Top 10+ Music, Movies, and Visual Art of the Week (2020 - 2026) - Music Diaries

AfterHours · 2020-01-03T12:42:55-05:00

WHAT IS THIS LOG??? This is a log where, over the course of a given week or set of weeks, I consistently track about 90% (or even as much as 100%, but not always) of the Rock, Jazz and Classical music I am listening to, and/or the Films, Paintings/Visual Art I am viewing. Sometimes I track all of it but when I am extra busy this is almost never the case. For the given week(s) I also rank all the selections. The rankings on this log only reflect how much I favored them during the given period of time, not "overall" or "all-time". Therefore, while higher rated works will more frequently out-perform works rated lower than them, this will not always be the case -- they will not always reflect the same rankings on my "Greatest" lists. Just because a work is rated above another does not mean I enjoy it more 100% of the time (just most of the time; closer to 100% the wider the ratings differential). Many factors can make me temporarily favor a lesser rated work over a higher rated one, including but not limited to: -Very often, a new work to me will rank higher than it usually might, even above others with higher ratings, due to being temporarily enhanced by the excitement of discovery. There can be a similar "excitement of discovery" when I've made a new realization about a familiar work, and especially if I've just upgraded it to a higher rating, or am considering doing so. -My mood or perhaps even something in my personal life during the given week(s) may cause me to temporarily favor a particular genre or expressive type. -I may be particularly focused on a genre or artist or type of art (etc) so my interest is more heightened towards those over others during the given week(s). -One of the factors taken into account for the rankings here is how much time I spent on a work and/or how much I listened to, viewed or evaluated the work during the given week(s). Ex: If I listened to Highway 61 Revisited 10 times but Velvet Underground and Nico only 1 time, there is a very good chance I was much more consumed by Highway 61 Revisited during that time frame, and it will likely out-rank it here, even if otherwise I usually would favor, rate and rank Velvet Underground and Nico above it. These kinds of factors are temporary and are ultimately not given permanent consideration in my overall ratings and rankings as they usually only apply for a matter of days or a week or two, so would tend to represent a minority of my experiences with a work. My overall ratings reflect the ranking and rating that work most consistently sustains over the course of time, not fleetingly. On this log, a higher ranking than expected for a lower rated work can be a legitimate reflection that I am strongly considering upgrading it. Similarly, a lower ranking than expected for a higher rated work can be a legitimate reflection that I am considering downgrading it. But neither of these are always the case -- just an indication that it might be. Sometimes, more revisits may be needed to make a final determination, especially if with a work that has been stably rated and ranked for a considerable period of time before that. To qualify for inclusion here, the work has to rate 6.8 or above -- or at least did so at some point during the given week(s). If I include an additional "Top 10+" for lower rated works (such as 4.8/10-6.7/10) then of course those can be included as indicated. Below the "Top 10+" list(s), you will find where I log any ratings changes to the music, films or paintings/visual art for the given week(s). This has usually been reserved for ratings changes to works rated 6.8/10+ (or upgraded to this), unless otherwise indicated. Ratings updates initially colored in BLUE are those I've revisited within the given week(s) or, if not, very recently before that (close enough). Ratings updates initially colored in RED are not based on a revisit of the work DURING the listed week(s) or very recently, but usually a result of ratings tweaks being made in comparison to others or it may be part of a "domino effect" of changes that can follow from a change in my ratings scale or a general reconsideration of an artist, type of work, genre, etc. Below that you will find where I track my "Top 50 Works of Art of the Year". These are what I favored the most over that year, whether the work is new or old to me. The higher the ranking, the more I favored that work and the more it dominated my interests over the course of that year. Again, this will not always reflect the same rankings as one will find on my overall "Greatest" lists, as it is for that year only, but will certainly tend to favor the higher rated works. Very rarely does anything below 8.8/10 end up winning for the year, and if it did, it was probably considered 8.8/10 or above at that time even if not any more. This log started back around 2008-2009 on a site called listology (that crashed later) and began as just a really good way to track what I was listening to or viewing and also became a good foundation from which to build my lists from as they were rapidly growing at that time (especially as these had expanded between rock, jazz, classical, cinema, and later, paintings). Updates could be difficult to keep up with as my lists expanded and this log became a good source to see them all in one spot so one didn't have to keep checking each individual list out to see if anything had changed. This log also soon became a good source from which a lot of interesting discussion would take place, and this remains my favorite reason for keeping it running. It is also just sort of a personal "game" (so to speak) with myself, to keep my interest and discipline peeked along the way, to help keep my mind "sharp" in thinking with and determining ratings/rankings along the way and across a huge scale of qualitative increments. Outside of that, the "Top 10+" rankings for each week or set of weeks, the "Top 50 of the year" rankings, and so on, are rather meaningless in the scheme of things, in that they're ultimately not too essential for the main lists that I work on but rather "notes" or a reflection of my thinking along the way. It's all terribly nerdy, of course, but it works for me, and over the years some users across listology and BEA seem to have found it of some interest too, and that community and discussion has been helpful for me in fine tuning my lists, my views, criteria, analyses, etc (and hopefully, helpful both ways, too). Ultimately, my favorite result is if the log leads to interesting discussion about the works themselves, about ratings/rankings, about discoveries in art, and the like. So if you feel inclined to share your thoughts or have a question, or have a recommendation, you are more than welcome to do so. I try to take up all discussion and answer all questions. Generally speaking, all are welcome (particularly those that are genuine, not trolling). Naturally, those questions best aligned to which works/genre(s) I'm most currently featuring on this log (which also displays my immediate, active interests), are (usually) those that get the better and quicker responses. If I am very focused on a particular art or genre, I am not usually all that good at discussing much about another, as I am best with those I am actively invested in, being inspired by and actively thinking about. While there are certain common denominators that make all art comparable, each art tends to require its own way of thinking and evaluating it in its own contexts, and I tend to get fairly immersed in this alone when I am seriously invested in a particular genre or type of work, therefore I find it difficult to shake that mindset and discuss other works