Another British pop album so important that the only sentence under the Legacy tab in Wikipedia is the one noting that it is on the 1001 albums list. I understand that sometimes you need a bit of distance between an album and the review to gain perspective on it, but that's exactly why it shouldn't be on this list. It's a late 90s pop album that sounds like a late 90s pop album. It's fine, but indistinguishable from a hundred other albums that came out in the same era. It's not special or groundbreaking or technically outstanding in any way. Why not throw a couple of Days of the New or Stabbing Westward albums on here while we're wasting everyone's time? 2/5

It's tough to know what exactly to think about this album. It's weird and cool. There are certainly moment where I get into it. It's not something I see myself going back to because there's not much about the album that I find really engrossing. Caligari's Mirror is a notable highlight. I can definitely see how it is influential in what came after it. 3/5

There are only so many albums that I get three tracks into and think \"Wow, I need this album in my life.\" It's so peaceful and beautiful. The fact that I went through the whole album and never missed instruments is a tribute to the incredible brilliance of the arrangements. The whole album has the same feeling, but it never feels boring or like it's dragging. 5/5

Back when I was in college, there was this dude who would come into the bar I worked at on a Friday night and play fucking 10 Neil Young songs in a row. He would also hit on girls by doing magic tricks. I remember how angry I got every time he made me listen to an hour of Neil Young because I was just trying to have a good time, and he fucking made me listen to this sad, soppy fuck who writes nothing but songs that sound indistinguishable from each other and never seemed to enjoy a happy moment in his entire like. Fuck that guy, and fuck Neil Young. 2/5

There are a lot of ways in which I detest Eric Clapton as a person, since he has the audacity to be a racist while ripping his entire career off of Black American blues musicians. Listening to this album provided a unique opportunity to see how empty his skill set really is. He is an excellent guitar player. This is a cover album that rarely features his skills as an instrumentalist because I guess he wanted to show off his skills as doing uninspired cover versions of popular songs. His version of Hand Jive is most appropriate for a funeral, since I don't see how anyone could enjoy dancing to it. I Shot The Sheriff is a cover I had to hear constantly in my youth, and now I spend hours trying to explain to my therapist why I harbor so much anger towards an over-rated artist being covered badly by an even more over-rated artist. Listening to Clapton try and fail to do anything interesting with a song that already didn't have much going for it is the audio equivalent of watching a scrambled porn channel back in the 90s only to realize that the show you were trying to watch was a scrambled cooking show the whole time. Eric Clapton is proof that heroin doesn't turn every musician into a brilliant artist.

I really like the guitar tone on this album. The distortion is really crisp and it's mixed well. My least favorite parts of the album seem to be the lyrics and the flute. Aqualung and Up to Me have this really creepy feel that makes the album distinct Overall the album sounds a bit dated, definitely a product of its time. It drags in places, but when its good, it's really good.

It's a sweet album with a lot of nice instrumentals. A lot of surprising little instrumental moments that fit really well in the overall context of the album. I can't say that it really grabbed me, but there's also nothing to take issue with. A great album to play in the background. Very summery feel. It drags a bit at the end, though it is overall a very pleasant listen. I might be even more fond of it if Van Morrison wasn't a COVID-denying dick.

This album is undeniably strange and undeniably charming. It's split pretty evenly between standup comedy and Wait's crooning, and he excels in both of these tasks. The album is an anachronism, set in an analog world that no longer exists and could never exist in the computer age. The jazz band backing Waits stitches the entire work together. Waits slides evenly between smutty, sweet, and insightful. It's not the type of album that I would normally listen to, but it has a lot of charm and helped me understand much better why people are so fond of Waits. The album is a bit long, though. I don't know that it needed to be a double album. I suppose that it gives more of a nightclub performance feel, but I felt like the album would have finished strong after the end of the first disc. There is some excellent stuff on the second half, though, so I'm not sure what I would cut. The album is an experience that I want to come back to at some point, despite the fact that this style of album is not my particular cup of tea. Great artists know how to make things work.

This is one of those albums that I try with every few years but never seem to get. Despite its chronological proximity to Hunky Dory, an album I absolutely love, this one has never really grabbed me. There is nothing wrong with this album, but it sounds dated compared to Hunky Dory, which has a really timeless feel. Part of the issue, I think, is the lack of classic songs. This album has a very coherent feel, it sounds good, but when I listen to it, I keep waiting for a song to really draw me in, but I don't think this really occurs until Suffragette City, which is nearly 2/3 of the way through the album. The album is consistently good, and I feel like I "got" it better than I have in the past, I just don't understand why this album gets held up as THE early Bowie album. It's good but not great.

Fuck, this was good right from the first line. "I step into an avalanche. It covered up my soul" Leonard Cohen is what I feel like I should be hearing when I put on a Bob Dylan record. I honestly don't have much to say about this album. It goes by in a blur, but every song is good. No one knows how to pick the bit of diamond out of a fist-sized lump of coal the way that Cohen does. Every song is dark, imperious, but beauty always shines through. I will definitely come back to this one (4/5).

I legitimately forgot this album and band existed. It's weird how some bands stick around in the Zeitgeist while others fade completely despite having similar track records. The album starts out really strong, but then the songs start to sound a bit samey. It's good, but it fades into the background because there's not a lot of tempo variation. There are some slower songs, but I can't say that I'm terribly impressed with songs like Seeing Things. Some of the other songs are good but start to feel like cultural appropriation (lookin at you, Hard to Handle. Talks to Angels is a good song that feels more original. 3/5

It's weird reviewing this album directly after the Black Crows album, because they are both white-boy blues albums. This, however, feels much more authentic. CCR seem much more like they are playing their version of the blues rather than doing an impression of the blues. This album starts out really strong with some songs that I wasn't familiar with, and then proceeds to get into a string of songs released as singles that I really enjoy, like Lookin' Out My Back Door, Run Though the Jungle, Up Around The Bend, and Who'll Stop The Rain. Honestly, the cover art may be the worst thing about this album. What in the hell were they thinking? 4/5

Lost my Achtung Baby review, but the album is just okay

God the 1980s were a weird decade for music. It's like everything was happening all at once, and for all the amazing things that were happening in the foreground, you also have bands like Sonic Youth. The first thing this reminded me of was Slanted and Enchanted by Pavement, which came out 6 years after this album. This album is more introspective and darker, though. I feel like there is something about Sonic Youth that never quite translates from their live shows to their albums, though. I feel like I should like these albums more, but it ultimately feels like there isn't anything for me to sink my teeth into. I think what I really need is an instrumental Sonic Youth album. I feel like that is where they really shine, and the vocals kind of distract from their instrumentals on a lot of songs. 3/5

This is the third blues-rock album that I've had chosen in the last week, and provides an interesting contrast with the other two (Shake Your Money Maker and Cosmo's Factory). This album has a very 60s feel to it, but not in a way that is confined to any specific genre. There is a definite psychedelic influence, but there's also rockabilly and early 60s pop influences. This album at once sounds like more authentic blues than the other two but at the same time strays further away from the blues. Jeff Beck's guitar does a lot to pull this album together and make it an interesting listen. It's cool, groovy, and it goes by quickly. 4/5

What a weird little album. Very 1970s. I'm struggling to find much to say about it, despite the fact that I'm enjoying it. The pianos are excellent and always mixed in well. It's very cinematic, but for that reason this album also sort of fades into the background. At times it sounds like a more poppy Pink Floyd. 3/5

I had never heard of this album before today, though the album cover looks vaguely familiar. It has that strange "more than the sum of its parts" feeling that a lot of great albums that come out of nowhere have. It certainly presages a lot of the music that will come after it. A lot of what made Slanted and Enchanted feel unique is also present here. It develops so slowly, appropriately like a spider crawling across the wall. The lyrics are dark, but not maudlin. Nothing feels overdone. There's this tension that hangs over the album that, like most aspects of this album, is very hard to define. Halfway through, it feels like the album is just getting started. When it ends, I feel like there should be so much more, but I'm not disappointed. Timeless. 5/5

Jazz and hip-hop were meant to be together. Just good fun, old school hip-hop. The fact that this album ends with Scenerio just shows how full of solid tracts this album is. 4/5

This just isn't for me. It's fine, there's nothing bad about it, but I don't see myself ever coming back to this album. 2/5

I don't have a lot to say about his album either, but it's just really solid. Just when I start to feel like it's bogging down, they drop Heart of Glass, and it's amazing. This album doesn't really feel that dated either. If I didn't know who it was and you told me it was from the 80s or 90s, I would completely believe it.

It's just a fun album. Distinctly of its era in the 90s. I surprised this one has passed my by until now. Lots of variation in the songs. Lots of energy in the first half of the album, and then it slows down in the latter half and has some more noticeable instrumentation. There's a little bit of Beatles in this album. Fun pop music that you can still take seriously. I imagine this band would have been awesome to see live during this era 4/5

Fleetwood Mac just isn't for me. This is a good album, but I don't see myself coming back to listen to it in the future. I've been waiting for one of those iconic FM tracks to come on and make me take interest in this album, but I don't think it's coming. On the plus side, Rumors autoplayed right after this album, and I really like Rumors 3/5

This is another album that I don't have much to say about. It's solid all the way through. There weren't any songs that particularly stood out to me, but it didn't fade into the background while I was listening to it either. I really dig his style 4/5

My first electronica album, and one that I've been meaning to revisit as a result of the trip-hop albums from this era that I've been listening to lately. Starts off really strong with two huge hits. The whole album is super high energy. Great sounds all the way through. It lags a bit in the middle, but that's partially a result of the fact that it starts off so strong. Perhaps the peak of angry dance music. 4/5

This album feels more like it was made in the mid 80s than the mid 90s. It becomes a little more modern as it develops, but the throbbing heart of this album seems stuck in the 1980s. Not that there is anything wrong with that. It's fun dance music. 3/5

This is the first album I've gotten so far that I don't understand why it made this list. I understand that 1,001 albums is a lot and is going to include a lot of albums from every year, but I just don't get this one. Their cover of Sweet Jane is an abomination, and it certainly shouldn't have been used to lead off the album. All the Young Dudes is a notable high point on the album, but at the same time I understand why Bowie sold it to them instead of keeping it for himself. The mix on the album is muddy. Everything picks up toward the middle of the album, but by that point I was already pretty mad 2/5 3/5

A super solid album all the way through. Thoroughly 90s, but with a lot of 70s punk elements also mixed with some electronica. 4/5

Same reaction as the last The Band album I listened to. It's fine. I understand why people like this, but this is not for me. The Weight is a great song, but it sags a bit when placed in the middle of a bunch of songs that sound a lot like it, but aren't as good. This is like the mopey version of the Grateful Dead, and I don't really care for the normal version of the Grateful Dead. There were times when I felt like I was starting to enjoy this album, but kept finding ways to wear out its welcome. At 55 minutes in I was starting to do the math in my head for how long it would take to finish. Still 16 goddamn minutes left. 2/5

This is fine musically, but who in gods name thought it would be a good idea to mix a bunch of jingles into the songs, and who decided that they should half ass it so hard instead of committing to the bit. I get what they were trying to do, but I feel like they could have just made a good album instead. 2/5

Very simple, though the music is deceptively complex. Just a solid album that flies by at a clip 4/5

I had never heard of this album before it was recommended. It starts out so strong, but the second half of the album is less interesting. Part of me thinks that this album would be better if it was all instrumental. Every time the vocals come in I sort of tune out. 3/5

This is the first album that I've been suggested that I'm intimately familiar with. There a several titanic songs on this album, including Fight Test, Yoshimi part 1, and Do You Realize. In between these songs is a psychedelic soundscape that guides you dreamily through the album. The instrumentals on this album are incredible. No two songs sound alike, and yet the album has a cohesive feel. 5/5

It's tough to know what exactly to think about this album. It's weird and cool. There are certainly moment where I get into it. It's not something I see myself going back to because there's not much about the album that I find really engrossing. Caligari's Mirror is a notable highlight. I can definitely see how it is influential in what came after it. 3/5

This is an interesting album. Usually I like heavily produced psychedelia, but this one feels a bit overbearing at times. I like it, but intermittently. It starts to hit it's stride 4-5 songs in. I think if the first two songs were stronger then this might be an album I really like. Also this album feels like it's crecendoing to the end a couple of times, and then it just picks back up and keeps going. 3/5

I just listened to this album last week, so it's pretty fresh for me, but I'm always happy to listen to it again. It's hot shit from the first notes of London Calling. So many classic songs. In between the classics are a pile of fun songs that span a massive array of different genre influences. It always amazes me the extent to which every song on this album is at least good, and then you have true brilliance like Lost in the Supermarket or Guns of Brixton or Train in Vain. What must it have been like to be part of the punk scene in the late 1970s and have revolutionary albums raining down every few weeks? 5/5

There are only so many albums that I get three tracks into and think \"Wow, I need this album in my life.\" It's so peaceful and beautiful. The fact that I went through the whole album and never missed instruments is a tribute to the incredible brilliance of the arrangements. The whole album has the same feeling, but it never feels boring or like it's dragging. 5/5

Finally, the unification of Satan and sophomoric innuendo that the people were clamoring for! A solid album all the way through, despite the fact that I find the lyrics to "Give the Dog a Bone" personally distasteful. I can also picture Richard Ramirez really feeling the lyrics to "Let Me Put My Love Into You." Apart from those issues, the album is insanely high energy with some really high points. So many rock n' roll classics in one album 4/5

This album has a fun sound to it, with some nice harmonies. Ultimately it leaves me feeling a bit flat. Like I feel like I should be more into it, but I'm not. It's not bad, it's just okay 3/5

Well the album is okay up until Mother, which is an absolute chore of a song. The album picks up again with Synchronicity II and Every Breath You Take. Wrapped around your finger is another great some. Why did they bury all of the best songs on this album in the latter half? I really think that I might actually like this album if the songs were rearranged a bit and Mother was dropped entirely. 3/5

What an interesting album. So filled with noise, but purposeful at the same time. There's a clear influence of the later Beatles, but without sounding like he's trying to be the Beatles. 4/5

It's neat to come back to this album after listening to more of Miles's middle and later career stuff. It has a more traditional sound (not that folks would have said that at the time), but you can hear how much flavor Miles brings. 4/5

Well shit. This is the album that I've listened to more than any other over the last year. That means that I know it really well, but it's tough to rate because I'm kind of at the end of my love affair with this album (also the world is less depressing so it doesn't fit my mood as well). After relistening to it, fuck it. This is an outstanding album from beginning to end. Easily my favorite NIN album. 5/5

The funky version of the Temptation works for me. There were times when I thought the mix could have been a bit better. Sometimes the falsetto stands out a bit too much from the rest of the arrangement. The songs, though, are top notch 4/5

I've listened to a bunch of songs off of this album over the last year, but I haven't listened to the whole thing in nearly 25 years. The first half of this album is full of great songs. Her voice is powerful, and despite the fact that it hits some sour notes from time to time, it kind of fits with the passion of the album 4/5

I felt like this album got better as it went along. It's not something that I will probably seek out in the future, but I would be super excited if this was playing in a grocery store while I was shopping 3/5

Not everything from the early 2000s has aged well, and I would argue that this album falls into that category. Eminem's persona sounds a bit Trumpian 20 years on. So, I choose to evaluate the album based on the time in which it was made. In that view, the album is very solid, packed with hit songs 4/5

I can see why people like this album, but it feels really dated to me. 3/5

It's a little strange to see a soundtrack on this list, but fuck it starts out strong. After that it just kind of chills out and fades into the background the way a soundtrack is supposed to. It's really good though. 4/5

There's a lot in this album. So many soft, sweet, sad songs interspersed with upbeat toe-tappers. Some of the best S&G songs are on this album, along with a few songs that easily could have been singles 4/5

I was kinda surprised that this album was on the list, since Incubus doesn't get talked about much anymore and the late 90s/early 00s genre of rock that they belonged to isn't well regarded 20 years on. However, this is a really solid album. Incubus has a really interesting sound, and the lead singer's voice is incredible 4/5

This is an album I find very tough to rate. It sounds very of its time, but has some very modern elements as well. It faded into the background a bit for me (the album was over surprisingly quickly), but I was always into it when I became aware of it. Ultimately, I think I like this album, though it is not something I'm likely to come back to very often 4/5

This album, like the last one, is very tough to rate. I enjoyed parts of it, but sometimes it didn't hold my interest that well. I could envision a situation in which I would come back to this album and really like it. There are a lot of cool elements to it. They clearly have some of the same influences as The Clash (or else were heavily influenced by The Clash themselves) 4/5 Second listen better than the first

I wasn't sure if I was going to be into this album, since I'm often hot and cold with Elton John, but this album starts off strong with Tiny Dancer and keeps going from there. 4/5

What a cool little album. I'd heard of Belle and Sebastian for a long time (I think starting with High Fidelity), but I don't know that I'd ever actually listened to them. It was certainly different, but very fun to listened to. Solid alternative pop music 4/5

Beautiful and sad 4/5

I knew more songs on this album than I thought I was going to, and they are all songs that I like. The album is really consistent throughout 4/5

This was an album that I haven't listened to in more than 20 years, so it's a strange experience coming back to it after all these years. It's interesting to see the different samples they were using on this album. Lots of jazz and funk influence. There's a lot more instrumentals in this than I remember. It's also pretty fun when they break out the hardcore punk for a song or two. It's a little strange listening to a rap album where my least favorite thing about it is the lyrics and still liking it, but the instrumentalism and diversity of sounds in this album really saves it 4/5

It's got its moments, but there there are lots of other moments when I wonder when this album is going to finally end 3/5

I really thought I was going to like this album more than I did. The first song is incredible, but the rest of the album doesn't have much to offer. Most of the covers are a bit uninspired, and the songs tend to all sound the same 3/5

It's always a bad sign when I'm already waiting for an album to end shortly after it begins. I'm not sure why I clashed with this one so hard, but I'm just not into it at all. It's simultaneously boring and exhausting 2/5

This was a really tough one for me to rate. This album has some songs that I really like on it, but it also has some that I found pretty boring. The attitude towards women in the album is definitely not great, but I've tried to set that aside when rating other albums. I also feel like this album would sound a lot better if it was recorded today. As it is, it doesn't sound great, but there are later Stones albums that have a lot of similar sounds in them that pop a lot more on the recording. This whole recording sounds flat and muffled, and I don't know how to account for that in my grade. 3/5

This is an even better album than I remember it being. Even without the hits, it's solid all the way through. Stevie captures so many emotions so well 5/5

I find it very difficult to put this album into context. It certainly sounds like an early 90s techno album, but it's hard for me to know if it is groundbreaking in some way that makes all the similar sounding music that I've heard derivative rather than merely similar. Some of the lyrics are very cheezy, but again, I don't know how they would have been perceived at the time. Some of the songs are good (Make it Mine), but I've also never delayed finishing an album for this long before. At certain points, this album becomes the embodiment of toxic hippie positivity. 2/5

I understand why people like Neil Young, but I don't particularly enjoy him, and listening to a full album of his music is a bit of a chore for me. There are certainly some things to like about this album, but, but, but 3/5

I understand why people like Neil Young, but I don't particularly enjoy him, and listening to a full album of his music is a bit of a chore for me. There are certainly some things to like about this album, but, but, but 3/5

I don't think I've ever been more disappointed when seeing a new album pop up. How can a 43 minute album feel this long? 2/5

It starts out pretty strong, but every song kinda sounds the same 3/5

I don't think I've ever listened to a full album produced by Phil Spector before, which provides an interesting experience. The instrumentals do really fill up the record, which helps a lot in an album like this that I might not ordinarily like. It's another one of those times that I wish the rating was out of 10 rather than out of 5. This album is somewhere between a 3 and a 4 for me. The music is really cool, the words are mostly very uninteresting to me. I like his voice, though. 3/5

It starts off really strong, but it falls off pretty hard the last few songs, especially the last two. 3/5

Another really neat album that just kind of came out of nowhere for me. Almost all of the songs are really catchy, and all of them are good 4/5

This album reminds me of Ill Communication by Beastie Boys more than I thought it would. The emphasis on samples that feel like real music and the interplay between the different members of the groups are weirdly similar. When I think about the rap style of Jurassic 5, I always imagine it as sort of hokey, but it's better than I remember. In retrospect, they were a lot more interesting than a lot of the other stuff that was happening in rap in this era 4/5

How are there two fucking Mott the Hoople albums on this list? What is it about this album that I'm supposed to be enriched by? There are some nice instrumentals on this album, I'll give it that, but every song sounds the same. 2/5

Like other electronic albums, I have a difficulty putting this one into context. However, every track is good pop music, if perhaps a little generic (though they may not have been for the time). It seems like sort of a weird choice for this list because I don't see it as being a groundbreaking album, but it's also hard to argue with because it's well-produced 4/5

Really solid all the way through. Several huge hits that don't feel dated. This album must have seemed revolutionary when it first appeared 4/5

Another Scott Walker album, huh? Well, at least it's short. It's not bad, but it does feel a bit unnecessary for this list 3/5

This is pleasant enough, but it isn't really my thing. It was clearly influential on a bunch of 90s music, so I think it's reasonable to say that this album was ahead of its time. It just doesn't do it for me. 3/5

This is pleasant enough, but it isn't really my thing. It was clearly influential on a bunch of 90s music, so I think it's reasonable to say that this album was ahead of its time. It just doesn't do it for me. 3/5

I was just watching some videos about this era in alternate rock history yesterday, so this feels very appropriate. There's just something about the energy of this album that I really like. The vocals don't blow me away, but I love the guitars and drums. 4/5

Another cool post-punk pre-alternative album. I thought this one was interesting. There are times when it sounds like Bruce Springsteen, albeit with much different subject matter. It's easy to see the seeds of a lot of the music I grew up with in the 90s in this album. It goes by really fast, but every song is solid 4/5

Another cool post-punk pre-alternative album. I thought this one was interesting. There are times when it sounds like Bruce Springsteen, albeit with much different subject matter. It's easy to see the seeds of a lot of the music I grew up with in the 90s in this album. It goes by really fast, but every song is solid 4/5

I honestly liked this album a lot more than I thought I was going to. There's lots neat little instrumental choices that fit the songs very well. Morrisey is not my favorite person on the Earth, but his voice sounds really good here and the lyrics are good

Another cool post-punk pre-alternative album. I thought this one was interesting. There are times when it sounds like Bruce Springsteen, albeit with much different subject matter. It's easy to see the seeds of a lot of the music I grew up with in the 90s in this album. It goes by really fast, but every song is solid 4/5

Another cool post-punk pre-alternative album. I thought this one was interesting. There are times when it sounds like Bruce Springsteen, albeit with much different subject matter. It's easy to see the seeds of a lot of the music I grew up with in the 90s in this album. It goes by really fast, but every song is solid 4/5

Compared to the last Bruce Springsteen album I listened to, this one was much less notable. I like the title track, but other than that the songs just sort of faded into the background. Also, boy that last song drags on for a while 3/5

Are you fucking kidding me with this shit? Randy Newman? It's fine, but why is it on this list? What is special or innovative or interesting about this album? Every single one of his songs sounds the same, and there are soooo many songs on this album. I just don't understand what it is about this album that I'm supposed to give a shit about. 1/5. Fuck you, Randy Newman

Still on my first listen through, but this album is an interesting counterpiece to the world of Bone Thugs. I've always wanted to hear hip-hop with more harmonies. This has that, and an interesting through line with the teacher talking to the students about love. I wish the songs were a little stronger some times (more produced in some cases), but overall it is a really good album 4/5

There are definite flaws with this album. The sound quality is terrible and there are far too many standard covers on the album. However, it's easy to hear how this album influenced the punk bands that came after it. It just has that energy that comes with listening to punk music. The original songs are far better than the covers. It's clear just from listening to this that this band would have been amazing live. I wish a good recording of them existed 4/5

What a powerhouse of a debut album! Every song is good, and there's such a wide range of sounds and styles. Some songs have a disco feel to them, like Big Time Sensuality. 4/5

Another really cool album. It's certainly a departure from what was popular in hip-hop at the time. Some aspects of the album sound dated, but overall the production is really good. Lots of fun songs 4/5

This is another album that I think is generally good, but I don't understand why it's on this list. It's a disco album, so far as I can tell it's not a groundbreaking disco album. It has some big hits on it, but I'm left wondering why I should listen to this album in particular out of the disco genre. Not a fault of this album, more of an issue with the list itself 3/5

I guess I can understand why this album is on the list because it was the first Beatles record released in North America, but it's like half cover songs, and a lot of the originals aren't particularly groundbreaking relative to what they would be doing in a couple years after this. I will say that the recording quality is excellent. Very clear instrumentals and vocals. You can also hear them starting to make good use of stereo. 4/5

I can't say that I've ever really listened to a goth album before, so I don't have a lot of genre context for this. I'll say having listened to most of the album that while this is not particularly my kind of music, it is well done. I like the vocal production and how male and female voices get blended together over squealing metal guitars. 4/5

Interesting to think that this album could have been produced by Dre. I think this album benefits a lot from the East Coast style production combined with Ice Cube's West Coast rap style. Every song is good, with Cube alternating between Cube attacking the beat and smoothly following behind it. The pervasive funk samples on this album really make it a breeze to listen to 4/5

This is just a solid fucking rock album. So much energy, lots of raw power in the songs. 4/5

This album feels mediocre, and it's hard to understand why it made this list other than a severe recency bias. This album also definitely suffers from having been released the same year as Kid A, which makes Coldplay seem like a version of Radiohead that's safe for Boomers to listen to. It's not bad, it's just not an album that I could imagine telling someone that it's important for them to listen to 3/5

This sounds like a cheerier version of Oasis. This just feels like another random British band that made it because they were relatively popular when the original list was made. I've still only gotten 1 jazz album on this list, but there seems to be an endless supply of late 90s to early 00s British rock bands that I have to slog through to get to good albums. 2/5

Finally, an album from the golden age of trip-hop. This album pales in comparison to Mezzanine by Massive Attack, but in isolation it has a lot to recommend it. The music is relaxed, but complex. The vocals blend in well, standing in front without obscuring the music. 4/5

Finally, another jazz album, and one that I dearly love. Miles Davis never ceases to amaze me with the diversity of approaches to jazz that he was able to master 5/5

This album was good, but it didn't really stand out in any way to me. I think it would have benefited from being shorter 3/5

