It's like Supertramp for the 90's! I dig it.
Zip-Zap-Zoppa do be a boppa
Well this was just a delightful dollop of indie folk today. I definitely enjoyed it as a whole, but Oom Sha La La in particular is going to be on heavy rotation for me this year, I can already tell.
After years and years of hearing about Dave Matthews Band while knowing NOTHING about them, finally time to take my first step!
And... it's jazz fusion? Huh. Honestly wasn't expecting that.
Good stuff though. Manages a very commercial jazz fusion/alt rock sound while still being very, VERY excellently played. Carter Beauford alone honestly brings this to 4 stars.
Hold up they even got Bela Fleck in this? Wild.
This album is so important to me.
Back in early high school, I was a "rock is the only REAL music" kid. Electronic music was just dumb bleeps made by computers, and rap wasn't real art.
The journey away from that began with Gorillaz Demon Days, which featured MF DOOM on a track. I was intrigued for many reasons, but primarily because it actually seemed like thought was put into his flows and rhymes, unlike the rap I was being exposed to (Flo Rida, Pitbull, and the like).
I googled what was his best record, and spun this bad boy. My mind was blown. I didn't even really LIKE it yet, it was so far outside my usual taste. But I couldn't deny that there was true thought and artistry put into every dense rhyme, double entedre, and off-kilter beat in here.
It started me down a journey of wider musical horizons that never would have been possible otherwise.
RIP MF DOOM
Perfectly fine and foundational early electronic music, but nothing here blew me away like contemporaries such as Kraftwerk, Jean-Michel Jarre, or Can.
You know it's a great album when you get disappointed that it's over.
Excellent balance between harsh a melodic ideas, deadpan vocals reminiscent of Nick Cave, and the flow of tracks from one to another was seamless. This was a great add that I probably never would have listened to otherwise, thanks!
There's a few certified bops here, for sure. But as a whole album? This just felt bloated, bland, and boring. It's a shame, from the singles and lots of features I know him from, I had high hopes for this, but it just wasn't for me.
Well this was just way too much gosh darn fun. Oodles of fun, even. Scrumptious.
Pre-Tumblr internet forums absolutely popped off for this shit. They could barely handle this much condensed musical theater kid energy.
Honestly, I had all but written off this album as "not my thing" while listening to it until Ruler of Everything; wasn't expecting a song that good to punch me in the face right near the end, but it was enough to earn it 3 stars.
It's been a couple years since I've listened to Mr. Glover in full album format and I forgot just how good this is. Cheesy pun-filled lyrics, cool ass dreamy/spacey production, concept and thought. Issa goodun.
Accurate title. This is absolutely an album to take a night drive to.
It's enjoyable I guess, they've got some undeniable charisma, but I get nothing out of it that I don't get from other bands I enjoy more. I feel like this is the exact type of album that this list is already far too full of.
It has a couple very solid tracks and overall is a very enjoyable record, I see why some people would fall in love with this. But for me, it's having a hard time standing out from the crowd, both its contemporaries and the 2000's post punk revivalists it draws from.
This is the soundtrack to my mother-in-law's house. I don't care for it much as a full album but by God does it have some bangers.
It's hard to tell just how "in on it" they are with their own inherent silliness, but it really does put out an unmatched vibe that mostly makes up for the bloat.
Ah, my submission! (Well, my Patreon submission at least)
By far the biggest snub on the original list was the lack of Louis Armstrong, in my opinion. No other artist has come close to the sheer amount of influence upon popular music as he had, even if the roots of the influence now go so far back that they can seem completely buried. He was 20th century's first musical star, and with the advent of radio and vinyl records, he pressed himself into the public identity like no other could. His soloing and singing styles practically rewrote the book on how jazz was made, especially when he began incorporating and reinventing classic American Songbook tunes that are now more famous as jazz standards BECAUSE of him.
I chose this record to showcase Louis Armstrong's most fundamental early days. His Hot Fives and Hot Sevens groups truly showcase what a master trumpet player he was. I chose the "best of" recording for brevity's sake (and because these recordings predate the invention of the LP record that most of the list is based on, primarily being released in much shorter formats). However, if you enjoy this, please listen to the complete recordings from these groups. It's a veritable treasure trove.
I was so excited for this given the pedigree of the two featured musicians, but it really just did not click for me. It's a shame, as prog is arguably my favorite genre, but I felt like an outsider looking in and seeing all the dislikeable things about it highlighted. Oh well.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (Disney, 2003). Timestamp: 1 hour, 33 minutes, 40 seconds.
Oh yeah this is the good stuff. I'd only ever heard LYSFLATH before, and this delivers the goods just like that does. Excellently atmospheric, potent, haunting. Love it.
I don't think it quite hit the amazing highs of their debut, but this was still a super catchy and fun 90's rock joint.
In one ear and out the other. I nearly forgot to even rate it. But I didn't HATE it, it was just a lot of nothing to me.
I quite liked this! Cool themes, good depressive backing, and I'm always a sucker for a concept album. Thanks for introducing me to something I wouldn't have likely found otherwise!