as freely and with as much interest. That said, if you have something to say or ask about any of the various arts I pursue, whether I am actively logging it or not, just go for it. It can never hurt and I'm not here to stop or inhibit you from saying what you want when you want to say it. Even if I don't give a good answer right then and there, it's harmless to get it out there and we can always come back to it when it's more aligned to my active interests (and you can always remind me later too). One last note: I lead a fairly busy life and when I am replying or posting on BEA, it is usually in between things plus often from my phone (not the best for typing). So although I usually keep a BEA tab open throughout the day for quick access, I am not (usually) ACTIVELY on the site for more than short spurts of time here and there and am often hurried when I reply or say something. So forgive me if those replies can be haphazard (poorly written, punctuated, descriptively rushed, etc). They are usually a bit sloppy with me banking on the hope that I still got the gist of my main idea(s) across. You are always welcome to follow up if you want clarification or don't know what the hell I meant! I can usually explain something better if I return to it with a little more time or by the second or third crack at it (we hope), but I usually don't try and further clarify any of these unless someone continues the discussion or asks me to. My more official reviews/analyses for a given work (though infrequent) tend to be better, more well thought out, better detailed and specified, examples of what I actually think about said work(s) than my often haphazard replies or the notes in this log, which are usually more the "gist" or "general idea" or an "abbreviated version" of my thoughts. So take my more haphazard replies/notes with that in mind, and feel free to ask further if I haven't explained myself well enough. I do hope to add more official reviews/analyses in the future. _________________________________ Top 10+ Music, Movies, and Visual Art of the Week (2020) NOTE: This is a log of my favorite works of music, cinema and/or visual art for the given week(s). The rankings here will not necessarily parallel my overall rankings, as these are only what I favored for the given week(s). To qualify for inclusion, the work must be rated 6.8/10 or better (or at least was at some point during the week). This log will also include updated ratings for my various lists (below the "Top 10+" section) Below that, there will be a running listing of my "Top 50 Works of Art of the Year". This is simply a log of my favorite art over the course of this whole year, whether old or new to me. This list is cumulative, week-to-week, until its final standings at the end of the year. Recommendations and suggestions welcome. For my criteria, go here: http://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15503 Bold = Newly added Bold + Italics = Was already listed but recently upgraded/downgraded Top 10+ Music, Movies, and Visual Art of the Week(s): 1-1-2020 - 1-12-2020 The Doors - The Doors (1966) Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan (1966) Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan (1965) The Third Man - Carol Reed (1949) A Genuine Tong Funeral - Carla Bley/Gary Burton (1967) Volunteers - Jefferson Airplane (1969) We Insist! Freedom Now Suite - Max Roach (1960) All Bitches Die - Lingua Ignota (2017) Let the Evil of His Own Lips Cover Him - Lingua Ignota (2017) ...NOT RATED YET ... but probably at least 7.5+ & excellent chance at 7.8+ with further listens Sunset Boulevard - Billy Wilder (1950) Millions Now Living Will Never Die - Tortoise (1996) History of Heat - Sadaf (2019) ...NOT RATED YET ... but probably at least 7.3+ & solid chance at 7.8+ with further listens Everybody Knows This is Nowhere - Neil Young (1969) Suspicion - Alfred Hitchcock (1941) Once Upon A Time In Hollywood - Quentin Tarantino (2019) ...Echoes Tarantino's influences throughout, such as Sergio Leone, Welles (Touch of Evil), Scorsese, old B movies (etc). The whole film plays with the idea of a "western within a western", and its nostalgic recreation of late 60s Hollywood makes several references to the present while also being the past. The ending in which Tarantino subverts history, replaces it with his own ultra violent resolution, thus giving the middle finger to his critics that have denounced him for this very thing, can be viewed from several angles. Here he seems to be using it to alter the course of history, as a force of "good", to rearrange the trajectory of the very period and sort of filmmaking that shaped his own, but this is also left very ambigious, open ended and allusory for the viewer to recreate how events may have transpired in this new "course of history", and thus rendering the whole period lovingly immortal instead of its actual horrific end. Here he seems to transform the "end of the 60s" (which Tate's murder symbolized) into an immortalization of it, lending extra creedence to the nostalgia trip we've partaken in with him in all the previous scenes (which seemed shaky in their necessity, or were they?). Is Tarantino also alluding to not just a salvaging of a bygone hollywood era but perhaps Polanski too thus rewriting the trajectory of his life and potentially altering a key historical precedent to the recent Hollywood climate to which Tarantino himself has been lambasted for ("#Metoo" etc)? Im not sure but the film begs many such possible questions/ambiguities and interpretations in its apparent motivations and in its many quotations (of Leone, Welles, through the revisionist characters and events, etc) and the many possible allusions stemming from this. This may all hold the potential for one of the better films of the decade, potentially very intriguing in the context of a swansong and the conflation of period, Hollywood, Tarantino's influences, personality and juxtaposition with the time-line and inspiration of his life and career. Quite an interesting work and extraordinary in ways, but overall I am somewhat torn on just how great it is. But as noted, there seems potential left for much more interpretation and significance depending on just how profoundly Tarantino has conflated these elements and influences with his own art and how well this holds up through multiple views (does it hold up AS cinema, IN the filmic language itself or is too much of this only relevant if you know the history, backstories etc?). At times Tarantino's integration seems significant while during stretches I wasn't sure, or perhaps missed the correlation... Well worth another viewing or more, with potential for upgrade. Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix (1967) Miracle in Milan - Vittorio de Sica (1951) Pavilion of Dreams - Harold Budd (1978) Let My Children Hear Music - Charles Mingus (1972) Late For the Sky - Jackson Browne (1974) Laura - Otto Preminger (1944) Odd Man Out - Carol Reed (1947) A Better Tomorrow - John Woo (1986) This Year's Model - Elvis Costello (1978) Blood On The Tracks - Bob Dylan (1975) FAMILIAR ROCK/JAZZ ALBUMS - RE-RATED: Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan (1965) 8.2/10 to 8.3/10 Let My Children Hear Music - Charles Mingus (1972) 8.3/10 to 8.2/10 Pavilion of Dreams - Harold Budd (1978) 8.3/10 to 7.9/10 NEWLY ASSIMILATED ROCK/JAZZ ALBUMS - RATED: All Bitches Die - Lingua Ignota (2017) 7.6/10 FAMILIAR FILMS - RE-RATED: The Third Man - Carol Reed (1949) 7.3/10 to 7.6/10 Miracle in Milan - Vittorio de Sica (1951) 8.1/10 to 7.6/10 Suspicion - Alfred Hitchcock (1941) Not Rated to 7.3/10 Laura - Otto Preminger (1944) 7.3/10 to 7.0/10 A Better Tomorrow - John Woo (1986) Not Rated to 7.0/10 NEWLY ASSIMILATED FILMS - RATED: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood - Quentin Tarantino (2019) 7.1/10 Odd Man Out - Carol Reed (1947) 7.0/10 TOP 50 WORKS OF ART OF THE YEAR (2019) PAST WINNERS: 1995 - 2018 (NOTE: My series of "Top 10 of the Week" lists only actually goes back to 2008. Prior to that are simply my noted favorite works of each given year without any attempt to keep further record) 2018: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor "Choral" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1824) 2017: Sistine Chapel (Ceiling & The Last Judgement) - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541) 2016: Sistine Chapel (Ceiling & The Last Judgement) - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541) 2015: Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (1968) 2014: Sistine Chapel (Ceiling & The Last Judgement) - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541) 2013: Requiem - Giuseppe Verdi (1874) 2012: Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941) 2011: Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941) 2010: Symphony No. 9 in D Major - Gustav Mahler (1910) 2009: Nostalghia - Andrei Tarkovsky (1983) 2008: The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady - Charles Mingus (1963) 2007: Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart (1968) 2006: Rock Bottom - Robert Wyatt (1974) 2005: A Love Supreme - John Coltrane (1964) 2004: Kid A - Radiohead (2000) 2003: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco (2002) 2002: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel (1998) 2001: Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (1968) 2000: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor - Ludwig van Beethoven (1824) 1999: Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor - J.S. Bach (1723) 1998: OK Computer - Radiohead (1997) 1997: The Bends - Radiohead (1995) 1996: 2001: A Space Odyssey - Stanley Kubrick (1968) 1995: Throwing Copper - Live (1995) TOP 50 WORKS OF ART OF THE YEAR (2019) 1. Rock Bottom - Robert Wyatt (1974) 2. The Doors - The Doors (1966) 3. Sistine Chapel (Ceiling & The Last Judgement) - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541) 4. Ys - Joanna Newsom (2006) 5. Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor - Ludwig van Beethoven (1822) 6. Symphony No. 9 in D Major - Gustav Mahler (1910) 7. Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan (1966) 8. The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground (1966) 9. Das Lied von der Erde - Gustav Mahler (1909) 10. String Quintet in C Major - Franz Schubert (1828) 11. Mass in B Minor - Johann Sebastian Bach (1749) 12. Symphony No. 9 in C Major "The Great" - Franz Schubert (1826) 13. Symphony No. 5 - Gustav Mahler (1902) 14. Requiem - Guisseppe Verdi (1874) 15. Symphony No. 9 in D Minor "Choral" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1824) 16. Down Colorful Hill - Red House Painters (1992) 17. Symphony No. 5 in C Minor - Ludwig van Beethoven (1808) 18. Elektra - Richard Strauss (1909) 19. Don Giovanni - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1787) 20. Symphony No. 41 in C Major - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1788) 21. Dreamtime Return - Steve Roach (1988) 22. Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix (1968) 23. Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino (1994) 24. Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major "Hammerklavier" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1818) 25. Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major "Eroica" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1804) 26. Winterreise - Franz Schubert (1828) 27. Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart (1969) 28. The Blue Angel - Josef Von Sternberg (1930) 29. M - Fritz Lang (1931) 30. Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette (1995) 31. Desertshore - Nico (1970) 32. Pelléas et Mélisande - Claude Debussy (1898) 33. Peter Grimes - Benjamin Britten (1945) 34. Variations in Dream-time - Anthony Davis (1982) 35. Symphony No. 5 in E Minor - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1888) 36. The Days of Wine & Roses - Dream Syndicate (1982) 37. Sonata in G minor for Piano and Cello, Op. 19 - Sergei Rachmaninoff (1901) 38. Exile On Main Street - The Rolling Stones (1972) 39. Loveless - My Bloody Valentine (1991) 40. Glagolitic Mass - Leos Janacek (1926) 41. Symphony No. 8 in G major - Antonin Dvorak (1889) 42. Quartet for the End of Time - Olivier Messiaen (1941) 43. Fidelio - Ludwig van Beethoven (1805; revised 1806-1814) 44. Dimension Gate - Aurora (1994) 45. Master Of Puppets - Metallica (1986) 46. Post to Wire - Heather Duby (1999) 47. Frigid Stars - Codeine (1990) 48. Hejira - Joni Mitchell (1976) 49. Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (1968) 50. Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta - Bela Bartok (1936) TOP 50 WORKS OF ART OF THE DECADE (2010-2019) 1. Sistine Chapel (Ceiling & The Last Judgement) - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541) 2. Symphony No. 9 in D Major - Gustav Mahler (1910) 3. Symphony No. 9 in D Minor "Choral" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1824) 4. Rock Bottom - Robert Wyatt (1974) 5. The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground (1967) 6. Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941) 7. The Doors - The Doors (1967) 8. Brazil - Terry Gilliam (1985) 9. Peasants' War Panorama - Werner Tubke (1987) 10. The Garden of Earthly Delights - Hieronymus Bosch (circa 1500) 11. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel (1998) 12. Ys - Joanna Newsom (2006) 13. Symphony No. 9 in C Major "The Great" - Franz Schubert (1826) 14. Requiem - Guisseppe Verdi (1874) 15. Down Colorful Hill - Red House Painters (1992) 16. Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan (1966) 17. Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor - Ludwig van Beethoven (1822) 18. Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band (1969) 19. Symphony No. 15 in A Major - Dmitri Shostakovich (1971) 20. Symphony No. 4 in E Minor - Johannes Brahms (1884) 21. Mass in B Minor - Johann Sebastian Bach (1749) 22. Touch of Evil - Orson Welles (1958) 23. Nostalghia - Andrei Tarkovsky (1983) 24. Faust - Faust (1971) 25. Symphony No. 5 in C Minor - Ludwig van Beethoven (1808) 26. Glagolitic Mass - Leos Janacek (1926) 27. The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady - Charles Mingus (1963) 28. A Love Supreme - John Coltrane (1964) 29. Metropolis - Fritz Lang (1927) 30. Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World" - Antonin Dvorak (1893) 31. Symphony No. 41 in C Major - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1788) 32. Symphony No. 3 in F Major - Johannes Brahms (1883) 33. Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major "Eroica" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1804) 34. Have One On Me - Joanna Newsom (2010) 35. The River - Bruce Springsteen (1980) 36. Even the Sounds Shine - Myra Melford (1994) 37. Variations in Dream-time - Anthony Davis (1982) 38. Lady of the Mirrors - Anthony Davis (1980) 39. Improvisie - Paul Bley (1971) 40. Philosophy, Medicine & Jurisprudence - Gustav Klimt (1907) 41. The Reminiscences of Judge Schulze (Parts II, III, & VII) - Werner Tubke (1967) 42. The Beethoven Frieze - Gustav Klimt (1902) 43. Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock (1958) 44. Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (1968) 45. Werckmeister Harmonies - Bela Tarr (2000) 46. Afternoon of a Georgia Faun - Marion Brown (1970) 47. Ptah, the El Daoud - Alice Coltrane (1970) 48. Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino (1994) 49. Taxi Driver - Martin Scorsese (1976) 50. Hex - Bark Psychosis (1994)

