A Live One
PhishOk so what kind of sick FUCK, after sitting through 3 years of albums that generally go too long, then chooses a 2-hour live album to foist on everyone else? Bad form. Also, this jam band stuff really didn't do it for me today. 2/5.
Ok so what kind of sick FUCK, after sitting through 3 years of albums that generally go too long, then chooses a 2-hour live album to foist on everyone else? Bad form. Also, this jam band stuff really didn't do it for me today. 2/5.
Normally the first thing I do is listen to my daily album, but this morning I woke up with "Back on the Streets" by Saxon in my head. Why ANYONE would wake up with a Saxon song in their head is beyond me, but I now need to listen to some Saxon before doing my album of the day. I've decided not to question the universe on this one. Back in an hour or so. Ok, I'm pretty familiar with this album - I've never been an outright Weezer fan but they've been on the edge of my radar for a long time and were involved in a lot of pop culture moments (eg. Jackass, Tony Hawk games) from my teenage years. The singles are all great tunes and if you don't know them you must have spent the 90s under a rock. Full album is just as good as the singles tbh. It has that nerd rock element but also a pop punk thing that really works. Vocal harmonies really send it home. 5/5 going straight to the pool room. Wish I’d given it more attention in the past. NB. ok, that’s the 4th album in the user-submitted list and the 4th album from the 1990s. I think I can see where this is going, haha. That isn’t a criticism; my submission was from the 1990s as well. Seems my fellow site users have better taste than the book’s author.
Well it’s my own submission, why wouldn’t I give it a 5/5? Type O Negative was one of those underrated genius bands imo. They had an ear for great music and every song is just dripping with sarcasm, little winks at the camera etc, all while making you wonder if they actually are serious. I think whoever described them as 50% Sabbath, 50% Beatles kinda got it right. You can hear both influences in there really clearly once you know. And the first few songs on this album are just all-time. 5/5.
Kinda spacey krautrock stuff, drawn out and stoned. Moogs and drumkits and bass and whatnot. Great vibe, maybe a bit *too* drawn out in places, but still a good 3/5.
DMB is a band I’ve known OF for years, but I’ve never actually listened to. I’ve always shied away from the “jam band” term, and I know it’s groovy-funky-music-nerd stuff. Boy I wish I hadn’t, lol. This is borderline fantastic. It IS super-pretentious conservatorium fodder, but it’s also got a sweet 90s groove that I really like. It’s a product of its time in a distinct way, like if Pearl Jam if Toto was the main influence rather than Aerosmith. This will definitely go in my “background music on long drives” playlist. 4/5.
It's dumb, but nowhere near as dumb as the Sparks album in the book...and after half an hour of this, that's saying something. I guess in the 7 years since _Kimono my House_ (uurrgh) they had time to experiment with disco beats? Everything is dripping in that annoying new wave production I don't like, but... that was just the time, I guess. La Dolce Vita is an alright song. but it's just too SILLY for me.
This was very 1990s but also not quite. Like if the Lemonheads mixed with the Beatles and Queen - lots of English influence but still very clearly an early 90s American rock band. Enjoyable for one listen at least. 3/5.
DMB is a band I’ve known OF for years, but I’ve never actually listened to. I’ve always shied away from the “jam band” term, and I know it’s groovy-funky-music-nerd stuff. Boy I wish I hadn’t, lol. This is borderline fantastic. It IS super-pretentious conservatorium fodder, but it’s also got a sweet 90s groove that I really like. It’s a product of its time in a distinct way, like if Pearl Jam if Toto was the main influence rather than Aerosmith. This will definitely go in my “background music on long drives” playlist. 4/5.
Normally the first thing I do is listen to my daily album, but this morning I woke up with "Back on the Streets" by Saxon in my head. Why ANYONE would wake up with a Saxon song in their head is beyond me, but I now need to listen to some Saxon before doing my album of the day. I've decided not to question the universe on this one. Back in an hour or so. Ok, I'm pretty familiar with this album - I've never been an outright Weezer fan but they've been on the edge of my radar for a long time and were involved in a lot of pop culture moments (eg. Jackass, Tony Hawk games) from my teenage years. The singles are all great tunes and if you don't know them you must have spent the 90s under a rock. Full album is just as good as the singles tbh. It has that nerd rock element but also a pop punk thing that really works. Vocal harmonies really send it home. 5/5 going straight to the pool room. Wish I’d given it more attention in the past. NB. ok, that’s the 4th album in the user-submitted list and the 4th album from the 1990s. I think I can see where this is going, haha. That isn’t a criticism; my submission was from the 1990s as well. Seems my fellow site users have better taste than the book’s author.