What a massive gap this list made for itself by not including any Weezer. Few bands hit both the critical acclaim and pop heights that they have, and with an interesting story in their artistic trajectory. Thanks for putting it here!
Consistently cool alt rock. I liked this quite a bit!
One of my favorite albums of all time. It pops, it bleeds watercolor, it is a synthesized masterpiece. If you didn't already add this one I just might have.
Opening with Curtis Mayfield was too bold a move, the rest of the album really just couldn't reach that bar again.
I like the vibe, but a whole album of it got very samey very quickly. Neat that someone from my hometown got put on this list though.
Fuck yeah, former church kids REPRESENT
Fun throwback 80's sound with some pretty funny lyrics, but the songs themselves weren't lovable enough as a whole to really enjoy it as a full album experience.
I liked the Eels record that was already on the list, but I LOVED this one
It's okay? A couple bangers for sure, but a lot of stuff that just didn't tickle my fancy. Certainly not a favorite afrobeat record.
Certainly some rad sections here! Unfortunately, it's a bit challenging to appreciate spoken word in a language you don't speak.
I hope you can still see the moon, Sophie.
I kept feeling like this was about to click for me, but unfortunately Alex Turner makes a pretty inferior Bowie no matter how hard he tries.
Quite excellent stuff, very moody and cutting in its restraint.
3/5 album, but 0/5 album title. This set me up for the false hope that it would be as delightful as licking frosting off the beater, and it was nowhere close.
Firstly, this wins cutest album cover. Just look at them! Just a little guy!
As for the music, it was great vibey background stuff, but pulling it into the foreground got it quite samey, and really emphasized how long of an album it was with too little to say across the run time.
This was actually really boppin. What a great amalgamation of genres all fused together.
Kind of bland prog, if I'm being honest. I mean, it's fine, very enjoyable in moments. But if I want prog I want it spicy, but this is like when you go to a Vietnamese restaurant and they give you the "white people" spicy. Nah man, I want it to hurt, hit me with the challenging stuff.
Perfectly okay stomp-clap-hey music that doesn't overstay it's welcome
Neat indie folk, but I appreciated this more as individual songs over a full album ride
If I found that eyeless baby rocking in my garage I would scream. Four stars.
It's basically the defining pop-punk album, sharing a tight first place with Dookie. How this wasn't on the original list is genuinely baffling to me.
Just some solid ass punk. Not the Bad Religion album I would have chosen (come on No Control is RIGHT THERE), but those Graffin-led harmonies over the speedy punk spunk never fails to get me moovin' and groovin'.
I personally think I prefer the proggier Lateralus, but this is still such a classic album that I'm shocked the list didn't already have.
This is what my dad's garage sounds like while he's drinking tequila and folding laundry.
The bops here are every bit as strong as the ones on That's the Way of the World (the official album on the list). However, the ballads here are FAR stronger than on the official album. This is absolutely peak RnB/Disco/Funk jam. They may not include water in their entitled elements, but I'd still drink a glass of this any day.
I feel like this is just solid enough to secure 4 stars. It is a consistently good record (if rather samey), and it even manages a few upward spikes into greatness.
It really is as good as nerds on the internet say (says fellow nerd on the internet).
Never heard of this artist before, so I got to go in completely blind. With the first few seconds I thought, "Oooh, some ranchera?" NOPE, LATIN SKA BABYYYYY.
This was fun, filled with variety, danceable, kickass, and other praise-worthy adjectives. I had a blast with this. Thank you for adding it to the list!
This was right up my alley. The krautrock filter overtop all the psychedelic, proggy, avant-garde sounds is exactly what I needed shoved into my ear holes this morning. LOVE IT.
The back half of the album was definitely my favorite, but the first few songs cleared up some burning questions I've had since childhood:
I still may not know where he came from, but I can finally answer "Where did he go?" Sweden!
This is one of the biggest failures of the list. How could they not include Sublime? Their absolutely perfect blend of punk, hip hop, and reggae; their hits that still get attention today; the tragic story of Bradley; it should be a foregone conclusion that this belongs on the list.
Maybe it is my bias as a Californian? Is Sublime just not as big of a thing outside of their home state? I genuinely am baffled how this isn't included.
Being a sad dumb monolingual man, I miss out on a lot of the lyrical content; a shame, considering that some of the themes I'm reading about seem like they'd resonate with me, and lots of people seem to find witty and biting cleverness here.
But, purely going off the musical content, this is just... okay, for me at least. I like the sort of afro-cuban vibes I get from the beats, which blended with the french language and house synths makes for quite an interesting flavor combination. However, all the synth sounds and effects used give me PTSD flashbacks to high school dances I would be dragged along to. I can guarantee high school me would have given this one star lol. Even with that old distaste, though, I can't deny how clean the production is here!
Some fun 2000's pop. It's not particularly incredible for me and doesn't do a whole lot to set itself apart from its peers of the era, but it holds up well enough and is full of catchy boppin fun.