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Piero Scaruffi, in an email to RYMer stillbeaches1, just shared

“Hejira and Blue are interchangeable but if i have to pick one, Blue impressed me intellectually and Hejira touched me emotionally, and i'm getting old and emotional :-)"
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The fact that…

What your favorite Beatles album says about you:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Don’t take the “hate” too seriously… I’m poking fun at them yes, but also both sides of the argument, simultaneously satirical and serious…

Yes, I think they’re very overrated, and the ratings below ARE what I really think, however I do rate them a little bit better than Scaruffi and do think he (kind of) overstates some of his points even if I feel they are more accurate than not — even where he exaggerates or over-generalizes, I still get what’s “correct” about it and where he is coming from, especially in relation to the rather widespread assertions that they are “clearly the greatest band (artists, etc) of all time” — a very ridiculous notion in my view (sorry here comes added dose of elitism…) if one consumes and compares with the greatest music/art of all time

Note: ratings subject to change. I’ll probably go through a portion, maybe all of the early ones, in two rounds to fine tune… It usually takes me a few Beatles albums to get acclimated to rating, especially their largely superficial early fluff with more and more (hopefully?) accuracy. The energy and melody is of course pretty much its (only) attraction as most of it amounts to very very little “emotional, conceptual, thematic content” behind that (they are by and large pointless little songs, where almost “nothing” of note is experienced, saying literally “nothing” about anything that isn’t a dime a dozen in every single art form, any given year, from almost any random collection of mainstream or chart topping artists one could name — just minor, silly variations of — basically — a very superficial layer of energy and melody about love when you get right down to it — virtually no creative insight, depth, experiential content about…) besides all of it being about almost the same god damn thing over and over again 🫢 This dichotomy (sorta entertaining, occasionally mildly arresting at its very best, cheery energy vs more or less “empty” content) offers very little import, significance, “content” to grasp and to observe, to listen to, with a good sense of a finite rating — basically because there is so little there. In a sense, these very low ratings can be a similar phenomena as the higher ratings (an advancement towards an infinitude of meaning, emotional, conceptual, creative depth) however it is in reverse the lower you go towards an “infinitude” of empty, pointless, superficial emotions, concepts, creativity, minimal significance, minimal depth, increasingly inconsequential … etc.

