Journey Complete!
Finisher #105 to complete the list
1089
Albums Rated
3.26
Average Rating
100%
Complete
Either Or
Elliott Smith
Favorite Album
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
2020s
Favorite Decade
Hip-hop
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Perfectionist
Rater Style ?
35
5-Star Albums
0
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Mama Said Knock You Out
LL Cool J
|
5 | 2.91 | +2.09 |
|
Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
50 Cent
|
5 | 3.05 | +1.95 |
|
Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor
Lupe Fiasco
|
5 | 3.13 | +1.87 |
|
The Blueprint
JAY Z
|
5 | 3.21 | +1.79 |
|
The Renaissance
Q-Tip
|
5 | 3.24 | +1.76 |
|
Me Against The World
2Pac
|
5 | 3.25 | +1.75 |
|
Beautiful Freak
Eels
|
5 | 3.28 | +1.72 |
|
The Slim Shady LP
Eminem
|
5 | 3.29 | +1.71 |
|
Channel Orange
Frank Ocean
|
5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
|
The College Dropout
Kanye West
|
5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hunky Dory
David Bowie
|
2 | 4 | -2 |
|
At Folsom Prison
Johnny Cash
|
2 | 3.98 | -1.98 |
|
Master Of Puppets
Metallica
|
2 | 3.73 | -1.73 |
|
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme
Simon & Garfunkel
|
2 | 3.62 | -1.62 |
|
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
|
2 | 3.55 | -1.55 |
|
Odelay
Beck
|
2 | 3.46 | -1.46 |
|
Beauty And The Beat
The Go-Go's
|
2 | 3.39 | -1.39 |
|
Smash
The Offspring
|
2 | 3.38 | -1.38 |
|
Sea Change
Beck
|
2 | 3.33 | -1.33 |
|
Live And Dangerous
Thin Lizzy
|
2 | 3.32 | -1.32 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Kanye West | 3 | 4.67 |
| Oasis | 2 | 5 |
| Elliott Smith | 2 | 5 |
| Kendrick Lamar | 2 | 5 |
| Radiohead | 6 | 4 |
| Michael Jackson | 3 | 4.33 |
| Nirvana | 3 | 4.33 |
5-Star Albums (35)
View Album Wall
All Ratings
Sigur Rós
3/5
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Track 1 sounds almost like the same melody as the Pokemon theme song.
Instrumentals are very nice. Lyrics are repeating and not rhyming.
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
3/5
The Black Keys
3/5
Some familiar songs from NBA2K. Commercialized sounds
Boston
3/5
Dire Straits
3/5
Ramones
4/5
The Go-Go's
2/5
Fugees
5/5
5/5
Appreciate this more than I did several years ago.
Hello - great melody
Roll With It - solid
Some Might Say - deep song and good lead single
Morning Glory - solid chorus melody and tune
Champagne Supernova - sound that I was going for. Smooth somber tune
Arcade Fire
3/5
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
Kate Bush
3/5
Running up the Hill. Good melody and weeknd like production
Solomon Burke
3/5
R.E.M.
3/5
Grizzly Bear
3/5
Steely Dan
3/5
Ali Farka Touré
4/5
Devendra Banhart
3/5
Portishead
3/5
Basement Jaxx
2/5
Death In Vegas
4/5
Album stood out. Mostly instrumentals. Could go into the zone.
Two vocal tracks both solid melody. First is almost hip hop like. Second is catchy. (Soul Auctioneer/ Broken Little Sister)
Sugar
3/5
New Order
2/5
Synth pop but found boring. Melody was not energetic or in key enough
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
2/5
Kate Bush
2/5
Sebadoh
3/5
Soul and Fire solid
Ok for another listen. But a lot of heavier metal components that turn off
3
New York Dolls
2/5
Not feeling it. Metal
Beck
2/5
Not able to get into this one. Depressing theme? But melody was boring
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
Little Fury Things. Solid chorus amid that heavy metal.
Poledo. 1st half. Liked the soft melody and instrumental. There was a loud break then a hazy second half. Threw me off liking the track.
The Offspring
2/5
Heavier rock
It'll Be a Long Time catchy
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Disturbingly murdering songs. Though appreciate storytelling lyricism
Female feature was catchy and soothing on Where the Wild Rose's Grow.
David Bowie
2/5
Alice Cooper
2/5
Spiritualized
3/5
Can review again. 3 or 4. Rock but not heavy.
Bill Evans Trio
3/5
Jazz. Good background
Bad Company
3/5
Oasis
5/5
Rock N Roll Star. Heavy guitar but great melody.
Live Forever. Beautiful "Live Forever" line.
Up in the Sky. I like but do not love the track. Interesting pacing and melody.
Columbia. Long. But I like the high pitch chorus.
Supersonic. Love the chorus and rhyming schemes.
Bring it On Down. Like the vocal distortion a la Gorgeous. Enjoy the instrumental melody too.
Lenny Kravitz
3/5
The Who
4/5
4 or 3. Some calm vibes.
Bargain has some interesting vibes.
Behind the Blue Eyes is my standout - though the song dragged on for continuous listening
Eagles
3/5
Title track Hotel California. Addable to playlist. Love the melody and the instrumental is light
And then got bored.
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
Liked the violin intro for Celtic Soul Brothers.
"Come On Eileen" is their "one-hit". Familiar with it but do not necessarily like it enough to keep on playlist.
Tim Buckley
3/5
Not a playlist listen. But enjoy the blues type instrumentals.
Hong Kong Bar
Deep Purple
2/5
Not sure about this. Live album. Heavy metal.
PJ Harvey
2/5
Not very interesting. Opening track featured that "loud burst" for choruses
Elbow
3/5
Jurassic 5
4/5
Chill hip hop. DJ Premier like scratches
Not an everyday listen but decent background.
3 to 4
What's golden
One of them
Anthrax
2/5
Metal but bearable. Not the screamy kind and some tracks had similarities to hiphop
2 to 3
Aerosmith
3/5
Pearl Jam
3/5
Once solid debit track
Black whistling at end of track
Black Flag
2/5
Screams metal. Unfortunately cannot get into a lot of it. too heavy.
Appreciate the lyrical themes of surviving depression
Public Enemy
4/5
Want to enjoy and give 5 but 4 at max. Bot engaging slow. Annoying hype man. Obnoxious production
Channel Zero
Black steel
Gene Clark
3/5
Chill production vibes. Not engaged on lyrics nor melody
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
3/5
Chill to have.
Almost Cut My Hair
Les Rythmes Digitales
2/5
Mostly remixes and electro dance type songs. 2
Thelonious Monk
4/5
Very chill jazzy instrumental album
Cocteau Twins
4/5
First song production is nice with faint female vocal.
Not sure annoying or still good by second song. Definitely not lyrics
Marty Robbins
3/5
Country pop. Nice storytelling.
"Big Iron" was featured on Fallout New vegas
Neu!
3/5
Chill background music. Minimal vocals.
Leb Wohl. Ocean wave sound
Manic Street Preachers
2/5
Billed as a radical anti establishment album. Speaks out on mental health and right wing racism.
Not too enthusiastic about melody
Did not pay too much attention to lyrics. Found the melodies to be boring
Randy Newman
2/5
2 or 3. Not too memorable.
Artist composed for animation films like Toy Story
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Marked as a 5/5 and top 50 all time album
Has some interesting background tunes. 3 or 4; worth another listen but do not see it as a regular playlist listen.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
At least a 4. Not quite a 5.
Enjoyed the blues instruments and the melody. I cannot say I loved a standout track. Definitely worth another listen. Especially like the opening track production
Common
4/5
Enjoyable. Chill listen.
The Corner.
Chi-City. Scratches "and you say Chi-City la-la-la-la-la"
Suicide
2/5
The album was influential in the development of many musical genres, including post-punk, synth-pop and industrial rock.[11] Tony Fletcher wrote in All Hopped Up and Ready to Go: Music from the Streets of New York 1927–77 that it would "in its own way", become as influential as other acclaimed punk albums such as Horses, Ramones and Marquee Moon.[30] In 2017, Henry Rollins, singer for Black Flag and Rollins Band, described "Frankie Teardrop" as "the single most intense song I've ever heard in my life".[37]
Ghost Rider funky. Interesting instrumental.
Have issues with the monotone speech delivery vocals. cannot any of the other tracks for this reason.
2
T. Rex
3/5
Retrospectively, Electric Warrior has received critical acclaim and is regarded as one of Marc Bolan's best works. Chris Jones of BBC Music called the album a "slice of pop heaven," and stated that "this was the point at which he and long-term producer Tony Visconti took the hippy-dippy lyrics and Larry the lamb vocal stylings and bolted them on to good old stripped-down, four-to-the-floor rock 'n' roll."[18] In his retrospective review, Steve Huey of AllMusic called it "the album that essentially kick-started the U.K. glam rock craze" and wrote that "the real reason Electric Warrior stands the test of time so well – despite its intended disposability – is that it revels so freely in its own absurdity and wilful lack of substance [...] Bolan's lack of pomposity, back-to-basics songwriting, and elaborate theatrics went on to influence everything from hard rock to punk to new wave."[1] Brian James of Pitchfork called it "the first and best of a trio of brilliant albums," stating that "When T.Rex is kicking out the jams, they sound like they're having the most gleeful, absurd good time ever committed to wax," but adding that "the most significant aspect of Electric Warrior isn't its arena rock confidence; it's that Bolan allows his grinning mask to slip [...] On ballads like 'Cosmic Dancer', 'Monolith' and 'Girl', he speaks in the same gibberish as elsewhere, but he's clearly haunted-- by what we can't say."[19]
- - -
I'd give around a 3; decent instrumentals with foolish guitars. Do not find anything catchy.
k.d. lang
3/5
Country vibes. Decent instrumentals. No standout tracks. 2 or 3.
Dire Straits
3/5
Ride Across the River
Brothers in Arm. Elec guitar remineisant of a Meek Mill sample.
3. Chill music to have on the background.
Orbital
3/5
Electro dance
Was going to give a 2 but upon second listen, this is decent background music. Reminds me of a sci fi instrumental mix.
Jerry Lee Lewis
3/5
Short live rock and roll album. Good performance but not something I would have on a playlist.
Eurythmics
2/5
Already know the title track. Not very interesting in terms of lyrics and production. Almost sounds pre Weeknd for the musical scores.
2
David Holmes
4/5
Instrumental hiphop. Decent background sound. Sci fi-ish vibe
4
The Crusaders
3/5
Jazz funk. First song vocals. Others are just instrumental.
Decent background music. Nothing notable.
3
Steve Winwood
4/5
Decent vocals and instrumentals
4
Reviewing for The Village Voice in June 1981, Robert Christgau credited Winwood for overdubbing all his self-performed instruments, but still found his brand of "British-international groove" more atmospheric than song-oriented and ultimately "lulling".[7] Robert Palmer was more enthusiastic in The New York Times, saying that Winwood has transformed himself into a "rock traditionalist" with the album. While highlighting "Dust" and the album's title track as "first-rate lyrics", Palmer said that "Winwood's impressive playing and arranging and utterly distinctive vocals make several of his collaborations with Will Jennings, especially the brooding 'Night Train,' almost as memorable."[8] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann wrote of the album, "Utterly unencumbered by the baggage of his long years in the music business, Winwood reinvents himself as a completely contemporary artist on this outstanding album, leading off with his best solo song, "While You See a Chance.""[9]
Waylon Jennings
3/5
Honky Tonk Heroes helped add to the "outlaw" image of Jennings,[28][29] and the album is considered an important piece in the development of the outlaw subgenre in country music.[30][31] Shaver, who was regarded as a major contributor to the subgenre considered that the album was "the touchstone of the Outlaw movement".[32]
The album was reissued on CD in 1994 by RCA Records.[33] Buddah Records released an issue on CD in 1999,[34] while RCA records later reissued the album on LP, CD and digital download through Fat Possum Records in 2013.[35]
The Cure
3/5
3/4. Goth themes. Got some Lil Peep in there.
Retrospective views of Pornography have been more favourable.[3] In his biography of the Cure, Never Enough: The Story of the Cure, Jeff Apter wrote that it "turned out to be the kind of album—just like Lou Reed's Berlin or Bowie's coke-fueled Low—that required some distance and a good few years of music history to be really appreciated".[3] In 1995, Mark Coleman of Rolling Stone noted that Pornography had come to be "revered by Cureheads as a masterstroke", while noting that "normal listeners will probably find it impenetrable".[3] Stewart Mason of AllMusic found it to be "much better than most mainstream critics of the time thought", but at the same time "not the masterpiece some fans have claimed it to be" and "just a bit too uneven to be considered a classic".[19] In 2004, Jaime Gill of BBC Music singled out the album's "sonic depth and sheer relentless conviction" for praise, adding that without these qualities, its "extraordinary misanthropy would be laughable".[29] Uncut called Pornography "a masterpiece of claustrophobic self-loathing."[30]
In 2000, Pornography was voted No. 183 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[31] In 2005, Spin cited the album as a "high-water mark for goth's musical evolution".[32] NME described Pornography as "arguably the album that invented goth".[33] Slant Magazine listed the album at No. 79 on its list of the best albums of the 1980s.[34] In 2011, NME listed Pornography at No. 6 on its "50 Darkest Albums Ever" list.[33] Mojo placed it at No. 83 on its list of "100 Records That Changed the World".[35] In his review for AllMusic, Stewart Mason also described the record as "one of the key goth rock albums of the '80s".[19]
The Boo Radleys
3/5
Shoegaze (originally termed shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop")[6] is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volume.[5][10] It emerged in Ireland and the United Kingdom in the late 1980s among neo-psychedelic groups[6] who stood motionless during live performances in a detached, non-confrontational state.[5][11] The name comes from the heavy use of effects pedals, as the performers were often looking down at their pedals during concerts.[12]
Unremarkable. 3
Thundercat
4/5
Drunk is the third studio album by American musician Thundercat.[6] It was released on February 24, 2017 by Brainfeeder.[7] It features guest appearances from Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller, and Pharrell.[8] It is his first studio album in nearly four years, his last studio album being Apocalypse. Drunk received positive reviews from music critics.[9] A ChopNotSlop remix from OG Ron C, DJ Candlestick, & The Chopstars entitled 'Drank' was released as a special edition purple vinyl record.
"Jazz fusion". Good melodies over chill jazz.
Rabbit Ho
Jethro
Walk On By. Solid Kendrick verse
Friend Zone. Standout production
4
Simon & Garfunkel
2/5
Bruce Eder of AllMusic called it the duo's "first masterpiece", one that regarded "youthful exuberance and alienation, [proving] perennially popular among older, more thoughtful high-school students and legions of college audiences across generations."[27] Andy Fyfe of BBC Music wrote in 2009 that he felt the record carried a sense of timelessness, calling its "boldest themes [...] still worryingly pertinent today," while remarking that the record as a whole "reflected the social upheaval of the mid-60s while playing as substantial a part in folk rock's evolution."[28]
In 2003, Rolling Stone listed the album at number 199 on their list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[29] dropping three positions to number 202 in a 2012 revised list.[30] Disc jockey and author Pete Fornatale wrote that "Few others have come close to the intelligence, beauty, variety, creativity, and craftsmanship that Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme captured."[31] Andrew Gilbert, in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, called it "their first great album," producing "a sense of impending doom and Simon's insistence on emotional connection that makes the album such an enduring work."[2
Dated music.
The Scarborough song is a childhood classic though
Don McLean
2/5
Billy Bragg
3/5
Liz Phair
3/5
Top 50ish album on Rolling Stone list.
Couldn't get into though. Did not find melodies interesting.
David Crosby
3/5
DJ Shadow
4/5
Endtroducing received widespread acclaim from music critics.[5] Alternative Press praised the album as "an undeniable hip-hop masterpiece" showing "DJ Shadow remembers that sampling is an art form",[58] while Q described it as "a cinematically broad spectrum so deftly layered that the sampling-is-stealing argument falls flat".[66] David Bennun from The Guardian said the record was "not only one of the most daring and original albums of recent times, but also one of the loveliest",[61] and in a separate review for Melody Maker, he wrote: "I am, I confess, totally confounded by it. I hear a lot of good records, but very few impossible ones... You need this record. You are incomplete without it."[67] In Playboy, Robert Christgau claimed that while listeners unfamiliar with its style of music would not find the tracks as powerful, "they are so rich and eclectic, and spun out with such a sense of flow, that this album establishes the kind of convincing aural reality other British techno experimenters only fantasize about."[68] Author and rock critic Greil Marcus penned a glowing review of the album in Artforum, where he called it "absolutely modern – which is to say ambient-dreamy and techno-abstract" and "quite brilliant throughout".[69]
Entertainment Weekly critic Jon Wiederhorn likened Endtroducing to "a surreal film soundtrack on which jazz, classical, and jungle fragments are artfully blended with turntable tricks and dialogue snippets" and said that it "takes hip-hop into the next dimension."[60] Tony Green of JazzTimes commended DJ Shadow's "unerring ear for motif and texture",[70] and Simon Williams of NME called him "both slyly knowing and brilliantly naive, fusing the dramatic and the deranged to his own sweet end."[62] Spin's Sia Michel said that the album "practically folds you into its symphonic fantasia, the coming-of-age story of a 24-year-old bunk-bed dreamer."[31] Rolling Stone journalist Jason Fine found that while Endtroducing occasionally lapses into less interesting "moody atmospherics", "even in the record's mellowest moments, Shadow's allegiance to the hard beats of hip-hop saves him."[64]
Endtroducing appeared in numerous publications' lists of the best albums of 1996. The album topped year-end lists by Muzik and OOR,[71][72] and placed second in Melody Maker's.[73] It was voted fourth place in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 1996.[74] Robert Christgau, the poll's creator, named Endtroducing the best album of the year.[75] The album also ranked in the top ten of year-end lists by The Face,[76] the Los Angeles Times,[77] Mojo,[78] NME,[79] and Vox.[80]
Solid instrumental tape. Got some EAST coast jazz rap vibes. OK to have in background
4
Carpenters
2/5
Year and Album of the Year at the 13th annual Grammy awards (1970). "Close To You" won the Carpenters a Grammy for Best New Artist and another Grammy for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group or Chorus the same year.[9] AllMusic's retrospective review deemed Close to You "a surprisingly strong album", particularly praising Richard Carpenter's original compositions "Maybe it's You", "Crescent Noon", and "Mr. Guder", describing them as superlative displays of both Karen Carpenter's vocal work and Richard's arranging talents. They also derided contemporary criticism against the album, insinuating that the negative reaction stemmed from Close to You being a successful pop record at a time of great political turmoil
Romantic ballads. As if Fallout Radio with 70s production
2
The Auteurs
4/5
Britpop
How could I be wrong
Early years
Home Again
4. Dont Care for some of the tracks but the ones listed above are good.
Morrissey
3/5
Margaret on he Guillotine. Controversial song calling for Margaret Thrasher death
Pink Floyd
3/5
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is the debut album by English rock band Pink Floyd, the only album made under founding member Syd Barrett's leadership. It was released on 5 August 1967 by EMI Columbia.[7] The studio album borrows its name from the title of chapter seven of Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows, which refers to the nature god Pan, who plays his pan pipes at dawn. The album was recorded at EMI Studios in London's Abbey Road from February to May 1967. The band consisted of Barrett (lead vocals, lead guitar), Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass, vocals), and Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals). Barrett was the band's primary songwriter, though two tracks on the album are credited to the band collectively and one track was written by Waters. The album was produced by Norman Smith, who would go on to produce two more albums for Pink Floyd.
The Piper at the
The Stone Roses
3/5
The Stone Roses was acclaimed by critics and musicians in subsequent years,[13] being viewed as an even more important album than when it was first released, as reflected by its high ranking in polls of the greatest albums of all time.[29] Rolling Stone's David Fricke later called it "a blast of magnificent arrogance, a fusion of Sixties-pop sparkle and the blown-mind drive of U.K. rave culture",[26] while BBC Music's Chris Jones said it served as a peerless testament to the fusion of rock and dance music inspired by "working class hedonism" at the end of the 1980s.[30] Mojo strongly recommended its 1999 reissue to listeners and wrote that the album "set the tone for rock music in the '90s",[31] while in Q, Ian Gittins wrote that with the album's "mercurial, timeless anthems", the band became "spokesmen for their generation".[25] Bernadette McNulty of The Daily Telegraph believed the 2009 reissue polished the band's bold mix of discordant psychedelic sounds and clever dance beats, but that its legacy as a fabled debut album was enhanced more by the darker, masculine music that followed in Manchester during the 1990s.[22] Zeth Lundy of The Boston Phoenix said it "has been deified by such dubious tastemakers as the NME and Oasis's Noel Gallagher — and the rest of us really like it too".[32] PopMatters critic Jennifer Makowsky argued that "the psychedelic, drug-powered pop songs on the album earned the band a well-earned place in alternative music history."[33]
However, American music journalist Jim DeRogatis felt The Stone Roses had been highly overrated by critics, pointing to a "lame retread disco beat" and "oh-so-dated chiming guitars",[34] while Neil Kulkarni from The Quietus said its first three songs were enjoyable but preceded a "right barrel-load of shite afterwards".[35] In an article on overhyped records for The Guardian, Peter Robinson said that The Stone Roses was "an average rock album – lyrically pedestrian and with a sonic policy swerving from the play-safe to the over-indulgent".[36] Guardian journalist Penny Anderson criticised the length of certain tracks and noted that the record "doesn't half drag on",[37] while Fiona Sturges of The Independent found Brown's singing and the band's lyrics to be remarkably poor, and objected to the editors of NME voting The Stone Roses the best British album of all time.[38] After the record was voted the second-best ever in a UK public poll, Channel 4 broadcast a presentation of the results in which three of the presenters—musician Bob Geldof, critic Paul Gambaccini, and artist Justine Frischmann—were critical of the album's inclusion in the top 100 and attributed it to the generation of listeners who voted rather than the record's quality.[39] Geldof claimed that the no. 2 placing was “ridiculous”, and asserted that the band are “just an OK group.”[40]
I Wanna Be Adored
Megadeth
2/5
Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? is often regarded as a thrash metal classic and as an album that gave prominence to extreme metal. It has been featured in several publications' best album lists, including Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die and Martin Popoff's Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time. The album has been reissued several times over the years. In 2004, the album was remixed and remastered by Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine, with extensive liner notes detailing the album's background. In 2011, the three different versions were reissued as part of the album's 25th anniversary celebration. All of them with the exception of the 2004 mixes feature new remastering.
Stereo MC's
4/5
In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau said that, although its music is amiable and rhythmic, Connected is also "so multifaceted that its functionality is fungible and forgettable."[5] In June 2000, Q placed Connected as #52 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.[citation needed] The album won Best British Album at the 1994 Brit Awards,[6] was shortlisted for the 1993 Mercury Prize,[7] and included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[8]
3 or 4. Some hip hop elements. Mostly dance and repetitive lyrics.
Derek & The Dominos
3/5
Blues type instruments
Bell Bottom Blues "I don't want to fade away"
Layla
Back half limited vocals
Bert Jansch
4/5
Bert Jansch is the debut album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch. The album was recorded on a reel-to-reel tape recorder at engineer Bill Leader's house and sold to Transatlantic Records for £100. Transatlantic released the album, which went on to sell 150,000 copies. The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[4] It was voted number 649 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[5
Chill folk guitar.
I Have No Time. Good melodic pattern.
Angie. Epic guitarwork
Astrud Gilberto
3/5
Beastie Boys
4/5
Since Paul's Boutique was first released, its critical standing has improved significantly.[32] NME critic Paul Moody found the album to "still [be] an electrifying blast of cool" in a 1994 review, viewing it as a "younger incarnation" of Ill Communication.[20] Mojo asserted that the album "shredded the rulebook" and called it "one of the most inventive rap albums ever made".[33] In a 2003 review for Rolling Stone, Rob Sheffield called it "a celebration of American junk culture that is still blowing minds today—even fourteen years of obsessive listening can't exhaust all the musical and lyrical jokes crammed into Paul's Boutique".[34] In a 2009 review, Mark Kemp of Rolling Stone called the album a "hip-hop masterpiece".[17] Nate Patrin of Pitchfork described it "a landmark in the art of sampling, a reinvention of a group that looked like it was heading for a gimmicky early dead-end, and a harbinger of the pop-culture obsessions and referential touchstones that would come to define the ensuing decades' postmodern identity".[21] Stephen Thomas Erlewine summed the initial reaction to Paul's Boutique and praised the density that the album contains:
Car Thief
Neneh Cherry
4/5
An early version of "Buffalo Stance" appeared on the B-side of the 1986 Stock Aitken Waterman-produced Morgan-McVey single, "Looking Good Diving", titled "Looking Good Diving with the Wild Bunch".[3] The single was not successful; however, the B-side was re-recorded with Tim Simenon of Bomb the Bass, and became the version of "Buffalo Stance" that was a worldwide hit, reaching #3 in the UK Singles Chart,[4] #3 on the Billboard Hot 100[5] and #1 in the Netherlands[6] and Sweden.[7] The album also contains the #8 US[5] (and #20 UK[4]) hit "Kisses on the Wind", and the #5 UK hit "Manchild".[4]
All musicians and programmers are credited in the album sleeve, however Cameron McVey, Cherry's husband, is credited as "Booga Bear". Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja co-wrote "Manchild", and fellow member Andrew Vowles aka DJ Mushroom performs on "Kisses on the Wind", "The Next Generation" and "So Here I Come". "My Bitch" is a vocal duet with Gilly G.
The cover and inner photos were shot by fashion photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino.
Music Edit
Raw Like Sushi is distinctive for its eclectic mix of genres, incorporating influences from across the trends of 1980s pop music. Cherry sings and raps accompanied by a diverse set of sounds, including pianos, synthesizers, brass instruments, guitars, and go-go percussion. The album's lyrical themes are influenced by Cherry's experiences of motherhood, and her education and upbringing.[8]
When it was released, the album was favorably compared to Madonna and Prince, though it did not reach similar popular
Old school rap and singing combo. Decent listen. Worth relistening
The Stooges
3/5
Australian band Radio Birdman chose their name based on mishearing the line \"radio burnin' up above\" in the song \"1970\". They also named their Oxford Street performance venue The Oxford Funhouse and covered \"TV Eye\" on their 1977 album Radios Appear.[citation needed]
John Zorn covered \"T.V. Eye\" for Rubáiyát: Elektra's 40th Anniversary: the same song was also covered for the glam rock film Velvet Goldmine by a supergroup featuring original Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton and members of Sonic Youth, with actor Ewan McGregor on vocals. The Birthday Party covered \"Loose\" on their 1982 live album Drunk on the Pope's Blood and, also live, the song \"Funhouse\": a version with sax played by J.G. Thirlwell appears on the 1999 CD The Birthday Party Live 81–82. the Damned's 1977 debut album, Damned Damned Damned, features a cover of \"1970\", entitled \"I Feel Alright\". Depeche Mode covered \"Dirt\" on their I Feel Loved single. Hanoi Rocks cover \"1970\" (titled \"I Feel Alright\") on their 1984 live album All Those Wasted Years. Spacemen 3 adapted \"T.V. Eye\" into the near-cover \"OD Catastrophe\" on their debut album Sound of Confusion. Michael Monroe also covered the song for his Another Night in the Sun live album in 2010. In 1989 indie rock band Blake Babies covered \"Loose\" for their album Earwig. They sampled Pop's voice into the song. Rage Against the Machine recorded a cover of \"Down on the Street\" on their 2000 covers album Renegades, and the main riff from their song \"Sleep Now In the Fire\" was inspired by the riff in \"T.V. Eye.\" A cover of \"Dirt\" appears on disc one of Screeching Weasel's 1999 double CD compilation \"Thank You Very Little\". In 2010, the Nigerian songwriter Billy Bao and his band went into the studio exactly 40 years after the recording of the album and recorded their album \"Buildings from Bilbao\" using all titles and song times for their own songs (except \"1970\", which is updated as \"2010\", and \"L.A. Blues\", which is called \"LAGOS Blues\").[citation needed] \"Down on the Street\" briefly appears on the song \"Maggot Death (Live at Brighton)\" off of the Throbbing Gristle album The Second Annual Report, as a field recording of a club playing the song over the P.A. system.
TV Eye. Catchy chorus melody
Todd Rundgren
3/5
Something/Anything was released in February 1972. White-labeled promotional DJ issues of the LP were pressed on colored vinyl — the first record on red vinyl, the second on blue.[28] Billboard reviewed that Rundgren's songs "have an aura of being irreverent, irrelevant little ditties, while in reality they are penetratingly strident observations", and that he seemed to have had fun making the album.[29] "Hello It's Me" was released as a single late in 1972, and reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 the following year.[30]
According to Encyclopedia of Popular Music writer Colin Larkin, the album has since been "rightly regarded as one of the landmark releases of the early 70s".[22] AllMusic especially praised the album's endearing tone and often adventurous variety of styles, commenting that "Listening to Something/Anything? is a mind-altering trip in itself, no matter how many instantly memorable, shamelessly accessible pop songs are scattered throughout the album."[5] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau also applauded the album’s variety: "The many good songs span styles and subjects in a virtuoso display ... And the many ordinary ones are saved by Todd's confidence and verve."[21] Rolling Stone found the songs "perfectly composed" while deeming the record Rundgren's "best-selling, most-enduring work born of desperation",[26] one that "demonstrates his command of the studio, unfurling his falsetto over a kaleidoscope of rock genres".[1] Axl Rose declared in a 1989 Rolling Stone interview that "Today, my favorite record is Todd Rundgren's Something/Anything".[31]
I Saw the Light. Cathchy melody and instrumentals
Nina Simone
3/5
Soul. OK. Recognize a few hiphop voice samples.
Deee-Lite
3/5
World Clique is the debut album by American dance music band Deee-Lite, which was released in 1990. The album's first single, "Groove Is in the Heart", was a top-five success on both the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart as well as a No. 1 hit on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart. Three subsequent singles also hit the top ten on the U.S. dance chart, including "Power of Love/Build That Bridge" and "Good Beat", which also hit No. 1.
Prince
4/5
Much of the album had a grandiose, synthesized, and psychedelic sheen to the production and performances. The music on Purple Rain is generally regarded as the most pop-oriented of Prince's career, though a number of elements point towards the more experimental records Prince would release after Purple Rain. The music video for the album's lead single "When Doves Cry" sparked controversy among network executives, who thought its sexual nature was too explicit for television. The risqué lyrics of "Darling Nikki" raised complaints from Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center and contributed to the implementation of Parental Advisory stickers and imprints on album covers.
Purple Rain became Prince's first album to reach number one on the Billboard 200. The album spent 24 consecutive weeks atop on the Billboard 200 and was present on the chart for a total of 122 weeks. "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, while "Purple Rain" peaked at number two and "I Would Die 4 U" peaked at number eight. In May 1996, the album was certified 13x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Its total sales stand at 25 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. Prince and the Revolution won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, while Prince also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for the film Purple Rain.
Music critics noted the innovative and experimental aspects of the soundtrack's music, most famously on the spare, bass-less "When Doves Cry". Other aspects of the music, especially its synthesis of electronic elements with organic instrumentation and full-band performances along with its consolidation of rock and R&B, were identified by critics as distinguishing, even experimental factors. Purple Rain is regularly ranked among the greatest albums of all time. Rolling Stone ranked the album number eight on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important".
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
Record Mirror's Ronnie Gurr wrote that "The Scream, a masterpiece that, for six months, I failed to recognise as such, was a harrowing listening experience."[37] Since its release, The Scream has received a number of accolades from the music press. NME rated it at No. 58 in their "Writers All Time 100 Albums" list in 1985.[38] Don Watson of NME described the album's music as "something that whipped the past into a great whirlpool of noise, pulling the future down".[39] Uncut magazine placed it at No. 43 in their list of the 100 greatest debut albums.[40] It was featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[41] In 2006, the music critic Garry Mulholland included it in his book Fear of Music about the 261 greatest albums since 1976.[42] In 2007, Record Collector wrote that "it stands as one of the great debut albums from any era".[43] In 2017, Q included it in their list of "the debut albums that changed music" with "revolutionnary sounds".[44]
The Scream placed the group among the pioneers of post-punk, as peer Robert Smith of the Cure contended:
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Court and Spark is the sixth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. It was an immediate commercial and critical success—and remains her most successful album. Released in January 1974, it has been described as pop, but also infuses Mitchell's folk rock style, which she had developed through her previous five albums, with jazz inflections.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
4/5
Fun Lovin' Criminals are a band from New York City. Their musical style is eclectic, covering styles such as hip hop, rock, blues, jazz, R&B, punk, and funk.[11][9] They are best known for their hit "Scooby Snacks", which features samples from films by Quentin Tarantino, and the song "Love Unlimited", which recalls Barry White's backing vocal group. Their songs often focus on life in New York City, as well as urban life in general. Their lyrics can be gritty or existentialist in nature, touching on topics such as organized crime and urban violence, but they are just as often humorous or satirical.[12][9][13][10] The band gained a large following internationally, notably in north-west Europe, around the release of their first two albums in the late 1990s.
Talking Heads
3/5
Reviewing for The Village Voice in 1977, Robert Christgau said that while "a debut LP will often seem overrefined to habitues of a band's scene", the more he listened to the album the more he believed "the Heads set themselves the task of hurdling such limitations", and succeeded with 77:
Like Sparks, these are spoiled kids, but without the callowness or adolescent misogyny; like Yes, they are wimps, but without vagueness or cheap romanticism. Every tinkling harmony is righted with a screech, every self-help homily contextualized dramatically, so that in the end the record proves not only that the detachment of craft can coexist with a frightening intensity of feeling—something most artists know—but that the most inarticulate rage can be rationalized. Which means they're punks after all.[25]
Talking Heads: 77 was voted the year's seventh best album in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[26]
In his 1995 book The Alternative Music Almanac, Alan Cross placed it in the No. 5 spot on his "10 Classic Alternative Albums" list.[27]
In 2003, the album was ranked No. 290 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time",[28] and 291 in a 2012 revised list.[29]
KISS
3/5
Detroit Rock City. Great melody.
Beth. Soft catchy.
Louis Prima
3/5
Old school. Jazz instruments with vocals. A la Fallout radio
Garbage
4/5
Garbage is the debut studio album by American rock band Garbage. It was released on August 15, 1995, by Almo Sounds. The album was met with critical acclaim upon its release, being viewed by some as an innovative recording for its time. It reached number 20 on the US Billboard 200 and number six on the UK Albums Chart, while charting inside the top 20 and receiving multi-platinum certifications in several territories. The album's success was helped by the band promoting it on a year-long tour, including playing on the European festival circuit and supporting the Smashing Pumpkins throughout 1996, as well as by a run of increasingly successful singles culminating with "Stupid Girl", which received Grammy Award nominations for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group in 1997.
This is very good. A couple of catchy melody. I like the lead singer's voice. Definitely deserve a re listen
Shuggie Otis
4/5
The album commercially underperformed Epic's expectations and Otis was dropped from the label following its release. However, it garnered Otis comparisons to Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, and reportedly impressed Sly Stone.[7]
Inspiration was re-issued on CD by Talking Heads frontman David Byrne's independent label Luaka Bop Records. This version, released on April 3, 2001, included the original album in its entirety as well as four songs taken from Otis' 1971 album Freedom Flight, including "Strawberry Letter 23".
The album was re-released again in 2013 with four previously unreleased tracks from 1971: "Miss Pretty", "Magic", "Things We Like To Do" and "Castle Top Jam". The re-release also features a second CD entitled Wings Of Love featuring 14 previously unreleased live and studio tracks recorded by Shuggie between 1975 and 2000.
Mix of good melodies and instrumentals
Jamiroquai
3/5
The album was listed in the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die list. Entertainment Weekly described the album as helping the band "turn out gritty organic grooves with enthusiasm."[1] Q magazine gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, describing it as "A funky and beautiful record, a contender for best British soul album of the '90s, and frankly better than anything Stevie Wonder has made since Hotter Than July." BBC Music claims [5] - "...the album was an infectious, funk mezze of trumpets, saxophones, didgeridoos and flutes, spawning the hit singles Too Young To Die and Blow Your Mind which both entered the UK Top 10 in 1993." An unsigned review from The Daily Telegraph stated that the band "take[s] every cliche in the soul handbook and somehow turn it into a thing of beauty. [Kay] calls women 'sexy ladies' and says things like 'you blow my mind' and 'no more wars,' yet somehow these stale sentiments are rendered fresh and fragrant and really rather wonderful."[11]
Sparks
3/5
The new album embraced the more pop-oriented side of the Mael brothers' song-writing, which had previously been evident in songs such as "Wonder Girl" and "High C". Now, with challenging arrangements by the new British line-up and Winwood's simpler production, the songs were more focused. The album slotted in with the current popularity of glam rock—which was dominating the charts—in particular, the more experimental and electronic sound of Roxy Music and David Bowie. Lyrically, the songs remained unusual and humorous. The great number of words filled with pop-culture references, puns and peculiar sexual content sung often in falsetto by Russell Mael set Sparks apart from other groups.
The particularity of their sound, which matched pop songwriting with complex lyrics, defined the group to their UK audience. Integral to the sound was Adrian Fisher's guitar playing and Martin Gordon's sonorous Rickenbacker bass. The novel input of competent and innovative musicians constituted a successful formula which was maintained only until the tour which followed the release of 'Kimono My House'.
New Order
4/5
electronic band New Order. Released on 30 January 1989 by Factory Records, the album was partly recorded on the island of Ibiza, and incorporates Balearic beat and acid house influences into the group's dance-rock sound. The album was influenced by the then growing acid scene, and Sumner's experiences at Shoom in London.[4] It was also New Order's final studio album to be released under Factory Records (though not their final Factory release, that being the following year's "World in Motion"); the label would declare bankruptcy in 1992 following a severe financial downturn caused primarily by the significant commercial failure of Happy Mondays' Yes Please!
Easy listening. Enjoyable melodies. 4. Deaerges another listen.
The Birthday Party
2/5
Critic Ned Raggett called the album a "scuzzy masterpiece" that saw "Cave's now-demonic vocals in full roar while the rest of the players revamped rhythm & blues and funk into a blood-soaked exorcism."[10] Julian Marszalek of The Quietus writes that "Junkyard still sounds as if it’s waiting for rock music to catch up with it," calling it "a high example of uncompromised music and art [...] that exists purely on its own terms."[11]
This is a heavy metal. Not finding the melodies to be attractive. Sounds like throat singing.
The Style Council
4/5
In 2014, Treble included Café Bleu in its list of "10 Essential Sophisti-pop Albums", saying that, while it does not feature synthesizers like the other albums on the list, "a mix of blue-eyed soul, jazz, and modern influences (for the time at least) made this record a sophisticated, progressive piece
My ever changing mood
A Gospel. Shocking rap. Sounds like The Message
Kraftwerk
4/5
Reviewing the album in 1978, Andy Gill of NME stated that "The Man-Machine stands as one of the pinnacles of 70's rock music", adding that "the sparsity of the lyrics leaves the emphasis squarely on those robot rhythms, chilling tones and exquisite melodies."[19] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau also reviewed the album that year, saying: "Only a curmudgeon could reject a group that synthesizes the innovations of Environments and David Seville & the Chipmunks, not to mention that it's better make-out music."[20] Mitchell Schneider from Rolling Stone found that the "chilling restraint and relentless sameness" of the lyrics and music are tempered by Kraftwerk's sense of humour and "sheer audacity", which makes for a listening experience that is "strangely pleasant in an otherworldly way."[21
Spacelab. Ff7 vibes
The Man Machine. Sampled in hip hop stuff such as Rockin It
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
4/5
The band had performed the Mussorgsky piece since their live debut in August 1970, after keyboardist Keith Emerson had attended an orchestral performance of piece several years before and pitched the idea to guitarist and frontman Greg Lake and drummer Carl Palmer, who agreed to adapt it while contributing sections to the arrangement. The album concludes with the concert's encore, "Nut Rocker".
Pictures at an Exhibition went to number 3 on the UK Albums Chart and number 10 on the US Billboard 200. In 2001, it was reissued as a remastered edition that included a studio version of the piece recorded in 1993.
Gary Numan
3/5
The Pleasure Principle has been described as featuring synth-pop[2] and new wave[3] throughout. Numan completely abandoned electric guitar on the album.[4] This change, coupled with frequent use of synthetic percussion, produced the most purely electronic and robotic sound of his career. In addition to the Minimoog synthesizer employed on his previous album, Numan made liberal use of the Polymoog keyboard, particularly its distinctive "Vox Humana" preset. Other production tricks included copious amounts of flanging, phasing and reverb, plus the unusual move of including solo viola and violin parts in the arrangements.
Notable tracks included "Airlane", the lead-off instrumental; "Metal", sung from the perspective of an android longing to be human (covered by Nine Inch Nails on Things Falling Apart, Thought Industry on Recruited to Do Good Deeds for the Devil and Afrika Bambaataa on D
Def Leppard
3/5
Hysteria received generally positive reviews. AllMusic reviewer Steve Huey gave the album a rating of five stars and stated that "Pyromania's slick, layered Mutt Lange production turned into a painstaking obsession with dense sonic detail on Hysteria, with the result that some critics dismissed the record as a stiff, mechanized pop sell-out (perhaps due in part to Rick Allen's new, partially electronic drum kit)." Huey characterized the album as "pop metal" rather than heavy metal, with reference to the production efforts by Mutt Lange, and called it "arguably the best pop-metal album ever recorded."[17]
Coldplay
5/5
Parachutes is the debut studio album by the British rock band Coldplay. It was released on 10 July 2000 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom. The album was produced by the band and British record producer Ken Nelson, except for one track, "High Speed", which was produced by Chris Allison. Parachutes has spawned the singles "Shiver", "Yellow", "Trouble", and "Don't Panic".
Dont Panic
Spies
Sparks
We never change
Simple Minds
3/5
New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84) is the fifth studio album by Scottish band Simple Minds. The album was released in September 1982 by record label Virgin, and was a turning point for the band as they gained critical and commercial success in the UK and Europe.
Motörhead
3/5
Live album
3ish. Decent but not a keeper
Brian Eno
4/5
Ambient 1: Music for Airports is the sixth studio album by English musician Brian Eno, released in March 1978 by Polydor Records. The album consists of four compositions created by layering tape loops of differing lengths, and was designed to be continuously looped as a sound installation, with the intent of defusing the tense, anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal.
Ambient 1: Music
Chill. Good for reading.
Moby
4/5
While some of Moby's earlier work had garnered critical and commercial success within the electronic dance music scene, Play was both a critical success and a commercial phenomenon. Initially issued to lackluster sales, it topped numerous album charts months after its release and was certified platinum in more than 20 countries. The album introduced Moby to a worldwide mainstream audience, not only through a large number of hit singles that helped the album to dominate worldwide charts for two years, but also through unprecedented licensing of its songs in films, television shows, and commercials. Play eventually became the biggest-selling electronica album of all time, with over 12 million copies sold worldwide.
In 2003 and 2012, Play was ranked number 341 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Songs From a Room was released in April 1969 and hit #63 on the U.S. charts and #2 in the UK. A single, "The Old Revolution", was released but did not chart. Like his debut LP, it received mixed reviews from critics, who were put off by his unusual singing voice but intrigued by the songs. In the original Rolling Stone review, Alec Dubro wrote, "Well, it looks like Leonard Cohen's second try won't have them dancing in the streets either. It doesn't take a great deal of listening to realize that Cohen can't sing, period. And yet, the record grows on you..." Mark Deming of AllMusic calls it "something of a letdown" and "neither as striking or self-assured as Songs of Leonard Cohen" but concedes, "Despite the album's flaws, Songs from a Room's strongest moments convey a naked intimacy and fearless emotional honesty that's every bit as powerful as the debut, and it left no doubt that Cohen was a major creative force in contemporary songwriting." Writing in 2011, Cohen biographer Anthony Reynolds declared, "Compared to the relative 'party' of the previous album, Songs From a Room is the hangover of the morning after... Yet there was a voluptuousness in the album's austerity, a richness of the 'less is more' variety." Amazon.com raves that Songs From a Room is "fully loaded with poetic classics." In a 2014 Rolling Stone readers poll ranking the top ten Leonard Cohen songs, "Bird on a Wire" came in at #5.
Brian Eno
3/5
The album marked a transition from the rock-based music of Eno's previous releases toward the minimalist instrumentals of his late '70s ambient work. Only five of its fourteen tracks feature vocals. Employing tactics derived from his Oblique Strategies cards for guidance, Eno utilised a variety of unconventional recording techniques and instrumental approaches, reflected in unusual instrumental credits such as "snake guitar" and "uncertain piano". The cover is a detail from After Raphael by the British artist Tom Phillips.
Though the album failed to chart in the United States or the United Kingdom, Another Green World was initially met with high praise from critics. Contemporary reception has been very positive; several publications, including Rolling Stone, NME and Pitchfork, have named the album among the greatest of the 1970s.
Hole
3/5
praised the "raw pain" of the lyrics and described the album as an attempt to "compete in the commercial alternative rock arena", stating that notwithstanding the lyrical rawness, "Live Through This rarely sounds raw because of the shiny production and the carefully considered dynamics. Despite this flaw, the album retains its power because it was one of the few records patterned on Nevermind that gets the formula right, with a set of gripping hooks and melodies that retain their power even if they follow the predictable grunge pattern."[2] John Peel listed it among his top twenty favorite albums of all time in 1997.[90]
In 2020, Rolling Stone included Live Through This in its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, ranking it at number 106.[91] It was also included in Time magazine's All-Time 100 Albums list, as well as the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (2006).[92] NME declared Live Through This the 84th greatest album of all time in its list of 500 albums, released in 2013.[93]
Randy Newman
3/5
The Specials
3/5
In a retrospective review, AllMusic described the record as "a perfect moment in time captured on vinyl forever... It was an utter revelation—except for anyone who had seen the band on-stage, for the album was at its core a studio recording of their live set, and at times even masquerades as a gig". It felt the album captured the feeling of "Britain in late 1979, an unhappy island about to explode", and that "The Specials managed to distill all the anger, disenchantment, and bitterness of the day straight into their music".[2] In 2008, BBC Music agreed that the economic and political conditions of the day had heightened the record's impact, saying, "To understand the impact of this spearhead of the ska revival on early Thatcherite Britain you have to imagine something so left field and yet so apt occurring today. It was as if depression-era dustbowl ballads suddenly became hip again in this era of global economic meltdown. Hardly anyone would have predicted that a musical form so tied to its Afro-Caribbean heritage (as well as its less cool skinhead connections) could, almost overnight, become the trendiest thing across the nation". It concluded that The Specials "was a classic example of a band making an almost perfect first album, acting as both a mission statement (the rise of right wing groups opposed by the message of Two Tone equality) and as an alternative way to have fun without having to pogo or spit ...The Specials remains a snapshot of a bleaker time, and a wrily comical antidote to political and cultural indifference anywhere".[14] However, Mojo's David Hutcheon, reviewing the reissue, felt that "Specials doesn't feel quite as exciting as it did 23 years ago".[15]
In June 2000, Q placed The Specials at number 38 on its list of the 100 greatest British albums ever.[16] Pitchfork featured The Specials at number 42 on its list of the 100 best albums of the 1970s.[17] Rolling Stone listed the album at number 68 on its list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s, as the album was not released in the US until 1980.[18] In 2013, NME ranked The Specials at number 260 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[19]
Deep Purple
4/5
Machine Head reached number one on the UK Albums Chart within seven days of its release, remaining there for two weeks before returning in May 1972 for a further week. In the US, during its initial release in 1972, the album reached number 34; the album then peaked at number 7 in 1973 when "Smoke on the Water" became a hit, and Machine Head remained on the Billboard charts for over two years.[47] The first single released from the album, "Never Before", reached number 35 in the UK and did not chart in the US. Prompted by heavy radio play of "Smoke on the Water" as an album cut, Warner Brothers eventually released it as a single in May 1973. The song became a hit in North America, reaching number two on the Canadian RPM chart and number four on the US Billboard Hot 100.[29]
The album was met with positive reviews from critics. Rolling Stone's Lester Bangs praised the lyrics to "Highway Star" and "Space Truckin'" as well as all the music, although he was less complimentary about the lyrics of the remaining songs: "In between those two Deep Purple classics lies nothing but good, hard-socking music, although some of the lyrics may leave a bit to be desired." Concluding his review, he admitted: "I do know that this very banality is half the fun of rock 'n' roll. And I am confident that I will love the next five Deep Purple albums madly so long as they sound exactly like these last three."[45] Robert Christgau wrote of the album: "I approve of their speeding, and Ritchie Blackmore has copped some self-discipline as well as a few suspicious-sounding licks from his buddies in London."[48] AllMusic critic Eduardo Rivadavia called Machine Head "one of the essential hard rock albums of all time."[40]
Blackmore noted that Machine Head was recorded in about three weeks, remarking that "everything was natural and it all worked." He further stated, "I didn't like Fireball very much because we were just working too much. But we had about a month off before Machine Head, which allowed me to get my head together and write some stuff."[49]
Kerrang! magazine ranked Machine Head at number 35 on their "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time" list in 1989.[50] In an Observer Music Monthly Greatest British Albums poll, Ozzy Osbourne chose the album as one of his 10 favourite British records of all time.[51] Machine Head became the subject of one of the Classic Albums series of documentaries about the making of famous albums.[52] In 2001, Machine Head was mentioned in Q's "50 Heaviest Albums of All Time",[53] while in 2007, it featured in The Guardian's 2007 edition of "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die".[54]
Iron Butterfly
3/5
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine calls the title track "the epitome of heavy psychedelic excess," and feels that the rest of the songs "qualify as good artifacts."[1] It was voted number 783 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Album
Buffalo Springfield
3/5
Buffalo Springfield Again is the second album by Buffalo Springfield, released on Atco Records in November 1967. It peaked at #44 on the Billboard 200. In 2003, the album was ranked number 188 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[9] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.[10] The album was included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings—published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981)[11]—and in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[12] It was voted number 165 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums in 2000.[13]
Ice Cube
4/5
Badly Drawn Boy
4/5
album by British musician Badly Drawn Boy, released on 26 June 2000. Damon Gough, who performs as Badly Drawn Boy, wrote, produced, and played several instruments on the album's eighteen tracks, several of which also feature accompaniment by members of the British indie rock bands Alfie and Doves. The Hour of Bewilderbeast was released to great critical acclaim and went on to win the 2000 Mercury Prize,[1] and has sold 455,000 copies in the United Kingdom as of September 2011.[2]
A lot of easy listening guitar type songs
Stone on the Water
Another Pearl
Method Man
4/5
Better than expected. Added tracks to playlist.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Talking Book is often considered as the beginning of the turning point in Wonder's career from a youthful prodigy to an independent and experimental artist. Speaking on the album in 2000, Wonder said, "It wasn't so much that I wanted to say anything except where I wanted to just express various many things that I felt—the political point of view that I have, the social point of view that I have, the passions, emotion and love that I felt, compassion, the fun of love that I felt, the whole thing in the beginning with a joyful love and then the pain of love."[6]
Sandwiched between the release of Music of My Mind and Innervisions, Talking Book saw Wonder enjoying more artistic freedom from Motown. Guest musicians appearing include Jeff Beck, Ray Parker Jr., David Sanborn, and Buzz Feiten. The sound of the album is sharply defined by Wonder's keyboard work, especially with the synthesizers he incorporated, giving a funky edge to tracks like "Maybe Your Baby". His use of the Hohner clavinet model C on "Superstition" is widely regarded as one of the definitive tracks featuring the instrument.[5] His clavinet embellishments on "Big Brother", though, evoke a six-string acoustic guitar, and his note-bending harmonica work touches on some folk and blues influences.
Talking Book has frequently appeared in professional rankings of the greatest albums.[23] It was voted number 322 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[8] In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it 90th on the magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[15] maintained the rating in a 2012 revised list,[24] and re-ranked it number 59 on a 2020 list.[25] Based on such rankings, the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists Talking Book as the 146th most acclaimed album of all time.[23]
Van Halen
3/5
1984 (stylized as MCMLXXXIV) is the sixth studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on January 9, 1984.[2] It was the last Van Halen studio album until A Different Kind of Truth (2012) to feature lead singer David Lee Roth, who left the band in 1985 following creative differences. This is the final full-length album to feature all four original members (Van Halen brothers, Roth, and Michael Anthony), although they reunited briefly in 2000 to start work on what would much later become 2012's A Different Kind of Truth.[3] Roth returned in 2007, but Eddie's son Wolfgang replaced Anthony in 2006.[2] 1984 and Van Halen's debut are Van Halen's bestselling albums, each having sold more than 10 million copies.[4]
The Roots
4/5
Phrenology received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 87, based on 23 reviews.[18] Mojo magazine hailed it as a "masterpiece",[25] while Rolling Stone writer Pat Blashill said it has "a startling array of hip-hop reinventions".[22] Dave Heaton from PopMatters called Phrenology "an impressive, ambitious work" that shows the Roots "filling their sound out and pushing it in a variety of directions", with a form of "tight soul/funk" that "sounds even more exact, funkier and edgier" than on Things Fall Apart.[26] In the Chicago Sun-Times, critic Jim DeRogatis gave the record four out of four stars and called it "a near-classic right out of the gate, an urgent, raucous and thought-provoking 70 minutes that mine the musical territory between hard hip-hop and smoother Philly soul".[27]
PJ Harvey
3/5
Harvey began writing lyrics for the album before setting the words to music. She has cited the poetry of Harold Pinter and T.S. Eliot as influences, as well as the artwork of Salvador Dalí and Francisco de Goya, the music of The Doors, The Pogues, and The Velvet Underground and the films of Stanley Kubrick, Ken Loach and Ari Folman.[6] She has also spoken of researching the history of conflict, including the Gallipoli Campaign, and reading modern-day testimonies from civilians and soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
During some solo shows some years prior to working on this album, Harvey had begun playing the autoharp. She told local newspaper Bridport News in 2011: "I was really enjoying this different, enormous, wide breadth of sound that the autoharp gives. It's quite a delicate sound, but it's also like having an entire orchestra at your fingertips. I began by writing quite a lot on the autoharp, and then slowly as time went by, (because this album was written over two and a half years)… my writing started moving into experimenting with different guitars, and using different sound applications, ones that I had never really experimented with."[6][7]
On the subject of a new vocal style for the album, Harvey commented that "I couldn't sing [the songs] in a rich strong mature voice without it sounding completely wrong. So I had to slowly find the voice, and this voice started to develop, almost taking on the role of a narrator."[6]
Heaven 17
3/5
In a retrospective review, Dan LeRoy of AllMusic felt that the album combined electropop with good melodies, and that Glenn Gregory was able to deliver the "overtly left-wing political" lyrics without sounding "pretentious".[1]
The album is included in the musical reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[2]
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
The songs on Nebraska deal with ordinary, down-on-their-luck blue-collar characters who face a challenge or a turning point in their lives. The songs also treat the subject of outsiders, criminals and mass murderers with little hope for the future—or no future at all—as in the title track, where the main character is sentenced to death in the electric chair. Unlike previous albums, which often exude energy, youth, optimism and joy, the vocal tones of Nebraska are solemn and thoughtful, with fleeting moments of grace and redemption woven through the lyrics. The album's reverb-laden vocals and mood combined with dark lyrical content have been described by music critic William Ruhlmann as "one of the most challenging albums ever released by a major star on a major record label".[5] Because of the album's somber content, Springsteen chose not to tour in support of the album, making it Springsteen's first major release that was not supported by a tour, and his only such release until 2019's Western Stars.[6]
Pavement
3/5
Since its release Slanted and Enchanted has appeared on many critics' best-of lists and is frequently cited as being among the most influential indie rock albums of the 1990s. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine cited the album as "a left-field classic" and "one of the most influential records of the '90s".[2] In 2002, Pitchfork awarded the album their maximum grade of 10.0/10.0 in a review of the album's reissue[28] and ranked it as the fifth greatest album of the 1990s in 2003.[29] Rolling Stone called Slanted and Enchanted "the quintessential indie rock album" and placed it on the magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time[30][31] In 2017, Billboard called it a "slacker masterpiece" and "the definitive indie rock album".[32
SZA
3/5
SZA wrote most of the album's lyrics and collaborated with producers including Craig Balmoris, Frank Dukes, Carter Lang, Scum and ThankGod4Cody to achieve its sound. The efforts resulted in a primarily neo-soul and R&B album, with elements of hip-hop, electronic, pop, indie and soul. Lyrically, the album has a confessional theme, which touch upon SZA's personal experiences and complexities of modern love; including desire, competition, jealousy, sexual politics, social media, and low self-esteem.
