Journey Complete!
Finisher # to complete the list
676
Albums Rated
4.11
Average Rating
62%
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1970s
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217
5-Star Albums
0
1-Star Albums
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You Love More Than Most
Albums you rated higher than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yank Crime | 5 | 2.7 | +2.3 |
| Third/Sister Lovers | 5 | 2.79 | +2.21 |
| Sweetheart Of The Rodeo | 5 | 2.83 | +2.17 |
| Grievous Angel | 5 | 2.86 | +2.14 |
| Blood And Chocolate | 5 | 2.92 | +2.08 |
| Call of the Valley | 5 | 2.95 | +2.05 |
| Paris 1919 | 5 | 2.95 | +2.05 |
| Joan Baez | 5 | 2.96 | +2.04 |
| Sail Away | 5 | 2.97 | +2.03 |
| Aha Shake Heartbreak | 5 | 2.97 | +2.03 |
You Love Less Than Most
Albums you rated lower than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bongo Rock | 2 | 3.26 | -1.26 |
Artist Analysis
Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Beatles | 7 | 5 |
| Bob Dylan | 7 | 5 |
| David Bowie | 9 | 4.78 |
| Radiohead | 6 | 5 |
| Led Zeppelin | 5 | 5 |
| Miles Davis | 4 | 5 |
| Stevie Wonder | 4 | 5 |
| Joni Mitchell | 4 | 5 |
| R.E.M. | 4 | 5 |
| Steely Dan | 4 | 5 |
| The Rolling Stones | 6 | 4.67 |
| The Who | 5 | 4.6 |
| Bruce Springsteen | 5 | 4.6 |
| U2 | 4 | 4.75 |
| Neil Young | 4 | 4.75 |
| Nirvana | 3 | 5 |
| Elvis Costello & The Attractions | 3 | 5 |
| Arcade Fire | 3 | 5 |
| The Cure | 3 | 5 |
| Nick Drake | 3 | 5 |
| Neil Young & Crazy Horse | 3 | 5 |
| Van Morrison | 3 | 5 |
| The Kinks | 4 | 4.5 |
| Talking Heads | 4 | 4.5 |
| Metallica | 4 | 4.5 |
| Björk | 4 | 4.5 |
| Queen | 3 | 4.67 |
| Bob Marley & The Wailers | 3 | 4.67 |
| Pixies | 3 | 4.67 |
| Simon & Garfunkel | 3 | 4.67 |
| Paul Simon | 3 | 4.67 |
| Prince | 3 | 4.67 |
| Creedence Clearwater Revival | 3 | 4.67 |
| The White Stripes | 3 | 4.67 |
| Beastie Boys | 3 | 4.67 |
| Coldplay | 2 | 5 |
| Pulp | 2 | 5 |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers | 2 | 5 |
| Fleetwood Mac | 2 | 5 |
| Wilco | 2 | 5 |
| John Lennon | 2 | 5 |
| Marvin Gaye | 2 | 5 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins | 2 | 5 |
| The Band | 2 | 5 |
| A Tribe Called Quest | 2 | 5 |
| Fiona Apple | 2 | 5 |
| Big Star | 2 | 5 |
| Tom Waits | 5 | 4.2 |
| Pink Floyd | 4 | 4.25 |
| The Beach Boys | 3 | 4.33 |
| The Smiths | 3 | 4.33 |
| Kate Bush | 3 | 4.33 |
| PJ Harvey | 3 | 4.33 |
| Jimi Hendrix | 3 | 4.33 |
| Kings of Leon | 3 | 4.33 |
5-Star Albums (217)
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Popular Reviews
Paul McCartney and Wings
5/5
This album is Paul McCartney saying “yeah, I don’t need The Beatles to write fucking HITS!” for 41 minutes
40 likes
Pavement
5/5
Every time I listen to Pavement I think “wow, I should listen to more Pavement.”
35 likes
Nine Inch Nails
5/5
One of the most original and innovate rock albums of all time. Nobody combines aggression, melody, and sonic experimentation as well as Trent Reznor does.
33 likes
Tom Waits
5/5
Tom Waits is a maniac. He’s playing this old school, traditional style of music but almost nothing about it sounds old or traditional. I’m way into how weird this is and I really wanna dig hard into his catalog.
29 likes
Sarah Vaughan
5/5
This album is like the smoothest cup of coffee and the warmest blanket on the coldest day.
25 likes
All Ratings
Rod Stewart
4/5
Sounds like an album good for a backyard get together with friends on a hot summer evening
Black Sabbath
3/5
Sounds like a horror movie soundtrack. Sick thick guitar tones. Can definitely tell it’s their first album.
Dennis Wilson
5/5
Been meaning to listen to this for years. Definitely the soulful Beach Boy. Really liking this
Pink Floyd
4/5
Not my favorite Pink Floyd album, but still great
Crosby, Stills & Nash
5/5
I like this album the more I listen to it, and it’s great, but it also makes me just wanna listen to Neil Young
The Style Council
3/5
This album is interesting. Half of it is like if Ben Folds Five made a jazz album and half of it is intricate new wave pop. Pretty cool overall.
Queen
4/5
For as popular as Queen is, I’d say they’re still somehow underrated. They’re a pretty different band than their singles let on. This album is very cool and it’s not even their best one
Leonard Cohen
4/5
I’m the same as he was when this came out, his debut album. Wild. Obviously, he’s a great songwriter. Not the best singer, but his voice works well for his music. This album kinda seems perfect for a wistful, sunny summer day.
Beach House
4/5
I dig this! Parts of it kinda remind me of a chiller, vibey Band Of Horses or even Kite Party. Kinda surprised I never listened to them before
George Jones
4/5
I dig this! Country is the OG emo
The Kinks
4/5
Not my favorite Kinks album but still great!
Pavement
5/5
Every time I listen to Pavement I think “wow, I should listen to more Pavement.”
Buffalo Springfield
4/5
This album is cool!
Miles Davis
5/5
This album is fucking WILD
Barry Adamson
3/5
This is interesting. Parts of it remind me of instrumental versions of some of the stuff U2 was doing in the 90s, or some of Bowie’s weirder stuff. Parts of it remind of music from David Lynch shit, which makes sense since he did some music for Lost Highway. I don’t hate it, and appreciate it for the influence it most likely had on some stuff I like, but I’m not sure I’d listen again.
Flamin' Groovies
4/5
These boys FUCK! Kinda like The Rolling Stones with a little of The Stooges thrown in. There’s almost no way they weren’t an influence on Eagles Of Death Metal and early Kings Of Leon. Pretty fun album!
Korn
3/5
It’d be very easy for me to say I hate this. But I get it. They’re certainly an original band. There are some cool grooves and guitar tones. Also, Got The Life is a certified banger. All In The Family is ridiculous as fuck though.
The Beach Boys
4/5
A great, somber, thoughtful, well-produced beautiful album...with fucking “Student Demonstration Time” right in the middle of it 🙄
David Bowie
5/5
Probably my favorite Bowie album. The last half of this album makes feel like I’m in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Deep Purple
4/5
I dig this more than I thought I would! The drums are sick and honestly so is everything else. If Pineapple Express took place in the 70s, this could be the soundtrack. If you needed a default example of 70s hard rock, they would probably be it. Pretty fun album!
Portishead
4/5
I get Radiohead, NIN, Björk, and Cure vibes from this. Chill, but cool arrangements. Almost menacing at times. I dig!
