539
Albums Rated
3.36
Average Rating
49%
Complete
550 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1950s
Favorite Decade
Jazz
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
46
5-Star Albums
17
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Tragic Songs of Life
The Louvin Brothers
|
5 | 2.58 | +2.42 |
|
Atomizer
Big Black
|
5 | 2.72 | +2.28 |
|
A Walk Across The Rooftops
The Blue Nile
|
5 | 2.86 | +2.14 |
|
Damaged
Black Flag
|
5 | 2.87 | +2.13 |
|
Very
Pet Shop Boys
|
5 | 2.93 | +2.07 |
|
Something/Anything?
Todd Rundgren
|
5 | 3.03 | +1.97 |
|
Everything Must Go
Manic Street Preachers
|
5 | 3.11 | +1.89 |
|
Clube Da Esquina
Milton Nascimento
|
5 | 3.13 | +1.87 |
|
Under Construction
Missy Elliott
|
5 | 3.14 | +1.86 |
|
Live 1966 (The Royal Albert Hall Concert)
Bob Dylan
|
5 | 3.15 | +1.85 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Power In Numbers
Jurassic 5
|
1 | 3.48 | -2.48 |
|
Blue Lines
Massive Attack
|
1 | 3.38 | -2.38 |
|
The Stooges
The Stooges
|
1 | 3.26 | -2.26 |
|
Protection
Massive Attack
|
1 | 3.25 | -2.25 |
|
Every Picture Tells A Story
Rod Stewart
|
1 | 3.24 | -2.24 |
|
Ocean Rain
Echo And The Bunnymen
|
1 | 3.22 | -2.22 |
|
Trans Europe Express
Kraftwerk
|
1 | 3.15 | -2.15 |
|
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo
Devo
|
1 | 3.13 | -2.13 |
|
Maxinquaye
Tricky
|
1 | 3.04 | -2.04 |
|
Teenager Of The Year
Frank Black
|
1 | 3 | -2 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Miles Davis | 3 | 4.67 |
| Radiohead | 4 | 4.25 |
| Nick Drake | 3 | 4.33 |
| David Bowie | 5 | 4 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Massive Attack | 2 | 1 |
| Echo And The Bunnymen | 2 | 1.5 |
| Rod Stewart | 2 | 1.5 |
| Public Image Ltd. | 2 | 1.5 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Missy Elliott | 5, 1 |
| Kraftwerk | 4, 1 |
5-Star Albums (46)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
AC/DC
4/5
unclear if the album would be better if it were just "Highway to Hell" 10 times. definitely prefer Back in Black over this one. 4/5
27 likes
Paul McCartney and Wings
4/5
For decades I always heard the chorus as "man on the run"... mistakes have been made
23 likes
The Offspring
5/5
super nostalgic crazy taxi tony hawk's pro skater vibes. I can smell the round table pizza, and these songs are catchy gritty fun. a simpler time
19 likes
Santana
5/5
Making a mental note to listen to this the next time I'm on Schedule I drugs
16 likes
Country Joe & The Fish
3/5
blues-y patchouli oil old school hippy stuff. Rugged, gritty, leftist. That classic "I recorded this in a tent" aesthetic.
14 likes
1-Star Albums (17)
All Ratings
Leonard Cohen
3/5
This feels old school, but somehow not in a way that makes me feel nostalgic. I found the recording quality to be a tad bit distracting, and although I don't feel particularly strongly towards the music, I wouldn't mind listening to this again.
Beastie Boys
4/5
A crass yet compelling mélange. Definitely need to listen to this again, under more focused circumstances.
Santana
5/5
Making a mental note to listen to this the next time I'm on Schedule I drugs
Eagles
2/5
Kind of meh- this sound feels quite generic to me. Also, The Dude said he hates The Eagles and he has pretty good taste
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
Totally captivated by the 1st half of this album- there's a rough, raw, nostalgic simplicity here, and I can smell the emotion.
Crowded House
4/5
Nirvana
4/5
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Bebel Gilberto
4/5
solid bossa nova jazzy vibes. I appreciate the warm sound- none of that hyperclinical dentists' office sound that many newer jazz albums have
Duran Duran
5/5
Common
5/5
The Pogues
4/5
pleasant folksy ska-y times. A relatively clean sound compared to Dayz n Daze or something.
MGMT
4/5
some classics + some non-classics to bridge together the classics
The Incredible String Band
2/5
a rambling, folksy, psychedelic experience. Feels like a bunch of folk musicians slowly falling down a flight of stairs. I'm shocked I didn't like this, given everything else I gravitate towards. Trout Mask Replica except I don't get the joke.
Fred Neil
3/5
cocaine cocaine cocaine
David Bowie
4/5
Fela Kuti
4/5
not _super_ into Afrobeat but it's a warmer-temperature aesthetic not dissimilar to Bitches' Brew. liking the revolutionary undertones
Talking Heads
4/5
yep, talking heads is still good
The Rolling Stones
3/5
do... do I just not like the stones that much????
Missy Elliott
5/5
love me some 90s hiphop
Nine Inch Nails
2/5
idk- the mixing of this album drives me nuts. Can't really hear anything without pumping the volume. unless... that's the point? feels like I need to explore this one again later
Isaac Hayes
4/5
4.5/5, there's a vibe here that I haven't quite seen before. A timeless nostalgia. A warmth
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
classic LCD, better than I remember it when I first listened like... 9years ago or so. The mix of electronics + normal rock instrumentation make an almost playful sound. Probably inspired Vulfpeck in a way
AC/DC
5/5
funky catchy rock anthems
The Replacements
3/5
punk-y lighthearded garage band-y. Didn't resonate with me super well
Slint
3/5
That first track hits different. Have listened to this before and didn't fully get it. I still don't, but I'd listen to this again
Miles Davis
4/5
bitches brew lite
Janelle Monáe
3/5
a lot of sonic textures and cool ideas here, but they all whizzed by without anything sticking. Maybe it's a me problem?
Fats Domino
3/5
old school boogie woogie. is it good? is it bad? more of a pleasant artifact than something I can truly get into.
The Louvin Brothers
5/5
almost slept on this one. There's some real swell harmonies here, and an old-school melancholy that tugs at me heartstrings. 5/5
The Offspring
5/5
super nostalgic crazy taxi tony hawk's pro skater vibes. I can smell the round table pizza, and these songs are catchy gritty fun. a simpler time
Led Zeppelin
3/5
folksy rock. didn't resonate with me
Fever Ray
4/5
dark house pop. A bit slow to start but finds a groove. downtempo sensual moody
The Jesus And Mary Chain
2/5
MBV, but it makes your ears a little tired
Morrissey
3/5
british joy division but better. some pleasantries here
Frank Ocean
5/5
Cream
3/5
looks and smells like the album cover. goes from gritty psychedelic rock to folksy towards the end
The Youngbloods
4/5
a bit of a blur, but I vaguely recall this as pleasant and old school. need to listen again
Björk
4/5
5/5
4.5/5. A strangely compelling acoustic guitar + nasal singer, then some weirdly catchy old school standard rock band. There's probably a bunch of strong lyrics that I glossed over too
Beatles
4/5
a melange of Beatles classics. An interesting amount of unvarnished satirical raw energy. Enough variety that some of the lesser tracks fall through the cracks.
John Coltrane
5/5
A dark, blurry, improvisational groove. There is something primal and transcendent going on here
Megadeth
4/5
seems like this was intense in the 80s, but now it's more like a gritty catchy metal. raging against society and feels good while doing it.
Neil Young
4/5
a wistful folksy album. music for a solo road trip in autumn
Jane's Addiction
2/5
kind of annoying sophomoric folky rock? can't quite recall
Joy Division
2/5
I hated this album the first time I heard it, and I still hate it now. Generic sparse guitar with vocals that feel so lazy it's almost ironic.
Cyndi Lauper
4/5
is cyndi lauper the o.g. kawaii~ style? her voice has this dark bratty slightly out-of-tune but not annoying vibe. girls just wanna have fun is immortal
The Who
4/5
Simple Minds
3/5
A kind of catchy vibe with annoying british joy division vocals.
Portishead
4/5
The classics you all remember, and some other whispering moody vocals with sample-able groovy backing
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Canonical Bob Marley. Hard to not view this as a dated cliche, but there will forever be times and places for this sound
Pixies
3/5
perfectly forgettable grunginess. Oddly dissonant in some later tracks.
Tim Buckley
3/5
better than that Leonard Cohen album. There's some pleasant strangeness attached to this folksy guitar. Maybe the album art was a good hint.
Country Joe & The Fish
3/5
blues-y patchouli oil old school hippy stuff. Rugged, gritty, leftist. That classic "I recorded this in a tent" aesthetic.
PJ Harvey
4/5
90s kinda good moody rock. kind of annoying how dissonant she sings sometimes. but part of the ruggedness I suppose.
Sade
4/5
Wikipedia mentions "sophisti-pop" and that's a great name for this. It's a jazzy, r&b, lounge music with svelte vocals that's sometimes sultry, sometimes lamenting. like sitting in a hotel bar after being stood up for a date
ABBA
3/5
ABBA is great in small doses but the happy-pop vibes get really grating after a while. But the good 1st half balances out the 2nd bad half for me.