Parliament
4/5
The album is held together by a loose, escapist outer-space theme.[2] Describing the concept, George Clinton said "We had put black people in situations nobody ever thought they would be in, like the White House. I figured another place you wouldn't think black people would be was in outer space. I was a big fan of Star Trek, so we did a thing with a pimp sitting in a spaceship shaped like a Cadillac, and we did all these James Brown-type grooves, but with street talk and ghetto slang."[9] The album's concept would form the backbone of P-Funk's concert performances during the 1970s, in which a large spaceship prop known as the Mothership would be lowered onto the stage as part of Dr. Funkenstein's arrival.[10]
BBC Music described the album as a pioneering work of afrofuturism "set in a future universe where black astronauts interact with alien worlds."[11] Journalist Frasier McAlpine stated that "As a reaction to an increasingly fraught 1970s urban environment in which African-American communities faced the end of the optimism of the civil rights era, this flamboyant imagination (and let's be frank, exceptional funkiness) was both righteous and joyful."[11]
Decent background music. Not much lyrical content
The Louvin Brothers
3/5
Mark Deming stated in his Allmusic review "...this is a landmark of traditional country music that remains powerful more than fifty years after it was recorded."[1] Don Yates of No Depression magazine singled out the Louvins' version of “In The Pines” writing "It’s perhaps their most powerful rendering of traditional folk music’s bleak vision of a dark and forlorn land, where love is absent and death is the only certainty. It’s the centerpiece of what is arguably the Louvins' finest album."[3] The album is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[2]
Nightmares On Wax
4/5
Smokers Delight was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die book in 2005.[5] In 2015, Fact placed it at number 15 on the "50 Best Trip-Hop Albums of All Time" list.[6]
Inatrrimentals. Can see samples. Not on this album but "You Wish" is Rappers Delight
Solange
3/5
Elliott Smith
5/5
Either/Or was critically acclaimed.[22] Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club wrote that the album "marks something of a thematic transition" for Smith, noting "brightness and a pop feel" on Either/Or in contrast to the "stark, guy-with-acoustic-guitar confessionals about drug abuse and darkness" on Elliott Smith.[23] It was voted the 20th best album of 1997 in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll.[24] The poll's supervisor, Robert Christgau, was less enthusiastic about the album, finding Smith "tuneful if depressive"[25] and believing that, "he could too be popular—he just doesn't want to be, that's all".[26]
In its retrospective review, Tiny Mix Tapes opined: "Simply put, the songs on Either/Or are Elliott Smith's best".[6] Trouser Press called it "even more fully realized" than Elliott Smit
Animal Collective
3/5
The Adverts
3/5
a retrospective review for AllMusic, Dave Thompson called the album "a devastating debut" and "one of the finest albums not only of the punk era but of the 1970s as a whole".[2] Trouser Press said that "in its own way", the album "is the equal of the first Sex Pistols or The Clash; a hasty statement that captures an exciting time".[7]
Depeche Mode
3/5
In a retrospective review, Q magazine found the narratives on Music for the Masses to be among Depeche Mode's most uncertain and contemplative, and that most of its songs were "real diamonds in the darkness ... this was the point at which Depeche Mode were first taken seriously."[11] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani said that Music for the Masses showed the gloomier side of the "post-punk synthpop" scene during the 1980s and was a success with both critics and consumers.[21] Alternative Press called the record "articulate, intricate electronic music that lacked the tinny feel of DM's early synth pop".[22] Music for the Masses was listed by Slant Magazine at number 75 on their list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".[23]
The Incredible String Band
3/5
The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter is the third album by the Scottish psychedelic folk group, The Incredible String Band (ISB), and was released in March 1968 on Elektra Records (see 1968 in music). It saw the band continuing its development of the elements of psychedelic folk and enlarging on past themes, a process they had begun on their previous album, The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion. Instrumentally, it was the ISB's most complex and experimental album to date, featuring a wide array of exotic instruments. In addition, the album captured the band utilising multi-tracks and overdubbing.[7]
Baaba Maal
4/5
Djam Leelii is the first widely distributed album of Senegalese musician Baaba Maal and guitarist Mansour Seck. Several of the tracks have been released on Baaba Maal's later releases. It was originally recorded in 1984 and released in 1989 by Mango Records. A 1998 edition from Palm Records raised the number of tracks to twelve.[1] The album was featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Beatles
3/5
The Beatles, also known as the White Album, is the ninth studio album and only double album by English rock band the Beatles, released on 22 November 1968. Its plain white sleeve contains no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed,[a] which was intended as a direct contrast to the vivid cover artwork of the band's previous LP Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Beatles is recognised for its fragmentary style and diverse range of genres, including folk, British blues, ska, music hall and the avant-garde. It has since been viewed by some critics as a postmodern work, as well as among the greatest albums of all time.[1
Want to like this but skipping most songs.
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
The band wrote the songs for the new album in 1983. In early 1984 they recorded most of the album in Paris using a 35-piece orchestra, with other sessions taking place in Bath and Liverpool. Receiving mixed reviews the album was originally released as an LP and a cassette in May 1984 before it was reissued on CD in August. The album was reissued on CD in 2003, along with the other four of the band's first five studio albums, having been remastered and expanded before again being reissued in 2008 with a live bonus disc. The artwork for the album was designed by Martyn Atkins and the photography was by Brian Griffin. Echo & the Bunnymen played a number of concerts in 2008 where they performed Ocean Rain in full and with the backing of an orchestra.
Cocteau Twins
3/5
Cocteau Twins released their fifth album, Blue Bell Knoll, in 1988. Despite signing a major label deal with Capitol Records, the band declined to promote it extensively but nevertheless shot a video for "Carolyn's Fingers" which was issued as a single only in the US. The album was not supported by a tour.[7] The band brought on a manager for the first time as they ran into tax trouble previously. Watts-Russell, 4AD president at the time, reportedly "didn't care" for the new manager and his relationship with the band began to sour.[8]
The album has received positive critical acclaim. "Heaven or Las Vegas is their finest hour yet," enthused Martin Aston in Q. "Ten exquisite moments that make Kate Bush – their only possible comparison – sound as airborne as Motörhead".[24] The album subsequently featured in the magazine's "best of the year" roundup: "The Cocteaus continue on their inimitable course, blissfully regardless of what's going on in the world outside their surreal reality".[29]
Not liking as much as other album
Yes
3/5
Fragile is the fourth studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released on 26 November 1971 by Atlantic Records. It was the band's first album to feature keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who replaced founding member Tony Kaye after the group had finished touring their breakthrough record, The Yes Album.
Fragile received a positive reception upon its release, and was a commercial success, reaching No. 4 on the US Billboard Top LPs chart and No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart. An edited version of "Roundabout" was released as a single in the US in January 1972, which reached No. 13. Fragile has since been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling over two million copies in the US. It has been remastered several times since its release, some containing previously unreleased tracks.
Mostly instrumentals.
The Clash
3/5
The Clash is the self-titled debut studio album by English punk rock band the Clash. It was released on 8 April 1977 through CBS Records. Written and recorded over three weeks in February 1977 for £4,000, it would go on to reach No. 12 on the UK charts, and has been included on many retrospective rankings as one of the greatest punk albums of all time.
Neil Young
3/5
More recent evaluations of the album have been far more positive: in 1998, Q magazine readers voted Harvest the 64th greatest album of all time. In 1996, 2000 and 2005, Chart polled readers to determine the 50 greatest Canadian albums of all time – Harvest placed second in all three polls, losing the top spot to Joni Mitchell's Blue in 2000, and to Sloan's Twice Removed in the other two years. In 2003, a full three decades removed from its original harsh assessment, Rolling Stone named Harvest the 78th greatest album of all time,[21] then was re-ranked 82nd in a 2012 revised list,[22] and re-ranked 72nd in the 2020 list.[23] In 2007, Harvest was named the #1 Canadian Album of All Time by Bob Mersereau in his book The Top 100 Canadian Albums. The album was featured in TeamRock's list of "The 10 Essential Country Rock Albums".[24] It was voted number 93 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).[25]
Man Needs a Maid
Hanoi Rocks
3/5
In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau said that Monroe and McCoy lack hooks, are backed by "cute if over-calculated" dual guitar playing, and "yowl English-language lyrics that must impress Finns more than native speakers like myself."[3]
In 2005, Back to Mystery City was ranked number 293 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[5]
Back to Mystery City is also featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[6]
Mike Oldfield
4/5
Tubular Bells is the album most identified with Oldfield, and he has frequently returned to it in later works. The opening passage of the title track on the album Crises and the piece "Harbinger" on the album Music of the Spheres are clearly derived from the opening of Tubular Bells, as are "Secrets" and "The Source of Secrets", from Tubular Bells III. The opening is also quoted directly in the song "Five Miles Out" from the album of the same name, and the song also features his "trademark" instrument, "Piltdown Man" (referring to his singing like a caveman, first heard on Tubular Bells).
Erykah Badu
3/5
Mama's Gun is the second studio album by American singer Erykah Badu. It was recorded between 1999 and 2000 at Electric Lady Studios in New York and released on November 21, 2000, by Motown Records. A neo soul album, Mama's Gun incorporates elements of funk, soul, and jazz styles.[1] It has confessional lyrics by Badu, which cover themes of insecurity, personal relationships, and social issues.[2] The album has been viewed by critics as a female companion to neo soul artist D'Angelo's second album Voodoo (2000), which features a similar musical style and direction.[3][4][5] Critics have also noted that while Badu's first album Baduizm contained its share of cryptic lyricism, Mama's Gun is much more direct in its approach, and places the artist in a subjective position more than its predecessor.[6]
Caetano Veloso
4/5
Caetano Veloso is the debut solo album by the artist of the same name, released in Brazil in 1968. He had released Domingo the year before in collaboration with Gal Costa. It was one of the first Tropicália efforts, and features arrangements by Júlio Medaglia, Damiano Cozzella, and Sandino Hohagen, as well as an eclectic assortment of influences, demonstrating the "antropofagia" (artistic cannibalism) of the Tropicália movement. Sounds from psychedelia, rock, pop, Indian music, bossa nova, Bahian music and other genres appear on the album. It includes the hit songs "Alegria, Alegria", "Tropicália", and "Soy loco por ti, América".
Le Tigre
4/5
Dig the production. Similar to Wolf Alice.
Queen
3/5
Described as "arguably the heaviest Queen album", Queen II marked the end of the first phase of the band's career.[3] The album combines a heavy rock sound with art rock and progressive rock elements,[4][5][6] and has been called "a pillar of grandiose, assaultive hard rock" by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[7] Queen II is not a concept album but a collection of songs with a loose theme running throughout.[8] The two sides of the original LP were labelled "Side White" and "Side Black" (instead of the conventional sides "A" and "B"), with corresponding photos of the band dressed in white or in black on either side of the record's label face. The white side has songs with a more emotional theme and the black side is almost entirely about fantasy, often with quite dark themes. Mick Rock's cover photograph was frequently re-used by the band throughout its career, including the music videos for the songs "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975), and "One Vision" (1985).
Released to an initially mixed critical reception, Queen II remains one of the band's lesser-known albums. Nonetheless, the album has retained a cult following since its release, garnered praise from critics, fans,[4][9] and fellow musicians alike, and is significant in being the first album to contain elements of the band's signature sound of multi-layered overdubs, vocal harmonies, and varied musical styles.[4][10]
March of the Black Queen (2nd half)
Violent Femmes
3/5
Violent Femmes is the band's most successful album to date. It went gold four years after its release and platinum four years after that despite never having appeared on the Billboard 200 album chart. After achieving platinum certification on February 1, 1991, the album finally charted for the first time on August 3, 1991, and peaked at #171. Since Nielsen Music began electronically tracking sales in 1991, the album has sold 1.8 million copies. Blending RIAA certifications and Nielsen Music sales data, the record's American sales were estimated at three million as of 2016.[8]
Slant Magazine listed the album at No. 21 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s"[9] and was ranked number 974 in All-Time Top 1000 Albums (third edition, 2000).[10] In 2014, the staff of PopMatters included the album on their list of "12 Essential Alternative Rock Albums from the 1980s."[11]
Ian Dury
4/5
New Boots and Panties!! is the debut album by Ian Dury, released in the UK on Stiff Records on 30 September 1977. The record covers a diverse range of musical styles reflecting Dury's influences and background in pub rock, taking in funk, disco, British music hall and early rock and roll, courtesy of Dury's musical hero Gene Vincent. There are cheeky love songs and character stories based on the working-class people of the East End and Essex Estuary areas where he grew up. The songs are frequently ribald and profane, but also contain humour and affection for his characters
4. I like melody. Lively instrumentals
Neil Young
3/5
Recorded after (but released before) Tonight's the Night, On the Beach shares some of that album's bleakness and crude production—which came as a shock to fans and critics alike, as this was the long-awaited studio follow-up to the commercially and critically successful Harvest—but also included hints pointing towards a more subtle outlook, particularly on the opening track, "Walk On".
While the original Rolling Stone review described it as "one of the most despairing albums of the decade", later critics such as Allmusic’s William Ruhlmann used the benefit of hindsight to conclude that Young "[w]as saying goodbye to despair, not being overwhelmed by it". The despair of Tonight's the Night, communicated through intentional underproduction and lyrical pessimism, gives way to a more polished album that is still pessimistic but to a lesser degree.
Much like Tonight's the Night, On the Beach was not a commercial success at the time of its release, but over time has attained a high regard from fans and critics alike. The album was recorded in a haphazard manner, with Young utilizing a variety of session musicians, and often changing their instruments while offering only barebones arrangements for them to follow (in a similar style to Tonight's the Night). He also would opt for rough, monitor mixes of songs rather than a more polished sound, alienating his sound engineers in the process.
Bob Dylan
4/5
For many fans and critics, the album marked Dylan's artistic comeback after he appeared to struggle with his musical identity throughout the 1980s; he had not released any original material since Under the Red Sky in 1990. Time Out of Mind is hailed as one of Dylan's best albums, and it went on to win three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year in 1998. It was also ranked number 410 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2012.[3]
The album has an atmospheric sound, the work of producer (and past Dylan collaborator) Daniel Lanois, whose innovative work with carefully placed microphones and strategic mixing was detailed by Dylan in his memoir, Chronicles: Volume One. Although Dylan has spoken positively of Lanois' production style, he expressed dissatisfaction with the sound of Time Out of Mind. Dylan has self-produced his subsequent albums.
Feeling the production. Raspy voice.
Love Sick. Interesting bluesy vibe.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
The album showed a progression from straightforward rock towards folk and acoustic music. While hard rock influences were still present, such as on "Immigrant Song", acoustic-based songs such as "Gallows Pole" and "That's the Way" showed Led Zeppelin were capable of playing different styles successfully. The band wrote most of the material themselves, but as with prior records, included two songs that were re-interpretations of earlier works: "Gallows Pole", based on a traditional English folk song, by way of American singer Fred Gerlach; and "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper", a reworking of a blues song by Bukka White. The acoustic material developed from a songwriting session between Plant and Page at Bron-Yr-Aur cottage in Wales, which influenced the musical direction.
The album was one of the most anticipated of 1970, and its shipping date was held up by the intricate inner sleeve design based around a volvelle, with numerous images visible through holes in the outer cover. It was an immediate commercial success upon release and topped the UK and US charts. Although critics were typically confused over the change in musical style and gave the album a mixed response, Led Zeppelin III has since been acknowledged as representing an important milestone in the band's history and a turning point in their music.
David Bowie
3/5
For the album, Bowie took inspiration from electronic groups such as Boards of Canada as well as hip hop artists such as Kendrick Lamar and Death Grips. The album contains re-recorded versions of two songs, "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" and "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore", both of which were originally released in 2014. It was preceded by the singles "Blackstar" and "Lazarus", both of which were supported by music videos. The album cover, designed by Jonathan Barnbrook, features a large black star with five star segments at the bottom that spell out the word "Bowie".
Two days after its release, Bowie died of liver cancer; his illness had not been revealed to the public until then. Visconti described the album as Bowie's intended swan song and a "parting gift" for his fans before his death. Upon release, the album was met with critical acclaim and commercial success, topping charts in a number of countries in the wake of Bowie's death and becoming Bowie's only album to top the US Billboard 200. The album remained at the number-one position on the UK Albums Chart for three weeks. It was the fifth best-selling album of the year, worldwide. It has since been certified Gold and Platinum in the US and the UK, respectively.
I like the instrumentals a lot but the vocals are not my taste - lack melody
Bob Dylan
3/5
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on May 27, 1963 by Columbia Records. Whereas his self-titled debut album Bob Dylan had contained only two original songs, this album represented the beginning of Dylan's writing contemporary words to traditional melodies. Eleven of the thirteen songs on the album are Dylan's original compositions. It opens with "Blowin' in the Wind", which became an anthem of the 1960s, and an international hit for folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary soon after the release of the album. The album featured several other songs which came to be regarded as among Dylan's best compositions and classics of the 1960s folk scene: "Girl from the North Country", "Masters of War", "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" and "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right".
The success of Freewheelin' transformed the public perception of Dylan. Before the album's release, he was one among many folk-singers. Afterwards, at the age of 22, Dylan was regarded as a major artist, perhaps even a spokesman for disaffected youth. As one critic described the transformation, "In barely over a year, a young plagiarist had been reborn as a songwriter of substance, and his first album of fully realized original material got the 1960s off their musical starting block."[108] Janet Maslin wrote of the album: "These were the songs that established him as the voice of his generation—someone who implicitly understood how concerned young Americans felt about nuclear disarmament and the growing Civil Rights Movement: his mixture of moral authority and nonconformity was perhaps the most timely of his attributes."[109]
The Temptations
3/5
The album is a watershed for several reasons. It is the first regular Temptations studio LP to feature Dennis Edwards as the replacement for David Ruffin, who was fired in June 1968. In addition, it marks the beginning of the Temptations' four-year delve into psychedelia recording, at the behest of producer Norman Whitfield, in a fusion genre referred to as "psychedelic soul." The album went to number four on the Billboard Pop Albums Chart and the group received their first Grammy Award in 1969.
Nitin Sawhney
4/5
Beyond Skin is an album by English musician Nitin Sawhney. It was released on the Outcaste label in 1999. The album focuses largely on the theme of nuclear weapons; Sawhney states in the booklet that the album "has a timespan that runs backwards", beginning at "Broken Skin" with the India-Pakistan nuclear situation and ending at "Beyond Skin" with Robert Oppenheimer quoting the Bhagavad Gita – "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds".
Happy Mondays
3/5
Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches incorporates a larger influence from house music through Oakenfold's production.
The album was the band's commercial breakthrough in the band's country of origin, propelling the Happy Mondays to the top of their commercial success amidst the height of the Madchester and baggy cultural scenes. Along with the Stone Roses' self-titled debut album, it is considered the release that best captures the zeitgeist of the Madchester scene.
The Police
3/5
Synchronicity is the fifth and final studio album by English rock band the Police, released on 17 June 1983 by A&M Records. The band's most successful release, the album includes the hit singles "Every Breath You Take", "King of Pain", "Wrapped Around Your Finger", and "Synchronicity II". The album's title and much of the material for the songs were inspired by Arthur Koestler's The Roots of Coincidence. At the 1984 Grammy Awards the album was nominated for a total of five awards, including Album of the Year, and won three. At the time of its release and following its tour, the Police's popularity was at such a high that they were arguably, according to BBC and The Guardian, the "biggest band in the world".[1][2]
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
There's No Place Like America Today is a 1975 studio album by Curtis Mayfield.[1] It peaked at number 120 on the Billboard 200 chart,[2] as well as number 13 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[3]
Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.[5][6] He first achieved success and recognition with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted group The Impressions during the civil rights movement of the late 1950s and 1960s, and later worked as a solo artist.
The Shamen
3/5
En-Tact is an album by The Shamen, released in 1990. It was the first Shamen album to feature Mr C, and the last to feature Will Sinnott (who died on 23 May 1991). It fused the band's past psychedelic rock sounds with the rave act it became, developing a style that represented multicultural dance music.
First track hip hop sounding. Others were not too interesting
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
Blood Sugar Sex Magik is the fifth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on September 24, 1991, by Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Rick Rubin, its musical style differed notably from the band's previous album Mother's Milk (1989), reducing the use of heavy metal guitar riffs and accentuating the melodic songwriting contributions of guitarist John Frusciante. The album's subject matter incorporates sexual innuendos and references to drugs and death, as well as themes of lust and exuberance.
Blood Sugar Sex Magik peaked at number three on the US Billboard 200, and produced the hit singles "Under the Bridge", "Give It Away", "Suck My Kiss", "Breaking the Girl", and "If You Have to Ask". The album propelled the Red Hot Chili Peppers into worldwide popularity and critical acclaim, although guitarist John Frusciante quit the band mid-tour in 1992 (returning in 1998) due to his inability to cope with the band's newly found superstardom.
The album is recognized as an influential and seminal component of the alternative rock explosion of the early 1990s, with Steve Huey of AllMusic calling it "probably the best album the Chili Peppers will ever make."[6]
Gotan Project
3/5
La Revancha del Tango is the debut album by French musical group Gotan Project. It was released on 22 October 2001 on XL Recordings and ¡Ya Basta! Records.
La Revancha del Tango
Dusty Springfield
3/5
In 2020, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[5][6] In its official press release, the library stated that despite its modest sales when first released, "over time, Dusty in Memphis grew in stature to become widely recognized as an important album by a woman in the rock era."[5
Dusty in Memphis has frequently been named one of the greatest albums of all-time; according to Acclaimed Music, it is the 98th most prominently ranked record on critics' all-time lists.[26] NME named it the 54th greatest album ever in their 1993 list,[27] and it was voted number 171 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[28] In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked the record 89th on the magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[29] a rating which the album maintained in a 2012 revised list.[30] According to Richie Unterberger of AllMusic, the album's reputation has improved significantly over time as the music is "deserving of its classic status".[14] Tony Scherman from Entertainment Weekly said Dusty in Memphis is a "pure gem", Springfield's greatest work, and perhaps one of the greatest pop records ever recorded.[16] Q took note of its balance between "R&B and sensitive pop dramas",[19] while Spin critic Chuck Eddy viewed it as one of the all-important blue-eyed soul records.[31] In The A.V. Club, Keith Phipps wrote that Springfield and her team of musicians and producers for Dusty in Memphis developed an elegant and distinct fusion of pop and R&B that predated the Philadelphia soul sound of the 1970s.[32] According to Eric Klinger from PopMatters, its sophisticated style of music influenced the sound of 1990s trip hop artists who sampled songs from the album and became a blueprint for British female singers of the 2000s, including Adele, Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Joss Stone, Paloma Faith and Rumer.[33]
Dennis Wilson
3/5
Pacific Ocean Blue is the first album by American musician Dennis Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, and the only one released in his lifetime.[3] When released in August 1977, it was warmly received critically,[4] and noted for outselling the Beach Boys' contemporary efforts.[5] Two singles were issued from the album, "River Song" and "You and I", which did not chart.
Released in August 1977, Pacific Ocean Blue received mixed reviews upon release, but in subsequent years has been re-evaluated by critics and is now widely praised.[4] It has appeared on several "Best-of" lists[22] including Robert Dimery's "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die,"[23] and Mojo's "Lost Albums You Must Own"[24] and "70 of the Greatest Albums of the 70s" lists.[25] In 2005, it was ranked No. 18 in GQ's "The 100 Coolest Albums in the World Right Now!" list.[26] He did occasionally perform his solo material on the 1977 Beach Boys tour.[27] Pacific Ocean Blue later developed a status as a cult item.[28] In December 2018, under the name Chewing, Nik Ewing of Local Natives along with Cults, Nico Segal and Pop Etc covered Dennis Wilson's album in its entirety.[29]
Lou Reed
3/5
Buck Owens
3/5
MGMT
3/5
Oracular Spectacular is the debut studio album by the American band MGMT, released on October 2, 2007, by RED Ink and physically on January 22, 2008, by Columbia.[1] It was produced by Dave Fridmann and is the band's first release of new content, being recorded from March to April 2007. Promotion for the album started as early as June 2007, when the song "Weekend Wars" was given away in summer issues of free monthly magazine Nöjesguiden in Stockholm, Sweden. Matching CDs could be picked up for free in all stores in three different shopping malls around Stockholm from June 26 to July 31. The album was also promoted with three singles: "Time to Pretend", "Electric Feel" and "Kids". Both "Time to Pretend" and "Kids" were re-recorded for the album; they were originally included on the band's previous release Time to Pretend (2005), with the opening track serving as a "mission statement" and the theme continuing through the album's subsequent tracks.
Singles are all Familiar tracks.
Electric Feel
Time to Pretend
Kids (FIFA)
Green Day
4/5
A concept album, dubbed a "punk rock opera" by the band members, American Idiot follows the story of Jesus of Suburbia, a lower-middle-class American adolescent anti-hero. The album expresses the disillusionment and dissent of a generation that came of age in a period shaped by tumultuous events such as 9/11 and the Iraq War. In order to accomplish this, the band used unconventional techniques for themselves, including transitions between connected songs and some long, chaptered, creative compositions presenting the album themes.
Following the disappointing sales of their previous album Warning (2000), the band took a break before beginning what they had planned to be their next album, Cigarettes and Valentines. However, recording was cut short when the master tapes were stolen; following this, the band made the decision to start their next album from scratch. The result was a more societally critical, politically charged record which returned to the band's punk rock sound, with additional influences that were not explored on their older punk albums. Additionally, the band underwent an "image change", wearing red and black uniforms onstage, to add more theatrical presence to the album.
American Idiot became one of the most anticipated releases of 2004. It marked a career comeback for Green Day, charting in 27 countries, reaching for the first time the top spot on the Billboard 200 for the group and peaking at number one in 18 other countries. It has sold over 16 million copies worldwide, making it the second best-selling album for the band and one of the best-selling albums of the decade. It was later certified 6× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2013. The album spawned five successful singles: the titular track, "Holiday", "Wake Me Up When September Ends", "Jesus of Suburbia" and the Grammy Award for Record of the Year winner "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".
American Idiot was very well received critically. It was nominated for Album of the Year and won the Award for Best Rock Album at the 2005 Grammy Awards. It was also nominated for Best Album at the Europe Music Awards and the Billboard Music Awards, winning the former. Its success inspired a Broadway musical, a documentary and a planned feature film adaptation. Rolling Stone placed it at 225 on their 2012 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and again in 2020, at 248.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
It remains a critical favourite and is seen as a landmark album of post-punk.
Radiohead cited Juju, with Thom Yorke, Ed O'Brien and Colin Greenwood all mentioning their liking for the album.[18] O'Brien remembered recording "Spellbound" on a tape recorder after listening to the charts, noting that "it was a great era of music".[19] John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers mentioned it as one of his influences for the album By the Way. He said: "John McGeoch is a guitarist I want to be. He's got a new brilliant idea at each song. I generally listen to the records he recorded with Magazine and Siouxsie and the Banshees, Juju".[20] Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins selected "Arabian Knights" when he talked about some of his favourite music on BBC radio:[21] commenting the song, he said that "Siouxsie and the Banshees were able to unlock certain rhythms and feelings that are still in alt rock today".[22] William Reid of the Jesus and Mary Chain selected "Spellbound" in a playlist including some of his favourite tracks.[23] Suede's singer Brett Anderson cited Juju as one of his reference points.[24]
Ella Fitzgerald
3/5
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book is a box set by American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald that contains songs by George and Ira Gershwin with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. It was produced by Norman Granz, Fitzgerald's manager and the founder of Verve Records. Fifty-nine songs were recorded in the span of eight months in 1959.[5] It is one of the eight album releases comprising what is possibly Fitzgerald's greatest musical legacy: Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Complete American Songbook,[6] in which she recorded, with top arrangers and musicians, a comprehensive collection of both well-known and obscure songs from the Great American Songbook canon, written by the likes of Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, George and Ira Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, and Johnny Mercer.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Songs of Love and Hate is the third studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen. Produced by Bob Johnston, the album was released on March 19, 1971, through Columbia Records.
The album reached no. 145 on the US Billboard 200, but was his most commercially successful album in many other parts of the world, reaching no. 4 in the UK and no. 8 in Australia.[9] Writing in 2011, Cohen biographer Anthony Reynolds noted, "In some quarters it was the album that seemed to seal Cohen's reputation as being something of a downer, to say the least." In his review of the 2007 reissue release, Tim Nelson of BBC Music stated that Cohen's third LP "is perhaps less varied than the first two albums, but the focus is more intense and the sequencing superb. Be warned though: this is one of the scariest albums of the last forty years...". Mark Deming of AllMusic calls Songs of Love and Hate "one of Leonard Cohen's most emotionally intense albums - which, given the nature of Cohen's body of work, is no small statement." In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked the album no. 295 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list,[10] being the only Cohen album to make the list until Songs of Leonard Cohen reached No. 195 on the 2020 reissue, an edition the album failed to make.[11
Ray Charles
3/5
The album departed further stylistically from the rhythm and blues music Charles had recorded for Atlantic Records in the 1950s. It featured country, folk, and Western music standards reworked by Charles in popular song forms of the time, including R&B, pop, and jazz. Charles produced the album with Sid Feller, who helped the singer select songs to record, and performed alongside saxophonist Hank Crawford, a string section conducted by Marty Paich, and a big band arranged by Gil Fuller and Gerald Wilson.
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music was an immediate critical and commercial success. The album and its four hit singles brought Charles greater mainstream notice and recognition in the pop market, as well as airplay on both R&B and country radio stations. The album and its lead single, "I Can't Stop Loving You", were both certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1962, as each record had sold at least 500,000 copies in the United States.
The album's integration of soul and country challenged racial barriers in popular music at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. In the process of recording the album, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to exercise complete artistic control over his own recording career. In retrospect, it has been considered by critics as his best studio record and a landmark recording in American music. According to Robert Christgau, the album "transfigured pop, prefigured soul, and defined modern country & western music."[3] It has been called one of the greatest albums of all time by publications such as Rolling Stone and Time.
Franz Ferdinand
3/5
Franz Ferdinand received universal critical acclaim, holding a score of 87 out of 100 on review aggregator site Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 31 reviews.[4] Simon Fernand of BBC Music wrote that Franz Ferdinand "may not be a particularly long album, but it is a masterpiece of funky, punky, suave cool from the first track to the last."[15] Anthony Thornton of NME cited Franz Ferdinand as the latest act in a line of art school rock bands with "the absolute conviction that rock 'n' roll is more than a career option" and praised the album as "the latest and most intoxicating example of the wonderful pushing its way up between the ugly slabs of Pop Idol, nu metal and Britons aping American bands."[10] Heather Phares of AllMusic said that Franz Ferdinand "ends up being rewarding in different ways than the band's previous work was, and it's apparent that they're one of the more exciting groups to come out of the garage rock/post-punk revival."[5] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album a three-star honorable mention rating and quipped of the band: "Young enough to only work when they need the money, a musical tradition worth fighting for".[16]
Franz Ferdinand is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die[17] and was placed at number two on Planet Sound's Best Albums of 2004 list. Clash[18] placed "Franz Ferdinand" at No.14 in its list of the top albums from 2004–09. Online music magazine Pitchfork placed Franz Ferdinand at number 101 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.[19]
Napalm Death
2/5
Scum is the debut studio album by English grindcore band Napalm Death. It was released on 1 July 1987 through Earache Records. It is widely considered a formative influence on the grindcore genre.
The two sides of the record were recorded by two different lineups in sessions separated by about a year. The only musician in both incarnations was drummer Mick Harris. The two sides are very different, and the two taken together serve to bridge stylistic elements of heavy metal and punk rock. While the songs on the A-side are influenced heavily by hardcore punk and anarcho-punk, the vocals and lower-tuned electric guitars on the B-side anticipate subsequent developments in extreme metal.
The album sold more than 10,000 copies in the year of its release and reached #8 on the UK Indie chart. In 2005, Scum was voted the 50th best British album of all time by Kerrang! readers, and in 2009 was ranked number five in Terrorizer's list of essential European grindcore albums.[2] Scum is listed in Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[3]
The Velvet Underground
3/5
Jean-Michel Jarre
4/5
Jarre recorded the album in a makeshift home recording studio using a variety of analogue synthesizers, one digital synthesizer, as well as other electronic instruments and effects. It became a bestseller and was Jarre's first album to achieve mainstream success. It was highly influential in the development of electronic music from that point onward and has been described as the album that "led the synthesizer revolution of the Seventies"[3] and "an infectious combination of bouncy, bubbling analog sequences and memorable hook lines".[4]
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
In a contemporary review of Behaviour, Jim Farber of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the album contained the Pet Shop Boys' "best tunes yet" and "their most consistently beautiful melodies to date", noting "an easier way with the beats and greater vulnerability in the lyrics" compared to the group's prior work.[5] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune stated that Behaviour "may strike some listeners as even wimpier and blander than earlier releases, but its subtle brilliance emerges with repeated plays", calling it "a record that'll seduce dance clubs for a few months, and haunt the stay-at-home crowd for long after."[4] In a mixed review, Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times felt that the album's highlights leave "the occasional lapses and the forays into slower tempos" feeling "flat by comparison".[6] NME's Roger Morton conceded that it was "probably no more a disconsolate record than Introspective or Actually", but questioned its relative lack of a "defiant surge of rhythm".[7]
Q included Behaviour in its list of the 50 best albums of 1990 and wrote: "Some of their dance fans may be a trifle disappointed ... but the best ballads here are as wry and touching as vintage Broadway. Frank Sinatra should be calling shortly."[13] Robert Christgau, in The Village Voice, cited "Being Boring" and "My October Symphony" as highlights,[14] later assigning the album a two-star honourable mention rating, indicating a "likable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well enjoy."[15] Q later placed Behaviour in its list of the 90 best albums of the 1990s,[16] while critic Ned Raggett ranked the album at number nine in his 1999 list of "The Top 136 or So Albums of the Nineties".[17] Behaviour is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[18]
Neil Young
3/5
Tonight's the Night is the sixth studio album by Canadian / American songwriter Neil Young. It was recorded in August–September 1973, mostly on August 26,[1] but its release was delayed until June 1975. It peaked at No. 25 on the Billboard 200.[2] In 2003, the album was ranked number 331[3] on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, moving up to number 330 in the list's 2012 edition and climbing further to number 302 in the 2020 update.[4][5]
Tonight's the Night is a direct expression of grief. Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten and Young's friend and roadie Bruce Berry had both died of drug overdoses in the months before the songs were written. The title track mentions Berry by name, while Whitten's guitar and vocal work highlight "Come on Baby Let's Go Downtown"; the latter was recorded live in 1970. The song would later appear, unedited, on a live album from the same concerts, Live at the Fillmore East, with Whitten credited as the sole author.
U2
3/5
Achtung Baby (/ˈæktʊŋ/)[1] is the seventh studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 18 November 1991 on Island Records. After criticism of their 1988 release Rattle and Hum, U2 shifted their direction to incorporate influences from alternative rock, industrial music, and electronic dance music into their sound. Thematically, Achtung Baby is darker, more introspective, and at times more flippant than their previous work. The album and the subsequent multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour were central to the group's 1990s reinvention, by which they abandoned their earnest public image for a more lighthearted and self-deprecating one.
Achtung Baby has been acclaimed by writers and music critics as one of the greatest albums of all time; according to Acclaimed Music, it is the 82nd-highest-ranked record on critics' lists.[170] In 1997, The Guardian collated worldwide data from a range of renowned critics, artists, and radio DJs, who placed the record at number 71 on a list of the "100 Best Albums Ever".[181] The record was ranked 36th in Colin Larkin's 2000 book All Time Top 1000 Albums.[182] In 2003, the National Association of Recording Merchandisers ranked it at number 45 on its "Definitive 200" list,[183][184] while USA Today featured it on their list of the top 40 albums of all time.[185] Rolling Stone placed the record at number 62 on its 2003 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[186] Subsequent updates to the list re-ranked the album: the 2012 version ranked it 63rd, calling it "a prescient mix of sleek rock and pulsing Euro grooves" while saying "the emotional turmoil made U2 sound more human than ever";[187] the 2020 version of the list ranked it 124th.[188] In 2006, the album appeared on a number of all-time lists, including Hot Press's "100 Greatest Albums Ever" at number 21,[189] Time's list of "The All-Time 100 Albums",[190] and the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[191] VH1 ranked it 65th on the "100 Greatest Albums of Rock & Roll" episode of its television series The Greatest.[192] Entertainment Weekly's 2013 list of the "All-Time Greatest" albums ranked the record 23rd, saying that instead of "coast[ing] forever on the cinematic storytelling they mastered on the excellently righteous The Joshua Tree", the group "ripped up the rule book" with Achtung Baby.[193] The record topped Spin's list of the 125 most influential albums from 1985 to 2010; writer Charles Aaron said: "Unlike Radiohead with OK Computer and Kid A, U2 took their post-industrial, trad-rock disillusionment not as a symbol of overall cultural malaise, but as a challenge to buck up and transcend... Struggling to simultaneously embrace and blow up the world, they were never more inspirational."[179][nb 4]
Paul McCartney and Wings
3/5
Band on the Run is the third studio album by the British–American rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, released in December 1973. It was McCartney's fifth album after leaving the Beatles in April 1970. Although sales were modest initially, its commercial performance was aided by two hit singles – "Jet" and "Band on the Run" – such that it became the top-selling studio album of 1974 in the United Kingdom and Australia, in addition to revitalising McCartney's critical standing. It remains McCartney's most successful album and the most celebrated of his post-Beatles works.
Peter Tosh
3/5
Legalize It is one of the two solo albums released in 1976 by Wailers members, along with Bunny Wailer's album Blackheart Man. Bob Marley and his new Wailers also released Rastaman Vibration.
The song was written in response to his ongoing victimization by the Jamaican police and as a political piece pushing for the legalization of cannabis, particularly for medical use.[1] In 1977, Tosh backed this up by saying "We are the victims of Rasclot circumstances. Victimization, colonialism, gonna lead to bloodbath".[2] Tosh also said "Herb will become like cigarettes", in an NME interview in 1978.
Willie Nelson
3/5
Stardust was met with high sales and near-universal positive reviews. It peaked at number 1 in Billboard's Top Country Albums and number 30 in the Billboard 200. Meanwhile, it charted at number 1 in Canadian RPM's Country Albums and number 28 in RPM's Top Albums. The singles "Blue Skies" and "All of Me" peaked respectively at numbers 1 and 3 in Billboard's Hot Country Singles.
In 1979, Nelson won a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for the song "Georgia on My Mind". Stardust was on the Billboard's Country Album charts for ten years—from its release until 1988. The album also reached number 1 in New Zealand and number 5 in Australia in 1980. In 2012, the album was ranked number 260 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was originally certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in December 1978. In 1984, when it was certified triple platinum, Nelson was the highest-grossing concert act in the United States. By 1988, the album was certified quintuple platinum, and it was later inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame class of 2015.
Public Enemy
4/5
Fear of a Black Planet features elaborate sound collages that incorporate varying rhythms, numerous samples, media sound bites, and eccentric loops, reflecting the songs' confrontational tone. Recorded during the golden age of hip hop, its assemblage of reconfigured and recontextualized aural sources preceded the sample clearance system that later emerged in the music industry. Fear of a Black Planet explores themes of organization and empowerment within the black community, social issues affecting African Americans, and race relations at the time. The record's criticism of institutional racism, white supremacy, and the power elite was partly inspired by Dr. Frances Cress Welsing's views on color.
A commercial and critical hit, Fear of a Black Planet sold two million copies in the United States and received rave reviews from critics, many of whom named it one of the year's best albums. Its success contributed significantly to the popularity of Afrocentric and political subject matter in hip hop and the genre's mainstream resurgence at the time. Since then, it has been viewed as one of hip hop's greatest and most important records, as well as being musically and culturally significant. In 2005, the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry. In 2020, Fear of a Black Planet was ranked number 176 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Duran Duran
3/5
Three decades later, John Taylor still held the album in high regard. "The writing on Rio is fantastic, all out. Essential Duran Duran," he recalled in his 2012 memoir, In the Pleasure Groove. He also had high praise for the band's musicianship. "Every one of us is performing ... at the absolute peak of our talents," he wrote. "There is no showboating. Every part is thoughtful, considered, part of a greater whole."[19]
Foo Fighters
3/5
Foo Fighters is the debut studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on July 4, 1995, through Roswell and Capitol Records. Dave Grohl wrote and recorded the entire album himself, apart from a guest guitar spot by Greg Dulli, with the assistance of producer Barrett Jones at Robert Lang Studios in Seattle, Washington, in 1994. He claimed that he recorded the album just for fun, describing it as a cathartic experience to recover from the suicide of Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain.
The album was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 1996 Grammy Awards ceremony, but lost to MTV Unplugged in New York, an album by Grohl's former band Nirvana.[42] Kerrang! named Foo Fighters the best album of the year,[43] and Rolling Stone put it second on their list, behind PJ Harvey's To Bring You My Love.[44] It also ranked sixth on the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop poll,[45] and 20th on Spin's list.[46]
Supertramp
3/5
Crime of the Century is the third studio album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in September 1974 on A&M Records. Crime of the Century was Supertramp's commercial breakthrough in many countries, most notably in the UK, Canada and Germany where it peaked in the Top 5 while also making the Top 20 in Australia and France. It was an improvement over their previous sales in the US, but still only peaked at No. 38, with the US hit being "Bloody Well Right". "School" was another popular track, particularly at album rock-oriented radio stations. The album was eventually certified Gold in the US in 1977 after the release of Even in the Quietest Moments.... In Canada, it was eventually certified Diamond (sales of one million copies). The album was Supertramp's first to feature drummer Bob Siebenberg (at the time credited as Bob C. Benberg), brass and woodwind player John Helliwell, bassist Dougie Thomson, and co-producer Ken Scott. The album has received critical acclaim, including its inclusion in Rolling Stone's "50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time".[2
Stephen Stills
3/5
Manassas marked a critical comeback for Stills, with Allmusic calling it a "sprawling masterpiece"[1] and Rolling Stone saying it was "reassuring to know that Stills has some good music still inside him. Most of it has a substantial, honest sound found on too few records these days. All the sounds you hear come from the seven group members". Chris Hillman was singled out as an "importance in the success of Manassas and in the comeback of Stills, he can't be over-stressed [...] He's a masterful musician whether he's playing bass, guitar, or mandolin, and his boyishly pure, uncolored voice can carry a lot of emotional weight.".[15] However, Robert Christgau rated the album C+ and in a mixed review stated "Yes, Steve has gotten it together a little, even deigning to cooperate with real musicians in a real band, and yes, some of this four-sided set echoes in your head after you play it a lot. The only problem is you're never sure where the echoes come from".[16] In positive reviews, Record World called it "music of the highest order",[17] Cash Box said it will "convince you of Stills' worth",[18] and Billboard said it "offers loads of class material".[19] In a June 1972 review for The San Diego Door, Cameron Crowe said "Manassas always remains admirable if not exciting. The musicianship is generally excellent with the only pitfall being that the droning Stills' vocal pervades all but one of the LP's sixteen cuts". He also stated the "lyrics represent a low-point in Stills' lyricist career".[20] Chris Welch for Melody Maker said "The blues, soul, rock and country music are all the influences. They play them like the Grateful Dead, with a sincerity and ability that one does not always detect in the work of those exclusively involved in the original idiom".
The Cramps
3/5
Songs the Lord Taught Us is the first album by the American punk rock band The Cramps. It was released in 1980 on I.R.S. Records in America and Illegal Records in England.
Their music is mostly in rockabilly form, played at varying tempos, with a minimal drumkit. An integral part of the early Cramps sound was dual guitars, without a bassist. The focus of their songs' lyrical content and their image was camp humor, sexual double-entendre, and retro horror/sci-fi b-movie iconography.
Their sound was heavily influenced by early rockabilly, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll like Link Wray and Hasil Adkins, 1960s surf music acts such as the Ventures and Dick Dale, 1960s garage rock artists like the Standells, the Trashmen, the Green Fuz and the Sonics, as well as the post-glam/early punk scene from which they emerged, as well as citing Ricky Nelson as being an influence during numerous interviews. They also were influenced to a degree by the Ramones and Screamin' Jay Hawkins, who were an influence for their style of theatrical horror-blues.[6]
Despite being a Blues band by concept according to Ivy, the Cramps have influenced countless subsequent bands in the garage, punk and revival rockabilly styles,[7][8] and helped create the psychobilly genre. "Psychobilly" was a term coined by the Cramps, although Lux Interior maintained that the term did not describe their own style.[9]
Jane Weaver
3/5
ALBUM REVIEWS
Jane Weaver – Modern Kosmology
(Fire) UK release date: 19 May 2017
by Andrew Hall
published: 23 May 2017 in Album Reviews
Jane Weaver - Modern Kosmology“I’ve been trying to find another map,” Jane Weaver sings on the second track of her seventh LP, Modern Kosmology. “And now I’m changing my world,” she declares on the following title track, triggering a change and opening out in her environment – guitars crunching, machinery whirring into action.
Infectiously enthusiastic and fiercely independent-spirited, Weaver has been in a constant state of searching, transforming, becoming since playing in Kill Laura under the management of Factory Records’ Rob Gretton in the mid-’90s. Misty Dixon was another relatively short-lived act; early single Love Is Like a Butterfly – a charming indie chugger with slatherings of Suicide scuzz – was followed by Iced To Mode, an under-heard album clearly in thrall to Broadcast‘s ’60s-enthralled synth-pop, featuring twee, xylophone-led ditties and an adorable cover of Prince‘s The Beautiful Ones.
Weaver embarked on a series of varied, increasingly esoteric solo projects – traditional singer-songwriter folk fare, experimental soundtracks to Swedish short films, songcycles addressing sisterhood – and didn’t return to spacey, buzzing synths and ’80s pop songcraft until 2014: the Germanic kunstmarchen of 2010’s Fallen By Watchbird giving to The Silver Globe’s kosmische musik (Mercifully, the xylophone was left in the past, swapped for cooing Donna Summery vocals (Mission Desire) and Hawkwind samples (Electric Mountain)). To spin The Silver Globe was to bathe in glistening space-rock/disco-prog/dream-pop rays. Numerous record store workers, 6Music DJs and listeners of just plain good taste and decency span this wonderful LP consistently throughout 2014 (indeed, ever since), and they told their friends; when the time came to begin work on its follow-up, Weaver admitted she felt – possibly for the first time – a weight of expectation.
Sheryl Crow
3/5
Tuesday Night Music Club is the debut album from American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow, released on August 3, 1993. The lead single "Run Baby Run" was not particularly successful. However, the album gained attention after the success of the third single, "All I Wanna Do", based on the Wyn Cooper poem "Fun"[11] and co-written by David Baerwald, Bill Bottrell, Sheryl Crow, and Kevin Gilbert. The single eventually reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, propelling the album to number three on the US Billboard 200 albums chart. It has sold more than 4.5 million copies in the US as of January 2008.[12][13] On the UK Album Chart, Tuesday Night Music Club reached number 8[14] and is certified 2× platinum.[15]
The White Stripes
3/5
White Blood Cells is the third studio album by American rock duo the White Stripes, released on July 3, 2001. Recorded in less than one week at Easley-McCain Recording in Memphis, Tennessee, and produced by frontman and guitarist Jack White, it was the band's final record released independently on Sympathy for the Record Industry. Bolstered by the hit single "Fell in Love with a Girl", the record propelled the White Stripes into early commercial popularity and critical success. In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 497 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[2]
Continuing the stripped-down garage rock nature of the duo, White Blood Cells features less of the band's blues rock influences, instead displaying a more raw, basic, and primitive rock and roll sound. The album's lyrical themes, which were written by White over a period of four years, touch on themes relating to love, hope, betrayal, and paranoia. Following a major label re-release on V2 Records in 2002, the album became promoted throughout the music press, bringing the band critical acclaim. The White Stripes followed with a worldwide tour and the record peaked at number 61 on the Billboard 200, later being certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album's cover art satirically parodies the amount of increasing mainstream popularity the band was receiving, which depicts the duo attacked by photographers.
PJ Harvey
3/5
Speaking to Filter magazine in 2004, Harvey said of her debut album: "Dry is the first chance I ever had to make a record and I thought it would be my last. So, I put everything I had into it. It was a very extreme record. It was a great joy for me to be able to make it. I never thought I'd have that opportunity, so I felt like I had to get everything on it as well as I possibly could, because it was probably my only chance. It felt very extreme for that reason."
Dry has since been featured on several best-of-all-time lists. It was ranked number 70 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Best Debut Albums of All Time" and number 151 on NME's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.[23][24] Dry is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[25]
Muddy Waters
3/5
At Newport 1960 is sometimes referred to as the first live blues album and has received critical acclaim. Rolling Stone magazine included it at number 348 on its list of "500 Greatest Albums of all Time".[1] Along with the songs on The Best of Muddy Waters (1958), the album was an important influence on the emerging younger white blues scenes in the U.S. and U.K.
Many musicians and bands, such as the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, have been influenced by his electric sound and used this and his greatest hits album in creating a hard rock sound. At Newport 1960 was one of the first live blues albums.[6]
Talk Talk
3/5
Musically, The Colour of Spring was a major step away from the synthesised pop of early Talk Talk, with a greater focus on guitars, pianos, and organs on such songs as "Life's What You Make It", "Living in Another World" and "Give It Up". It had a sound described by the band as much more organic than their earlier records, with the improvisation that was to dominate on their later works already apparent in the recording process.
Jorge Ben Jor
3/5
For África Brasil Ben reworked three of his earlier compositions: "A Princesa e o Plebeu" from Sacundin Ben Samba, "Taj Mahal" from Ben, and "Zumbi" from A Tábua de Esmeralda. The album's opening track "Ponta de Lança Africano (Umbabarauma)", a song about an African football striker, became a well known soccer-associated track.[5][6] It was later included on David Byrne's 1989 compilation Brazil Classics Beleza Tropical, prompting rotation of a video for the track on VH-1.[7][8] In 1991 Ambitious Lovers released a cover version on 12-inch single that became a dance hit.[8] A version by Soulfly was released in 1998 as a single. The original version of the track was used in the documentary film Di/Glauber.[9]
In 1978 British rock singer Rod Stewart lifted a melody from "Taj Mahal" for his hit song "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?". Ben filed a plagiarism lawsuit against Stewart, the upshot of which was Stewart's agreement to donate his royalties from the song to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Stewart also performed the song at the Music for UNICEF Concert at the United Nations General Assembly in January 1979.[10]
Meat Loaf
3/5
Bat Out of Hell is one of the best-selling albums of all time, having sold over 50 million copies worldwide.[4] It is certified 14x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[5] As of June 2019, it has spent 522 weeks in the UK Albums Chart, the second longest chart run by a studio album.[6] Rolling Stone ranked it at number 343 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[7][8]
Bat Out of Hell is the 1977 debut album by American rock singer Meat Loaf and composer Jim Steinman. It was developed from a musical, Neverland, a futuristic rock version of Peter Pan, which Steinman wrote for a workshop in 1974. The album was recorded during 1975–1976 at various studios, including Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York, produced by Todd Rundgren, and released in October 1977 by Cleveland International/Epic Records.[3] Its musical style is influenced by Steinman's appreciation of Richard Wagner, Phil Spector, Bruce Springsteen and The Who. Bat Out of Hell has spawned two Meat Loaf sequel albums: Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose.
The Band
3/5
Music from Big Pink is the debut studio album by the Band.[1] Released in 1968, it employs a distinctive blend of country, rock, folk, classical, R&B, blues, and soul. The music was composed partly in "Big Pink", a house shared by Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson in West Saugerties, New York. The album itself was recorded in studios in New York and Los Angeles in 1968,[2] and followed the band's backing of Bob Dylan on his 1966 tour (as the Hawks) and time spent together in upstate New York recording material that was officially released in 1975 as The Basement Tapes, also with Dylan. The cover artwork is a painting by Dylan.
Brian Eno
3/5
Here Come the Warm Jets is the debut solo album by British musician Brian Eno, released on Island Records in January 1974. It was recorded and produced by Eno following his departure from the band Roxy Music, and blends glam and pop stylings with avant-garde approaches. The album features numerous guests, including three of Eno's former Roxy bandmates (guitarist Phil Manzanera, saxophonist/keyboardist Andy Mackay and drummer Paul Thompson), drummer Simon King (of Hawkwind), bassist Bill MacCormick (of Matching Mole), guitarist/bassist Paul Rudolph (of Pink Fairies) and guitarist Robert Fripp and bassist John Wetton (both of King Crimson). Notable contributions were also made by some members of rock band Sharks, including guitarist Chris Spedding, bassist Busta Jones, keyboardist Nick Judd and drummer Marty Simon,[citation needed] and gospel vocal group Sweetfeed. In developing the material with the various musicians, Eno devised unusual methods and instructions to obtain unexpected results.[2]
The Fall
3/5
Live at the Witch Trials is the debut studio album by The Fall. It was released on 16 March 1979, through record label Step-Forward. It is not, despite its title, a live album and was recorded in a studio in a single day and mixed by producer Bob Sargeant.
In their retrospective review, Tiny Mix Tapes praised Live at the Witch Trials as a "fully-formed, instant-classic debut album".[18] Trouser Press said that it showed the band "at once leaning towards punk's directness and charging headlong into poetic pretension".[19] Pitchfork's Jason Heller stated that the album established the Fall as a musically "far more wobbly and toxic" band than their post-punk contemporaries.[6] AllMusic critic Ned Raggett wrote: "That the first Fall album... would not only not sound very punk at all but would be a downright pleasant listen seems perfectly in keeping with Mark E. Smith's endlessly contrary mind."[9] In 2018, Billboard ranked Live at the Witch Trials as the sixth best Fall album; in an accompanying essay, Geeta Dayal wrote that "there were more ideas on this album than there are in some other bands' entire discographies."[20]
The Smiths
4/5
Strangeways, Here We Come is the fourth and final studio album by English rock band the Smiths. It was released on 28 September 1987 by Rough Trade Records, several months after the group had disbanded. All of the songs were composed by Johnny Marr, with lyrics written and sung by Morrissey. Rolling Stone said the record "stands as one of their best and most varied".[1] Slant Magazine listed the album at No. 69 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s", writing that "Whether or not Strangeways, Here We Come ended the Smiths' brief career with their best album has been the subject of considerable debate for nearly a quarter century, but it definitively stands as the band's most lush, richest work."[2]
Thin Lizzy
2/5
The band decided to release a live album after their producer Tony Visconti did not have enough time to work on a full studio session. They listened through various archive recordings from earlier tours and compiled the album from the best versions. Various studio overdubs were made to the live recordings during early 1978 in Paris; exactly how much of the album is overdubbed has been a contentious topic since its release. The album reached No. 2 in the UK album charts, ultimately selling over half a million copies in the UK. It has continued to attract critical acclaim and it has appeared in several lists of the greatest live albums of all time.
Cyndi Lauper
3/5
Six singles were released from the album, with "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" becoming a worldwide hit and her first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. "Time After Time" became her first number-one hit on the chart and experienced similar success worldwide. Lauper found success with the next two singles as well, with both "She Bop" and "All Through the Night" peaking in the top five. This makes Lauper the first female singer to have four top five singles on the Hot 100 from one album.[6] She's So Unusual was promoted by the Fun Tour throughout 1983 and 1984.
The album is primarily new wave-based, with many of the songs being influenced by synthpop and pop rock. Upon its release, the album received positive reviews from music critics, who noted Lauper's unique vocals. Lauper earned several awards and accolades for the album, including two Grammy Awards at the 27th Grammy Awards, one of which was for Best New Artist. She's So Unusual peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 chart and stayed in the chart's top forty for 65 weeks. It has sold over 6 million copies in the United States and 16 million copies worldwide. This makes it Lauper's best-selling album to date and one of the best-selling albums of the 1980s.[7][8] The album ranked at number 487 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003, maintaining that ranking in the 2012 update and shooting up to number 184 in the 2020 reboot of the list.[9][10] It also ranked at #41 on Rolling Stone's list of Women Who Rock: The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2012.[11] In 2019, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[12]
Muddy Waters
3/5
Hard Again is a studio album by American blues singer Muddy Waters. Released on January 10, 1977, it was the first of his albums produced by Johnny Winter.[1] Hard Again was Waters's first album on Blue Sky Records after leaving Chess Records and was well received by critics.