So in a way they can be similarly difficult to get a qualitative grip on. Maybe these are really just masterpieces on the order of The Divine Comedy after all? 🤥

EARLY ROCK, THE BEATLES AND CONTEMPORARIES (DATE ORDER)

Rock N' Roll Stage Show - Bill Haley and His Comets (1956) 4.5/10 to 5.1/10; 5.1/10 to 5.2/10 / SCARUFFI: unofficial 5/10 from a very old list but no listed ratings in bio or otherwise
Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley (1956) 2.9/10 to 3.2/10 / SCARUFFI: 3/10 Tracks: 1: 3.8 / 2: 3.0 / 3: 3.3 / 4: 3.1 / 5: 3.4 / 6: 2.9 / 7: 2.9 / 8: 2.9 / 9: 2.9 / 10: 2.9 / 11: 3.3 / 12: 3.1
The "Chirping" Crickets - The Crickets (1957) 4.5/10 to 5.8/10 / SCARUFFI: unofficial 6/10 from a very old list but no listed ratings in bio or otherwise
Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley (rec: 1955-58; rel: 1958) [Compilation] 4.9/10 to 5.6/10 / SCARUFFI: unofficial 6/10 from a very old list but no listed ratings in bio or otherwise
After School Session - Chuck Berry (1958) 4.8/10 to 5.7/10 / SCARUFFI: unofficial 6/10 from a very old list but no listed ratings in bio or otherwise
Twist & Shout - The Isley Brothers (1962) 3.3/10 to 3.9/10 / SCARUFFI: unofficial 4/10 from a very old list but no listed ratings in bio or otherwise
Peter Paul & Mary - Peter Paul & Mary (1962) Not Rated to 3.0/10 / SCARUFFI: unofficial 3/10 from a very old list but no listed ratings in bio or otherwise
Howlin’ Wolf - Howlin’ Wolf (1962) Not Rated to 6.2/10 / SCARUFFI: unofficial 6/10 from a very old list but no listed ratings in bio or otherwise
Surfin' Safari - Beach Boys (1962) Maintained 2.8/10 / SCARUFFI: 3/10 Tracks: 1: 3.2 / 2: 3.2 / 3: 2.7 / 4: 2.7 / 5: 2.7 / 6: 2.6 / 7: 2.6 / 8: 2.6 / 9: 2.7 / 10: 2.7 / 11: 2.8 / 12: 2.7
Surfin' USA - Beach Boys (1963) Not Rated to 3.0/10 / SCARUFFI: 3/10 Tracks: 1: 3.5 / 2: 3.1 / 3: 2.9 / 4: 2.5 / 5: 3.1 / 6: 2.9 / 7: 2.8 / 8: 2.5 / 9: 2.6 / 10: 3.1 / 11: 3.1 / 12: 2.9
Please Please Me - The Beatles (1963) 3.5/10 to 3.9/10 / SCARUFFI: 3/10 Tracks: 1: 5.1 / 2: 3.5 / 3: 3.6 / 4: 3.3 / 5: 3.7 / 6: 3.2 / 7: 4.3 / 8: 4.8 / 9: 3.1 / 10: 3.1 / 11: 2.9 / 12: 3.7 / 13: 3.0 / 14: 4.5
Sugar and Spice - The Searchers (1963) TBD … first revisit in years, but probably 3, 3.5, 4… / SCARUFFI: unofficial 3/10 from a very old list but no current bio or listed ratings otherwise
How Do You Like It? - Gerry and the Pacemakers (1963) 3.0/10 to 3.5/10 / SCARUFFI: unofficial 3/10 from a very old list but no current bio or listed ratings otherwise Tracks: 1: 3.8 / 2: 3.5 / 3: 3.1 / 4: 2.9 / 5: 3.1 / 6: 3.1 / 7: 3.4 / 8: 3.0 / 9: 3.2 / 10: 3.5 / 11: 3.5 / 12: 3.2 / 13: 3.4 / 14: 3.6
With The Beatles - The Beatles (1963) 3.7/10 to 3.9/10 / SCARUFFI: 3/10 Tracks: 1: 5.2 / 2: 3.4 / 3: 3.6 / 4: 3.0 / 5: 3.6 / 6: 3.3 / 7: 4.8 / 8: 4.2 / 9: 3.2 / 10: 3.0 / 11: 4.3 / 12: 3.1 / 13: 3.0 / 14: 3.7
Meet The Beatles - The Beatles (1963) 4.4/10 to 4.2/10 / SCARUFFI: 4/10 Tracks: 1: 4.1 / 2: 5.1 / 3: 3.6 / 4: 5.2 / 5: 3.4 / 6: 3.6 / 7: 3.0 / 8: 3.6 / 9: 3.3 / 10: 4.2 / 11: 4.3 / 12: 3.0
Surfin’' Bird - The Trashmen (1964) 3.3/10 (WTF??? Must’ve had this confused with some other “surf” album or Trashmen CD when I rated this?) …to 5.9/10 / SCARUFFI: unofficial 6/10 from a very old list but no listed ratings in bio or otherwise
A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles (1964) Maintained 5.2/10 / SCARUFFI: 5/10 Tracks: 1: 6.0 / 2: 4.2 / 3: 3.9 / 4: 3.0 / 5: 4.8 / 6: 4.8 / 7: 5.4 / 8: 5.1 / 9: 4.6 / 10: 4.5 / 11: 5.1 / 12: 4.8 / 13: 5.0
Beatles For Sale - The Beatles (1964) 3.0/10 to 4.3/10; 4.3/10 to 4.4/10 / SCARUFFI: 3/10 1: 5.9 / 2: 4.3 / 3: 4.4 / 4: 4.4 / 5: 4.6 / 6: 4.0 / 7: 3.6 / 8: 5.3 / 9: 3.0 / 10: 3.4 / 11: 3.4 / 12: 4.1 / 13: 3.5 / 14: 3.2
Help! - The Beatles (1964) 4.4/10 to 4.6/10 / SCARUFFI: 3/10 Tracks: 1: 6.1 / 2: 4.2 / 3: 5.5 / 4: 2.9 / 5: 3.0 / 6: 4.5 / 7: 5.8 / 8: 3.2 / 9: 4.6 / 10: 2.9 / 11: 3.4 / 12: 4.1 / 13: 5.8 / 14: 3.8
Rubber Soul - The Beatles (1965) 5.5/10 to 5.4/10 / SCARUFFI: 5/10 Tracks: 1: 5.0 / 2: 5.8 / 3: 4.4 / 4: 5.7 / 5: 4.5 / 6: 4.2 / 7: 5.7 / 8: 3.2 / 9: 5.7 / 10: 4.1 / 11: 5.2 / 12: 4.4 / 13: 5.2 / 14: 5.1
Revolver - The Beatles (1966) Maintained 5.5/10 / SCARUFFI: 5/10 Tracks: 1: 5.8 / 2: 5.8 / 3: 5.8 / 4: 5.1 / 5: 4.0 / 6: 5.1 / 7: 5.1 / 8: 4.0 / 9: 4.5 / 10: 4.4 / 11: 3.8 / 12: 4.5 / 13: 4.5 / 14: 6.8
The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground (1966) Maintained 9.2/10 / SCARUFFI: 9/10 Tracks (maybe … so much their “own art form” that they are difficult to rate): 1: 6.8 / 2: 6.9 / 3: 6.4 / 4: 7.6 / 5: 5.9 / 6: 7.2 / 7: 7.6 / 8: 5.8 / 9: 6.1 / 10: 6.8 / 11: 7.4