Bob Dylan
4/5
haunting. Dylan has a bit of a buzzsaw voice, but I suspect there's something powerful behind these lyrics
XTC
3/5
not a super memorable album. Starts off strong, but then bubbles into forgetfulness. British 80s new wave stuff.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
foundational and better than I expected for some playful moody non-swearing old school rap
Alice Cooper
4/5
offbeat theatrical spookiness catchy
Deep Purple
5/5
bonkers good funky hard rock. the mixing sounds great. slows down a bit in the 2nd half but that's what intermissions are for
4/5
oddly catchy country song vibes. simpler times and catchy laments. high pitched vocals but never piercing.
Supergrass
3/5
The sort of rock that I forgot I was listening to halfway in.
B.B. King
4/5
good vibes. an intense soulfulness with just enough of a live rowdy crowd as a pleasant spice
John Prine
4/5
catchy, comedic, and wistful. like a funnier bob dylan perhaps
Massive Attack
1/5
lukewarm beats and irritating vocals. Plodding and soporific. We've progressed a lot since this album. Was pretty happy when this album ended.
The 13th Floor Elevators
2/5
annoying psychedelic rock with grating vocals and an overreliance on this electric jug thing that drives me nuts. 2/5
4/5
some histrionic proto-vaporwave vibes. feels kind of like Sade. A good back-pocket recommendation.
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
genre-bending thrift store kinda album. pretty cool!
Deep Purple
3/5
pretty solid album, but ngl I miss the raw intense energy of Live in Japan
Digital Underground
4/5
totally hated the first few tracks on this album but it really started growing on me. extra comedic virile Tribe Called Quest vibes. some creative old-school beats too
Thundercat
3/5
I've never been that into this album even though people love it... but it's slowly growing on me. These strange bouncy basslines feels like the sonic equivalent of drinking a pint of gravy. But the strange floaty ennui aesthetic is noteworthy!
The Undertones
3/5
The Offspring's pioneering grandfather. kind of like a 3.5, most of the songs didn't stick with me but it was a pleasant enough time.
Bad Brains
3/5
kind of a hybrid album: a mix of both 80s and 90s meme vocal styles and guitar riffs. not sure if there's more here than just a passing sideshow attraction, but not bad
N.W.A.
3/5
a bona fide classic, but it has some rust around the edges. some classic lines but nothing _really_ caught my eye here
Lorde
3/5
melodramatic indeed. pop laments that catch some feels. album breezed by
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
4/5
canonical old school country. lovely between-song interludes. mixing is clean, but the songs still have a wistful air to 'em. At 2 hours, this is a bit long though...
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
a lovely variety of instrumentation, kind of unusual singing voice, and some lyrics that make me wistful for... something. An oddly shaped and unique pop album. Kind of reminds me of Bohemian Rhapsody a bit (but I'm a total layman to Queen...)
Public Enemy
3/5
pretty old and slightly grating, yet strangely timeless. Appreciate the political commentary and aggressiveness. flows are generally aiite
Wild Beasts
4/5
british indie glass animals vibes. catchy!
Fun Lovin' Criminals
1/5
sits in between genres: random muttering with a lot of acoustic backing. Repetitive and annoying tracks liks "Smoke 'em" drove me nuts. my first 1/5.
Sebadoh
1/5
Intentionally dissonant poverty tier indie rock. This is the sort of music that's easy to imagine someone creating, and even easier for me to make satire of. Shocked that people seem to like this. Is this really an example of best-in-class 90s indie rock? Grating and unpleasant.
The Charlatans
3/5
in one ear and out the other. perfectly fine lite alt rock.
Slipknot
2/5
Kind of... dated? barren? metal. Lacks the catchy pop elements 5 Finger Death Punch, the crushing doom of drone metal, the historic qualities of older metal albums of yesteryear. lyrics feel overly simplistic for 2008. 2.5/5
Elastica
3/5
No strong feels about this album. Perfectly fine alt rock. songs kind of blended together for me, but there's lots of additions for your indie-sounding playlist here.
3/5
The Verve
4/5
so _that's_ where that song comes from!
Pet Shop Boys
5/5
This is guilty pleasure music but I simply don't care. Queer 80s-90s dance bops with a nostalgic, wistful sadness... love it.
Can
4/5
A forward-thinking sonic metaphor for the first few hours of a psychedelic experience. Lots of avant-garde sounds here. Meandering, but not boring. Kinda reminds me of Duster. Aumgn and Peking O are not especially pleasant to listen to but are a good characterization of the overwhelming parts of a trip.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
Elvis Costello, but more of a country-ska kind of vibe. A nice mishmash of sounds. Pretty radio-friendly.
Suede
4/5
thick and gritty rock. variegated instrumentation and more of those British rock vocals that this list seems to really like.
Fiona Apple
4/5
cinematic moody alternative vibes. bumping up to 4/5 since I'm digging the variety of moods here
The Band
3/5
Röyksopp
4/5
catchy ephemeral downtempo lounge beats. A familiar and nostalgic album for me, but it's aged well. 4/5
Jerry Lee Lewis
4/5
super catchy and raw rockabilly blues. lovely energy. you'd expect the same honky-tonk vibe to get repetitive, but it somehow clicks for me. 4/5
Joy Division
2/5
better than Unknown Pleasures but I really can't get over the vocals. Vaguely soporific. 2/5
Radiohead
5/5
The best album about car crashes I've ever heard
AC/DC
4/5
unclear if the album would be better if it were just "Highway to Hell" 10 times. definitely prefer Back in Black over this one. 4/5
The Byrds
4/5
A classic psychedelic sound- guessing it's the inspiration for a lot of later work given the year. Somehow, it holds up today. A pleasant amount of variety in each song.
KISS
2/5
AC/DC played at .75x speed
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Under My Thumb + a bunch of other songs that I won't remember. Kind of a medium-low energy. Sometimes folksy, a bit nostalgic.
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
The Kinks
3/5
Lots of interesting singles here but overall a fatiguing listen due to its length.
Kraftwerk
4/5
amazing that 40 years later, you could recreate this album in Garage Band for your indie game soundtrack.
Jimmy Smith
4/5
Low-key blues with a classy lounge aesthetic. Like eating soul food in an Eames chair.
Ice Cube
3/5
Ice Cube has no chill when denouncing sociopolitical issues that plague his community. Best played in a car stereo
Van Morrison
5/5
springtime oldie nostalgia with a cinematic orchestral backing
Paul McCartney and Wings
4/5
For decades I always heard the chorus as "man on the run"... mistakes have been made
Fleet Foxes
4/5
folksy chill road trip music. Beach House without the ennui depression vibes
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
2/5
Wasn't fully sold on these rambles. Folksy cowboy hat pickins, but I can't identify any qualities that make this stand out from the rest of the genre.
The Prodigy
3/5
90s electronic/industrial breakbeat. KMFDM without the rock n' roll. vaguely reminds me of playing flash games on newgrounds
Amy Winehouse
4/5
gotta love that unique voice, with some honky tonk big swing era throwback beats. iconic pop music that will grace quick-serve restaurant playlists for the next 15 years at least
The Who
3/5
The rambunctious bluesy rock of yore. The music of youthful road trips, house parties, and substance use. Fun stuff, but it feels a bit like a movie flashback montage.
Jean-Michel Jarre
4/5
The inspiration for countless infomercial and documentary soundtracks. Despite a bit too much theremin vibrato and vaguely muddy mixing, this album is simultaneously the sound of the past and the sound of the future.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
4/5
pretty accessible psychedelic rock with some darker, jazzy blues riffs, and a vague desert-y vibe. Good contemplation music. A bit too long for a casual listen.
The Temptations
4/5
classic vibes: from sultry r&b, to funky cruising, to love ballad. an essential listening for anyone who likes montages in movies
Dusty Springfield
4/5
soulful easy listening orchestral oldie vibes. Infinite nostalgia and feels
ZZ Top
3/5
La Grange + friends. straightforward driving rock. all the songs kind of blur together for me.
The Black Crowes
2/5
"hard" rock, "bluesy" kind of, vaguely 80s - 90s vocals, super generic sounding. This is the music that would play in a deserted franchised bar in a dying strip mall.
Leftfield
3/5
fairly dated + simplistic 90s dance pop with some world music vibes. It's what I imagine the Blade movie soundtrack to be. At >1hr in length it's a bit of a marathon listen
Roxy Music
3/5
The Beach Boys
4/5
Nice ironic mix of counterculture and the poppier motifs at the time. Short and sweet listen.
Talk Talk
2/5
droning 80s new wave with vaguely ridiculous warbly vocals. Sounds like an Elvis Costello impersonator improv-ing over infomercial bkgd music. Some head-nodding beats here but one-dimensional overall.
David Gray
2/5
Barebones and soporific rock. Feels like the soundtrack to a B-movie countryside romcom. I applaud this album for starting a broader musical trend but I just can't get into this
3/5
In one ear and out the other. forgettable rockabilly punk vibes. It's fine
Muddy Waters
3/5
A period example of authentic old school soul food blues. Not sure if the live-ness adds any magic to this album.
The Birthday Party
2/5
angry hangover Joy Division
R.E.M.
4/5
Unusually cheerful-sounding twangy soft-ish rock. A bit generic but I wouldn't mind listening to this in most contexts.
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
the queer struggle told through catchy saccharine bops that you'd probably hear while at an outlet store. Wonderful stuff!
Nick Drake
4/5
melodic and relaxing vibes with some soft and pleasant instrumentation. kind of reminds me of iron & wine
Animal Collective
4/5
A classic dreamy fuzzy acoustic synth indie soundscape. long enough to slightly overstay its welcome.