Hard Again
D'Angelo
3/5
Brown Sugar is the debut studio album by American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist D'Angelo, released on July 3, 1995, through EMI. The album was recorded during 1994 and 1995 in sessions at Battery Studios and RPM Studios in New York City and at the Pookie Lab in Sacramento. Its production, instrumentation, arrangements, and songwriting were primarily handled by D'Angelo, who employed both vintage recording equipment and modern electronic devices. The songs feature earnest lyrics about love and romance, set against a fusion of contemporary R&B and traditional soul music with elements of funk, quiet storm, and hip hop music.
The Stooges
3/5
The Stooges is the debut studio album by American rock band the Stooges, released on August 5, 1969 by Elektra Records. Considered a landmark proto-punk release,[1] the album peaked at number 106 on the US Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. The tracks "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "1969" were released as singles; "1969" was featured on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs" at number 35.
In retrospect, Will Hodgkinson called The Stooges "charged and brutal garage-rock",[16] and Pitchfork critic Joe Tangari said it was one of the essential forerunners to the punk rock movement of the 1970s.[8] It and the Stooges' next two albums were later deemed "proto-punk landmarks", according to Mojo journalist Manish Agarwal.[17] Daryl Easlea, writing for BBC Music, called the album "rock at its most primordial. ... [the] album is the original punk rock rush on record, a long-held well-kept secret by those in the know."[18] Mark Deming of AllMusic commented, "Part of the fun of The Stooges is, then as now, the band managed the difficult feat of sounding ahead of their time and entirely out of their time, all at once."[4]
In 2003, the album was placed at number 185 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time",[19] maintaining the rating in its 2012 revised list,[20] and dropping to number 488 in its 2020 list.[21] The magazine also included "1969" in their list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time".[22] Robert Dimery, writing in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, said that the album was "a collection of brilliant curios, which were neither full-on garage rock, nor out-and-out dirge."[23] In 2005, Q magazine placed "I Wanna Be Your Dog" at number 13 in its list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks".[citation needed
Tito Puente
3/5
Dance Mania is a studio album by American musician Tito Puente.[1][2][3] The album was added to the National Recording Registry in 2002. It is also listed among the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[4][5]
Grateful Dead
3/5
American Beauty is the fifth studio album by rock band the Grateful Dead. Released November 1, 1970, by Warner Bros. Records, the album continued the folk rock and country music style of their previous album Workingman's Dead, issued earlier in the year. Though the Americana approach is still evident in the songwriting, comparatively the sound focused more on folk harmonies and major-key melodies, showing influence from Bob Dylan and Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young
Upon release, American Beauty entered the Billboard 200 chart, ultimately peaking at number 30 during a nineteen-week stay in January 1971.[10] On July 11, 1974, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, and it later reached Platinum and Double Platinum certification in 1986 and 2001, respectively. In 2003, the album was ranked number 258 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, 261 in a 2012 revised list, and 215 in a 2020 revised list.[11]
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
The album remains a critical success, an important album in Manic Street Preachers' career, and a classic of the British music in the 1990s,[35] being frequently listed amongst the greatest albums ever by British music publications.[2]
In 1998, Q magazine readers voted it the 11th greatest album of all time,[36] while in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 39 in its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever".[37] The album also placed at number 16 in its list of the best albums released in the magazine's lifetime.[3] The album is part of NME's collection of classic albums,[35] and the same magazine placed the album in number 182 on their definitive list "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[2]
Kerrang! placed the album in number 24 on their list of "100 Best British Rock Albums Ever".[38] The same magazine featured the album in number 22 on their list of "100 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".[39] The album was placed in number 41 on Melody Maker's list of "All Time Top 100 Albums".[40] In 2016 the album was featured in the Absolute Radio's list of greatest albums of all time.[41]
Morrissey
3/5
Your Arsenal was praised by critics. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called it his "most consistent solo set to date".[15] Bill Wyman of Entertainment Weekly wrote that guitarist Alain Whyte "provides the very melodic, sometimes rockabilly-inflected settings Morrissey demands, and frequently they end up triumphant."[9]
Referring to the album as "a dynamic, invigorating fusion of glam rock and rockabilly" and noting that it "rocks harder than any other record Morrissey ever made", Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic cited Your Arsenal as Morrissey's "finest solo record and his best work since The Queen Is Dead."[1]
Your Arsenal was listed as one of the top 50 albums of 1992 by Q.[16]
Pink Floyd
5/5
The Wall is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest and Columbia Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imposed isolation from society forms a figurative wall. The album was a commercial success, topping the US charts for 15 weeks and reaching number three in the UK. It initially received mixed reviews from critics, many of whom found it overblown and pretentious, but later received accolades as one of the greatest albums of all time and one of the band's finest works.
Pink is a depressed rock star. He imagines a crowd of fans entering one of his concerts, and a flashback on his life up to that point begins. In the flashback, it is revealed that his father was killed defending the Anzio bridgehead during World War II ("In the Flesh?"). Pink's mother raises him alone ("The Thin Ice"), and with the death of his father, Pink starts to build a metaphorical wall around himself ("Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1"). Growing older, Pink is tormented at school by tyrannical, abusive teachers ("The Happiest Days of Our Lives"), and memories of these traumas become metaphorical "bricks in the wall" ("Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2").
As an adult now, Pink remembers his oppressive and overprotective mother ("Mother") and his upbringing during the Blitz ("Goodbye Blue Sky"). Pink soon marries, and after more bricks are created through more trauma, he is preparing to complete his "wall" ("Empty Spaces"). While touring in the United States, he has casual sex with groupies to relieve the tedium of touring, though in making a phone call home, he learns of his wife's infidelity ("Young Lust"). He brings a groupie back to his hotel room, only to trash it in a violent fit of rage, terrifying her out of the room ("One of My Turns"). Pink, depressed, thinks about his wife, and feels trapped in his room ("Don't Leave Me Now"), and dismisses every traumatic experience he has ever had as even more "bricks" in the metaphorical wall ("Another Brick in the Wall, Part 3"), Pink's wall is now finished, completely isolating himself from human contact ("Goodbye Cruel World").
Immediately after the wall's completion, Pink questions his decisions, ("Hey You"), and locks himself in his hotel room ("Is There Anybody Out There?"). Beginning to feel depressed, Pink turns to his possessions for comfort ("Nobody Home"), and yearns for the idea of reconnecting with his personal roots ("Vera"), Pink's mind flashes back to World War II, with the people demanding that the soldiers return home ("Bring the Boys Back Home"). Returning to the present, Pink's manager and roadies have busted into his hotel room, where they find him unresponsive. A paramedic injects him with drugs to enable him to perform ("Comfortably Numb").
The drugs kick in, resulting in a hallucinatory on-stage performance ("The Show Must Go On") where he believes thatand then holds a rally in suburban London, symbolizing his descent into insanity ("Waiting for the Worms"). Pink's hallucination then ceases, and he begs for everything to stop ("Stop"). Showing human emotion, he is tormented with guilt and places himself on trial ("The Trial"), his inner judge ordering him to "tear down the wall", opening Pink to the outside world ("Outside the Wall").
The album turns full circle with its closing words "Isn't this where...", the first words of the phrase that begins the album, "...we came in?", with a continuation of the melody of the last song hinting at the cyclical nature of Waters' theme, and that the existential crisis at the heart of the album will never truly end.[32]
Sepultura
2/5
Arise is the fourth studio album by Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura, released in 1991 by Roadrunner Records. Upon its release, the album received top reviews from heavy metal magazines such as Rock Hard, Kerrang! and Metal Forces.[2] Arise is considered Sepultura's finest hour among longtime fans.[3] While the music on Arise was mostly in the same death/thrash style as their previous album, Beneath the Remains, it was clear that the Sepultura sound was acquiring an experimental edge.[4]
Moby Grape
3/5
Moby Grape is the 1967 debut album by rock band Moby Grape. Coming from the San Francisco scene, their reputation quickly grew to immense proportions, leading to a bidding war and a contract with Columbia Records. The album peaked at #24 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in September 1967
.Nevertheless, as Gene Sculatti and Davin Seay write in their book San Francisco Nights, Moby Grape "remains one of the very few psychedelic masterpieces ever recorded."[12] Justin Farrar considered that "(i)t's no understatement to hail the group's 1967 debut as the ancestral link between psychedelia, country rock, glam, power pop and punk."[13] In addition, the 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide said their "debut LP is as fresh and exhilarating today as it was when it exploded out of San Francisco during 1967's summer of love." In 2003, the album was ranked number 121 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and 124 in a 2012 revised listing.[3] It was also voted number 98 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).
Metallica
2/5
Master of Puppets is the third studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on March 3, 1986, by Elektra Records.[1] Recorded in Denmark at Sweet Silence Studios with producer Flemming Rasmussen, it was the band's last album to feature bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident in Sweden during the album's promotional tour.
the Billboard 200 and received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised its music and political lyrics. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential thrash metal albums of all time, and is credited with consolidating the American thrash metal scene. It was certified six times platinum by the RIAA in 2003 for shipping six million copies in the United States, and was later certified six times platinum by Music Canada and platinum by the BPI. In 2015, Master of Puppets became the first metal recording to be selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[2]
Bobby Womack
3/5
The Poet is the thirteenth studio album by American musician Bobby Womack. The album was released in November 1981, by Beverly Glen Music. The album reached the top of the Billboard Top Black Albums chart due to the success of the single "If You Think You're Lonely Now", which peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart
Jazmine Sullivan
4/5
Heaux Tales is the first extended play (EP) by American R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan. It was released by RCA Records on January 8, 2021. Its release date was confirmed on December 2, 2020. Described as Sullivan's "fourth and bleakest album".[2] It is her first release since 2015's critically-acclaimed Reality Show. It includes features from Ari Lennox, Anderson .Paak, and H.E.R.[3] The EP was primarily recorded in Sullivan's Philadelphia home.[4]
Heaux Tales received a score of 83 out of 100 from review aggregate site Metacritic based on seven reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[19] Vulture lauded its displays of women's strength as seen in its "interludes [with] women like fellow singer Ari Lennox talking about femininity and sexual empowerment."[10] Alex Suskind of Entertainment Weekly called the project "a punchy concept album that tackles blissful romance, sexual freedom — and the complex moments that arise between."[26] Bobby Carter of NPR hailed it "a bold and timely conversation piece addressing truths regarding relationships, sex, social norms, self-worth and a myriad of other topics that women grapple with."[9] Wongo Okon of Uproxx praised it for casting "a light on the goalpost-shifting standards of this patriarchal society" while holding "the characteristics to be labeled a classic in the future."[27] Mankaprr Conteh of Pitchfork gave the EP the site's Best New Music distinction.[24]
The Chemical Brothers
3/5
Exit Planet Dust is the debut studio album by English electronic music duo The Chemical Brothers. It was first released on 26 June 1995 in the United Kingdom by Junior Boy's Own, Freestyle Dust, and Virgin Records, and on 15 August 1995 in the United States by Astralwerks. The album was recorded between August and November 1994, with "Song to the Siren" performed live. Its title is a reference to their departure from their earlier name The Dust Brothers.
Michael Jackson
4/5
Off the Wall is the fifth solo studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released on August 10, 1979, by Epic Records. It was Jackson's first album released through Epic Records, the label he recorded under until his death in 2009, and the first produced by Quincy Jones, whom he met while working on the 1978 film The Wiz. Several critics observed that Off the Wall was crafted from disco, pop, funk, R&B, soft rock and Broadway ballads. Its lyrical themes include escapism, liberation, loneliness, hedonism and romance. The album features songwriting contributions from Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Rod Temperton, Tom Bahler, and David Foster, alongside three tracks penned by Jackson himself.
Off the Wall is widely considered by critics and publications as one of the greatest albums of all time. Although it was not as commercially successful as Bad, Dangerous and HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, the album is often debated by critics between itself and Thriller as Jackson's best.[51][52] According to some music journalists, it epitomized the peak of the disco era, being part of a group of landmark disco albums including Donna Summer's Bad Girls (1979) and Bee Gees' Saturday Night Fever (1977).[53][54][55]
James Wilson-Taylor of PopBuzz believed that the album influenced artists including The Weeknd, Justin Bieber and Beyoncé.[56] The Weeknd cited it as a major influence on his artistry, saying, "I found my falsetto, because of Off The Wall [and] "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"...I always use Michael [Jackson] as, first and foremost, a vocal inspiration, and Off the Wall was definitely the one that made me feel like I could sing."[57] Britni Danielle of Ebony highlighted Chris Brown's "Fine China" for being a "surprisingly lush and infectious tune reminiscent of Jackson's Off the Wall ['vibe']". Regarding the comparison to Jackson's Off the Wall 'vibe', Brown himself stated "I really wanted to kind of bring that essence of music back with that single."[58] Writing for Pitchfork, Ryan Dombal said that the influence of "I Can't Help It" on Pharrell's "off-kilter funk cannot be overstated".[59] During Sean Combs' acceptance speech for the Recording Academy's Salute to Industry Icon award at the Clive Davis' Pre-Grammy Gala, where he expressed his disappointment towards the Grammy Award's due to the lack of big award wins for Black artists, Combs' spoke on Thriller being Jackson's "revenge" for "not being nominated [enough] for Off the Wall". Combs' also dedicated his award to Off the Wall.[60] A writer of PR Newswire credits the album for "smashing the ceiling on record sales for black artists [and] ushering in an exciting new era of R&B-to-pop crossover airplay, chart, marketing and sales trends not seen before in modern pop music."[61]
Sonic Youth
4/5
Sister is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth. It was released in June 1987 by SST Records. The album furthered the band's move away from the no wave genre towards more traditional song structures, while maintaining an aggressively experimental approach.
In a retrospective review, AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Sister "a masterpiece" and "one of the singular art rock records of the 1980s, surpassed only by Sonic Youth's next album, Daydream Nation".[29] Slant Magazine called it "the last great punk album of the Reagan era, and the first great pop album to emerge from the American underground", while listing it as the 72nd best album of the 1980s.[30] Pitchfork ranked Sister as the 14th best album of the 1980s.[31] NME rated it No. 80 in their list of the greatest albums ever, and No. 37 in their list of the 50 greatest albums of the 1980s.[32] In July 1995, Alternative Press magazine voted Sister the third best album of the decade spanning 1985–1995.[33] Slant Magazine listed the album at No. 72 in its list of the best albums of the 1980s.[30] Paste magazine's Josh Jackson listed the album at No. 39 on his list of "The 50 Best Post-Punk Albums", saying, "While the following year's Daydream Nation may be their indie-rock masterpiece, the weirder, more muscular Sister exemplifies everything great about post-punk music."[34]
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Reviews for Darkness on the Edge of Town were overwhelmingly positive. Critics praised the maturity of the album's themes and lyrics.[3][4] It remains one of Springsteen's most highly regarded records by both fans and critics and several of its songs have become staples of Springsteen's live performances.[5][6] In 2020, it ranked at No. 91 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
In retrospective appraisals, Darkness on the Edge of Town has been noted for exploring "hard truths in hard rock settings". According to an essay by Springsteen scholars Kenneth Womack and Eileen Chapman revisiting the album, "Springsteen drives away from the beach and boardwalk and into the ethos of the American heartland" while influenced by punk rock and country music.[27] AllMusic's William Ruhlmann said that Springsteen began to fully realize his characters as working class on Darkness on the Edge of Town, whose "hard truths in hard rock settings" made for a less accessible work than Born to Run.[17] According to music journalist Joe Marchese, "Darkness showed that one could marry hard rock with piano and saxophone",[28] while writer Rob Kirkpatrick regarded it as "the album in which Springsteen leaves R&B behind and plants himself firmly in the world of hard rock, seventies style."[29] For Steven Hyden, it is "the first, best example of Springsteen juxtaposing rousing rock music with miniaturist, miserablist, Middle American storytelling".[30]
According to Trevor J. Levin and Edward M. Litwin of The Harvard Crimson, Darkness on the Edge of Town "perfected the heartland rock genre" that Born to Run had created—"a genre meant to embrace working class American life through its depiction of such a life as joyless and cursed."[31] In regards to "Candy's Room", Michael Hann from The Quietus said, "in the subject of the narrator's affections – a prostitute – there's punk's dalliance with transgression brought into heartland rock, but with a tenderness and adoration that punk would have struggled with".[32]
Bob Dylan
3/5
Blonde on Blonde completed the trilogy of rock albums that Dylan recorded in 1965 and 1966, starting with Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited. Critics often rank Blonde on Blonde as one of the greatest albums of all time. Combining the expertise of Nashville session musicians with a modernist literary sensibility, the album's songs have been described as operating on a grand scale musically, while featuring lyrics one critic called "a unique mixture of the visionary and the colloquial".[3] It was one of the first double albums in rock music.
The album peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 chart in the US, where it eventually was certified double platinum, and it reached number three in the UK. Blonde on Blonde spawned two singles that were top-twenty hits in the US: "Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35" and "I Want You". Two additional songs—"Just Like a Woman" and "Visions of Johanna"—have been named as among Dylan's greatest compositions and were featured in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
In 1999, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and was ranked number 38 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2020.
Paul Simon
3/5
Paul Simon is the second solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was released in January 1972, nearly two years after he split up with longtime musical partner Art Garfunkel. His first solo album was recorded in England in 1965 but remained unreleased in the U.S. (except for a brief period in 1969) until 1981, when it appeared in the 5-LP Collected Works boxed set. Originally released on Columbia Records, Paul Simon was then issued under the Warner Bros. label and is now back with Columbia through Sony. The album topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Japan and Norway and reached No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Albums. In 1986 it was certified platinum.[1]
Critical praise was indeed widespread for this album, though some reviewers were put off by it. Noel Coppage, in Stereo Review, called it "undistinguished" and added, "I gather...this album is merely Simon's way of keeping his hand in while Garfunkel makes movies....I'm now wondering if Garfunkel's arranging work doesn't include sending Simon back to rewrite some of his songs before recording them."[15] Despite Coppage's panning, the other Stereo Review critics went on to give the album one of its "Record Of The Year" awards.[16] It was ranked number 268 on Rolling Stone's 2012 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and was ranked number 425 in the 2020 update.[17] It was ranked number 984 in All-Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd. edition, 2000).[18
The Charlatans
3/5
Tellin' Stories is the fifth album by the British alternative rock band The Charlatans, released on 21 April 1997. It includes the final contributions of founder-member and keyboard player Rob Collins who died in a car accident midway through recording. The album was their most commercially successful, having three top ten singles, which remain their career's highest charting.
In 2017, Pitchfork ranked the record at number 29 in its list, "The 50 Best Britpop Albums."[9] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[10]
Queen
4/5
Named after the Marx Brothers' film of the same name, A Night at the Opera was recorded at various studios across a four-month period in 1975. Due to management issues, Queen had received almost none of the money they earned for their previous albums. Subsequently, they ended their contract with Trident Studios and did not use their studios for the album (the sole exception being "God Save the Queen", which had been recorded the previous year). They employed a complex production that extensively used multitrack recording, and the songs incorporated a wide range of styles, such as ballads, music hall, dixieland, hard rock and progressive rock influences. Aside from their usual equipment, Queen also utilised a diverse range of instruments such as a double bass, harp, ukulele and more.
Upon release, A Night at the Opera topped the UK Albums Chart for four non-consecutive weeks. It peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200 and became the band's first platinum-certified album in the US. It also produced the band's most successful single in the UK, "Bohemian Rhapsody", which became their first UK number one. Despite being twice as long as the average length of singles during the 1970s, the song became immensely popular worldwide.
Contemporary reviews for A Night at the Opera were mixed, with praise for its production and the diverse musical themes, and recognition as the album that established Queen as worldwide superstars. At the 19th Grammy Awards, it received Grammy Award nominations for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus and Best Arrangement for Voices. It has been hailed as Queen's best album, and one of the greatest albums in music history. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked it at number 128 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[2] In 2018, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
The Undertones
3/5
Numerous polls conducted since 1979 have placed The Undertones as one of the greatest albums to be released in the 1970s and one of the Top 40 punk/new wave albums of all time,[20] with the single "Teenage Kicks" being listed by BBC Radio 2 as the 51st best song ever released.[21]
The album is generally regarded by critics and fans[citation needed] as the Faces' definitive statement; the most consistent, balanced album of the group's career in terms of songwriting and of mood, thanks in no small part to the decision to share production duties with Glyn Johns (Johns's association with the group stretched back as far as their original iteration as the Small Faces). As a result of Johns's involvement the album is a more focused and concise offering than the two previous Faces LPs, clocking in at 35.56, where both of its predecessors exceeded the 45 minute mark.
The album features two tasteful original ballads and a cover of Chuck Berry's "Memphis Tennessee" alongside the usual Faces' trademark raucous bluesy rockers and rollicking bar-room swing-alongs. Bassist Ronnie Lane, usually confined to backing vocals and the occasional sole lead vocal on previous Faces records, sings lead on three of his own compositions here (one co-written with keyboardist Ian McLagan). Of these, "Debris", an elliptical but profoundly emotional examination of father-son relationships, was chosen as the B-side to their hit "Stay With Me".
The title of the album derives from a cockney turn of phrase that acknowledges that a hint or suggestion can be or has been understood without the need of further elaboration or explanation. The original issue of the album came with a large poster consisting of a picture collage, including images of pills and pharmaceutical capsules, as well as polaroid photos apparently taken on tour of band and crew members reveling with naked groupies in hotel rooms. Within weeks of release, the record company had second thoughts about the poster and re-issued the album without it, turning original copies with the poster into collectors' items overnight.[3]
John Lee Hooker
4/5
The Healer is a blues album by John Lee Hooker, released in 1989 by Chameleon Music Group Chameleon. The album features collaborations with Bonnie Raitt, Charlie Musselwhite, Los Lobos and Carlos Santana, among others. The Healer peaked at number 62 on the Billboard 200 and "I'm in the Mood" won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Performance.
John Lee Hooker was 73 years of age when the album was released. It was his first Grammy win. The album had such success that it "permitted John Lee Hooker to live out the end of his life in comfort".[7] Powers recounts with joy sending a large royalty check to Hooker, and the deep gratitude he felt for the opportunity to help him to finally achieve the recognition he deserved.
It was voted number 424 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[8]
Steely Dan
4/5
The album has been cited by music journalists as one of the best test recordings for audiophiles, due to its high production standards.[28][29][30] Walters noted in his review "the album's surreal sonic perfection, its melodic and harmonic complexity - music so technically demanding its creators had to call in A-list session players to realize the sounds they heard in their heads but could not play, even on the instruments they had mastered."[20] Reviewing Aja's 2007 all-analog LP reissue, Ken Kessler from Hi-Fi News & Record Review gave top marks to both recording and performance qualities, calling the album "sublime jazz-rock that hasn't aged at all - unless you consider 'intelligence' passe - it is everything you expected the painfully hip/cool Becker and Fagen to deliver."[31]
Aja has frequently appeared on rankings of the greatest albums of all time. In 1991, France's Rock & Folk included Aja on a list of the 250 best albums released during the magazine's existence, beginning in 1966. In 1999, it was ranked 59th on the national Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth's "Top 99 Albums of All Time".[32] In 2000 it was voted number 118 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[33] In 2003, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and ranked number 145 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list,[34] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list,[35] before rising to number 63 in a 2020 reboot of the list. In 2006, Aja was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[36] In 2010, the Library of Congress selected Aja for inclusion in the United States National Recording Registry based on its cultural, artistic or historical significance
Supergrass
3/5
In It for the Money is the second studio album by English alternative rock band Supergrass, released in 1997. NME called it "more fun than watching a wombat in a washing machine"[1] and named it the 10th best album of the year. In 1998, Q readers voted it the 68th greatest album of all time,[2] while in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 57 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever
Scott Walker
3/5
Scott 2 follows the formula of Walker's début release, with a mixture of contemporary covers ("Black Sheep Boy", "The Windows of the World") Jacques Brel interpretations ("Jackie", "Next", "The Girls and the Dogs"), film songs ("Wait Until Dark", "Come Next Spring") and his own original compositions ("The Amorous Humphrey Plugg", "The Girls from the Streets", "Plastic Palace People", "The Bridge"). The content of his own and Brel's material was markedly more risqué than on Scott, with "Jackie", "Next" and "The Girls from the Streets" standing out with themes of sexual tribulations and decadent lifestyles.
The album, released on Philips Records in March 1968, reached #1 for one week and stayed in the UK Albums Chart for eighteen weeks.[5] The album was preceded by the single "Jackie" in late 1967. The single met with controversy in the UK because of lyrics like "authentic queers and phony virgins" and drug references.[6] The song was banned by the BBC and was not performed on BBC TV or played on the mainstream radio channels. The song eventually charted at #22.[5] The album was eventually released in the United States in July 1968 with different artwork, but sold poorly.
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3/5
Rattlesnakes is the debut album by British group Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, released on 12 October 1984.[1]
Cole described the songs on Rattlesnakes as "about the things people do when they are in love. People get in all sorts of weird scenarios and I quite like the idea of that. I write about that more than anything. Sometimes it is comic, sometimes tragic, sometimes funny and tragic at the same time. After years of trying to deny it, I'm also starting to realise that I basically write about myself."[6] He later reflected, "It's like most of [the characters in the songs] live in that same basement flat. It's very romanticised."[7] After the Commotions broke up, he would later admit to being embarrassed by some of his lyrics on Rattlesnakes: "'She looks like Eve Marie Saint [sic]/In On the Waterfront'. Yes, some of the earlier lyrics were very naive. But I was a young man! I really was. You can just imagine me trying to wear a French trenchcoat at the time, thinking I looked very cool when, in fact, I looked really stupid. But maybe that's why people liked it."[8]
The track "Speedboat" was inspired by the novel of the same name by Renata Adler. In the book the narrator is startled when a rat runs across the table in the restaurant where she and her partner are dining and her partner says, 'You were all right there until you lost your cool": Cole admitted that he stole the line and included it in the song because he loved the phrase.[9] Cole stated that "Down on Mission Street" is "about a character who says he'll never look back and will step all over other people".[10] The character in "Charlotte Street" is "based very closely on me. My idea of romance obviously is meeting a wonderful, beautiful girl in the library. I wrote that song and it took me a year to realise that I hadn't actually mentioned that it was set in a library. I forgot to put that in, which is a bit stupid really."[11] Of the album's closing track "Are You Ready to be Heartbroken?", he said, "It's about being so in love there's only one way to go – if you get so happy then you're ready to be heartbroken".[12]
Reviewing the 2004 reissue, Mojo hailed Rattlesnakes as "a timeless pop album".[16] Q was less enthusiastic, observing that "the results were, and remain, equal parts irritating and beguiling".[17] Calling the record "one of the finest debuts of the '80s", AllMusic stated that "Rattlesnakes is a college rock masterpiece of smart, ironic lyrics and sympathetic folk-rock-based melodies".[14]
Machito
4/5
Machito's music had an effect on the careers of many musicians who played in the Afro-Cubans over the years, and on those who were attracted to Latin jazz after hearing him. George Shearing, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Stan Kenton credited Machito as an influence. An intersection in East Harlem is named "Machito Square" in his honor.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
2/5
Darklands is the second studio album by Scottish alternative rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain. It was released on 31 August 1987 by Blanco y Negro Records. The album is the band's first to use drum machines, replacing live drummer Bobby Gillespie, who had left to pursue a career as the frontman with Primal Scream. Lead vocals are performed by Jim Reid, with the exception of "Darklands", "Nine Million Rainy Days" and "On the Wall", which are sung by William Reid.
Darklands reached number five on the UK Albums Chart, the band's highest-peaking album on the chart to date.[11] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[12]
Kanye West
4/5
Fifteen days before its release date, West enlisted the help of producer Rick Rubin to strip down the sound of Yeezus in favor of a more minimalist approach. The album has been characterized as West's most experimental and sonically abrasive work. It draws from an array of genres, including industrial, acid house, electro, punk, and Chicago drill. West's unconventional use of samples is also contained, as on "Blood on the Leaves", which contains a sample from Nina Simone's 1965 rendition of "Strange Fruit".
No album artwork is featured on the release of the former, and the physical CD edition was released in a clear jewel box with only a strip of red tape and sample credits. Initial promotion included worldwide video projections of the music and live television performances. West released two singles from the album; "Black Skinhead" in July 2013 and "Bound 2" the following month. The release of Yeezus coincided with that of rapper J. Cole's album Born Sinner, which was moved back a week to coincide with Yeezus' release, leading to speculation about which release would sell more copies.
Yeezus received widespread acclaim from critics, many of whom named it among West's best work and commended its brash direction, though public response was divided. The album was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2014 Grammy Awards. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 327,000 copies in the first week of release, while also topping the charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Russia and the United Kingdom. It has since been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and was named by several publications as one of the best albums of the 2010s, including Rolling Stone, who later included it at 269 on its 2020 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
The Lemonheads
3/5
It's a Shame About Ray is the fifth album by American alternative rock band the Lemonheads, released on June 2, 1992. The album was produced by the Robb Brothers. At the time of principal recording, the band consisted of Evan Dando (lead vocals, guitar), Juliana Hatfield (bass, backing vocals) and David Ryan (drums). Though not originally on the album, the band's cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson" was added to the album in later pressings after it had become a major worldwide radio hit, and it features a later lineup of the band with Nic Dalton on bass.
The title track was partially inspired by a quote that band leader Evan Dando had seen in a Sydney newspaper in reference to Ray Martin losing his job as the presenter of The Midday Show.
The album became an international hit for the band, reaching #31 in the UK Top 100 as well as #5 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in the U.S. The song was later included at #138 on Pitchfork Media's "Top 200 Tracks of the 90s" list.[11] The music video features Johnny Depp.[12]
Carole King
4/5
Tapestry is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Carole King, released in 1971 on Ode Records and produced by Lou Adler. The album was certified 13× Platinum by RIAA[3] and it is one of the best-selling albums of all time, with over 25 million copies worldwide.[4] It received four Grammy Awards in 1972, including Album of the Year. The lead singles from the album—"It's Too Late" and "I Feel the Earth Move"—spent five weeks at number one on both the Billboard Hot 100[5] and Easy Listening[6] charts. In 2000 it was voted number 74 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[7] In 2020, Tapestry was ranked number 25 on Rolling Stone list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[8]
Hookworms
4/5
Donovan
3/5
Sunshine Superman involves psychedelic rock,[1] psychedelic folk,[2] psychedelic pop[3] and folk rock styles.[1] The album's lyrical content encompasses Donovan's increasing ability to portray "Swinging London" and give listeners an insider's look into the mid-sixties pop scene. He was close to the Beatles and Brian Jones at this time, and he became widely known after "Sunshine Superman" became a chart-topper in the US,[5] and hit number 2 in the UK. Donovan's penchant for name-dropping in songs such as two influenced by his travel to Los Angeles,[5] "The Trip" and "The Fat Angel" (written for Cass Elliot) coupled with his chart success helped elevate him to superstar status. In addition to noting the people in the pop scene, Donovan recorded "Bert's Blues" for his friend and folk music notable Bert Jansch. Contrasting this modern bent was Donovan's fascination with medieval themes in such songs. The title track was also inspired by Brian Jones' girlfriend Linda Lawrence.[10]
Metallica
2/5
S&M (an abbreviation of Symphony and Metallica) is a live album by American heavy metal band Metallica, with the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Kamen. It was recorded on April 21 and 22, 1999, at The Berkeley Community Theatre. This is the final Metallica album to feature bassist Jason Newsted.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Michael Kiwanuka
5/5
Kiwanuka is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka. It was released on 1 November 2019 through Polydor and Interscope Records.[1][2] The album won the 2020 Mercury Prize,[3] and was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards.
On the review aggregator website Metacritic, Kiwanuka has a score of 89 out of 100 based on 21 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[5] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[4]
Dave Simpson of The Guardian hailed Kiwanuka as a "bold, expansive, heartfelt, sublime album" and one of the best of the decade,[9] while Dorian Lynskey of Q called it a "compassionate, career-defining masterpiece". In her review for NME, Elizabeth Aubrey highlighted the personal nature of its lyrics, commending it as "a daring leap of self-affirmation."[11] Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph described it as "an album in which a troubled spirit seeks the relief of music to mesmerising and charged effect."[15] In a year-end essay for Slate, Ann Powers cited Kiwanuka as proof that the format is not dead but rather undergoing a "metamorphosis", with artists such as Kiwnuka utilizing the concept album through the culturally-relevant autobiographical narratives, which in this case is a "song cycle alchemizing violence through compassion".[16]
The Notorious B.I.G.
5/5
Ready to Die is the debut studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released on September 13, 1994, by Bad Boy Records and Arista Records. The album features productions by Bad Boy founder Sean "Puffy" Combs, Easy Mo Bee, Chucky Thompson, DJ Premier, and Lord Finesse, among others. It was recorded from 1993 to 1994 at The Hit Factory and D&D Studios in New York City. The partly autobiographical album tells the story of the rapper's experiences as a young criminal, and was the only studio album released during his lifetime, as he was murdered sixteen days before the release of his second album Life After Death in 1997.
Ready to Die has been highly acclaimed. In 1998, The Source included it on their 100 Best Rap Albums of All Time list,[31] and in 2002, they re-rated it to the maximum five 'mics'.[32] Rolling Stone has also given acclaim to Ready to Die over the years. In 2003, they ranked it number 133 on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list,[31] 134 in a 2012 revised list,[33] and 22 in a 2020 revised list.[34] In 2004, they re-rated it to five stars.[27] In 2011, Rolling Stone also placed it at number eight on their 100 Best Albums of the Nineties list, and described it as "mapping out the sound of 'Nineties cool".[35] Kilian Murphy from Stylus Magazine wrote favorably of the album in a retrospective review, and concluded "Sweet, hypocritical, sensitive, violent, depressed and jubilant; these words could all fittingly describe Big at various points on Ready to Die."[36]
Elastica
3/5
Elastica is the debut studio album by English alternative rock band Elastica. It was released on 14 March 1995 through Deceptive Records. The album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.[2] This is the only album to featured original line-up, and guitarist Donna Matthews.
The album was well-received critically. In their retrospective review, AllMusic praised the album, writing "what makes Elastica such an intoxicating record is not only the way the 16 songs speed by in 40 minutes, but that they're nearly all classics" and that "hardly any new wave band made records this consistently rocking and melodic".[3] BBC Music wrote "As albums that fall off a genre's radar go, Elastica's eponymous debut ranks high", calling it "a neglected gem" and the "blueprint for what Britpop should sound like".[2]
Super Furry Animals
3/5
Fuzzy Logic is the debut album by the Welsh rock band Super Furry Animals. Recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales, and released on the Creation label in May 1996, it was positively received by critics, who felt it was an eclectic if inconsistent mix of psychedelic music and glam rock, and was included in Q Magazine's list of recordings of the year. It has retained a modest respect among some critics; it was listed in Q's "Best British Albums Ever" in July 2004, and is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[5] It contains two top 20 hits in "If You Don't Want Me to Destroy You" and "Something 4 the Weekend"; it also contains the singles "God! Show Me Magic" and "Hometown Unicorn". It reached number 23 in the UK Albums Chart on release. In 2013, NME ranked it at number 245 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[6]
In a June 2005 Pitchfork review of the 2005 reissue, Marc Hogan felt the album was a good introduction to the band's "candy-factory chameleon act" with music styles including "synth-laced punk-pop", "slanted pop" and "Pipers-era Floyd", despite its inconsistency.[13] Rod Stanley in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die felt that the band would go on to record better albums, but that the inventiveness of the album's blend of "Sixties pop, punk rock, and psychedelia, with an underlying Nineties dance sensibility", made it both joyful and exciting.[4] Reviewing the album in 2016, Uncut's John Lewis wrote that its "quizzical" lyrics and influences from "1970s guilty pleasures" set Super Furry Animals apart from their contemporaries in the 1990s Britpop scene.[17]
B.B. King
3/5
Live at the Regal is a 1965 live album by American blues guitarist and singer B.B. King. It was recorded on November 21, 1964 at the Regal Theater in Chicago. The album is widely heralded as one of the greatest blues albums ever recorded and was ranked at number 141 in Rolling Stone's 2003 edition of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list,[6] before dropping to number 299 in a 2020 revision.[7] In 2005, Live at the Regal was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress in the United States.
Air
3/5
Moon Safari is the debut studio album by French electronic music duo Air. It was released on 16 January 1998 by Source and Virgin Records. Moon Safari was re-released on 14 April 2008 to mark the album's 10th anniversary, including a bound book, a DVD documentary about the duo, and an extra CD with live performances and remixes.
The Cure
3/5
Disintegration is the eighth studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 2 May 1989 by Fiction Records. The record marks a return to the introspective gothic rock style the band had established in the early 1980s. As he neared the age of 30, vocalist and guitarist Robert Smith had felt an increased pressure to follow up on the band's pop successes with a more enduring work. This, coupled with a distaste for the group's newfound popularity, caused Smith to lapse back into the use of hallucinogenic drugs, the effects of which had a strong influence on the production of the album. The band recorded the album at Hookend Recording Studios in Checkendon, Oxfordshire, with co-producer David M. Allen from late 1988 to early 1989. Following the completion of the mixing, founding member Lol Tolhurst was fired from the band.
The album became the band's first commercial peak, charting at number three in the United Kingdom and at number 12 in the United States, and producing several hit singles including "Lovesong", which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. It remains the band’s highest selling record to date, with more than three million copies sold worldwide. It was greeted with a warm critical reception before later being acclaimed, eventually being placed at number 116 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[4] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called it the "culmination of all the musical directions the Cure were pursuing over the course of the '80s".[5]
Prefab Sprout
3/5
Steve McQueen is the second studio album by English pop band Prefab Sprout, released in June 1985 by Kitchenware Records. The album was released by CBS in the United States as Two Wheels Good in anticipation of legal conflict with the estate of American actor Steve McQueen.[1][2] The album cover references Steve McQueen's lifelong passion for Triumph motorcycles and the 1963 film The Great Escape.
Steve McQueen has subsequently featured in a number of all-time lists of greatest albums, including No. 47 in a 1993 poll by The Times, No. 90 in a 1995 poll by Mojo and No. 61 in a 1997 poll by The Guardian.[29][30][31] Stephen Troussé of Pitchfork cited it as "the defining record of 1985 sophisto-pop".[17] The A.V. Club's Noel Murray wrote that Steve McQueen and preceding album Swoon "are considered classics of the mid-'80s post-punk/new-wave era, even though they don't sound like they belong to any particular movement",[32] while PopMatters' Russ Slater described them as "great indie pop."[33] Terry Staunton of Record Collector wrote that "more than 20 years on, [McAloon's] dissertations on love, loss and uncertainty are just as affecting, the intelligence of the lyrics matched by the sophistication of the chord structures and the musical arrangements".[19] Steve McQueen was selected for inclusion in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[34] In 2014, it was named one of the "10 Essential Sophisti-pop Albums" by Treble.[35]
Quicksilver Messenger Service
3/5
Happy Trails is the second album of the American band Quicksilver Messenger Service. Most of the album was recorded from two performances at the Fillmore East and Fillmore West, although it is not clear which parts were recorded at which Fillmore. The record was released by Capitol Records in 1969[1] in stereo.
1992, the album was certified gold (over 500,000 copies sold in the US) by the Recording Industry Association of America.[6] It was voted number 553 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000). In 2003, the album was ranked number 189 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[7] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.[8] It was number 44 in Rolling Stone's "50 Coolest Records."[9] "Mona" by Quicksilver was ranked number 88 on the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone.[10]
Fela Kuti
4/5
The album criticised the Nigerian government; and it is thought to have resulted in the murder of Kuti's mother Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, and the destruction of his commune by the military.
The album was a scathing attack on Nigerian soldiers using the zombie metaphor to describe the methods of the Nigerian military. The album was a smash hit with the people and infuriated the government, setting off a vicious attack against the Kalakuta Republic (a commune that Fela had established in Nigeria), during which one thousand soldiers attacked the commune. Kuti was severely beaten, and his elderly mother was thrown from a window, causing fatal injuries. The Kalakuta Republic was burned, and Kuti's studio, instruments, and master tapes were destroyed. Kuti claimed that he would have been killed if it were not for the intervention of a commanding officer as he was being beaten. Kuti's response to the attack was to deliver his mother's coffin to the main army barrack in Lagos and write two songs, "Coffin for Head of State" and "Unknown Soldier", referencing the official inquiry that claimed the commune had been destroyed by an unknown soldier.
Reviewing Zombie in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau said Kuti's English lyrics are "very political" and "associative" while the sound is "real fusion music — if James Brown's stuff is Afro-American, his is American-African."[3] AllMusic's Sam Samuelson called the album Kuti and Africa 70's "most popular and impacting record".[4] Pitchfork Media ranked it number 90 on their list of the 100 best albums of the 1970s.[5] It was ranked number 19 in Treble Magazine's top 150 albums of the '70s.[6]
The song “Zombie” appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto: IV.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
The Low End Theory is the second studio album by American hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, released on September 24, 1991, by Jive Records. Recording sessions for the album were held mostly at Battery Studios in New York City, from 1990 to 1991. The album was primarily produced by group member Q-Tip, in a departure from the group's debut album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990), with a minimalist sound that combines bass, drum breaks, and jazz samples. Lyrically, the album features social commentary, word play, humor, and interplay between group members Q-Tip and Phife Dawg.
In the years since its release, The Low End Theory has garnered recognition from music critics and writers as a milestone in alternative hip-hop. The album is regarded as Phife Dawg's breakout and is credited for helping launch rapper Busta Rhymes's successful solo career. The album's influence on artists in hip-hop, R&B and other genres has been attributed to the group's lyricism and Q-Tip's production, which bridged the gap between jazz and hip-hop. The album is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, appearing on many best album lists by music critics and writers, including on Rolling Stone's 100 Best Albums of the '90s at number 36.[1]
The Low End Theory is regarded as one of the most influential albums in hip-hop history, with Corbin Reiff of Complex declaring that it "broke major ground and pushed the sonic envelope of the entire rap genre."[53] It has been stated to have helped shape alternative hip-hop in the 1990s, as the group's "mellow innovations" helped jazz rap gain significant exposure from 1992 to 1993.[54][55][56] With the album, the group is credited for showcasing how hip-hop was made before commercial success influenced many rappers' creativity, and for challenging the "macho posturing" of hardcore and gangsta rap.[27][31][57]
The album is regarded as Phife Dawg's lyrical breakout, as he established himself as a formidable MC.[41] A breakout verse by Leaders of the New School member Busta Rhymes, on the single "Scenario", led to stardom and helped launch his successful solo career.[5][58] Praised for his improvement "both as an MC and a boardsman",[41] Q-Tip's rhyme on the single "Check the Rhime": "Industry rule number 4,080 / Record company people are shady" is one of the most quoted lines in hip-hop,[5][11] while the album has been called the "Sgt. Pepper's of hip-hop" for its groundbreaking approach to hip-hop production and engineering.[7][59] The album cover is regarded as one of the greatest and most iconic in hip-hop history; on a top 50 list by Complex, it was ranked number one.[3][4][11]
The album is credited with establishing "the musical, cultural, and historical link between hip-hop and jazz",[60] and is regarded as a "successful fusion of opposites: the complex musical textures of jazz and the straightforward boom-bap of rap."[29] Writer Joseph Patel called it "a consummate link between generations", which took the essence of jazz and hip-hop, and "showing they originated from the same black center."[61] In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 154 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; in a revised 2012 list, it was ranked at number 153, and in 2020, it moved up to number 43.[47][62] Rolling Stone stated that people previously "connected the dots between hip-hop and jazz", as both were revolutionary forms of black music based on improvisation and flow, however, "this LP drew the entire picture."[62] Writing for the New York Observer on the album's 25th anniversary, Ron Hart stated:
Ute Lemper
2/5
Punishing Kiss is a studio album by German singer Ute Lemper, released in 2000 by Decca Records. It is the product of a collaboration between Lemper and the Divine Comedy and includes songs by the latter artist, as well as Nick Cave, Elvis Costello, Philip Glass, Tom Waits, Scott Walker and Ute Lemper's signature artist, Kurt Weill.
John Coltrane
4/5
A Love Supreme is an album by American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. He recorded it in one session on December 9, 1964, at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, leading a quartet featuring pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones.
Released in January 1965 by Impulse! Records,[22] A Love Supreme became one of the most acclaimed jazz records,[23] and contemporary critics hailed it as one of the important albums of post-war jazz.[24] By 1970, it had sold about 500,000 copies, far exceeding Coltrane's usual sales of 30,000,[25] although it never charted on the Billboard 200.[1] It has since been regarded as Coltrane's masterpiece[26] and is "without question Coltrane's most beloved album", according to Robert Christgau, who adds that it "cemented 'Trane's divine status in Japan".[1]
A Love Supreme was widely recognized as a work of deep spirituality and analyzed with religious subtext, although cultural studies scholars Richard W. Santana and Gregory Erickson argued that the "avant-garde jazz suite" could be interpreted otherwise.[27] According to music professor Ingrid Monson of Harvard University, the album was an exemplary recording of modal jazz.[28] Nick Dedina wrote on the Rhapsody web site that the music ranged from free jazz and hard bop to sui generis gospel music in "an epic aural poem to man's place in God's plan".[29] Calling it a "legendary album-long hymn of praise", Rolling Stone said that "Coltrane's majestic, often violent blowing (famously described as 'sheets of sound') is never self-aggrandizing" and that he is "aloft with his classic quartet", "soar[ing] with nothing but gratitude and joy" on a compelling journey for listeners.[5] The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide (1985) said that "each man performs with eloquence and economy", while calling the album "the masterpiece from the quartet's studio work", "the first comprehensive statement of Coltrane's spiritual concerns", and "the cornerstone of many Coltrane collections".[30] On the other hand, jazz critic Tom Hull said that he has not much considered the album "spiritual" but rather "the most perfectly plotted single piece of jazz ever recorded".[21]
A Love Supreme has appeared frequently on professional listings of the greatest albums.[31] In 2003, it was ranked number 47 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time;[5] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list,[32] re-ranking at number 66 in a 2020 reboot of the list.[33] NME ranked it number 188 on a similar list ten years later.[34] The manuscript for the album was included in the National Museum of American History's "Treasures of American History" collection at the Smithsonian Institution.[35] In 2016, the album was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry due to its "cultural, historic, or artistic significance."[36] It is Coltrane's second album to be included after Giant Steps in 2005.[37] It was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[38] It was voted number 85 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[39] Based on such rankings, the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists it as the 61st most acclaimed album in history.[31]
Mylo
3/5
Destroy Rock & Roll is the first album by Scottish record producer and DJ Mylo (real name Myles MacInnes), released in 2004.
Destroy Rock & Roll
The album samples many 1970s and 1980s soft rock songs that Mylo heard on the radio as a child. The single "In My Arms" combines hits by Kim Carnes and Boy Meets Girl. The title track samples a fundamentalist Christian sermon, while "Drop the Pressure" is based around a vocal recording made by Mylo himself and edited with a vocoder.
The album was re-released in 2005, and peaked at number 26 on the UK Albums Chart.[2] The re-released contained a new remix of "Drop the Pressure", called "Doctor Pressure" (vs. Miami Sound Machine), which was also a number 3 single.
Bon Jovi
4/5
Slippery When Wet is the third studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi. It was released on August 18, 1986, by Mercury Records in North America and Vertigo Records internationally. It was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, with recording sessions between January and July 1986 at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The album features many of Bon Jovi's best-known songs, including "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Livin' on a Prayer", and "Wanted Dead or Alive"
.The album has been called the album that "[turned] heavy metal into a radio-friendly pop format",[5] and is also commonly seen as "a breakthrough for hair metal".[6][7]
Slippery When Wet was an instant commercial success, spending eight weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and was named by Billboard as the top-selling album of 1987.[8] Slippery When Wet is Bon Jovi's best-selling album to date, with an RIAA certification of 12× Platinum, making it one of the top 100 best-selling albums in the United States.[9]
Stan Getz
4/5
Jazz Samba is a bossa nova album by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd released by Verve Records in 1962.[6] Jazz Samba signaled the beginning of the bossa nova craze in America. Stan Getz was the featured soloist and the tracks were arranged by Charlie Byrd, who had first heard bossa nova during a tour of Brazil in 1961.
Fats Domino
4/5
Domino was shy and modest by nature but made a significant contribution to the rock and roll genre.[7] Elvis Presley declared Domino a "huge influence on me when I started out" and described him as "the real king of rock 'n' roll".[8][9] The artist himself did not define his work as rock and roll, saying of the genre "It wasn't anything but the same rhythm and blues I'd been playing down in New Orleans". Four of Domino's records were named to the Grammy Hall of Fame for their significance: "Blueberry Hill", "Ain't That A Shame", "Walking to New Orleans" and "The Fat Man".[3] He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of its first group of inductees in 1986. The Associated Press estimates that during his career, Domino "sold more than 110 million records".[10]
Various Artists
3/5
A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector (originally released as A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records) is an album of Christmas songs, produced by Phil Spector, and originally released as Philles 4005 in 1963. Spector treated a series of mostly secular Christmas standards to his "Wall of Sound" treatment, and the selections feature the vocal performances of Spector's regular artists during this period. The album peaked at No. 13 on Billboard magazine's special, year-end, weekly Christmas Albums sales chart in December 1963.[1]
The album was reissued by Apple Records in 1972, with different cover art—a photograph of Spector dressed as a heavily bearded Santa Claus, wearing a "Back to Mono" button—and retitled Phil Spector's Christmas Album. This version of the album went to No. 6 on Billboard's special Christmas Albums sales chart in December of that year, which was its highest chart ranking.[1] It was also in 1972 that the album made its debut on the UK Albums Chart; it would re-chart in 1983, peaking at No. 19. On the week ending December 15, 2018, A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector entered the main Billboard 200 albums chart for the first time (at position No. 48),[2] eventually peaking at No. 12 three weeks later.[3] At the same time, the Ronettes' recording of "Sleigh Ride", though never released as a single, charted on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time, initially reaching as high as No. 26 on the week ending January 5, 2019; it then re-charted during the 2019 and 2020 holiday seasons and attained an overall peak position of No. 13 on the week ending January 2, 2021.[4] The album itself returned to its No. 12 peak position on the Billboard 200 chart on the week ending January 2, 2021.[5]
In 2003, the album was voted No. 142 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[6] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.[7] In 2017, it was ranked the 130th greatest album of the 1960s by Pitchfork.[8] In 2019, it was ranked the greatest Christmas album of all time by Rolling Stone.[6] Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys has cited this album as his favorite of all time.[9] The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[10]
Sepultura
2/5
Roots is the sixth studio album by Brazilian metal band Sepultura. It was released in Europe on February 20, 1996 and in the U.S. three weeks later on March 12 by Roadrunner Records. It is the band's last studio album to feature founding member and vocalist/rhythm guitarist Max Cavalera.
Since the release of Roots, there have been cases where other metal bands who are not of Western (i.e.: European or American) origin have combined metal with music from their own native regions, though none of those bands have reached the same level of visibility or commercial success that Sepultura achieved with Roots. Chthonic, for example, blend symphonic death metal with traditional Taiwanese music and mythology; Melechesh play black metal while drawing from Assyrian/Babylonian/Middle Eastern mythology and symbology; Tengger Cavalry combine metal with Mongolian throat singing and classical Chinese instrumentation in both electric and acoustic settings.
Speaking to Kerrang! in 2008, Max Cavalera looked back on Roots:
"Roots came from a blurry dream I had about going to the rainforest. Wine may have been involved. In the end, when we actually went into the forest to record, it was unbelievable. The whole album was a huge personal journey for me, and as a Brazilian, it felt as an incredible achievement. Everyone was inspired and Igor was at the top of his game. The percussion was crazy and we worked with so many great musicians, in the end coming out with a 15-minutes drum jam that someone likened to a crazy Brazilian Pink Floyd. When we took the album to Roadrunner they loved it except for the title. They thought it would sound like a Bob Marley tribute album. We explained it to them, and thankfully they got it."[39
The Yardbirds
4/5
Roger the Engineer (originally released in the UK as Yardbirds and in the US, Germany, France and Italy as Over Under Sideways Down) is the only UK studio album and third US album by English rock band the Yardbirds. Recorded and released in 1966, it is also the only Yardbirds album with guitarist Jeff Beck on all tracks and contains all original material.[1] It was produced by bassist Paul Samwell-Smith and manager Simon Napier-Bell.
Although the British edition is still officially titled Yardbirds by authoritative chart sources, such as Official Charts Company,[2] it has since been referred to, first colloquially, then semi-officially, as Roger the Engineer,[3] a title stemming from the cover drawing of the record's audio engineer Roger Cameron by band member Chris Dreja.[4]
It is the only Yardbirds album to appear in the UK Albums Chart, where it reached number 20.[2] In the US, it reached number 52 on the Billboard 200 album chart, making it the band's highest-charting studio album in the US.[5] The album's best-known song, "Over Under Sideways Down", was released as a single in May 1966, two months before the album.[5]
The album is included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[6] In 2012, the album was ranked number 350 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[7]
SAULT
3/5
Untitled (Black Is) is the third studio album by the British R&B musical group Sault, released on 19 June 2020 through the independent record label Forever Living Legends. The album has been met with positive critical reception.
Untitled (Black Is) was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received an average score of 86, based on 5 reviews.[2]
Reviewing for AllMusic, Andy Kellman hailed Untitled (Black Is) as "an urgent outpouring of grief, anger, affirmation, and consolation, [that makes it seem that] virtually anything seems possible for their future".[7] Marcus J. Moore of NPR noted that the lyrics explore the entirety of the black experience, including anger at the killing of African Americans by the police, sorrow in mourning, and the intimacy of daily life.[14] Tom Doyle of Mojo called it "another masterwork from a group with no peers",[10] and Q magazine's Steve Yates described it as "beautiful and potent stuff".[13] Gordon Rutherford of Louder Than War regarded the album as a "zeitgeist" and the best of the year, a "powerful, potent protest album that is musically magnificent".[9] Lizzie Manno of Paste also deemed it an "album-of-the-year contender" as well as "a revolutionary soundtrack to 2020".[4] Salem Collo-Julin of Chicago Reader echoed these sentiments, calling this album the "soundtrack for the 2020 revolution" because the "revelatory jazz-soaked soul music on Untitled is a call to action".[15] Writing for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Dan DeLuca called it "a seductive listen" whose powerful lyrics, coupled with a Juneteenth release and roots in several black music genres, "raise ... a fist against oppression and celebrates collective strength".[11] Robert Christgau highlighted the songs "Stop Dem" and "Don't Shoot Guns Down" while summarising the music as "dancefloor positivity idealized and politicized, most militantly on [this] third album, which surfaced just in time for a BLM moment we're free to pray lasts approximately forever".[8] BBC 6 Music named this album as their number one recommended album of 2020.
The Smiths
3/5
Meat Is Murder is the second studio album by English rock band the Smiths, released on 11 February 1985 by Rough Trade Records. It became the band's only studio album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart, and stayed on the chart for 13 weeks. The album was an international success: it spent 11 weeks in the European Top 100 Albums chart,[13] peaking at number 29.[14] It also reached number 110 on the US Billboard 200, in the United States.
Meat Is Murder was more strident and political than its predecessor, including the pro-vegetarian title track (Morrissey forbade the rest of the group from being photographed eating meat),[17] and the anti-corporal punishment "The Headmaster Ritual". Musically, the band had grown more adventurous, with Marr and Rourke channelling rockabilly and funk influences in "Rusholme Ruffians" and "Barbarism Begins at Home" respectively. "Rusholme Ruffians" interpolates the Victoria Wood song "Fourteen Again". Author John King has suggested that the title track was inspired by the 1983 song "Meat Means Murder" by the anarcho-punk band Conflict, which deals with the same topic and also opens at a slow pace.[18]
Morrissey also brought a political stance to many of his interviews. Among his targets were the Thatcher administration, the monarchy, and his musical contemporaries. When asked about Band Aid, which was being strongly promoted in the UK media at the time, he quipped, "One can have great concern for the people of Ethiopia, but it's another thing to inflict daily torture on the people of England".[19] Similarly, he began to promote vegetarianism in live shows and interviews, on one occasion convincing a Scottish TV show to air footage of slaughterhouses during the dinner hour.[20]
ABBA
3/5
With The Visitors, ABBA took several steps away from the "lighter" pop music they had recorded previously and the album is often regarded as a more complex and mature effort.[8] The opening track, "The Visitors", with its ominous synthesizer sounds and the distinctive lead vocal by Frida, announced a change in musical style. With Benny and Frida going their separate ways, the pain of splitting up was explored yet again in "When All Is Said and Done". The major hit single on the album, "One of Us", also depicted the end of a love story. Elsewhere there were Cold War themes—highly topical at the time—and further songs of isolation and regret.