Nirvana
5/5
I think I love this album more at this point in my life than I have at any other point. The standard for what drums should sound like on a rock album. If these songs weren’t also loud hard rock songs, they could easily all be top 10 pop hits with different production. For all of the things rock music has become since it’s inception, I’m hard pressed to think of a better example of a rock album that’s also incredibly popular in mainstream culture.
Sarah Vaughan
5/5
This album is like the smoothest cup of coffee and the warmest blanket on the coldest day.
Rush
4/5
I really should listen to more Rush. Great power trio. Neil Peart was a “fuck you” drummer.
ABBA
3/5
Modern pop music would be better if more real drums (and bass and guitar) were involved. This is fun!
Beatles
5/5
This was maybe my first favorite Beatles album.
Merle Haggard
4/5
I dig this!
Boards of Canada
4/5
Pretty chill! Kinda sounds like airport music on the moon. I dig it.
Elton John
4/5
I’m surprised I hadn’t listened to this before. I enjoy it! Idk, it feels like it’s hard to hate Elton John?
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5/5
This album is chill as fuck. I need to listen to more Bob Marley. Makes me long for warm summer nights with friends
Malcolm McLaren
3/5
An interesting mix of early hip hop and world music that kinda sounds like a radio show or a soundtrack. Not bad!
Iron Butterfly
3/5
The music is pretty cool. They’re all really talented and there are some cool guitar and bass lines especially. Singer kinda sounds like a precursor to the butt rock singers of the late 90s/early 00s though. Cool vibes overall though!
Stereolab
4/5
Pretty chill, interesting, kinda groovy album that reminded me of Broken Social Scene at times
The Stranglers
4/5
Yo, I like this a lot! Parts of it kinda remind me of a more punk version of early Elvis Costello. Very cool!
Kanye West
4/5
I’ve always been put off by Kanye’s persona, but I quite enjoyed this.
The Beau Brummels
4/5
Really cool 60s folk, psych rock record. Fascinated by bands from the 60s and 70s ive never heard of
Johnny Cash
4/5
I love that this is the whole show. Johnny Cash was a cool motherfucker. And June Carter is funny
Deep Purple
4/5
This album makes me wanna drive a muscle car and wear a leather jacket
The Who
5/5
Not my favorite Who album, I don’t think, but goddamn, every song goes hard
Stevie Wonder
5/5
Simply put, one of the best albums ever made. A singular artist working at the peak of his abilities.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
When I first dove into Led Zeppelin’s catalog a few years ago, I was surprised at how varied their music is compared to their mainstream reputation. This is the first album where they kinda started to deviate from the blues rock they’re mostly known for. “Since I’ve Been Loving You” is probably one of my favorites of theirs.
Just a good ol’ fashioned summertime rock and roll album!
The Lemonheads
4/5
Cant believe I never really listens to this band before, this rules
Tom Waits
4/5
He's like an old rascally jazz motherfucker who's got some SHIT to say but coats everything in humor...except he’s only 25. This is a fun album to hang out with.
The Prodigy
3/5
Parts of this album sound like someone gave the Doof Warrior a band. I kinda feel like to fully enjoy this I need to either be in a slick, flashy 90s action movie or on E in a 90s German discotheque. Like, I get it, but it’s not for me.
The Smiths
4/5
I really wish Morrissey wasn’t a shithead because this album rules
Coldplay
5/5
Maybe the best Coldplay album? I always forget how into them I was for those first few albums.
Tom Waits
4/5
This album sounds like a demon escaped from Hell and started a band with reanimated skeletons.
Ramones
5/5
It’s hard to not like this band. Great melodies. Easily one of the most influential bands of all time. Idk how much I’d ever listen to them, but they’re undeniable.
The Clash
5/5
Another band/album ive been meaning to listen to for years. I really appreciate how varied this album is. There’s a reason this album and band are one of the most influential of all time.
Leftfield
3/5
I get it. This is pretty chill. Still very weird to just like listen to casually
Joni Mitchell
5/5
It’s a testament to how great Joni Mitchell that this can be a perfect album and still not my favorite by her
Elliott Smith
4/5
Something about Elliott Smith’s music is very haunting and addicting. I don’t listen to him enough. “Say Yes” is a perfect song.
Common
4/5
This album is smooth as hell.
The Who
4/5
Fairly typical early British Invasion stuff. The Kids Are All Right and My Generation are perfect songs.
Small Faces
3/5
There are some cool guitar sounds happening, and I like how scrappy and raw this sounds, but otherwise this is just fine.
The Kinks
4/5
I really need to listen to this band more. Feels like a transitional record for them, but it’s still great.
Sonic Youth
4/5
Another band I’d meant to listen to for years but never did. I wish I had! Though maybe it wasn’t the right time? Anyway, I dug this a lot.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
This miiiight be my favorite Bruce album. Its a monster.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
Listening to this makes whatever dumb shit I’m doing seem cooler
Roxy Music
4/5
Some really wild bass and guitar stuff going on. I dig this a lot.
Suede
4/5
This is great. Definitely need to listen to more of this band. It’s interesting to me that the 90s were still a time where a band could be popular in England but not really endure in the US.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
Gimme Shelter is one of the best opening tracks of all time and You Can’t Always Get What You Want is one of the best closers.
Ananda Shankar
3/5
George Harrison's Indian fusion songs have never been my favorite, but they're definitely cool, so it's interesting to hear the inverse of that kinda. Also, fun fact, this guy was the nephew of Ravi Shankar, who was a close friend of George's and they played together a whole lot, and Ravi Shankar is also Norah Jones' dad. So this guy is Norah Jones' cousin lol
X-Ray Spex
4/5
This album is cool! Punk as hell and pretty groovy too. The sax is an interesting touch. Polly Styrene had a cool voice. I definitely hear the influence on someone like Corin Tucker.
Iggy Pop
5/5
I really don’t know why I hadn’t listen to this before considering Bowie produced this during my favorite period of his. Loved it.
Kraftwerk
4/5
I like this more than the other electronic stuff we’ve had so far. It because it’s so simple and melodic.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
I like how ethereal parts of this album sound and how it seems like they’re doing whatever they want and stretching themselves
Talking Heads
4/5
Not as wild and interesting as some of their later stuff but still a very good record and a great debut
Jean-Michel Jarre
3/5
I feel like I’d enjoy whatever non-existent sci-fi movie this album would soundtrack more than the actual album, but it’s pretty aight.
The Shamen
3/5
This is fine… some interesting sounds going on here and there I guess. I just…do not understand the appeal of listening to music like this outside the context of a club or a car chase scene in an action movie or something lol
5/5
I tend to prefer Bowie’s weirder late 70s stuff, but this album is undeniable
Richard Hawley
5/5
I was very surprised by this album. I’d never heard of Richard Hawley before. He sounds like someone who would perform in the Roadhouse on Twin Peaks. I also get some slight Elvis Costello vibes, especially his album with Burt Bacharach. Loved it.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
This album is nice.
Soundgarden
5/5
This album is full of jams. Sometimes I think I like Badmotorfinger better, but goddamn, this album fucking rules
Tom Waits
4/5
Tom Waits is like an old jazz guy from the future.
Drive-By Truckers
4/5
Been meaning to listen to this band for a while. Been way into this kinda sound for a little bit now. I dig the concept of this record and how well they executed it
David Bowie
4/5
Bowie does soul. Solid album! “Fame” is a banger and a half!