OTHER UPDATES (RATED ORDER):

Rock Bottom - Robert Wyatt (1974) Maintained 9.5/10 … maybe 9.4, depends on which ratings win out, any given listen, for the tracks… / SCARUFFI: 9.5/10 Tracks: 1: 7.2 / 2: 6.8 or 6.9 / 3: 7.0 or 7.1 / 4+5: 8.5 / 6: 7.5 … fwiw: 1st half, 1-3 = 7.9; 2nd half, 4-6 = 9.0; all combined, cumulative overall quality and score: 9.5 or maybe highest 9.4
Jar of Flies - Alice In Chains (1993) 6.0/10 to 6.2/10 … very possibly 6.3+ / SCARUFFI: 6/10
Alice In Chains - Alice In Chains (1995) 5.5/10 to 6.1/10 / SCARUFFI: 6/10
Sea Change - Beck (2002) 5.8/10 to 6.1/10 / SCARUFFI: 6/10
DAMN - Kendrick Lamar (2017) 5.4/10 to 5.9/10 / SCARUFFI: 6/10
My Own Prison - Creed (1997) 5.4/10 to 5.8/10 … apologies to all who trusted me to remain hip and legit, the only valid explanation and excuse for giving in to this must be that I am old enough to miss the 90s… / SCARUFFI: 6/10
Automatic For The People - R.E.M (1992) 5.6/10 to 5.7/10 / SCARUFFI: 5/10
A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay (2002) 5.1/10 to 5.6/10; 5.6/10 to 5.7/10 / SCARUFFI: 5/10 Tracks: 1: 6.0 / 2: 5.3 / 3: 4.4 / 4: 5.1 / 5: 6.3 / 7: 5.3 / 8: 4.5 / 9: 4.8 / 10: 4.2 / 11: 4.3
Hot Fuss - The Killers (2007) 5.2/10 to 5.4/10
Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em - MC Hammer (1990) 3.1/10 to 5.0/10 / SCARUFFI: 5/10
Let's Get It Started - MC Hammer (1988) Maintained 4.8/10 / SCARUFFI: 5/10
Human Clay - Creed (1999) Not Rated to 4.7/10 / SCARUFFI: 4/10
The State - Nickelback (2000) 2.5/10 to 4.5/10 / SCARUFFI: 5/10
Forever Your Girl - Paula Abdul (1988) Maintained 4.4/10
The Fame - Lady Gaga (2008) Not Rated to 4.2/10 / SCARUFFI: 4/10
Out of the Blue - Debbie Gibson (1987) Maintained 3.9/10
Too Legit to Quit - MC Hammer (1991) Not Rated to 3.8/10 / SCARUFFI: 4/10
Spice - Spice Girls (1996) 2.9/10 to 3.8/10
Music For The People - Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch (1991) 2.3/10 to 3.7/10 … so noisily, artificial, and puffed-out-chest-bravado-terrible, that it approaches being almost good (ironically, comically) by sheer force of will … its also hilariously unclear if it’s an intentional joke, even diametrically offensive and racist, or just an artist loudly and completely unaware of his lack of talent and fake social consciousness … does any of that make this the “Trout Mask Replica of Pop Rap” all hip hop fans have been begging for? Scaruffi’s first 9/10 of hip hop?
Tiffany - Tiffany (1987) 2.6/10 to 3.1/10 Tracks: 1: 2.9 / 2: 3.8 / 3: 2.8 / 4: 2.7 / 5: 3.1 / 6: 2.8 / 7: 2.8 / 8: 2.7 / 9: 3.3 / 10: 3.2
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Last edited by AfterHours on 08/12/2026 16:51; edited 11 times in total

DommeDamian Imperfect, sensitive Aspie with a melody addiction Profile
where the flowers grow.