Morrissey
3/5
passable road trip music. uncomplicated rock with some goopy thudding English vocals
Minor Threat
3/5
Ahead of its time, but a relatively barebones record by modern standards. The soundtrack to a Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game I haven't played yet
Brian Eno
4/5
Starts off campy but really hits its stride. Experimental strange talking heads vibes and a weirdly peaceful ambient later half.
Billie Holiday
3/5
Easy listening with warbly vocals. Bit of a miss for me, but this is easy to listen to.
Eurythmics
4/5
supercatchy 80s pop music. music to vogue to
Caetano Veloso
3/5
psychedlic soft rock brazilian jazz. reminds me of grainy film montages from old movies
John Lennon
3/5
That one great song, and a lot of random mutterings that are significantly worse than that one song
Richard Thompson
4/5
folksy
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
3/5
medium burn 70s classic rock
Buena Vista Social Club
4/5
Classic Cuban latin jazz. Starts off very strong with Chan Chan but never reaches that high again. Album leans heavy on slower simmers than in-the-pocket grooves
Nick Drake
4/5
nicely layered folk music. like a slice of rich chocolate cake that magically doesn't put you in a food coma
Hugh Masekela
4/5
straight ahead jazz. nice and warm mixing style. some interesting instrumentation. big fan of the twang and thunk of the drum tones here. an instant recommendation if you already like this genre.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
well-calibrated rock. not too gritty, full of passion
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
some pleasant gems here but this double album overstays its welcome. Strong preference for the 1st disc here. some fun genre-bending fakeouts
Roxy Music
4/5
wild pastiche with bizarre instrumentation. fun stuff!
Mariah Carey
2/5
r&b pop. kind of reminds me of a kpop album that drags on too long.
Love
2/5
another footnote in the folksy psychedelic rock scene. surprised this is so well-received
Beyoncé
4/5
thicc layered rnb rap pop
M.I.A.
4/5
harsh and aggressive, but still easy to listen to. music for hyping yourself up before an important social event
Erykah Badu
3/5
chill hip hop, r&b vibes. like chilling in a jacuzzi in the Sahara.
Milton Nascimento
5/5
a lovely brazilian jazz fever dream. rich, mixed instrumentation and a surprise every track. a real box of chocolates.
Beth Orton
4/5
precursor to Olivia Rodrigo
Lynyrd Skynyrd
3/5
grungy acid wash genes + some surprisingly palatable pop rock vibes. Free Bird is the clear standout here.
Bob Dylan
3/5
smoky day drinking at the dive bar with lyrical pearls
Billy Joel
5/5
loved every song in this album. groovy beats let the lyrics stand out. there's a lovely, special energy here
Pearl Jam
4/5
extremely catchy rock. a more mature sounding AC/DC
David Bowie
4/5
David Bowie
5/5
jazzy and eclectic. RIP
Funkadelic
4/5
raunchy grungy jam band vibes. music for smoking copious amounts of marijuana in your garage with the lights turned down
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
3/5
old timey airy wistful montage music. No exceptional standouts for me here.
The Specials
4/5
goofy ska and ridiculous ironic lyrics, but once you get the hang of it it's a nice time. talking heads energy. 3.5/5
Elvis Presley
3/5
This is culturally significant, but I can't see myself putting any of these in rotation. background instrumentation sounds like a high school jam band
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
3/5
I've heard the title track many times in high school but never realized it until now. Twisty strange prog rock that's somehow easy to listen to, even with nonstandard instrumentation and genre-bending riffs. taking off the nostalgia glasses I can't justify giving this beyond 3/5, but I'll be revisiting this title track for sure
Ministry
2/5
typical trebly industrial of the 90s. just like KMFDM, except I can understand these lyrics a little better.
System Of A Down
4/5
edgy angry sardonic high school energy. reminds me of high school
Ray Charles
3/5
lots of classics that my parents + grandparents would play while cleaning the house. grows a bit stale and musty by the time the 2nd volume swings along. 3/5
Elbow
4/5
Radiohead lite vampire weekend vibes. Lyrics are simplistic but poetic. nice and dreamy.
Incubus
4/5
mildly angsty 90s rock with extra record scratches to garnish. a nice moody simmer compared to The Offspring's rambunctiousness.
Alanis Morissette
3/5
edgy lite rock that doesn't get too hot topic. gritty and interesting vocals give a raw, charged emotion. Every song could be the ending credits scene for a 90s teen drama.
Yes
2/5
old school happy go lucky folk rock. Your Move is kind of interesting, but a lot of it just plodded by for me.
Christine and the Queens
4/5
fun bilingual dreamy pop-esque album with all the best tracks weighted in the 1st half. Somehow reminds me of shopping at Old Navy.
3/5
interesting latin proto-acid jazz. lots of skippable songs here but there's some interesting ideas.
Aerosmith
3/5
A fun but forgettable mix of classic rock, country vibes, and a hint of "please hold" music. Vaguely reminds me of a '90s truck commercial.
Little Richard
3/5
pleasant old school raucous party music. Tutti Frutti is a classic, and there are various other songs here that are less good but still kinda neat.
Cypress Hill
3/5
A Tribe Called Quest with more aggro lyrics and production. lots of creativity here but it's a challenging listen overall
Television
3/5
Above average but easily forgotten creative rock-esque vibes. I swear one of the riffs on the eponymous track was inspired by Trout Mask Replica
Devendra Banhart
4/5
a box of chocolates in the form of warm acoustic indie tones
Talking Heads
3/5
quite a lot of songs about buildings and food... maybe a few too many. but a lot have stood the test of time
Van Morrison
3/5
rock-ish easy listening music. didn't know he was the guy who wrote Moondance! mostly passable old school background music. shame that he is apparently a terrible person- oh well
Cocteau Twins
4/5
dreampop vaporware. hopeful wistful coming of age aesthetics
Steely Dan
3/5
starts off strong then slowly loses steam. dentist's office jazz funk rock, but in a good way
10cc
3/5
starts off strong with The Wall Street Shuffle + The Worst Band in the World (s/o j. dilla), but the theatric absurdness gets old after a while. Like listening to a bunch of worse versions of Bohemian Rhapsody. Still interesting to have such narrative woven into rock instrumentation.
Count Basie & His Orchestra
4/5
the venerable Basie band is in full swing. coy piano solos show that less is more. some tunes from the middle school jazz big band canon. because of this, this album is nostalgic in more ways than one.
Wilco
4/5
a warm and wistful classic
The Flaming Lips
4/5
wistful sad nostalgic fantasy vibes. like if R.E.M. and Gorillaz collab'd
Morrissey
3/5
mopey art rock you might hear at Sports Basement. really hoping all those weird nationalism lyrics are ironic
Hawkwind
2/5
Long, sprawling psychedelic rock with some Joy Division vocals. Dated and uncreative overall
The Velvet Underground
3/5
a somewhat barren album with shades of art pop, folk punk, hippie rock, psychedelic screeching, and everything in between. not quite my cup of tea, but you have to respect how they packed so many foundational ideas into a single album
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
3/5
baroque prog rock jam band with a _lot_ of synth keyboard. Reminds me of my hipster friends in high school, but not even nostalgia can pique my interest here.
2Pac
5/5
dated and simplistic 90s, but this hit me in the feels. genuine emotions packaged within old school beats
Brian Eno
3/5
am unusual and confusing mix of sounds. reminds one of Bowie + Elvis Costello
Beastie Boys
5/5
Run DMC hires the singer from RATM
Led Zeppelin
4/5
heavy, blusey, psychedelic, with a pinch of kitsch. a darker, more interesting Cream.
Tom Waits
4/5
Like wandering through back alleys of New Orleans and running into an underground Disney World musical troupe
Fatboy Slim
3/5
iconic 90s hypnotic sampled beats. fatiguing to listen to a whole album of this energy, but it certainly deserves to be on this list.
Little Simz
5/5
catchy, layered, and pretty brilliant
Kraftwerk
1/5
Not Kraftwerk's best. Barebones, repetitive, and uninspiring. A very long ride for an album about fast trains...
The Smiths
3/5
halfway through this album, these brooding pastel new wave rocks got whiney and a bit annoying. Not my favorite Smiths record. 2.75/5
The Who
4/5
even if you don't like this album, hearing the CSI scream at the end is worth it
Tangerine Dream
4/5
amazing that they came up with Uncut Gems soundtrack like 45 years before the movie! a strange ethereal echo-y soundscape held back by a somewhat weak 2nd track. 4.5/5
Gotan Project
2/5
long and kinda boring Brazilian electrobeats. the soundtrack to a boutique store that never sells anything
Mike Oldfield
3/5
experimental ambient collides with an absurdist radio station. everything seems lightly out of tune...
New York Dolls
3/5
honky tonk ACDC?
The Blue Nile
5/5
theatrical, brooding synth with sophisticated instrumentation and the ghost of Japanese citypop. Montages of a morose rainy walk around NYC. Excellent album for those pained with wistful nostalgia
Ryan Adams
4/5
starts poppy and slowly gets folksier and folksier. country 90s bar with some genuinely heartfelt lyrics.
Prince
3/5
a variety of sounds here, from horndog rock ballads to dance-y funky r&b. synths can be sparse and a bit harsh. a fun box of chocolates of an album, but at no point did I think "wow, this is exceptional".
