Diary of a Melomaniac

Before 11/2020, grades range from 5 to 3.5 stars. After that, grade range is: 10 (A+), 9.5 (high A), 9 (A), 8.5 (high A-), 8 (A-), 7.5 (high B+), and 7 (B+). Ungraded albums are noted as liked :-) (honorable mention), neutral :-|, and disliked :-(. At least 4 listens per graded album and 3 listens per ungraded album. Search "Grade Post" for more info. I sold/shelved ~10,000 albums after at least 3 or 4 listens, respectively, before starting this blog and will add entries for those as they arise.

Friday, July 18, 2025

Various - Tokyo Invasion, Volume I: Cosmic Kurushi Monsters: 8 (A-)

Everyone needs some Japanese noise rock, and I can't imagine a better way to satisfy that need. Saw Melt Banana once live. They were opening for someone, maybe Sonic Youth? I remember them being pretty engaging, even though I didn't really know their music at that time.

Various - MTV's Amp 2: 8 (A-)

Thomas Jefferson Kaye - Thomas Jefferson Kaye: 7.5 (high B+)

I've got this on a wantlist. Hope it shows up for a reasonable price one day. Update (January 2026): After an additional play or two, and a few months on a wantlist, I docked it a notch. Most if not all of the Steely Dan guys are on this in one form or another. It will remain on wantlist, mainly because of this.

Lyres - AHS 1005: liked

:-)

Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - Bridges: 7.5 (high B+)

Too expensive even if I wanted to get a copy. Five listens. # [r&b]

Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson: From South Africa to South Carolina: liked

:-)

Bob Seger - Seven: 7 (B+)

# [heartland]

Elton John - Greatest Hits: 8 (A-)

Elton John - Rock of the Westies: 8 (A-)

Elton John: Honky Chateau: 8 (A-)

Adrianne Lenker - Live at Revolution Hall: 7.5 (high B+)

I'm not jumping on the bandwagon on this: Docked a notch for bloat. 80 or so minutes would have been just great. Some of the solo tracks could have been left off, and some of the “atmospheric” tracks, such as the one where her fans tell her that they looooove her (Yasss Queen!), could definitely have been left off. Also, dumb-ass physical release only on limited edition cassette. So pretentious. I did cut out all the fluff, and came up with a 52 minute edit that I thought might be worth burning and shelving, but after a couple listens to that, I realized even that's not, although it would bump it up a notch or two. Outstanding track: "Little Things" #live

William Truckaway - Breakaway [Reprise, 1971]: notation

Christgau reviews an eponymous album by this artist dated 1972, also on Reprise, and gives it a B+. I could find no record of this anywhere except on his website. All other sites state that he only ever released one album, this one, dated a year before the one Christgau reviews. I don’t know whether Christgau got the title and date wrong but presume that he was listening to something else, because this one does not strike me as a B+, although I only listened once, so I will not be grading this.