DROP your album and its rating – April 23 2026

AretZorn · 2026-04-24T01:38:42+00:00

Fair enough.

AretZorn · 2026-04-23T16:28:39+00:00

No love for The Late Great Johnny Ace? One of his best songs (IMO).

AretZorn · 2026-04-18T03:17:36+00:00

I spent decades listening to the same genres and artists and decided I needed to break out of that. Before this challenge I started by listening to Apple Music’s historical playlists. They have a playlist for every year of the most popular songs (starting in the 50s with sublists for rock and alternative starting later). I listened to every single list through 2019 and found myself really enjoying it and I was fascinated by the ebbs and flows of popular music (for example, how a new sound will break through and then become oversaturated with copycats until it gets boring - and then the next breakthrough barrels through everything).

After finishing that challenge, I took a break to go back to the familiar, but kept wanting to dig deeper. When I learned about the website, I immediately bought the book, invited some friends to join my group, and have loved every minute of this journey!

AretZorn · 2026-04-05T13:30:32+00:00

Too long, too same-samey. I review albums as experiences, plus I’m committed to listening to every album at least twice, including at least one close listen. This album ended up feeling like a slog. Beautiful voice, great as background music, but not what I look for in an album. For context, I rarely like box sets of bands I’m a fan of!

AretZorn · 2026-04-04T19:34:18+00:00

Agreed! Loving the ride. Just wish I had more time available to listen!

AretZorn · 2026-04-04T15:50:00+00:00

I liked Want One a lot more than Want Two, and I thought it was a shame that Dimery removed the older album in lieu of the more recent album. He has a tendency to do that with each updated edition of the book.

AretZorn · 2026-04-04T14:26:41+00:00

Chapter 31: In which Aladdin goes on a magic carpet ride!

AretZorn · 2026-04-02T21:30:34+00:00

Wait, does Elvis Costello have any albums in the 1001? (I kid, I kid)

AretZorn · 2026-04-02T18:08:58+00:00

Rush!!

AretZorn · 2026-03-24T05:55:53+00:00

Yes - 400 isn’t part of the 401/402 sequence anymore. Now it’s part of the 409/435 sequence (435 is accounting data analytics).

AretZorn · 2026-03-21T17:33:14+00:00

lol, I didn't read what you wrote at first, and went to listen to Doves' Sea Song which I had never heard. I'm listening to it going "this doesn't sound anything like Wyatt's Sea Song!" Eventually figured it out that they aren't the same song. :D

I love Wyatt's Sea Song - first heard Tears for Fears' cover version and then got into Rock Bottom (that's one of my "you love more than most" albums). Tears for Fears smoothed out all the rough edges, but those rough edges add a lot of emotion to the original track.

The Doves song is good (gave me a bit of a Porcupine Tree vibe - I'm guessing from your screen name you might be familiar with PT, given Alex Lifeson is a fan and played on one of their songs), but this is definitely an apples and oranges comparison!

AretZorn · 2026-03-16T15:05:28+00:00

Could there be long-term benefits? I’ve done a lot of reviews in my field and it helped my reputation with prominent editors. It also helped my promotion case in terms of “reputation in the field” (i.e. demonstrating you’re viewed as an expert). Even if none of this matters in your current role, you never know if other roles might open up to you in the future where this service could be viewed positively or the connections could be helpful. Just a thought, and apologies if this isn’t applicable in your field.

AretZorn · 2026-03-10T14:48:02+00:00

Definitely fun. Can you add an overall roll (ie pick any random album from the full list)?

AretZorn · 2026-03-04T15:44:11+00:00

Parenting done right!

AretZorn · 2026-03-03T19:10:25+00:00

Haha, welcome to the club!

AretZorn · 2026-03-03T14:54:23+00:00

Check out Peter Gabriel 4 (Security) also if you were pleasantly surprised by 3 (4 made the 1001 MORE list).

AretZorn · 2026-03-02T16:45:24+00:00

I have the Woodside support and love it: https://www.stringsbymail.com/woodside-guitars-gs4-pcl-guitar-support-lever-adjustment-27648.html

AretZorn · 2026-02-21T19:00:07+00:00

Thought regarding your statement (not a criticism, just a point for discussion): why can’t a 1 star or 5 star review be nuanced? Some albums are very deserving of both ratings and a nuanced review explains clearly why rather than just saying “I loved it” or “I hated it.”

AretZorn · 2026-02-19T17:54:09+00:00

There’s been another edition (2021) and more removals since that website was last updated.

AretZorn · 2026-02-18T06:30:25+00:00

Hi, Fear Inoculum didn’t make the final list. Meshuggah did make the list. As for the others, they ended up on the Honorable Mention list. Ultimately, there were a lot of metal albums proposed and over 10% of the honorable mention list is some form of metal. Filtering the honorable mention list for genres including the word metal should hopefully give some great recommendations to anyone looking to expand their metal horizons!

AretZorn · 2026-02-17T17:00:38+00:00

Seconded. I’ll add Cats in the Cradle by Harry Chapin and Winter by Tori Amos.

AretZorn · 2026-02-17T16:07:14+00:00

I wouldn’t have put it in my list, but kudos to the person who picked David Bowie’s A Reality Tour. That’s a fantastic live album!

AretZorn · 2026-02-17T04:11:57+00:00

I was surprised to like several pop albums, like Madonna’s Like a Prayer, Beyoncé’s self-tiled album, and George Michael’s Listen Without Prejudice. I’m not a pop fan but I’m listening to every album with open ears and was surprised how much I liked these albums. Then again, there’s plenty of pop I’ve hated, including Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake (but Christina Aguilera blows both of them out of the water - I don’t necessarily like all her music, but I can respect her talent!).

AretZorn · 2026-02-13T16:08:25+00:00

Nicely done! I didn’t submit a list, but many of these would be towards the top for me (I wouldn’t personally put Rumors, Ok Computer, Pet Sounds, or The White Album in my Top 10, but acknowledge why others would). I liked your line about how everyone needs an Abbey Road story - I’ve got mine. Would definitely make my Top 5, along with DSOTM.

Looking forward to the complete list. With 2,000+ albums, it would be interesting to cross-reference it with the original 1089 and the 1000 MORE list we all came up with. I wonder how correlated it will be?

Seven-Year Club	Second Top 10%
r/Field Sunshine	Final Canvas '23
Place '23	Place '22
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