Talking Heads
4/5
vaguely absurdist soft touch rock with lots of... spiciness? funkiness? a good fever dream
Violent Femmes
5/5
the 80s version of the theater clique got really high and horny and put out some weirdly catchy music. youthful, lusty, old school grungy folk punk. 5/5
Frank Black
1/5
slightly dissonant kinda gritty ramblings. Dragged on and on. This is loading screen music for a C-tier skateboarding game.
The Pretty Things
3/5
folksy psychedelic rock jam sessions
Metallica
4/5
hollowed-out mixing, directionless angry vocals, and some questionable guitar technique do not detract from how strangely catchy this album is. just headbang all your troubles away, man
Sufjan Stevens
4/5
a variety of sonic textures- like a road trip through a certain state... but which state? which state could he be thinking of?
Black Flag
5/5
crystallized angry angst punk. there is an inner rage within all of us that can headbang to this. can't tell if these lyrics are dumb or brilliant
Prefab Sprout
4/5
lighthearted dreamy synthpop Elvis Costello
Various Artists
3/5
sentimental nostalgia xmas tunes produced by a convicted murderer. pretty nice, but I was checking my watch by the latter half of this album.
John Cale
4/5
nostalgic yet hopeful 70s road trip montage music through Europe. Try not to fall over during the first 7 seconds of the opener!
Queen Latifah
3/5
progressive 90s hiphop, lots of Queen Latifah talking about herself. beats range from frustratingly 90s to kinda catchy. overall it feels kind of dated
Dr. Octagon
2/5
pretty disappointing overall. clinical backbeats and off-tempo medical themed lyrics simulate a creative and entertaining album. would prefer something like Deltron 3030 or MM..Food
Rush
4/5
creative epic prog-ish rock with some spacey vibes. would listen again
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
4/5
catchy Rapper's Delight vibes, but a bit less hokey. the source of a few monumental samples/easter eggs
Elvis Costello
3/5
Another perfectly palatable and easily forgotten Elvis Costello album. Perhaps the curator of this list knows something I don't?
Faust
2/5
clumsy, droning and ultimately disappointing. some neat ideas, but nothing worth spending 45 minutes on
Air
4/5
like the indie 90s version of vaporwave. smooooth
Bad Company
4/5
straightahead catchy 70s rock. the sound of drinking a Miller Lite in a dive bar with a lot of woodsy accents. Surprised this is a British group since it all feels o Americacore to me 3.5/5
Taylor Swift
3/5
turns out everyone can relate to being a teenager
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3/5
filler British rock pop period music. some potential candidates for your hipster cred indie pop playlist
Franz Ferdinand
3/5
'00s grunge-y pop singalongs for the theater kids. surprisingly easy listening
David Bowie
4/5
Life on Mars + a full supporting cast of songs. Bowie continues to be ~ a vibe ~
Depeche Mode
4/5
80s synthy electronic. playfully catchy with a darker center
1/5
talking heads with an ironic adult daycare aesthetic. the sonic equivalent of drinking a cup of warm gravy: an absurd concept that's unpleasant to get through.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
lite rock with a singer that could probably do a good Elvis impersonation. in one ear and out the other.
The Clash
2/5
classic punk protest music that's kinda catchy but a slog to get through. like if Black Flag went happy go lucky semi-ska 2.8/5
Saint Etienne
3/5
above average thin jungle-y 90s club hits with some French Cocateau Twins-esque singing + maybe a little too many radio samples. 2nd half feels a bit stronger than the 1st
Supergrass
3/5
totally fine background music. Not the most memorable, but a lot of range demonstrated here!
Coldplay
3/5
some classic hits that have become cliché + a lot of vaguely tinny beige filler
Solange
4/5
groovy goopy r&b pop and heartfelt emotions around race relations
R.E.M.
4/5
legendary Sports Basemenet background music
Tortoise
4/5
like dropping acid while at an aquarium. it's strange, challenging, and your mind wanders, but you find yourself occasionally fascinated by the textures and colors
Beatles
3/5
pretty uninspired '60s blusey rock with vocals you'll definitely recognize. cool to compare this record to their later stuff but this is far from a standout album, especially compared to the numerous similarly-shaped ones on this list
Thin Lizzy
4/5
jam band AC/DC background rock. live recording adds extra pizazz
Echo And The Bunnymen
1/5
this album is probably the REM of post-punk, but I've had enough of these wiggly vocals and soporific indie instrumentation.
Miles Davis
5/5
the sound of jazz instruments slowly tumbling down stairs
Rage Against The Machine
5/5
what if AC/DC got angry and political, then collab'd with the Beastie Boys?
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
classic noisy shoegaze-y with tinny alien vocals. slightly overstays its welcome but a strangely cathartic wall of sound
The Smiths
3/5
airy british pop rock. Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before may be the only thing I remember off this.
Missy Elliott
1/5
boring monotonous weed themed background noise. the sound of waiting in California traffic in the sweltering heat for like 3 hours
John Grant
4/5
noticeable and unusual lyrics + a dreamy Bowie aesthetic make for a catchy, ironic, and fairly personal album
Marianne Faithfull
3/5
weirdly catchy low key post punk electro vibes. some startlingly crass lyrics to spice things up
Peter Frampton
4/5
Easygoing road trip rock. An easy 4/5 from "Baby, I Love Your Way" alone. gotta love the energy from the crowd too
T. Rex
3/5
finely tuned yet sparse pop grunge rock. a fine record that's become generic over time
Elliott Smith
3/5
music to nod your head to as you sweep through the clothing racks of your favorite thrift store
Marty Robbins
4/5
timeless and legendary western nostalgia ballads. truly infectious storytelling in these lyrics! 4.5/5
Johnny Cash
4/5
it's like you're actually there. electrifying and louche
Laura Nyro
2/5
off-brand oldies. vocals have this almost comical, meme-like quality that I'm sure isn't intentional
Shuggie Otis
2/5
Somewhat palatable psychedelic jam band vibes. annoying mumble-y first half. frustratingly close to being good
Boston
4/5
easy listening acoustical glam rock 3.75/5
Gary Numan
2/5
culturally and aesthetically significant but this is a little grating to listen to. Nice to finally hear the album behind "Cars" though.
3/5
pretty standard indie-ish 90s rock. anyway, here's
The Specials
4/5
surprisingly good genre bending new wave-ish. Like if Talking Heads were a ska band that also enjoyed doing spots for kids television
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
2/5
the mumbles of a vagabond hippie street musician. Protip: the original issue of this ended after Grey/Afro
Metallica
5/5
the Metallica you know and love with extra oomph from an entire symphony and crowd
Travis
4/5
poppy radiohead-ish emo feels
Burning Spear
3/5
hipster Bob Marley laments the destruction and suffering of his home and people
Foo Fighters
4/5
hilariously dumb yet catchy lyrics and whiney Pac Sun 90s vocals and vibes
Suzanne Vega
4/5
surprisingly modern-sounding indie folk pop pop with some synth. simplistic but I don't mind
Sam Cooke
4/5
catchy feel good oldies. gospel-y Chuck Berry. Cooke really knows how to work a crowd
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
3/5
the kind of music I feel bad for not enjoying. but a pleasant departure from the normal fare on this list
Dinosaur Jr.
1/5
tinny gritty thrashy droning repetitious. the worst songs of a Tony Hawk Pro Skater soundtrack
Lauryn Hill
5/5
bright, nostalgic, mournful, loving, religious, and pretty beautiful rap soul gospel vibes. a breakup album for the ages
4.75
Machito
4/5
racous crowded Mafia-style afro-cuban big band jazz. musty old-school recording feel. Somehow reminds me of the Copacabana scene from Goodfellas
Nas
5/5
legendary and foundational album
The Temptations
3/5
easygoing funk that floats on by. a pleasant but forgettable pit stop
Arcade Fire
4/5
solid catchy indie rock that has cast a long shadow over the rest of the genre. feels a little designed-for-radioplay but that is fine by me!
Peter Tosh
3/5
a timeless vibe of lounging on the beach with the devil's lettuce. Feels more like a historical artifact than something people today would listen to
Manu Chao
3/5
diverse and eclectic, but I can't shake the feeling that this could have been a bunch of children's daycare songs if the lyrics were changed
Herbie Hancock
4/5
a stacked 1st half with songs apprentice jazz musicians will learn to solo to
Iron Maiden
4/5
it took me half the album to get used to the glammy bluesy kinda sloppy guitar riffs and garage band aesthetic, but shit still headbangs
Black Sabbath
4/5
a legendary album that's a teensy bit played out at this point, but an incredibly accessible foray into metal-like sounds.
Taylor Swift
2/5
impressively generic top 40 breakup teenage pop. the sort of music the mafia would play while they "take care" of you
Motörhead
4/5
maximalist glam metal energy drink headbanging with an extra hype crowd
Soul II Soul
2/5
more like "90s dance tutorial background music" classics
The Jam
4/5
catchy R.E.M. vibes and gruffer vocals. an unusually modern sound. one of the few albums on this list that could actually be longer
Todd Rundgren
5/5
rose-tinted nostalgia beats. like montage music for a period movie. pleasant skits and a variety of styles keep this fresh. borderline 5 but this album left a great afterglow
Richard Hawley
4/5
easy listening country with cinematic lyrics, starring a Frank Sinatra impersonator with a mild smoking habit. 3.5/5
Adele
4/5
there's a reason why so many of these songs still get radio play
Waylon Jennings
3/5
a bunch of easy listening songs that are like Johnny Cash, but worse on average
Stan Getz
3/5
almost too chill bossa nova lounge music. some muddled bass interrupts an overall good flow
Harry Nilsson
3/5
like spending the evening your weird stoner uncle's houseboat
Justice
5/5
funky operatic French house. The appropriate amount of crunch and positivity. still fresh after all these years!
