Journey Complete!
Finisher #379 to complete the list
1089
Albums Rated
3.15
Average Rating
100%
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1950s
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177
5-Star Albums
115
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
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Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
A Wizard, A True Star
Todd Rundgren
|
5 | 2.83 | +2.17 |
|
BEYONCÉ
Beyoncé
|
5 | 2.85 | +2.15 |
|
Greetings From L.A.
Tim Buckley
|
5 | 2.86 | +2.14 |
|
Kick Out The Jams (Live)
MC5
|
5 | 2.91 | +2.09 |
|
The Sun Rises In The East
Jeru The Damaja
|
5 | 2.92 | +2.08 |
|
Like Water For Chocolate
Common
|
5 | 2.95 | +2.05 |
|
Os Mutantes
Os Mutantes
|
5 | 2.98 | +2.02 |
|
Better Living Through Chemistry
Fatboy Slim
|
5 | 2.99 | +2.01 |
|
Vento De Maio
Elis Regina
|
5 | 3.01 | +1.99 |
|
Hearts And Bones
Paul Simon
|
5 | 3.02 | +1.98 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Back In Black
AC/DC
|
1 | 3.86 | -2.86 |
|
American Idiot
Green Day
|
1 | 3.77 | -2.77 |
|
Parallel Lines
Blondie
|
1 | 3.76 | -2.76 |
|
The Cars
The Cars
|
1 | 3.67 | -2.67 |
|
The Queen Is Dead
The Smiths
|
1 | 3.66 | -2.66 |
|
Here's Little Richard
Little Richard
|
1 | 3.57 | -2.57 |
|
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
|
1 | 3.55 | -2.55 |
|
Rio
Duran Duran
|
1 | 3.49 | -2.49 |
|
Strangeways, Here We Come
The Smiths
|
1 | 3.44 | -2.44 |
|
Different Class
Pulp
|
1 | 3.42 | -2.42 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Beatles | 7 | 4.86 |
| Led Zeppelin | 5 | 5 |
| David Bowie | 9 | 4.33 |
| Paul Simon | 3 | 5 |
| Simon & Garfunkel | 3 | 5 |
| Creedence Clearwater Revival | 3 | 5 |
| Black Sabbath | 3 | 5 |
| The White Stripes | 3 | 5 |
| The Doors | 3 | 5 |
| Miles Davis | 4 | 4.5 |
| Public Enemy | 3 | 4.67 |
| Jimi Hendrix | 3 | 4.67 |
| Yes | 3 | 4.67 |
| Van Morrison | 3 | 4.67 |
| Michael Jackson | 3 | 4.67 |
| Prince | 3 | 4.67 |
| Aretha Franklin | 2 | 5 |
| Common | 2 | 5 |
| Fela Kuti | 2 | 5 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins | 2 | 5 |
| LCD Soundsystem | 2 | 5 |
| Dolly Parton | 2 | 5 |
| Amy Winehouse | 2 | 5 |
| The Band | 2 | 5 |
| The Rolling Stones | 6 | 4.17 |
| Pink Floyd | 4 | 4.25 |
| U2 | 4 | 4.25 |
| The Beach Boys | 3 | 4.33 |
| Peter Gabriel | 3 | 4.33 |
| Marvin Gaye | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Leonard Cohen | 5 | 1.4 |
| Elvis Costello & The Attractions | 4 | 1.25 |
| Tom Waits | 5 | 1.6 |
| Neil Young & Crazy Horse | 3 | 1.33 |
| Def Leppard | 2 | 1 |
| Brian Eno | 5 | 1.8 |
| Sonic Youth | 5 | 1.8 |
| The Kinks | 4 | 1.75 |
| Morrissey | 4 | 1.75 |
| My Bloody Valentine | 3 | 1.67 |
| The Smiths | 3 | 1.67 |
| Kings of Leon | 3 | 1.67 |
| Pulp | 2 | 1.5 |
| Public Image Ltd. | 2 | 1.5 |
| The Undertones | 2 | 1.5 |
| Rod Stewart | 2 | 1.5 |
| Cocteau Twins | 2 | 1.5 |
| Love | 2 | 1.5 |
| The Jesus And Mary Chain | 2 | 1.5 |
| The Pogues | 2 | 1.5 |
| Dinosaur Jr. | 2 | 1.5 |
| AC/DC | 2 | 1.5 |
| Neil Young | 4 | 2 |
| The Who | 5 | 2.2 |
| The Cure | 3 | 2 |
| Roxy Music | 3 | 2 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Bruce Springsteen | 5, 4, 5, 4, 1 |
| Pink Floyd | 5, 2, 5, 5 |
| Kate Bush | 1, 3, 4 |
5-Star Albums (177)
View Album Wall
1-Star Albums (115)
All Ratings
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
Surprisingly good album. First album recommended by this site. Very cool sound. Definitely explore more of their music.
Arctic Monkeys
2/5
I liked this album more than their other stuff but I'm just not crazy about them in general. "Perhaps Vampires is a Bit Strong... But" is a good track. I like hearing the punk influence in their sound. Their music just does not speak to me. 2.5 stars.
Teenage Fanclub
2/5
Not my thing. Some interesting guitar work but the rest of the music seems uninspired. Post-punk (ish) sound similar to the strokes but without the hooks.
Beastie Boys
4/5
I've listened to this album several times in the past and never enjoyed it as much as I am right now. I'm noticing a lot of samples that I had missed on previous listens, noticeably Bonham's groove from "When the Levee Breaks" and the Black Sabbath guitar part from "Sweet Leaf" on "Rhymin' & Stealin'". There are a few tracks on here I never need to hear again, i.e. "Girls" and "Brass Monkey". Good album but I do not enjoy it as much as Ill Communication.
Genesis
4/5
The mixing on this album is stellar. Every ghost note on the snare is perfectly audible without the rest of the kit being overbearing. The guitar and vocal work are exceptional. All members of Genesis are masters of their instruments and of song craft. The album leans heavily towards prog-rock without being off-putting like other prog acts. From the albums wikipedia, "[The album] covered a number of themes, including the loss of English folk culture and an increased American influence, which was reflected in the title." which I think is a really interesting topic to cover. I'll have to dive deeper into the lyrics at another time.
Tom Waits
2/5
Starts off with a very cool groove on the title track, "Heartattack and Vines" and follows up with some great organ work on the instrumental jam "In Shades". His voice sounds like satire at times. Downtown is a very sultry tune ruined by a bad Bruce Springsteen impersonator. "Jersey Girl" is a lyrically driven love song straight off a Springsteen b-side. There were some enjoyable Americana influences but they were not enough to sustain my interest.
Metallica
4/5
I love this album.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
ZZ Top
3/5
Cool album. What you see is what you get. I imagine this was pretty groundbreaking when it first came out but it seems to me like the coolest version of dads jamming. "Jesus Just Left Chicago" is a noteworthy track.
Happy Mondays
1/5
Not my thing. I can definitely identify the Devo influence and I can see how bands like The Faint and LCD Sound system were inspired by them.
Frank Sinatra
4/5
Great album. Frank is the king. His version of "The Girl from Ipanema" is stellar.
Cat Stevens
5/5
Excellent. Soulful and overflowing with meaning. Stevens uses his voice perfectly as an instrument. It's a short album that makes it worth listening to on repeat.
Paul Simon
5/5
Timeless classic
Sinead O'Connor
3/5
A talented singer really expressing herself well on this album. Not really my taste but definitely an immensely talented singer/songwriter.
Hugh Masekela
5/5
Wow this is a good album. I'm glad this project turned me on to this album as I've never heard of this album. Really dynamic jazz instrumentalists. The drummer, Makaya Ntshoke, shines throughout "Part of a Whole" with a variety of tasteful and musical fills. Pianist Larry Willis takes center stage for a lengthy solo on the track "Minawa". Lots of subtle beauty from the sax and bass players who rotate from solo to more structured grooves that hold songs together.
The song "Maseru" does a great job displaying Masekela's mastery of both the jazz and afro-beat genres. He deftly moves from a slow, bass driven jazz standard to an upbeat & rhythmically-oriented afro-beat tune, to a swing/jazz number and finishes with an up-tempo jazz traditional.
Supergrass
3/5
Interesting British punk-rock sound. Very much a revivalist type of Brit Pop. The song "Alright" was included in the soundtrack of Clueless, is the most popular song on Spotify and peaked at #2 on the UK pop charts.
Turbocharged rock rifts on the track "Lose It" with a brief instrumental break that would greatly benefit from an extended and unwieldy jam.
A really beautiful piano medley to begin "Sitting Up Straight" that transitions clumsily (albeit, not badly) into a chaotic rock number that is more in line with the rest of the tracks on the album.
"We're Not Supposed to" is a fun aberration of a tune consisting of acoustic guitar(s) and some falsetto vocals.
The final three tracks display a surprising amount of range. "Sofa of My Lethargy" is a very entertaining 6:19 the blends seamlessly into the aptly-named final track, "Time to Go".
This album is surprisingly good. Absolutely worth a few listens.
The Stooges
4/5
Listened to it while running. Great workout album. Definitely listen to this album again.
Public Enemy
5/5
Pantera
2/5
Some great guitar rifts but overall too heavy and lacking in melody for my tastes.
Neil Young
2/5
I genuinely do not get it. There is nothing sonically interesting about this album. Across the board, the music is boring, uninspired guitar, lack-luster drum & bass and needless bland harmonica that permeates all of Neil Young's music.
Digital Underground
1/5
Shit sandwich.
1-2 mildly interesting guitar licks overshadowed by insufferable vocals. The best track is their cover of "Memphis, Tennessee" by Chuck Berry, which was done much better by the Beatles on their Live at the BBC album.
The Flaming Lips
4/5
Brian Eno
2/5
Interesting to hear this album and read a bit about it. It's clearly the influence, in spirit at least, for a lot of modern electronic music. Very experimental, but also very boring. Odd sounds, feedback, distortion and ambience take priority over tension and dynamics. Brain Eno & David Byrne clearly set out to make a weird album, and they succeed in the worst way possible.
Pavement
3/5
Faith No More
2/5
The album is more dynamic than I thought it would be. Their music sounds like early rap/rock but there are some genuinely heavy tunes.
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
This seems like a rap album that had a very white producer, or the production company had its white management team all over the project. Cool album with some timeless hip hop but seems much more like an album for mass consumption than an album that is a work of self expression like Apocalypse '91 by Public Enemy
John Lennon
3/5
Who let John mix the album like this? Much of the album sounds like his song Julia but recorded from a room down the hall from the musicians. How Do You Sleep is a cool riff-oriented song who's inspirations can be seen in Fantastic Negrito.
Q-Tip
4/5
James Brown
3/5
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Tracy Chapman
4/5
Amazing singer/songwriter. Very impressed by her ability to tell stories throughout the album. Very akin to Bob Dylan.
OutKast
3/5
Some really amazing work on this album, which sounds a lot like its OutKast's White Album. But the excessive skits and interludes took this from a 4 star album to a 3.
Miles Davis
4/5
Brilliant album, but not as dynamic or revolutionary as his other albums like Bitches Brew or Kind of Blue.
Apparently, this album is significant for its use of "polyphony", which is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice. So even when Miles is doing less "out there" tunes, he is still producing genius. The coolest who ever lived.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Top 5 greatest albums of all time in my opinion
Van Halen
4/5
This album is basically a VH greatest hits album.
Depeche Mode
2/5
Beastie Boys
5/5
I LOVE this album. Every track is golden. Clever rhymes over slow funk grooves blended with tasteful punk-rock songs that explore the BB's roots. Their masterpiece.
Sheryl Crow
4/5
Surprisingly good album. Sheryl has a unique way of blending her style of story telling with musical prowess. This is definitely a stand out album in the otherwise over saturated singer/songwriter genre.
The Youngbloods
3/5
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Socially relevant musical genius. This album has several mega-hits, and many deep tracks that warrant further listening. The songs I disliked were mostly due to their subject matter. Songs about God make me roll my eyes and this album has plenty of them.
Lou Reed
2/5
A couple highs, many, many lows.
Ryan Adams
4/5
I've always loved the song "To Be Young" but I never realized Ryan Adams did it. He has a very wide range in terms of song writing, and he succeeds with everything he does. Very cool album.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
I have to treat this album the same way I treat Michael Jackson's music, completely ignoring any context (confederate flags on the cover of the album). The music is a lot more fun than I expected. Bluegrass, in my opinion, is great music for a hot summer day when you can plant your feet in the grass and drink some beer. I wouldn't put this album on for any other reason.
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
I love this album. The second half of "Stand!" is constantly stuck in my head and I find a vast array of music drawing influence from that tune in particular. My biggest qualm with this album is how short it is. The Spotify version has it at 43 minutes with three songs on there as album and single versions.
Rage Against The Machine
4/5
A modern rock classic
Le Tigre
3/5
Some great tunes on this album. "Deceptacon" and "Hot Topic" immediately come to mind. Deceptacon is apparently a response to a NOFX song that mocks feminism, and I love that.
Motörhead
3/5
Some of this album kicks ass, but a lot of it sounds the same. Good energy throughout.
Lorde
4/5
What a surprise! This album was fantastic. Lorde is an amazing pop artist who's songs have a surprising amount of depth. "Homemade Dynamite" immediately comes to mind. A song about how partying brings out the worst in you and the song eventually speculates on a drunk driving accident. The album is mastered very well too. I cannot think of a single bad thing to say about this album.
Rufus Wainwright
2/5
Lots of ambiguous rock. Little rhythm to tap your foot to. "Bland" is an apt description.
George Michael
3/5
Cypress Hill
4/5
The Monks
2/5
Interesting British-invasion style rock n roll. Lots of similar sounding, short tunes with no musical breaks. It's cool to hear an album from that era that isn't one of the bigger acts like the Beatles or Beach Boys.
Korn
1/5
The interesting thing about this album is that Korn aims at a variety of targets, hits the bullseye on every single one, but I still hate it. The band is tight and they do a surprising job blending different genres but the lyrics are abysmal and childish. I turned the album off after hearing the song "All in the Family" featuring Fred Durst with the lyrics, "Say what, say what?
I say what, say what?
(My dick is bigger than yours)". Cringe.
The Soft Boys
2/5
Bland brit-pop.
Jane Weaver
3/5
This album reminds me a lot of a modern electronic Joni Mitchell. Her voice and vocal stylings are very reminiscent of Mitchell with more up-tempo numbers, synth lines and reverb. There's some interesting drum work on the track "The Architect". Most of the tunes flow seamlessly from one to another.
Green Day
1/5
Why is this album on here?
Raekwon
3/5
Sounds exactly like a Wu-Tang album with more skits. Cool stuff.
Haircut 100
3/5
Interesting Brit-pop that inspired bands like The Police. Not a lot of depth to their music but a cool historical listen.
David Bowie
5/5
This album blew my mind. It has everything, technical proficiency, depth, catchy hooks and beautiful mastering. I was skeptical at first because I felt like this was an aging rockstar's attempt to capitalize on his name. I could not have been more wrong. Bowie is still innovating on this album.
Buena Vista Social Club
3/5
false
Iron Maiden
2/5
Kind of a cool metal album. Reminiscent of early Metallica, but I'm just not that into it. They did have a surprising amount of range.
Johnny Cash
3/5
This is a cool album. The best parts are the tid bits of personality between tracks where Cash, and the rest of the ensemble, are being themselves. Some interesting things about this album; apparently there are only 2 rhythms in country music. Every single tune has the rhythm from either "Walk the Line" or "Ring of Fire". I'm not sure that those two are actually different. I think this album really deserves to be on this list because of its historical significance but I'll likely never listen to it again.
Slayer
4/5
Great metal album, a lot of these tracks were added to my rock workout playlist.
John Grant
2/5
Piano style song writing with some hints of irony. Sounds similar to Flo & Eddie but in a less successful sense.
Tortoise
3/5
Cool album. A group that sounds like the precursor to bands like Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky.
Kate Bush
1/5
Yeeesh. This album is sensation overload.
Otis Redding
4/5
Great album. So many of these tracks are timeless classics. Otis had the most expressive voice of his era.
Muddy Waters
5/5
Muddy Waters was the coolest man to ever exist.
Youssou N'Dour
5/5
Wonderfully unique album. Reminiscent of Fela Kuti. African rhythms blended with distinct time signatures make for a very fun 34 minute, 4 track album.
Jane's Addiction
3/5
Big fan of the hits on this album and some of the more unique arrangements featuring horns and other unconventional rock instruments. They do get heavy occasionally too.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Emmylou Harris
3/5
Beautiful country album. I especially adored her cover of the Beatles "For No One".
Moby
4/5
Great album. Lots of samples from old blues tunes that give the album a truly unique feel. The only downside is that the album is too long. There are several tracks that feel like filler.
The Modern Lovers
2/5
Bad Brains
4/5
Classic punk album. One of the most unique punk albums of that era.
Def Leppard
1/5
Unlistenable. Cheesy 80's pop rock with little artistic merit. I understand their influence in a lot of modern rock, but any band I can think of that has been inspired by them are equally bad.
Suede
3/5
One of the better Brit-rock albums I've heard so far. To be clear, this is a brit-rock album in the sense of Morrisey with strung out guitar notes and ambient noises, little distinction in the drum and bass sections.
Blur
3/5
It's okay
Machito
4/5
Brilliant latin jazz. Multilayer percussion ensembles blended over string and wind melodies. I love the rhythm oriented style of their music. So many familiar grooves.
Boston
3/5
This is undoubtedly a great album from cover to cover. And there was a time in my life where this would be played on repeat. However, classic rock radio has killed every track on here so much that I can barely stomach getting through the album.
Brian Eno
2/5
The Slits
3/5
Better than I thought. I was expecting some simplistic punk-rock but this turn out to be some deeper reggae music. Not really something I would listen to but I can appreciate the albums significance, especially considering it came out in '79.
The Beach Boys
4/5
Cool elements of Americana reminiscent of The Band thrown in to the general surf-rock stylings of The Beach Boys. I also hear some elements that closely resemble later Beatles and CSN stuff, Student Demonstration Time in particular. Very cool album.
Björk
2/5
John Martyn
4/5
Listening to this after a few drinks and I'm really digging it. I was familiar with "Over The Hill" prior to this listening and had really enjoyed that tune. But the group has much more to offer. They really jam on the tune "I'd Rather Be The Devil (Devil Got My Woman)". "The Easy Blues" sounds like a Tom Waits song but with much better vocals.
Rebecca says it sounds like a hybrid between Neil Young and Nick Drake and I think she may be right.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
1/5
The only thing noteworthy about this album is how someone with Elvis Costello's vocal abilities was ever paid to make music.
Bert Jansch
3/5
Interesting folk/blues album. Jansch is a Scottish artist and that comes through in the lyrics of several tunes where he sings about the Great Famine. Surprisingly, the instrumentals were some of my favorite tracks. Cool guitar work and nothing else but those tunes did resonate with me.
Joy Division
3/5
I loved this album as a kid, but found many of the tracks boring and uninspired this listen.
Shivkumar Sharma
4/5
Very cool Indian music. I was surprised that I could really identify what could be construed as a "hook" in the song Twilight Zone. Worth a re-listen as it's only 4 tracks.
Tom Waits
1/5
Oscar the grouch sings the blues
Coldplay
4/5
Surprisingly good. Their earlier music had so much passion and creativity. They had something to sing about. I wish more of their music reflected that creative spark.
Belle & Sebastian
2/5
I understand this album's significance but it does not appeal to me. A few tracks did really stand out but this was more of an indie rock album with some minor pop-sensibilities. There was nothing challenging in the music, which is what I really listen for.
The Young Gods
4/5
I surprisingly liked this album a lot. I don't know how to classify it, French metal? A superbly mixed and mastered album with outstanding musicians blending time signatures and melodies with ease.
The Teardrop Explodes
2/5
Distinctly ordinary 80's British rock.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5/5
I started listening to this album and didn't have time to finish. I came back to it and I am glad I did. It was exactly what I wanted to hear at the moment. This music is a gift.
Pulp
2/5
Not at all what I expected based on the title of the album. The lyrics and vocals are distracting but there is a good deal of artistic and catchy guitar work.
4/5
Cool stuff. Yes is always out-there and this album is no exception. They start off with an almost 19 minute long epic and wind the album down with an interesting cover of "America" by Simon & Garfunkel.
Jeff Beck
2/5
I liked this album more than I thought I would. Initially I heard Rod Stewart's voice and the hair on my neck stood up. But the music does a lot of the heavy lifting on this album. There is a very cool cover of "You Shook Me" midway through the album
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
1/5
Baffled as to why this is on here. The Wikipedia says he played every instrument on this album. But I couldn't find a single enjoyable track.
Elis Regina
5/5
Elis Regina reminds me of a samba Carole King. Completely ahead of what others were doing in terms of song writing. Blending Latin music with western themes and dynamics. Beautifully played piano and a funky guitar often set the stage for subtle hand percussion and a voice that gives the listener chills.
Every track is a revelation. The backing vocals are killer.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
A masterpiece of classic rock. Great to give this a cover-to-cover listen for the first time.
Paul McCartney and Wings
4/5
Great album. More artistic than I anticipated from knowing the hits. Paul McCartney was the best Beatle.
Little Richard
1/5
Couldn't get through it and couldn't bring myself to start again.
Van Morrison
4/5
I'm very familiar with this album but I haven't listened to it cover-to-cover in years so I'm glad I got the opportunity to through this. The first track, Astral Weeks has long been a favorite of mine. But I always felt like the rest of the album fell off after that. Not so much anymore. The horns on "The Way Young Lovers Do" are brilliant and exactly what I need right now (writing this immediately after the Schwartz Campaign). A few of the tracks are skippable, for sure, especially when listening to musical value (as opposed to lyrical). But the final track "Slim Slow Rider" rounds out the album very nicely.
Isaac Hayes
4/5
This was much better than I thought it would be. I was at first surprised this album was on here instead of Hot Buttered Soul. It's a TV theme album, how good could it be? Isaac gets VERY funky on this album, which is no surprise. But the nature of the music, that it's for a TV show, makes me feel less connected to the music. Good album but not great.
Don McLean
4/5
Slint
3/5
Cool angsty indie rock album. Unpolished and unapologetic. Lots of dynamics and tension with the sullen and self-loathing lyrics typical of the genre. Not a great album but one I will definitely revisit.
Ray Charles
3/5
A great deal of classical tunes on this album, but I found myself bored by it.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
One of my favorite albums. Part of his first 4 albums that were his best.
Aerosmith
2/5
There is some talent and mildly infectious hooks present on this album, but I would not say its great or that I enjoyed it. Aerosmith doesn't do it for me.
New Order
3/5
Better than I thought it would be. An electronic album from '89 did not seem like something I would enjoy but New Order blend pop with the electronic sound of the 80s pretty well.
Talk Talk
3/5
One of the better 80's albums I've heard. Some cool piano hooks with some very emotional and moving vocals. A few tracks worth checking out again.
Suzanne Vega
3/5
Very talented female singer/songwriter. Suzanne Vega really puts it all out there. Songs about longing, isolation, depression and anger. She does what she sets out to do very well, however, it doesn't really speak to me in any way.
Oasis
3/5
A few good tracks and a god indicator of what was to come with better albums like "What's the Story Morning Glory?" Their penchant for hooks was less developed at this point. Not sure there is much to revisit on this album.
Fred Neil
2/5
Pretty boring white male acoustic folk.
The Pretty Things
3/5
Cool 60's rock album. Totally new to me. Fun listen.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
4/5
Way better than I thought it would be. Lots of talent in this band all around and a surprisingly deep album from cover to cover. Very interesting cover of Edwin Star's "War", and the Boss' "Born to Run".
Michael Jackson
5/5
I wish MJ wasn't a child molester so I could listen to this masterpiece as often as I want and not be reminded of his horrors.
XTC
2/5
Mediocre 80's nonsense with no reason to be on this list.
Herbie Hancock
5/5
Flawless from start to finish.
Pink Floyd
5/5
A masterpiece. Probably my favorite Floyd album. Special significance to the track Wish You Were Here as I feel everyone can relate to the sentiment.
Devendra Banhart
2/5
This is somewhere between a 2 and a 3. I really wanted to like this album because you can tell the artist is trying something new. But it gets old when the "newness" he is trying to achieve comes through heavily in every track with little variation. There were several moments in several songs where a change in the dynamics would have really benefit the "release" but it never came. Tension may not be what he is trying to achieve but his music suffers for the lack of it.
There also was little in the way of hooks. The album is an artist making art for himself, to the detriment of the album.
Aretha Franklin
5/5
GOAT
Steely Dan
3/5
Wrote a whole review of this album and Chicago's Chicago Transit Authority and neither of them saved. GODDAMNIT.
Chicago
4/5
Wrote a lengthy review on this and the site didn't save it for some reason. GODDAMNIT.
Kate Bush
3/5
Substantially better than the sensory overload that is Kate Bushes other offering on this list, The Dreaming.
Elvis Presley
4/5
Lots of classic country tunes done by the greatest country singer.
Rocket From The Crypt
2/5
The Divine Comedy
3/5
Radiohead
3/5
"OK" is the best single word to describe this album.
Arcade Fire
4/5
Enjoyable album. The band does a nice job blending intensity and hooks with their unique style of indie rock.
Tim Buckley
5/5
Great album. Shades of Eric Burdon. His voice sounds satirical and sultry at the same time. Better than I thought. Definitely will re-listen.
Solomon Burke
3/5
Romance and Rock 'n Roll from '64.
The Zombies
3/5
Interesting brand of psychedelic-pop from the 60's.
The Charlatans
2/5
Some cool riffs and otherwise compelling music but the music and vocals render this album mostly unlistenable. Very little in the way of creativity as well.
James Taylor
3/5
Cool chill album.
Wire
2/5
I wanted to like this album. I love punk rock from this era but I feel like this album suffers from a lack of creativity like many groups and albums from this time.
Queens of the Stone Age
3/5
This album starts off slow but really kicks ass towards the end. Prior to this I wasn't familiar with much of their music so I'm glad I got to listen to this. Really great coordination towards a particular sound on each track. Although some of it is boring or somewhat generic (this may be because it came out so long ago) but I did add many of the tracks to my rock workout playlist.
Supertramp
4/5
Better than I thought. Really great production value. The band is surprising tight and working towards a goal sonically. There were some tracks that are duds, though, that keep this from being a 5 star album.
Meat Loaf
5/5
Loved it.
CHIC
2/5
I couple interesting tracks but not much worth revisiting.
Can
3/5
Very cool to see a German band on this list. Some cool tracks, 3 out of 4 are very long. Good jam album.
The 13th Floor Elevators
2/5
Not a lot of interesting music here. Psychedelic 60's pop that I'm sure was very cool when it came out but it just seems dated now. 2 Stars, It's not letting me add any stars right now
Beastie Boys
3/5
Not nearly as good as Ill Communication but enjoyable nonetheless.
The Kinks
2/5
There are some sparks of genius on this album. Anything other than those few sparks is bland and unenjoyable.
Beatles
5/5
Easy 5 star album. A lot of folks consider this their greatest album and I've always disagreed. However, on this most recent listen I realized how much I love every single track. Anything that wasn't a mega-hit like Elenor Rigby is a genius deep track. The Beatles are the greatest band of all time.
The Who
1/5
This is a deeply aggravating album. Most of the songs are novelty, as they are intended to be (the band wanted to make an ironic album full of jingles, hence the name). But even the songs that are not are so unenjoyable on every level. If there was any high-level musicianship you wouldn't be able to tell because the album sounds like it was recorded in a high school gym. Hands down my least favorite album by The Who.
Morrissey
1/5
Wow is this album lacking in subtlety. I cannot believe a grown man wrote these lyrics, it sounds like an angsty teen's poetry. The music is not the focus of this album, just backing for the (awful) lyrics. Which I can't blame the musicians for. I'm just blown away by how bad Morrisey is.
Pixies
2/5
I guess this could be defined as proto-punk, maybe post punk. Not sure where this falls in the spectrum. Vocals range from soft-spoken to raucous shouting and the music is a loose knit collection of mediocre instrumentalists. The band comes very near the line of listenable music but always falls short.
Radiohead
3/5
I think this was a better album than OK Computer. Some cool tunes full of the typical Radiohead weirdness, self-loathing and ambient revolving noises. But there are a good deal of skippable songs on here, unfortunately.
Fairport Convention
2/5
Uninteresting classic rock/folk
Boards of Canada
3/5
Pretty tasteful and subtle electronica. Loops are introduced slowly and quietly and given the space to build tension towards a well crafted release.
Prefab Sprout
3/5
Surprisingly cool album. Sounds like the inspiration for indie bands like Cursive and Bright Eyes.
Massive Attack
4/5
This album totally won me over. I got \"Sex Packets\" vibes from this initially but this infinitely more depth. One of the tracks includes sever references to the Beatles \"Here Comes the Sun\", which was done very tastefully. A great cover of William DeVaughn's \"Be Thankful for What You've Got\" is included on this album and the final track is hauntingly good.
The Young Rascals
3/5
Some great old hits on this album. A very fun listen, sounds a bit like The Beach Boys
Traffic
3/5
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
I'm really starting to understand Marley's genius. What an innovator. So often imitated throughout the years but nothing lives up to his distinct voice.
Elliott Smith
2/5
I really enjoyed a couple of Elliot Smith's arrangements. His voice is exhausting though. The first listen through I felt like I liked a lot more of the album. I listened to it again with Rebecca and couldn't get through it.
Everything But The Girl
2/5
This, again, did not save my review so I'll try to rewrite it from memory. The first couple of tracks were good on this album but the rest really bored me. What started as a unique style of electronica quickly became repetitive and uninspired.
Mariah Carey
3/5
Mariah Carey is a tremendously talented singer and the song stylings on this album are a great representation of pop music from that time. That being said, I grew up with this and her style of music is tough for me to stomach. She's a great talent, but I don't need to listen to this ever again.
Sonic Youth
1/5
Yes
5/5
I cannot fight it anymore. I love Yes. "I've seen all good people..." is my favorite song by them. A love song with a chess theme. "Don't surround yourself with yourself", both a metaphor for love and happiness as well as general chess tactics. Brilliant. Also, the "Give peace a chance" chant quietly and in contrast with the "Cause it's time, it's time in time with your time and it's news is captured for the queen to use" chant gives me chills.
Minutemen
2/5
There was a point in my life where I may have loved this album. But that time is not now. They are a punk band with a unique sound but none of their music speaks to me or has any depth.
Crowded House
1/5
There, cumulatively, may be 1.25 songs that are actually listenable on this album. White nonsense.
Bob Dylan
5/5
This album is brilliant. It's hard to imagine a time where these songs didn't exist as so many artists are influenced by the sound. I'm glad I listened to it and heard the tunes straight from the man who wrote them, but I doubt I'll listen to it again.
Rush
3/5
Very familiar with this album. Lots of technical proficiency but with very little reason to listen beyond that. Neil Pert is regarded as a drumming god and I do appreciate what he's done for the instrument. But his styling was never my taste.
The Afghan Whigs
3/5
I love the guitar and drums on this album. The vocal melodies leave something to be desired. lyrically the Afghan Wigs are good. Their vocalist has a way of conveying intimacy that is unrivaled, however, melodically (and I think the vocalist would agree) the band is sub par.
4/5
Lots of great tracks on this album. Much of this has been done to death by commercial classic rock radio. I didn't enjoy this as much as Blackstar, which I think may be Bowie cannon blasphemy.
Kanye West
3/5
Hideous ego stroke. This album is as good as it is bad. He has such a great creator of tension in his music but lyrically it's comedically bad at times. Homophobia and sexual insecurity are rampant throughout this album. A definite departure from his early work. Kanye is exploring more electronic sampling and guitar samples that oscillate from ambient to fluid with varying degrees of success. The first half of the album seems less like mashups of classic and unique samples and more like new creations from Kanye. Far from his best work.
Steely Dan
4/5
Enjoyable stuff. I always enjoy Steely Dan's arrangements. Their vocals are never great but sometimes they work better with the music than others (Reelin In The Years immediately comes to mind). This album is no exception, but they do have some stellar instrumentation throughout.
The La's
2/5
I'm blown away by the positive reviews on wikipedia. This album was utterly unremarkable. Apparently the band wanted the album to sound much different than it did and several different producers are the reason.
Miriam Makeba
5/5
Miriam Makeba is amazing. Bringing an unprecedented amount of talent and culture to this list. I really enjoyed this album, so much unique vocalization with amazing percussion.
Megadeth
4/5
Totally judging this album on enjoyment and not overall quality. I REALLY liked this album. Much like an early Metallica album it is relentless. Great stuff to work out to.
Charles Mingus
5/5
I loved this album. So many dynamic elements, tempo, volume, time signatures and structures. There is a perfect album.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
5/5
This is an all time top 10 album for me. I've heard it 10,000 times and I cannot wait to listen to another 10,000 times
Primal Scream
4/5
Better than I thought and with a surprising amount of range. It started out as an eye roller of a rave album but at times sounded like something the Strokes would put out. Lots of uptempo tracks that are worth a few more listens.
George Jones
3/5
Kind of an interesting country album. There's definitely merit to this style of music making, especially with regard to the story telling lyricism. It's good but not my cup of tea.
Sarah Vaughan
4/5
Very talented female jazz-era crooner. Tremendous range and power behind her voice.
Alanis Morissette
5/5
Love this album.
The Icarus Line
4/5
I REALLY liked this album. I did not know what to expect as all I had to go on was a band name, album name and the cover. This reminded me a lot of At the Drive In, in the post-punk/post-hardcore sense. Similar genre overlap but not much in the way of actual sound. This album was really cohesive- each song blended into the next- and it seemed as though there was a central highly-artistic musical theme throughout a-la Circle Takes the Square. This will definitely many more listens.
Animal Collective
4/5
Delightfully chaotic. Animal collective weave schizophrenic sound with pop hooks unlike anyone else. Sometimes they miss the mark by a wide margin, but most of this album hits. Their sonic and mixing abilities are on a whole different level.
Pixies
2/5
Never been much of a fan of the Pixies and this album didn't do anything to change my mind. They blend several different genres together but never with any technical prowess or pop sensibility. They are the embodiment of mediocrity.
The Mamas & The Papas
5/5
Outstanding album with far more depth than I expected. Having been familiar with many of these songs for my entire life, basically, I was pleasantly surprised to listen to it today and catch many of the minor nuances. There are the great lyrics and vocal harmonies you'd expect from a Mamas and the Papas album, but I did not expect the killer bass lines and organ parts. Really cool stuff. nearly ever song is a timeless classic on this album.
Michael Jackson
5/5
Just about every song on this album is a mega hit. Dirty Diana was a great sleeper track.
Leonard Cohen
2/5
This one can be filed under "I don't get it". Less catchy or coherent than Dylan but much in the same style. More bluegrass than Dylan and much less enjoyable. Nothing of note on this album.
The Strokes
5/5
A modern pop classic. Every track on this album is a hit. What The Strokes lack in musicianship they more than make up for with hooks.
R.E.M.
3/5
This is an okay album. A couple of catchy tunes, It's the End of the World as We Know it & The One I Love, but not much else. A distinct vocal styling that works better at times than others. Not much in the way of technical prowess.
Carpenters
4/5
Lots of classics. Karen Carpenter has an amazing voice.
The Cure
1/5
There are few bands who's sound is so thoroughly tied into their appearance. ICP, Green Day, and The Cure. All awful, awful bands. I couldn't make it through this album.
Stereolab
3/5
Interesting French electronic rock- its a tough sound to describe but that's most fitting. Good vocals and some good melodies but many of the tracks began to sound too similar. A couple stand out songs among 13 or so forgettable ones.
Mike Oldfield
3/5
Interesting listen. The first track, coming in at 25:29, was used as the intro for The Exorcist. The first song covers a lot of different territory. Spanning a variety of styles and genres, the first vocals appear at the almost 20 minute mark introducing different instruments as they take turns emphasizing the songs overarching melody.
The Auteurs
1/5
Some interesting song construction, notably on the first track "Show Girl", and some enjoyable guitar work on "Early Years". But there wasn't a single song I'd ever want to hear again. Some terribly agonizing lyrics throughout and little to no vocal ability.
The Who
2/5
This is another aggravating album on this list. I like The Who, generally speaking. But the two albums I've heard on here so far are completely unremarkable. This album is somewhere between low and very low audio quality at all times. The song selection is awful. I'm not sure what albums they had written by the time this live album was recorded, but 10 out of 13 of these tracks are songs I have no desire to hear ever again. I know that the song "I Can't Explain" was a hit, but I cannot understand why. The same can be said about "I'm a Boy". However, the final track, "Magic Bus" is head and shoulders the best version of this song I've ever heard. They tease out the track and really build a lot of tension throughout and it made for a great closer to their set.
Earth, Wind & Fire
5/5
Best disco album I've ever heard. "Africano" is hands-down my favorite EW&F tune of all time. I love hearing them jam on that tune.
Sex Pistols
3/5
This is better than I expected. I disliked this album when I was an angsty-teen, but it's pretty solid all things considered. Nothing mind blowing but innovative for the time and actually quite enjoyable.
The Jam
2/5
Cool early English punk. Can't say I loved it but for a genre that I typically dislike this was okay. A few tracks I saved to check out later.
Pearl Jam
4/5
Every song on this album is a hit. Crazy to think about a time where these songs were not in every movie/tv show.
Judas Priest
1/5
Very bland 80's metal. Watered down for the masses. Even the hits are shits
Prince
4/5
I'm trying to decide whether or not I love this album. I believe this is my first go at a Prince album and It started off very slow, I nearly turned it off. But once I started to "get" what he's doing I really started to enjoy it. This album definitely merits several listens. I'm looking forward to exploring this album more.
Gary Numan
2/5
Tough album to get through. VERY 80's. I did like a lot of the ambience throughout the album. But the majority of music/lyrics were not my tastes. There's not much on here I would ever listen to again.
Megadeth
2/5
Dirty Projectors
3/5
This album started off very strong. Very unique indie rock stuff that sort of fell flat towards the end of the album. Good overall and definitely deserving of this list. But not not great.
