Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

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doxdan
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Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by doxdan »

The Headline: I have started an attempt at reviewing all 3000 of the 3000 best albums. The YouTube channel is:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-XFnd ... X2fgSzaKkA

The story:
About 5 years ago I got fed up of listening to the radio on my work commute, and decided to start listening to, and reviewing albums. I found a list of greatest Prog Rock albums (one of my favourite genres) and started reviewing them, posting on FB. After completing the list I turned the reviews into a "glossy" PDF book.

After a break (a literal one in my hip) I decided to start reviewing a mainstream list. I created my own list of the 1000 greatest albums (from Rolling Stone's top 500, NME's top 500, and Ranker's top 500). I started reviewing them, this time into a blog. I continued to link them into FB and got about 2 reads per review. Just after 400 (2 years) I had a crisis. I found this site. This site is the list I wish I had had 2 years ago. I have FAR more confidence in this list than the one I had.

I have started from the bottom (3000) and am working my way up. Whether I get to number 1 is a challenge. I reckon I have set myself up for doing this for at least 10 years. Mind you, I have been reviewing for 5 years now and am still enjoying it. I'm also getting a modest but encouraging number of views. I started about 3 weeks ago and I'm about to hit 1% done (30 albums).

The reason I am posting here is that I started to think "I wonder if the creator of Acclaimed Music would be interested in how I am using the list?" Instead I found the forums. Here I am. I wondered if anyone signed up to the forums would be interested. I am having a great experience on this journey, and would encourage anyone who wants to join me on this experience to subscribe. I welcome comments with your own opinions. I'm not far in so it would be a good time to jump on board. I start each review with a sound clip of one of the most iconic bits from the album, and to be honest, flicking through the playlist gives a real feel for the list.

My primary aim is to give me the impetus to listen well to all of these albums. My secondary aim is to provide short (most are less than 5 minutes) reviews that include some description, some background and some opinion, and help people decide if they would like to give the album a go.

If you have got here, thanks for reading. I have no idea if this will generate any interest.
Nassim
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by Nassim »

I started listening to a few, and commented on MC Solaar, that's very enjoyable.
You might have some issues with copyrights going forward if you put extracts of the songs unfortunately!
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Krurze
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by Krurze »

Hi, this is a really cool project. I subscribed to your channel and will keep checking out your reviews of albums I like :)
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Honorio
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by Honorio »

That's great, doxdan! Thank you very much!
panam
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by panam »

I was waiting for a project like that. A personal perspective of the top 3000 AM. Good luck.
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Rob
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by Rob »

I listened to the Laura Marling one, an album I am very familiar with. You very well capture what makes her special.
panam wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 12:41 am I was waiting for a project like that. A personal perspective of the top 3000 AM. Good luck.
This is a dream project for myself, but I feel any attempt at such a project strands because both my working and social life take more and more space. Success and social climbing suck; don't let anybody tell you otherwise!
doxdan
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by doxdan »

Nassim wrote: Tue Jun 28, 2022 6:00 am I started listening to a few, and commented on MC Solaar, that's very enjoyable.
You might have some issues with copyrights going forward if you put extracts of the songs unfortunately!
I am certainly having an interesting experience on the copyright side of things. In theory, the use of clips in reviews is a protected copyright exemption. In practice, it is complicated.

Thanks for your comments on the videos, very interesting :)
doxdan
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by doxdan »

Thanks for the encouragements guys. Just what I needed today.
doxdan
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by doxdan »

So I was just going to report back in, I'm now settled in, 50 albums down. Only 2950 to go! At this rate it will take 7 years, but I doubt I will keep this pace up.

I'd love more subscribers, it's great to share this journey. I feel like there must be an optimum number to give it the feel of a small community. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-XFnd ... X2fgSzaKkA
Henry
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by Henry »

Looking forward to your review of The Allman Brothers Band album Brothers and Sisters.

Keep up the good work!
doxdan
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by doxdan »

Henry wrote: Thu Jul 14, 2022 3:34 pm Looking forward to your review of The Allman Brothers Band album Brothers and Sisters.