The Visitors was one of the first records ever to be digitally tracked and mixed, as well as one of the earliest in history to be pressed on the CD format in 1982[9] as, in terms of commercial release dates, it was predated by the Japanese release of Billy Joel's 52nd Street.[10] The Visitors has been reissued in digitally remastered form four times—first in 1997, then in 2001, again in 2005 as part of The Complete Studio Recordings box set and most recently in 2012.
Al Green
3/5
Let's Stay Together is the fourth album by the soul singer Al Green, released in 1972, and is the follow-up to his moderate success Al Green Gets Next to You. It was recorded at Royal Recording Studio, 1320 S. Lauderdale, in Memphis and was a success, peaking at number eight on the pop albums chart and became the first of six albums to peak at number-one on the soul album chart (where it claimed the position for ten weeks). It is best known for the title track "Let's Stay Together", which became Green's signature song and his only number-one pop hit single. The album was the third produced by Willie Mitchell and marked the beginning of Green's classic period of critically acclaimed albums. Let's Stay Together was reissued in 2003 by The Right Stuff.
The album's appeal was widespread among critics. At the time, Rolling Stone noted "Green's voice is something to marvel at. He can croon, shout, scat, rise to the smoothest falsetto, and throw in the funkiest growls ... Let's Stay Together is, like its predecessor, an indispensable treat."[8]
"Let's Stay Together" (0:19)
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Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" from Let's Stay Together
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In 1999, Q magazine wrote that the album "shows him as the authentic voice of love's pain and purity on such wonders as 'How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?'"[9] and that "[H]is cover of the Bee Gees' [song] took the soul ballad to new levels of artistry and refinement."[10]
List rankings
Included in Q magazine's "Best Soul Albums of All Time"[9]
Ranked #335 in the Virgin All-Time top 1000 album list[11]
Ranked #608 in the Guinness top 1000 album poll (1994) and #25 in the Top 50 Soul Albums list[12]
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
3/5
Radiohead
5/5
The Bends is the second studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 8 March 1995 by Parlophone. Most tracks were produced by John Leckie, with extra production by Radiohead, Nigel Godrich and Jim Warren. It was the first Radiohead album with cover art by Stanley Donwood, who, with singer Thom Yorke, has produced all of Radiohead's artwork since.
The Bends received greater acclaim than Pablo Honey, including a nomination for Best British Album at the 1996 Brit Awards; it elevated Radiohead from a one-hit-wonder into one of the most recognised British bands. It is credited for influencing a generation of post-Britpop acts, such as Coldplay, Muse and Travis, and is frequently regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time; it was voted number 2 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000) and ranked number 110 on Rolling Stone's 500 greatest albums of all time.
Aerosmith
3/5
Rocks is the fourth studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released in May 1976. AllMusic described Rocks as having "captured Aerosmith at their most raw and rocking." Rocks was ranked number 366 on the updated Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2020.[5] It has greatly influenced many hard rock and heavy metal artists, including Guns N' Roses, Metallica, and Nirvana. The album was a commercial success, charting three singles on the Billboard Hot 100, two of which reached the Top 40 ("Back in the Saddle" and "Last Child"). The album was one of the first to ship platinum when it was released, and has since gone quadruple platinum.[6]
Many musicians have cited Rocks as a favorite:
Rocks was one of Kurt Cobain's favorite albums, as he listed in his Journals.[27]
In 2003, the album was ranked number 176 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[28] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list,[29] before it was dropped to 366 in a 2020 revised list.[30]
Mötley Crüe songwriter and bassist Nikki Sixx refers to Aerosmith frequently in his book The Heroin Diaries.[31]
Metallica leader James Hetfield has identified Rocks, as well as Aerosmith, as important influences in his music, stating that the band was the reason why he wanted to learn guitar.[32][33]
Slash says Rocks was the album that inspired him to learn guitar,[34] and that the album changed his life:
Tangerine Dream
4/5
Great reflection instrumental music
Phaedra is the fifth major release and fifth studio album by German electronic music group Tangerine Dream. It was recorded during November 1973 at The Manor in Shipton-on-Cherwell, England and released on 20 February 1974 through Virgin Records. This is the first Tangerine Dream album to feature their now classic sequencer-driven sound, which is considered to have greatly influenced the Berlin School genre.[3]
The All Music Guide to Electronica describes the album as a milestone for the band as "one of the most important, artistic, and exciting works in the history of electronic music".[12] Phaedra is commonly cited as one of Tangerine Dream's best albums[13][14] and is listed in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[15] In the Q and Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album also came in at 38 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".[16]
Writing in his 2000 Ambient Century, Mark J. Prendergast describes the title track: "At over 17 minutes it conveyed feelings of the cosmos, of giant suns exploding, of huge ocean movements, of mythological lands, of eddies and drifts. Layer upon layer of futuristic sounds piled one on top of the other until the whole thing climaxes in some interstellar void."[9]
Pentangle
4/5
Basket of Light is a 1969 album by the folk rock group Pentangle. It reached no. 5 on the UK Albums Chart. A single from the album, "Light Flight", the theme from BBC1's first colour drama series Take Three Girls, reached no. 43 on the UK Singles Chart. Another single from the album, "Once I Had a Sweetheart", reached no. 46 in the charts.[3]
Beck
2/5
Odelay is the fifth studio album by American musician Beck, released on June 18, 1996, by DGC Records. The album featured several successful singles, including "Where It's At", "Devils Haircut", and "The New Pollution", and peaked at number sixteen on the Billboard 200. As of July 2008, the album had sold 2.3 million copies in the United States, making Odelay Beck's most successful album to date.[1] Since its release, the album has appeared in numerous publications' lists of the greatest of the 1990s and of all time
Upon release, Odelay received almost unanimous critical acclaim. Odelay was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1997, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "Where It's At". It was ranked 16 in Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005". Odelay was awarded Album of the Year by the American magazine Rolling Stone. It was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll, and also in NME's annual critics poll. In 1998, Q magazine readers voted Odelay the 51st greatest album of all time. The album was ranked number 306 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in 2013, and later ranked number 424 in the 2020 edition,[16][17] and number 9 on its list of the 100 best albums of the nineties. Voters in Channel 4's 2005 "100 Greatest Albums" poll placed it at number 73. The music website Pitchfork ranked it at #19 on their top 100 albums of the 1990s. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[18] In 2000 it was voted number 54 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[19]
Rob Sheffield in an AllMusic review feels that, like Mellow Gold, Odelay incorporates elements from various genres, including "folk and country, grungy garage rock, stiff-boned electro, louche exotica, old-school rap and noise rock."[4] Additional influences include punk rock, bossa nova, Latin soul and mainstream R&B.[20]
Nas
5/5
Illmatic is the debut studio album by American rapper Nas. It was released on April 19, 1994, by Columbia Records. After signing with the label with the help of MC Serch, Nas recorded the album in 1992 and 1993 at Chung King Studios, D&D Recording, Battery Studios, and Unique Recording Studios in New York City. The album's production was handled by DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S. and Nas himself. Styled as a hardcore hip hop album, Illmatic features multi-syllabic internal rhymes and inner-city narratives based on Nas' experiences in the Queensbridge Houses in Queens, New York City.
Illmatic has been noted as one of the most influential hip hop albums of all time, with pundits describing it as an archetypal East Coast hip hop album.[8][101] Jeff Weiss of Pitchfork writes: "No album better reflected the sound and style of New York, 94. The alembic of soul jazz samples, SP-1200s, broken nose breaks, and raw rap distilled the Henny, no chaser ideal of boom bap."[26] Citing Illmatic as part of a string of notable albums released in 1994, David Drake of Stylus Magazine writes "This was the critical point for the East Coast, a time when rappers from the New York area were releasing bucketloads of thrilling work".[119] John Bush of AllMusic compares Illmatic to another DJ Premier production, The Sun Rises in the East (1994), as "one of the quintessential East Coast records".[18] Along with the critical acclaim of the Wu-Tang Clan's debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993) and the success of The Notorious B.I.G.'s debut Ready to Die (1994), Illmatic was also instrumental in restoring interest in the East Coast hip hop scene. "Rarely has the birthplace of hip-hop," wrote Rob Marriott of Complex, "been so unanimous in praise of a rap record and the MC who made it."[67] As Nas later recounted: "It felt amazing to be accepted by New York City in that way...at the time a lot of West Coast hip-hop was selling; East Coast wasn't selling as much, especially for a new artist. So back then you couldn't tell in the sales, but you could tell in the streets".[120]
The Beach Boys
3/5
Surf's Up is the seventeenth studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released August 30, 1971 on Brother/Reprise. It received largely favorable reviews and reached number 29 on the US record charts, becoming their highest-charting LP of new music in the US since 1967. In the UK, Surf's Up peaked at number 15, continuing a string of top 40 records that had not abated since 1965.
The album's title and cover artwork (a painting based on the early 20th-century sculpture "End of the Trail") are an ironic, self-aware nod to the band's early surfing image.[3] Originally titled Landlocked, the album took its name from the closing track "Surf's Up", a song originally intended for the group's unfinished album Smile. Most of Surf's Up was recorded from January to July 1971. In contrast to the previous LP Sunflower, Brian Wilson was not especially active in the production, which resulted in thinner vocal arrangements.
Lyrically, Surf's Up addresses environmental, social, and health concerns more than the group's previous releases.[3] This was at the behest of newly recruited co-manager Jack Rieley, who strove to revamp the group's image and restore their public reputation following the dismal reception to their recent albums and tours. His initiatives included a promotional campaign with the tagline "it's now safe to listen to the Beach Boys" and the appointment of Carl Wilson as the band's official leader. The record also included Carl's first major song contributions: "Long Promised Road" and "Feel Flows".
John Martyn
4/5
The album was recorded over eight days and features instrumental contributions by bassist Danny Thompson and members of Fairport Convention.[4][5] "Solid Air", the title track, was dedicated to a friend of Martyn's, Nick Drake, who would die of an antidepressant overdose 18 months after the album was released.[6] Martyn said of the track "It was done for a friend of mine, and it was done right with very clear motives, and I'm very pleased with it, for varying reasons. It has got a very simple message, but you'll have to work that one out for yourself."[7] The album features an avant-garde cover of Skip James' "Devil Got My Woman",[4] here retitled "I'd Rather Be the Devil" and performed with heavy use of Martyn's Echoplex tape delay effect.[5]
"May You Never" became something of a signature song for Martyn, becoming a staple of his live performances. Released in November 1971 as a single in an early form, the song was re-recorded during the Solid Air sessions.[8] Eric Clapton covered "May You Never" on his 1977 album Slowhand. When Martyn was presented with a lifetime achievement award by Phil Collins (a collaborator of Martyn's) at the 2008 BBC Folk Awards, In 2006, Martyn performed the album live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties-curated Don't Look Back series and subsequently toured the UK.
A remastered CD was issued by Universal Records in October 2000. This CD was packaged in a card slipcase, and featured a remastered version of the original album with the addition of a live version of "I'd Rather Be The Devil". Solid Air was given a further remastering and repackaging when a double CD reissue curated by John Hillarby was released in 2009, and which included several alternate studio and live versions.
The album cover is an example of schlieren photography demonstrating the 'solid' nature of air.
The Pogues
3/5
If I Should Fall from Grace with God is the third studio album by Irish folk-punk band The Pogues, released on 18 January 1988.[1] Released in the wake of their biggest hit single, "Fairytale of New York", If I Should Fall from Grace with God also became the band's best-selling album, peaking at number 3 in the UK Album Charts and reaching the top ten in several other countries.
If I Should Fall from Grace with God was well received by critics. In the UK the NME lauded the record, saying, "If I Should Fall from Grace with God sees The Pogues venturing towards the area occupied by the latter day Madness, troubled words on top of happy tunes, stormclouds casting shadows across forced smiles ... With their new LP, The Pogues have given us a thing of beauty, the bleakest of masterpieces which will find few equals in 1988."[18] Sounds stated that "within the grooves of Grace, the third Pogues LP, you get heaven and hell and everything in between. If you've ever viewed The Pogues as a quaint rabble-rousing cult band then think again, for this is a record of rare quality and seductive charm."[21] Q described the album as "old-style Pogues, as dependably garrulous and irreverent as ever, but the album also advances on new fronts with a gleeful sense of adventure".[19] Melody Maker was the only UK music paper to give the album a negative review, being fiercely critical of the idea that traditional Irish music should be mixed with rock music, before admitting "so far removed is this album from my constituency that I feel scarcely qualified to review it at all".[24]
The reaction from US critics was also very positive. Kurt Loder of Rolling Stone stated "obviously the Pogues can do it all. And it sounds as if they've only just begun."[25] Spin stated that "it's got guts and soul, and will make poor people dance until 4 a.m., even if they have to be at work until 7 a.m." and that despite containing a few songs that could be skipped over, "this LP on cassette will cause more wear on the rewind button than on the fast forward".[26] Robert Christgau gave the album a B+ and said that "neither pop nor rock nor disco crossover stays these groghounds from the swift accomplishment of their appointed rounds".[23]
Alice Cooper
3/5
School's Out is the fifth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released in 1972. Following on from the success of Killer, School's Out reached No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 chart and No. 1 on the Canadian RPM 100 Top Albums chart, holding the top position for four weeks.[4] The single "School's Out" reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 3 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles Chart[5] and went to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart.
Ian Chapman has put forward a theory that it was a concept album about youth lost when leaving school.[9]
Tom Waits
3/5
Swordfishtrombones is the eighth studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released in 1983 on Island Records. It was the first album that Waits produced himself. Stylistically different from his previous albums, Swordfishtrombones moves away from conventional piano-based songwriting towards unusual instrumentation and a somewhat more abstract and experimental rock approach.[2]
At the end of 1983, Swordfishtrombones was ranked the second best album of the year by NME.[15]
In 1989, Spin named Swordfishtrombones the second greatest album of all time.[16] In 2000, it was voted number 374 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[17]
Pitchfork ranked Swordfishtrombones at number 11 in its 2002 list of the best albums of the 1980s.[18] In 2006, Q listed Swordfishtrombones as the 36th best album of the 1980s,[19] while in 2012, Slant Magazine listed it as the decade's 26th best album
Madonna
3/5
Like a Prayer is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on March 21, 1989, by Sire Records. Madonna worked with Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard, and Prince on the album, with her co-writing and co-producing all the songs. Her most introspective release at the time, Like a Prayer is a confessional record. Madonna described the album as a collection of songs about her mother, father, and bonds with her family. It was dedicated to Madonna's mother, who died when she was young.
Like a Prayer received universal acclaim from music critics, who praised the songwriting and recognized Madonna's increased artistic merit. Commercially, the album was an international success, reaching the top of the charts in 20 countries, including the United States and United Kingdom, and was certified quadruple platinum in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Worldwide, it has sold over 15 million copies. Six accompanying singles were released: the title track, "Express Yourself", "Cherish", "Oh Father", "Dear Jessie", and "Keep It Together". "Like a Prayer" became Madonna's seventh number-one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, while "Express Yourself" and "Cherish" both peaked at number two, and "Keep It Together" became a top-10 hit.
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
Bridge over Troubled Water is the fifth and final studio album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released in January 1970 on Columbia Records. Following the duo's soundtrack for The Graduate, Art Garfunkel took an acting role in the film Catch-22, while Paul Simon worked on the songs, writing all tracks except Felice and Boudleaux Bryant's "Bye Bye Love" (previously a hit for the Everly Brothers).
Despite numerous accolades, the duo decided to split up, and parted company later in 1970; Garfunkel continued his film career, while Simon worked intensely with music. Both artists released solo albums in the following years. Bridge includes two of the duo's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful songs, "Bridge over Troubled Water" and "The Boxer", which were listed on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Critically and commercially successful, the album topped the charts in over ten countries and received two Grammy Awards, plus four more for the title song. The album sold around 25 million records; making it at the time of release the best-selling album of all time. It has been ranked on several lists, including at number 172 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[5]
Black Sabbath
3/5
the English rock band Black Sabbath. It was released on 13 February 1970[1] in the United Kingdom by Vertigo Records and on 1 June 1970 in the United States by Warner Bros. Records. The album is widely regarded as the first album in the heavy metal genre. Additionally, the opening track, the self-titled "Black Sabbath", has been referred to as the first doom metal song.[2]
Retrospective reviews of Black Sabbath have been positive. AllMusic reviewer Steve Huey said it was a highly innovative debut album with several classic metal songs, including the title track, which he felt had the "most definitive heavy metal riffs of all time". Huey was also impressed by how the band's "slowed-down, murky guitar rock bludgeons the listener in an almost hallucinatory fashion, reveling in its own dazed, druggy state of consciousness".[9] In The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), the journalist Scott Seward highlighted Bain's grandiose production on "an album that eats hippies for breakfast."[32] In the opinion of Mike Stagno of Sputnikmusic, "both fans of blues influenced hard rock and heavy metal of all sorts should find something they like on the album."[12] BBC Music's Pete Marsh referred to Black Sabbath as an "album that changed the face of rock music."[37] In Mick Wall's book Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe, Butler reflects, "The London press absolutely hated us when we made it 'cos they'd never written an article about us, they didn't know of us. When our first album, the first week, went straight into the charts, the London press went, like, what the hell's going on here? And they've hated us ever since."[citation needed]
In 1989, Kerrang! ranked Black Sabbath number 31 on their "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time".[38] In 1994, it was ranked number 12 in Colin Larkin's Top 50 Heavy Metal Albums. Larkin praised the album's "crushing atmosphere of doom", which he described as "intense and relentless".[39] In 2000, Q magazine included Black Sabbath in their list of the "Best Metal Albums of All Time", stating: "[This album] was to prove so influential it remains a template for metal bands three decades on."[40] In 2003, it was ranked number 241 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[5] 243 in a 2012 revised list,[41] and 355 in a 2020 revised list.[42] Rolling Stone ranked Black Sabbath number 44 in their list of the 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time, describing the title track as the song that "would define the sound of a thousand bands".[43] Additionally, in 2017, the magazine ranked it 5th on their list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".[44] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[45]
3/5
The Lexicon of Love is the debut studio album by English pop band ABC. It was released in June 1982 by Neutron Records in the United Kingdom, by Mercury Records in the United States and Japan, and by Vertigo Records in Canada and Europe. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number one and has been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It features four UK top 20 singles; "Tears Are Not Enough", "Poison Arrow", "The Look of Love" and "All of My Heart".
Though Martin Fry has declined to label it a concept album,[2] the album features repeated themes in which the singer experiences heartache as he tries and fails to have a meaningful relationship. A longform music video/film, Mantrap, featuring songs from the album was released in 1983.
Isaac Hayes
3/5
Shaft is a double album by Isaac Hayes, recorded for Stax Records' Enterprise label as the soundtrack LP for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft. The album mostly consists of instrumentals composed by Hayes as score for the film. Three vocal selections are included: "Soulsville", "Do Your Thing", and "Theme from Shaft". A commercial and critical success, Shaft is Hayes' best-known work and the best-selling LP ever released on a Stax label.[2]
In a 2020 retrospective on the Shaft franchise, RetroFan stated that "Hayes' score helped change the way music was used in film, bringing in a more contemporary, funk/soul-driven sound. It had an especially significant impact on the coming wave of black films, setting the standard for how R&B music would be used in films, and marketed alongside of individual movies."[7]
The Byrds
3/5
Sweetheart of the Rodeo is the sixth album by American rock band the Byrds and was released in August 1968 on Columbia Records.[2] Recorded with the addition of country rock pioneer Gram Parsons, it became the first major album widely recognised as country rock,[3] and represented a stylistic move away from the psychedelic rock of the band's previous LP, The Notorious Byrd Brothers.[4] The Byrds had occasionally experimented with country music on their four previous albums, but Sweetheart of the Rodeo represented their fullest immersion into the genre thus far.[5][6][7] The album was also responsible for bringing Parsons, who had joined the Byrds prior to the recording of the album, to the attention of a mainstream rock audience for the first time.[7][8] Thus, the album can be seen as an important chapter in Parsons' personal and musical crusade to make country music fashionable for a young audience.[9]
Korn
3/5
Follow the Leader (stylized as FOLLOW The LEADEЯ) is the third studio album by American nu metal band Korn. The album was released on August 18, 1998, through Immortal/Epic. This was their first album not produced by Ross Robinson. Instead, it was produced by Steve Thompson and Toby Wright.
The album peaked at number one on four charts, including the Billboard 200 with 268,000 units sold in its first week of release,[2] Follow the Leader is considered by members of Korn to be the band's most commercially–successful album, being certified five-times Platinum by the RIAA. Its singles, "Got the Life" and "Freak on a Leash", both charted on more than three charts, and their music videos are considered to be the first music videos retired from MTV, most notably the MTV show Total Request Live.[3] The album generally received positive reviews by critics and sold around 14 million copies worldwide. Korn was praised by AllMusic saying the album is "an effective follow-up to their first two alt-metal landmarks."[4]
The Family Values Tour promoted the album, along with its five singles. The song "Freak on a Leash" was nominated for nine MTV Video Music Awards, and won for the Best Rock Video award, as well as Best Editing.[3] The music video for "Freak on a Leash" won Best Short Form Music Video at the 2000 Grammy Awards.[5]
John Prine
3/5
John Prine is the debut album by American country/folk singer-songwriter John Prine, issued by Atlantic Records in 1971. In 2012, the album was ranked number 452 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[1] It was later ranked number 149 in a revised version of the list published in 2020.
After the album's release, Karin Berg of Rolling Stone wrote, "This is a very good first album by a very good songwriter. Good songwriters are on the rise, but John Prine is differently good. His work demands some time and thought from the listener — he's not out to write pleasant tunes, he wants to arrest the cursory listener and get attention for some important things he has to say and, thankfully, he says them without falling into the common trap of writing with overtones of self-importance or smugness. His melodies are excellent."[10] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau wrote: "You suspect at first that these standard riffs and reliable rhythms are designed to support the lyrics rather than accompany them. But the homespun sarcasm of singing that comes on as tuneless as the tunes themselves soon reveals itself as an authentic, rather catchy extension of Nashville and Appalachia—and then so do the tunes, and the riffs, and the rhythms."[8] Writing for Allmusic, critic William Ruhlman says of the album: "A revelation upon its release, this album is now a collection of standards...Prine's music, a mixture of folk, rock, and country, is deceptively simple, like his pointed lyrics, and his easy vocal style adds a humorous edge that makes otherwise funny jokes downright hilarious. In the original album's liner notes, Kris Kristofferson marveled, ""Twenty-four years old and writes like he's two-hundred and twenty."[7]
Frank Zappa
3/5
Hot Rats is the second solo album by Frank Zappa, released in October 1969. It was Zappa's first recording project after the dissolution of the original version of the Mothers of Invention. Five of the six songs are instrumental; while "Willie the Pimp", features vocals by Captain Beefheart. In his original sleeve notes, Zappa described the album as "a movie for your ears".
Zappa used advanced recording equipment to create an album of outstanding technical and musical quality. The album was recorded on what Zappa described as a "homemade sixteen track" recorder; the machine was custom built by engineers at TTG Studios in Hollywood in late 1968. Additional tracks made it possible for Zappa to add multiple horn and keyboard overdubs by Ian Underwood. Only a few musicians were required to create an especially rich instrumental texture which gives the sound of a large group. It was this use of advanced overdubbing that was the main motivation for Zappa, who hated playing in a studio.[15
The Chemical Brothers
2/5
Dig Your Own Hole is the second studio album by English electronic music duo the Chemical Brothers. It was released on 7 April 1997 in the United Kingdom by Freestyle Dust and Virgin Records and in the United States by Astralwerks. The album was recorded between 1995 and 1997, and features Noel Gallagher of Oasis and Beth Orton as guest vocalists.
The album became the duo's first to peak at number one in the UK, achieving this peak in April 1997. Five singles were released from the album, two of which reached number one in the UK: "Setting Sun", "Where Do I Begin", "Block Rockin' Beats", "Elektrobank", and "The Private Psychedelic Reel". The album has been included in several British magazines' lists of the best albums ever. The success of the album led The Chemical Brothers to be much sought-after remixers, and the duo released a mix album in 1998 titled Brothers Gonna Work It Out.
Rahul Dev Burman
3/5
Shalimar (Hindi : शालीमार) is a 1978 Bollywood film, written and directed by Krishna Shah.[2] The movie starred Dharmendra,[3] Zeenat Aman, Shammi Kapoor, Prem Nath and Aruna Irani. English actor Rex Harrison and American actors John Saxon and Sylvia Miles[4] appear in supporting roles in their first and only Bollywood film. Jayamalini does a dance number in the film. This was the last time that Mohammed Rafi's voice was picturized on Shammi Kapoor.[5] Its English version is known as Raiders of the Sacred Stone. Rex Harrison's voice was dubbed by Kader Khan. The plot is inspired by the novel The Vulture is a Patient Bird by James Hadley Chase.
The music of this movie was given by the legendary music composer R. D. Burman while Anand Bakshi penned the lyrics "Hum Bewafaa Hargiz Na The" [9] is an evergreen song of this album.
Alice In Chains
4/5
Dirt is the second studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains, released on September 29, 1992, through Columbia Records. Peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart, the album was also well received by music critics. It has since been certified four-times platinum by the RIAA and gone on to sell five million copies worldwide, making Dirt the band's highest selling album to date.[8] It is the band's last album recorded with all four original members, as bassist Mike Starr was fired from the band in January 1993.[9][10] The album spawned five singles: "Would?", "Them Bones", "Angry Chair", "Rooster", and "Down in a Hole"; all with accompanying music videos. Dirt was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. The music video for "Would?" was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film, as the song was featured on the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe's 1992 film Singles.
Dirt received critical acclaim, and is considered by many critics and fans alike as the group's best album. In a retrospective review, Steve Huey of AllMusic said "Dirt is Alice in Chains' major artistic statement and the closest they ever came to recording a flat-out masterpiece. It's a primal, sickening howl from the depths of Layne Staley's heroin addiction, and one of the most harrowing concept albums ever recorded. Not every song on Dirt is explicitly about heroin, but Jerry Cantrell's solo-written contributions (nearly half the album) effectively maintain the thematic coherence—nearly every song is imbued with the morbidity, self-disgust, and/or resignation of a self-aware yet powerless addict."[45]
Michael Christopher of PopMatters praised the album saying "the record wasn't celebratory by any means – but you'll be hard pressed to find a more brutally truthful work laid down – and that's why it will always be one of the greatest records ever made."[55] Chris Gill of Guitar World called Dirt "huge and foreboding, yet eerie and intimate," and "sublimely dark and brutally honest."[56] Don Kaye of Kerrang! described Dirt as "brutally truthful and a fiercely rocking testimonial to human endurance".[50]
Dirt is often considered as one of the most influential albums to the sludge metal subgenre, which fuses doom metal with hardcore punk.[55][57] It was voted "Kerrang! Critic's Choice Album of the Year" for 1992.[58]
Dirt included the top-30 singles "Would?", "Them Bones", "Angry Chair", "Rooster", and "Down in a Hole", all of which had accompanying music videos. The album remained on Billboard's charts for nearly two years.[59][60]
Santana
3/5
Abraxas is the second studio album by Latin rock band Santana. It was released on September 23, 1970 by Columbia Records and became the band's first album to reach number one in the United States.
In both 2003 and 2012, the album was ranked number 207 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[15][16] and then at number 334 in a 2020 edition of the list.[17] In 2000 it was voted number 202 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[18] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[19] In 2015, the album was listed among Billboard's 50 Essential Latin Albums of the 50 Past Years.[20]
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
Sound of Silver is the second studio album by American rock band LCD Soundsystem. The album was released jointly through DFA and Capitol Records in the United States and EMI elsewhere, first on March 12, 2007, in the United Kingdom. Sound of Silver was produced by the DFA and recorded during 2006 at Long View Farm in North Brookfield, Massachusetts and DFA Studios in New York, New York. Upon release, Sound of Silver received acclaim from music critics, and it was later nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. The group's later released EP, entitled A Bunch of Stuff, was composed entirely of songs from this album
Sound of Silver received widespread critical acclaim and holds a score of 86 out of 100 on the review aggregation website Metacritic, based on reviews from 41 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[14] The Guardian's Dorian Lynskey singled out the "devastating emotional punch" of "Someone Great" and "All My Friends" for praise and described the album as "dance-rock for grown-ups: extraordinary."[18] Andy Kellman of AllMusic felt that Sound of Silver, compared to LCD Soundsystem, was "less silly, funnier, less messy, sleeker, less rowdy, more fun, less distanced, more touching."[15] Los Angeles Times critic Ann Powers wrote that Murphy "succeeds by stretching in two directions -- finding a new musical center, and showing his humanity beyond the laughs."[19] Mark Pytlik of Pitchfork complimented Murphy's production sense and the album's "deep, spacious, and full-blooded" sound, concluding that "it's an absolute joy to listen to, for every possible reason, not the least of which is because, these days, those epiphanies feel like they're coming fewer and farther between."[21]
The Waterboys
3/5
Fisherman's Blues is a 1988 album by The Waterboys. The album marked a change in the band's sound, with them abandoning their earlier grandiose rock sound for a mixture of traditional Irish music, traditional Scottish music, country music, and rock and roll. Critics were divided on its release with some disappointed at the change of direction and others ranking it among The Waterboys' best work.[1] The album was the Waterboys' best selling album, reaching a number 13 placing on the U.K. charts on release, and 76 on the Billboard 200.
Daft Punk
4/5
Homework is the debut studio album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 20 January 1997 by Virgin Records and Soma Quality Recordings. The duo produced the tracks without plans to release an album. After working on projects that were intended to be separate singles over five months, they considered the material good enough for an album.
Homework's success brought worldwide attention to French progressive house music,[53] and drew attention to French house music.[31] According to The Village Voice, the album revived house music and departed from the Euro dance formula.[54] In the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, critic Alex Rayner stated that Homework tied the established club styles to the "burgeoning eclecticism" of big beat. He contended that it served as a proof that "there was more to dance music than pills and keyboard presets."[55] Clash described Homework as an entry point of accessibility for a "burgeoning movement on the cusp of splitting the mainstream seam".[56] In 2009, Brian Linder of IGN described Homework as the duo's third-best album. He catalogued as a "groundbreaking achievement" the way they used their unique skills to craft the house, techno, acid and punk music styles into the record.[57] Hua Hsu of eMusic agreed, applauding Homework for how it captured a "feeling of discovery and exploration" as a result of "years of careful study of the finest house, techno, electro and hip-hop records".[58] David Browne, writing in Entertainment Weekly, stated that the duo knew how to use "their playful, hip-hopping ambient techno" to craft the album. He named Homework the "ideal disco for androids".[45] Sean Cooper of AllMusic called the album "an almost certain classic" and "essential".[43
Antony and the Johnsons
4/5
I Am a Bird Now is the second album by New York City band Antony and the Johnsons. It won the Mercury Prize on September 6, 2005. After winning the prize, the album shot up the UK albums chart from #135 to #16 in one week, the biggest jump in the history of the Mercury Music Prize.[2] As of September 2011, UK sales stood at 220,000 copies.[3]
I Am a Bird Now received very positive reviews. On the review aggregate site Metacritic, the album has a score of 88 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim."[6]
Drowned in Sound's Anthony Gibbons gave the album a score of 10/10, writing "It's not an exaggeration. This isn't hype. I Am A Bird Now is a beautiful, emotive, glorious, and sometimes sinister album that will top many a critic's list come the end-of-year polls, and justifiably so."[16] Tiny Mix Tapes also gave the album a perfect score, writing "This music grabs a hold of you and doesn't let go. It feels timeless and gorgeous and bigger than life. It may not be 'soul' in the strict, music appreciation 101 sense, but it could make even the most jaded atheist approach a metaphysical regard... I'd put on my critic's cap and dive into scrutiny, but I am too enraptured by this artist's music."[17] Pitchfork's Brandon Stosuy praised the vocals, writing "The ultimate draw is [Anohni's] voice, and within the first two seconds of the album, it should be very clear to even the most unaware newbies that [Anohni] has an amazing Nina Simone/Brian Ferry [sic]/Jimmy Scott vibrato, a multi-octave siren that would sound painfully lovely no matter what [she] was saying."[13]
The album has appeared on several end of year lists. Mojo named I Am a Bird Now the best album of 2005.[18] Pitchfork ranked the album #5 on its list of the top 50 albums of 2005.[19] On the same website, the track "Hope There's Someone" was ranked #28 on their list of the Top 500 Songs of the 2000s and was selected as 2005's best single.[20][21] In 2019, the album was ranked 40th on The Guardian's 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century list.[22]
Paul Simon
3/5
The album was originally intended to be called Think Too Much, but Mo Ostin, president of Warner Bros. Records at the time, persuaded Simon to change it to Hearts and Bones.[2] The album was written and recorded following Simon & Garfunkel's The Concert in Central Park in 1981, and the world tour of 1982-1983. Several songs intended for Think Too Much were previewed on tour, and Art Garfunkel worked on some of the songs with Simon in the studio,[3] with an intention that the finished product would be an all-new Simon & Garfunkel studio album.[4] Garfunkel left the project and Simon erased all his vocals and worked the material into a solo album.
Overall the album was a commercial failure.[10][14] In a retrospective review, William Ruhlmann of AllMusic called Hearts and Bones Simon's "most personal collection of songs, one of his most ambitious, and one of his best." Ruhlmann praised the lyrical handling of the subject of romance and the music's blending of doo-wop and rock and roll roots with contemporary styles.[5] Robert Christgau later referred to the album as being "a finely wrought dead end."[15]
Lynyrd Skynyrd
3/5
Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) is the debut album by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released in 1973.[4] Several of the album's songs remain among the band's most well-known: "Gimme Three Steps", "Simple Man", "Tuesday's Gone", and "Free Bird", the last of which launched the band to national stardom.
Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) immediately put the band on the rock-and-roll map. Upon its release, rock journalist Robert Christgau acknowledged the quality of the songs and gave the album an "A" rating while referring to Lynyrd Skynyrd as a "staunchly untranscendent band".[9] Producer Al Kooper, a close friend of Pete Townshend, secured the band a spot opening for The Who on their American tour, and Lynyrd Skynyrd was subsequently exposed to much larger audiences than they had ever seen before.[7]
In 2012, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album number 403 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and it was later ranked number 381 in the 2020 edition.[10][11]
After releasing five studio albums and one live album, the band's career was abruptly halted on October 20, 1977, when their chartered airplane crashed, killing Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines, and seriously injuring the rest of the band.
Orange Juice
3/5
Rip It Up is the second album released by Scottish post-punk band Orange Juice. It was released in 1982. This album contains their hit song of the same name, which reached the Top 10. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[4]
Rip It Up
The Byrds
3/5
Fifth Dimension is the third album by the American folk rock band the Byrds and was released in July 1966 on Columbia Records.[1][2] Most of the album was recorded following the February 1966 departure of the band's principal songwriter Gene Clark.[3][4] In an attempt to compensate for Clark's absence, guitarists Jim McGuinn and David Crosby stepped into the breach and increased their songwriting output.[5] In spite of this, the loss of Clark resulted in an album with a total of four cover versions and an instrumental, which critics have described as "wildly uneven" and "awkward and scattered".[2][3] However, the album is notable for being the first by the Byrds not to include any songs written by Bob Dylan, whose material had previously been a mainstay of the band's repertoire.[3]
Miles Davis
4/5
Kind of Blue is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was recorded on March 2 and April 22, 1959, at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, and released on August 17 of that year by Columbia Records. For the recording, Davis led a sextet featuring saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, pianist Bill Evans, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb, with new band pianist Wynton Kelly appearing on one track – "Freddie Freeloader" – in place of Evans.
Kind of Blue is regarded by many critics as the greatest jazz record, Davis's masterpiece, and one of the best albums of all time. Its influence on music, including jazz, rock, and classical genres, has led writers to also deem it one of the most influential albums ever recorded. The album was one of fifty recordings chosen in 2002 by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry, and in 2003 it was ranked number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2019, Kind of Blue was certified 5× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of over five million copies, making it one of the most commercially successful jazz albums in history.
The album's influence has reached beyond jazz, as musicians of such genres as rock and classical have been influenced by it, while critics have written about it as one of the most influential albums of all time.[59][60] Many improvisatory rock musicians of the 1960s referred to Kind of Blue for inspiration, along with other Davis albums, as well as Coltrane's modal records My Favorite Things (1961) and A Love Supreme (1965). Guitarist Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band said his soloing on songs such as In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, "comes from Miles and Coltrane, and particularly Kind of Blue. I've listened to that album so many times that for the past couple of years, I haven't hardly listened to anything else."[61] Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright said that the chord progressions on the album influenced the structure of the introductory chords to the song "Breathe" on the album The Dark Side of the Moon (1973).[62] In his book Kind of Blue: The Making of a Miles Davis Masterpiece, writer Ashley Kahn wrote "still acknowledged as the height of hip, four decades after it was recorded, Kind of Blue is the premier album of its era, jazz or otherwise. Its vapory piano introduction is universally recognized".[63] Producer Quincy Jones, one of Davis's longtime friends, wrote: "That [Kind of Blue] will always be my music, man. I play Kind of Blue every day—it's my orange juice. It still sounds like it was made yesterday".[63] Pianist Chick Corea, one of Miles's acolytes, was also struck by its majesty, later stating "It's one thing to just play a tune, or play a program of music, but it's another thing to practically create a new language of music, which is what Kind of Blue did."[64]
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Canadian folk singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released on December 27, 1967, on Columbia Records. Less successful in the US than in Europe, Songs of Leonard Cohen foreshadowed the kind of chart success Cohen would go on to achieve. It reached number 83 on the Billboard 200, achieving gold status in the US as a sleeper hit in 1989. It peaked at number 13 on the UK Albums Chart, spending nearly a year and a half on it
Critics have been far kinder to the album since its release, with many considering it a highlight in the Cohen canon. Mark Deming of AllMusic states, "The ten songs on Songs of Leonard Cohen were certainly beautifully constructed, artful in a way few (if any) other lyricists would approach for some time, but what's most striking about these songs isn't Cohen's technique, superb as it is, so much as his portraits of a world dominated by love and lust, rage and need, compassion and betrayal...few musicians have ever created a more remarkable or enduring debut." Writing in Mojo in 2012, Sylvie Simmons called the LP "brilliant," adding that it "sounded like nothing of its time - of any time really - fresh and ancient, cryptic and intimate." Brian Howe of Pitchfork declares, "1968's Songs of Leonard Cohen contains many of his most essential songs - 'Suzanne,' 'Master Song,' "Stranger Song,' 'Sisters of Mercy,' 'So Long, Marianne' - and establishes the themes and stylistic tics he would pursue relentlessly over the ensuing decades." In 2007, Tim Nelson of BBC Music called the collection "the absolute must-have classic." In a 2014 Rolling Stone readers poll ranking the top ten Leonard Cohen songs, "Suzanne" came in at #2 while "So Long, Marianne" came in at #6.[citation needed]
It was voted number 149 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[20]
Though not included in the 2003 original nor the 2012 revision, it was ranked number 195 in the 2020 reboot of Rolling Stone's 'The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time' list.[21]
The Stranglers
3/5
Rattus Norvegicus (alternative title The Stranglers IV) is the debut studio album by the Stranglers, released on 15 April 1977.
It was one of the highest-selling albums of the punk era in Britain, eventually achieving platinum record sales. Two of its tracks, "Peaches" and "(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)", were released as 7-inch singles in the UK.
According to the book The Stranglers-Song by Song, "Sometimes" describes a violent argument with a girlfriend.[4] The same girlfriend is the subject of "Strange Little Girl" which was written earlier by Cornwell and Hans Wärmling.[5] "Goodbye Toulouse" describes the destruction of Toulouse predicted by Nostradamus.[6]
"London Lady" is loosely based on a contemporary female journalist,[7] and "Hanging Around" describes the characters found in the London pubs that the band played live at.[8] In 1981, it was covered by Hazel O'Connor on her third album, Cover Plus, and released by her as a single that same year.
"(Get a) Grip (On Yourself)" is based on the band's life in their Chiddingfold squat. It features Eric Clarke, a Welsh coal miner, on saxophone.[9] "Ugly" mentions the poem Ozymandias.[10]
"Down in the Sewer" has four sections: Falling, Down in the Sewer, Trying to Get Out Again, and Rat's Rally. The 'sewer' refers to London.[11] Lyrically the song references an episode of the 1975 post-apocalyptic BBC TV drama Survivors titled "Lights of London", where the protagonists leave the safety of a farming community to head for the city, which they find can only be entered through a rat-infested sewer.
Rattus Norvegicus was ranked at No. 10 among the top albums of the year for 1977 by NME, with "Peaches" ranked at No. 18 among the year's top tracks.[19] NME later ranked it at No. 196 on its 2014 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[20] In 2000, Rattus Norvegicus was voted number 766 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[21] It was also included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[22]
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Are You Experienced is the debut studio album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Released in 1967, the LP was an immediate critical and commercial success, and it is widely regarded as one of the greatest debuts in the history of rock music. The album features Jimi Hendrix's innovative approach to songwriting and electric guitar playing which soon established a new direction in psychedelic and hard rock music.
After struggling to earn a living on the R&B circuit as a backing guitarist, Hendrix signed a management and production contract in 1966 with former Animals member Chas Chandler and ex-Animals manager Michael Jeffery. Chandler brought Hendrix to London and recruited members for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, a band designed to showcase the guitarist's talents. In late October, after having been rejected by Decca Records, the Experience signed with Track, a new label formed by the Who's managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp. Are You Experienced and its preceding singles were recorded over a five-month period from late October 1966 through early April 1967. The album was completed in 16 recording sessions at three London locations, including De Lane Lea Studios, CBS Studios, and Olympic Studios.
According to Hendrix biographer Harry Shapiro, the music on Are You Experienced incorporates a variety of music genres from rhythm and blues to free jazz; author Peter Doggett noted its "wide variety of styles", while journalist Chris Welch said "each track has a different personality".[82] Musicologist Gilbert Chase asserted that the album "marked a high peak in hard rock", and music critic Jim DeRogatis characterized the LP and its preceding singles as "raw, focused psychedelic rock".[83] A contemporary review published in Newsweek in October 1967 identified the influence of soul music on the Experience and the album.[84] In 1989, Hit Parader magazine ranked it number 35 in a list of the top 100 heavy metal albums.[85] In 2006, writer and archivist Reuben Jackson of the Smithsonian Institution wrote: "it's still a landmark recording because it is of the rock, R&B, blues ... musical tradition. It altered the syntax of the music ... in a way I compare to, say, James Joyce's Ulysses."[2]
Are You Experienced was an immediate commercial success, selling more than one million copies within seven months of its release.[155] Reviewing the album in 1967, Melody Maker praised its artistic integrity and the Experience's varied use of tempo.[156] NME's Keith Altham said it is "a brave effort by Hendrix to produce a musical form which is original and exciting".[157] However, not all contemporary writers gave the LP a favorable review; in November 1967, Rolling Stone's Jon Landau wrote that although he considered Hendrix a "great guitarist and a brilliant arranger", he disapproved of his singing and songwriting.[158] He criticized the quality of the material and described the lyrics as inane: "Above all this record is unrelentingly violent, and lyrically, inartistically violent at that."[158]
Many music critics have since named Are You Experienced as one of the greatest rock and roll debut albums.[2] According to Associated Press writer Hillel Italie, it was among the notable debuts in a year that marked rock music's transition into the album era.[159] Journalist Ritchie Unterberger described it as "one of the definitive albums of the psychedelic era",[145] while author Chris Smith said the release was "a landmark in a summer of landmark albums".[160] Noe Goldwasser, the founding editor of Guitar World magazine, called it "a veritable textbook of what a musician can do with his instrument" and "the measure by which everything ... in rock and roll has been compared since."[161] According to music journalist Charles Shaar Murray, the album "completely changed notions of what a guitar could sound like, or indeed, what music could sound like",[162] while The Miami Herald credited Are You Experienced with introducing acid rock, classic rock, and the guitar aesthetic of heavy metal.[163] Critic Robert Christgau called it a "bombshell debut" in his review for Blender and said its songs were innovative for how they utilized three-minute pop structures as a medium for Hendrix's unprecedentedly heavy and turbulent guitar and loud, powerful hooks, which greatly appealed to young listeners.[164]
Rolling Stone includes the album and several songs on various "best of" lists, such as:
500 Greatest Albums of All Time – No. 30, calling it an "epochal debut", and praising Hendrix's "exploitation of amp howl", and characterizing his guitar playing as "incendiary ... historic in itself". (2020)[165][166]
Count Basie & His Orchestra
4/5
The Atomic Mr. Basie (originally called Basie, also known as E=MC2 and reissued in 1994 as The Complete Atomic Basie) is a 1958 album by Count Basie and his orchestra. Allmusic gave it 5 stars, reviewer Bruce Eder saying: "it took Basie's core audience and a lot of other people by surprise, as a bold, forward-looking statement within the context of a big-band recording."[2] It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Will Fulford-Jones calling it "Basie's last great record."[1] It was voted number 411 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[6] According to Acclaimed Music, it is the 6th most critically acclaimed album of 1958, the 25th most acclaimed of the 1950s, and the 837th most acclaimed of all time, based on an aggregation of hundreds of critics' lists from around the world.[7]
Venom
2/5
Black Metal is the second album by English heavy metal band Venom. It was released in November 1982, during the great flourishing of metal music in the UK that was the new wave of British heavy metal, and is considered a major influence on the thrash metal, death metal and black metal scenes that emerged in the 1980s and early 1990s.[3][4]
Numerous artists have cited Black Metal as a major influence on them, spawning many cover songs from the album by bands including Dimmu Borgir, Mayhem, Blitzkrieg, and Cradle of Filth. Drummer Jonas Åkerlund, of Swedish extreme metal band Bathory, cites the track "Countess Bathory" as the inspiration for the band's name.[19] Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo has the band's wordmark and demon face tattooed on his lower back. He also lists Black Metal as one of his "five essential metal albums". Anselmo stated:
Lorde
3/5
Melodrama is the second studio album by New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde. It was released on 16 June 2017 by Lava and Republic Records and distributed through Universal. Following the breakthrough success of her debut album Pure Heroine (2013), Lorde retreated from the spotlight, and travelled between New Zealand and the United States to examine the world around her. Initially inspired by her disillusionment with fame, she wrote Melodrama to capture heartbreak and solitude after her first breakup.
Upon release, Melodrama received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 91, based on 32 critical reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[88]
Alexis Petridis of The Guardian suggested that the record was a "cocky challenge being issued to her musical contemporaries."[92] In a perfect five-star review, NME reviewer Dan Stubbs described Melodrama as a "rudely excellent album", praising its introspection, honesty and cleverness.[29] In contrast, Carl Wilson of Slate conceded that the record was "kind of a detour" in comparison to 1970s artists such as Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen.[95] Nolan Feeney of Entertainment Weekly awarded the album an A and commended her songwriting skills, describing the album as a "puzzle that’ll keep you busy long after the party is over."[91] Pitchfork writer Stacey Anderson concluded that it was "a sleek and humid pop record full of grief and hedonism, crafted with the utmost care and wisdom."[53] Sal Cinquemani of Slant echoed Anderson's judgment, describing it as "cathartic, dramatic, and everything else you could want an album titled Melodrama to be".[96] Rolling Stone's Will Hermes lauded its production, labeling it a "tour de force."[52]
Emmylou Harris
3/5
Red Dirt Girl is the nineteenth studio album by American country artist Emmylou Harris, released on September 12, 2000 by Nonesuch Records. The album was a significant departure for Harris, as eleven of the twelve tracks were written or co-written by her. At the time, she was best known for covering other songwriters' work. Prior to this album, only two of Harris' LPs had more than two of her own compositions (Gliding Bird in 1969, and The Ballad of Sally Rose in 1985). Her next album, Stumble into Grace, was also written by Harris. The album contains "Bang the Drum Slowly", a song Guy Clark helped Harris write as an elegy for her father.[2] The album peaked at number 3 on the Billboard country album charts and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 2001.
The Allman Brothers Band
3/5
At Fillmore East is the first live album by American rock band the Allman Brothers Band, and their third release overall. Produced by Tom Dowd, the album was released in July 6, 1971, in the United States by Capricorn Records. As the title indicates, the recording took place at the New York City music venue Fillmore East, which was run by concert promoter Bill Graham. It was recorded over the course of three nights in March 1971 and features the band performing extended jam versions of songs such as "Whipping Post", "You Don't Love Me" and "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed". When first commercially released, it was issued as a double LP with just seven songs across four vinyl sides.
At Fillmore East was the band's artistic and commercial breakthrough, rapidly escalating the band's exposure and gaining them a new legion of loyal fans. Many people consider At Fillmore East to be one of the best live albums of all time, and consider the album to be the start of the band's association with the jam band school of music (although members of the band have repudiated the label, stating instead they are just "a band that jams") . It has also been ranked among the best overall albums by artists and continues to be a top seller in the band's catalog, becoming their first album to go platinum. In 2004, the album was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress, deemed to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" by the National Recording Registry.
Everything But The Girl
3/5
Walking Wounded is the ninth studio album by British musical duo Everything but the Girl. It was released on 6 May 1996 by Atlantic Records in the United States and Virgin Records in Europe. The album saw the group adopting a more electronic and dance-based style, following the success of the remixed version of "Missing" from their previous album, Amplified Heart.
Miriam Makeba
3/5
Miriam Makeba is a self-titled, debut[3] album by Miriam Makeba. It was released in 1960 by RCA Victor.
Goldfrapp
3/5
Seventh Tree is the fourth studio album by English electronic music duo Goldfrapp. It was released on 22 February 2008 by Mute Records. It was named after a dream Alison Goldfrapp had about a "very large tree".[5] Taking inspiration from paganism and surreal English children's books,[6] Goldfrapp described the album as a "sensual counterpoint to the glitterball glamour of Supernature", their previous studio album from 2005.[7]
Seventh Tree became the duo's most critically acclaimed album since their 2000 debut Felt Mountain, with critics praising their new sound and their bravery for abandoning the dance atmosphere of their previous two albums. The album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart with 46,945 copies sold in its first week.
Air
4/5
The Virgin Suicides is a score composed by French electronic music duo Air for the 1999 film of the same name by Sofia Coppola. It was released on 23 February 2000 by Virgin Records. The album was nominated for Best Soundtrack at the 2001 Brit Awards.[4] The French edition of Rolling Stone magazine placed The Virgin Suicides at number 49 on their list of the 100 essential French rock albums.[5] In 2014, NME placed the album at number 11 on their "61 of the Greatest Film Soundtracks Ever" list.[6] In 2019, Pitchfork placed the album at number 4 on their "Top 50 Best Movie Scores of All Time" list.[7]
4/5
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), often referred to as just Arthur, is the seventh studio album by the English rock band the Kinks, released in October 1969. Kinks frontman Ray Davies constructed the concept album as the soundtrack to a Granada Television play and developed the storyline with novelist Julian Mitchell; the television programme was never produced. The rough plot revolved around Arthur Morgan, a carpet-layer, who was based on Ray and guitarist Dave Davies' brother-in-law Arthur Anning.
Today the album receives generally positive reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said Arthur was "one of the most effective concept albums in rock history, as well as one of the best and most influential British pop records of its era",[27] and in 2003 Matt Golden of Stylus called it "the best rock opera ever".[26] Switch magazine included Arthur on their "100 Best Albums of the 20th Century" in 1999, and in 2003 Mojo featured the album on their list of the "Top 50 Most Eccentric Albums".[42] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[43]
Big Star
3/5
Third (reissued in 1985 as Third/Sister Lovers[2]) is the third album by American rock band Big Star. Sessions started at Ardent Studios in September 1974. Though Ardent created promotional, white-label test pressings for the record in 1975, a combination of financial issues, the uncommercial sound of the record, and lack of interest from singer Alex Chilton and drummer Jody Stephens in continuing the project prevented the album from ever being properly finished or released at the time of its recording. It was eventually released in 1978 by PVC Records.
Like Big Star's first two albums, Third/Sister Lovers did not have commercial success at the time of its release but later attracted wider interest. In AllMusic's retrospective review of the album, the website gave it five stars out of five, calling it a "shambling wreck of an album" while at the same time "among the most harrowing experiences in pop music; impassioned, erratic, and stark" and "the slow, sinking sound of a band falling apart".[2]
Aerosmith
3/5
The album contains the hit singles "Love in an Elevator", "The Other Side", "What It Takes", "Janie's Got a Gun", which all entered the Top 40 of the Hot 100. It also has certified sales of seven million copies in the U.S. to date, and is tied with its successor Get a Grip as Aerosmith's second best-selling studio album in the U.S. (Toys in the Attic leads with nine million). It produced a variety of successes and "firsts" for the band including their first Grammy Award ("Janie's Got a Gun").[8] "Love in an Elevator" became the first Aerosmith song to hit number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album was the fourth best-selling album of the year 1990.[11]
The album received mostly positive reception, and has since been called "a high-water mark of the glam metal era".[21]
"At a time when young guns from Mötley Crüe to Poison were doing their level best to hoist the heavy metal crown from the likes of Def Leppard and Bon Jovi," noted Q, "it took a bunch of hoary, addled old stagers like Aerosmith to come up with the year's best metal album."[22]
"Aerosmith is still the reigning king of the hard-rock double entendre," wrote Rolling Stone. "But Pump – like, real subtle – has more going for it than locker-room laughs, such as the vintage high-speed crunch (circa Toys in the Attic) of 'Young Lust', the sassy slap 'n' tickle of 'My Girl' and the kitchen-sink sound of 'Janie's Got A Gun'."[23]
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
Rust Never Sleeps is an album with both studio and live tracks by Canadian American singer-songwriter Neil Young and American band Crazy Horse. It was released on June 22, 1979, by Reprise Records.[5] Most of the album was recorded live, then overdubbed in the studio, while others originated in the studio. Young used the phrase "rust never sleeps" as a concept for his tour with Crazy Horse to avoid artistic complacency and try more progressive, theatrical approaches to performing live.[6]
The Who
3/5
The Who Sell Out is the third studio album by the British rock band the Who. It was released on 15 December 1967 by Track Records in the UK and Decca Records in the US.
A concept album, The Who Sell Out is structured as a collection of unrelated songs interspersed with fake commercials and public service announcements, including the second track "Heinz Baked Beans".[2] The album purports to be a broadcast by pirate radio station Radio London. The reference to "selling out" was an intended irony, as the Who had been making real commercials during that period of their career, some of which are included as bonus tracks on the remastered CD.
The Who Sell Out has received widespread acclaim from critics, some of whom viewed it as the Who's best record. It has also frequently been featured on all-time lists of the best albums, including Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". However, it was the band's lowest-charting album on the UK Albums Chart, where it peaked at number 13.
Michael Jackson
5/5
Thriller is the sixth studio album by American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson, released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records. It was produced by Quincy Jones, who had previously worked with Jackson on his 1979 album Off the Wall. Jackson wanted to create an album where "every song was a killer". With the ongoing backlash against disco, he moved in a new musical direction, resulting in a mix of pop, post-disco, rock, funk, and R&B sounds. Thriller foreshadows the contradictory themes of Jackson's personal life, as he began using a motif of paranoia and darker themes. The album features a single guest appearance, with Paul McCartney becoming the first artist to be featured on one of Jackson's albums. Recording took place from April to November 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, with a production budget of $750,000.
Thriller became Jackson's first number one album on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart, where it spent a record 37 weeks at number one, from February 26, 1983, to April 14, 1984. Seven singles were released: "The Girl Is Mine", "Billie Jean", "Beat It", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' ", "Human Nature", "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)", and "Thriller". They all reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, setting the record for the most top 10 singles from an album, with "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" reaching number one. Following Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean" in Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, where he debuted his signature moonwalk dance, the sales of the album significantly increased, selling one million copies worldwide per week. The "Thriller" music video was premiered to great anticipation in December 1983 and played regularly on MTV, which also increased the sales of the album.
