My User Albums Journey

Album	You	Global	Diff
Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides SOPHIE	5	2.81	+2.19
22, A Million Bon Iver	5	2.95	+2.05
Djarimirri Gurrumul	5	3.04	+1.96
Englabörn Jóhann Jóhannsson	5	3.2	+1.8
Hadestown Anaïs Mitchell	5	3.2	+1.8
Lemonade Beyoncé	5	3.26	+1.74
Black Devil Disco Club Black Devil Disco Club	5	3.28	+1.72
Bon Iver Bon Iver	5	3.3	+1.7
F♯ A♯ ∞ Godspeed You! Black Emperor	5	3.3	+1.7
Stretch 2 Arca	4	2.32	+1.68

Album	You	Global	Diff
Blink-182 blink-182	2	3.1	-1.1
Reconstruction Site The Weakerthans	2	3.02	-1.02

Artist	Albums	Average
Bon Iver	3	5
Godspeed You! Black Emperor	2	5

The Angelic Process

4/5

This album really falls into a sweet spot for me. The combination of metal and shoegaze definitely scratches an itch in my brain. I could see how lots of folks would not care for this album since it's so noisy, but I thought it was really well executed overall, though I think the production could have been a little cleaner in places 4/5

An Empty Bliss Beyond This World

The Caretaker

4/5

The concept for this album is fascinating. What I'm really not sure what I think about is the execution of the concept. I've never heard an album before where I was less sure of what the artist was actually doing. In general, it sounds like he's just put a microphone up at some distance from a speaker playing music on vinyl. About halfway through the album, he has some shorter loops and has things moving between the left and right channels, which makes what he is doing a bit more obvious, but for the most part his role is very mysterious. In some ways, it's this question about what the artist is doing that makes this work. We are transported through unknown means into a hazy past that may never have existed for us. We experience the work of the artist's hand, but the hand itself is never visible. In some ways, I think this is meant to mimic the unstuck timelessness of Alzheimer's, since AD patients and their connection to music from their pasts were the inspiration for this album. It works. I don't know how or why, or even what works, but it works 4/5

Sound Awake

Karnivool

3/5

This album is pretty interesting for being part of the nu metal genre at sort of the tail end of that genre (at least as far as I'm aware). It's definitely good in parts, but it starts to sound like a lot of other things I've heard in other parts too. The real strength of this album is the production. There's a lot of good stuff that I think would be missed if it wasn't mixed and mastered so well. The sound is super crisp, and the texture of the bass really comes through. 3/5

A City Dressed In Dynamite

That Handsome Devil

4/5

I have no idea what this album is or how to describe it, but it's really cool. The production is great, which can't be easy on an album this unusual with this many moving parts. The lyrics fit the music perfectly, and the lead singer has a great voice that he uses to the fullest 4/5

L'Heptade

Harmonium

3/5

This album was okay. I've never been all that drawn to prog rock, so it's not a surprise that I'm not particularly drawn to this. It's fine and competently made, it's just not what I get into 3/5

After Hours

The Weeknd

4/5

I was kinda surprised to see this album pop up today, since the other handful of albums I've gotten on the user-submitted list were albums I'd never heard of by bands I've never heard of in genres that I've never listened to. This album is cool. I love the combination of his voice over synth pop. It just has this smooth, ethereal quality. I don't have a lot to say about this, but this is an album that I want to come back to 4/5

Cleopatra

The Lumineers

4/5

I feel like this is one of those albums where the production really makes it work. The songs are well-crafted, and they are both played and sung beautifully, but the production really helps give it emotional depth. It's like there's so much open space in the record, and yet it feels cozy and warm. The producer does need to back off on the reverb on the vocals a bit, since he occasionally sounds like he's been trapped down a well and needs Lassie to rescue him. Other than that, it's just a really peaceful album that's easy to connect with emotionally 4/5

Nightbirds

LaBelle

4/5

This album was cool. It's not the most amazing disco album I've ever heard, but it's solid and it goes by in what feels like no time 4/5

Brat

Charli xcx

4/5

I've heard about this album a lot, since it was apparently the album of the summer, but I haven't listened to it now. It's always fun when a pop album turns out to be well-constructed. Charli xcx certainly has odd pop sensibilities, but it really works here. The music is fun, and her voice sounds wonderful over it. The album is really versatile in terms of its sound too 4/5

McDonald and Giles

Ian McDonald

4/5

This album takes a little while to get going, but it's well-crafted, and you can groove to it once it picks up a bit. It's interesting that these two were original members of King Crimson. This album feels kinda like prog-folk, which I would assume that I hate, but it's well done here. 4/5

All Hour Cymbals

Yeasayer

3/5

This album is pretty cool overall. The music never wows me all that much, but the harmonies are really nice. It feels a bit uneven at times, but there are a lot of great moments 3/5

Poesía Básica

Extrechinato y Tu

4/5

I lost my review for this one, but the music is really cool and also pretty variable. I think I'd be able to appreciate the poetry a little better if I spoke more Spanish, but that's really on me 4/5

22, A Million

Bon Iver

5/5

I love this album, and I got to see him perform on the tour for it. I'm not sure that this is the Bon Iver album that I would put on this list, since I think his first two LPs are both incredibly beautiful, but this album is certainly more experimental than his previous work. The execution is excellent as well. The album is a bit front-loaded in terms of quality, but this is still one of those albums I let play all the way through 5/5

Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones)

Jai Paul

4/5

This album has an interesting story, since it was leaked in 2013 and then officially released in 2019. It's weird, since the album still sounds pretty modern, and probably sounded pretty crazy in 2013. I wish I could have heard what this album would have been when it was finished and properly mixed and mastered, though what we have here is still really cool. It makes me sad, though, that the leak had such a negative impact on the artist that he withdrew from making music just as he was starting to impact the mainstream. 4/5

Sublime

4/5

God, the insane number of hours I've spent driving around stoned as fuck and listening to this album. If we're going strictly by nostalgia, this album is a solid 5 stars, even though I got sick of it by the end of my time in college. We'll see how this album feels in 2025. It's hard to listen to this one with fresh ears. Overall it sounds really good, and I was shocked to find out that it was produced by a member of the Butthole Surfers. The lyrics are often not great, but not terrible either (I'd put them slightly above RHCP in terms of quality). This album is certainly less of a cover album than 40oz was, which is good, but I like listening to that album more. I feel like the highs are really high on this album, the overall quality is pretty good, but then at times the band sounds like they're not trying very hard. 4/5, but far closer to 3/5 than my teenage self would have felt comfortable with

Once

Nightwish

4/5

This album is really cool at times, and the symphonic approach to metal definitely works when well-executed. There are some songs where it starts to feel samey, but that usually doesn't last for long before the album grips you again. I don't know why folks from Scandinavia like metal so much, but god bless em, they know how to do it right 4/5

Englabörn

Jóhann Jóhannsson

5/5

Is Iceland just the land of haunting beautiful music? It's so weird that so much great stuff came out of that island in the 90s and 00s. This album is stunning, just powerful and ethereal the whole way through. Definitely one that I want to hear again, perhaps while strolling through one of Iceland's many haunted forests with my gnome friend that I met while removing the curse from a pair of socks in an enchanted steam 5/5

King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown

King Tubby

3/5

I wasn't really familiar with how dub worked as a genre before listening to this. Granted, it was because I was struggling to understand why this album was significant, but still. This album is kinda cool. I like the extensive use of delay that they seem to lose control of every once in a while. On the other hand, there's lots of times where it feels like nothing is happening 3/5 Pretty solid album to listen to if you're too stoned to change it when it comes on

Sing To God

Cardiacs

4/5

You know what, I didn't really want to like this album at first, but these fuckers won me over with their enthusiasm 4/5

Sailing The Seas Of Cheese

Primus

4/5

This isn't my favorite Primus album, since I've always gotten more into Frizzle Fry, but this album came out in that era and is similar in many respects. I feel like a lot of these songs lack the urgency and intensity that seems to exist throughout Frizzle Fry, but it may also just be that the grooves aren't as groovy here. Still, that's largely a nitpick because this album is really fun and features a ton of great work by Les and the boys 4/5

Currents

Tame Impala

4/5

This album is a fun listen. I'm not sure if I would characterize it as particularly groundbreaking for 2015, but the album sounds great. I really enjoy it when psychedelic artists cross over into more dancey stuff. The production is great. Very clear sound overall, but with a little grit left in 4/5

Frosting On The Beater

The Posies

3/5

This album was pretty cool overall, though it rarely rose above background music while I was listening to it. It's a solid album for 1993, though it was not easy for me to understand the significance of this particular album 3/5

St. Jude

Courteeners

3/5

I can't say that I really got this album. It's pleasant to listen to, and I could see how someone would like it, but it didn't seem particularly significant to me. The album also went by weirdly slowly for me. Like, I thought I was at least halfway through and found that I was still on song 5. Not bad at all, but not something that grabbed me 3/5

Grace And Danger

John Martyn

3/5

This is an interesting album. Sometimes it sound like a soft rock album that somehow escaped the 1970s. Other times, it steps way out of that mode and does cool, weird stuff. I don't necessarily get it, but I think it's kinda cool when he explores a bit more with his music 3/5

Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit

Courtney Barnett

4/5

This was a very pleasant album to listen to. She's a good songwriter, and her lyrics are pretty accessible. I'll say, this kept reminding of various female vocalists/bands from the 90s, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I think there will always be a place for work by singer/songwriters in this mold, despite the fact that I rarely get super enthusiastic over work like this 4/5

All Hail West Texas

The Mountain Goats

3/5

These songs are fun, but the gimmick of recording every album on a shitty boombox wears thin pretty fast. I'm glad they abandoned it after this album, but I wish they'd abandoned it before this album so I can enjoy the production on the album, rather than lamenting it 3/5

You'd Prefer an Astronaut

Hum

4/5

I'm a little split on this album. On the one hand, it didn't make much of an impression on me when I first listened to it. On the other hand, I fucking love it when alt rock bands from this era just crank the overdrive pedal all the way up and try to play loud enough that you can hear the melody. It's a fun album, well-produced, and it really captures the sound of the era well. Fuck it. 4 stars

Ultra Blue

Hikaru Utada

3/5

This album is fine, but I don't think J-pop is particularly for me. Something about it always leaves me cold. That's too bad, since I've enjoyed a lot of Japanese music I've heard, especially things in the synthesizer realm. I feel like the vocals are just too processed, so that they come out sounding the same song after song, album after album, band after band. It's a clean and shiny sound, but it doesn't feel personal to me 3/5

Afraid Of Sunlight

Marillion

3/5

I'm not huge into prog rock, so neo-prog wasn't high on my list of genres to check out. While I would describe this album as being a bit overwrought the way most prog albums are, it's a cool album overall. I like the 80s vibe on the album (though 80s nostalgia was much less popular in 95 than it is now) 3/5

No.1 In Heaven

Sparks

4/5

Much like how I felt about the first Sparks album I was introduced to on the original list, I found this album charming as fuck. Just a super solid early synth pop album with tons of Giorgio Moroder goodness. 4/5

Phantom Power

The Tragically Hip

3/5

I liked this album overall. The major issue that I see with it is that every time I stop thinking about it while I'm listening, my brain becomes convinced that I'm listening to REM. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and it's mainly the sound of the lead singer's voice that gets me, but I thought that was kind of funny. 3/5 Cool album, but I don't particularly grasp its signficance

Look Sharp!

Joe Jackson

4/5

This was a fun 70s rock album. I liked that the production focused on getting a live sound by using a lot of first takes. It definitely adds a bit of that late 70s grit to the album that helps set it apart from some of the cleaner, more overwrought work being done in this period. This sounds like Elvis Costello at times, though I'm not sure in what direction that influence goes. The reggae influence is definitely here as well, and I tend to find that a very pleasant touch to add to rock from this era 4/5

People

The Burning Hell

4/5

I don't really know what to think of this album, since it seems to change a lot from song to song, but it's certainly interesting. The lyrics are fun and well-written. The music never blows your mind, but it's variable and all well-done 4/5

Stop Making Sense

Talking Heads

4/5

Most live albums are bad, but some are great and this is definitely the later. Inevitably, the music on this album will be affected by the concert movie shot by Johnathon Demme. However, listening to it on it's own, it's really solid with a ton of great versions of songs from their incredibly deep catalogue 4/5

Out of the Blue

Debbie Gibson

3/5

This album is a fun blast from the past, but I don't really understand the significance overall. It sounds like a lot of other teeny pop from this era. Some fun songs, some hits, but ultimately a forgettable pop album from a pretty forgettable pop era 3/5

Tales Of Mystery And Imagination

The Alan Parsons Project

4/5

I don't usually go in for prog rock, but something about this album just works for me. You can hear why he was recruited to produce Dark Side of the Moon, since there is a lot of that sound in here despite this album not sounding much like Pink Floyd. He does a great job of building slowly but keeping it interesting the whole time 4/5

Moffou

Salif Keita

4/5

I listened to a version of this that had remixes that followed all the original songs. It was a bit distracting, since it made it harder to evaluate the album, but I was struck by how well all these songs transformed into modern dance music. Her voice is beautiful, and it's a great recording as well. I have no idea what she's saying, but the emotion comes through so well. I don't even know how I would describe this, but it fucking works. Upon looking at Wikipedia, it turns out this is a Malian singer. That figures. Some of the best guitar music in the work has been coming out of Africa, and I've liked basically everything I've heard on this list that involves African guitarists 4/5

Operation Ivy

3/5

This is the kind of punk album that lots of my friends were into that I could never understand. I think I understand better now, having some of the context for how hardcore punk evolved into a lot of the 90s punk that I heard. However, music like this is just never quite enough for me. Not melodic enough, not progressive (in a musical sense) enough, not well produced enough, etc. It's fine, I don't hate it, but it's hard to fine much about it that I really like, other than the horns. The horns are great when you can hear them through the mix 3/5

Game of Fools

Koritni

4/5

Well, Sleaze Rock is definitely an appropriate name for this genre. It really captures the feeling of the 80s hair metal bands, but with a slightly more modern feel. It's not particularly what I was looking for, but they execute it well, and it's a fun album overall that feels like a throwback to no year in particular 4/5

Bloody Kisses

Type O Negative

3/5

I was excited about this one, since I've heard a lot of good things about Type O Negative, but this album didn't really speak to me. I like goth, I like metal, but I don't know if goth metal is my genre because I kept waiting for this one to pick up a bit, but it just kept playing in the background without really drawing my attention 3/5

The Best of The Hot 5 & Hot 7 Recordings

Louis Armstrong

5/5

This is sort of a weird one to review, since it's not so much an album as a compilation of songs recorded overall several years with different bands that Armstrong assembled. It's great, because Louie Armstrong was great, and the influence that these works had on future generations of jazz musicians was undeniable. It's just weird to think about it the way I've been thinking about other albums that I've gotten on this list because it doesn't represent a coherent unit in any sense. Whatever, though, it's Louie fucking Armstrong, and anything less than 5/5 is disrespectful. Also, I'm not going to listen to this whole thing because there's more than 80s songs, and I've got places to be today

Gemstones

Adam Green

2/5

God, the 2000s were a hellscape of things that aged badly because their creators confused edginess with intellectual depth. This album is another solid example to throw on the pile I don't hate it. His voice is fine, and the music is good overall. But there's no way you can expect me to listen to this Howdy Doody mother fucker sing about being in a crack house and enjoy it. It's stupid and shitty. It's fine, a lot of us were stupid and shitty in this period, but we don't need to revisit this era nearly as often as we are 2/5

Silence Yourself

Savages

4/5

This album was really cool. Kind of a neat mix of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Siouxsie and the Banshees. I hadn't heard of them before, but I'm definitely going to come back to this album 4/5

The Evil One

Roky Erickson

4/5

Definitely fell down a bit of a rabbit hole reading about this album and Roky Erickson (much of the material for this album was smuggled out of the insane asylum Roky was stuck in after getting busted with a joint in Texas). This album certainly provides an interesting contrast with the 13th Floor Elevators, which I remembered liking when I heard it. This album is interesting, since it came out as punk was emerging as a genre, and it has some sonic ties to punk, but is very much it's own thing. Really cool album with a lot of different moods. 4/5

Relatives in Descent

Protomartyr

3/5

I don't know about this one. The music is cool, but I cannot get into this dude's voice 3/5

Racine carrée

Stromae

4/5

I thought this album was cool overall. I didn't know what to think at first, but it grew on me. I feel like it would be a lot better if I spoke French, but I'm also determined never to learn anything useful 4/5

The Monitor

Titus Andronicus

4/5

This is a cool, high energy indie album. I'm not sure that the music is particularly advanced or standout for the time when it was made, but the production is excellent, and the band really put a lot of care into crafting this album 4/5

Nuyorican Soul

4/5

After reading the Wikipedia page for this album/band, I'm still not entirely sure who made this, but it's great. Just tons of dope latin-inspired grooves 4/5

Choirs Of The Eye

Kayo Dot

4/5

Both my 8 year old daughter and I agree that this is cool and weird, so there's really not much else to debate here. I really love how many different directions the metal genre can go in and still feel like metal. This feels like it's out on the far fringes of the genre, reaching out into other lands, but it's still metal, and it's really good 4/5

Comfort To Me

Amyl and The Sniffers

4/5

I'm not sure that this is a particularly significant album musically, but it's fun Riot Grrl style punk, and it was worth a listen just for that. Music is solid throughout. Her voice is nothing to write home about, but she's compelling as a vocalist anyway 4/5

The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess

Chappell Roan

4/5

She's so delightfully weird, how can you not like this album? It reminds me a lot of the vibe of Cyndi Lauper's She So Unusual. Just incredibly well-crafted pop songs with great music underneath them that keeps you nodding your head while keeping the focus on the vocalist 4/5

Ungodly Hour

Chloe x Halle

3/5

I'll be honest, I didn't really get this album. It never really grabbed my attention, and just sort of played in the background until I turned it off. Music was fine, vocals were fine, but I didn't really get why it was significant 3/5