Nirvana
5/5
I heard this before In Utero or Bleach so these versions are still somehow more familiar to me. Weird. The thing that makes this album great is that they very easily could've just gone out their and played their biggest hits acoustically and called it a day. But they really only played one hit song and really focused on curating a performance that worked best for that setting and created a certain mood.
Pixies
5/5
It’s amazing to me that a band could be this weird, loud, and catchy all at the same time.
David Crosby
4/5
This album kinda reminds me of the first few Paul McCartney solo albums, where it’s mostly just a lot of free flowing musical ideas and sparse lyrics while he tries out new things and directions. This album feels decidedly more somber or ethereal than any of those McCartney albums. I dig it! It’s got a cool vibe you can live in for 40 minutes.
Bebel Gilberto
4/5
This album is chill and nice
Slayer
4/5
Yo this album goes hard as fuck.
Terence Trent D'Arby
3/5
Parts of this are pretty cool.
Killing Joke
4/5
Lotta cool things happening here. I can hear their influence in a lot of places.
Minutemen
4/5
I hear a lot of influence on 90s emo and indie rock here. Even Fugazi kinda. Pretty cool, fun album.
The Go-Betweens
4/5
I dig this a lot!
Judas Priest
3/5
Somewhere between the kind of metal I’m not usually into and the kind that I am sometimes into
The Cars
5/5
This album and band’s influence is over so many things I’ve liked for most of my life
Sigur Rós
4/5
This was a great album to listen to first thing on a Sunday morning while I’m waking up and relaxing and eating breakfast. Beautiful soundscapes and it makes me wanna visit Iceland more than I did before.
Jeff Beck
3/5
The Strokes
5/5
A top 5 album of the 21st century.
5/5
Weirdly, this has never been one of my favorite Beatles albums. Like, obviously it’s great and everything, but ive always preferred others over it.
Franz Ferdinand
4/5
I hadn’t listened to this album in 17 years. Made me kinda miss when bands like this were popular.
The Damned
4/5
I like the blending of genres with early punk going on here. A few of the songs kinda sound like a punk rock Kinks which I dig. The last song kiinda sounds like early Smiths/R.E.M.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
5/5
On some days this is my favorite Elvis Costello album.
Solomon Burke
4/5
I dug the acoustic guitar arrangements on this album
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
Not exactly my kinda thing, but well crafted and executed. Good melodies.
Fela Kuti
4/5
Groovin’ as fuck!
Paul Revere & The Raiders
3/5
Pretty solid little 60s rock album
The Incredible String Band
4/5
This album makes me wanna live in a forest
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
Another artist I’d been meaning to check out for years. I was way more into this than I was expecting. I like how each “disc” has its own distinct feel.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
I’d listen to just a drum and bass version of this album
Aimee Mann
4/5
I enjoyed this. I should listen to her more.
Kate Bush
5/5
What a weird, cool, beautiful album
Leonard Cohen
4/5
This album fit my mood very nicely today.
Blue Cheer
4/5
Very cool grooves and riffs. I dig the lofi sound
Al Green
4/5
Smooth as fuck, and I really like how crisp the drums and guitar sound
Duran Duran
4/5
Slick as hell, with a lot of sick bass lines
Blondie
5/5
This album is a fucking banger.
Nine Inch Nails
5/5
One of the most original and innovate rock albums of all time. Nobody combines aggression, melody, and sonic experimentation as well as Trent Reznor does.
Missy Elliott
4/5
I dug this a lot
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
The title track is one of the most beautiful songs ever written with one of the best vocal performances, and all of the songs are great too.
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
2/5
Eh… idk… I feel like any profound radical edge this might have had at the time is kinda cliched and dated now. Like, the things he’s saying are still mostly true, it’s just they’ve been said a million times and mostly been done better
Mercury Rev
4/5
I dig how cinematic a lot of these arrangements are. I totally hear the similarities to The Soft Bulletin, it’s like they’re two sides to the same coin. Very cool.
Tom Waits
5/5
Tom Waits is a maniac. He’s playing this old school, traditional style of music but almost nothing about it sounds old or traditional. I’m way into how weird this is and I really wanna dig hard into his catalog.
Pulp
5/5
I wish I would’ve checked out this album way back when I heard William Shatner’s cover of “Common People” in 2003, but I don’t know that I would’ve appreciated it fully then.
Mudhoney
4/5
Been meaning to listen to them for years. Scrappy, garage punk version of grunge. Cool guitar shit. I dig it!
Burning Spear
4/5
Solange
4/5
I wish I would’ve listened to this sooner. Chill as hell.
Fatboy Slim
3/5
This is more fun and interesting than the other electronic albums on this list so far, but I still can really only care so much
Fugazi
5/5
This isn’t even my favorite Fugazi album, but this album goes hard as fuck. What a one of a kind band.
Eminem
4/5
It is truly wild listening to this album in 2021. It’s still a mostly enjoyable listen, but it’s easy to forget just how extreme Eminem was until you listen to this again. He says so much offensive shit that it almost doesn’t matter anymore.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
3/5
I feel like I would enjoy this more if I was on acid and seeing it live, otherwise it’s just fine. Some cool sounds going on though.
R.E.M.
5/5
One of the best debut albums of all time and it’s probably not even their best album. Great melodies, great harmonies, great guitar, GREAT bass, great drums. Just all around great. R.E.M. are The Beatles of indie/alternative rock.
Funkadelic
4/5
This album is truly fucking wild and great
Mekons
4/5
I dig this! Kinda like if the Clash or even the Smiths made an alt country album. I can hear the influence from this in so much other shit.
Harry Nilsson
4/5
Like if you combined John Lennon and Paul McCartney into one person, but in a non-derivative way
Culture Club
3/5
Pretty cool little synth pop album. Soulful at times. Karma Chameleon is a certified banger.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
It’s hard for me not to compare this to early U2, but I dig it!
The Crusaders
4/5
Most of this sounds kinda like instrumental Steely Dan, but I dig it!
Gang Of Four
4/5
This was pretty cool
Liz Phair
5/5
I really should’ve listened to this long ago. It’s very much my shit. Great songwriting, shaggy, yet just polished enough production. Definitely earns the hype.
Suede
4/5
This is very cool. Great guitar shit. Like Bowie fronting an alt-rock band…but different than Tin Machine lol.
Talk Talk
4/5
This band pushed and pulled at the limits of 80s New Wave and Synth Pop in the same way that Radiohead did with 90s alt rock and Bon Iver did with 00s/10s indie rock. I’m kind of amazed I never heard of them until Mark Hollis died two years ago.
The Birthday Party
3/5
This is wild as all fuck. Legitimately sounds like a band of demons from the depths of hell. I kinda dig parts of it? But mostly I just respect it for committing to being fuckin’ OUT THERE shit.
Public Enemy
4/5
This album is front to back energy
Traffic
4/5
My dad had been telling me to listen to this band for YEARS. Kinda like a rootsy prog rock band. Pretty cool!
Yes
4/5
Incredible musicianship backed up by good songwriting
Sisters Of Mercy
3/5
Parts of this sound like Bowie making a goth rock album. It’s pretty cool, if a little weird and meandering for my taste.
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
Kinda like if Thom Yorke made a solo album during The Bends era, though I’m not sure he would’ve ever made anything this lush and orchestrated.
The Stooges
3/5
This album sounds like what I imagine being on heroin feels like. Lotta wild shit going on. I kinda like how it gets more and more chaotic as it goes on.
Herbie Hancock
4/5
This sort of sounds like it could’ve come out at any point in the last 50 years. Very cool shit.