With 32 million copies sold worldwide by the end of 1983, Thriller became the best-selling album of all time. It was the best-selling album of 1983 worldwide, and it was the first album to become the best-selling in the United States for two years, in 1983 and 1984. The album broke racial barriers in popular music, enabling Jackson's appearances on MTV and meeting with President Ronald Reagan at the White House. It was among the first to use music videos as promotional tools; the videos for "Billie Jean", "Beat It" and "Thriller" are credited for transforming music videos into a serious art form. The album's success set the standard for the music industry with its songs, music videos, and promotion strategies influencing artists, record labels, producers, marketers, and choreographers.
Thriller remains the best-selling album of all time, with sales of 70 million copies worldwide. It is the second-best-selling album in the United States and was certified 34× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2021. It won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards at the 1984 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, while "Beat It" won Record of the Year. Jackson also won a record-breaking eight American Music Awards at the 1984 American Music Awards. The album is often credited by critics and publications as one of the greatest albums of all time. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant recordings", and the "Thriller" music video was inducted into the National Film Preservation Board's National Film Registry of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films".
The Flying Burrito Brothers
3/5
The Gilded Palace of Sin is the first album by the country rock group the Flying Burrito Brothers, released on February 6, 1969.[1] It continued Gram Parsons' and Chris Hillman's work in modern country music, fusing traditional sources like folk and country with other forms of popular music like gospel, soul, and psychedelic rock.
Like Sweetheart of the Rodeo, The Gilded Palace of Sin was not a commercial success. To date, the RIAA has not certified it gold. However, its impact on popular music has grown over the years, influencing, for example, the Eagles. During the 1980s, the New Traditionalist movement in mainstream country music was influenced by The Gilded Palace of Sin, with artists such as Travis Tritt, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Clint Black and Randy Travis. Today, The Gilded Palace of Sin continues to influence the alternative country movement, often referred to as "alt-country." Bands like Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, Son Volt, Whiskeytown, and the Jayhawks, as well as such musicians as Dwight Yoakam, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris (Parsons' one-time singing partner), and Steve Earle all have recorded music that bears traces of The Gilded Palace of Sin. Non-country artists like Elvis Costello have cited the album as a particular favorite, with Costello covering several cuts during his career; similarly, Dinosaur Jr. have covered the song "Hot Burrito #2" on their album Green Mind. In the liner notes for the 1997 reissue, Sid Griffin wrote that while Gilded Palace only sold 50,000 copies, "...like the first album by the Velvet Underground, it would seem everyone of those 50,000 went out and formed a band inspired by what they'd heard."
The Fall
3/5
The Infotainment Scan is the fifteenth album by The Fall, released in 1993 on Permanent Records in the UK and by Matador Records in the USA (the first of the band's albums to get an official American release since Extricate (1990)).[1] At the time of its release, it was considered the band's most accessible album and came when the band were experiencing unprecedented recognition in the media. It entered the UK Albums Chart at number 9, making it their highest-charting album.[2]
The Infotainment Scan received generally positive reviews. AllMusic's Ned Raggett called it "a winner and a half" and "one of the band's most playful yet sharp-edged releases", picking out "Paranoia Man in Cheap Sh*t Room" as a highlight.[9] Jim Sullivan for The Boston Globe called it "10 tracks of caustic wit set to backing music that swirls one moment and grinds the next".[18] Robert Christgau gave it a three-star "honorable mention", with the comment "great original sound, one hell of a cover band".[19] Ben Thompson, in The Independent, gave it a positive review, stating "Smith's invective has rarely been more sharply honed" and that the band "have rarely sounded brighter".[20] Simon Reynolds, reviewing it for The New York Times, stated it "may be one of the Fall's more approachable records, but Mr. Smith's lyrics are as caustic as ever".[6] Keith Cameron, reviewing for the NME, said the album "stands at the very peak of their canon".[5] Chuck Eddy, for Spin, was less enthusiastic, saying Smith "used to seem smarter" and accusing him of repeating himself.[21] Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post stated "the album continues the swaggeringly uncompromising and hopelessly unmarketable mix of Craig Scanlon's scratchy guitar, bassist Stephen Hanley and drummer Simon Wolstencroft's loping thump, and Smith's caustic and cryptic, cut-up and spit-out poetry."[1]
Aretha Franklin
4/5
Lady Soul was Franklin's third R&B chart-topper and reached number two on the Billboard 200, tying with I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You for her highest-charting album on the pop chart. The album also included some of her biggest hit singles: "Chain of Fools" (#2 Pop), and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (#8 Pop), and "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone" (#5 Pop). It eventually sold well over a million copies in the United States alone. The album was reissued on Rhino Records in a deluxe edition in 1995.
In 2003 the TV network VH1 named Lady Soul the 41st greatest album of all time. In 2003 and 2012, it ranked at number 85 on Rolling Stone's list "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[6] It rose to number 75 in a 2020 reboot of the list.[7] The album was rated the 29th best album of the 1960s by Pitchfork.[
3/5
Modern Life Is Rubbish is the second album by the English alternative rock band Blur, released in May 1993. Although their debut album Leisure (1991) had been commercially successful, Blur faced a severe media backlash soon after its release, and fell out of public favour. After the group returned from an unsuccessful tour of the United States, poorly received live performances and the rising popularity of rival band Suede further diminished Blur's status in the UK.
Modern Life Is Rubbish remains highly regarded by critics;[15] Ian Wade of BBC Music wrote that the album was Blur's "first masterpiece... which established them as worthy of being mentioned alongside their heroes."[40] It is seen as one of the early, defining releases of Britpop, a genre that would dominate British pop music in the mid-1990s.[15] Writing for The Guardian, John Harris called the album "one of the 1990s' most influential records".[41] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic felt that "Modern Life Is Rubbish established Blur as the heir to the archly British pop of the Kinks, the Small Faces, and the Jam"[42] and that it "ushered in a new era of British pop".[16] Mark Redfern wrote in Under the Radar magazine that following Modern Life Is Rubbish, "[a] whole wave of Britpop bands followed in [Blur's] footsteps, and for a while, it was cool to be British again".[19] In 2007, IGN listed the album at no. 4 in a 'Top 25 Britpop Albums' list. Their contributor wrote: "With so many seminal albums to their credit, it's hard to pinpoint one, but this is the one if you are forced into a corner."[43]
Fatboy Slim
3/5
You've Come a Long Way, Baby is the second studio album by Fatboy Slim, a project of English electronic music producer Norman Cook. It was first released on 19 October 1998 in the United Kingdom by Skint Records and a day later in the United States by Astralwerks. Cook recorded and produced the album at his home studio in Brighton, known as the House of Love,[2][3] using an Atari ST computer, Creator software, and floppy disks.[4] The photo on the album cover was originally taken at the 1983 Fat Peoples Festival in Danville, Virginia; for the North American release, the album cover was changed to an image of shelves stacked with records.
You've Come a Long Way, Baby received critical acclaim.[22] According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic, it "came damn close to being the definitive big beat album... a seamless record, filled with great imagination, unexpected twists and turns, huge hooks, and great beats."[1] In 2000, the album was ranked number 81 in Q magazine's readers' poll of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever".[23] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[24]
In 1999, it was certified 3× platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), 3×Platinum by the Australian Record Industry Association[25] and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Fleet Foxes
4/5
Fleet Foxes is the eponymous debut studio album by American folk band Fleet Foxes, released on June 3, 2008 by Bella Union. The album debuted at number eleven on the US & UK Albums Chart, where it eventually peaked at number one. The album has garnered wide praise from critics, many of whom named it one of the best albums of the 2000s and one of the greatest debut albums of all time.[5][6]
Fleet Foxes has received widespread acclaim from the music critics.[12] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 87 out of 100 based on 31 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[12] The Guardian described it to be "a landmark in American music, an instant classic".[16] Similar praise was put upon the album by AllMusic, which stated that "Fleet Foxes is such a satisfying, self-assured debut".[13]
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
Loveless is the second studio album by the Irish-English rock band My Bloody Valentine. It was released November 1991[a] in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and in the United States by Sire Records. The album was recorded between February 1989 and September 1991, with vocalist and guitarist Kevin Shields leading sessions and experimenting with guitar vibrato, nonstandard tunings, digital samplers, and meticulous production methods. The band hired nineteen different studios and several engineers during the album's prolonged recording, with its final production cost rumoured to have reached £250,000 (equivalent to £480,000 in 2021).
Loveless has been influential on a large number of genres and artists. Clash called the album "the magnum opus of the shoegazing genre ... it raised the bar so high that it subsequently collapsed under its own weight," leading to the dissipation of the style.[98] Critic Jim DeRogatis wrote that "the forward-looking sounds of this unique disc have positioned the band as one of the most influential and inspiring bands since the Velvet Underground."[99] Authors Paul Hegarty and Martin Halliwell wrote that the album "might be so progressive that nothing else will ever match it."[100] Metro Times called the album "the high-water mark of shoegaze," writing that its "dense production and hypnotic atmosphere drugged listeners with its sound's lovely oxymoron: at once hard and soft, up-tempo and languid, lascivious and frigid."[101] Paul Lester of The Guardian called it "the Pet Sounds of UK avant-rock."[6]
Musician Brian Eno said that "Soon" "set a new standard for pop. It's the vaguest music ever to have been a hit."[102] Robert Smith of the Cure discovered Loveless after a period of almost exclusively listening to disco and/or Irish bands such as the Dubliners as a means of avoiding his contemporaries and said, "[My Bloody Valentine] was the first band I heard who quite clearly pissed all over us, and their album Loveless is certainly one of my all-time three favourite records. It's the sound of someone [Shields] who is so driven that they're demented. And the fact that they spent so much time and money on it is so excellent."[103] Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins told Spin: "It's rare in guitar-based music that somebody does something new [...] At the time, everybody was like, 'How the fuck are they doing this?' And, of course, it's way simpler than anybody would imagine."[35][b] Greg Puciato of the Dillinger Escape Plan named Loveless one of the albums that changed his life, recalling: "When I was younger, I only listened to riffs and vocals and a more traditional style of composition. So when I heard this My Bloody Valentine record it was so abstract and strange in artistic terms that it ended up taking me on other musical paths."[106]
Loveless has been a consistent critical favorite. It came in at number 14 in the 1991 Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[83] In 1999, Pitchfork named Loveless the best album of the 1990s.[84] However, in its 2003 revision of the list, the album was moved to number two, swapping places with Radiohead's OK Computer.[85] Pitchfork also named Loveless the greatest shoegaze album of all time.[86] In 2000, the album it was voted number 63 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[87] In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it number 219 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[82] 221 in a 2012 revised list[88] and 73 in another revised list published in 2020.[89] In 2004, The Observer ranked it at number 20 in its "100 Greatest British Albums" list, declaring it "the last great extreme rock album."[90]
Faith No More
3/5
The Real Thing is the third studio album by American rock band Faith No More, released on June 20, 1989 by Slash and Reprise Records. It was the first album by the band not to feature vocalist Chuck Mosley, instead, the album featured Mike Patton from the experimental/funk band Mr. Bungle. On this album, Faith No More continued to advance their sound range, combining thrash metal,[4] funk,[4] hip hop,[4] rap metal,[5] progressive rock,[4] synthpop,[6] carousel music[4] and hard rock,[6][7][8] along with what has been described as "a black sense of humor".[6]
The Real Thing is one of Faith No More's most successful albums to date. It is now considered a classic metal album by fans and critics alike. Although released in mid-1989, The Real Thing did not enter the Billboard 200 until February 1990,[36] after the release of the second single from the album, "Epic". The album eventually peaked at number eleven on the chart in October 1990,[37] following the reissue of "Epic" almost a year and half after the initial release of the album. It was eventually certified platinum in U.S.[38] and Canada[39] as well as being certified Silver in the United Kingdom.[40]
Beatles
4/5
Rubber Soul is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 3 December 1965 in the United Kingdom, on EMI's Parlophone label, accompanied by the non-album double A-side single "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out". The original North American release, issued by Capitol Records, contains ten of the fourteen songs and two tracks withheld from the band's Help! album. Rubber Soul met with a highly favourable critical response and topped sales charts in Britain and the United States for several weeks.
The songs demonstrate the Beatles' increasing maturity as lyricists, and in their incorporation of brighter guitar tones and new instrumentation such as sitar, harmonium and fuzz bass, the group striving for more expressive sounds and arrangements for their music. The project marked a progression in the band's treatment of the album format as an artistic platform, an approach they continued to develop with Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The four songs omitted by Capitol, including the February 1966 single "Nowhere Man", later appeared on the North American release Yesterday and Today.
Music historian Bill Martin says that the release of Rubber Soul was a "turning point" for pop music, in that for the first time "the album rather than the song became the basic unit of artistic production."[295] In author David Howard's description, "pop's stakes had been raised into the stratosphere" by Rubber Soul, resulting in a shift in focus from singles to creating albums without the usual filler tracks.[296] The release marked the start of a period when other artists, in an attempt to emulate the Beatles' achievement, sought to create albums as works of artistic merit[296][297] and with increasingly novel sounds.[298] According to Steve Turner, by galvanising the Beatles' most ambitious rivals in Britain and America, Rubber Soul launched "the pop equivalent of an arms race".[299]
Since 2001, Rubber Soul has appeared in critics' best-albums-of-all-time lists compiled by VH1 (at number 6),[340] Mojo (number 27) and Rolling Stone (number 5).[185] It was among Time magazine's selection of the "All-Time 100 Albums" in 2006[341] and was favoured over Revolver in Chris Smith's book 101 Albums That Changed Popular Music three years later.[342][343] In 2012, Rolling Stone again placed it at number 5 on the magazine's revised list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[10] In September 2020, Rubber Soul was ranked at number 35 on the same publication's new list.[344]
Jeff Beck
3/5
Truth is the debut studio album by English guitarist Jeff Beck, released in 29 July 1968 in the United Kingdom on Columbia Records and in the United States on Epic Records. It introduced the talents of his backing band the Jeff Beck Group, specifically Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, to a larger audience, and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200
Truth has since been regarded as a seminal work of heavy metal because of its use of blues toward a hard rock approach.[10] According to Pete Prown and HP Newquist, "although some have claimed that this disc was the first metal album, the sound actually leaned more towards a heavy brand of blues rock."[11] Classic Rock magazine ranked Truth eighth on its list of the 30 greatest British blues rock albums; an accompanying blurb read, "it was an album that not only helped establish the British blues rock sound, but featured many of its best exponents."[12] Tom Scholz of Boston has listed it as his favorite album on Gibson's online magazine, stating, "I knew Jeff Beck's Truth album inside out..."[13] The album's title inspired the name of Iowa band Truth and Janey.[14]
Massive Attack
4/5
Like most of Massive Attack's albums, the music often defies categorisation, ranging from R&B (title track and "Sly") to hip hop/rap ("Karmacoma" and "Eurochild") to reggae-tinged synth-pop ("Spying Glass") to classical-influenced electronica instrumentals ("Weather Storm" and "Heat Miser"). The album follows Blue Lines structurally, to the point that the font used on the cover of the album is the same, Helvetica Heavy Italic. The album cover also nods to Blue Lines, revealing a futuristic, impenetrable wall behind a mostly-burned version of this previous album's artwork—implying that the depicted "flammable gas" had been ignited.
Paul Evans of Rolling Stone wrote, "Cool, sexy stuff, it smoothly fuses dub, club and soul, grounding its grace in sampled hip-hop beats."[6]
Deep Purple
3/5
By mid-1969, Deep Purple had recorded three albums, and achieved commercial success in the US, but suffered from a lack of musical direction.[4][5] Although the group contained experienced musicians, none of the original members were accomplished songwriters,[6] and their earlier work ranged from psychedelic hard rock based around guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's riffs, classical-influenced tracks developed and arranged by organist Jon Lord, and cover songs from the Beatles, Joe South, Neil Diamond and Donovan.[4][7]
After a US tour in May, Blackmore, Lord and drummer Ian Paice decided to replace original lead singer Rod Evans with someone who could tackle a hard rock style.[4] The group had also recently signed a deal with Harvest Records in the UK, who were intending to represent progressive and underground bands, but label owner Malcolm Jones thought Deep Purple relied too much on gimmicks and only appealed to the US market.[8] Lord and Blackmore had met with Paice during the tour to discuss the personnel change, and Blackmore said he wanted to "have a go at being really heavy" after hearing Led Zeppelin's debut album.[9][10] Blackmore asked his former bandmate, drummer Mick Underwood, to see if he knew a suitable singer. Underwood suggested his Episode Six bandmate Ian Gillan.[4] Blackmore, Lord and Paice went to see an Episode Six gig in Woodford Green on 4 June, and after Blackmore sat in with the band, they offered Gillan the job.[11][12]
Retrospective reviews have been similarly favourable. AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia has called In Rock "one of heavy metal's defining albums".[47] Rock journalist Malcolm Dome stated that "In Rock is one of the great albums... not just by Purple, by anybody." On new members Gillan and Glover, he added: "How Ian Gillan remains completely in control of his voice whilst going completely insane is remarkable. And Roger Glover was unfussy, but very good technically... also contributing nicely and impressively to songwriting."[50] Sid Smith remarked in his BBC Music review the "strident confidence that the new line-up had found" and how the album "pretty much carved out the template for heavy rock."[51] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff wrote that "Deep Purple's In rock, along with Sabbath's Paranoid and Heep's Uriah Heep, all in 1970, outright and triple-handedly invented Heavy Metal", with In Rock being "the flashiest, freshest and most sophisticated of the three." In his review, he reminded how the album remains "the sharpest, most insistently metallic Deep Purple record until Perfect Strangers" 14 years later, despite Deep Purple never accepting the title of heavy metal act, "fancying of themselves as a jazzy bluesy proggy hard rock band."[48]
The Triffids
3/5
Calenture is the fourth studio album by Australian rock group The Triffids, it was released in November 1987 and saw them explore themes of insanity, deception and rootlessness—the title refers to a fever suffered by sailors during long hot voyages. It reached No. 32 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. In November 1987, it reached No. 24 on the Swedish Albums Chart, in May 1988 it peaked at No. 25 on the New Zealand Albums Chart. The album spawned three singles, "Bury Me Deep in Love" (1987), "Trick of the Light" and "Holy Water" (both in 1988). The latter track was recorded with American producer Craig Leon.
The term calenture is described in the sleeve notes as: "Tropical fever or delirium suffered by sailors after long periods away from land, who imagine the seas to be green fields and desire to leap into them".[1][4] In February 1988 David McComb, in an interview with Paul Mathur and Stephen Phillips for Rock Australia Magazine (RAM), described Calenture as an "over-the-top record" and even called it the Triffids' Heaven's Gate.[1] The Triffids were nomadic, travelling back and forth from Australia to England to record the 'difficult' album and related to the disoriented sailors.[6][7][8]
David McComb is the principal songwriter, "it's upon [his] shoulders that most of the weight has been borne. It's the weight of lyrics which have been far more personal now... so intensely personal you can almost feel the pain".[9] Wilson Neate of Perfect Sound Forever found that a "sense of alienation, betrayal, insanity and solitude still permeates his writing, although Calenture seems less explicitly imbued with Western Australian imagery than the previous records".[2] Mathur and Phillips describe the album as "far and away the most 'produced' record The Triffids have ever done... packed full of little electronic surprises: drum computers, synthesisers, samplers, even a gadget that goes 'woop'".[1]
Reception
Paul Simon
3/5
Graceland is the seventh solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was produced by Simon, engineered by Roy Halee and released on August 25, 1986, by Warner Bros. Records.
Graceland features an eclectic mixture of genres, including pop, rock, a cappella, zydeco, isicathamiya and mbaqanga. Simon wrote songs inspired by the recordings made in Johannesburg, collaborating with African and American artists. He received criticism for breaking the cultural boycott of South Africa because of its policy of apartheid. Following its completion, Simon toured alongside South African musicians, performing their music and songs from Graceland.
Retrospective reviews have continued to be positive. According to AllMusic's William Ruhlmann, "Graceland became the standard against which subsequent musical experiments by major artists were measured."[27] Joe Tangari of Pitchfork wrote that "its songs transcend the context as listening experiences. These songs are astute and exciting, spit-shined with the gloss of production that bears a lot of hallmarks of the era but somehow has refused to age. Taken as a whole, the album offers tremendous insight into how we live in our world and how that changes as we get older."[33] Patrick Humphries of BBC Music wrote that "it may well stand as the pinnacle of his remarkable half-century career ... Simon fashioned a record which was truly, blindingly original, and – listening to it a quarter of a century on – modern and timeless."[38] Andy Gill of The Independent wrote: "The character of the base music here is overwhelming: complex, ebullient and life-affirming, and in yoking this intricate dance music to his sophisticated New Yorker sensibility, Simon created a transatlantic bridge that neither pandered to nor patronised either culture."[32]
Graceland was ranked 81st on the 2003 list of Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, as "an album about isolation and redemption that transcended 'world music' to become the whole world's soundtrack." The ranking increased to 71st in the 2012 revision and 46th in the 2020 list.[40][41] In 2000 it was voted number 43 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[42] The song "Graceland" was voted #485 in the list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Frank Ocean
5/5
Channel Orange (stylized as channel ORANGE) is the debut studio album by American R&B singer-songwriter Frank Ocean. It was released on July 10, 2012, by Def Jam Recordings. After releasing his mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra the previous year, Ocean began writing new songs with Malay, a producer and songwriter who then assisted him with recording Channel Orange at EastWest Studios in Hollywood. Rather than rely on samples as he had with his mixtape, Ocean wanted to approach sound and song structure differently on the album. Other producers who worked on the album included Om'Mas Keith and Pharrell Williams. Its recording also featured guest appearances from Odd Future rappers Earl Sweatshirt and Tyler, the Creator, vocalist/songwriter André 3000, and guitarist John Mayer.
Channel Orange has an unconventional musical style, drawing on electro-funk, pop-soul, jazz-funk, psychedelic music, and nonmusical sounds such as film dialogue and ambient noise that function as interludes. Vocally, Ocean uses a free-form flow as well as alternating falsetto and tenor registers throughout the album. His songwriting explores themes of unrequited love, decadence, class, and drugs through the use of surrealistic imagery, conversational devices, and descriptive narratives depicting dark characters. He titled the album as a reference to the neurological phenomenon grapheme–color synesthesia, through which he perceived the color orange during the summer he first fell in love.
Channel Orange has themes of unrequited love,[32] sex,[3] and existential longing.[51] Allusions to Ocean's own experience with unrequited love are featured in several songs,[54] including "Thinkin Bout You", "Bad Religion", and "Forrest Gump".[36] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times found the album to be "rife with the sting of unrequited love, both on the receiving and inflicting ends", with "lovers who tantalize but remain at arm's length."[10] Ryan Dombal from Pitchfork said Ocean exhibits "a timeless philosophy ... one of hard-won acceptance and the acknowledgement that love and sex and loss will always draw legends to them."[20] The album also explores decadence,[8] the trappings of class disparity,[26] drug dependency,[12] and the tension between spirituality and secularity, a prevalent theme in soul music.[35] Music journalist Sasha Frere-Jones noted "a combination of decadence and spiritual ache similar to Prince's".[55] Greg Kot wrote that Ocean presents "a dialogue between his self-gratifying lust and more selfless conscience", with Prince-like "psychedelic-gospel inflections" and Marvin Gaye-like overdubbing of Ocean's vocals, which give the impression of voices in conversation with one another.[35] Jason Lipshutz of Billboard viewed that Ocean examines love in the context of money, drugs, and sex.[3]
Ocean's songwriting uses descriptive narratives,[39] dense metre,[41] surrealistic imagery, empathic sentiments, deadpan humor,[20] overt metaphors,[50] and conversational devices.[10] John Calvert of The Quietus wrote that his lyrics treat love as "innocent", and feature "flying-as-love" metaphors and "respectful euphemisms" for sex such as a flight on a "fighter jet".[6] Embling of Tiny Mix Tapes regarded Channel Orange as a "songwriter's album" and views that, although "the emotions, mood, and melodies are broad enough to draw listeners in", Ocean's lyrics are "apocryphal, allowing for personal interpretations".[37] Ocean's narratives generally depict dark,[36] broken characters,[10] and a Southern California setting,[35] with references to its sunny, coastal environment in both the lyrics and melodies.[6][29] Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times categorized Channel Orange as a concept album about "the twentysomething experience in Los Angeles",[41] while Greg Kot interpreted the California setting to be "a state of mind in Ocean['s] world: numb, deceptively luxurious and self-satisfied, where the denizens live disconnected from one another and the world."[35]
At the end of 2012, Channel Orange was named the year's best album by numerous publications, including the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, Billboard, Entertainment Weekly, The Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, Now, Paste, PopMatters, Slant Magazine, Spin, and The Washington Post.[121] It was named "Album of the Year" in HMV's Poll of Polls, an annual survey of British journalists from national print and online publications.[122] It was also voted the best album of 2012 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics published by The Village Voice. In an essay for the poll, the newspaper's Eric Sundermann deemed the victory unsurprising as Ocean "dominated most music discussions this past year" and had an equalizing effect on listeners of all music genres.[123] Overall, it was the "top-ranked" album in year-end lists, according to Metacritic.[117]
Since then, Channel Orange has appeared on several decade-end and all-time critics' lists.[129] In 2013, it was ranked 147th on NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[130] The following year, it was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[131] In 2019, The Guardian ranked it 12th in a list of the 100 best albums from the 21st century,[132] while on rankings of the 2010s' top albums, Uproxx placed it 13th[133] and Pitchfork placed it 10th.[134] According to Acclaimed Music, based on such lists, Channel Orange is the third most acclaimed album of the 2010s and the 66th most acclaimed album in history.[129] In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 148 on the magazine's revision to the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.[135]
Cheap Trick
3/5
Cheap Trick at Budokan is a live album released by Cheap Trick in 1978 and their best-selling recording. After several years of constant touring but only middling exposure for the band, At Budokan steadily grew off radio play and word-of-mouth to become a high-selling success, kickstarting the band's popularity and becoming acclaimed as one of the greatest live rock albums of all time and a classic of the power pop genre.
In its official press release upon the album's entry into the National Recording Registry, the Library of Congress stated that, along with its success in the Japanese market, Cheap Trick at Budokan "proved to be the making of the band in their home country, as well as a loud and welcomed alternative to disco and soft rock and a decisive comeback for rock and roll."[5] Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine has also stated that with this album, "Cheap Trick unwittingly paved the way for much of the hard rock of the next decade, as well as a surprising amount of alternative rock of the 1990s."[1] In Pitchfork, Stuart Berman wrote on the album's success and influence, respectively, that "At Budokan, is not just one of rock's greatest live albums, but also one of its most triumphant underdog tales, an exemplar of pre-internet viral phenomena," and that "for the Foo Fighters, Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, Ted Leo, the Raconteurs—basically any band that's ever tried to weld a Beatlesque melody to a power chord—all roads lead back to Budokan."[15] Further invoking comparison to the Beatles, Nwaka Onwusa, director of curatorial affairs at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, spoke with 1A on the parallels between Beatlemania in the United States and Cheap Trick's reception in Japan:
Sure we have the story about the Beatles...how Beatlemania hit the United States, but to have Cheap Trick then go overseas and do that same very thing...in Tokyo. The girls, the screaming, throwing flowers at the plane. That’s total ‘Trickmania,’ for sure...it’s actually a beautiful story that [doesn’t] get a lot of shine or recognition because it didn’t happen here, but we have an American band...that created such tidal waves that then boomeranged back here in the United States.[16]
Killing Joke
3/5
Killing Joke is the debut studio album by English post-punk band Killing Joke, released on 5 October 1980 by E.G. via Polydor Records. It debuted at number 41 on the UK Albums Chart on 26 October 1980 and later peaked at number 39.
The album has been called "an underground classic" for fans of "heavy music".[10] Dave Grohl has cited it as one of his favorite albums.[19] "The Wait" was covered by Metallica on The $5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-Revisited EP in 1987 and was later featured on Garage Inc. "Primitive" was covered by Helmet in 1993 as the A-side to their "Primitive" single, and later added to their Born Annoying compilation album. "Requiem" was covered by Foo Fighters in 1997 as a B-side to the "Everlong" single. Japanese band The Mad Capsule Markets covered "Wardance" on their 2001 album "010".
Bob Dylan
4/5
Highway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 30, 1965, by Columbia Records. Having until then recorded mostly acoustic music, Dylan used rock musicians as his backing band on every track of the album, except for the closing track, the 11-minute ballad "Desolation Row". Critics have focused on the innovative way Dylan combined driving, blues-based music with the subtlety of poetry to create songs that captured the political and cultural chaos of contemporary America. Author Michael Gray has argued that, in an important sense, the 1960s "started" with this album.[2]
Highway 61 Revisited has remained among the most highly acclaimed of Dylan's works. Biographer Anthony Scaduto praises its rich imagery, and describes it as "one of the most brilliant pop records ever made. As rock, it cuts through to the core of the music—a hard driving beat without frills, without self-consciousness."[108] Michael Gray calls Highway 61 "revolutionary and stunning, not just for its energy and panache but in its vision: fusing radical, electrical music ... with lyrics that were light years ahead of anyone else's; Dylan here unites the force of blues-based rock'n'roll with the power of poetry. The whole rock culture, the whole post-Beatle pop-rock world, and so in an important sense the 1960s started here."[2] In the opinion of PopMatters critic Hank Kalet, the album was the most "electrifying" rock and roll record ever and "one of a handful of albums (including the Beatles' Rubber Soul and Revolver) that gave literate rockers the green light to create a kind of intelligent, probing rock music that had not existed before".[109] "This seminal folk-rock classic" showcased "Dylan's seething, not-quite-out-of-control vocal delivery and a rough-and-tumble instrumental attack", as well as his "transformation from a folk singer to a rock and roller", Sam Sutherland wrote in High Fidelity.[110] Music journalist Gary Graff points to Highway 61 Revisited, along with Dylan's next album Blonde on Blonde (1966) and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (1966), as possible starting points to the album era, as they each constituted "a cohesive and conceptual body of work rather than just some hit singles ... with filler tracks."[111]
Among Dylan's contemporaries, Phil Ochs was impressed by Highway 61, explaining: "It's the kind of music that plants a seed in your mind and then you have to hear it several times. And as you go over it you start to hear more and more things. He's done something that's left the whole field ridiculously in the back of him."[114] In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine described Highway 61 as "one of those albums that changed everything", and placed it at number four in its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time."[115] It maintained the rating in a 2012 revised list,[116] and was re-ranked at number eighteen in 2020.[117] In 2010, the Rolling Stone list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" ranked "Highway 61 Revisited", "Desolation Row" and "Like a Rolling Stone" at number 373,[118] number 187,[119] and number one, respectively.[43] In 2021, "Like a Rolling Stone" was re-ranked at number 4,[120] and "Desolation Row" was re-ranked at number 83.[121] In 2012, The Best 100 Albums of All Time book ranked Highway 61 Revisited as the greatest album of all time.[122] The album was included in a "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings—published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981)[123]—and in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[124] It was voted No. 26 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[125] According to Acclaimed Music, it is the 11th most celebrated album in popular music history.[126] It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.[127]
Mike Ladd
3/5
Welcome to the Afterfuture is a studio album by American hip hop musician Mike Ladd. It was released on Ozone Music in 2000.
Brian Whitener of AllMusic gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, writing, "Welcome to the Afterfuture is a blender of sounds and styles and epitomizes the search that is leading cutting-edge hip-hop further into avant-garde and non-Western musical traditions."[1] Jon Caramanica of CMJ New Music Monthly commented that "Ladd's futurism is merely a mask for his very tangible discontent with the present."[2] He added, "References to the police state permeate the album, arguing that the new world order and newspeak are more than just things weeded street-corner bards philosophize on; they're integral to maintaining the power status quo."[2]
3/5
The Joshua Tree is the fifth studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 9 March 1987 on Island Records. In contrast to the ambient experimentation of their 1984 release, The Unforgettable Fire, the band aimed for a harder-hitting sound within the limitation of conventional song structures on The Joshua Tree. The album is influenced by American and Irish roots music, and through sociopolitically conscious lyrics embellished with spiritual imagery, it contrasts the group's antipathy for the "real America" with their fascination with the "mythical America".
The Joshua Tree is the band's best-selling album,[161] and with 25 million copies sold worldwide,[162] it is among the best-selling albums of all time. It ranks as one of the best-selling albums in the US; in 1995, the RIAA certified it 10× platinum for shipping 10 million units, and the album subsequently received the Diamond Award for reaching this level.[109] Similarly, the Canadian Recording Industry Association certified the album diamond in Canada.[163] In the UK, The Joshua Tree ranks in the top 40 of the best-selling records with 2.88 million copies sold,[164][165] having been certified 9× platinum, with an additional gold certification for the 20th anniversary edition.[166] In the Pacific, it is certified 5× platinum and 14× platinum in Australia and New Zealand, respectively.[167][168]
The Joshua Tree has been acclaimed by writers and music critics as one of the greatest albums of all time; according to Acclaimed Music, it is the 40th most acclaimed record based on critics' lists.[169] In 1997, The Guardian collated worldwide data from a range of renowned critics, artists, and radio DJs, who placed the record at number 57 on the list of the "100 Best Albums Ever".[170] It was ranked 25th in Colin Larkin's 2000 book All Time Top 1000 Albums.[171] In a poll of VH1 viewers the following year, The Joshua Tree was voted the greatest pop album of all time, based on responses from over 250,000 people.[172] Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 26 on their 2003 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[173] Subsequent updates to the list re-ranked the album; the 2012 version ranked it 27th, writing that the album "turn[ed] spiritual quests and political struggles into uplifting stadium singalongs",[174] and the 2020 version of the list ranked it 135th.[175] In 2006, Time named The Joshua Tree one of the magazine's 100 best albums,[176] while Hot Press ranked it 11th on a similar list.[177] Q named it the best record of the 1980s,[178] while Entertainment Weekly included the album on its list of the 100 best records released between 1983 and 2008.[179]
Elliott Smith
5/5
Figure 8 is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, and the final studio album released during his lifetime. It was recorded from 1998 to 2000 at numerous studios and released on April 18, 2000, through DreamWorks Records. Preceded by the singles "Happiness" and "Son of Sam", Figure 8 was Smith's second release on a major label.
Smith described the songs on the album as "more fragmented and dreamlike".[4] The name of the album is based on the Schoolhouse Rock! song "Figure Eight".[citation needed] The lyrics contain references to serial killer David Berkowitz , the Hindu deity Shiva, actor Bruno Schleinstein, the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland, and the comic book character Sgt. Rock. In interviews Smith asserted that his reference to Berkowitz was intended to be dreamlike or impressionistic.[5] A fan of filmmaker Werner Herzog and Schleinstein, Smith said in an interview with Revolver "How come we have no Bruno S. [in America]? How come he can be a film star in Europe, but over here everybody has to look like they were computer generated?"[6] Smith would again reference Hindu deities at two shows in 2003 when he appeared on stage with the words "Kali - The Destroyer" written on his arm.[7]
In 2009, Pitchfork placed Figure 8 at number 190 on its list of the 200 greatest albums of the 2000s, noting, "Not quite as intimate as his earliest records and not quite brash and bombastic like its immediate predecessor, Figure 8 marks a subtle refinement of Smith's songwriting skills" and calling it "one of Smith's most accessible and enjoyable records".[32] Rolling Stone placed it at number 42 on their list of the 100 greatest albums of the decade, calling it Smith's "haunted high-water mark".[33] Figure 8 was ranked 86th on The Guardian's 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century list, based on a 2019 poll of music writers.[34] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[35] Treble ranked the album at 56th in their "Top 100 Indie Rock albums of the '00s
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
Raising Hell is the third album by hip hop group Run-D.M.C. released on May 27, 1986 by Profile Records. The album was produced by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin. Raising Hell became the first Platinum and multi-Platinum hip hop record.[2][3] The album was first certified as Platinum on July 15, 1986, before it was certified as 3x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on April 24, 1987.[1]
Raising Hell peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, and number one on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart making it the first hip hop record reach atop the latter. The album features four hit singles: "My Adidas", "Walk This Way" (a collaboration with Aerosmith), "You Be Illin'" and "It's Tricky".[4] "Walk This Way" is the group's most famous single, being a groundbreaking rap rock version of Aerosmith's 1975 song "Walk This Way". It is considered to be the first rap rock collaboration that also brought hip-hop into the mainstream[5] and was the first song by a hip hop act to reach the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100.[6]
Raising Hell has been ranked as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 1987, it was nominated for a Grammy Award, making Run DMC the first hip hop act to receive a nomination.[7][8] In the same year for this album Run-D.M.C. was nominated for Album of the Year and won Best Rap Album at the 1987 Soul Train Music Awards. In 2018, it was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".[9] The album was reissued by Arista Records in 1999 and 2003. An expanded and remastered edition was released in 2005 and contained 5 previously unreleased songs.
The Sabres Of Paradise
4/5
Haunted Dancehall is the second studio album by English electronic music group The Sabres of Paradise. It was released through Warp on 28 November 1994.[1] It peaked at number 57 on the UK Albums Chart.[2]
NME named Haunted Dancehall the 47th best album of 1994.[5] In 2007, Haunted Dancefloor was included in The Guardian's list of "1000 albums to hear before you die", with an accompanying write-up citing it as "techno's first concept album".[6] It was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[7]
Portishead
3/5
Dummy is the debut studio album by English electronic band Portishead, released on 22 August 1994 by Go! Beat Records.[3]
Dummy
Upon release, Dummy received universal acclaim from critics. NME summed up the record by writing: "This is, without question, a sublime debut album. But so very, very sad." It observed, "From one angle, its languid slowbeat blues clearly occupy similar terrain to soulmates Massive Attack and all of Bristol hip-hop's extended family. But from another these are avant garde ambient moonscapes of a ferociously experimental nature." The review concluded that "Portishead's post-ambient, timelessly organic blues are probably too left-field, introspective and downright Bristolian to grab short-term glory as some kind of Next Big Thing. But remember what radical departures Blue Lines, Ambient Works and Debut were for their times and make sure you hear this unmissable album."[19] Melody Maker stated that the band "were undeniably the classiest, coolest thing to have appeared in the country for years ... Dummy, their debut, takes perfectly understated blues, funk and rap/hip hop, brackets all this in urban angst and then chills it to the bone." The review described the record as "musique noire for a movie not yet made, a perfect, creamy mix of ice-cool and infra-heat that is desperate, desolate and driven by a huge emotional hunger, but also warmly confiding ... Most of us waver hopelessly between emotional timidity and temerity the whole of our lives and Dummy marks out that territory perfectly."[25] Tim Marsh of Select wrote: "Jumbling up hip hop, blues, jazz, dub and John Barry-esque TV theme tunes with the edgy lyrics and valium vocals of Beth Gibbons, it's lounge music for arty schizos."[26]
The Kinks
3/5
Face to Face is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Kinks, released in October 1966. The album marked a shift from the hard-driving style of beat music that had catapulted the group to international acclaim in 1964. It is their first album consisting entirely of Ray Davies compositions, and has also been regarded by critics as rock's first concept album. The album was included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).[4] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[5]
arguably one of the first rock/pop concept albums, with the loose common theme of social observation.[3][9] In the album's original conception Ray Davies attempted to bridge the songs together with sound effects, but he was forced by Pye Records to revert to the more standard album format before the album's release. Some effects remain, such as in "Party Line", "Holiday in Waikiki", "Rainy Day in June" and in songs not included on the final album ("End of the Season", "Big Black Smoke").[10]
The album was released in a particularly tumultuous year for the band, with personnel problems (Pete Quaife was injured; he resigned and later rejoined the band), legal and contractual battles and an ongoing hectic touring schedule. The album was critically well received, but did not sell particularly well at the time of its release (especially in the United States), and was out of print for many years.[19] Reissues since 1998 have included bonus tracks of songs released contemporaneously as singles (most notably "Dead End Street") as well as two unreleased tracks.[20]
Gillian Welch
3/5
Time (The Revelator) is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Gillian Welch. All songs were written by Welch together with David Rawlings and were recorded at RCA Studio B, Nashville, Tennessee,[1] with the exception of "I Want to Sing That Rock and Roll", which was recorded live at the Ryman Auditorium as part of the sessions for the concert film, Down from the Mountain.
Welch and Rawlings received a great deal of recognition for their work on Time. The album received many award nominations and was included on many "best album of the year" lists by critics. It has since been included on a number of "best of all time" lists.
In 2009, the album was ranked #7 on Paste's "The 50 Best Albums of the Decade" list.[14] It was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[15] The album was ranked 64 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the decade,[16] and in 2020 the album was ranked number 348 in their updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[17]
Mj Cole
3/5
Sincere is the debut studio album by English musician MJ Cole. It was released in December 2000 under the Talkin' Loud label. The album reached number 14 in the UK Albums Chart in August 2001.[3][4] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[5]
He signed with Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud label where in 2000 he produced his first album, also called Sincere, which earned him two top 15 singles on the UK Singles Chart, a prestigious Mercury Music Prize nomination, Brit Award nomination and beat Dr. Dre to win MOBO's Best Producer award in 2001.[3][4] He received a BPI certification for UK sales in excess of 60,000 copies.[5] Cole formed a live band to accompany his Sincere album performing on Jools Holland's Later Show as well as on Top of the Pops, CD:UK, The Chart Show and at the Mercury Music Prize and MOBO Awards. In 2003, Cole followed Sincere with his Cut to the Chase album, also released via Talkin' Loud.[6]
David Bowie
3/5
Aladdin Sane is the sixth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 13 April 1973 through RCA Records. The follow-up to his breakthrough The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972), it was the first album he wrote and released from a position of stardom. It was produced by Bowie and Ken Scott and features contributions from Bowie's backing band the Spiders from Mars — comprising Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey — as well as pianist Mike Garson, two saxophonists and three backing vocalists. Recorded at Trident Studios in London and RCA Studios in New York City between legs of the Ziggy Stardust Tour, the record was Bowie's final album with the full Spiders lineup.
Like its predecessor Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane is predominantly glam rock,[26][15] with elements of hard rock.[27] Aladdin Sane's American influence and the album's fast-paced development helped add a tougher, rawer and edgier rock sound.[6][7][9] Some of the songs, including "Watch That Man", "Drive-In Saturday" and "Lady Grinning Soul" are influenced by the English rock band the Rolling Stones; a cover of their song "Let's Spend the Night Together" is included.[7][28] Each track was ascribed a location on the LP label to indicate where it was written or took its inspiration:[29][30] New York ("Watch That Man"), "Seattle–Phoenix ("Drive-In Saturday"), Detroit ("Panic in Detroit"), Los Angeles ("Cracked Actor"), New Orleans ("Time"), Detroit and New York again ("The Jean Genie"), RHMS Ellinis, the vessel that had carried Bowie home in December 1972 ("Aladdin Sane"), London ("Lady Grinning Soul") and Gloucester Road ("The Prettiest Star").[8][7][29] According to Pegg, the lyrics of Aladdin Sane paint pictures of urban decay, degenerate lives, drug addiction, violence and death. He notes that some of the themes presented on Bowie's previous works are reflected in Aladdin Sane: "notions of religion shattered by science, extraterrestrial encounters posing as messianic visitations, the impact on society of different kinds of 'star', and the degradation of human life in a spiritual void."[7] Author James Perone states that thematically, the album deals with "the concept and definition of sanity",[28] while Ric Albano of Classic Rock Review wrote that the music reflects the pros of newfound stardom and the cons of the perils of touring.[31]
Like music critics, Bowie's biographers have mostly compared Aladdin Sane to its predecessor unfavourably. Pegg writes that it feels more rushed than Ziggy.[101] Carr and Murray contend that "It was all too obvious that the heat was on... The songs were written too fast, recorded too fast and mixed too fast."[8] Marc Spitz states that Bowie might have moved on from the Ziggy persona sooner had it not been for the pressure from his music publisher MainMan. Despite the record being critically viewed as inferior to its predecessor, Spitz calls it one of Bowie's classics and the songs "top-notch", and felt it ultimately showed that at the time Bowie was "still way ahead of the game".[30] Pegg calls it "one of the most urgent, compelling and essential of Bowie's albums".[101]
Belle & Sebastian
3/5
If You're Feeling Sinister is the second album by Scottish indie pop band Belle and Sebastian. It was released in 1996 on Jeepster Records in the United Kingdom and in 1997 by Matador Records in the United States. It is often ranked among the best albums of the nineties.
After the release of their debut album Tigermilk, Belle and Sebastian were approached by a number of record labels. They signed with the independent label Jeepster Records in the interests of staying independent creatively. Jeepster was willing to accept some of the group's other demands, such as releasing no singles, not doing press or promotional events, and not appearing in promotional materials.[2]
The band began releasing the new material, written by Murdoch, after signing with Jeepster. The album took five days to record and three to mix, slightly longer than Tigermilk. It was recorded in the same studio as Tigermilk and engineer Tony Doogan worked with the band's previous engineer to maintain a similar recording style. Band member Sarah Martin, who had recently joined the band at this point, likened Tigermilk and If You're Feeling Sinister to The Beatles' albums Rubber Soul and Revolver in the sense that the two albums were recorded quickly after one another.[3]
If You're Feeling Sinister received critical acclaim. Pitchfork placed it at number 14 in its top 100 albums of the 1990s.[16] Later, the readers of Pitchfork voted the album the 31st greatest album released between 1996 and 2011.[17] Rolling Stone featured the album at number 75 on its list of \"100 Best Albums of the Nineties,\"[18] while Spin included the record at number 59 on its \"125 Best Albums of the Past 25 Years\" list.[19] If You're Feeling Sinister also appears as an entry in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die as chosen by music critics.[20] The album was placed at number 8 on The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop annual critics' poll for 1997.[21] The album was ranked No. 481 of the Top 500 Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone in 2020.[22]
Ananda Shankar
3/5
Ananda Shankar is the debut album by Indian musician Ananda Shankar, the son of dancer and choreographer Uday Shankar and the nephew of Indian classical musician Ravi Shankar. It was released in 1970 on the Reprise record label. The album fuses Indian music with Western rock and electronic music, and was among the first works in the rock genre by an Indian musician. Consisting mainly of instrumental recordings featuring sitar and Moog synthesizer, it includes a cover version of the Rolling Stones' 1968 hit song "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and a thirteen-minute Indian-style piece titled "Sagar (The Ocean
Writing in the 1993 book Incredibly Strange Music, Volume 1, a reviewer described Shankar's versions of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Light My Fire" as "amazing … raw rockin' raga" and said that his treatment of the Rolling Stones hit liberated the song from its "revered spot" and "the rock mythos".[19] The album was issued on CD by Reprise in 1998, by which point Shankar's work had been appropriated by DJs in London's club scene.[2] The NME described the CD as "one of the most anticipated rereleases in recent years" and predicted that, building on his "famous" Indipop treatment of the Stones' and the Doors' tracks, "Ananda's debut should get the acclaim it deserves." The reviewer also identified Shankar's style of East–West fusion as a forerunner to the British-Asian band Cornershop's reinterpretation of "Norwegian Wood".[2]
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" has since been included on rare groove compilations released by Rhino, including the four-disc set What It Is!,[20] and has won the admiration of musicians such as Beck and James Murphy.[10] In his review of the 2015 dance compilation Slip Disc, on which the song also appears, Robin Denselow of The Guardian said that the track's "furious sitar and synth treatment" serves as "a reminder that Ravi Shankar's nephew was a Rolling Stones fan who used to jam with Jimi Hendrix".[21]
As with his uncle's international career,[22][23] Shankar's perceived Westernisation of the sitar attracted criticism in India.[10] Writing in 2012, Indian journalist and author Indrajit Hazra derided Ananda Shankar as "drivel" and "certainly 'touching' – but in a way that would put an old man in a children's park away in jail for life". While blaming the album for helping to perpetuate a cheapened cultural image of India, Hazra ridiculed other attempts at East–West fusion before writing in conclusion: "There's always soul-destroying Ananda Shankar, who never seemed to ask himself why no one ever tried to play 'Gangnam Style' on the cello."[24]
Suede
3/5
Suede is the debut album by English alternative rock band Suede, released in March 1993 on Nude Records. It was recorded in London at Master Rock studios late 1992 and early 1993 and was produced by Ed Buller. At the time the fastest-selling debut album in British history in almost a decade, Suede debuted at the top of the UK Albums Chart, won the 1993 Mercury Music Prize,[1] and is often cited as one of the first Britpop records. Displaying a sound of Britishness and glam rock, its music and lyrical content has been compared to The Smiths and early David Bowie.[2]
Suede's debut album is regarded by critics as a defining album of the Britpop era,[54] and is often credited for starting Britpop.[55][39][6] While most critics consider follow-up album Dog Man Star as the band's best work,[55] there are a few who have recognised the first album as their finest moment. Reviewing the 2011 reissue, Kevin Courtney of The Irish Times spoke of the strength of Suede's early singles. Rating it above Dog Man Star, which he felt was "too fragmented and flawed to be their masterpiece."[39] Likewise, with similar views, David Edwards of Drowned in Sound rated the reissue ten out of ten, and opined that "although Dog Man Star arguably contains more individually brilliant moments, there is a serious case for referring to their 1993 debut as overall, being their most complete realisation."[56]
The album itself received generally positive reviews by the UK critics, Keith Cameron of the NME compared Suede to The Smiths; he wrote, "'Suede' faces the same problems [as The Smiths did] and similarly fails to deliver on a few, admittedly trifling, levels". However, he concluded, "This is the solid, quality, ring-of-confidence debut [Nude Records] dreamed the band would produce".[16] Stuart Maconie of Q drew comparisons to Bowie, Morrissey and Marr. In conclusion he said "Bowie and the Smiths are obvious points of reference. From each, Suede have taken an alien sexual charisma, a peculiarly claustrophobic Englishness and brazenly good tunes. Moreover, rarely has a record from the indie sector come with such a burning sense of its own significance."[42] In Select, Steve Lamacq noted "a feeling in the air that they haven't fully let themselves go yet", concluding: "As debuts go this isn't exactly Suede in flames: but what a smouldering attempt."[44] Ben Thompson of The Independent wrote that "it would be a shame if the eagerness to get the backlash underway stopped their excellent album getting the respect it deserves."[46]
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm is the debut studio album by American hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, released on April 10, 1990[1] on Jive Records. After forming the Native Tongues collective and collaborating on several projects, A Tribe Called Quest began recording sessions for People's Instinctive Travels in late 1989 at Calliope Studios with completion reached in early 1990. The album's laid back production encompassed a diverse range of samples which functioned as a template for the group's unorthodox lyrics.
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm was met with acclaim from professional music critics and the hip hop community on release, and was eventually certified gold in the United States. Its recognition has extended over the years as it is widely regarded as a central album in alternative hip hop with its unconventional production and lyricism. It is also credited for influencing many artists in both hip hop and R&B. In a commemorative article for XXL, Michael Blair wrote that "People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm was immensely groundbreaking, and will eternally maintain its relevance within the culture and construction of hip-hop".
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm has been described as "a celebration of bohemia, psychedelia and vagabondia",[10] as well as "laid back".[5] The Los Angeles Times described the album as consisting of "mostly happy hip-hop, featuring gently humorous, casual, conversational raps".[14] Michael Blair from XXL wrote that "the innovative production on this album created an optimal platform for the group's wildly inventive relationship with their words. From a lyrical standpoint, Tribe was both sophisticated and playful in the same breath".[15]
Much of the musical landscape on the album consisted of background noises such as a child crying, frogs and Hawaiian strings.[5] The jazz, R&B and rock samples that were used were from artists that most hip-hop producers of the time ignored, or who were unfamiliar with. For the known artists that were sampled, Q-Tip used breaks that were unique for those artists, which turned out to be highly influential for hip-hop production.[5][10] Ian McCann from NME stated "They break beats from anywhere they want ... and deliver them in an easy, totally sympathetic setting."[16] Entertainment Weekly's Greg Sandow said the album "has a casual sound, something like laid-back jazz".[17]
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm has been recognized for widening hip-hop's vocabulary, as well as instrumentation and samples within hip-hop music.[10] It has also been recognized for influencing a wide range of acclaimed hip-hop and R&B artists, including Common, D'Angelo, Digable Planets, Erykah Badu, Fugees, J Dilla, Kendrick Lamar, Mos Def, Outkast, Scarface, and Kanye West.[18][10][31] Pharrell Williams stated "I listened to 'Bonita' everyday. I'd never heard anything like that in my life. That's where I changed".[32] On another occasion, Williams explained that People's Instinctive Travels "caused a turning point in my life, which made me see that music was art."[33]
John Bush of AllMusic called People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm "the quiet beginning of a revolution in non-commercial hip-hop."[19] Pitchfork's Kris Ex stated that with the album the group "created and refined a template for '90s hip-hop that was street-astute, worldly, and more inspirational than aspirational".[18] In a commemorative article for XXL, Michael Blair wrote "What A Tribe Called Quest ultimately became the pioneers of, and was on full display throughout the production on their debut album, was a certain proficiency in illustrating and honoring a diverse array of genres that preceded them. In what is mostly attributed to Q-Tip's deep appreciation and understanding of those definitive genres, Tribe's sound was perpetually laced with elements of Jazz, Soul, R&B, and Funk". Blair concluded that "People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm was immensely groundbreaking, and will eternally maintain its relevance within the culture and construction of hip-hop".[15]
David Bowie
3/5
Low is the 11th studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 14 January 1977 through RCA Records. After years of drug addiction when living in Los Angeles, Bowie moved to France in 1976 with his friend Iggy Pop to sober up. There, Bowie produced and co-wrote Pop's debut studio album, The Idiot, featuring sounds Bowie would explore on his next record. After completing The Idiot, Bowie began recording the first of three collaborations that became known as the Berlin Trilogy with American producer Tony Visconti and English musician Brian Eno. Sessions began at Hérouville's Château d'Hérouville in September 1976 and ended in October at Hansa Studios in West Berlin, where Bowie and Pop had relocated
Grounded in art rock and experimental rock and influenced by German bands such as Tangerine Dream, Neu!, Harmonia and Kraftwerk, Low features Bowie's first explorations in electronic and ambient styles. Side one consists primarily of short, direct avant-pop song-fragments, with mostly downbeat lyrics reflecting Bowie's state of mind, and side two comprises longer, mostly instrumental tracks, conveying musical observations of Berlin. Visconti created the distinctive drum sound using an Eventide H910 Harmonizer, a pitch-shifting device. The cover artwork, a profile of Bowie from the film The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), was intended as a visual pun, meaning "low profile".
RCA refused to issue Low for three months, fearing it would be a commercial failure. Upon release, it divided critical opinion and received little promotion from RCA or Bowie, who opted to tour as Pop's keyboardist. Nevertheless, it reached number two on the UK Albums Chart and number 11 on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. Two singles were released: "Sound and Vision", which peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart, and "Be My Wife". The success prompted RCA to release The Idiot in March 1977. In mid-1977, Bowie played on Pop's follow-up album Lust for Life before recording his album "Heroes", which expanded on Low's musical approach and features a similar mix of songs and instrumentals.
In later decades, critics have rated Low one of Bowie's best works, and it has appeared on several lists of the greatest albums of all time. It influenced numerous post-punk bands such as Joy Division, and its drum sound has been widely imitated. A forerunner in the development of the post-rock genre of the 1990s, Low has been reissued several times and was remastered in 2017 as part of the A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982) box set.