Hammersmith Odeon, London '75

Bruce Springsteen

3/5

The irresistible force meets the immovable object. Bruce Springsteen's elite track record of albums that I like on this list collides with my personal track record of hating live albums. My ambivalence about the E street band hangs tenuously in the balance... It's fine. I guess it's fine. Sound quality is good, at least 3/5

El Circo

Maldita Vecindad Y Los Hijos Del 5to. Patio

3/5

This album was a pretty fun listen, but it was hard to tell why it was particularly significant. It's interesting rock music for 1991, but it doesn't particularly feel like they are pushing the envelope 3/5

Somewhere In The Between

Streetlight Manifesto

4/5

As a veteran of the ska/big band wars of the 1990s who was largely passed over by the 2000s pop punk thing, this was an interesting listen. It definitely has a tighter and more orchestrated feel than something like Reel Big Fish. The 90s bands felt a little looser, like they weren't taking it as seriously. That was fun, but I like this by contrast because it is informed by all the emo stuff that was happening leading up to this. Ska isn't particularly my genre now, but it's fun. This album has pretty great range in terms of its sound. Given what the album is trying to accomplish, I think they did a great job 4/5

Bleed American

Jimmy Eat World

4/5

I was mostly familiar with this album through it's dancey mega hit, which gave me a different impression of this band than the rest of the album. It's definitely a bit more slow and subdued in places than I would have thought. The variability in the music also made it a bit harder to rate this one than I initially thought. I enjoyed most of the songs, but there were times when I felt like the album sagged a bit. Still, good overall 4/5

Loss

Mull Historical Society

4/5

God bless Scottish indie pop. It somehow always comes out sounding like more than the sum of its parts. This band sounds like so many other bands throughout this album, but it never sounds like a single other band, if that makes sense. Sometimes there's hints of Flaming Lips or Oasis, but they never come out sounding like they are doing an impression of those bands. The effect is an album that feels very familiar, but is completely it's own thing 4/5 I'm willing to donate money at this point to make sure that every Scottish child that wants an electric guitar is provided one. It's one way to guarantee a better future

Grand Prix

Teenage Fanclub

4/5

When I first started listening to this, I though it was made in like 2005 for some reason. While I was listening to it, I was like "This is really cool, but it sounds like a lot of other things that came before it" Looking up and seeing that it came out in 1995 put it in a much different light. It definitely has a lot of aspects that place it as a mid-90s album (I just love when they put a fuzz pedal on a guitar, then decide that it's not enough distortion, so they throw an overdrive pedal on top of it), but it also feels like they were peeking ahead a bit to the next decade of pop rock. I shouldn't be surprised at this point. Scottish pop rock bands always produce such finely crafted albums 4/5

Stretch 2

Arca

4/5

This was a cool EP. It goes by really fast, and it's kind of hard to wrap your head around while it's playing, but it was certainly interesting and different 4/5

Home Sweet Home

Kano

2/5

Wow, British rap from the early 2000s? Let me clear off a special place for this album so I can give it the respect it deserves <opens trash can lid and shoves album in there until I hear several snaps> It's not bad, but it's hard for me to get excited about something like this knowing all the cool shit that was happening in rap in the US at this time. I refuse to grade the UK on a curve with regard to this stuff, since they figured out how to do rock and roll better than us incredibly fast. Rap is apparently going to take a couple more decades. His flow isn't bad, but the music is uninspiring and I found myself getting bored with this immediately 2/5

Spanish Train And Other Stories

Chris de Burgh

4/5

This album is sort of what I imagine Randy Newman's albums would sound like if I didn't hate him so much. In all seriousness, this is a collection of narrative sounds, and the music is pretty cool and relatively variable. It was easy to get wrapped up in it. I didn't particularly pay attention to the stories, but the music helped give you the idea. Really well executed overall 4/5

Daisies Of The Galaxy

Eels

4/5

I listened to Beautiful Freak by the Eels long ago on this list, and I was surprised when I looked back at my review that I didn't particularly like it. This album hit just right for me. I think they matured a lot as a band in the intervening years. This album has a very 90s feel to it, but it very much feels like its own thing. The production on the album, especially on his voice, is great. It rings through, dusky and clear on every song. The music is very fun and doesn't ever get samey. 4/5

Fashion Nugget

CAKE

4/5

I don't really need to listen to this one to review it, but I will anyway. It's a fun album, and it fucking bangs in the first half. Just great song after great song, with a lot of variety. However, it really falls off on the second half of the album. You can pretty much give up on the album after Nugget. I have a hard time giving this album less than a 4, since it's got such a distinctive feel, and it really shows off the band's songwriting. However, it's rare for me to give an album that feels uneven such a high score. What can I say, I'm a sucker for desserts 4/5

Mad Dogs & Englishmen

Joe Cocker

4/5

So all the Joe Cocker songs that I know come from what was effectively a thrown-together cover band that had very little time together before the tour this was recorded on? Why does this sound better than most live albums, then? I think the choir backing him pulls a lot of weigh on this album, since it allows him to wander around a bit and bring more emotion to the album. I don't know why it works, but I can't deny that it works 4/5

A1A

Jimmy Buffett

2/5

I was really hoping that listening to this album would unravel the mystery of Jimmy Buffett's popularity. It's extremely standard yacht rock, so there's not a lot of help there. His voice is fine, the music is fine, but, in my opinion, it never gets better than that. I think, in the end, the real cheeseburger in paradise was the alcoholic friends we made along the way. Maybe the issue here is that I can't really drink in the sun because it gives me migraines. Consequently, there's no real way for me to access the Parrothead in their native environment and have the true Jimmy Buffett experience 2/5 I think I'd rather listen to a Warren Buffett album

Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum

Tally Hall

4/5

This album feels like one I shouldn't enjoy that much. I don't particularly enjoy a lot of the individual musical choices they made here. And yet, I kept finding myself enjoying it in spite of myself. It's just one of those things that ends up being greater than the sum of its parts because its incredibly well executed. Also, I'm a sucker for harmonies, and they use them to incredible effect here 4/5

Songs Of A Lost World

The Cure

4/5

I can't say that I was expecting to review a modern day Cure album today, but what the hell. These sad fuckers really know how to write a song. It's always nice to see a band that was on a hiatus from releasing new work for a long time come back with something substantial. Robert Smith's voice has held up well over the decades. My computer needs to restart, and I'm going to lose this review, so go ahead and take 4 stars, The Cure. You earned it, and I hope it helps you to stop crying so intensely 4/5

Year of the Cat

Al Stewart

3/5

This is another one of those albums that is fine, but also very much not for me. The music is good. I don't love his voice, but I wouldn't consider it a distinct negative either. I just didn't really get into the songs at all 3/5

The Lonesome Crowded West

Modest Mouse

4/5

I feel about this album the way I feel about most Modest Mouse albums, which is that I like it, but it's also something I'm not likely to seek out on my own. They are a fun band, and are great to watch live in my experience, but I never really want to sit down and listen to their albums, despite the fact that their albums are solid overall and feature a lot of good songwriting. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's not you, Modest Mouse, it's me. I have a lot of work to do on myself, and I just don't think you deserve to be in a musical relationship with someone who can't full commit to you 4/5

Angel Dust

Faith No More

4/5

Well, I've heard Faith No More albums that I enjoyed more than this, since I liked them more when they were a little funkier as a band. However, this album really shows off Mike Patton's incredible range as a vocalist, and there's still some of the funky stuff here, like Be Aggressive, that sounds like everything that RHCP could have been if they tried harder. Overall, it's a good album, even if I wasn't super focused on it for parts of the album 4/5

A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

The 1975

4/5

I don't know what to say here. This album often had really cool stuff, then it would fade into the background, and the next time it jumped to my attention, it would sound like a completely different album. I liked everything I heard overall, but I have not earthly idea how I would describe this if someone asked me. However, genre certainly isn't everything, especially when a work is well-executed. I don't have to know how to describe something to like it 4/5

Squeezing Out Sparks

Graham Parker

4/5

This really sounds like an Elvis Costello clone at first blush, and certainly Costello was not the only British musician that had this particular vibe going on in the late 70s. It's a good album that falls somewhere between Costello and Yacht rock. It's very much of its time, but it's a fun listen, and that's what really matters. It's a bit sad that this album marks him moving away from using horns, because a brass section would have slapped on this shit 4/5

La cagaste... Burt Lancaster

Hombres G

4/5

I'm so glad this didn't end up being an album performed by Burt Lancaster like I originally thought. I was ready to listen with an open heart, but I was also totally prepared for it to be terrible. What I got instead was an album that sometimes sounds like it was made in the mid 80s, and sometimes sounds like it was made by people who had been influenced by 90s music. Overall, it's really neat and feels a bit ahead of its time 4/5

Nail

Scraping Foetus off the Wheel

4/5

Listened to the whole album, still don't know what it is, but it's pretty cool overall. I'd call it an industrial album, but it strays pretty far from that at times. Definitely far less abrasive than I was expecting from the album title 4/5

1, 2, Kung Fu!