It took a few years to really accept this album for me; such a different direction from my beloved Lonerism. But it just kept drawing me back, and every listen brought it higher and higher until now, where is this Currents and its older brother as absolute equals. Poppy, synthed out, full of gossamer layers, and hard-hitting in its themes. I love this record.
My favorite album, by my favorite artist.
I remember when I first listened to this album, after meaning to check out "that lizard band" for a while. I put it on while doing some mindless work at my job, and it absolutely blew me away. I think I listened to the loop of the album 3 times in a row that day.
And it's been looping in my mind ever since.
This pulls roots from the glam of the New York Dolls and the bombasticism of Queen or Supertramp, and grafts is straight into the emo/pop punk sound their are known for to craft such an interesting concept album. I don't think every single moment stands out; some of it does start to blend together a bit by the end. But, this blend is good! The grandiose sounds against the morbid themes work when welded by the catchiness of the melodies, even if the songs themselves don't stand apart from each other super strongly. Ultimately, there is a good reason this has become an enduring modern classic.
It is just so inventive, irreverent, so ridiculously fun. There are few things I like better than seeing an artist set out to be radically themselves, and achieve it perfectly.
I feel like Snarky Puppy is emblematic of that "Berklee Blend" style that mixes funk and jazz and rock into a fusion soup that rarely gets to see the heights of the 70's fusion acts they so clearly adore. They are all clearly ridiculously talented players: that much is plain as day. But rarely does that actually translate to music with heart, music that is catchy, or music that really resonates with anyone outside that circle of post-grad musicians trying their best (and usually failing) to make dense heady music approachable.
This album, however, is different.
It's catchy, it's fun, the musicians are all clearly having a blast, it's approachable in a way that much of its brethren are not. Some sort of magic was in the air in these live sessions that really comes across. From my musically inclined friends, to my boomer parents, to my sister who thinks 4/4 is just a weird fraction, the reaction is nearly always positive. This album clicks.
And, as one of the few that genuinely enjoys the pretentious wankery of that Berklee Blend, it makes me very happy.
The appetizers and entrees here are expectedly delicious, but it really is the special recipes that shows off what makes DOOM special not as a rapper, but as a unique producer.
God I'm so fucking hungry whenever I listen to this.
I constantly bicker with myself over whether I prefer Animals or Wish You Were here. One comes from such a deeply personal place of loss and hope, the other lashes scathingly outward on capitalist rule. Both have some of the best prog rock to ever be made.
Maybe they don't need to fight. Maybe both of these albums are kissing each other sloppy style.
Catchy and bouncy and vibrant and fun! Solid and thoughtful lyrics that keep things interesting when you dig deep, and the production is fantastic as well.
I don't think that I'm as deeply in love with it as everyone else seems to be, but it's definitely a cool album and an enjoyable experience and makes for a memorable summer album.
Tool's music deserves better fans lol. This is some of the best prog of the modern era, and the fans treat it as the ONLY music of the modern era that deserves a listen. Fuck them. This is fantastic, and there is plenty out there just as great or greater.
The musical equivalent of found footage from the apocalypse.
So much indie rock music relies on flashy bells and whistles. And sometimes, that plays out really well! (re: ITAOTS) Other times... it just feels like a distraction, a glossy coverup for lackluster lyrics and songwriting.
This album doesn't hit you with that bullshit. It is a much more raw rock setup, and that rawness in execution really amplifies the rawness of emotion on display. This is a lonely, angry, neurotic, snarky portrait of a soul.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
Electronic, dancey perfection here. This album has it all. Hell, it even has a movie!
Nobody can effortlessly bounce between hard-hitting political takes and utter dada nonsense like SOAD. This is about the most fun possible in a metal album.
Aw fuck this lived up to the hype it's getting.
Each song here seems to unfold like a blooming flower as it progresses. It's like every 30 seconds I see a new petal peeking out. Seriously, the combination of production and arrangement here is INSANE.
And it's BOPPIN and JIVIN and makes me wanna get up and dance. But also cry a little bit? I can't stop listening to this record, it has been on constant rotation since it came out for me.
I feel like I need a fog machine and deep blue stage lights to listen to this record properly.
This is a prog-rock MASTERPIECE. From the incredible opener, the loyalty suite, the worldbuilding, to the incredible lyrics.... this isn't my favorite Gizz album, but I have to admit it is pretty damn close.
One of my personal favorite punk albums; it is punchy and catchy in equal measure! Truly, this album is a blueprint for skate punk and really informed melodic hardcore and pop punk for decades to come.
This is honestly very, very close to a 10/10 for me, but the homophobic stains on track 3 really are gross. I know the band luckily disavowed it and now uses different lyrics in concerts (thank god), but it still is such a shame.
"I am at peace with my my own cringe."
Let's be real, being raw and vulnerable can reveal things that are cringey. This album certainly does. And, I appreciate it for it. Rivers is braver than I think I could be.
Musically maybe it isn't quiiiite as catchy fun as the debut, but the raw looseness makes up for it, and matches in lockstep with the lyrics in a way that I go crazy for.
I'm glad this gets the love it deserves now.