Badly Drawn Boy
3/5
Interesting album. Lots of dynamics and a unique style. The artist really covers a lot of different styles in the album and they do it well.
John Lee Hooker
2/5
I wanted to like this album more. It had all the makings of a classic, great southern blues with a whole host of legends making cameos. But there just wasn't much bite to the album. It felt lackluster and over-produced. No bone-rattling blues as I had hoped.
Booker T. & The MG's
4/5
Awesome timeless album. I'm not sure if all of the tracks are covers or not, but the ones I could identify were very enjoyable. Definitely warrants another listen.
Muddy Waters
4/5
Muddy Waters was a behemoth talent. The man could shake you to the bones with his voice. Cool as hell, this album delivers. The only qualm I have is that it's too short.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
I've heard this album 10k times and actually chose to skip it. I OD'd on this album long ago but that doesn't mean it deserves anything less than 5 stars. Every song is a timeless classic.
Tom Waits
2/5
I can say without a doubt that I dislike Tom Waits very, very much. That being said, this album was better than previous albums I've been forced to listen to. He has a bit of a cajun feel to several of the tracks in the beginning of the album that sound pretty good. He does revert to the godawful singer/songwriter stuff at the end of the album but only briefly.
Deep Purple
4/5
Great classic rock album full of heavy riffs and hearty drum solos. Talent abounds is this proto-metal classic. Several tracks worth listening to in all situations and few great workout tunes.
Terence Trent D'Arby
4/5
This album is good. I'm midway through and there are moments of sheer brilliance. Terrence Trent D'Arby is a wonderful mix of Michael Jackson's voice with the depth and innovation more akin to the stylings of Prince. Pop hooks and instrumental proficiency are evident from the first moment of the first track.
Tom Waits
2/5
The album is ambitious. I actually like what he's doing on this album. I'm not sure whether the lounge elements are real. But they work a lot better than his usual, and atrocious, singer/songwriter schtick. His lyrics always come off as contrived.
The Streets
2/5
Tongue in cheek white rapper from England. Poor "flow" and nothing special in terms of vocabulary. Bland. The album talks a lot about what I assume is the nightlife in London, drinking and taking pills. Also gets into fighting with a girlfriend and some time spent in the recording studio. It is amusing at times.
TV On The Radio
5/5
I love this album. Truly unique indie-rock (if you can really call it that) that builds upon afro-cuban rhythms.
Black Sabbath
5/5
Absolute classic.
Mike Ladd
2/5
Weird hip-hop that is similar to Deltron 3030 but with less style and subtlety.
Aretha Franklin
5/5
Beck
3/5
Cool, chill album. No real hits on this. I know its' a highly regarded album but it doesn't really stand out to me. It's really well mixed and mastered.
The Flaming Lips
4/5
Good album, and many say it's their best. But I liked Yoshima a bit more. It just spoke to me in a way that this album did not.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Arguably the best rock album of all time. This is a six-star album as far as I'm concerned.
Stan Getz
3/5
Cool latin jazz album. But to my ear there isn't much distinction from track to track. Great album to put on for background music during diner.
808 State
3/5
Pretty cool electronica album. I had no idea what to expect going into this other than it would have a drum machine (808). Definitely a rave. Interesting to hear some world rhythms on certain tracks. There's a noticeable 3-2 clave on Sunrise.
Pulp
1/5
Truly awful brit rock. One song was enjoyable, I believe it was their hit as I know I've heard it before. But nothing else worth listening to.
Nirvana
4/5
I'm really glad I've finally gotten to some Nirvana stuff. Their music was so highly prized as to be off-putting by the time my generation was supposed to discover it. But it is good. They definitely blazed the trail for a lot of modern rock. They have one foot in anger-laden punk rock and a toe in popular rock.
Very similar to the aggression heard in Smashing Pumpkin's best stuff, but with less of a sense of pop sensibilities.
Frank Ocean
2/5
Interesting deviation from the class-rock heavy list. This goes all over the place in terms of lyrics. It does have some interesting musicianship/mixing. Not an album I see revisiting ever again though.
The Cardigans
3/5
This was a better pop album than I thought. One cover of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" and another medley of a Sabbath tune appear on this album which displays both their love for and knowledge of music.
Circle Jerks
3/5
Fun punk rock album. No depth to it, as is the standard for this era and genre. 14 tracks coming in at 15 minutes, I listened to the album twice.
The Only Ones
2/5
Another woefully mediocre brit-rock album. Nothing worth revisiting.
Ella Fitzgerald
4/5
A very good historical listen. Ella's voice is remarkable, the songs are both brilliant and lovely, and her band is magnificent. The only caveat to this album is that it's just dated. I could listen to this album as background noise or when I have guests over but I would never actually put this on to satisfy any musical need.
Primal Scream
4/5
Very cool electronica album from the early/mid 90's. I had no idea what to expect with this album but was pleasantly surprised. A lot of tracks I will listen to again and ones that are great for breaking in new speakers.
Dr. John
4/5
Essential listening for anyone who wants an understanding of the New Orleans sound.
This is a sweeping album that in my opinion, does not capture the band at their best. Despite all the hits that came from this album, the band seemed to fall into (and define) modern contemporary adult rock with this album. Despite the mega hits that came off this album I still prefer their earlier music. It was less polished and more indicative of who they were as a band.
Wild Beasts
4/5
Very cool indie album. Lots of weirdness in the form of falsetto vocals and odd song structures. Just the type of stuff that I love. Very creative.
Beck
4/5
Some of these tracks are monumental. The sampling is tremendous and the original music is just as good. Many of the tracks are not my taste and a bit boorish because of that. But overall I love this album.
Garbage
3/5
I didn't get through all of this album due to my headspace but this album was better than I thought. Not something I want to listen to again but not bad.
The Clash
4/5
Lots of timeless staples on this album.
Todd Rundgren
5/5
This album took me by surprise. Wildly creative, Rundgren kicks the dynamics up to 11 on nearly every track. A classic album
Les Rythmes Digitales
3/5
I liked this album. This genre is definitely growing on me. Lots on this album worth listening to again.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
This is Joni Mitchell at her Joni Mitchell-ist. Wispy guitars and vocals abound and lyrically driven. The music doesn't strike me as particularly interesting but I don't think that was her goal here. Overall, not my taste but well executed.
Tears For Fears
4/5
Great 80's album really summarizing that sound. Better than expected. A lot of thought was put into this music and it shows.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
Koffi Olomide
2/5
There are a lot of interesting African rhythms on this album. But it seems to have one foot in pop music and it just isn't my thing. It seems like a majority of the focus is on broad appeal rather than musicianship or creativity.
Killing Joke
2/5
Mediocre British punk rock album
Various Artists
4/5
Probably the best Christmas Album ever. -1 star because it's still a Christmas Album
Pretenders
2/5
Better than I thought but still uninspired. Bland 80's era rock
Madonna
4/5
Madonna really flexes on this album. Vocally, lyrically and musically from track to track she shines. Far exceeded my wildest expectations.
Manu Chao
2/5
Some interesting things about this album from the Wikipedia- first, it's French and not Spanish. Second, the album was mostly recorded by the Manu Chao himself in various locations around the world, using a small laptop—which is referred to in the liner notes as Estudio Clandestino. This is something that is I would not have ever found if I hadn't used this site, but I have a hard time getting through it. Just not my cup of tea.
Green Day
3/5
I loved the hits on this album when I was a kid. Most of it holds up but its the tail-end of 80's punk rock and is very simplistic at times.
Ray Charles
4/5
This album is pretty damn good. It's one hit after another. Ray Charles is a genius, absolutely. My only qualm, if it can be called that, is the music is dated. That's no fault of RC, I just wish I could have heard this music as it came out.
The Byrds
2/5
This album is fine. A bunch of white people playing early blues/rock/r&b. I made it through the album but I don't see a reason to revise much of it.
Lightning Bolt
2/5
I'm glad there was some more "weird" on this list. So much is classic rock and generic white people bullshit. It's nice to hear stuff like this that is so out of the ordinary. That being said, this album isn't great. Some cool aggression but ultimately very 1-note. All of the songs sound the same. The artists do very little to differentiate from track to track.
Alice In Chains
3/5
Lots of Sabbath vibes on this album. Much better than I expected for early 90's rock. Not much on here I plan to revisit but it was a good listen nonetheless.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
One of the Boss' top albums for sure. Several mega-hits on this album. Of his big 4, I think this is possibly the weakest - probably due to its overall popularity. An absolute classic for sure
Thundercat
3/5
This was a challenging album. I'm not sure I appreciated it as much as I should. There were some really amazing instrumental parts and hats off to Thundercat himself for some otherworldly bass parts. But this felt like a chore to get through. I know it's highly regarded and I was able to listen to the whole thing. But I kept wanting it to be over.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Great album with lots of hits that suffers from being played far too often by boomers.
Neneh Cherry
3/5
Interesting late 80's hiphop. Neneh definitely has a unique style. It sounded to me like a less polished version of TLC, and I don't mean that in a bad way.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
Curtis is the GOAT. I listened to this album twice.
Mott The Hoople
2/5
David Bowie's more tame little brother, in both good ways and bad ways.
Bobby Womack
3/5
Funk album with disco elements and stellar vocals. A few tracks worth revisiting.
The National
4/5
Good indie album. A lot of their music sounds the same to me but I do enjoy their style.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
2/5
Another instance of this website not saving my initial review. GODDAMNIT.
Daft Punk
4/5
Very cool to hear earlier stuff from Daft Punk. Their music is definitely growing on me and this album is no exception. The hit "Da Funk" and "Around The World" are on this album which makes this album worth the price of admission alone.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
This album blew my mind. The long version of Voodoo Chile shook me to the bone. Fantastic album and by far my favorite from Hendrix.
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
2/5
I understand that this style of music is significant due to it's popularity of the time, but I don't see a reason to ever listen to anything on this album ever again.
Black Sabbath
5/5
Possibly Sabbath's best album. Lots of creativity on this album that has been imitated by others throughout the years. It's an interesting thought to consider this album in the time that it came out, with the next "heaviest" bands being Zeppelin and Deep Purple.
Sleater-Kinney
5/5
One of the best "modern" punk albums I've heard. Really unique and interesting stuff. Worth a few listens and diving into their other stuff.
Big Black
4/5
Very cool punk rock album. I never heard of this band before but quickly added several tracks to my rock workout list. Pleasantly surprised by this.
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
This music is just OK. It seems to me like bands committed to the genre of "Shoe Gaze" are trapped by the simplicity of that genre. There's very little room for growth or creativity beyond the mono vocals and simple beats and riffs. Some of the guitar work was pretty cool on this album.
Madonna
4/5
Pop royalty. Lots of catchy songs with more artistic merit throughout the album than one might expect. The hits are still good even today.
Fats Domino
3/5
Thanks to the reddit page I was finally able to find the entire album. It's exactly what you think it would be. All of the classic early Rock 'N Roll stuff. It's legendary and influential, but I don't like listening to it.
Sigur Rós
5/5
This is a pretty remarkable album. Amazing sonically and musically, I have no idea what the lyrics are about as I believe they are in Spanish. This is truly an great effort from this band.
The White Stripes
5/5
Love this album. Easy 5 stars. Very pleased I was able to listen to this cover-to-cover.
Keith Jarrett
5/5
What a masterpiece. Loved every moment of this album. The album is 4 very long piano pieces - not something I would typically listen to. But I felt very moved by the artist's playing. Very complex but not beyond my grasp as someone with very little knowledge of piano music.
An interesting tidbit, \"...the world phenomenon had the most unfavorable conditions that evening. The American pianist was exhausted from a long car journey, had back pain and found another cheap grand piano on stage instead of the Bösendorfer he had ordered. 'I think Keith played so well precisely because of this mediocre piano,' said producer Manfred Eicher later. 'Because he couldn't fall in love with the sound of this instrument, he adjusted his playing accordingly in order to make the best out of it in spite of everything.'\"
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
5/5
Loved this album so much I listened to it twice. It's the pinnacle of record engineering in addition to being a wildly creative jazz album. Lots, if not all, of tunes in 5/4 time giving each track a distinct feel.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
I liked this album a lot. I really got to explore the deeper tracks from the Stone's catalog. Heavy blues stuff throughout that was amazing, and couple of very popular hits. Thrilled to have listened to this.
The Waterboys
4/5
Cool album that sounds lightyears ahead of its time. At times it reminds me of proto-Dave Matthews Band, at other times it's a bizarre, but entertaining mix of bluegrass and rock. Cool & weird album.
Gang Of Four
3/5
Cool early punk album. Educational but not much worth revisiting beyond the historical elements.
Ice Cube
4/5
Great hiphop album. Added a bunch of these tunes to my workout playlist. Lots of story telling and anger.
Parliament
4/5
Awesome funk album. Lots of great musicianship as well as great hooks with a bit of George Clinton's patented weirdness.
Steely Dan
5/5
Steely Dan occupy this bizarre space where by all measures they should suck. Low quality vocals (except the talented back up signers they retain), cheesy 80's hooks that lack any real dynamics, two band leaders that are legendary assholes and musicianship that is often too complex for the casual listener to grasp.
That being said, I love this album. The drum solo on the track Aja alone is stellar. Steve Gadd is on fire on all of his tracks as well as each other studio drummer on this album. I added five of the 7 tracks to my playlist. That has to be the highest % of any album so far.
Hawkwind
2/5
A lot of droning, British style rock that I just didn't find that interesting or appealing.
Depeche Mode
2/5
I didn't enjoy this album but I do understand and respect its significance. Personal Jesus was a good track. Other than that, I don't see myself re-listening to any of this
Cheap Trick
1/5
Cheap Trick are in my top 3 least favorite bands of all time. I was ready to give this album a 2 star review until I heard I Want You To Want Me and Surrender back to back. Just awful. UGH.
The Stooges
3/5
This was interesting. Not what I had expected based on hearing Fun House prior to this. More toned done in tempo but still high-intensity. I liked some of it a lot, and other parts of it not at all. It's a super short album so I'll likely run through it again.
John Prine
4/5
This is one of the best country albums I've ever heard. I loved Pretty Good, an amazingly unique sound for a country tune. The song Sam Stone also has lyrics that are alluded to (Hey man there's a hole in my arm where all the money goes/Jesus Christ died for nothing I suppose) on one of my favorite songs, Cop Shoot Cop, by Spiritualized. Prine's version of Angel From Montgomery is flawless.
Public Image Ltd.
1/5
This album is really tough to get through. It tries very hard and fails on every level. You can get a better sense of punk rock music's importance by listening to Johnny Rotten's Sex Pistols.
Antony and the Johnsons
3/5
Lots of pain throughout this album. The struggles of gender identity come through in nearly every song. Beautiful piano and vocals throughout. I wouldn't say I particularly enjoyed this album, however. I do understand it's importance and it is definitely worthy of being on this list.
Sparks
2/5
This is a weird album and a tough one to listen to. It's jarring, to say the least. Maybe I wasn't in the right space to give this a listen but I really didn't like it.
Bob Dylan
3/5
This is a legendary album. Hugely influential and very much deserving to be on this list. That being said, there were only a few tracks I liked and many I actively disliked. Bob Dylan's brand of Americana just is not my thing. That is not to say any of this is bad, his stylings are just not my taste. Maybe 2 tracks on this album I'll listen to again.
ABBA
3/5
I really like ABBAs hits. I appreciate their influence on European pop and their mega stardom. Anything other than their hits don't really do it for me though.
The Flying Burrito Brothers
2/5
I may not have been in the proper headspace to really get into this album. But I really did not like it. It was totally unremarkable. Each song sounded the same. Maybe there was a lot goin on lyrically, I could have totally missed it. But I did not enjoy this album.
Mudhoney
2/5
The significance of this album is very clear, late punk/early grunge band. A clear predecessor of "stoner" metal. But I didn't like any of what I heard. I couldn't get through the entire album, two plus hours of sloppy late 80's garage rock that while somewhat important is largely unenjoyable.
Portishead
4/5
Very cool album. Very creative and challenging (in the best way). I saw a description of this album that said it was a, "surprisingly natural synthesis of claustrophobic spy soundtracks", and I think that is the best way to describe this album.
The Doors
5/5
Classic album and definitely one of the best from the doors. The lows on this album aren't too bad and they highs are outstanding.
Justice
3/5
I like this album a lot. Not something I would typically listen to but there was something in this that I really enjoyed. It reminded me of Daft Punk, which was surprising based on the album cover that gave me heavy metal vibes. I saved a few tracks and may even pick this up on vinyl.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
This is a 6 star album. It is arguably the greatest rock and roll album ever made. Every track is a monumental hit. Led Zeppelin II is in a league of its own.
My Bloody Valentine
1/5
There was a point in my life where I loved sloppy monophonic rock, but that was long ago. This album is a chore and the musicians sound fucked up and out of sync.
Janis Joplin
4/5
Classic album from one of the eras most talented individuals. Mercedes Benz is one of my all-time favorite songs.
Arcade Fire
4/5
I listened to this album twice to get a better sense of it. What I determined was that I do enjoy their brand of up-tempo indie rock. But I feel like they lack innovation in their song structures. Too many of their songs start with a stomping bass drum, with the guitar and lyrics coming in simultaneously a few bars after. This is a cool thing to do and just about every rock band ever has a tune where they do this. But Arcade Fire seem to hone in on a song structure and repeat it ad nauseam. Great album that could have been a 5 with a bit more diversity in sound.
Travis
3/5
Travis has a sound that's somewhere between Radiohead and Coldplay at different times. I had the thought that I should recommend this to my mom, because this is definitely soft "mom" rock. There is some really beautiful instrumentalism on this album, but not enough for me to revisit a single track.
The The
3/5
This album is dramatic af, lyrically. The music had a much higher mixing quality than I expected. Lot's of 80's style sounds to it. There was a flourish of Paul Simon's solo stuff on the final track of the album, Giant, ending the 9.5 minute tune in a cacophony of dueling vocals and rhythms. That was a remarkable track.
Blur
2/5
This album reminded me a lot of The Who Sells Out. A track or two were very solid, but the rest were so steeped in irony as to be unlistenable. They experiment with a variety of different sounds, which is great. But most of this just falls flat.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
1/5
The same recycled content that Neil Young puts out on every album. The only thing remarkable about this music is that people pay for it.
Fiona Apple
4/5
I liked this album a lot. Fiona Apple is a rare talent and you can see a lot of different ideas from later albums taking place here. In particular, her brand of \"cool\". She has a wide range too. Songs that you would expect her with low note piano riffs but several stopped down and rhythm heavy tunes in here as well. The album is delightfully and intentionally unpolished. The only downside I feel is that it's too long. Some songs are entirely forgettable.
Queen
3/5
I appreciate Queens style of rock, the theatrical nature is very unique. Every element of every song has a purpose that contributes to the overall theme of the song, much like a musical. The album is very well thought out. But, other than the hits, I don't really want to listen to it. It's hight quality music that I don't need to listen to again.
3/5
I'm going to judge this solely on my opinion of it. The album is legendary, no doubt. But almost every single track on this live album can be heard in its original form elsewhere on this list. The second CD was more enjoyable as there was a full band for each tune, giving the songs an additional level of enjoyment.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
Some of this album is enjoyable, but a lot of it just is not. Many of the songs sound like 3 musicians and a signed all doing very separate things on the same track. None of the music lines up at all. The highs are very good though. "Give It Away" and "Under The Bridge" are classics of the era while a song like "Breaking The Girl" proves the band can write a subtle and beautiful song when they have a singular focus.
David Bowie
4/5
This is a good album with some good tunes. It didn't speak to me in the same way Blackstar did, though. Although the hits are great, they are songs I've heard 10,000 times. Good stuff, but on a personal level I did not enjoy it as much as his other albums.
Deerhunter
3/5
A unique indie album. Deer Hunter are definitely blazing their own trail. There isn't much to be said regarding listenability though. It ends up being some run of the mill indie rock.
Metallica
3/5
This album is good but not great. Unfortunately, they recorded this after their 90's music was released, which was awful. That tracks that aren't bad, are great. But much of this album consists of bad songs from their 90's through early 2000's drought.
Joan Armatrading
4/5
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
This is one of my favorite albums of all time. So many hits with deep and meaningful lyrics & musicianship. This album is a masterpiece from cover to cover.
The Black Crowes
3/5
Pretty solid album, but didn't blow my mind. I like the hits a lot and I'm indifferent towards everything else. I felt like the mixing and mastering could have been done better on this. A lot of the instruments blend in a bit too much.
The Undertones
2/5
Cool Clash inspired punk rock. Not particularly my taste and nothing to write home about.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
Classic.
The White Stripes
5/5
Another classic from the White Stripes. Several of their biggest hits are on this album, and the songs that were not hits really display the bands range. They like to experiment a variety of sounds and styles. Great album.
Van Halen
4/5
Several mega-hits on this album. I liked this album a lot more than I thought I would. They had a ton of talent for a band making their style of music.
Lauryn Hill
5/5
I adore this album. Lauryn Hill is a rare talent vocally and lyrically.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Some really amazing stuff on this album. The tunes that are lyrically driven are my least favorite. But Stevie really knows how to develop a chorus.
B.B. King
3/5
BB is the King. Good album worth a revisit.
David Crosby
4/5
Great stuff and not something that I would typically listen to, but David Crosby's solo stuff is almost as good as CSN's stuff. Worth picking up a cheap copy on vinyl if you can find it.
Nick Drake
4/5
I've loved this album for a while. Drake blends his folk sounds seamlessly with larger orchestrations, incorporating loose drumming, sharp horns and delicate lead piano parts. This isn't something I would typically see myself listening to but this album has always spoken to me.
Grizzly Bear
3/5
Had to give this 2 separate listens to fairly give it a chance. First listen in the car with Rebecca, I was unimpressed but I wasn't really able to listen deeply. Upon second listen I was much more interested, though not blown away. A few standout tracks on the first half of the album but the second half seemed to go on forever. OK album overall.
The Velvet Underground
3/5
The influence this album has had on rock and roll is immediately noticeable. I would say you would have a hard time identifying a more iconic NY album. Several hits and non-hit classics such as Heroin, Sunday Morning and Venus In Furs are on this album. Lots of duds on the album as well. I do recognize this album's importance but I just wasn't feeling a lot of the filler tracks or bizarre screeching breakdowns and solos. A good album but not great, to my tastes.
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
I liked this album more than I thought I would. I OD'd on ELO in college and now resent them, through no fault of their own. But there were a bunch of sleepers on this album that I added to my list.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
This was a cool punk album with a female vocalist. They did some unique things throughout the album that really set it apart from most music in the genre.
Brian Eno
2/5
Kind of innocuous music for the most part. Some tunes sounded like it could have been written by modern indie bands. The album can mostly be ignored.
Rod Stewart
1/5
There is nothing noteworthy about this album whatsoever.
David Bowie
5/5
Amazing. Easy 5 star track.
Jefferson Airplane
3/5
Good album but not to my tastes. The hits are huge but a lot of songs I'm indifferent to between the hits.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
2/5
I respect this group for being a female led punk band. But it's not something I want to listen to. They do a solid cover of Heater Skelter on this album.
Santana
5/5
We need more Santana on this list. Especially the older stuff. Everyone thinks of the guitar work on these albums but the real mastery is in the percussion parts. So much blending of afro cuban rhythms and rock grooves. It is perfection.
Common
5/5
This may be my new favorite hiphop album. I listened to the entire album yesterday and I cannot wait to listen to it all again. Be is a modern masterpiece.
Gang Starr
2/5
This didn't move the needle for me in terms of enjoyment. It's evident this album was influential as there were several moments where I noticed a lyric or beat that had been sampled elsewhere. But I listened to Public Enemy right before this, who I adore, and this didn't hold up in terms of quality. Lots of lyrics just pertained to hiphop. Rapping about rapping, which isn't something I could get into.
Public Enemy
4/5
I can't get enough of Public Enemy. This album delivers with some of the biggest hits of hip hop like "Bring the Noise". This album is a bit too long and has a bunch of filler tracks unlike the Apocalypse Now album.
Def Leppard
1/5
This is an album that I do not believe should be on this list.
The Go-Betweens
2/5
Some of this sounded a lot like something U2 would have put out. I didn't find any tunes particularly interesting, though. It's just fine.
The Who
2/5
This project has made me keenly aware of how much I dislike The Who. So much throwaway music. Keith Moon was sloppy af.
The Clash
2/5
The tracks I added to my playlist are okay, but I was dying for this album to be over the whole time.
Alice Cooper
2/5
The title track from this album is good. The rest of the album didn't do much for me. I got a better understanding of Alice Cooper's music from this album, which was cool. A lot of jazz influence, which I never would have expected.
U2
5/5
This is a really good album. It pains me to do it, but I think I have to give this adult contemporary rock album 5 stars.
Also, I didn't realize Jack White covered U2's Love is Blindness. Very cool.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
2/5
Not my taste, by a long shot. But not totally without merit.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
This is a great album. The Yeah Yeah Yeah's are a rare talent. On this album they are at times ambient, heavy, aggressive and fun. They do whatever they want throughout and it's a very enjoyable album.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
2/5
I get it, I just don't think he should have so many gd albums on this list.
Black Sabbath
5/5
Stellar debut from Sabbath. Every track is amazing.
Rod Stewart
2/5
I hate RS, but this album did surprise me. The title track, Every Picture Tells A Story, started off in typical RS fashion. But it won me over with the vocal tension at the end. His cover of the temptations (I Know) I'm Losing You was fantastic. The rest of the album is pure trash.
Gotan Project
4/5
This was a surprisingly cool album. Super outside of what my normal listening habits are and I'm glad for that. It's basically latin lounge music. The BEST elevator music imaginable, basically. Really cool stuff.
The Black Keys
5/5
This is a great album, cover to cover. The first 6-7 songs are all amazing and I added each of them to my playlist. The album takes a different tone on the second half. While less enjoyable, it's not bad.
Röyksopp
3/5
This was an interesting listen. Sounds to me like Euro lounge/electronica, but I'm sure there's a more apt name. I added several tunes to my playlists, especially the song "Remind Me" which I believe was used in an Apple commercial.
Manic Street Preachers
2/5
Not awful, but not something I particularly enjoyed. There wasn't anything I felt the need to revisit.
Portishead
2/5
I really like the first album of theirs that I listened to, Dummy, but this one didn't feel the same way. There were a few tracks I liked that really had some great dynamics but largely the album didn't do anything for me.
I had the thought while listening to this that Portishead sounds like Pink Floyd if all of their albums sounded like Animals and they had a female vocalist.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
3/5
What a cool album. I imagine this was pretty mind blowing when it came out. Lots of great musicianship and improvisation throughout the album.
Marilyn Manson
2/5
Some of this album genuinely kicks ass. But it is overall very difficult to get through. There is so much angst in their music and the industrial-metal sound can be fatiguing. Mix that with the highly depressing spoken word parts of the album and it's downright creepy.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
One of my faves from one of my faves.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
Some great tracks on this album but I don't feel like this is RHCP's strongest offering.
Soft Cell
2/5
This sounded really good on my speakers, like most 80's music. Lots of hits throughout and some catchy choruses. But it's not my thing.
Neu!
3/5
This was a nice little surprise. German jam band that reminds me a bit of proto-War On Drugs meets Mogwai. I was expecting some weird German electronic music but this wasn't bad.
Shack
1/5
Some cool guitar work and some orchestral arrangements. But I don't feel that this album should be on this list due to its lack of anything interesting. Bland, generic contemporary rock. Nothing worth revisiting.
King Crimson
4/5
I'm familiar with this album through references from The Mars Volta. I don't think I had ever listened to the whole album prior to this. It starts off and ends very strong. Really electric performances by all of the musicians on the opening track, \"21st Century Schizoid Man\", and lots of really tasteful drumming throughout the album (there's probably great work on the other instruments as well but I didn't notice on my initial listen). I felt that the middle tracks didn't have much to draw me in the same way the first and last tracks did. That being said, I may pick this up on vinyl due to how unique it is.
3/5
This album won me over. Vocally, the band reminded me of Fiona Apple but that's where the similarities end. The lyrics were heartfelt but with less of a hook than F.A. Solid album.
Gorillaz
4/5
This is a great album that suffers from a lot of filler. They really do a lot, and much of it very well. But probably 5-6 tracks are too out-there to be anything other than novel.
2Pac
2/5
2Pac was the guy in college who always started fights at parties and then you found out 10 years later that he was a rapist.
Jethro Tull
4/5
This is a really great album. I'm not sure if there is a concept behind the album or if each song stands alone, but it's very good nonetheless. I like to think that Jethro Tull was the inspiration for Captain Beefheart but far less "out there".
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
MBV does have some cool stuff, but they way each of their albums is mixed/mastered it just washing everything out. I understand that it's part of the "shoe-gaze" genre, but I feel that it detracts from the music overall. I did like a song or two off this album which is more than I can say about the others of theirs that I've heard.
The Temptations
5/5
Funky AF. I don't care how much credit The Temptations get it will never be enough. Everything they do is amazing.
The B-52's
1/5
I get the sense that the B-52's pick up where Devo left off. Often jarring with little objective quality. Throughout the album the band is begging you to recognize exactly how "unique" they are.
I think the B-52's are one of those bands that everyone thinks they like because they have light hearted sounds, a-la Rock Lobster. Then you realize that the song is almost seven minutes long and 6:59 too long.
JAY Z
4/5
It's really interesting to hear this album and clearly hearing one of the influences for Common. Jay-Z is amazing and this album is great, but it's not his best and is less polished than others by him.
Destiny's Child
4/5
Much better than I thought it would be and the album's importance is immediately apparent. I can't think of another all black female group that obtained their level of success. Songs center around female empowerment and were way ahead of their time.
Neil Young
2/5
Another Neil Young ego stroke. There is so much overlap in the songs on this album and several of the others that are on this list. It's really infuriating to see so much of his music on here.
Eurythmics
3/5
Better than I anticipated. Annie Lennox is a treasure and the 80's sounds are surprisingly endearing. Not something I would listen to a lot but some tunes on here are definitely worth revisiting.
Fela Kuti
5/5
Fela is a generational talent. Everything he touches is superb and this album is no exception. It's only 4 tracks but over 53 minutes long.
The Blue Nile
2/5
This was an interesting album. There were parts in each of the songs that I really liked but the overall songs I disliked. There would be a part that would be a vocal solo, then a really unique bass line would come it and it would sound great. But the song overall isn't something I want to listen to again. They were pushing the boundaries of music, but their overall "style", similar to The Cure in a sense, isn't my taste.
Franz Ferdinand
2/5
This is an okay album but nothing remarkable or really worthy of being on this list as far as I'm concerned.
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
Some of this album is intense. Very vivid descriptions of robberies and home invasions. Some music is very creative and pleasant to listen to but a lot of the other stuff falls into that heavy hip-hop genre that does not exist to push the boundaries of artistry.
Beach House
3/5
The first few tracks of this album didn't pique my interest and I thought this was going to be another bland indie album. But the rest of the album really sounded great. I got the sense this group had some shoe-gaze influences based on washed-out style choruses but their melodies were more satisfying than something from My Bloody Valentine.
They sound like they influenced Grizzly Bear, or maybe the other way around.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
5/5
Easy 5-star
The Smiths
3/5
Better than I thought. I strongly dislike The Smiths but I actually saved one of the tracks from this album. I also respect the overall message of "meat is murder" and look forward to the cognitive dissonance in others' reviews.
Foo Fighters
4/5
This album far exceeded my expectations. There isn't a single skipable song on this album.
My perception of FF was based on their hits over the years that focus heavily on the Dave Grohl, but having listened to this album in it's entirety I see that those hits are the only songs where that's the case. They really let Taylor shine on many of the deeper tracks (this album is far more timely given his recent death). Even the tracks like "Big Me" are made better with the full albums context.
George Michael
3/5
George Michael is a very talented singer. He really flexes throughout the course of this album but he still makes songs that are radio friendly. This is worth at least 1 more listen.
Television
2/5
I've loved the title track from this album for a long time. Television were 20 years ahead of their time. A post-punk jam band from the late 70's with songs that are 7 minutes or longer. This is a cool album but nothing lives up to the title track.
Queen
2/5
Queen do a great job of creating the albums atmosphere throughout each track. To me, it really sounds like a stage performance. That being said. outside of the 2 mega-hit songs (You're My Best Friend, Bohemian Rhapsody) there's nothing I care to hear ever again. Queen have a similar stature to The Who, too many albums with fluff to substantiate their rock god status.
Suicide
1/5
Rough one. I liked the first track but the rest was really really rough. Points where there was very sharp screaming, lots of washed out instrumentals that were reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine. This is one I don't think belongs on this list.
The Roots
5/5
This album is phenomenal. Blending different elements of hip hop, jazz, rock, blues. There are a few tracks in the middle of the album that didn't resonate with me on my first listen but the album is bookended by amazing tracks. I put this up there with Common and Kanye. 6 out of 5.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
Loved this album. There are huge hits on it that everyone knows, but the deep tracks are where it shines. Dear Doctor and Prodigal Son were two of my favorite tracks.
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
One of my favorite albums of all time.
Spacemen 3
3/5
I was happy to get to experience this album as it's from the band that preceded Spiritualized. The album was OK at best, however. I did enjoy hearing the music that shaped Spiritualized's "Ladies and Gentlemen" album.
Pet Shop Boys
1/5
I couldn't get through this album.
ZZ Top
2/5
This album probably deserves to be on this list, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
The Allman Brothers Band
5/5
Easy 5 star album. One of my favorite albums of all time.
Willie Nelson
3/5
Cool Americana album. He's a talented singer and songwriter. Would be good on a hot sunny day.
LCD Soundsystem
5/5
LCD Soundsystem are basically my favorite band right now. It's great this album came up as I haven't explored it beyond the hits. I enjoyed this as much as their other albums. Call the Police, Other Voices and Oh Baby are all fantastic tunes I was familiar with. However, the final track, Pulse V1 was a 13 or so minute long odyssey that was new and a great listen. Another album of theirs that I am in love with.
Sade
4/5
Beautiful funky album. Sade can sing and the arrangements are often challenging but accessible. Great listen.
The Incredible String Band
1/5
This album is the answer the the theoretical question, "what if Tolkien, Dylan and a mandolin had a three way".
Thelonious Monk
4/5
I like this album a lot, especially the title track. I did feel like a bit of this music was inaccessible, however, and I couldn't connect with it the way I have with many of my favorite jazz albums. I think I'm the problem with the album, though. I need to expand my jazz vocabulary and revisit this down the road.
Spiritualized
5/5
10 out of 5 stars. I know this album like the back of my hand and it's one of the best things produced in that era. A mind-blowing exploration of love and addiction.
Scott Walker
2/5
This was a weird one that I could not get into. It's a lounge album but with more down to earth lyrics. He does what he does well but I found it unenjoyable and unpleasant very often.
The Birthday Party
1/5
Wow, this is jarring. I can definitely tell this is the early stuff from Nick Cave. This is an abstract punk rock album. The sound quality is very poor. This is a really rough listen.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
This sounds like one of the Stones more formative albums. The hit, Under My Thumb, is on this album and a cool blues jam tune, Going Home, provides a good deal of substance to what is otherwise 60's light pop. A good historical listen but overall it pales in comparison to some of their better efforts.
Fiona Apple
5/5
What a talent Fiona Apple is. A velvety smooth voice makes her the most unique singer/songwriter I've heard. Everything she touches is gold. Criminal is a song I am always in the mood to listen to. Beautiful, though and through.
Johnny Cash
5/5
Cash is surprisingly charming. The type of charm that comes from being intoxicated, likely on cocaine per the inter-song banter. His songs are catchy and definitely transcend "country" music. There are some very sloppy drum parts especially on Orange Blossom Special. His version of Long Black Veil is wonderful. This must have been a stunning performance. How many people were doing shows at prisons? This is not only a great concert but a unique and brief insight into how prisons operated at the time.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
4/5
This is a pretty good album. Despite the horribly overplayed tracks, Simple Man & Free Bird, the other tracks are great. I do really like their style of southern rock where they built on what the Allman Bros did but blended it with a bit of pop.
The The
2/5
There was some interesting music on here. The lyrics I caught were pretty middle of the road to somewhat bad, though. I couldn't get into most of this album with the exception of the title track.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Possibly my favorite late-era Zeppelin album. Like most of their albums, nearly every song is amazing. This album is a bit longer than most of their stuff though and some tracks are disposable.
Ice Cube
4/5
Good hip hop album from that era. I elevator ice cubes activism and he is a talented artist. I’m sure the public reviews of this album will be full of intelligent discussion
The Kinks
2/5
This album reminds me a lot of The Who, but better. This album is between a 2 and a 3, but is more bad than good so I'll stick to the 2 rating. Really simple English Pop from the 60's. An album I think is weighted heavily as the author of the book is a fan. Nothing stellar on this album.
Billy Joel
5/5
I hate how much I liked this album. I already knew this pretty thoroughly. When I listened to it the other night I decided to add the tracks I know to my playlist in advance. I thin 7 out of 10 of the tracks were amazing tunes that I added right away. I wish I hadn't overdone it with his music while in college so I could still enjoy it. But the album is a 5 star classic nonetheless.
Rahul Dev Burman
3/5
What a cool album to have on this list. Some of this was genuinely enjoyable and I look forward to listening to it again. Naag Delta and Baby Let's Dance Together were stand out tracks in my mind.
All that being said, the cultural differences in music, tempo/rhythm/melodies, was something I struggled to get into and I really looked forward to this album being over.
Cornershop
3/5
Interesting Indian pop rock album. I remember Brimful of Asha from when I was a kid so I looked it up on Wikipedia. The song is apparently a tribute to Asha Bhosle, an Indian singer and actress. The band does a good job of blending their variety of pop rock with some deeper jams as seen on the track We're In Yr Corner. Tjinder Singh has a unique voice. The album takes a turn with the hiphop track Candyman, but it's not a bad tune despite how out of place it feels initially.
Definitely a unique album and I'm grateful this project exposed me to it.
