John Lennon - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band: 9 (A)

Yoko Ono - Fly [honorable mention]

:-) [If they had showed a little restraint and left of the 26-minute atrocious title track, this would easily have been a solid double album at around 70 minutes. Docked a notch for bloat.]

Black Merda - Black Merda [honorable mention]

:-)

Bikini Kill - Bikini Kill: 8.5 (high A-)

I have this on vinyl (and as part of the comp).

Bikini Kill - The First Two Records [placeholder]

This is the re-issue of The C.D. Version of the First Two Records. The latter had, not really their first two records, so much as their first two EP's (Bikini Kill and Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah, the latter of which is the Bikini Kill side of the split album with Huggy Bear. The latter was re-issued as a standalone album, with 7 new tracks added as the second side (consisting of live tracks and practice tapes). Those 7 new tracks also appear here. Since I have the first EP, am not a fan of YYYY, and am not interested in the latter's odds and ends, I don't need this one.

Bikini Kill - Reject All American: 8 (A-)

See review of Pussy Whipped. [12 songs in 27 minutes]

Bikini Kill - Pussy Whipped: 8 (A-)

I think K. Hanna is my favorite rock star. I definitely had this once, sold it back because I was a philistine and did not appreciate it, and have now rebought it. [12 songs in 25 minutes]

Alexander O'Neal - Hearsay: 7 (B+)

# [r&b]

Baaba Maal - Wango [honorable mention]

:-)

LL Cool J - Bigger and Deffer [honorable mention]

:-)

Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense: 7 (B+)

# [live; soundtrack] I'm not sure why this title is not typically followed by "Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" or words to that effect, like all other soundtracks I can think of. In any event, the soundtrack is a little lifeless compared to the film, which is of course a classic. I actually own the DVD from the DVD-era, and that is how the music should be listened to -- that is, together with the visuals.

Jantra - Synthesized Sudan: Astro​-​Nubian Electronic Jaglara Dance Sounds from the Fashaga Underground: 7.5 (high B+)

Vinyl-only

Aluna - Mycelium: 7.5 (high B+)

# [dance]

Mer-da [Black Merda] - Long Burn the Fire: 7 (B+)

Bought this on used vinyl decades ago, on which it has exclusively appeared, at least by itself - see review of debut for more on that. Anyway, normally I would put this at # [r&b, or funk-rock], but back then you had to hunt for this used on vinyl even to hear it, and since I have it on vinyl, I'm keeping it.

Metallica - Ride the Lightning: 8 (A-)

Jon Hassell – Listening To Pictures (Pentimento Volume One): 8 (A-)

Lush - Split

:-|

Armand Hammer - We Buy Diabetic Test Strips

:-(

Lana Del Rey - Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd

[Goes on forever. Double album. Docked a notch from honorable mention for bloat.]

Guided by Voices - Propeller: 7 (B+)

Really wanted to like this, given that both Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo list it as their favorite GBV. I did like it, but I guess not as much as they do. Anyway, used copies are prohibitively expensive at this grade (at least with this cover, which is "original" and the one I want).

Janelle Monae - The Age of Pleasure: 7 (B+)

# [r&b]

Linx - Intuition: 7.5 (high B+)

# [r&b]

The Moldy Peaches - Origin Story: 1994-1999: 7 (B+)

# [anti-folk]

Band of Horses - Cease to Begin [honorable mention]

:-) [I owned this once and sold it back after the requisite number of listens (at least 3). Just re-listened for at least the 4th time in order to make this post.]

Speedy Ortiz - Rabbit Rabbit: 7.5 (high B+)

# [indie/noise pop]

The National - The National

:-(

Dolly Parton: Rockstar: 7 (B+)

# [covers; duets] [Docked a notch for bloat; they could have made this a double album instead of a triple.]

R.E.M. - Eponymous [placeholder]

I obviously know all these songs and have never found time to bother evaluating this comp, except for the track "Romance," which I played.

R.E.M. - Out of Time: 8 (A-)

R.E.M. - Document: 7.5 (high B+)

R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant: 9 (A)

R.E.M. - Reckoning: 8 (A-)

R.E.M. - Murmur: 8 (A-)

R.E.M. - Monster: 8.5 (high A-)

Djelimady Tounkara & L'Orchestre Super Rail Band International - 'allo Bamako: 8 (A-)

Muzikifan has a great review of this album under the "Mali Essentials" tab.

R.E.M. - Green: 9 (A)

Sinead O'Connor: So Far: The Best of Sinead O'Connor: 9 (A)

Gram Parsons - GP/Grievous Angel: 9 (A)

The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Very Best of the Flying Burrito Brothers: Sin City: 9 (A)

Contains the entirety of The Gilded Palace of Sin and Burrito Deluxe. I also have the Farther Along comp on the shelves, and am about to buy the Hot Burritos comp, because it contains all 3 of their releases (Christgau's grade for the third one is just stupid, like a lot of his early grades) and sells for a ridiculously low price. If you're curious, here are the "extras" on each, which are all different, so yes, now I'm overcompilationed with this band.