Grizzly Bear
4/5
Despite all the hype this album has received over the years, I’ve somehow gone 12 years without listening to it. Outside of “Two Weeks,” which I’ve heard in countless commercials and grocery stores, this album is pretty different than I was expecting. I like it quite a bit, though probably not as much as I would have had I discovered it at a younger age. Hints of Beach Boys and Radiohead but, like, in a vaguely folky, chamber pop vein.
This album got me thinking about a slight tangent…between like 2008-2012 I was so into discovering 90s emo/indie rock bands and emo revival/DIY scene stuff that I missed most of the somewhat more mainstream indie rock stuff that was more popular with most people in my generation. Like Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes, Wye Oak, LCD Soundsystem, MGMT, etc. It’s kinda interesting to me that most of the music I associate with that time period was like 10+ years old at the time.
Alice Cooper
4/5
Made me feel like I was in a 70s high school movie or a backyard bbq. Except the last song sounds like Halloween. Pretty fun
N.W.A.
4/5
This album is angry and fun
Michael Jackson
4/5
Ever since that documentary a few years ago, it’s been really hard for me to hear any of his songs without feeling really uneasy. That being said, it’s impossible to deny the bangers on this album.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
Is this my favorite Springsteen album? I don’t know. That changes periodically. But this is definitely his best, most iconic, and the purest distillation of everything that he does great. Truly one of the best albums of all time. It sounds like the soundtrack to the greatest movie that doesn’t exist.
Turbonegro
3/5
Melodic, driving punk with sick guitar riffs and goofy-ass lyrics. My only prior exposure to this band was Queens Of The Stone Age’s cover of “Back To Dungaree High,” and I’m really not surprised Josh is a fan.
The Undertones
4/5
So much of this sounds like Delay. I hear a little Against Me! in here at times as well. I like this a lot. Very melodic punk. Proto pop punk even.
Van Halen
4/5
I’m way past the point in my life where I’m all of a sudden going to get into Van Halen. I also feel like I’ve heard their songs so much just by being alive that I can’t really form an objective opinion on them. Of course Eddie Van Halen is an incredible guitar player. Of course David Lee Roth is ridiculous. Of course these songs are a lot of fun.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
5/5
I always forget how great this album is. Probably his best sounding album after Imperial Bedroom. Certainly the loudest. Also the last great album of The Attractions era. “I Want You” is such a great song, definitely one of his best.
Pavement
4/5
When I first got into this band I probably connected with this album the least for whatever reason. It’s definitely grown on me a lot and it’s very easy to see how it became a blueprint for a very certain type of indie rock.
DJ Shadow
4/5
Like a proto “lofi beats to study and/or chill to” or whatever. I dig it.
Hawkwind
3/5
I sort of feel like the best I can say about this is that it definitely inspired more interesting things. A lot of this feels like it could use more focus and editing. The bass is pretty great though. Given what I know about Motörhead, it’s pretty interesting that Lemmy was in a band like this.
Paul McCartney and Wings
5/5
This album is Paul McCartney saying “yeah, I don’t need The Beatles to write fucking HITS!” for 41 minutes
Neu!
3/5
This was different than I was expecting. I REALLY enjoyed the first half that was really chill and relaxing and calming. The harder, wilder stuff was cool too, just a little jarring after the first few songs.
Jane's Addiction
4/5
Ive been hearing Jane’s Addiction’s biggest hits for about as long as I can remember. They’re a band that I’m honestly surprised I didn’t get into when I was younger considering everything else I was into. Parry Farrell’s voice can be a bit much for me sometimes, but this is a really cool album. Dave Navarro is such a good guitar player that it’s a shame most people probably know him as a reality tv guy these days.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
I’m tempted to bring this down a star because the lyrics to “Brown Sugar” are so fucking cringe-y. It’s comforting to know that Jagger has since said he doesn’t really know why he wrote those lyrics like that and would censor himself now. The rest of this album is tight as all fuck though. The drums on “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” are perfect.
The Specials
4/5
I dig this. Feels like it’d be a perfect album for a summer cookout or something.
Magazine
3/5
The Doors
3/5
Ive always kinda been unsure of how I feel about The Doors. Some songs ive heard I’ve liked, others I kinda haven’t cared about. This album kinda skews more towards songs I like, but it still doesn’t really grab me a whole lot overall. I think I like their vibe more than I like their actual songs.
Lauryn Hill
5/5
This album is massive, and dense, and really great. It’s not surprising that she hasn’t followed it up yet.
Madonna
3/5
Pop music is infinitely more interesting to me when live drums are involved
Kraftwerk
3/5
Kraftwerk is a fascinating band. Sometimes I kinda like how primitive this sounds, other times it’s kinda cheesy. Sometimes this album is calming, sometimes it’s claustrophobic. This album is basically a soundtrack to a doc that doesn’t exist about the dangers of urbanization in Europe. It’s fascinating to think about what it must’ve been like to be born in Germany at the end of or right after WWII and then come of age and be like “wait…we did WHAT?!” It’s also interesting to think of how much music might not have existed if it weren’t for Kraftwerk.
Dr. John
3/5
Brian Eno
5/5
I like this a lot. Reminds me of Bowie’s Low, for obvious reasons, but not quite as dark. I can definitely hear the influence on a lot of indie rock here
Jeff Buckley
5/5
Ive gotten back into this album in a big way in the last couple years. Buckley gets a lot of (rightful acclaim) for having an incredible voice, but he was a fantastic songwriter and arranger as well. Given the fact that he died so young, and the transcendent, ethereal nature of his music, it sometimes seems like he has this aura of sadness around him similar to other musicians who died young. But if you watch live videos and interviews of him, he actually seems like he was pretty goofy and high strung and had a corny sense of humor. Which would’ve been…interesting to see how it would’ve informed his music had his career had a chance to continue. Anyway, this album fucking slaps and the drums are incredible.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
5/5
When I was in middle school and high school, whenever I rode the bus to school I would be listening to music on my Sony Walkman portable CD player. Inevitably, people would usually ask me what I was listening to. Whenever I was listening to something that I knew most people my age wouldn’t have heard of or liked (most of the time) I would say I was listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers. They were popular enough and seemingly acceptable enough for most people not to question me after I gave that answer. Now, more often than not, it feels like I have to defend liking this band for any number of reasons. Truth be told, from about 2000-2006, I was obsessed with RHCP. After hearing this album, I decided that I wanted to one day make music that sounded like them. Even though I never really did that exactly, they were the first band I remember making me feel that way. What’s undeniable about this band is immense talent of John Frusciante, Flea, and Chad Smith. What’s also undeniable is the chemistry that these 4 people have together. Anthony Kiedis can very often be a ridiculous and embarrassing singer and lyricist, but he never sounds insincere, for better or worse. What’s always apparent with RHCP is that these 4 people need each and need this band. This is a band that’s forged through trauma, grief, and addiction that always sounds like they love each other and love making music, even after almost 40 years together. Californication is the album that got me into them. I’m not sure if it’s their best or my favorite, but it’s definitely one where it felt they were able to tap into some form of magic. As with any RHCP album, there are some notably groan-inducing lyrics, but there also a whole bunch of bangers.
Ride
4/5
I like this a lot. Like a bridge between 80s new wave/dream pop and 90s alt rock and shoegaze with 60s pop rock harmonies.
The Everly Brothers
4/5
Dr. Dre
3/5
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
PJ Harvey
4/5
I might not like this quite as much as To Bring You My Love, but it’s very good. Also, sorry Elvis Costello, I love you, but this album sounds great.
