Rage In Favor Of The Machine.

I adore traditional pop songwriting so it's really a no-brainer. It's like Rubber Soul x Sgt. Pepper's and all of the lyrics sound like In My Life.

Dad rock but by actually talented musicians

An odd territory of not being The Cure or Joy Division levels of depressing but also being far from standard pop fare. Great

Since I Left You makes up for its lack of obvious stand out tracks with impeccably perfect song transitions, catchy rhythms that are equally great for daydreaming as they are partying, and eclectic sample choices which give it that weird mysterious edge. Within these songs is a creative world, barely out of reach, with life and texture. It's like musical cinema or a gripping book. It's not perfect but it's worth getting lost in its suspense, romance, and overall joie de vivre. A worthy classic imo. Probably most appealing to EDM fans or very nerdy hip-hop fans as it has that DJ Shadow feeling.

Haven't heard this record before. Love it. Maybe I should become a goth.

I adore traditional pop songwriting so it's really a no-brainer. It's like Rubber Soul x Sgt. Pepper's and all of the lyrics sound like In My Life.

She's got a voice, she does say something very real on Black Boys on Mopeds, but for the most part, it's a bit too limp for me to get all the hype. The hype seems to be that she was harassed by a bunch of first world conservative frauds and I suppose for that she has my sympathy.

Very radio ready indie pop, kind of foreshadowing the minimalist sound of the early to mid 10s, while maintaining the sentimentality and respectable rock instrumentation of its indie ancestors. You have to respect the craftsmanship and the fact that they did this first. But I really like the stuff that came before and I really like the stuff that came after. I've got a go big or go home mentality. I'd rather have my Lana Del Rey/Lorde or my Broken Social Scene/The Killers than this in between. It's like listening to The Beatles play Please Please Me. Nonetheless enjoyable. I like the way the two vocalists weave together in a way where you can oddly feel the distance between them. It's probably the most distinctive aspect of this release other than that these very 2013 type beats have post-punk riffs accompanying them.

I'm uncertain of the artistic direction here, but I do always like psychedelia, and these are some certifiably weird songs. Especially because one moment the base of the song is reggae/dub and the next second it's noise rock.

Very 90s video game music with decent pop accessibility and some solid drama.

Forgive me for my bias, because Animal Collective is one of my favorite bands and their 2000s run is everything I like about experimental music, but yeah this is kind of a masterpiece. If you don't see some beauty in the chorus of My Girls, I don't know what to tell you. It's an interesting progression into maturity to hear this band go from screaming about growing up, playing tribal tunes, and complaining about college to crooning about their desire for a simple life with a house and a wife but it's unmistakably still the same writers. Amazing production, amazing sequencing, amazing emotion, recommended for edgier fans of Brian Wilson.

Perhaps offensive to the true Sonic Youth fans (who I count myself among) but an excellent record. It's got that poppy grungey quality to it but Sonic Youth know they're the cooler older brother and the play the part of it. Probably one of the most baffling albums to bubble outside of the mainstream with their signature dissonant guitar tones and progressive meandering structures. Kim and Thurston on vocals kind of mix together cartoony irreverence with overt politics and dialogue with pop culture imagery for an overall pretty socially progressive but lighthearted time. I think it's a very natural counterpart to the guitar bible that is Daydream Nation.

This is on the list over dozens of great innovative international albums because someone is a really hardcore Sex Pistols/PiL fan. Not me though. Wobble and co are simply okay.

Dad rock but by actually talented musicians

It should be in every sensible human's best interests to hate on the British, for they are the British, but the Kinks are the only band in Britain that genuinely make one feel any sympathy for the country. It's quite a shame that the band is merely a national treasure but they're all the better for their uncompromising approach to music. While everyone was playing baby tunes, they were pumping out hard rock riffs and then when everyone went psychedelic, they retreated into beautiful nuanced and bittersweet pictures of pastoral life. On this record, you get genius melodies and you get simple things. As you should.

A classic example of good trustworthy advertising. It is short, it is an album, and it is truly every sense about love. The vocalist's voice soars as he tells you how we can be together forever, how you would not cry if you were a tree, and how if you were a horse, he'd clean the crap out of your stable and that's when it really hits you that you're in love.

An odd territory of not being The Cure or Joy Division levels of depressing but also being far from standard pop fare. Great

it's an above average house album, the sound design is pretty unique, and the drum sound on the first couple of tracks is pretty good. kind of ethereal.

it's samey but it's also my style

Most of us lack the privilege of enjoying this in a party context but what I can say as an armchair listener is that Fatboy Slim possesses a lot of youthful energy and creativity and knows what he wants out of a record but I'd enjoy this more if it were 20 minutes shorter. But again, this wasn't made for me to enjoy as an album, it was made to provide an hours worth of ass shaking for DJs. Also sounds like you could flip some dope samples off this.

