14:04:16-05:00

Sometime in the era of 2009ish, my wife gave me a copy of the original edition of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Like so many foolhardy list-obsessed music enthusiasts, I began an endeavor to listen my way through it. You've heard a similar story in this forum many times before I'm sure. It didn't start well. In August of 2009, a mere eight albums into my effort, the library I work in flooded completely, burying my office in liquid sewage and putting an end to my new practice of sitting in my office listening to CDs. In 2010, I started to keep a rating log on RYM, combining my general listening and half-assed effort to work through the book. - https://rateyourmusic.com/list/planetneutral/planetneutrals-master-rating-log (I stopped using this list for a while. I'm working on catching it up.) I also kept a log specifically related to the 1001 Albums book. - https://rateyourmusic.com/list/planetneutral/chronicle-of-the-1001-albums-you-must-hear-before-you-die (This is up-to-date.) And I picked up a copy of 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, which had enough parallels with the 1001 Albums book that I figured I might as well track my progress through both. https://rateyourmusic.com/list/planetneutral/chronicle-of-1_000-recordings-to-hear-before-you-die (Up-to-date.) The 2010 listening effort only lasted until April, the travails of library flood recovery dominating my attention. And it was totally backburnered until 2016, when I started really focusing on the original Dimery 1001 Albums book, using a spreadsheet list and a random number generator to make selections. By this point, I was also tracking revisions to the Dimery list. My current spreadsheet lists all 1,076 albums that I know that have been included in at least one edition. I had two good runs of listening between Jan. 2016 and Apr. 2018. But I was starting to have real problems with the Dimery book, namely that it was almost comically Anglophile. Could I really justify listening to three Dexys Midnight Runners albums? Did I really need to commit to three Blur albums? Or every single thing Brian Eno ever touched? Was I giving too much of my limited lifespan to this guy's musical worldview? I decided that the answer to the last question was yes and so I just stopped, 380 albums into my effort. The last album I reviewed in 2018 was Tanto Tempo by Bebel Gilberto, which I described as "Deeply unremarkable." And I thought that would be the end of the story. I shifted my hobbyist attention away from album listening and into building out Spotify playlists, like my 770+ song 1980s A-Z playlist. But then something unanticipated happened, when my friend announced he was going to listen to the new 2020 edition of the Rolling Stone 500 album countdown. He started at #1, which I completely bristled at, especially since he didn't seem very inspired by the top ten. ("It's all downhill from here!" I protested fruitlessly.) But I realized it was someone close to me, who was taking on my kind of project. So I decided to join him and, in so doing, continue with the other two book-driven lists that I had been tracking. So I am currently about 2/3 of the way through the Rolling Stone list (which my friend abandoned around #50 :o) and, with the new year, thought I'd try to start chronicling my listening here at BEA. I'm a little intimidated since the people in this space take their chronicling and rating and reviewing seriously and I'm kind of a doofus with really mainstream taste and a limited attention span (courtesy of three tech-enabled children, age 10-15). I generally like things and generally listen to things I expect to like. At the time of this post, my mean rating is 75 over 650+ ratings, with 70 being the mode. But part of the fun is that I'm growing a little impatient with the Rolling Stone list as we head toward the bottom, so this ride could get a little bumpy! The reviews I post as "comments" on BEA tend to be terse (despite the logorrhea of this intro post) and, if consensus of the BEA audience is any guide, unhelpful/unpopular. I will probably use this diary context to offer more informal commentary and notes from my listening experience. We'll see. Just wanted to try keeping track of stuff here and see what happens. I'm not especially thoughtful, attentive, or critical. I'm not looking to be convinced not to like something that I find joy in, but I'd love to have people encourage me to reconsider my negative takes. I mostly want to have motivation to keep going. And the reality for me is that documentation is a double-edged sword as it fuels my hobbyistic tendencies, but keeping up with a diary does increase the overhead of the actual listening. My current overall chart: Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by planetneutral Here's one attempt-in-progress to put words to my ratings, which I switched to BEA's scale relatively early on: 100 - Beyond objective consideration. Either basically flawless or containing so much 100+ material that it overcomes any shortcomings. 95 - Important to me, but just slightly out of the 100 league or flawed in some way I can't overlook. 90 - Generally speaking, the highest rating an album will receive if it has no personal resonance for me. Would have to be a significant first experience for me to rate an album of new-to-me music higher than this. 85 - The flawed version of 90. 80 - Genuinely compelling to me. (I consider anything at this score or above worth your time to listen to at least once.) 75 - I liked it+ 70 - I liked it 65 - OK+ 60 - OK 55 - A hint of something redeeming. 50 - Meh. 45 and below - Increasing levels of dislike. I have yet to rate anything below 15. I claim no consistency and surely go through periods where I am more or less enthusiastic in general. Rating is always about how the material meets the mood. This log only chronicles first listens, but it is rare for me to change rating on a re-listen. Thanks for actually reading this far. I intend to start using this diary on 1/1/2021, although I might tinker with a test post or two before then.