Alanis Morissette
4/5
I’m not too sure why I hadn’t heard this whole album before. It’s probably because I’ve heard about half the songs a million times over 25 years so I figured I’d heard the best of it. All the songs on here are jams though.
Beatles
5/5
Ive heard this album realistically at least 100 times in my life, and today, listening in my noise canceling headphones, is the first time I’ve noticed the yawning in “I’m Only Sleeping” and the clapping in “And Your Bird Can Sing.” Music!
Talking Heads
4/5
Not my favorite Talking Heads album, but still very good!
Gary Numan
4/5
Like Berlin era Bowie, The Cars, early Cure, and a little proto-NIN mixed together. Pretty cool!
R.E.M.
5/5
One of my favorite albums of all time. I somehow love it more each time I listen to it. Maybe not the most representative of R.E.M. as a whole, but goddamn, what a gorgeous emotional piece of work.
Muddy Waters
3/5
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Carole King
4/5
Pink Floyd
4/5
Tom Waits
4/5
Paul Simon
5/5
The Jam
4/5
The Sonics
3/5
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Of Springsteen’s near flawless, decade and a half run of albums at the beginning of his career, this is probably my least favorite. “No Surrender” still rules though.
Genesis
4/5
Never really listened to Genesis outside of the hits until my uncle passed last year. This was one of his favorite albums. I think I appreciate a lot of prog rock more than I like it, but there’s some cool shit going on here. Phil Collins is a monster drummer.
Pixies
4/5
I really do not listen to Pixies enough, and when I do it’s usually Doolittle, which is probably their best album. But this album kinda rules too.
Waylon Jennings
4/5
Incredible Bongo Band
2/5
Mj Cole
3/5
Isaac Hayes
4/5
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
One of the best pop rock albums of all time. Also, maybe the only band I can think of with male and female singers where the male singer isn’t a total embarrassment to the band. ALSO, somehow I’m just realizing how tight of a drummer Mick Fleetwood is.
Jurassic 5
4/5
Coldplay
5/5
I was so deep into early Radiohead at the time that when I first saw the “Yellow” video on tv shortly after this album came out I was instantly hooked. Coldplay’s early work is way more than just a 90s era Radiohead pastiche though. Listening to this album (and even parts of Rush Of Blood…) Coldplay still sounds like a small bad writing simple, emotional, well-crafted songs instead of the overblown trend-hopping pop stars they’ve been the last decade plus. It seems kind of hopeless to think that they’ll ever sound like this again, but it would be nice if they went back to sounding anything like a rock band again.
Lana Del Rey
3/5
Almost gave this a higher rating, but some of the lyrics are cheesy af…but maybe that’s part of her appeal?? Idk
Parliament
4/5
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5/5
Shivkumar Sharma
5/5
I’m into this WAY more than I thought I’d be. It’s so calming and the music is so complex and intricate.
Wilco
5/5
Wilco has several great albums. Sometimes I tell myself my favorite is something different than this one, but this is just a straight up masterpiece in every sense of the word.
The Roots
4/5
Hole
5/5
I’m a little ashamed that younger me had some sort of block in my head that convinced me that this band was lesser than the other similar bands I liked at the time and wasn’t worth checking out, because I love this now and I’m sure I would’ve then too.
Sade
4/5
Smooth operator, indeed
Sex Pistols
4/5
The Rolling Stones
5/5
The Replacements
4/5
David Bowie
5/5
Mike Oldfield
4/5
This album is wild as fuck and does so many vastly different things
Paul Simon
4/5
When I first dove into Paul Simon’s catalog a few years ago, this was one of my least favorite of his solo albums. I still think it’s pretty uneven, but the title track is one of his best songs, and “Train In The Distance,” and “Renee and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After The War” are really great too.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
3/5
Fleet Foxes
4/5
Missed this album back in the day, but I quite enjoyed listening to it today. Has a lot of similarities to things I already like and I imagine I’ll be revisiting this a bit.
Les Rythmes Digitales
2/5
Pere Ubu
3/5
Queens of the Stone Age
5/5
Probably my second favorite QOTSA album, but goddamn it gets me pumped. A near perfect combo of simple and repetitive structures with complex and intricate arrangements and rhythms and great melodies. The instrumental bonus tracks are unnecessary though and it’s weird that the reissue is the only version on streaming
Adam & The Ants
4/5
Fairport Convention
4/5
Chicago
4/5
Prince
4/5
Super Furry Animals
4/5
Wild Beasts
4/5
Pretty weird but pretty good. Surprised I’d never even heard of this band at all.
Deerhunter
4/5
Miles Davis
5/5
Like a soundtrack to the best neo noir film never made.
The Pogues
3/5
I feel like I like the idea of this more than I actually like it.
Ray Charles
4/5
Led Zeppelin
5/5
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
Bobby Womack
4/5
The Flaming Lips
4/5
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
Hüsker Dü
3/5
Bob Dylan
5/5
Not my favorite of Dylan’s early all acoustic stuff (that would be The Times They Are A-Changin’) and a tad inconsistent, but “Blowin In The Wind,” “Girl From The North Country,” “Masters Of War,” “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall,” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” are among the greatest songs ever written.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
CHIC
3/5
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
4/5
Fishbone
3/5
Ice T
3/5
Jane's Addiction
4/5
Incubus
4/5
I love this album and have a huge soft spot for this band and genuinely think they’re underrated among 90s/00s popular hard rock bands. That being said, I can’t justify giving it 5 stars, but it’s a strong 4 from me. I put two songs from this album in a lyric diary project in 12th grade 😂
Mylo
3/5
UB40
3/5
Billy Bragg
5/5
I don’t listen to this album or Billy Bragg enough
Thundercat
4/5
Tim Buckley
4/5
Arcade Fire
5/5
I always forget how much I like this band and how great their first 3 albums are (Reflektor is really good, but the first 3 are perfect). This album definitely deserves to be on a list of best debut albums of all time.
Black Flag
3/5
The Velvet Underground
5/5
Idk why I never got into this band before. I dig this a lot.
Metallica
4/5
Interesting first Metallica album to get here
Everything But The Girl
3/5
This some proto-Dido shit. Pretty chill. I dig.
The Byrds
5/5
Rush
4/5
4/5
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
People have been telling me to get into this band for years and it hasn’t happened yet, but I dig this a lot.
The Cure
5/5
I still don’t know if this is my favorite Cure album, but goddamn is it perfect.
Rage Against The Machine
5/5
This album makes me wanna karate chop the sun in half while punching a cop in the dick.
JAY Z
4/5
Bee Gees
4/5
Jorge Ben Jor
4/5
Eels
4/5
Some of this kinda reminds me of Spoon and some of it kinda reminds me of Summerteeth era Wilco.
Big Black
3/5
Various Artists
5/5
Phil Spector sucks, but this slaps
Sparks
4/5
Beck
5/5
I’m not the biggest Beck fan. I like most of his stuff and admire how diverse his music is. But man… I love this album. I come back it occasionally when I’m in a certain mood. Great wallowing in sadness album. Great production by Nigel Godrich.
MGMT
4/5
The Who
4/5
Wu-Tang Clan
4/5
Hugh Masekela
4/5
Manu Chao
3/5
4/5
Eagles
4/5
Ravi Shankar
3/5
Emmylou Harris
4/5
Jerry Lee Lewis
3/5
The La's
5/5
This kinda sounds like if The Beatles had come up during the late 80s alt/college rock scene and I’m all about it.
