Average Rating: 4.00 Rating Variance: 0.52 Objectivity Score: 58% (Somewhat Balanced)
Sort by: Rating | Release Date | Rating Date | Name5.0 classicAlice Cooper Billion Dollar BabiesI originally had this at a 4.5 but went back and had to bump it up. This album defines Cooper. What a great album filled with awesome songs. Five of the ten songs are included on any of his greatest hits collection. That means at least half of the album is known by "casual fans" of Cooper. That is pretty good for any artist's release. A+++ Cooper!!! Rock on, man!!!Billy Joel The Essential Billy JoelSome compilation albums are put together pretty badly and make you have to go out and buy a couple other albums just to get all of the "good" songs. Some compilation albums are so complete and well thought out that additional purchases are only required if you are a true die hard fan or something new comes out. With 36 tracks (or 43 with the 3 disc version) this greatest hits package is impressive. the 2 disc version I would rate a 4.5. The album info above only shows 2 songs on the 3rd disc track list. There are 7: worse come to worse/prelude angry young man/ scenes from Italian restaurant/ BIG SHOT/ all for lenya/ PRESSURE/This is the time. Bob Marley and The Wailers LegendGreat album that more than defines a genre. This is the album that other reggae albums strive to be. Not a single filler song found anywhere on this compilation of well loved classics!!! Simply legendary!!! Guns N' Roses Appetite for DestructionThis album came out in 1987. Do you know what kind of 80s crap and glam was on the radio back in 1987? I remember everyone rushing off to go buy this album. At least 7 songs on this album everyone knows. At least 3 of the songs are five star classics. The guitar part of "sweet child of mine" is as well known as the guitar part of "sunshine of my love." This album had achieved legendary status a long time ago. Queen A Night at the OperaYou know the album has to be good when Rolling Stones gives the initial rating of almost 3 stars. They gave all of the rest of the Queen albums 1 and 2 stars. Then, like they do to all of the legendary albums that they undervalued, they went back and reassigned it a higher star rating to match current opinion. That being said, this album is a masterpiece. Queen A Day at the RacesI had to rate this album and Night at the Opera as 5s. Tie your mother down, Take my breathe away, Millionaire waltz, Somebody to love, Good old fashioned lover boy, you and I...come on. Sometimes I listen to mercury's voice on full volume just to cure myself of all of the impurities in my life. The Beatles Abbey RoadThe Mothers of Invention Absolutely FreeThe Smiths The Queen Is DeadThis albums is classic and brilliant. I do not know how my life would have turned out if this album wasn't a part of my childhood. The Smiths Completethis gets a 5 from me because it is everything they released minus a few songs that were left out. Maybe they plan on adding the few missing songs later and releasing it again as a "deluxe" edition.4.5 superbBarenaked Ladies disc one: All Their Greatest HitsGeorge Strait Livin' It UpGeorge Strait is the 12th best selling music artist in the United States. That rating is taken from all genres of music. He is also considered the king of country music. "Livin' It Up" is his tenth album and has certified Platinum. What makes the album so great is that there are no fillers at all found on it. Every song on here is extremely popular and over half of it is considered essential. KISS Love GunLou Reed TransformerSuicidal Tendencies Suicidal TendenciesClassic album that rocks just as much today as it did the day it came out. Suicidal Tendencies Lights...Camera...RevolutionSuicidal Tendencies Still Cyco After All These YearsI don't think this is considered a compilation album if they released it as a studio album. The songs are not by the original band (other than murr) from the original first couple of albums. the album sounds like it is done with better musicians but it loses a lot of its raw energy in my opinion. An example is the war inside my head song. In the remade version it goes "WAR INSIDE MY HEAD lyrics WAR INSIDE MY HEAD." The original goes "WAR INSIDE MY HEAD (sweet guitar screeching to simulate a war screaming inside your head. lyrics WAR INSIDE MY HEAD." None of the raw energy...but still for some reason a fine album for what it is. The reason why I rate it as a 4.5 is because there was a time when you could not get the originals and this remade album is all we had to jam to if we no longer had the original tapes. Temple of the Dog Temple of the DogWeird Al Yankovic In 3-DThis album lost a little bit of its thunder over the last 30 years since its initial release. At the time though it was huge. Every kid in every school knew every song word for word. Weird Al had the balls to parody one of the best songs on the world's most popular album. People simply didn't do that. The album gets 4.5 for making fun of these classic songs: Beat it, The Safety Dance, Jeopardy, king of pain, and eye of the tiger. He also scores points for his original songs and his first polka blend of the current contemporary music of that era. 4.0 excellentABBA ABBA GoldAerosmith O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith HitsReally great album covering all of the hits that any casual listener of