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planetneutral Profile

RoundTheBend wrote:

My favorite thing is when someone leaves a positive comment but a garbage rating... the sheep don't know what to do with it, so they move on. :lol:

That's apparently still more helpful than bothering to explain why your rating might be below average.

planetneutral Profile

planetneutral Master Rating Log ID#: 00775
Rating Date: 2021-02-22

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BLACKsummers'night by Maxwell
Year of Release: 2009

Rating: 60

Posted comment: Appealingly brief, but not very interesting.

Notes: This album has no comments on BEA other than the one I just left. Again, the argument being made by Rolling Stone's voting group is that Maxwell is responsible for not one but two of the 500 greatest albums of all-time. I don't get it.

Included in...
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums? 2003: N 2012: N 2020: #467
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (repeatedly revised 2005-2018)? N
1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die (2008)? N
planetneutral's music collection? N
planetneutral's Decade list (min. 70 rating)? N

Rating metadata
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums 2020 rating order: #473 of 500 (94.6% of all items rated - avg. 77.0)
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums 2003/2012/2020 Combined List rating order: #498 of 692 (72.0% of all items rated - avg. 76.7)
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 2005/2013/2017/2018 Combined List rating order: n/a of 1,078 (53.2% of all items rated - avg. 74.2)
1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die rating order: n/a of 1,000 (21.3% of all items rated - avg. 79.5)

planetneutral Profile

planetneutral Master Rating Log ID#: 00776
Rating Date: 2021-02-22

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400 Degreez by Juvenile
Year of Release: 1998

Rating: 70

Posted comment: This is not high art. But I have a soft spot for the ridiculousness of Cash Money and this is as good as it gets.

Notes:

Included in...
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums? 2003: N 2012: N 2020: #470
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (repeatedly revised 2005-2018)? N
1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die (2008)? N
planetneutral's music collection? N
planetneutral's Decade list (min. 70 rating)? #87 of 99

Rating metadata
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums 2020 rating order: #474 of 500 (94.8% of all items rated - avg. 77.0)
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums 2003/2012/2020 Combined List rating order: #499 of 692 (72.1% of all items rated - avg. 76.7)
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 2005/2013/2017/2018 Combined List rating order: n/a of 1,078 (53.2% of all items rated - avg. 74.2)
1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die rating order: n/a of 1,000 (21.3% of all items rated - avg. 79.5)

Last edited by planetneutral on 02/26/2021 04:20; edited 2 times in total

Luigii Profile

planetneutral wrote:

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What was the other Maxwell album since I am curious?

planetneutral Profile

Luigii wrote:

What was the other Maxwell album since I am curious?

Good question. Turns out I had my lists crossed. Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite is part of the 1001 Albums list, but not the Rolling Stone list. Apparently I listened to it longer ago than I realized.