Radiohead
4/5
clean mushy moody vaguely somber. classic Radiohead
The Hives
3/5
straightahead raucous garage rock. like the soundtrack to Burnout Paradise
Robert Wyatt
4/5
an insane and mournful fever dream. like a David Bowie-Radiohead AI-generated salad
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
2/5
a weird theatrical 80s new-wave experience with noticeably wonky mixing, a few legendary songs, and a lot of filler. felt like this was recorded in a karaoke parlor. 2.5/5
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
5/5
iconic odd-meter cool jazz. gateway Eames chair lounge lounge music. a timeless album (pun intended)
Tracy Chapman
4/5
Catchy Lifetime Original bittersweet ending music. Stacked first half, but loses some steam in the 2nd.
Terence Trent D'Arby
3/5
80s rnb pop movie montage music. hasn't aged super gracefully but it's an interesting time capsule
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
old school chillout vibes with a simmering political undertone. 3.5/5
Elvis Presley
3/5
old school cool
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
Costello's usual weird singing voice + Mamma Mia hokey happy-go-lucky energy + goofy puns about the military = ...an album I actually enjoy? I am surprised as you are
Beck
3/5
slower simmer rock with light electronic sprinkles. Beck's muttering and the wistful vibes all blend together and are kinda hard to remember
The Young Rascals
4/5
the sound of listening to childhood oldies in a car during the mid-afternoon. happy-go-lucky positive nostalgia
Steely Dan
3/5
junk drawer goofy rock Frank Zappa
3/5
R.E.M. cover band provides the backing for yet another indie singer vibe about NYC
The Everly Brothers
3/5
super old school American Graffiti diner nostalgia. Kind of a one-trick pony album, but there's still some catchy stuff here
Talking Heads
4/5
I don't think I'll ever figure out this album
Alice Cooper
2/5
Theatrical and a bit hokey to me. Even the title track felt off once I took off my rose-tinted glasses.
OutKast
2/5
some legendary songs but a lot of filler early 00s noise. bit of a slog to get through but I admire the effort. wasn't expecting a jazzy DnB interlude. 2.5/5
Led Zeppelin
4/5
darkish bluesy psychedelic rock with some legendary tracks. somehow felt like the artists were messing with me during this one
Raekwon
3/5
fever dream 90s hiphop. like a road trip that's slightly too long
Bon Jovi
4/5
legendary glam metal montage music that slightly overstays its welcome, but it's ok since Livin' on a Prayer + You Give Love a Bad Name were also here
Def Leppard
3/5
corporate 80s glam rock strikes again! not quite as dark as Bon Jovi, or as immediately as catchy as AC/DC. not sure if I'd call it "good", but it sure is a spectacle!
Leonard Cohen
3/5
a mournful, lyrical, and dreary album with some nice gems and some weirdly upbeat tracks that feel completely out of place 3.5/5
Sonic Youth
4/5
strange misty agitated punk with fever dream lyrics. pretty killer vibe tbh
Sister Sledge
3/5
landmark recognizable disco-funk chock-full of samples. Definitely a vibe, but maybe not for a whole album. 3.5/5
The Stranglers
3/5
Zany Captain Beefheart style shenanigans with an Elvis Costello impersonator
Led Zeppelin
4/5
some legendary tracks + Led Zeppelin's signature sound
The Stooges
1/5
gritty yet muted boring droning rock-punk. like drinking a lukewarm flat red bull.
Kanye West
4/5
solid old Kanye. braggadocio, racial laments, weirdly catchy 00's beats
DJ Shadow
4/5
expertly sampled beats. dark, ponderous and sentimental
2/5
TapouT brand rap rock edgelord
Gillian Welch
2/5
indie country singer open mic night, ft. repeated lyrics
The Chemical Brothers
4/5
groovy but industrial dark warehouse party jams. Berghain-esque with a bit of Jet Set Radio
Beach House
4/5
smeary dreamy sad indie wistfulness for walking around on an overcast day. vocals took me some time to get used to.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Tom Waits + Elvis Costello vibes, eclectic bluesy indie goodness, and a lovely operatic aesthetic all swirled together
Dolly Parton
3/5
Wistful happy old school twangs with a legendary voice. Good for the background
Jurassic 5
1/5
the worst parts of A Tribe Called Quest, magnified, for an hour. noticeably annoying generic backbeats and weak lyricism, just feels low effort overall
CHIC
4/5
disco-y pop goodness ft. a truly legendary opener. hilariously sample-able album
Deep Purple
3/5
Smoke on the Water is not enough is not enough to prop up the bland prog-rock jam band vibes. Weakest Deep Purple record on here so far
Eagles
3/5
that one song + some watered down classic rock
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
droning dissonant shoegaze static that I can't figure out if I actually enjoy. definitely prefer the fuller sound of Loveless over this 3.5/5
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
2/5
some good but mostly meh weird 80s brit new wave electronic hold music
The Smiths
5/5
dreamy 80s rock pop with delightfully macabre, literary lyrics. poignant and upbeat, angry but fatalistic.
The Style Council
4/5
zany and eclectic 80s jazzercize pop. enough goofy kitschy cringe to be endearing
Pink Floyd
3/5
the sound of psychedelic rock going through puberty. plenty of tongue-in-cheek ideas, long cacophonous interludes, and mainstream rock foundations, but it all feels kinda jumbled and primordial.
Willie Nelson
4/5
simple sleepy mournful charming country. good mix of pure acoustic + some ez listening instrumentation
3.5/5
JAY Z
5/5
classic jay-z rhymes with funky, hype and svelte backing. gotta love the digs at Nas, though maybe the digs at women haven't aged as well
Queen
4/5
classic operatic medieval prog-rock goodness
Miriam Makeba
3/5
traditional and happy-go-lucky old school choruses. the sound of sitting in a cafe in South Africa on a cozy and listening to unusually proficient live music.
The Avalanches
4/5
instrumental hip-hop, acid jazz, and funk combine in a lovely box o' chocolates of an album.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
legendary soulful lovemaking music. good for movie montages, background vibes, and wiggling your eyebrows at a crush
Cocteau Twins
4/5
airy fever dream drones and nonsencial lyrics. kinda reminds me of Candy Claws. feels 1 track too long, but it's a vibe
Big Brother & The Holding Company
5/5
harsh twangy gritty blues. soulful screeching and smoky backroom parlor vibes. note: the last 4 tracks are bonuses, hence the drop in quality
Baaba Maal
2/5
Some pretty cool world music that gets extremely grating and repetitive after a while. Really not my cup of tea but still glad it's on this list. Gotta love that out-of-tune wooden percussion...
Slayer
4/5
boilerplate 80s thrash with a legendary guitar hero III single. dark, shrill, twangy, and not too bad. optimistic 4/5
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
pretty timeless-sounded folksy easy listening pop. nostalgic and forward-looking ending credits music
Yes
2/5
1 legendary song and a lot of somewhat goofy and dated synthy-sounding guitar picking
The Jam
3/5
Talking Heads-inspired brit new wave. some good uptempo stuff here but nothing too special. 3.5/5
Miles Davis
5/5
the massive history and impact of this album aside, these are ~ chill jazzy beats to study too ~
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
easy listening cruising vibes, with one legendary song. like Random Access Memories, early Beatles, and a marketing team did a big collab. with a stronger 2nd half, this didn't really need to be a double album.
John Martyn
3/5
bluesy ramblings with some artsy psychedelic rock energy. best enjoyed over 2 sittings. album cover is a good approximation of what this sounds like. 3.5/5
The Cure
3/5
uptempo joy division instrumentals with weird vocals in the back of your head. moody in a way that almost feels ironic
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Elvis Costello gets a bit more raw and a bit less memorable. lots of Costello-voice and emotional twang. 2.8/5
Kate Bush
3/5
theatrical but not quite pleasant of a listen. kind of like watching a burlesque show from inside a telephone booth
The Beach Boys
4/5
poppy nostalgic california beach vibes. some wistful, nostalgic road trip energy
The Beau Brummels
3/5
that old school cinematic epic easy listening orchestra with some vocalist with a lowkey annoying vibrato spinning tales. glad to have listened to this. 3.5/5
Neneh Cherry
3/5
slightly wholesome and extremely dated early 90s female rap. didn't need to have so many tracks, but it's kind of fun listening to SFW rapping to relationship drama over 80s educational tv beats
Black Sabbath
3/5
dark sludge rock with the weightiness of a legendary classic album. like Led Zeppelin, but with less LoTR and probably a similar amount of drugs. 3.5/5
The Cars
3/5
80s radio play pop with a new wave bent. it's aiite
Charles Mingus
4/5
if you got the evil ending in Cuphead and thought "man I wish there was a whole album with that energy", boy do I have the album for you
Hole
3/5
90s angsty alt pop rock with girlpower attitude, playing at a Hot Topic store near you
Ray Charles
4/5
silky smooth wistful easy listening orchestral jazz for waxing nostalgic. surprised that Georgia wasn't on this record. 4.3/5
Queen
3/5
that classic operatic, eclectic Queen sound. some legendary moments, but largely fodder for high school theater types to play at their parties
The Magnetic Fields
3/5
a meandering road trip with a surprisingly versatile indie rock band ruminating on all things love. many more hits than misses but it's hard not to treat listening to this as a feat of endurance 3.75/5
MC Solaar
2/5
cheap 90s neo-clubby backing with French raps. ranges from mild to severely boring- I died listening to Raga Jam
GZA
4/5
Scrappy, raw, beats combine with the classic Wu-Tang flow of catchy hard-hitting truths and irreverence. designed for loud blasting, but I can't help but wonder why some of these beats have some extra layer of dissonance to 'em.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
5/5
Killer indie country pop punk goodness. Pulls off both a lovely head-bopping energy and downtempo ballads. Don't sleep on the acoustic covers! 4.8/5
The Killers
4/5
catchy dance-pop-indie-rock with a healthy dose of breakup nostalgia and the timeless Mr. Brightside
Sepultura
4/5
quality headbanger metal, but with a darker, more simmery energy compared to the hype-thrash of other classic records. would do my taxes to this album.