Hot Burritos has:

"The Train Song"

"Six Days on the Road"

"Close Up the Honky Tonks"

"Break My Mind"

"Dim Lights"

"Sing Me Back Home"

"Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down"

"To Love Somebody"

"Here Tonight"

"Ain't That a Lot of Love"

"Losing Game"

Farther Along:

"Break My Mind"

"Dim Lights"

"Just Because"

"To Love Somebody"

"Sing Me Back Home"

"I Shall Be Released"

Sin City:

"Hippie Boy"

"The Train Song"

"Lazy Days"

"Image Of Me"

"High Fashion Queen"

"If You Gotta Go"

"Man in the Fog"

"Older Guys"

"Down in Churchyard"

Gram Parsons & the Fallen Angels - Live 1973: 7 (B+)

# [live; country rock] [Owned this once and sold it back, which I have never regretted]

Baaba Maal - The Best of the Early Years [placeholder]

A couple sources say this contains tracks from Wango, Baayo, and Lam Toro, but that does not appear to be entirely the case. 9 of 13 are from those albums though, so 70%. There's also one from Firin' in Fouta and one from Taara. Two other tracks I can't really source. Anyway, since I will be evaluating the first three albums, I'm not going to listen to/grade this until after that. [Purchased - awaiting grade]

Baaba Maal & Mansour Seck - Djam Leelii: 8 (A-)

I have this on vinyl and have considered upgrading to the Palm Pictures CD reissue several times, but always decide against it. I think I admire this more than I like it.

Baaba Maal - Being: 8 (A-)

The Itals - In a Dis Ya Time [placeholder]

Contains Early Recordings plus 5 or 6 extra tracks. The additions are actually pretty good, but would only bump this up to a 7 (B+), which would make it # [best of].

The Replacements - Tim (Let It Bleed Edition): n/a

Listened 3 times to the "Ed Stasium Remix" that the Pitchfork reviewer was going on about. Sounds a little different from the original mix to me, but hardly the revelation the review led me to expect. I would give it the same grade exactly (8(A-)). Did not listen to the marginalia on discs 3 and 4. I also listened once to the 2023 remaster (of the original mix) for some reason (disc 2).

Gregory Isaacs - All I Have Is Love: Anthology 1968 To 1995 [placeholder]

I only gave this a single listen. It's over 2.5 hours long and seems to last forever. It also has record scratches from the needle drop that this obviously is. There is actually only one song overlap with Mr. Love or Best of Volumes One and Two though, surprisingly. Anyway, the whole album sounds very samey and a little "basic," as the kids say these days.

The Go! Team - Get Up Sequences Part Two [honorable mention]

:-)

Withered Hand - My Days [EP]: 7.5 (high B+)

Digital-only [3 tracks; 11:41]

Gregory Isaacs - Private Beach Party: 7 (B+)

Prohibitively overpriced used at this grade.

Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Bachman-Turner Overdrive [honorable mention]

:-)

Prince - The B-Sides [honorable mention]

:-) [Issued as part of The Hits/The B-Sides]

Todd Snider - Crank It, We're Doomed: 7 (B+)

# [folk]

The Itals - Brutal Out Deh: 8.5 (high A-)

Aesop Rock - Integrated Tech Solutions [honorable mention]

:-)

Preston School of Industry - Caught in the Rain [EP]: 8 (A-)

Tom Verlaine - Songs and Other Things [honorable mention]

:-)

Creation Rebel - Rebel Vibrations: 8.5 (high A-)

See review of Dub from Creation. Same deal, except I actually like this one a notch better. [Later purchased as part of the High Above Harlesden box.]

Creation Rebel - Dub from Creation: 8 (A-)

Vinyl-only (except for Japanese CD reissue), and prohibitively expensive used. I ended up getting the comp Historic Moments Volume One, which contains 8 of the 10 tracks originally on this and all of the tracks on Rebel Vibrations. [Later purchased as part of the High Above Harlesden box.]

Mofungo - Frederick Douglass: 8 (A-)

Mofungo - Messenger Dogs of the Gods: 8 (A-)

Mofungo - Lemmings [EP] [placeholder]

Their 3rd EP. All songs on other releases that I have.

Mofungo - End of the World, Part 2: 7.5 (high B+)

Found this sealed on vinyl for a good price.

Venom - Black Metal: 7 (B+)

# [metal]

Buck 65/Doseone/Jel - North American Adonis: 7.5 (high B+)

Cassette- and vinyl-only stupidity [5 listens]