I've heard the name Eels before but don't know anything about the band. I long ago decided in my head they were a garage punk/noise/alternative band, kinda like the Pixies but heavier. Ok that’s the wrongest I’ve ever been in the 1001 albums list. I’m usually at least ~75% right. This falls under the big “alternative” umbrella but beyond that it has no resemblance to what I predicted. I hear a bit of Nirvana in the vocals and lyrics, but otherwise it’s… alternatively poppy? Bit of piano, bit of guitar. Not too bad, didn’t drive me insane but wouldn’t listen again. 3/5.
lol who chooses an Arctic Monkeys album when there’s already one in the official list? It’s ok, I mean they’re not a bad band. But this was your chance to show me something I’d never heard before, and instead you chose one of the most popular rock bands of the last 20 years. And from their “ageing coke fiend” period, by the sounds of things. Minimal guitars, all jazzy arrangements, self-indulgent, arrogant and drawn out. Definitely the worst AM album I know of. Ah well. 2/5.
Well it’s my own submission, why wouldn’t I give it a 5/5? Type O Negative was one of those underrated genius bands imo. They had an ear for great music and every song is just dripping with sarcasm, little winks at the camera etc, all while making you wonder if they actually are serious. I think whoever described them as 50% Sabbath, 50% Beatles kinda got it right. You can hear both influences in there really clearly once you know. And the first few songs on this album are just all-time. 5/5.
This was just too drawn out. I thought the first song was cool but it dropped off shortly after that and over an hour was a chore. 2/5.
Yeah pretty cool, Norwegians tend to do rock music pretty well. I enjoyed this. 4/5
Kinda spacey krautrock stuff, drawn out and stoned. Moogs and drumkits and bass and whatnot. Great vibe, maybe a bit *too* drawn out in places, but still a good 3/5.
Jazzy pop? Far too soft and waify for me, but I can appreciate it from afar. 3/5.
Bit of a 1990s groove and swagger, mixing rock and funk, just how things were back then. Nothing groundbreaking, but I could listen to this in the background while I drink beer in the backyard on a hot summer's day. etc. 3/5.
Electronic-infused folk music? Was a bit of a hard pill to swallow tbh. Really started to drag. 2/5.
Annoying. 2/5
Blink's boring late-career slowdown album. They were a great fun band and this album wasn't any of that. Still ok tbh. 3/5.
Eh, drawn out indie. Don't hate it but I don't really like it. 2/5
Eh, not really my thing but I didn't hate it. The upbeat songs were alright. I don't mind mixing a bit of rock and electronica, but this didn't end up packing enough of a punch for me. 3/5.
Ok so what kind of sick FUCK, after sitting through 3 years of albums that generally go too long, then chooses a 2-hour live album to foist on everyone else? Bad form. Also, this jam band stuff really didn't do it for me today. 2/5.
One of those albums where a look at the cover tells you EXACTLY what you're in for. It's a "fuck no" from me, but at least it was honest about it. 2/5.
I remember the first song, one of those "oh right, that existed" sorta tunes. Not too bad, a bit too 00s radio rock for me overall though. 3/5.
Good Aussie rock, not on the level of bands like Icehouse or INXS but still alright. Recognise a few tracks from drinking with older mates over the years. 3/5.
This might be fantastic in its own way but I'm just not an indie folk guy. It always gives me vibes of uni students who think this sort of music taste will mark them as "mysterious and artsy but fun", when really they just don't cut their toenails and any girls that are actually impressed by it also have questionable hygiene. 2/5.
ugh, more twee waify folk. I'm sure it's very sophisticated and stylish in Scandinavia but boooooooo hiss. 2/5.
This wasn't horrid but definitely not my thing. Just straight up rock got
It said I didn't listen to this, but I did! It's average rap but mixed with sorta Tarantino soundtrack tunes. Wasn't really my thing but could've been way worse. 3/5.
eh, this was kinda fun. neither here nor there. 3/5.
This band was a very meh affair in the 90s imo, and I haven't really changed my opinion there. There aren't any real big banger tunes going on. Everything is mildly catchy, but that's not enough on its own. At least half their appeal was "omg Butch Vig" and some weird idol worship of Shirley Manson. I didn't understand it then, still don't. Not a bad band, not complete garbage(!), but there would have been THAT MANY bands doing something very similar, probably better, that we just never heard of... 3/5.
Steven Wilson is one of those people who I assume is like his fans - annoying.