Fuck dude, how do you rank an album like this? It's so hard to isolate this album from everything that came out afterwards about Michael Jackson. There's no question that Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson were an absolute force when recording together. The first song is incredible; the album starts out at a sprint. The second song is a classic as well. From there it has a very consistent feel without being repetitive. A classic party album. It feels weird giving a known pedophile 5 stars, but here we are 5/5

There's been a weird influx of latinx music in the past week after not getting any previous to that. Overall it was pretty cool, though I really hated the parade song (perhaps because I don't really enjoy actual parades either). Some of the other songs were a bit cloying as well. This works really good as a kids album, but I don't think that's how it was intended. It's fine, but I don't ever see myself coming back to it 3/5

There's been a weird influx of latinx music in the past week after not getting any previous to that. Overall it was pretty cool, though I really hated the parade song (perhaps because I don't really enjoy actual parades either). Some of the other songs were a bit cloying as well. This works really good as a kids album, but I don't think that's how it was intended. It's fine, but I don't ever see myself coming back to it 3/5

4/5

4/5

I'm not usually a blues guy, but this album brings such incredible energy. It's undeniable. The production is also great, every instrument feels like it's at just the right level. You can hear each part without any of them standing out too much 4/5

I love getting funk albums on this list. Much like the soundtrack to Shaft, this album is just wall to wall funky jams. Not a single dull moment on the album 5/5

This album definitely has some cool elements in terms of the instrument effects and some of the production work, but overall it leaves me feeling a bit flat. Not bad, but not really enjoyable either. I feel like this is my experience with every Neil Young album. Also, is Neil Young still alive? I could easily look it up, but I really don't care that much 3/5

This album has some really great moments, but they tend to be interspersed with a lot of mundane psychedelic music. It could be that this album sounded a lot different when it first came out, but a lot of it sounds a bit dull. The vocals tend to be the least interesting part on a lot of these songs, and I think the album could have been improved with some instrumental tracks, or at least longer instrumental sections. 3/5

Okay, I went into this album expecting to dislike it because of my general disdain for Jim Morrison. Honestly, I thought it was a pretty fun album. Morrison's attempts at poetry bog it down at times, but the music is great throughout. 4/5

Okay, I went into this album expecting to dislike it because of my general disdain for Jim Morrison. Honestly, I thought it was a pretty fun album. Morrison's attempts at poetry bog it down at times, but the music is great throughout. 4/5

One of my favorite albums of all time, perhaps my favorite pop album of all time. Just an absolute titan from beginning to end 5/5

It feels like this album list has a particular fetish for mediocre British pop music. This album is fine, but there's not anything particularly interesting or noteworthy about it that I can see. It's like having a Jack Johnson album on here. It's fine, but there are so many great albums that are not represented on this list, I can't understand why this one is. This album also gets more mediocre as it goes. I though it might have some interesting elements at first, but there's really nothing here 2/5

Joni Mitchell isn't really my thing. The album absolutely has its moments, but ultimately it didn't hold my interest well 3/5

How? How is there more than one Randy Newman album on this list? I haven't gotten a single John Coltrane album, not a single Charles Mingus album, but I have now gotten two Randy Newman albums. Fuck Randy Newman. His voice sounds like an inflatable bear with a slow leak. It sounds like Satan talking after inhaling helium. It is the auditory version of sitting down too long until your sciatic nerve falls asleep. The worst part of any Randy Newman song is all of the fucking Randy Newman. 2/5. The only reason this is not a 1 is because I kinda like You Can Leave Your Hat On. Fuck Randy Newman

Back when I was in college, there was this dude who would come into the bar I worked at on a Friday night and play fucking 10 Neil Young songs in a row. He would also hit on girls by doing magic tricks. I remember how angry I got every time he made me listen to an hour of Neil Young because I was just trying to have a good time, and he fucking made me listen to this sad, soppy fuck who writes nothing but songs that sound indistinguishable from each other and never seemed to enjoy a happy moment in his entire like. Fuck that guy, and fuck Neil Young. 2/5

Back when I was in college, there was this dude who would come into the bar I worked at on a Friday night and play fucking 10 Neil Young songs in a row. He would also hit on girls by doing magic tricks. I remember how angry I got every time he made me listen to an hour of Neil Young because I was just trying to have a good time, and he fucking made me listen to this sad, soppy fuck who writes nothing but songs that sound indistinguishable from each other and never seemed to enjoy a happy moment in his entire like. Fuck that guy, and fuck Neil Young. 2/5

I guess now is the time to confess that I don't really get Bob Dylan. I like several of his songs, I've seen him live, I've listened to multiple albums multiple times; it's not as if I hate Bob Dylan. I just don't really get him. Like, why do people revere him so much? He's good, but I've never understood why he's great. That being said, this was probably the most I've ever liked a Bob Dylan album. It's got a nice feel to it, and it's consistent without being too samey. Starts out very strong with Tangled Up in Blue, and finishes strong as well. His poetry is great throughout and is highly accessible as well. Maybe I just hate harmonicas? 4/5

I guess now is the time to confess that I don't really get Bob Dylan. I like several of his songs, I've seen him live, I've listened to multiple albums multiple times; it's not as if I hate Bob Dylan. I just don't really get him. Like, why do people revere him so much? He's good, but I've never understood why he's great. That being said, this was probably the most I've ever liked a Bob Dylan album. It's got a nice feel to it, and it's consistent without being too samey. Starts out very strong with Tangled Up in Blue, and finishes strong as well. His poetry is great throughout and is highly accessible as well. Maybe I just hate harmonicas? 4/5

I've liked some of the other music that I've heard from Jesus and Mary Chain, but this left me a little flat. I'm not sure what it was, but it didn't really grab me this time 3/5

I've liked some of the other music that I've heard from Jesus and Mary Chain, but this left me a little flat. I'm not sure what it was, but it didn't really grab me this time 3/5

Well, I've never really been a fan of the atonal screaming metal vocals. I just don't feel like they add anything to the music. Apart from that, this is a pretty cool album. It has a lot of the elements of nu metal instrumentals without feeling completely shitty and soulless like so much of that music does. The traditional Brazilian influence does a lot for this album in terms of adding substance. It slowly seems to stop being a metal album and becomes a Brazilian folk music album 4/5

Paul Simon is not generally someone I listen to on my own, but I always enjoy his albums. He does every mood well, which provides a real richness to all of his albums 4/5

I really thought I was going to have more of a nostalgic feeling for this album than I did. There are some songs I really like. A lot of the other songs sort of run together. I will say that this album finishes very strong, with two classic Alice in Chains songs, though I think the album would flow better if they were located sooner rather than at the very end 3/5

I feel similar to this album that I feel with a lot of Dylan albums. It's fine, good even, but I feel like it drags on a bit. I like it and I recognize that it is well done, but when I listen to it, I'm never really all that into it. 3/5

I was really excited to listen to this album after reading the description, since I'm generally a fan of both postpunk and synthpop. This album never really grabbed me, though. It was fine throughout, and very consistent, but most of the album passed by without me taking much notice. It felt somewhat generic, though I'm sure that would not have been true at the time of its release. Guess you had to be there 3/5

Another British pop album so important that the only sentence under the Legacy tab in Wikipedia is the one noting that it is on the 1001 albums list. I understand that sometimes you need a bit of distance between an album and the review to gain perspective on it, but that's exactly why it shouldn't be on this list. It's a late 90s pop album that sounds like a late 90s pop album. It's fine, but indistinguishable from a hundred other albums that came out in the same era. It's not special or groundbreaking or technically outstanding in any way. Why not throw a couple of Days of the New or Stabbing Westward albums on here while we're wasting everyone's time? 2/5

Finally, an album whose significance I can immediately understand. Some of the finest work of early rock n' roll. It would be nice if the recordings were a little better, but there's not much that can be done with that. Very upbeat album, even when he's singing the blues 4/5

I can't say that I find this album particularly interesting or engrossing. It's good, but has a sound that is very much of its time and doesn't really work for me. I will say that the production on the album is excellent and makes this album work better for me than it ordinarily would. 3/5

Queen has such a diverse sound, and they don't really sound like anyone else either. A lot of the songs on this album presage what would come on their next album, A Night at the Opera. 4/5

I liked this album okay, but in the context of this list, it suffers from the same problem that a lot of recent albums do. The list is absolutely saturated with Brit pop, and after a while it's hard (for me at least) to discern the merits of individual albums. In isolation, I think this album is pretty good. The production is excellent and a lot of the songs were likable. I can see why this would have proved to be a nice counterpoint to grunge/alternative in the mid-90s. However, this list gives me a new 90s/00s Brit pop album to listen to every week, and they're all starting to blend together 3/5

Crazy that I just listened to this album for the first time like a week ago and now I got it again. I'm not sure that it's particularly groundbreaking, though after reading up on it, it seems like this album is composed of a massive amount of samples in a way that is not particularly noticeable. Really fun and solid the whole way through 4/5

I feel like I should have liked this album more than I did. Country music has never really done it for me, and that is evident in my reaction to this album. I love her voice, I think the musicianship is good throughout, and I really like the production of the album. Still, it leaves me a bit cold. A good album, but not my thing 3/5

It's always strange to me that I enjoy the Velvet Underground so much but have not spent much time diving into their different albums. This one is a bit tough for me to rate. I love the title track and Here She Comes Now. The Gift and Lady Godiva's Operation drag on a bit for me. It's strange how sometimes the lofi quality of the recording really seems to work for the band, while other times it really seems to hurt the quality of the music. Regardless, when Lou Reed brings the energy, he can make a track all by himself. Sister Ray makes this album, which makes sense as it is nearly half of the running time by itself. Ultimately a difficult album to rate because of its inconsistencies, but the innovative aspects of this album outweigh the negatives 4/5

I liked this album more than the previous LCD Soundsystem album that I got through this list. This one felt like the Talking Heads at times, both in terms of the vocal performances and especially the polyrhythms 4/5

I've been complaining a lot in my reviews about all of the 90s-00s britpop albums, but I've got to say, I like this. It definitely sounds of its time, but the production is excellent, and the sound is poppy without sounding cheesey. I can see why they got comparisons to the Buzzcocks. The first track on the album is an absolute scorcher, and they keep going from there. I absolutely love the chunky distortion of the guitars 4/5

I'm not generally a huge fan of prog rock, but this is a fun album. It's a much happier and bouncier vibe than I'm used to from prog rock, which I generally associate with dour music. The last song really helped make the album for me 4/5

Jane's Addiction is an interesting band, if a little uninspiring. I enjoyed listening to this album, though I would not probably have put it on this list. It does have a very distinctive sound. I would have pegged this album coming out in the mid 90s rather than in 1990 based on the style, so it's certainly a bit ahead of its time 4/5

I like Cyndi Lauper, but I've never listened to this album before. I can see why she was so popular after the release of this album. It's absolutely full of great songs. It shows a tremendous diversity of styles as well. 4/5

This is my first time ever listening to Nina Simone. Her voice was certainly not what I was expecting, though it is compelling. This is not particularly my thing (I'm not enamored with jazz vocalists overall), but I think it's good. There's something ineffable about her voice and the lyrics she conveys. I also felt like the album got stronger as it went 4/5

Fuck, I listen to this album all the time. Every single song is great, with some absolute classics among the first few songs on the album. Grabs you from the first song and takes you on an incredibly journey. The only bad thing about it is that the album is over before you know it 5/5

I'm not generally much for blues albums, but this one was really interesting. It incorporated a lot of elements of other musical styles into it. It's also nice to hear a blues album with good production, since so many albums from earlier eras suffer from a lack of production value 4/5

This album is has a cool sound, and the openness through which it deals with gay male sexuality in the brutality of the 1980s is interesting from a historical standpoint. However, there is no reason for this album to be a double album and contain this many covers. They did some fun things with the covers, but it feels like a waste to make this album so long and include so little original material (especially since Relax was already a huge single prior to the release of this album) 3/5

Love this album to death. 5/5

I think this album is fine, but it really dragged on for me. Every song kinda sounded the same, and after every song I would check to see how many more there were. Definitely good music for playing in the background, but it didn't grab me in any meaningful way 3/5

This album was not really my thing, but it breezed by pretty quickly. I can see why people would have thought that this was a big deal in 1972 3/5

Like every Megadeth (is that really how they spell it?) album I've checked out, it has awesome artwork and incredibly intricate music. I'm not in love with Mustaine's voice or lyrics, but that's a minor complaint. Overall a really fun metal album 4/5

I've always liked this album, but never loved it. It's unquestionably the height of Brian Wilson's song writing before his mental health issues overcame him. It was inspired by Rubber Soul, which is a much funner album to listen to, and it doesn't reach the heights that the Beatles would reach with their subsequent albums. In isolation, all of the songs are good and the harmonies are excellent. It just is not an album that inspires me when I listen to it. Great, but not that interesting 4/5

I fucking love this album. It took me a while to get into the Ramones, but every song on this album is fun. It must have been so awesome to live in New York in the late 70s, apart from the insane levels of senseless violence 5/5

I thought this was a cool album. It was interesting getting two post-punk albums in a row. I really like the production on this album, it always feels like there's a lot going on

I've really found that I enjoy post-punk, and that remains true with this album. I think that PiL's work has aged better than that of the Sex Pistols, and there is certainly a lot more of it to appreciate. I like this album much better than Metal Box, which I got on this list a few months ago. 4/5

This album was okay, but ultimately didn't hold my interest. Weirdly, if I hadn't known when it was recorded, I would have assumed it was from the 70s. 3/5

I felt like this album went by really fast, but mostly in the background. I like it overall, and I can see myself listening to it again in the future 4/5

I never really got into Pantera when I was younger, or most metal for that matter. However, there is just something about this album that I think I would have really liked if I had given it more of a chance when I was younger. Just the tone on the guitar is great; it resonates somewhere deep inside your skull. I'm not in love with the lyrical portion of it, but that's generally true of this type of metal for me. 4/5, but I might be talked into 5/5 on repeated listenings

I think if I was judging this album according to its lyrical content alone, I might have a less favorable impression than I do. Rap lyricism has changed so much since this album was released that it can't help but sound dated. It's good, but it sounds very much of its time. The music, however, still feels revolutionary. It's dated in certain ways because of the technology, but they made so many cool, bold choices in making this album. A true classic 4/5

One of the things I find commonly about most of the more recent albums on this list is that they are often here more because they were/are popular than because they are meaningful artistic expressions. Not so with this album. FKA twigs feels like she's really using the technological capabilities of the moment to produce a truly innovative album. Beautiful and haunting, sexy, deliberate, deep. This album has so much going for it, and I think that it will stand the test of time 4/5

I'd never listened to this Zep album before, though I knew several of the songs on it. I feel like the album really gets going around Houses of the Holy and Trampled Under Foot. Kashmir following those two makes side B of the record really strong. I'm not in love with double albums, since I usually end up feeling like there's some fluff to fill out that much record time. This record felt really solid all the way through, though. One of the few double albums that I can think of that includes this much quality material 4/5

This album was a really cool change of pace. It's sound is both familiar and novel at the same time. I wouldn't have envisioned the mixture of American blues and African music to be so seamless, but this feels like it was meant to be. The intricacy of the guitar adds a lot to this album 5/5

This album starts out on an absolute tear, with Snappin & Trappin being the first song that I don't think of as an absolute classic. Honestly, though, every song on this album is good. For the most part, you could drop this album today and it would be just as impactful as it was when it was release. It's aged much better than most early 00s hip-hop 5/5

Hip-hop is a lot easier to listen to now that each rap album doesn't come with 15 minutes of bizarre skits interspersed throughout the songs. The Chinese restaurant skit brings this album to a full stop. Setting that aside, this is a great album. Filled with classics. The music is diverse and interesting throughout, and each member of the group brings a lot of lyrical strength to the album, though Lauren Hill is the clear leader of the group. This album is dense. Killing Me Softly doesn't come until halfway through the album, as if it was an afterthought among all the other great songs on the album. It's good straight through to the last song 5/5

This album is really astonishing for the time when it was made. It sounds like a post-punk album but was made before anything but the earliest punk albums had been released. The music can be a bit much at times, but overall it's a really fun listen and sounds way ahead of its time 4/5

I haven't listened to a lot of early British ska, so this was a pleasant surprise. The music fades into the background a bit while I'm listening to it, but it's consistently good. 4/5

This album started out okay. We've Only Just Begun is a more interesting song than I remember it being. I was surprised by how many of these songs I knew, though I didn't care enough to look up how many of the songs are covers. After a while, though, it just starts to feel very samey and very very saccharine. The cover of The Beatles's Help is insipid. It's not bad, and I understand why people like this album so much, but I found it cloying. A little bit of human misery would have gone a long way toward improving this album 3/5

I was honestly really surprised by this album. I'd never heard of it, which was surprising because I'm pretty familiar with 80s stuff. This is really cool. It's dramatic, like the soundtrack to an 80s movie. The music is all really fun, with great hooks. 4/5

I think this album, and having listened to some Dead Kennedys earlier in the year, has given me more appreciation for hardcore punk. I've always found it a hard genre to listen to because there's often not much to latch onto except for the speed and anger. Obviously the speed and anger are the point, but that doesn't always make for an enjoyable listening experience. The bitter sarcasm that drives this album is very interesting. The songs are a clear rejection of the world around the band, but the band is often focusing their songs around an (albeit very ungenerous) interpretation of the cultural perspectives they reject. The version of themselves that they present is one of emotional turmoil. I like the energy of this album. I'm not sure how often I'm going to come back to it, but I can see why it was so influential to young punks in the 80s 4/5

I thought this album was cool for roughly one minute. I can see why this would have blown people's minds in 1970, but it sounds a little self indulgent today, like when Dennis from It's Always Sunny pretends to be a rock star. Seriously, Flight of the Rat is at least a minute longer than it needs to be so that the drummer can fit in a song-ending solo. That's fine for a live show, but completely unnecessary for an album. I'm only halfway through this album, and I'm mad about the fact that I'm going to listen to the whole thing 3/5

This is kind of a weird album. The music is great and well-produced. Their voices are a bit grating, and their lyrics leave a lot to be desired. Overall it's a pretty interesting listen, but it kind of feels like the music is being wasted a bit by not having better vocal accompaniment 4/5, though very far on the low end of 4

I'm usually not that excited when newer pop albums show up on this list because they often don't sound as interesting after even a few years have passed. This album still very much sounds like it's own thing, though. The music doesn't sound dated at all, it's such an interesting combination of different styles that wouldn't seem to fit together except for the existence of this album. There are times when the samples and sounds used in the album can be a bit grating, but the overall effect of what MIA put together here is really cool 4/5

I find this album a bit tough to rate. I liked it okay, but no part of it really stood out to me. I could certainly see how it would be significant for the time, but it doesn't sound particularly fresh or distinctive listening to it now. I want to give it a 4, but ultimately I feel like this album is sorta average for this list 3/5

This is the second Leonard Cohen album I've gotten on this list. I will say I have have trouble distinguishing one Cohen album from another, since they tend to have a similar sound. However, I always enjoy the experience. He's both a gifted singer and a gifted songwriter 4/5

I've heard most of the songs off of here, but I don't know that I've ever listened to this album before. So much of what would happen in rock in the 90s is presaged here, and yet this album doesn't sound dated. The sound quality could be a little better, as it sounds a bit lofi at times, but overall it's a really groundbreaking album with no obvious flaws 4/5

I don't want to put more thought into this review than the band put into making this album, so I will just note that I do not think that it is very good. I look forward to next week when I will forget about its existence 2/5

It never ceases to amaze me how one voice can be so powerful and yet so subtle. This album goes by really quick, but each song shows off Aretha's incredible voice and range 4/5

This is the second Belle and Sebastian album that I've gotten on this list, and I enjoyed Tiger Milk a lot better. There wasn't anything wrong with this album, but it also felt really short and wasn't as interesting as their other work 3/5

What's interesting about this album is that so many of the samples sound familiar, but I can't tell if they originate here or are sampled from something famous. Certainly there is a huge P-Funk influence on this album, which fits into the context of what was happening elsewhere in West Coast hip-hop. A lot of the rap from this era doesn't age well because of the mysogeny, homophobia, and cartoonishly violent content, but this album still sounds good 4/5

This album was fine, but it's not particularly my style of jazz

Holy shit, two jazz albums in a row! While I liked the Keith Jarrett album I got yesterday, I fucking love Mingus. His songs just pack so much furious energy into every measure. Captivating from beginning to end 5/5

I can't say that I ever expected to hear a Frank Sinatra album like this, but it works really well. 4/5

What can you say about an album that makes you wait until the very end to hear Bohemian Rhapsody and yet you don't feel like skipping any of the tracks to get to that masterpiece? This album is great from the very first song. It features a tremendous diversity of songs and a wide range of emotions and tones, but each one flows effortlessly from the one before it. A true classic 5/5

In general, I find listening to double albums a chore, and this album is a good representation of that. I was ready to be done at the end of the first album, and then here is a full other album for me to listen to. I thought I was going to like this more. I'm a fan of DnB in general, and I remember listening to some of these songs when I was younger, but it didn't really do anything for me this time around. Part of the problem may be that I prefer more modern DnB, and this is pretty true to the roots of the genre 3/5

I'd never listened to PJ Harvey before, and I thought this was pretty cool. I think that the mix of the album could have been better in places, since it was sometimes hard to separate out the different instruments/sounds. Overall, though, I liked it. It has that heavy early 90s sound without sounding derivative of the other stuff that was happening at the time 4/5

Yes is a cooler band than I think that I've previously given them credit for. This album is good from the opening and holds up to the end. It's big and dramatic as a lot of prog rock is, but it's also fun with solid riffs 4/5

As much as I haven't enjoyed a lot of the Britpop that shows up on this list, this album seems like a reasonable choice. There were lots of hits off this album, and the rest of the songs were all solid. It doesn't sound that dated either, which is always nice with albums from this era 4/5

I'm not in love with Kanye as a person, but goddamn if his peak as an artist wasn't absolutely incredible. This album is just song after song of incredible samples and production with excellent lyrics over it. Consistently good throughout the entire album, and often absolutely great 5/5

Boy, this album keeps going, doesn't it. I'm ordinarily a fan of early MOOG synthesizer stuff like this, but this album is so slow, it's hard to do anything with it but put in on in the background and ignore it. It works fine for that purpose, but it contrasts pretty sharply with, for instance, Plantasia by Mort Garson, which was released the same year and felt like it had much more of a concept to it. I can see why this album is highly regarded in the history of electronic music, but I don't think it holds up without its historical context 3/5

I thought this album was pretty cool overall. Listening to it went fast, but I enjoyed the post-punk influence that influenced much of the album 4/5

Certainly not an album that I need to listen to to rate, but I went ahead and listened anyway. Every single song is good. Run For Your Life is a bit of a strange song to end on, mostly given John's history of domestic abuse, but apart from the darkness of that moment the album is incredible. A huge step forward for a band trying to become something other than the simple pop stars they had mostly been up until that point 5/5

Frank Sinatra is good, but very much not my thing. I prefer for the music to take more of a leading role and the singer to add emphasis to the music rather than being the driver of the song. It's a personal preference thing, and I acknowledge that. I did like the latin Sinatra album I got previously on this list, but these songs mostly sound the same to me. Not bad, just not for me 3/5

It's sort of crazy that the two biggest hits on this album come relatively late in the track list, but every song is so good that you don't really miss it. There is a bit of the acting interludes that infested albums of this era (and the surrounding decades), but it's not too obtrusive (except for the end of Respect, fuck that slurping noise). Biggie's rap style still feels modern, despite being recorded nearly 3 decades ago. A true classic from an artist who recorded far too few songs 4/5

I've been meaning to listen to the Cramps for a while after I was introduced to them by the No Dogs In Space podcast. I thought this was cool overall. They seem like a band that would be really fun live, though this album didn't particularly grab me at many points. It was consistently pretty good, but never really great 4/5, but on the low end of 4

Fucking love this album. Just great song after great song, with everything being something you can move your feet too. I rarely give an album 5/5 just for being fun, but here we are 5/5

When I get blues albums on this list, I always find that I tend to enjoy them, despite the fact that I don't think of myself as much of a blues guy. This sounds like it would have been a really fun concert, and reading about the historical context was interesting as well 4/5

What a cool band the Talking Heads were. Their albums have this consistent sound that is definitively Talking Heads, but they are all different, and all great in their own ways. This album doesn't sound dated at all, despite being nearly 45 years old 5/5

I was excited for this album because I really liked The Prodigy's first album. However, this album sounds much more generic in the present day, and lacks the cool hooks that populated the first album. It's not bad, but it doesn't really stand out from a lot of the techno mixes that are a dime a dozen on YouTube 3/5

I quite enjoyed the first half of this album. It seems like it would have been a really cool concert to go to. After a while this album gets to be a bit much, though. Some of the lyrics/voice overs are really cheesey, which is expected for this era and this type of music, but it doesn't age well. I often find double albums frustrating to rate because they could often be reduced to a single album that is good, but as a double album they are often not worth the time commitment. I understand it more for a live album like this, but I also don't have all day to listen to Hawkwind talk about space 3/5

Honestly, this is just a fun album. It's innovative in certain ways, of its time in others, but it seems like this would have been a fucking awesome concert to go to. Just constant wailing guitars and rock 'n roll yelling 4/5

I liked this album okay. After a while every song starts to sound the same, though. Morrissey has a very specific style, and I don't mind it, but I do wish that he would have introduced more variation into this album. I think that's why I tend to enjoy Smiths albums a bit more than Morrissey's solo stuff 3/5

I can't say that I've ever been a fan of the members of Metallica as people, but goddamn their early work is just stellar. Intense and loud while still remaining incredibly melodic and intricate, this may be their best album. I just wish that they could have gone the Slayer route more and just stick to their metal roots rather than following the course of popular rock 'n roll. At their peak, Metallica may have been the greatest metal band of all time, bar none. 4/5 (but very close to 5)

Just a super cool album with a bunch of moods. It's a shame it wasn't more well-received at the time. It would have been really interesting to see this album have a larger effect on the direction of music in the 70s

This album was fine, but I honestly kept forgetting that I was listening to it. It didn't make me pay attention, nor did it annoy me in any way. I feel like this about a lot of 70s prog rock. It tends to just be...there. ELP are excellent musicians, and I think this would have been a super cool concert to go to, but as an album experience, it's forgettable 3/5

This album didn't really do much for me. He has a nice voice, and the tone on the guitar was captured well, but I'm not really into this style of folk music 3/5

We are what we pretend to be. Eminem's skill as a rapper is undeniable, and his collaboration with Dre produced a lot of excellent work, but Jesus Christ has the lyrical content from this not aged well. I get the whole idea that Slim Shady is an alter ego and that the violence is meant to be cartoonish, but this shit is real hard to listen to in 2021. At the same time, I understand why Eminem rapping about his life on songs like Rock Bottom wouldn't sell while his more violent songs would.