Keep up the good work!
Already done!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7CyG2EkdDk
Henry
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by Henry »

Now I'm looking forward to your review of Don Henley's End of the Innocence.
doxdan
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by doxdan »

Henry wrote: Fri Jul 15, 2022 12:44 am Now I'm looking forward to your review of Don Henley's End of the Innocence.
Ah yes, great album. New York Minute is an almost-perfect song.
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by Rdwdbob »

doxdan wrote: Fri Jul 15, 2022 1:00 pm
Henry wrote: Fri Jul 15, 2022 12:44 am Now I'm looking forward to your review of Don Henley's End of the Innocence.
Ah yes, great album. New York Minute is an almost-perfect song.
'Shangri-La' and 'The Heart Of The Matter' two of my all-time faves! Great album indeed.
doxdan
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

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Rob wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 8:35 am I listened to the Laura Marling one, an album I am very familiar with. You very well capture what makes her special.
panam wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 12:41 am I was waiting for a project like that. A personal perspective of the top 3000 AM. Good luck.
This is a dream project for myself, but I feel any attempt at such a project strands because both my working and social life take more and more space. Success and social climbing suck; don't let anybody tell you otherwise!
I just need to be a bit careful with my mildly obsessive tendencies.
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by panam »

Where can I find you e-book of prog rock albums reviews?
doxdan
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by doxdan »

panam wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 12:05 am Where can I find you e-book of prog rock albums reviews?
Hmm, I thought I had it for download somewhere, but maybe I didn't.

Please try this link, but let me know if you have any problems, I have other ways of sharing if this is problematic.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/tx3eg5s1 ... k.pdf/file
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by panam »

Thank you. I'm going to start reading.
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by Moonbeam »

I love it! This is a cool project. I had fun listening to your review of Atlantis, an album I quite enjoy, actually!

I think it would be cool to have a forum post somewhere where users could link to their own external output, so if other users have YouTube channels, blogs, or other net places with AMF-related content, it could be a one-stop shop for all of those goodies.
doxdan
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by doxdan »

panam wrote: Tue Jul 19, 2022 2:47 am Thank you. I'm going to start reading.
I'd love to know what you think :)
doxdan
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by doxdan »

Moonbeam wrote: Tue Jul 19, 2022 9:39 am I love it! This is a cool project. I had fun listening to your review of Atlantis, an album I quite enjoy, actually!

I think it would be cool to have a forum post somewhere where users could link to their own external output, so if other users have YouTube channels, blogs, or other net places with AMF-related content, it could be a one-stop shop for all of those goodies.
Thanks :) I feel like I'm always going to pounce on replies like this - what is it you like about Atlantis? I'd love to know.

Although it's a big list, all of these albums are there because some people see something special in them. For some, I get it, even if I don't like it myself, and often that's about being radical, or the first, or breaking convention, but there are some that just mystify me. And of course there are particular genres that I don't understand as well as others, and so am blind to the qualities.

One thing is for sure, if I ever get to the end, my understanding of these things, and knowledge, is going to be far advanced from where it is now. It's already way ahead of where I was 5 years ago when I started reviewing.
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by Moonbeam »

doxdan wrote: Tue Jul 19, 2022 5:21 pm
Moonbeam wrote: Tue Jul 19, 2022 9:39 am I love it! This is a cool project. I had fun listening to your review of Atlantis, an album I quite enjoy, actually!

I think it would be cool to have a forum post somewhere where users could link to their own external output, so if other users have YouTube channels, blogs, or other net places with AMF-related content, it could be a one-stop shop for all of those goodies.
Thanks :) I feel like I'm always going to pounce on replies like this - what is it you like about Atlantis? I'd love to know.

Although it's a big list, all of these albums are there because some people see something special in them. For some, I get it, even if I don't like it myself, and often that's about being radical, or the first, or breaking convention, but there are some that just mystify me. And of course there are particular genres that I don't understand as well as others, and so am blind to the qualities.

One thing is for sure, if I ever get to the end, my understanding of these things, and knowledge, is going to be far advanced from where it is now. It's already way ahead of where I was 5 years ago when I started reviewing.
What I love about Atlantis is its reckless sense of adventure and the wild Moog. It's a little strange in that I probably have one of the most pop-friendly tastes on AMF but when it comes to jazz, I gravitate more to the more experimental stuff.