In the decades since its release, Low has been acclaimed for its originality.[138] The album has been cited as an influence on the post-punk genre.[139] Susie Goldring of BBC Music wrote: "Without Low, we'd have no Joy Division, no Human League, no Cabaret Voltaire, and I bet, no Arcade Fire. The legacy of Low lives on."[140] Spitz also acknowledges the influence of the album on post-punk, naming Joy Division, Magazine, Gang of Four and Wire as bands influenced by Low's "odd anti-aggression and unapologetic, almost metaphorical use of synthesised music".[141] Music journalist Simon Reynolds said: "I think it's Low's inhibition and repression that Joy Division and others responded to. The fact that the music, while guitar-based and harsh and aggressive, never rocks out. It's imploded aggression."[141] James Perone suggested that both "What in the World" and "Be My Wife" foreshadowed the punk/new wave sound of English band the Stranglers, particularly their 1977 releases Rattus Norvegicus and No More Heroes.[142]
In the second edition of his book All Time Top 1000 Albums (1998), Colin Larkin cites Gary Numan, Ultravox and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark as artists influenced by Low.[143] Wilcken finds Radiohead's album Kid A (2000), particularly the track "Treefingers", to reflect a similar influence.[144] William Doyle of The Quietus wrote that before the release of Kid A, Bowie created the blueprint "reinvention" album with Low, a record from an artist at the peak of their popularity that confounded his fans' expectations.[145] Bjorn Randolph of Stylus Magazine felt the album had a crucial influence on the post-rock genre that came to prominence among underground musicians nearly two decades after Low's release.[146][147] Doggett writes that, like Station to Station before it, Low established Bowie as an artist who was "impossible to second-guess". He found Bowie's five-year progression from Hunky Dory to Low daring and courageous.[92]
Low has frequently appeared on lists of the greatest albums of all time. Ranking the 100 best albums ever made, Sounds placed it at number 35 in 1986 and The Guardian ranked it number 62 in 1997.[170][171] A year later, Q readers voted it the 43rd greatest album of all time.[172] On lists of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever, Q and The Observer ranked Low numbers 16 and 39, respectively.[173][174] In 2004, Pitchfork named it the greatest album of the 1970s; Erlewine described it as "a record that hurtles toward an undefined future while embracing ambiguity", as well as "an album about rebirth, which is why it still possesses the power to startle."[175] Similarly, Paste magazine included it at number 34 in their list of the 70 best albums of the 1970s,[176] and Ultimate Classic Rock later featured Low in a similar list of the 100 best rock albums from the 1970s in 2015.[177] In 2013, NME listed the album as the 14th greatest of all time in their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[178] Larkin ranked it numbers 120 and 47 in the second and third editions of All Time Top 1000 Albums, respectively.[179] In 2003, Low was ranked number 249 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[180] It was subsequently ranked number 251 in a 2012 revised list and number 206 in a 2020 revised list.[181][182]
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is the third studio album by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on October 24, 1995, in the United Kingdom and a day later in the United States on Virgin Records. Produced by frontman Billy Corgan with Flood and Alan Moulder, the 28-track album was released as a two-disc CD and triple LP. The album features a wide array of styles, as well as greater musical input from bassist D'arcy Wretzky and second guitarist James Iha.
The album received critical acclaim. Christopher John Farley of Time called the album "the group's most ambitious and accomplished work yet". Farley wrote, "One gets the feeling that the band [...] charged ahead on gut instincts; the sheer scope of the album (28 songs) didn't allow for second-guessing or contrivance."[41] Time selected Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness as the best album of the year in its year-end "Best of 1995" list.[42] Entertainment Weekly gave the album an A rating; reviewer David Browne praised the group's ambition and wrote, "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is more than just the work of a tortured, finicky pop obsessive. Corgan presents himself as one of the last true believers: someone for whom spewing out this much music results in some sort of high art for the ages. He doesn't seem concerned with persistent alterna-rock questions of 'selling out', and good for him: He's aiming for something bigger and all-conquering."[13] IGN gave the album a score of 9.5 out of 10 and said, "As the band's magnum opus it single-handedly changed the face of Alternative Rock. That said, it's not just music, but a work of art."[43] The Music Box gave it all five stars and said, "Indeed, for all its melodramatic self-indulgence, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is one of the best double albums of new material to be released by anyone in a long time."[44]
John Grant
3/5
Queen of Denmark is the debut solo album by American musician and former The Czars frontman John Grant, released via Bella Union on April 19, 2010. It is a collaboration between Grant and members of the American folk rock band Midlake, who had persuaded him to end his four-year hiatus from music following the break-up of The Czars.
In the May 2010 issue of Mojo, the album received the seldom-awarded "Instant Classic" label. Following Joanna Newsom's album Have One On Me, it is the second album to receive this honor since Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut in 2008. The reviewer wrote, "If Queen of Denmark were only comprised of self-lacerating ballads it would still be a work of transcendent beauty, but the second half of the album finds Grant confronting romantic loss with astonishing depth of feeling."[1] In December, the magazine selected Queen of Denmark as its choice for the Best Album of 2010.[15]
The BBC Music review website described the album as "one of the most deeply satisfying debut albums of recent times" and concluded, "Queen of Denmark transcends the sum of its influences by concentrating on the irresistible appeal of sad yet optimistic love songs, classy arrangements and a dark and handsome croon. Midlake's only mistake is making John Grant's startling debut better than their own records."[16]
Mark Edwards wrote in The Sunday Times, "One listen to 'Where Dreams Go to Die', for example, and you'll realise that while Grant can't attain perfection in his actual life, he gets pretty close in his art."[13]
3/5
Spy vs Spy: The Music of Ornette Coleman is a 1989 album by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn, featuring the compositions of Ornette Coleman performed in the brief intense style of Zorn's hardcore miniatures.
The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3½ stars stating "The performances are concise with all but four songs being under three minutes and seven under two, but the interpretations are unremittingly violent. The lack of variety in either mood or routine quickly wears one out".[2]
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Catch a Fire is the fifth studio album by the reggae band Bob Marley and the Wailers, released in April 1973. It was their first album released by Island Records.[2] After finishing a tour in the United Kingdom with Johnny Nash, the band did not have enough money to return to Jamaica; they approached producer Chris Blackwell, who agreed to advance the Wailers money for an album and paid their fares back home, where they recorded Catch a Fire. The album has nine songs, two of which were written and composed by Peter Tosh, the remaining seven were by Bob Marley. After Marley returned with the tapes to London, Blackwell reworked the tracks at Island Studios with contributions by Muscle Shoals session musician Wayne Perkins, who played guitar on three overdubbed tracks. The album had a limited original release under the name The Wailers in a sleeve depicting a Zippo lighter, designed by graphic artists Rod Dyer and Bob Weiner; subsequent releases had an alternative cover designed by John Bonis featuring an Esther Anderson portrait of Marley smoking a "spliff", and used the name Bob Marley and the Wailers.
Catch a Fire had a positive critical reception. Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said "half these songs are worthy of St. John the Divine", and "Barrett brothers' bass and drums save those that aren't from limbo".[29] Reviewers from Rolling Stone also praised the brothers' playing, concluding that "Catch a Fire is a blazing debut". According to the review, "'Concrete Jungle' and 'Slave Driver' crackle with streetwise immediacy, while 'Kinky Reggae' and 'Stir It Up' ... revel in the music's vast capacity for good-time skanking. 'Stop That Train' and '400 Years,' both written by Peter Tosh, indicate the original Wailers weren't strictly a one-man show".[31]
Critics have called Catch a Fire one of the greatest reggae albums of all time. Vik Iyengar from AllMusic comments that "Marley would continue to achieve great critical and commercial success during the 1970s, but Catch a Fire is one of the finest reggae albums ever. This album is essential for any music collection".[1] Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 123 on its list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, moving to 126 in a 2012 revised listing,[32] the second highest placement for a reggae album; only Legend, ranked higher at number 46.[33] It was later ranked at number 140 in the 2020 reboot of the list.[34] Writing in The Spectator arts blog in 2012, David Rodigan described it as "quite simply, one of the greatest reggae albums ever made".[35] The album was voted number 285 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[36]
Raekwon
4/5
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (commonly referred to as The Purple Tape) is the debut studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon, released on August 1, 1995, by Loud Records and RCA Records.[1] The album was loosely composed to play like a film with Raekwon as the "star," fellow Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah as the "guest-star," and producer RZA as the "director."[2] It features appearances from every member of the Wu-Tang Clan. The album also features debut appearances for affiliates Cappadonna and Blue Raspberry. It also features an acclaimed guest appearance from rapper Nas, which marked the first collaboration with a non-affiliated artist on a Wu-Tang related album.
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... has received acclaim from music critics and writers over the years, with many lauding it as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. With its emphasis on American Mafia insinuations and organized crime, the album is widely regarded as a pioneer of the mafioso rap subgenre. It is considered to have been highly influential on hip hop music over the next decade, being heavily referenced and influential on acclaimed albums such as Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt (1996) and The Notorious B.I.G.'s Life After Death (1997). Along with GZA's Liquid Swords, Cuban Linx is the most acclaimed solo Wu-Tang work.[6] Rolling Stone magazine placed it at number 480 on their The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2012, and at number 219 in the 2020 reboot of the list.[7][8]
OB4CL popularized street-related, Mafioso rap on the east coast.[9] While this style was originated by Kool G Rap in the late 1980s, it didn't completely permeate the hip hop world until the release of OB4CL in 1995.[9] References to Cuban Linx could be heard heavily in following years with several notable changes in hip hop culture. For instance, the album refers to "Wu-Gambinos" in various occurrences; the term being a name for the 'alter-egos' of the rappers involved in Cuban Linx, and used on various later projects. These alter-egos inspired an already dissociative hip-hop world to adopt new names and personae, from Nas' Escobar moniker to Notorious B.I.G.'s Frank White counterpart, which he would go on to further utilize upon the release of OB4CL. A known fan of the Wu, Tupac Shakur began to refer to himself as Makaveli and gave his Outlawz crew new names, albeit with a militaristic, dictatorial theme. In regard to Raekwon's innovation of the gambinos, Method Man later affirmed "Raekwon started that. Rae always had that mobster mentality, always liked to watch gangster movies and read mob books and stuff like that, you know? So he pretty much knew the names of the cats and what they was about. He polished his whole style like that."[9] Ghostface Killah also touched base on the gambino influence stating "We done took that to the highest peak. We bonded as a tight family, so niggas is starting to try and do that right now. Everybody thinking they have a strong family. We opened up the door for a lot of niggas. The shit was just crazy on how it came together."[9]
Cypress Hill
4/5
Cypress Hill is the debut studio album by the American hip hop group Cypress Hill. It was released on August 13, 1991 by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records. Recording sessions for the album were held at Image Recording Studios in Los Angeles from August 1990 to May 1991. The majority of the production was handled by DJ Muggs. The album was critically and commercially successful proving to be a major success for the group. Receiving major air-play on urban radio and college radio helped the albums popularity. The album went Double platinum in the U.S. with over 2 million units sold. The album is broken down track-by-track by Cypress Hill in Brian Coleman's book Check the Technique[3] published in 2007, 16 years after the album release.
Steve Huey of AllMusic calls Cypress Hill's debut "a sonic blueprint that would become one of the most widely copied in hip-hop."[4]
In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums.[14] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Boards of Canada
4/5
Music Has the Right to Children is the debut studio album by Scottish electronic music duo Boards of Canada. It was released on 20 April 1998 in the UK by Warp and Skam Records and in the US by Matador. The album was produced at Hexagon Sun, the duo's personal recording studio in Pentland Hills,[4] and continued their distinctive style of electronica, featuring vintage synthesisers, degraded analogue production, found sounds and samples, and hip hop-inspired rhythms that had been featured on their first two EPs Twoism (1995) and Hi Scores (1996).[5][2]
been included in lists of greatest albums of all time. Music Has the Right to Children featured at number 35 on Pitchfork's "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s" list,[21] as well as number 2 on its "50 Best IDM Albums of All Time" list released in 2017.[22] It was ranked number 91 in Mojo magazine's "100 Modern Classics" list. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[23]
The album has been noted as a major influence on the electronic music genre. Reflecting on its 20th anniversary, Sean O'Neal of The A.V. Club noted that "it practically created its own subgenre, inspiring a legion of artists who had similar goals of getting inside your head."[10] Fact magazine identified Lone, Gold Panda, Lapalux, Tim Hecker, Leyland Kirby, Bibio, Four Tet, and Ulrich Schnauss as musicians directly influenced by the album, calling it not "just a classic album or many people's personal favourite," but also "an artifact in its own lifetime, a present-day relic that recalls an innocent time in more ways than one."[20]
Iron Maiden
3/5
Iron Maiden is the debut studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 14 April 1980 by EMI Records in the UK and Harvest and Capitol Records in the US. The North American version included the song "Sanctuary", released in the UK as a non-album single. In 1998, along with the rest of the band's pre-1995 releases, Iron Maiden was remastered with "Sanctuary" added in all territories. However, 2014 vinyl reissues, 2015 digital releases and 2018 CD reissues use the original track listing across the globe. It is the band's only album to feature guitarist Dennis Stratton.
Of all the album's songs, "Phantom of the Opera", "Running Free", "Sanctuary" and "Iron Maiden" are the most frequently played in the band's concert tours, with the last being played at every show since the band's inception and signalling the arrival of Eddie onstage.[29] All of the album's songs, excluding "Strange World", have been re-recorded with Bruce Dickinson on vocals, either on live albums, studio B-Sides or both.[10] "Strange World" and "Transylvania" were the only songs not played on the "Eddie Rips Up the World Tour", 2005.
On its release, the album received immediate critical acclaim. Geoff Barton, in Sounds, hailed it as "Heavy metal for the '80s, its blinding speed and rampant ferocity making most plastic heavy rock tracks from the '60s and '70s sound sloth-like and funeral-dirgey by comparison".[8] Iron Maiden spent an initial fifteen weeks on the UK chart, and a further two when it was reissued on EMI's budget subsidiary Fame in 1985.[37]
The album has continued to receive praise from reviewers. AllMusic proclaims that it "would still rank as a landmark even if the Dickinson years had never happened" and says there was "no better place to hear how both punk and prog rock informed the new wave of British heavy metal".[10] Sputnikmusic describes it as "one of the top debut albums in the world of heavy metal", containing "the raw, aggressive power [that] defines the early years of the band".[36]
Iron Maiden is one of the band's two albums listed in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (The Number of the Beast is the other).[38] In 2017, it was ranked 13th on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".[39]
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
4/5
Time Out is a studio album by the American jazz group the Dave Brubeck Quartet, released in 1959 on Columbia Records. Recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, it is based upon the use of time signatures that were unusual for jazz such as 9
8, 6
4 and 5
4.[6] The album is a subtle blend of cool and West Coast jazz.[7][8]
The Dave Brubeck Quartet followed up Time Out with three more similarly-named albums that also made use of uncommon time signatures: Time Further Out (1961), Countdown—Time in Outer Space (1962) and Time Changes (1964). Another album, Time In (1966), which featured the quartet but was credited only to Brubeck, echoed the title of Time Out, although it made use of more conventional time signatures.
In 2005, Time Out was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. It was also listed that year in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2009 the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[17]
Deerhunter
3/5
Halcyon Digest is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band Deerhunter. It was released September 27, 2010[5] to universal critical acclaim. It was the band's first album distributed solely by 4AD worldwide (previously 4AD only handled overseas distribution while Kranky handled it within the U.S.) The album was produced by the band and Ben H. Allen, and was recorded at Chase Park Transduction studios in Athens, Georgia with engineer David Barbe.[6] The final track, "He Would Have Laughed" was recorded separately by Bradford Cox at Notown Sound in Marietta, Georgia and is a tribute to Jay Reatard.[7]
Answering the Q magazine question as to whether the album was "...supposed to sound like a newsletter or bulletin board from somewhere mysterious", Bradford Cox said: "It's supposed to be like a collection of short dispatches". He called the use of the word 'Halcyon' misleading, adding: "It has a lot to do with the way people romanticize the past, even if it was horrific."[9]
The album artwork was provided by renowned Atlanta photographer George Mitchell. Deerhunter drummer, Moses Archuleta, initially suggested a "stark black and white theme" with Cox ultimately selecting Mitchell's photograph because "it had an immediate connection to the music, especially songs like 'Basement Scene'."[10]
Halcyon Digest received widespread acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 86, based on 33 reviews, indicating "Universal Acclaim".[19] It ranked second in Exclaim!'s Pop & Rock Albums of the Year where Cam Lindsay credits Deerhunter with continuing their "impressive streak as one of the more consistent sonic explorer's [sic] within the indie rock canon."[29] The album also appeared at #3 on Pitchfork's 50 Greatest Albums of 2010, where Rob Mitchum writes that the work's rough-yet-shimmery production and existential theme "demonstrates that the ache of mortality can be even more wounding in the bright glare of daytime than late at night."[30]
Blur
3/5
Parklife is the third studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 25 April 1994 on Food Records. After disappointing sales for their previous album Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), Parklife returned Blur to prominence in the UK, helped by its four hit singles: "Girls & Boys", "End of a Century", "Parklife" and "To the End".
Parklife was met with critical acclaim. Johnny Dee, reviewing Parklife for NME, called it "a great pop record", adding "On paper it sounds like hell, in practice it's joyous."[25] Paul Evans of Rolling Stone stated that with "one of this year's best albums", the band "realize their cheeky ambition: to reassert all the style and wit, boy bonding and stardom aspiration that originally made British rock so dazzling."[28] Conversely, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice indicated that the only good song on the album was "Girls & Boys".[31]
Parklife remains one of the most acclaimed albums of the 1990s. In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine commented: "By tying the past and the present together, Blur articulated the mid-'90s zeitgeist and produced an epoch-defining record."[21] On Acclaimed Music which aggregates critical opinion of music, Parklife is ranked as the 5th best album of 1994, the 28th best of the 1990s and the 164th of all time.
Miles Davis
4/5
Birth of the Cool is a compilation album by American jazz trumpeter and bandleader Miles Davis, released in February 1957 by Capitol Records.[nb 1] It compiles eleven tracks recorded by Davis's nonet for the label over the course of three sessions during 1949 and 1950.[5]
Featuring unusual instrumentation and several notable musicians, the music consisted of innovative arrangements influenced by classical music techniques such as polyphony, and marked a major development in post-bebop jazz. As the title suggests, these recordings are considered seminal in the history of cool jazz. Most of them were originally released in the 10-inch 78-rpm format and are all approximately three minutes long.
The band's debut performance at the Royal Roost received positive, but reserved reactions.[31] Count Basie, the Roost's headliner during the Nonet's brief tenure, however, was more open to the group's sound, saying, "Those slow things sounded strange and good. I didn't always know what they were doing, but I listened, and I liked it."[32] Winthrop Sargeant, classical music critic at The New Yorker, compared the band's sound to the work of an "impressionist composer with a great sense of aural poetry and a very fastidious feeling for tone color... The music sounds more like that of a new Maurice Ravel than it does like jazz ... it is not really jazz."[33] Though he did not recognize the record as jazz, Sargeant acknowledged that he found the record "charming and exciting".[33] In the short term the reaction to the band was little to none,[33] but in the long term the recordings' effects have been great and lasting. They have been credited with starting the cool jazz movement[34] as well as creating a new and viable alternative to bebop.[35]
In 1957, after the release of Birth of the Cool, Down Beat magazine wrote that Birth of the Cool "[influenced] deeply one important direction of modern chamber jazz."[36] Several tunes from the album, such as Carisi's "Israel", have gone on to become jazz standards.[37] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[38] Birth of the Cool was voted number 349 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000). [39]
Elvis Costello
3/5
My Aim Is True is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, originally released in the United Kingdom on 22 July 1977 through Stiff Records. After years of little success performing in Britain, Costello was signed to Stiff through the label's founders Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Recording sessions for the album took place at Pathway Studios in Islington, London from late 1976 to early 1977, over the course of six four-hour studio sessions, totaling approximately twenty-four hours. Produced by Stiff artist and musician Nick Lowe, the backing band was made up of members of Clover, a California-based country rock act, who were uncredited on the original release due to contractual difficulties. Costello kept his day job as a data entry clerk during the sessions.
At the time performing as D.P. Costello, Riviera changed his name to Elvis after Elvis Presley, and adjusted his image to match the then-rising punk rock movement. The music itself on My Aim Is True is influenced by a wide variety of genres, from punk, new wave and British pub rock to elements of 1950s rock and roll, R&B and rockabilly. The more downbeat lyrics are motivated by revenge and guilt, reflecting topics from relationship struggles to politically charged and misogynistic ideals. The original monochrome cover art, showing Costello in a pigeon-toed stance, was later colourised for reissues.
In lists ranking Costello's albums from worst to best, My Aim Is True has consistently ranked as one of Costello's best. In 2021, writers for Stereogum placed it at number six, calling it "one of rock music's great opening salvos".[9] A year later, writing for Spin magazine, Al Shipley placed it at number two, behind This Year's Model, stating that had he not made another record after My Aim Is True, he would "still be a legend".[82] The same year, Michael Gallucci of Ultimate Classic Rock also placed it at number two, behind This Year's Model. He noted Clover's lack of force compared to the Attractions, but nevertheless wrote that fewer have arrived with debuts as "instantly significant" as My Aim Is True.[83]
Marvin Gaye
4/5
Here, My Dear is the fifteenth studio album by music artist Marvin Gaye, released as a double album on December 15, 1978, on Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records.[2] Recording sessions for the album took place between 1977 and 1978 at Gaye's personal studios, Marvin Gaye Studios, in Los Angeles, California. The album was notable for its subject matter focusing largely on Gaye's acrimonious divorce from his first wife, Anna Gordy Gaye.
A commercial and critical failure upon its release, it was later hailed by music critics, in the years following Gaye's passing, as one of Gaye's best albums. "It's taken me a while," Anna admitted in later years, "but I've come to appreciate every form of Marvin's music."[3]
According to PopMatters journalist Mike Joseph, Here, My Dear's music was "largely midtempo funk, with elements of traditional soul, gospel, and doo-wop mixed together with a slight hint of disco".[5] The title track opens the album, and in the album's liner notes David Ritz describes Gaye's tone in the song as "self-serving, self-justifying [and] self-pitying". "I Met a Little Girl" includes doo-wop drenched harmonies with its lyrics and music producing a "thick mixture" of sincerity and sarcasm. Considered the central melodic motif of the album, "When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You" abandoned traditional song structure with a discursive mode, without a chorus, with its lyrics expressing "different feelings - tenderness, fear, anger, regret".[4] Described as "straight ahead and beguiling" compared to all the other songs on the album, "Anger" is considered as "part sermon and part self-retribution", describing his movement from catharsis to escape.
The Sonics
3/5
Here Are The Sonics''' (stylized as !!!Here Are The Sonics!!!)is the debut album by American garage rock band the Sonics, released in March 1965. The album features the original songs "The Witch" (a minor regional hit), "Psycho", "Boss Hoss" and "Strychnine", along with an assortment of rock and roll and R&B covers.
Cub Koda of AllMusic wrote that the album "show[s] a live band at the peak of its power, ready to mow down the competition without even blinking twice", calling it "Another important chunk of Seattle rock and roll history
Johnny Cash
3/5
American IV: The Man Comes Around is a studio album by Johnny Cash. It was released on November 5, 2002, by American Recordings and Universal Records. It is the fourth in Cash's "American" series of albums, and the last album released during his lifetime, and is considered some of his finest work towards the end of his life. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[12]
The majority of songs are covers which Cash performs in his own sparse style, with help from producer Rick Rubin. For instance, for the song "Personal Jesus", Rubin asked Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante to re-work an acoustic version of Martin Gore's song, which featured a simple acoustic riff that stripped down the song to a blues style. He receives backing vocal assistance from various artists, including Fiona Apple, Nick Cave, and Don Henley.
American IV was the final album Johnny Cash released during his lifetime; though the Unearthed box set was compiled prior to his death, with Cash choosing the tracks and writing liner notes. American IV: The Man Comes Around was Cash's first non-compilation album to go gold in thirty years. Additionally, the album won "Album of the Year" award at the 2003 CMA Awards. It was certified gold on March 24, 2003 and platinum on November 21, 2003 by the Recording Industry Association of America, the first non-compilation album of Cash's to do so since the early 1970s.
Van Morrison
3/5
Moondance is the third studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 27 January 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. After the commercial failure of his first Warner Bros. album Astral Weeks (1968), Morrison moved to upstate New York with his wife and began writing songs for Moondance. There, he met the musicians that would record the album with him at New York City's A & R Studios in August and September 1969.
The album found Morrison abandoning the abstract folk jazz compositions of Astral Weeks in favour of more formally composed songs, which he wrote and produced entirely himself. Its lively rhythm and blues/rock music was the style he would become most known for in his career. The music incorporated soul, jazz, pop, and Irish folk sounds into songs about finding spiritual renewal and redemption in worldly matters such as nature, music, romantic love, and self-affirmation.
In the years following the original release, Moondance has been frequently ranked as one of the greatest albums ever.[53] In 1978, it was voted the 22nd best album of all time in Paul Gambaccini's poll of 50 prominent American and English rock critics.[54] Christgau, one of the critics polled, named it the 7th best album of the 1970s in The Village Voice the following year.[55] In a retrospective review, Nick Butler from Sputnikmusic considered Moondance to be the peak of Morrison's career and "maybe of non-American soul in general", while Spin deemed it "the great white soul album" in an essay accompanying the magazine's 1989 list of the all-time 25 greatest albums, on which Moondance was ranked 21st.[56] In 1999, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and in 2003, it was placed at number 65 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[57][nb 1] The album was also included in the 2000 edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (where it placed at number 79), the music reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (2005), and Time magazine's 2006 list of the "All-TIME 100 Albums".[59] The following year, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named Moondance one of their "Definitive 200" albums, ranking it 72nd.[60] In 2009, Hot Press polled numerous Irish recording artists and bands, who voted it the 11th best Irish album of all time.[61] Based on such rankings, the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists it as the 101st most acclaimed album in history.
Buzzcocks
3/5
Another Music in a Different Kitchen is the first studio album by the English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released in March 1978 by the United Artists record label. This was the third line-up of Buzzcocks, with the guitarist Pete Shelley singing following the departure of the original vocalist Howard Devoto and then the firing of the bass guitarist Garth Smith (who had appeared on the "Orgasm Addict"/"Whatever Happened To...?" single). The album includes the single "I Don't Mind", which reached number 55 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1978.[1]
covered by SS Decontrol on their 1983 EP Get It Away. The influential Seattle band The Fastbacks recorded "Whatever Happened To...?" on their 1991 single "My Letters", released by Sub Pop. The track "Autonomy" was covered by the pop punk band The Offspring on the single "Want You Bad".[18]
The Sub Pop act Love Battery were named after the song of that name on this album.[19]
Common
4/5
Like Water for Chocolate is the fourth studio album by American rapper Common, released on March 28, 2000, through MCA Records. It was Common's first major label album and was both a critical and commercial breakthrough, receiving widespread acclaim from major magazine publications and selling 70,000 copies in its first week.[2] The album was certified Gold on August 11, 2000, by the Recording Industry Association of America.[3] According to Nielsen SoundScan, the album has sold 748,000 copies by March 2005.[4] The video for "The Light" was frequently shown on MTV, adding to Common's exposure. The album also formally marked the formation of the Soulquarians, a collective composed of Questlove (of The Roots), Jay Dee (formerly of Slum Village), keyboardist James Poyser, soul artist D'Angelo and bassist Pino Palladino, among numerous other collaborators. This group of musicians would also be featured on Common's next album, Electric Circus.
Like Water for Chocolate is notable for its Afrocentric themes. It borrows from the Afrobeat genre on the track "Time Travelin' (A Tribute To Fela)", the Tony Allen-sampling "Heat" and the Slum Village-assisted "Nag Champa (Afrodisiac For The World)". MC Lyte and Mos Def join Common for the amusing "A Film Called (Pimp)" and "The Questions," respectively. In the former, Common sends up his own "conscious" image with a skit depicting him as a hypocritical woman-beater.
Like Common's previous two albums, Like Water for Chocolate closes with spoken word recited by Common's father Lonnie "Pops" Lynn. A slightly altered version of the album was released after its success on the charts, with the Macy Gray-assisted "Geto Heaven Remix T.S.O.I. (The Sound of Illadelph)" replacing the original.
As of 2011, the musical interludes on tracks such as "A Film Called Pimp" and "Time Travelling" have been removed from all online versions of the album, possibly due to unconfirmed sample-clearing issues.[12]
Like Water for Chocolate received widespread acclaim from music critics. Rolling Stone's Kris Ex called Common "a hip-hop MC willing to actually examine himself through his art".[22] NME's Stevie Chick described him as a "great storyteller" who is "equal parts philosopher and documentarian."[20] Spin's Peter S. Scholtes praised Like Water for Chocolate as "his most aggressive and powerful record yet",[25] and The Wire also hailed it as his best album.[27] The Source wrote that the album finds "a more worldly Common ... creating full-fledged jazz, funk and soul songs".[24] Mojo called Like Water for Chocolate the "most user-friendly contribution so far to the wave of 'conscious' rap."[28] RapReviews critic Steve "Flash" Juon wrote: "From 'Payback is a Grandmother' all the way to the finale 'Pop's Rap III' you'll find your ears have been smothered in a sweet darkness that Dove has never been able to wrap in foil and sell for ninety-nine cents. You may in fact be coming down off a hip-hop sugar high. Not to worry – just hit random play and any track on this album will give you another fix."[2
Ray Charles
3/5
The Genius of Ray Charles is a 1959 Ray Charles album, released in October by Atlantic Records, the seventh album since the debut Ray Charles in 1957. The album consists of swinging pop with big band arrangements.[1] It comprises a first half of big band songs and a second half of string-backed ballads.[4] The Genius of Ray Charles sold fewer than 500,000 copies and charted at number 17 on the Billboard 200.[1] "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'" were released as singles in 1959.[5]
Sonic Youth
4/5
Daydream Nation is the fifth full-length studio albums do first double album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released on October 18, 1988. The band recorded the album between July and August 1988 at Greene St. Recording in New York City, and it was released by Enigma Records as a double album.
After Daydream Nation was released, it received widespread acclaim from critics and earned Sonic Youth a major label deal. The album was ranked high in critics' year-end lists of 1988's best records, being voted second in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop poll. Daydream Nation has since been widely considered to be Sonic Youth's greatest work, as well as one of the greatest albums of all time,[1][2] specifically having a profound influence on the alternative and indie rock genres. It was chosen by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Recording Registry in 2005.[3]
Daydream Nation received overwhelmingly positive reviews from contemporary critics.[39] Billboard called it "the supreme fulfillment" of the band's "fullbore technique".[33] Rolling Stone magazine's Robert Palmer said it demonstrated "the broad harmonic palette, sharply honed songwriting skills and sheer exhilarating drive" of the "influential quartet", while presenting "the definitive American guitar band of the Eighties at the height of its powers and prescience".[35] In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau believed that while Sonic Youth were embracing a "happy-go-lucky careerism and four-on-the-floor maturity", their relentlessly discordant music was "a philosophical triumph".[38] The British music press also embraced the album: Record Mirror enthusing that Sonic Youth were "the best band in the universe"; the NME calling Daydream Nation the "most radical and political album of the year"; and Q magazine saying it made an "enthralling noise".[33] At the end of 1988, Daydream Nation appeared in several lists of the year's best albums, being ranked at No. 2 by Rolling Stone, No. 1 by CMJ,[40] and No. 9 by NME.[41] It was also voted the year's second best record in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop poll,[42] which made the band realize that the album had made an impact.[27] Christgau, the poll's creator and supervisor, named it the fourth best album of 1988 in his own list.[43]
In 2002, Pitchfork ranked Daydream Nation as No. 1 on their list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s[1] (the album dropped to No. 7 in the 2018 list[49]). It also placed at No. 13 on Spin magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums from 1985 to 2010,[50] No. 30 on Slant Magazine's "Best Albums of the 1980s"[51] and No. 45 on the Rolling Stone list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s.[52] The Spin Alternative Record Guide (1995) named it the ninth best alternative album,[53] and it was ranked 11th on Guitarist's 2000 list of the 101 essential guitar records.[54] In 2003, the album was placed at No. 328 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums ever,[55] and again in 2012, with the album being ranked number 171 in the 2020 edition.[56] Daydream Nation was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry in 2006.[3] PopMatters included it in their list of the "12 Essential 1980s Alternative Rock Albums", saying it was "an ambitious double album that saw Sonic Youth's various influences coalescing into a striking, searing whole"
Van Morrison
3/5
Astral Weeks is the second studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was recorded at Century Sound Studios in New York during September and October 1968, and released in November of the same year by Warner Bros. Records.
The album's music blends folk, blues, jazz, and classical styles, signalling a radical departure from the sound of Morrison's previous pop hits, such as "Brown Eyed Girl" (1967). The lyrics and cover art portray the symbolism equating earthly love and heaven that would often feature in the singer's subsequent records. His lyrics have been described as impressionistic, hypnotic, and modernist, while the record has been categorized as a song cycle or concept album.
Astral Weeks' critical standing improved greatly over time. It became viewed as one of rock's greatest records and a culturally significant work.[70] Many factors afforded the record its strong reputation in rock criticism: its back story as a commercial underachiever and highly personal work for Morrison, its distinction from the rest of his discography, his artistic autonomy, the music's song cycle composition, the enigmatic lyrics and quality of seriousness and originality as perceived by mature rock audiences and writers.[86] According to Rob Sheffield, it was Morrison's "most beautiful and intense album", the foundation for his "legend" and a work that continues to captivate musicians and listeners.[82] Lester Bangs said its anguished feeling resonated with him on first listen, calling it "the rock record with the most significance in my life so far ... a record about people stunned by life, completely overwhelmed, stalled in their skins, their ages and selves, paralyzed by the enormity of what in one moment of vision they can comprehend."[87] Irish musician Glen Hansard said it made him think about life with a greater depth of feeling, "with a greater sense of fear and horror and desire than you ever imagined."[25] Colin Larkin credited Morrison for fully realizing his ambition to "create without pop's constraints" on Astral Weeks,[77] while AllMusic's William Ruhlmann said its reputation among critics was justified because "unlike any record before or since", it "encompasses the passion and tenderness that have always mixed in the best postwar popular music".[41]
Gang Starr
4/5
Step in the Arena is the second studio album by hip hop duo Gang Starr, printed as a 1990 release,[4] and commercially released on January 15, 1991.[5] In 2007, it was named the greatest hip hop album of all time by IGN.com.[6] HipHopDX called it "the album that cemented Gang Starr as a timeless tag team."[7]
Filmmaker Spike Lee was a fan of Gang Starr's debut No More Mr. Nice Guy and loved the song on the album "Jazz Music". As Lee was filming Mo' Better Blues at the time of the album's release, he felt the duo needed to expand on the song's theme - which became the single "Jazz Thing". Lee introduced them to a poem written by Lolis Eric Elie, which group member Guru converted to a rap, as the poem didn't rhyme. The song caught the attention of Chrysalis Records, who offered them a deal based on "Jazz Thing". However, DJ Premier said the label had gotten the wrong idea of the group, stating: "When they signed us, they thought we were going to do records like "Jazz Thing" all the time. When we were just doing that for Mo' Better Blues".
The song "Who's Gonna Take the Weight" was remixed by DJ Premier for use in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV.[17] "Step In the Arena" was on the video games Skate It and Skate 2,[18] and "Just to Get a Rep" was on Thrasher: Skate and Destroy.[19]
Steely Dan
3/5
Countdown to Ecstasy is the second studio album by the American rock band Steely Dan, released in July 1973 by ABC Records. It was recorded at Caribou Ranch in Nederland, Colorado, and at The Village Recorder in West Los Angeles, California.[6] After the departure of vocalist David Palmer, the group recorded the album with Donald Fagen singing lead on every song.[7]
Countdown to Ecstasy was met with positive reviews.[24] Reviewing in August 1973 for Rolling Stone, David Logan said that the album's musical formula, while not redundant, said that despite ordinary musicianship and occasionally absurd lyrics, Steely Dan's "control" of their basic rock format is "refreshing" and "bodes well for the group's longterm success."[9] Billboard complimented the "studio effect" of the dual guitar playing and found the "grandiloquent vocal blend" catchy.[12] Stereo Review called it a "really excellent album" with "witty and tasteful" arrangements, "winning" performances, "high quality" songs, and a "potent and persuasive" mix of rock, jazz, and pop styles.[16] In Creem, Robert Christgau observed "studio-perfect licks that crackle and buzz when you listen hard" and "invariably malicious" vocals that back the group's obscure lyrics.[34] He named Countdown to Ecstasy the ninth best album of 1973 in his year-end list for Newsday.[35] Hull, in a review published in Overdose in April 1975, said the album is "perhaps the most representative [and] certainly the best realized" of Steely Dan's confounding mix of smooth production quality and intellectual lyrical content. "The effect is strange, strangely comfortable, queasy almost", he explained, calling the band "a dangerous group, one that should be watched".[14]
In Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Christgau said that Steely Dan had achieved a "deceptively agreeable studio slickness" with Fagen's replacement of Palmer, who Christgau felt did not fit the group.[27] Music journalist Paul Lester later viewed it as a progression from their debut album and wrote that "Becker and Fagen offered cruel critiques of the self-obsessed 'Me' decade", while their "blend of cool jazz and bebop, Brill Building song craft and rock was unparallelled at the time (only Britain's 10cc were creating such intelligent pop in the early Seventies)."[23] In his 1999 autobiography A Cure for Gravity, British musician Joe Jackson described Countdown to Ecstasy as a musical revelation for him, that bridged the gap between "pure pop" and his jazz-rock and progressive influences, while furthering his attempts at songwriting.[36] In The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Rob Sheffield called Countdown to Ecstasy "a thoroughly amazing, hugely influential album" with "cold-blooded L.A. studio rock tricked out with jazz piano and tough guitar."[32] Pat Blashill later wrote in Rolling Stone that the "joy in these excellent songs" and in the band's playing revealed Steely Dan to be "human, not just brainy," "like good stretches of the Stones' Exile on Main St."[11] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine found Countdown to Ecstasy musically "riskier" than the band's debut album, and wrote that the songs are "rich with either musical or lyrical detail that their album rock or art rock contemporaries couldn't hope to match."[10] Chris Jones of BBC Music found Steely Dan's ideas to be "post-modern" and "erudite," and asserted that they were "setting a benchmark that few have ever matched."[15]
Q-Tip
5/5
The Renaissance is the second studio album by American hip hop artist Q-Tip, released November 4, 2008, on Universal Motown Records. The follow-up to his solo debut album, Amplified (1999), it was recorded after Q-Tip's Kamaal the Abstract (2009) was initially shelved in 2002 by his former label Arista Records and his proposed effort Open was shelved by Universal Motown, both deemed commercially inadequate by the labels.[3][4] The Renaissance was produced primarily by Q-Tip and features guest contributions by D'Angelo, Norah Jones, Amanda Diva, and Raphael Saadiq.
The Renaissance received universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 82, based on 24 reviews.[14] Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot praised Q-Tip's rapping and production, commenting that "Comebacks don’t come more effortlessly than this".[25] Anthony Henriques of PopMatters complimented its "Ummah-era aesthetic – smooth, soulful, jazz-infused" production, writing that "The Renaissance feels like a complete album. Each song has distinctive characteristics, and brilliant sequencing allows for seamless transitions between tracks".[8] About.com's Shannon Barbour called it "a polished production that makes the most of every song".[26] Chicago Sun-Times writer Jim DeRogatis commented that guest appearances by Raphael Saadiq, Norah Jones, and D'Angelo "sound inspired".[27]
Steve Jones of USA Today complimented Q-Tip's "ever-cool flow over a self-produced blend of jazzy samples and live instrumentation", stating "Q-Tip delivers danceable rhymes, mostly about love of self, women and hip-hop. He also touches society and music industry politics with an intelligence often lacking in today's music".[24] Barry Walters of Spin noted "his eloquent flow over liquid arrangements shimmering with rhythmic finesse" and commented that the album "blurs distinctions between accessibility and avant-gardism".[23] The Guardian's Angus Batey wrote that the album "cloak[s] its eclecticism with a homogenising sheen […] frequent changes of mood and direction dazzle".[18] Areif Sless-Kitain of Time Out viewed it as a return for Q-Tip to lyrical "old-school basics", stating "It’s a reverse renaissance: The suave MC returns to his glory days as part of the Native Tongues posse, showcasing his nimble rhymes and clever phrasing".[3] In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave the album a one-star honorable mention ((1-star Honorable Mention)) while picking out its two songs ("Shaka" and "Official"), and quipped, "If jazz lite it must be, by all means, rap on top."[28]
The United States Of America
3/5
The United States of America is the only studio album by American rock band the United States of America. Produced by David Rubinson, it was released in 1968 by Columbia Records. The album combined rock and electronic instrumentation, experimental composition, and lyrics reflecting leftist political themes.
The United States of America was originally released to minimal press. "The tunes are infectious, the harmonies adventurous yet eminently satisfying. And the lyrics (which Columbia has wisely printed on the jacket) are the best thing of all", wrote Barret Hansen in his 1968 review for Rolling Stone. He nonetheless found that the album "falls short of being really satisfying" due to the band's musicianship being "not quite on a level with their ideas", noting: "The voices are flat and uninteresting, showing little technical or interpretive power. The instruments perform their assigned tasks adroitly, but all too mechanically."[3]
Modern reception of the album has been very positive. Richie Unterberger of AllMusic deemed it "one of the most exciting and experimental psychedelic albums of the late 1960s" and compared some of the band's more hard-edged material to early Pink Floyd and the Velvet Underground.[11] He concluded: "Occasionally things get too excessive and self-conscious, and the attempts at comedy are a bit flat, but otherwise this is a near classic."[11] "The most ambitious, idiosyncratic debut album of 2004 is 36 years old," opened Mark Hamilton's review of the 2004 reissue for Dusted Magazine.[18] Pitchfork's Cameron Macdonald said that the album "still stands above the work of most of their Monterey-era, psych-rock peers", despite the presence of some dated electronic effects typical of "many electro-acoustic pieces from the analog years."[5] It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[19]
Marvin Gaye
4/5
Recording sessions for the album took place during June 1970 to July 1973 at Hitsville U.S.A. and Golden World Studio in Detroit, and at Hitsville West in Los Angeles. Serving as Gaye's first venture into the funk genre, Let's Get It On incorporates smooth soul, doo-wop, and quiet storm with sexually suggestive lyrics and has been described by one writer as "one of the most sexually charged albums ever recorded". Gaye infused ideas of spiritual healing in songs about sex and romance, in part as a way of coping with childhood abuses from his father Marvin Gay Sr., which had stunted his sexuality.
Following the breakthrough success of his socially conscious album What's Going On (1971), Let's Get It On helped establish Gaye as a sex icon and broadened his mainstream appeal. It produced three singles—the title track, "Come Get to This", and "You Sure Love to Ball"—that attained Billboard chart success. Let's Get It On became the most commercially successful album of Gaye's recording career, and it further expanded his creative control at Motown. Its sexual balladry, multi-tracking of Gaye's vocals, and seductive funk sound also influenced later R&B recording artists and producers.
The album has been regarded by many music writers and critics as a landmark recording in soul. It increased the popularity of funk during the 1970s, while Gaye's smooth-soul sound marked a change from his record label's previous success with the "Motown Sound" formula. Among the most acclaimed LPs in history, Let's Get It On frequently appears on professional rankings of the greatest albums and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as a historically important recording. In 2001, it was reissued by Motown as a two-CD deluxe edition release.
Much like What's Going On, Let's Get It On has been included in a significant number of "best album" lists by critics and publications.[26] It was ranked number 58 on The Times's 1993 publication of the 100 Best Albums of All Time.[33] Blender magazine ranked the album number 15 on its list of the 100 Greatest American Albums of All Time.[26] In 2003, it was ranked number 165 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time publication;[34] the 2020 edition of the list ranked it 422nd.[35]
The Who
3/5
Tommy is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Who, a double album first released on 17 May 1969. The album was mostly composed by guitarist Pete Townshend, and is a rock opera that tells the story of Tommy Walker, a "deaf, dumb and blind" boy, including his experiences with life and his relationship with his family.
According to music journalist Richie Unterberger, Tommy was hailed by contemporary critics as the Who's breakthrough".[52] Robert Christgau wrote in 1983, "Tommy's operatic pretensions were so transparent that for years it seemed safe to guess that Townshend's musical ideas would never catch up with his lyrics."[61] In his review for AllMusic, Unterberger said that, despite its slight flaws, the album has "many excellent songs" permeated with "a suitably powerful grace", while Townshend's ability to devise a lengthy narrative introduced "new possibilities to rock music."[52] Uncut wrote that the album "doesn't quite realise its ambitions, though it achieves a lot on the way", and felt it was not as well developed as their later album, Quadrophenia.[60] Mark Kemp, writing in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), felt that "in retrospect, Tommy isn't quite the masterpiece it was originally hyped to be", suggesting The Who Sell Out was better, though because of Townshend, it produced several "bona fide classic songs".[62] "Rock opera may seem like a laughable concept these days, but when the Who brought it to the world via Tommy in 1969, it was an unmatched thrill", writes Mac Randall of Rolling Stone in 2004 in a more positive appraisal. "Almost thirty-five years later, this classic-rock touchstone still has the power to enthrall."[63]
In 1998, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "historical, artistic and significant value".[46] In 2000 it was voted number 52 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[64] In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Tommy number 96 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[65] it maintainined the rating in a 2012 revised list,[66] and was re-ranked at number 190 on the 2020 list.[67] The album is one of several by the Who to appear in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[68] According to Acclaimed Music, it is the 132nd most
Beyoncé
4/5
Beyoncé (often stylized in all caps) is the eponymous fifth studio album by American singer Beyoncé. The record was released on December 13, 2013, by Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records. Developed as a "visual album", its songs are accompanied by non-linear short films that illustrate the musical concepts conceived during production. Its dark, intimate subject material includes feminist themes of sex, monogamous love, and relationship issues, inspired by Beyoncé's desire to assert her full creative freedom.
Beyoncé received widespread acclaim from critics upon release who praised its production, exploration of sexuality, vocal performance, as well as the album's surprise release strategy which was subsequently replicated by many artists.[4] In 2020, Beyoncé was ranked 81st in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.[5]
Beyoncé's vocal production is diverse; several songs are half-rapped and half-sung with particular use of falsetto and head voice.[25] The Telegraph's Neil McCormick notes that while the singer uses her expansive vocal range, unlike her previous releases, she restrains from belting and vocal runs as to increase tension in the music.[44] "No Angel", a chillwave song[23] with influences of minimalist hip hop music,[44] is noted for its use of the falsetto vocal register,[25] with a delivery that is "threatening to fray".[24] The doo wop-inspired duet with Frank Ocean "Superpower" is sung in the lower register of both singers, while employing girl group harmonies similar to Beyoncé's work in Destiny's Child.[24][42][44] The love song "XO" uses several vocal techniques to evoke a celebration of love and life,[58] including echo[59] and several hooks.[60] Its ascending chorus lines use call and response, as well as backing vocals of a sing-along crowd, as Beyoncé sings of how her "darkest nights" are enlightened by her lover's face.[61] The album's closing tracks are midtempo ballads "Heaven" and "Blue". "Heaven" is an emotive, piano-led hymn with gospel elements,[24][42] while "Blue" is built on a piano melody over which Beyoncé sings of the love for her daughter, using her full vocal range.[25][46]
Pink Floyd
4/5
Wish You Were Here is the ninth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 12 September 1975 through Harvest Records and Columbia Records, their first release for the latter. Based on material Pink Floyd composed while performing in Europe, Wish You Were Here was recorded over numerous sessions throughout 1975 at Abbey Road Studios in London.
The album's themes include criticism of the music business, alienation, and a tribute to founding member Syd Barrett, who had left seven years earlier due to his deteriorating mental health; Barrett coincidentally visited the band during the album's production. Like their previous record, The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Pink Floyd used studio effects and synthesisers. Guest singers included Roy Harper, who provided the lead vocals on "Have a Cigar", and Venetta Fields, who added backing vocals to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". To promote the album, the band released the double A-side single "Have a Cigar" / "Welcome to the Machine".
Wish You Were Here is Floyd's second album with a conceptual theme and with lyrics entirely by Roger Waters. It reflects his feeling that the camaraderie that had served the band was, by then, largely absent.[6] The album begins with a long instrumental preamble and segues into the lyrics for "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", a tribute to Syd Barrett, whose mental breakdown had forced him to leave the group seven years earlier.[7] Barrett is fondly recalled with lines such as "Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun" and "You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon".[8]
Wish You Were Here is also a critique of the music business. "Shine On" crosses seamlessly into "Welcome to the Machine", a song that begins with an opening door (described by Waters as a symbol of musical discovery and progress betrayed by a music industry more interested in greed and success) and ends with a party, the latter epitomising "the lack of contact and real feelings between people". Similarly, "Have a Cigar" scorns record industry "fat-cats" with the lyrics repeating a stream of cliches heard by rising newcomers in the industry, and including the question "by the way, which one's Pink?" asked of the band on at least one occasion.[9] The lyrics of the next song, "Wish You Were Here", relate both to Barrett's condition and to the dichotomy of Waters' character, with greed and ambition battling with compassion and idealism.[10]
Wish You Were Here has since been frequently regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, and is generally ranked as one of the greatest progressive rock albums. According to Acclaimed Music it is the 212th most celebrated album in popular music history.[65] In 2003, it was ranked at number 209 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[66] ranked at number 211 in a 2012 revised list,[67] and ranked at number 264 in a 2020 revised list.[68] In 2015, it was chosen as the fourth-greatest progressive rock album by Rolling Stone.[2]
Culture Club
3/5
Colour by Numbers is the second album by the British new wave group Culture Club, released in October 1983. Preceded by the hit single "Karma Chameleon", which reached number one in several countries, the album reached number one in the UK and has sold 10 million copies worldwide. It has been certified triple platinum in the UK and quadruple platinum in the US. It was ranked #96 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Best Albums of the 1980s.
Reviews for Colour by Numbers have been generally positive. Smash Hits reviewer Peter Martin called it "simply one of the most enjoyable records I've ever heard."[11] Stephen Holden of Rolling Stone said that the album "secures lead singer Boy George's place as a blue-eyed soul balladeer in the first rank." Holden found that it "is by no means a weighty album", but nonetheless "has gobs of emotion plastered as thickly as Boy George's makeup, and ten tunes that stick", and concluded: "Whether you like the band or not, Culture Club is one pop group that matters."[8] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice wrote that "George's warm, well-meaning, slightly clumsy croon signifies most effectively when it has the least to say – when it's most purely a medium for his warm, well-meaning, slightly clumsy self", and that "his real aim in life is to reenact the story of the ugly duckling – and to radiate the kind of extreme tolerance that's so often engendered by extreme sexual ambiguity."[13] Colour by Numbers was ranked at number seven among the "Albums of the Year" for 1983 by NME.[14]
In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Jose F. Promis wrote: "The songs were infectious, the videos were all over MTV, and the band was a media magnet." He deemed the album "flamboyant, fun, sexy, soulful, colorful, androgynous, and carefree" like other 1980s music, and concluded by calling it "the artistic and commercial pinnacle of a band that still attracted new fans years later."[4] Scott Shetler of Slant Magazine stated that "Culture Club hit their stride, and the influence of its 10 colorful songs can still be felt today." He said that "its greatness can be measured by the fact that its album tracks are just as good as its singles", and that "in the end, Colour by Numbers is an album that needs no tinkering."[10]
fIREHOSE
3/5
Fromohio (stylized as fROMOHIO) is the third album by the American alternative rock band Firehose, released in 1989.[7][8] The album maintained the acoustic and folky sound of If'n.[9]
The Los Angeles Times wrote that the band "balance their familiar dice 'n' slice, genre-leapin' riffin' with more straightforward song structures."[4] The Chicago Tribune thought that "Crawford's guitar-playing is becoming a more integral part of the band's three-pronged attack. [Mike] Watt's bass and [George] Hurley's drums remain at the core of the band's sound, a dynamic synthesis of punk, funk and free jazz that was pioneered by the Minutemen."[11] The Ottawa Citizen wrote: "Imagine a technically imperfect band that has the art of free-form fusion mastered."[12]
Trouser Press called the album Firehose's "best, most accessible work," writing that Crawford "has absorbed a bit of his bandmates’ eccentricities, and his voice has lost some of its shriller edges."[13] The Rough Guide to Rock thought that, "in the best possible way, it was a very American record, rich in tradition and innovation."[8]
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
Super Fly is the third studio album by American soul musician Curtis Mayfield, released in July 1972 on Curtom Records. It was released as the soundtrack for the Blaxploitation film of the same name. Widely considered a classic of 1970s soul and funk music, Super Fly was a nearly immediate hit. Its sales were bolstered by two million-selling singles, "Freddie's Dead" (number 2 R&B charts, number 4 Pop charts) and the title track (number 5 R&B, number 8 Pop). Super Fly is one of the few soundtracks to out-gross the film it accompanied.[14]
Super Fly, along with Marvin Gaye's What's Going On (1971), was one of the pioneering soul concept albums, with its then-unique socially aware lyrics about poverty and drug abuse making the album stand out.[15][16] The film and the soundtrack may be perceived as dissonant, since the film holds rather ambiguous views on drug dealers, whereas Curtis Mayfield's position is far more critical. Like What's Going On, the album was a surprise hit that record executives felt had little chance at significant sales. Due to its success, Mayfield was tapped for several film soundtracks over the course of the decade.
Tina Turner
3/5
Private Dancer is the fifth solo studio album by Tina Turner. It was released on May 29, 1984, through Capitol Records and was her first album released through the label.
Alex Henderson, in a retrospective AllMusic review, says that the album was slicker than her R&B classics recorded with Ike & Tina, but she was still able to sing with a throaty passion to deliver her finest solo production.[14] Stephen Holden has written in The New York Times that by using her English producers to soften her raw Southern soul style, discarding the "blaring horns, frenzied percussion and gospel calls and responses", the album became a "landmark" in the "evolution of pop-soul music".[3]
Michael Lydon, in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, says that the album's lyrical themes embodied her persona of a "tough, sexy woman schooled in a tough world", and that her vocal delivery overcomes the slick production, with her "indomitable soul" unifying the multiple producers.[25] In 1989, the album was ranked number 46 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 100 Greatest Albums of the '80s. In 2003, VH1 named Private Dancer the 95th greatest album of all time. Slant Magazine listed the album at number 63 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s", saying, "Both a personal liberation and sonic redemption, Private Dancer established Turner not only as a genuine diva, but a bona fide force of nature".[26]
King Crimson
4/5
In the Court of the Crimson King (subtitled An Observation by King Crimson) is the debut studio album by English rock band King Crimson, released on 10 October 1969 by Island Records. The album is one of the earliest and most influential of the progressive rock genre, where the band combined the musical influences that rock music was founded upon with elements of jazz, classical, and symphonic music.
In the Court of the Crimson King initially received mixed reactions from contemporary critics. Village Voice critic Robert Christgau called the album "ersatz shit",[34] while John Morthland of Rolling Stone said King Crimson had "combined aspects of many musical forms to create a surreal work of force and originality".[39] The album has since attained classic status, with AllMusic praising it "[a]s if somehow prophetic, King Crimson projected a darker and edgier brand of post-psychedelic rock" in its original review by Lindsay Planer, and calling it "definitive" and "daring" in its current review.[30] In Classic Rock reviews of King Crimson's 2009 reissues, Alexander Milas described In the Court of the Crimson King as the album which "blew off the doors of musical convention and cemented these quintessentially British innovators' place in rock history for all time".[31]
In his 1997 book Rocking the Classics, critic and musicologist Edward Macan notes that In the Court of the Crimson King "may be the most influential progressive rock album ever released". Macan went on to argue that In the Court of the Crimson King presented an example of every significant element of a mature progressive rock genre. Further, Macan mentions that the album coalesces prog rock tropes and conventions, some of which are only established in the future, into a single congestable medium. The impact of these developments, in his eyes, is the album representing but also influencing the overall musical impact of progressive rock as a whole for decades to come.[40] Paul Stump's History of Progressive Rock, published the same year, stated that "If Progressive rock as a discrete genre can be said to have had a starting point, In the Court of the Crimson King is probably it. All the elements that characterize Progressive's maturity are in place: jazz and blues influences are subservient to intense compositional rigour characterized by Mellotron-induced Western classical symphonic arrangements ... Individual and collective passages of arresting virtuosity and a rhythmic discontinuity bordering on the perverse are also components of an essentially tonal, approachable whole inoffensive to any classical or pop listener." Stump further commented that while the album is defined by avant-garde sensibility and subtle arrangements, it still communicates through the accessible language of rockers.[2]
The Who's Pete Townshend was quoted as calling the album "an uncanny masterpiece".[41] In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came fourth in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".[42] The album was named as one of Classic Rock magazine's "50 Albums That Built Prog Rock".[43] In 2014, readers of Rhythm voted it the eighth greatest drumming album in the history of progressive rock.[44] In 2015, Rolling Stone named In the Court of the Crimson King the second greatest progressive rock album of all time, behind Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon.[1] The album is also featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[45] It was voted number 193 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[46]
Tortoise
4/5
Millions Now Living Will Never Die is the second studio album by American post-rock band Tortoise. The album was released on January 30, 1996 by Thrill Jockey.