Boy Azooga

4/5

I've spent a lot of times singing the praises of Scottish pop rock bands here, and perhaps I should extend that circle to include the Welsh here. This album just works great. It feels fresh, and it kept me interested the whole time. I'm not sure what's going on with this band, but they should put out another album 4/5

Recipe for Hate

Bad Religion

4/5

When this came on, I was really tempted to dismiss it as another 90s punk band that is largely indistinguishable from the horde of other bands that came out at that time. What sets this band apart is their vocal harmonies. It adds so much to these songs that they would be missing with a single vocalist or if they did shitty harmonies. Putting effort into the vocals makes all the difference here 4/5

HELLYEAH

3/5

This one just wasn't for me. I've gotten much more into metal in the last couple of years, but I really like it when metal spreads out and incorporates other genres. This seems like straight ahead metal, which is fine, but it doesn't trip my trigger. Everything is competent, and the album is well-produced, but it doesn't feel like like it meaningfully pushed the genre forward compared to what bands like Slipknot had been doing for close to a decade by this point 3/5

Whipped Cream & Other Delights

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

3/5

In a stunning turn of events, this album ended up being exactly what I thought it would be. It's pretty cool to listen to, even though it gets a bit repetitive at times. I don't know that I'm going to listen to it as a whole work again, but there's some cool shit I could sample on here 3/5

When Smoke Rises

Mustafa

4/5

Just a really beautiful album that I want to come back to some day. His voice is exquisite, and he uses it so well. The music often makes this feel like a folk album, but he makes it much more than that 4/5

Being Funny In A Foreign Language

The 1975

4/5

I wasn't really familiar with The 1975 until getting to the user-submitted portion of the list. I thought it was really cool. I think I liked the previous album that I got more (A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships). This album felt much more coherent, but perhaps was a bit less fun because I didn't have the feeling of never knowing what I would get. Still very much worth the listen 4/5

Don't Say No

Billy Squier

3/5

You know what, this is pretty much exactly what I expected, and that's totally cool. It's got his big hits, and the other songs don't fall off too hard from that. It's a nice little time capsule for the transition in rock between the 70s and 80s. I have a hard time rating it all that highly, since I don't think that this was pushing the limits compared to some of his contemporaries, especially Van Halen, but it's a really solid listen 3/5, but a very upbeat 3/5

Get Rich Or Die Ryan

Spose

3/5

I've tried to listen to this album a couple of times, and I still don't know what to make of it. At first I thought it was two different albums mixed together, but nope, it's all one thing. I like the dude's style overall. It doesn't feel coherent, but there's also nothing wrong with liking to make a few different types of music. I think a double album is a bit much, which is why I didn't give it a higher score, but I also appreciate this dude's versatility 3/5

Mouth Sounds

Neil Cicierega

2/5

This album was okay, but it's hard to take as too meaningful. If this was made in 2005, I could see it, but in 2014, this was not a groundbreaking album, and there were plenty of artists who were doing this style of mashup much better. It's kind of funny and quirky, but it doesn't feel like there's a lot of artistry to it 2/5

From The Lions Mouth

The Sound

4/5

This is a cool postpunk album. It's definitely got a sensitive boy approach like a lot of Morrisey stuff, but this is early enough that it can't have been influenced by the Smiths or anything like that. It sounds like a lot of other things, but I would guess that's because it influenced a lot of things that came after it 4/5

Chocolate & Cheese

Ween

4/5

I've listened to this album before, but it's nice to come back to now that I've got a lot more musical context. Just a very fun album that staggers from genre to genre like a bar hopping drunk that somehow manages to hit trick pool shots at every bar they visit. Every song is so different from the others and so lovingly crafted. It was great to come back to this after 15 years or so since my last listen 4/5

Give Up

The Postal Service

4/5

This album is really cool and different for the time it came out. I remember people being really excited about this band when they came out, and it's easy to see why it felt so fresh 4/5

Pushin' Against a Stone

Valerie June

4/5

I went back and forth on this album a bit. I think it could be produced much better (or else the copy I listened to was pretty poor). What got me about it was the 60s soul/girl group feel to it. You can hear it in the music, but it's also there in the vocal harmonies. They get a bit muddy sometimes, but I've given albums the benefit of the doubt before for production issues, and I when I set them aside here, I really like the style of this album. It's vintage, but fresh at the same time 4/5

Lemonade

Beyoncé

5/5

You ever have an album that sounds cool, and it's on your list for a long time without you ever hearing it, and then you feel kinda stupid when you do hear it because it's as good as everyone said it was? So anyway, I'm gonna buy this album 5/5

A Live One

Phish

3/5

Phish is one of those bands that I struggle with as someone who had a lot of them and Grateful Dead forcibly shoved down my throat at an impressionable age. I like some of what they do, they've put out at least one good album, and I saw Trey live and really enjoyed it. However. I don't like live albums, so being asked to appreciate a live Phish album is a tall order for me. One thing this album has going for it is that I've always loved this version of Bouncing Round the Room, and didn't know this was the source until now. Then the second song lasted for what felt like the length of an entire album. That's about what I thought this would be. It's not bad at all, in fact it's good for a live album, but it doesn't particularly speak to me either 3/5

Transatlanticism

Death Cab for Cutie

4/5

Weirdly enough, I found this album in a drawer the other day. My wife has it, and doesn't really have an organizational system for her CDs at this point. I was wondering what it sounded like, and now I know. It's not particularly my kind of thing, since this era of rock largely passed me by. However, the harmonies are great, and it leads to the album having a bunch of fun little longs that are well crafted and well produced. 4/5

Boys And Girls in America

The Hold Steady

3/5

The individual songs on this album are really fun, but it started to wear thin after awhile. I don't particularly enjoy his voice, and most of the songs seem to be about substance abuse, which is fine, but again it gets boring after a while 3/5

Not Animal

Margot & The Nuclear So And So's

4/5

Man, I really thought from the band name and the first track that this was going to be an psychedelic album. It's a much more straightforward folk album. I'm not a huge folk guy, but it's some good, solid modern folk. The lead singer has a very pleasant voice that brings a lot of life to the simplicity of the music 4/5

How to Operate With a Blown Mind

Lo Fidelity Allstars

4/5

This shit is dope as hell. I want this album 4/5

Geogaddi

Boards of Canada

4/5

For some reason, my brain always wants Boards of Canada to sound like a modern version of Grand Funk Railroad, and it always takes a while to adjust my brain to their pleasantly ambient brand of electronica. Also they're Scottish, which is probably why this is so good, since Scottish musicians are somehow superior to all other nationalities, at least in the English-speaking world. This album is great. It's slow paced and relaxing, but it holds my interest. I think this is an album I'd like to own in the future 4/5

Bob Mould

3/5

Fuck, that album went by really fast. I thought it was good overall, but it did feel a little generic 90s at times. Bob Mould is someone that I love, and Zen Arcade is one of the albums that showed me how deep punk music could go, but this one just didn't speak to me that much, and that's okay 3/5

Dimanche à Bamako

Amadou & Mariam

4/5

I've listened to this album multiple times across multiple days, and still haven't thought of anything to write down about it, but it's great. The music is fun and well put together. I would definitely buy this album if I saw it for $30 4/5

Ænima

TOOL

5/5

I've been listening to this album for close to 30 years, so I don't need to hear it again to rate it, but I'll certainly take the opportunity. I love this album. Tool is one of those bands that I want to like more than I do, but I was never able to get into their other albums like this one. This album, though, is incredible. It just grabs you and drags you along on this incredible journey. The music, the production, the lyrics, Maynard's voice, everything about it works. It doesn't come together like this for any of Tool's other albums, but that's okay. This is the Tool album for me 5/5

Savage Sinusoid

Igorrr

4/5

What a fun, eccentric metal album. It's filled with folk music and symphonic overtones, with plenty of double kick pedal to dance to. I don't always love the vocals, but that's not unusual for me with metal. This is one I want to spend more time with 4/5

Come On Over

Shania Twain

3/5

I don't know about this one, fam. It's not bad, but I was also ready for it to end about 20 seconds into the second song (the first is a banger, of course). Her voice is good, and there is a decent variety in the songs, but the music felt uninspired overall 3/5

The Fame

Lady Gaga

5/5

I had a false start with this one because I got a YouTube version that didn't have any of the popular songs. I own this album, so you'd think I would have figured that out faster, but my wife is more into Lady Gaga. Y'all don't need me to tell you about his album, you've heard most of the songs on it. It's really solid throughout. Great, buzzy-ass synths pumping out techno. Her lyrics are super fun to sing along to. Fuck it. This is the second pop album I'm giving 5 stars to this week (I got Lemonade earlier this week) 5/5

Carolina Confessions

The Marcus King Band

4/5

Usually, this brand of southern rock isn't my thing. Dude has a beautiful voice, though, and he does a good job of mixing in soul and gospel into the music. Nice amount of variety in the music too. I thought this album was a really pleasant surprise 4/5

Control

Pedro The Lion

3/5

I liked this album at first, but it started to feel a little samey after a while. I don't love the dude's voice (or the lyrics, or something about the singing, idk), but I think the music is good overall. It's not bad, but I wasn't that far into the album before I was ready for it to be done 3/5