Dolly Parton
5/5
What a great album! Dolly Parton is a living saint. his album. Coat of Many Colors, Early Morning Breeze and Here I Am were all standout tracks that tug at the heartstrings. Parton is a fantastic story teller.
Funkadelic
4/5
Can You Get To That is an all-time favorite, and a motif that is repeated throughout the album. The opening track Maggot Brain is perfectly weird and musically adept. The solos are wild and entertaining but the spoken-word intro is a bit much.
This album makes me think of a less radio friendly version of Sly & The Family Stone. Especially on the You And Your Folks... track.
The final track, Wars of Armageddon, is an awesome and epic jam that occasionally incorporates fart noises.
3/5
This was not at all what I expected. The album, and the first track for that matter, gives the impression that this will be a show-tunes album. It is a far cry from that though. The orchestral opening track gives way to the electric sounds of the 80's, but with more nuance and a sense of irony. There were some good hooks on this album but not much in the way of musicianship. This is probably one of my favorites from this era and style of music.
Eminem
1/5
Across the board, awful. This is white-teen-angst carnival hip hop, no different from ICP. Completely undeserving of being on this list. An atrocity.
Fairport Convention
4/5
Very surprised by this album. The first couple of tracks had me thinking this would be a 2 or 3 star album but they really won me over. The singer is very talented, the band jams well together and they know how to create a hook. Cool folk music with lots to revisit.
Adele
5/5
Wow, what an album. I was already familiar and in love with the Rolling In The Deep and Rumor has it. But her songwriting talent really blew my mind on the track He Won't Go. The way the rhythm section holds the song together as the melody weaves in and out through the verse (a-la The Ocean by LZ) was phenomenal.
This is a 6 out of 5 stars album.
PJ Harvey
3/5
Pleasantly surprised by this album. It started off slow which caused me to put it off for a few extra days. But it really picks up midway through. It's almost avant-garde grunge. Up tempo numbers with pounding bass and beats. The punk-rock syncopation at the end of Sheela-Na-Gig is highly enjoyable. They seem to be on to something with their blend of high and low intensity, but they haven't quite honed it in on this album. Overall a good listen worth revisiting.
Sonic Youth
2/5
Sonic Youth's music just doesn't do it for me. I understand they were hugely influential in a lot of post punk and indie music, but I think I got the gist of their music from the first album on this list. I won't say the album doesn't belong on the list, but I really did not like it.
The War On Drugs
5/5
I love this album. It is mixed perfectly and the band was really focused on a singular task throughout. There is a heavy dose of loneliness and depression in the lyrics and the band illustrates that perfectly with drawn out ambience, mellow groves and vocals oscillating between calm, crazy and a downright howl. A beautiful album in every way.
T. Rex
3/5
Some good stuff on here. T-Rex seem to have a lot of overlap with Todd Rundgren at times. This album started out as a 4 in my mind but petered out and went on too long for my tastes.
Dr. Dre
5/5
The distinction between east and west coast rap is very apparent on this album. Probably everywhere, but it's really making an impression on this album. And that isn't to say that one is better, they're just two very distinct styles. \
It’s very interesting to hear Snoop before he was so novel. He’s genuinely a talented rapper.
There’s a lot of great productions on the album and musicianship on the backing instrumentals.
Let Me Ride, Lil Ghetto Boy, and The Roach are standout tracks.
This album is great, the feel is terrific and it may be my new favorite hip hop album.
Nirvana
2/5
Objectively speaking, Kurt Cobain was a bad singer. I've always had an axe to grind with Nirvana as I felt their music was vastly overrated and mostly the product of being in the right place at the right time. They somehow managed to capture the media's gaze at a time when MTV was the "voice" of counter-culture. Cobain is inorganically self-deprecating on several of the tracks claiming "I'll probably mess this one up", then proceeding to play it perfectly. His was a well manufactured image. All that is to say I don't think this album is an unworthy choice for the 1001 albums, I just dislike it.
Wilco
4/5
I don't know why, but Wilco's music really speaks to me. I love their variety of weird indie rock. Jeff Tweedy's banjo and Glenn Kotche's smooth drumming keep me coming back for more. They're brand of hooks often deftly seem unintentional which provides the listener with a deeper sense of satisfaction upon discovery.
Richard Thompson
2/5
I did not enjoy this album and I can say for a fact, that their brand of Irish folk music is not great workout music. It was cool that this album came up so close to the Fairport Convention album, which I enjoyed far more and was the parent group of Richard and Linda Thompson.
David Bowie
5/5
Everything David Bowie touches is amazing. This album, like all the others I've heard, has so much depth to it that it requires multiple listens to catch it all. What I was able to glean on the first pass was stellar. Bowie is always trying something new, album to album and track to track.
Beatles
5/5
What an iconic opening track, Come Together. Those muddy bass and drum grooves that fit together so perfectly are the perfect table setter for the album in the sense that the following tracks will be unlike anything you've ever heard.
The best album ending of all-time, the medley from You Never Give Me Your Money on is some of the best popular music ever. Golden Slumbers still gives me chills when I hear McCartney wail.
This is probably the easiest 5 star rating I've ever given. Genius.
Thin Lizzy
3/5
Better than I thought. Prior to this album I was only familiar with Thin Lizzy's hits which are horribly overplayed by classic rock stations, by no fault of their own. This band was clearly huge, and they have the classic rock chops to back it up. They have a unique sound that kicks ass and some hooks that don't water down their hard hitting rock and roll. A good offering but not something I plan to revisit.
Ramones
3/5
This was better than I thought. I feel like so much of early punk music is just terrible. Despite having loved it in my youth, my sense of it now is that you really had to be there for it to really experience that generations counterculture. All that being said, the Ramones striped down rock is enjoyable. The album is very short and focuses on minimalist hooks that work well. There is little in the way of technical proficiency but they weren't aiming for that. They succeed where they try.
The Mothers Of Invention
3/5
What made Zappa brilliant was the way he subtly blended irony into his music. Whether it was lyrical irony, ("is that a real poncho or a Sear's poncho?") or he's doing it musically through dynamics and tension. Much of his music goes off the deep end and is wrapped in so many layers of irony that it becomes a chore to listen to. An album like Don't Eat the Yellow Snow threads the needle perfectly and, in my opinion, is a masterpiece. This album does not live up to Don't Eat the Yellow Snow. When they are making music for the sake of music, they excel. But those moments are few and far between throughout.
He does some cool stuff with the recordings, some cool panning effects. They wrap several songs with that sort of "fall-off" ending, where each member largely goes off in a different for the last 8 measures or so until they each stop separately.
Pere Ubu
3/5
A delightfully weird indie rock album. The call and answer on the title track is particularly good. Sadly the moment falls off about midway through the album and the later half is almost entirely forgettable.
The Smiths
1/5
The only good thing about this album is that it's only 37 minutes. I have listened to several of his/their albums at this point and I sincerely do not get it.
The Stooges
4/5
Awesome punk album. The horns on the later half of the album really bring some life to their music. Great stuff to exercise to as well.
The Velvet Underground
3/5
You get what you pay for with this album. It sounds exactly like what you think the Velvet Underground will sound like, and that's either good or bad depending on how you feel about them. Personally, I'm okay with their sound. Nothing they've done has ever blown me away but a few of their tunes are enjoyable.
The Byrds
2/5
Early rock like this just bores me. I'm sure it was a revelation at the time, but other than the Hey Joe cover and Captain Soul, there wasn't much I enjoyed.
Cee Lo Green
3/5
There is some really great music on this, and some really bad music. Cee-Lo is trying to do a lot on this album and is largely successful, but where he fails, he fails in a big way. I understand he's from the south so him taking a stab at southern hiphop makes sense. He's variety of southern hiphop was really difficult to get through. His more pop and soul oriented stylings were more my taste. He does some cool things on a track or two with orchestral arrangements that sound great as well.
3/5
This is a unique album. A big blend of aggressive rock and indie. I felt a lot of self loathing in the album. I appreciate their stylings but I don't think I'll revisit this album.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Great album. Solsbury hill is one of my favorite tracks of all time. Gabriel maintains his flair for the dramatic on several tracks, notably Down the Dolce Vita. Modern Love was also a stellar track.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
3/5
Good lord does this album come in hot. The very first note is a vocal explosion without warning that forced me to turn the music down. Parts of this, particularly Wail, remind me of the Brian Jonestown Massacre with their avant-garde blues. The music seems juvenile at times, especially on F**k Shit Up where the majority of the lyrics are "Make it fucked up". The band is at their best when they sound like Iggy Pop doing the blues. The album gets a bit better on the second half, with more riff oriented tunes.
Overall the album is unique but a far-cry from anything I would purchase.
Os Mutantes
5/5
What a delightful surprise! This album mixed Brazilian musical stylings with psychedelia and surf sounds. Lots to like about this and I look forward to exploring this further.
Sam Cooke
5/5
Every song on this album is a banger. When Sam isn't making beautiful music, he's working the crowd at an unparalleled level. It was difficult not putting every track on my playlist.
Mylo
2/5
I had high hopes for this album, but it didn't live up to my expectations. A lot of this seemed bland and uninteresting.
Metallica
5/5
Probably my favorite metal album of all time.
OutKast
4/5
There are some truly outstanding tracks on this album. Mind blowing hip-hop. As much as I love some of these track, many of the others are lackluster at best and the sketches are terrible.
Leftfield
3/5
Another electronic album that didn't speak to me. There were parts of songs that I really enjoyed, some had very flowing rhythms and pleasing melodies. But there weren't many tracks that I loved overall. Nowhere near as good as LCD or Justice.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Great hiphop album. Q-tips parts are my favorites. This album deserves several listens to get it all.
Duran Duran
1/5
Every song sounds the same as Hungry Like the Wolf and I mean that with the utmost disrespect.
Alice Cooper
3/5
This was better than I thought it would be. Much more depth. The hits were songs that I have heard far too many times, but many of the deeper tracks were pleasantly surprising.
Iron Butterfly
3/5
This is better than I thought. Early stoner rock. The album is anchored by the epic title track that comes in at over 17 minutes. A few tracks worth listening to again.
TLC
4/5
Great album. Lots of cool references, Backstabbers immediately comes to mind, and a great deal of talent. Don't go chasing waterfalls is a brilliant songs about the AIDS epidemic.
Kraftwerk
3/5
Interesting album, and far different from what I expected. This album came out in 1974, decades ahead of its time. Basically a precursor to modern electric music. A lot of the melodies seem familiar, I'm not sure if Kraftwerk sampled from other popular music or if their music was sampled but I felt like I know many different parts from this album. There wasn't a standout track but over all the album was very cool.
Frank Sinatra
4/5
I liked this far more than I thought. Sinatra's voice and talents hold up to this day. His band is tight and they compliment each other very well. Some of the lyrics are hilariously dated, like the song "Makin' Whoopee". I wonder if there are any recordings of Sinatra and Buddy rich playing together. That could be a really fun listen...
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Probably one of my top 3 albums of all time. I played the living shit out of this album.
Nina Simone
5/5
Beautiful and brilliant. The only problem with this album is that I didn't listen to it earlier.
Nine Inch Nails
3/5
This album is full of anger and frustration, and it is apparent from the first note. I'm not sure of it, but I believe, based on the sound, that Trent Reznor plays all of the instruments on the album. If that isn't the case, there is a strong sense of a singular idea pervading all of the tracks as though one person were doing it all.
This album is somewhere between a 3 and a 4 for me, but the darkness is too heavy and makes me not want to revisit it so I'll give it the 3.
Marianne Faithfull
2/5
A good pop album but not my taste. Seems like a precursor to Madonna's style of pop.
Leonard Cohen
1/5
I did not get this album at all. Having just read the wikipedia entry for this, I'm just as lost. "Sparse" is a good word to describe it. The motif of Cohen signing while low percussion and strings plays a level or two lower is repeated on ever. single. track. Choruses are often bland and sometimes seem forced.
There was one enjoyable track due to the background horns that became prominent and some stellar backing vocals. Beyond that, this album strikes me as a celebration of the mans life as he died shortly after the release, rather than an indication of this album having anything in the way of quality.
Miles Davis
5/5
Probably one of the greatest jazz albums of all time. It's interesting that through this process I've been exposed to so many different great jazz albums that I can now process this a bit better. This is so far from the Mingus stuff I've been inhaling, far more structured.
The trumpet playing is world class throughout the album and very emotional. Every note played on the drums is intentional and masterful. There is not a single bad element to this album.
Nick Drake
3/5
Nick Drake has carved out a unique sound for himself. I really enjoy a lot of his music. This album wasn't mind blowing, though. There were some cool additions to this album that I hadn't heard on previous albums such as big beautiful orchestrations and some hand percussion.
This album is between a 3 and a 4m but I'm going to stick with the 3 rating for no good reason.
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
4/5
This was a cool listen. I hadn't heard of this band before today and I'm glad I had the opportunity to check them out. All instrumental tracks with a bit of vocals on one of the songs near the end of the album, if I remember correctly. A lot of these songs sound familiar, like they were the beginning of or inspiration for a Pink Floyd song. Definitely worth revisiting.
Spiritualized
4/5
I liked this album so much more this time around then my first listen a while back. To be fair, when I first listened to this album I may have not been in the right place to appreciate it as really just wanted more of Ladies and Gentlemen...
There are a lot of similarities between this and L&G. Lots of ambiance with splashes of Oasis-like 90's Britt rock. This album does have a lot more to sink your teeth into than I remembered, too.
I do still judge it agains L&G, which is a masterpiece. This album isn't as good. There isn't as singular a focus as L&G. People may appreciate that more but I do not. Great album overall.
Frank Zappa
5/5
I can't believe how great this album is. I've heard so much of his/their stuff and never this. So much of the music they put out was crap for one reason or another. This album is just great jamming from cover to cover. On par with Don't Eat the Yellow Snow.
Bon Jovi
1/5
This album gets a hearty groan from me. It perfectly encapsulates everything wrong with 80's rock. That being said, there are some tracks I love in a very self-loathing way - You Give Love A Bad Name, Wanted Dead or Alive.
I really don't think this album should be on this list except for the irony.
Taylor Swift
3/5
This album got much better towards the end. I felt like it was a very vanilla alum about white middle-class breakups with little to offer musically, but T-Swift's hooks and talent are on full display on the later half of the album. While a far cry from something I would put into my daily rotation, the album does have a few tracks I will revisit often, in particular "Long Story Short".
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
1/5
This sounds like the type of abstract "rock" that comes from people who were never cool enough to be offered drugs.
Drive-By Truckers
2/5
I hated this album when I began listening to it but reading about its background gave me a better picture of what the album is about. It's a cool concept album about many different topics related to the south and while it’s background did provide sole enjoyment, there wasn’t much on here that I’d like to revisit.
The Byrds
3/5
This Byrds album is probably the one I like most. Their music is a bit dated now but I can hear how a band like CSN may have been inspired by them.
There were some tasteful horn sections on the album that really popped too.
Aerosmith
3/5
Better than I expected. Aerosmith's blues influences make their deeper tracks enjoyable. I'm a big fan of love in an elevator and I don't care who knows it. The track Hoodoo/Voodoo Medicine Man actually kicks ass, despite some weird lyrical choices in the beginning.
Wu-Tang Clan
5/5
Probably my favorite hiphop album of all time. Been listening to it for 20 years and it's still fantastic.
Sepultura
4/5
I wrote a review of this but lost it, apparently. The album is solid. It's like a more brutal version of Metallica. Definitely throwing some of this into my rock workout playlist.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
I had high hopes for this album since I absolutely fell in love with the last Nick Cave album, Abattoir Blues. But this just didn't resonate with me. It was far less dynamic, which seemed intentional. But I found it far less interesting overall. Not a bad album but far from great.
Amy Winehouse
5/5
What a talent Amy Winehouse was. The music is sultry and provocative. She's really pushing the boundaries with a lot of her vocals. I listened to the album twice in a row, partially due to shitty headphones but also because I felt there was a lot that cannot be taken in with only one listen.
Rush
2/5
Rush's music always sounded, to me, like it was made by robots. There's no depth to it. Just overwhelming technical proficiency and mediocre vocals. There is no doubt they're hugely influential, but they never made music that had any soul.
John Cale
3/5
A pleasant English rock album. The genre is grossly over represented on this list but this album is pretty innocuous.
The Stranglers
3/5
Better than I expected. I don't know anything about the band or this album but the first few tracks gave me the impression that this would be yet another mediocre brit-rock album. While there are elements of that, the album has far more Velvet Underground/Lou Reed and early NY punk sounds than anything else. Also some Doors adjacent rock on a few tracks.
I really expected to be pissed off by this album but I did wind up enjoying it. There's a great piano solo on the second to last track, Go Buddy Go.
KISS
3/5
This was better than I expected. Some of it is genuinely good, other parts ironically good, and a lot of it is just bad.
But they're a fun band to listen to and put on a good show.
The Smiths
1/5
Another atrocity from the horrifyingly over-represented Smiths. Nothing worth listening to here, at all, keep moving. Mercifully, the album is only ~30 minutes. Awful and aggravating.
Dusty Springfield
5/5
What a phenomenal album. This is a must buy. Dusty's voice is phenomenal and the arrangements match. Not a bad track on the album.
Marvin Gaye
5/5
Great stuff. Marvin Gaye is arguably the most talented singer of his generation and responsible for the greatest album of all time, What's Going On?
There's a lot to love on this album. Obviously the vocals and lyrics are stellar, there are many tasteful horn sections and pocket-grooves that send chills up the spine.
Every element of this album is fantastic. It's a near perfect album from cover to cover.
Nitin Sawhney
3/5
This was an interesting listen. I didn't particularly like much of it but that is mostly because of my tastes and not a reflection of the quality of music. I would categorize this as lounge for the most part, but I don't think it set out to be. And much of the album does not fall into that category.
The cool thing about the album is that it is clearly about the shock of the power of the atomic bomb. The album makes several references to the underground testing that took place and uses actual news clips rather than the artists voice. Cool stuff overall.
Paul Weller
3/5
Cool album. Sounded like a loss polished Michael Kiwanuka but with more jammy tunes. I saved a few tracks that I look forward to revisiting.
Leonard Cohen
2/5
I think I liked this album more than the last one of his on this list. It seemed like there was a cohesive lyrical narative throughout but I'm not 100% sure. A few musical bits that I enjoyed but I won't be putting this album on likely every again.
Beatles
5/5
I'm so glad I get to revisit this album as it is one of my all time favorites. It is beyond the pale that this album was recorded at the peak of the Beatles animosity toward one another, and that despite all of that they produced this breathtaking album.
Right off the bat the piano work and hook on Back in the USSR ropes you in. Only to be followed by maybe my favorite Beatles track ever, Dear Prudence. The melody sends a chill down my spine every time I hear it and the beautiful spike in intensity before Ringo breaks the tension with the snare on all four beats is transcendent.
The album does have a lot of songs that I'm not crazy about, Glass Onion, Wild Honey Pie (albeit, this song has a desired effect that isn't enjoyability), and Little Piggies.
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da is probably the Beatles song I fixated on most in my life.
This is such an easy 5 star album.
ABBA
4/5
Abba is a great pop band that doesn't get its due in the US. Quality succinct hooks on nearly all of their tracks. At times brilliant, and at worst innocuous.
Beyoncé
5/5
I cannot believe how good Beyoncé is. I recently listened to her newest album and loved it, and this is even better. Top notch production throughout the album. She has such an ear for nuance and little flourishes of character.
Every track is a masterpiece, I'm truly blown away. Catchy hooks are the main draw on some tracks but, more unexpected is the masterful musicianship and raw emotion that hooks the listener in.
This album may replace JT's 20/20 as my current favorite pop album.
LL Cool J
2/5
There is something to be said for this album. It's just VERY basic rhythmically. I don't see a lot to revisit other than Momma Said Knock You Out and that's mostly for the novelty.
Grateful Dead
2/5
I've just never been able to get into their music. Lots of string-oriented stuff that doesn't do it for me. I did like the songs that are hits, Friend of the Devil, and Truckin. But nothing else speaks to me. I know I'm in the minority here among music lovers but I cannot find anything that's truly interesting.
Elbow
4/5
Very cool British indie rock album. The first track is very impressive, with sharply contrasting dynamics and a strong string section. Really beautiful piano/synth playing and unique indie-rhythms on nearly every song.
Lots of truly excellent tracks throughout the album. This is immediately going on my to-buy list.
Cyndi Lauper
3/5
Pretty run of the mill pop album. It doesn't speak to me but it's not without merit. Girls Just Want To Have Fun and Time After Time are the two standout tracks/mega-hits.
Dr. Octagon
1/5
This was embarrassing to listen to. Genuinely some of the most juvenile lyrics ever recorded. Some of this album borders on rape-y.
Elastica
2/5
This sounded to me like 90's grunge from England with a strong female lead singer. There is merit to this but nothing that speaks to me.
SAULT
5/5
Really terrific stuff. Hard Life, Wildfires, Bow (w/Michael Kiwanuka), and Pray Up Stay up are all awesome tracks. The group pulls from a litany of different influences, but what I liked most was the blend of hip-hop and afro beat (similar to Fela, idk if that's the right name for the genre). I've already listened to much of this album multiple times.
The Damned
4/5
Great punk rock album. Very reminiscent of Iggy and the Stooges. An especially great album to listen to while working out.
Scott Walker
2/5
I got the gist of Scott Walker from his last album. There's really no reason to have 2 nearly identical albums from here on this list. This one is just as OK as the last one. Some enjoyable stuff but aggravating when thinking about all the music that didn't make the list for duplicitous albums like this.
Elton John
3/5
I love early EJ, but this album is one of his the beginning of the end of his greatest material. There are a few standout tracks on this album, the title track in particular, but a lot of the music is less inspired than his earliest works. Nothing majorly wrong with it but far from my favorite.
5/5
Great album. Sounds like proto-Rage Against the Machine. The title track is legendary, but some of the other tracks are just as good. Come Together (not a cover, unfortunately) and the bluesy Motor City Is Burning are tracks worth listening to on repeat.
Jerry Lee Lewis
5/5
This album is amazing. It's only 22 minutes or so but every single track is legendary. Money (That's What I Want), Great Balls of Fire, Good Golly Miss Molly, Your Cheatin' Heart. It's one legendary rock and roll song after another. I have to look into his background to see if he wrote all of these songs or not.
Big Brother & The Holding Company
4/5
This album is a classic. I believe it's where Janis Joplin got her start before going her own way. There is a rawness to a lot of the music here that pulls at the heartstrings. Lots to revisit on this album.
Buffalo Springfield
3/5
Too much Neil Young. Some of this is really enjoyable. Everyday's does a wonderful job of creating tension through the piano part. A Child's Claim to Fame is an enjoyable bluegrass tune. The tracks I like the most are the ones have the least Neil in them.
Elliott Smith
2/5
Elliot Smith sounds to me like Nick Drake with less charm. Cupid's Tick was a good tune. Other than that, I won't revisit anything on this album.
Milton Nascimento
3/5
Very cool latin album. The stuff that erred on the side of singer/songwriter was less interesting to me than the stuff where rhythm featured prominently. Rebecca described it as a Spanish John Frusciante, which I think is apt. Also, a cool version of O Trem Azul. Possibly the original? I have to look into it.
David Bowie
4/5
Brilliant album from Bowie. Lots of hits on this album and deep tracks that I love. Apparently this was his first major album. I'll definitely pick this up on vinyl at some point. While I did enjoy this, it wasn't as great as some of the other albums on this list. Better than The Rise and Fall of Ziggy... but not as good as Heroes, The Next Day or Blackstar.
Public Enemy
5/5
Another stellar album from Public Enemy. This may be my favorite album of theirs. Not a single skippable track, and even the skits have a good groove or something worth listening to. I added about half of this list to either my hiphop workout list or the 1001 list.
Pixies
3/5
I have a hard time disassociating the Pixies from Cheap Trick. I have no idea where this came from. I was dreading this album because I thought it was going to sound like Cheap Trick but I was pleasantly surprised by the punk/DIY nature of their sound.
Where is My Mind is a staple. Fun album over all.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
This is a good album, but I don't really see myself every listening to it again. Nick Cave does a great job with his piano arrangements and there's some true beauty on this album. But it's a sad sounding album that doesn't do much to move the needle for me.
Bob Dylan
3/5
This album doesn't really move the needle for me. There are some of Dylan's most notable songs on here, such as Tangled Up In Blue, and Shelter from the Storm. But even these tracks don't resonate with me. One cool thing I read about this album is that it was inspired by either Anton Checkov, or Dylan's own divorce. That's a cool insight.
Kraftwerk
2/5
Cool album, I heard some stuff I believe LCD Soundsystem sample. Their stuff seems pivotal to the electronic music scene but it just seems dated to the casual electronic-music listener like me.
Leonard Cohen
1/5
This album started off sounding a bit like a less interesting/talented version of Simon & Garfunkel. It very much has that 60s folk sound but lacks anything you can sink your teeth into. Interesting side note- LC looks a lot like a young Al Pacino on the album cover.
It's aggravating to see so many albums from LC on here as they are all largely the same uninteresting, snoozefest. This album may deserve a better rating, but given how many of his albums are on here and how rage inducing it is, it gets a 1.
The Fall
3/5
This was a cool album. At times it sounded like the Melvins, other times Prodigy, and then bland brit rock. I didn't notice much in the way of technical proficiency, or solos or anything.
Brian Eno
2/5
This album was OK. I listened to it a few days ago and I can't recall a single track, which I think says a lot about it.
Drive Like Jehu
4/5
Loved this album. Reminded me of the post-punk that I got into in my youth. Lots of energy. Squealing guitars and up-tempo beats that are all basically the same. Perfectly encapsulates the rage of youth.
Beatles
4/5
This is a great album from the GOAT. However, it's not their best. They hadn't yet developed a lot of what made them truly exceptional.
They're pop hits on this album are all great though.
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
Echo and The Bunnymen embody everything I dislike about that era of music. Other than Killing Moon (a song that has been in 10,000 movies and shows) the album is largely skippable for me. Not undeserving of being on this list, just not something I care to hear ever again.
Ministry
3/5
This is an intense album. Pounding double bass, industrial noises and creepy vocals throughout. Some of this was great to listen to while I was working out but it's far too angry, for me, to listen to in almost any setting. It sounded a lot like nine inch nails but more relentless. All that is to say that it wasn't a bad album.
Radiohead
3/5
Radiohead's music typically bores me, and this album is no exception. They are a talented band but they just don't do much for me in terms of enjoyment. I Might Be Wrong and Life in a Glass House were the standout tracks for me on this album. Without those two, the album would have lost a star.
Ray Price
2/5
This is a great example of country and blues music. Ray Price is a talented singer and he does what he does very well. Many slow ballad type numbers lead by country vocals. This is not something I need or want to listen to ever again. I don't know enough about this style of music to say that it doesn't belong here, but I know I'm indifferent to it at best.
Elvis Presley
4/5
Great collection of stolen music. Seriously though, this is great. Elvis had an incredible voice and really knew how to use it. Almost every track on here is legendary. I loved his version of I Got a Woman.
Violent Femmes
4/5
I cannot believe this album came out in the early 80s. It had a renaissance when I was in grade school and I LOVED Blister in the Sun, still do.
This album is really unlike anything else. It reminds me a lot of Crass, very low production, just strings and essentially a snare driven drum style. This album totally deserves to be on this list and I'm thrilled to have listened to it.
Madness
3/5
This album is really difficult to find streaming for some reason. Even some vinyl sellers won't ship to the US. Bizarre... So I had to listen to this on YouTube.
I liked this a lot more than I thought I would once I found out it was a Ska album. It's got subtlety though. The band is tight and have a knack for hooks. The song "Our House" [in the middle of the street] is on here, which is massive. They do get weird on some tracks, like New Delhi, where they do a bunch of racist accents that pair nicely with the blackface on the album cover. The second to last track, Are You Coming With Me, has a cool samba groove with, I believe, a 3/2 clave.
Ghostface Killah
5/5
I'm so glad I got to listen to this masterpiece again. It's been a while and I completely forgot just how good this album is. Even the skits are solid. There's the obvious standout, Kilo, that may be my favorite hiphop song of all time. I also rediscovered R.A.G.U., Shakey Dog, 9 Milli Bros, Crack Spot, and Clipse of Doom. This album is in my hiphop Mount Rushmore.
The Police
4/5
Wayyyy better than I thought. I love the drumming throughout, Stewart Copeland is unreal. Everything is so tasteful and totally unique. As far as I know, no one was drumming that way before him. It's cool to hear him play and think of songs like #41 by DMB where Carter has said he was channeling his inner Copeland.
I could tell that their music is an influence on Jacob Collier.
Murder by Numbers was a great track that I had never heard.
Little Simz
3/5
This was an interesting album. Little Simz has a cool style, despite her British accent- which typically takes me out of a song/album. The album has elements of low-fi hiphop but other songs have more structured and intricate orchestral arrangements. There's a lot of braggadocio and it's pretty creative and amusing (in a good way) at times.
All that being said, a lot of the album bored me with the slower tempos and more sparse lyrics. Cool stuff and a few songs that were added to playlists but not a "great" album for me.
Metallica
3/5
Good album with some of their best stuff, but also some of their worst. Enter Sandman is a classic of theirs. Despite the songs popularity, Nothing Else Matters is such a week song. Many tracks in the 3rd quarter of this album are ballads and I have never heard a Metallica ballad that I liked. The album was fun to listen to while I worked out.
Orbital
4/5
I wrote a review and then messed up when I tried to save it. Damnit.
I like this album, cool electronic droning that's been resonating with me of late. The first and last track are just phrases that loop in and out of time with each other, which was jarring when it lasted over 1:30.
Lush 3-1, Impact (The Earth is Burning), and Monday were standout tracks.
Stereo MC's
1/5
The title track is good, but only in a very novel way. Connected was everywhere for a minute in my youth. The rest of the album is pretty terrible with moments of "okay-ness". Nothing really worth revisiting.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
1/5
Awful, from cover to cover. I cannot think of a single album that is more undeserving of being on this list.
It's like a mix of the Kottonmouth Kings, and Uncle Cracker. Horribly appropriated rap, nothing remotely interesting in the way of musicianship. Just bad all around.
The Pharcyde
3/5
Some of this album was great, some was pretty mediocre. According to the Wikipedia page about it, this was one of the first alt-rap albums and paved the way for folks the Hieroglyphics and Del.
Like a lot of hiphop albums, this has some skits/sketches that really just take me out of it. Lot's in juvenile jokes that don't do well over time.
But some songs, I'm That Type of N***a and Officer were really catchy. Not a favorite but I'll be registering to those tracks in particular soon.
Queen
4/5
Far better than I expected. Like The Who, Queen have a lot of stinkers. But this album is very, very good. I was disappointed to see there was no Bohemian Rhapsody on this album, but that was just because I was incorrect in my assumption of what album it's actually on.
Father to Son, The Loser In the End, and Funny How Love Is were all great songs I hadn't heard before.
The Divine Comedy
2/5
I like this album substantially less than the other Divine Comedy album on this list. This album just struck me as bland. Nothing particularly noteworthy. It's only 7 songs, so it didn't take up too much of my time.
Jazmine Sullivan
4/5
This was better than I thought. The album opens up with a couple of amazing tracks that discuss female empowerment and sexual agency. The album loses a star because it's got some serious money worship dressed up like it's something else, and it's also a bit light at less than 40 minutes (which is even lighter when you factor in how much of the album is sketches/skits). But overall a surprisingly good album.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
3/5
Better than I thought! I was dreading this album after listening to Trout Mask Replica. But this was far bluesier and constrained which made for a far more enjoyable listen.
Sure Nuff n Yes I Do is a great (normal) track.
Johnny Cash
4/5
I don't typically like this style of music, but this album really spoke to me. I remember when this album came out around the time Cash's movie premiered, and the cover of Hurt was everywhere. It is really great, but it's far from the best track on the album. The album is mostly covers, and I loved the way he did the Beatles In My Life.
From the Wiki on this album: He receives backing vocal assistance from various artists, including Fiona Apple, Nick Cave, and Don Henley.
American IV: The Man Comes Around was Cash's first non-compilation album to go gold in thirty years. Additionally, the album won "Album of the Year" award at the 2003 CMA Awards. It was certified gold on March 24, 2003 and platinum on November 21, 2003 by the Recording Industry Association of America, the first non-compilation album of Cash's to do so since the early 1970s.
Run-D.M.C.
2/5
I get that this album is monumental in terms of importance, but I did not really enjoy this at all. It's very rudimentary hiphop consisting of basic rhymes and verses over only drums.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
The title track on this album is fantastic, the rest lives in that songs shadow. They would be great songs for a lesser artist but MG has set the bar too high for the middle third of the album to be considered great. Not a bad album, but compared to everything else he's done it's just OK.
Nightmares On Wax
4/5
This was better than I thought. Totally judged it based on its pot-leaf-covered album cover. I thought it was going to be very lowbrow weed themed music, but it is far from it. Lounge vibe electronic music that had a surprising amount of depth. A lot of tunes were added to different playlists for further listening. Looking forward to re-listening to a bunch of the tracks.
Lenny Kravitz
3/5
This album is OK. Musically it's pretty mediocre, but there are a lot of great lyrics. Some of the lyrics are way too on the nose, though, in terms of social justice and things like that. They were probably more poignant at the time, the album is 20 years old.
Janelle Monáe
5/5
WOW. This album blew my mind. I did not know what to expect but the album seemed to have 3 acts, the first being very reminiscent of Outkast's B.O.B. The songs match the energy but err more on the side of contemporary R&B (according to the Wikipedia page) than hiphop. Those first tracks truly were exceptional. I felt the influences of Fela and some more unique rhythms.
The next section slows down quite a bit and focuses on more piano tunes. It reminded me of Jacob Collier in its complexity but more digestible and with better vocals.
The third section seems to be a combination of both styles and is clearly demonstrated on the final track of the album, BabopbyeYa.
This is all I've been listening to since I first discovered it. Phenomenal.
Radiohead
3/5
This album was OK. A few tunes were good, a few I had heard in different places over the years. A far more angsty offering from Radiohead.
Morrissey
2/5
I would say that I genuinely enjoyed at least 1 track on this album, maybe more. Which is high praise for Morrissey. For the most grossly overrepresented band on this list, this is their best, and it's awful.
Donovan
3/5
Better than I thought. It's a creative and psychedelic offering from Donavan that includes the tracks Season of the Witch and Sunshine Superman.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
5/5
This is a phenomenally moving album. All a capella (at the very least, mostly) and interesting throughout. I felt moved to tears on more than one track. Just an outstanding achievement of African melody.
MC Solaar
3/5
Pretty cool hip hop album that I didn't understand a word of, due to it being in French. A lot of cool samples I did recognize on the tracks, one from Cymande and another from Marvin Gaye's Inner City Blues. I added a few of the tracks to my playlists and I look forward to rediscovering them.
Screaming Trees
1/5
Very vanilla rock and roll. Reminded me of early stoner metal like Clutch but with even less character. The album suffers from an overwhelming amount of blandness. There's really nothing else to the album.
Fatboy Slim
4/5
The songs that are good are great, everything else is OK. Rockafeller Skank, Praise You, and the new-to-me tune Soul Surfing were all great.
I was between a 3 and a 4 for this album, but having just looked at those 3 tracks mentioned above I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt, and the fact that I know I'll listen to this album again cover to cover.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
3/5
The opening track is one of the most ambitious rock songs I have ever heard. 20 minutes of tightly played freewheeling psychedelic rock from one of history's best power trios. If the rest of the album maintained that intensity and/or quality, this would be a surefire 5 star album. But after the mammoth first track, the rest is all skippable.
Doves
4/5
What a great surprise. This album reminded me so much of My Morning Jacket. After doing a bit of reading I realized they band is a contemporary of Coldplay, with whom they share a bit of their sound. They are more out there, though. They also reminded me a bit of Elbow, another cool English indie band I discovered through this list.
Great stuff deserving of many play throughs.
Tricky
1/5
I didn't hear much of value on this album at all. It was trance hiphop with some cool samples but I strongly disliked it.
The Replacements
2/5
Some of this album was really great, but some was just awful. A couple of the first tracks, We're Comin' Out and Androgynous, were added to the playlist. But the song Gary's Got A Boner was the must juvenile bullshit I've ever heard. Like a child who just learned the word boner and decided to write a song about it.
Country Joe & The Fish
3/5
A unique album for sure. The heart in the music really stood out to me. They were really feeling what they were playing. The first few tracks were high energy (relatively) but the second half of the album didn't sustain. Good and worth a revisit.
Tori Amos
3/5
A surprisingly beautiful album. I didn't like it initially, but once I started to understand what she was going for, lyrically, I was able to enjoy it. She's a tremendously talented singer and lyricist. Lots of stuff about female empowerment on this album that is very tastefully done.
This will fall under the category of a good album that I didn't really enjoy. There wasn't a lot of rhythm to speak of and was more melody driven.
The Sonics
4/5
What a great early rock album. Their versions of the timely standards, Do You Love Me, Roll Over Beethoven, Money, and Night Time Is the Right Time are all great. Some of the best versions I've heard of their songs. According to the write up, they're a band that can most be appreciated by listening to them live, which this album is not. So I'll have to check something out from their live albums if there's anything available.
This album looses a star for the songs they did write though.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
Phenomenal album from cover to cover. Almost every song was added to my playlist.
Funkadelic
4/5
This album was difficult to find. Wound up grabbing a copy of Discogs with the additional 7" that I *think* I cannot play on my P1. (Confirmed I can play it)
Funkadelic were definitely on a different level. The title track is excellent, as is Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?! Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The Doo Doo Chasers) is nonsensical and frankly, annoying, to listen to and is 11 minutes long. Listening to this song makes me think they're a funkier Frank Zappa, lots of irony and musicianship, but not mostly not very funny.
They totally redeem themselves on the next track, Into You, though. There's a really barnburner version of Maggot Brain on the additional 7".
Overall, I'm thrilled I picked this up and for a reasonable price. Great funk album that I'll definitely spin many more times down the road.