Honestly, this album was more consistently good than I thought it was going to be. It's got a distinctive style, but manages to pack a lot of different moods into the album 4/5

There's no real way for a rap album from the mid-80s not to sound dated, very similar to the rock of the 50s. There were so many technological and methodological innovations in the years after this album that changed the sound of hip-hop forever. Despite being a time capsule, this album still has a lot going for it. The sparse 808-based samples work really well with the more aggressive lyrical style that Run-DMC brought to hip-hop. It's a nice compromise between the lighter rap style that was popular before this point and the ultra-violent content that existed during gangsta rap. I think of this album being a 4/5 mostly because of its importance as a turning point for hip-hop, but it still sounds good too, if not a bit limited by the sample set included in the 808 4/5

This album makes it clearer to me why the Byrds were pitched as America's answer to the Beatles. The instrumentation and production of this album bears a lot of similarities to Rubber Soul. It's all fine, but not particularly interesting. 3/5

I wasn't terribly excited about getting this album today, since I've been pretty lukewarm on previous albums by Crosby (The Byrds) and Neil Young that showed up on this list, but this is a really stellar album. It does a great job of showcasing the strengths of the group, including their harmonies and songwriting, and manages to remain both interesting and consistent all the way through 4/5

Why has no one told me to listen to this album before? It feels so ahead of its time, and it keeps getting better as the album goes. One of the early masterpieces of punk 5/5

I've liked both of the Nick Drake albums (this one being the second) that I've heard, though I don't have a lot to say about them. He's a wonderful songwriter, both simple and subtle in his way 4/5

When this album started, I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did. It's a little slow, but everything is put together well, and some of the music is really cool and unexpected. His voice is good, if unspectacular, but the overall effect of the album is pretty cool 4/5

I could see why people like this album, but the combination of time and the fact that The Streets is not a very strong rapper makes this not work for me. The idea is cool, and I think this album could have been a classic in the hands of a better artist. The music is cool most of the time, though the spare style of the beats and the spare style of the rapping are not a good combination together. His rhyme schemes are pretty simple and outdated, even for 2004 2/5

Parts of this album were cool, but overall I found it a bit dull. It was a cool idea, and it was executed well, it's just not my thing 3/5

Having learned recently about the evolution of electronic music and the early prominence of this album in the synthpop movement helped me appreciate this album. It definitely has that 80s synthpop sound, but I didn't realize previously how influential this album was in creating that sound. There are some aspects of this album that sound dated now, but given the technology that they were working with and the uncharted territory that they were moving into, this is a really cool album 4/5

Vocal jazz albums have never particularly been my thing, but you have to give credit where it's due. There is just something about Billie Holiday and her voice. There are many ways to be a great singer, and one of them is to have an angelic voice that carries an incredible burden of sadness without sagging under the weight 4/5

I'm not really sure how an album from 2020 is even on this list, since there's not really any way to put an album from last year into its historical context. On the other hand, this is a really cool album. It's easy to see why it struck a chord with people who were locked down and scared during the early stages of the pandemic. It's cool, weird, and well executed 4/5

I feel about this live album the way that I generally do about live albums, which is that this concert probably would have been awesome to experience live, but that listening to it on a recording is a poor facsimile for that experience. All of the poor sound quality with none of the thrills. At least it isn't a double album 3/5

I should not be this combination of angry and bored two songs into an album. What is the point of this album? Lenny Kravitz seems to have mastered the art of making vacuous music that manages to convince people that it's deep despite all of the intellectual content of the album being spread thinner than a pat of butter on a 6 foot sub. JUST REPEATING THE WORDS "FREEDOM TRAIN" OVER AND OVER AGAIN IS NOT A FUCKING SONG. Wait, nevermind, he said "Uh-huh" a couple times too, so I guess that it technically is a song Every song is just him repeating the name of the song over and over again, which makes me wish that he had named one of these "I'm going to shut the fuck up and stop recording now" 2/5

What can you say about this album. It's the perfect storm in its conception, context, and execution. As everything is falling apart for the band, they produce this cocaine-fueled miracle. The album is a greatest hits collection interspersed with other songs that fit perfectly. The harmonies, the lyrics, the instruments, the arrangements, the production, everything just works on this album 5/5

A day after getting Rumours by Fleetwood Mac I get Abbey Road. Two albums I didn't need to listen to again to rank as 5 star albums. Just what I needed to wash the taste of that shitty Lenny Kravitz album out of my mouth This album captures a massive range of moods, but somehow makes them all fit. More importantly, just just keeps getting better as it goes. And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. The Beatles always had an incredible way to state the profound with the simplest words 5/5

I like this album a lot in terms of its composition and sound, but it's hard for me to give it the score I feel like it deserves because most of the songs on the album appear to be covers. This wouldn't be so bad if they weren't covers of very popular songs. The Isley Brothers do a great job of making the songs sound good and fit into the context of the album (Sunshine is a good example of this), but either including more original work or highlighting less popular songs by other groups would have been better 3/5

Fuck. It's weird seeing one of the albums that actually changed me as a person here. Obviously this is a 5/5 album for me. It's one of the albums that I would have given as an example of what a 5/5 album looks like. For me, it felt like rock n' roll was on a linear path until this album, and then it could no longer go on that path, for better or for worse. While the radio was trying to shove Puddle of Mudd down my throat, I had this masterpiece to listen to. It just feels special, right from those first notes. Then these alien samples start to accompany the tones. Then Thom's voice pierces through. "Everything in its right place" This album manages to be so strange and so familiar at the same time. The only real problem I have with it is that I've listened to it so many times that it's hard to actively savor it. Every time I notice the album, another song has gone by. Still, every time I tune in, there are amazing things happening 5/5

This isn't particularly my style of music, but Bragg is certainly engaging as a performer. This isn't an album I see myself coming back to, but it's certainly much more of an interesting listen than it would be in the hands of a less charismatic performer 4/5

Listening to this album, it hit me that there is a distinct lack of country music on this list. I can only really think of one other straight-up country album that I've gotten. Regardless, this album is everything that's good about country. Harris has a beautiful voice full of emotion, and the accompanying music is good without distracting from from her as the focus. I'm not in love with her cover of For No One by the Beatles, but at least it's more tasteful than most Beatles covers 4/5

I haven't listened to the rest of the Berlin trilogy yet, but I really like it's first album, Low. The influence from the Krautrock artists was a perfect fit for Bowie's evolving style as he transitioned away from the fascist cocaine monster called the Thin White Duke. The mythology around Bowie and his personas could only really be meaningful if he backed it up with his music, which he does in spades here. Working with Brian Eno and hanging out with Iggy Pop brought a feel to this album that's hard to describe. Just like Kid A, it seems to come out of no where and go back there after we are allowed to enjoy it. The first half of this album is super cool, the second half is why its one of my favorite Bowie albums 5/5

Me: I don't know if I'm going to be able to get into this Aretha Franklin album Aretha: I'm going to start this album off at 1000 mph with Respect And that's why she's the queen of soul and I'm just some schmuck at a keyboard. On the other hand, this album really has no where to go after the first song because it's one of the greatest songs of all time. The album is good the whole way through, but man it starts off hot 4/5

Not much to say about this album, but it's pretty good. Starts off really strong, and while it slows down a bit after the first two songs, it's pretty consistent throughout 4/5

Lou Reed certainly has an odd sensibility, but he manages to pull it off somehow. His desire to pull you into some of the darkest corners of the world and force you to look directly at it mixes in an interesting way with his desire to play beautiful music. 4/5

I was really excited to get this album, since I became acquainted with the band through their song "Oh Bondage, Up Yours" earlier this year and really liked it. This whole album is filled with a similar energy and approach to that song. There is something weirdly fun about the combination of punk and saxophones. It's really too bad that this band doesn't get more recognition as a pioneer. The title track stands out a lot as being a sort of proto-post-punk song (whatever that means) 4/5

I wanted to like this album, but like most live albums, this one falls a bit flat for me. I think the sound quality is better than a lot of live albums from preceding eras. However, a lot of the songs sound the same, and they have a very generic approach to rock. Outside of the two hit songs that Cheap Trick produced, every song on this album could be on a compilation called Generic Cock Rock. I'm glad Japan liked this band, because I sure as hell don't give a shit about them 3/5

Elvis Costello is one of those musicians that I've never really listened to, but that I've always been curious about. This was certainly the right album for me to listen to to get into him. It's poppy, but still innovative. You can tell right away from listening to this album that it influenced a lot of music that came after it. Solid 4/5, and I could see this being 5/5 with repeated listens

This is another album that I've always intended to listen to, based on it's reviews, but never quite managed to sit down with. The samples are transcendent, even when paired by bizarre lyrics. Egg man is a great example of this: a song all about throwing eggs is paired with samples from Pusher Man and Psycho in a way that completely works. What's amazing about this album is how much you will recognize when you start to focus on the different sounds you hear. While I wish sometimes that their rapping was a bit more interesting, it's good enough, and it fits with a lot of the rap of the time. The samples, and their chemistry as a group, make this album work incredibly well. The fact that this was among the first hip-hop albums that could be considered as an album rather than a collection of individual songs packaged together adds to its significance (though I would give more credit to It Takes a Nation of Millions by Public Enemy on that front) 4/5

I don't love a lot of reggae albums, but I love this one. Lively Up Yourself is a perfect song to start the album with because it works so well on its own, but it also gives them somewhere to go. Them Belly Full might be my favorite Bob Marley song. I think I like the original version of No Woman, No Cry better than the more famous version on Legend. I don't love every song on this album, but it goes by really quick and keeps my interest pretty well 4/5

The temptations made the album that they wanted to make, even though they were sure that it would be a commercial failure. The process was right, but their expectation was wrong because this album was a huge success. The funky version of the Temptations is the best version. Their earlier hits were great songs, but this album has so much going on in it. It's incredibly innovative and well-suited to the era in which it was made. This album is like a poppier version of Maggot Brain by Funkadelic 4/5

Well, I feel similarly to this album that I feel about the majority of live albums, in that listening to the live recording doesn't simulate the live experience for me. This album has more character than a lot of the live rock albums that I've heard because of the amount of character that Sam brings to the show and the audience participating in the show. Given that the original songs weren't recorded in tremendous quality in the first place, it's hard to fault the live recording quality. Given that, this is a cool listening experience. The recording being done in a club rather than a stadium just feels more intimate. It adds a lot to this recording. Somehow I feel more like I'm there than a normal recording. With that being said, some of Cooke's banter would be best left in the 60s, like the casual reference to domestic violence (though in his defense, he said not to hit your wife), and his odd reference to leukemia in the middle of Somebody have mercy 4/5

Led Zeppelin provides crucial evidence in the age old debate about what would happen if the greatest cock rock band of all time was made up of a bunch of Tolkien nerds. Turns out it's pretty cool. This album is excellent the whole way through, and it finishes even stronger than it starts. Stairway to Heaven gets a lot of the attention for this album, but When the Levee Breaks is my nomination for the best Zeppelin song of all time. 5/5

Boy, I thought when I get a Bee Gees album that it was going to be a fun dancey romp, and I was 100% wrong. This is a dour album about endless sadness, and now I can't even remember what it feels like to dance. The music is pretty good, though, so if I still had the ability to experience joy, I would be happy about that GOD, THIS ALBUM JUST KEEPS GOING, DOESN'T IT? This is the same band that wrote Stayin Alive, right? Did they accidentally take a bunch of ecstasy before recording that album? You know what, I was going to give this album a 3, but they talked me into a 2 by being absolutely crucifying for the entire runtime of the album 2/5

Honestly, this album is not as good as I remember it being. The first half is amazing, which is the half of this album that I remember. The second half is great sleepy-time music, but I kept checking to see if YouTube had switched to a different album, since nothing interesting was happening. It's not that I don't like Moby's ambient stuff. It's good. It just doesn't fit with what he was doing in the first half of the album 3/5

Musically, this album is good, but it just didn't make much of an impression on me. Any time I tuned it, it was pleasant enough, but then I would just tune out again because it didn't hold my interest. It's another one of those cases where this list contains a recent British album that doesn't seem particularly ground-breaking or influential to me 3/5

I like the Pixies in general, but I didn't find much in this album that really grabbed me. Both Surfer Rosa and Doolittle had songs that I really liked, but none of the songs here really stood out to me. It sounds like the Pixies, it was really consistent without being boring, but it never really seemed to reach the heights of the other two albums for me 3/5

It's tough to know what to say about this album, or about Miles Davis in general. In every era in which he played, he always seemed to have a different and exciting place to take Jazz. After he stopped, no one stepped up to take his place. In some ways, it feels like Jazz is frozen in time, right where Miles left it. The album is a masterpiece. It's a swirling, groovy exhibition of both Davis's virtuosity and his brilliant composition. I can't think of a single other artist that was this bold and groundbreaking on his 27th album. I don't know what else to say about it. It's great, go listen to it 5/5

I thought this album was good. Usually I don't connect well with Sonic Youth's albums, despite the fact that I loved seeing them live. However, this album was very consistent all the way through, and it kept my attention 4/5

I thought this was an interesting album, though I feel like I'm going to have to listen to it a few more times before I give an informed opinion. It kept my interest, though (which is good because it's a short album). The sound quality could be better, but apart from that it's an album that feels ahead of its time based on when it was released

I had never listened to this band before, but I really liked this album. I love pop music that manages to be a bit challenging in terms of its lyrics. Musically, it works great and the production is excellent 4/5

Well, this is definitely a Bjork album. Like every other Bjork album I've ever heard, I enjoyed it. However, there's not a lot that I can say about this album that I wouldn't say about any other Bjork album. It's challenging at times, experimental in a way that often hits home, carried by her voice despite the fact that her voice isn't particularly incredible (it's good, just not super notable). The layering of different voices in this album works really well and is the biggest strength of Medulla. 4/5

Part of me wants to like the Black Keys, but I feel the same way about them that I felt about Cheap Trick. They do generic rock'n'roll. They do it well, but it feels too safe, like they are writing songs that they know that people will like because other people have already written these songs slightly differently 3/5

This album was new by me. It's not really something I can see myself coming back to, but it was a good listen. The music faded into the background a bit, but it was still good 4/5

This album has some really nice moments on it, and despite the fact that this type of music sounds stereotypically southern now, it only became that way because of this band At the same time, the album sags in places. I've never been a huge fan of Free Bird, perhaps because I grew up in the Beavis and Butthead era when this song was already a meme. Trying to listen to it with fresh ears is hard as a result. I think that it's a pretty enough song, but not the all time great the way it tends to be portrayed by people who really like it. Fuck it, 4/5 by the skin of it's teeth. Maybe I like Free Bird after all. Or at least, I like 4/5ths of Free Bird. That song could have been shut down a full minute earlier with no negative impact

One of the cool things about this list is that it has given me a greater appreciation for Bob Dylan. I liked him before, but never really understood why people regarded him so highly. While I still find his voice grating at times, listening to this album gave me a better appreciation for how innovative Dylan was. This album came out before all of the Beatles' most enduring works, and really stands out from what other artists were doing in 1965. The fact that he put so much work into experimenting with adding electric backing tracks to existing folk songs before recording it was neat to read about, and clearly it paid off in this album. That you could mix folk and electric rock was one of those things that I would have taken for granted, but someone had to be the first one to bring them together, and this represents Dylan's realization of that fusion. The songs are uniformly good on this album, with some of them being all time greats. The album kept my interest the whole way through, even as he transitions to more acoustic stuff in the back half. This is one that I can see myself picking up on vinyl 4/5 (really wanted to give it 5, but that voice does not hold up all the way through. It's a shame that one of the greatest rock poets was restricted to singing entirely through his nose)

Well, clearly I made an error when I put this album off until after Christmas, since I sure as fuck don't want to listen to Christmas music in January. On the other hand, despite the fact that he is mentally unhinged murderer, Phil Spector could produce the hell out of an album. Even with slightly subpar recording quality, the strength of the music is undeniable. There's a reason why several songs off this album are among the most popular version 5/5

There are a lot of ways in which I detest Eric Clapton as a person, since he has the audacity to be a racist while ripping his entire career off of Black American blues musicians. Listening to this album provided a unique opportunity to see how empty his skill set really is. He is an excellent guitar player. This is a cover album that rarely features his skills as an instrumentalist because I guess he wanted to show off his skills as doing uninspired cover versions of popular songs. His version of Hand Jive is most appropriate for a funeral, since I don't see how anyone could enjoy dancing to it. I Shot The Sheriff is a cover I had to hear constantly in my youth, and now I spend hours trying to explain to my therapist why I harbor so much anger towards an over-rated artist being covered badly by an even more over-rated artist. Listening to Clapton try and fail to do anything interesting with a song that already didn't have much going for it is the audio equivalent of watching a scrambled porn channel back in the 90s only to realize that the show you were trying to watch was a scrambled cooking show the whole time. Eric Clapton is proof that heroin doesn't turn every musician into a brilliant artist.

I feel the same way about this Deep Purple album that I did about the other Deep Purple album I got on this list, which is that when the lead singer hits his high notes, all I hear is Dennis Reynolds from IASIP singing Day Man. Add to that that it's a double live album, and there isn't much for me to get into here. Their music is fine, but there's so much about this album that biased me against it going in. Not bad, but I was ready to be done after two songs. After the high water point of Smoke On The Water, every song is at least 9.5 minutes long. 3/5

While this album isn't nearly so polished and forward thinking as what Massive Attack would accomplish with Mezzanine, Blue Lines works as its own thing. The soul/R&B influence shines through in a really cool way; very different from what I've heard in previous electronica movements. Not their best work, but still really worth the listen 4/5

I wasn't expecting much from this album. I've liked the Springsteen albums that I've listened to in the past, but a 2002 Springsteen album made as a response to 9/11 in light of everything that's happened since then sounds like the exact opposite of what I need right now. This album, however, is solid all the way through. Bruce's music doesn't sound dated for 2002, and the lyrics aren't the type of heart-on-my-sleeve rah rah bullshit that I associate with this period. Every song on this album is good, if not spectacular. More importantly, he found a way to capture the feeling of hope really well with this album. Totally worth coming back to in the future 4/5

I wanted to like this album, I really did. However, the good about it doesn't outweigh the fact that basically every song sounds the same. Steamroller blues should never have been included, since it sounds like Taylor took a class class called "How to play white guy blues for dummies." Oh Suzanna is similarly bad. Fire and Rain is a notable high point. The production is excellent as well. The character of his guitar really shines through. It just doesn't make up for the fact that this album is boring

This album was a super cool listen. It's crazy that Iggy was so far ahead of his time that he had already moved onto his second act as a musician the same year that punk was beginning to break in the US and UK. The title track on this album is a titanic way to kick the album off, but it doesn't disappoint from there. The Passenger is an awesome song, but really all of the songs on this album are good. 4/5

This album was fine. He has a good voice and the lyrics work well enough. It's not my thing, but I could see why people like it. For me, though, it was hard to understand how this album was innovative or significant. It seemed like another late era Brit Pop album that made it to this list because it was popular, not because it was particularly meaningful or groundbreaking. Also, this album just keeps fucking going without really changing or doing anything interesting 3/5

This album was absolutely not what I was expecting, and I thought it was really cool to here. Mixing traditional Irish and Scottish folk music and instruments into a rock n roll sound actually worked really well. After listening to a few albums that didn't feel like anything special, this was a welcome change of pace 4/5

This was one of the first albums I ever bought, which makes it really interesting to return to it after so long to try and fit it into the context of everything I've learned about music since that time. It certainly stands in stark contrast to the gangsta rap movement that was massively popular when this was released. Their use of funk samples in the big hits off of this album works really well. There are some nice harmonies on this album as well, and it would have been nice if they would have made more use of them 4/5

This is my favorite album of all time. It's one that I listen to rarely because I'm worried that if I listen to it too many times, I won't be able to appreciate its stark beauty. It's sad and sweet one moment, upbeat the next. What makes this album so great is that it is always absolutely painting a mood. You're meant to feel something with every song, and I always feel it. The instrumentation is exquisite. The compositions are sublime. Even the mistakes and imperfections, like the drummer hitting the cymbal a little too hard when Miles comes in on the first track just work. Put this album on a rocket ship and send it out into space. That way, if it's ever encountered by intelligent life, the aliens will get to see us at our absolute best 5/5

I want to like Tom Waits, I really do. I put him in the same category as Frank Zappa. They're both artists that I listen to and consistently feel like their music is almost good. Like, every song on this album is almost good, but they're all missing something. It's like cooking without butter or oil. Sure, all of the parts are there, but where's the fucking flavor? At the same time, what he's trying to do is cool, and I think this album deserves 4/5. It's unquestionably ahead of its time and it influenced a lot of stuff that came after it. Also, it sounds like a throwback somehow too. Nothing makes sense for this album, but it isn't bad, despite the fact that I don't like it that much 4/5

Sometimes I feel like I'm close to liking Morrissey, but he's just so fucking maudlin all the time. He definitely works better with the Smiths than he does as a solo artist, at least from my perspective. Musically, this album is good and did a great job at keeping my interest. The lyrics are...Morrissey. We get it, you're sad and you hate everyone except your girlfriend, who's in a coma. What kills me is that I like his voice. If he would just sing about some other aspect of the human condition, it would be a good album. Instead we get Holden Caufield Sings the Blues. I don't hate it, but it's so close to being really good that it makes me mad 3/5

I really like getting to learn more about post-punk and all of the cool stuff that it spawned. I don't have a lot to say about this album, but it was a good listen. A much subtler touch than the Smiths album I got yesterday 4/5

I've never been a huge Elvis fan, but this album helps me understand his appeal a bit more. His voice is undeniable: rich and powerful, yet smooth as butter. The production on the album is excellent. The backup vocals are always clear without being overpowering. Great harmonies and fun music 4/5

Don't have much time to review, but I really liked this album. Beck does bittersweet really well. I like Morning Phase better as an album, but this one serves as a nice companion piece

Two Beck albums on consecutive days, what could be better? This album was one that I loved when I was younger, and it really holds up. The Dust Brothers were the perfect pairing for Beck. Everything on this album just works. There's not a single song that I don't enjoy or that doesn't fit 5/5

I want to like this album, but there is not much carrying it other than Tina Turner's incredible voice. The cover of I Can't Stand the Rain is just a worse copy of the original. The Let's Stay Together and Help! covers add nothing to this album. A lot of the musical accompaniment is pretty uninspired. This album could have really been something if better music was matched up with Turner's vocals, but as it is this album is a couple of highlights without much to fill it in 3/5

There were times when I really enjoyed this album, and there were times when I wondered how I was going to make it through the entire thing. A double album seems like a bit much, as usual, though I understand it more in this case. This album was meant to be a union of two generations of country and bluegrass musicians. Overall it works, though I wish there was less banter between the songs. I don't see myself coming back to this album, nor, for that matter, finishing it (I'm currently on track 7 of 42). 4/5

This album was one that confused me a lot as to its importance until I looked it up. In a lot of ways it sounds like a typical 80s synthpop album. However, it was released in 1981, which puts it way ahead of its time. Reframing it that way helped me contextualize this work. It's not one that particularly grabbed my interest, but it's good and was clearly influential in the decade it helped usher in

A super significant album in the history of both hip-hop and drum and bass. This album became something that it was never intended to be because of the desire to repackage existing music into new dance music. That alone would be enough to recommend this album as a historical document. However, the album kicks ass too. Well worth a listen

I thought this album was cool. It definitely mirrors a lot of what other alternative rock groups were doing in the 80s, and as a consequence it doesn't stand out as much as some of the other early alt-rock albums I've listened to, like Surfer Rosa. Still, they made a lot of cool choices on this album. 4/5

Oh great, another Morrissey album. I wonder if he's still sad all the time. Okay, it turns out this album is actually pretty fun and not the absolutely crucifying experience I've come to associate with Morrissey. Lots of diversity in the music, and it works well with his voice. Does this mean that I like Morrissey? 4/5

Morrissey and Van Morrison on consecutive days. What have I done to be saddled with these two bastions of COVID misinformation in such proximity? With that being said, this album is pretty fun. He does white guy blues without it being too cringy. Much like the last Van Morrison album that I listened to, Astral Weeks, there are lots of instrumental additions to the composition that are unexpected and well executed. I may be of the personal opinion that Van Morrison is a twat, but I guess I like his music 4/5

I'm really enjoying early synthpop as I learn more about it. This album seems really really well formed for the time it was made. The production of the album is excellent. Giorgio Moroder's influence on the album seems like it adds a lot, though I haven't heard the bands earlier works to compare it to. Super fun pop album that has a lot of elements of synth music that will come to prominence in the decades to follow. This album also features what might be my favorite Velvet Underground cover in All Tomorrow's Parties 4/5

It's kind of crazy that it's taken me this long to sit down and listen to a Tupac album. His lyrical style really makes this album. The beats are good, but very subdued. His charisma is what makes this album a classic

Immigrant song is a hell of a way to start off an album. After that, this becomes a more straight ahead blues album with hard rock layered over it. It works pretty well, and there are plenty of classic songs on this album. One thing that was hard to keep out of my mind while listening to this is that the next three albums that they are going to put out are going to be IV, Houses of the Holy, and Physical Graffiti. This album is not as strong as those, but on its own it's very good. It's clear that this album is previewing where the band is going, but it's not quite there yet 4/5

I was super uninspired to listen to this album today, but I was surprised by how many songs I knew off of here. It's all fine, but I have no real idea why it's on this list. This seems like a fairly traditional white boy blues album with the only twist being that the white boy in this case is a woman. It's like putting a Kenny G album on this list. The best compliment that I give to an album shouldn't be that it's inoffensive 3/5

This album is a bit of an anacronism in 1958, especially with all of the landmark jazz albums that would come out the following year. It's a big band album made after the height of the big band era. However, it's a really fun album that somehow lives up to the boldness of its cover and title. I don't usually enjoy big band music, but I thought this one was well worth the listen 4/5