Crystal Castles

3/5

This album really tended oscillate between being something I was really enjoying and something I found pretty grating. I couldn't even really tell you what it was, but sometimes I found myself wanting to be done with the album, and then it would draw me back in. It's fine overall, especially for 2008, but at the same time it's hard to give it more than 3 stars 3/5

Blue Is The Colour

The Beautiful South

3/5

This is one of those albums where there's nothing specifically that I dislike about it, but it really just feels like its not for me. I think perhaps the music took too much of a background to the singing for my taste. Their voices are great, and they harmonize well, but it just never drew me in 3/5

The Beautiful Letdown

Switchfoot

2/5

I try not to be too shitty about the user submitted albums, since someone took the time to select this because it was important to them, but This sounds like if Creed started taking estrogen supplements. I had it playing in my office and left to get something, and I was disappointed that it was still playing when I got back 2/5 The music is reasonably palatable, but it's just so sensitive

Hadestown

Anaïs Mitchell

5/5

Man, this kind of shit is why I keep going with this list. I've never heard of this album or Anais Mitchell, but this is such a cool idea and it's so well executed. The music is super solid throughout, and the vocals so incredible I don't know what to say about them. The fucking star power on this album alone is unbelievable, but everyone is used so well. So many familiar voices slotted in exactly where they fit. 5/5 I successfully fought off the urge to buy this album before I'd finished listening to it, but my daughter will probably get this one for christmas, and she will like it, goddamnit (unironically, she will love this fucking album, and we can probably catch the tour of the musical for her birthday)

No Balance Palace

Kashmir

4/5

Overall really cool. I don't know that this would have piqued my interest if I heard any individual song, but the fuckers won me over eventually 4/5

Stranger In Town

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

4/5

It's always fun to find out that basically all of the songs that you know by an artist come from one album. I wasn't too excited about this one, but it's a fucking solid album with a ton of great songs. After the hits are exhausted, it's still pretty good 4/5

Pop

GAS

4/5

It's hard to rate ambient music, since it's very hard to know from moment to moment if it's meaningful or even enjoyable, but I know that bad ambient would wear on me relatively fast, whereas this just played pleasantly in the background and I thought it was cool 4/5

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

5/5

I fucking love this album. I don't have any idea how to describe it. I've seen GYBE live before, and I know how to describe that even less. It's just so much more than the sum of its parts. It's so slow and deliberate, yet it's free and never feels stilted. It just builds and builds and builds, and what's even better is that it feels so meaningful despite the fact that very few words are said anywhere on the album. It touches on something deeper than words 5/5

Please Don't Take Me Back

Martha

3/5

This album is pretty fun overall. It's solid pop punk with good production and solid songwriting. This type of pop punk has never been my thing, so it's hard to give it too high of a rating, but I also don't really have any criticisms of it. It's just not really my thing 3/5

Deltron 3030

4/5

Deltron has such a distinctive flow, and his skill is on full display here. Dan the Automator's production is excellent and fits perfectly with what Del is doing. This album doesn't feel like it's 25 years old at all 4/5

Clarity

Jimmy Eat World

3/5

Well, I've listened to this album twice now, only for it to leave next to no impression on me. It's not bad, but I prefer the previous Jimmy Eat World album I got on this list. Overall, this is just not my subgenre of rock, but I think they write good songs and get a lot out of their production 3/5

Version 2.0

Garbage

4/5

I found this album to be a pleasant surprise. I liked Garbage okay when I was younger, but I wasn't terribly impressed with the other Garbage album that I got on this list. This one, however, felt really fresh and interesting with all the techno elements mixed in. 4/5 Really fun listen

Ruin

The Amazing Devil

4/5

What the fuck even is this? There's no wikipedia page, which I wanted to look at just to see what you call this genre. I'm calling this Epic Folk. It's cool. Not at all what I was expecting from the cover art, but it's very well executed. Their duets are well-constructed, and they each really hold up their end. The music is really stirring and goes on these great slow builds. 4/5, someone make a wikipedia page for this band so I know what the fuck they are

The Lioness

Songs: Ohia

3/5

This one just didn't speak to me. I didn't like the lead singer's voice, which is always a killer. The music progressed slowly. I don't think it's bad, but I didn't find myself enjoying it much either 3/5

Blizzard Of Ozz

Ozzy Osbourne

4/5

I'm sure the lingering nostalgia from Ozzy's death is having a bit of an effect here, but the older I get, the more I appreciate what a titanic talent Ozzy Ozbourne was, and how good he was at surrounding himself with similar talent. This album is another example. Just a powerhouse from soup to nuts. A great listen, and something I really need to add to my personal collection 4/5

The General Electric

Shihad

3/5

The music is pretty fun on this album, but the lyrics are not great and really start to grate on me from time to time. I don't think this album is bad, but if the lead songwriter dug a bit deeper with the lyrics, I think this album could be really cool 3/5

Latin Mass

Os Mundi

4/5

It's definitely easy to see how this band was a critical ingredient in the stew that became Krautrock. This is certainly much more of a psychedelic band, but there are clear elements of Krautrock here as well. Honestly, it helps put where Krautrock started in a lot of context, since this album's influences don't seem as mysterious as those of the genre it helped spawn. Lots of heavy ass distorted guitar, which is always a nice feature in such an early album 4/5 Clearly a very influential album that is fun to listen to in its own right

O

Damien Rice

3/5

This is another one of those albums that is not particularly my thing, but I can see why people like it. He has a beautiful voice, and he uses it really effectively. The music doesn't do a lot for me, but it's there to accompany him anyway 3/5

John Coltrane And Johnny Hartman

John Coltrane

4/5

This album was a pleasant surprise, since I felt like the main album was sorely lacking in Coltrane and other jazz giants. I've never been a huge fan of the crooning singing style that Hartman employs, but that's more of a personal preference issue. He has a beautiful voice, and Coltrane is sublime as always 4/5

Wild Planet

The B-52's

4/5

This fuckin band. Every time I get one of their albums, I think it's going to be the one that I don't like very much, but they fuckin win me over every time. They are just so weird, but they know how to bring it musically and make everything work 4/5

Singles

Future Islands

3/5

I didn't really get this one. I like synthpop, but this didn't really do it for me. Also, dude seems like he's doing a David Bowie impression a lot of the time 3/5

Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera

4/5

This album took a little while to hook me, but the longer I listened, the more interesting I found it. It definitely feels very interested by the contemporary work of the Beatles, but it does its own thing, and the band makes things interesting. Really cool psychedelic album that tries some stuff and makes a lot of it work 4/5

Time's Up

Living Colour

4/5

Reviewed this, then lost it somehow. I liked the sound of the first album better. This one is cool, Living Colour is still an incredible band after all, but it just doesn't grab me the way the first one did 4/5

Forced Witness

Alex Cameron

4/5

This was another album that won me over slowly, despite not thinking much of it at first. It has a super 1980s sound, but it doesn't feel cheap or lazy, and he keeps it consistent and interesting enough through the whole album. I can't say that I'm going to come back to this one, but I gotta give the guy credit for committing to the bit and executing it well 4/5

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Various Artists

4/5

I've always had sort of a weird relationship with Rocky Horror Picture Show, since I didn't really understand the concept of camp when I was younger. The songs are fun, though this drags a bit as an album towards the end. However, all things considered, this album is well executed for what it is, and I think I have to give it a 4 for its influence on the sexuality of multiple generations of misfits either way 4/5

Last Splash

The Breeders

4/5

Just a really solid alternative rock album from a band with a lot of pedigree. It's too bad that the Pixies weren't able to make it work with two great songwriters, but it's a great consolation that we got the Breeders instead. You hear more of a shoegaze influence here than on Pixies albums, which complements Kim Deal's style well 4/5

Go Farther In Lightness

Gang of Youths

3/5

This music was all fine, but it didn't really speak to me. Everything was competently done, but it felt generic to my ears 3/5

Cor-Crane Secret

Polvo

4/5

You know what, I've listened to this album 3 times now, and I still don't know how to describe it, but I really like it. The Wikipedia page mentions both Pavement and Sonic Youth, and this album feels like a mix of both of those bands, but there's something else here too that I'm struggling to define. It kinda has some of the Midwest emo movement that came long after it. Regardless, really cool distorted guitar instrumentals, with 90s art rock style vocals. It fucks, you should check it out, but you probably are in the process of doing that if you're reading this 4/5

Puzzle

Biffy Clyro

3/5

This may be the first Scottish album that I haven't given 4 stars to. This is one of those where it comes down more to a matter of opinion than anything, but this brand of rock largely passed me by, and doesn't really grab me when I hear it now. I think the music sounds good overall, and the production is excellent. The vocals are good to, it's just that none of it is my style 3/5 A tragic day for the great nation of Scotland

Misplaced Childhood

Marillion

4/5

One fun thing about the user-submitted version of this list, is that I consistently get albums that I really don't know what to make of. It's a neat challenge to think about how to describe and analyze something that doesn't easily lend itself to comparison to works I'm more familiar with. This is like an 80s synth-based prog rock album. I'm not much of a prog guy, which somewhat limits my ceiling with this album, but it's very competently made, and I have to give them credit for crafting something that does not resemble a lot of other works. It takes itself too seriously at times, which is kinda always my issue with prog rock, but I'm glad I listened to it. It's a really solid album 4/5