AfterHours wrote:

Never heard that album but I do want to say it is greatly exaggerated in general that myself, Scaruffi, “Scaruffists” dont like melody or catchy music.

It would be true to say we don’t tend to favor EMPTY (unearned, lacking emotional content, inconsequential, superficial, lacking meaning…) melodic or catchy music. But this would also hold true for ANY style of music (melodious, catchy or dissonant, chaotic…).

Several of the catchiest works ever populate among the highest or exceptional ratings of my lists whether it be In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (among the catchiest albums ever), Springsteens The River (loaded with passionate, vigorous melody), Lisa Germano, Magnetic Fields, Enos forays into pop, Pink Floyd’s Psych Pop (same category as Sgt Pepper, just more psych, more ferocity, more duality, more unique harmonically, more experimental), even Dead Kennedys (harsh yes, but among the most relentlessly catchy albums ever), Husker Du and The Doors in similar category this regard as DK … Jagged Little Pill, The Band, Roxy Music (practically Art Pop), Cyclops Nuclear Submarine Captain, Love, Dummy, Rickie Lee Jones, Julian Cope, Talking Heads, Underwater Moonlight, Arcade Fire, XTC, Belle and Sebastian, Decemberists, Prince, Stone Roses, Kanye West, Michael Jackson, Janelle Monae, Marvin Gaye, The Clash, Olivia Tremor Control… and so on…

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Mozarts Don Giovanni or other Opera or his best Symphonies (greatest melodist ever?) or his numerous Piano Concertos (absolutely supreme melodic examples from multiple varieties, themes, emotions), Schubert 9th, 8th, and other masterworks of piano, lieder… Tchaikovsky Symphonies, Piano concerto, Trio, VC … lots of Beethoven… Brahms… Bach Brandenburgs, VCs… Dvorak 9, 8, 7 etc … and so on…

And all sorts “mainstream” or (more or less) accessible “equivalents” in film/visual arts/Jazz like Chaplin, Nolan, Spielberg, Gilliam, Welles, Hitchcock … or Birth of the Cool, Light as a Feather, early Coltrane, Mingus Ah Um, Brilliant Corner … Visual arts a bit harder to compare but I feature highly the most popular artists ever (Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Leonardo, Rembrandt, Picasso, Bernini, Ruebens to an extent, Caravaggio, Bosch, Dali, Monet, Raphael, Botticelli …Munch Scream … etc) … Frank Lloyd Wright, Gaudi, The Taj Mahal, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Sydney Opera House, Golden Gate … and if you want to hold me to Pop Art even F111 and Portrait of the Bourgeois made it above 7.3!

Okay, sorry, I failed: no Harry Potter or Twilight featured for literature!!! 😄

(Hopefully my rep is salvaged by Vonnegut, Gatsby, Orwell, Carroll, Tolkien…!!! 🙏 )

Longer response in coming but I partially agree partially disagree
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DommeDamian wrote:

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Ok nice, Blackbird is a nice little song but were you trying to point out that they copied/transposed a passage of Bach so therefore Blackbird and/or White Album = Mass in B Minor (or Goldberg Variations, Well Tempered Clavier, Tocattas and Fugues … or Bourrée in E minor, etc?) Or that this makes them geniuses of a similar order as Bach or other great Classical composers?

For the record, they pretty much do a similar thing in In My Life…

Bach is a cornerstone of pretty much any pianists/keyboardists repertoire and his music is so fundamentally structural and of a perfect order to so much else, and so much a tenet and exemplar of musical form in general that one could probably just as well find it in Metallicas Master of Puppets album with how formally rhythmic it is and its tendency towards Baroque/Classical/cyclic form…

Or as in The Doors basically updating Bachs harpsichord concerto in Light My Fire…
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AfterHours wrote:

Music For The People - Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch (1991) 2.3/10 to 3.7/10 … so noisily, artificial, and puffed-out-chest-bravado-terrible, that it approaches being almost good (ironically, comically) by sheer force of will … its also hilariously unclear if it’s an intentional joke, even diametrically offensive and racist, or just an artist loudly and completely unaware of his lack of talent and fake social consciousness … does any of that make this the “Trout Mask Replica of Pop Rap” all hip hop fans have been begging for? Scaruffi’s first 9/10 of hip hop?

It could've reached 9/10 territory if it somehow synthesized Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions, Dalek's Untitled, and maybe Kanye's MBDTF or Impossible Nothing's Phoneminomicon. Those are probably the closest we'll get to a hip hop 9/10. But I think you're right about the lack of talent and fake social consciousness with that guy

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TiggaTrigga wrote:

AfterHours wrote:

Music For The People - Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch (1991) 2.3/10 to 3.7/10 … so noisily, artificial, and puffed-out-chest-bravado-terrible, that it approaches being almost good (ironically, comically) by sheer force of will … its also hilariously unclear if it’s an intentional joke, even diametrically offensive and racist, or just an artist loudly and completely unaware of his lack of talent and fake social consciousness … does any of that make this the “Trout Mask Replica of Pop Rap” all hip hop fans have been begging for? Scaruffi’s first 9/10 of hip hop?

It could've reached 9/10 territory if it somehow synthesized Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions, Dalek's Untitled, and maybe Kanye's MBDTF or Impossible Nothing's Phoneminomicon. Those are probably the closest we'll get to a hip hop 9/10. But I think you're right about the lack of talent and fake social consciousness with that guy

Yes!

Or maybe we just haven’t recognized Trout Mask Replica for the Southern Hip Hop album that it really is? 😉
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@Tigga

See? Better represented than you thought!