I like my classic punk rock but this one seems kind of tame decades later. Still respectable.

Crazy album in all the right ways

Sure the poetry is cheesy, but they know it's cheesy (there would have been a naked woman on stage if you were actually present at this show), and instrumentally it's fun extremely competent grunge-y space rock. And we have Lemmy from Motorhead! Playing a style of music where I personally have a much easier time appreciating his bass prowess.

Picking up where the great Joy Division left off, The Cure isn't exactly Joy Division or any of their post punk godfathers for that matter. Modeled after the despairing bass lines and repetitive drum rhythms that took over depressed alternative scenes in the late 70s, Pornography opts for a little more lustre or sex appeal. Whereas something like JD's Closer seems grounded in philosophies, Pornography seems more for the fan of Edgar Allan Poe with its exciting but ultimately brutal and irrational twists and turns. It's all about the contrast of the bright with the dark. Robert Smith, true to the album's title, defiles love and all of life's pleasures being brought further into despair. The album takes a few listens to come together but once it does you appreciate how well it falls apart. The album is collapsing in on itself, becoming irreparably distorted by Cold and the title track Pornography to the point of not even sounding like conscious melodrama anymore. Yet, in the hardly musical wreck that is Pornography, Robert Smith's ultimate conclusion is that he must "fight this sickness" even as it numbers him and envelopes him whole.

Debauched post punk with a nocturnal vibe and lyrics spilling from the artist's subconscious. Although David Bowie gives it both an accessibility and richness it likely wouldn't otherwise have had, Iggy Pop truly gives the record its raw punk energy.

4 superb grunge songs and a bunch of other unfocused tracks that make Pearl Jam one of the weaker bands in grunge's main staple.

I'm a massive Nirvana fan. This record is okay. Something was lost with Kurt that I don't expect Grohl to be able to replace. This isn't really the Foo Fighters as we know them today, it's just Dave Grohl playing all the parts, and for that reason it's a hell of a lot better than the saccharine arena rock they play in 2021. Just solid tunes with an occasionally raw aesthetic to them.

Born Under Punches is astounding, I can see why this is revolutionary

One of the craziest, most timeless yet also dated, efforts in the history of pop music. The beginning of a new era for Big Boi and southern hip-hop and the end of an era for the mythical Andre 3000 who has become something of a hip-hop Brian Wilson. There are some good Prince comparisons to be made but 3K's music is a murky haze of influences and in this strange and unsettling sound, I think we find the likes of Frank Ocean and Kendrick Lamar and so many more. Big Boi's side is more or less what you expect if you're familiar with the Kast but that doesn't make it less immaculate. In both Big Boi and Andre's side, exist entire worlds, summations of everything they've witnessed thus far in their life as artists and while not every track is gonna hit you on the level of Hey Ya! or The Way You Move, I'd say it's well worth the ride.

Very enjoyable rock, certainly could understand why people would think it's better than similar material from the same year. But it's gonna be a while before I can understand the obsession so many fans have with this band.

Early folk rock masterpiece that invokes the essence of Americana. And it's by a bunch of Canucks...

On the Beach is one of the finest Neil Young albums. It feels exactly like the album cover. It has some of his most improvisational lyrics but you just can't help but relate if you're feeling even the slightest bit spiteful or alone.

I think it's overrated, with my current gold standard of jazz being Black Saint and The Sinner Lady. But that said it is amazing and I would feel bad giving it 4 stars.

I was led to believe Kind of Blue was his opus but this meandering puzzle of noise is absolutely fantastic, something that you can immediately have enthusiasm for, but also something that would take a long time to truly understand on a theoretical level.

You know Led Zeppelin, they play bluesy rock really hard but I would say if you're into weird shit, this may be your favorite one. In other words, I think this some of their best, has a lot of depth to its sound.

The same song for 36 minutes, which if you like the guitar tone and Lemmy's signature macho voice, then hey not a bad deal.

I'm not much of a metal fan but lucky for me this has an alternative/pop appeal packed in it. And it rips. I think everyone can get behind this one. Decent 9/10.

I can easily see this going down as an all time favorite for me, it is gorgeously produced, trippy as all hell, and genuinely tearjerking. Appeals to me massively as an indie fan.

more of a 9/10 really

Since I Left You makes up for its lack of obvious stand out tracks with impeccably perfect song transitions, catchy rhythms that are equally great for daydreaming as they are partying, and eclectic sample choices which give it that weird mysterious edge. Within these songs is a creative world, barely out of reach, with life and texture. It's like musical cinema or a gripping book. It's not perfect but it's worth getting lost in its suspense, romance, and overall joie de vivre. A worthy classic imo. Probably most appealing to EDM fans or very nerdy hip-hop fans as it has that DJ Shadow feeling.

