CD Odyssey: The First 800

Last night I wrote my 800^th review. As is tradition, I like to take a pause and look back with a quick overview when I reach these milestones.

The first thing I noticed this time is that I’ve become a slightly tougher marker in the last 100 reviews. There were once again 38 three star albums of the last 100, but four star albums slipped down to 30 (from 38 in the previous one hundred reviews).

Five star albums slipped yet again. Between reviews 501 and 600 there were 11 five star albums, and between 601 and 700 there were only 7. This time I am down to only 5 albums getting a perfect score. Here is the best of the best over the last 100:

·         Paul Simon – Graceland

·         Iron Maiden – Powerslave

·         Gang Starr – Step in the Arena

·         Blue Oyster Cult – Fire of Unknown Origin

·         K.D. Lang – Absolute Torch and Twang

I could’ve predicted four of these making it to five stars, but “Absolute Torch and Twang” was a nice surprise.

There were no zero or one star albums in the past 100, and I kind of missed writing a really nasty review (they are devilish good fun). Despite this, I still decided to part company with 5 albums. Three of these were two star albums:

• The Eurythmics’ “Be Yourself Tonight” was a late addition to my collection of their music, and a reminder that I don’t need to always be a completionist.
• Reviewing “Steal This Album” and “Toxicity” in close proximity made me realize I am never going to truly enjoy System of a Down. I am now going to stop trying.

More interestingly there were two albums that I graded out at three stars but still gave away when I realized I would probably never play them. Both the McGarrigle Sisters’ “Matapedia” and Mozart’s “Coronation Mass” impressed me critically, but didn’t make me want to keep listening. Sometimes a record can be good, but just not right for you. Both of these fit that category.

In terms of overall reviews, Alice Cooper remains in top spot with 23 albums (up one from 100 albums ago, and Steve Earle stays in second place with 16 albums (up two). Third place is a three way tie between Bob Dylan, Queen and Tom Waits, each with 15 reviews.