Talking Heads
5/5
What a masterpiece. I've been meaning to get around to this album for a long time so I'm glad this finally popped up. I think I saved every song on the album except the last track. There's a lot going on throughout. A lot of 80's electronic music that is tastefully blended with latin and afro rhythms. Then there is Once In A Lifetime, which is one of my favorite songs of all time. Just a fantastic album.
Robert Wyatt
1/5
This was a bad one. Too abstract for its own good. Incoherent English space rock.
Derek & The Dominos
4/5
Cool album. I love Duane Allman's guitar work. The songs I like most were the ones that sounded the most like Allman Brothers songs, Keep On Growing, Key to the Highway, and Why Does Love Got to Be So Bad? The album did seem to go on a bit too long, however.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
This is the tail-end of Bruce's best phase. His fourth album has some hits but the really dynamic energy is starting to fade and some of the lyrics are becoming cheesy. This is still a great album, but really pales in comparison to his first 3.
Harry Nilsson
3/5
For me, this is a ho-hum classic rock album. Jump Into the Fire and Coconut (as novel as it is) are my favorite tracks, but the rest of the album doesn't do much for me. I do love Harry Nilsson's voice. I feel that a lot of this album was just background music at best.
Deep Purple
5/5
This is one of the best live albums I've ever heard. The band is tight and their talents are on full display. A real barnburner of a drum solo on The Mule. I listened to the non-extended version initially and like it so much I immediately went to check out the extended version, which is over 2 hours long. However, the extended version is a different concert so I skipped it. I may try to grab a copy of this on vinyl in the near future.
Cocteau Twins
2/5
Really bland English rock. Reminded me of the Cranberries. Not my thing, but not awful.
Burning Spear
2/5
This was cool but not really my taste. It's a reggae album. The first track was really solid but the rest didn't hold my attention.
Beck
5/5
This is an album I've been familiar with for a while. So many enjoyable tracks on here. Apparently, this is the second time Beck teamed up with the Dust Brothers, the first being for the album Odelay. They also worked with the Beastie Boys on Paul's Boutique.
On this listen few new tracks stood out to me, notably Girl, Missing, Black Tamborine, and Broken Drum. I was going to give this album 4 stars because the tracks I dislike, I REALLY dislike. But now that I'm going over the songs I saved, I think it's a clear 5 star. I saved 7 out of 13 tracks.
De La Soul
4/5
Great hiphop album that, apparently, only recently became available for streaming. Tons of great samples throughout, including Sitting on the Dock of the Bay, and Magic Mountain (Eric Burdon and War). There are too many skits that didn't age well, though. I'm sure they were very funny at the time but I could do without.
David Gray
3/5
I knew a lot more of this album than I thought I did. Throughout the first couple of tracks I kept thinking how familiar David Gray's voice sounded. I remembered I had heard a bunch of the songs on XPN. I distinctly remembered disliking that stuff, though. However, having given the entire album a listen I realized I do enjoy a bunch of his tracks. There is a DIY nature to this album that resonates with me, though musically it doesn't do much for me. There are some good mellow tracks that I'll listen to again, but I wouldn't likely purchase this album.
Nirvana
3/5
This is a great album that I just don't like. Nirvana is a band that has been played on the radio more than just about any other in my life. The album opens with Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom, followed by Come As You Are. Three mega-hits from that era. They're all great songs too, but suffer from being absurdly overplayed.
Side note- Kurt Cobain is a terrible vocalist and and even worse lyricist.
Iggy Pop
5/5
Great album from cover to cover. Great punk rock influences. So many modern indie rock bands are influenced by Iggy, The Strokes, Jet, Franz Ferdinand, to name a few. I LOVE this album.
Bill Callahan
3/5
I listened to this is two separate sessions and I feel like I didn't give it the full attention it deserved when I first listened to it. The second half of the album really resonated with me for a singer/songwriter. This really deserves another, more attentive, listen.
GZA
5/5
Fantastic hiphop album. Sounds like a Wu-Tang album, from the vocals to the low-fi beats and the accompanying artists. Lots of familiar voices, Inspectah Deck, ODB, Method Man, RZA, Ghostface, Raekwon, U-God. Everyone is on this album. From cover to cover it's amazing.
Bauhaus
3/5
I didn't like this album initially, but the more I listened to the more it interested me. I'm not going to say the more I listened to it the more I liked it. The first half of the album sounds like a continuation of Joy Division's music, then the middle changed into more of a reggae style, which transformed into club style music... The final tracks are tough to describe. But this went from a 2 to a 3 just because of how odd it is. Not sure if there's much worth revisiting though.
Björk
4/5
Really high quality sound on the first track. Bjork has definitely carved out a unique sound for herself. This album blends ethereal and orchestral sounds throughout with a high degree of success. Very reminiscent of Sign Ros' album Agaetis Byrjun, though I would assume this is the inspiration for that or they share a common inspiration.
I'm really surprised by how much I like this. I'm somewhere between a 4 and a 5. When I was listening to the first 2/3s this morning I was sure it was a 5. But when I came back this evening I felt the final few tracks weren't as engaging. I'll have to sleep on it.
Merle Haggard
2/5
This seemed like the standard bearer for country blues. Very much a storytelling album, which is fine, but not my tastes like most of the genre. This album didn't do a single thing for me, but it's not so bad that it shouldn't be on the list.
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
4/5
I could have sworn that I owned this album, but apparently I do not, or I've lent it out and forgotten about it. I've definitely listened to it a few times in the past. This album really has a blues sound all its own. The first track sounds like something Santana would put out, with the keyboards turned way up. Much of the album has horns or song structures that are very unique for blues. There's even a drum solo.
Great album. Mayall's voice is good but at times a bit jarring, so it looses a point for that.
Jamiroquai
5/5
This is a phenomenal album. The bass player is amazing and the drummer is always in the pocket. I was concerned about this album as I thought Jamiroquai was more of a novelty, having only really listened to Virtual Insanity ad nauseam. But this truly blew me away.
The Wikipedia page for this album says this is "Acid Jazz", but that doesn't make sense to me. It's funk heavily inspired by some of the best of the 70s.
Also interesting, the reviews were positive overall but not as good as I thought. "Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post questioned the band's socially charged lyrics, and further wrote of the album: 'Derived from the lush, silky '70s funk and soul of Philadelphia International and Stevie Wonder, Jamiroquai's sound is about as revolutionary as a nonreturnable bottle of Pepsi.'"
Richard Hawley
3/5
Cool album. The first tracks had me concerned by the blandness, but I came around to Hawley’s sound by the third track or so. Really reminds me of Karl Blau, but more folksy.
Stephen Stills
3/5
Lots of orchestral arrangements on this album, which was a cool style to hear from Stills. Also, one track's piano part sounded very much like the inspiration, if not the exact same melody, for Led Zep's Fool in the Rain breakdown.
Unfortunately, this album lives in the shadow of CSN's best music. It's unfair, but I just want more CSN and none of their individual efforts scratch that itch for me.
Fishbone
2/5
This album does a lot. The first track is a lyrically faithful adaptation of Freddy's Dead by Curtis Mayfield. The song at times sounds like it's veering towards metal, but remains a rock cover.
Other songs on the album sound more like reggae and country. So there is definitely talent and a variety of sounds explored. But I didn't particularly care for most of it. I don't think I saved any of the songs. It was an educational listen, but I'll pass on a replay.
The Chemical Brothers
5/5
What a great album. Tons of energy throughout, I added the first 4 or 5 songs to either the 1001 or the electronic playlists. There were a few songs in the 3rd quarter of the album that slowed down a bit, but that may have been due to me not paying enough attention. Really outstanding electronic music that I look forward to revisiting often!
The Band
5/5
This is a 5-star album for The Weight alone. Possibly my all time favorite song.
Aside from that, this re-listen really turned me on to Caledonia Mission, the piano part in particular. Really awesome song. Also, long black veil is a fantastic display of song writing. I adore this album.
Roxy Music
1/5
Really standard 80's stuff that I do not enjoy. There was some quality musicianship towards the end of the album, but that doesn't save this from being a 1 star.
The Louvin Brothers
3/5
This was a great country album. I loved the harmonies and the easy-listening aspect of it. Could see putting this album on on a hot summer day while drinking. Disliked the god BS towards the end of the album.
Buzzcocks
1/5
Nothing remarkable about this album. I love punk and I've given high marks to most of the punk albums on this list. But this doesn't have anything unique going for it. Really run of the mill punk.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
I don't get Elvis Costello's appeal. This album does have some punk influence, which is cool. But I just don't like his music at all. I'll give this a 2 star as it's marginally better than the previous alum of his that I listened to, Armed Forces.
Pump It Up is on this album, which is the only song of his I actually enjoy.
David Bowie
4/5
Interesting to note that this album came out when punk rock was popular. This album could not be further from that style of music. There's a lot of instrumental tracks on this album that I really enjoy. I feel like this album would be great if I weren't already aware of his other albums. This stands in the shadows of my favorites of his. Good album but not as good as the others.
Jorge Ben Jor
5/5
I LOVE this album. Funky afro-cuban rhythms throughout with wailing group vocals. Fun to dance to and both challenging and easy listening at the same time. I want more of this style of music.
The Cars
1/5
A completely subjective review of this album: I hate the music and I hate the band.
The album starts out with Good Times Rolls, My Best Friend's Girl, and Just What I Needed. Overplayed to the point of being unlistenable. After that is a cartoonish nightmare called I'm In Touch With Your World, which somehow manages to be worse than the previous 3 songs. Good god.
It seems like every popular song The Cars have is on this album. The only good thing about it is that it's 9 songs and only 35 minutes.
Meat Puppets
1/5
Oh boy, this was something. Hands down one of the worst albums I've listened to on this list. The only thing that was noteworthy about this was Nirvana covered their Lake Of Fire. Cover-to-cover deeply unenjoyable.
Aerosmith
3/5
Better than I thought. Sweet Emotion is a great tune, despite how many thousands of times I've heard it. Surprise hits were Round and Round, for its super heavy and bluesy sound, and You See Me Crying, which started out bad, but really won me over with the towering orchestral arrangements.
R.E.M.
3/5
Good album. The thing that stood out to me the most was how much mewithoutYou is inspired by them. It's always cool to connect the dots with bands inspirational history.
Stand and Orange Crush were the big hits for this album. I do enjoy both of those tunes.
Django Django
4/5
A delightfully weird album. Lots of that weird indie-falsetto stuff that I like along with unique rhythms and string arrangements. One song featured very prominently a 3:2 clave that I loved. They do a great job building their songs around rhythm.
I really enjoyed this album.
The xx
3/5
This was good. I listened to this the same day as Django Django's self titled album so it was kind of in its shadow. Most, if not all, of these songs were duets between two talented singers crooning over low-fi beats and minor electric melodies. Definitely creative. I loved the opening track (which was purely instrumental).
This is a good album but isn't something I would listen to again do to it's style not matching my taste. They seem less focused on music than lyrics and vocals, which is fine.
Ravi Shankar
4/5
I put this album off for a bit because I knew it would be a challenge. But I was surprised by how accessible it was. Ravi even has a tutorial on the first track, which is pretty funny (probably unintentionally), but very informative. There's no doubt this Ravi is a talented individual and the music he makes sounds great even to a western ear. I don't know that I could put a single track on but I could see myself listening to this from cover to cover again.
Iron Maiden
3/5
This album is a lot more fun than I thought it would be. Iron Maiden is heavy music with some silly elements, namely the vocals. I don't know how intentional it is but the end result is enjoyable. Not something I'd listen to often but if I were tossing a couple back and this came on I would be pretty pumped.
Ice T
3/5
Good album. Not my favorite hiphop album on this list though. I just never fell in love with his style. Just doing a quick read of his Wikipedia says this album was where he introduced Body Count. I always thought that was very cool, how he was involved in a hard rock band. Also, he was born in Newark, which is a cool fact.
Songhoy Blues
5/5
This album is phenomenal. I was familiar with Soubour from XPN prior to listening. They do a lot of stuff really well. Soubour blends their African sounds with western hooks, while they show their range on other tracks with odd time signatures and rhythms under delicate melodies and vocals. I may purchase this on vinyl in the very near future.
Eels
1/5
Oh boy this was a rough one. I remember seeing some discussion about this on the sub reddit for being controversial. I'm just going to say that I don't get this at all. It seems confused as to what it wants to be. At times it's angsty, and at other times it leans into a 90's indie rock. But whatever it's doing, it's not doing it well. The album lacks focus and the lead singers voice is not very good.
One thing that is worth mentioning is that there are some really cool arrangements. Some large orchestral stuff and some really great piano parts. Sadly, that wasn't enough to save the album for me.
This could be a lyrically driven album, maybe that's what I'm missing. But the music is so off-putting that there's no reason to find out more.
The Fall
3/5
This album was better than the last. Each song really flows into the next and there's a heavier element to this album that reminds me of F-Minus. The last quarter of the album took a bit of a turn and was less enjoyable. But overall, this was a solid offering.
Brian Eno
1/5
I guess this is what happens when you add heart to ambient muzak. I assume that's what Brian Eno was trying to do. I'm not sure why he would make this album otherwise. Nothing really to sink your teeth into. This seems like a statement piece more than anything else. I haven't read the review in the book but from my first listen, I don't get it.
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
3/5
Michael Franti is the vocalist behind the group, a name which I've seen around a ton.
This album was cool. I tried to put off listening to this album for a bit as 4 out of the 13 tracks are unavailable to stream. But after a few weeks of no updates I decided to check it out.
Hiphop with a message and very emblematic of the 90's style. The album sounded important in terms of vocals and styling but it wasn't really appealing to me until the group really diverged from the samples on Music and Politics.
This is a good album that really lays into the activism of the time and is still relevant today. I just don't think I'll revisit this very often.
The Yardbirds
3/5
Another Yardbirds album, yeesh...
Interesting note about this album, it was originally released in the UK as Yardbirds and in the US, Germany, France and Italy as Over Under Sideways Down. I couldn't find Roger the Engineer in the book so I started looking it up by the date and was able to find it as The Yardbirds.
Jeff Beck came on this album to replace Clapton, which is an interesting note.
The tracks, Lost Woman, Over Under Sideways Down, and Shapes In My Mind were all really enjoyable. Far better than what I expected.
This was by far my favorite album from the group. Although the album is way too long, there was a good deal worth enjoying.
Sufjan Stevens
5/5
This album is brilliant. Most songs flow seamlessly from one to another. It's a concept album that revolves around persons, places and things related to Illinois. This was the second, and final, of 50 planned albums, one for each state. He later said that the 50 albums was a joke.
The songs are both striped down and highly polished indie rock that sounds like the precursor to a lot of the indie stuff I like these days, particularly Iron & Wine.
I'm really thrilled that I got to listen to this album as it's been on my to do list for a long time. Great album from cover to cover.
The Dictators
3/5
This sounds like a 70's punk rock album written by a professional wrestling persona. Songs about girls, cars and beers make the listener nostalgic for early punk tunes. They remind me a bit of Fear.
Apparently, this album was a favorite of the creators of Punk magazine.
Pentangle
3/5
Interesting folk rock album. Not bad but not particularly my taste. They have a male female duo. The song Sally Go Round the Roses is very good, as are Cold Mountain and I Saw An Angel.
The Sabres Of Paradise
2/5
Ambient electronic music. Not bad but pretty plain as far as I'm concerned. According to the book, this is one of the pioneering acid-house albums. According to the the album's liner notes, the album is named after the novel, Haunted Dancehall, by James Woodbourne, except this book does not exist.
Apparently this album is important for being an early example of acid-house, which isn't particularly a genre that I enjoy. But I will bump it from a 1 to a 2 star because of the background info.
Billy Bragg
3/5
From the Wikipedia: "Mermaid Avenue is a 1998 album of previously unheard lyrics written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie, put to music written and performed by British singer Billy Bragg and the American band Wilco. The project was the first of several such projects organized by Guthrie's daughter, Nora Guthrie, original director of the Woody Guthrie Foundation and archives."
Very cool background info on this album. This is something I always wanted to get to, but haven't as of yet. I always wondered what the deal was with the two teaming up and the book clearly had the answers.
The first few tracks on the album were really terrific and I was expecting this to be a quick favorite. But I felt less interested from tracks 4 through the end of the album. Nothing bad, but nothing particularly catchy. I don't think that was the intention of the album, but I do find it difficult to love an album that's lyrically driven, but doesn't have a hook, or strong musicianship.
It's a good album but it isn't as enjoyable as many of Wilco's other offerings.
The Sugarcubes
1/5
I did not like this album. It seems like the only reason this album is noteworthy is because it was the band that Bjork was in before setting off on her solo career. The entire time I was listening to this I just wanted it to be over.
I learned from the book that this was the first Icelandic album to to reach great acclaim. It is considered punk, which I see to an extent in its lack of conformity.
The Mars Volta
5/5
I'm not sure what to write about this as it's one of my top 3 albums of all time. I've listened to this hundreds of times, even played most songs myself hundreds of times. Easy 5 star for me. I'm glad I had a reason to give this record a spin again.
I think this quote from the book captures the album perfectly, "De-loused In The Comatorium is a lucid, Dali-esque blur of an album, painting the fevered Venegas' [artist who injected rat poison upon which the album is based] dying dreams through a progressive mutation of hardcore, possessed of militant groove. Beyond the music's complexity lies its emotional power, a yearning and vulnerable sense of pain articulated by epic, twisted melodies and Cedric's keening vocals. They most resemble a twenty-first century Led Zeppelin, raised on salsa and Afrobeatm funkadelia and the future."
Interesting side note - there is a typo in the glossary of this book that refers to this album as De-loused In The Crematorium.
Anita Baker
3/5
Anita Baker can sing. She's extremely talented and her brand of R&B seemed to set the tone for that era.
There really wasn't that stood out to me, however, and I don't see myself revisiting anything on the album despite Baker's massive talent.
1/5
This album does not deserve the energy it takes to type a review. Just awful from cover to cover. No artistic merit whatsoever. It's crazy how this music was EVERYWHERE for a period of time, and that Fred Durst dated Brittany Spears.
The Verve
3/5
The album is good, if only for Bittersweet Symphony.
They have a different sound than I expected from only being familiar with that song. A lot of spacey, psychedelic guitar work and more improvisational jams than I thought. Nothing else really seemed to interest me on the album, though. It is good, but I just couldn't sink my teeth into anything other than the first track.
The Specials
2/5
This is as Ska as an album can get, for better or worse. I didn't enjoy much of this. It was interesting the way they were able to incorporate a different set of influences across the album. But this is just not my thing. Not unworthy of being on the list, however.
R.E.M.
4/5
There is an emotional depth to REM's music that I never picked up on prior to this album. I'm glad I did, too, because it really separates their sound from their contemporaries.
The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight, Star Me Kitten, and Nightswimming were all great new tunes added to the playlist. Everybody Hurts and Man On The Moon were tracks I added that I'm already familiar with.
5/5
U2's early stuff is mind blowing. I had to fight the urge to add almost every track to my playlist, though much of my enjoyment may have been due to nostalgia.
The first four tracks are Where The Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, With Or Without You, and Bullet To Blue Sky (which I just learned from the book was a criticism of the US' intervention in Central America). Goddamn that's a hell of an album opening.
This album is basically flawless.
Elvis Costello
1/5
Enough with Elvis Costello ffs. I think I understand what I dislike most about his music, despite his wailing about and passion, his music is entirely devoid of soul, or any truth. My understanding is that his lyrics are good, as indicated by the book's review of this album. But his music is like a humans face, but without eyebrows.
He is overrepresented on this list and I am happy to be done, or at least one step closer to being done, with his music.
Love
1/5
I didn't hate this album, but I don't see a purpose to it being on this list. It's just another classic rock album with a psychedelic bent. Wholly skippable in my opinion.
Saint Etienne
1/5
I don't get it. The album doesn't present anything new or particularly well done. It's a revivalist electronic album, which is cool conceptually. But I didn't find anything particularly enjoyable about the music.
The reviewer in the book described the album as, "Sixties London fueled this record. Nineties London built it." I think that's a perfect way to describe it.
Gene Clark
4/5
Apparently Gene Clark was a member of the Byrds. I enjoyed this far more than any Byrds recording on this list.
This album struck me as a wonderful mix between Jackson Brown and David Crosby. Winter In, Stand By Me (a cover of the popular tune), The Band's Tear's of Rage, and One In A Hundred were all stand out tracks.
Cool album worth of several listens.
Duke Ellington
5/5
This album is phenomenal, and truly sexy. I'm not sure how else to describe it but the horns are sultry from beginning to end.
The book has a lot of really cool info about this album. Apparently, the album was a mix of the concert, some studio takes and some canned applause due to a mishap with the actual concert's recording. However, in '99 they were able to actually release the real recording of the concert.
I'm not sure which version I listened to but it was stellar nonetheless.
This album is credited with reviving his career, as big swing bands were ebbing in their popularity.
Diminuendo and Crescendo In Blue was my favorite track.
Really glad to have been exposed to this album.
Leonard Cohen
1/5
Awful from cover to cover. I've already reviewed too many of his albums to put any effort into this one.
Flaming pile of dog shit.
Michael Kiwanuka
5/5
I've been listening to this album for years and love it just as much as the first time I heard it. I believe I discovered MK from 88.5, but it may have been Spotify.
Nevertheless, this album is full of great tunes. I had to fight the urge to add nearly every track to my playlists.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
This album was okay. I'm sure there's a great reason for this being on here, but, as I've probably stated before, her music generally doesn't do much for me.
She's a very talented individual.
FKA twigs
4/5
This was a cool album. Electronic R&B that is really well produced. It was a treat listening to this on the train with the DAC. Two Weeks was my favorite track.
It's interesting and exciting to hear new talent like this define itself and push the boundaries. FKA twigs is definitely someone I'll be circling back to in the future.
FYI - this album is after my edition of the book so there's nothing to add from that.
Jeff Buckley
2/5
My initial thoughts on this album were that it is deeply unpolished. The aesthetic of the band is loose, Jimi Hendrix style rock, but with less heart. Certain parts of the album Buckley sounded great, others not so much. He sounded like more of an indie rock vocalist at times, which I think is when I enjoyed him the most.
I was going to give this album a 1, however, after reading a bit about it in the book I'm going to bump it up to a 2. It's interesting to note when this album came out, during the peek of the grunge phase. This album definitely has a sense of vulnerability that isn't present in most music of that era.
Interesting side note- Jeff Buckley died from drowning when he was 30. Tragic.
The Doors
5/5
This album is great. It pains me to say it in light of how much I dislike Jim Morrison, but they are electric on this album. The Changeling, Love Her Madly, L.A. Woman, Hyacinth House, Crawling King Snake, The WASP, and Riders On The Storm (basically every track) are all great.
The only downside to the Doors stuff is when they get carnival-ly. I used to enjoy it but it now seems out of place and really detracts from their music.
I was between a 4 and 5 for this album, but just listing all of the notable songs tells me I have to go with the 5 star rating, despite the weird and out of place moments.
The Avalanches
4/5
Very cool electronic album. I listened to this with the expectation that this was going to be an indie rock album, as I was totally unfamiliar with The Avalanches (or at least I thought I was). I was pleasantly surprised by what I got.
Much of the album sounds like you're walking through a dance party with multiple rooms with separate DJs playing the same song. You stay for three or four minutes then move on to the next room. I mean that it the best way possible. The songs evolve organically throughout and are very well done.
This was a very cool album, especially for a debut. I think the second half of the album wasn't as good as the first which keeps it from being a full 5 star, but it's a strong 4.
Caetano Veloso
2/5
My initial thoughts on this were that it was fine. A flamenco style Brazilian singer/songwriter. I get the gist.
The book review made Caetano Veloso much more interesting. "Try to explain Caetano Veloso to an Anglo-American Audience and you end up constructing some fabulous hybrid of Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Syd Barrett, John Lennon, and Bob Marley." Which I think is a cool description, albeit a bit over the top in praise. I definitely hear the Brian Wilson and John Lennon similarities, though. Apparently he was forced out of Brazil by the country's military dictatorship within two years of this album's release.
Cool history, but it doesn't really move the needle in terms of my enjoyment of the album.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
1/5
Ughhhhhh. EC strikes again. I will say this is probably the most enjoyable album of his/theirs that I've listened to.
I'm just sick of trying to piece together something original to say about EC's music. I strongly dislike it and find it of little merit.
Grateful Dead
3/5
Recorded at the Fillmore West and released in '69, this was a pivotal early live recording. Apparently this was the first time Dark Star was released, and it's a 20 minute version.
This is everything I expected a live Dead album to be. Gratuitous and self-indulgent, but occasionally looping back to something the crowd could connect with. There is a 7:49 song called "Feedback" and that's exactly what it is.
Bruce Springsteen
1/5
The book says the following about this album, "A record born of the ashes of the 9/11 attacks? Only an artist of the calibre-and with that the experience-of Bruce Springsteen could pull that off, and not create something sappy, or trite or vaingloriously vengeful." Which I found interesting because "trite" is the exact word I would use to describe this album.
It is worth noting that this is the first time he played with the E Street Band since Born In The USA. But this album is completely inorganic. A lot of the thoughts behind the music were good, but there wasn't much of what made the group great. Too much polish, odd & forced ethnic backing vocals, little diversity in song structure, and even less in the way of technical prowess make for a very dull listen.
The lighting that the group had captured on their first four albums is completely gone. This is an entirely skippable, and often embarrassing, assembly of songs by the once great band.
Common
5/5
Common is so good. Just otherworldly talent. Some cool insights from Wikipedia (I just gave my copy of the book to Ray), Questlove produced a good deal of the album, and collaborated with Femi Kuti and D'Angelo. "The track "Geto Heaven Part Two" was originally supposed to be a track on D'Angelo's 2000 album Voodoo, but was traded for "Chicken Grease," a track which Common had intended to include on Like Water for Chocolate. Questlove on "Chicken Grease".
Also, regarding the title, "The title Like Water for Chocolate comes from the 1989 Laura Esquivel novel Like Water for Chocolate, which was adapted into the movie of the same name in 1992. The phrase "Like water for chocolate" is of Spanish origin (translated, como agua para chocolate). In many Latin American countries, hot chocolate is made with water rather than milk. The phrase refers to someone who has reached their boiling point, like water ready to be used to make chocolate."
Interesting tracks include Time Travelin', Cold Blooded, The 6th Sense, Payback Is A Grandmother, and Geto Heaven Part 2.
Fela Kuti
5/5
This album is a great example of what absolutely should be on this list. A great piece of music that is hugely important in music history.
I love this album and I'm glad I got an opportunity to give the record a spin again (despite how upset I am that I dropped it while cleaning and scratched the living shit out of it). Fela's style is unparalleled, and the incorporation of Baker's drumming makes the music a bit more approachable to western listeners. The 3rd side of this album is all drum solo, but I still want more.
Legendary album.
Pink Floyd
2/5
This is the debut album from Pink Floyd. This is the only album where they had Syd Barrett leading the band and it shows. What I like about Floyd is their polished space-rock, and this does not have any of that. It sounds more like an album from The Who than a Pink Floyd. Not to say that it's bad because of that, only that it's not what I like.
There's nothing on this album I would revisit but I am glad I got to experience this album as it's been on my to-do list for over a decade. Important in historical context, not a great listen though.
Nico
1/5
I did not get this one at all. It was a watered down Joni Mitchel album at best. From the Wikipedia article, "Trouser Press commented that the album "is sabotaged by tepid arrangements and weak production" and is "of interest mainly for its links to the band Nico had just left." I think that's a very apt way to describe the album.
Nothing worth revisiting.
Napalm Death
2/5
Oh lord, this was something. This is Napalm Death's debut album. A "grindcore" album, it sure sounds like machinery grinding.
The album is 28 songs lasting a total of 33 minutes.
I did kind of like some of the music though. It's intense and a real middle finger to convention. It's not entirely without merit. The album would be good for weightlifting.
Prince
5/5
Brilliant album. Prince knows how to build tension. Even during his longer tracks, you feel engaged. He creates new hooks in the 5th minute of a 7 minute song.
Top songs include 1999 (which is apparently about nuclear proliferation), Little Red Corvette, Delirious, and D.M.S.R.
According to the Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), "1999 may be Prince's most influential album: Its synth-and-drum machine-heavy arrangements codified the Minneapolis sound that loomed over mid-'80s R&B and pop, not to mention the next two decades' worth of electro, house, and techno."
Hot Chip
2/5
This album started out pretty promising. I heard some indie rock with some four on the floor grooves and I was immediately intrigued. But that's basically how every single song is, the same rhythm beneath a disco/dance groove. It became repetitive very quickly.
While I did like a few of the tracks and I'm glad more modern albums are on the list, I'm not sure of this one's worthiness.
Julian Cope
1/5
From the Wikipedia - "Peggy Suicide is the seventh album by Julian Cope. It is generally seen as the beginning of Cope's trademark sound and approach, and as a turning-point for Cope as a maturing artist."
This to me sounded like generic white guy rock, in the vein of Phish. Some of the sounds toed the line of interesting, but the vocals would come in in a seemingly ironic sense that completely took me out of the music.
I really couldn't get into this.
Soul II Soul
3/5
Beautifully recorded and produced album. This, to me, is a textbook R&B album in the best sense. Back To Life (However Do You Want Me) is my favorite track.
Interesting note- the album sold over 900,000 copies in the UK and over 2 million in the US.
U2
4/5
Good album. There were some cool influences on this that I hadn't noticed when listening to this album earlier in my life, I definitely notice some English pop influence by bands like The Clash.
Good album but not as good as the Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby
UB40
2/5
I don't get reggae. The music really doesn't speak to me.
This is UB40's first album and, "The politically-concerned lyrics struck a chord in a country with widespread public divisions over high unemployment, the policies of the recently elected Conservative party under Margaret Thatcher, and the rise of the racist National Front party".
Miles Davis
4/5
This was a great listen. The album is only 2 songs, each about 18 minutes or so. The first is more jazzy, though neither is what would traditionally be expected from Davis. There's a loose framework of music that weaves in and out with a hi-hat anchoring the instruments. From what I read, there is some overdubbing and tape manipulation, which is one reason many consider this to be the true beginning of Davis' electric period.
The second track, In A Silent Way, sounds like a funky rock tune. I love it. There's a brilliant hook midway through the roughly 20 minute track. The experience reminds me very much of the Headhunters stuff that HH did.
I really enjoyed this album with the only caveat being that it is short. This is definitely worth many more listens and even picking up on vinyl. But its brevity keeps it from being a true 5 star album.
The second tune has far more structure and actually sounds like more of rock and roll tune than jazz.
Japan
1/5
This was interesting. A very 80's vibe to this music. At times the music sounded a bit like Animals-era Floyd. The album overall was more synth pop rock though and I didn't enjoy much of it.
According to the wikipedia, this album marks the band's departure from their glam rock era and their entrance into synth-pop.
An interesting note- apparently the band contracted Giorgio Moroder for the single "Life In Tokyo". However, the group did not feel that Moroder was the right choice to produce a full album.
3/5
This was a cool punk rock album. Very fun, Damned-style music. From the Wikipedia: "Wild Gift showcases the band's unique punk rock style, which infuses roots rock, country, blues, R&B, and rockabilly."
Notable tracks were We're Desperate and In This House That I Call Home.
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
3/5
Standard old school country album. The weird thing about this is that it's hard to find streaming. Not available at all on Apple, and I couldn't find it on Spotify on my phone through a search, only through this page. The Spotify version has a song that is clearly not Jack Elliot, though it is credited to him it is a female.
Mule Skinner Blues was my favorite track. Apparently, this is something of an old standard as there were dozens of different versions on Apple.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
This was my favorite album by this band. This definitely changed my overall opinion of the group from cheesy 80's crap to a serious musical act.
Interesting note from the Wikipedia- " Very exhibits one of many turning points the Pet Shop Boys would make to their music, shifting from the subdued electronic pop of Behaviour to richly instrumented dance arrangements. The content and lyrics led to Very being called their "coming-out" album, since it was during this time that Neil Tennant had publicly discussed his long-rumoured homosexuality."
Ute Lemper
2/5
This was a unique listen. I didn't love it but there were a lot of musicians I'm familiar with, largely thanks to this project, on this album. From the Wiki- "It is the product of a collaboration between Lemper and the Divine Comedy and includes songs by the latter artist, as well as Nick Cave, Elvis Costello, Philip Glass, Tom Waits, Scott Walker and Ute Lemper's signature artist, Kurt Weill."
There's no denying Ute's talents. But the music just wasn't my thing. A lot of cocktail lounge style singing with the chamber style of The Divine Comedy.
Buck Owens
3/5
Great country album. I could definitely see myself putting this on on a hot summer day with nothing going on.
Interesting note- Buck Owens does the original version of Act Naturally.
The Who
3/5
Some of this album was brilliant. They start teasing the melody for Pinball Wizard about three quarters of the way through the first song and keep it going throughout the album. I felt like that was a very nice touch.
I really enjoyed this album much more than any of the other Who albums on here. It does have a few obnoxiously English tracks on here that exist solely to annoy the listener. But beyond that it is solid.
Interestingly, this is the band's 4th album. I would have thought that such a unique concept would have come about later in their career.
The summary of the story of the album from Wikipedia is as follows- "The album was mostly composed by guitarist Pete Townshend, and is a rock opera that tells the story of Tommy Walker. Tommy is traumatized from witnessing his father murder his mother's lover. Tommy's parents compound his trauma by denying the experience. In reaction, Tommy becomes dissociative ("deaf, dumb and blind"). Tommy then experiences the trauma of being sexually abused. As a way of coping with his trauma, Tommy dissociates further through playing pinball. He gains a following because of his skill at playing pinball. After numerous misguided attempts to heal Tommy, a doctor prescribes him a mirror so he can confront himself and his experience. Instead, Tommy becomes self-absorbed and comes to think of himself as a messianic figure. When the mirror is eventually broken, Tommy comes out of his dissociative state. Tommy then tries to lead his followers to believe that the only path to healing is through him. His followers eventually reject him and his teachings." I did not pick up on 90% of that story. But I didn't listen that closely to the lyrics.
Talvin Singh
2/5
Talvin is a very talented Indian/English tabla player. But the music doesn't really resonate with me.
Supergrass
3/5
This album showed a more artistic side of Supergrass. They seem to me like an influence of Arctic Monkeys.
An interesting excerpt from the Wikipedia page- "In 1998, Q readers voted it the 68th greatest album of all time, while in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 57 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever." So the Britts really enjoy this album.
Notable tracks include Sun Hits the Sky, You Can See Me, and Sometimes I Make You Sad.
The Last Shadow Puppets
1/5
It's the Arctic Monkey's part 2. A unique level of blandness.
Barry Adamson
4/5
This was a cool album. The good parts reminded me of a mix between The Mars Volta, with their horns and effects, and Snarky Puppy, with their sexy spy music. There were quite a few lulls in the album thought.
From the Wikipedia- "Moss Side Story is the debut album of British musician Barry Adamson released in 1989. The album is a concept album, a soundtrack album to a non-existent crime film." That's a very cool bit of information and completely aligns with the sexy spy music I thought I heard. Also- "Moss Side is a neighbourhood in the city of Manchester, Great Britain, where Adamson was born. The album title is a play on words in reference to Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story."
Standout tracks include Sounds From The Big House, The Swinging Detective, and The Man With The Golden Arm.
T. Rex
4/5
This is a great album. T. rex are great, reminds me a lot of Bowie in that it is totally unique in its sound.
From the Wikipedia- "Electric Warrior is the second studio album by English rock band T. Rex, their sixth since their debut as Tyrannosaurus Rex. The album marked a turning point in the band's sound, moving away from the folk-oriented sound of the group's previous albums and pioneering a more flamboyant, pop-friendly glam rock style."
Standout tracks include Mambo Sun, Bang A Gong [obviously], and Rip Off.
The Triffids
3/5
This was a pretty solid album. It's what a lot of 80's pop music should have been if the music had any soul. Apparently, this album features themes of "insanity, deception and rootlessness".
Hometown Farewell Kiss was my favorite track.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
3/5
This was an interesting listen. This is peak glam rock in my opinion. Sarcastic and at times, bizarre, specifically the track Gang Bang. Giddy Up a Ding Dong starts as a blues rock tune, then dramatically turns on a dime to a gang vocal ballad that really kicks ass.
Fun music from a band worth exploring.
The Cramps
4/5
Loved this album. When I listened to their stuff as a kid I wasn't aware of their influences, specifically Iggy. But this is just pure punk rock fun from cover to cover. The Wikipedia describes the album as "garage-trash novelty", and I think that is a beautifully apt description.
Slade
4/5
I heard this described as dive bar rock and I think that is the perfect way to describe it. The band's sound is heavily oriented towards classic rock with the beginnings of glam thrown in for good measure. I believe the band is from Australia too, which comes through in their sound. Good stuff.
Wilco
4/5
Wonderful! I'm so glad I got this album. I love Wilco and have been dying to get to some of their older stuff. This is one of the few Deluxe editions albums that I actually listened to. I believe I've said it before but there is something in their music, and maybe it's Jeff's voice, that just speaks to me. I really love their music.
This is the first album with Glen Kotche.
Interesting note from the Wikipedia - "Recording sessions for the album began in late 2000. These sessions, which were documented for the film I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, were marred by conflicts including a switch in drummers and disagreements among the band members and engineers about songs. Despite this, the album would be completed in early 2001." And - "Reprise Records, Wilco's record label at the time, refused to release the album as they felt unhappy about the end result; this would lead to Wilco's departure from Reprise. The band subsequently acquired the rights to the album and later streamed the entire album for free on their website on September 18, 2001."
I'm looking forward to reading through the very long Wikipedia article about the album.
Notable songs - I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Kamera, Jesus, Etc., Heavy Metal Drummer, and I'm the Man Who Loves You.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
This was a great album. It's a concept album that is basically just Cave and a piano that was inspired by his son's death. This album is also a part of a trilogy along with Push the Sky Away and Skeleton Tree.
The album is beautiful and I definitely enjoyed listening to it. The last song was an epic 14 or so minute long track. But I don't think there was a song on here that I added to my list to check out later. It's an album that is very cohesive and doesn't have many tacks that can be listened to on their own.