I bought this album earlier this year, so it's an easy review for me. If you told me that this album was made a decade after it was released, I would believe you. I would also still think that the album was really good. It's so far ahead of its time that it's hard to talk about this album in isolation from all of the music in the 90s that it directly spawned. A lot of the formula for Nirvana's success is well developed already in Surfer Rosa. The songs are fun and well crafted. The combination of Frank Black and Kim Deal is excellent; they sound so good when they harmonize. It's actually a shame that Where Is My Mind will be forever associated with Fight Club, because this album has aged much better than that movie has It's the quintessential 90s album released in 1988. 5/5

It's a much different experience listening to Little Richard once I found out the original lyrics to Tutti Frutti. Not a worse experience by any means, just much different. I like thinking about the role of dancing in the formation of early rock n roll. All the songs on this album are good, though they all sound a bit similar to each other. I think that's probably an artifact of approaching this album more than 60 years after its release. Regardless, the music is fun and Little Richard's voice brings so much flavor to this album. It's easy to see why this album was a stand out of early rock. 4/5

What a weird and cool album. It's a bit slow-paced, but overall it was really interesting 4/5

This album seems so straightforward when you start listening to it, and then it keeps surprising you as it goes. It sounds like a normal punk album, right down to the starkly plain lyrics. Underneath that lies so much more. The songs are well-crafted and leave a lot of room for the instrumentals to shine. Intense, but subtle. This album is a powerhouse of a debut 4/5

I was introduced to shoegaze as a subgenre in the last year, and I really enjoy it. This album is one of my favorite examples. It's more lyrical than Loveless by My Bloody Valentine, which is my other favorite showgaze album (extremely obvious picks, I know). The lyrics blend into the music well. The instrumentals and production are excellent. This is also one of the few albums that I feel like listening to the songs added with the reissues benefited the album. A really solid album all the way through 4/5

Suite Judy Blue Eyes is such a great way to start off an album. It's like multiple songs in one, each beautiful with brilliant harmonies. Marrakesh Express is a great song to follow up after an all time great. After that, the music starts to feel more generic. This is not any fault of CSN, but more the fact that many musicians aped this style after this album, and CSN had a pretty consistent style over their career. It's not bad, but it doesn't rise to the heights of the beginning of the album. It's all pleasant enough, and this album is well worth a listen. Overall, this must have sounded revolutionary in 1969. The harmonies are a nice successor to what the Beach Boys had been doing, but with a much different musical approach 4/5

The world seems to want me to listen to Neil Young so badly, and I want just as badly to never listen to Neil Young ever again. It's not bad. In fact, in a lot of ways its good music. It's just that Neil Young is a fucking bummer, and I don't need it. Neil Young is the type of person who goes to the beach to complain about the sand. 3/5 (again, it's not bad, it just makes me feel like life is not worth living)

I think I've heard every song on this album prior to this, but I'd never listened to it as an album. One of the things that stood out to me is that Dre's production style, which would emerge fully-formed when he started putting out solo records fro Death Row, is not well-developed here. It sounds more like an 808 with a bunch of samples layered over it. I think it's interesting because the addition of those samples makes this sound much less dated than Run DMC's work in the mid 80s. The approach to rapping is much more full formed with this album, which I think accounts for a lot of its appeal. This album delivers lyrically, and all of the participants appear to be at the top of their game here, though several of the artists achieved greater heights as solo artists. A deserved classic that has aged really well, perhaps because the misogyny that would be so pervasive in later gangsta rap albums is much less prominent here 4/5

This album started out really good, but it feels a bit samey by the end. Overall I think that it's worth a listen, hence 4 stars, but it's definitely on the low end of 4 stars for me. There are a lot of hidden gems in the postpunk genre, and I think this is one of them

Great. This fucking asshole. Luckily I was already in a shitty mood, which is perfect for listening to this album. Two years after The Downward Spiral, Marilyn Manson comes along and does essentially the same thing, except not as good. "I wasn't born with enough middle fingers" is exactly the type of on-the-nose bullshit that makes this album feel like a cheap ripoff of any good industrial album. The album is not devoid of merit, though. The production is really good in parts. There are some good songs too, though I mostly have to ignore the lyrics, which largely seem like a teenager's impression of Trent Reznor lyrics. I honestly think I would really enjoy an instrumental version of this album. Musically it works pretty well. It somehow manages to sound both gritty and clean at the same time. The instruments are mixed really well with the vocals so that nothing feels like it is left out in the avalanche of sound that most songs build to. After reading about the making of this album on Wikipedia 1) it makes sense that I hear so much Trent Reznor here, since he produced the album and wrote multiple songs along with other members of NIN, and 2) everyone involved in the production of this album sounds like a fucking asshole. Also, this is a concept album? Could have fooled me. 2/5 I was originally going to give this 3/5 because I do really enjoy the music, but this album becomes increasingly self-indulgent and crucifying to listen to as it goes. The lyrics are universally juvenile, and the neat musical moments are not enough to overcome the chore that this album becomes as it progresses. Also fuck Marilyn Manson as a person. It takes a special kind of prick to take being a bad boyfriend to the level of criminal charges

Well, this was not what I was expecting. I grew up with the pop UB40 of the 90s. It's weird to hear them as an actual reggae band, not doing uninspired covers of Elvis songs. I've never disliked this band, but this album gave me newfound respect for them. There's much more authenticity about this album than the later stuff that I was aware of. I'm not much of a reggae fan, but it's enjoyable when it's done well, instead of being the same handful of Bob Marley songs being blasted out the window of some frat boy's car. 3/5 It's a fine listen, but ultimately uninspiring.

I had heard the name of this artist but wasn't familiar with the music. Seeing that it was a British artist from the early 2000s didn't exactly fill me with hope, but I really liked it. Folky, but with a lot of variation in the instruments and musical styles. The production is very good. I could see myself buying this record 4/5

I don't like live albums and I don't like live Bob Dylan albums and I don't like double albums and I really don't like live Bob Dylan double albums. It's like he's trying to make his voice sound annoying on purpose. Like, he's a groundbreaking musician and an excellent poet, but when he's live he sounds like he's singing directly through his nose and blowing snot into my ears. I like a lot of these songs, but even some of those are...strange. I'm all for artists reinterpreting their work, but it feels like this version of Mr. Tambourine Man is just him being weird on purpose, and then it lasts for 9 GODDAMNED MINUTES. What kills me is that there are some greats songs on here, but I keep finding myself pausing this album to listen to other things. Like, this was probably an amazing concert to attend, but I'm just sitting here at work. The electric half of the set is a saving grace (I was going to give 2/5 stars for the acoustic part of the set). It brings of a lot of sorely needed energy to the performance. It's fucking hilarious that many people at the show felt the complete opposite about it and heckled Dylan between songs 3/5 stars

This album was pleasant enough, but didn't really hold my interest. It was hard to understand why it was on this list, though perhaps there is some context that I am missing 3/5

Honestly, this is a cool album. I didn't know what to think of it at first, but for a country album from the mid-50s that I've never heard of, it's a fuckin toe-tapper. 4/5

Listening to hip-hop albums that were part of the golden age of sampling is such an interesting experience. Hearing snippets from extremely famous songs melded into the idiosyncratic rap style of QTip is cool; this album could only have been made in this era. I really enjoy Tribe, but I sort of forget about them when I'm not listening to them. It's nice to have their albums put in front of me through this list. Their style is so relaxed, which separates them from the more intense rap style and lyrical content that became more popular in this era. Q-Tip does great work throughout the album. The fact that this was their first album shows how quickly everything came together for this group. It's also crazy that the aspect of this album that has aged most poorly is their stance on cholesterol in eggs 5/5

I'm not 100% sure why this album is on the list, since it doesn't seem to be considered as even Air's best album, nor was it a particularly significant soundtrack at the time. However, it's a good listen. The production is excellent, there are lots of little sounds that come through well. The somewhat sparse style Air employs works great as a soundtrack, but works well as a standalone album too. 4/5

What can you say about Ice Cube during this era? His lyrics were intense and on point. He's great both when he's attacking the beat and when he's following it. The samples he uses are definitely of their time, but are also uniformly excellent. The singles off of this album are all timers. The misogyny and homophobia are a bit much at times, but certainly not as bad as some of his contemporaries and those that would follow him. Overall, his is a can't miss album from the early gangsta rap era 4/5

This is a much more interesting band than I would have given them credit for based on Come On Eileen. I watched a YouTube video about their history, and it was pretty cool what they were trying to do. I liked the album after Too-Rye-Ay, so it's cool to get to hear the album before it Overall it's a neat album. I didn't have a lot of time to make notes while I was listening, but the variety of instrumentation was great 4/5

What am I supposed to do with this shit? I try so hard not to let an artist's personal life effect how I review their albums, but it's so hard not to think about it with Michael Jackson. Similar to how I had to Marilyn Manson's many allegations of domestic abuse, I'll soldier on. Obviously this album is incredible. It's not just that every song is good, virtually every song was a huge hit. This album begins with Wanna Be Startin Something, and that is one of the MINOR hits on this album. Any other album, that would be one of the most notable tracts, but by the time you get through Thriller, Beat It, and Billie Jean you forget all about it. This is unquestionably Quincy Jones's best work, and it's sad that so much of that is tainted by Micheal being a fucking pedophile It's a 5/5 album. It would be a lot easier to enjoy this album if Michael hadn't been everything that he was. but what can you do?

What the fuck is this shit? After all of the stellar work Metallica did in the 80s, and all of the completely forgettable work that they did afterwards, it's kind of surprising to see an album on here from the very tail end of the millennium. I like the idea of mixing classical and heavy metal music together, since I think the genres have more in common than they are generally given credit for. This album feels mostly like a Metallica concert with a symphony mixed under it. The band's instruments aren't so much integrated into the symphony as they are yelling over it like a drunk guy at a party. James Hetfield's voice has lost a lot of its power, which is unfortunate because it is front and center when it could be strengthened by instruments that compliment his sound. It's hard to tell if this album is just poorly executed or a cynical attempt to make Metallica relevant again after their many poor decisions in the 90s. There's nothing that frustrates me more than a good idea that fails because of laziness on the part of content creators. Even the fucking name of the album is lazy. I'm on the third song and I already want this to be over so badly. There are 17 more songs on this fucking album. I honestly think it would work better to play a Slayer album at the same time as a Beethoven symphony. At least that way when it didn't work I could comfort myself with the fact that it was never intended to 2/5

This was a cool album. I've been meaning to listen to Gil Scott Heron for a long time. The music is cool, if not a bit subdued in order to give more focus to his lyrics. My favorite track was the last one, which was pretty funny while also making a lot of good points. I'd like to come back to this album when I've got more time to focus on what he's saying 4/5

This album is a fun throwback to the 90s. The musical part of it is really good and contains a lot of interesting elements for the time in which it was made, especially the samples used on a few tracks. The lyrics are...I think too obvious is the word I'm looking for. There's very little craft to them, and it made the album hard to get into 3/5

We have arrived at yet another Brit Pop album from the 90s/00s that seems to have no other purpose on this list than the author's familiarity and affection for the genre. I always find these inclusions particularly galling because I've encountered so many incredible lesser-known albums through this list, yet I'm also being forced to listen to innocuous bullshit like this. It's not bad, but it's certainly not ground-breaking, genre-defining, finely-crafted, or, for that matter, enjoyable to listen to. But at least I know that Robbie Williams is loving angels instead now. I can't think where my life would be without that bit of eternal wisdom, whatever the fuck it means 2/5

There wasn't a huge amount to this one, but it's good enough. Cathy's Clown is a banger. The harmonies are excellent, but this comes from that tweener era of rock where the genre doesn't feel full developed in a lot of ways 3/5

I always get excited when very recent albums show up on this list, since they have been universally good in my experience (the opposite of the phenomenon is when I see any Britpop album from the 90s or 00s). This album was cool, but didn't blow my mind. It was pleasant enough playing in the background, but it didn't come to my attention very often as it was playing. It's a well-crafted album, but it didn't seem particularly groundbreaking in any way that was clear to me. Definitely worth a listen, though I'm not terribly sure why it was included on this list 4/5

I thought this album was cool, but it didn't ultimately keep my interest all that well

So....I don't really like prog rock. There are definitely good things about the genre, but a lot of it, for me, feels like forgettable stretches broken up by the occasional bit of good music. There wasn't anything I specifically disliked about this album, but it was also hard to get too invested in it because of how slowly developing it is. Also, Jesus Christ this album just keeps going, doesn't it? Like, I'm 37 minutes in and there is still one hell of a lot of album left. 3/5

Funky Stevie Wonder is just the absolute best. He covers so much depth and harshness about the world while still managing to get you toes tapping. I don't like this album as much as Songs In the Key of Life, but it is still one of his best works from his most fruitful period 4/5

I like Leonard Cohen more than I thought I would before I'd listened to him. However, this is not his best work. His voice sounds a bit thin here, and it hurts the overall feeling of the album. The beauty of his poetry is still here, but it just doesn't sound as good 3/5

I lost my reivew from yesterday. Queen II is good Queen, but their sound has not fully matured yet compared to where it will be on A Night at the Opera 3/5

I always feel like I should like Frank Zappa, and then I always just think he's kinda okay when I listen to him. He's a skilled musician and composer, and he surrounds himself will great people, but I always feel like he's just a bit...much. 3/5

For some reason I keep losing my notes that I make while actually listening to this album. However, if you've been listening to albums from this list for a while, you've already heard this album in one form or another. It's a Britpop album from the 90s-00s that is not interesting or original and has no business being on this list. Many albums on this list I don't like, but I understand why they were included. Other albums, like this, are clearly just here because the author of the list was a fan during their youth. It's something we would all fall victim to if we tried to compile a list of 1000 great albums, and yet I still choose to be shitty about it anyway because I am an anonymous stranger on the internet. Fuck you, Manic Street Preachers 2/5

I was a bit skeptical about this album when it first popped up, but honestly sometimes I do feel like a freak on a leash Much of what I said about Antichrist Superstar applies here. The music for this album is actually pretty cool, and I wonder what this album would sound like if you removed the sensitive boi lyrics and left just the instrumentals. I like Korn's lyrics far better than Manson's, but to be fair I like reading the ingredients in a shampoo bottle better than Marilyn Manson's lyrics. The production on this album is really clean, which makes it easy to listen to. I understand better now why people liked it so much in the 90s than I did then. Honestly, I was kind of digging it minus the childishness of the lyrics. Then All in the Family brings the album to a grinding fucking halt. The combination of homophobia and bad rapping is absolutely crucifying. Traditionally, rappers make diss tracks about other rappers, rather than inviting those rappers on the album to diss them back, but I guess Korn's approach to shitting on themselves works too. Unfortunately, it also drops this album's rating to 2/5 because I had to sit through it 2/5 2/5

I really love listening to early metal, which I would not have predicted even a few years ago. This album has a lot of the elements of what will come in the future for metal embedded in it, but it also has a lot of elements of 70s rock in it. It feels like a very transitional album, one that clarifies the roots of the metal genre 4/5

This album is an okay listen. The production is good. The first few songs are really solid, but it starts to fall off after that. Moreover, it's hard to understand why this album is on the list. I haven't seen many alternative rock albums here, so it's always sort of baffling when I get an album that I would consider to be a minor work of that era. It's not bad, but there are so many more deserving albums that I'm not sure made this list 3/5

This album is okay. I'm not a big prog rock guy, though luckily this album is not as slow and ponderous as many prog rock albums (and I'm sure that plenty of folks would argue that this is not prog rock, and that is certainly a supportable position). Parts of this is really good, and other parts are trying to be epic in a way that I find really uninspiring. I like the approach that Muse employed for this album, I'm just not super into the execution 3/5

I think that metal groups in the 90s and 00s had a harder challenge in front of them then is generally recognized. They had to produce music that definitively sounded like metal without continuing to works that were substantially similar to what came before. I like metal, but it's sound can be restrictive. Bands like System of a Down did a great job of walking that line. I don't like this album as much as Toxicity, but still, you can clearly hear the innovation of their sound here. In a genre where it can be hard to stand out even with very talented musicians, SoaD manages to be instantly recognizable. That being said, this album still sags in places. Their song writing would improve in future works, but it's not quite there yet on this work 3/5

This album is a bit tough for me to judge, and I think I'm going to have to come back to it for future listens to truly give a solid review on it. On this listen, it didn't feel like there was a huge amount going on here. I like each song, but they also kind of flow by without there being much for me to say specifically about them. What's Going On made much more of an impression on me at first listen. I think this might be a case where lots of works that came after Let's Get It On incorporated this sound and approach, and as a consequence it doesn't sound as revolutionary as it is. I certainly can't say that it sounds like works that came before it, and the Wikipedia entry seems to confirm this. I feel like there's a lot here, but it's not something that I'm going to be able to articulate after a single listen 4/5

I don't always know what to think about art pop bands. This album is good, and there's clearly a lot of craftsmanship involved, but it also leaves me feeling a little flat. 3/5

This is an interesting early British punk album. It came on the heels of the first slate of punk albums that were released in 1977. This album is more melodic and poppy than the Sex Pistols, though not quite as fun and strange as the Ramones. Overall, it's a really good early punk album. The Adverts share a lot of sonic similarities with the Buzzcocks, though the Advert's lyrics are a little more in the traditional punk mold. Overall a really fun album that slipped through the cracks of history while the Sex Pistols and Clash went on the become mega-famous 4/5

Like the other Def Leppard album I got on this list, I'm honestly surprised by how good this is. It's not groundbreaking or anything, but it is an incredibly well-produced album with a lot of good songs. I never thought of Def Leppard as a hit factory, but just the number of songs that charted on this album alone is surprising, and Pyromania is similar. It's also wild that this album came out after their drummer lost his goddamned arm. Like, drummers famously use their arms quite frequently, and generally they prefer to have two of them. The drumming sounds great too, especially on Pour Some Sugar On Me. 4/5 Another surprisingly good album from Def Leppard

I liked parts of this, and I can definitely see why the bass from the album was sampled so frequently in early hip-hop, but ultimately I found it a bit dull. Also, I did not know that Good Times was 8 fucking minutes long. Perfect for the dance floor, but a bit strange for a single. Worth a listen, but not an album that I plan on coming back to 3/5

Honestly, fuck this album. They make you wait through like 2 minutes of bullshit before you get to hear Detroit Rock City, and after that fine song is done, it's just waiting for the album to wind through its length. I hate it when KISS tries to rock, I hate it when KISS tries to be sensitive. Honestly, though, the production on this album is terrible. Everything sounds sludgy. At first I thought it might be a poor quality upload on YouTube, but no, it just sounds like that. Like mixing a KISS album was some dying child's last wish, and the band just let them do it, but then the kid got better so they couldn't go back and remaster it. I'm not sure why someone thought I should listen to this album before I die. Maybe they have a strong hatred of me and think that subjecting me to this album will hasten my death by sapping my will to live. Jokes on them, because I'm determined to outlive every member of KISS so that I can dance on each and every one of their graves. 2/5 (Detroit Rock City is pulling a lot of weight on this album, and I guess Beth is fine too)

After finding out that this album was produced by Brian Eno, I'm not surprised that I liked it right away. What I am surprised about is that I've never heard of it before. It's really cool for a mostly instrumental album. Laid back, if not quite ambient, with a really cool sound to it. I think I'm going to try and pick up this album on vinyl based on my first listen. This was a great palette-cleanser after having to review a fucking KISS album yesterday 4/5

There's been sort of a notable absence of Kraut rock on this list so far, as I've been doing this for over a year and this is the first such album that I've gotten. I liked this album. Like most in the genre it's good to just put on and listen to in the background. I'm a bigger fan of Neu than Can, but this is still really cool for the era in which it was made. Really influential stuff that doesn't get its due for its historical importance 4/5

It's sad to think that more than half of the songs on this album were written by Otis Redding or Sam Cooke, and that within two years of the release of this album, both of them would be dead (Cooke died prior to the recording of the album). Both incredible tragedies for the world of music, both for the loss of their voices and their masterful songwriting. Redding's massive talent is on full display here. What I wouldn't give for a higher quality of recording for this album. It's an issue that plagues a lot of these Stax recordings. Despite this, though, the beauty of these songs are undeniable. Even when he's covering famous songs, he always manages to make them his own 4/5

Now I find myself in the weird position of reviewing an album that I've owned on vinyl for more than a decade but somehow never listened to. The reason why I've never listened to it is because Joni Mitchell has never "clicked" with me. The reason why I still have it is: 1) so people will think that I am smart and sensitive, and 2) because a lot of people who's musical opinions I respect really like Joni Mitchell. This album continues that trend for me. This album also doesn't click for me, but I can see why people like it. It's interesting, no question. It does not sound like it's tied to one particular time period. I definitely wouldn't say that it's of its time. Mitchell has a well-developed style that sets her apart. It doesn't particularly work for me, but it's also hard for me to dislike it because she is doing something different here and executing her vision well. 3/5

Say what you will about Lou Reed, he always puts together an interesting album. It's been a few years since I've revisited Transformer. For some reason I always think this album is going to be more intense than it is. Perhaps its the combination of the title and cover art. Regardless, this is a cool album. Relax, yet very engaging, like a lot of Reed's work. Perhaps his finest work outside of the Velvet Underground 4/5

Ah fuck, I don't want to listen to modern prog rock today. What frustrates me about this band is that they are clearly talented, and I can hear bits and pieces of what I loved so much about Relationship of Command. However, this band is not that band, and for all of the good elements of this album, it's never going to achieve the raw power of Relationship of Command. On the other hand, this album is a good listen overall. I want it to be something that it is not, but that's on me. The vocals and the instrumentation are very good on this album. It's also less proggy than other stuff I've listened to from Mars Volta. Guess I got to give it 4 stars, especially since listening to this album improved my shitty mood moderately 4/5 4/5

This was a tough one to rate. On the one hand, it's a Paul Simon album, and the man knows music and has a beautiful and distinctive voice. On the other hand, none of these songs are particularly memorable. They're just good because they're Paul Simon songs. However, none of these songs are in the top 20 Paul Simon songs in my opinion. The issue, then, is whether I judge this album as it sounds or within the context of Paul Simon's career. If this was a band that I'd never heard of, I would certainly rank it as 4/5 stars. Within the context of his career, I'd consider this mediocre, 3/5 stars. Ultimately, I choose the later. I try not to bring prejudice into my reviews, but I also just don't get why this album is on here. I'm sure there are plenty of other Simon records on this list, so it's tough to see why this album deserves any special merit 3/5

I didn't like this album as much as It's Blitz, which I first encountered with this list. Compared to that, this album didn't really have any songs that stuck out. However, I love the sound of this band, and I still thought that this was worth a listen. Poppy and gritty at the same time 4/5

Aerosmith was the first band that I ever fell (briefly) in love with, so it's weird to reflect on their early career now that I've decidedly lost interest in the band that I was so infatuated with in the early-mid 90s. This is much more straightforward blues rock than I would have anticipated. Very much of its time and not showing many of the elements that would define their style in the 80s and 90s. Walk This Way is a notable exception, which is appropriate since that sound would kick start their success in the 80s. Sweet Emotion is another highlight of the album that sounds more like 80s Aerosmith. The rest of the album sucks ass and you can quote me on that (my name is Bill Gates) 3/5 and the two good songs on this album are pulling a lot of weight

Boy, this list is really insistent that I give Tom Waits another chance after being more or less lukewarm on the last two albums of his that I listened to. This album continues that trend. It's strange, I like weird music, and I feel like I should like Tom Waits. I think the issue is that I like music that is weird like the Butthole Surfers, and Tom Waits makes music that's weird in the same way that clowns are weird. I fucking hate clowns. I don't hate Tom Waits, but when I saw one of his albums on this list this morning, I felt the same way that I feel when someone tells me that I'm going to the circus: "Oh great, now I'm about to get robbed by a carnie." 3/5

I'm always excited to see an album that I've never heard of on here. There's nothing like the feeling of falling in love with an album that you didn't know existed just minutes before. I didn't fall in love with this album, but still the sentiment remains. Part of the problem with this album was that I don't have any context for why it's important. Wikipedia was no help, since this album isn't even listed on her Wikipedia page. It's pleasant enough, but there was nothing to really draw me in. Part of the problem was that the tone on the bass and guitar were sounds that I associate with muzak. Not bad, and perhaps not her fault, but still sounds that I associated with low effort music designed to fade into the background. Here vocals are good, but not sufficient to explain to me why this album is considered notable 3/5

This is an interesting one to come back to after many years. I bought this album when I was young, but it didn't make much of an impact on my, and I didn't listen to it all that much. I think now that some of the reason that I didn't immediately like this album is that the vocals aren't mixed very well. They always feel like they're fading into the background a bit, and that leaves nothing out in front leading the band. I think a remastered version of this album could be really cool. As it is, there's certainly a lot of promise here, but it doesn't quite follow through 3/5

HOW MANY FUCKING NEIL YOUNG ALBUMS ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE ME LISTEN TO? Look, I don't like the guy, okay. He's a fine musician, he writes fine songs, and the issue here is that I don't like them and don't want to listen to them. He bums me the fuck out. What I can say about this album is that it does have some of the Neil Young songs that I like. They're uniformly total bummers, but at least they're good bummers, so 3/5? I guess

One thing I think is important to note here is that David Bowie didn't owe us this album. After all of the great music he gave us, all of the great experiences he created for us, he didn't owe us one more album before he died. The fact that, as he was dying of cancer, he made this stellar album shows how incredible he truly was. Visionary is the word I would use to describe Bowie's career, and it feels that way here too. He's a man looking out into the abyss of death and preparing himself to take the final step. This is not his best album, but it is a monumental achievement nonetheless. He didn't have to do it, but he did, and it's great 4/5

Fuck yeah, Slayer. This album is one of the many examples of everything Rick Rubin touches turning to gold. While he was in the midst of building one of the most successful hip-hop albums, he was producing this album. Slayer is one of those bands that really has done one thing for their entire career, and they do that one thing so well that they don't need to diversify. Slayer makes thrash metal. That's it. Metallica did it better during the 80s in my opinion, but they stopped making thrash towards the end of the decade, while Slayer kept making thrash well into the 2000s. This album is one of their greats. It hits you like a brick to the face, yet manages to be so intricate that it stays fresh over several listens. I've come back to this album over and over throughout the years, and it doesn't disappoint. 4/5. Fuck yeah, Slayer