Aerosmith would know or want. Alice Cooper Welcome to My NightmareExcellent album by an excellent rocker. This was my first Alice Cooper album and it still manages to kick butt. When I first laid back on my bed 26 years ago and listened to it I was blown away. It was one awesome ride that I had repeated quite often through the years. Alice Cooper The Best of Alice Cooper: Mascara & MonstersExcellent collection of Alice Cooper hits. 22 Songs gives us a fair amount of Cooper for the buck. No filler songs here. Everything a casual Alice Cooper fan could ever ask for and a pretty good "hits" compilation selection for those of us who are seasoned fans. I would have liked to see an additional song or two but that is the nature of a greatest hits album...someone else picks the playlist and not every single person gets every single song they want. Chicago Night & Day Big BandI have been a fan of Chicago for a very long time. Their sound can be defined in several different eras: The Terry Kath classic rock sound era, the oops Terry died Peter sing us nothing but ballads era, the 1980s you're the inspiration pop scene that had no flute section era, the late 1990s early 2000s nothing but compilation era, and now the old band producing a few minor hits era. This album came out in the nothing but compilation era and was a breath of fresh air for those of us who miss the horn section that use to go with the hard rock and even sappy ballad era of Chicago. For what this album is it works. If you do not know or like classic Chicago or big band music in general than this album probably won't work for you. Among us fans this album is considered pretty darn good. Frank Zappa Have I Offended Someone?This is a really great album filled the remixed versions of some of Frank Zappa's well known funny songs. These are the songs that people who generally don't listen to Zappa know. This album does not include any of Zappa's more mechanically complex works nor was it meant to. This album was not meant to highlight Zappa's artistic wins or show off his unique blend of musical craftsmanship. It is simply a singles collection of tongue in cheek humorous songs to be enjoyed by the casual Zappa listener. Frente! Marvin the AlbumThis is a little fun "quirky" album that I have listened to so many times in the past that I can no longer tell if it sounds dated or not. When it came out it was relatively unknown in my opinion. No one I knew ever heard of them. A lot of the same people went out and bought this album after hearing me play it. The album is the type to where at first you are not really sure about what you are listening to and then it kind of draws you in making you a fan. Genesis Invisible TouchThis album rocked. Invisible touch, tonight tonight tonight, land of confusion, in too deep, throwing it all away...great kick butt 80s pop songs. This album gets crap reviews because Prog genesis was better. I would go as far as to say that if there was no such thing as prog genesis and this was their first album then it would receive a lot of higher reviews due to lack of comparison. Guns N' Roses G N' R LiesExcellent album from a band that dominated when they first came out. This album offends quite frequently...welcome to Rock N Roll. Not a single filler or bad song found on this album at all. I would call 4 of the songs on this album "hits" and the other 4 "good" kick butt rock songs!!! Jane's Addiction Nothing's ShockingJim Croce Photographs & Memories: His Greatest HitsJim Croce only lived to the age of 30 but he definitely left his mark in folk music history. I think at times he was considered more soft rock / easy listening than traditional folk but whatever category you want to place him it doesn't really matter. He was a great artist for any of these genres. Songs such as "I'll have to say I love you in a song," "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," "Operator," and "I got a name" are timeless classics for me. Petra This Means War!Petra has been around since the early 70s and their sound has changed a few different times to reflect the current decade they were in. Their earliest albums had what we would today consider a classic rock sound. They even wrote that "God gave rock n roll to you" song that kiss later rewrote and made famous. This album has nothing to do with their classic rock sound of their earlier albums. For a 1987 Christian Rock album that wasn't "cheesy" at the time and had some great God orientated Rock and Roll songs this album was excellent. Those of us who like the Christian rock genre of the late 80s and early 90s usually consider this album a great addition to our music catalog (by that I mean tape collection). There are at least five songs on here that fans of the band would consider "essential" Petra. Petra Petra Praise: The Rock Cries OutPetra has always shown remarkable talent to create good rock n roll music while sticking to Christian themes. This album is a little unusual in that it combines two styles of Christian music that at the time was a little more uncommon to be blended. It is an excellent collection of mostly traditional Christian praise songs put to modern (what was modern for 1989) rock music. This album rates an excellent within its own small sub-genre and actually achieved gold status back in 1998. That would make this album the second best commercial success for