Millions Now Living Will Never Die was released to positive critical reviews, and it has since been renowned as a groundbreaking album for the post-rock genre.[15] Outersound wrote that not long after the album's release, the group was "hailed as godfathers of the American 'post-rock' movement".[15] The Wire named it the record of the year in its annual critics' poll[16] and NME named it the 35th best album of 1996.[17]
In 2006 and 2008, Millions Now Living Will Never Die was performed live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties-curated Don't Look Back concert series. The album also appears in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[18]
Nirvana
4/5
MTV Unplugged in New York is a live album by American rock band Nirvana, released on November 1, 1994, by DGC Records. It features an acoustic performance recorded at Sony Music Studios in New York City on November 18, 1993, for the television series MTV Unplugged.
The show was directed by Beth McCarthy and aired on the cable television network MTV on December 16, 1993. In a break with MTV Unplugged tradition, Nirvana played mainly lesser-known material and covers of songs by the Vaselines, David Bowie, Lead Belly and Meat Puppets. Unlike prior MTV Unplugged performances, which were entirely acoustic, Nirvana used electric amplification and guitar effects during the set. They were joined by rhythm guitarist Pat Smear and cellist Lori Goldston, plus members of Meat Puppets for some songs.
MTV Unplugged was released after plans to release the performance as part of a live double-album compilation titled Verse Chorus Verse, were abandoned. It was the first Nirvana release after the death of singer Kurt Cobain seven months prior. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and was certified eight-times multiplatinum by the RIAA in 2020.[1] It won the Best Alternative Music Performance at the 1996 Grammy Awards, Nirvana's only Grammy Award win, and has since been ranked one of the greatest live albums of all time. The performance was released as a DVD in 2007.
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine said MTV Unplugged in New York was "fearlessly confessional", as it found Nirvana and Cobain "on the verge of discovering a new sound and style".[16] Jason Mendelsohn from PopMatters believed its intimate folk rock quality was radical from Nirvana and Cobain, "as crass of a business move as it was" by their record label.[31] In The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), journalist Charles M. Young called it Nirvana's "second masterpiece" after Nevermind, and claimed that Cobain could have "revolutionized folk music the same way he had rock" because of his striking voice; he said his songs worked equally well with "a loud band bashing away behind you" or "with just an acoustic guitar".[25] Maeve McDermott of USA Today called it "an album of transcendent folk rock that glimpsed what could’ve been the band’s next post-grunge era, had frontman Kurt Cobain survived long enough to see its musical leanings through."[32]
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
The Boatman's Call is the tenth studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released in 1997. The album is entirely piano-based, alternately somber and romantic in mood, making it a marked departure from the bulk of the band's post-punk catalogue up to that point. The Boatman's Call remains one of the most critically acclaimed releases of Nick Cave's career.
Musically, the album's tone is considered sombre and minimalist and marks a major departure for Cave and The Bad Seeds. Moving away from full-band arrangements and character-based narratives, the album's music and lyrics move towards the more intimate sound of Cave's solo voice accompanied by piano or a few other instruments. The tempo is also generally slow, reflecting many of the moods of the songs. Many of the lyrics seem to reflect on Cave's personal relationships and spiritual yearnings at the time of writing. Some songs are thought to be directed at either the mother of Cave's oldest son Luke, Viviane Carneiro (in "Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere?") or singer PJ Harvey, with whom he had a brief relationship around that time (as referenced in "West Country Girl", "Black Hair" and "Green Eyes"). "Green Eyes" includes a line from “Sonnet 18”, by Louise Labé (Kiss me, rekiss me, & kiss me again).
The Boatman's Call received almost unanimous critical acclaim upon release with many reviewers citing it as Cave's most poignant album. NME rated it as the 23rd best album of 1997.[12] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[13]
Television
3/5
Marquee Moon is the debut album by American rock band Television. It was released on February 8, 1977, by Elektra Records. In the years leading up to the album, Television had become a prominent act on the New York music scene and generated interest from a number of record labels, eventually signing a record deal with Elektra. The group rehearsed extensively in preparation for Marquee Moon before recording it at A & R Recording in September 1976. It was produced by the band's frontman Tom Verlaine and sound engineer Andy Johns.
For Marquee Moon, Verlaine and fellow guitarist Richard Lloyd abandoned contemporary punk rock's power chords in favor of rock and jazz-inspired interplay, melodic lines, and counter-melodies. The resulting music is largely hook-driven with complex instrumental parts (particularly on longer tracks such as "Marquee Moon"), while evoking themes of adolescence and transcendence through imagery in urban, pastoral, and nocturnal modes, including references to the geography of Lower Manhattan. Influenced by Bohemian and French poetry, Verlaine's lyrics also feature puns and double entendres intended to give the songs an impressionistic quality in describing his perception of an experience.
Marquee Moon was met with widespread acclaim and was hailed by critics as an original musical development in rock music. The critical recognition helped the album achieve unexpected commercial success in the United Kingdom, despite poor sales in the United States. Among the most acclaimed music releases in history, it has consistently featured in professionally curated lists of top albums, including Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" (2003), on which it ranked 128th. Marquee Moon also proved to be a foundational record of alternative rock, as Television's innovative post-punk instrumentation for the album strongly influenced the new wave and indie rock movements of the 1980s and rock guitar playing in general.
Verlaine's lyrics on Marquee Moon combine urban and pastoral imagery.[23] Although it is not a concept album, many of its songs make geographical references to Lower Manhattan.[24] According to Bryan Waterman, author of the 33⅓ book on the record, it celebrates stern adolescence in the urban pastoral mode.[25] Its urban nocturne theme is derived from poetic works about Bohemian decadence.[24] According to Spin, the album is about urban mythology; Verlaine brought "a sentimental romanticism to the Bowery, making legends out of the mundane".[26] The lyrics also incorporate maritime imagery, including the paradoxical "nice little boat made out of ocean" in "See No Evil", the waterfront setting in "Elevation", sea metaphors in "Guiding Light", and references to docks, caves, and waves in "Prove It".[
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Ghosteen is the seventeenth studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was released on 4 October 2019 on Ghosteen Ltd and on 8 November 2019 on Bad Seed Ltd, both the band's own imprints. Ghosteen is a double album—the band's first since Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus (2004)—and the final part of a trilogy of albums that includes Push the Sky Away (2013) and Skeleton Tree (2016).
GhosteenProduced by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, Ghosteen was written in the aftermath of the death of Cave's son Arthur in 2015. It was recorded primarily in Malibu and West Hollywood, California in the United States, with further sessions in Germany and England. Cave's lyrics, which continue his deviation from his usual narrative-based writing, explore themes of loss, death and existentialism, as well as empathy, faith and optimism. Like Skeleton Tree, the album features extensive use of synthesizers, loops and ambient elements, particularly the minimal use of drums and percussion.
Upon its release Ghosteen was met with widespread critical acclaim. It received several perfect scores and is the highest-rated album of 2019—as well as the second-highest-rated album of the 2010s—on Metacritic. The album placed in the top 10 album charts in several countries and was included in several publications' year-end and decade-end lists of best albums. Both European and North American tours in support for Ghosteen were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with all shows rescheduled to later dates in 2021.
In July 2015, during the recording sessions for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' sixteenth studio album Skeleton Tree (2016), Nick Cave's 15-year-old son Arthur died after falling from the Ovingdean Gap near Brighton, England.[3] Skeleton Tree and the related documentary film One More Time with Feeling were released the following year; Skeleton Tree's lyrical themes and its "bleak and disturbing" sound led to misconceptions that the album was entirely about Arthur's death.[4] The majority of the songs on the album, however, were written prior to his death, with Cave only improvising and amending subsequent lyrics during the album's final sessions.[5]
The Flaming Lips
3/5
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is the tenth studio album by American rock band the Flaming Lips, released on July 16, 2002, by Warner Bros. Records. The album saw the band pursue a more electronic direction than previous efforts, incorporating acoustic guitars and rhythms influenced by hip hop and top 40 music. The album was well-received critically and commercially, helping the band break into popularity, and was adapted into a musical in 2012.[1]
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots received widespread acclaim from critics.[8] On Metacritic, the album has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[19] Calling the album "as strange as it is wonderful", Billboard nonetheless noted that "beneath the sunny, computer-generated atmospherics and the campy veneer of talk about gladiator-style clashes between man and machines with emotions, Yoshimi is actually a somber rumination on love and survival in an unfathomable world."[20] Tom Moon of Rolling Stone praised the album's "ambitious" production,[21] while Fortune magazine called it "a lush and haunting electronic symphony."[22] Uncut declared that "even by their standards, Yoshimi is astonishing."[18] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album a three-star honorable mention rating,[23] indicating "an enjoyable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well treasure".[24] Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots appeared in the best-albums-of-the-decade lists of several music publications, such as Rolling Stone (#27) and Uncut (#11), with Uncut also declaring it the greatest album released in the magazine's lifetime. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[25]
The lyrics of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots concern a diverse array of subject matter, mostly melancholy ponderings about love, mortality, artificial emotion, pacifism, and deception, while telling the story of Yoshimi's battle. The title character is inspired by Boredoms/OOIOO member Yoshimi P-We, following a comment in the Flaming Lips studio that her machine-sound abstract singing sounds like she is battling monsters—Coyne added 'pink'.[2] P-We also performs on the album. Some listeners consider Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots to be a concept album; however, the story is debated, as it is only directly apparent in the first four tracks. Despite the story-type title and science fiction themes, Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne has made it clear that Yoshimi is not intended to be a concept album.[3]
Pulp
3/5
This Is Hardcore is the sixth album by English band Pulp, first released in March 1998. It came three years after their breakthrough album, Different Class, and was eagerly anticipated. In 2013, NME ranked it at number 166 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[4]
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[25] The album was very well received in the States with the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, all awarding the album three and a half stars out of four.[15][18][26] In 2014, US LGBT magazine Metro Weekly placed the album at number 46 in its list of the "50 Best Alternative Albums of the '90s".[2] In 2017, Pitchfork listed the album at number seven in its list "The 50 Best Britpop Albums."[27]
Roxy Music
3/5
For Your Pleasure is the second album by English rock band Roxy Music, released by Island Records in 1973. It was their last to feature synthesiser and sound specialist Brian Eno, who would later gain acclaim as a solo artist and producer.
In 2000, Q placed For Your Pleasure at number 33 on its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever".[15] It placed at number 87 on Pitchfork's 2004 list of the top 100 albums of the 1970s.[16] The citation notes that Morrissey told the British press that "he could 'only think of one truly great British album'... For Your Pleasure."[16] In 2003, For Your Pleasure was ranked number 394 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[17] with the album's ranking dropping to number 396 in the 2012 update of the list, and climbing to number 351 in the 2020 update.[18][19] NME ranked For Your Pleasure at number 88 on its 2013 list of 500 greatest albums of all time and called it "the pinnacle of English art rock."[20] Classic Rock named it as one of 10 "essential" glam rock albums.[21] Happy Mag included the album in its list of "10 records to introduce you to the world of art-rock" and called it "an art-pop, glam-rock masterpiece."[22]
Elton John
4/5
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is the seventh studio album by English singer-songwriter Elton John, first released on 5 October 1973 as a double LP. The album has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide[2] and is widely regarded as John's magnum opus. Among the 17 tracks, the album contains the hits "Candle in the Wind", US number-one single "Bennie and the Jets", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" plus live favourites "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" and "Harmony".
In 2003 and 2012, the album was ranked number 91 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[23] and re-ranked number 112 in a 2020 revised list.[4] It was also ranked number 59 in Channel 4's 2009 list of 100 Greatest Albums.[5]
The White Stripes
3/5
Elephant is the fourth studio album by the American rock duo the White Stripes. It was released on April 1, 2003, through V2, XL, and Third Man. The album garnered critical acclaim and commercial success,[6] earning a nomination for Album of the Year and a win for Best Alternative Music Album at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004, peaking at number six in the US Billboard charts and topping the UK album charts.
In later years, the album has often been cited as the White Stripes' best work and one of the best albums of the 2000s; Rolling Stone magazine ranked it 390th on its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time",[7] and later the fifth-best of the decade. Third Man Records released a limited edition red, black and white vinyl reissue of Elephant on April 20, 2013, in celebration of the album's 10-year anniversary, as a Record Store Day exclusive.[8] The special edition 2013 Record Store Day, and August 2013 180-gram black vinyl reissues were pressed at United Record Pressing in Nashville, TN.[9]
Elephant has been described musically as garage rock revival,[19] blues rock,[20] and punk blues.[21] The album's lyrical themes revolve around the idea of the "death of the sweetheart" in American culture.[22] In this album, the White Stripes expanded their style with a bass line alongstide lead and rhythm guitar. Jack played guitar or keyboard to fill out the sound.[11] Like other White Stripes records, the cover art and liner notes are exclusively in red, white, and black.
Pavement
3/5
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is the second studio album by American indie rock band Pavement, released on February 14, 1994 by Matador Records. The album saw the band move on towards a more accessible rock sound than that of their more lo-fi debut Slanted and Enchanted and achieve moderate success with the single "Cut Your Hair". The album also saw original drummer Gary Young replaced by Steve West. It was a UK Top 20 hit upon release, although it was not so successful in the US charts.
AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave Crooked Rain a perfect 5-star rating, describing it as "the Reckoning to Slanted & Enchanted's Murmur". He concluded that the album was "a vibrant, dynamic, emotionally resonant album that stands as a touchstone of underground rock in the '90s and one of the great albums of its decade."[4] Robert Christgau of the Village Voice gave the album an A grade, describing it as "a tour de force melodywise".[13] Entertainment Weekly's David Browne gave the album a B+, writing that "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is just a bunch of guys dwelling on topics like skateboarding, plane crashes, girls, and mocking Stone Temple Pilots. When they set those sentiments to bumpy-road drones or a bit of a country lilt...the result has a subtle, ingratiating beauty."[6] Los Angeles Times critic Richard Cromelin gave the album 3.5 out of 4 stars. Cromelin wrote that the album contains "some of the Meat Puppets' loopiness, a Stones/Burritos folk-country resonance, and a chirpy pop tunefulness--along with enough contrary abrasiveness to keep you from getting too comfortable with them."[7]
In 2003, the album was ranked number 210 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and 212 in a 2012 revised list.[14] In the 2020 update of the list, the album's rank dropped to number 434.[15] It was also ranked number 10 on their best albums of the Nineties.[16] In 2003, it was ranked number 8 on Pitchfork's list Top 100 Albums of the 1990s,[17] and in 2010, the song "Gold Soundz" was listed as number one on Pitchfork's 200 Greatest Songs of the 1990s.[18] In July 2014, Guitar World ranked Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain at number 21 in their "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.[19] The photo in the middle of the cover was taken from the March 1978 issue of National Geographic. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[20]
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
American Dream (stylized in all-lowercase on digital releases)[1] is the fourth studio album by American rock band LCD Soundsystem, released on September 1, 2017, by DFA and Columbia. It was announced on January 5, 2016, the day after it was revealed that the band was reuniting after a disbandment lasting nearly five years. It is the band's first album in seven years, following This Is Happening (2010). This album reached number 1 on the Top Rock Albums chart and was LCD Soundsystem's first record to top the US Billboard 200.
American Dream received critical acclaim from contemporary music critics. On review aggregator Metacritic, it received an average score of 86 out of 100, based on 37 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[80] At the online review aggregator AnyDecentMusic?, the album received a score of 8.2 out of a possible score of 10 based on the aggregate score taken from 36 reviews.[79]
Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the album "feels like exactly the album 2017 needs—urgent, angry, achingly self-aware."[83] Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork marked the album as "Best New Music", said "The rebirth of LCD Soundsystem is marked by an extraordinary album obsessed with endings: of friendships, of love, of heroes, of a certain type of geeky fandom, and of the American dream itself", and gave it a 8.5/10.[34]
Arcade Fire
3/5
The Suburbs is the third studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on August 2, 2010. Coinciding with its announcement, the band released a limited edition 12-inch single containing the title track and "Month of May".[2][3] The album debuted at No. 1 on the Irish Albums Chart, the UK Albums Chart, the US Billboard 200 chart,[4] and the Canadian Albums Chart.[5] It won Album of the Year at the 2011 Grammy Awards, Best International Album at the 2011 BRIT Awards, Album of the Year at the 2011 Juno Awards, and the 2011 Polaris Music Prize for best Canadian album. Two weeks after winning Grammy's Album of the Year, the album jumped from No. 52 to No. 12 on the Billboard 200, the album's highest ranking since August 2010.[6]
The album's lyrical content is inspired by band members Win and William Butler's upbringing in The Woodlands, Texas, a suburb of Houston.[7] According to Win Butler, the album "is neither a love letter to, nor an indictment of, the suburbs – it's a letter from the suburbs".[8] The album was recorded in Win Butler and Régine Chassagne's residence in Montreal, with some parts being recorded at the band's studio in Quebec and in New York City.[3] Win Butler describes the overall sound of The Suburbs as "a mix of Depeche Mode and Neil Young",[9] stating that he wanted the album to sound like "the bands that I heard when I was very young, and wondered what those crazy noises were".[10] It was released by Merge Records in North America and by Mercury Records in the United Kingdom
The Suburbs received acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 87 out of 100, which indicates "universal acclaim" based on 43 reviews.[18] Writing for BBC Music, Mike Diver described the album as the band's "most thrillingly engrossing chapter yet; a complex, captivating work that, several cycles down the line, retains the magic and mystery of that first tentative encounter" and stated that "you could call it their OK Computer."[29] Several reviewers compared The Suburbs favourably to Arcade Fire's earlier work. Ian Cohen of Pitchfork called it "a satisfying return to form—proof that Arcade Fire can still make grand statements without sounding like they're carrying the weight of the world".[26] Noel Murray of The A.V. Club described the album as being "like one long sequel" to the band's earlier single "No Cars Go".[20] Q wrote that the band "may well have delivered their masterpiece."[30]
Roni Size
3/5
New Forms is the debut studio album by British drum and bass group Roni Size & Reprazent. It was originally released on 23 June 1997 through Talkin' Loud, and later re-released by Mercury Records and Universal Music Group. The album was released to critical and commercial success, winning the 1997 Mercury Prize, certifying platinum in the UK, and often being cited as their magnum opus.[1]
New Forms was released to favourable reviews. AllMusic described the album as "the major statement on drum'n'bass", rating it five stars out of five,[8] while in 2010 BBC Music noted that it "carved a mainstream niche for drum and bass like no album before it".[18] Entertainment Weekly noted the album's "caffeinated drum beat and blissful bass reverb".[9] Pitchfork's Ryan Schreiber was less generous, commenting that the album "doesn't really get decent until the second half of disc one".[14]
Gil Scott-Heron
4/5
Winter in America is a studio album by American vocalist Gil Scott-Heron and keyboardist Brian Jackson. It was recorded in September to October 1973 at D&B Sound Studio in Silver Spring, Maryland and released in May 1974 by Strata-East Records. Scott-Heron and Jackson produced the album in a stripped-down fashion, relying on traditional African and R&B sounds, while Jackson's piano-based arrangements were rooted in jazz and the blues. The subject matter on Winter in America deals with the African-American community and inner city in the 1970s
While it was critically overlooked upon its release, Winter in America earned retrospective acclaim from several writers and music critics as Scott-Heron's and Jackson's greatest work together. Along with its critical recognition, it has been noted by several critics for its influence on derivative music forms such as neo soul and hip hop music, as many artists of the genres have been influenced by Scott-Heron's and Jackson's lyrical and musical approach on the album. On March 10, 1998, Winter in America was reissued on compact disc for the first time in the United States through Scott-Heron's Rumal-Gia Records.
Winter in America's only single release, "The Bottle", soon became an underground and cult hit following its issue.[46] The song peaked at number 98 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles on the week ending February 18, 1977.[47] According to an article on Scott-Heron for a November 1974 issue of Billboard, the success of the single "has made his most recent album, 'Winter in America', a national best-seller and heralds his wide-ranging appeal."[48] The success of "The Bottle" also helped lead to Jackson's and Scott-Heron's following recording contract with Arista Records, which had been established in late 1974, the label at which they would enjoy further success and a larger amount of commercial notice.[28] Upon signing them, Arista executive Clive Davis said of Scott-Heron in an interview with Rolling Stone, "Not only is he an excellent poet, musician and performer—three qualities I look for that are rarely combined—but he's a leader of social thought."[28] Along with approval from Arista executives, Winter in America was well received by the underground music scene, in which Scott-Heron earned the majority of his fan base, and added to Scott-Heron's reputation as a socially aware and conscious artist.[43]
The album was re-released with previously unreleased bonus material by Scott-Heron's Rumal-Gia label in 1998, following a reissue project headed by Scott-Heron after he had received ownership of his 1970s recordings.[58] The record's significance and influence in music has led to much retrospective favor of it among music writers and critics, as shown in Winter's rankings in several "best of" publication polls. Winter in America was ranked number 67 on New Nation's June 2004 list of The Top 100 Black Albums.[59] The album was also listed in the music reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (2006).[60] "The Bottle" was later ranked number 92 on NME magazine's list of the "Top 150 Singles of All-Time" and was included in Q magazine's 1010 Songs You Must Own! publication.[61] The title track was included on music writer Bruce Pollock's 2005 list of the "7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944–2000", and it was ranked number 82 on Blow Up's list of "100 Songs to Remember".[62]
Aretha Franklin
3/5
I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You is the tenth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin released on March 10, 1967, by Atlantic Records. It was Franklin's first release under her contract with the label, following her departure from Columbia Records after nine unsuccessful Jazz standard albums, and marked a commercial breakthrough for her, becoming her first top 10 album in the United States, reaching number 2 on the Billboard 200. Two singles were released to promote the album: "Respect" and "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)". The former topped the Billboard Hot 100, while latter reached the top 10.
In 1967, Rolling Stone chided the album for "the lack of versatility on the part of the sidemen. The drums weren't hard enough, the guitar was weak, and the production lacked polish."[17] In 2002, though, they placed the album at No. 1 on their "Women in Rock: 50 Essential Albums" list. In 2003, the album was ranked No. 83 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Music Critic Robert Christgau, gave the album an A, stating "Not all of the tracks sound inspired" but also stating that it was the best album she had made by that point.[18] Q included the album in their list of the "100 Greatest Albums Ever".[19] Q also gave the album 4 stars and said "[the album] came out in May 1967 and was number 2 in America within weeks ... now it stands untainted by time. She seemed so much a force of nature it's strange to recall that this was actually her tenth album ..."[20]
In the obituary for Aretha Franklin, Rolling Stone made this comment about I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You: "It puts the emphasis not just on the great songs, or the amazing music, but on the person speaking them, her world, her story and whatever journey she's on in life. It rings out like revealed truth happening in real time, a declaration of independence".[21]
The Sugarcubes
3/5
Life's Too Good is the debut studio album by Icelandic alternative rock group The Sugarcubes. It was released in April 1988 by One Little Indian in the UK and Europe and in May 1988 by Elektra Records in the US. The album was an unexpected success and brought international attention for the band, especially to lead singer Björk, who would launch a successful solo career in 1993.
Consisting of veterans of Reykjavík's early 1980s rock culture, the band took elements of the post-punk sound that characterized the scene, intending to create a humorous take on pop music's optimism, which is reflected in the album's title. Despite never having intended to be taken seriously, and because of the success of their debut and their contractual obligations, the Sugarcubes went on to release two further studio albums.
Life's Too Good is credited as the first Icelandic album "of its breed" to have a worldwide impact.[6] In 2014, Treble wrote that the album "[generated] a larger interest towards the country’s popular and alternative music scenes alike."[19] The album is considered a definite influence on all subsequent Icelandic popular music, and on international acts such as Savages and Florence and the Machine.[19] The Los Angeles Times said that "Life's Too Good has the feel of an impact album: one of those rare debuts--like the first X or Talking Heads albums — that not only influence the creative underground but stretch the overall boundaries of rock."[13] Since its release, Life's Too Good has generated a dedicated following, and is nowadays cited as an important cult classic.[20] The album helped in regarding the Sugarcubes as "the biggest rock band to emerge from Iceland."[17]
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3/5
Psychocandy is the debut studio album by Scottish rock[5][6] band the Jesus and Mary Chain. It was released in November 1985 on Blanco y Negro Records. The album is considered a landmark recording: its combination of guitar feedback and noise with traditional pop melody and structure proved influential on the forthcoming shoegazing genre and alternative rock in general. The band moved from its abrasive sound with the release of their second album, 1987's Darklands.
On release Psychocandy received favourable reviews. Writing for NME, Andy Gill described the album as "a great searing citadel of beauty whose wall of noise, once scaled, offers access to endless vistas of melody and emotion",[22] while William Shaw of Smash Hits called it "a wonderful LP which should bring the Scottish brats the success they've missed out on so far".[23] Tim Holmes of Rolling Stone praised the band as "a perfect recombinant of every Edge City outlaw ethic ever espoused in rock."[24] In the end of year-roundups, the album placed at number two in NME's list of best albums of 1985,[25][26] number 3 in The Face,[27] and number 5 in Melody Maker.[28]
Subsequently, the album has frequently appeared in "best ever" album lists, such as Q magazine's "100 Greatest British Albums Ever", where it placed at number 88 in 2000.[29] In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at number 23 in its "40 Best Albums of the '80s" list.[30] In 2003, the album was ranked number 268 on Rolling Stone magazine's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list,[31] and 269 in a 2012 revised list.[32] The magazine also ranked the album number 45 on its list of the 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time.[4] AllMusic described the album as one that "created a movement without meaning to."[12]
In 2002 Pitchfork listed Psychocandy as the 23rd best album of the 1980s.[11] In their 2018 update of the list, the album was listed at number 40.[33] Slant Magazine listed the album at number 38 in its "Best Albums of the 1980s" list, saying, "Shaping fuzz into a potent, tactile instrument, The Jesus and Mary Chain helped establish the style of distortion-laden fogginess that would eventually become the foundation for shoegaze."[34] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[35] PopMatters included Psychocandy in their list of the "12 Essential 1980s Alternative Rock Albums" saying, "it may still be the only noise pop LP anyone ever really needs to own".[1]
Funkadelic
3/5
One Nation Under a Groove is the tenth studio album by American funk rock band Funkadelic, released on September 22, 1978 on Warner Bros. Records. Recording sessions took place at United Sound Studio in Detroit, Michigan, with one song recorded live on April 15, 1978 at the Monroe Civic Center in Monroe, Louisiana.[8] The album was the first album to include keyboardist and frequent songwriter Walter "Junie" Morrison.
One Nation Under a Groove was Funkadelic's most commercially successful album, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Magazine Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, number 16 on the Billboard 200, and being certified platinum in the US. It reached number 58 in Canada.[10] It was one of the band's most critically lauded albums, and ranks at or near the top of many "best album" lists in disparate genres.[11] The album was later featured on Vibe magazine's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century list. The album is ranked number 177 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in both 2003 and 2012 editions,[12][13] before moving to number 360 in the 2020 edition.[14] The album is listed as one of the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[15]
David Bowie
4/5
Station to Station is the 10th studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 23 January 1976 through RCA Records. Regarded as one of his most significant works, the album was the vehicle for Bowie's performance persona, the Thin White Duke. Co-produced by Bowie and Harry Maslin, Station to Station was mainly recorded at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, California, in late 1975, after Bowie completed shooting the film The Man Who Fell to Earth; the cover art featured a still from the film. During the sessions, Bowie was dependent on drugs, especially cocaine, and later said that he recalled almost nothing of the production.
The commercial success of his previous release, Young Americans (1975), allowed Bowie greater freedom when he began recording his next album. The sessions established the lineup of guitarist Carlos Alomar, bassist George Murray and drummer Dennis Davis that Bowie would use for the rest of the decade, and also featured contributions by guitarist Earl Slick and pianist Roy Bittan. Musically, Station to Station was a transitional album for Bowie, developing the funk and soul of Young Americans while presenting a new direction influenced by electronic music and the German music genre of krautrock, particularly bands such as Neu! and Kraftwerk. The lyrics reflected Bowie's preoccupations with Friedrich Nietzsche, Aleister Crowley, mythology and religion.
Preceded by the single "Golden Years", Station to Station was a commercial success, reaching the top five on the UK and US charts. After scrapping a soundtrack for The Man Who Fell to Earth, Bowie supported the album with the Isolar Tour in early 1976, during which he attracted controversy with statements suggesting support for fascism. At the end of the tour, he moved to Europe to remove himself from L.A.'s drug culture. The styles explored on Station to Station culminated in some of Bowie's most acclaimed work with the Berlin Trilogy over the next three years. Positively received by music critics on its release, Station to Station has appeared on several lists of the greatest albums of all time. It has been reissued multiple times and was remastered in 2016 as part of the Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976) box set.
The title track introduces Bowie's new persona—the Thin White Duke—who became the mouthpiece for Station to Station and often during the next six months, for Bowie himself.[64][32][66] The character, inspired by Thomas Jerome Newton,[28] dressed impeccably in a white shirt, black trousers and waistcoat. Carr and Murray described him as a hollow man who sang songs of romance with an agonised intensity, yet felt nothing, "ice masquerading as fire",[32] exuberantly "throwing darts in lovers' eyes."[50] Commentators have labelled the persona "a mad aristocrat",[32] "an amoral zombie",[80] and "an emotionless Aryan superman".[48] For Bowie himself, the Duke was "a nasty character indeed".[81]
Despite the noise of a train in the opening moments, Bowie said the title of "Station to Station" does not refer so much to railway stations as to the Stations of the Cross, the series of 14 images depicting Christ's path to his crucifixion, each symbolising a stopping-point for prayer.[69] He added it was about the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, evident in the line "from Kether to Malkuth", which bookend the Tree of Life:[82] "so for me the whole album was symbolic and representative of the trip through the Tree of Life".[48] Pegg believes the song displays a combination of Christian and Jewish allusions.[69] The song refers to William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.[83] Fixation with the occult was evident in such phrases as "white stains", the name of a book of poetry by Crowley. Cocaine is also referenced directly in the line: "It's not the side effects of the cocaine / I'm thinking that it must be love."[84]
Station to Station was a milestone in Bowie's transition to his late 1970s Berlin Trilogy.[e] Pegg calls it the "precise halfway point on the journey from Young Americans to Low".[48] Bowie himself said, "As far as the music goes, Low and its siblings were a direct follow-on from the title track [of Station to Station]".[69] For the Berlin Trilogy, Bowie collaborated with Tony Visconti and former Roxy Music keyboardist and conceptualist Brian Eno.[140] Eno similarly felt that Low was "very much a continuation" of Station to Station, which he called "one of the great records of all time" in 1999.[141] In an interview with Q magazine in 1997, Bowie considered Station to Station a "great, damn good" album, but "extremely dark". Because of his disconnected state during its recording, he heard it as "a piece of work by an entirely different person".[142]
The album has been described as "enormously influential on post-punk".[56] Carr and Murray wrote in 1981: "If Low was Gary Numan's Bowie album, then Station to Station was Magazine's."[32] Ian Mathers of Stylus magazine opined in 2004 that "just as few had anticipated Bowie's approach, few copied it ... for the most part this is an orphaned, abandoned style".[143] Ten years later, NPR's Jem Aswad described the album as "pioneering ice-funk" that "paved the way not only for thousands of artists who were influenced by it, but also for the brilliant wave of experimentation that followed over the next five years: Low, "Heroes" (both 1977), Lodger (1979) and Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980)".[61]
Station to Station has frequently appeared on several lists of the greatest albums of all time by multiple publications. In 1995, it was ranked number 21 on Mojo magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums ever made, the highest ranked Bowie album on the list.[159] In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it number 323 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[160] 324 on the 2012 revised list,[161] and 52 on the 2020 revised list.[162
Def Leppard
3/5
Pyromania is the third studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 20 January 1983 through Vertigo Records in UK and Europe and through Mercury Records in the US. The first album to feature guitarist Phil Collen who replaced founding member Pete Willis, Pyromania was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. The album was a shift away from the band's traditional heavy metal roots toward a more radio-friendly sound, finding massive mainstream success. Pyromania charted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200,[11] No. 4 on the Canadian RPM Album chart and No. 18 on the UK Albums Chart.[12] Selling over ten million copies in the US, it has been certified diamond by the RIAA.[13]
Pyromania has received mostly positive reviews, being commonly considered, along with its follow-up, Hysteria, one of the band's finest efforts to date, and one of "Mutt" Lange's best productions. David Fricke of Rolling Stone praised Leppard for putting "much-needed fire back on the radio", producing sophisticated music "more emotionally charged than most of the synthesized disco that passes for 'modern music'" over the airwaves; adding that the band "may not be highly original, but they mean what they play" and "Lange's artfully busy mix" easily covers up any fault.[8] AllMusic reviewer Steve Huey stated that Pyromania was "where the band's vision coalesced and gelled into something more." He described the songs as "driven by catchy, shiny melodic hooks instead of heavy guitar riffs, although the latter do pop up once in a while", and added that "transcendent hard rock perfection on Pyromania was surprisingly successful; their reach never exceeded their grasp, which makes the album an enduring (and massively influential) classic."[18] Sputnikmusic staff reviewer, equally enthusiastic, thoroughly recommended the album, "filled with tight musicianship, infectious melodies and anthemic choruses" "to pretty much anyone… No matter what their taste in music is."[20]
In contrast, Canadian journalist Martin Popoff considers Pyromania the beginning of Leppard's "creative degeneration" and criticizes Lange's "painstaking approach to detail" that strips the album "of its sweat and grit", making it sound "phony".[16]
"I remember meeting Phil Lynott…" recalled Joe Elliott. "We'd delivered Pyromania and, with us sharing a label with Lizzy, he'd heard it. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'I heard your album – it's the reason I've split the band. I can't compete with that.' The crappiest backhand compliment I've ever had. I wish I had been brave enough to shove him up against the wall and say, 'Well, make a better album then!' But I just said, 'Oh,' and scuttled off."[22]
The The
3/5
Soul Mining is the debut album by British post-punk/synth-pop band the The (the 1981 album Burning Blue Soul was originally released by the band's frontman Matt Johnson as a solo album, but later reissues credited it to the The). After a bidding war between major record labels which resulted in the group signing with CBS Records, Johnson began recording the album in New York City, but the initial recording sessions were aborted after the album's first two singles and Johnson returned to London where he wrote and recorded the rest of the record. Musically, Soul Mining is a post-punk and synth-pop album with influences of the early 1980s New York club scene, while Johnson's lyrics focus on relationship insecurities and social alienation, with imagery derived from dreams
The release of the 30th anniversary deluxe edition in 2014 received universal praise from music critics. Michael Bonner of Uncut described the record as a "masterpiece" and said, "Released in the interzone between post-punk and synth pop, and reflecting both, Soul Mining thrums with ideas, tension and dread. Johnson's enduring lyrical concerns – social alienation, political disillusionment and troubles of the heart – are all present and correct, but unlike the industrial/psychedelic adventuring of Burning Blue Soul, they are here given a glossier sheen... Certainly, for an album of heavy themes, Soul Mining is musically surprisingly light." He concluded, "Soul Mining is arguably Johnson's defining work: ambitious, strange, exciting. And, 30-odd years on, remarkably fresh."[34] In Q Peter Paphides described the album as being "like one long distress signal from someone being held against their will inside a Sartre novel". He stated, "The years might not have been quite so kind to Soul Mining were it not for the inspired guest performances that Johnson teased out of his collaborators", singling out Holland's piano solo as "a high point on an album full of them".[32] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian also noted Holland's "genuinely astonishing performance" and said, "The lyrics contained the occasional hint of histrionic gaucheness – 'the cancer of love has eaten out my heart' seems a pretty melodramatic way to say you got dumped – but more often they're strikingly precocious: 'Uncertain Smile''s brilliant drawing of a confused relationship, 'The Twilight Hour''s painfully accurate depiction of self-obsession... More striking still is the ease with which Johnson marshals a kaleidoscopic array of musical influences into something coherent and unique. Quite aside from Holland's boogie-woogie piano, over the course of Soul Mining's seven tracks, you variously hear folk fiddles and accordion, the popping basslines of contemporary funk, punishing industrial beats, electronics derived from New York's then current club music... But Soul Mining never sounds disjointed, never feels like an exercise in smart-alec showboating: Johnson's songwriting holds its disparate elements tightly together." He concluded, "Soul Mining is a brilliant and very idiosyncratic album. Maybe that's why it's never really cited as an influence these days: you can't hope to mimic something this personal and unique."[28]
The Verve
3/5
Urban Hymns is the third studio album by English alternative rock band the Verve, released on 29 September 1997 on Hut Records. It earned nearly unanimous critical praise upon its release, and went on to become the band's best-selling release and one of the biggest selling albums of the year. As of 2019, Urban Hymns is ranked the 19th best-selling album in UK chart history[6] and has sold over ten million copies worldwide.[7] This is the only Verve album to feature guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong, who initially joined the band to replace their original guitarist Nick McCabe. McCabe rejoined the band soon after, however, and Tong was considered the fifth member of the band; this makes the album the only one that the band recorded as a five-piece.
Melody Maker named Urban Hymns as the number one album of 1997 in its year-end list,[35] and the album ranked at number three on NME's year-end critics' poll.[36] Q also included it in their own list of the best albums of 1997,[37] and it ranked at number 18 on The Village Voice's year-end Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[38] At the 1998 Brit Awards, Urban Hymns won the award for Best British Album and The Verve themselves were awarded Best British Group.[26] The same year, Richard Aschroft won an Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year.[26] The album was also shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, which was ultimately awarded to Gomez' Bring It On.[39] By April 1999, however, renewed tensions within the band, particularly between Ashcroft and McCabe, would lead The Verve to split up for a second time, at the height of their critical and commercial success.[26]
In the years following its release, Urban Hymns has received much acclaim. In 2000 it was voted number 213 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[40] Q included it in their 1999 list of the 90 best albums of the 1990s,[41] while the magazine's readers voted it the eighteenth best album of all-time in 1998,[42] later moved up to sixteenth place in a similar list compiled in 2006.[43] The Verve were awarded with the first ever Q Classic Album award for Urban Hymns at the 2007 Q Awards,[44] and the following year, Urban Hymns was ranked as the tenth best British album of all time in a poll jointly conducted by Q and HMV.[45] It was also nominated for Best British Album of the Last 30 Years at the 2010 Brit Awards, but lost to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory?.[46] In 2013, NME ranked it at number 128 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[47] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[48]
Beth Orton
3/5
Central Reservation is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter Beth Orton, released on 9 March 1999. The album featured contributions from folk musician Terry Callier (with whom she also recorded the b-side "Lean on Me"), Dr. Robert and Ben Harper. Several tracks were also produced by Ben Watt of Everything but the Girl.
Central Reservation received generally positive reviews from critics. Jason Ankeny of AllMusic gave the album a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 and called it "stunning".[11]
Orton won the award for British Female Solo at the 2000 BRIT Awards.[21] The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[22]
The Mamas & The Papas
3/5
If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears is the debut album by the Mamas and the Papas (written as The Mama's and the Papa's [sic]), released in 1966. The stereo mix of the album is included in its entirety on All the Leaves are Brown (2001), a two-CD retrospective compilation of the band's first four albums and various singles, as well as on The Mamas & the Papas Complete Anthology (2004), a four-CD box-set collection released in the UK. The mono mix of the album was remastered and reissued on vinyl by Sundazed Records in 2010, and on CD the following year. It is the band's only album to reach number one on the Billboard 200.
The album received a positive retrospective review in Rolling Stone, in which critic Rob Sheffield remarked "The Mamas and the Papas celebrated all the sin and sleaze of Sixties L.A. with folksy harmonies, acoustic guitars, and songs that told inquiring minds way more than they wanted to know. And on their January 1966 debut, If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears, they somehow made it all sound groovy." He described the album as a dark look at L.A. culture that sounds accessible and optimistic thanks in large part to Lou Adler's production.[7] Bruce Eder wrote for AllMusic that the album "embraced folk-rock, pop/rock, pop, and soul, and also reflected the kind of care that acts like the Beatles were putting into their records at the time." He added that it had a stronger polish than the group's other albums, in part because it predated the personal conflicts that tainted their later works.[6] The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[8]
In 2003, If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears was ranked number 127[1] on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, with its rank rising to number 112 in the 2012 revision.[2]
Simply Red
3/5
Picture Book is the debut album by British pop and soul group Simply Red, released in October 1985. It contains the U.S. #1 single "Holding Back the Years", the band's most successful single, and a cover of The Valentine Brothers' "Money's Too Tight (to Mention)". Three other singles were released from the album: "Come to My Aid", "Jericho", and "Open Up the Red Box".
In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau wrote that there were essentially "only two songs on this album", "Money’s Too Tight (to Mention)" and "Heaven", but that Hucknall and the band carry off the album "on mood and groove alone".[8]
Reviewing the 1996 re-release for Q, Nick Duerden described Picture Book as "the most accomplished debut of its year". He said of Hucknall, "With the most prodigious voice this side of Motown and a burning socialist heart, here he infuses everything with a passion that he's rarely matched since."[7]
William Ruhlmann, in a retrospective review in AllMusic, felt that Simply Red produced "a steady R&B groove reminiscent of '60s Stax house band the MG's" and that Hucknall was a "big-voiced soul singer".[5] In the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Andy Robbins attributed the record's commercial success in both America and the UK to "Holding Back the Years", which he feels is Hucknall's best vocal performance. Robbins noted rock and jazz sounds, along with soul influences.[9]
Metallica
4/5
Metallica is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica. Released on August 12, 1991, by Elektra Records, it is commonly referred to as The Black Album because of its packaging design. Its recording took place at One on One Studios in Los Angeles over an eight-month span that frequently found Metallica at odds with their new producer Bob Rock. The album marked a change in the band's music from the thrash metal style of their previous four albums to a slower, heavier, and more refined sound.
Metallica received widespread critical acclaim and became the band's best-selling album. It debuted at number one in ten countries and spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard 200, making it Metallica's first album to top the album charts. Metallica is one of the best-selling albums worldwide, and also one of the best-selling albums in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan tracking began. The album was certified 16× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2012, and has sold over sixteen million copies in the United States, being the first album in the SoundScan era to do so.
Metallica played Metallica in its entirety during the 2012 European Black Album Tour. In 2020, the album was ranked number 235 on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.[6] In December 2019, Metallica became the fourth release in American history to enter the 550-week milestone on the Billboard 200. It also became the second longest-charting traditional title in history, and the second to spend 550 weeks on the album charts.[7]
10cc
3/5
The album was produced by 10cc, engineered and mixed by Eric Stewart. It includes all possible combinations of co-writing duos between Stewart, Gouldman, Godley and Creme, which the band used to experiment and explore new creativity while making the album.
In a 2006 interview, ex-drummer Kevin Godley said: "We'd really started to explode creatively and didn't recognise any boundaries. We were buzzing on each other and exploring our joint and individual capabilities. Lots of excitement and energy at those sessions and, more important, an innocence that was open to anything."[2]
While 10cc were recording their album during the night, Paul McCartney was using the Strawberry Studios in the daytime to produce his brother Mike's album McGear. Graham Gouldman remarked how the band used Paul's drum kit for their album, and how Paul's influence was certainly felt while making the record.[3]
The subject of the song "Clockwork Creep", which ends side one of the album, is a bomb aboard a jumbo jet describing the final minute in its countdown to detonation.[4]
Spiritualized
4/5
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space is the third studio album by English space rock band Spiritualized, released on 16 June 1997. The album features guest appearances from the Balanescu Quartet, The London Community Gospel Choir and Dr. John.[1]
In the summer of 1995 Jason Pierce and Sean Cook entered Moles Studio in Bath, to start work on demo recordings with resident engineer Trevor Curwen. Pierce would develop his ideas into complete songs during this period.[8]
A few weeks later, recording of the album proper began in earnest, with all of the band members present. Working on 24 track tape synchronised to an Atari sequencer allowed Pierce to build up sequenced tracks from samples of live playing, coupled with some parts gleaned from the demo sessions. The full band line-up, including John Coxon on guitar, performed live over this sequenced backbone.[8]
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
Fever to Tell is the debut studio album by American indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, released on April 29, 2003, by Interscope Records. It was produced by David Andrew Sitek and mixed by Alan Moulder. Four singles were issued, the first being "Date with the Night" followed by "Pin", "Maps" and "Y Control".
According to Paste, Fever to Tell was representative of the early-2000s' garage rock revival,[3] while Dan Epstein from Rolling Stone called the record an "NYC art-punk landmark".[1] Its music was also described as "ecstatic dance punk", by Alex Denney of The Guardian.[4] Journalist Jon Pareles of The New York Times said that the band "are closer to Siouxsie and the Banshees (but with a grin) and Led Zeppelin (but with estrogen) than to the blues". The slow closing track "Modern Romance" was compared to a Velvet Underground drone.[5] Music historian Nick Kent compared Karen O's singing style to Lydia Lunch and PJ Harvey. Kent also described the record as musically "Siouxsie Sioux jamming with Led Zeppelin".[6] Journalist Alexis Petridis remarked that "Y Control" was based on a riff from art-rockers Big Black, then transformed into spacey new-wave pop.[7]
Fever to Tell was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 85, based on 27 reviews.[12] In a four star review, Andrew Perry of Rolling Stone wrote: "There are half a dozen songs under three minutes on Fever to Tell, and they sound absolutely complete".[5] Andrew Perry from The Daily Telegraph called it an "exhilarating dose of lo-fi garage-rock".[21] In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau observed "a striking sound" that is "both big and punk, never a natural combo", and highlighted by Zinner's "dangerous riffs". He had reservations about the subject matter, however; while noting "two human-scale songs toward the end", Christgau said "to care about this band you have to find Karen O's fuck-me persona provocative if not seductive, and since I've never been one for the sex-is-combat thing, I find it silly or obnoxious depending on who's taking it seriously."[20]
In 2019, the album was ranked 38th on The Guardian's 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century list.[27] In 2020, it was ranked number 377 on Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums of All-Time.[28]
Willie Nelson
3/5
Red Headed Stranger is the 18th studio album by American outlaw country singer Willie Nelson, released in 1975. Following the success of his recordings with Atlantic Records, coupled with the negotiating skills of his manager, Neil Reshen, Nelson signed a contract with Columbia Records, the label that gave him total creative control over his works. The concept for the album was inspired by the "Tale of the Red Headed Stranger", a song that Nelson used to play as a disc jockey on his program in Fort Worth, Texas. After signing with Columbia, he decided to record the song, and arranged the details during his return to Austin, Texas, from a trip to Colorado. It was recorded at low cost at Autumn Sound Studios in Garland, Texas. The songs featured sparse arrangements, largely limited to Nelson's guitar, piano, and drums. Nelson presented the finished material to Columbia executives, who were dubious about releasing an album that they at first thought was a demo. However, Nelson had creative control, so no further production was added.
A concept album, Red Headed Stranger is about a fugitive on the run from the law after killing his wife and her lover. The content consists of songs with brief poetic lyrics and arrangements of older material such as Fred Rose's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain", Wolfe Gilbert's "Down Yonder", and Juventino Rosas' "O'er the Waves". Despite Columbia's doubts and the limited instrumentation, Red Headed Stranger was a blockbuster among country music and mainstream audiences. It was certified multiple-platinum, and made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. The cover of "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain", released as a single before the album, became Nelson's first number-one hit. The title of the album became a lasting nickname for Nelson. It was ranked number 183 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[1] and number one on CMT's 40 Greatest Albums in Country Music
In 1996, Nell Zink wrote in CMJ New Music Monthly: "His Red Headed Stranger was the Sgt. Pepper's of country music, the first record to follow a coherent theme instead of merely compiling radio singles".[43] Stephen Thomas Erlewine in AllMusic described Red Headed Stranger as "really elusive, as the themes get a little muddled and the tunes themselves are a bit bare. It's undoubtedly distinctive – and it sounds more distinctive with each passing year – but it's strictly an intellectual triumph and, after a pair of albums that were musically and intellectually sound, it's a bit of a letdown, no matter how successful it was".[44] In 2003, it was included among the top 1,000 albums of Zagat Survey magazine, and was rated five stars out of five. The magazine wrote "Supporters (of the album) spread the gospel that it's just a quintessential outlaw recording, but perhaps the greatest country album ever with a spare style that changed the way C&W was played".[45]
Butthole Surfers
3/5
Locust Abortion Technician is the third full-length studio album by American rock band Butthole Surfers, released in March 1987. The album was originally released on both vinyl and CD on Touch and Go, and was remastered on CD on the band's label, Latino Buggerveil, in 1999.
The album received critical acclaim upon initial release, appearing in the year-end lists of noteworthy publications such as Melody Maker,[17] NME[18] and OOR.[19] It would go on to feature in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die[20] and Terrorizer magazine's "The 100 Most Important Albums of the 80s",[21] while Alternative Press ranked it at #28 on their list of the "Top 99 Albums of '85 to '95".[22] In 2018, Pitchfork included the album on their list of "The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s", writing:
From the John Wayne Gacy-indebted cover art to the turbid sounds within, the group’s third LP took a chainsaw to hardcore, psychedelic rock, country blues, Black Sabbath, and, on closer “22 Going on 23,” the sound of mooing cows and the agonizing confession of a sexual assault victim. Butchering every notion of good taste in their path, the Butthole Surfers revelled in the most cartoonish and nightmarish aspects of reality without regret.[23]
Kurt Cobain listed it in his top 50 albums of all time.[24][25] Doug Martsch included the album among the 10 records that shaped the music of his band Built to Spill.[26]
Prince
4/5
Sign o' the Times (often stylized as Sign "☮︎" the Times) is the ninth studio album by American singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Prince. It was first released on March 31, 1987 as a double album by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records.[1] The album is the follow-up to Parade and is Prince's first album following his disbanding of the Revolution. The album's songs were largely recorded during 1986 to 1987 in sessions for releases Prince ultimately aborted: Dream Factory, the pseudonymous Camille, and finally the triple album Crystal Ball.[2] Prince eventually compromised with label executives and shortened the length of the release to a double album.
Many of the drum sounds on Sign o' the Times came from the Linn LM-1 drum machine, and Prince used the Fairlight CMI synthesizer to replace other instruments. Minimal instrumentation is heard on the stripped-down "Sign o’ the Times", the lead single. Four songs contain higher-pitched vocals to represent Prince's alter ego "Camille". The album's music encompasses a varied range of styles, including funk, soul, psychedelic pop, electro, and rock.
Though not as commercially successful as Purple Rain, Sign o' the Times was Prince's most acclaimed album, being voted 1987's best album in the Pazz & Jop critics poll. Included in many lists of the greatest albums of all time, it has been appraised by many critics as Prince's best album, ahead of Purple Rain. Writing for The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Michaelangelo Matos regarded it as "the most complete example of [Prince's] artistry's breadth, and arguably the finest album of the 1980s".[5] In 2017, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[
The Band
3/5
The Band is the second studio album by the Band, released on September 22, 1969. It is also known as The Brown Album. According to Rob Bowman's liner notes for the 2000 reissue, The Band has been viewed as a concept album, with the songs focusing on people, places and traditions associated with an older version of Americana.[2] Thus, the songs on this album draw on historic themes for "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" and "Jawbone" (which was composed in the unusual 6/4 time signature).
XTC
3/5
Skylarking is the ninth studio album by the English rock band XTC, released 27 October 1986 on Virgin Records. Produced by American musician Todd Rundgren, it is a loose concept album about a nonspecific cycle, such as a day, a year, the seasons, or a life.[2] The title refers to a type of bird (skylark), as well as the Royal Navy term "skylarking", which means "fooling around". It became one of XTC's best-known albums and is generally regarded as their finest work.[3][4]
The chosen songs were of a gentler atmosphere and relations were drawn between tempo, key, and subject matter.[2] Partridge thought well of the selections,[21] but was annoyed that the tracks and running order were determined so early on in the process, remarking that "you hadn't spoken to the bloke for three minutes, and he'd already been hacking and throwing your work in the bin".[22] Working titles included All Day Life, Rite, Rite Things, Leftover Rites, Summer Good, and Pink Things Sing.[23] They settled on Skylarking, referring to a type of bird (skylark) and the Royal Navy term "skylarking", which means "fooling around".[24] Partridge commented that the album espoused the feeling of "a playfully sexual hot summer ... It's just about summer and being out in the open and discovering sex in a stumbly, teenage way."[2]
Similar to 25 O'Clock, the music was heavily influenced by the 1960s psychedelic era.[25] However, Skylarking contrasted significantly from earlier XTC efforts. As music critic A.D. Amorosi wrote, "More lyrically mature, lush and gently psychedelic than anything before in their catalog, Skylarking borrowed the hilly, holy feel of Mummer, as well as the ringing Beatles-ish vibe from ... The Big Express, but with a softly sweeping gracefulness and a finessed orchestral swirl.[26] It has been variously described as an album of art rock,[27] art pop,[28] new wave,[29][30] psychedelic pop,[29][31] psychedelic rock,[32] neo-psychedelia,[33] post-punk,[30] and chamber pop.[34]
Can
4/5
Future Days is the fourth studio album by the German experimental rock group Can, released in 1973. It was the last Can album to feature Japanese vocalist Damo Suzuki, and sees the band exploring a more atmospheric sound than their previous releases.[10]
On Future Days, Can foregrounds the ambient elements they had explored on previous albums, dispensing largely with traditional rock song structures and instead "creating hazy, expansive soundscapes dominated by percolating rhythms and evocative layers of keys".[1] PopMatters wrote that "It feels as if Future Days is driven by a coastal breeze, exuding a more pleasant, relaxed mood than anything the band had previously recorded."[11]
From retrospective reviews, AllMusic's Anthony Tognazzini called it "fiercely progressive, calming, complex, intense, and beautiful all at once" and "one of Can's most fully realized and lasting achievements." He also praised Suzuki's vocal performances - described as "all minimal texture and shading" - as being his "most inspired", and praised the track "Bel Air" as "a gloriously expansive piece of music that progresses almost imperceptibly, ending abruptly after exactly 20 minutes."[1]
Nine Inch Nails
3/5
The Downward Spiral is the second studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on March 8, 1994, by Nothing Records and Interscope Records in the United States and by Island Records in Europe. It is a concept album detailing the destruction of a man from the beginning of his "downward spiral" to his suicidal breaking point. The Downward Spiral features elements of industrial rock, techno and heavy metal, in contrast to the band's synth-pop-influenced debut album Pretty Hate Machine (1989), and was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and Flood.
Numerous layers of metaphors are present throughout The Downward Spiral, leaving it open to wide interpretation. The album relays nihilism and is defined by a prominent theme of self-abuse and self-control. It is a semi-autobiographical concept album, in which the overarching plot follows the protagonist's descent into madness in his own inner solipsistic world through a metaphorical "downward spiral", dealing with religion, dehumanization, violence, disease, society, drugs, sex, and finally, suicide.[22][23][24] Reznor described the concept as consisting of "someone who sheds everything around them to a potential nothingness, but through career, religion, relationship, belief and so on."[8] Media journalists like The New York Times writer Jon Pareles noted the album's theme of angst had already been used by grunge bands like Nirvana, and that Nine Inch Nails' depiction was more generalized.[25]
Using elements of genres such as techno,[26] dance,[27][28] electronic,[27] heavy metal,[29] and hard rock,[30] The Downward Spiral is considered industrial rock,[31][32][33] industrial,[34] alternative rock[35][28] and industrial metal.[36][37] Reznor regularly uses noise and distortion in his song arrangements that do not follow verse–chorus form, and incorporates dissonance with chromatic melody or harmony (or both). The treatment of metal guitars in Broken is carried over to The Downward Spiral, which includes innovative techniques such as expanded song structures and unconventional time signatures.[38][23] The album features a wide range of textures and moods to illustrate the mental progress of the central protagonist.[18] Reznor's singing follows a similar pattern from beginning to end, frequently moving from whispers to screams.[39] These techniques are all used in the song "Hurt", which features a highly dissonant tritone played on guitar during the verses, a B5#11, emphasized when Reznor sings the eleventh note on the word "I" every time the B/E# dyad is played.[40]
The Downward Spiral has been listed on several publications' best album lists. In 2003, the album was ranked number 200 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[81] then was re-ranked 201 in a 2012 revised list.[82]
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Songs for Swingin' Lovers! is the tenth album by American singer Frank Sinatra and his fourth for Capitol Records. It was arranged by Nelson Riddle and released in March 1956 on LP and January 1987 on CD. It was the first album ever to top the UK Albums Chart.