Renaissance fair type jazz prog stuff, I'm kinda stoned and it's doing it alright for me.
Zappa is pretty fun. I am torn between liking him and wanting everyone who worships him to FOAD. it's a strange place. 4/5.
I was annoyed that there were no albums by Bad Religion, NOFX or Pennywise here - early 90s pop punk is one of life's simple pleasures and I love it. I'm glad someone added this - although I would've gone with the Grey Race, White Trash or About Time. Still, this is a 5/5 album.
twee indie folk, oddly-spelled name and she's from Portland! Take my 2/5.
This wasn't too bad, but 2 hours? That's a lot of jazzy cruise vibes or whatever. 3/5 and I'm being generous.
This was a fuckin fun little romp. I know what Jimmy Buffett does in theory, but I never really paid any attention. It's pretty catchy stuff. 4/5.
Oh god no how annoying. 2/5.
This was kinda fun, dig the latin vibe. 3/5.
1993 and an album cover that vaguely resembles Singles. I look into my crystal ball and.... ah come on, with a name like "posies" and that album cover, this is going to be soft alternagrunge. Call me Nostradamus. Ok I recognised Dream all Day. Album overall as expected. Just kinda meandering semi-grungy stuff, but I have a soft spot for it. 4/5.
Whenever I see Icelandic writing, I'm worried it'll be Sigur Ros. This wasn't them, but it was still weird shit. I think I get the movie soundtrack vibe, but eh. 2/5.
This was pretty cool. Catchy europop. Didn't go off on too many strange tangents. Just did what it suggested it would. 4/5.
lol ok that is a hilariously shit album cover. I'm guessing HIPSTERS. And why did someone submit an album from 1969? Wasn't 6000 albums from that exact year enough already? Ok it's proggy like early Genesis? Production is surprisingly good for its time. The jokey artwork doesn't really have any relevance beyond some of the lyrics being about the sea. Not too bad overall, could have replaced many other 69 albums here. 4/5.
lol it's the chick from S Club 7. Just pointless, mindless 00s dance pop. I vaguely remember thinking she was the hot one of the group. But still: fuuuuck off. This has to be a wind up. 2/5.
Meh, noisy alternative. 3/5.
Cruisy, inoffensive, backpacker hostel lobby muzak. 3/5.
This is a strange band. I've heard a few of their albums, just all over the map. This one is pretty catchy indie rock? Upbeat, sounds like fun. 4/5.
Oh god really? Ok. 3/5.
Fun enough band. 3/5.
Easy listening electronica is the sort of stuff that plays while you're waiting for the sessions to start at a corporate retreat. 2/5.
Meh. Hipsters doing... something. 2/5
John Mayer is cool. 3/5.
Not a reggae fan. Just tooooo samey. 2/5.
Not a bad album to work to at 5am. Very hipstery, odd, minimalist electronica. I think if it hadn't suited my mood at the time I would have hated it, but here we are. 3/5.
boring rock. dude can't sing. 2/5.
The music is neither here nor there, but I had an instant negative reaction to that voice. So much so that the music started annoying me too. 1/5 terrible. (Sorry bud, I know you probably love it and hope everyone else does too. But yeesh)
oh hell yeah! This is going straight on the work playlist. What a cool album. Never heard of it before, great energy, bit of an exotic (to me) flavour. 4/5.
Ahhh look, I was 15 when this album came out. I wasn't a huge blink fan, but they were VERY hard to ignore. They'd already had a few hits, really quickly took over Offspring/Green Day, poor NOFX left in the dust. I remember the radio charts were pretty full of boy/girl bands and blingy rap at the time, the "big alternative" music was mostly nu-metal, but then these guys were just fucking THERE. And this was their peak. All the lyrics appealed to kinda loser teenage boys like me - felt like the whole album was about girls not wanting to know you or not being allowed to go out on the weekend, which was my direct experience in my teens lol. Crazy how much that resonated with me now, but eh. NOFX is still way better and criminally underrated imo, but Blink 182 was also pretty rad. 4/5.
Cynical hipster shit with a "lol, it's so 80s hey" backdrop. I always wonder whether these cunts actually like the music they're sending up, or if it's just a vehicle for maximum *irony*. Either way, 2/5 and fuck off.
This thinks it's way cooler than it is. It isn't hard to imagine the frontman posting vaguely sociopathic things on Facebook about how his lifelong unemployment is actually a sacrifice he's made to bless everyone with *art*. "No, I didn't pay taxes; I just did all this for you for free". Oh thanks man! As appreciation, here's my 1/5.