Living Colour
3/5
The opening song to this album is Cult of Personality. I have heard this song too many times to enjoy it at this point but I did notice the lyrics this listen. They're a lot more poignant than I thought they would be. That goes for the whole album. There's a lot of awareness throughout.
They cover Talking Heads' Memories Can't Wait and The Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go (but only on the extended reissue). I appreciate their stylings but it's not for me.
Bee Gees
2/5
This album started off promisingly enough, but I was genuinely bored by it towards the end. It's a very long concept album that does a lot in terms of shifting genres, which is cool. There are several large orchestral arrangements that were impressive but do not require a second listen.
Marley Purt Drive was my favorite track off the album.
From the Wiki- "An ambitious project, originally intended as a concept album on the loss of a fictional ship in 1899, it created tension and disagreements in the band regarding the work's direction; finally, a dispute over which song to release as a single led to Robin Gibb temporarily leaving the group."
Bill Evans Trio
5/5
Wonderful jazz album. The album was recorded live on June 25, 1961, at the Village Vanguard in New York City. The band is tight and you can really feel the emotion from each musician. Apparently, the bass player died 11 days after the album was recorded. So this album heavily emphasizes songs where Scott LaFaros playing was emphasized. The album was subtitled "Featuring Scott LaFaro" and rushed to release.
My favorite tracks were My Man's Gone Now, Alice In Wonderland, and All of You.
Curtis Mayfield
5/5
This is an easy five-star album. Every song is great. Every one.
An interesting note from the Wikipedia page- "Super Fly is one of the few soundtracks to out-gross the film it accompanied".
Robert Wyatt
3/5
This was cool. I went into this one totally blind.
It was some weird indie stuff mixed with singer/songwriter riffs and some larger, strange, orchestral arrangements. They also threw in some weird sounds at times for good measure. The first song, Heaps of Sheep, was great. Alien was also a cool track.
I'm glad I got to listen to this and I think Robert Wyatts stuff may be worth checking out further. The album didn't blow me away, however.
1/5
This album was very jarring. I was excited by the first few notes as I was very much in the mood for some unique indie rock. But this wasn't enjoyable. The titles of songs are strings of nonsense and I can only assume the lyrics are the same.
I didn't save anything from this album.
Interesting note- the often sampled "fly, fly the devil's in your eye shoot shoot" lyric is from the song We Fenced Other Houses With The Bones Of Our Own.
Eagles
4/5
I knew what I was getting into with this album. It's got a bunch of their classics on here, Peaceful Easy Feeling, Witchy Woman, and Take It Easy. Those songs are all great. The rest of the album is okay. It was probably pretty groundbreaking when it came out but it's a bit dated now. That being said, it's crazy that this is a debut album from anyone.
I'm glad I had a reason to check this out, but I have to give it 4 stars instead of 5 due to the dated feel.
Gillian Welch
3/5
Beautiful album from a wonderfully talented artists. A real slice of Americana here. Southern singer/songwriter style, lots of mentions of the south and the Grand Ole Oprey.
As is standard with a lot of this kind of music, I can see myself listening to it on a hot day, but I probably never will.
Elvis Presley Blues was hands down my favorite track.
Sepultura
2/5
This is cool in a certain sense. It's a metal album from a Brazilian group, which is something I haven't heard much about.
The band also jams. They have longer songs where there's more building of tension and ethereal sounds. The song Canyon Jam begins with a woodsy ambience that has either drums or gun shots (or both) cutting through the background sounds. The song eventually builds into a percussion led rhythmic jam.
This is a cool band doing their own thing, but this album didn't speak to me the same way Arise did. It felt far more difficult to get through.
The final track Canyon Jam was the most noteworthy song for me.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Every bit an 80's band. The album was fine, which I guess is more praise than I give most music from this era.
Notable tracks were Villiers Terrace and Happy Death Men.
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
Better than I thought! I was listening to this on a run and kept thinking, "I know this singer", but could not place them for the life of me. Until Come On Eileen came on.
The album is fun. A good deal of string instruments with quirky vocals kind of give this a proto-indie rock vibe. There is a very tasteful cover of Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile).
Other noteworthy tracks were Let's Make This Precious, Come On Eileen, and Let's Get This Straight From The Start.
The Residents
1/5
This is troll music. It exists solely to push the boundaries of what people will listen to and has no musical value.
Afrika Bambaataa
4/5
I never realized how many Africa Bambaataa tracks I knew. The first song off the album, Planet Rock, has been in my head for roughly 20 years. I first heard it the PS1 Thrasher video game. Apparently, the version of Renegades of Funk was written by Afrika Bambaataa. Very cool.
This is clearly a legendary and influential album. Great in every regard.
Two interesting notes from the Wikipedia - "The song "Planet Rock" was one of the earliest hits of the hip hop music genre and remains one of its pioneering recordings. The single's liner notes include members of Kraftwerk with the songwriting credits. In creating the track, portions of Kraftwerk's "Numbers" and "Trans-Europe Express" were interpolated (re-recorded in the studio, rather than through the use of a digital sampler), along with portions of songs by Captain Sky and Ennio Morricone." Also, "The song "Planet Rock" was ranked by Rolling Stone magazine at #240 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,[3] and went on to become the first gold-certified vinyl 12-inch single."
Ash
1/5
This album was really middle-of-the-road for me. It really wasn't bad. It just really isn't my thing. They sounded very much like a 90's rock band. Apparently, they're from Northern Ireland and this is their debut. The Wikipedia says the album is described as Brit-pop, power pop and garage rock. There was just nothing in their sound that I could sink my teeth into. I'm grateful for having been introduced to this, but I don't see why it's on this list.
I didn't save any of the tracks.
Interesting note from the Wikipedia - "1977 received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised the album's "catchy" nature. The album peaked at number one in the UK, as well as reaching the top 40 in Australia, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland. "Kung Fu", "Girl from Mars", "Angel Interceptor", "Goldfinger", and "Oh Yeah" all charted on the UK Singles Chart, with "Goldfinger" reaching the highest position at number five."
Björk
2/5
This was a well recorded music. Lots of ambience, as is standard for Bjork. It's a beautiful sounding album and her voice plays perfectly with the instruments. She's clearly a talented musician and songwriter. But it doesn't speak to me in any capacity. I didn't save any tracks.
From the Wikipedia- The companion album Vulnicura Strings was released on 6 November 2015. It features strings-only interpretations of the Vulnicura tracks and utilises an instrument designed by Leonardo da Vinci called the viola organista.
Peter Frampton
3/5
I knew what I was getting into when I started listening to this. An album that's been played to death by every classic rock station in the country. Despite that, the most played song, Baby, I Love Your Way, was still added to my list.
It's a fine album that has the misfortune of being the favorite live album of every casual music listener born from 1950-1970.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Super interesting to listen to this stuff and be able to essentially pinpoint many indie rock influences to bands like Animal Collective.
A very cool fact about this is that Steve Lillywhite produced this album.
From the wiki- Building on the experimental sound of his previous self-titled studio album, it saw Gabriel embracing post-punk and new wave with an art rock sensibility. Gabriel also explored more overtly political material with the anti-war song "Games Without Frontiers" (which became a No. 4 hit and remains his joint highest-charting single in the UK) and the anti-apartheid protest song "Biko", which remembered the murdered activist Steve Biko.
Notable songs - I Don't Remember, Games Without Frontiers, and Biko
3/5
Whoa.
I had to wait a long time to listen to this. Actually waited until I was finished with the generator as this isn't available streaming anywhere. I had to use YouTube to listen to this, which is annoying.
But I didn't hate it. It is an assault on your ears, which is a strange thing to say about Jazz. But this is as free form as it gets. It's also classified on Wikipedia as "Thrash Jazz", which is very correct.
A great quote from the Wikipedia page- "The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow stated: 'The performances are concise with all but four songs being under three minutes and seven under two, but the interpretations are unremittingly violent. The lack of variety in either mood or routine quickly wears one out.'"
The Jesus And Mary Chain
2/5
This album was fine. It was very run of the mill with little that stood out in a positive or negative direction. The band is a Scottish alternative-rock band and this is their second album.
Interesting tidbit from the Wikipedia - "The album is the band's first to use drum machines, replacing live drummer Bobby Gillespie, who had left to pursue a career as the frontman of Primal Scream."
Kings of Leon
2/5
Better than I thought. I was expecting a lot of This Sex is On Fire vibes, but it had far more depth than that. There were some tunes that were very reminiscent of the Allman Brother's Band.
I didn't add any of the tracks to the playlist as it wasn't really worth revisiting. But the band is better than I gave them credit for and an argument can be made for this album to be on the list.
Roxy Music
2/5
I just re-read my brief review of the previous Roxy Music album I listened to and I can say that I definitely enjoyed this album more. I didn't save any of the tracks from this album but it wasn't aggravating at all.
Also this album gets bonus points for a solid album cover.
The Pogues
2/5
This album is very unique, but not at all to my liking. It's very influential to bands like Dropkick Murphys. Just very Irish sounding over all.
Interesting tidbit from the Wikipedia, this album was also produced by Steve Lillywhite.
Minor Threat
4/5
I love this album.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
5/5
This album was great. I love their blend of rock and indie. It reminds me a lot of R.E.M., the way they really have struck out in their own vein. I love Brian Chase's drumming, very understated and often creative. Karen O's vocals are the perfect accompaniment to Nick Zinner's guitar work.
I was going to give this 4 stars, but I've been listening to my favorite songs on this album nonstop so I'm giving it a full 5 stars.
An interesting bit I read on the Wikipedia - " the recording of the album was unusual for being largely written and created in the studio at a time when record labels have cut back considerably on production budgets. The few songs the band did take along to the first sessions were later altered significantly.[8] Launay described a typical session as follows:
Brian [Chase] would play lots of different drumbeats and we'd record it, chop it up and then make a groove loop out of it. Nick [Zinner] would then just jam to it, and we'd come up with an interesting rhythm part. Karen [O] would listen to that and come up with a vocal melody and then suddenly everything would fall into place."
My favorite tracks were Zero, Shame and Fortune, Dull Life, and Little Shadow.
Orange Juice
3/5
This album was not what I was expecting it to be. I thought the music would be heavier, based solely on the name of the album. They were more British rock inspired by The Clash but with more Ska thrown in for good measure. They had at least 2 vocalist, one sounded like Morrisey, the other had more bass and sounded like he would be a good fit in TV On The Radio.
The album was fine but not really much to write home about.
Interesting and apt review from the Wikipedia page - "Trouser Press wrote that the album 'explores the first album's ingenuousness in greater depth with thought-provoking results... Though young love remains the theme, tension has replaced cuteness.'"
Randy Newman
4/5
This was a fun listen. I only know Randy Newman through Family Guy jokes. But his music is surprisingly good. It's very meaningful and whimsical. Also, there was a lot of god bullshit on this album.
Interesting note from the Wikipedia, the song Lonely At The Top is about Frank Sinatra.
Notable tracks include Last Night I Had a Dream, and Political Science.
John Lennon
2/5
Out of 14 songs on this album, 11 are horrible. Legitimately some of the worst stuff I've heard from someone of that era. I don't think the producers had the power or the courage to stop him from recording such travesties as "Mother", or "Hold On".
The album often times is just Lennon, a keyboard, and a mountain of self-loathing. It's really hard to believe JL could make sure horrible music.
Instant Karma, Give Peace a Chance, and, to a lesser extent, Well Well Well are notable tracks.
Astonishing note from the Wikipedia- "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band peaked at number eight on the UK Albums Chart and number six on the US Billboard 200. In 1987, Rolling Stone ranked it fourth in its list "The 100 Best Albums of the Last Twenty Years" and in 2012, ranked it number 23 in their list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". It was voted number 244 in Colin Larkin All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000)."
Air
3/5
Cool debut album released in 1988. It's electronic in sound with songs oscillating between a more ambient sound and a sound with more structure and vocals. I enjoyed the ambient stuff a lot.
The first song, La femme d'argent (English translation: "The Silver Woman"/"The Money Girl"), set my expectations very high. It was a great bass-oriented tune that I could really sink my teeth into.
However, the rest of the album didn't pique my interest in the same way. That's not to say it was bad, but it wasn't my taste.
Other than the previously mentioned tune, Talisman was also a great track on this album.
Interesting note on the Wikipedia- "Moon Safari was voted as the best album of the year in The Face and in Select. It featured in top 10 lists for magazines such as Spin, Melody Maker, NME and Mojo. On aggregation site Acclaimed Music's list of the most recommended albums of all time, Moon Safari ranks 151st, the highest rank achieved by Air and by a French album in general. Rolling Stone magazine later ranked the album at number 93 on their list of the best albums of the 1990s, while the magazine's French edition ranked it at number 65 on their "100 Essential French Rock Albums" list."
Kings of Leon
1/5
There are several moments on this album that started to pique my interest. As soon as they would do something that sounded cool, they would ruin it with that awful lead singer or some bizarre guitar. I just don't get this bands success.
Thankfully this album isn't in the book so nothing to quote. No memorable tracks either.
This might have garnered 2 stars if KoL didn't have two albums on here. Their sound is unique, I'll give them that. But not nearly enough to warrant two albums on the list.
Paul Revere & The Raiders
1/5
I like the song I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone from the album, apparently the song's first commercial release but not its first recording. Not much else on this album worth listening to. I don't know why it was included other than one song. The rest is very run of the mill.
Interesting note from Wikipedia on "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone"- "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" is a rock song written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. It was first recorded by the English band the Liverpool Five in early 1966 but remained unreleased before summer of that same year. In the meantime, the American band Paul Revere & the Raiders recorded the song which appeared on their album Midnight Ride, released in May 1966." And, ""Louie, Go Home" is a song written by Paul Revere and Mark Lindsay as a sequel after Richard Berry declined their request for a follow-up to "Louie Louie""
Christina Aguilera
2/5
Christina Aguilera is clearly talented. But this album did not need to be as long as it was. Many of the themes and styles are repeated throughout. It really made it a slog to get through.
This isn't in my copy of the book.
I did not save anything from this album.
MGMT
4/5
I love this album.
Interesting notes from the Wikipedia- the opening track, "Time to Pretend", serves as a "mission statement" and the theme continuing through the album's subsequent tracks. Also, MGMT opened for Of Montreal on tour in autumn 2007 as a five-piece touring band including Matthew Asti (bass), James Richardson (drums), and Hank Sullivant (guitar).
Notable tracks- Time to Pretend, Of Moons, Birds & Monsters, Kids, Electric Feel
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
This album is good, but suffers from me having played it too much in the past. I saved the slow-funk version of Thank You for Lettin' Me Be Myself, "Thank You for Talkin' To Me, Africa", as well as the instrumental "My Gorilla Is My Butter".
A couple of interesting notes from the book. Apparently this album was Stone's most drug addled. Having read that after I listened to the album, it definitely makes sense. There is a "haziness" throughout that comes from a drug fog. Also from the book - "The heavyweight funk that dominates the album - hazy, spooked, stoned - lends an extra poignancy to the album's wistful slivers of pop, 'Runnin' Away' and 'You caught Me Smilin'' - moments of tenderness, relief from the defeated, angry funk. Previous Sly hits are references, pointedly the 'Everyday People' looking forward to a simple beating on "Time," or a death-rattle crawl through previous hit 'Thank you' as a closer".
It's a great album, truthfully, I just don't want to listen to it again
The Undertones
1/5
This album thoroughly bored me. Irish ska (though the book puts this in the "punk" category) that did nothing for me.
Donald Fagen
2/5
Ugh, I wrote a review and it got wiped. I had initially written how it's always weird to me when musicians leave their group to make more music that sounds exactly the same. But it appears that isn't the case with Donald Fagen and Steely Dan. They agreed to break up as they had been together for 14 years, and Walter Becker was dealing with some withdrawal symptoms that created tension.
The album still sounds very much like a SD album, love it or hate it. This album is apparently very autobiographical, according to the Wikipedia. His/their music is another case of music that sounds like it has no soul in it. Maybe it's the level of perfection they insisted upon from their musicians, but it seems like any and all traces of humanity are removed from their songs entirely.
I can chalk this one up to an album that I just didn't "get", and that's fine.
Interesting note from the Wiki- "Unlike most of Fagen's previous work, The Nightfly is almost blatantly autobiographical. Many of the songs relate to the cautiously optimistic mood of his suburban childhood in the late 1950s and early 1960s and incorporate such topics as late-night jazz disc jockeys, fallout shelters, and tropical vacations. Recorded over eight months at various studios between New York City and Los Angeles, the album is an early example of a fully digital recording in popular music."
Weather Report
4/5
This was a cool jazz album. It's surprisingly short, too. The album works really well and at no point seemed to abstract. I could follow everything, and I wanted to. Musicianship is on full display.
I don't think I saved any tracks, unfortunately, but it was a great album.
Interesting notes from the book- "a jazz record that reached No. 30 on the Billboard pop chart, went gold (500,000 sales) and spawned a hit single, 'Birdland'..." all of which is VERY impressive for a jazz album made by someone not named Miles. Also, "Not just their best seller, Heavy Weather was also their critical high-tide mark, hailed as Jazz Album of the Year by virtually ever relevant mag, including Playboy."
Wayne Shorter and Jaco Pastorius are both on this album.
Dire Straits
3/5
Dire Straits remind me a lot of the War On Drugs. Bland rock that relies on the interplay of the instruments above all else. Not to say that's a bad thing.
It's interesting to note that the book claims Dire Straits went on to become one of the biggest bands of the early 80's. I had no idea they were THAT big.
Notable tracks include Six Blade Knife, Sultans of Swing, and Wild West End.
Gil Scott-Heron
4/5
So this album was a difficult one to find as it's not streaming anywhere and I really dislike using YouTube. I looked in a few different record stores in Paris, London, Amsterdam, and the few around me and it was nowhere to be found. Then, out of the blue, I see it's getting a special release for RSD. Fantastic! Picked it up for about $30.
It goes without saying that Gil Scott-Heron is a fantastic songwriter. And his voice, both literally and figuratively, are really something special.
From the book - "Often called the 'Godfather of rap,' Scott-Heron spoke openly about the injustices laid upon America's black community, best sampled on the anthem 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.' It was on Winter In America that Scott-Heron's name crept into the public consciousness. This was largely due to his cohort, talented keyboardist Brian Jackson, who aided Scott-Heron in transforming himself from an aggressive, streetwise poet to a musical messenger. Winter In America combines razor-sharp criticism with affecting, soulful tunes; Scott-Heron is both tough and tender - but determined in getting his view across."
Since this was on vinyl I wasn't able to save any tracks. But I'm glad I spent the cash on this so I can revisit it.
Elton John
5/5
I finally got another copy of the book and this is the first album review I've read from the new copy. Right off the bat the book delivers, "Elton John was so dedicated to his art, or so contractually bound, that he released five albums in 18 months from April 1970-although one was a movie soundtrack and another a live effort." That's a shocking amount of music to put out in such a short time, especially when considering this is the period where most of his best music was written. Apparently this was one of his least successful albums in the UK. Rick Wakeman is on the keys on this album, very interesting.
"Tiny Dancer was written about Bernie Taupin's first wife, Maxine Feibelman."
Apparently, many people believe the title track was about Nixon, but Taupin disagrees while not offering any alternative explanation.
I love this album. Tiny Dancer and Levon are enough to give this album 5 stars. They bring me so much joy. Those in addition to the title track, the sleeper All The Nasties, and a track I hadn't heard until this listen of the extended album, Rock Me When He's Gone, make this a legendary album.
Also of note, is how bad Indian Sunset is. I don't think EJ needed to write a fictional account of a Native American coming into contact with a white man. The wikipedia page about this song is interesting. Apparently it's his favorite song to play live. He says it's a 6 minute movie in a song and that it gets a standing ovation every time.
Anyway, the album is brilliant.
Pink Floyd
5/5
What am I going to say about this album that hasn't already been said? I have a strong memory of when I first explored PF's music in college and the summer I worked at PHD.
Oddly, the book review is just one of the half page reviews. Given this albums stature, I expected a full page. Maybe it's because in the scheme of things this isn't their best album.
There was a really great note about this in the review though, "Punk could not kill Pink Floyd. Led Zepplin, Yes, and ELP's days were numbered. Genesis shrank to survive. But the Floyd did whatever the hell they wanted." I've never considered this album in the context of how it was responding to Punk music. It's a really cool observation and makes a lot of sense musically. This album is by far their angriest. The book review goes on to describe the concept of the album, "...a concept album about a disillusioned pop star who wigs out and imagines himself a Fascist leader." The entire review for this album is probably my favorite that I've read so far.
I saved so many of the songs from this album, Another Brick In The Wall [pts 1 & 2], Empty Spaces, Young Lust, Hey You, Comfortably Young, and Run Like Hell. The album does suffer from embarrassingly biographical songs like Mother, and other songs that aren't fun to listen to but explain the concept of the album such as Goodbye Blue Sky.
This is a 5 star album, despite some of the very weak tracks.
John Coltrane
5/5
This was an easy 5 star album. Apparently this was Coltrane's 5th studio recording with Impulse! records after he left Atlantic. This album is perfect. Every song should be added to a jazz playlist.
"By 1962, however, Coltrane had developed a brand of modal jazz that invoked Indian and Arabic scales while maintaining an impassioned spiritual focus. As he spoke in tongues on tenor and soprano sax, his now legendary Fab Four rumbled beneath him, playing hard bop that pushed toward India and Africa, toward soul, even toward psychedelia." And most importantly, "A Love Supreme pulls off the rare trick of being utterly uncompromising yet completely accessible."
Lana Del Rey
2/5
Not much spoke to me on this album. Singer songwriter stuff from a talented individual but not to my tastes.
An interesting thing I found out from the wikipedia page was that Jack Antonov (Fun and Bleachers) was one of the producers of this album. Jack was born in Bergenfield, NJ.
Noteworthy tracks include Let Me Love You Like a Woman and Dance Till We Die.
Ms. Dynamite
3/5
Despite this album coming out in 2002, it's not in my version of the book so I only read the small entry from Wikipedia about it.
Ms. Dynamite sounds like a British Lauryn Hill with more of a hip-hop bent. It was very cool despite my low expectations going in. I assumed it was going to be very run of the mill Brit hop and I was going to work out and was not in the mood. So I was pleasantly surprised.
She's very talented, no doubt about it. The notable tracks were It Takes More and Krazy Kush.
Carole King
5/5
This is a brilliant album that may be in the top 10 of all time. The sheer volume of legendary hits is unrivaled. I added 8 out of 12 songs to my list. She blends beautiful song writing with simplicity and catchy hooks as well as anyone who's ever done it.
"Kings unadorned vocals are by turns strident and charged ("I Feel The Earth Move"), wistful ("So Far Away"; "Home Again") and playful ("Smackwater Jack"). Songs such as "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" had already been "claimed" by The Shirelles and Aretha, respectively. But King's stepped-down versions - particularly the former, to which she brings an affecting sadness - are worth reinterpretations."
Orbital
4/5
I really like Orbital. This is definitely a band who's music deserves more exploration as the two albums I've listened to from this list have really made an impact on my. Just really cool electronic music that sounds great. I totally get why folks who are into this music are really into headphones and speakers. The music just sounds great in the proper setting.
From the book- "Marrying electronic dance music with social comment, Snivillisation drew on influences as diverse as Brian Eno, Philip Glass, DIY anarchist punk collective Crass, and the draconian policies brought in by the UK Conservative Party and its increasingly inept efforts to crush 'rave culture.'" And, "An ambitious and passionate work, Snivillisation encapsulates a period when the state almost posed a serious threat to popular culture."
Attached really reminds me of something Spiritualized would do, especially the beginning. Forever was also a great track.
Cowboy Junkies
2/5
I wrote a review for this and lost it. The interesting thing about this album was that it was recorded in a church, live. Audiophiles tend to praise this album, but it just wasn't my thing. I'll give it another listen on the new stereo, but for now, I'm giving it 2 stars.
Walking After Midnight was the only song I saved.
David Bowie
4/5
I wrote a whole thing and my computer crashed. Ugh!
2/5
This album was a chore. This seems like the earliest Art Rock that I've heard. The cool thing is to see where the line between something like Art Rock and Punk is blurred. Devo's sound is very Punk adjacent, which is a cool thing I had never experienced before. This is clear in my favorite song from the album, their cover of (I Can't Get No) Sastifaction.
Other than that delightful aberration, the rest of the album just did nothing for me. It's definitely an influential album and worthy of the list, but I'll be glad to never hear this album again.
A great description of the album from the book - "Alienation was the stock in trade of Devo, the Ohio quintet whose explosive, Brian Eno-produced 1978 debut, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, embellished punk's big guitar sound with harsh, metallic synthesizers."
The Velvet Underground
1/5
This album was almost unlistenable. The one thing I remember was the too-long song The Gift about a guy who is afraid that his college girlfriend is cheating on him so he mails himself to her. It's supposed to be funny but it does not land for me. It's a spoken word track that's over 8 minutes.
They just did nothing for me, across the board. As there are several other VU albums on this list, this album should not be here.
The Band
5/5
I love this album and am thrilled I was given the opportunity to give it another listen. This is such a great piece of Americana. It's blues, it's folk, it's ragtime, it's wonderful.
Notable tracks include Across the Great Divide, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Rag Mama Rag, Up On Cripple Creek, Jemima Surrender
From the book - "Built upon Robbie Robertson's extraordinary cycle of songs inspired by the American South, 'The Band' is an album with a heft contemporary resonance rooted in the hurt and pride of the nation's past (it was nearly called 'America')... Recorded (mostly) in house rented from Sammy Davis Jr., high up in the Hollywood Hills, these recordings are the culmination of all their rockabilly years on the road, their time spent with Dylan, and their Woodstock sojourn."
The Adverts
1/5
Not sure about this one. Apparently the Adverts were one of the first wave of UK punk bands. They definitely sound like it. "Barely competent musicianship", as described in the book, is an apt phrase.
Great British Mistake was the only song I saved from this album.
David Ackles
2/5
Ackles reminds me of a mix between Elton John, Randy Newman and Jim Croce. He's got the song writing grandiose of EJ but the whimsy of Newman and Croce. He even worked with Bernie Taupin, EJ's songwriting partner.
His music doesn't really resonate with me the same way any of the other's does. It seems like he's telling a story, but that's the last thing I would have noticed. He's not unworthy of being on this list at all, I just didn't love it.
My favorite track was Blues For Billy Whitecloud.
From the book - "His third offering, American Gothic, still remains a largely unrecognized work of genius, one of the most unfashionable and uncompromising American albums ever. Ackles paints a colorful and poetic portrait of America, a hauntingly dark piece of theater filtered through a composer's melodic sensibility." Well said and a great explanation of why they decided to put this album on the list.
CHIC
4/5
This was great! It was funky and epic at the same time while maintaining interest. Even the horribly overplayed Good Times is great on this album when you're able to enjoy the tension the band builds. The book calls this album Disco. I don't really know how to define "Disco" anymore, so I guess I can't argue.
"With its jet-engine drone and its achingly gorgeous repetition, 'Good Times' is Chic's lasting monument to pop, an ironic re-creation of Depression-era standard 'Happy Days Are Here Again.' [Bernard] Edwards' 20-note bass refrain came to define not only urban music, but hip hop as well, famously sampled by the Sugarhill Gang in Rappers Delight." Also, "Risque is a record that dwells on relationships: bleak, unrequited ones, ones tinged with sadism and despair; relationships with the past, and of course, with the dance floor. Ornate and detailed, it was soon eclipsed by the 'Disco Sucks' movement."
Sonic Youth
2/5
I liked this album a hair more than the other 2 I previously listened to. They don't do much that interests me. I can definitely understand how their music was so influential though, as this album is from 1988. It's got the angst and energy that is present in most of my favorite modern(ish) bands. But there's something lackluster about their music that I have a hard time putting my finger on. I didn't save any tracks from this album and I didn't find anything in the book interesting enough to type up.
Anthrax
4/5
This was a good thrash album. I don't know why, but I had this idea of Anthrax largely being a joke. They definitely kick ass. The first couple of tracks really reminded me of the first four Metallica albums. Really brutal, fast, and heavy. Just really fun all around.
This was their third album, and according to the book, "Among The Living hit big because it acknowledged the advent of the rap-rock movement without pandering to it. Dressed in Vision Streetwear - a hiphop clothing label before P. Diddy ever thought of such a thing - and throwing intentionally goofy promo-Beastie Boys rap poses, the band caused a few sniggers among their ardently studs-and-leather fanbase until the songs were unleashed, silencing all criticism." An interesting observation, though I got zero sense of their embrace of rap-rock from listening to the album.
Among the Living and A.D.I./Horror of it All were my favorite tracks from the album and will feature heavily in my next couple of workouts.
Skepta
1/5
Ugh I hate British hiphop. This album, like all British hiphop, reminds me of the SNL sketch with "Milly Pounds" (James Austin Johnson) and "Shirty" (Devon Walker", they just sound silly. This is totally subjective but I really struggle to enjoy any of this type of music.
I didn't save anything from the album and the album is after my copy of the book so there's nothing to quote.
New York Dolls
3/5
I like the NYD's style. Iggy pop in drag. This is in that vein of dive-bar-rock that I've been enjoying recently. The book describes them as "Trailblazers of New York's early Seventies proto-punk scene", I think that's a great description. Standout songs include Personality Crisis, Pills, and Jet Boy.
"Not without some opposition from the Dolls, producer Todd Rundgren transformed the band's basement dynamics with a cinematic sound spectrum. Johny Thunder's Stormy, Chuck Berry-like guitar playing collided with David Johansen's drunken howl at a wild recording session that yielded an explosive set of songs."
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
1/5
Pure shit. But I think I'm done with all of his albums on this list.
From the book - "Cut largely live in the studio, with monitors instead of headphones and amps turned to on-stage levels, it sounds blunt, basic, muddy. This is no accident. The songs either bilious kiss-offs or love notes wrapped in barbed wire, do not need crisp edges."
Nothing worth revisiting.
Deep Purple
3/5
This album must have been mind-blowing when it came out in '72. It's heavy hitting, more so than anything that had been release prior with maybe the exception of Sabbath.
An amusing note from the book, this album was recorded in Switzerland for "tax purposes". While they were in Switzerland they saw the notorious Frank Zappa concert where the theater caught fire, inspiring Smoke On The Water.
"[The album] was mainly recorded in the corridors of the closed Grand Hotel, using The Rolling Stones' mobile unit. 'For playbacks' recalled guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, 'I had to go through six doors, down a fire escape and across a courtyard where it was snowing!'"
This album has a lot of hits on it. But man are they wildly overplayed. That's no slight to them, just an indicator of how likely I am to ever re-listen to anything on this album. I didn't save any tracks from this album because of that.
Klaxons
3/5
Neat album. Apparently the band's first. I did enjoy this as it scratched my itch for weird falsetto indie rock. It's up-beat and rave-adjacent, the band even coined the term "new rave" to refer to their sound.
My favorite tracks were As Above, So Below and Isle of Her.
This album was added to the list after my version of the book, but an interesting fact from the Wikipedia page - "Myths of the Near Future, which takes its title from a poem, is a science-fiction concept album about the future; its sound recalled the dance-punk works of Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand. Some of the song's titles and lyrics are literary references to the works of J. G. Ballard, William S. Burroughs and Thomas Pynchon."
Dinosaur Jr.
2/5
Not a fan of this album. Their sound just doesn't do much for me. It's got a punk sound, but it bored me. Not uptempo or harsh enough. They seem to blend that sound with other genres and it just doesn't work for me. All that is not to say it's not entirely without merit, the album is unique and deserves to be on this list.
An interesting bit from the book details how the title of the album comes from a line shouted by singer/guitarist J. Mascis in the midst of a "frustrated tour bus tantrum..."
I did not save any songs from this album.
Basement Jaxx
2/5
I had high hopes for this album. The song Where's Your Head At is permanently etched into my brain from the early days of MTV2. Given my new found taste for electronic music, this seemed like it would be a great listen. It just didn't deliver. The songs lacked depth and creativity in my opinion. I felt a subtle sense of irony on many of the tracks that just didn't land and most of the album struck me as contrived.
The review of this in the book makes me want to give it another listen, "Basement Jaxx's debut album is a thrilling mis of samba and Latin flavors, crunching beats, soulful vocals and anthemic tunes precision-tooled to tear up dance floors... Like a carnival on record. This is what is so exciting about Remedy, and why it became that rare thing: a dance album that rewarded repeated listening".
I'll earmark this for future listening, most likely once I get my new stereo system set up. But for now, I'll judge it based on my initial listen.
No saved tracks.
Stephen Stills
5/5
Phenomenal album from the phenomenal Stephen Stills. Apparently Stills enlisted Jimi Hendrix (to whom the album is dedicated), Eric Clapton, Booker T., Crosby, Rita Coolidge, Nash, John Sebastian, and Cass Elliot. Talk about a star studded cast. This album does everything so well. It's Stephen Stills at his absolute best.
From the book - "...critics underrated Stills in comparison with comrades Neil Young, David Crosby, and David Nash. With this album, he shut them all up." Also, "With his debut album, Stephen Stills manages to imprint his own strong and lyrical signature on a vibrant mosaic or American Music."
Notable tracks include Love the One You're With, Church (Part of Someone), Old Times Good Times, Go Back Home, and We Are Not Helpless.
The Beau Brummels
3/5
"San Francisco's Beau Brummels are more famous for 1963's British Invasion-aping folk-rock hit 'Laugh Laugh' (which earned them a cameo on an episode of The Flinstones, appearing as The Beau Brummelstones.)" That is the first sentence from the book and I laughed out loud about that. Good for them. The video is available on YouTube and it is a delight.
This is a solid folk rock album and a great little slice of life from that time period (1967). I enjoyed the simple sounds and their more unique hooks, compared to much of the popular commercial rock of the time. This would be a good album for a warm summer morning when you've got nothing to do.
Nine Pound Hammer was my favorite track.
System Of A Down
2/5
Definitely not a fan of SOAD's music, and really dreaded this album. But it's not horrible. They did carve out their own sound - the book refers to it as, "This debut combines metal, blues, thrash, hardcore, rap, and rock with aspects of traditional Eastern music."
There is a special place in my heart for an all Armenian band. From the book, "System Of A Down grew up in the United States attending Armenian schools and retained strong ties to their families' ethnic heritage. This comes across in the music, but also in the socio-political nature of their lyrics - witness the fiery 'P.L.U.C.K (Politically Lying, Unholy, Cowardly Killers)' in which Serj screams about the injustice of the (internationally unrecognized) attempted genocide of the Armenian people by the Turkish Government in 1915."
While it's not my taste, I do think this is probably one of the most important albums of the genre from this era.
The Style Council
2/5
This album started out promisingly enough with the track Mick's Blessing, a nod to Mick Talbot. It's a rollicking blues number that sadly only lasts a little over a minute.
The album proceeds by jumping in a variety of different directions, with mixed success. Some of the tracks are truly great, some are truly awful. The band reminds me, conceptually, of Galactic. They play any style of music whenever they want. The difference is The Style Council aren't as fun.
A cool album at times, not undeserving of the list, but mostly unenjoyable.
Notable tracks include Mick's Blessings, Me Ship Came In! and Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse.
The Police
3/5
The book explains how the title of this album comes from pidgin English (similar to Creole) and means "white reggae", which is interesting. There is also a quote highlighted from Stewart Copeland that reads, "Reggae... just showed me that you can turn a drum set completely upside down." which is a really interesting way to describe his legendary drumming.
This is the version of the police that I am more familiar with, as some of their biggest hits appear on this album, Message In A Bottle and Walking On The Moon. I think Sting's voice is the worst part, for me, of this band. It's not objectively bad but just overdone throughout my life.
The album is good, but I will actively avoid most of it for the rest of my life.
Gram Parsons
2/5
This album felt important when listening to it, and the book confirms it. This was apparently Gram Parsons' final album, released posthumously. The book also claims this album invented country rock. He was accompanied by Emmylou Harris on this album, who I adore. Also, he was close friends with Keith Richards The Rolling Stones as a whole, and Elvis and his Vegas band.
I appreciate the significance of his music. But I wasn't into it at all. I've probably said this 50 times throughout this project, but I have a hard time enjoying this style of music. If someone put this album on, I'd be happy to discuss it. But I wouldn't feel compelled to ever listen to this again.
I didn't save any tracks, but this entry from the book about his legacy is interesting, "Much admired by his peers, when they were not fed up with his spoiled-kid ways, Parsons never became a star in his lifetime. But his influence continued to seep through: into rock via the Eagles and the Stones and later Elvis Costello, The Lemonheads, and The Thrills, to name just a few, and back into country via his muse Emmylou Harris."
Belle & Sebastian
3/5
Apparently Belle & Sebastian were named after a French children's book, Belle Et Sébastien.
This album spoke to me in a way that If You're Feeling Sinister did not. The album is beautifully sad pop; if Brian Wilson was born in another time and in another place. That being said, there were some parts of the album that just bored me. Their style is more focused on creating the sad beauty in their lyrics with the music mostly being an afterthought. That's fine for most people, but I prefer a bit more musicianship.
Notable songs- The State I'm In and She's Losing It.
From the book, "Every song is funny, sad and warm - and guaranteed to make you feel better, no matter what is wrong. Perfect pop made by the pure of heart." I love that description of the album.
Kate Bush
4/5
So I definitely listened to this album twice, and forgot to review it the first time. I think that may be due to the move from Mt. Ephraim.
Anyway, this album is great. My favorite album of hers of the three on this list. Lots of fun, eccentric 80s pop that really doesn't sound like anyone else. She's great at what she does.
I read the summary in the book but none of that fits into my review.
Notable tracks - Running Up That Hill, The Big Sky, Hounds Of Love, Watching You Without Me
Tito Puente
5/5
What a fantastic album. A treat, from cover to cover. I love the traditional Latin sounds. Apparently, by the time this album came out, Puente (who I thought was famous for playing congas, not timbales), had already been leading a big bang for over a decade. "... The Puerto Rican-American's danceable synthesis of Afro-Cuban rhythms, jazz principles, and the musical traditions of his ancestry..." are on full display.