Tricky
1/5
it's amazing how many versions of vapid lazy 90s beats and pointless droning vocals this album contains. the oddly crass lyrics are hilariously bad. the music of waiting for your mom to finish shopping in an overpriced boutique store
Rocket From The Crypt
3/5
straightahead rock with various punk, ska, surf vibes. good background road trip music for when the Offpring feelstoo high energy
New Order
5/5
take the Kraftwerk foundation and add enough poppiness to make every track a banger. this scratches multiple itches in my brain: like emotional Stranger Things montage music + bittersweet Cyberpunk denoument music. floored I enjoyed the album this much. 5/5
The War On Drugs
3/5
atmospheric indie death cab for cutie rock with some 80s pop radio aesthetic
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
goofy and nostalgic sfw jams that feel very ironic almost 40 years later. like they're going to rap about how I shouldn't download a car. the rhymes, beats, and overall vibe are a bit simplistic to hold one's attention for a full album, but there's some bops here. 3.5/5
Pulp
3/5
way too long boring britpop with some good tunes. lots of themes of angst and sexual frustration melded in some fairly vapid tunes. 2.75/5
Pixies
4/5
a fever dream punk pop sweet and sour fermented surf sandwich on a sliced eyeball
Dead Kennedys
5/5
legendary head-bopping garage band punk with off-color, resonant, and relatable lyrics like hippie secret police, killing kids and homeless, and war profiteering. Not sure why they would recommend stealing mail though. That is a federal offense
Cheap Trick
2/5
extremely forgettable k-mart rock with a lot of cheering girls
Antony and the Johnsons
2/5
morose and whiny themes of identity and sexuality within a truly off-putting combination of Tracy Chapman and Tiny Tim. Glad I listened to this but it didn't resonate for me.
Steely Dan
3/5
creative and cerebral wizard-y dad rock jazziness. very strong musicianship. this is somehow too complex yet too much like waiting room music for me
Paul Weller
3/5
Wild Wood? More like Mild Wood amirite
middle-of-the-road gospel pop acoustic sound with a bit of funk. pretty ok filler for your easy listening rock playlist
The Mamas & The Papas
3/5
a pleasant grab bag of feel-good oldies. 2 legendary songs and a lot of filler. 3.5/5
Ash
4/5
uncomplicated fun pop-punk anthems for upbeat road trips or trendy thrift stores. Album is a bit too long and I can't fault people for getting tired of it. 3.75/5
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
dated, sparse, yet weirdly catchy rap with relatable but oddly SFW Sesame Street-esque rhymes
Cat Stevens
4/5
cinematic folksy protest-y music for a moody evening
Rod Stewart
1/5
a fairly dull mix of easy listening pop country retirement home beats with extra raspy singing
Arrested Development
2/5
a run of 90s frenetic edutainment beats, some clever anti-gang but pro-protest positivity raps that drones on for way too long. like a worse version of Tribe
3/5
classic Bowie doing his thing. operatic, theatrical, and not my favorite work of his. 3.5/5
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
magical, mildly epic R&B beats with soulful singing and creative instrumentation
Happy Mondays
3/5
an interesting but not super compelling mix of british hippie vibes and clubby acid jazz
The Damned
3/5
old school bluesy punk that your local edgy brewery would play at a slightly too loud volume
Kate Bush
4/5
echoey, theatrical, dreamlike, and creative progressive pop goodness. Glad that Running up that Hill is now a legendary song. 4.3/5
3/5
extremely british Beatles-y protest-y britpop that's a bit too pompous and long for me despite the eclectic lyrics and songs. 2.75/5
Arcade Fire
4/5
medium dark timbered indie pop goodness with an echo-y cathedral aesthetic
Sparks
4/5
operatic, abstract and dense Bowie/Queen/falsetto-y glam rock. definitely deserves to be on this list. 3.75/5
Tears For Fears
4/5
a legendary 80s album with some truly iconic hits. deep, echo-y, and delicious, with a few songs that slightly overstay their welcome. the sound of mostly upbeat pastel nostalgia
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
4/5
a chill bluesy jam band at that bbq joint you like
Carpenters
4/5
soft easy listening oldie Fleetwood Mac vibes. The sound of a 1970s movie montage of driving around San Francisco
4/5
a prog rock wizardry spectacle that's a bit off the deep end, yet oddly endearing. definitely some parallels to Emerson, Lake, and Palmer here. probably best to listen to the non-deluxe edition for a tighter experience. 3.5/5
Motörhead
3/5
noisy metal-shaped sludge with extra guttural vocals. More filler for your generic old school metal playlist. 2.5/5
Hole
4/5
catchy angsty teen grunge
TLC
2/5
foundational 90s r&b. kinda cheesy, pretty horny. wasn't super engaging to someone who has no nostalgia towards this album. 2.5/5
Massive Attack
1/5
droning elevator music with a large helping of bored muttering vocals. the listless sound of waiting for your mom to finish shopping at some industrial-chic boutique store
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
1/5
drunk blues musicians screwing around with genres in a dive bar bathroom, recorded on an 80s camcorder. 1.5/5
Tori Amos
3/5
melodramatic Kate Bush style theatrical singing, but a bit more hokey. Not bad, but kinda feels like hold music. 3.25/5
Genesis
3/5
a strange and theatrical prog/glam record with a few noticeably good tunes. 3.5/5
Metallica
3/5
some hilariously washed out mixing and a barren/austere first half, but it grows on you over time. not totally convinced of those lyrics tho
Big Black
5/5
maximalist droning zany 80s punk rock that had me headbanging while drowning in rebellious angst. like a more synth-y Black Flag. 4.5/5
Tom Waits
4/5
Waits' classic dank New Orleans gumbo voice and mournful lyrics with some easy listening ballad backdrops. sentimental and theatrical. the faster trackers here kinda remind me of the old PC game 'The Neverhood'. 3.75/5
Manic Street Preachers
5/5
alt-pop-rock-something with an epic nostalgic cinematic feel. most songs could be an anime OP/ED. 4.5/5
50 Cent
4/5
memeworthy, crass, and a worthy album for summing up the flavor of hiphop of this era. braggadocio and chauvinism abound alongside some dated mixing but idk these are still fun club bangers
Deerhunter
3/5
generic slow/medium burn indie grunge-ish lounge music. some Candy Claws-esque synth ideas but I wish there was more
Hot Chip
3/5
a kind of bloated and slightly less catchy version of LCD Soundsystem, but some good beats overall 3.5/5
Billy Bragg
3/5
folksy and wistful, with a nice epic quality
Neu!
2/5
lightly repetitive background music with a small amount of dicking around- like if someone wanted to turn Tago Mago into into royalty-free music. like drinking a krautrock-flavored lacroix
Blur
3/5
medium-low energy generic brit rock with one well-known song. most songs feel low effort and all... blur together. 2.5/5
D'Angelo
2/5
truly amazing how one-note, bland, uninspired, and almost comedic 90s R&B can be. the vocals, backing track, and overall vibe are fine by themselves but get so boring when combined. laughed out loud at the moans in Jonz In My Bonz. The sound of lounging in your living room on a sweltering summer day
Frank Zappa
3/5
world class jazz fusion musicianship with some rambling jam band energy and spicy instrumentation. kinda feels like Zappa is making fun of us, but I'm not quite in on the joke. but it's ok, Peaches is a killer song 3.5/5
Marvin Gaye
5/5
incredibly soulful and catchy music with protest lyrics that feel incredibly heartfelt and real. the combo of funky easy listening with hard-hitting lyrics of love and war is an excellent vibe. 4.5/5
4.5/5
Chicago
2/5
a grab bag of rock genres with a nice horn section. unfortunately it degenerates into jam band tomfoolery and atonal noise. music that's more fun to make than to listen to
Mercury Rev
2/5
killer first track, but went downhill in some foggy pop synth melancholy
Michael Jackson
3/5
extremely 80s with some legendary songs. cool to see who The Weeknd modeled after. Kind of a lot of MJ for a single sitting. 3.5/5
Badly Drawn Boy
4/5
a chocolate box of indie aesthetics that's about 20 minutes too long. noticeably good first half
Pavement
4/5
radiohead + cake, with a pinch of shoegaze grunge angst and a slight waft of psychedelia. I could probably listen to this on repeat.
