Beck - Stereopathetic Soulmanure: 7.5 (high B+)

U2 - The Unforgettable Fire: 7 (B+)

Hold Steady - Almost Killed Me: 8.5 (high A-)

Trotsky Icepick - Baby [honorable mention]

:-)

Lizzo - Special [honorable mention]

:-)

Stella Donnelly - Flood [honorable mention]

:-)

100 gecs - 10,000 Gecs: 7 (B+)

# [electronic/full-priced EP] [5 listens]

Mach-Hommy - Dollar Menu 4 [honorable mention]

:-)

Dan Ex Machina - Pity Party Animal: 7.5 (high B+)

Apparently was on CD, although I can't find any evidence that this is actually the case. I messaged the band to see if they had any lying around. If they answer, I'll pick it up. [Not holding my breath]

Tavares - In the City: 8 (A-)

Found a sealed, original issue vinyl for 10 bucks. Thing looks like it just got teleported to my house from Woolworth's in 1975.

Wilco - The Whole Love [honorable mention]

:-)

The Residents - Meet the Residents

:-(

Surfer Blood - Hardboiled [honorable mention]

:-)

Macy Gray - The Very Best of Macy Gray: 8 (A-)

Christgau's review says this has 16 tracks, but his count adds up to 17, which some versions of this are (I think it’s the track “Demon” which may be messing some counts up – it’s actually a Fatboy Slim song, featuring Macy). Anyway, I already have her first two albums (as well as The Sellout, released after this). So, I’d be paying for 3 tracks from album 3, plus 3 non-album tracks (one of which is a shortened version of "Demon," a song I already have in its original version), plus 3 remixes of songs I already have. So, I’d be paying for 3 from album 3 and 2 non-album tracks (which aren’t that good). Buying album 3 would be a better option, but I’m not going to do that (see review). I’ll just keep the first two, which I like better than Christgau (I'm more in line with Tom Hull on her).

The Wronglers with Jimmie Dale Gilmore - Heirloom Music: 7 (B+)

# [country/bluegrass] [really nice looking product]

The Bongos - Numbers with Wings [honorable mention]

:-)

The Roches - The Roches: 8.5 (high A-)

Classic album cover. Fripp really did right by these ladies.

The Roches - Keep On Doing: 8 (A-)

Another Fripp-influenced work for the shelves.

Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga - Love for Sale: 7 (B+)

# [jazz/vocals/standards/covers]

Macy Gray - Covered: 7 (B+)

# [r&b/covers]

Kelis - Kaleidoscope: 7 (B+)

# [r&b]

Mammoth Penguins - There’s No Fight We Can’t Both Win [honorable mention]

:-)

Naughty by Nature - IIcons [honorable mention]

:-)

Sleaford Mods - UK Grim [honorable mention]

:-)

Buck 65 - Dirtywork [EP]: 7 (B+)

Digital only.

Albert Collins, Robert Cray, Johnny Copeland - Showdown!: 7 (B+)

# [blues]

Naughty by Nature - Naughty's Nicest: 8.5 (high A-)

Comparing these two, Naughty’s Nicest (Rhino) has three songs not on Nature's Finest (Tommy Boy):

"Everyday All Day" – from debut

"Yoke the Joker" – from debut

"Dirt All by My Lonely" – from Nature's Fury

And Nature's Finest has four songs not on Naughty's Nicest:

"Penetration" – actually a Next song, feat. NBN

"Clap Yo Hands (Remix)" – from Poverty's Paradise

"Nothing to Lose (Naughty Live)" – from Nothing to Lose soundtrack

"Naughty by Nature (The Megamix)" – previously unreleased

If you discount the megamix, which one should, then they have an equal number of tracks. As far as regular-issue albums, Nature's Finest has five tracks from the debut, while Naughty's Nicest has seven. They both have the same two tracks from Poverty's Paradise, although Nature's Finest adds a subpar remix of the best track, "Craziest." They both have the same three tracks from 19NaughtyIII. Finally, Naughty's Nicest has one from Nature's Fury.

