I review music based on this highly original and visceral rating system. Patent pending.

5 stars - Excellent. These albums are classics, masterpieces, call them what you will. They might include one or two minor tracks, but the overall piece is among the best in its field.

4 stars - Good. These albums lack certain insight contained on 5 star records but are nonetheless very enjoyable to hear. There might be a few weak tracks on the album, but the good songs outnumber the bad ones.

3 stars - Average. These albums contain an equal number of good and bad tracks and/or are pleasant to listen to but otherwise lightweight. Generally, I will recommend a 3 star record but it shouldn't be considered a must-have.

2 stars - Poor. These albums contain a few decent tracks but are extremely inconsistent in terms of quality. Muddled ideas, bad song choice, and inferior production can all come into question here. Not recommended, except possibly as background music.

1 star - Garbage. The bottom of the barrel. Your time and money are too precious to waste on these albums. Ideal only as a means of clearing a house of unwanted guests.

My ratings are not cast in stone and I occasionally revisit them if my opinion on an album has changed.

A

Alexander, Monty - To the Ends of the Earth

Alice Cooper - Love it to Death

Alpert, Herb - Going Places

Alpert, Herb - Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, Vol. 2

Alpert, Herb - The Lonely Bull

Alpert, Herb - South of the Border

Alpert, Herb - What Now My Love

Alpert, Herb - Whipped Cream & Other Delights

B

Band Aid - "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

Basia - London Warsaw New York

Berry, Chuck - The Chess Box

Bjork - Homogenic

Bjork - Post

Brahms, Johannes - Piano Concerto No. 2 (Artur Rubinstein, piano)

Broonzy, Bill - Good Time Tonight

Burke, Solomon - Home in Your Heart: The Best of Solomon Burke

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - East-West

C

Carter, Betty - Droppin' Things

The Carter Family - Country Music Hall of Fame

Chapman, Tracy - Crossroads

Chapman, Tracy - Tracy Chapman

Charles, Ray - Live

Cline, Patsy - Sentimentally Yours

Coltrane, John - Best of

Coltrane, John - A Love Supreme

Cooder, Ry - Boomer's Story

Cooder, Ry - Bop Till You Drop

Cooder, Ry - Chicken Skin Music

Cooder, Ry - Into the Purple Valley

Cooder, Ry - Paradise and Lunch

Cooke, Sam - Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963

Cooke, Sam - The Man and His Music

The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me

D

Davis, Miles - Birth of the Cool

Davis, Miles - The Complete Birth of the Cool

Davis, Miles - Kind of Blue

Davis, Miles - Round About Midnight

Davis, Miles - Sketches of Spain

Diddley, Bo - The Chess Box

Dion, Celine - All the Way: A Decade of Song

Dylan, Bob - Blonde on Blonde

Dylan, Bob - Highway 61 Revisited

E

Evans, Bill - Everybody Digs Bill Evans

F

Fairport Convention - Fairport Convention

Fairport Convention - Unhalfbricking

Fairport Convention - What We Did on Our Holidays

The 5th Dimension - Greatest Hits

Franklin, Aretha - I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You

Franklin, Aretha - Lady Soul

Franklin, Aretha - Young, Gifted and Black

G

The Go-Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane

Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction

Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion I

Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion II

Guthrie, Arlo - Amigo

Guthrie, Arlo - Hobo's Lullaby

H

Hargrove, Roy - Moment to Moment

Hendrix, Jimi - Are You Experienced?

