Writing for
The Sun-Herald in November 2005, John Clare said that he loved the book and that it "is good-looking and has a great body" which is "perfectly proportioned", being "fat but not too wide or tall". Of the jazz albums included in the book, Clare felt that "all are well chosen except one"; he thought that the inclusion of two
Stan Getz albums was too many given the absence of a
Louis Armstrong album. In a more critical review in the same month,
Matt Price of
The Australian said that "[t]he whole premise of the book is humbug", arguing that it would take too long to listen through all the albums in the book whilst also following new releases. He also criticized several of the book's choices on what albums to include and to not include, concluding that it was "biased, un-Australian and unacceptable". In February 2006,
Publishers Weekly called the book a "bookshelf-busting testament to music geeks' mania for lists" and said it was "about as comprehensive a 'best-of' as any sane person could want ... For music lovers, it doesn't get much better." Mirela Roncevic reviewed the book for
Library Journal in May of that year, citing it as an example of a reference work that is "highly enjoyable to browse" and "downright addictive". Grant Alden also reviewed the book in May 2006 for
No Depression. He stated that he was unaware of most of the critics who contributed to the book and was of the opinion that "you don't have to hear all these". He also criticized the relative lack of albums included in the book from the 1950s compared to later decades. == Genres ==