It seems really strange now that an artist could put out an album composed entirely of cover songs and use it as a platform to become one of the most famous people on the face of the earth. It's a testimony the Elvis's charisma that he is able to pull this off. This album doesn't feature many of what I would consider to be Elvis's best songs. Instead we're treated to a bunch of songs that had been released in the years before this album by other artists who did more definitive versions. There are some exceptions. I think Presley's versions of Blue Suede Shoes and Blue Moon may be better than the originals. However, he adds nothing to songs like I Got a Woman and Tutti Fruity. Presley gets a lot of credit for bringing the music of black artists to white audiences, but I'm not sure that that helped the black artists all that much. This album sounds okay. Elvis's style is very distinctive and is already well-developed here. The lack of originality in the compositions works against him here. It's fine that he didn't write his own music, but I can't get over the fact that Elvis got famous doing cover songs that were substantially similar to artists who were still trying to be discovered by the world at large. This album did a disservice to people like Carl Perkins and Little Richard. It makes the album feel a bit shallow, since Elvis's looks seem to have a lot to do with why he was so successful where original artists weren't. He is a talented musician, there's no denying it, and his voice is heavenly. It just feels like he's stealing other people's glory with this album 3/5

This is . . . not a very good hip-hop album. I was really excited to hear it after reading the Wikipedia entry. There are samples from a bunch of songs that I really like. It's from a cool era of hip-hop that has a bunch of hidden gem albums I haven't heard yet. It's politically conscious. The execution is lacking, however. Michael Franti provides a very superficial analysis of the world. The lyrics just aren't good, and he doesn't rhyme very well. Rapping without rhyming is just talking in a weird cadence. This album leaves me feeling flat in much the same way I felt when I saw Michael Franti and Spearhead live. It feels like it could be good, but it's not. It feels lazy. Every song feels like he was inspired to try and make a Public Enemy song, but then he got tired halfway through and gave up. 3/5 The political content and music are pulling a lot of weight in this score. He is talking about a lot of issues that were not common points of discussion at the time. He's just talking about them without much insight

This was the album that got me into the Beatles. It was my favorite album of all time for a long while, until I'd listened to it too many times and I couldn't really "hear" it anymore when I put it on. It's something so different than what came before, and it had such a clear and incredible influence on what came after it. It's hard to find words to describe this album. Every song is good. Most of the songs are all time greats. It's hard to even compare it to other albums, because it's the standard that you compare other albums to. As time goes by, I've started to think that Abbey Road is the superior album, but I'd still recommend that someone looking to get into the Beatles listen to this album first. It's so relatable and so alien at the same time. 5/5

Joni Mitchell usually doesn't work for me. I think that she is good, but I don't generally enjoy her albums that much. Blue is a notable exception. It's so beautiful and painful all the way through. Both her songwriting and her voice are on full display on this album. It's a very accessible entry point for her music 4/5

Well I, for one, had no idea that There She Goes was a cover song. That's cool, and the original sounds good (though it makes me feel less kindly about the cover, since it's virtually the same as the original). This album has a fun energy to it. A lot of the songs are upbeat. Other songs inexplicably sound as if The Who were fronted by the lead singer of Smashmouth. Those songs are less good. Still, this is a good album overall and one that I'd like to come back to 4/5

I struggled with this album a bit. It sounds fine, both the music and the vocal are good and they blend well together. Listening to this album without context, I felt that it was a bit generic. Not bad at all, but it didn't sound particularly revolutionary for 2017. The Wikipedia entry shed a little more light on it, noting it's fusion of R&B and EDM, as well as other musical styles. I feel like EDM has been a part of R&B for a long time, but I don't know enough about the genre to say that definitively. In the end, I like this album, but I don't know that it's super groundbreaking. I think that the years since its release have altered my perception of it. At the same time, this album was released after FKA Twig's EP, which was much more experiemental in terms of electronic music in R&B. In the end I think it's good enough to give 4/5, but it's definitely close to 3/5 4/5

I fucking love this album. It's music that you can really dance to that somehow feels more meaningful. It's also an absolutely stellar debut album. I think that Dig Your Own Hole is better overall, but this is one not to be missed. Every song works in the context of the album. Big Beat is one of those musical movements that I would have loved to be able to be around when it was in its early days. I'm not sure that Big Beat gets its due with regard to its influence on modern music. So much of what has happened in EDM and hip-hop is using this style as its skeleton. The Chemical Brothers are the best part of that, turning out banger after absolute banger 4/5

I don't have a lot of notes about this album. It's great to put on and just let it play in the background. Very fun and upbeat, and it seems like it would be fun to dance to, as the title suggests. 4/5

It's very strange going from growing up thinking that the 1970s was a wasteland for music to it being perhaps my favorite decade for music bar none. There was just so much happening, and everything was changing so quickly. Case in point, this album is a nice pop and punk in the post-punk era that doesn't really get talked about much. I think the success that Blondie experienced just prior to this album's release. This album is a lot of fun, well worth a listen 4/5

I liked this album okay. I think that Missy Elliot makes excellent music with Timbaland. The features on the album are good. It makes for great dance music. I think, in some ways, not enough time has passed for me to critically evaluate this album, since it now sounds old, but not old enough that it's easy for me to place it in the history of hip-hop. It's at that in-between age when a lot of good albums feel like they have aged poorly, like a lot of early 2000s music. I felt the same way about 80s music when I was younger, but eventually came to really appreciate it. 4/5

This is one of those 90s bands that I never really got into when they were actually around. The sound of this album certainly takes me back. The Screaming Trees are definitely a gentler sort of alternative rock band than many of their more popular counterparts. It's a shame they didn't get more attention. The songs are well-composed, and the lyrics were good as of my first pass. Definitely worth a listen, particularly for those of us who came of age during the 90s 4/5

I think I might have liked this album a lot in the 90s, but I don't feel like it has aged well. It might be that there was a lot of music that was influenced by this album that mimicked the sound and style, but this album sounds a bit generic. It's fine, but it kinda just played through without making much of an impression on me 3/5

I thought this was a cool album for the time. I got a little more bored with it as it went, but the style if very distinctive. I've always heard good things about the Kinks, but I've never listened to one of their albums until now. The sound quality of the album isn't amazing, but that certainly happened sometimes in this period 4/5

It's buck wild how much great music the Beatles put out in the 60s. This album is stellar, and it isn't even close to my top five Beatles albums. There's not much else to say about this album. It's good from the very first note. It would be nice if they wrote fewer love songs, but that's the early Beatles for you. Well worth a listen 4/5

It would be hard to put a number on just how many times I've listened to this album. When I was a teenager, I used to just play it on repeat, no need to hear anything else when I've got the perfect album already in the CD player. This album is so much more than the sum of its parts. I think a lot of that comes down to Cobain's songwriting and Butch Vig's production. The songs thrash between quiet and full-throated explosions of anger. Vig's production brings coherence to the madness. I know Kurt disliked the way this album sounded and felt that it didn't represent the band, but it certainly represented something that the world needed. This album rewrote all the rules. Music hasn't been the same since. In some ways that's good, in some ways that's bad. It's the culmination of decades of struggling indie and alternative bands trying to break through with Nirvana becoming the biggest band in the world. It's well deserved. This album is incredible. Every song is good. This album definitely has a sound, but it never begins to feel samey. It feels weird reviewing an album that everyone already knows about, but if you haven't listened to Nevermind, go ahead and listen to it. It's amazing. Also, I was reading on the YouTube page about how this album came out 30 years ago, and all of my bones turned to dust. 5/5

There's nothing quite like when a skilled songwriter and sensitive artist is blessed with a voice so warm and smooth that can melt butter. I don't listen to Marvin Gaye a lot, but every time I do there is this incredible richness evident in his music. This album portrays the struggle of a love that has failed beautifully, traipsing through the sadness, anger, rejection, defiance, reminiscence, and acceptance with a style of music that is probably best described as sad disco. 4/5 I'd prefer that this were not a double album, because I have shit to do, but they didn't have the internet in the 70s, so I can understand why artists placed less emphasis on valuing people's time

Well, I can say for sure that the song Find Somebody was not meant to be listened to on headphones, because the complete switch between left and right ear for the guitar is super unpleasant. Like, it feels like my headphones are breaking in time with the music Setting that monstrosity aside, this is an interesting album. The famous songs don't really start until halfway through. The hits off of this album are great. Most of the rest of the songs are a bit dull. They are in the process of becoming a psychedelic band here, but it doesn't feel full formed yet. Perhaps that's appropriate since this is their last album as the Young Rascals before they dropped the "Young" 3/5 Fun at times, but also annoying at times and uninteresting at other times

This album was very difficult for me to rate. On one hand, it didn't keep my attention very well. On the other hand, it's clearly a landmark album in the history of what would become heavy metal, and it influenced a lot of other music that came after it as well. I think it's a decent album, but it didn't appeal to me all that much 3/5

This was never really a band that I got into when they were popular, and I think now that I understand why. I find them boring and every song sounds the same to me. Like, I'm 4 songs in and I just want to give up because its so dull Also they have a terrible name. It's like the Dead Kennedys, except it's not funny. Same 2/5

Really cool alternative rock album from the late 80s. It presages a lot of musical ideas that will come to fruition in the 90s. Well worth a listen 4/5

Honestly, I was way more impressed with this album than I thought I would be. I remember some of these songs being hits in 2004, but I wasn't terribly into pop music at that point, and a lot of these songs work much better in the context of this album. Green Day certainly came a long way in the 10 years between Dookie and American Idiot (though I still love the former). I would not have predicted that they had a concept album with emotional depth in them. 4/5

This album is pretty cool. I didn't love every part of it, but it certainly sounds advanced for its time. Some parts could be repetitive (Pilgrim is a pretty dull song), but the songs flow together well. The underlying theme of the atomic bomb is very interesting, especially since the fear of nuclear war was pretty low in 1999. The music has a diverse set of influences 4/5

I wanted to like this album, I really did. Parts of it are good. However, the album grinds to a fucking halt during the 10 minute long Free Form Guitar song, and it had already been a while since the album had any notable highlights. It's fine for albums to do experimental stuff, but that song does not fit in with the rest of what they're doing, and it is absolutely crucifying to listen to 3/5

I would not have thought that I would enjoy this album, and having listened to it, I'm not exactly sure why I enjoy this album. I do enjoy it however. It has a very consistent sound without sounding repetitive. Ace of Spades is an all time banger. Well worth a listen 4/5

This album definitely falls close to the David Bowie sweet spot for me. Low is my favorite album, though I also have to admit my undying love for Hunky Dory. This album seems to be in the middle of those two. It's far less poppy than Hunky Dory, but far less dark than Low. Despite being something of an in between album, it's really enjoyable. 4/5

I thought this album was really neat. The French influence on the music and lyrics makes it very distinctive 4/5

This is a very interesting album. I remember hearing about it a long time ago as one of the earliest examples of proto-punk music. I can certainly see how it's that, as well as how it fits in with a lot of the garage band music of the time. Overall it's a good album, far more pleasant and well-produced than I would have expected. There are even some songs that I think could have been released as singles. 4/5

This is a cool jazz album that really hits the sweet spot between being good jazz and being easy to listen to and digest. I don't have much else to say about this one other than that it's great to listen to and I'm going to keep my eyes out for a vinyl copy of it to add to my collection 4/5

This marks the third Bruce Springsteen album that I've gotten on this list, and while I don't think that I'll ever consider myself a Springsteen fan, I must say that I've enjoyed all three albums. This album is classic Sprinsteen, straight-ahead rock with a working class message. It's good all the way through, though one song sort of blends into the next since they all have a similar feel. The song I'm on Fire helps break up the monotony, though. Overall, though, there's nothing bad about this album that I can point to. The man makes solid work 4/5

I am very excited to read the reviews on this one. Somehow I'm guessing that there's not going to be a lot of middle ground between love and hate. I'm one of the people that love this band, and this album in particular. Suicide was one of the bands that helped form the late 70s punk scene in New York. No one has ever sounded like them since. Suicide is a beautiful combination of idiosyncrasies that can never be replicated. The perfect people at the perfect time, with perfect ideas about music and perfectly shitty equipment 5/5

This album is okay for what it is, but I found it a bit dull. The part where he is just announcing the instruments as they come in sounds like an old Disney documentary about sound. It's cool that he was so young when he did this, and that he played all the instruments. It's one of those examples of an album concept that was produced with a huge amount of talent and effort, but still doesn't work that well in the end. Also, I've never really understood why people like the movie The Exorcist so much. I just figured while I'm tossing out unpopular opinions related to this album I might as well air that one out as well 3/5

There are some things about this album that are neat. I can't say that it sounds like anything else from its time. It's like a Tom Jones album made with 90s sensibilities. I think that it is possible to make a good album in with this approach, and Casanova has a nice voice that works with the musical arrangements On the other hand, I found this album cloying from the very beginning. I kept waiting for it to turn into something that I could get into, but that eventually turned into me waiting for it to finally end. I think that the name of the album and artist are an attempt to be funny, but like with everything about this album, execution is lacking. My only hope at this point is that I can get drunk enough tonight that I forget that this album ever existed, since the odds of anyone in my life ever bringing it up at any point in the future are pretty small 2/5

It's been a long time since I came back to this album. Historically, I've always preferred Reasonable Doubt to this album. However, listening to this after getting a better understanding of the history of hip-hop, it's really hard to deny how incredible The Blueprint is. It has plenty of hits, but it also features a lot of the production styles that would be featured during the next decade of rap music. The name The Blueprint ended up being prophetic in that sense. I don't hand out 5 stars to many albums, and I wasn't anticipating doing it for this album, but I can't think of a single argument for why this album doesn't deserve it 5/5

What is there to say about this album. It's an absolute masterpiece from beginning to end. It's also the beginning of one of the greatest three album runs in the history of recorded music. What's more, the more I listen to this album, the more I like it. It just works on every level. Even songs that I would find annoying on a lesser album, like Fitter Happier manage to fit into this album. It's dark and beautiful, wounded yet resilient. 5/5

One of the more notable things that listening to an album a day from this list has done for me is to give me much more of an appreciation of Bob Dylan. He was always one of those musicians that I liked but didn't really "get." Now, having gotten to sample from a good portion of his career, I'm really starting to enjoy his music. I don't really see myself buying any of his albums, but I liked this one It starts out with Like a Rolling Stone, an all-time banger, at least for folk music. Nothing after that is as good, but what are you going to do? The whole album is very consistent, both in terms of its musical quality and its lyrical depth. Certainly a ground-breaking album for 1965. Definitely worth a listen.

How are there two Hole albums on this list? This album isn't bad, but it also doesn't feel good enough to be on this list. There definitely seems to be a popularity bias with the material selected from the 90s. I haven't seen any Butthole Surfers albums on here, nor, for that matter, any Stooges albums. Hole is simply not as important in musical history as either of those bands (I would put the Stooges as one of the most important bands of the 20th century). This album is fine. The lyrics feel a bit juvenile. The music is good overall. It's just not clear why this particular album was important enough to put on this list when so many other influential bands seem to be entirely left off. I can't imagine that this album would be here if Courtney Love was not married to Kurt Cobain. Weirdly, I've gotten more Hole albums on this list than Nirvana albums. It just seems like a popularity contest more than an critical examination of the most influential and technically-advanced albums. 3/5

This album sounds good, but it doesn't feel like there's a lot to it as far as groundbreaking music goes. It definitely has some of the Steely Dan sound that Fagen was instrumental in forming. Overall, it comes off more as an easy-listening album than an album that pushed the boundaries of music in its time. It's not bad at all, in fact it's quite pleasant, but I don't see much else here. I'm on the third song and I'm already bored (update: as of song 5 I am still bored and about to give up on this album). As always, it's a super bad sign when the coolest thing about an album is its cover 3/5

The concept behind putting together Billy Bragg and Wilco to record unreleased Woody Guthrie songs is a very interesting idea that is mercifully well-executed here. I'll confess that I'm much more a fan of Wilco than Bragg, but this album works really well. It features a lot of the straight-ahead alt-country sound of Wilco's earlier albums. Guthrie's songs work really well for both artists. Tweedy brings a more modern sound, while Bragg sounds like the specter of Guthrie himself risen out of the past. I think I'll have to look out for this one on vinyl 4/5

It's hard to imagine Ella Fitzgerald putting out a bad album because of how exquisite her instrument was, and this album certainly meets her usual standard. I'm not a huge fan of this type of music, but she is undeniable as a vocalist. Well worth the listen 4/5

I really liked this album. The vocals are beautiful and compliment the music very well. I felt like the style of the album got a bit repetitive toward the end 4/5

Lost my review for this one, but this album is a great touch stone for how far synth music had come by 1990 (when compared to earlier albums like Truth or Dare by Human League). It sounds much more mature than the works of the 80s which is probably a testament to the advance of technology more than anything else. This album is very much worth a listen and features some of Depeche Mode's most famous songs 4/5

Much like when I got Ritual De Lo Habitual on this list, I like this album, though I still don't see myself ever putting on a Janes Addiction album of my own volition. This album certainly feels more revolutionary than the works that came after it by this band. It definitely doesn't sound like an album from 1988, and was clearly highly influential in its time. I had no idea that Jane Says was made this early. I always thought it was mid-90s from the way it sounds 4/5

Love this album. Having just listened to Violator by Depeche Mode and thinking about how far synth pop came from 1980-1990, it's very interesting to think about the fact that this album was made only 6 years after Violator. It feels like all the rules changed in the intervening years. The mixture of hip-hop with electronic music creates the real power of this album. The drums bang hard on most of the tracks. The rest of the musical score feels like flavor added to the rhythm section. It's a much different approach to electronic music than was prominent before this time, but it really works and it had a massive impact on the future of electronic music and hip-hop 5/5

This album really brings into conflict all of the things that I like and hate about Pink Floyd. There are some great songs on here, especially Have a Cigar and Wish You Were Here. The songs are musically creative, well-executed, and have interesting lyrics. That's what I like about Pink Floyd. Then there's the bad Pink Floyd. The one that disappears into interminable jams for half of the goddamn album. Shine on You Crazy Diamond could be a good song if it wasn't so unstructured for most of it. Pink Floyd has made several long songs that I like (like anything off of Animals), but on this album it just feels like filler. This album is great when it's good and deeply frustrating when it's not. I think overall the good outweighs the bad on this one, but it's close, and that's why I don't listen to this one often 4/5

This album is absolutely iconic from the very first bass note. I would consider this the best marriage of jazz and funk ever put together. Headhunters would serve as a template for a lot of great improvised music to come after it, especially for jazz artists like Medeski, Martin, and Wood. It's so smooth and yet infinitely groovy and danceable. A song like Watermelon Man shouldn't work as well as it does, but that's the level of skill that Hancock brings to this album, and he makes it look easy. There's lots of points in Herbie Hancock's career that you could point to as the pinnacle. The man played on some of Miles Davis's best albums for christ's sake, but for me this is the absolute best. It's a towering dance album that exists somewhere in the tension between the analogue and digital realms. It's not one to be missed 5/5

Folk-Punk is not a genre that I would have thought to be particularly fruitful in terms of good music. The Pogues certainly provide a nice counter-argument to that assumption. The music is fun, mixing traditional Irish instruments with a variety of musical styles. I would lump the Pogues in with Flogging Molly as music that is great to have playing in the background, even if it doesn't sound particularly outstanding in the foreground. I like each individual song, at least as far as I've gotten into the album, but it does get a bit repetitive after a while. Like I said, though, if you put this on in the background while you do something else, it'll keep your foot tapping while you work. 4/5

If there is a single word that I could pick to describe hardcore punk, it would be efficient. I've been listening to this album for 2 minutes and 45 seconds, and I'm already done with three songs. This album gets through 14 songs in less than 16 minutes. Like I said, efficient This is a fun early example of hardcore and the style of the developing west coast punk scene. I feel like hardcore punk is a bit limited as a genre, but I also know that I would have fucking loved seeing this band when I was a teenager. As I get older, raw power in music appeals to me less and less, but when you're young and full of hormones and anger, it makes you feel like someone else gets it. This album is perfectly that. It's high energy everyday boredom and disaffection. And if you don't like it, it's over in 15 minutes 4/5

I've listened to this album a couple of times now, but I still don't have a lot to say about it. I like it, though. It has some genuine hits on it, and the rest of the album is diverse in terms of its style. It's sweet and mellow, sometimes, fun and funky other times. The album is also filled with great instrumentals 4/5

Another album I own on vinyl. This album is fascinating for so many reasons. Television emerged in the same scene that gave rise to the Ramones, Blondie, the Talking Heads, and Suicide, among many others. Television doesn't sound like any of those bands (though to be fair, those bands don't sound anything like each other). This album feels both radical and yet very much of its time. It's absolutely stellar both musically and lyrically. Lots of musical energy to provide some grounding for the poetic lyrics. It's another weight on the scale that has swung (very much to my surprise) to the conclusion that the 70s were the best musical decade. 5/5

I thought this was cool. I wasn't really aware of the Beach Boys post-Smile, pre-Kokamo career. This was better than I thought it would be given the reduced influence of Brian Wilson. I didn't really feel like there were any standout moments, but the album was pleasant overall 4/5

This album seems to serve as a neat bridge between the post-punk and alternative music movements. The band they kept reminding me of while I was listening was Faith No More, though it's hard to describe why. Regardless, it's a very interesting album musically, as it leans heavily on digital instruments while still having a rock feel to it.

When I first started listening to this album, I would not have guessed that it was from 2018. I'm not sure that I could place when exactly it was from, but this album is a throw-back to earlier synth music in many ways. There are also many modern elements, and everything blends together seamlessly. Some parts of it compare favorably to Animal Collective's sound. Really cool synth pop with solid if not overwhelming lyrical content. Dope. 4/5

This album really hits the sweet spot of late 70s/early 80s muzak that I just completely hate. There's something about the tone on the bass especially that I just can't stand. It's not bad overall but there's nothing about it that I really like either 3/5

This is sort of a tough one to rate. It's a Leonard Cohen album, no doubt about it. It's certainly not my favorite Cohen album. Like most of his works (at least the ones that I've listened to), the album is heavy on the poetry and light on the music. There's nothing wrong with that, since even in his waining days, Cohen could still carry an album on the strength of is poetry and his voice. His albums always leave me wanting something more. I've not heard any that I didn't like, but this one especially feels a bit stripped down. It's good, but also not in the same galaxy as Blackstar by Bowie in terms of albums made during an artist's dying days. Setting that comparison aside, this album is worth a listen, though not one that I'm likely to come back to 4/5

I found this album fascinating. It really shows how fast punk was evolving during the 80s, as it sounds almost nothing like the punk albums of the late 70s. It has a lot of elements that make it sound like alt rock works of the 90s, though I'm finding hard to describe exactly what it is that makes this album sound like a 90s album. Lots of little things, I guess. The hardcore punk influence on the song lengths really shines through on this one. It's a weird structure for an album that isn't screamed out at 200 bpm, but it allows this album to cover a lot of sonic ground. Really cool work, and a nice companion piece to the other major punk double album from this year, Zen Arcade 5/5

Well, to start off, I didn't know KD Lang was a country artist at her debut. I only knew her from the song "Constant Craving" and always thought she was more of a pop artists from the R&B side of the music world. That said, her voice grabs you from the beginning of the first track. She has the perfect female country voice: powerful yet subtle, soft and filled with emotion. This album has a real blast from the past feel. KD Lang isn't Patsy Cline, but she does a hell of an impression. 4/5

This album serves as a fascinating companion piece to David Bowie's Low, which was made around the same time. Both albums were a product of Bowie and Pop working together in Berlin and experiencing the Krautrock movement that was still underway at the time. At first listen, I still prefer Low to this album, but the consistency of the sound between the two albums is really striking. It's like two artists finishing the same half-painted canvas in two different ways. The similarities between the two serve to highlight the core differences between Pop and Bowie. The Idiot is the more dark and gritty of the two. Even when it's upbeat it's a little off. The electronic elements on the album work very well with Iggy's lyrical style. This is one I think I'm going to seek out on vinyl 4/5

This is one of those albums that sounds okay on it's own, but whose real merit lies in its influence. You can here the synthpop sound clearly for the first time in this album. Artists like Gary Numan and the Human League were clearly listening to this. So much changed in electronic music after this album that it's hard to understate its important. It sounds good too 4/5

It's really too bad that I live in such a dogshit era for country music. I've never really had much of an appreciation for it because I came of age after most of the greats of old country music were long passed their prime. I think I would have enjoyed the genre a lot more if I was present during eras like this where you had good musicians making earnest country music, rather than the completely manufactured generic rural word salad that modern country has become. Earnest is certainly the word that I would use to describe John Prine. The album feels intimate, personal, like it's just you and him and he's really opening up to you. Then the album first started I thought it was good but not for me. As it played on, I started to enjoy it more and more. He wins you over. "There's a hole in daddy's arm where the money goes, and Jesus died for nothing I suppose" God damn 4/5

This album was fine, but didn't really grab me. I like disco, and definitely don't think it gets its due as a genre. However, much like the other Chic album that I reviewed, I just couldn't really get into this one 3/5

On the one hand, I think Jerry Lee Lewis is a gross human being, and no sane country would have allowed him to marry his 13 year old cousin (once removed). One the other hand, this concert would have been fucking ecstatic to attend. You can feel the electricity of Lewis's energy through the recording. The only real criticism that I have of it is that it features very little of his original songs (only Great Balls of Fire and Lewis Boogie). I like all of the covers he does though. I suppose that it's okay to like this one since the bad man died long ago (checks Wikipedia). HOLY FUCKING SHIT, DID YOU KNOW THAT JERRY LEE LEWIS IS STILL ALIVE?? DUDE RELEASED AN ALBUM IN 2014. What the fuck? 4/5

This album was an interesting listen. I remember when it came out it was compared negatively to Stankonia, which is fair because it's not as good as Stankonia, but this album still contains tons of high quality Outkast material. 4/5

Please collect all of the electronic disco/funk music you can find and inject it directly into my veins. I don't get to listen to a lot of fun dance music on this list, and I fucking love this stuff. The fact that this album came out in 1993 is crazy. It sounds almost too advanced for that period, though electronic music was making rapid advancements during that period in particular. Anyway, it's hard to type when my feet are tapping and my head is bopping, so I'm just going to give this 4 stars and get back to enjoying it

I saw Love in Vain on the tracklist and prayed to the gods above that it was not yet another shitty Robert Johnson cover (see Eric Clapton's cover of They Are Red Hot if you want another example), but of course I was disappointed. Leave the man to his eternal sleep and stop robbing his grave for christssakes. Overall, I would describe this album as a fairly forgettable collection of blues rock songs that are bookended by the stellar songs Gimme Shelter and You Can't Always Get What You Want. It's sort of a pain in the ass that I have to get through the entire album to hear the only two songs that I care about, but that's the way it goes sometimes 3/5