Traffic
4/5
like listening to an easy listening oldies radio station. pretty cool how many genres this album represents, and there's some catchy stuff here! 3.75/5
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
3/5
a short and sweet feature of old school American Graffiti pop. basic ideas of love and dance with some catchy vocals and rhythm guitar. feels kind of empty without chatty diner background noise. 3.5/5
Jazmine Sullivan
3/5
a totally fine wistful heartfelt ponderous r&b take on female sexuality. but will it stand the test of time??
Peter Gabriel
3/5
smooth moody echoey 80s with a twinge of that arena rock social justice philantropist kinda vibe. but maybe that's just from me reading his bio. 3.5/5
Slade
4/5
this one one me over. I hated the first few tracks for being exactly the same, but grew to enjoy the rougher AC/DC glam/hair rock honky tonk blues here. guessing the non-expanded edition is a tighter experience overall. 4/5
White Denim
4/5
from dad rock to chill indie to jam band to folksy bluesy. a real box of chocolates of an album
Small Faces
3/5
goofy brit psychedelic rock energy, featuring a happy-go-lucky vibe and some nonsense lyrics. modestly pleasant, even with antiquated mixing and an overall musty smell
Meat Loaf
4/5
goofy, cheese, and extremely catchy dad rock for theater kids. would listen again! 4.5/5
Pavement
2/5
the singer from Cake sings some tongue-in-cheek irreverence, ft. jumbled, fuzzy, atonal, and out of tune indie rock. It's just a bit too grating for me. 2/5
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
2/5
faux ethnic background beats, ranging from groovy Sim City 3000 to passable new wave to self-indulgent filler. extra demerits for distracting vocals, heinously cringy spoken word, and jank MIDI blather on the back half of this album. 2/5
PJ Harvey
4/5
angsty grunge Sonic Youth beats with mournful wails
Aphex Twin
4/5
a somewhat austere ambient edm-style album for your inner hipster. music for doing chores and calculus homework. 3.75/5
Nanci Griffith
4/5
basic and canonical country conservative twang that is surprisingly endearing in its simplicity. not sure why it's on this list though. 3.75/5
Eels
3/5
mostly nice mediumlow energy alternative simmer with some cringe lyrics
The Clash
4/5
genre bending carefree brit punk rock ska. reminds me of movie montages of youths playing hooky 3.75/5
2/5
some 90s pop rock that really.... blurred on by. ha ha ha. there isn't much I wanted to explore here. when the ending zinger came on I was viscerally worried that I'd have to listen to another tune. 2/5, with extra demerits for its length
Booker T. & The MG's
2/5
1 legendary song a and a bunch of barebones Hammond organ covers. the sound of a tongue-in-cheek David Lynch scene where you're amused, confused, and bored simultaneously.
King Crimson
4/5
erratic, psychedelic, and almost blues-y at times ft. some very nonstandard timesignatures and instrumentation. Imagine Pink Floyd's Money, but make it weird and lightly prog/math/dad rock-y
Public Image Ltd.
1/5
as much as I'd like to enjoy listening to your college campus's hobo edgelord wail about religion, accompanied with barren waiting-room rock backing tracks, I just don't
The Go-Go's
4/5
lighthearted punk-pop with one legendary song (We Got The Beat). Kind of one-note, but with an album of this length it's NBD. extra brownie points for women's empowerment 3.75/5
Cornershop
2/5
an experimental mixtape fusion of patchouli oil, medium-low energy rock, bleeps and bloops and garam masala. 2.5/5
Mott The Hoople
3/5
fun middle of the road glam-ish rock for your road trip montage. 3.25/5
The Sonics
2/5
raucous soccer hooligans do honky-tonk rock and growl-yell a lot. extra demerits awarded for tinny production quality and a depressing ripoff of the Contours' "Do You Love Me"
Fairport Convention
4/5
cozy friendly warming folk rock, but without any hipster aesthetic
Astor Piazzolla
4/5
a pastel cinematic dreamscape. the sound of contemplating a love triangle in a swanky cafe at sunset
Rod Stewart
2/5
raspy man makes forgettable, vaguely soulless country-rock. washed out mixing gives the whole thing an "AI generated" vibe. 2.5/5
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
some legendary songs + misc other folksy protest lyrics and a diss track that still holds up. loses some steam on the 2nd half. 3.75/5
Duke Ellington
5/5
(mostly) live and swanky old school jazz for cool cats that will put a smile on your face. 4.5/5
Sex Pistols
3/5
loud, rowdy, one-dimensional, yet foundational punk rock
Rahul Dev Burman
3/5
spacey desi lounge jazz that's totally crippled by jank recording quality. sounds like they recorded the vocals in a coffee can
Kanye West
4/5
industrial Death Grips style angry rapping about racism and sexual conquests. lots of bonkers oneliners for accidental comic relief. most songs have at least 1 weird mixing / instrumentation choice at parts.
Butthole Surfers
2/5
another one of those irreverent "noise for the sake of noise" albums, but it comes off as self-aggrandizing and a bit pointless. thought this 30min album was an hour.
Pentangle
4/5
the sound of bardic winter tales at a cozy quiet medieval tavern, ft. a solid amount of semi-psychedelic sitar
Michael Jackson
4/5
the sound can feel dated at times, but it is almost hilarious that 3 of MJ's most legendary songs are in a row
Nick Drake
5/5
a soft and wispy acoustic gem of an album that oozes beauty, nostalgia, and a profound sadness. terrific stuff
Björk
3/5
a very bizarre breakup fever dream that overstays its welcome but has some interesting ideas. overall feels a little muddled. 2.5/5
Gene Clark
3/5
a vaguely psychedelic rock journey that's fine and cool and a bit forgettable
Ryan Adams
4/5
a delightful indie country box of chocolates. sometimes reminds me of Iron & Wine. 3.5
Green Day
4/5
incredibly nostalgic simplistic pop punk. the sound of my childhood playing Tony Hawk games on the DS, except I was too young to truly notice all the punk themes. 3.75/5
David Holmes
3/5
some acid jazz electronic lounge vibes with slightly too much radio interference. like a mild Jet Set Radio soundtrack with some downtempo breakbeat energy. good background music, as long as you can tolerate the occasional high pitched radio hiss. 3.5/5
Sepultura
2/5
mostly dull metal with noticeably poor vocals, but with occasional sparks of brilliance with indigenous chants and mixed percussion
Femi Kuti
4/5
an interesting mix of jazzy funky afrobeat ska videogame / elevator music. If you upped the tempo on this a bit, it would be excellent BGM for a Cowboy Bebop-esque chase scene. 3.5/5
Lana Del Rey
3/5
Taylor Swift country but fused with the vibe of a depressed alien streetwalker. have to admire her consistency on this album. 3.5/5
The Last Shadow Puppets
4/5
classic indie pop energy with a little too much reverb/echo, balanced out with a nice orchestral epic feel and an almost too-consistent nostalgic lost love energy. 3.75/5
Dr. John
4/5
eclectic, raucous, musty, sometimes grimy, occasionally spooky, kinda psychedelic. glad it doesn't overstay its welcome!
4.5/5
Pantera
2/5
thin tinny yet catchy metal shredding with some somewhat cringe vocals. wish we had more of syncopated metal beats and less of those vocals.
2.5/5
a bunch of basic dated early Rod Stewart rock. not great not terrible but certainly forgettable
Einstürzende Neubauten
1/5
hilariously grating rhythmic industrial noise with some random german wailing. I mean I like Stomp as much as the next guy but c'mon. almost laughed out loud multiple times with the random screeches and banging on various metal objects
Maxwell
3/5
pretty barebones hotel lobby babymaking music. all these songs sound the same, and this album could easily be halved in length. though not the worst background music 2.5/5
The White Stripes
4/5
iconic blusey indie grunge with a few legendary songs. Nostalgic scenes from my hipster high school friends. Maybe a bit... same-y at times
Steely Dan
4/5
the 4th Steely Dan album I've listened to from this list and the first where things are starting to click. high quality Zappa-style jam band soft rock elevator music. groovy
Ray Price
3/5
finely crafted old person country music. The sound of loitering at the reception of your Hawaiian grandmother's funeral
Faith No More
3/5
sits somewhere in between old school metal, Limp Bizkit, and dad rock. Overall I can't quite tell how ironic all this is supposed to be, especially how goofy the vocals can be at points. not great, not terrible, but I can see why this album is on the list. 3.25/5
Elis Regina
4/5
Japanese citypop, but make it Brazilian bossa nova. funky electric fun 4.5/5
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
another frustratingly mediocre mopey alt britpop rock ft. a Morrissey impersonator and some vaguely post-punk instrumentation. Didn't bother with any of the bonus tracks. neither great nor terrible background music as you browse a sporting good store. 1.5/5
Def Leppard
3/5
extremely 80s glam rock with synthy cheesy goodness. kind of overstays its welcome, but I can see this being the bee's knees back in the day
Gorillaz
3/5
some legendary beats with a surprising amount of duds. a bit disappointed with this one. first tracks are unusually weak IMO
Carole King
5/5
many legendary songs here that will continue to stand the test of time. excellent songwriting, unusually good mixing, and a healthy dollop of nostalgia. 4.5/5
The Byrds
3/5
Simon & Garfunkel voices and somewhat generic british 60s-70s alt rock band with experimental psychedelic-ish effects. it's just fine
The xx
3/5
synth-pop beach lounge with breathy indie vocals. Fine but forgettable road trip music.