A Black Mile To The Surface

Manchester Orchestra

3/5

On the one hand, this music is pretty cool, despite the fact that I initially thought it was Orchestral Maneouvers in the Dark, and was disappointed that this was not an early synth pop album. On the other hand, sometimes this dude sounds like autotuned James Taylor, which I don't care for. I think it's a good album overall, but it's also not really my thing, so it's hard to be too effusive in my praise either 3/5

Lahai

Sampha

4/5

This album was cool. It's a nice mixture between modern American-style R&B and African elements based around the artists' Sierra Leonean heritage. Sampha has a beautiful voice, and the music puts in a lot of work to keep the album interesting. It's sublime in lots of moments, but it always feels like it's threatening to become a dance album (in a good way) 4/5

Re

Café Tacvba

4/5

I had to listen to this one a few times before I could articulate my thoughts on it. I don't enjoy every song on this album, but I enjoy the album as a whole. The diversity in the musical styles they use is really cool, even it if makes it hard to describe this album in any coherent fashion. One thing I really appreciate about it is how it keeps changing, but it always feels familiar 4/5

Join Us

They Might Be Giants

4/5

I liked this more than I thought I would. I was always really ambivalent about TMBG going back to the 90s, but this is a fun album, and none of my annoying high school friends were forcing me to listen to it, which helped. I don't know that I find this particularly significant as an album, but it certainly gave me a bit more of an appreciation for this band and the incredibly longevity of their musical career 4/5

Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

Arctic Monkeys

3/5

I had a pretty strong negative reaction to Arctic Monkeys the first time I got them on this list, and my reaction to this album is similar, if a bit more muted. I think that liking this band must depend to some level on liking the lyrics. I don't find them meaningful, but I think I would enjoy this a lot more if I did. As it is, this album feels self-indulgent to me, and I didn't get very far through it before abandoning the effort. I don't think this album is bad like I did with the previous album, but this was clearly not for me 3/5

I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One

Yo La Tengo

4/5

I've listened to this album before, but for some reason, every time I put on a Yo La Tengo album, I expect it to be something way different than it is. It's like I forget what this band sounds like every time I stop listening to them. Overall, I like the album. The songs are fun, and there's a lot of variation in the music. It's clearly not an album that sticks in my head very much, but I enjoy listening to it for the first time, each time 4/5

Sunbather

Deafheaven

4/5

I fucking love chaotic, noisy stuff like this. I don't even know how or why, but this level of barely restrained musical insanity really speaks to me 4/5

The Great Outdoors Jam

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong

3/5

On the one hand, I'm glad that someone submitted this album, since I loved seeing jam bands when I was younger, but don't really have much knowledge of the modern scene. It's cool to see how the genre remains both very similar to its roots while changing over the years On the other hand, what jam bands do often doesn't translate well to an album format, and we definitely run into some of that here. I think it's all very pleasant to listen to, but it's the type of thing that is just far more engrossing in person than it is on a record. I enjoyed it fine, but jam music tends to get very samey very fast when you aren't there in person to respond to the energy of the crowd 3/5

To Be Kind

Swans

4/5

I've really never listened to Swans before, but color me intrigued after this one. I'm generally a fan of experimental rock, and this hit the sweet spot for me. Reminds me of Godspeed You Black Emperor in places, but they definitely have their own thing going. I'm going to have to check out their other stuff and see how far the magic spreads 4/5

Young, Loud And Snotty

Dead Boys

4/5

The beginning of punk often gets ascribed to a pair of movements in New York and London that created rival forms of the same genre. It's funny, then, to think about how much the American Midwest contributed to early punk. This is one of the earliest punk albums recorded, and it has a very different flavor than the NY or British punk scenes. It feels like much more of a bridge between early punk and the more mainstream rock bands like Boston. The sound is great, which is always a plus for early punk albums. Glad this one was on the list 4/5

I And Love And You

The Avett Brothers

4/5

This album was fun overall. Folk rock has never really been my thing, and this is definitely folk rock, but they put their own spin on it and make it enjoyable to listen to 4/5

For Emma, Forever Ago

Bon Iver

5/5

I own this album. I keep listening to it with the intention of rating it, but instead I just listen to it and go about my day. It's fall here now, and this is the perfect fall album. It's sweater weather distilled into a plaintiff voice singing songs of love to someone who seems so far away now 5/5

Pony Express Record

Shudder To Think

2/5

Fuck it. I have tried to listen to this album so many times without reviewing it, and I lose interest in it almost immediately every time. I don't think it's horrible or anything, but this album is not for me to the extent that I think I might be developing an allergy to it 2/5

Diamonds & Gasoline

Turnpike Troubadours

3/5

This is another one of those albums that is totally fine, and I can see why someone would like it, but it doesn't work for me. I really have no connection to modern country since so much of modern pop country is essentially AI Slop: The Album. This album isn't that, and I think I would tolerate modern country better if more of it was like this. Alas, we are where we are, and I didn't connect to this album all that well 3/5

Watch Out!

Alexisonfire

3/5

This album was fine, but really not my thing 3/5

Oncle Jazz

Men I Trust

4/5

Just and overall relaxing and pleasant album that didn't feel dull while I was listening to. The vocal harmonies do a lot to pull this all together 4/5

Nurture

Porter Robinson

4/5

On one hand, this was sort of an ambient poppy electronic album that felt a bit genetic at times. But on the other hand, it kept catching my interest, and it always felt like there was more happening under the surface. Overall, I gotta say that I liked it 4/5

The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me

Brand New

3/5

This album was fine, but it also didn't really make much of an impression me. Like, I've listened to it 1.5 times, and I still couldn't really describe it other than that it is a rock album from the mid-00's. Not bad at all, but I can't really say that I got into it 3/5

St. Louis To Liverpool

Chuck Berry

3/5

Generally, I really like getting to listen to actual albums from the early period of rock, since it often gives me a much different feel for the artist and their influences. In this case, it left me kind of cold. There's a lot of great stuff here, don't get me wrong, and I'm not trying to disparage Chuck Berry's musical legacy in any way (though I'm happy to disparage several of his actions as a person). Outside of the hits, the record gets samey pretty fast. I'm sure there's plenty of nuance here that I'm not picking up on, but several of the songs seem to have the same intro, and the guitar riffs can be similar from song to song as well. Also, I just got to the end, and the last song appears to be about a high school sophomore, which will never cease to be weird to me 3/5 The songs I already knew are still great, but this album dragged a bit too much for me to give it a 4

Things We Lost In The Fire

Low

4/5

This was another album that just kinda slowly grew on me. I didn't think all that much of it at first, but the vocals end up being consistently good across the album, and the music is always right there to match it. It's not overwhelming, but there's a lot here. 4/5

MOMENTUM

Calibro 35

4/5

You know what, you give me a modern funk band to review, and 9 times out of 10 I'm going to give it a positive review because I just love funk. This is one of those 9 times. This shit is solid and cinematic. It feels modern and classic at the same moment 4/5

Madvillainy

Madvillain

5/5

This is one of those albums that I think requires you to pay a bit more attention than many of the albums on this list. The music is great and it's easy to enjoy, and MF DOOM's rapping is solid throughout, but I feel like it's one of those albums that I get more out of the more I listen to it. It's not exactly the record to throw on if you want a dance party, but if you want a hip-hop album to really dissect because it runs deep, this shit is always right here for you 5/5

Pop Art

Transvision Vamp

4/5

This was a cool pop album that I was totally unfamiliar with. It starts out sounding kinda like Flaunt It by Sigue Sigue Sputnik, except less abrasive. This album branches out from there, though, and it's really solid throughout. Her voice kind of reminds me of Gwen Steffani as well, though again, less abrasive 4/5

Save Rock And Roll

Fall Out Boy

2/5

I can't say that this sounds bad, but it really really didn't speak to me. Too be fair, I'm not a fan of Fall Out Boy, so I didn't think it was going to, but I've been pleasantly surprised before. This just felt really generic to me 2/5 Also, doing a sequel to We Didn't Start the Fire is an unforgivable lapse in judgement. I'm not saying that this played into my rating here, but I just want to state for the record that I hate it and the entire thought process that led to it

One Time for All Time

65daysofstatic

4/5

This album was cool. I don't always have a lot to say about noise/post-rock albums, but this one clicked for me. It's reasonably melodic, and it has a great feel to it, lots of energy 4/5

"Awaken, My Love!"