It's really fun to listen to something like this that feels so old yet fresh at the same time. You can tell by the recording quality that this was recorded a long time ago, but you still can't help but tap your foot the whole time.
I had to fight the urge to add pretty much every track to my list. The ones I did add are as follows - El Cayuco, Complicacion, 3-D Mambo, Mambo Gazon, and Mi Chiquita Quiere Bembe. The mambo stuff kicks ass.
Maxwell
3/5
This album is a quintessential funky, sultry, R&B 90's album. The sound quality is really terrific. I felt like I could really hear the room and separation between instruments even when only listening through my old gym speaker. The drums and drumming sound magnificent, every accent on the high hat comes through in crystal clear quality and the playing is beautifully subtle. According to the wikipedia, they used 6 different drummers on this album. I couldn't tell, they all seemed very similar stylistically.
A lot of the music didn't resonate with me the way D'Angelo's music does. I'm using this comparison as he, as well as Erykah Badu, is who the Wikipedia also credits with creating "Neo-soul". This album just fell flat for me.
Notable tracks were The Urban Theme, and Dancewitme.
From the book- "The instrumental intro and outro set the framework for a classic album - a concept of sorts, based on the course of a brief real-life affair, and a belief in monogamy that led the respectful return-to-roots Neo-soul movement of the 1990's... Neo-soul drew on African-American musical esthetics from the 1960s and '70s and artists such as Al Green and Marvin Gaye; 'Sumthin'Sumthin' was a collaboration with Leon Ware, who had co-written Gaye's Let's Get It On; Guitarist Wah Wah Watson, who played on that album, is also present here."
Calexico
4/5
This album isn't in my version of the book and there isn't much on the wikipedia page unfortunately.
This was a really enjoyable album. Their style of dark indie rock that often incorporates a southwestern style of horns really speaks to me. They hail from Arizona and that really comes through in their music.
The band is capable of doing a lot with their music. They have the ability to create catchy hooks in addition to the Southwestern horns, and they really jam at times. I don't remember them jamming when I saw them with Iron and Wine, but when I saw them at the park by themselves I really enjoyed it. This might be an album I have to pick up. They're really on to something unique.
Joe Tangari of Pitchfork called Feast of Wire Calexico's "first genuinely masterful full-length, crammed with immediate songcraft, shifting moods and open-ended exploration," and "the album we always knew they had in them but feared they would never make.
Notable tracks - Quattro, Close Behind, Alone Again Or, and Crumble.
Talking Heads
4/5
I was very excited to listen to a new Talking Heads album after Remain In Light blew me away. This album delivers, but I don't think it's nearly as good as RIL. All of the same characteristics are present in both albums, however, they just couldn't put it together in the same way they had previously. None of that is to say that this is a bad album, not at all. The problem is that I heard their masterpiece first, now all of their music will be judged in relation to it.
Notable tracks include I Zimbra, Life During Wartime, and Memories Can't Wait.
From the book- "With Fear Of Music, Talking heads drilled deep into a seam of paranoia that their first two albums had only scraped at. Talking Heads: 77 and More Songs About Buildings And Food were offbeat slices of pop that deconstructed life in culture-lite America. On Fear Of Music, David Byrne turned his withering gaze inward, and dissected his own anxiety-ridden mind."
Underworld
4/5
This album was a surprise. I saw a couple of people discussing this on the subreddit a not too long before listening to this album and it piqued my interest. I knew that it was going to be an electronic album, but that's about it.
The first few tracks kind of bored me. Based on the conversation I saw on Reddit I thought I may have had too high expectations. However, after the first couple of tracks, the album really takes off. The songs are "progressive house" that sometimes span more than 15 minutes long, full of backbeat, tension and release. It's a phenomenal album that I'm thrilled to have discovered.
Notable tracks - Banstyle/Sappys Curry, Confusion The Waitress, Rowla, and Pearl's Girl.
An interesting note from the book, this album was released alongside the single "Born Slippy (Nuxx)" which was featured in Trainspotting.
Simple Minds
3/5
This was one of the more enjoyable new-wave 80's albums on this list. It blended conventional 80s music with the synth-pop well and wasn't alienating from overuse of the synths. The book describes the sound aptly in the following, "Jim Kerr's vocals blend seamlessly into the lush sonic landscapes of Michael MacNeil's keyboard and Charlie Burchill's signature guitar work, but it is the diversity of the rhythms that creates the album's sold foundation."
This was the bands 5th album and was the one that broke through with American audiences. "Promised You a Miracle", "Glittering Prize", "Someone Somewhere in Summertime" were the three singles released from this album, however, the track I enjoyed most was the title track "New Gold Dream".
White Denim
5/5
I loved this album. The book describes what I love about it really well, "Influenced by garage-punk, psychedelia, jazz, Caribbean rhythm[!], and dub [?]..." They really do a lot on this album and succeed with everything. Long jams, catchy hooks, atypical rhythms, it all sounds great.
Notable tracks - It's Him!, Back at the Farm, River to Consider, Bess St., Is and Is and Is.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
This was an enjoyable album that I could see myself listening to again in the future. I like the jazzy feel to this, and his voice is a treat as always.
This is an album that was referenced heavily in the Godfather novel. The book specifically mentions this album being Sinatra's second chance after staring in From Here to Eternity and after his relationship with Ava Gardner collapsed.
This album is notable as it's the first time Sinatra worked with a younger arranger named Nelson Riddle. It features Sinatra being more intimate with the audience, and he isn't doing his typical snappy conversations with the audience. Which is neither good nor bad but a prominent feature in some of his other albums on this list.
One other interesting thing from the book- "Riddle frames this melancholy in wondrously delicate arrangements on what, in hindsight, is the first record where the pair really clicked, Others would follow, though in a new and then-exotic format. Initially issued as two 10-inch discs, In The Wee Small Hours was soon reissued in 12-inch format, inadvertently ushering in the album era."
My favorite song was the track, In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning.
Jacques Brel
2/5
Interesting listen. I didn't particularly enjoy any of it but I'm glad to have had the experience. Apparently Jacques is Belgian, not French. The book goes on to describe Olympia as France's Carnegie Hall and England's Royal Albert Hall - you hadn't "made it" until you played there.
This is singer/songwriter stuff that just never moves the needle for me. Add in the language barrier and this was a difficult listen. It's very cool that this album is so old and is a great slice of pop culture life of that time and place. However, I don't see a reason to revisit any of this.
Cool description of the album from the book- "At Olympia, he inhabits the songs, living the stories, throwing himself in from the outset, acting them out. There is no let-up in drama, satire, passion. He dies many, many times over the course of the 48 minutes; the rest is spent in sick beds, mobile brothels, and bars."
Flamin' Groovies
3/5
I listened to this a long time ago and I don't remember particularly caring for it, but I did add a bunch of their songs to my playlists. Some of their covers were good but there was nothing particularly good about it.
From the book - "The Flaming Groovies arose out of the San Francisco music scene of the mid-1960s, but they never attempted to be part of that city's big psychedelic party. Instead, they concentrated on recreating a raw sound that owed much to 1950s rockabilly alongside a debt to early Beatles and Stones Records."
Notable songs include - City Lights, That'll Be the Day, Louie Louie, and Yesterday's Numbers.
Nanci Griffith
3/5
Beautiful album. Nanci Griffith is a tremendously talented vocalist.
The book describes the sound much better than I can. "Not quite country, not quite folk, the sound is rich, roots and acoustic; the songs catchy, literate, and spry. Her voice meanwhile trills, quivers, and quavers to deftly emotive and subtly empowering effect."
Memorable tracks - Love At The Five & Dime, and Fly By Night.
3/5
This was a delightful discovery. Apparently this latin album was written and produced by the Yugoslavian Mitar Subotic (aka Suba).
The book's entry on this album is really fascinating. Suba started out making electronic music in his home country, then moved to Paris, where he was awarded the International Fund for Promotion Of Culture award from UNESCO, for his album In The Mooncage. This award included a three month scholarship to research indifenous music and Afro-Brazilian rhythms. The three months became three years as Suba fell in love with Brazil. He learned Portuguese and produced Bebel Gilberto's Tanto Tempo.
He died in his apartment on November 2, 1999 after a fire broke out.
My favorite tracks were Voce Gosta, Um Dia Comum, and Samba do Gringo Paulista.
Gene Clark
3/5
Gene Clark was fun discovery on this list. The last album of his that I listened to, White Light, was terrific. Going into this I had high expectations.
I wasn't disappointed but I wasn't as impressed by this as I was the other album. It just didn't draw me in as much. It seemed like this album had more orchestral arrangements, which was fantastic. But it just didn't stand up to White Light, and I may be being unfair towards this album because I'm judging it against something else rather than on its own merits.
Interesting note, Gene Clark formerly played with The Byrds. I'm not sure how I didn't know that. Also, Butch Trucks plays on this album. The book describes this album as "...a sprawling and ambitious venture that unites country, rock, jazz, blues and psychedelia."
My favorite tracks were No Other, Strength of Strings, and From a Silver Phial.
DJ Shadow
2/5
It's interesting to see this album on here as my only knowledge of DJ Shadow's music is the song he did with RTJ, which I love. This album didn't really do it for me though. I found it boring throughout. Tons of samples and creativity, in a certain sense, but It felt really uninspired.
From the book- "Best enjoyed as a whole, this is a concept album without a hackneyed theme, and it paved the way for the continued success of experimentally minded artists as divers as Massive Attack, Radiohead, and Bjork, to name just a few."
50 Cent
1/5
This album was horrible. It reminds me so much of my youth, and how much I disliked it back then.
The only noteworthy thing about this album was that I realized that the Kanye line quoting 50 Cent was verbatim from one of these tracks (if they hate then let them hate and watch the money pile up).
This album is newer than my copy of the book so there's no quote to include.
The Cure
3/5
This is the best album from The Cure on this list. I was dreading this but they were genuinely on to something here. I think it was Robert Smith easing up on the vocals for most of the tracks. They got into some cool ambient alternative rock that I really liked.
The track Love Song still makes my skin crawl.
The book describes this album as "thrillingly miserable" and I think that is as apt a description as you'll find.
Notable tracks - Pictures of You and Disintegration
Femi Kuti
5/5
Phenomenal. Femi Kuti picked up where his father left off. Big beat, western African songs except, maybe, with a better lead singer. The band is tight and the pounding percussion is unrelenting.
I loved this album and had a hard time refraining from adding all of the songs to my playlist. But the ones I did are as follows- Wonder Wonder, Survival, and Changes.
Apparently Femi left Fela's band and started his own called "Positive Force, that featured many of the same themes lyrically and styles musically. However, the songs weren't nearly as long, which sounds like a tragedy.
The book tells how toward the tail end of Fela's life there was a high demand for more of his music. So Motown's Tabu label hired Femi to make this album that is very similar to his father's style.
"[This] album is a classic of jazz, funk and rage served in hard-hitting African rhythms, but the rough edges of Fela's mid 1970s rants have been streamlined to good effect."
Tom Tom Club
1/5
I really disliked this album. It was a side project of Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of the Talking Heads in '81.
The album describes their vocals as "schoolyard chants", I think that sums it up nicely. Often times there is a call-and-answer to their vocals that irritates me to no end.
From the Wikipedia- "[Genius of Love] is one of the most sampled rhythm tracks of the 1980s, particularly within the hip hop and R&B genre. Notable versions include Dr. Jeckyl & Mr. Hyde's 'Genius Rap' in 1981, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's 'It's Nasty' in 1982, Mariah Carey's 'Fantasy' in 1995, The X-Ecutioners' 'Genius of Love 2002' in 2002, and Latto's 'Big Energy' in 2021."
I did save that song, but the rest of the album is insufferable.
John Martyn
2/5
I wrote something up about this but I lost it, totally my fault. One thing I remember in particular about this album was it felt bigger than the previous JM album. There were more string arrangements. But this didn't move the needle much for me.
Big Muff was a notable track.
Tangerine Dream
2/5
I listened to this album so long ago I don't remember much about it but I need to get caught up. I remember mentally noting it should be a 2, so that's what I'll rate it.
From the book- "Virgin debut Phaedra was a commercial and stylistic landmark. The trio used Moog and sequencers for the first time, enabling their vast instrumental soundscapes to be composed rather than improvised. The title track is a quasi-symphonic constellation of hypnotic burbling, celestial textures, and pulsating baseline." A few other interesting things about this album that are referenced in the book, its age is remarkable. It was released in 1974, way ahead of its time. Also, they were using synthesizers before Kraftwork.
I didn't save any tracks.
William Orbit
3/5
I listened to this album a while ago and did not get around to reviewing it in a timely manner. I remember thinking the album was OK, not exceptional and not bad. I was hoping to be blown away by another unknown-to-me electronic artist, but I wasn't.
The tracks I saved were 777, and Millennium.
Interesting description from the book - "Orbit's heats are crisp, his orchestrations clean, and his compositions deep. His music is danceable but not dance music, per se, as it is as much for listening as grooving about."
Louis Prima
3/5
I listened to this and wrote a review, but clearly did not save it. Cool trumpet led, early rock 'n roll album that was recorded live.
From the book - "... this is simply irrepressible music that more than matches its glorious cover shot. Prima is joyous, rumbustious, and irresistible, making even the band chuckle..."
Notable tracks - Jump, Jive, An' Wail, and Night Train.
M.I.A.
4/5
This album was great. I only knew Paper Planes before listening to this so I wasn't sure what to expect - more of the exact same or more of that style but watered down.
But this album really exceeded my expectations. It sounds great. She's a talented pop artist who incorporates big beats into her music very well.
Favorite tracks - Fire, Fire, Amazon, and Bingo
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
1/5
This album was too 80s British rock for my tastes. Kind of sounds exactly like what you would imagine a band from Britain would sound like in the 80s. They were clearly inspired by Morrissey.
Both the book and Qobuz say this was one of the best debut albums of the 80s, but I don't hear anything worthwhile. Maybe it's all in the lyrics? Not interesting enough, musically, to explore.
From the book - "The world conjured by Lloyd Cole and The Commotions' debut album was a rarefied one. One of the finest debuts of the 1980s, Rattlesnakes is at once literary and doomed, managing to sound both European and American."
Did not save any of their music.
Jimmy Smith
4/5
Great jazz album. Only 4 songs but the album is still 37 minutes long. I really enjoyed the tasteful drumming throughout. I really connected with the subtlety and had a good time absorbing on the traditional playing. The drummer is named Donald Bailey and is apparently from Philly. Also worth noting- this album came out in 1960, one year before Bill Evans' Sunday At The Village Vanguard.
From the book - "Back At The Chicken Shack is arguably Smith's greatest album, relentlessly grooving, harmonically sophisticated and earthy as the Delta mud." And, "Smith transformed the organ's lamentable image with his soulful synthesis of bebop, blues, and gospel, creating a powerfully grooving new sound. He spawned a new style of music - soul jazz - and a host of disciples who took up the Hammond B3 and formed combos."
Notable tracks- Messy Bessie, Minor Chant
LTJ Bukem
2/5
Cool background music. This is what I think of when I imagine techno. Drum and bass under new era synth and computer sounds. One track on the album is almost a full hour long.
From the book - "[LTJ] Bukem virtually invented a new, smooth , and languid style of drum 'n' bass...As an alternative to the more confrontational and dance floor-based sounds of that period, Logical Progression earned strong sales and near universal acclaim, quickly becoming the preferred soundtrack in hip cafes, hair salons, and fashion stores."
There was some stuff I liked on the album, but it's only on Spotify and there wasn't anything worth really looking up on different streaming services.
Dion
4/5
This was a surprise. I saw this, and I was pretty sure I had already listened to it. I thought, "I listened to it and liked her country/western sound." Definitely wrong as this is a man who sounds more like Norman Greenbaum than country and western.
From the book - "It's hard to see why these tales of heartbreak and loss - and sheer wonder at the beauty of life - sung with such striking conviction and complemented by majestic arrangements, elicited insults [from critics]."
Notable tracks - (He's Got) The Whole Word In His Hands, In and Out Of The Shadows, Good Lovin' Man, Baby Lets Stick Together.
Einstürzende Neubauten
1/5
This album was awful. The band is basically a German version of Lightning Bolt. Maybe some of the cultural relevancy is lost on me. According to the book, the band set out to make "the most unlistenable album ever" by using scrap materials and power tools alongside distorted guitars, broken record players, ad percussion made from metal pipes.
Maybe there is some value to this album as it achieves what it set out to do, but there is no joy to be derived from listening to it.
a-ha
3/5
This album took me by surprise. Everybody knows Take On Me, so I thought this was going to be a drab 80's pop album. But it had a lot more depth than I expected. I only saved the Take On Me, but the production value throughout the album is great.
From the book- "[Take On Me] sees [Morton] Harket's crooning morph effortlessly into a yearning falsetto, swept along on a frantic wave of new-romantic synths."
The Rolling Stones
3/5
This was a cool album to check out. The Stones really came a long way from their early sound, which is on full display here. They sound exactly like the Beatles did on their first few records, but with a different singer.
From the book - "The Rolling Stones is not as good as material they would release in ensuing years - or even months. But its arrogant raunchiness had a seismic impact on polite pop then - and continues to echo today."
Notable tracks include I Just Want to Make Love to You, Mona (I Need You Baby), and Can I Get a Witness
5/5
Sgt. Pepper's is Sgt. Pepper's. I know it, have heard it dozens, maybe hundreds, of times. And this list helped me really fall in love with it.
I always felt that this album lacked something. Probably because it has many of the band's most played songs on it, and the deeper tracks, such as Harrison's Within You Without You always sounded contrived to me.
I don't know if it's the new mix of the album, or if I'm more mature now, but I loved listening to this. Even the more out-there tracks like Mr. Kite sounded great.
This album was an easy five star and I'm really glad to have re-listened to it for this project.
Some interesting things from the book- it's referred to as a musical "fantasia". Also it spent 15 weeks atop the Billboard chart and was still in the Top Five when Magical Mystery Tour hit the no. 1 spot six months later. "The album's impact was unprecedented. U.S. radio played it for days; Times critic Kennth Tynan called it 'a decisive moment in the history of Western civilization.' That hyperbole is long gone, leaving perfect pop in which ambition and melody twirl together forever.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
1/5
I didn't know what to expect going into this album. Judging by the name, I thought this was going to be an industrial sounding act similar to Nine Inch Nails, but I heard one of their tunes on the radio a couple weeks ago and it was much closer to indie rock.
This was a lot of fuzzy rock, like, jarringly so. I had to check to see if my speakers came unplugged because of how harsh this album sounded. Yeesh... They sounded a bit shoe-gazey, but with the fuzz turned up to 11. I mean that in the worst way possible.
There wasn't much to really enjoy. Most of it is awash in feedback, distortion, and poor mixing.
From the book - "The two Scottish brothers had pulled off the hitherto unimagined trick of wielding sunny Beach Boys-style pop to the brutal feedback-drenched sonics of The Velvet Underground and a whole load of echo..."
No enjoyable tracks.
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
1/5
I listened to this album a while ago and apparently forgot to review it. It's terrible. Probably one of the worst on this list. Jah Wobble is a white Englishman leading a funk group on this album. Most of it is horrible appropriation.
From the book - "...Jah Wobble's resume was ripe with legend: he had been Johnny Rotten's motorbike-chain wielding buddy/enforcer, bass player with Public Image Ltd. dub experimentalist with Holger Czukay and The Edge..." the book provides the following description of their sound - "...Wobble's music - with its three prongs of dub bass, Latin and Maghrebi percussion, and Spanish-North African guitar lines - seemed an outrageous combination the late 1980's, even in multicultural London." Indeed.
Apparently Sinead O'Connor sings on Visions Of You.
I did not save any of this album.
The Who
3/5
The Who's albums seem to follow a similar format. One or two genre and era defining songs, with seven to nine songs that are at best skippable, and at worst downright awful. I think this album is their best offering. Some of the songs on the album are huge hits, but suffer from either being overplayed on the radio or being a part of an overplayed commercial. Apparently, Pete Townsend also felt this was the band's best album.
An interesting note from the book - Baba O'Riley was a conflation of Pete Townsend's guru Meher Baba and avant-garde composer Terry Riley. I always wondered where that name came from.
Notable songs - Baba O'Riley, Won't Get Fooled Again.
The Electric Prunes
3/5
Apparently, this album is sometimes referred to as I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night). This seemed like the prototypical psychedelic garage rock album. I don't know if they were the pioneers, but this is exactly what I imagine when thinking of that genre. Lot's of fast, fuzzy guitar work with west coast style hooks.
Pretty cool album for history's sake. But not a band I feel compelled to look into any further.
My favorite track was Get Me to the World On Time.
Interesting note from the book - "The Album sold well on both sides of the Atlantic, certainly equaling sales of contemporaries such as Jefferson Airplane and so, at least at the start, the Prunes were viewed as the frontrunners of the burgeoning West Coast psychedelic. Years later, the large number of copies of their album that became cheaply available in second-hand markets in the States led to them becoming a huge influence on garage punk bands of the 70's such as the MC5 and the Stooges."
The Beach Boys
4/5
Everything by The Beach Boys is pretty good. Apparently, this album was different from many of their previous albums as it was the first that did not have a song about either surfing or cars. Apparently this album was recorded short after Brian Wilson had broken down while on tour.
From the book - "...This is the perfect beach Boys LP, split evenly between carefree boy-meets-girl pop and dramatic ballads inspired by Phil Spector's girl groups."
Notable tracks - Do You Wanna Dance?, Good To My Baby, Help Me Rhonda.
Marvin Gaye
5/5
Probably the greatest album ever made. I can't say much that I don't already know, or that hasn't already been said. I didn't realize how many of the tracks flowed into one another, that was a fun discovery. Also, I don't own this on vinyl, which was a surprise (I MUST have lent it to someone...).
From the book- "Words cannot do What's Going On justice. It ebbs and flows from the ironically uplifting title track, through waves of gospel and jazz (the relaxing kind, not the noise)- then explodes into "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and finally closes with the unsettling "Inner City Blues (Makes Me Want To Holler)".
Interesting note- this was apparently written in the wake of Gaye's singing partner, Tammi Terrell, and while Gaye was becoming more heavily influenced by drugs.
The Killers
5/5
This album is an all-time favorite. My junior and senior year of high school was spent listening to this album on repeat. Far deeper than you might imagine from just the singles that were released. Nearly every song is fantastic.
They do a great job of blending their Bowie influence with more modern and up-tempo sounds. The drumming from Ronnie Vannucci is fantastic and understated.
An odd note about this song in the book. It's not there. It's supposed to be, on page 916 according to the index, but it isn't. I'm not sure if it's printed elsewhere but it is not where it should be.
Anyway, this album is an easy five star.
Grant Lee Buffalo
2/5
Really nothing that piqued my interest with this album. I didn't save any tracks. This artist sounds like the inspiration for the fake band on the Sopranos.
From the book- "...the album provided a refreshing alternative to America's increasingly dour grunge scene and instead took huge inspiration from the spooky century-old steel foundry where it was put to tape."
Christina Aguilera
3/5
This album was fine. Standard Christina album where she flexes her outstanding voice. Lyrically dull, though.
I was reading the review that came up on Qobuz and it was pretty rough. It mentioned how this album, where Aguilera is trying to breakout from the form society has imposed on her, is basically the most obvious choice she could have made after releasing a Christmas album. The review was also very critical of her hyper focus on her sexuality, which I agree seemed forced.
This album somehow is not in my copy of the book.
Notable tracks - Walk Away, Underappreciated (sic).
Kanye West
4/5
I think this album has Kanye's best work on it, Power, All of the Lights, Monster, Lost In the World/Who Will Survive In America, but I don't think it's his best work over all.
A lot of the tracks that aren't great are entirely forgettable, filler at best. So much of the music is a massive ego stroke from an abysmal lyricist. He finds ways to make it work at times but that's not his strong suit. Where he excels is production and sampling. He really thrives making obscure references or taking a short snippet of a sentence ("can't study war") and building from there.
He's definitely an amazing talent, but a huge asshole as well. He is another artist who I have a hard time separating from his music. The recent anti-semitism was too much. Ugh.
Great album, loses a star for me because he has better albums.
The book says on this album Kanye "assembled an uneasy opus of rich textures, manic ideas, and tremendous beats." Perfectly stated.
The Mothers Of Invention
2/5
I used to think I loved Zappa. Now that I've listened to more of his music, I'm not so sure. There's a real lack of anything enjoyable in his music, which I think at times is intentional. Despite this albums status as a classic, I don't believe he and his band really found their modus operandi. At this stage in his career his music is just a chore.
Intersting note from the book, this album was, "rock's second double LP (Dylan's Blonde on Blonde just pipped it)". "Freak Out! signaled the emergence of a uniquely exciting and challenging composer who made a career of breaking down boundaries."
Notable tracks - I'm Not Satisfied, and Trouble Every Day.
The Pogues
1/5
Not a fan of The Pogues. This album is virtually indistinguishable from the other Pogues album on here.
Apparently Elvis Costello produced this. Ugh.
From the book - "Released the same year as the multimillion-selling Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits, Rum, Sodomy And The Lash sounded wonderfully out of synch with the mid-1980s scene."
No noteworthy songs.
Queen Latifah
3/5
Much better than I thought. I always eye this era of hiphop with suspicion as I always perceived it to by dull, lyrically and musically. But I'm almost always proven wrong. Latifah is very talented and paired (as she apparently shared "production chores" according to the book) her voice with great music to make the album shine.
From the book - "...[T]his album did indeed represent a pivotal moment in the rap game. Here, Latifah would help bounce the stigma surrounding female rappers and set the stage for TLC. Destiny's Child, and other independent women to follow." This is definitely an important album.
The Cult
1/5
I did not like this one. Pretty generic 80's rock with more of a punk-rock influence. The album wasn't terrible but there wasn't anything significant about it that warrants a mention on this list.
From the book - A precise, stripped-down record overflowing with riffs lifted from the shelves marked 'Jimmy Page' and 'Angus Young,' Electric was the sound of The Cult abandoning their self-conscious indie-goth roots and making a memorable bid for stadium credibility."
Notable track - Bad Fun.
Dwight Yoakam
4/5
Delightful surprise! I was dreading this album for weeks, but I'm glad I finally got around to it.
I couldn't take Dwight Yoakam seriously. I don't have a good reason why. Maybe because of Sling Blade? But that's my own shortcoming.
This is about as good of a country album I've heard so far. His Yoakam's voice and lyrics are great and I could see myself listening to this album cover-to-cover on a hot summer day with some drinks. That being said, I can't see myself listening to this under any other circumstances. I didn't save a single track off the album despite how much I liked it.
From the book - "Yoakam mixed country sources with influences ranging from Elvis Presley and Lefty Frizzell to The Beatles and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Dubbed a "new traditionalist," he sounded old and new at the same time."
Bad Company
2/5
A few interesting notes about this album/band- Peter Grant, the manager of Led Zep, managed and may have helped create Bad Company. Also, the guitarist Mick Ralphs, was from Mott The Hoople. And the band is named after a 1972 western staring Jeff Bridges.
That's where "interesting" ends, however. This album suffers from being played far too often. The music comes off as dated, uninspired, and vanilla. Background music at best. I don't think that would be my interpretation if I had heard this 50+ years ago, but who knows.
From the book "The U.S. No. 1 album captures the energy of a coke-fueled high life, build on a Cream and Hendrix template, with added soul and country."
Notable tracks - Ready for love.
The United States Of America
3/5
This was interesting. Very psychedelic music. Released in 68 by a registered Communist, apparently.
They sound a lot like the 13th Floor Elevators, but more interesting. I really liked the stereo mixing the band did for this album. Lots of L/R panning.
The music itself could be both enjoyable, and difficult at different times. There was a track that started with really aggressive drum/bass/guitar parts that wound up shifting gears into a bizarre psych rock spasm. The beginning was great, the later half, not so much.
I appreciate what the bad did on this album despite not loving it.
From the book- "The United States Of America sold poorly upon release, thanks to Columbia's near total lack of faith. As [Joseph] Byrd puts it, 'There was scant enthusiasm from the executives for a band whose name they hated, whose music they didn't understand, and whose politics they thought treasonous.'"
Notable tracks - Where Is Yesterday, and Do You Follow Me
Pavement
4/5
This was a delightful indie rock album. They have a softer, less produced sound, but still a somewhat aggressive indie rock bent. A few of the songs I was familiar with prior to this listen, such as Cut Your Hair. I think I must have heard that in a skate video or something.
But a great album. Lots worth revisiting and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to give this a full listen.
Interesting notes from the book- "There was a tribute to jazz legend Dave Brubeck on the instrumental 5/4 time '5-4=Unity'..." Super cool. Also a great description of the album, "But for all its obscurism, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain remains a core classic American album, rich with hooks and melodies that could only come from a laidback generation not afraid to poke fun at itself."
Notable tracks - Stop Breathin, Cut Your Hair, 5-4=Unity, and Hit the Plane Down.
Lambchop
3/5
This was an interesting indie-rock album. Apparently it's a concept album about the President, which I would never have picked up on.
There was a sense of whimsy on a few of these tracks that really got me interested. I remember some cool orchestral arrangements too. A lot of the songs seemed to take odd turns once there was some tension built in the song, which I disliked. I felt like I was being pulled away from songs at times due to those odd turns.
From the book - "Nixon, their fifth album, is a lushly orchestrated curiously timeless pleasure covering many styles, from alternative rock to country to Seventies soul."
Notable tracks- Up With People, Nashville Parent, and the Butcher Boy.
Barry Adamson
4/5
Another cool album from Barry Adamson. This one didn't sound as much like it was the soundtrack to a spy movie, but still had that swinging undertone and low-note lead structure.
There were some bizarre tracks on here, in particular It's Business As Usual. The track is a voicemail over music and where the caller grows increasingly hostile. It has strong The Wall vibes to it.
From the book - "Sure, his cool jazz overhaul of Miles Davis oozes a commercial allure, yet the album deftly sidesteps the hype embedded in the mid-Nineties neo-lounge revival by inviting Pulp's Jarvis Cocker and Nick Cave to add some ironic pop panache. It is precisely this ominously funky marriage of art rock and celluloid chess that makes Oedipus... such a compelling climax to Adamson's 'unconscious trilogy' of psycho-thriller soundscapes that includes Moss Side Story (1989) and Soul Murder (1992)."
Notable tracks - The Big Bamboozle, and Set The Controls Again.
Khaled
3/5
I waited a long time to see if this album would become available on either Spotify or Qobuz and after more than a year, it is not. So I had to use YouTube. Not the end of the world but not ideal.
The album is interesting. I'm not sure what language this is in but it's certainly not English. The rhythms are really cool though. Definitely some middle eastern stuff on some tracks than beefy latin grooves on others. Some of the tracks really remind me of Armenian music. Khaled is doing a lot on this album.
From the book - "Buoyed up by the production of Rachid Taha's collaborator, Steve Hillage and, from New York's Brooklyn Funk Essential, Lati Kronlund - a kind of Gil Evans of big band funk - the spine-tingling perfection of his mighty voice presides over a rich pan-North African vision which effortlessly shifts eastward to the Indian subcontinent or westward to Cuba and New York, takin in funk, reggae and Arabic influences."
Not my thing but worthy of the list.
Jack White
5/5
A modern classic.
From the book - "[Jack's] first solo project, Blunderbuss, is an aggregation of his career to date: a blend of blues, country, and classic rock 'n' roll... [Blunderbuss is] a thoughtfully conceived set with meticulous attention to detail- each song is a unique gem, whether it be the savage guitar rock of 'Sixteen Saltines,' the piano-wrangling of 'Trash Tongue Talker,' or the bluesy-rock cover of Little Willie John's, 'I'm Shakin'.'"
Notable tracks - Missing Pieces, Sixteen Saltines, Freedom At 21, Love Interrupted, and On And On And On.
Sebadoh
1/5
Apparently this band was founded as a side project for Dinosaur Jr's bass player, Lou Barlow.
I did not enjoy this. I felt some Captain Beefheart weirdness, mixed with indie low-fi rock. Nothing worth revisiting.
Britney Spears
3/5
Oh lord. It's kind of hysterical that this album is on here. She definitely had an impact on culture at the time, and this album is surprisingly good. It's really well produced and mastered. The worst part is the juvenile lyrics. Spears' vocals weren't life changing, but she was undeniably talented.
This album isn't in my copy of the book, but based on the Wikipedia page, it received mostly negative reviews. NME gave it 1/10, Rolling Stone and Q both gave it 2 out of 5 stars.
It's basically the definitive bubble-gum pop from the 90's.
No songs saved, but she did do a cover of The Beat Goes On that is OK.
The Coral
3/5
From the book - "Their Eponymous debut LP, produced by The Lightning Seeds' Ian Brodie, was more of the same. A sparkling Melange of snotty, snarly gargle punk, catchy beat melody, and everything in between, it hit the UK Top Five in its first week of release, spawning a third single, 2002's 'Skeleton Key,' which pillaged homegrown ifluences such as Sid Barrett, Them, and The Teardrop Explodes... think The La's mixed with a heart-on-sleeve Sixties girl group sound."
Notable tracks - Skeleton Key.
The Shamen
2/5
This was an OK album. There was a general feel to the album that I liked but over all it fell flat for me. Not enough tension or dynamics. It feels every bit as dated as it is. Apparently one of the founding members, Will Sinnott, drowned while they were filming a video for Pro-Gen 91 in the Canary Islands.
From the book - "[The band's] techno-savvy and shared interest in psychedelics soon propelled the group toward a new dance direction."
Notable tracks - 666 Edit.
Van Morrison
5/5
A live greatest hits, basically. Morrison toured with a 10 piece band and the recordings from performances in London and California would be sliced together to create this album. He would go on to describe this album as a career peak.
Notable tracks - Warm Love, Into the Mystic, These Dreams of You, Domino, I Just Want to Make Love to You, Saint Dominic's Preview, Gloria, and Caravan.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
4/5
A great historic proto-hip-hop album. I just listened to the Tom Tom Club's self-titled album from which "It's Nasty" takes its sample, and frankly makes a much, much better song with it.
This album has an amazing cover too.
From the book - "The Message is an important milestone in hip-hop's history, displaying the key elements of lyrical delivery with breakbeats garnered from forgotten funk records... However, it was the overt socio-political remit of 'The Message' that most captured the imagination of the public at the time. Recalling the poetic verse of Gil Scott-Heron and The Last Poets, the track began the hip-hop tradition of keeping lyrical content centered on 'the street,' while outlining injustices and the poor living conditions in New York housing projects. This served as a directive that would influence future pioneers such as Public Enemy and KRS One."
Notable tracks - She's Fresh, It's Nasty, and The Message.
Beatles
5/5
An easy 5 star album. Pretty much every song is on my playlist.
From the book - "The album injected mystique into FabWorld. The psychedelic cover - angled, shot through a fish-eye lens, giving the unsmiling group a distinctly 'turned-on' air - even omits the band's name (a first in America)." And, "The biggest indignity in Beatledom is not 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.' It is that Rubber Soul is so often overlooked. It contained no hits (the U.S. smash 'Nowhere Man' was left off the American version), yet would be the highlight of a lesser band's discography."
Ozomatli
3/5
Interesting album. I didn't love it but I respected its ambition. The band combines American rock and LA hip-hop with traditional latin grooves. The more latin influenced they got, the more I got into it.
An interesting note, this album isn't in my copy of the book, but was apparently in an earlier edition (2005). I wonder what made them remove it?
Notable tracks - Believe, and Who's To Blame.
Lou Reed
2/5
A very dark album that was apparently written to be a "movie for the ears" about the downfall of a relationship between an American couple, Caroline and Jim.
I like the idea but this just wasn't an enjoyable listen. Lou Reed's music doesn't do much for me, and him venturing into a more artistic space didn't change my opinion. He's creative, no doubt, but it always seems to be naval-gaze-y. Just pure self indulgence.
From the book - "After the commercial success of 1972's Transformer, critics and fans were hungry for another slice of catch, sexually ambiguous glam rock. What Reed served up was a lot harder to swallow... The songs weave through infidelity, drug abuse, and violence, ending with Caroline's suicide."
My favorite tracks from the album were Oh Jim and Sad Song.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
4/5
Interesting "bummer" rock. The sound quality on this album is pretty high too. The band kind of reminds me of mewithoutYou's more tame stuff, especially in the vocals.
The book refers to this as "a record seeped in human fear, failing, and forgiveness." Also from the book - "I See A Darkness is full of storytelling, and like folklore, its narratives lead directly to the bigger, blacker truths. While the titles are foreboding ('Another Day Full Of Dread'), the music is soft and understated: spare piano chords, brushed drums, warm bass."
Notable tracks - A Minor Place, and Madeline-Mary.
Adele
3/5
This was another strong offering from Adele. She seemed more introspective and honest on this album than 21, and less focused on hooks. That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your perspective.
Song wise, there wasn't a ton that stood out to me. One of the songs where she discussed her childhood really stood out to me for some reason, as in I caught a good chunk of the lyrics on the first listen.
A good album but not nearly as fun as 21.
Notable tracks - Hello, I Miss You, River Lea.
This album is not in the book.
Kraftwerk
2/5
god damnit. The page refreshed. fuck.
Good album. Cool to hear artists who inspired my current faves.
Planet Rock by Afrika Bambaataa samples the title track.
From the book - "A glistening panorama of elegance and decadence, travel and technology, Trans-Europe Express is a streamlined celebration of Europe's romantic past and shimmering future."
Notable tracks - Abzurg, and Franz Schubert.
Shuggie Otis
4/5
Shuggie Otis has a unique style. I really appreciate his sound. Soulful and dynamic, he can make songs with legendary hooks (Strawberry Letter 23) or interesting and deep instrumental tracks (Freedom Flight - which is apparently on the re-release and not the original). I enjoyed the opportunity to listen to this.
