My ears are already tired, and I haven't even started

[slipjig3]

Entering this for the record:

The Project
Listen to every album in the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. Ai yi yi.

The Background
I took a stab at this once before, years ago, when I was trapped in a cubicle, bored off my bustle, and desperate for distraction. That, sadly, was a half-assed stab at best, and the attempt beached itself rather quickly after my job requirements and attention span both drifted. I return to it with renewed vigor, bolstered by recent reading and an obsessive deep-dive into Abigail Devoe's YouTube channel.

The Reasons
1) Fun
2) Filling in major gaps in my own cultural history
3) Shaking up my stagnating listening habits
4) Giving artists and genres I dislike a fair shot, with hopes of gaining appreciation
5) Self-betterment (more on that in a bit)
6) Because I can

The List
Yes, the Rolling Stone list is controversial and problematic with a generous helping of "...I'm sorry, what now?" but I'm going with it because it casts such a wide net—everything from Billie Holiday to Nine Inch Nails to Merle Haggard to My Chemical Romance to Mobb Deep to Earth, Wind & Fire to James Taylor to John Coltrane to Metallica to Taylor Swift to gods know what else. As an ending point, open to criticism; as a starting point, it'll do fine. I'll be using the 2020 version of the list, i.e. the last time they did a full survey, but I'll also throw in the nine or so titles they added for the 2023 "revision" (and hoo boy, do I have a few words on that nonsense).

The Preparations
Because this is me, I started by cobbling together a massive spreadsheet, then decided I also needed a massive stack of index cards to go with it. If it's worth engineering, it's worth over-engineering. Also, it keeps the voices away.

The Rules
1) Every album must be listened to in its entirety, preferably in one sitting. Even if it's an album I've heard a hundred times. Even if it's an album I've been purposefully avoiding for decades (especially if I've been avoiding it).

2) Albums will be selected in a random order. Hence the index cards. One of the problems I ran into the first time around is that I was going in list order, and when I ran into something I wasn't enthusiastic about I suddenly found I had Something Important to Do Right Now. So, new plan: commit to listening, then randomly select what I'll be listening to, no substitutions allowed.

3) No multitasking—every album will be given full attention. This here's the self-betterment part: I'm using this as a method to force myself away from the flippin' screen and take some meditative time, preferably outside, definitely with good headphones. Feeling the need for that right now.

4) No turning this into web content. This one might not stick, but I'm afraid that if I try to make this into a video series or a new blog or some such it's going to become yet another Thing that I feel guilty about not finishing. So for now, I'm keeping it for me. My output will be limited to the index cards: a star rating, a few lines of commentary, a few choice tracks, and that's it. I might very well change my mind, because in truth it would make a good something-or-other, but I can't finish the video projects and the music blog I already have, and to review, this is five hundred albums.

The Beginning
I'll start as soon as I'm done setting up the index cards, which should be today. Wish me luck.

I welcome input! And also Advil. Plenty of Advil.

Comments

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

Points 2 and 4 are especially smart. Best of the good luck.

I got frustrated recently when the increasingly cranky author/scientist Caitlín R. Kiernan turned out never to have heard of Lauryn Hill, the Fugees, or “The Score.” She mentioned the cancelled Fugees tour, was dismissive and said “Lauryn Hill and the Fugees sounds like a 70s kids show.” JUST BECAUSE YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF SOMETHING DOESN’T MEAN IT’S NOT WORTHWHILE. (I wouldn’t be surprised if “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” is on that list.)

[slipjig3]

Not just on the list: it's #10.

Fascinating!

[avivasedai]

I love this idea. My brother and I were talking this weekend, and he mentioned that he feels certain music reminds him of me, back from when we would listen to music together with the intent of learning it so we could sing it - and that's an intensity that we don't give music now. Taking the time to listen to the whole album, while not doing anything else, hearkens back to that.

Re: Fascinating!

[slipjig3]

Oh, I absolutely agree. We started buying vinyl again a few years ago, and found that listening to actual LPs puts me back in the music's pocket instead of me trying to cram it into mine, if that makes any sense.

[captain18]

Back during the period when Larissa was in NY and I was in DE, I downloaded a torrent featuring all the artists performing at SxSW in 2012, put it on an iPod, and made an effort to listen to that during the drives back and forth.

I think I got 3/4 of the way through before I somehow botched the iPod and lost the star ratings I'd been giving before giving in to the siren call of SiriusXM. So I salute you in this effort.

I also support the idea of very firmly not making this a content generator, certainly not in a formal mode as you are wont to do with a structure and entry for every album. But it might be interesting to have a post here where you occasionally make a reply with a comment on something that particularly struck you one way or another, not necessarily in real time.

[slipjig3]

Thank you! And yeah, I'm sure there are going to be posts of some variety or another. Given the way I consume and interact with music, there is absolutely zero way I'll be able to keep it entirely to myself. I just need to be careful that I don't turn it into a capital-T Thing.

[notquiteisraeli]

Kudos to you for taking on a frankly daunting project, for no content creation points whatsoever.

[slipjig3]

Thank you! Really hoping I can get it to stick long enough that it keeps moving forward, even if it does so slowly.

[felisdemens]

...fun...

[slipjig3]

You heard me.

[blimix]

I love the "outside" aspect! I sometimes find myself torn: I'd like to go walking while listening to podcasts, but my nature walks are far too wonderful. I wouldn't want to distract myself from them.

A couple of times, I've deliberately walked on familiar, paved bike paths while listening. It's exercise and fresh air, and I don't feel that I'm missing out if I focus on the podcast. Plus, there's no risk of tripping on roots due to not paying attention to the trail. I need to do more of that.

[slipjig3]

That's always a balance, isn't it? The walk would make the listening better, but the listening would make the walking worse. My problem is that my walking is usually time with Andrea, so I'd need to find separate times for music walks, and schedule and weather haven't been cooperative lately. Hopefully that'll change.