Nina Simone
5/5
An eclectic compilation album of a legendary singer. lots of anger, heartbreak, and nostaliga with varied accompaniment. I feel a little silly for ranking a compilation album made from leftovers so highly... but it spoke to me
The Adverts
3/5
raucous, fun, yet somewhat clean kinda poppy brit punk for your tony hawk's pro skater montage reel or 90s surfing competition
The Icarus Line
3/5
droning spicy grunge garage band sludge. great background music but there's nothing I could super sink my teeth into here. 3/5
Aerosmith
2/5
Bluesy 70s radio play rock with some somewhat neat (and very sophomoric) lyrics and some bluesy guitar riffs. Feels like the whole album is B-sides though. 2.5/5
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
nostalgic ponderous folksy grunge rock with some questionably long instrumental solos
Aretha Franklin
4/5
some absolutely gnarly soul bangers from one of the best to ever do it. Though the b-sides on this one are noticeably weaker...
4/5
Koffi Olomide
3/5
somewhat kitschy party head bobbing ethnic Congolese music. feels like a tropical salsa mix with a more happy go lucky air. I gotta say some of these songs feel copy-pasted though. also noting that the artist has some pretty crass behavioral issues... 3.5/5
The Cure
4/5
brooding new wave pastel Brit rock with Morrissey-style vocals. Overstays its welcome with some long tracks towards the end, but Lovesong is a legendary song
Serge Gainsbourg
3/5
Sleazy old school porno French ASMR that will probably inspire an A24 film. Also, this Gainsbourg guy has quite a wild career.... 3.5/5
Radiohead
4/5
catchy, brooding, and sad teenage Radiohead angst in a more traditional alt-rock band package. excellent stuff
4.5/5
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
I appreciate how this album was wildly creative and original from its time, but I just can't bring myself to enjoy these repetitive dead synthy drum beats, atonal guitar wails, and off-key musing vocals. feels like one of those krautrock psychedelic albums, except stripped of anything that was deemed 'too interesting'.
overall feels like a bunch of ironic teenagers made some intentionally bad music to troll the masses. that being said there's some groovy ideas, and I'm glad this media exists I guess
1.5/5
Everything But The Girl
2/5
almost hilariously generic ez listening 80s medium ballads with royalty free music accompaniment. The sound of browsing for Hallmark cards for Mother's day under bright florescent K-mart lights. That all being said, I didn't totally hate listening to this. I guess this is the Western version of Japanese Citypop
2.5/5
Gang Of Four
3/5
a somewhat austere and minimalistic post punk romp. took me a few tracks for everything to 'click', but I found a surprisingly pleasant and headbobbing experience with some interesting lyrics. 3.5/5
Kings of Leon
2/5
pretty blase indie rock with a comically annoying singer. blah blah blah all the songs blend together. there's a weird soft mushy quality to each song like they recorded this in a mattress store. 1.5/5
The Cure
3/5
moody dark pastel 80s with moody reverb synth drones. some great ideas, but it kind of all blends together
LL Cool J
2/5
a remarkably consistent but fairly dated foray into early 90s rap. beats are somewhat basic, the lyrics vary from kinda neat to extremely corny, and the runtime is enough to feel like a slog to get through. 2.5/5
4/5
rich smooth funk with enough grit and spice to really get things grooving
Donald Fagen
3/5
signature Steely Dan synthy jazzy semi-ironic tone that leans a bit too much into the muzak to be worthwhile. this jam band can sure play, though
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
a warm and fuzzy soft touch indie album that feels like it was recorded in the 70s. music for a nostalgic and wistful roadtrip back to your home town.
Holger Czukay
3/5
A strange eclectic romp that combines world music with the playful-sterile synth sounds of 80s-90s training music muzak, kind of like someone started pushing a bunch of random soundboard buttons at the same time. Somehow, I feel like this album is poking fun at me.
3.5/5
Baaba Maal
2/5
hilariously dated 90s synths cheapen what could have been a cool African world music exploration with some legitimately good singing. A slog to get through overall, sadly.
Ice T
3/5
endearing early 90s hip-hop with a surprising amount of progressive politics, lamentations of the street life, and skits that aren't terrible. a bit drawn out, but holds up surprisingly well.
3.5/5
Britney Spears
4/5
ring tone 90s guilty pleasure pop for your bad 90s romance movie scene. still hits in that nostalgic kinda way, even with absurdly repetitious songs (like just read the titles)
3.5/5
Marilyn Manson
2/5
a bloated 71 minutes of some edgy goth guy yapping over Trent Reznor industrial beats. 2.5/5
M.I.A.
3/5
pretty passable aggro rap-pop. didn't realize how many k-pop groups try (and fail) to imitate this energy
SZA
3/5
a kind of bloated modern pastel modern bedroom R&B album. nothing to write home about
Spiritualized
3/5
somewhat commercial psychedelic droning that makes for overall pleasant background music. a bit bloated but fine. 3.5/5
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Echoey soft touch folksy songs crafted with love and a surprisingly intricate instrumentation, with one of my favorite songs of all-time (The Boxer).
4.5/5
Al Green
3/5
1 legendary song with 70s' gospel r&b and mixing that feels very old school in ways I can't put a finger on. everything kind of blurs together, but it's short and sweet.
3.5/5, mostly for that legendary song
Queens of the Stone Age
2/5
barebones waiting room grunge rock that turns psychedelic. some interesting grooves but with a lot of wasted space. 2.5/5
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
jazzy sophisti-pop hip hop beats to lounge to. wild that this dropped in 1991
The Stone Roses
4/5
tight yet dreamy indie bedroom psychedelic grooves. a lot of these songs blended together, but I was bobbing my head to a lot of it
3.5/5
Michael Jackson
4/5
1 legendary song + like 36 minutes of well-produced MJ disco
Stephen Stills
3/5
70s 'hard' dad rock that gets more twangy bluesy as the album plods on. totally passable background music that suffers from its length. cannot think of a standout track 2.75/5
The Dandy Warhols
3/5
a long meandering ironic droning shoegaze-ish MBV-but-more-poppy kind of album. Lots of enjoyable moments here but I would have preferred this album were like 15min shorter. 3/5
Sabu
3/5
somewhat barren Latin jazz. the sound of listlessly lounging in a cafe in Central America in the summer afternoon trying to figure out your evening plans
Love
3/5
old school hipster camp rock with a mild easy listening hippie bent. feels like they're parodying something, but I'm not in on the joke. in one ear, out the other...
Radiohead
4/5
a pastel rock-electronic fugue of an edgy intellectual teenager lamenting The Man, ft. Sigur Ros style vocals, a few unusually catchy progressions, and some pretty creative instrumental layering. maybe a song or 2 too long. 4.25/5
The Sugarcubes
3/5
somewhat ornery and vaguely Sonic Youth-esque indie rock. Embarrassed that I didn't immediately recognize Bjork here. kind of feels like a minor work overall
The Lemonheads
3/5
incredibly same-y middle of the road alt rock. not great, not terrible. anyways, here's wonderwall
Thelonious Monk
4/5
Classic Monk off-kilter jazz with some pleasantly spicy instrumentation. at times I'd feel like the album is poking fun at me.
Killing Joke
2/5
kinda barren, minimalist post punkish grungy rock that is similar to the character select screen of a N64 monster truck. pretty repetitive, almost groovy, but not quite. 2.5/5
Paul Simon
3/5
a pleasant twist of afrobeat world music and the soft singing and lyricism of half of Simon & Garfunkel. though it all has this kind of beige vibe like I'm listening to 80s mall montage though...
3.5/5
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
4/5
the music of a sweaty summer afternoon in South Asia, waiting for your relatives to prepare dinner. There's something hypnotic and peaceful about these tracks. I suspect some of them, if sampled correctly, could lead to some quality world music EDM. 3.5/5
The Streets
2/5
A slice of life about a British loser hooligan type who loses money and his girlfriend. Almost ironically bad lyrics, beats, and production. not great but probably a pretty realistic depiction of that style of life in the early 00s. 2/5
Les Rythmes Digitales
3/5
inconsistent and a bit long, but with enough dance-y well-produced menu music beats to make it enjoyable. 3/5
The Young Gods
2/5
an plodding post-punk style experimental rock with a lot of French metal growling. sampling bounces between repetitive Metallica-style backtracks to queasy carnival horror music. 2.5/5
Fatboy Slim
2/5
some fairly dated 90s electronic beats that massively overstay their welcome. each track has a constant, semi-catchy energy that never really goes anywhere. gotta respect the classics I guess 2/5
The Allman Brothers Band
3/5
above average bluesy jam band filler. a bit too long but still a fun time. 3.5/5
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
a cold grey droning background wall of sound, ft. some 90's style ghostly voices. like they took Loveless, removed some of the fire, and replaced it with a softer more brooding energy. kinda like drinking a well-aged scotch: much more subtle, but you yearn for the edge. 3.5/5
Anthrax
4/5
pretty standard thrashy high BPM 80s metal that becomes weirdly compelling if you keep listening. took me about half the album before it started to click. appreciate their focus on social issues- even if some of lyrics sound like PBS kids educational rap at times. not sure if I could tell this apart from Megadeth tbh
4/5
T. Rex
3/5
whimsical honky tonk glam, but it feels like a large jumble of B-sides. not great, not terrible.
Pretenders
3/5
slightly dark alt punk-ish rock with some cool offbeat time signatures and a bit of irreverence. not super standout but I'd spin this again. 3.5/5