I can't say that I've listened to much dream pop before this, but I found this album really pleasant. It doesn't particularly grab you and draw you in, but the music is all very pleasant and flows well from song to song. They work really well together as a duo and both members of the band have good voices. It's not an album that I would describe as spectacular, but its very pleasant to tap your foot to as you listen to it, and the world could use plenty of that at the moment 4/5

The peak of Wu-Tang shone brighter than the sun in the mid-90s. The fact that multiple albums were lost when Rza's studio flooded likely means that there were more albums of this level of quality that the world never got to hear. Can't spend your time thinking about might-have-beens, though. Built for Cuban Linx is one of those albums that I had heard about for a long time before I listened to it. On it's face it seemed like a strange thing. Raekwon didn't go on to the level of success that other member of the clan did, so it was hard to believe that one of the best solo albums came from an artist who isn't in the top 5 most highly regarded members of the original Wu-Tang clan. When you put this album on, it seems baffling that Raekwon didn't manage to break through to the main stream. So much of what made 36 Chambers great is here, the samples that only seem to work through a form of alchemy, the lyrical storytelling, tracks filled with different voices that come together in a powerful way. Cuban Linx is incredible, right from the first song. I'm not in love with the skits between the songs, but that's how things were back then, and it does work well with the cinematic approach to the lyrics. 5/5 An absolute classic

I can't say that this album made much of an impression on me either way. It was fine, but it was hard to understand why its significant. I don't know that the music is particularly advanced for 1993, though it definitely doesn't sound dated for the time either. The Indian influence on the album is cool. Overall there's not a lot that I can say. It works fine as background music, but there isn't a lot else to recommend it, and the Wikipedia page was not particularly enlightening either 3/5

I feel about this album the way that I feel about essentially every Bob Marley album except Natty Dread (which is far and away my favorite). It's good but not ultimately that interesting. I think that this album is better than most, but it still feels like background music a lot of the time 3/5

I liked this album a lot, though it doesn't feel nearly as coherent nor as striking as the Shaft OST album. Setting that comparison aside, this is quality Isaac Hayes. His compositions are big, filling up the speakers with both electric and orchestral instruments. He brings the funk on this album too. It also feels more personal than the Shaft OST as well, it's much more about emotion and struggle. 4/5

There's been a few times on this list when I encountered an album made at the end of an artist's life that serves as a kind of goodbye message to the people who loved their music. This album is a bit strange among those, since it's largely a cover album, but god damn what an exit. He did definitive versions of some of these songs, especially Hurt. Not every song on this album is amazing like that, but they're all good. His voice held up to the very end, and for that we can be grateful 4/5

For the love of god, WHY? Why, out of all the great music made in the late 60s is this fucking album on this list Okay kids, it's story time. One time, when I was in high school, My friends and I got ahold of some weed from a dealer who was not esteemed either for his intelligence or for his scruples. A bunch of us gathered at my friend's house and got stoned. No big deal. Except this weed was laced with PCP, and rather than getting stoned and sitting on the couch laughing, we went to the fucking moon. I don't have a lot of memories of that night, apart from the fact that I was involuntarily walking around with my arms in front of me like a T-rex, and I kept opening sodas, taking one drink, and setting them down and losing them forever. Why does this story matter now? Someone put on this album, side 2, and my friend Johnny and I did an interpretive dance to all of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. He was spinning in place and I was dancing around him in the opposite direction. At the time it was a beautiful expression of the power of the music that we transmuted into physical movements as we became the song. Somehow I think it would have looked a lot stupider to an outside observer who wasn't on drugs. It's a funny memory, though, and I tend to forget all about it until I am reminded that this album exists. Anyway, this album is really boring and people mostly remember it for the interminable song that takes up the entire second half of the album. It just keeps fucking going without much purpose other than to exists for as long as it can. In some ways it's a perfect metaphor for the perpetual struggle of living things to continue to exist, moment by moment, despite the fact that we will all eventually fail and be returned to the earth Or anyway it would be a perfect metaphor if this album was less fucking boring 3/5

Generally, when an English band from the 90s-00s that I haven't heard of before shows up on this list, it turns out to be a baffling selection for this list, as most of these albums would better to have been saved until after I died. The living version of me certainly didn't enjoy them. This album was a notable exception. It's distinctive, I can't think of anything else that sounds like this from the mid-90s. The music is cool, and the lead singer has a great voice. Definitely worth a listen while I yet live 4/5

Fela Kuti's brand of afrobeat music is interesting to me, in that all of the albums of his that I've heard sound very similar to my ears, but still I like what he produces. The background information about this album is fascinating, as it is likely one of the most politically significant albums of all time. Kuti treated his music as a force for social and political change, and this album was certainly received that way, both by his fans and his enemies in the Nigerian government. 4/5

This album holds up pretty well. It has some great songs on it, all of which still work pretty well today. Some of the music is a bit dated because of the equipment that was used in the recording, but overall it's a charming record. I wouldn't put George Michael as one of the top acts of the 80s the way his album sales would suggest, but he was an excellent song writer. It's kind of crazy that some of his biggest hits were released as singles before this album came out and didn't appear on the album 4/5

As I noted in my review for Goo (weird that I got two Sonic Youth albums in the same week), I've loved seeing Sonic Youth live, but never really gotten into their albums. I think this album actually captures them pretty well compared to a lot of the other SY albums that I've heard. It makes sense why this album is so highly regarded within their catalogue. It feels a lot more like the energy that they bring to live shows than most of their albums, which feel a bit flat to me.

I really dislike this band. People seem to love them for reasons that are entirely unclear to me. They are fine. Their music is fine. Their lyrics are fine. That's it. There are a thousand bands that deserved the radio airplay that the Eagles got more than the Eagles did, and that's what bothers me about this band. This album starts off with Take It Easy, which is an okay song, and then it gets progressively stupider from there. Chug All Night sounds like a song I would write and play for my friends as a stupid joke. Most of Us Are Sad is so on-the-nose that it knocked my glasses off my face. Every song after that is essentially indistinguishable to me because the Eagles are hacks. Peaceful, Easy Feeling is an okay song, I guess because it's basically Take It Easy without the banjo. Fuck the Eagles, I'm out 2/5

This is one of those albums that everyone seems to love that, historically at least, I just don't "get." This listen gave me more of an appreciation for the album, as I got into more of a groove with it and was able to enjoy the overall structure of the album and the songs contained within. It's still not my favorite Pink Floyd album (I'm partial to Animals). I think it would have been better as a single album, which is something I say about almost every double album. It sags in places, and often these sags occur just as I'm getting into the album. For instance, I really like Young Lust, and it feels like the album is building to something at that point, but then it comes to a total halt with One Of My Turns. This album feels really self indulgent on the part of Roger Waters. When the album becomes less about his personal feelings and more universal, it gets really good. There's too many good songs on here to give it anything less than 4/5, but I also find it frustrating that this album could be among my favorite Pink Floyd albums if it had fewer songs and was more focused. This album with half of the songs would be amazing 4/5 4/5

This is an easy one. This is one of my absolute favorite albums of all time, maybe even top 5. Every single song is good, and several of them are great. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart is the perfect first song for this album, and it just keeps going from there. The album is sad and sweet, but also revels in some happy moments, like War on War and Heavy Metal Drummer. I'd also recommend the documentary about the making of this album if you can find it (titled: I Am Trying to Break Your Heart) 5/5

In general, I'm not a huge fan of music that focuses around a single vocalist, but having said that I love Sarah Vaughn's voice. She has great control and range. I especially enjoyed How High the Moon, where she declares in the second line that she doesn't know the words, and then scats beautifully through the rest of the song. Who needs lyrics when you're the queen? 4/5

I tend to have the same issue with all Sonic Youth albums, which is that I enjoy them okay, but I never feel compelled to listen to them again. I've seen them live twice, and loved them both times, so the issue seems to be more with how their sound translates to a recorded medium. This album I liked a little more than the others I've listened to. It feels like it has a distinctive Pixies influence that works well with their style. The songs also feel more structured and less noise-based, which I think helps it translate to a recording better 4/5

This album is what David Bowie would sound like if he was too lazy to make good music. It's fine for what it is, but it's also another britpop album that doesn't seem particularly suited for a list like this. It's an album from the tail end of the 90s that doesn't sound all that much different from a lot of other albums that came out in the 90s. The harmonies are good, but most of the music and the lyrics unimpressive. On the other hand, I'm really excited for this album to be over soon 2/5

I genuinely find this album's inclusion on this list baffling. This album seems like super standard 90s techno released after the 90s had finally shuffled off. After reading a bit more about UK Garage techno, I understand a little bit more, but continue to be confused. This is one of the few albums on this list that I won't make it even close to the whole way through. It's just uninspired and uninspiring. 2/5

This is a somewhat strange album to be reviewing now after the resurgence of Running Up That Hill as a result of its use in Stranger Things. While I don't particularly get everyone's fascination with that song (it's good, but I don't think of it as a hidden gem from the past), this album is really cool. It's distinctively 80s in its musical composition and production, but the style of it is really cool. It doesn't feel as boxy and restricted as a lot of synth pop music is. The songs have a lot of life and organic elements to them. Bush's voice is a key component of the alchemy. It's hard to identify why this works so well with her voice in particular, but I don't think this album would sound as good with someone else in front of it 4/5

The last concert that I saw before the pandemic was Gza doing Liquid Swords. He was performing at a venue that is endearing, but far too shitty to host a hip-hop legend. Regardless of the circumstances, when Gza showed up, he brought the fucking energy. This album is interesting. It's not my favorite of the Wu-Tang solo albums (Only 4 Cuban Linx has that honor), but it's an incredible work. Lyrically deep, with Rza's characteristic sampling style that never seems like it should work, and yet always sounds amazing. The cinematic approach to making albums worked so well for Wu-Tang, and this album may be the pinnacle of that 5/5

Now seems like a good time to point out that Elvis didn't write songs, so while he may have been the greatest cover artist of all time, he was a cover artist nonetheless. At least the songs on this album weren't huge hits like some of Elvis's earlier albums. This album is pleasant enough. The production is great. It has a live feel while still sounding very clean. Elvis's voice was still holding up great at this point in his career, though it's a bit quiet on some of the songs. There aren't a lot of what I would consider to be standout tracks on this album, other than In The Ghetto, but all of the songs are good. It's a solid album to play in the background 4/5

This album fucking takes me back. I remember really liking it when I was younger, and then in my typical oppositional defiant disorder way, I became much less interested in it when I found out that a lot of other people liked it. As a result, I didn't listen to this album nearly so much as a lot of its contemporaries that were slightly less popular. Now I get to listen to this album fresh after many years. One of the things that stands out now is the influence of the shoegaze genre on this band. I wasn't familiar with bands like My Bloody Valentine in the 90s, and it's cool to hear some of the influences of those works on the Smashing Pumpkins. It's also interesting to see little bits of Industrial and Electronica in the music, especially since those influences would become more prominent in their future works. Overall I like the album, it feels a bit long as a double album, but at the same time it's not easy to pick out songs that I would cut from it to make it tighter. There's so many different flavors here, and the album wouldn't feel as complete if it focused more around fewer sonic ideas. Some of the lyrics are a bit on-the-nose, which I think also contributed to my abandoning the album as I got older in high school. Overall, it's a really good album 4/5

Well, what we can say is that Pink Floyd found it's sound eventually. This album isn't bad, but it is pretty uninteresting for a band that would put out so many iconic albums over the coming decades. It's also easy to see how the work being done here forms a bridge between the psychedelic movement of the 60s and the music that Pink Floyd would release in the 70s once Syd Barrett departed the band. It's a neat signpost in musical history, and the band was definitely experimenting with a lot here, but ultimately this album is not that interesting to listen to 3/5

We meet again, Neil Young. I've lost count of how many Neil Young albums I've been subjected to on this list, but it's at least 4 now, plus a couple of CSNY albums. It's hard to keep finding creative ways to describe how much I deeply dislike Neil Young's music, but here we go. This album sounds like a fucking Neil Young cover band. It sounds like someone loved Neil Young but thought that his lyrics weren't obvious enough. "Should I develop an insightful metaphor for the kind of vulnerability needed to to truly allow a romantic relationship to thrive? No, people won't understand what I'm talking about. Better just say 'Take a chance on love' that way everyone will understand what I'm saying." Neil Young has aged like a fine bottle of Boone's Farm, which is to say that he hasn't declined all that much, but that's because he was never that great to begin with. Everything about this fucking album is generic, right down to the name. I still haven't gotten a John Coltrane album on this list, but here I am. listening to not only another Neil Young album, but the fucking sixth album with Neil Young on it (I counted). Did Neil Young blackmail the creator of this list? Is this some kind of performance art? A psychological experiment? I didn't consent to this. I just wanted to be introduced to new music, not be subjected to the endless Neil Young Experience. Fuck Crazy Horse too. They're complicit in all this 2/5

I find this album a bit tough to rate. It's a fun album to be sure, with several radio hits, and a collection of lesser songs that hold up pretty well. I think it's also possible that this album is culturally significant, in that it was one of the earliest works that made the metal genre palatable to the mainstream, though there were also many steps in that process. I don't know how actually groundbreaking this album is, in that it presented a more mainstream version of a genre that was already well on its way, but I also don't think that pop music should be scored more poorly just because it is easier for lots of people to enjoy. It's fun, it's worth a listen. You're probably not going to learn anything about the metal genre from listening to it, but that's also probably not why you are listening to Def Leppard in the first place 4/5

Perhaps the craziest thing about Wu-Tang was the number of incredible rappers and producers who were part of the crew from it's outset. Ghostface is a great example of that. He's one of the greatest rappers of all time, and yet when you list of the members of Wu-Tang who were most important to rap history, Ghostface barely sneaks into the top 5 (I'd put Rza, Method Man, ODB, and perhaps Gza in over him). Despite that, Ghostface clearly shows how well his style ages here. More than 10 years after 36 chambers, Ghostface comes in hot with Fishscale. It helps a lot that this album features some of the greatest producers of all time at the height of their careers. One of the coolest things about this album is getting to hear some of my favorite songs off of Donuts by J Dilla employed by a rapper whose style meshes well with Dilla's. I can't think of another rapper who can tell a story in verse the way that Ghostface can. His flow is incredible, but the way that he paints a picture while he does it is his true skill. I can't believe that I'm going to give another Wu-Tang rapper a 5/5 album, but here we are. This album is undeniable 5/5

So, I did my best with this one. YouTube didn't have the full album, and the one thing I could find was several of the songs together with a bunch of other Rufus Wainwright songs that are not on the album. I simply don't care enough to seek out another version, so here we are. This is not particularly my genre, as the music is driven entirely by Wainwright's voice, with little focus on anything else. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just not to my taste. On the other hand, his voice is fucking spectacular. It's sort of like if Thom Yorke from Radiohead didn't want to make fucking weirdo music. It's incredibly beautiful and the songs are constructed well around his voice. Again, it's not my thing, but it's well worth a listen 4/5

Here's another artist that I have to separate my feeling about them personally from my feelings about them as an artist. I really like Cee-Lo as an artist. I've seen him live, and he was really good (in Sioux City, Iowa no less. It's no small feet to get those people dancing). One the other hand, his sexual battery accusation and statements about consent are fucking reprehensible. Setting all of that aside, this album is really cool. It's a lot of fun and featured more of Cee-Lo rapping than I was expecting. The music compliments perfectly. It's hard to call this a hidden gem, since Cee-Lo is so well known, but his work before Gnarls Barkley is well worth exploring 4/5

Honestly, this is just a cool album. I'm not sure if it was groundbreaking at the time because I lack a lot of context for what was happening in the sort of straightforward rock groups at this time. Certainly, this sound is present in a lot of 70s groups, but I'm not sure if it originated before Bad Company (it's blues rock, so...probably). However, it's a groovy album with a bunch of hits 4/5

I didn't have a lot to say about this one, but it was consistently good 4/5

This album is interesting in its construction, but for the most part it's not very fun, which is what I come to Ray Charles for. It's definitely not bad, and there's clear musical significance to the approach he took to this album, but it doesn't really make you tap your toes until you get to the last song 3/5

Iron Maiden fucking kicks ass, and there's not a lot else to say about it. If you like their style, then you will love this album 4/5

I vaguely remember this band from when the song Scooby Snacks was popular in the 90s. Not only is that song not as good as I remember it being, I am completely baffled by why this album is on this list. As fun as it was getting to reminisce about 90s haircuts while watching the videos, I can see literally no other redeeming qualities about this music. It's not fun or interesting or groundbreaking. The rap-rock thing was still pretty new at that point, but it's hard to give them credit for it since they are such bad rappers. I'm struggling to get through a single song on this album because there is nothing about any of them that I enjoy. Also, the Wikipedia page for this album doesn't even mention being on this list. It's like the most notable thing about this album is that it existed and there's nothing else to say about it 2/5

It is fucking baffling to me that this band began the decade as the dour post-punk band Joy Division and ended it with this album, which starts out like a fucking acid house album and then settles down into a very solid early alternative rock album. It's good that they continued on after Ian Curtis's death and the end of Joy Division, because having a band with punk rock bona fides helping to pioneer the origins of electronic music. It's a very strange experience hearing an album that fits pretty well into the alternative rock of the late 80s but has little bursts of electronic dance music embedded in it. It's something that has the potential to be very cheesy, but the band executes it well. It's a really cool album that merges two genres that were on very different trajectories in the late 80s, but that were both about to come to the forefront in the 90s 4/5

I've tried with this album, I really have. I've owned it on vinyl since the since 2005, and every few years I hear people talking about how great it is, and I decide that this is the time that I'm finally going to "get" this album. Except, I never do. I find this album boring, even for a prog rock album. It's not bad, the compositions can be quite intricate, but ultimately it doesn't inspire anything in me. I think the last song on the album is the best, though even that song has a fake ending that really takes the steam out of the track 3/5

I experience a moment of dread every time a British band that I've never heard of from the 90s-00s comes up on this list, because the author of the list seems to have a particular weakness for dogshit of that vintage. This album was a nice surprise. I don't know that it's something I'm ever going to listen to again, but I can at least understand why someone would point me to this album and tell me that I should listen to it. The music isn't unique, but it's a blend of a couple genres and it's well executed. There is also some kind of alchemy present when female vocalists front metal bands. It just works and I'm not sure why. There's a decent amount of variety in the album as well 4/5

Fuck, finally. I've been waiting for far too long for a John Coltrane album on this list, and this is my favorite John Coltrane album (at among his albums as a band leader). It's a masterpiece from beginning to end; the product of a truly beautiful soul. Coltrane's virtuosity is on display often on the album, but he's also restrained in service of making a more cohesive piece of music Frankly, I don't know what else to say about this album. It gives me goosebumps when I hear it. Go experience it for yourself 5/5

I'm not sure if I just wasn't in the mood for this album today, but this one didn't really strike me all that much. Chapman is a gifted songwriter and has a beautiful voice, and I like the social messaging of music with more personal songs mixed in. I think perhaps the issue is that her musical style is a bit stripped down for me. Many of the songs are just her and a guitar, and I like a bit more accompaniment than that. I think there's a lot that's good to this album, but I was also bored pretty fast. 3/5

It's really cool getting to see the albums that helped rap transition from what it was in its early days to what it had become by the time I started hearing it. Run DMC seems to be one of the axes around which rap history turned. This album feels more mature than the last Run DMC album I got on this list (I think their debut album). A lot of that comes from advances in the music production side, as their lyrical style was mature pretty early on. Rick Rubin produced a lot of albums that I really like, and this is no exception. It's easy to see why this album was the first hip-hop album to break through to the mainstream. It's tough to overstate the influence of Run DMC on hip-hop, and this album is the clearest proof of that. The suburbs had to find out about hip-hop at some point, and we can be grateful that it was Run DMC that made that introduction 4/5

It's fine. Morrissey's fine. The Smiths are fine. It's all fine. I don't like it, I don't dislike it, I just want this review to stand once and for all so that I can stop writing down my opinions on Morrissey's sadness. Like, it's good, but it's a fucking bummer that I don't need right now. I also don't need it when I'm sad. Or when I'm happy. Or at all. It's just that, every time I think I'm done being served albums by Morrissey, or Neil Young, or Randy fucking Newman for christsake, then here comes another one. I want to hear music by bands that I've never heard of and be transported to strange new sonic landscapes, not hear Morrissey whine about how he doesn't have a girlfriend, or doesn't like his girlfriend, or whatever his fucking problem is. 3/5 Like I said, it's fine. Everything's fine. Stop asking

This is an interesting album. On the one hand, it's not my favorite album in terms of the overall style of the music and lyrics. On the other hand, I recognize almost every one of these songs from either the radio or from appearances in movies and TV. I think it's good overall, though I'm not sure why this album gets so much praise relative to a lot of other Dylan albums made in this period. Blonde on Blonde is commonly held up as the pinnacle of Dylan. It's good, but I feel like it's substantially similar in terms of quality to a lot of his other albums. To be fair though, I've never been the biggest Dylan fan. He's good, but not really my thing 4/5

I don't really want to like Billy Joel. Not for any particular reason, it just feels vaguely weird to like a musician that my mom is really into because she has terrible taste in music (sorry mom, but all Christian music is garbage). I don't want to like Billy Joel, but goddmanit if that man can't write a catchy song. There's a lot of variation in style in this album while still sounding coherent, and this album is wall to wall hits. It's an album full of bangers for people who like to sit down at concerts. This may not have been the most interesting musical movement happening in New York in 1977, but it's pretty undeniable. Fuck. I guess I like Billy Joel 4/5

Welp, the time has finally come. I'm a native Iowan and have made it this far without ever listening to a Slipknot album, and that streak ends today. One of the benefits of listening to albums on this list is that I can hear a lot of Slipknot's influences in their music. It's easy to see how this band was influenced by earlier metal bands like Slayer, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Nine Inch Nails, and Pantera. Overall, the production really stands out on this album. While I don't always love the music and (especially) the lyrics, the album is undeniably well put together. Great production makes it a lot easier to appreciate a band that I've always thought of as deeply unserious because of the stupid mask thing. And honestly, as bad as a lot of metal was in the first decade of the 2000s, this album is worth listening to. Lots a variation in the style keeps it interesting 4/5

Living in the 60s must have been dope with all of these great vocal harmonies running around. Obviously this album is filed to the brim with them. Other than that I don't have a huge amount to say about it. It's a Simon and Garfunkel album. They didn't make a huge number of albums together, but all of them were good. This doesn't have the best production quality, at least on the version that I listened to. You can hear that it's a good album, but it's also evident that there is some loss of audio quality. Overall I liked Bridge Over Troubled Water better, but this is still a very beautiful album. I don't even like folk music, but it's hard for me to see how you wouldn't like this 4/5

This is a cool album from what I would describe as the "mature" period of new wave/synth pop that followed the earlier work of bands like Gary Neuman and Human League. This is a great example of that style, and the lead singer of the band has an incredible voice that fits in great with the synthesizer sound. A really strong debut album, and it's incredible that this band had never played a concert before Take On Me reached #1 in the US 4/5

It's rare to hear an album that is so clearly the origin point for a genre of music, but this one seems pretty clear. I've never heard an earlier album that sounded like heavy metal, and later heavy metal albums don't have the 60s psychedelic sound wrapped into them the way this does. All of the elements of what would become heavy metal are here. Even the overly grandiose album title is present. As far as the music goes, they put out a hell of a lot of sound for a trio. The production could be a bit better, and some of the songs could be a little more interesting, but at the same time they were clearly experimenting with something here they deserve a lot of credit for the innovation in their sound 4/5

This album didn't make a huge impression on me, but it was consistently good. It's an interesting look at the interim period between the prog rock Peter Gabriel of Genesis and the pop start Peter Gabriel that I grew up with 4/5

This is a very good album. It's also an album that I find difficult to contextualize. I don't know what to compare it to, which may reveal more about my ignorance of R&B than it does about Frank Ocean. I don't usually go in for the R&B genre, but this album is endeniable. Great production, compelling songwriting and lyrics, and Ocean's beautiful voice to bring it all home 4/5

So, fun fact, the first band that I ever really got into. This was during their Get a Grip era when they were suddenly all over the place again. After getting my money's worth out of Get a Grip, I decided to get Pump. Unfortunately for Aerosmith, I also got Dookie by Green Day and Nevermind by Nirvana. That last album would change my life in many ways, but the long and short of it is that I never really got into this album because it just seemed uninteresting next to the more modern rock I was being exposed to. I find this album's inclusion on this list to be a bit strange, since I don't remember it as being particularly groundbreaking, either in terms of Aerosmith's development as a band or in terms of the larger patterns present in the world of popular music. Hearing Steven Tyler sing about Young Lust at 41 years old is not particularly the experience that I was looking for this morning either. This album is not without its charms. The hits off of this record hold up decently well for white boy blues rock. Still, this album feels like a bunch of rockers that are getting to be over the hill pretending like they're still in their 20s. Also, Janie's Got a Gun would be a lot more powerful song if the rest of Aerosmith's catalogue wasn't creeping around young women. I really struggle to finish any of these songs because Aerosmith always feels like they're trying to filibuster their own albums. Little did we know at the time that we would have to listen to 25 more goddman years of this stuff. It's good that Nevermind came along 3 years after this album and put all of this nonsense to death 3/5

Imagine yourself in Radiohead's collective shoes as they worked on Amnesiac. They managed to follow up the titanic breakthrough of OK Computer with the otherworldly Kid A, and then here they are needing to find a way to follow up Kid A with an album that is neither a step backwards nor a facsimile of their previous work. And they fucking did it. Amnesiac is my least favorite out of the three albums, but it absolutely deserves its place on this list and among the greatest recorded albums of music history. It picks up where Kid A left off, but it does its own thing. While Kid A is ethereal, alien, and psychedelic, Amnesiac is far more ground. The Radiohead's anger and disillusionment show through more on this album. It's as if they thought releasing Kid A was going to change the course of the world in some way, and they created this album to tell everyone that they're disappointed that the world is still bullshit, but that that fact isn't going to stop them "After years of waiting, nothing came. And you realize you're looking in the wrong place" This album still gives me chills to this day. Easily a 5/5 5/5