Rocket From The Crypt
4/5
Paul Simon
5/5
Paul Simon has been making music for 60 years. He hasn’t released a bad album and he’s released several masterpieces. This one just might be my favorite though. Just banger after banger.
Stevie Wonder
5/5
“The fuckin’ crowded city!”
The Adverts
3/5
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
Pretty cool! Very good Van Morrison cover.
The National
5/5
Not sure what my favorite National album is, but this one sure is great!
David Bowie
5/5
Maybe my second favorite Bowie album after Low. This album sounds like drugs.
Nitin Sawhney
3/5
Green Day
4/5
For some reason I have a very vivid memory of reading (PRINTING it out even) an article on VH1.com in like 2003 or something about the recording of this album. I was very intrigued by the idea of 9 minute Green Day song. I probably bought this album the day it came out and I definitely listened to it a lot after it first came out. And then it became the biggest fucking thing in the world and I got tired of it for a long time and mostly fell off of the Green Day train altogether. Listening to this album now though is very interesting. It’s a very well-crafted album with very good songs that manages to hold up fairly well if also sounding pretty dated in some ways. Green Day was likely never going to be as good as their earlier albums again, but it’s kind of a shame that they also haven’t been as good as this album again at least.
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
There are times when this is my favorite Springsteen album. It creates a certain dark, foreboding mood in a way that none of his other work does except for maybe “The Ghost Of Tom Joad.” This album also might have his strongest songwriting of his career. It’s sort of amazing that only one of these songs has been adapted into a movie. Ever since reading Bruce’s book, “My Father’s House” kills me every time
Siouxsie And The Banshees
5/5
Like the crosspoint between early Cure and early U2 and extremely my shit. Can’t believe I hadn’t listened to this sooner.
ZZ Top
3/5
It’s funny how I sort of think of “Gimme All Your Lovin’” as a Christmas song because of The Santa Clause even though that song makes no sense being in that scene in that movie. This album has cool riffs and fun vibes though.
The Flaming Lips
4/5
The Mars Volta
4/5
Was into this band quite a bit back in the day but kinda fell off after the third album. This one still mostly rips though
Elton John
4/5
FKA twigs
3/5
Eurythmics
3/5
Gillian Welch
5/5
Really love this.
Black Sabbath
5/5
Riffs = thick. Grooves = smooth. Probably my favorite Sabbath album of the three I’ve heard so far.
Scott Walker
4/5
On the surface this is pretty standard 60s pop music, but there’s a weird, dark beauty lying underneath that makes it really cool.
David Bowie
4/5
Meat Loaf
4/5
Keith Jarrett
4/5
This is very chill and calming
Aerosmith
3/5
David Bowie
5/5
John Lennon
5/5
There’s still a hint of the sadness that permeates deep within his first solo album, but there’s also some hope and sweetness here too. “How Do You Sleep?” still makes me sad even if it is a banger musically.
Marvin Gaye
5/5
Bro was IN HIS FEELINGS about that divorce, huh?
Nick Drake
5/5
A friend once told me to read Nick Drake’s Wikipedia page because his story is incredibly sad. He was right. I’ve been a fan of Pink Moon for years, but goddamn if this album isn’t just about as beautiful and mournful as that one.
Lou Reed
4/5
The Byrds
4/5
John Martyn
3/5
The Undertones
4/5
The Notorious B.I.G.
3/5
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Violent Femmes
4/5
Prince
5/5
Radiohead
5/5
It’s rare for a band to have an album that’s a genre defining masterpiece that’s easily the best album of the year it was released. Radiohead has three albums that fit that category and 3 or 4 more that come pretty damn close to hitting that mark. In Rainbows is one of those masterpieces. It’s amazing how this album is one of their most accessible and “pop rock” friendly while also not losing any of the weirdness, experimentation, and anxiety-inducing darkness that defined their early-00’s work. This album is so good that it’s almost become a footnote that it also completely changed the game on how we buy music. Also, the bonus disc is incredible too.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
Black Sabbath
4/5
Sonic Youth
4/5
Jungle Brothers
3/5
Ash
4/5
Really dig this
Lorde
4/5
The White Stripes
5/5
It’s easy to forget sometimes that there’s only two people on this record
4/5
Nas
5/5
Primal Scream
3/5
John Grant
4/5
Frank Zappa
3/5
The Verve
4/5
James Taylor
5/5
Randy Newman
5/5
The Cure
5/5
This would be 5 stars just for “A Forest” and “At Night” but the rest of it is great too
Alice In Chains
5/5
The Byrds
3/5
k.d. lang
4/5
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
If it weren’t for Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness, I’d say this is the best Smashing Pumpkins album. Still, it’s one of the best guitar and drum albums of all time.
Steely Dan
5/5
It’s amazing how on paper this band sounds like the most uncool thing, but in practice they’re cool as all fuck.
The Band
5/5
The gold standard for roots rock/Americana. Just impeccable songwriting and musicianship.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Foo Fighters
5/5
It’s dumb to have ever wished for the Foo Fighters to sound like this forever, but I really wish they sounded like this for more than they did
AC/DC
4/5
Just a fun and incredibly horny rock record.
Nick Drake
5/5
Timeless, transcendent, beautiful, and heartbreaking
Radiohead
5/5
This is maybe the 4th or 5th best Radiohead album and it’s still perfect. That’s how great they are.
Don McLean
3/5
The War On Drugs
4/5
Guns N' Roses
3/5
Elastica
5/5
The The
3/5
Joan Armatrading
4/5
Johnny Cash
4/5
One of the most iconic voices of all time singing some of the best songs ever written less than a year before his death is grade A emotional manipulation, but goddamn if it doesn’t work
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
5/5
The Dictators
3/5
Dirty Projectors
4/5
Another casualty of my “I wasn’t paying attention to ‘mainstream indie rock’ at this time that I definitely would’ve liked” era
Janis Joplin
4/5
The Teardrop Explodes
3/5
It’s interesting how so many post-punk/new wave bands from the early 80s sound like variations on the same sound. Not in a bad way…just interesting..
The 13th Floor Elevators
3/5
Guided By Voices
4/5
Anita Baker
3/5
Led Zeppelin
5/5
The Pharcyde
3/5
Hole
4/5
A Tribe Called Quest
5/5
I may not be too well-versed in hip-hop but I know that this album rules.
Lenny Kravitz
4/5
My impression of Lenny Kravitz after hearing “Fly Away,” “American Woman,” and “Are You Gonna Go My Way?” on the radio forever is that he’d be hard to take seriously. Listening to this album though I’m like…what if Lenny Kravitz is good???
SAULT
4/5
Iron Maiden
4/5
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Obviously, Hendrix was an incredible guitar player, but I think if he also wasn’t such a great singer and songwriter, and Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding weren’t also great musicians, much fewer people would still care about his songs today.
The Gun Club
3/5
The Fall
3/5
Musically pretty cool, but I can only handle so much of the whole talk singing thing
Silver Jews
4/5
I’d somehow never heard of David Berman until he died in 2019, but everything I’ve heard of him since I’ve really liked. It’s like if Pavement was sadder and slightly twangier.
Teenage Fanclub
5/5
Love this. I really should’ve listened to it when I first heard of it years ago.
Pink Floyd
5/5
I’m not sure if this is my favorite Pink Floyd album, but the title track might be my favorite Pink Floyd song, as cliche as that might be.