This band is so lame. Just laaaaaaame. 1/5.
The Boss goes alright, not sure why we needed a live album from him but hey. 3/5.
Don't mind these guys. Cool album. 3/5.
I predicted this would be exactly what it was just looking at the album cover. Super-serious gay indie pop. Nailed it. Overall, pretty abrasive. Too disjointed to dance OR sit and listen to. I don't know where or when you'd crack this out; it felt like performance art more than music half the time. tbh the drone track was cool, I'd have listened to a full album of that. But it's a 2/5.
I'm Australian and grew up in the late 80s/early 90s. I've heard this album more times than I've heard my own name. I owned a copy as a kid, and the singles are still played daily - quite literally every day - on most rock radio stations. If you say "pulling a Michael Hutchence" in Australia, everyone will know EXACTLY what you mean. INXS is so popular here that they had a fuckin TV competition to find a new singer... in 2005. They hadn't put out a single for 10 years by that point. Also, a mate of mine is friends with one of the Farriss brothers (forget which one) and by all accounts he's a total loony. Kick is a GREAT album. 5/5.
This was a struggle. 2/5.
He was funny on community but this is not my thing. 2/5.
lol what an avant garde masterpiece. It would've been average rating, but the singing REALLY drags it down. Old timey English folk music (ie. not American folk country) is pretty good when done properly... which this isn't. 2/5.
ew, more folk music. And it's the modern kind, sounds like Mumford and Sons. 1/5 on a nice day.
This album seamlessly blended 4 or 5 distinct musical genres into something I struggled to stay awake for. 1 point for referencing Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, but then 1 point taken away for making it really, really boring. Otherwise... it's like the wikipedia critics listened to a completely different album. Going by critical opinion alone, this should be 2023's answer to <big 1970s album>. Didn't anyone (other than me) listen to this and just feel completely underwhelmed? bored? impatient? 1/5.
amon düüll II... heard the name many times. listened this morning for the first time. not too bad, pretty spacey, cruisy etc. good VIBE. 3/5.
Oh good, more folky garbage. lol @ calling it "stomp clap hey ho" hipster music. It sure is. 1/5.
Not too bad for noisy indie stuff. Punky and catchy as well. At one point I thought the same song had played twice though, and it hadn't. Not the mark of a GREAT album lol. 3/5.
Meh, post-punk crud. Does this stuff pride itself on all sounding identical? 2/5.
I've heard this album once before and at the time I remember thinking it was way better than expected, and I should listen to it again. I never did, but hey. Listening again in 2024, it's.... fucking amazing. I really should listen to this album regularly. It sniffs its own farts and the AESTHETIC is silly, but I don't care when it's this catchy. 5/5.
lol I don't know what this is going to be but the cover SUCKS in a funny way. It kinda looks like it'll be heavy metal? Maybe from a non-English country? Greece? Ok, it's hard rock (close enough) and the singer sounds like Jimmy Barnes. They're Australian? Fuck, I never heard of them. I love Airbourne, so how did this escape me? Either way, pretty much up my alley. 4/5.
No, not this. 2/5.
I'm not a big Tool fan, but this album is just *that* fucking good. I remember seeing the video for Stinkfist on rage when it first came out, and just couldn't get enough of it. I was only 12 and could barely comprehend its brilliance. The song is a journey, with really distinct parts that tie together so well, and the video clip just tops it off. Fucking masterpiece. And the rest of the album isn't far behind. I still listen to it every other week. It reminds me of the mid-late 90s, when I was getting exposed to all this new music, trying pot, surfing on weekends, trying and failing to impress girls... it's the sound of my youth. I should repeat: I'm not really a Tool fan, I've heard their other albums *maybe* once each, but I totally GET this one. I swim in it. I drink it. I escape into it. I listen to it and forget about the rest of the world, forget about the daily bullshit 40 year olds put up with. 5/5.
I've never actually heard these guys, but I've kinda meant to some point. They were a vague joke when I cared about metal in the mid 2000s - something something emo pussies etc. But if they're anything like a whole bunch of other bands I wrote off as "gay" in 2004, they're probably alright. Yeah it's not too bad lol. Kinda catchy, anthemy, chorus driven pop punk. I don't mind it at all. 4/5.
Ohhhh 1968! Let me just get out my "this sucks" stamp. Not sure why you'd choose this when the original list was already full of this stuff, but eh. I don't like it, I don't hate it, but in the absence of 2.5 I'll give it 3/5.
More folk? Are you kidding me? Haven't we had enough folk rock already? 2/5.
Eh well this is boring. 2/5.