The Everly Brothers - Roots: 3.5 stars

If I were starting from scratch, I probably wouldn't own this at all, as too prototypical. As it is, I bought it on vinyl based on Christgau's high estimation of it. Then I rebought on CD when it was reissued, without having realized how lukewarm I am on it. I guess I will keep both, because I don't want to give up the CD, or the pristine vinyl just yet.

James Talley - Got No Bread, No Milk, No Money, But We Sure Got a Lot of Love: 4 stars

I don't have Hull (A+) or Christgau (A, fourth best album of 1975, although I note that after 1979, this album seems to have dropped out of his consciousness) level appreciation of this one, but I've got it on vinyl and will keep it.

Lefty Frizzell - Greatest Hits: 4 stars

All but one of these -- "Release Me" -- are on later CD-era comps, but I have this on vinyl from before those were released and I am keeping it.

Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - 1980: 4.5 stars

Thomas Jefferson Kaye - First Grade: 7 (B+)

Today, I probably wouldn't spring for this folk-rockish album at this grade, but I have it on pristine vinyl, where it will say. Fagen and Becker on board helps.

Afghan Whigs - Going to Town [CD single]

:-| [Essentially the same as the Bonnie & Clyde EP. Checked this out because of a rave review on Amazon from someone who seemed to know what he was talking about. Not about this. I tracked down the following songs on the internet, and they are all mediocre piano jazz. I listened only once to each of them and am breaking protocol to give this its own entry due to the amount of notes I wanted to make, plus I love the band: "You've Changed," "I Want to Go to Sleep," "Moon River," "If I Only Had a Heart," and "Creep." Skipped the live "Going to Town."]

The Twilight Singers - She Loves You [honorable mention]

:-) [Might be a B plus but I’m not going to go to the necessary lengths to confirm this, with respect to a covers album. Some great tracks towards the end though.]

75 Dollar Bill - I Was Real: 7 (B+)

# [experimental; import] [At least 4 listens]

King Tubby - Dub from the Roots [honorable mention]

:-) [Actually, I ended up getting this as a double with The Roots of Dub, in the package called The Dub Master Presents The Roots of Dub and Dub from the Roots [Moll-Selekta, 2003].]

Various - From Bakabush: The First Ten Years of Stonetree: 7 (B+)

# [multi-artist comp]

Eek-A-Mouse - Mouse-a-Mania [Assassinator]: 8 (A)

Contains all 10 tracks from Assassinator other than "Bad Friday." I listened to that three times just to make sure they left off the right song. Weird choice on their part. Song's not great, but this comp is ~20 minutes under maximum CD length, so it could easily have fit. It also includes the majority of tracks from The King and I (6 of 10). I won't be hunting down the missing tracks from the latter album, which is pretty poorly reviewed. I note they would have fit as well probably.

Pink - The Truth About Love: 4 stars

Seems strangely longer than its 51 minute runtime. Does this mean that I am over-rating it a notch because Christgau gave it a straight A and rated it the fourth best album of 2012? Probably. Of course, I only liked one of his whole top 20 non-reissues that year. He jumped the shark way before that.

Eek-A-Mouse - Eek-A-Nomics [honorable mention]

:-) [Probably a hair better than Skidip!, but not enough to garner a 7 (B+).]

Eek-A-Mouse - Skidip! [honorable mention]

:-)

The Paranoid Style - A Goddamn Impossible Way of Life

:-|

Pink - Greatest Hits...So Far!!!: 3.5 stars

More of a placeholder -- the grade is really for the songs from the debut (one) and Funhouse and the two previously unreleaseds.

Pink - Hurts 2B Human [honorable mention]

:-)

Nyboma - Double Double: 3.5 stars

Lakshmi Shankar - Season and Time / Les heures et les saisons [honorable mention]

:-)

Philip Glass - North Star: 7 (B+)

# [contemporary classical?]

Yoko Ono - Season of Glass: 8 (A-)

Husker Du - The Living End: 3.5 stars

Husker Du - Candy Apple Grey: 4 stars

Husker Du - Flip Your Wig: 4 stars

Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II [honorable mention]

:-) [Some tracks rock like classic Neil, such as Ordinary People, however a lot is random, several go on for way, way too long, etc. Ultimately not shelving, but I see why some people like it. Might be a B plus.]

Various Artists - The Daisy Age: 3.5 stars

I have the majority of this, or the tracks are on albums I’ve evaluated or in one or two cases am in the process of evaluating, so I won’t be buying this. Who needs more comps cluttering up the shelves with stuff I mostly already have? Songs not in the foregoing categories I dutifully listened to three times, and this didn’t change my mind. Those songs are:

The Freestyle Fellowship - Sunshine Men
KMD - Peachfuzz
Chi-Ali - Age Ain't Nothin' But A #
Da Bush Babees - We Run Things (It's Like Dat)
Groove Garden - You're Not Coming Home (Mase's Funkay Recall Mix)

[Update: Found it for $10 shipped and just went for it.]