From the book - "[Inspiration Information] casts a sublime spell and deserves wider renown as a delicate, spacey, beautiful funk essential." And "The year 1965 saw Shuggie, aged 12 (!), debut at No. 29 in the U.S. R&B charts, a born-again B.B. King on the fine but filthy 'Country Girl.'... By the time was 10, he had played with Frank Zappa and Al Cooper, turned down The Rolling Stones (who asked him to be Mick Taylor's replacement), and created four unique albums, the last of which was Inspiration..."
Favorite tracks - Inspiration Information, Not Available, Strawberry Letter 23, Sweet Thang, Freedom Flight.
The Associates
1/5
This album was a chore. More 80's synth rock that doesn't sound unique enough, in my opinion, to warrant mention on this list.
The book describes Sulk's sound as a combination of pop, art rock and glam rock with the "lovely awkwardness" of Billy Mackenzie's voice.
I did not add any songs to my playlist.
The Specials
2/5
This is the second Specials album I've listened to as a result of this list. They are a ska band, which is very much not my thing. Adding to my dislike, Elvis Costello produced this album apparently. That being said, it's not better or worse than the last Specials album I listened to. I will say though, if there are any more albums of theirs on here, and they're not demonstrably better, they will be given a 1 star rating due to over saturation.
From the book - "...the album mixed covers - a feisty version of The Maytals' 'Monkey Man,' a slow skank through Sand Livingstone's 'A Message To You Rudy' - with self-penned material that reflected the turbulent times (mass unemployment, the rise of the UK's Fascist National Front). 'Doesn't Make It Alright' called for racial unity; Roddy Radiation's 'Concrete Jungle' tackled inner-city violence."
No notable songs.
Super Furry Animals
3/5
Cool rock album that maintained its raw element throughout without compromising pop sensibilities.
From the book - "The music was an artful mish-mash of Sixties pop, punk rock, and psychedelia, with an underlying Ninties dance sensibility... SFA would go on to create more polished, rounded, 'better' albums than this. But for the sheer glee and excitement of hearing a wildly inventive band just hitting their stride, Fuzzy Logic is hard to beat."
Notable songs - Something 4 The Weekend.
Count Basie & His Orchestra
5/5
Phenomenal. I felt like this album put me directly into the time when swing was king. Lots of rhythm oriented big band/jazz that provides adequate space for the different elements to solo, notable the trumpet and the drums.
Apparently this album was the second time Basie collaborated with arranger Neal Hefti, but the first time he scored an entire album. After this, Hefti "largely ditched the serious jazz in favor of Hollywood, finding fame for his themes to Batman and The Odd Couple."
From the book - "By 1957, the halcyon days of Bill Basie's seminal 1930s group were two decades behind; indeed, changing fashions had forced him to drop his big band for a spell in the early 1950s. Happily it was the last time he would be without one... Powered by saxophonist Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis and an all-star trumpet section led by Thad Jones, the 12-strong brass section alternate fire... and ice... to effervescent effect on Hefei's 11 compositions. But, as always with Basie, the rhythm section is the key: bassist Eddie Jones, drummer Sonny Payne, guitarist Freddie Green, and Basie himself, playing piano with typical economy, bring a swing even to the tender 'Li'l Darlin'.'"
Notable tracks - Duet, Double-O, Whirly Bird, Midnight Blue, and Lil' Darlin'.
Fleet Foxes
4/5
What a great listen. I was familiar with some of their music prior to listening to this but taking the whole album for a spin provided some much needed context. They are a bit of an ethereal indie band, lots of ambient and near-ambient sounds that are a delight to listen to. I now understand the comparisons between them and My Morning Jacket.
From the book- "Steeped in folk, pop, and West Coast heritage and lapped in the enchanting seamless vocal blend at which the five members excel, it's a mesmerizing start. 'White Winter Hymnal' and 'He Doesn't Know Why' ... show off the young five-piece's glorious, soaring harmonies - probable the hardest-working instruments on the record - complemented tastefully by lulling percussion."
Notable tracks - White Winter Hymnal, Your Protector, and Blue Ridge Mountains
k.d. lang
4/5
This album was a treat. I did not know anything about her music prior to this. But she had some fantastically epic, sprawling tunes that blended her voice with challenging and engaging hooks. I really liked the lounge-style tunes the most. She did venture into some country stuff too, but that didn't move the needle for me.
From the book - "This 'postnuclear cabaret,' as lang called it, of category-defying pop, tango, swing, lounge, and, in a Lyle Lovett-kind-of-way, alternative country was the courageous statement of a woman coming to terms with herself." And, "Ingenue continued to be loved by millions not only for its unique and confident musical vision and superb vocal performance, but also for the honest portrayal of universal feelings."
Notable tracks - Save Me, Outside Myself, and Tears of Love's Recall.
Frank Black
2/5
This album was fine. It roped me in initially, with a punk adjacent sound and high energy. But the album wasn't able to hold my interest over the course of its 22 (!) tracks.
Apparently, Frank Black was AKA'd as Black Francis, after he left The Pixies.
From the book - "...Black Frances had fronted this group with yowling teenage angst and an idiosyncratic line in surf punk/sci-fi songwriting." And, "...Black moves in leisurely fashion from Spanish-influenced rock and surf guitar sounds to distorted, trashy punk, reggae, and more, all layered with his distinctive voice and willfully abstruse lyrics."
I did not save any songs.
Prince
5/5
This album is a work of genius. The album is sexy af. The rhythms, melodies, lyrics. I get it. He was unbelievably talented and was able to bring that talent to people in a way that many could enjoy.
From the book - "[Purple Rain] shifted 14 million units worldwide, spawned five Top Ten singles (including two No. 1 hits) and rocketed him from sexed-up star to icon extraordinaire." And, "The key to Purple Rain's success was Prince's genre-defying sound. Replacing the sleazy synthesized funk he had become known for was a new rock, pop, and soul hybrid that incorporated screaming guitars over drum machine-driven tracks such as 'When Doves Cry' and 'Computer Blue.'"
Notable tracks - Let's Go Crazy, Take Me with U, Computer Blue, Darling Nikki
Christine and the Queens
4/5
This was a great album. I never heard of Christine and the Queens before this and did not know what to expect. The band is a pop act that reminds me a bit of MJ's music in its grand and detailed production.
The album is a double disc. The first is in English and the second is the same music with French lyrics.
This one is too modern for my copy of the book. So, from the wikipedia - 'In a track-by-track interview with Letissier, Pitchfork said the album 'bounces from horny consumerism to melancholic machismo to stark vulnerability'. It contrasted Chris with Letissier's debut album Chaleur humaine, saying that album's 'warmth was slow-burning, [while] Chris is red hot, sweaty, and insatiable''.
Notable tracks - Comme Is, Doesn't matter, Feel so good, Bruce est dans le brouillard
Isaac Hayes
5/5
This album is phenomenal cover to cover. It's fucking epic too, the shortest track on the album is 5:09, it's also my least favorite track.
One crazy thing to mention about this is that the album is from 1969. No one else was doing anything like this back then, at least not with any commercial success.
The book mentions how Hayes' cover of By The Time I Get To Phoenix, with its 9 minute spoken word intro, is, at least spiritually, a precursor to rap. It's an interesting thought that had not occurred to me.
From the book - "Hot Buttered Soul was an early blueprint for how soul would exist in the Seventies - with its earthier forms marking a counterpoint to the newer, stone-cold funk rhythms of James Brown et al."
I'm glad this project gave me a reason to listen to this album again.
Notable tracks - Walk On By, Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic
Cocteau Twins
1/5
This is the second album from Cocteau Twins I've had and I still don't know how to pronounce their name.
Their blend of music does little to nothing for me. English rock with hints of 80's synths and minor industrial ambience.
From the book - "The shimmering lace on the album cover and the song titles taken from beautiful-sounding mythological names are a perfect example of the influential 4AD [their record label] founder Ivo. With its delicate 'peep-bo' vocal intro and squalling guitar wash, 'Ivo' kicks off the album on a high note, literally."
I saved the song Cicely, but now that I'm re-listening to it , I'm not sure why.
Tom Waits
1/5
Tom Waits is hands down the most overly represented artist on this list. Maybe one album deserves to be on this list, not 5 (!). The best part of this album was while I was on the train and when I went underground, my service cut out.
Carnival music with cartoonish vocals.
According to the book Waits worked with Keith Richards, David Hidalgo (Los Lobos), and Primus' Les Claypool. This album won a Grammy in 1992. Let that sink in.
No noteworthy songs.
Ali Farka Touré
4/5
Great album. String led African music with heavy emphasis on traditional Afro-cuban rhythms.
Apparently this album was finished only weeks before he died from a long battle with bone cancer. He was given Mali's highest award, the Commandeur de L'Ordre National du Mali and a state funeral.
From the book - "...subtle country, reggae, and even flamenco influences feed into the mix, at the center of which are Toure's deep, rich vocals, sung in French and various regional dialects. 'Savane' is an ode to the drought-hit grasslands of his home, telling of the journey of a man who has left the savannah for urban Europe and of his yearning to return."
Notable tracks - Erdi, Gambari Didi, Banga, N'jarou
Magazine
2/5
Didn't love this one. At times this album was very English punk rock, at other times it was closer to Happy Mondays.
From the book - "Were Magazine the band that dragged British punk rock into a a new thinking dimension? Or were they just a dilution of the original energy into some kind of nerdy 'maturity'?...Howard Devoto had left the Buzzcock's... to create his own group... Devoto's lyrics set a whole new style: jangled, edgy, and pointed. Very clever indeed."
Notable tracks - Light Pours Out Of Me
Soft Machine
3/5
This was really cool at times and really boring at times. I got the sense that this was the first band to REALLY get spacey with their music. Long improvisational jams that mixed Floyd style ambience with stoner-ish rock. All four of the songs are 15+ minutes, and they're live. It was a cool album.
From the book - "Recorded over four days, Soft Machine's Third shows a major British band at its peak, and at the same time, in complete turmoil. Prog rock would soon be huge and the rest of the group were tired of Robert Wyatt's singing - and he was sick of their intransigent desire to get all serious and jazzy."
I didn't save any of the tracks because they were just too much to listen to on a playlist on shuffle. If I ever want to re-listen to any of this it has to be more intentional.
Coldplay
4/5
This album was huge when it came out and I think it holds up pretty well. The band is so frequently maligned these days and it's really not justified. They definitely make bland rock, but it's pretty innocuous. It's just very fashionable to shit on them today.
From the book - "As the 9/11 anniversary approached, Chris Martin and his three pals unveiled their sophomore effort, penned (and designed) with a feeling of post-attack 'desperation.'"
Notable songs - God Put A Smile On Your Face, The Scientist.
Janet Jackson
4/5
This was a treat. High energy pop that sounded like the spiritual precursor to Archandroid. Janet does a lot on this album really well, and I was surprisingly engaged in her lyrics and messaging.
From the book - "Funk,fabulous, and a no filler thriller, Rhythm Nation... ranks beside Off The Wall as the Jackson family's finest. Reluctant to play it safe, Jackson and producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis refused to make a straightforward sequel to 1986's Control, the album with which the star and escaped underachieving obscurity. Instead, they envisaged a What's Going On for the looming 1990's."
Notable tracks - Rhythm Nation, Miss You Much, and Someday Is Tonight.
Skunk Anansie
1/5
Hated this one cover-to-cover. Proto-Evanescence with more drum and bass vibes, but just as much angst.
This one isn't in the book and I don't care to read anything about it on the Wikipedia.
No noteworthy songs.
Fever Ray
4/5
I'm on a Fever Ray kick right now. I recently discovered their newest album, Radical Romantics, and loved it. Having the opportunity to listen to their first album is welcome.
They sound like a Swedish version of Animal Collective but led by a female (according to Wikipedia - Karin described themself as "definitely a queer person, but [...] very gender-fluid." Dreijer uses the pronouns they/them).
This album is not in the book. But from the Wiki - 'Fever Ray was lauded by music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 81, based on 27 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".
Graeme Thomson of The Observer described the album as "an astonishingly stark record" that is "[b]uilt on the barest of electronic bones and brought to life through [Dreijer]'s almost primal vocals, the songs search for a spiritual pulse amid soulless modernity."'
Notable tracks - If I Had A Heart, When I Grow Up, Triangle Walks, Coconut.
Ryan Adams
4/5
This was great. I was expecting Brian Adams and was pleasantly surprised.
From the book - "With a sound as diverse as its creator's changing moods and a shimmering Seventies gleam provided by producer Ethan Johns, Gold immediately vaulted Adams into the alt.country pantheon alongside Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, and Wilco."
Notable songs - New York, New York, The Rescue Blues, and Nobody Girl.
Guided By Voices
1/5
I wanted to like this album a lot, solely based on the name of the band and the album. But, it just wasn't my thing. Kind of a DIY rock band, with some punk undertones.
From the book - "...this record is nothing but sweet melodic genius, a smorgasbord of lo-fi pop that distills pop hooks reminiscent of a Sixties British invasion down to the bare essentials... The songs are deceptively simple - the rough hissy sound gives the impression of demo tapes from a rehearsal session in a basement rather than polished studio album. Rolling Stone called it a 'treasured bootleg,' while frontman Robert Pollard admitted so himself in an interview in 1995: 'We're just wanna-be classical rockers, really. We've just always had access to our basements and four tracks and stuff. We used to go into big studios and it never worked.'"
Notable songs - A Good Flying Bird
The Go-Go's
2/5
The album is fine. Kind of disco-influenced pop with little else going on.
From the book - "The album is an intoxicating mix of punk attitude and pop sensibility."
Notable songs - We Got The Beat
Goldie
2/5
Full disclosure, I don't remember much about this album. I listened to it a while ago. So I'm going to base my review off the 1 song I saved from the album. 90s electronica. Not too sophisticated, for better or worse. Female vocals, cool bass lines, and structured revolving piano and synth lines that are pretty appealing.
From the book - "Timeless was one of the first drum 'n' bass albums produced, and the first to be embraced by the mainstream... Some of Timeless sounds dated today, but few dance producers have come close to realizing such an ambitious artistic vision. It is the sound of future jazz from a distant planet, set to the sharpest beats."
Notable songs - State of Mind
Hole
3/5
Way better than I thought. I was expecting a hyper-angsty grunge slog but this was so far from that. Even the title track, which has been played in pretty much every movie ever, is a lot better when listening to the whole thing.
From the book - "The musical legacy of [Courtney Love's] mid-1990s Hollywood heyday is Celebrity Skin... Celebrity Skin is a misunderstood, melodic masterpiece..."
Notable tracks - Use Once & Destroy
2/5
People really revere this album but it didn't move the needle for me. Blur seem like a lesser version of Oasis. They don't exactly sound the same but they are contemporaries and definitely have a lot of the same influences.
From the book - "Truly the start of Blur's Kink-esque phase, right down to the forgotten England hinted at with the painting of the Mallard steam train on the cover, its 16 tracks (17 in the United States) offered Syd Barret-style melancholy, cheeky hooligan music hall, and guitarist Graham Coxon's beloved alternative noise to boot."
Notable tracks - Miss America
R.E.M.
2/5
Didn't love this offering from R.E.M. It's just fine, is all. It's apparently the band's debut album, which tracks in an unpolished sense.
From the book - "Musically, Murmur swerves around Peter Buck's jangly Rickenbacker chords and Stipe's nagging melodies. Having formed amid the alternative bands of Athens, Georgia, R.E.M. won a following on the college gig and radio circuit. Murmur was created in a Carolina gospel studio..."
Notable songs - Catapult.
Bebel Gilberto
5/5
Surprisingly recent release. I thought this was from the 70s or something but it was put out in 2000, after Sigur Ros' Agaetis Byrjun. Fantastic latin singer songwriter who picks up right where her father, Joao Gilberto, left off.
Interesting note from the book, she worked with São Paulo producer Suba, who also has an album on this list, who died in a fire at a young age. "It is Bebel's voice - a chewy, purring, Marlboro-burnished voice that sings English in a pleasingly goofy Brazilian accent - that makes Tanto Tempo so compelling."
Notable tracks - August Day Song, Sem Contencao, Bananeira, Samba E Amor, Close Your Eyes.
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
Rating to keep this active. This is an easy 5 star. Glad to have been able to revisit this.
I’ll read the entry from the book when I’m back from vacation.
The Stone Roses
2/5
I remember not liking this album very much. So I'm surprised I saved 2 songs.
From the book - "The Stone Roses became synonymous with a burgeoning ecstasy scene in their hometown of Manchester, innovatively fusing dance and rock (a reflection of their influences, past and present) along with the Happy Mondays." Also, "The Stone Roses managed to sum up the seemingly free spirit of their era while simultaneously recalling the creative hotbed of Sixties rock and pop. That they inadvertently produced an album more than capable of standing up to that bygone era is a marvel."
Notable songs - I Am The Resurrection, Fools Gold
Sonic Youth
3/5
This was my favorite album of theirs. It sounds similar to all of their other music, but I feel like they were really clicking on this album. It was slightly above their other, mostly mediocre offerings on this list.
There's not a really good quote from the book on this one so I'm going to skip it.
Notable songs - Catholic Block
Giant Sand
1/5
This is oppressively mediocre. I started listening to this, and lost the thread. So I came back to it and listened to it cover-to-cover, and disliked it thoroughly. It is tough to define the sound. It bounces around a lot. The book does a better job describing it than I could.
From the book - "Lyrics both enigmatic and colloquial; arrangements move from ethereal to punkish distortion, from silence to exuberance, with the singer always distant, whispering in your ear."
No noteworthy tracks.
Liz Phair
2/5
This album has merit as it's a very empowering album. Liz Phair does not shy away from graphic depictions of sex. I didn't enjoy much of this album.
From the book - "Phair channeled youth fears and resentment into 18 taut, breathtakingly honest tracks, which were rendered more bleak by their quiet arrangements of electric guitars and keyboards. To the delight of critics and fans. Phair did not shy away from talking about sec and relationships in the most graphic terms - an exemplary track is called 'Fuck And Run.'"
I did not save any songs.
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
3/5
I think I listened to this 1.5 times. It’s good. I didn’t know what to expect going in but it sounds like early blur/gorillaz. Kinda fuzzy, lo-fi English indie.
Notable songs- Nature Springs, and Herculean.
Everything But The Girl
3/5
This surprised me. I never heard of this album or the band so I did not know what I was getting into. It was British singer/songwriter stuff but with more spirit than I would expect from Brits.
Not in my copy of the book so from the Wikipedia - "Songs on Idlewild deal with domestic, daily and family topics, such as motherhood and child raising ("Apron Strings," "These Early Days"), growing up in the suburbs ("Oxford Street") and relationships ("I Always Was Your Girl", "Love Is Here Where I Live") or homesickness ("Lonesome for a Place I Know"). Its sounds flow between acoustic instrumentation, synths and drum machine."
Notable songs - These Early Days
Al Green
4/5
This album is an absolute classic. The title track is an all-time favorite. The rest of the album does not live up to that first track though. Not bad, but not nearly as good.
From the book - "Let's Stay Together takes remarkable musical risks - the title track, for example, has a melody that ascends and descends unpredictably, in a manner rather unorthodox for a top-selling pop record..."
Notable tracks - Let's Stay Together
The Crusaders
3/5
Really behind on reviews so I'll keep these short. Cool funk/jazz hybrid band with loads of talent balanced with pop. I wanted to like this more but I didn't find too much to really sink my teeth into. I little too background to be exceptional, but by no means bad.
From the book - "The Crusaders offer up accessible numbers with enough musical nutrition to satisfy both the critic and the dancer in every listener."
Noteworthy songs- Carnival Of The Night
The Byrds
3/5
Better than I thought! This is the 4th album from the Byrds and I think I like this the most. Great "shit kicking" music. Pairs well with day drinking on a summer afternoon.
From the book - "[The two remaining original members] had envisaged this project as a double LP that told the story of American popular music from traditional country, through rock, to futuristic Moog- powered electronica. New recruit Gram Parsons... persuaded him to stop at country."
Notable songs - I Am a Pilgrim, You Got A Reputation, Lazy Days.
4/5
Fantastic album. I'm really into this vein of female country western singers. I really need to go through a lot of my list and create a nice summer drinking playlist. This would be great for that playlist.
From the book - "Unlike many country singers, men and women alike, Lynn wrote her own material, and beginning in the mid-1960s, she composed outspoken songs about the frustrations of womanhood that, in their frequently humorous way, anticipated feminism."
Notable songs - Don't Come Home A Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind), and Get What Cha Got and Go
Neil Young
2/5
Neil Young's music sounds very one note to me. This was, at best, background music. At least the album was short.
From the book - "Even by Neil Young's melancholic standards, On The Beach is one bleak trip. An odyssey of regret, disgust and disappointment, the album marked the end of a love-in."
No noteworthy songs.
The Prodigy
5/5
Fun walk down memory lane. Goddamn this album was everywhere when it came out.
From the book - "Prodigy penetrated popular culture with - courtesy of beat brainiac Liam Howlett - an amazing montage of guitars, samples, and electronica."
Notable tracks - Smack My Bitch Up, Breathe, Serial Thrilla, Mindfields, Firestarter, and Climbatize.
David Bowie
4/5
Another great album by Bowie.
From the book - "The theme of paranoia dominated the record, delivered in a cold clinical croon - most effectively on 'TVC 15,' where it was beautifully complemented by [drummer Dennis] Davies' acrobatic drumming. By the time we reach the closing track 'Wild Is The Wind,' Bowie's voice has transformed, sounding as vulnerable as it is heartbreaking."
Notable songs - Station to Station, Golden Years, and Stay.
Doves
4/5
I like this album a lot. Very cool indie stuff. Remarkable how much they remind me of MMJ.
From the book - "Appropriately, Lost Souls contains reference points to much of Manchester's glorious musical heritage - notably the seductive melancholy of Joy Division and early New Order, the sparkling musicality of The Smiths, and the rhythms of early house music."
Notable tracks - Firesuite, and Here It Comes.
fIREHOSE
2/5
Kind of untethered, punk inspired indie rock. Apparently this is the band that formed out of the ashes of The Minutemen.
I like that they gave the drummer some room for his own solos. That gave this a more unique sound. But overall there wasn't much that stood out to me.
From the book - "Retaining the chaotically funk rhythm work of The Minutemen, the former band of bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley, Firehose opted for a more conventional approach to their muscular indie rock, tempered by guitarist/vocalist Ed Crawford's penchant for folky prettiness. That sound - raging guitar, frantic rhythm work, and acoustic beauty - found its expression in Fromohio."
No saved tracks.
Soundgarden
4/5
Pivotal grunge, or grunge-adjacent, album. Monstrous guitar riffs and vocals to match. I think Soundgarden were a grunge reincarnation of Led Zeppelin.
From the book - "With its moderate pace, soaring guitars, and spooky imagery, Superunknown's innovative use of percussion alongside the traditional rock template, particularly on 'Half''s Middle Eastern textures, distinguished it from similar bands of the era...". And "Their brooding Sabbath-esque atmospherics coupled with sludgy guitar riffs sat them right on the edge of the metal genre."
Notable songs - My Wave, Superunknown, Spoonman, and The Day I Tried To Live.
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
Much better than the other album of theirs on this list, which is a strong contender for worst album. This album had some real punk rock to it and wasn't all agonizing pseudo-cynicism.
From the book - Following the textured noise of their debut a year earlier, Metal Box - so called because initial pressings came as three 45 rpm 12-inches in a utilitarian movie can (it was subsequently reissued as Second Edition, with cheaper packaging) - gave Public Image the space to unfurl, to pursue their bad trip to its end. Some trans ran long, so the quasi-industrial grooves wore themselves into the listener, the claustrophobic walls of noise closing in. Even among this mess of noise, beautifully unusual sounds could be heard..."
I did not save any tracks.
Side note - Jah Wobble played bass on this album (AWFUL)
Jeru The Damaja
5/5
One of my favorite rap albums on this list. Good beats and tight, well-arranged lyrics throughout.
From the book - "Like a lot of young hip-hop artists in the 1990s, Jeru's concise political world view is compromised by some of his more dubious rhymes ('Da Bichez') Despite being tame compared to some of the misogyny on show at the time, this meant he fell between two significant stools - those of the 'conscious' and the 'street.'"
Notable tracks - D. Original, Mental Stamina, and Ain't The Devil Happy
Kings of Leon
2/5
This was a lot better than I thought it would be. The first couple of tracks could have been a lesser tune off some weird indie rock stuff I listen to regularly.
The album suffers from how I associate the music. Way overplayed, adult contemporary rock with overtly sexual lyrics and themes. But it’s still not terrible.
I did not save anything.
4/5
Way better than I thought. I didn't really know what to think though, just thought the album name was very strange. Almost sounds like an American version of Yes with more conventional vocals. Spacey guitar and a lot of different instruments, very emblematic of the late 60s early 70s. Spirit is definitely a band worth exploring.
A few interesting things from the book, Dr. Sardonicus is the name the band gave the mixing desk at the studio. Also, the book defines their sound as a synthesis of rock, classical, and jazz. This band was recorded when the band was at its worst. "After a New Year's Eve concert at the Fillmore East that year, the band slpitl the album finally went platinum five years later, a belated reward for the superb job done by Briggs and Spirit's original line-up."
Notable tracks - Love Has Found A Way, Space Child, When I Touch You, and Morning Will Come.
Kid Rock
1/5
Terrible. Only significant for the national embarrassment it created. I hope Eminem has some shame from having recorded with this talentless goon.
I read the entry from the book. I'm not quoting anything.
This is a strong contender for worst album in the book.
no noteworthy tracks. But this album does have everything you've ever heard from him.
The Doors
5/5
Classic album. Remarkable for how little junk there is on this album. They were in rare form on this album.
From the book - "...this album's impact is down to the dynamic interplay between all four musicians. The Doors drew on a rich range of genres - including rock, blues, jazz, and flamenco - for their sound."
Standout tracks - Break On Through, Soul Kitchen, Light My Fire, The End.
TV On The Radio
4/5
Very excited to see another TV On The Radio album on here. Without having read about this at all, it sounds like it's an earlier recording. It's rougher around the edged but still has the cool, unique TVOTR hooks and chants. The roughness is charming but I think it's a hair less enjoyable than Dear Science.
This album is not in the book (despite Dear Science, a later release, being in it). So from the Wikipedia - "The CD is enhanced with two different quality QuickTime video files of the 'Dreams' music video." Remember when that was a thing?
Notable songs - The Wrong Way, Staring at the Sun, Poppy, and Wear You Out.
Amy Winehouse
5/5
What an exceptional talent Amy Winehouse was. This album feels jazzier than Back to Black.
This album is not in my copy of the book. So from the Wikipedia - "Its title alludes to the nature and tone of Winehouse's lyrics on the album, as well as one of her influences, Frank Sinatra."
Notable songs - You Sent Me Flying/Cherry, Know You Now, Take The Box, Brother, Mr. Magic.
Incubus
3/5
This album is a weird choice. It's fine. That's about it. The hits are pretty stellar. Everything else is ho-hum at best.
I like this album but firmly believe it has no place on this list.
From the book - "Make Yourself manages to bridge the tastes of a mass market without selling out to appease a single genre. For their sophomore record Incubus could have easily targeted the burgeoning teenage mother scene, but instead they enlisted long-time R.E.M. producer Scott Litt to create a more adult and contemplative record without losing their younger fan base."
Notable songs- Stellar, Drive, and Pardon Me.
Iggy Pop
4/5
I liked it! I enjoy his brand of aggressive rock/punk.
From the book - "Out went the wild abandon of The Stooges' raucous guitar and rhythm section, and a more cerebral, subdued sound developed in the songs the pair [Iggy Pop and David Bowie] co-wrote. Keyboards and bass featured heavily, leading Iggy to dub the sound 'James Brown meets Kraftwork.'"
Notable songs - Sister Midnight, and Mass Production.
Big Star
2/5
This album didn't do much for me. Not bad but I couldn't really get into it. It may deserve another listen.
From the book - "Frustrated by years of creative disputes and commercial failure, Alex Chilton and the band sound like they pretty much do not give a damn anymore. The album is part love letter, part kiss-off. They sound looser than ever, but there is an edge of tension and bitter despair that producer Jim Dickinson draws out using just the right amount of echo and feedback."
I did not save any tracks
Lucinda Williams
4/5
Beautiful album. This will certainly be added to my forthcoming "shit-kicking" playlist. Great music to listen to on a hot summer day drinking a beer or Arnold Palmer.
Also, this is a surprisingly recent release - 1998.
From the book - "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road is one of those multi-layered albums that opens up with repeated exposure, and then opens up some more. The thing is, of course, her voice, which is wistful, defiant, and wan. Then there are remarkable arrangements in a variety of American roots idioms, from raunchy blues to sad country and sheer power pop."
Notable tracks - Can't Let Go, Joy, and Jackson.
Tina Turner
4/5
Great album, Tina Turner is a treasure.
From the book - "Private Dancer trumpeted Tina Turner's comeback from her post-Ike withdrawal years. Competing against Purple Rain and Born In The USA, the album hit Billboard's No. 1, sold ten million copies, and won four Grammies."
Notable tracks - What's Love Got to Do, I Can't Stand the Rain, and Let's Stay Together.
Miles Davis
5/5
This album is great. Psychedelic jazz, and as far as I know, the first to do something like this. There are parts of this that were tough to listen to due to blaring horns, but I think that's because my copy on vinyl is in really bad shape. I don't know if the record was as bad before Pancake mauled it, but there is so much surface noise.
Almost every line from the book can be written in this summary here, every word of it is cool, insightful, and relevant. But I think the best part is, "The sheer density of the music is often symphonic. At some points there are three keyboards - Chick Corea, Larry Young, and Joe Zawinul -all playing clashing, dissonant chord clusters. There are two bassists - Ron Carter and Dave Holland - set against the serpentine baritone voicings of Benny Maupin's bass clarinet. Up to three kit drummers and another three percussionists lay down hypnotic grooves that would hook in the Grateful Dead fans."
Anyway, brilliant album despite the aforementioned sound issues. Easy 5 stars.
Notable tracks - every single one.
Joni Mitchell
1/5
Least favorite JM album on this list. It is too the same, and cartoonishly "Joni Mitchell".
From the book - "Mitchell made more ambitious and popular albums, but, with its vivid imagery, poetic scope, and emotional insight, Hejira stands as a perfect melding of instrumental virtuosity and confessional storytelling."
No songs saved.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
4/5
More obscure latin music? Sign me up. Love his/their(?) style of rhythm oriented music. A fun time to listen to. The only caveat is that it felt a bit stale by the end and I was ready to move on.
The whole writeup on this album is worthy of quoting, but I'll try to pare it down - "Colon employed a potent band of New York City's finest musicians, and the hook-friendly choruses helped to give this album legs across the Spanish-speaking world. In the late 1970s Siembra served as an anthem for a generation of college students, who found inspiration in its positive message of Latino pride. But it also became a soundtrack for struggles of peace and justice to the many countries in Central and Latin America who were enmeshed in civil war and attendant conflicts at the same time."
Notable songs - Plastico, and Siembra (which, according to the book, means "to plant").
Aphex Twin
5/5
Loved this album. I was pretty familiar with their sound prior to giving this album a full listen. It's not as dark as I remember it. Great nonetheless, and wild that it came out in 1992. Very ahead of its time. I listened to it all the way through twice.
From the book - "It is a lengthy album - over 70 minutes. However, despite sounding unlike anything else, it is accessible - hypnotic, seductive, and perfectly suited to the growing army of fans of what would (annoyingly) become labeled as 'intelligent dance music.'"
Notable tracks - Xtal, Schottkey 7th Path, Ptolemy, Actium, Green Calx, and Delphium.
Massive Attack
2/5
This album just doesn't do much for me. The Wikipedia article lists them as an electronic group but they've got more of a hip-hop sound to me, generally speaking. They do a lot of different styles on this album, though. Not bad but not great.
A few interesting things from the book - "Founding member Shara Nelson - the voice of their immortal 'Unfinished Symphony' - left. They confused their fan base by briefly changing their name to Massive to avoid controversy during the first Iraq war..." And "Protection helped cement Massive Attack's status as figureheads of Britain's emerging Bristol sound; paving the way for acts like Portishead, Sneaker Pimps, and Beth Orton. It was the first indicator that the style today known as tip hop was not a trend but a growing and viable genre."
Notable songs - Protection.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
An amazing album I burned out on in college. Not much to write about as I'm very familiar with this album cover-to-cover.
From the book - "Creedence would go on to even greater artistic and commercial heights on the albums Willie And The Poorboys and Cosmo's Factory, but Green River was the first sustained demonstration of what would become their trademark clean-but-gutsy sound."
Songs I saved (I've listened to this song too much so save everything that was only notable) - Green River, and The Night Time Is The Right Time.
Eagles
3/5
I know this album is a classic, but I just don't like it. Even that is harsh, because it's not bad,. and I don't actively dislike it. But, I cannot act like Hotel California isn't the most played song of my life. The rest of the album is in the shadow of that track.
From the book - "Released in December 1976, Hotel California depicts the emotional burnout of the West Coast scene after peace and love hardened into cynical hedonism... In many ways Hotel California represents everything that punk came to destroy: glassily perfect production, harmonized guitar solos, and 'themes.' But like many musical styles in their last bloom, West Coast country-rock reached a refinement in Hotel California never equaled again."
Notable songs - Take It Easy, Witchy Woman, Earlybird, Peaceful Easy Feeling.
k.d. lang
2/5
Indistinguishable singer songwriter stuff.
From the book - "Shadowland proved popular with both critics and fans. although it would take three years to be certified gold. The singer would follow with one more country album, 1989's Absolute Torch And Twang, before fully lighting up as a torch singer with 1992's breakthrough effort Ingenue."
Notable tracks - Busy Being Blue, and Sugar Moon.
Paul Simon
5/5
Easy 5 star album. I added almost every track off the album to my playlist. It's Paul Simon possibly at his best.
From the book - "But Paul Simon is best approached as one of the best singer-songwriter albums of the Seventies. With the microphone to himself, Simon's in wonderful vocal form, yet his compositional voice is stronger on 'Duncan' ('The Boxer' meets 'El Condor Pasa') on the waltzing melancholia of 'Congratulations,' and on 'Everything Put Together Falls Apart,' whose flowing yet labyrinthine chord structure is a supreme two-minute masterclass in sophisticated songwriting."
Notable tracks - Mother and Child Reunion, Everything Put Together Falls Apart, Armistice Day, Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, Peace Like a River, and Paranoia Blues.
Jane's Addiction
4/5
This is quintessential 90's rock. Pretty unique considering it came out in 1990, not really in the vein of the emerging grunge scene nor the fading hard rock stuff.
From the book - "The introduction boasts, ' We have more influence over your children than you do - but we love them.' That is the last calm for 20 minutes, as punk-funk fireworks detonate one after another, culminating in the barking 'Been Caught Stealing'..."
Notable tracks - Been Caught Stealing, Three Days, and Classic Girl.
The Beta Band
4/5
Cool, and very white, mix of funk and house music. The singer sounds like a mix of Paul McCartney and Jacob Collier.
Not in the book. So, from the Wikipedia - "The band's previous work had used dense experimentation but Hot Shots II had a minimal style influenced by R&B, hip hop and electronica.
Mason later said the album was, 'us doing what we promised to do and making something completely incredible, that didn't sound like anything else. Nothing else that's ever come after it has ever sounded like it. It's got good, fleshed out and complete songs on it.'"
Notable tracks - Squares, Al Sharp, and Broke.
3/5
Another album I had to listen to on YouTube, unfortunately. Was expecting 80s electronic music, could not have been more wrong.
The band sounds a lot like Jacob Collier. Really well orchestrated music with a great sense of focus.
This is really pretty good. I may have to pick this up in some capacity.
The last final track, The Last Balloon is a great ending to an album that has a steady build throughout and ends with maximum tension.
Mudhoney
3/5
Better than I anticipated. I don't know why I went into this with low expectations, but I enjoyed it. Seattle grunge but with more punk and structure than I expected. I didn't save anything off this album but I wouldn't turn much of it off if it came on the radio.
Bonnie Raitt
2/5
Not a bad album but not much to write home about. Standard Bonnie Raitt sound, country blues. Lots of love lost. She's talented but it's not my thing.
From the book - "Signing with Capitol Records, Raitt made what seemed like a curious decision to enlist producer Don Was, a man best known for crafting funky party anthems with The B-52's, to help flesh out her earthy mix of folks, blues, and rock."
Notable songs - Nick Of Time
Love
2/5
This album was fine. Interesting note - they originally did Alone Again Or.
From the book - When Bruce Botanic arrive to produce the album, he found a band in such a bad way that he immediately hired session musicians. Two tracks, 'The Daily Planet' and 'Andmoreagain,' were recorded in a single day, then the band took time off to go get their act together again and practice the next batch of tunes. Henceforth, each date in the studio would involve dedicated work on a couple of tunes, after which the band would disappear to learn the next few songs."
Notable Tracks - Alone Again Or.
Goldfrapp
3/5
This was better than I thought it would be. The album cover and the first track gave me the impression this was some norther European folksy stuff, sort of like Abba. But it seemed more like an indie rock album led by a powerful female vocalist. They do a lot of different styles successfully on this album.
This album is not in the book. So, from the Wikipedia - Seventh Tree is the fourth studio album by English electronic music duo Goldfrapp, released on 22 February 2008 by Mute Records. It was named after a dream Alison Goldfrapp had about a "very large tree".
Notable tracks - Clowns, Happiness, and Caravan Girl.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Great album from Dylan. Half electric, half folksy acoustic.
From the book - "Dylan, of course, did not look back. He could not: the words were pouring out too fast. He was about to record two even greater albums, but here you can still feel the excitement of the world being turned on its head, of a cult figure discovering his talent and joyously making the most of it."
Notable songs - Subterranean Homesick Blues, Outlaw Blues, Bob Dylan's 115th Dream, and Mr. Tambourine Man.
Rufus Wainwright
3/5
This album was fine. Apparently, one of the reasons it's so significant is because of how open Wainwright is about his sexual orientation. It seems like a concept album about a man coming to terms with his homosexuality, I'm not certain about that though. Apparently Wainwright wanted to release a double album but put out Want One and Want Two out separately.