Essentially, Nature's Finest over Naughty's Nicest gets you a live track (!) and a subpar Next r&b song, so, essentially nothing, while Nature's Finest gets me the three album tracks listed above. Also, since I don't really like the debut, but it's considered "their best" by many, Naughty's Nicest gives me seven whole tracks from that. Bottom line: Naughty's Nicest is the no-brainer. Plus, it's sequenced via album, not all over the place, no megamixes, live tracks, r&b songs by other artists featuring NBN, subpar remixes of their best track, etc. No big surprise that Rhino did a better reissue job than the original label, Tommy Boy. A great label, but still, not a reissue specialist.

[TL;DR: Nicest - 13 album, 3 soundtrack | Finest - 11 album, 3 soundtrack, 1 live, 1 megamix, 1 Next]

Tavares - The Best of Tavares: Capital Gold Series [placeholder]

The nine extra tracks not on Best of Tavares (1977) are not good enough to justify a purchase of this remastered 1993 release, which also drops two from the former. Listened to the nine extra tracks three times each.

Young Fathers - Tape One [EP] [honorable mention]

:-)

Macy Gray - The Trouble with Being Myself: 7 (B+)

# [r&b]

Tavares - Madame Butterfly [honorable mention]

:-) [Not quite sure how or why this got on the 3-listen list. I think it was a mistake or moment of sloppiness. Pleasant enough anyway.]

Todd Snider - Live: Near Truths and Hotel Rooms: 7.5 (high B+)

# [folk/live]

Joni Mitchell - Don Juan's Reckless Daughter

:-|

Tavares - The Best of Tavares: 8.5 (high A-)

Looks like it was remastered and put on CD in 1989, but not upgrading to such an early remastering job.

Naughty by Nature - Poverty's Paradise: 9 (A)

Tavares - Hard Core Poetry [honorable mention]

:-)

Cocteau Twins - Head Over Heels [honorable mention]

:-)

Macy Gray - Stripped: 7.5 (high B+)

# [jazz vocals/standards?]

Naughty by Nature - Naughty by Nature [honorable mention]

:-)

Booker T. & The M.G.s - Green Onions: X stars

John Lee Hooker - Plays & Sings the Blues: X stars

Status Quo - Rockin’ All Over the World [honorable mention]

[As far as I will probably go with this band, since an obvious, clear-winner, single CD best of, or a consensus best album, does not appear to exist.]

Beauty Pill - The Cigarette Girl From the Future [EP]: 7.5 (high B+)

Would definitely buy this if it were available used, at all. I am seeing several sealed copies for $30 shipped, for a 5 song EP at 22 minutes. Not doing that.

Homeboy Sandman - There in Spirit

:-( [four listens]

Somadima - Heart of the Heavenly Undeniable: 8 (A-)

I can find out nothing about this release or artist. Other than that the album can be streamed on various services.

Cocteau Twins - Blue Bell Knoll [honorable mention]

:-)

Nord1Kone and DJ Mrok – Tower of Babylon [honorable mention]

:-)

The Casual Dots - Sanguine Truth: 7.5 (high B+)

Digital/vinyl only

Kassmasse - Bahil | Weg: 8 (A-)

Digital only

CMAT - If My Wife New I'd Be Dead [honorable mention]

I'll keep the album cover, because I originally had this at 8 (A-). On a fourth listen, I don't recognize a single song or even the album as a whole and am surprised that I graded it at that. A little scary actually. Gave it a 5th listen after seeing how high it placed on Christgau's year-end list (it would be a 9.5 (high A) in my system), but I'm still not hearing it.

Front Bottoms - Theresa [EP]: 8 (A-)

Physicals not available.

Buck 65 - Strong Arm: 7 (B+)

Mixtape

Cocteau Twins - The Pink Opaque [honorable mention]

:-)

Michael Prophet - Righteous Are the Conqueror

:-|

Michael Prophet - Jah Love: 7 (B+)

Shady looking CD "reissue" probably a needle drop (no indication that it's remastered, no date, etc.), and original 1983 vinyl ridiculously over-priced. [four listens]

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Mardi Gras [honorable mention]

:-) [Not as bad as all that, but definitely their worst. Too bad, 1972 was such a great year for music. I wish they had made a qualifying contribution.]