Childish Gambino

4/5

Well, I don't know why I was expecting a rap album, but this is definitely not a rap album. It kinda feels like a late entry in the neo-soul movement of the 00s/early 10s. It's interesting. It's so different from my expectations that I think I'll have to listen again to truly review it, but I don't have time for that now, so 4/5

Penguin Eggs

Nic Jones

3/5

This type of folk music never really works for me, so I didn't connect with this much, but I also can't say that I dislike it. He has a nice voice and he crafts good songs that he performs well. It's not my thing, but if this is your thing, than I can only assume that it will really really be your thing 3/5

Once Upon a Rhyme

David Allan Coe

4/5

I get really irritated at what modern country has become, given the incredible foundation that it's built on. I'm usually not excited when I get assigned a country album on this list, but I usually end up really enjoying it all the same. I know that all modern music has become meaningless pap in some sense, but goddamnit I hate modern country. Anyway, this album is great. Great voice, solid lyrics, great music. Fuck yeah, old country 4/5

Get To Heaven

Everything Everything

4/5

This album was cool. I can't say that I was overwhelmed by its greatness at any one point, but the whole album is solid and interesting. Blending dark lyrics with happy music is a generally a winning combination, and it definitely is here 4/5

John Dawson Winter III

Johnny Winter

2/5

I don't know about this one. I thought maybe it would be like that Bob Seger album where I wasn't excited going in, but then it turns out that all the Seger bangers are on one album. This album just never interested me at all. It was like I kept expecting to hear Rock n Roll Hoochie Koo, because every song sounds like Rock n Roll Hoochie Koo, but I never get to hear Rock n Roll Hoochie Koo, and I'm weirdly disappointed even though I don't like Rock n Roll Hoochie Koo. Anyway, I'm giving this album 2 stars. I think I'm going to go listen to Blue Oyster Cult and wash this taste out of my mouth 2/5

Modal Soul

Nujabes

4/5

Sometimes you just get the perfect album at the perfect time. I've been listening to a lot of hip-hop producer albums lately (e.g. RJD2's Deadringer), so this album had its finger on my pulse. I really liked it overall. I would have preferred more instrumental tracks so you could hear what he's doing more clearly, but this album is really solid and clearly influential 4/5

Inside

Bo Burnham

4/5

It's interesting to evaluate this album in isolation from the video. Some of the songs feel a little cloying without the visual input that Bo provides. It's still good, but I would certainly go for the video version rather than the album if I had my druthers 4/5

Blink-182

blink-182

2/5

Oh god, I just instantly dislike this album. I really try not to be too harsh here in the user-submitted albums, since I don't love it when people are shitty about my submitted album. This music just doesn't speak to me, and I don't understand how this even builds on the previous work by the band and in the genre. It's not as punk as their early stuff, but it also doesn't feel like they quite mastered emo either. One thing that I can say for this is that it occasionally has some nice harmonies. I really wish they did a bit more with harmony, since I really dislike the lead singer's voice. Anyway, this is just becoming Old Man Yells At Internet About His Hatred for Pop Punk. It's fine if this is an album that really speaks to you. For me, it's one of those where I listen to 4 songs to get a good sample, and then I forget that it ever existed. 2/5

Dead Man's Party

Oingo Boingo

4/5

I don't know. This sounds like roughly like I thought it was going to, having heard the songs Dead Man's Party and Weird Science before. I know that lots of folks are very impressed with Oingo Boingo, and don't get me wrong I enjoyed this album, but I feel like I might be missing something. I'll come back to it in the future and see if it clicks a bit more with me. Either way, you gotta admit that Danny Elfman can write a hell of a song 4/5

Bon Iver

5/5

I've been in love with this album so long, it's weird to try and evaluate it now. It's beautiful. Just a completely ethereal, heartfelt expression of soul from a man who's voice is an incredible instrument and who knows exactly how to use it for greatest effect. His music became less accessible over the years, but this album truly is the sweet spot for me. It's the auditory equivalent of sitting in front of a fire wrapped up in a blanket while the cold world howls off in the distance. I love it 5/5

Suzuki

Tosca

4/5

I don't have a huge amount to say about this album, but it's a good listen. Really solid all the way through. I didn't ever focus on it too much, but I never found it dull either 4/5

Black Devil Disco Club

5/5

It's amazing how you grow older and you learn things you never knew about yourself. Like, if you told me when I was 16 that Satanic Disco is a genre tailor made to make me feel good, I would have told you that you were crazy for multiple reasons. Yet, here we are, and I need you all to know that I pledge my fealty to the Lord of the Dance, sweet Satan himself 5/5

F♯ A♯ ∞

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

5/5

I have no idea what to say about GYBE albums, nor do I think having a lot to describe about the music and vocal content is particularly the point of their albums. They just are, and you either feel it or you don't. This is one of my favorites, but then again, the current one I'm listening to is always one of my favorites. I love this band so fucking much. Go see them live if you can 5/5

Metallic K.O.

The Stooges

3/5

I like the Stooges, I think they are one of the most underrated and important bands in rock history. I'm sure these shows would have been a fucking blast to be at live. However, the recording just isn't there. You can hear Iggy way above the rest of the band, so the parts where he's not doing much, I either need to listen to it with very little happening, or turn it up and wait for Iggy to blow out my eardrums by yelling the word "Bitch" over and over. These sorts of albums are important, and they provide a lot of insight into musical history, but as something to listen to, it's not an album I'm likely to choose to put on. Still, 3/5

Keep It like a Secret

Built To Spill

4/5

If the 90s was an album, it would sound like this. I enjoyed this album overall. I never felt blown away, but it was good from the beginning, and remained solid throughout. Just really solid poppy alternative rock 4/5

A Deeper Understanding

The War On Drugs

4/5

This was pretty similar to the last War on Drugs album I got on this list. A nice modern rock album that just oozes 80s influence from every pore. The style of the music caught me less off guard than the last album, so I wasn't as enamoured with this one, but it is still an excellent album, especially for us aging millennials who want the world to sound familiar as we slowly slip into senility 4/5

Ida Con Snock

Michael Hurley

4/5

Thought this album was a cool, stripped down folk album. I'm never all that much of a folk guy, but I found this pleasant to listen to overall 4/5

Up

Great Big Sea

3/5

This is a fun album overall, but it didn't really speak to me. I guess when it's all said and done, I'm just a land lubber 3/5

Portishead

4/5

I liked this one better than Dummy. I've always wanted to like Portishead, since I really enjoy their contemporaries, and the individual components of the group seem to add up to a great mix. I honestly think the reason I don't like this band more is that they mix the vocals too loud, so you can't hear the music very distinctly. The music is great, but it tends to sit murkily in the background. She has a great voice, but I feel like a more balanced mix would do a lot for me and this band. Still, I did like it 4/5

Diamond Jubilee

Cindy Lee

4/5

I'm not usually a fan of double albums, let alone triple albums, but this album is perfect to throw on and let play in the background while you work. Just really solid music throughout with plenty of variety. Overall just very calm and relaxed rock album with a lot of thought and effort put into it 4/5

Jaco Pastorius

4/5

This is one that I've had for a long time on vinyl, but it's been several years since I revisited it. I feel the same that I ever did. The Sam and Dave song is a banger. Jaco is a true master of his instrument, and this album deserves recognition just for showing so many bassists from future generations what was possible. At the same time, it occasionally feels like endless guitar solos, but worse because it's a bass. Still, it's an important album, and I rate it thusly 4/5

Ram

Paul McCartney

4/5

Was Paul McCartney the only talented member of the Beatles? No. They were all talented, although John's solo work makes me question his contributions sometimes. But, Paul may have been the most talented of the group. Everything I've heard from his 70s post-Beatles career is stellar. Just filled with well-crafted catchy songs. This album is another one of those. I don't love any of these albums the way I love All Things Must Pass, but it's remarkable that Paul had so many great songs in him, and that he managed to be so prolific right off the bat after leaving the biggest band in the world 4/5

Gotcha! Gotcha! Gotcha!

Gotcha!

4/5

Listening to this album, it seems like they were inspired by Living Color and Faith No More, and fair on them. I didn't enjoy this quite as much as those groups, but it's still some solid heavy funk in the late 80s/early 90s tradition 4/5

The Hazards of Love

The Decemberists

4/5

This was a fun surprise. I find myself getting into these modern rock operas more and more lately, probably because other people are finally forcing me to listen to them via this list. This reminded me a lot of Hadestown, which I absolutely loved. I didn't love this one quite as much, but I'm still putting it on my list of albums to pick up on vinyl 4/5

The Black Parade

My Chemical Romance

3/5

I've heard about this band for a while, so I was curious when I got this album, but it's definitely a "not bad, but not for me" type of situation. I've liked some of the emo stuff that I've gotten on this list, but I just didn't connect with this one as quite as much 3/5

Promises

Floating Points

4/5

I put this album on and listened for a while, and thought "This first song is going on for a long time." I was on the 7th song. This shit is ambient with a capital A. I generally like these albums, though they are not something that I tend to come back to afterwards. Like a lot of Brian Eno's stuff, I think it's just great, but I pass over it at the record store because I never know which ambient album to buy, or even which ones I like Still, 4/5

Alexisonfire

2/5

This album is just 100% not for me 2/5

Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides

SOPHIE

5/5

This one took me a second to get into it, but once I got used to it, I really liked this album. Her vocals are great, and musically you never know what's around the last corner. Lots of variety, and not afraid to be a bit abrasive at times. This one is going on my list to pick up on vinyl 5/5

II

Espers

4/5

Really enjoyed this album. The harmonies were great, and the music fit perfectly 4/5

Out Of Time

R.E.M.