It has a very fun relaxing and unique attitude but I can think of quite a few EDM or adjacent acts that I would just rather be listening to. But I at least expect to put this on again from time to time.

Although Steely Dan is famous for having great technical skills, there's very little to complain about songwriting wise other than that I could imagine it being a little more powerful. But I can't pinpoint how. It's good music. 9/10

It's like LCD Soundsystem for your mom and with really nothing it sets out to tell you, it's just kinda there and wants to piss off fans of the previous albums, but in retrospect over a decade later, fuck it, you'll probably like it too!

Look, it's not At Folsom Prison, but if this doesn't embody what it means or what it meant to be country (because country is a rotting corpse now), then I don't know what does. It's brilliant in its anti prison industrial complex premise. It's brilliant in its support of the working class. In Johnny's iconic simplicity. In his silver tongue. The crowd is happy and you're happy because there's nothing to complain about. A classic, through and through. Also features one of my first and favorite Cash songs of all time, a story of a drunken bar fight with your dead beat dad who named you "Sue".

A triumphant moment for music. Music fans may have decided that such a sound is dated and that every era has a sound and that you can't relate to things from out of your time. But really I reject that. Funeral is one of the most emotional and relatable stories of adolescent uncertainty ever crafted, with all of life's pure unrestrained rebellion, despair, and the in between. They are a band with fucking violinists and horn players but at the end of the day it's music recorded with a fidelity that frankly anyone could acquire with simple homely writing. Regine and Winn Butler's voice breaking the limits of the mix on tracks such as Neighborhood #1 and In the Backseat is not something to be frowned upon. They're astounding moments of incredibly talented individuals screaming into the void at the loss of the light of their parent's and community's guidance. Yet through this expression of pain, Funeral becomes an almost communal event which is what I think truly makes Funeral the epitome of what everyone loves or hates about the genre. The album has a few weaker spots that I can easily note but that would take away from the sentiment I want to express. Funeral is one of the most loveable albums I have and ever will meet and I love returning to it every time.

This doesn't deserve nearly as much hate as the kids on college radio who have listened to a whopping five drone and musique concrete records give it but it also doesn't really deserve the adoration the generation before yours might have given it. It's musically competent but I think it's a bit better when it bares it teeth and goes for a Halloween or JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit kind of sound as opposed to a sitting back and drinking pineapple flavored alcohol kind of sound.

Immaculate moody live album that gradually builds from sparse acoustic numbers to a destructive nihilistic rage. Better to burn out than fade away.

I remember I didn't care for this album until I listened to it a second time. A revolution in alternative rock and just music in general, bringing the "no-wave" sensibilities and anti-authority attitudes out of the underground, and creating a masterpiece of distortion. Although he is a musical god to many, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, and Steve Shelley were the pantheon to people like Kurt Cobain as they stood for music which was powerful yet uncompromising. In all honesty, the record speaks in gibberish ninety percent of the time but I know it stands against consumerist sexist culture and that's enough. Thurston lays it all out in the first track: the world would be awesome if J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. was the president. If that sounds simple to you, fuck you.

Get a decent pair of headphones and listen to Shine On You Crazy Diamond. You cannot deny that it's one of the best songs ever composed. From the slow build up, the emergence of \"Syd's Theme\", the overwhelming guitar from David, and the lyrics, there is not a single flaw in this song. The album is an absolutely stunning ballad to Syd Barrett that explains how the machine that is fame and the music industry broke him into an unrecognizable person. You can also sense Roger's admiration for Syd and his deep regret that his personal hero fell victim to his mind. Not everybody is a fan of Have A Cigar but I thought Roy Harper did an excellent job with guest vocals and the song writing wittily exposes record label executives. Welcome to the Machine and the titular track, Wish You Were Here are both amazing songs as well, furthering the tragedy of Syd at the hands of the record industry with the title track carrying a gorgeous acoustic line. Wish You Were Here is unique in that it is the most personal story Pink Floyd ever told, as they often strived to demolish society on other albums but instead opted to tell the story of a single man. But it is so unimaginably beautiful in its depiction of the spark we all have, how it fizzles, and ultimately what will always remain of that spark in those who love or even just know us, that this album may be the biggest statement they've ever or will ever put out.

I don't think this type of music is for me but it's probably among the best of its genre. Has Free Bird.