Greatest Hip Hop All Time

9.4: Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart (1969)
8.9: Y - The Pop Group (1979)
8.5: Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan (1965)
8.3: Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables - Dead Kennedy's (1980)
8.2: Double Nickels on the Dime - Minutemen (1984)
8.1: It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back - Public Enemy (1988)
8.0: Consumer Revolt - Cop Shoot Cop (1990)
7.9: Frizzle Fry - Primus (1990)
7.9: Roots - Sepultura (1995)
7.9: For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? - The Pop Group (1980)
7.8: White Noise - Cop Shoot Cop (1991)
7.7: I Lie Here Buried With My Rings and My Dresses - Backxwash (2021)
7.6: The Clash - The Clash (1977)
7.6: 77 - Talking Heads (1977)
7.6: The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem (2000)
7.6: Church Gone Wild/Chirpin' Hard - Hella (2005)
7.6: Fear of Music - Talking Heads (1979)
7.6: Tetsuo & Youth - Lupe Fiasco (2015)
7.5: Korn - Korn (1994)
7.5: The College Dropout - Kanye West (2004)
7.5: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West (2010)
7.4: Remain in Light - Talking Heads (1980)
7.4: Summertime '06 - Vince Staples (2015)
7.4: Smoke In The Shadows - Lydia Lunch (2004)
7.4: Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine (1992)
7.4: Clouddead - Clouddead
7.3: Delete Yourself - Atari Teenage Riot (1995)
7.3: The Cold Vein - Cannibal Ox (2001)
7.3: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill (1998)

Ok ok ok ok ok fine … a bit of a stretch on many of those…

Obviously I am just kind of amusing myself and don’t really think a lot of those are “hip hop” but it’s an amusing exercise that goes to show that the leap from their actual genres over to hip hop isn’t really all that much if you just think about these for a few seconds plus give it a touch of imagination beyond stricter genre trappings…
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DommeDamian Imperfect, sensitive Aspie with a melody addiction Profile
where the flowers grow.

AfterHours wrote:

TiggaTrigga wrote:

AfterHours wrote:

Music For The People - Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch (1991) 2.3/10 to 3.7/10 … so noisily, artificial, and puffed-out-chest-bravado-terrible, that it approaches being almost good (ironically, comically) by sheer force of will … its also hilariously unclear if it’s an intentional joke, even diametrically offensive and racist, or just an artist loudly and completely unaware of his lack of talent and fake social consciousness … does any of that make this the “Trout Mask Replica of Pop Rap” all hip hop fans have been begging for? Scaruffi’s first 9/10 of hip hop?

It could've reached 9/10 territory if it somehow synthesized Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions, Dalek's Untitled, and maybe Kanye's MBDTF or Impossible Nothing's Phoneminomicon. Those are probably the closest we'll get to a hip hop 9/10. But I think you're right about the lack of talent and fake social consciousness with that guy

Yes!

Or maybe we just haven’t recognized Trout Mask Replica for the Southern Hip Hop album that it really is? :wink:

Yo yo my favorite rapper Captain Beefheart, maaan. You'on wanna start no beef with Beefheart, he's got beef in 'is heart against society.
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DommeDamian Imperfect, sensitive Aspie with a melody addiction Profile
where the flowers grow.

AfterHours wrote:

@Tigga

See? Better represented than you thought!

Greatest Hip Hop All Time

9.4: Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart (1969)
8.9: Y - The Pop Group (1979)
8.5: Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan (1965)
8.3: Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables - Dead Kennedy's (1980)
8.2: Double Nickels on the Dime - Minutemen (1984)
8.1: It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back - Public Enemy (1988)
8.0: Consumer Revolt - Cop Shoot Cop (1990)
7.9: Frizzle Fry - Primus (1990)
7.9: Roots - Sepultura (1995)
7.9: For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? - The Pop Group (1980)
7.8: White Noise - Cop Shoot Cop (1991)
7.7: I Lie Here Buried With My Rings and My Dresses - Backxwash (2021)
7.6: The Clash - The Clash (1977)
7.6: 77 - Talking Heads (1977)
7.6: The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem (2000)
7.6: Church Gone Wild/Chirpin' Hard - Hella (2005)
7.6: Fear of Music - Talking Heads (1979)
7.6: Tetsuo & Youth - Lupe Fiasco (2015)
7.5: Korn - Korn (1994)
7.5: The College Dropout - Kanye West (2004)
7.5: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West (2010)
7.4: Remain in Light - Talking Heads (1980)
7.4: Summertime '06 - Vince Staples (2015)
7.4: Smoke In The Shadows - Lydia Lunch (2004)
7.4: Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine (1992)
7.4: Clouddead - Clouddead
7.3: Delete Yourself - Atari Teenage Riot (1995)
7.3: The Cold Vein - Cannibal Ox (2001)
7.3: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill (1998)

You forgot:
Rock Bottom: in Little Red Riding Hood Hit The Hood, the music is rapping and Robert don't like it, so he says "stoooop it"
Suicide: Rev's electro-beats and Alan is talking and making screams as adlibs, basically rap........right?
Spiderland: same as Suicide, just more reserved
White Light/White Heat: "sucking on my ding dong" out of context could be a rap lyric.
The Downward Spiral: Reznor rapper with industrial music reminiscent of hip hop grooves.
For Alto: he is rapping, but through a saxophone.
In The Court of The Crimson King: first song was sampled in Power, by Kanye West, who's a rapper.
Days of Wine And Roses: the drummer made an insane solo album playing with tapes. You know who else plays with tapes? That's right. DJs. Which is rap.
Slow Deep And Hard: this is metal. Metal is music. Rap is music. Therefore this is rap. 🤣
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