Petra. This album rates a lot less if you are neither into late 80s Christian rock nor classic praise music. Phil Collins Hits13 of the 16 songs on this album I think are top notch soft rock songs. This isn't hard rock nor is it a Prog era Genesis album...but it was never meant to be. That being said, True colors makes me cringe. Plumb Need You NowAwesome album filled with a lot of great songs. Very few fillers and a couple songs that I consider pretty powerful hits. Check out "need you now" and "Say your name" on Youtube when you get a chance. Even though there are quite a few differences, I have always considered this artist to be pretty comparable to Evanescence in all the right ways. Plumb predates them by a good six years. Plumb is a Christian artist and this album is found in the Christian music section but don't let that scare away you heathens. This album is as ambiguously Christian as are the Evanescence and POD albums. I will leave that up to the listener to decide whether or not that is a good thing.Queen Sheer Heart AttackI have always considered this album as a "turning point" for the band. There are a lot of really great songs on this classic album but I do agree with a few of the other people's opinions that the album does contain some "filler." Then again, one man's filler can be another man's delight!!!Queen JazzNot their best album but still pretty freaking awesome classic Queen!!! Suicidal Tendencies Join the ArmyExcellent album!!! This was back when they sounded the rawest and hungriest in my opinion. Classics songs on a classic album. The Mothers of Invention Freak Out!Weird Al Yankovic Dare To Be StupidGreat album. It is less fair looking back and rating a parody album in my opinion. Part of the greatness in them is that they take the songs that we hear 2000 times a day on the radio and just rips them apart. With the song targets not blowing up the airwaves anymore it is harder to appreciate what exactly weird Al is doing. This album gets a 4 for its classic takes on these songs: Like a virgin, I want a new drug, Lola, and girls just want to have fun. Weird Al Yankovic "Weird Al" YankovicBack in the day you couldn't really turn on Youtube and watch a song being destroyed in a hilarious or screwed up parody. Even though Weird Al didn't create that genre he sure as heck filled in that gap for most of us back in the day. His music comes in one of four forms: direct parody, song song in the style of, original songs, and polkas blending in the contemporary music of that period. This album started it all way back in 1983 and earns a 4.0 because of its originality and awesomeness in mocking these classic songs: Mickey, i love rock n roll, stop draggin my heart around, my sharona, and another one bites the dust. 3.5 greatAmy Grant Heart in MotionAmy Grant will always be primarily be known for her Christian pop and late 70s / early 80s work with the Christian music industry. She was America's sweetheart of the Gospel hour. She also produced a couple "mostly" secular but clean pop albums. This was one of her big ones. This album is pure fun early 90s pop entertainment. It had produced five major hits on the regular secular radio stations: Good For Me, baby Baby, Every Heartbeat, I will remember you, and That's What Love Is For. Chances are if you listened to any popular radio back in the early 90s then you will recognize any of these songs after listening for no more than 5 seconds. A great pop album that still warrants a purchase 23+ years later. Chicago Chicago 18I am a pretty big Chicago fan. I own just about every thing they ever released. Even though I am not as much of an 80s era Chicago fan as I am a Terry Kath era fan I still have to give this 1986 release the proper respect it deserves. The songs "If she would have been faithful," the updated "25 or 6 to 4," and especially "Will you still love me?" were incredible hits at the time. It is a good solid album if you like the 80s Chicago sound. Frank Zappa Lumpy GravyJohn Mellencamp Uh-HuhMellencamp's albums always seem to be a bit on the short side. This album clocks in at barely 33 minutes and feels a bit too short. The album contains four hit songs, three good songs, and two filler songs. A few boring moments on the album but nothing that makes me question why I am listening to it. KISS The Very Best Of KissI have always considered greatest hits collections as a compilation created for the casual listener only. Too many fans will have too many opinion on what should or shouldn't be on the album. Sure there are a few no-brainers but we will never agree 100% on track listing nor should we. This compilation is a collection of some of the more well known hits that the casual listener would want on their Kiss album. That same group of people do not want the mid 80s to modern kiss era represented on the album. Record sales show that they got off of that bus a long time ago. Suicidal Tendencies How Will I Laugh Tomorrow If I Can't Even Smile Today?Great album!!! It isn't my favorite album by Suicidal but it is no where near average. The Mothers of Invention Over-Nite SensationYou ever have an album that everyone around you seemed to swear up and down was better than great but you just could never get in to? That was this album for me. The songs on an individual level I think are pretty great. There is just something about the album in general