I wasn't sure what to think about this album at first. This is after the era where I was aware of what Mariah Carey was doing and doesn't contain any of the songs I think of when her name is mentioned. However, at this point I'm three songs deep in the album and I recognize all of them. Moreover, each song has its own thing going on. Some sound more like her earlier work, some presage some of the movements in pop music that would happen in the early 2000s. The hip-hop tracks provide a good balance to the more straightforward R&B tracks. Her vocals are more subdued than a lot of the vocal acrobatics of her earlier work, though the angelic power of her voice is still evident in every track. I do feel like the album bogs down a bit as it goes, but overall it's still a 4/5

I found this album really tough to rate. It started off cool, but then it faded into the background while I was listening to it. A lot of it seemed to be pretty straightforward R&B. The quality of the album overall is good, but it didn't stand out to me as particularly groundbreaking in the context of when it was made. 3/5

I fucking love this album, and I loved it from the first time that I listened to it. It's the first album I think of when someone uses the term "Indie rock." It's lofi, but somehow that makes it work better. The low production quality never gets in the way of the music, but it lets the ingenuity and songwriting craft of the band shine through. I'd recommend listening to the extended version of this album (Luxe and Reduxe). 1992 was a seminal year in rock, and this album is easily one of the top 5 albums of that year 5/5

Usually when I talk about having to separate the artist from their personal activities, it's because of awful crimes that they've committed against humanity. With Dolly, it's the opposite. I have to separate all the the good that she's done for humanity from the music presented here. Luckily, this is a good album. I'm not a big country fan, but a lot of the older stuff has qualities that makes it very approachable. Parton has a great voice, she's an incredible songwriter, and the music that accompanies her covers a lot of dynamic range. It's also crazy that this is her 8th solo album. In a better world, we would spend a lot more time listening to Dolly Parton and a lot less time listening to Henry Kissinger. Also, in that better world Kissinger would be long dead and we would all take turns peeing on his cursed bones. Long live Dolly Parton! 4/5

This is kind of a weird album, in the sense that I don't really see why it's significant in terms of it's role in music history or the era/movement that it was part of, but I still just enjoy it. There's something about the sound of his voice that I really enjoy. The production is very solid all the way through. There's also something that feels very personal about his writing 4/5

I've listened to Demon Days before, and I though that album was fairly interesting, but I think I like this album more. There's a lot of various in the music, but it always seems to work really well with Damon's voice. This album also deserves a lot of credit for being the first album by a virtual band (at least that I know of, I'm sure someone attempted it before and no one cared). It's a cool idea but it would be meaningless if the music didn't grab you. Lots of credit to Gorillaz for making really fun music that also has a lot of substance to it 4/5

I love some Curtis Mayfield. I didn't find this album to be as fun as Superfly, but then again I don't think that it was supposed to be fun. Overall another great album by Curtis Mayfield 4/5

David Byrne is a national treasure, and so are his big suits, and so is Brian Eno. It's easy to see how a collaboration from these two could go incredibly right or horribly wrong, since they are both incredible visionaries. This album isn't as pleasant to listen to as a lot of stuff made by these two in their previous solo/group work, but it is really cool. The use of heavy sampling to compose an album makes this album highly significant, but more than that, it's good. The music is as diverse, global, and polyrhythmic as you might expect from David Byrne, and not quite as ambient and electronic as you might expect from Brian Eno. Definitely well worth a listen 4/5

This album was more interesting than I thought it would be. I was not very enamored of popular music in the early 2000s, so I never listened to a lot of bands like the Killers and the Strokes. While I don't think this is a band I'm going to be returning to often, it's cool to hear how postpunk influenced the generation that grew up listening to it. This all sounds a bit dated now, but it was also certainly different from what came before it 4/5

I'm not gonna lie, this album was hard to give a crap about. It's fine, but I didn't find anything interesting about it. I could see why people would like it, but I just kept waiting for it to be over so I could listen to something a bit more stimulating 3/5

This album starts out really strong. It's a postpunk album with some electronic elements that were very surprising given when it was made. The album tends overall to get less interesting as it goes, which is a bit of a disappointment. It feels a bit like they started to run out of ideas. It's a bit of a bummer, but this album is worth it just for the first half 4/5

Starting out listening to this album, I really thought I was going to get bored of it as it went on, but it stayed really interesting. It mixes in a lot of different instrumental styles. This is one I could see myself buying 4/5

This album starts out incredibly strong, with three great songs that were all hits to a greater or lesser extent. It slows down after that, but it's still pretty good overall, if a bit less toe-tapping. Very much an album of its time, and I'm not sure how ground-breaking it is, but its still a good album that is well worth a listen 4/5

I liked this album. I think I liked the other PJ Harvey album recommended on this list better, but this had a similar style 4/5

It feels strange that I've never listened to this album before, but I've always stuck to London Calling with the Clash. Compared to that, this album feels much less mature, but a lot of the elements that make London Calling great are starting to emerge here. This is a more straight-ahead punk album than LC, which drew on a broader array of influences. Still, these were the early years of punk, and this was a landmark album in that genre, even though it was overshadowed somewhat by the works of bands like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. I would certainly call this album better than Nevermind the Bollocks, which is a fun album but feels even less mature than this, though The Ramones self-titled album is the best of the three (despite the fact that this album has much more variation in song construction than The Ramones). This is classic bored youth punk and was critical in helping define the genre 4/5

This album was somewhat less interesting than I hoped, but it also comes from that period when electronic music was just on the cusp of technological advances that would make it a lot more interesting. Overall the album is good, with a lot of fun disco-style beats matched to more modern electronic instruments. In some ways it reminds me of the Jamiroqaui album I got on this list, but less mature because of the earlier era. It seems like this album crawled so that Jamiroquai could walk on moving sidewalks. Worth a listen despite the fact that it is a bit dated 4/5

I feel like I've been saying this a lot lately, but honestly this album was better than I thought it would be. For a pop album, it's very moody and introspective. The electronic music is not groundbreaking for the period, but it's also revolutionary compared to where pop was at when this album was released. The songs are consistently good, and I never felt like this album was pandering. The production is excellent and each song seems to flow into the next in a way that makes it really easy to put on and just listen to 4/5

It's interesting that Patti Smith was among the first, if not the first person from the New York punk scene to put out a successful album. It's easy to see how her style was influenced by the other bands in the scene, despite the fact that it would be hard to label this album as punk now. It has a really cool stripped down style that compliments her lyrics and vocals well. Having John Cale from the Velvet Underground certainly helps the album, as the production is excellent. The album flies by pretty fast. It doesn't feel like there is any filler in the album. 4/5

This is one of those albums that took me a long time to get to, despite the fact that it's cover is pretty iconic, and as a result I was aware of it for a long time. The first thing that's striking about this album is the absolute angelic quality of his voice. I think that he could have been a more successful artist if he didn't want to do interesting things with the music. Luckily for us, he was interested in putting effort into the music. He seems to always keep a light touch with the instrumentals; they come off as very quiet in the mix. This helps feature his voice, but it also gives the album a cool stripped-down quality 4/5

This album seemed like a bit of a weird one for this list. I understand the Fela Kuti albums on the list because they were groundbreaking, both politically and musically. This, on the other hand, sounds like pretty normal afrobeat. The Wikipedia page was not much help, as it just explained that this album introduced afrobeat to a wider audience, but doesn't explain how/why. Overall, I don't love the production of this album. The bass guitar has that muzak tone present on lots of albums in the late 70s/early 80s. Overall it's fine, but not particularly interesting, especially when contrasted with Zombie, the Fela Kuti album I got previously on this list 3/5

No. I refuse. You've made me listen to a Korn album and a Marilyn Manson album, and there were ways that I could reasonable criticize those albums, but I refuse to believe that any human being could be so brain damaged as to think that Limp Bizkit deserves to be represented on this list. What could I possibly be meant to take away from this other than the idea that rock music was a crucifying hellscape in the early 2000s? Jesus. I'm on the second song, and it's not just that I want to turn the album off, I'm losing the will to keep going. It's like Fred Durst just found out about NIN and the word fuck at the same time. Like, how did he think that anyone would find this interesting? What is the point of any of this? Fred Durst might be the worst lyricist I've ever heard. All of his songs are just a word salad put together from South Park episodes. Every song has basically the same sound and structure. Most of his choruses seem to be lyrics stolen from other songs in a way that suggests that Durst doesn't really get any of the music that he likes. I genuinely have nothing positive to say about this. This album should have been buried in the desert next to old copies of ET on Atari. It's really shocking the extent to which even the best elements of this album are mediocre. I'm genuinely angry that I wasted my time listening to this 1/5

This album is both fascinating in concept and very well executed. This is what I come to this list for, albums that I've never heard of that expose me to cool new musical ideas. Yesterday, my album of the day was a Limp Bizkit album that I think was called "Buttholes and Hot Dog Water" and it was the worst goddamned thing I've ever heard in my life. This album was a tremendous palate cleanser after that, and it helped give me the will to go on living after hearing two different versions of the song Rollin' on the same album. Lots of cool bits of music on this album interspersed with sound effects and ambient music. I think it would be easy to fuck up this concept, but Adamson did a great job with it. Considering that this was made in 1989, I would describe this as a real achievement, and I'm surprised that it's not more well-known. I guess everyone was too busy listening to Whitesnake to care 4/5

This is certainly not my favorite Beach Boys record, but it's got a lot of great songs on it. Adding more orchestral instruments definitely does a lot to make the Beach Boys' sound more interesting, and it did a lot to showcase what Brian Wilson could do as a songwriter 4/5

I was pretty predisposed to dislike this album, since I didn't like The Who Sells Out, the previous album by them that I got on this list. However, I feel like the charm of The Who is much more clearly on display here on their first album that was lost on some of their later albums after they started falling in love with the smell of their own farts (looking at you, Pete Townsend). In terms of early garage rock, this is certainly the most popular album that has that lofi sound. It brings a lot of charm to the album. The drums are never miked properly to show Keith Moons power as a drummer, but the slightly tinny distortion on them works with the rest of the style of the album. The vocal harmonies on songs like The Kids Are Alright shows their range as musicians, where a lot of other garage rock acts relied mostly on the lead singer and opted for simpler vocals. This album moves past very quickly, since it's only 36 minutes long. It begins to drag a bit in the second half when The Who inexplicably decide that they're a blues band, but by that point you've already got your money's worth 4/5

One of the most improbable things that I've learned while listening to albums from this list is that I am apparently a Bruce Springsteen fan. Don't get me wrong, he always seemed like a cool, hardworking guy, but knowing him from his hit songs provided me with a much different perspective on him. This is the fifth album (Darkness on the Edge of Town, Born in the USA, the Rising, Born to Run) of his that I've reviewed, and the only one I didn't really like was Born to Run. The others were fantastic. This album is my favorite so far. It feels so personal and intimate, and I'm glad that he didn't go through with rerecording the songs with the E street band as he originally intended. It's an album so stark in terms of its outlook on the future that it, that it could have been released today. The song State Trooper shows a notable influence from the band Suicide, which was a cool nod (I know that Springsteen has covered their songs live) and also shows just how far-ranging Springsteens influences are 4/5

One of the things that listening to albums on this list has given me a better appreciation for is the history of electronic music. I think I would not have enjoyed this album nearly so much a year or two ago, but the significance of what Kraftwerk was doing in this period is much clearer to me now. I didn't like this album as much as Man-Machine, which leans a little more towards the pop music side of electronic music, but this album is really cool. It develops very slowly but methodically. The first song is the real treasure here, but the entire album is good. Absolutely iconic down to the cover art 4/5

It's the craziest thing, but I woke up this morning hoping that I would get to listen to a dour Bee Gees album about the loss of a fictional ship in the 19th century. I am, of course, being sarcastic, as I could never want that, and I don't see how anyone else could want that either. ' The thing that has surprised me about the two Bee Gees albums that I've gotten on this list (both from their 60s albums) is the joylessness of the music put out by this group I always associated with upbeat disco music. I would describe their music as being similar to the feeling of standing at the jukebox at a bar on a busy night and reaching into your pocket looking for a few quarters so you can listen to your favorite song, but instead you find that your pocket is full of cold oatmeal. Like, sure it's disappointing, but in a very intriguing way. Okay, I was kind of joking before, but this album really is very dull. On lots of songs I can hear the influences on the song, but I can't figure out why they wanted to make the song in the first place. It really feels like they're not trying very hard to make the album interesting. I'm only halfway through at this point, and I don't foresee a future in which I get all the way through all of these songs. I'm honestly glad that this ship was lost. The only problem is that the master tapes for this album weren't on it 2/5

I found this album surprisingly tough to rate. In a vacuum it's a good album that features her distinctive vocal and musical styles well. I think that she's growing up as a lyricist and trying new things. However, I liked her first album a lot, and this feels like a step back from that. I could see a situation where, as time goes one, I grow to have a greater appreciation for this album relative to Pure Heroine, but as it stands this album feels a lot less fun and interesting. Still good, but definitely stuck in the shadow of it's older sibling 4/5

Well, at least I can say now that I've given Steely Dan's catalogue the ol college try. They're fine. They have some good songs, but overall this album just sort of droned on in the background while I did other things. I'll confess that I don't get what it is about this band that fascinates people so much, but at the same time I could see why people enjoy it overall 3/5

Here's another album that it feels weird to rate. I spent so much goddamn time listening to this album while stoned in my dorm room during my sophomore year of college that it's hard to go back now and try to hear this album with fresh ears so that I can properly evaluate it. I've heard it so many times that it's too familiar for me to be objective about, but I suppose that's okay. The reason why I listened to it so much is because its a great album. Everything about it works and works together. The lyrics, the music, the samples, the flow from song to song. All of the ways in which The Wall feels a bit overwrought are smoothed out here. It's examining mental illness and other dark aspects of humanity without self pity, which is the thing that makes me dislike a lot of what Roger Waters produces. This album is a full-throated examination of the agony and the ecstasy of modern life without ever stopping to ask "Why me" and I think that's why its so enduring. That and the music. Alan Parsons should have won a Nobel prize for his audio engineering on this album. It's mixed so exquisitely. It's like every single sound falls perfectly into the pocket where it belongs. 5/5

This is another one of those albums that I think is totally fine, but I have no idea why its on this list. Like, if you played me this album blind and told me it was a Coldplay album or even a Sting solo album, I would believe you because it has a very generic sound. It's pleasant enough and I like it in the abstract, but I don't get what's special about it. I should not feel this bored 3 songs into my analysis of an album 3/5

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are one of those groups that I've heard about a lot but never actually heard. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I was not expecting this. It's really good. It develops slowly, but has a lot of emotional weight to it. Everything fits together beautifully, and the vocal harmonies are a perfect compliment to the voice of Nick Cave, which always feels like it's on the verge of breaking, but it never does 4/5

I would describe Beth Orton as being the least famous person with a famous voice (at least in music). This album is fairly difficult for me to describe, but it's excellent. It's mellow and folky a lot of the time, but it surprises you sometimes as well (Stars All Seem to Weep kinda comes out of nowhere). Overall a great listen 4/5

This is one of those albums that I think is good, but I also don't think is as good as its reputation. I feel like they rely on Beth Gibbon's voice for a lot, and her voice is excellent, so that makes the album work. However, because they rely on her voice so much, it feels like they don't bother to make the music all that interesting a lot of time. This just feels like it could be a lot better if they brought more to it in terms of musical complexity. Compared to the other albums on the Mt. Rushmore of Trip-Hop, this feels like a step behind albums like Mezzanine and Endtroducing. 4/5

This album is a bit strange, since I was not expecting a Rod Stewart album when I started it. Stewart was a great choice as the vocalist for Beck's debut solo album, even though it feels a bit strange now, knowing that Stewart will be far more famous and recognizable than Beck in a few years after this. Overall the album is good. It's atmospheric, and Beck does great work centering his guitar in the mix without making it overwhelm everything. Similarly, I like how he can do blues rock without it sounding like he's exploiting another culture for cash. Beck brings a lot of personality to his music 4/5

I'm told that this has been described as the first techno concept album (whoever said that should really get out more), but if that's the case, then I have no idea what the concept of this album is, since there are no words. It's pretty mediocre overall. Not bad by any means, but it builds very slowly and there was never really a moment that made me sit up and pay attention. By the time I was halfway through the album I was ready to be done with it 3/5

Well, let me just say that I'm a huge fan of musicians putting tits on the cover of their albums. Except when I'm trying to listen to the album at work. Which I am right now. This is my first opportunity to see what I think of Roxy Music without Brian Eno. I'm a huge fan of his work, whereas I would struggle to name a Brian Ferry song. I know that he's been influential on several artists that I like, but he doesn't really do it for me. Too much of an Elvis ripoff, and this album is interminable 2/5

This is an absolutely stellar album. A while back on this list, I get Savane by Ali Farka Touré, and this album reminded me a lot of that, which makes sense as they were influenced by him. It's really cool to see people from all over the world pick up American Blues Rock and make it their own. The guitar work on the album is incredible, both intricate and filled with emotion. I've been lamenting recently that I've been getting a lot of albums that are cool and significant, but aren't worthy of 5 stars on first listen. This album cured that. I loved the sound of it from the beginning of the first song, and every song after that was great, and then the album ended and I was sad 5/5

This is certainly an interesting album. It's not the sound that I've come to associate with the Kinks, but it helps me understand better why The Kinks are so highly regarded as a band as well. The definitely took a chance with this album. It cuts this weird little slice through British domestic life and dedicates itself to preserving it. It's not clear how sarcastic this is meant to be, but it is clear that it's not entirely sarcastic. What results is a pretty pleasant album about the little things in life. It doesn't blow you away either ideologically or sonically, but it's a cool idea and they executed it well. Sometimes life isn't about moving forward, sometimes it's about stopping and smelling the roses 4/5

This is sort of a strange album for me to get on the heels of The Kinks's Preservation Society album. There, The Kinks were focused on the little aspects of British life that the liked and thought were worth saving. Here, Harvey focuses on the darkness of British history and violence that built the British empire. This album is deep and emotionally resonant. The music is all well executed despite the fact that Harvey departed from the style of her previous albums during this work. 4/5 Really cool work, and one of the seminal anti-war albums released during my lifetime

This album provides an interesting contrast with Maggot Brain, the previous Parliament album that I got on this list. Whereas that album was ponderous and often dark (though also very fun once you get through the first track), this album is much more lighthearted. The addition of horns from James Brown's band really adds a lot to the group. It has some absolute classics on it, and even the songs that I didn't know were all good. It's also nice to see dance music that is able to build slowly over a long track rather than focusing on a more stereotypical formula. The influence of this album is really hard to state. It provides so much of the sound for West Coast rap in the early 90s, but it's presence is everywhere in electronic music and modern dance music as well. 4/5

Pretty wild that this is my second album with Rod Stewart as the vocalist in a week, and neither one of them were his solo albums (the other was a Jeff Beck album). This album was fun to listen to, but didn't feel like it had a huge amount of substance to it. It has what I would consider to be a pretty generic 1970s sound. However, it was made in 1971, so it could be that this album was highly influential in forming the 70s rock sound and other artists were aping Faces. Having Ronnie Wood playing guitar on the album may be contributing to that feeling, since he has a pretty iconic style. Everything about the album is pretty good, none of it is great, but it was still worth a listen 3/5

This album was more interesting than I thought it would be. I wouldn't necessarily say that I enjoyed listening to it all that much because it's not a style of music that I find all that enjoyable (nor did Dion, for that matter), but the production is interesting. Phil Spector may be a god damned murderous psychopath, but he knew how to make a compelling sound. The themes of redemption that run through the album make it very interesting. A pop star who has been through hell and is now trying to make good on the other side is an interesting theme for an album. Dion's story and his perspective on it is worth listening to, if only just once 3/5

This is an album that I've always been curious about. I've never listened to one of Prince's albums, but I have tremendous respect for his abilities as an artist. This album shows off those abilities well. The album is cinematic, which is certainly appropriate, and all of the songs are good. There's a good mix between upbeat poppy songs and more somber ones 4/5

What a stellar album! When I first heard this album, I thought it was from the early 90s because it felt like it fit in perfectly with the alternative scene at that time. The fact that it was made 10 years before I thought it was blew my mind. This album seems to come out of nowhere, drops a bunch of times alternative rock songs, and then it disappears just as mysteriously as it came. So many of the Midwestern punk/postpunk albums seem to have this quality where it seems like they're coming from the future to release their albums Every single song is good, and there's no consistent musical style, yet the album feels like a coherent whole. 5/5 This album fucks

This album is certainly a time capsule. R&B has changed a lot since this album was popular, and it's neat to go back and listen to stuff from that era that helped define a sound that has long since passed. At least, it's neat to go back and listen to the good stuff from that era (I'm still angry that I had to listen to that Limp Bizkit album). This album really holds up, both in terms of its music and its messaging. It's packed full of monster hits, but there's also really no filler on the album 4/5

Well, seeing that this was from a British DJ that I've never heard of did not inspire a lot of confidence in me based on my previous experience with this list, but I can at least understand why this album is on here. The samples from NYC including a lot of conversations with people associated with New York's underbelly made for an interesting listen. Overall the music is uninspiring. Not bad, just not really breaking any ground for the time. I was looking for something else to listen to a couple of songs in, but still it's a cool idea for an album 3/5

I always think that I'm going to not enjoy prog rock albums, but then I when I actually listen to the album, I usually find them pretty palatable. I think maybe I just don't like King Crimson (I know, I'm a monster). This album features a lot of great musicianship. It features some prominent use of synthesizers, though most of the songs feature a traditional piano. There's a big diversity of styles despite the fact that there aren't that many tracks on the album. The major focus is the first track, which took up a whole side of the vinyl release of the album. It goes by pretty quick, but it's a very solid album 4/5

"I'm the king of rock 'n roll!" declares archduke Franz Ferdinand as his driver pulls into an alley by a sandwich shop in Sarajevo. This album feels like an anachronism. It's good, certainly. Burke writes great songs that bring rock and soul together in a seamless fusion. However, this album feels like the end of a genre and not the beginning of it. A lot of this stuff sounds like Sam Cooke, but not as good. It's a fine album overall, but it's hard to understand why it makes the list. It's not particularly groundbreaking, nor is it a particularly iconic example of this type of music. This genre was buried by the British Invasion shortly after it was released, and that's fine by me, because listening to this album, it feels like it had run it's course 3/5

Siouxsie and the Banshees is one of those bands that I've heard about forever, but have never actually knowingly listened to them. In some ways, I'm glad I waited as long as I did because I feel like it gave me a new appreciation for this album because I'm much more well versed in subgenres like post-punk, art-rock, and goth. I wouldn't say that this album sits comfortably in any of those genres, but it certainly influenced each of them after it was released. It's a great album. Apparently it's more electronic than their previous work, but it feels completely natural in this album. This album feels really advanced for 1981. Songs like Monitor remind me of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Overall, a really stellar album that I'm surprised I haven't heard more about. It seems like a titanic achievement for the era in which it was made 5/5

What can you say about Stevie Wonder during this period? He put out masterpiece after masterpiece, and this album is one of them. The way he manages to balance lyrics that delve deep into both emotional and sociopolitical territory while continuing to be a ground-breaking musician is truly outstanding. I didn't like this album as much as Songs in the Key of Life, but you can kinda seem him building to that album here. Just an incredibly solid album filled with great songs, some that you can dance to and some that you can cry to 4/5

Is there any major American songwriter more consistently overlooked than John Fogerty? All the man did was write hits, and once he stopped writing for the band, they put out an album so putrid that no one ever talks about it. This album has the same basic style of the other Creedence albums, with plenty of songs that you already know. I don't like it as much as Cosmo's factory, but it's solid all the way through 4/5

This is a very interesting album. There were plenty of parts of it that I didn't enjoy all that much, but, for the time it was made, there is a lot of interesting stuff going on here. 1991 feels too early for a lot of the sounds on this album, which is indicative of the fact that Cope was ahead of his time when making it. It's not always enjoyable for me, but I can see why this album is on the list 3/5

This album has a very different sound than I was expecting from a 2008 album (for one thing, it has a good sound, so that was a huge shock). It's a pop album that has a clear 60s influence, without sounding like they're trying to be a 60s band. It works really well for them. This album kept fading into the background for me, but every time it caught my attention, it sounded really good. Overall it's really well executed with great production. 4/5

This is an album that hasn't aged particularly well because it came out before a bunch of advances in electronic music equipment and technique were pioneered. However, I'm sure that this was a really cool album at the time, especially since it was coming from an indie rock band that was abandoning its roots to explore electronic music. Overall it's a fun dance album. It can be a bit repetitive, but they were dealing with some technological limitations on that end. Integrating electronica into rock has become much less of a feat for an indie band than it was 30 years ago. 3/5 still worth a listen, but it sounds really dated now

Always nice when I can play an album out of my own collection rather than streaming on YouTube! This album is a neat signpost for how fast punk started evolving after it's emergence in 1977 (not the true beginning of punk, but that's when the big albums started coming out). By 1980 we were already ready for subgenres (as well as post-punk). This album shows the incipient hardcore punk style that would become popular in the years after this album. More than that, though, it was a truly political punk album that broke through to the mainstream in at least some meaningful sense, unlike the works of the Sex Pistols and the Ramones. The fun part about this album is that it manages to tackle big subjects without taking itself too seriously. It's often funny, personal, and crass. The music is what really makes this album. The guitar work is head and shoulders above what was present in most of the other major punk bands, and the rest of the band compliments that well. Jello's voice isn't amazing, but it's distinctive, and it works with this band 5/5 An absolute punk classic

Not much to say about this album, since it's been a while in between my listening and my review, but I've enjoyed this album every time I listened to it 4/5

This album is an interesting combination of country and 60s folk music. Those genres are not ones that I particularly enjoy, but Gene Clark does a good job with it. The album features a backing band, but it's entirely focused on Clark and his vocals. It's well-executed, though it's not really my thing 3/5

What a weird album, what a weird band, what a weird period in musical history. This album certainly does not sound like it was from 1989, but I'm also not certain when it does sound like it's from. There's so many musical styles present here, and a lot of it presages what will be happening in music during the 90s as emerging styles start to blend together. Bringing on Mike Patton as the vocalist was unquestionably the correct move. His incredible vocal range, his lyrical talent, and his odd sensibilities fit the band perfectly. 4/5

I was honestly kind of disappointed in this album. Other than the two hit songs off this album, this album is just a bunch of paint-by-numbers blues rock songs. It left me feeling the same way I do when I listen to Cheap Trick or the Black Keys. They are doing generic rock, which is fine to listen to in the background, but it's not very interesting. Still, American Girl is a fucking banger 3/5