The Doors
4/5
Aretha Franklin
4/5
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
Weather Report
4/5
Beastie Boys
5/5
Ray Charles
4/5
The Cure
5/5
Sometimes this is my favorite Cure album. It’s also the first album I remember playing drums along to as a kid.
Queen
5/5
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
3/5
Cypress Hill
3/5
Radiohead
5/5
Spiritualized
4/5
Sleater-Kinney
5/5
This album just straight up rules
Metallica
5/5
Arctic Monkeys
4/5
This album is fun as fuck. 4.5
Jazmine Sullivan
3/5
Adele
4/5
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
The Boo Radleys
4/5
Ian Dury
4/5
Like a horny, party boy version of Billy Bragg.
Air
4/5
Van Halen
4/5
Sufjan Stevens
5/5
This is really the only Sufjan album I’m familiar with but it’s a stunningly beautiful and staggeringly ambitious piece of art that would be incredibly difficult to reproduce. The fact that he had ever planned to do an album for each state is completely fucking bonkers.
The Stooges
4/5
Oasis
4/5
I like What’s The Story better but this one is sick
Motörhead
4/5
David Bowie
5/5
Likely no other artist will go out like Bowie did: surprise release two great albums relatively close together and then promptly die without any warning. A true king.
The Black Keys
4/5
This is after I stopped really paying attention to this band, but this album is pretty cool if a little long and not as good as Rubber Factory or Thickfreakness. Not sure if I ever actually listened to it all the way through before.
Depeche Mode
4/5
Radiohead
5/5
Frank Black
4/5
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
The title track is my favorite Hendrix song.
Garbage
4/5
Willing to bet Billy Corgan was listening to this a lot when he wrote Adore.
CHIC
3/5
Kanye West
4/5
First time I heard this album was at a closet of an apartment in Philly at 3 am in the waning days of 2011 as some guy we were staying with was blasting it and trying to convince us of its greatness when all we wanted to do was sleep. I liked it better this time.
Kate Bush
4/5
PJ Harvey
5/5
I’ve been hearing that this album is great since it came out and I’m dumb for not listening to it until now because it is great.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Beastie Boys
4/5
This album is cool, but far from the best Beastie Boys album.
The United States Of America
3/5
Moby
3/5
Afrika Bambaataa
3/5
Travis
4/5
Travis walked so Coldplay could fly. Was way into this album and The Invisible Band in middle school. Nothing extraordinary, but solid albums!
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Television
5/5
Fucking incredible guitar work. Yet another album that I’d been meaning check out for years that I wish I’d gotten to sooner.
Radiohead
5/5
Japan
3/5
TLC
3/5
Shuggie Otis
4/5
Björk
5/5
There is truly no one like Björk
The Only Ones
4/5
Johnny Cash
4/5
Pink Floyd
4/5
It’s interesting to think about what Pink Floyd would’ve been like had Syd Barrett stayed in the band.
Muddy Waters
4/5
Fela Kuti
3/5
The Soft Boys
4/5
David Gray
4/5
Holds up very well! “Please Forgive Me” is a perfect song. 4.5.
XTC
4/5
I like this a lot. Very eclectic with interesting arrangements and great melodies.
Elvis Presley
4/5
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
Belle & Sebastian
5/5
Antony and the Johnsons
3/5
Prince
5/5
Jimmy Smith
4/5
The Monkees
4/5
Roxy Music
4/5
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
3/5
The Sugarcubes
4/5
The Sugarcubes: great band with a one of a kind incredible lead singer and a sometimes secondary lead singer who wishes he was Frank Black.
Rilo Kiley: great band with a one of a kind incredible lead singer and a sometimes secondary lead singer who wishes he was Elliott Smith.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
James Brown
5/5
Fiona Apple
5/5
The Yardbirds
4/5
Metallica
5/5
Country Joe & The Fish
3/5
T. Rex
4/5
Joan Baez
5/5
Beck
4/5
Buck Owens
4/5
The Cardigans
4/5
The Who
5/5
As far as Who rock operas go I prefer Quadrophenia, but the scope of this album is impressive, especially for when it was released.
5/5
Not only one of the best albums of all time, but also one of the best opening stretches of songs on an album of all time.
Ute Lemper
4/5
The Stone Roses
5/5
Yet another band I’d been meaning to listen to for years but just hadn’t. Love this.
Beatles
5/5
Frank Ocean
4/5
Drive Like Jehu
5/5
Same thing I said about Stone Roses
The Smiths
5/5
The Smiths best album probably. Just insanely good hooks and arrangements. Too bad Morrissey’s an asshole now.
Tim Buckley
3/5
Arcade Fire
5/5
Man… why’d Win Butler have to go and be an abusive asshole? The first three Arcade Fire records are perfect.
Stevie Wonder
5/5
Stevie’s 70’s output is unimpeachable.
Miles Davis
5/5
Lucinda Williams
5/5
Radiohead
5/5
Quite possibly my favorite album of all time.
Thelonious Monk
4/5
Tori Amos
4/5
Norah Jones
4/5
Fugees
4/5
This was the first U2 album I heard, consciously anyway, and my first concert was seeing them on this tour, so I’ll always a special fondness for it. However, it’s a fairly uneven album. It’s got some really good or even great songs (Kite is the best on the album) but it feels like they played it too safe, which is a mode they really haven’t gotten out of since this album. Solid album, but not as good as their best.
Kacey Musgraves
3/5
Can
4/5
Queen
5/5
Steely Dan
5/5
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
4/5
John Cale
5/5
Depeche Mode
4/5
George Michael
3/5
Joy Division
3/5
I totally understand their influence and why they’re such a seminal band for so many people. I think I just missed my opportunity to get into Joy Division and have them have any meaningful impact on me. I also think I just like too many bands that took their whole thing and did it better.
Dolly Parton
5/5
Bob Dylan
5/5
One of Dylan’s many perfect albums
Nick Drake
5/5
Todd Rundgren
4/5
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
5/5
Elvis Costello has had a very varied and eclectic career with many highs, but goddamn if there ain’t a strong argument for this being his best album.
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
Animal Collective
3/5
Pentangle
3/5
Neil Young
5/5
Took a while for this album to click for me, but now it’s one of my favorite Neil Young records. The beginning of Neil doing whatever the fuck he wants at all times.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
5/5
There are a lot of very legitimate criticisms you can throw at this band, but it doesn’t change the fact that this album fucking slaps. A goofy band bonded together by immense trauma and drug addiction.
Bob Dylan
5/5
“Mr. Tambourine Man” probably isn’t one of my favorite Dylan songs but I’ll be goddamned if the following verse isn’t the most poetic shit:
Then take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves
Let me forget about today until tomorrow
The Beach Boys
5/5
It’s weird how the older this album get and the more I hear it, the more it sounds like it was beamed in from another dimension, even though all of the sounds on it are recognizably human. Just a pure masterclass in pop songwriting, production, and arrangement.
Bob Dylan
5/5
Prefab Sprout
4/5
The Hives
4/5
Veni Vidi Vicious is one of several albums I thought about buying many times during the height of “I Hate To Say I Told You So” being on MTV/VH1 all the time. Very cool stuff, though it’s weird that a compilation album would be eligible for this list…
Bob Dylan
5/5
Maybe the best breakup album of all time? Also one of my favorites
The Waterboys
4/5
The Police
4/5
Boston
3/5
These days when you hear an album was recorded in someone’s basement you think lo-fi indie or punk shit, not bombastic, widescreen area rock like this. Fun stuff!