Hasn't fully clicked with me but it is remarkably good shit

A tour de force in making great metal songs that will be misinterpreted by the people it's criticizing in a couple decades.

The vague religious mantras and positively nerdy sound is absolutely what you would expect out of prog rock but c'mon. The first four minutes of the title track. You can barely tell if they're playing the same time signature. It is so mind bogglingly bizarre it should not work. Everyone is in their own world until they all magically fall into place and stop playing at the exact same time as someone exclaims AHHHH. And then they do it all again 2 seconds later. These four minutes will forever be perhaps the greatest moment in prog rock. Perhaps rivaled by the introduction to 21st Century Schizoid Man. And the middle of the song is like being born again so yeah. Other two tracks are good.

Many great folk punk records but they're all indebted to the sexual angst and janky midwest cabin guitars of this record. The silver lining of centuries of oppressive puritanical Christianity is this awesome gross look into the human heart.

Rage In Favor Of The Machine.

You've heard the closer, the opener is a beautiful love song about getting out of prison, don't sleep on everything in between those two tracks.

A bit frontloaded but it's hard to deny how the Cocteau Twins set the standard for this genre.

Messy, it's got some tracks I don't usually revisit, but wow. It's the White Album.

I could swing either way on this but considering how little I usually like "classic rock" suggestions on this list and how much I actually enjoy this one, I'll give it 5 stars. Three chords and a lot of energy, gotta love it.

These guys are very obviously talented but they lack something a lot of their more raw psychedelic contemporaries have.

Okay I get the rabid popularity, it's really golden by 80s synth radio standards, and I love the bass lines, but it's just not transcendent or anything. Maybe that's a silly complaint.

Maybe an 8. I feel like it's pretty solid but I also don't care for techno.

Fuck Tha Police is a classic anti-establishment song, Gangsta Gangsta is really fun despite it leaning into the more unsavory aspects of NWA, and Express Yourself is that fun little song you've heard in commercials. But after those 3 tracks, the quality dips pretty hard, and I'd probably recommend you listen to the solo outings of Dr. Dre and Ice Cube instead.

Sometimes it lags, particularly in the second half, but it's top tier britpop because of its incredibly glam sound and Jarvis Cocker's unique persona.

This album is good but not as good as its more famous predecessor 'folklore'. This pair of albums is generally much better than anything from her pop diva phase and having built up a lot of goodwill with fans, she was able to make this transition and have it be a massive moment. She's good at this light commercial folk pop sound and it clearly challenges her to focus more on the actual songwriting. Mirrorball is an excellent cut lyrically and the acoustic Betty is a mature masterfully composed retrospective on 2006 "Teardrops on My Guitar" Taylor Swift. But if you want me to be brutally honest, as glad as I am that this is the Taylor Swift our democratic society has decided to hear, I think I would much rather listen to Bon River's "For Emma Forever Ago". 8/10

The granddaddy of prog! 21st Century Schizoid Man's opening is easily the most iconic thing to ever grace the genre and it's insane. Nothing feels awkward which is crazy for such a foundational text. Even Moonchild becomes a nice little interlude after a few listens. Obviously worthy of 5 stars (but it's not their best album...).

Has a couple of weak cuts but it's a surefire way to get kicked out of Guitar Center.

Very relatable record. Perhaps not in its precise sentiments as John is asking us to dig into his own personal drama, but the process itself is cathartic. He tears down his walls, screams into the void, lets go of everything, and accepts starting from scratch. Much of it is demanding, even the minimalist yet pulsing instrumentation, but it is a valuable experience. It's very much John's "therapy album" but I think it's a damn good argument for therapy. Some people might not have cared when he went left field in the 70s and people probably still don't care because he's an undesirable figure in the current climate. But the message has only gotten better with time. On one of my favorite cuts of the album, "God", he speaks of religion and all social structures as tools with "which we measure our pain" and that's what this album is about. Moments like "Mother" may be painful but confronting the pain head on is the only way to heal. This album is merely the beginning as it would take John up until his death to discard the bitterness that once defined him.

You're not gonna like this take: this is about as good of an early 2000s pop rock/post-britpop album as The Bends. The main reason is that Chris Martin is simple enough to make something as saccharine and unpretentious as Yellow actually work. Thom Yorke is emotional but he has to be up his own ass a little to find something profound. Parachutes just kind of speaks for itself. It's easy to be nostalgic about. 9/10

This is what The Beatles (and the Davies brothers and Brian Wilson) would sound like if they had been born a hundred years later. The same old pop motifs re-interpolated a thousands times into banality but also looping back into sensory overload and euphoria and surreal half truths. You can't really handle the tremendous weight of it whether you've heard the classics or not.