Balka Sound - Balka Sound: 7.5 (high B+)

# [Beembe] [At 75 minutes, this gets a little repetitive and seems to go on for a long time. Plus, it's selling at import prices. Plus, it looks like the CD version is one of those cheapo "jacket-only" type deals. Plus #.]

John Lee Hooker - The Very Best of: X stars

Can't even find a proper cover image of this one, but this is the one I have. Almost went with the double disc The Ultimate Collection from Rhino, but Christgau, who has better blues ears than I do, gave it an A minus. I'm not going to spring for a two disc best-of at that grade. As usual, I do not consider myself qualified to grade blues.

The Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks Volume 34: 8.5 (high A-)

Actually, grade is for the 11/5/77 show at the Community War Memorial in Rochester, New York. However, this set inexplicably expands it to 3 discs and intersperses the Rochester tracks with tracks from another concert on a different night -- November 2, 1977, Seneca College Field House. Those tracks aren't as good. Why on earth did they not just do the Rochester show full on two CDs? Probably because they sold the unnecessary 3 disc sets for around $60. Ridiculous. I could print one up with just the Rochester show, but I have the right shows from the classic May run in 1977, and I'll leave it at that.

Deep Puddle Dynamics - The Taste of Rain... Why Kneel: 7 (B+)

Used physicals ridiculously expensive. Includes Sole, Doseone, Alias, and Slug (Atmosphere).

Onom Agemo and Ahmed Ag Kaedy - Tartit: 8 (A-)

Digital/vinyl only. [Not to be confused with the Malian band named Tartit]

Various - Luxury Condos Coming to Your Neighborhood Soon: 7.5 (high B+)

# [multi-artist compilations]

Hound Dog Taylor and The HouseRockers - Genuine Houserocking Music: 7 (B+)

# [blues/posthumous albums]

$ilkMoney [Silkmoney] - I Don’t Give a Fuck About This Rap Shit ... [honorable mention]

:-) [Digital only anyway]

Full Time Men – Full Time Men [EP] [honorable mention]

:-) [I would probably buy it anyway if it were a 7-incher. I do not like 12-inch EPs, especially ones with only 3 songs. With Peter Buck.]

Philip Bailey - Chinese Wall: 7.5 (high B+)

# [r&b]

Smart Went Crazy - Con Art [honorable mention]

:-) [Beauty Pill precursor]

Nas - King's Disease III: 7 (B+)

Digital only.

Stevie Wonder - Original Musiquarium I: 9 (A)

For years I didn't consider getting this much, because I of course have all his classic 1972-1980 run, and I never fully realized that this was baited with four new songs (one per LP side), each released as singles at the time. I have since read that this was the first (or one of the first) greatest hits albums to do something like this, although the practice seems to have quickly become to bait the collection with a bunch of crap. The four songs included here, however, are legitimate tracks, and make up something like one third of the playing time. So I picked up a used, remastered version of this in a nice digipack. If you were to grade just the 12 previously-released tracks I suppose you would have to give it a 9 (A) or higher, even if you think Wonder is primarily an "album artist" (and then maybe still not get it because you had no use for it). Strangely, though, the other tracks might simultaneously make you drop the grade and lead you to pick up a copy. Myself, I would probably grade the 12 previously-released tracks standing alone as a 9.5 (high A) (not an essential collection give how essential the source albums are), but dock it a notch for the lesser quality 4 new tracks that make up the rest of the collection, and for the one so-so track from Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants.

Buck 65 - This Right Here Is an EP Release [placeholder]

[Consists entirely of new versions of previously released material.]

Sebutones [Buck 65/Sixtoo] - 50/50 Where It Counts: 7.5 (high B+)

Totally unavailable at reasonable prices for a B+ range album.