Elvis Costello
4/5
Björk
5/5
Fairport Convention
4/5
The Mothers Of Invention
3/5
Screaming Trees
4/5
RIP Mark Lanegan. One of the most interesting figures of the 90s Seattle scene. Such an incredibly versatile voice with an equally incredibly versatile career. I really haven’t given this band in particular enough of my time, but this album is very good and deserves more appreciation. 4.5 stars.
Stephen Stills
4/5
A Tribe Called Quest
5/5
Jefferson Airplane
4/5
Unfortunately it’s impossible for me not to think of The Cable Guy when I hear “Somebody To Love.” Cool album though!
Scott Walker
3/5
Sinead O'Connor
4/5
Suicide
4/5
This is a wild album that I’m not entirely sure how I feel about yet. “Frankie Teardrop” is fucking intense and terrifying and bumps this up an extra star for me.
The B-52's
3/5
David Bowie
5/5
Led Zeppelin
5/5
The Killers
4/5
Green Day
5/5
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
There are some great songs on here, but the album could probably lose a few songs and overall sounds more dated than most of his other stuff.
The White Stripes
5/5
The lost art of naming your songs after the first line in the lyrics.
Cheap Trick
3/5
U2
5/5
Slint
4/5
Suzanne Vega
3/5
Pearl Jam
4/5
I have a lot of thoughts about this album. Pearl Jam are one of my favorite bands, but in my opinion this is a solidly mid-tier album for them. It’s undeniably a classic, with some great songs, and undoubtedly a large part of the reason they’re still a band today. However, they were hardly a band for a year before this album came out and while that young scrappiness is part of the appeal of this album, I don’t think they’d really hit reach the fullness of their sound until later in the 90s and early 00s. Eddie’s voice is great on this album, but he really came into his own later on and I think a big part of the reason his voice has kinda become a meme is because of how it sounds here. Also, too many terrible late 90s and early 00s bands seemed to base their entire identity on trying to copy this album without having any of the depth, insight, talent or vision that Pearl Jam has. All that being said, “Alive,” “Black,” “Jeremy,” “Porch,” and “Release” are all stone cold classic bangers.
a-ha
3/5
Bauhaus
3/5
The Pretty Things
4/5
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Björk
4/5
George Harrison
5/5
The Electric Prunes
3/5
Devendra Banhart
3/5
Circle Jerks
3/5
The Band
5/5
They really were THE Band, huh?
John Coltrane
5/5
Le Tigre
4/5
Nina Simone
5/5
Neil Young
4/5
I love this album, but the lyrics of “A Man Needs A Maid” have not aged well and the string arrangements on that song and “There’s A World” feel out of place with the rest of the album.
Linkin Park
3/5
I still have a vivid memory of “Crawling” playing over the morning announcements on day in 7th grade and everyone freaking out.
Megadeth
4/5
Elvis Costello
5/5
Elbow
4/5
Some of this kinda sounds like if Queens Of The Stone Age wasn’t heavy.
Cornershop
4/5
Pretty cool! “Good To Be On The Road Back Home” is a banger, and the Punjabi cover of “Norwegian Wood” is sick. Wild to think this is one of the last things Allen Ginsberg was part of.
Pulp
5/5
Gorillaz
4/5
Sepultura
3/5
Badly Drawn Boy
4/5
The Clash
4/5
Faith No More
3/5
Bob Dylan
5/5
“I’ve been to Sugar Town, I shook the sugar down, now I’m trying to get to heaven before they close the door.”
Kate Bush
4/5
Songhoy Blues
3/5
Patti Smith
5/5
5/5
Brian Eno
3/5
Brian Eno
4/5
Robert Wyatt
4/5
The Rolling Stones
5/5
Lynyrd Skynyrd
4/5
Booker T. & The MG's
4/5
The Doors
3/5
Metallica
4/5
The Flying Burrito Brothers
4/5
4/5
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Charles Mingus
5/5
Red Snapper
2/5
Roxy Music
4/5
The Youngbloods
3/5
Talking Heads
5/5
Pixies
5/5
The Divine Comedy
3/5
Caetano Veloso
3/5
Arcade Fire
5/5
Louis Prima
3/5
Primal Scream
3/5
Elliott Smith
4/5
Fiona Apple
5/5
R.E.M.
5/5
Cat Stevens
4/5
Stan Getz
3/5
Sheryl Crow
4/5
The Kinks
5/5
The Auteurs
4/5
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
The Louvin Brothers
4/5
Sonic Youth
4/5
R.E.M.
5/5
3/5
Miles Davis
5/5
Morrissey
4/5
Beatles
5/5
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
Taylor Swift
4/5
Joni Mitchell
5/5
At the very least this is my 2nd or maybe 3rd favorite Joni Mitchell album.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
4/5
Bad Brains
3/5
Simply Red
3/5
Van Morrison
5/5
Jack White
4/5
Beastie Boys
5/5
Talking Heads
5/5
Björk
4/5
Dinosaur Jr.
4/5
There’s no good reason for me to not already be a huge fan of this band.
Moby Grape
3/5
Steely Dan
5/5
Butthole Surfers
3/5
Cream
3/5
Manic Street Preachers
5/5
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
Big Star
5/5
Pantera
3/5
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Sly & The Family Stone
5/5
Marvin Gaye
5/5
Bill Callahan
4/5
Tears For Fears
4/5
Big Star
5/5
SZA
3/5
5/5
Santana
4/5
“Look, look, something is very wrong! I don’t want Santana “Abraxas,” I’ve just been in a terrible auto accident!”
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Kings of Leon
5/5
Wilco
5/5
Steely Dan
5/5
King Crimson
4/5
Supergrass
4/5
Happy Mondays
3/5
Spiritualized
4/5
Heaven 17
3/5
Billy Joel
4/5
Stevie Wonder
5/5
The White Stripes
4/5
4/5
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
John Prine
5/5
Ryan Adams
4/5
Fuck Ryan Adams, personally. This bitch blocked me on Twitter years ago for no reason. And he’s an abusive dick
The Modern Lovers
4/5
Morrissey
4/5
David Ackles
3/5
Genesis
4/5
Otis Redding
5/5
U2
5/5
Iggy Pop
4/5
Blur
4/5
Mudhoney
4/5
John Lennon
5/5
Probably the most emotionally vulnerable album made by an A-list artist.
Neil Young
5/5
Maybe my favorite Neil album
The Smiths
4/5
Kings of Leon
4/5
Van Morrison
5/5
Crowded House
4/5
Meat Puppets
3/5
Beatles
5/5
Probably my favorite Beatles album and one of my favorites of all time
Can
5/5
Neil Young
5/5
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
Van Morrison
5/5
One of the best albums of all time. A truly singular work of art.
The Pogues
3/5
I feel like I need to be in a very specific mood for this stuff, but this is album IS very cool
The Beach Boys
4/5
Joni Mitchell
5/5
Ryan Adams
4/5
Fuck Ryan Adams
Sugar
4/5
Emmylou Harris
4/5
Gram Parsons
5/5
The Who
5/5
Beatles
5/5
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
5/5
Dire Straits
4/5
Faust
4/5
Nirvana
5/5
Best drum album
Willie Nelson
4/5
Kings of Leon
4/5
Morrissey
4/5
Joni Mitchell
5/5
Paul McCartney
5/5
Sam Cooke
5/5
The Psychedelic Furs
3/5
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
I wish bands were still able and willing to make albums this sprawling, diverse, and ambitious
Sebadoh
4/5