4/5

This one was actually kind of a disappointment, despite the fact that I gave it a 4. Since this album came out right before Automatic for the People, an album that I dearly love, I was hoping that this album was similar. It was still good, it's still an REM album after all, but it Automatic for the People is a 5 star album for me, while this one was more of a 4 star. It just felt less consistent, and the highs weren't as high 4/5

Piñata

Freddie Gibbs

4/5

Madlib is just a hell of a producer, and his skill is on full display here. Great samples that lift the lyrics up and make them work. The album also has a great list of collaborators, though I'm pretty sure it would have worked as an instrumental too 4/5

Emotional Mugger

Ty Segall

4/5

I've listened to this a couple of times now, and I never take any notes on the album, but I at least remember liking it the second time. I fear my brain has reached the end of its usefulness and I will fade slowly into the void of senility 4/5

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Vince Guaraldi Trio

4/5

It's my favorite Christmas album! Vince Guaraldi is such an incredible piano player, and he gives this album such a distinctive feel. If nothing else. Linus and Lucy is a bop and a half 4/5

10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

4/5

I wasn't terribly excited about this, since I'm not much for blues and Shepherd's previous work didn't leave much of an impression on me. This, however, is a really cool idea and I think he did a great job with it. It gives you a high quality recording to help introduce a new generation to the classic era of the blues. I think it would have been easy to do this cynically or poorly, but Shepherd does a good job keeping the light on the blues greats while making the music interesting 4/5

Telefone

Noname

4/5

I wasn't familiar with this album at all before today, but it hooked me fast. Music is solid, and her lyrics are good (to the extent I was able to absorb them on one listen). This one went by too quickly! 4/5

Cold Fact

Rodríguez

3/5

This album just really didn't make much of an impression on me. I put it on and listened to the whole thing, and didn't even really notice when it ended. Not bad, by any means, but it certainly didn't hold me interest well either 3/5

No Talking Just Head

The Heads

4/5

I was skeptical of a talking heads without David Byrne, but if he can't be bothered to make another Talking Heads album, I guess the rest of the band will. I don't think it sounds particularly like a Talking Heads album, so it was easy for me not to make those comparisons. On it's own, it's a great album for 1996 that manages to do it's own thing really well 4/5

10,000 Days

TOOL

4/5

This was pretty much the album where Tool and I parted ways. It's not a bad album in any way. It's Tool, of course it's good. The problem is that I found their earlier work much more engrossing and fun to listen to, while their later work just doesn't do as much for me. I don't dislike this at all, the problem is much more that I loved Aenima and that era so much that it was just difficult for me to follow Tool on their journey. Still, I can't give it a bad grade because I liked their older albums. This album just marked the point at which I stopped feeling like I needed to rush out and get their albums when they appear. once a decade 4/5 despite all my complaining

News at 11

Cat System Corp.

4/5

Reading about this, I thought this was a stupid idea, but I suppose there's a reason why I actually listen to these albums rather that voting based on the wikipedia page. I don't even know why this works, but it does. It feels so out of time and yet it keeps bringing you back to that morning. For those of us old enough to remember 9/11, that even has a kind of power that this album taps into in a way that manages not to feel cynical. I wouldn't have thought that possible, since no event has been treated with more cynicism in human history than 9/11. I can't explain it, but it is done just right 4/5

California

Mr. Bungle

4/5

Mr. Bungle is one of those bands that I never really go wild for, but I like everything of theirs that I hear. Mike Patton's voice is really the glue that holds this band together, and what a voice it is. Overall, just a cool album that gives something very different on each track, but doesn't feel jarring as you go from song to song. 4/5

Peasant

Richard Dawson

3/5

I like this better than most folk music, since folk music isn't particularly my thing, and he brings a pretty interesting approach. Overall, though, I didn't really get into this album. Not a bad album by any means, I just wasn't feeling it 3/5

First Utterance

Comus

4/5

I approached the words "Progressive Folk" with intense dread. No offense to either genre, but I don't really connect with folk, and I don't really connect with prog rock either. However, whatever this is, it works for me. It reminds me of Godspeed You Black Emperor at times with how darkly ambient it can be before swelling back into a song 4/5

Djarimirri

Gurrumul

5/5

I didn't write any notes about this while I was listening because I never knew what to say at any point. I love it, though. It's part classical and part ambient with lots of unusual instruments thrown in for good measure. The vocals sound like folk music, and fit perfectly. I'm buying this shit 5/5

Autobiografia

Duncan Dhu

3/5

This one didn't make much of an impression on me. The vocals and music are nice enough, but I didn't ever find myself getting into it 3/5

Emotion

Carly Rae Jepsen

4/5

As has become a tradition for the pop star-driven albums that I get on this list, I liked this one more than I thought it would. The music feels pretty familiar now, but this level of synth pop was less prevalent in 2015. Overall, it's a really solid pop album. I wish the lyrics were a bit more interesting, but this one is a really pleasant listen overall 4/5

Boxer

The National

3/5

This album just made no impression on me. I didn't dislike it, but I barely noticed when it was playing. I'll toss it 3 stars because there was nothing I objected to about it, but if I could give it 2.5 grey rocks, I would 3/5

Korn

4/5

I've always had the weirdest relationship with this band, because I used to talk endless shit about them because it annoyed Ko(backwards r)n fans. Overall, I think this album is an interesting work for 1994, and I don't want to hang what nu metal became on this album. I think the followup album was better, but this album lays some good groundwork for that album. I don't think I'll ever love this band, but my god their music has aged better than so many of their contemporaries Also, I forgot this motherfucker plays the bagpipes. I wish they would have used that more, especially since it would have reduced the amount he was singing, but it's awesome to have the pipe accompaniment to Shoots and Ladders. I am going to say that I hate the fucking cover of this album, though. I understand that they were trying to be edgy, but that line between edgy and creepy can be pretty thin, and I think they missed their mark here 4/5

Pulse

Pink Floyd

4/5

I don't usually love live albums, and I would be hard pressed to describe myself as loving this one, but I have a hard time finding fault with it at the same time. The recording quality is really solid. The vocals could be better. It's really interesting to listen to a group that had so many different eras in their career play a show that spans their career. It's far more interesting with Pink Floyd that with most bands, which I think is why I looked on this album relatively favorably. It feels like a nice retrospective, rather than making me feel like I missed out by not being there 4/5

Weezer

4/5

Reflecting back on the 90s a generation later provides some weird results. Like, if you told me that Weezer's first album featured some of the heaviest distortion I've ever heard, I'd be sure you were wrong, but the overdrive is fucking strong with this one. I think this album aged pretty well overall. I've never been the biggest fan of this group, but I also can't deny that the album is well-executed and fits perfectly well into the time when it was created 4/5

Alive 2007

Daft Punk

5/5

I have shit on so many live albums on this list, and I pretty much always come away from them feeling like I'm missing something by listening to the live recording. This album is the true exception. I've loved this album forever. Just an incredible recording that shows how amazing this band was live. Banger after banger after banger after banger. 5/5

WORRY

Jeff Rosenstock

3/5

This album was pretty fun overall, but it felt generic in parts for when it was made. Some of this is probably the fact that I tend not to like pop punk overall. Still, I enjoyed some parts of this album, though I would have rated it more highly if it was a bit more consistent 3/5

Blade Runner

Vangelis

4/5

I don't have a huge amount to say about this, since on one hand it's a soundtrack and it sounds like a soundtrack, but also it's fairly ambient at times. Still it's a cool listen and definitely ranks up there as one of the great stand-alone original scores 4/5

Maestro

Kaizers Orchestra

4/5

I just got over being sick and I have a migraine and I'm frankly pretty sleep deprived and feeling a bit too psychedelic to adequately criticize music at the moment, but this strike me just fine so I'm not going to over think it 4/5 Also, anything from 2005 that doesn't sound like complete garbage is one of those wins you just need to take

Reconstruction Site

The Weakerthans

2/5

Man, this just wasn't for me. I will say that their music videos were fun, though 2/5

Sparkle In The Finish

The Ike Reilly Assassination

3/5

I've been on a run of albums that I think are fine, but just don't really get into. This was another one. Totally fine, but I listened to it twice, and I still don't know what to say about it. I have a headache, though, so I'm not going to be too harsh here 3/5

Rose Mountain

Screaming Females

3/5

This album was pretty fun. Real 90s feel for an album made in the 2010s. My attention kinda waivered on this one from track to track, but there were parts of it that I thought were excellent 3/5

Dancing In The Dragon's Jaws

Bruce Cockburn

3/5

This is another in a long line of albums that made virtually no impression on me. It could be because I've had a migraine for 5 straght fucking days at this point, but maybe I should just stop listening to new albums for a while until I get my ears back. Anyway, that's not Bruce's fault 3/5

Y Ahora Qué?

Reincidentes

4/5

I thought this album was really fun. I don't have a huge amount to say about it, but I got through multiple listens and enjoyed both of them 4/5

Alopecia

WHY?

4/5

This album is cool and weird, and it's hard to think of new stuff to day since I've been reviewing an album every weekday for more than 5 years now, but this one really struck me. Just the right kind of weird to draw me in like Pepe Le Pew (minus the lack of consent, that cartoon has not aged well). This album is sorta like Alopecia is Beck's kid, and he's a real chip off the old block who wants to get back to his roots in the mid 90s. 4/5

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