Here's my review of the album over at RateYourMusic:
While I am by no means an expert in the genre, Sun Ra has become my favorite jazz artist. His penchant for the strange in both subject matter and sound appeals to me, though it may not quite warm the soul like John Coltrane or Miles Davis. Atlantis is one of the very first jazz albums I ever heard, and it is largely the reason I keep mining the genre, however slowly.

As its reputation suggests, I find the album deliciously zany. The first side of the album consists of four tracks named after other lost continents or suspected locations of Atlantis itself. The songs are exotic and largely inviting, particularly the opening "Mu", which features a seductive and ominous horn sequence that snakes in and out of the bloops and bleeps of Ra's Moog. As the side progresses, the songs become more heavily percussive, with a tribal aura permeating "Yucatan" and a sound akin to heavy rain spattering against a metal roof in "Bimini". While they may be curious detours, these songs are not obtuse.

All bets are off with the monstrous title track, however. Befitting a tale of such fascinating fantasy and mythical horror, it quickly escalates into a ten-minute titanic tantrum of tortured Moogs, scorching sounds from the depths of Hell that need to be heard to be believed. A relatively quiet reprieve follows before being gobbled up in another furious and sustained explosion. It is this tsunami of solar prominences that keeps me seeking similar breathless jazz moments from Sun Ra and other artists, and while I have been fortunate enough to hear some other great pieces, none quite measure up.

While the songs work independently, their sequencing provides extra value, as Atlantis plays like the tale itself - an intoxicating mystery ending in awe-inspiring horror.
doxdan
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by doxdan »

@moonbeam nice, thanks for sharing that. I particularly enjoyed "ten-minute titanic tantrum of tortured Moogs".

That's pretty good writing there.

There's more of Sun Ra in the list, I wonder what I will make of it. He seems like a complete fruit loop.
doxdan
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by doxdan »

Well, over 60 done (a mere 2%) but I seem to be settling into a rhythm. The encouragement on here has been pivotal in getting me going, so thanks guys :)

I'd love more subscribers, if anyone else wants to come and join me in this journey. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-XFnd ... X2fgSzaKkA. Also, if anyone else felt like flicking through the playlist, it's not only a great way to get a feel for the albums so far, but it boosts by views brilliantly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNtg2-j ... yavARt_slM

Touting for business? Me? Of course!

Latest review, Paul Simon, Rhythm of the Saints. Nice album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ezmdmYA3yQ
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by panam »

What happened to your channel? Almost one week without videos. I hope you keep on going.
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by panam »

doxdan wrote: Tue Jul 19, 2022 5:13 pm
panam wrote: Tue Jul 19, 2022 2:47 am Thank you. I'm going to start reading.
I'd love to know what you think :)
I like it. At first I thought it was a subjective guide but then I realized that was a list made from different sources. My only question is, why Miles Davis? I mean if we need to consider jazz as prog maybe Mingus should be there
doxdan
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

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panam wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 4:23 am What happened to your channel? Almost one week without videos. I hope you keep on going.
Thanks - been on holiday. Back now :)
doxdan
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by doxdan »

panam wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 4:25 am
doxdan wrote: Tue Jul 19, 2022 5:13 pm
panam wrote: Tue Jul 19, 2022 2:47 am Thank you. I'm going to start reading.
I'd love to know what you think :)
I like it. At first I thought it was a subjective guide but then I realized that was a list made from different sources. My only question is, why Miles Davis? I mean if we need to consider jazz as prog maybe Mingus should be there
I think that the Miles Davis is definitely a stretch, I wouldn't count it as prog. (Most of it, I didn't like that much either). However, some of the people involved in the Miles stuff: Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, went on to push into Jazz Fusion Prog, and the seeds of that were in the Miles Davis stuff. Kind of Blue is even less prog, but is a great album, so I let it go.

I guess maybe it depends on your definition of Prog, because a lot of jazz is by definition progressive with a small p. Having said that, most post-2000 Prog Rock is not in any way progressive. Some of it is really good though.

Anyway, I'm glad you liked it, thanks.
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Re: Mammoth undertaking - reviewing 3000 best albums

Post by doxdan »

Henry wrote: Fri Jul 15, 2022 12:44 am Now I'm looking forward to your review of Don Henley's End of the Innocence.
So that came around quicker than I expected, here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5m5myhGI1Y
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