CD Odyssey: The Road to 1,200

If you’ve been reading long enough, you’ll know I enjoy taking a moment to pause every 100 albums and look back. For the actual 1,200^th review, scroll down (it is a good record) but for now, let’s take a look back at how we got here.

The number of 5-star albums really took a nose dive over the last 100 reviews. About 1 in 11 usually makes the cut, but from album 1101 to 1200 there were only four. They were:

·         Tom Petty – Damn the Torpedoes (Disc 1101)

·         Rollins Band – Weight (Disc 1126)

·         Daniel Romano – Sleep Beneath the Willow (Disc 1132)

·         Heather Maloney – Making Me Break (Disc 1200)

The first of those albums I’ve known all my life and the last I found in a music review, but the other two were recommendations. It is a good reminder that if you want to bring great music into your life, then be open-minded to suggestions

Fun fact: I previously parted company with a Daniel Romano album (“Modern Pressure”) showing another side of musical discovery: just because you like one record by a band, doesn’t mean you have to like them all.

Three was only a single 1-star review in the last 100, and that was King Diamond’s “Conspiracy”. In fact, I got so sick of hearing King Diamond that I decided to part with his entire discography. Goodbye and good riddance, King. In addition to the King Diamond purge (8 records total, 4 of which I reviewed in the past100), 7 more albums were also sent packing, mostly with a mix of regret and affection. These aren’t bad albums, they just didn’t quite make it to – or back to – the shelf:

• Whitehorse, “The Road to Massey Hall” (2 stars) – I love Whitehorse, but this album just didn’t click with me.
• New Pornographers, “Whiteout Conditions” (3 stars) – I like about half of what the New Pornographers do and since I was going to see them live I took a chance that “Whiteout Conditions” would be one of them. It came pretty close, but in the end didn’t make the cut.
• M. Ward “Post-War” (2 stars) – I love M. Ward as part of She & Him with Zooey Deschanel. His solo work? Less so.
• The Mastersons “Transient Lullaby” (2 stars) – I’ll often buy a band’s new album unheard if I liked their previous work. That’s what happened with this record, which turned out to be OK, but not shelf-worthy.
• Timbuk 3 “Greetings from Timbuk 3” (2 stars) – I bought this for the hit single “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades” many many years ago. I liked a couple of other tracks as well, but not enough to keep it. Don’t feel bad, Timbuk 3 – I’ll always cherish your other album, “Eden Alley” (reviewed back at Disc 814).
• Guns ‘n’ Roses, “Use Your Illusion II” (2 stars) – One day I’m going to learn that albums I was willing to part with for beer money in the nineties are not going to win me over twenty-five years later. Case in point – this one.
• La Sera, “Music for Listening to Music To” (3 stars) – Almost kept it, but it just didn’t speak to me. I’ve got high hopes for my other La Sera album, though.

Alice Cooper continues to be my most reviewed artist, holding steady at 28 albums (where he will remain until he releases something new).

In terms of most reviewed artists, little changed other than Alice Cooper increasing his overall lead. I’ve now reviewed 28 albums by him, which is all of them at this point. Tom Waits and Steve Earle are tied for second place with 19 and Bob Dylan comes in right behind them at 18.

Thanks for reading!