that has never clicked for me. This album still merits a 3.5 from me but this is no where near the first Zappa album I reach for. The Squirrel Nut Zippers Roasted RightFrom my experience with people you either "get" the Squirrel Nut Zippers or you don't. Most of the common radio listeners (pop heads) I know have no idea who they are. If I play them that song "hell" then they recognize them...but still don't know who they are. I,for one, get them but I do admit sometimes I need to be in a particular mood to listen to them. The four songs on this EP have a bit of an Island swing to them and are pretty enjoyable. The song that stands out a bit is "anything for love" which was also included on their greatest hits. I can't complain about the album only having four songs because I knew it was an EP before buying it. It was a very enjoyable foot tapping ten minutes.Weird Al Yankovic Even WorseThis album seems to bring a lot of mixed opinion to the table. I personally loved it when it came out. The highlights were parodies of these mind blowingly overplayed songs: Bad, I got my mind set on you, I think we're alone now, La Bamba, and Mony Mony. I still think the Mony Mony Alimony parody is hilarious. 3.0 goodAqua AquariumI have to give it a 3. I am a bit biased though and the album has aged a little. If I wanted to be fair I would give the album 2.5 but you can't always be fair in life. I give the album a 3 because my wife and I bought the album when we just got married and listened to it quite a bit. We enjoyed it a lot. Here is what I will do: The album scores a 2.75 and I am rounding up. Just keep in mind at least .25 of my score is probably biased nostalgia. Chicago Chicago 19I never understood why people give this album poor reviews. Back when this album came out there were several hits that got a lot of air time. "Look Away" is a great song. It was especially a great song for 1988. "I don't want to live without your love" and "What kind of man would I be" are also great songs. It is an all together solid album with good tunes which defined the classic 80s Chicago era. Frank Zappa Thing-FishThing Fish is an odd album that probably won't appeal to very many people. There are so many different parts of it that are just simply openly offensive. I think that the album works well though in its telling of its little dirty whore of a story. So well in fact that I had to wash my ears out afterwards with soap and water. There is nothing on this album that really warrants being added to a "mix tape" but I don't think it was really meant for that. It was just an strange sick little story that Frank told me one day as I was on a two hour road trip alone in the mountains. When I hit play for the first time there was simply no turning back. The Mothers of Invention Cruising with Ruben & the JetsWeird Al Yankovic Polka PartyA good album but lesser loved by fans than his other parody albums. Song parody's include: living in America, addicted to love, who's Johny, and ruthless people. 2.5 averageJohn Mellencamp Dance NakedI love listening to Mellencamp, but I do not like this album. I listened to it a few times in the past and could never like it. The album has only 9 songs on it that last barely 29 minutes. I usually break down the songs on an album into one of four categories: hits song, good song, filler song, and hurts my ears to listen to. In my opinion this album is made up of 2 hits, 2 good songs, 2 filler song, and 3 songs that heart my ears to listen to. Madonna I'm BreathlessI wanted to hate this album really bad because of the violent nature of that Richard Tracy television program that was brought to life through the magic of the big screen. I just couldn't though. There was something about the lyrics "Like hanky panky (hanky panky), Nothing like a good spanky (good spanky)" that when repeated 30 times in a single song had me actually desiring a good spanky...just not from Madonna. Soon after the spanking song is over you get about 6 or 7 filler songs that I don't even remember being in the movie. A few of these songs has Madonna singing in a voice that to me sounds a bit like a person using an intentionally fake racist accent. The album has one more minor hit with "sooner or later." This crap album sold double platinum in quite a few different countries including the United States. "How?" you might ask. Because Madonna is a genius and released the single "Vogue" on this stink album. This song is one of her best selling and most covered songs. Around six months later she included the same song on her "The Immaculate Collection" greatest hits album. I wonder how many people happily set their Dick Tracy CD on fire and threw it off a freeway bridge. The only reason I am giving this album 2.5 is because I had fun listening to it...it just wasn't healthy fun. 1.5 very poorLou Reed Metal Machine MusicFirst of all, this album gets a symbolic (but secret) "5" for the symbolism and back story. It also gets a secret "5" for what it represents to us listeners, the record company that lost money producing it, and the artist. My secret 5 is equivalent to an online Masters degree that takes only 1 month to get and is unaccredited. My true "tangible" score is that of a 1.5. I gave it the extra half point because it is so unusual that people still try to sit through it.
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