Hendrix, Jimi - Axis: Bold as Love

Hendrix, Jimi - Electric Ladyland

Holiday, Billie - Lady in Satin

Hoodoo Gurus - Mars Needs Guitars

Howlin' Wolf - The Chess Box

Howlin' Wolf - His Greatest Sides

Husker Du - Flip Your Wig

I

J

James, Etta - The Sweetest Peaches Part 2

Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking

Jungle Brothers - J. Beez Wit the Remedy

K

Konitz, Lee - Subconscious-Lee

KRS-One - Return of the Boom Bap

L

Led Zeppelin - Coda

Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV

Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti

Led Zeppelin - Presence

Lemonheads - It's a Shame About Ray

Lloyd, Charles - The Water is Wide

M

Madonna - The Immaculate Collection

Madonna - Like a Virgin

Madonna - Madonna

McPartland, Marian - Piano Jazz with Dizzy Gillespie

Medeski, Martin & Wood - Tonic

Mingus, Charles - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

Mingus, Charles - Blues & Roots

Mingus, Charles - Mingus Ah Um

The Modern Jazz Quartet - Concorde

The Modern Jazz Quartet - Fontessa

Monk, Thelonious - Alone in San Francisco

Monk, Thelonious - Best of the Blue Note Years

Monk, Thelonious - Brilliant Corners

N

New York Dolls - New York Dolls

New York Dolls - Too Much Too Soon

Nirvana - MTV Unplugged in New York

O

Orbison, Roy - All-Time Greatest Hits

P

Page, Jimmy & Robert Plant - No Quarter

Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted

Presley, Elvis - Elvis' Christmas Album

Presley, Elvis - The King of Rock 'N' Roll: The Complete 50's Masters

Price, Alan - O Lucky Man!

Prince - Controversy

Prince - Dirty Mind

Prince - 1999

Prince - Purple Rain

Q

R

Radiohead - OK Computer

R.E.M. - Dead Letter Office

The Replacements - All Shook Down

The Replacements - Tim

Rollins, Sonny - Falling in Love with Jazz

S

Sanchez, David - Melaza

Shearing, George & Carmen McRae - Two For the Road

The Shirelles - Anthology

Sims, Zoot - If I'm Lucky

Sinatra, Frank - Come Fly With Me

Sinatra, Frank - Only the Lonely

Sinatra, Frank - Songs For Swingin' Lovers

Sinatra, Frank - A Swingin' Affair

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

Smith, Bessie - The Collection

Springsteen, Bruce - Born in the U.S.A.

Springsteen, Bruce - Born to Run

Springsteen, Bruce - Tunnel of Love

Springsteen, Bruce - The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle

The Stooges - Fun House

Strait, George - Chill of an Early Fall

Strait, George - Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind

T

Tatum, Art - Piano Starts Here

Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich - The Nutcracker (Charles Mackerras, conductor)

Thompson, Richard - Daring Adventures

Thompson, Richard - Hand of Kindness

Thompson, Richard - Rumor and Sigh

Thompson, Richard & Linda - Hokey Pokey

Thompson, Richard & Linda - I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight

Thompson, Richard & Linda - Pour Down Like Silver

Thompson, Richard & Linda - Shoot Out the Lights

Thunders, Johnny - So Alone

Travis, Randy - Old 8 x 10

Travis, Randy - This is Me

Turner, Joe - The Boss of the Blues

Turre, Steve - In the Spur of the Moment

Tyner, McCoy - With Stanley Clarke and Al Foster

U

U2 - Boy

U2 - October

U2 - Rattle and Hum

V

Vaughan, Sarah - Crazy and Mixed Up

W

Waters, Muddy - At Newport 1960

Waters, Muddy - The Chess Box

Waters, Muddy - Rolling Stone

The Who - Happy Jack

The Who - Sings My Generation

The Who - 30 Years of Maximum R&B

The Who - Who's Missing

Williams, James - Meets the Saxophone Masters

Williamson, Sonny Boy - Essential Sonny Boy Williamson

Wynette, Tammy - Greatest Hits

X

Y

Yes - Close to the Edge

Yes - Fragile

Yes - Yessongs

Yoakam, Dwight - Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room

Yoakam, Dwight - Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.

Yoakam, Dwight - If There Was a Way

Young, Lester - Blue Lester

Young, Lester - Complete Aladdin Recordings

Young, Lester - The Master's Touch

Young, Neil - After the Gold Rush

Young, Neil - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

Young, Neil - Freedom

Young, Neil - Harvest

Young, Neil - Tonight's the Night

Z

Zevon, Warren - Excitable Boy

Zevon, Warren - Stand in the Fire

Zevon, Warren - Warren Zevon

Various Artists

Atlantic Jazz: The Avant Garde

Atlantic Jazz: Introspection

Atlantic Jazz: Kansas City

Atlantic Jazz: Mainstream

Atlantic Jazz: Post Bop

Atlantic Jazz: West Coast

Beg, Scream & Shout!: The Big Ol' Box of '60s Soul

Midnight Cowboy Soundtrack