Oddly, this album is not listed in my book but, Want Two is. So, from the Wikipedia - "another set of obscenely lush and opulent pop operettas... meticulously layered and richly textured, with full orchestral passages and many-throated harmonies".
Notable tracks - Waiting For A Dream, and Crumb by Crumb
Scissor Sisters
4/5
A very fun, glam rock album.
Not in the book, so from the wikipedia - " The album relates to LGBT life in New York City.
Scissor Sisters reached number 1 on the UK and Irish albums charts and was the best-selling album of 2004 in the UK. Since its release, it been certified 9× Platinum in the UK, selling over 2,700,000 copies in the country alone. In Ireland, it has been certified 5× Platinum. The album was not as successful in their native US, peaking at number 102 on the Billboard 200."
Notable tracks - Laura, Take Your Mama Out, and Lovers In The Backseat. They also did a cover of Comfortably Numb, which is cool, but too novel to listen to more than once.
Guns N' Roses
3/5
Monumental album.
From the book - "Guns N' Roses outshone contemporaries like Faster Pussycat because not since Van Halen had such a charismatic cocktail of characters (notably mood-swinging Axl and Muppet riff master Slash) invested their cliches with such vigor..."
Notable tracks - Welcome To The Jungle, and Paradise City (also My Michelle and Sweet Child O' Mine, but I cannot, in good faith, add them to my playlist).
The Gun Club
1/5
I don't remember anything about this and did not save any tracks. I just read the review and remembered the band uses the n-word, which I don't love.
From the book - "The sound is paint-peelingly raw, the lyrics often psychotic, and the songs - the songs are some of the best American rock 'n' Roll ever recorded."
Abdullah Ibrahim
4/5
Great jazz album.
Lots of cool stuff in the book about this album - "At the same time as the African National Congress was beginning to confront apartheid, Ibrahim, trumpeter Hugh Masekela, and saxophonist Kippi Moeketsi founded the Jazz Epistles, the first black jazz group to record in South Africa. 'We had to create our own voice,' Ibrahim said in 1999. "it's not a question of taking bebop lines and adding it on top of our music. We had to develop a vocabulary, and we're still developing it.'"
Notable tracks - Mandela, Tuang Guru, and The Mountain.
Hüsker Dü
3/5
This album won me over. It felt particularly boring at first. It sounded like the inspiration for R.E.M. plus punk. The sound is similar to early punk bands like The Minutemen.
From the book - "Critical acclaim often equals unlistenability. And so it is with Husker Du's formative hardcore. But by 1985 they had replaced speed with songwriting and blueprinted a sound for future post-grungers. The Sound - furious guitars, pummeling drums, Beatlesesque hooks - was refined over the next two years."
I didn't save any tracks, apparently.
Dagmar Krause
2/5
From the Wikipedia- "A solo album by German singer Dagmar Krause released by Island Records in 1988. It is a collection of 26 songs by German composer Hanns Eisler sung by Krause in English."
Krause is definitely a talented singer. Several of the tracks revolve around a mother and her son who joins the fascist movement in Europe.
Great to see representation of this style of music. I'll almost certainly never listen to anything on here again.
AC/DC
1/5
This album has not changed my opinion of the band at all. It sounds like rock and roll with any and all heart/soul stripped away. Really boring stuff.
Steve Earle
3/5
No matter how bad this album was I couldn’t give it anything less than 3 stars since Earle was in the wire and was bone enough to take a photo with me when I worked in NYC.
I did enjoy this a bit. Kind of shit-kicking with a bit of Springsteen thrown in there.
I wouldn’t revisit this as it doesn’t really speak to me, but I probably wouldn’t change it if it came on the radio.
G. Love & Special Sauce
1/5
I was really looking forward to this album as I've seen G. Love doing a lot of the festivals around the area, and I recently learned he was from the Philly area. However, this album is awful. Overwhelmingly white hiphop. There is nothing remotely redeemable on this entire album.
From the book - "Coming at a time when most people equated white rappers with the likes of Vanilla Ice, G. Love and Special Sauce's eponymous debut provided a completely new blueprint for how to make convincing, authentic, and affective hip hop." I don't agree with the sentiment at all, but there you have it.
No noteworthy songs.
PJ Harvey
4/5
My favorite album by Harvey by far. It felt darker and more subtle, which I enjoyed.
Notable tracks- Let England Shake, and Hanging In The Wire
Justin Timberlake
4/5
Great inclusion. Glad to see JT on this list and this album in particular because I was force fed so much of it in college that I never really gave it the opportunity it deserved.
The production value is up there but his lack of maturity as a songwriter compared to 20/20 is pretty apparent.
Not in the book, from the Wiki - "The album was written and recorded in a six-week period as Timberlake's band NSYNC was on hiatus". And, "Justified debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 and sold 439,000 copies in its first week."
Notable songs - (Oh No) What You Got, Cry Me A River, Rock Your Body, (And She Said) Take Me Now, and Right For Me.
The Chemical Brothers
3/5
Peter Gabriel
5/5
(I’m on vacation, leaving more brief reviews)
So many hits on this classic. Everything from Gabriel that I grew up with and loved.
Erykah Badu
5/5
(I’m on vacation, leaving more brief reviews)
Phenomenal album.
Emmylou Harris
4/5
Great album with a surprise Dave cameo. Entourage is a talented singer songwriter
Madonna
3/5
Another solid offering from Madonna. Not quite as good as Ray of Light or Like a Prayer.
Bee Gees
2/5
This didn’t live up to my expectations. I had heard some pretty high praise for this but it didn’t strike me as anything special. I got the sense that there is a larger concept at play with this album but I’m not 100% sure.
The album was pretty middle of the road for me.
Mercury Rev
4/5
Pretty solid indie rock album. Sounded a lot like the flaming lips.
Some of the stuff was too out there for my tastes so it loses a star. This is definitely a band worth revisiting.
Willie Nelson
5/5
Fantastic, beautiful album of covers.
New Order
1/5
Not for me.
The Beach Boys
5/5
Beatles
5/5
Dexys Midnight Runners
2/5
Kind of a cool album, though I’m not sure this list needs more than one from Dexys.
Robbie Williams
3/5
Serge Gainsbourg
2/5
Astrud Gilberto
3/5
Talking Heads
4/5
Kacey Musgraves
3/5
Randy Newman
4/5
Lots of the “n” word in that first track. Otherwise an absolutely beautiful album.
Taylor Swift
4/5
Dolly Parton
5/5
Nas
3/5
This album was good, reminded me of college. I don't hold this album in as high regard as many others, it just doesn't resonate with me. It's still good but I don't appreciate the way I should.
From the book - "Fusing old-school street poetry with razor-sharp production, Illmatic is proof that hardcore hip hop can move minds as well as feet."
Notable songs - The World Is Yours
The Human League
1/5
This is everything I dislike about 80s music. Flat vocals with few redeeming hooks. An over reliance on the synth, and little else worth mentioning.
Interesting side note - I feel like I really noticed Kraftwerk’s influence on this album and a lot of 80s music in general.
Tim Buckley
3/5
Finley Quaye
4/5
Goldfrapp
4/5
Small Faces
1/5
Radiohead
4/5
Steve Winwood
1/5
Eric Clapton
2/5
Waylon Jennings
3/5
I liked this! More country/bluegrass/rock but enjoyable nonetheless.
Joe Ely
3/5
Grade A shit-kickin’ music.
The Beta Band
3/5
Ananda Shankar
4/5
Cool album combining eastern and western music. Fun reimaginings of Jumping Jack Flash and Light My Fire.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Happy Mondays
3/5
I liked this album more than the first Happy Mondays album for sure. I think my musical tastes have evolved a lot since that first one 3 years ago. Cool to get this now.
Hookworms
4/5
Cool, up tempo indie rock that is worth revisiting.
Red Snapper
3/5
I liked the beginning of this album a lot. Drum & bass stuff that veered into more EDM. The middle of the album turned a different direction, reggae, and soured me on the rest. So overall it was okay, not a favorite but a few tracks worth revisiting.
Traffic
4/5
Better than I thought. I love the original version of Feelin Alright. There is some weird carnival-esque stuff that is very skipable.
Culture Club
3/5
Better than I thought. There’s a lot more talent than I expected on this album, and some genuine song writing skill. I feel that the songs do mostly follow a similar trajectory and become indistinguishable from one another. As though they landed on a great idea and built every hook on it. So a bit redundant.
War Is Stupid has a clip of the vocal solo from Any Color You Like on Dark Side of The Moon
Paul McCartney
4/5
Black Flag
4/5
Ali Farka Touré
5/5
The Prodigy
4/5
Neil Young
2/5
Enough with the goddamn Neil Young. This gets an extra star because I do like the track “Don’t Let It Bring You Down”.
Beth Orton
3/5
Sisters Of Mercy
1/5
Generic 80s stuff. Emphatically not a fan.
Jean-Michel Jarre
3/5
This was cool ambient electronica. Very enjoyable, but lacking in depth.
Motörhead
3/5
Good stuff. Exactly what you would expect from the band.
Slipknot
3/5
Better than I thought it would be. I was definitely dreading this, but they’re not that bad. This really isn’t my taste but I do have a better appreciation of them. Their pet much the high point of rap rock, what Korn and Limp Bizkit could be if they had any artistic merit.
Stan Getz
5/5
Easy 5 star. Adore this album and relish every opportunity to listen to it.
Baaba Maal
2/5
The Magnetic Fields
3/5
This album is long. 69 songs and roughly 3 hours of music. It’s a lot to digest. Despite its length, it’s pretty enjoyable. They do manage to keep it fresh throughout by mixing styles and vocalists.
Blondie
1/5
Emphatically not a fan of Blondie and this listen did nothing to change that.
They’re one note, at best.
Slipknot
3/5
Pretty good, surprisingly. Definitely got a sense of their thrash influences. The mix between their heavier stuff and their softer stuff often felt out of place. There was also less rap-rock on this album compared to the other.
The heavy stuff was enjoyable.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
1/5
Another below average offering from Neil Young. If his name wasn’t attached to his music, his band would just be a band playing at a bar you couldn’t wait to leave.
Dire Straits
4/5
I enjoyed this. I didn’t have high hopes going into this as the stuff I was familiar with I didn’t love, though that’s more due to it being overplayed.
The songs I knew and disliked were far more enjoyable in the context of the entire album. This album is arguably the epitome of “dad rock”, for better or worse.
This album being a reference album for hi-fi makes a lot of sense now. There’s a lot of hi quality mastering and a wide range in dynamics.
Glad to have listened to this.
Cream
3/5
Its fine.
Heaven 17
4/5
Interesting mix of punk and electronic. Really enjoyed this one.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
N.W.A.
5/5
Great album
The Monkees
4/5
The album started as the standard Beatles clone stuff, but they really broke from that mold in the second half. More dynamics had me far more interested.
Ian Dury
1/5
More Britt pop nonsense.
Kelela
4/5
Very talented, modern pop artist. Highly enjoyable.
Morrissey
3/5
Genesis
4/5
Todd Rundgren
4/5
This is a great album. Todd Rundgren has a way with hooks and melodies that makes 90% of this album a delight. However there is 10% of this album that feels like a chore, mostly due to its length.
Missy Elliott
4/5
Butthole Surfers
3/5
Better than the name would suggest.
Coldcut
4/5
This was great. Unfortunately, I had to listen to this on YouTube as it’s not available streaming anywhere.
This is EDM. Sounds a lot like early LCDSS, but with some more bizarre samples.
I’ll pick this up on vinyl.
Throwing Muses
1/5
Did not enjoy this one. Kinda grunge, kinda post-punk, with female vocals. A lot of the music sounded too similar, and all of it was uninspired.
Jurassic 5
5/5
This album is incredible in every way.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Fantastic. Always happen to have a reason to listen to this.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
4/5
For some reason I always confused BS&T with Tears for Fears, and expected them to be a new-wave band. So I was pleasantly surprised by their psychedelic late 60s sound.
Al Kooper was the founder of the band after he left the Blues Project, but he left BS&T after their first album and prior to this release. He was replaced by David Claton-Thomas, who didn't do much as a solo act before or after.
It is definitely worth exploring more of their Music.
From the book - "Even by 1960s standards the album is too big for its boots, bookended by two psychedelic rewrites of the first of Satie's Trois Gymnopedies and centered on an indulgent 12-minute jazz-rock jam. Still, there is plenty that works: horn-heavy covers of Traffic's 'Smiling Phases' and Laura Nyro's 'And When I Die' are well judged, as is threading of Brenda Holloway's 'You've Made Me So Very Happy.' Taking on Billie Holiday's 'God Bless The Child' is risky but the convincing Clayton-Thomas is up to the task."
Notable tracks - Smiling Phases, And When I Die, and God Bless The Child. Also notable is the jam on the live version of Smiling Phases that is the last track on the album.
Ride
2/5
This album started out pretty good, but I lost interest by the 3rd or 4th song. The first track had this cosmic, psychedelic indie feel to it that I didn't get on any other songs on the album
Interesting description from the book - "Each song is a coruscating epic; take 'Dreams Burn Down,' where the crash of Los Colbert's drums recalls the mighty pummel of John Bonham, set to a thick, almost gooey wall of sound and a syrup-sweet guitar melody. The trick on Nowhere is that perfect harmonies and strong baselines rise out of its tangled wash and chaos (the crowd noise in the background of 'Paralysed' is actually the sound of the poll tax riots raging outside the studio)."
I didn't save any tracks.
Deee-Lite
2/5
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
5/5
Astor Piazzolla
3/5
The Everly Brothers
4/5
Funny note, I saw this and got really excited because I was thinking of the Isley Brothers.
This album was great. Very white, but brilliant harmonies. Added several songs to both the 1001 Albums Highlights playlist as well as my Shit Kickin' Music playlist.
From the book - "They had label problems, management woes, marital difficulties, and drug troubles, and Elvis was back from the army to reclaim his throne - the brothers responded to this challenge in 1960, creating their finest body of work."
Favorite tunes - Baby What You Want Me to Do, Donna, Donna, and A Change of Heart.
Mekons
1/5
I don't know about this one. More run of the mill 80s Brit-pop, similar to The Pogues. Really not my taste.
From the book - "...Fear and Whiskey is no conventional cowpunk hoedown, but rather a ferocious parcel of punk, folk, pop, dub, and country. Sure, there is Susie Honeyman's frantic fiddling, and the honkey-tonk waltz of 'Darkness And Doubt,' but Fear and Whiskey is 'country' as played by English punks with a fondness for Merle Haggard."
No saved tracks
Malcolm McLaren
3/5
Fugees
5/5
Sabu
3/5
The Psychedelic Furs
1/5
The Temptations
4/5
The Kinks
1/5
Standard fare from the Kinks. Only notable for its inclusion of Sunny Afternoon. This is the third album from them and I have no idea why.
Missy Elliott
4/5
The Lemonheads
3/5
A pleasant surprise. The band reminded me a lot of the Foo Fighters “Big Me”, in a good way.
Hole
1/5
I don’t think we need two Hole albums on this list.
Blue Cheer
3/5
Cool, sludgey classic rock.
Holger Czukay
2/5
Very strange. German indie rock with some cool jams.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Norah Jones
4/5
This album sounds wonderful. Really well mixed.
Super Furry Animals
3/5
Pretty cool album. They psychedelic sound similar to The Flaming Lips, but their singer has a deeper voice and uses it much differently.
The Libertines
1/5
Pretty mediocre britt rock. No bueno.
Fatboy Slim
5/5
Great album that I’m happy to have had the opportunity to explore.
Method Man
4/5
Classic method man.
Notable tracks - Bring the Pain, All I Need, Sub Crazy.
Joanna Newsom
2/5
This was a strange one. Harp-led music that sounded like it was from middle earth.
Interesting note from the Wikipedia- “The album consists of five tracks with song durations ranging from 7 to 17 minutes that deal with events and people important in Newsom's life, including the sudden death of her best friend, a continuing illness and a tumultuous relationship. The album is named after the mythical Breton city of Ys.”
This is a shining example of music that is not for me.
Arcade Fire
2/5
Their weakest offering on the list. Is an earlier album so I get the sense that what made them special hasn’t been honed in on yet.
LCD Soundsystem
5/5
I added nearly every song from this album to my list.
This isn't in the book, unfortunately. From the Wikipedia - "Murphy was uncomfortable recording his own vocals, calling the experience 'horrifying'. Murphy covered the entire studio in silver fabric and tin foil. For the recording of LCD Soundsystem's following album This Is Happening, Murphy brought one of the original pieces of silver fabric to the album's recording studio in Los Angeles and hung it in Rick Rubin's recording den, the Mansion."
Turbonegro
3/5
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
4/5
The final review!
This album is surprisingly accessible considering it’s a collection of Pakistani devotional songs. Fateh Ali Khan has a lovely singing voice and the arrangements complement their voice well.
Syd Barrett
2/5
There is no musical merit to this album whatsoever. Its only significance is that it was made by the guy who was once in Pink Floyd.
Elvis Presley
4/5
The Notorious B.I.G.
4/5
Hanoi Rocks
1/5
I did not hear anything significant on this album that justifies its inclusion on the list.
Glam punk/hard rock/glam metal according to Wikipedia
Manic Street Preachers
2/5
This album is fine. There’s a bit of anger to their music but overall I couldn’t connect with it.
The Byrds
4/5
This us the best Byrds album in here. They should have stopped after this one.
The White Stripes
5/5
Snoop Dogg
4/5
Snoop dog being snoop dog. Great west coast hip-hop. Fun, funny, and a great listen.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Steely Dan
3/5
Steely Dan are the best worst-band of all time. In always baffled by their vocals. They are renowned for their perfectionism in the studio, but they allow the cheesiest lyrics and vocals. The very definition of corporate muzak.
All that being said, there are some good tracks on this album. The musicianship is top notch, as usual. But their music is just silly to me. I feel embarrassed for Donald Fagen.
Dead Kennedys
5/5
Björk
2/5
I’ve definitely gained a lot of respect for bjork from this project. She is unlike anyone else in popular music and is extremely talented. All of that is on full display on this album.
I added Submarine to my speaker demo playlist, but beyond that I don’t see myself revisiting anything on this album. I don’t have a mood that this album would fit.
Paul Simon
5/5
Arrested Development
5/5
Incredible hip hop. Awesome samples and great lyricism throughout. This has to be a contender for the greatest of all time.
Pink Floyd
5/5
PJ Harvey
4/5
This is another great album from PJ Harvey. Her sound has really grown on me from this list. This album really felt more open, sonically, than the first few I listened to. It also was darker.
The KLF
2/5
Weird electronic stuff that didn’t move the needle for me.
Bob Dylan
4/5
I enjoyed this album more than most of his others. It sounds very unlike his earlier stuff, apparently it came out in the 90s after a long break from releasing music.
The final track is something like 15 minutes long, but he manages to keep it interesting with only his lyrics as the music is basically the same 4/4 blues groove.
Notable tracks- Cold Irons Bound, and Make You Feel My Love.
The Boo Radleys
3/5
Kind if innocuous indie rock. The Wikipedia says it’s a mix of shoegaze, pop, reggae, noise pop and orchestral sounds.
Moby Grape
4/5
This album is really good. Classic rock with heavy folk influences. This is an album I plan on picking up as only a portion is available to stream.
Baaba Maal
3/5
This album was fine. It’s the second I’ve had from Baaba Maal and I think I liked this one more. African folk music. But this one resonated with me more, especially the track Kettodee that incorporated some haunting chanting vocals.
Radiohead
5/5
Phenomenal. This is my new obsession.
Notable tracks- Sit Down. Stand Up, Go To Sleep, The Gloaming, and There, There.
Eminem
3/5
I will give credit where credit is due, this album had moments of genuine creativity, and some catchy hooks. It’s extremely juvenile, low brow, and violent as well.
I’ll never listen to anything on here again, but I do think this is much better than the Slim Shady LP.
Aimee Mann
2/5
Fine adult contemporary rock. Not much else to it for me.
Germs
4/5
Ohh shit, more punk rock from my youth. I don’t really understand why this album was included as it’s pretty standard punk music, but I’m glad I was able to revisit it and listen to some tunes I enjoyed during my angsty youth.
Notable tracks - Lexicon Devil, and Media Blitz
N.E.R.D
2/5
It’s remarkable how uncool NERD is. This music is just lame. Not undeserving of being on the list but there’s nothing in here I will revisit.
Elvis Costello
3/5
I'll give credit where it is due, this album deserves to be on the list (unlike any of his other albums). There is a blend of early rock 'n roll and punk that is unique to E.C. He was definitely on to something here. I'm not converted, but this album is acceptable.
From the book - "The overriding emotion of My Aim Is True was a lack of satisfaction, openly expressed by 'Blame It On Cain' and 'Mystery Dance,' while 'No Dancing' was a second song to equate dancing and sex. Producer Nick Lowe, whom Costello had followed round the country when Lowe was frontman with Brinsley-Schwarz, added just enough studio fairy dust to make this a 'proper' record rather than another set of demos..."
I didn't save any tracks.
Simply Red
3/5
What a fun album! I thought this was going to be prime 80's new wave cheese, but I was treated to an album that was well produced and had terrific vocals.
From the book - "For an album with its roots planted firmly in the Manchester soil, Picture Book could not have strayed further from the city's post-punk heritage. Mick Hucknall quickly tired of the restrictions of punk rock and saw Simply Red, and Picture Book in particular, as a vehicle to stretch his vocal ability."
Notable tracks - Sad Old Red, Red Box, and Picture Book.
Jungle Brothers
4/5
The Jungle Brothers are great. I can't believe I never heard of them before. Fantastic rhythms, vocals and lyrics. I think I heard at least one Brothers Johnson bass part.
It's a shame I had to listen to this on YouTube and I couldn't add any of the tracks to my playlists. It's definitely worth picking up a physical copy.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Somehow, this is the album that got me into Zeppelin. Fantastic, an all-time favorite.
Tim Buckley
4/5
Another good one from Tim Buckley.
Notable tracks - Strange Feelin' and Gypsy Woman
Patti Smith
3/5
Pretty good, especially her cover of Gloria.
10cc
2/5
What a strange album. Not at all what I expected. More theatrical weirdness than standard classic rock. It sounded like proto-indie rock, or indie rock made by a classic rock band.
Notable songs- Baron Samedi, and The Sacro-Iliac
Dexys Midnight Runners
2/5
This list has showed me the depth of Dexys Midnight Runners' music. This album is pretty good. They are a tight band that is capable of doing a lot of different things well.
That being said, this is their third album on the list and I just don't see a reason for that.
Did not save any songs.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2/5
I don't know why this was included on the list. Their music is so longwinded and overwrought. They are definitely talented, and the album wasn't horrible. I just don't understand its inclusion. There are so many better live albums.
I read the entry in the book, and I suppose there is justification for its inclusion. So I won't give it a 1 star review.
From the book - "Always ones for the big entrance, Emerson, Lake, And Palmer premiered their rocked-up version of Russian Composer Modeste Mussorgsky's classical work at 1970's Isle of Wight Festival, their first proper show together."
Didn't save any tracks.
The xx
3/5
Pretty good. Weird indie duo with electronic vibes. Sometimes it veers too heavily into the electronic stuff and loses me.
Favorite songs- Replica and Brave For You.
George Harrison
4/5
Throbbing Gristle
3/5
This was better than I thought it would be. By no means gods, but based on the Reddit sub, I expected another German art/noise album similar to Kollapse.
The album was fine. Kinda uninspired electronic music that’s largely innocuous.
The Verve
4/5
I liked this a lot. Far more than their other album on this list. A more psychedelic version of Oasis, with whom they toured at one point. But more grounded than Spiritualized.
Favorite tracks- This Is Music, A Northern Soul, and Stormy Clouds.
The Cure
2/5
It’s fine. Better than the standard “horrible” output of The Cure, but nothing with revisiting.
Roni Size
3/5
Pretty cool drum 'n bass album. The 20th anniversary edition is over 5 hours long, so I listened to a lot more of this album than was necessary, which wasn't a bad thing. I did enjoy it. But I found it got a bit repetitive. I may not have the ear to distinguish subtle differences in D&B tunes.
From the book - "Their combined sound was a neat amalgam of the musical flavors of Bristol at the time, takin in reggae, dub, break, blues, hip hop, and jungle."
Notable tracks - Brown Paper Bag
M.I.A.
3/5
Another solid offering from M.I.A. This album wasn't as good as Arular in my opinion. Less cohesive and the artists with features were a bit distracting. This album did have Paper Planes on it, though, which I do love.
This album is not in my copy of the book.
Notable tracks - Boyz, and Paper Planes.
The Bees
4/5
What an interesting album. Like lots of new-to-me weird indie music, there are songs that I loved, and songs that I am indifferent toward. They kind of reminded me of Chicano Batman in their vibe. They have a bit more soul to some of their tracks, and a bit more white-ness.
From the book - "The clue may well lie in the title, but if The Bees' debut were a season, it would most definitely be summer. As the first notes of the horn-soaked "Punchbag" shimmer out, you can picture the sunlight breaking through low hanging branches. And all across these ten brief tracks, Sunshine Hit Me retains that lazy, sun-soaked vibe." Also, "They went on to play as the backing band for Damon Albarn's Gorillaz project...".
Notable tracks - Angryman (sic), A Minha Menina (which is apparently an Os Mutantes cover), This Town, Zia, Sky Holds the Sun
The Thrills
3/5
I thought this was going to be more mediocre Britt pop. But the band has a unique sound and an ear for hooks. I did not love the album, but it was not bad at all.
Notable tracks - Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far), and Big Sur
Linkin Park
2/5
Ugh. This album was EVERYWHERE when I was a kid. And I did love it at the time, until I was made fun of for liking it by the girl I had a crush on at the time. Ya know what? She was right.
Then, when Retro Fitness was purchased by Atilis (sic), it was the only fucking album they would play. Holy shit this album has haunted me.
I won't deny its popularity, and it is deserving of the list. But its rage is embarrassingly inauthentic.
From the book- "The album sees them combine original, catchy beats and fierce lyrics with harder rock influences (see 'A Place For My Head') topped off with widescreen production." Also, "They played a staggering 324 shows in 2001." That is a crazy statistic.
I did not save any songs.
Can
4/5
This was a pretty wild listen. The tracks are really long and seem to blend rock with a bit of jazz structure and features lots of improvisation. It is kind of jarring throughout, mixing strung-out guitar riffs with random shouts. Apparently this was made by some Germans in '71 (the same year as Yes' Fragile, The Doors' L.A. Woman, and Elton John's Madman Across The Water) and termed "Krautrock", but it could have just as easily been made in the US.
From the book - "Alongside groups such as Kraftwerk and Faust, Can's fusion of Stockhausen's early electronic experiments and The Velvet Underground's art rock proved German rock bands were starting to find their own identity without resorting to a pastiche of American or British acts."
Notable tracks - Mushroom, and Halleluhwah (which is over 18 minutes long)
The Isley Brothers
5/5
The Saints
3/5
Another double listen because I forgot what the album sounded like.
I enjoyed it. British punk with a decent sense of hooks.
Know Your Product was my favorite track.
2/5
Venom
3/5
Cool metal album. Nice to see the genre getting modest representation on the list. Probably not much on here I'd listen to again, though.
From the book- "The second album by Newcastle, England, trio Venom has the rare distinction of giving its name to an entire genre. Black metal, as pioneered by Norwegian acts Mayhem and Emperor, is a cult strain of ultra-thrash characterized by sacrilegious bile and icy noise." Also, "Their songs were crudely catchy bursts of speedfreak rhythms and bludgeoning riffs, over which Cronos puked nightmarish scenarios, horror mythology, and gleeful smut."
Notable song- Black Metal
Adam & The Ants
2/5
One of the more enjoyable new-wave Britt pop that's on this list. But lacking in depth and soul like most of the genre.
From the book - "'We stole what we could, like magpies,' says Marco Pirroni. 'We used ocarinas, echo chambers, textures from John Barry and Ennio Morricone soundtracks, rockabilly guitar riffs from Duane Eddy and Hank Marvin. We were even twanging rulers on desks and recording the results!'
Notable song - Dog Eat Dog
Incredible Bongo Band
4/5
Loved it. It's a band that's all about rhythm. Funky as hell throughout.
From the book - "The Incredible Bongo Band was assembled from a variety of unknown session musicians to provide chase music for the 1972 MGM B-movie The Thing With Two Heads. Michael Viner, head of the short-lived MGM subsidiary label Pride, gathered the musicians together and recorded two tracks- 'Bongo Rock' and 'Bongolia.' MGM decided to release these tracks as a double-sided 45, which went on to sell more than one million copies."
Favorite tracks - Apache [yes, the original version of the song you hate], Let There Be Drums, Bongolia, Sing Sing Sing, and Topsy, Pt. 1, 2, 3
Marty Robbins
3/5
Interesting bluegrass/western album. It's exactly as it is billed, ballads about gunfighters and trails. I could listen to this on a hot summer day while tossing back a couple of cold ones.
From the book - "Recorded in a single day with a well-drilled yet understated band, Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs was a homage to the Old West. Some cuts were traditional story-songs, most notably 'Billy The Kid' and'The Strawberry Roan.' What set this album apart was the quartet of Robbins-penned songs, delivered in his unmistakable tender croon."
Notable songs - Big Iron, and A Hundred And Sixty Acres
Death In Vegas
3/5
I had to listen to this twice because it had been so long since I first listened to it, I forgot everything about it.
The first half of the album didn't strike me as anything noteworthy, but the second half really came alive, especially the last track. It was an aggressive sounding house music.
Songs I liked - Flying, One More Time, Luther's Funk
The Zutons
4/5
This is one of the most recent albums in the book. It came out the same year as Hot Fuss. I liked this album a good deal. For some reason I thought I was getting some pop punk crap. But, I was pleasantly surprised but this. There are pop rock elements to this but it also has one foot firmly planted in indie rock. It's pretty simplistic, but not lacking in artistry. Solid album.
From the book - Taking their cues from Dr. John and Captain Beefheart, Who Killed... The Zutons? combines elements of the macabre with Latin rhythms, angular guitars, and an approach that makes the saxophone sound cool again."
Noteworthy songs - Long Time Coming, Zuton Fever, Nightmare Part II, Dirty Dancehall, Pressure Point
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
It was fine. I really love some of his/their stuff so much, but this one didn't do much for me. It felt like this was earlier in their career and had a bit too much of Cave's The Birthday Party for my tastes.
From the book - "Vigorous, vulgar, and romantic all at once, Henry's Dream is an exquisite nightmare."
Notable Tracks - Papa Won't Leave You, Henry, Jack the Ripper, and Brother, My Cup Is Empty.
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
Fleetwood Mac really struck out in a more independent manor on this album than anything else I've heard from them. This sounds like an indie rock album and must have been hugely inspirational. But the album doesn't resonate with me in the same way Rumours does.
From the book - "Borrowing equally from both Brians (Eno and Wilson), the album is a dreamy collage that utilizes every bell and whistle then known to man. Lindsey Buckingham, who assumed control of the band with Rumours, stays at the forefront here and creates his own sparkling version of Pet Sounds."
Notable tracks - Tusk, Never Forget.
Fugazi
3/5
Fugazi are hit or miss for me. I like them in as much as they clearly influence bands I love like At The Drive-In/TMV. But I doubt I'll ever put an album of theirs on for enjoyment.
From the book - "While their later work is almost art rock in comparison, the band have never ventured from their punk rock roots and staunch DIY business ethics- most of their shows are for all ages and less than $7. Repeater marks Fugazi's growth from angry young punks to challenging and innovative musicians."
Notable songs- Repeater, Shut The Door
Laura Nyro
4/5
D'Angelo
4/5
Lupe Fiasco
4/5
Talking Heads
2/5
Sonic Youth
1/5
I do not get their music at all. Especially not enough to warrant five (!) of their albums on this list.
The Vines
1/5
Aside from the one hit on this album (Get Free), I have no idea why this is on the list.
Joy Division
2/5
It was fine.
X-Ray Spex
3/5
Really cool female led punk rock. Sounds like the precursor to Slater-Kenney.
Joan Baez
2/5
I really disliked this. I'm sure there is merit in there somewhere, but I cannot find it.
Peter Tosh
3/5
Yes
5/5
Mj Cole
3/5
Big Star
2/5
Billie Holiday
2/5
Sister Sledge
4/5
Faust
2/5
Weird indie rock, I guess? This album is all over the place. They really mix a lot of styles together, which is cool. But I don’t see myself revisiting any tracks.
The Jam
2/5
According to Roon, this is "mod revival". Which is cool, I never really understood what that style of music was so it's good to be exposed to that. However, it sounds like a lot of the over represented English rock on the list. I'm sure this was important in its day, but it doesn't do anything for me.
Notable tracks - Pretty Green, and That's Entertainment.
Suede
2/5
Sounded like a mix between Brit-pop and David Bowie, but far less charming. There were some cool orchestral parts toward the end of the album that were terrific.
No saved songs.
David Holmes
3/5
Drum ’n bass album that I liked. A lot of talking between songs, which was annoying, but overall I enjoyed it.
Notable tracks- Radio 7, Slashers Revenge, and Freaknik.
Girls Against Boys
2/5
Fuzzy, almost shoe-gaze rock. It was a bit heavier than something like My Bloody Valentine, though.
No saved songs.
Dinosaur Jr.
1/5
Scritti Politti
2/5
Real standard 80s music. Nothing to write home about but not undeserving of the list
Notable track- perfect way
Dennis Wilson
5/5
Morrissey
1/5
Anther stinker in a long line of them from one of the worst.
Laibach
1/5
Why are the Germans so bad at art?
Sugar
3/5
This was a cool 90’s rock album. Apparently from the singer of Husker Du.
Notable track- A Good Idea
Nick Drake
4/5
Pere Ubu
4/5
This is my kind of weird indie music. Slight punk vibes, similar to Black Eyes in that sense but also their chanting choruses. I liked this a lot more than their other album on the list.
Notable songs- Non-Alignment Pact, and Street Waves.
American Music Club
1/5
I thought American Music Club was going to be something more electronic sounding. Wikipedia says the album is an indie rock album, but it sounded to me like bland adult contemporary. I do not see the value in this album whatsoever.
Dizzee Rascal
2/5
Apparently, this album is significant for being the first in the “grime” genre. The album is tough to get through, though. It’s British hip hop and they just have not figured it out.
The Fall
1/5
Long and unrewarding. Nothing here that couldn’t be gleaned from their two there albums on this list.
Van Morrison
5/5
One is the easiest 5 star albums on the list.
The Dandy Warhols
3/5
The Hives
2/5
AC/DC
2/5
This album exactly what I thought it would be.
Brian Wilson
4/5
5/5
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
SZA
2/5
I feel like this album is not meant for my demographic. Lyrically, it’s often about being and feeling young, and dealing with young people’s problems. Nothing wrong with that, I just had a hard time relating. Add on to that a parade of trendy, made up words.
The album is mixed very well, and she’s a talented vocalist for sure.
Notable track - Normal Girl.
Roxy Music
3/5
CHVRCHES
4/5
Silver Jews
2/5
Not my thing. Almost entirely acoustic indie folk stuff that, to me, was incredibly self indulgent.
Notable song- Let’s Not and Say We did
The Offspring
2/5
Better than I thought it would be. Kind of similar to Green Day in the beginning, a unique take stylistically, before they ran out of things to say.
Every song you've come to know and hate from this band is on this album. I didn't like it, but I agree with its inclusion on the list.
Michael Jackson
4/5
Great album but the second half of the album is not as strong as the first half.
Solange
4/5
I'm so glad I got around to this album. Having only recently really given Beyonce's music a chance, it's great to hear her sister whose album was everywhere when it came out.
The stripped down style of many of the tracks on this album reminded me of Sault. The album is really well produced and Solange's voice is really unique. Her music is very different from Beyonce's. But not better/worse.
This album is too new for my copy of the book so, from the Wikipedia - "In 2009, in an interview with MTV, Solange revealed that she was determining the type of sound for the follow-up to Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams. Solange rented a house in Santa Barbara, California to get into a certain state of mind while writing and making music. In an interview with Vibe on July 7, 2010, Solange said she suffered 'a little bit of a breakdown' while recording her new album: 'I literally gave up my sanity for a while to do this record. ... We literally were waking up in the morning and just making music all day and all night. ... It just started to wear on me in so many different ways. I started having these crazy panic attacks.'"
Notable tracks - Rise, Weary, Don't You Wait, Junie, and Don't Wish Me Well
Lil' Wayne's parts on this album are mind-numbingly bad.
Kanye West
3/5
Oh boy. The controversial Kanye. I wish he weren't such a psycho.
Just based on the music, this album is very good, but he hasn't quite reached his peak in terms of producing and song writing ability. Having listened to a good amount of his music, this album comes off as largely unpolished. Too many skits, too many "I have a big dick" style lyrics. He wasn't really moving the art forward the way he does in his later albums.
My opinion may be affected by this albums ubiquity throughout college.
King Crimson
2/5
This album sounds exactly like I imagined King Crimson would. Almost Yes-like, in a weird English prog-rock kind of way. But with very different vocal stylings.
Larks’ Tongue In Aspic (Part II) was good. A solid 15 minutes long and full of solos. But I don’t think I’ll ever revisit this.
The Darkness
4/5
This is a great album. I remember listening to it when it came out and loving the hits, but disregarding the rest. But it’s a great revivalist album of an era that’s mostly overlooked these days- glam rock.
Notable tracks- Black Shuck, Get Your Hands off My Woman, I Believe in a Thing Called Love, Love on the Rocks with No Ice.
Billy Bragg
1/5
Folk punk music that did not connect with me.
I did not add anything from this album to my playlist.
Air
3/5
Final album. Stage to have a soundtrack on here. I can’t remember any others. The album could have been better if it didn’t have any voiceovers from the movie.
This album is fine. Sounds a lot like moon safari but Air but with more transitional/incidental music.
Notable tracks- Playground Love, High School Lover, Dead Bodies.