Various - Raiders of the Lost Dub: 8 (A-)

Classic dub album in my view

Various Artists - Songs for Desert Refugees: 3.5 stars

Not collecting a random Tuareg charity comp, especially when I have some of it already.

Leonard Cohen - Popular Problems: 4 stars

Husker Du - Zen Arcade: 9.5 (high A)

Black Uhuru - Positive [honorable mention]

:-) [As noted in other posts relating to Black Uhuru, I am a collector of the Sly & Robbie era, which this was after.]

Husker Du - Metal Circus [EP] - 8.5 (high A-)

Various Artists - Red Gold Green & Blue: 4 stars

The great Tony Chin on guitar.

Husker Du - Eight Miles High/Makes No Sense At All: 3.5 stars

B-sides "Masochism World" and "Love Is All Around" are moderately decent, but bring the grade down to B+. Name singles are at least A minus. Of course, "Makes No Sense at All" is on Flip Your Wig, so the reason for this one's being is "Eight Miles High."

Husker Du - Land Speed Record [honorable mention]

:-)

Husker Du - New Day Rising: 4.5 stars

Husker Du - Extra Circus [2017 EP]

:-|

Husker Du - Everything Falls Apart and More: 3.5 stars

This has Everything Falls Apart, the singles "In a Free Land" and "Statues/Amusement," and two additional tracks ("Let's Go Die" and "Do You Remember?"). The original Everything Falls Apart is selling for exceedingly high prices. Even this is selling for more than I want to pay for a B plus used album. I would buy the remastered tracks of the original album from the Savage Young Du boxset, but they charge a full dollar per track, when the total "album" is less than 20 minutes. $12 for 20 minutes of digital download? So I'm gong to stick with their SST/Warners period only. This early material is really more standard, derivative-sounding hardcore anyway.

As far as the singles tracks on this, the only classic is "In a Free Land" and I have a live version of that on The Living End. "Statues" is okay.

And finally, I have skipped the debut studio albums (ie, not EPs (2 by the Minutemen, 1 by the Meat Puppets) or live ones (Husker Du)) by the Minutemen (The Punch Line), the Meat Puppets (Meat Puppets), and Husker Du (Everything Falls Apart). All 15-20 minute basically hardcore blurs, in one way or the other.

I-Roy - Ten Commandments: 3.5 stars

OOP.  Way too expensive used.

Bob Marley & the Wailers - Confrontation [honorable mention]

:-) [See review of The Essential]

Bob Marley & the Wailers: The Essential Bob Marley & the Wailers: 3.5 stars

Not sure why I bought this almost a decade ago. None of my sources seem to have reviewed it, yet alone reviewed it well. I suppose I thought I needed some early Wailers, and this had many (most?) of the tracks on African Herbsman (I presume in the same versions although I'm not going to take the time to track that through)? Anyway, I'll keep it now that I have it. This means I am now a Marley completist of sorts, other then the posthumous grave-dig Confrontation.

Prince and The New Power Generation - Diamonds and Pearls [honorable mention]

:-)

Prince - Graffiti Bridge [honorable mention]

:-)

Various Artists - Anthology of Indian Classical Music: A Tribute to Alain Danielou: X stars

This probably qualifies as some kind of A. Great collection, but I'm not going down this road - not "popular music" enough.

The Magnetic Fields - The Wayward Bus/Distant Plastic Trees [honorable mention]

:-) [See review for The House of Tomorrow EP. "100,000 Fireflies" is the only essential track on these first two albums in my view.]

The Magnetic Fields - The House of Tomorrow: 3.5 stars

This is where they really became The Magnetic Fields, in my opinion, and where I start collecting. (Ie, I'm skipping The Wayward Bus/Distant Plastic Trees. I was very tempted to get it to be complete, but then I would need Realism as well, and I don't like that one much either. Trying to battle the forces of completism.)

Tinariwen - Tassili: 4 stars

Bob Marley & the Wailers - Survival: 3.5 stars

The Mothers [Frank Zappa] - Over-Nite Sensation [honorable mention]

:-) [Great track: "Camarillo Brillo"]

Sonny Boy Williamson - The Essential Sonny Boy Williamson: X stars

I've never really appreciated the blues like I think I should, so I'm not going to presume to grade this. I also looked into Down and Out Blues, which is well-rated, but it contains singles which are almost all on here anyway.

I'm selling Real Folk Blues because most of its songs are on here too (same with More Real Folk Blues and This is My Story, neither of which I actually ever owned), and I only need one Sonny Boy comp. [Update: canned this and got the one volume His Best. That's enough SBW II, and it matches the Wolf and Muddy ones.]

Buckingham Nicks - Buckingham Nicks [honorable mention]

:-) ["Long Distance Winner" is a great song.]

Philip Glass - The Photographer: 7 (B+)

# [contemporary classical?]

The Magnetic Fields - Realism

:-|

Thom Yorke - Anima [honorable mention]

:-)

Prince - 3121: 3.5 stars

The Magnetic Fields - Love at the Bottom of the Sea: 4 stars

Prince and The Revolution - Parade: 3.5 stars

Prince - Controversy: 4 stars