I genuinely have no idea why this album is on this list. It's fine, but it's also pretty generic 90s alt rock with a female lead singer. I'm not sure that we would be talking about this album still if Lovefool hadn't been on the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack. 3/5 It's an okay album, but not special in any way that I can discern

What could serve as a better harbinger of the coming of the 1970s than an overwrought concept album? Like nearly all double albums that I've encountered on this list, I think this would be better as a single album. However, I do have to admit that this does seem to be a genuine attempt at a rock opera, with overtures in the beginning that presage what will come later in the album. Overall the album is pretty good, though I found the first half of it a bit of a slog. Also the story for this concept album is pretty dumb. But hey, it's not the worst Who album that I've reviewed here (not the best either, though) 3/5

This album provides for an interesting comparison with Hysteria by Def Leppard, as both of the two albums were pop rock mega hits. I really enjoyed Hysteria, but this album left me a bit cold. I think that part of it is due to familiarity, since I've heard this album more than that one, and the hits have definitely been overplayed relative to Def Leppard. Slippery When Wet also feels a bit generic, though. It reminds me of how I feel when I listen to the Black Keys. It just feels like generic rock, like they're just playing what they're supposed to play without trying to do anything interesting or personal. It's fine, there's a place in the world for stadium rock, and Bon Jovi does that well. It's just not that interesting to listen to a bunch of those songs back to back Still, though, 3/5

This album is about like I remember it. It has two great songs that became hits. The rest of it is fine, but it feels like paint-by-numbers psychedelic rock in the mold of the Flaming Lips 3/5

The story of the Zombies is a lot stranger than I would have ever anticipated. They essentially released two albums and then broke up, despite the fact that those albums produced hit songs and were each massively influential. It's a lot like the band Television, minus the radio hits. This album was very cool to hear. It's not mind-blowing or anything, but it doesn't sound like every other album that was being made during this early/middle psychedelic period. 4/5

The previous Kinks album that I've gotten on this list was Village Green Preservation Society, which provides a very interesting contrast with this album, since it was the album made directly before this one. On that album, I thought they were doing something cool, but it didn't exactly blow my mind. Here, it feels like their sound has matured in the intervening year and is much more a match for what they're trying to do lyrically. The music is a lot groovier and more interesting, which makes sense because the psychedelic movement was advancing rapidly in this period. The beginning of the album is definitely stronger than the end of it, but it's relatively consistent throughout. Lots of good melodic songs that work together well in the context of the album 4/5

Well, the fact that the good people at Spin Magazine listened to both this album and Nevermind and somehow thought this album was better is a mystery that I would really like to see explained. This album is fine and groundbreaking in its own way, but it's not exactly an all time great. Historical mockery aside, this album is interesting, though mired by low quality production. I'm not sure if there is a good version of this album out there, but every copy I found on YouTube was muddy and indistinct. I think a better quality copy may have given me a more positive opinion of this album. As it is, it's an alternative rock album from the period right before that subgenre became the biggest thing on the planet. It's more of a poppy, indie type of album than the grunge rock that came out of Seattle. It's good, but the recording quality makes it hard to appreciate 3/5

I found this album very hard to rate. I really like it, especially the early tracks. I don't have a huge amount of context for what was happening in electronic music in 2001 to know how groundbreaking this album is, but it's great and I had no awareness of it before now 4/5

The Specials are one of those bands that I've always been curious about, as I am a product of the 90s revival of ska and wanted to know if I have more appreciation for the originators of the style. I can now say with a lot of confidence that i do not fine the Specials interesting. That may be influenced by the fact that the production on this album is terrible, but even if that weren't the case, I find a lot of their songs dull. There are some good moments on the album, but overall it is not one that I will ever come back to 3/5

This is an album that I've been meaning to listen to for a while now. I really enjoy albums from this golden era of hip-hop sampling, before the law decided that DJs needed to pay for their samples. This is a cool album, though I had a tough time finding a definitive version on YouTube, since there seems to be automated copyright claims on a lot of these songs. I wish that albums like this had been able to shine through a bit more during the era of gangsta rap, since there's not anything that makes gangsta rap inherently better than this style other than the intensity of its subject matter. The production, music, and lyrical content are all on par, but I guess people were less interested in positivity than they were in brutality. Overall a really cool record that deserves it's place in rap history, even if it was overshadowed shortly after its release by west coast rap 4/5

One of the marks of a great album is that you could out it out a decade after it originally came out and it would still be impactful. You could put this album out today and it would still light the world on fire. The energy of this album, the raw power that must be constantly restrained to prevent it from boiling over, is perfectly matched by the lyrics built from equal parts rage and intellect. I think this album may be more pertinent now than it was when it was released. It's that rare album that was ahead of its time, but also highly respected in its time. 5/5 Easily one of the top 5 albums of the 90s

This album provides an interesting contrast with the previous Costello album that I got on this list, This Year's Model. This album was made only 3 years later, but sounds a lot different as it is much less of a rock album and more of an album to feature Costello's lyrics and voice. The music is still really good on this album, just much less of a punk/new wave album. The production on the album is great and every song on the album is solid 4/5

Rush is one of those bands that I like even though I forget that I like them. They sound much bigger than a 3 piece, which I think results from the fact that they are absolute virtuosos on their instruments, particularly Neil Peart. Geddy Lee has a strange voice, but it cuts through the noise well, and his lyrics are consistently good. Alex Lifeson is also incredible, and is the member of the group with the most screen time in the Trailer Park Boys. It's wild that what is largely considered to be Rush's best album was the 8th one they released. There's a lot here, though. Lots of hits on this album, but all of the songs are good. I wouldn't particularly describe this album as the type of rock that I enjoy, since they do a lot of prog rock which is definitively not my genre, but the product that they put out is undeniable 4/5

Well, I don't generally like live albums, and I don't generally like double albums, so we're not off to a great start here. Overall, I feel the same way about this that I feel about most live albums. This sounds like a fucking kick ass concert to be at, and the recording of it doesn't really do it justice. 3/5 Please stop sending me double live albums, I have no use for them

Well, this is a much different sounding Leonard Cohen than I'm used to, even though his voice and poetry are as rich as ever. I'm not sure that I like the addition of synthesizers and drum machines to his oeuvre as compared with his being accompanied by analog instruments. There's nothing wrong with this album, I just think that his voice is better complimented by folk and/or orchestral instruments than by synthesizers 3/5

This is an interesting album for what it is and especially for when it was made, but it's also one of those albums that I kept turning on and then finding reasons to turn it off and listen to something else. I think that this album does have merit in terms of the types of music that it brings together and the technology available at the time, but it also sounds a bit dull to my ears now 3/5

It's a tale as old as time. Band makes album intending to be humorous. Album ends up being groundbreaking debut of musical superstar. Band is forced to continue making albums. I'm not sure what there is to say about this album. It sounds very good, and Bjork is incredible as usual. Her voice is soaringly powerful, yet supple and idiosyncratic as well. The album gets a lot less interesting any time anyone else is doing vocals, but luckily that rarely happens. I was surprised that I already knew two songs off of this album. The music compliments everything that she does well. It's not terribly interesting or groundbreaking music, but it's good enough to sound great when paired with Bjork 4/5

This is a really cool album. I don't think that I like it as much as It Takes a Nation of Millions, but this album is not far behind that one either. The chaotic samples chopped into great beats continues on this album, and Chuck D is as insightful and acid-tongued as ever 4/5

Okay, look. I like Elvis Costello. He's got fun, punky energy in these early years without being what I would call punk. However, this is the second Elvis Costello album that I've gotten in the last two weeks, and it's too much for me. Please send me fewer Elvis Costello albums so that I can properly enjoy the ones I already have. All silliness aside, I like this album, but I felt like This Year's Model was a better album from this early period. There's nothing wrong with the songs on this album, but they are both less catchy and less interesting than the ones on that album. This one still has the characteristic Elvis Costello style, both in terms of the music and his voice, but it feels less mature here than on Last Year's Model. Taken in isolation, though, this is a fun album that I still find unspectacular. It's a lot more of a blues rock album than I thought it would be, though he does blues rock far better than most white dudes 3/5

I have the same complaints about this album that I have about all live albums, which is that the inferior sound quality makes it really hard for me to like them. This one doesn't sound too bad, and the crowd sounds really add to the ambiance without taking much away from the songs. The music is really good overall (it's James Brown, so it would be really weird if it wasn't), but this album is also sort of a tease, since you just know that Brown is doing a ton of visual stuff that the crowd is reacting to, but you can't know what he's doing. It's a fascinating look at the early part of his career and clear evidence that the man oozed charisma from the very beginning. Fuck I would have loved to see this concert 4/5

What's to say about this one. It's another Aerosmith album, which means that it both has some really good songs on it as well as a bunch of generic blues rock. It's not bad, but if someone put this record on a party I would listen for the first two songs and then spill beer all over the record player 3/5

I was honestly surprised at how many songs off of this album I recognized. I've listened to other Sabbath albums, but never this one before. This album definitely has an immature sound relative to Paranoid, but all of the elements are here. It's a cool landmark in the history of heavy metal, and it makes it easy to see how blues rock became the heavy metal of the 80s that I'm more familiar with 4/5

This list provides me with so much great music that I really treasure, and sometimes it provides me with stuff that I don't really care for, but I can see the significance of the album. And then sometimes it provides me with stuff like this, where I have no earthly idea why I'm supposed to give a crap about this album. Sure, it's a fine album if you want to have some drinks and dance at the club, but I have no idea how to evaluate this seriously as an album. It's not technological mastery, it's not innovative musical structure, it's certainly not interesting lyrically, so why am I supposed to care? I'm not, and I don't 2/5

God this man has such a heavenly voice. I feel like it's hard to evaluate other aspects of his music because I love how his voice sounds so much. The music is very simple and stripped down, and it complements his voice well. 4/5

Goddamnit, I just love Kraftwerk so much. This certainly isn't my favorite Kraftwerk album, as I like both Autobahn and Man-Machine better, but plenty of songs on this album are great early electronica songs. I will say that I find The Hall of Mirrors to be an absolutely crucifying song to listen to. The title track has the feel of the electro dance genre that would come about a few years later. 4/5

It's really cool how much was going on in the world of hip-hop as the 80s ended and the 90s began. So many of the ground-breaking hip-hop albums on this list came out between 88-92. This is one that gets talked about less than some of the others, though I know it's highly regarded in the hip-hop world. The rap style is a little old fashioned, but the music is great and definitely part of the sea change that occurred during this era 4/5

I like the sound of this album, but it's hard to figure out why its on this list. Then I saw that it was Britpop, and everything fell into place for me. It's like how if I made this list, everyone would be saying, "Another fucking Butthole Surfers album??? How many of these are there on this list?" We all have our biases, and the person who curates this list has a fetish for Britpop that has descended into criminal deviancy. Hopefully they're able to get help before this situation escalates any further Don't get me wrong, I like this album. It sounds good, and the music fits well with her voice. I just don't get why this album that came out in 2017 and could have been made 10 years before that and not been groundbreaking, is on this list. It's fine, it's just not special 3/5

I don't know a lot about Cuban music, nor is it easy for me to put this album into context of other albums that I know, but I know that I like it. It's a much more contemplative version of cuban music that I am used to, as what I've heard before is really lively dance music. 4/5 I don't have much to say about it, but it's sure as hell worth a listen

Reading the backstory on this album makes it very poignant. The bassist died shortly after the recording, and the songs that made this album were chosen to feature him. The bass is certainly ever-present in this album, serving, as it always does in these trios, as the glue that holds the piano and the drums together while each of them pursue their own ends. The album is beautiful. I like Bill Evans's work with Miles Davis better, but he put an incredible solo trio together, and the quality that they were able to produce is on full display here 4/5

This album is such a fucking powerhouse. The first 5 songs on this album were legitimate hits. They all have that characteristic Boston sound with the soaring guitars that drown out everything else at times. It's a really incredible testament to the vision of Tom Scholz who did the writing and most of the instruments on the album. The vocals on the album are stellar, with lots of great harmonies. Really an underrated band 4/5

It's pretty wild that an artist in her 50s decides, on her 19th album, that she wants to start recording her own music rather than doing covers as she had for her entire career. I liked this album. Country is not particularly my genre, but she also does an idiosyncratic version of country that I find more interesting to listen to than most country music. It's not something that I see myself coming back to, but it's good overall 3/5

I never really look forward to listening to Slipknot, but I'll be damned if they are not interesting as a band. I do wish they would do more melodic stuff like Wait and Bleed rather than all of the atonal screaming. However, it's really neat to listen to their albums and pick out all of the different musical styles that influencing them. The second song on this album starts with a drum n' bass beat, then proceeds to show that this style of beat fits just fine in metal music. There's clearly a lot of different metal influences in their music, but hip-hop is also influencing their style. The prominence of percussion in their music also makes it compelling to listen to. It's one of those weird situations where, superficially this seems like music I shouldn't enjoy, but there's enough craftsmanship and cool stylistic choices that I find it really compelling as an album, even though there aren't many individual songs that I like on their own 4/5 Iowa represent

I don't particularly love reggae music, but I also don't mind it (what a useful sentence I just wrote). It tends to just fade into the background for me. This is certainly a provocative album because it was the first time I heard someone advocate for the legalization of cannabis. That sentiment makes up a small part of the album, but it's significant for its cultural impact. Apart from that, the music is good, but not great 3/5

This is just a really cool album. Very chill and relaxed instrumentals on most songs, but with some nice vocals when they appear. It's a pretty quick listen as well. I'd never heard of this album previously. It's very interesting that it is an early album with regard to the use of drum machines. I didn't even notice. The drums fit into the music very well and don't sound too clunky the way a lot of early drum machine stuff does. It's very tasteful work 4/5

This is another album that had a massive impact on my life. It's far darker and grittier than Nevermind, but also still maintains that pop sheen that made Nirvana popular. I don't really know what to say about it other than that it's great, but also represents the high water mark for the music era that most shaped my taste in music 5/5

I'm not sure what it is about this album, but I found it very dull. There were occasional parts that I liked, but most of the time it felt like there was nothing happening. It's the album equivalent of eating plain oatmeal much of the time. The sound quality on the album is also a bit poor, though that may result from the copy I was listening to on Youtube 2/5, but it's the best album I've given 2 stars to, if that helps

This really is just an incredibly beautiful album. I'm not usually big on folk music, but some albums are just undeniable. It's soft and elegant, and suffused with exquisite vocals. The music is overall simple and driven by acoustic guitar, but it complements the vocals perfectly 5/5

You know, I don't know what they are saying in this music, nor do I really have much of an idea of how to describe it. It's really cool, though, how music can be so unfamiliar in terms of its language, structure, and instruments, and yet be so accessible. It's just a great listen, and Khan has an incredible voice 4/5

Don't need to listen to this one to rate it, but I will anyway because this album kicks ass. This album marks a clear transition point for the band where they ceased to be the band that they were on their first album and started becoming the band that would produce OK Computer. They definitely aren't quite there yet on this album, but it's stellar in its own right. It's cool hearing 90s style guitars with the more experimental music that Radiohead stated doing here. With nearly any other band, this album would be considered part of their run of great albums, but OK Computer, Kid A, and Amnesiac all leave this album behind in the dust. That's sort of the tragedy of this album. It's incredible in its own right, and it should be talked about as one of the best rock albums of the 90s, but it's completely overshadowed by Radiohead's later work 5/5

This is one of the better Rolling Stones albums that I've listened to, and I understand why people hold it up as their best album. However, from this era I like Sticky Fingers a lot more. It just feels so much more focused and concise than this album. On the other hand, it took the world a while to come around to this album, so maybe I just need to listen to it a bit more to really get it 4/5

The Beetles, huh? Well, I guess you get into all kinds of obscure music on a list like this I think I might like Rubber Soul better than this album, but this album definitely steps into a world of music that is beyond anything that they achieve on Rubber Soul. It feels like they're searching for something with this album that they ultimately find on Sgt Pepper's. Looking at this album in isolation, it is a powerhouse of great songs. Even the songs that I don't love (like Love You To) are interesting and well executed. 5/5 I think these scruffy lads might just make it in the music industry

I do love the serendipity of moments like this. I just read Dilla Time by Dan Charnas, which gave a lot of background on the making of this album and the influence of J Dilla on the musicians and producers involved (Dilla produced or played bass on multiple tracks). It doesn't change my enjoyment of the music all that much, but it's neat to have gotten a peak behind the scenes before listening to the album I don't go in for a lot of soul, but I enjoyed this album. The music is stellar, and Badu's voice is beautiful and supple. It's consistently good all the way through 4/5

It is wild that this album shared the top 5 with albums by Neil Young and David Crosby/Graham Nash. This album didn't make a huge impression on me, but I thought it was good overall. There's a lot of variety to the music, which keeps it really interesting. Some of it is more like CSNY, and some of it is more straightforward blues, but it's all really well done 4/5

I honestly wasn't expecting much from this album, but there is something about it. It's clearly an alternative rock album, but I would have guessed that it was made a few years later because there were a lot of albums that sound like this around 1995ish. For 1992, this album feels like it has a very mature style of alternative rock. The album flies by pretty fast, with lots of short songs. They have a great pop feel to them, and the combination of acoustic and electric guitars gives the album a very rich sound. The production is also excellent. The album has a very clean feel 4/5, sort of an underrated gem from the early alternative rock era

Musically, this album builds on the type of slow, churning guitar rock of the Melvins with a bit of Soundgarden mixed in to liven things up. It fuckin really works. I like this album a lot more than I thought I was going to 4/5

My favorite part about this album is that it has Bittersweet Symphony on it. My least favorite part of the album was listening to the rest of the album afterwards. It's fine as an album, but it's another Brit pop album that feels like nothing special to me 3/5

This is one of those albums that feels like it's from a different time than the year that it was made, though I'm not sure exactly when that time was. The style of music on this album is pretty fascinating. You have songs that are very heavy metal influenced, then you have songs like Glamour Boys that are essentially new wave songs. I really wish that this album would have spawned more of a musical movement, though it's influence can definitely be seen in bands like RHCP and Faith No More. I knew the song Cult of Personality before listening to this, but I was really surprised how consistently good the album was after that opener. I think I might try and pick this one up 4/5

Goddamn I love me some Brian Eno. That's been one of the real surprises as I've encountered the albums on this list is how often he shows up in various roles, and how much I like what he does. It helps that I really enjoy ambient music. Another Green World is not my favorite Eno album, but it's great just like all of the others. He runs through a diverse set of styles, but it always sounds like him, and it's good throughout It's so weird that there was so much great music made during the 1970s, and yet all I ever heard on the radio growing up was Zeppelin and Foghat. I'd file a class action lawsuit if anyone other than me seemed to care 4/5

I was introduced to this band/album by the podcast No Dogs in Space, and if you liked this album, I'd really recommend their series on the Damned. This is such a fun album. It's still full-on early punk in terms of the majority of its sound, but other influences are clearly creeping in, especially as the album goes on. In that sense, the album seems like a harbinger of the post punk movement. Overall, it just a lot of fun. Very high energy, pretty lighthearted songs that still manage to be subversive. It flies by too 4/5

The White Stripes are one of those bands that I've always thought I should be into, but I've never really liked more than a select few of their songs. After listening to the full album, I think I understand them better. I really like the chunky guitar tones throughout the album, and they put out a lot of sound for just two musicians, and the lyrical style complements the music well. I wish that more of the songs on the album had the sort of bouncy feel of Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, but overall it's a good album 4/5

One year during high school, on the fourth of July, a bunch of my friends were hanging out. My friend Andy decided, for reasons that I have since forgotten, that we would listen to American Pie. On repeat. For hours. The funny thing about this song is that it's long enough that you can keep it going for a few hours without getting too sick of it. We continued on way past that point, to the point where I fucking hated this song and Don McLean. We kept listening. Eventually my loathing of the song gave way to pure affection, and that's where I've been ever since. I still know all the words. Unfortunately, American Pie is the only thing that's really worth talking about on this album. It's fine, but uninteresting. Sort of like if they put that ChumbaWumba album on this list 3/5, with one song doing all of the work, just like every group project I did in school

This is kind of a strange album, in that it's genre is somewhat hard to place. It bears some similarity to Pelican West by Haircut One Hundred, especially when the horns/sax are playing, but it also feels like a post-punk album at times. There are a lot of different moods here, but it's really good overall. Great music with interesting lyrics and a great voice. I would not be surprised to find out that this album influenced a lot of 80s artists because it feels like the sounds on this album are all over the place in the 80s, but I don't remember hearing a lot of stuff like this that came out earlier than this album 4/5

Everywhere I look, I see Brian Eno helping to produce incredible albums. It's neat to find out that he had a big influence on the sound of the Talking Heads and their use of polyrhythms. This isn't my favorite Talking Heads album, but it's definitely great 4/5

This is an album that I owned when I was younger, but it's one that I remember skipping a lot of songs on so that I could get to the good tracks. Now I can remember why. This album is very repetitive. I don't know that I would say that it's a bad album. It certainly has its highlights. Unfortunately, listening to so many albums on this list has introduced me to a lot of music that sounds substantially similar to RHCP, which makes them feel much less revolutionary than I thought they were when I was younger. Now, this album feels very uninspired, and I still have 6 more songs to get through before I get to hear Give It Away. I have been listening to this album for 5 hours, and I'm only on song number 7. Is this album the secret to time travel? 3/5, with a handful of songs doing all of the work, since most of the songs on this album are so boring that I can't be bothered to look up their names to talk about them

I think it's safe to say that this album marks the end of the classic thrash metal era of Metallica albums. This album doesn't reach the heights of Master of Puppets in my opinion, but it's still pretty good overall. It would be better if you could hear the goddamn bass in the mix, but apparently Lars needed to place his mediocre drumming prominently in a way that obscured their new bassist's skill. It definitely leaves the album feeling kinda empty at times. I'm not sure that people would remember this album nearly as fondly if One weren't on the album. That track sounds like the old Metallica. A lot of the others sound a bit generic to me. 3/5

I remember when people were pitching Coldplay to me as a lighter version of Radiohead. Those people are liars, and we are not longer friends. I think that they might have been confused by the fact that the singer is really handsome. It is now day 2 of me trying to listen to this album. I got 2.5 songs in the first time before I turned it off. It's not even bad, it's just dull. Don't worry, I figured out that if I just bury myself in trying to sort my email inbox, I can sort of time travel through the rest of this album. It's not very good, so far as I can tell 2/5

This is such a fun album. It manages to be upbeat and silly while also being subversive and politically relevant. For example. My Metro Card seems like a silly song about public transportation, but becomes a song about how Rudy Giuliani's policies were affecting New York. The harmonies are great and help make the album feel really dense with music without feeling suffocating. This is one of those albums that you could drop today and it would still feel fresh and relevant 5/5

I honestly don't have a lot to say about this album, but it's very good, and feels very mature for 1993. I would have thought it was made a few years later. The album is very consistent and features a variety of different musical styles. Very much worth the listen 4/5

This is another album that I was introduced to by the No Dogs in Space podcast, and if you like this album, I would recommend checking out their series on Joy Division. This is one of those albums that seems weird at first, but gets more comfortable the more that you experience it, at least in my experience. It's an absolutely revolutionary album for 1979, and is one of the many great albums that marks the close of that decade. The slow fusion of punk rock and electronica that occurs through out this album is so interesting. The drumming sounds like a drum machine at so many points. The raw emotionality of the lyrics bring real depth to the album, and provide the perfect compliment to the music 5/5, an absolutely iconic album in so many ways

This album seems like a nice bridge between the Velvet Underground and all of the alternative rock artists that came of age in the 1980s. This makes sense, given that a member of the Velvet Underground produced much of the album The Modern Lovers and especially Jonathan Richman, have a weird sensibility to them, but it works with their happy-go-lucky musical style. The first song, Road Runner, is an absolute classic. 4/5 The production could be a little cleaner, but I can't really hold that against them, since a lot of the album was recorded as demos

Super solid album, and a great album for folks who are interested in jazz and looking for an easy entry point

This is one of those albums that I just loved as soon as I heard it. It starts with the avalanche of sound, and there's so much texture and richness to it. Usually I focus a lot on the vocals for rock music, but I have no idea what they're saying, and it doesn't feel like it matters. It just blends in with the wall of sound that you're constantly swimming through with this album. It's by far my favorite shoegaze album, and you can just hear the impact that this album had on tons of bands that came after them, especially groups like the Smashing Pumpkins 5/5 I wish that the low end of the audio was just a bit cleaner, but that's really the only thing that I have to criticize this album about

You know, it had been a while since I'd gotten an album that was clearly only on this list because it was British, but I remedied that today. This album is the very definition of nothing special. The music is fine, if not a bit outdated. The lyrics are pedestrian. I haven't gotten a single Kendrick Lamar album on here, but somehow my bones could not be laid to rest without listening to this album. Crime Riddim legit has a minute and a half skit at the end of it, despite the fact that the song is 4.5 minutes to begin with. Seriously, a lot of this is sonically indistinguishable from the songs put out by QAnon rappers. They're talking about different things, but it's equally bland, and the beats are exactly the same. I hate this. I hate everything about this. This is the worst album I've heard on here since I got that Limp Bizkit album. The history of hip-hop runs deep with great albums, but somehow I got stuck listening to this one. At least until I gave up and listened to something good 1/5

I have kind of a weird relationship with this album, since I've owned it on vinyl for more than 15 years, but I can't remember the last time I bothered to listen to it. I just never feel like I'm in the mood for Jimi Hendrix. And yet, right from the first song, I remember why I bought this album. I just feels like Jimi has a different dimension to his guitar playing. It feels chaotic yet effortlessly controlled at the same time. This album runs deep with great songs too, with all but a couple of his biggest hits being represented here. Definitely a nice album to revisit once in a while 4/5

This album is really not my type of music, and I found it quite dull. I could see why people would like this. There are lots of other albums that it sounds like, but it also predates a lot of those albums, so it deserves credit for that. To me, this is basically what Leonard Cohen would sound like if he wasn't as good a poet and had less interesting backing music 3/5 I think he deserves some credit for taking some chances and experimenting in these songs, but at the same time I was bored the entire time I was listening to this album

Well, this album suffers a lot from appearing on this list less than a week since Are You Experienced. Whereas that album is a firecracker that really shows off what Jimi can do, this album feels much more subdued in a way that doesn't really benefit the album. Hendrix's real strength appears in the restrained chaos that is his guitar playing. This album just features far fewer moments that really feature his guitar playing. It definitely has some good songs, but it never reaches the heights of Are You Experienced? 3/5