Luigii Profile

planetneutral wrote:

Good question. Turns out I had my lists crossed. Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite is part of the 1001 Albums list, but not the Rolling Stone list. Apparently I listened to it longer ago than I realized.

I had a feeling it would be that album. Do love that album. A personal highlight of 1996. Maybe you'll like it but I don't have that much high hopes.

planetneutral Profile

Luigii wrote:

Maybe you'll like it but I don't have that much high hopes.

I've rated it already, which is why I got confused. I did like it somewhat more than this album, but neo-soul is generally just too slow and self-similar for me.

planetneutral Profile

planetneutral Master Rating Log ID#: 00777
Rating Date: 2021-02-23

Surrealistic Pillow by Jefferson Airplane
Year of Release: 1967

Rating: 85

Posted comment: In some ways, this album is the beginning of the end of what was good about 1960s San Francisco's musical influence. But it's a grand pronouncement to the world.

Notes: 95% of the way home on the Rolling Stone list.

Included in...
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums? 2003: #146 2012: #146 2020: #471
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (repeatedly revised 2005-2018)? Y
1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die (2008)? N
planetneutral's music collection? N
planetneutral's Decade list (min. 70 rating)? #33 of 88

Rating metadata
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums 2020 rating order: #475 of 500 (95.0% of all items rated - avg. 77.0)
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums 2003/2012/2020 Combined List rating order: #500 of 692 (72.2% of all items rated - avg. 76.7)
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 2005/2013/2017/2018 Combined List rating order: #575 of 1,078 (53.2% of all items rated - avg. 74.2)
1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die rating order: n/a of 1,000 (21.3% of all items rated - avg. 79.5)

Last edited by planetneutral on 02/26/2021 04:21; edited 2 times in total

planetneutral Profile

planetneutral Master Rating Log ID#: 00778
Rating Date: 2021-02-24

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Ctrl by SZA
Year of Release: 2017

Rating: 65

Posted comment: Definitely not bad as alt-R&B goes, but most songs are still too slow to really appeal to me.

Notes:

Included in...
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums? 2003: N 2012: N 2020: #472
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (repeatedly revised 2005-2018)? Y
1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die (2008)? N
planetneutral's music collection? N
planetneutral's Decade list (min. 70 rating)? N

Rating metadata
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums 2020 rating order: #476 of 500 (95.2% of all items rated - avg. 77.0)
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums 2003/2012/2020 Combined List rating order: #501 of 692 (72.4% of all items rated - avg. 76.7)
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 2005/2013/2017/2018 Combined List rating order: #576 of 1,078 (53.4% of all items rated - avg. 74.2)
1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die rating order: n/a of 1,000 (21.3% of all items rated - avg. 79.5)

Last edited by planetneutral on 02/26/2021 04:20; edited 1 time in total

planetneutral Profile

planetneutral Master Rating Log ID#: 00779
Rating Date: 2021-02-25

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Barrio Fino by Daddy Yankee
Year of Release: 2017

Rating: 45

Posted comment: I suspect my inability to understand most of the lyrics was to this album's advantage. Still pretty rough on the ears.

Notes: Well, I think we have a new least-favorite in the Rolling Stone list. Took over 95% of the list for me to finally rate something below 50.

Included in...
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums? 2003: N 2012: N 2020: #473
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (repeatedly revised 2005-2018)? N
1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die (2008)? N
planetneutral's music collection? N
planetneutral's Decade list (min. 70 rating)? N

Rating metadata
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums 2020 rating order: #477 of 500 (95.4% of all items rated - avg. 76.9)
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums 2003/2012/2020 Combined List rating order: #502 of 692 (72.4% of all items rated - avg. 76.6)
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 2005/2013/2017/2018 Combined List rating order: n/a of 1,078 (53.4% of all items rated - avg. 74.2)
1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die rating order: n/a of 1,000 (21.3% of all items rated - avg. 79.5)

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