Grammy Hall of Fame, and ranked number 306 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in 2003,[4] and 308 in 2012 revised list.[5] Sinatra aficionados often rank it his best or second best album (to In the Wee Small Hours) and many music critics consider it one of the greatest albums of its era.[6]
Missy Elliott
4/5
Supa Dupa Fly is the debut studio album by American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, released July 15, 1997, on The Goldmind and Elektra Records. The album was recorded and produced solely by Timbaland in October 1996, and features the singles, "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)", "Sock It 2 Me", "Hit Em wit da Hee" and "Beep Me 911". Guest appearances on the album include Busta Rhymes, Ginuwine, 702, Magoo, Da Brat, Lil' Kim, and Aaliyah. The album was recorded in just two weeks.[3]
The album received acclaim from critics, who praised Timbaland's futuristic production style and Elliott's performances and persona. It debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 and topped the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and has sold 1.2 million copies in the United States.
In 2020, the album was ranked 93 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[4]
Supa Dupa Fly brings together elements of hip hop, dance, R&B, electronic music, and soul.[10][11] Music critic Garry Mulholland described Timbaland's production as "eschewing samples for a bump 'n' grind electronica, strongly influenced by the digital rhythms of dancehall reggae, but rounder, fuller, fatter".[12] AllMusic described it as consisting of “lean, digital grooves [...] packed with unpredictable arrangements and stuttering rhythms that often resemble slowed-down drum'n'bass breakbeats."[10] Elliott's raps were described as “full of hilariously surreal free associations that fit the off-kilter sensibility of the music to a tee.”[10] According to author Mickey Hess, the album's lyrical content "reveals Elliott's complex, creative, and challenging discussion about womanhood; her demand for respect, respect for her personal voice and her desire for fulfilling intimacy with lovers and friends".[13] The album's opening track, "Busta's Intro", features rapper Busta Rhymes as a town crier warning of a "historical event about to unfold".[13] "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" contains a sample of Ann Peebles' 1973 song "I Can't Stand the Rain".[14] "Pass da Blunt" is partly based on the song "Pass the Dutchie" by Musical Youth. The track "Bite Our Style (Interlude)" samples the song "Morning Glory" by Jamiroquai.[15]
Black Sabbath
3/5
Paranoid is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in September 1970 through Vertigo Records in England and Warner Bros. Records in the US. The album contains several of the band's signature songs, including "Iron Man", "War Pigs" and the title track, which was the band's only Top 20 hit, reaching number 4 in the UK charts.
In a 2017 publication by Rolling Stone magazine Paranoid ranked number one on its list of the "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".[4] The album is often cited a key influence for the development of the heavy metal music genre as well as one of the earliest heavy metal albums.[4][5][6] Paranoid was the band's only album to top the UK Albums Chart until the release of 13 in 2013
In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Steve Huey cited Paranoid as "one of the greatest and most influential heavy metal albums of all time", which "defined the sound and style of heavy metal more than any other record in rock history".[14] Ben Mitchell from Blender said it was "the greatest metal album of all time".[15] According to Rolling Stone's Joe Levy, "Sabbath ruled for bummed-out kids in the Seventies" and "nearly every heavy-metal and extreme rock band of the last three decades", including Metallica, Nirvana and Slipknot, "owes a debt of worship" to Iommi's "crushing" guitar riffs, Ward and Butler's "Visigoth rhythm section" and Osbourne's "agonized bray" on tracks such as "Paranoid", "Iron Man" and "War Pigs".[26] Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), feeling he could not take the band's horror-themed music seriously enough to appreciate it as anything other than "camp", noting that the title cut is especially "screamworthy". However, he did note that the band does take musical heaviness to "undreamt-of extremes".[16]
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
Stand! is the fourth album by soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone, released on May 3, 1969. Written and produced by lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, Stand! is considered an artistic high-point of the band's career. Released by Epic Records, just before the group's celebrated performance at the Woodstock festival, it became the band's most commercially successful album to date.[6] It includes several well-known songs, among them hit singles, such as "Sing a Simple Song", "I Want to Take You Higher", "Stand!", and "Everyday People". The album was reissued in 1990 on compact disc and vinyl, and again in 2007 as a remastered numbered edition digipack CD with bonus tracks and, in the UK, as only a CD with bonus tracks.
Stand! begins with the title track on which Sly sings lead on "Stand", a mid-tempo number launching into a gospel break for its final forty-nine seconds.[14] Most of the Family Stone was unavailable for the session at which this coda was recorded: Sly, drummer Gregg Errico and horn players Cynthia Robinson and Jerry Martini were augmented by session players instead. Errico recalls that many liked the gospel extension more than they did the song proper, and that; "People would always ask, 'why didn't you go there and let that be the song?'"[14] The second track, titled "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey", has few lyrics save for the chorus Don't call me "nigger", whitey/Don't call me "whitey", nigger and a single verse sung by Rose Stone. On "I Want to Take You Higher" Freddie Stone, Larry Graham, Rose Stone, and Sly Stone take turns delivering the lead vocal and all seven band-members deliver the shouted backing vocals. Sly Stone, Robinson, Freddie Stone, Graham, and Martini all play instrumental solos.
On "Somebody's Watching You" Sly Stone, Graham, Freddie Stone, and Rose Stone deliver the vocal in unison. The song's slightly pessimistic tone would be expanded upon later in the band's career with "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" and the There's a Riot Goin' On LP,[16] and would be a hit for the Family Stone's vocal group Little Sister, the first Top 40 single to use a drum machine.[17] "Sing a Simple Song" urges the audience to "try a little do re mi fa so la ti do". Diana Ross & the Supremes, The Temptations and The Jackson 5 all recorded it, and the song's guitar riff is heard on Ike & Tina Turner's "Bold Soul Sister" (from The Hunter, 1969), Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys (1970) and Miles Davis' A Tribute to Jack Johnson (1971).
"Everyday People", already a number-one hit single in the United States by the time of the album's release, opens Side B. The most familiar selection on the album, "Everyday People" popularized the expression "different strokes for different folks".[18] Sly Stone, Rose Stone and Cynthia Robinson sing lead and Larry Graham introduces the slap-pop style of bass he expanded on "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)". "Sex Machine" is a thirteen-minute jam that features Sly scatting through amplified distortion and allows each band member a solo. Gregg Errico's drum solo closes the song and the band members are heard bursting into laughter during the final seconds. Stand! concludes with "You Can Make It If You Try", sung by Sly Stone, Freddie Stone, and Larry Graham. Sly Stone instead of Larry Graham played the bass.[19] It was, at one point, planned for a single release in mid-1969, following up "Stand!", but this was dropped in favor of the non-album track "Hot Fun in the Summertime". The unused mono single mix was later included on the 2007 CD reissue.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 118 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[10] 121 in a 2012 revised list,[11] and number 119 in a 2020 reboot of the list.[12] In 2015, the album was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.[13]
The Young Gods
3/5
L'eau rouge (French for The Red Water) is the second album by industrial band The Young Gods, released in September 1989 by Play It Again Sam Records.[1] It is usually referred to as their masterpiece and was included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die in 2005.
The Young Gods are a Swiss industrial rock band from Geneva, formed in 1985.[1] The original lineup of the band featured singer Franz Treichler, sampler player Cesare Pizzi and drummer Frank Bagnoud. For most of their history, the band maintained a trio format with a singer, a sampler player and a drummer, albeit with multiple line-up changes. Treichler is the band's sole consistent member; the current line-up also features Pizzi and drummer Bernard Trontin. During their career, the band have extensively collaborated with producer Roli Mosimann.
The band's music is largely based on sampling and sound manipulation; the tracks are constructed from various samples, such as distorted guitar riffs and string sections. Their later releases have incorporated elements from ambient and electronic music. Their sample-based approach to rock music influenced numerous musicians such as David Bowie, The Edge and Mike Patton
M.I.A.
4/5
Kala is the second studio album by British hip hop artist M.I.A. It was released on 8 August 2007 by XL Recordings. M.I.A. named the album after her mother and said her mother's struggles in life are a major theme of the recording. It was mainly written and produced by M.I.A. and Switch, and features contributions from Timbaland, Diplo, Afrikan Boy and The Wilcannia Mob
M.I.A. initially planned to work with American producer Timbaland for the bulk of the album, but was unable to gain a long-term work visa to enter the US. She hence recorded the album at numerous locations around the world, including India, Angola, Trinidad, Liberia, Jamaica and Australia. M.I.A. and Switch relied heavily on the digital audio workstation Logic Pro and recorded additional vocals and background sounds outside the traditional studio environment. Kala incorporates prominent influences from South Asian music, featuring samples of Bollywood and Tamil cinema. The album draws on various styles, from funk carioca to African folk. The songs are about political themes related to the Third World, including illegal immigration, poverty and capitalism.
Kala appears frequently on professional rankings of the greatest albums.[86] In 2009, NME placed the album at number seventy-two in its list of the 100 greatest records of the decade,[59] and Rolling Stone ranked it as the ninth best album of the same period.[87] Christgau named it the decade's best album in his ballot for the magazine.[88] In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked it at number 393 in a revised edition of their Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time issue.[89] In 2013, NME ranked it number 184 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[90] In 2015, the album was ranked number 42 by Spin in its list of "The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985-2014)".[91] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[92] In 2019, the album was ranked 75th on The Guardian's 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century list.[93] When asked in March 2020 whether Kala remains his favourite album of the 21st century, Christgau responded, "Yup. No contest."[94] Based on such rankings, the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists Kala as the 24th most acclaimed album of the 2000s decade and the 248th most acclaimed album in history.[86]
Dolly Parton
3/5
Coat of Many Colors is the eighth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. It was released on October 4, 1971, by RCA Victor.[1] The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the 1972 CMA Awards. It also appeared on Time Magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Albums of All Time and at No. 257 on Rolling Stone's 2020 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Parton has cited the title track on numerous occasions as her personal favorite of all the songs she has written.
The review published in the October 16, 1971 issue of Billboard said, "The top stylist's new single, the touching ballad "Coat of Many Colors", kicks off what should prove to be her biggest selling album to date. Most of the material is her own, with a few strong numbers penned by Porter Wagoner. The recent hit single, "My Blue Tears", is spotlighted along with other standouts such as "She Never Met a Man" and "The Way I See You"."[13]
Cashbox published a review in the October 9, 1971 issue, which said, "It's hard to believe it's possible, but Dolly's releases still get better and better each time you listen and each time a new one hits the market. This one's another bulleye–with her new single as the title track and her previous hit "My Blue Tears" for drawing power, an extraordinary self-penned tune (even for Dolly) in "She Never Met a Man (She Didn't Like)" for programming appeal and a trio of Porter Wagoner tunes to put the icing on the country cake. Bound for top chart honors."[14]
Nico
3/5
Chelsea Girl is the debut solo album and second studio album by German singer Nico. It was released in October 1967 by Verve Records and was recorded following Nico's collaboration with the Velvet Underground on their 1967 debut studio album. It was produced by Tom Wilson, who added string and flute arrangements against the wishes of Nico. The title is a reference to Andy Warhol's 1966 film Chelsea Girls, in which Nico starred.
In retrospective 21st-century reviews, AllMusic described the album as "an unqualified masterpiece",[2] while Trouser Press commented that the album "is sabotaged by tepid arrangements and weak production" and is "of interest mainly for its links to the band Nico had just left."[5]
Nico was dissatisfied with the finished product. Recalling the sessions in 1981, she stated:
I still cannot listen to it, because everything I wanted for that record, they took it away. I asked for drums, they said no. I asked for more guitars, they said no. And I asked for simplicity, and they covered it in flutes! ... They added strings and – I didn't like them, but I could live with them. But the flute! The first time I heard the album, I cried and it was all because of the flute.[6]
In popular culture
Edit
Two tracks from the album – "The Fairest of the Seasons" and "These Days" – were used in Wes Anderson's 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums. "The Fairest of the Seasons" was also used in Gus Van Sant's 2011 film Restless. "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" is used in Andrew Dominik's 2012 film Killing Them Softly.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
The Hissing of Summer Lawns is the seventh studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released in 1975.
The Hissing of Summer Lawns
Rolling Stone, Stephen Holden wrote that the album's lyrics were impressive but the music was a failure. "If The Hissing of Summer Lawns offers substantial literature, it is set to insubstantial music... Four members of Tom Scott's L.A. Express are featured on Hissing, but their uninspired jazz-rock style completely opposes Mitchell's romantic style... The Hissing of Summer Lawns is ultimately a great collection of pop poems with a distracting soundtrack. Read it first. Then play it."[8]
However, the record's reputation has grown in stature over the years. Music writer Howard Sounes has called The Hissing of Summer Lawns Mitchell's masterpiece, "an LP to stand alongside Blood on the Tracks".[12] Prince, a lifelong fan of Mitchell, had loved the album, praising it in interviews.[13]
In 1977, at the 19th Grammy Awards, Mitchell was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the album.
It was voted number 217 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[14] The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[15] in 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 258 in the 2020 edition of its 500 greatest albums of all time.[16]
Astor Piazzolla
4/5
Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (Spanish pronunciation: [pjaˈsola], Italian pronunciation: [pjatˈtsɔlla]; March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music. A virtuoso bandoneonist, he regularly performed his own compositions with a variety of ensembles. In 1992, American music critic Stephen Holden described Piazzolla as "the world's foremost composer of Tango music".[1]
Adele
4/5
25 is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Adele, released on 20 November 2015 by XL Recordings and Columbia Records. The album is titled as a reflection of her life and frame of mind at 25 years old and is termed a "make-up record". Its lyrical content features themes of Adele "yearning for her old self, her nostalgia", and "melancholia about the passage of time" according to an interview with the singer by Rolling Stone, as well as themes of motherhood and regret. In contrast to Adele's previous works, the production of 25 incorporated the use of electronic elements and creative rhythmic patterns, with elements of 1980s R&B and organs. Like when recording 21 (2011), Adele worked with producer and songwriter Paul Epworth and Ryan Tedder, along with new collaborations with Max Martin and Shellback, Greg Kurstin, Danger Mouse, the Smeezingtons, Samuel Dixon, and Tobias Jesso Jr.
Consisting of eleven tracks, Adele aimed to depart from the "young-fogey" sound of her second album 21 and added synths and drum pads in order to modernize 25's musical style.[37] The album's production incorporated the use of electronic elements and creative rhythmic patterns, unlike its predecessor, with elements of 1980s R&B and organs.[38][39] Described as a collection of "panoramic ballads and prettily executed detours", Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly noted the album's "stately production" characterizing it as being built over minor-key melancholy, stylistic flourishes and simplicity.[40] Leonie Cooper of the NME summed the album's production up as changing from "moody balladeering to smoky jazz bar grooves" whilst a reviewer from Us Weekly stated the album was built upon piano ballads, R&B grooves, minimalistic arrangements, gospel, blues and acoustic guitars.[41][42]
Adele's vocals on 25 were described as being capable of conveying emotion.[43] Her vocals were noted by Samantha O'Connor of The 405 as ranging from "thunderous roars and rib-cracking falsettos over large dramatic piano swells to fuzzy, warm lower-register rumblings", and were characterised as having a raw delivery, with minimal engineering, leaving "her vocal idiosyncrasies to crackle, croak and coo, bringing more depth" to the album.[44] Bruce Handy of Vanity Fair stated that Adele's throat surgery had not impacted her voice, continuing to say her voice still contained character and power: "brassy yet husky, smoky yet clarion, she still sounds like the result of a genetic experiment fusing Amy Winehouse's vocal chords with Céline Dion's lungs, or even Tom Jones'."[1]
Kraftwerk
4/5
Trans-Europe Express (German: Trans Europa Express) is the sixth studio album by German electronic music band Kraftwerk. Recorded in mid-1976 in Düsseldorf, Germany, the album was released in March 1977 on Kling Klang Records. It saw the group refine their melodic electronic style, with a focus on sequenced rhythms, minimalism, and occasionally manipulated vocals. The themes include celebrations of the titular European railway service and Europe as a whole, and meditations on the disparities between reality and appearance.
Initial reviews for Trans-Europe Express were positive. Music critic Robert Christgau, in a review for The Village Voice, wrote that the album's "textural effects sound like parodies by some cosmic schoolboy of every lush synthesizer surge that's ever stuck in your gullet—yet also work the way those surges are supposed to work".[49] Trans-Europe Express placed at number 30 in The Village Voice's 1977 Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[50]
Modern reception has been very favorable. Trans-Europe Express has the highest possible ratings from publications including AllMusic, Drowned in Sound, Mojo, Rolling Stone and Slant Magazine.[22][37][43][45][23] Steve Huey of AllMusic wrote that the album "is often cited as perhaps the archetypal (and most accessible) Kraftwerk album ... Overall, Trans-Europe Express offers the best blend of minimalism, mechanized rhythms, and crafted, catchy melodies in the group's catalog".[22] Q, in a 1995 review, wrote that the album "changed the face of American dance music" and was "one of the most compelling beats of this or any other era".[51] In 2009, Drowned in Sound's Chris Power stated that "Trans-Europe Express is all at once antique, timeless, retro and contemporary. Its status as modern electronic music's birth certificate is well-earned, but its hallowed reputation should never be allowed to disguise its true value and power as a work of art. Nor should it obscure a longevity that, 32 years on, we might as well start calling by its real name: immortality".[37]
Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the album's influence as "unprecedented, reaching as wide as rock (Radiohead's Kid A), hip-hop (Afrika Bambaataa's classic 'Planet Rock', Jay Dee's recent 'Big Booty Express') and pop (Madonna's Drowned World Tour, which incorporated samples of 'Metal on Metal')".[23]
4/5
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (often shortened to Ziggy Stardust[1]) is the fifth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 16 June 1972 in the United Kingdom through RCA Records. It was co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott and features Bowie's backing band the Spiders from Mars, comprising Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey. Most of the songs were written around the same time as Bowie's previous album Hunky Dory (1971). After that album was completed, recording for Ziggy Stardust commenced in November 1971 at Trident Studios in London, with further sessions in early February 1972.
Described as a loose concept album and rock opera, Ziggy Stardust concerns Bowie's titular alter ego Ziggy Stardust, a fictional androgynous and bisexual rock star who is sent to Earth as a saviour before an impending apocalyptic disaster. In its story, Ziggy wins the hearts of fans but suffers a fall from grace after succumbing to his own ego. The character was inspired by numerous musicians, including singers Vince Taylor and Iggy Pop. Most of the album's concept was developed after the songs were recorded. The glam rock and proto-punk musical styles were influenced by Pop, the Velvet Underground, and Marc Bolan of T. Rex, while the lyrics discuss the artificiality of rock music, political issues, drug use, sexual orientation and stardom. The album cover, photographed in monochrome and recoloured, was taken in London, outside the home of furriers "K. West".
Preceded by the single "Starman", Ziggy Stardust peaked at number 5 in the UK and number 75 in the United States. It initially received favourable reviews from music critics; some praised the musicality and concept while others were unable to comprehend it. Shortly after its release, Bowie performed "Starman" on Britain's Top of the Pops in early July 1972, which propelled him to stardom. The Ziggy character was retained for the subsequent Ziggy Stardust Tour, leaving Bowie unable to differentiate between Ziggy and himself. Not wanting Ziggy to define him, Bowie created a new character for his next album Aladdin Sane (1973), which Bowie described as "Ziggy goes to America". Performances from the tour were later released on a concert film of the same name with an accompanying live album (1983) and Live Santa Monica '72 (2008).
Retrospectively, Ziggy Stardust is considered one of Bowie's best works and has appeared on numerous lists of the greatest albums of all time. Bowie had ideas for a musical based on the album, although this project never came to fruition; ideas were later used for Diamond Dogs (1974). Ziggy Stardust has been reissued several times and was remastered in 2012 for its 40th anniversary. In 2017, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry, being deemed "culturally, historically, or artistically significant" by the Library of Congress.
Crowded House
4/5
Woodface is the third studio album by New Zealand-Australian band Crowded House. The album was produced by Mitchell Froom and Neil Finn and was released by Capitol in July 1991.[1][2] It features five singles "Chocolate Cake", "Fall at Your Feet", "It's Only Natural", "Weather with You", and "Four Seasons in One Day".[13] Woodface was a major hit in Australia[14] and New Zealand[15] as well as giving the band their first top ten hit album in the UK.[16] It was listed at No. 3 in the book 100 Best Australian Albums in October 2010.[17] It was voted number 80 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[18]
Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1985. Its founding members were New Zealander Neil Finn (vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter) and Australians Paul Hester (drums) and Nick Seymour (bass). Later band members included Neil Finn's brother, Tim Finn, and Americans Mark Hart and Matt Sherrod.[1][2] The current line-up includes Finn's sons Elroy and Liam and the American keyboard player Mitchell Froom. Neil Finn and Nick Seymour have been the sole constant members of the group since its formation.
Primal Scream
3/5
Screamadelica is the third studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was first released on 23 September 1991 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and on 8 October 1991 in the United States by Sire Records. The album marked a significant departure from the band's early indie rock sound, drawing inspiration from the blossoming house music scene and associated drugs such as LSD and MDMA. Much of the album's production was handled by acid house DJ Andrew Weatherall and engineer Hugo Nicolson, who remixed original recordings made by the band into dance-oriented tracks.[9]
Screamadelica was very well received by critics. In a contemporary review for Spin, Simon Reynolds found the record "totally mind-blowing" whose best songs were "almost unclassifiable".[32] AllMusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Screamadelica "an album that transcends its time and influence."[22] AllMusic lists the album as the band's best. It was voted number 135 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000). Pitchfork praised the album on their 2003 list of the "Top 100 albums of the '90s," saying: "Screamadelica's atmospheric and imaginative hybrid of past, present and future captured its moment in vivid color and splendor, and it still radiates with a kaleidoscopic glow."[33] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice, on the other hand, assigned it a "neither" rating, indicating an album that does not warrant repeated listening despite coherent craft and one or two highlights.[34]
Bad Brains
3/5
I Against I is the third studio album by the American rock band Bad Brains. It was released on November 21, 1986[1] through SST Records with the catalog number SST 065. The best-selling album in the band's catalog, I Against I finds the band branching out from their early hardcore punk style to touch on funk, soul, reggae and heavy metal. It is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The title track was a Paul Rachman-directed video (Rachman would go on to direct the documentary film American Hardcore).
I Against I has influenced diverse rock artists. Ska punk band Sublime and its follow-up project, Sublime with Rome, frequently cover "House of Suffering" and bassist Eric Wilson said that I Against I inspired them to blend different genres.[8][9] The Dillinger Escape Plan singer Greg Puciato named it one of the four albums that changed his life, as well as "a critical step" in shaping his vocal style.[10][11] Max Cavalera of Sepultura states that the beginning of 1996 song "Straighthate" was probably inspired by "I Against I" since his band admired the Bad Brains.[12] According to Harley Flanagan of the Cro-Mags, the verse riff in 1986's "The Age of Quarrel" was based on the last part of "I Against I".[13] Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine mentioned the album as one of his biggest influences.[14] Danko Jones called the title track "one of the greatest songs ever written as far as I'm concerned."[15] Beppo of German punk band Spermbirds affirmed, "I Against I had a huge impact on us, they taught us that you can also be hard by playing slow."[16]
"I Against I" was covered by Jeff Buckley in 1992,[17] BoySetsFire and Brother's Keeper in 1999,[18][19] and Lamb of God in 2018;[20] "House of Suffering" has been covered by Sublime in 1995,[21] Machine Head in 1999[22] and The Bled in 2005;[23] "Let Me Help" was covered by Potshot in 2000;[24][better source needed] and "Sacred Love" was covered by Storm Large in 2014.[25] In 2019, Bad Brains rerecorded the title track with rapper Denzel Curry as a guest vocalist for a Spotify single.[26]
"Re-Ignition" has been sampled on "Daddy's Home" by Chubb Rock,[27] "Ice Man Cometh" by 2 Black 2 Strong MMG,[citation needed] "Ultrasonic Sound" by Hive (which later appeared on The Matrix soundtrack),[citation needed] and on a remix of the 2004 song "Roll Call" by Lil Jon and Ice Cube.[28] A live version of "Re-Ignition" was featured in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.[29] "Re-Ignition" appeared on a 2019 episode of Black Lightning.[30] The Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation, which names each episode after a 1980s song, named an episode after the song "I Against I".
OutKast
5/5
Stankonia is the fourth studio album by American hip hop duo OutKast. It was released on October 31, 2000, by LaFace Records. The album was recorded in the duo's recently purchased Atlanta recording facility Stankonia Studios, which allowed for fewer time and recording constraints, and featured production work from Earthtone III (a production team consisting of Outkast and Mr. DJ) and Organized Noize.
For the follow-up to their 1998 album Aquemini, the duo worked to create an expansive and experimental musical aesthetic, incorporating a diverse array of styles including funk, rave music, psychedelia, gospel, and rock within a Dirty South-oriented hip hop context.[1] During the recording sessions, André 3000 began moving beyond traditional rapping in favor of a more melodic vocal style, an approach to which Big Boi and several other producers were initially unaccustomed. Lyrically, the duo touched upon a wide range of subject matter, including sexuality, politics, misogyny, African-American culture, parenthood, and introspection. Stankonia featured appearances from a variety of local musicians discovered by the group while they were visiting clubs in their native city of Atlanta, Georgia.
Stankonia received universal acclaim from music critics upon its release, and has since been regarded by many to be one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, selling over 530,000 copies the first week. It produced three singles: "B.O.B", "Ms. Jackson", and "So Fresh, So Clean"; "Ms. Jackson" became the group's first single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. At the 2001 Grammy Awards, OutKast won Best Rap Album for Stankonia and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Ms. Jackson". In 2003, the album was ranked number 359 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, 361 in a 2012 revision, and 64 in a 2020 reboot of the list.[2] A re-issue of the album for its 20th anniversary with previously unreleased remixes was released on October 30, 2020.[3]
Stankonia has received many accolades and appeared on many magazines' "best of" lists; in his book Dirty South, author Ben Westhoff noted that the album appeared on "every critical best-list worth mentioning."[4] At the 2002 Grammy Awards, OutKast won Best Rap Album for Stankonia and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Ms. Jackson".[19] Despite OutKast's being expected favorites, The Recording Academy instead chose the 2000 soundtrack album O Brother, Where Art Thou? for Album of the Year.[35] Before the group's nominations, much of the hip hop community felt that rappers were not being awarded enough attention from The Recording Academy.[59] However, the album's musical diversity allowed the band to reach a wider audience and was credited for opening the academy up to more hip hop musicians.[59]
In 2006, Time named Stankonia as one of the 100 best albums of all time.[60] Rolling Stone ranked the album number 16 on the magazine's list of the 100 Best Albums of the 2000s.[61] In 2009, Pitchfork ranked Stankonia number 13 on its list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s, and Rhapsody ranked it at number 2 on its "100 Best Albums of the Decade" list.[62][63] Rhapsody also ranked the album number 6 on its "Hip-Hop's Best Albums of the Decade" list.[64] Vibe ranked the record at number 23 on its list of the "100 Greatest Albums from 1985 to 2005".[8] Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying, "With hummable hits ('Ms. Jackson') and out-there experiments ('B.O.B.'), the rap duo gave us all a visa to the funky if fictional land of Stankonia in 2000."[65] Q listed Stankonia as one of the best 50 albums of 2001.[66] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[67] In 2015, Mic stated that "Stankonia helped hip-hop build its foundation in the mainstream," adding that in addition to the "irresistibly quotable" hit singles, "the deep cuts are still some of the most rewarding experimental hip-hop around."[13]
Pretenders
3/5
Pretenders is the debut studio album by British-American band the Pretenders, released on 27 December 1979 on Sire Records in the US and on 7 January 1980 under Real Records in the UK. A combination of rock, punk and pop music, this album made the band famous. The album features the singles "Stop Your Sobbing", "Kid" and "Brass in Pocket".
In 1989, Rolling Stone ranked Pretenders the 20th best album of the 1980s. In 2012, Slant Magazine listed Pretenders at number 64 on its list of the best albums of the 1980s.[15]
Pretenders has been named one of the best albums of all time by VH1 (#52). In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 155 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[16] with Pretenders maintaining the rating in the 2012 revised list,[17] and moving up to number 152 on the 2020 revision.[18] In 2020, Rolling Stone included the band's debut album in their "80 Greatest albums of 1980" list.
Sonic Youth
3/5
Goo is the sixth full-length studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 26, 1990 by DGC Records. For this album, the band sought to expand upon its trademark alternating guitar arrangements and the layered sound of their previous album Daydream Nation (1988) with songwriting on that was more topical than past works, exploring themes of female empowerment and pop culture. Coming off the success of Daydream Nation, Nick Sansano returned to engineer Goo, but veteran producer Ron Saint Germain was chosen by Sonic Youth to finish mixing the album following Sansano's dismissal.
Goo was a critical and commercial success upon its release, peaking at number 96 on the US Billboard 200, their highest chart position to date. Although it lacked significant radio airplay, its lead single "Kool Thing", a collaborative effort with Public Enemy's Chuck D, reached number seven on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Since then, Goo has been viewed as one of alternative rock's most important albums, and is considered musically and artistically significant. In 2020, the album was ranked at number 358 on Rolling Stone's 500 greatest albums of all time list.[3]
Since Goo was first released, it has been viewed as one of the greatest and most important alternative rock records of all time, as well as a culturally significant work.[26] Alec Foerge cited it as "radical—even defiant by 1990 major label standards"[22] while David Browne said the album's success was "an indication that an audience for this music was coalescing, albeit slowly".[26] Daisy Jones of Dazed found the album powerfully relevant to American youth: "It sprung out of 1990, the year in which grunge had spread like an itch amongst a generation increasingly disillusioned with the mock-metal and stadium theatrics of artists like Guns N' Roses and Alice Cooper".[38] Writing for Tidal, Jakob Matzen said that because Goo was Sonic Youth's most approachable album, it is a "crucial piece of the puzzle to understand how and why other alternative artists (like Nirvana) were able to bring the underground to the mainstream and challenge the dominant music industry hegemony".[39]
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Let It Bleed is the 8th British and 10th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 28 November 1969 London Records in the United States and shortly thereafter by Decca Records in the United Kingdom.[2] Released shortly after the band's 1969 American Tour, it is the follow-up to 1968's Beggars Banquet. As with Beggars Banquet, the album marks a return to the group's more blues-sound approach that was prominent in the pre-Aftermath period of their career. Additional sounds on the album draw influence from gospel, country blues and country rock.
The album was recorded during a period of turmoil in the band; Brian Jones, the band's founder and original leader, had become increasingly unreliable in the studio due to heavy drug use, and during most recording sessions was either absent, or so incapacitated that he was unable to contribute meaningfully. He was fired in the midst of recording sessions for this album, and replaced by Mick Taylor. Jones appeared on this album on only two songs, playing backing instruments, and died within a month of being fired.
As with Beggars Banquet the previous year, the album marks a return to the group's more blues-based approach that was prominent in the pre-Aftermath period of their career. The main inspiration during this string of albums was American roots music and Let It Bleed is no exception, drawing heavily from gospel (evident in "Gimme Shelter" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want"), Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers ("Country Honk"),[10] Chicago blues ("Midnight Rambler"),[11] as well as country blues ("You Got the Silver", "Love in Vain") and country rock ("Let It Bleed").[1]
Don Heckman, writing in The New York Times, felt that Let It Bleed was a "heavy" and "passionately erotic" album of hard rock and blues, influenced by African-American music.[12] Richie Unterberger, writing for AllMusic, said it "extends the rock and blues feel of Beggars Banquet into slightly harder-rocking, more demonically sexual territory".[13] Mojo magazine's James McNair felt the record had an emphasis on "earthy" country blues.[14]
The album was included in a "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).[45] In 2000, Q magazine ranked it at number 28 in its list of "The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever". In 2001, the TV network VH1 placed Let It Bleed at 24th on their "100 Greatest Albums of R 'n' R" survey. In 1997, it was voted the 27th-"Best Album Ever" by The Guardian.[31] In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it at number 32 on the magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time."[46] It maintained the rating in a 2012 revised list,[47] and was ranked at number 41 in a 2020 revised list.[48] It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2005.[49]
Elvis Presley
3/5
From Elvis in Memphis is the tenth studio album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. It was released by RCA Records on June 17, 1969. It was recorded at American Sound Studio in Memphis in January and February 1969 under the direction of producer Chips Moman and backed by its house band, informally known as "The Memphis Boys". Following the success of Presley's TV special Elvis and its soundtrack, the album marked Presley's return to non-soundtrack albums after the completion of his film contract with Paramount Pictures.
From Elvis in Memphis was released in June 1969 to favorable reviews. The album peaked at number 13 on the Billboard 200, number two on the country charts and number one in the United Kingdom, and its single "In the Ghetto" reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1970. In later years, it garnered further favorable reviews, while it was ranked number 190 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Moman moved away from the usual Presley pop recordings aimed at an established audience. A developer of the Stax Records sound, he incorporated a Memphis sound integrating soul, country, gospel and rural and electric blues.[29] Many arrangements lean heavily on the rhythm section, with lesser contributions from strings, brass and woodwinds.[30][31] Arrangers Glenn Spreen and Mike Leech changed Presley's image on the tracks with the addition of violas, cellos and French horns. The arrangers intended to blend the tracks for a distinctive sound; the strings are used in counterpoint, rising when the track fades and vice versa.[32] The violas play the same lines as the French horns, with cello used for darker tones. Syncopation was incorporated by bowing.[27]
Femi Kuti
4/5
Femi Kuti is the third album by Nigerian musician Femi Kuti released in 1995. It was released on Motown's Tabu Records label.[2] The album introduced Femi Kuti and afrobeat to an international audience.[3]
Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti (born 16 June 1962), popularly known as Femi Kuti, is a Nigerian musician born in London and raised in Lagos. He is the eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and a grandchild of political campaigner, women's rights activist and traditional aristocrat Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti.
Germs
3/5
GI, stylized as (GI), is the only studio album by American punk rock band the Germs. Often considered the first full-length hardcore punk album,[2] it was released in the United States in October 1979[8] on Slash Records with catalog number SR 103. The album was later released in Italy in 1982 by Expanded Music with the catalog EX 11. The album's title is an acronym for "Germs Incognito", an alternate name the band used to obtain bookings when their early reputation kept them out of Los Angeles-area clubs. After (GI)'s release, the band would only undertake one more recording session, for the soundtrack album to Al Pacino's 1980 film Cruising. On December 7, 1980, a year after the release of (GI), vocalist Darby Crash killed himself.
LL Cool J
5/5
Mama Said Knock You Out is the fourth studio album by American rapper LL Cool J. It was produced mostly by Marley Marl and recorded at his "House of Hits" home studio in Chestnut Ridge and at Chung King House of Metal in New York City.[2] After the disappointing reception of LL Cool's 1989 album Walking with a Panther, Mama Said Knock You Out was released by Def Jam Recordings on September 14, 1990[1] to commercial and critical success.[3]
Mama Said Knock You Out was released on September 14, 1990,[1] by Def Jam Recordings.[14] It was promoted with five singles, four of which became hits: "The Boomin' System", "Around the Way Girl", the title track, and "6 Minutes of Pleasure". The album was certified double platinum in the United States, having shipped two million copies.[15] According to Yahoo! Music's Frank Meyer, Mama Said Knock You Out "seemed to set the world on fire in 1990", helped by its hit title track and LL Cool J's "sweaty performance" on MTV Unplugged.[16] The title song reached number 17[17] on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold by the RIAA. LL Cool J won Best Rap Solo Performance at the Grammy Awards of 1991.[18]
In The New York Times, Jon Pareles wrote that Mama Said Knock You Out reestablished LL Cool J as "the most articulate of the homeboys", sounding "tougher and funnier" rapping about "crass materialism" and "simple pleasures".[19] In Mark Cooper's review for Q, he wrote, "This 22-year-old veteran has lost neither his eye for everyday detail nor his sheer relish for words."[20] Select magazine's Richard Cook said, "LL's stack of samples add the icing to a cake that is all dark, remorseless rhythm, a lo-fi drum beat shadowed by a crude bass rumble. It could be Jamaican dub they're making here, if it weren't for LL's slipper lip."[11] Mama Said Knock You Out was voted the ninth best record of 1990 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics published by The Village Voice.[21] Poll creator Robert Christgau later named it among his 10 best albums from the 1990s.[22]
Wilco
2/5
Being There is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Wilco, released on October 29, 1996, by Reprise Records. Despite its release as a double album, Being There was sold at a single album price as a result of a deal between lead singer Jeff Tweedy and the band's label Reprise Records. The album was an improvement for the band in both sales and critical reception, in contrast to their debut album A.M. (1995). Taking its name from the 1979 film of the same name,[4] the self-produced album featured more surrealistic and introspective writing than on A.M. This was due in part to several significant changes in Tweedy's life, including the birth of his first child. Musically, it juxtaposed the alternative country styles songs reminiscent of Uncle Tupelo with psychedelic, surreal songs. It was the only Wilco album with steel guitarist Bob Egan, their first with multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett and their last with multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston.
Being There was received positively by critics. AllMusic editor Jason Ankeny gave the album a four-and-a-half stars and referred to it as "the group's great leap forward." He praised the band's ability to juxtapose psychedelia and power pop with tracks that "wouldn't sound at all out of place on Exile on Main Street".[20] Greg Kot, writing for Rolling Stone, gave the album four stars and lauded how it "venture[d] out into an anxiety-ridden world sure thing ... the solace they continue to find in rock and roll."[9] Robert Christgau was more modest, writing "there's no point in denying Jeff Tweedy's achievement as long as you recognize its insularity."[28] Ryan Schreiber of Pitchfork called Wilco "massively improved as both a band and as songwriters" but also noted that "the two-disc set is really nothing more than a marketing scheme."[29] Being There was ranked the 14th best album of the year on The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 1996.[30] In 2003, Pitchfork named it the 88th best album of the 1990s.[31] In 2004, Stylus Magazine placed 178th on their "Top 101–200 Favorite Albums of All-Time" list.[32] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[33]
The album was a marked improvement over A.M. on the Billboard charts. It peaked at number 73 on the Billboard 200, whereas A.M. failed to hit the chart at all.[34] "Outtasite (Outta Mind)" was released as a single, and received moderate airplay on some college rock radio stations.[35][36]
Arrested Development
4/5
3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of... is the debut album by American hip hop group Arrested Development, released on March 24, 1992. The album's chart success was the beginning of the popularization of Southern hip hop. 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of... stood in stark contrast to the gangsta rap that ruled the hip hop charts in 1992 (such as Dr. Dre's The Chronic), in its focus on spirituality, peace and love. The album's title refers to the length of time it took Arrested Development to get a record contract.[1]
3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of... was released to widespread critical acclaim and was later voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[2][13] Entertainment Weekly's James Bernard praised it as a "fresh-sounding debut album" and referred to Arrested Development as "the anti-gangsta" and "perhaps rap's most self-reflective act."[6] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune wrote that the group "displays unusual worldliness, wisdom and awareness on its debut, immediately establishing itself as a major new voice in hip-hop", noting Speech's social themes and rejection of "macho boasting and gangster posing".[4] In a negative assessment, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice assigned the album a "dud" rating and wrote that the album was "not horrible by any means" but "too often the beats shambled and the raps meandered",[14] though he would later revise his rating to single out "Tennessee" as a "choice cut".[15]
Retrospectively, Steve Huey of AllMusic wrote that the rise of gangsta rap abruptly put an end to what seemed to be a "shining new era in alternative rap" heralded by 3 Years and that the album, while not "quite as revolutionary as it first seemed", was nonetheless "a fine record that often crosses the line into excellence", further crediting it as "a major influence on a new breed of alternative Southern hip-hop, including Goodie Mob, Outkast, and Nappy Roots".[2]
The Wire named the album its record of the year, the first time the magazine had expanded its year-end critics' poll to include albums in non-jazz genres.[16] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[17]
Mariah Carey
3/5
Butterfly is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released on September 16, 1997, by Columbia Records. The album contained both hip hop and urban adult contemporary sounds, as well as some softer and more contemporary melodies. Throughout the project, Carey worked with Walter Afanasieff, with whom she had written and produced most of the material from her previous albums. She also worked with many famed hip hop producers and rappers, such as Sean "Puffy" Combs, Q-Tip, Missy Elliott and the Trackmasters. With the latter acts producing most of the album, Butterfly deviated from the adult contemporary sound of Carey's previous albums.
With Butterfly, Carey continued the transition that began with previous album, Daydream (1995), which pushed her further into the R&B and hip hop market and away from the pop background of her previous work. During her marriage to Tommy Mottola, Carey had little control over the creative and artistic steps she took on her albums, however, after their divorce midway through the album's conception, she was able to reflect her creative maturity and evolution in the album's writing and recording. Carey writes in the booklet of her twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009), that she considers Butterfly her magnum opus and a turning point in both her life and career.
Butterfly received acclaim from music critics, many of whom embraced Carey's musical transition. Reviewers complimented the album for its mature sound and production, as well as Carey's musical direction. Though released during Carey's heavily publicized conflict with Sony Music, the album became an international commercial success, topping the albums charts in many countries, including Australia, Canada, Greece, Japan, the Netherlands, as well as the United States. It was certified five-times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States and received the Million Award in Japan. Globally, Butterfly has sold over ten million copies.
In the years since its release, Butterfly has been hailed as being an R&B classic.[46] In a retrospective review for The Washington Post, Bethonie Butler focused on the album's impact, stating that it "changed the face of pop music" by paving "the way for other pop stars...to sing alongside their rap contemporaries".[47] Writing for Jezebel, Rich Juzwiak focused on the influence of Carey's vocal stylings in the track "Breakdown", remarking that "in this day and age, when there’s so much genre blending that it’s sometimes impossible to label an artist as merely “singer” or “rapper,” it'd be foolish to understate the prescience of" the song.[46] A profile of the album in Essence by Jessica Littles further stated that the album "catalyzed the pop music trend of collaborating with hip-hop artists", concluding that it "not only showcased her [Carey's] already-established prowess as a vocalist, who could belt out ballads or flirt over the hottest summer jams, but also as one of the most versatile songwriters in contemporary music".[48]
Cream
3/5
Disraeli Gears is the second studio album by the British rock band Cream. It was released in November 1967[1] and went on to reach No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart.[2] and No. 1 on the Swedish and Finnish charts. The album was also No. 1 for two weeks on the Australian album chart and was listed as the No. 1 album of 1968 by Cash Box in the year-end album chart in the United States. The album is considered by critics as one of the greatest albums of all time. The album features the singles "Strange Brew" and "Sunshine of Your Love", as well as their respective B-sides "Tales of Brave Ulysses" and "SWLABR".
Disraeli Gears features the group veering away, quite heavily, from their blues roots and indulging in more psychedelic sounds, in particular on tracks such as "Tales of Brave Ulysses", "SWLABR", "World of Pain" and "Dance the Night Away", the last of which features a 12-string guitar (the only time the instrument would be used on a Cream recording). The most blues-like tunes on the album are Clapton's arrangement of "Outside Woman Blues", the Bruce-Brown composition "Take It Back" which had been inspired by the contemporary media images of American students burning their draft cards which featured harmonica work by Jack Bruce,[11] and the opening track "Strange Brew", which was based on a 12-bar blues song called "Lawdy Mama" and features an Albert King guitar solo, copied note for note.[6
Writing for the BBC, Chris Jones described the album as "a perfect encapsulation of the point where the blues got psychedelic and in turn got heavy".[13] Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic describes the album as "a quintessential heavy rock album of the '60s".[12] Dave Swanson of Ultimate Classic Rock believes the album to be "their masterpiece".[19]
In 1999, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[20]
It was voted number 182 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[21] In 2003 the album was ranked number 112 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[22] then was re-ranked at number 114 in a 2012 revised list,[23] and at number 170 in a 2020 revised list.[24] VH1 named it 87th-greatest album of all time in 2001.[25] In 2008, the album won a Classic Rock Roll of Honours Award for Classic Album.[26]
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
The Rising is the twelfth studio album by American recording artist Bruce Springsteen, released on July 30, 2002, on Columbia Records. In addition to being Springsteen's first studio album in seven years, it was also his first with the E Street Band in 18 years.[1] Based in large part on Springsteen's reflections during the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the album predominantly centers upon themes of relationship struggles, existential crisis and social uplift.
Upon its release, The Rising was a critical and commercial success, being hailed as the triumphant return for Springsteen. The album became Springsteen's first to top the US Billboard 200 since Tunnel of Love in 1987. It also garnered a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 2003; although nominated for the Album of the Year award as well, it was beaten by Norah Jones's debut album Come Away with Me. The title song "The Rising" was also a Grammy recipient.
Although "The Rising" was a response to 9/11, many see it as a more universal anthem of resilience and hope. On the tenth anniversary of 9/11, Dan DeLuca of the Philadelphia Inquirer said: "The songs make contextual sense in the aftermath of 9/11, but the specific details that give them power are allusive. 'Lonesome Day,' 'You're Missing,' and 'My City of Ruins' are about the hollowing devastation of that day, but the language is universal, so the sentiments are by no means frozen in time."[29] The song "My City of Ruins" has been used in response to tragedies other than 9/11, such as the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. In 2006, while on tour supporting his We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions album, Springsteen performed the song at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The song received an emotional response from the crowd given its refrain of "Come on rise up!"[30] "The Rising", given its message of hope in the face of adversity. The song "The Rising" also featured prominently at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Hole
3/5
Celebrity Skin is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States on DGC Records and internationally on Geffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before their dissolution in 2002. Hole intended for the record to diverge significantly from their previous noise and grunge-influenced sound as featured on Pretty on the Inside (1991) and Live Through This (1994). The band hired producer Michael Beinhorn to record Celebrity Skin over a nine-month period that included sessions in Los Angeles, New York City, and London. It was the band's only studio release to feature bassist Melissa Auf der Maur. Drummer Patty Schemel played the demos for the album, but was replaced by session drummer Deen Castronovo at the suggestion of producer Beinhorn. This issue created a rift between Schemel and the band, resulting in her dropping out of the tour and parting ways with the group, though she received the drumming credit on the album
Celebrity Skin is Hole's most commercially successful album. It peaked at number nine on the US Billboard 200, number four on the Australian Albums Chart, and number 11 on the UK Albums Chart. To date, it has sold over 1.4 million copies in the United States alone, has been certified as double-platinum in Australia by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), and platinum in Canada by Music Canada (MC) and the United States by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It garnered Hole a number-one hit single on the Modern Rock Tracks chart with the title track, "Celebrity Skin". Critical reaction to the album was very positive and it was listed on a number of publications' year-end lists in 1998, including those by Time and The Village Voice. The album was named the 265th greatest album of all time by a 2013 poll by NME magazine and was featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Bringing It All Back Home (known as Subterranean Homesick Blues in some European countries) is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released on March 22, 1965, by Columbia Records.
The first half of the album features electric songs, followed by mainly acoustic songs in the second half. The album abandons the protest music of Dylan's previous records in favor of more surreal, complex lyrics.[5] On side one of the original LP, Dylan is backed by an electric rock and roll band—a move that further alienated him from some of his former peers in the folk music community.[6]
The album reached No. 6 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart, the first of Dylan's LPs to break into the US top 10. It also topped the UK charts later that spring. The first track, "Subterranean Homesick Blues", became Dylan's first single to chart in the US, peaking at No. 39. Bringing It All Back Home has been described as one of the greatest albums of all time by multiple publications.
Bringing It All Back Home is regarded as one of the greatest albums in rock history. In 1979 Rolling Stone Record Guide critic Dave Marsh wrote: "By fusing the Chuck Berry beat of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles with the leftist, folk tradition of the folk revival, Dylan really had brought it back home, creating a new kind of rock & roll [...] that made every type of artistic tradition available to rock."[23] Clinton Heylin later wrote that Bringing It All Back Home was possibly "the most influential album of its era. Almost everything to come in contemporary popular song can be found therein."[24]
In 2003, the album was ranked number 31 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, it maintained the rating in a 2012 revised list,[25] and was ranked number 181 on the 2020 list.[26]
Arctic Monkeys
3/5
The Pretty Things
3/5
S.F. Sorrow is the fourth album by the English rock band Pretty Things. Released in 1968, it is known as one of the first rock operas ever released. Based on a short story by singer Phil May, the album is structured as a song cycle telling the story of a main character "Sebastian F. Sorrow", from his birth, through love, war, tragedy, madness, and his disillusionment with old age.
S.F. Sorrow's story is told by the Pretty Things, who relate the bulk of the narrative through small paragraphs as chapters, which were printed in liner notes of LP and CD's. The narrative alternates from spoken word to sung lyrics; these passages were read and sung in performances by Arthur Brown, during The Pretty Things' two live performances of the opera.
S.F. Sorrow opens with the birth of the story's protagonist at the turn of the 20th century. Sebastian F. Sorrow is born in a small nameless town to ordinary parents in a house called "Number Three." The town is supported by a factory of some sort, referred to as the "Misery Factory." ("S.F. Sorrow Is Born") Sorrow, an imaginative boy, has a relatively normal childhood until it ends abruptly when he needs to get a job. He goes to work with his father at the Misery Factory, from which many men have been laid off. This might make S.F. the object of hate in a sense that he might be a scab in the story, or perhaps the young boy who is taking some older man's job, and he comes into his sexual adolescence during this period ("Bracelets of Fingers"). Sorrow's life is not yet over, though. Joy still exists for him in the form of a pretty girl across the street. She says 'Good morning' to him every day, and he thinks about her constantly. This is the factor that keeps him going despite his childhood's abrupt ending. The two fall in love and become engaged, but their marriage plans are cut short when Sorrow is drafted ("She Says Good Morning").
Sorrow joins a light infantry ("Private Sorrow") and goes off to fight in a war, possibly World War I. Sorrow sinks into a daze, living out the entire war in a funk. Soon the sounds of gunfire and artillery become the rhythm to his life in a daydream. He survives the war and settles down in a land called "Amerik" (obviously referring to the country America, because the first words of the song "Balloon Burning" are "New York"). Sorrow's fiancée travels by a balloon, the Windenberg (Hindenburg) to join him, but it bursts into flame at arrival ("Balloon Burning"), killing all aboard. Sorrow is left alone, his beloved fiancée dead ("Death").
Sorrow drifts into a state of depression that leads him on an epic journey to the center of his subconscious. When wandering the streets, he encounters the mysterious Baron Saturday (a character intended to represent Baron Samedi, a deity in Haitian Voodoo religion). The black-cloaked Saturday invites Sorrow to take a journey and then, without waiting for a response, "borrows his eyes" and initiates a trip through the Underworld ("Baron Saturday").
A trippy quest begins by taking flight into the air where Sorrow is driven by a whip-cracking Baron Saturday. Sorrow thinks he is flying toward the moon which would have been lovely as he always had a fascination with it, but instead he sees that it is his own face. The Baron pushes him through the mouth of the face and then down the throat, where they find a set of oak doors. Saturday throws them open and prompts S.F. Sorrow inside, where he finds a room full of mirrors ("The Journey"). Each mirror shows a memory from his childhood, which Baron Saturday suggests that he studies well. After the hall of mirrors comes a long winding staircase which brings him to two opaque mirrors that show him the horrible truths and revelations from his life ("I See You").
Sorrow is destroyed by his journey; it leads him to understand that no one can be trusted any longer, and that society will only do away with you when you become old and serve it no longer ("Trust"). He is driven into a dark mental seclusion where he suffers from eternal loneliness. Much like Pink Floyd's The Wall, a similar rock opera, S.F. Sorrow is the tale of a man who has endured hardships which he uses to build into a mental wall that cuts him off from the rest of the waking world, and leaves them without light ("Old Man Going"). At the end of the album he identifies himself as "the loneliest person in the world" ("Loneliest Person").
Bob Dylan
3/5
Blood on the Tracks is the fifteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on January 20, 1975,[1][2] by Columbia Records. The album marked Dylan's return to Columbia Records after a two-album stint with Asylum Records. Dylan began recording the album in New York City in September 1974. In December, shortly before Columbia was due to release the album, Dylan abruptly re-recorded much of the material in a studio in Minneapolis. The final album contains five tracks recorded in New York and five from Minneapolis.
Blood on the Tracks initially received mixed reviews, but has subsequently been acclaimed as one of Dylan's greatest albums by both critics and fans. The songs have been linked to tensions in Dylan's personal life, including his estrangement from his then-wife Sara. One of their children, Jakob Dylan, has described the songs as "my parents talking".[3] In interviews, Dylan has denied that the songs on the album are autobiographical.[4]
The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 charts and No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart, with the single "Tangled Up in Blue" peaking at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The album remains one of Dylan's best-selling studio releases, with a double-platinum U.S. certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[5] In 2015, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[6] It was voted number 7 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's book All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000),[7] in 2003, the album was ranked No. 16 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, rising to the No. 9 spot in the 2020 revision of that same list. In 2004, it was placed at No. 5 on Pitchfork's list of the top 100 albums of the 1970s.[8]
An influential review of the album was written by Dylan critic Michael Gray for the magazine Let It Rock. Gray argued that it transformed the cultural perception of Dylan, and that he was no longer defined as "the major artist of the sixties. Instead, Dylan has legitimized his claim to a creative prowess as vital now as then—a power not bounded by the one decade he so affected."[40] This view was amplified by Clinton Heylin, who wrote: "Ten years after he turned the rock & roll brand of pop into rock ... [Dylan] renewed its legitimacy as a form capable of containing the work of a mature artist."[40] In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau wrote that although the lyrics occasionally evoke romantic naiveté and bitterness, Blood on the Tracks is altogether Dylan's "most mature and assured record".[19]
Since its initial reception, Blood on the Tracks has been viewed by critics as one of Dylan's best albums.[38] In Salon.com, Wyman wrote: "Blood on the Tracks is his only flawless album and his best produced; the songs, each of them, are constructed in disciplined fashion. It is his kindest album and most dismayed, and seems in hindsight to have achieved a sublime balance between the logorrhea-plagued excesses of his mid-1960s output and the self-consciously simple compositions of his post-accident years."[41] Bell, in his critical biography of Dylan, wrote that Blood on the Tracks was proof that "Dylan had won the argument over his refusal to argue about politics. In this, he began to seem prescient."[42] Bell concluded the album "might well count as one of the best things Dylan ever did".[43] Novelist Rick Moody called it "the truest, most honest account of a love affair from tip to stern ever put down on magnetic tape".[44]
Burning Spear
3/5
Marcus Garvey is the third album by reggae artist Burning Spear, released in 1975 on Fox Records in Jamaica and then internationally on Island Records later in the year. The album is named after the Jamaican National Hero and Rastafari movement prophet Marcus Garvey. A dub version of it was released four months later as Garvey's Ghost.
Jo-Ann Greene in an Allmusic retrospective summary feels that the album was a significant recording in roots reggae, though regrets that Island subsidiary Mango remixed the album too commercially, diluting some of the "haunting atmospheres" of producer Jack Ruby's original mix.[12]
The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die where Jim Harrington commented that he felt it had "a poignant blend of religious aspirations and cultural concerns".[13
Joy Division
3/5
Closer is the second and final studio album by English rock band Joy Division, released on 18 July 1980 by Factory Records.[1] Produced by Martin Hannett, it was released two months after the suicide of the band's lead singer and lyricist Ian Curtis. The album reached No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart[2] and peaked at No. 3 in New Zealand in September 1981.[3] Closer was also named NME Album of the Year.[4][5] It was remastered and re-released in 2007.[1]
Closer has been highly acclaimed, and is often cited as Joy Division's finest work, being considered by music critics such as Mark Fisher to be "the crown jewel of post-punk"[6] and receiving praise from artists such as George Michael.[31] The album was voted number 1 in the 1980 Albums of the Year poll conducted by music magazine NME,[32] and would be listed as number 157 in Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, maintaining the rank in the 2012 revision, and dropping to number 309 in the 2020 edition.[33][34][35][36]
By 1982 Closer had sold over 250,000 copies worldwide, with the posthumous single "Love Will Tear Us Apart" having also sold over 160,000 copies.[37] In 1995 Closer was ranked one of the top 100 alternative albums ever to be released by Spin magazine (placing at number 69).[34][38] In 2002, the American online magazine Pitchfork listed Closer as the 10th best album to be released in the 1980s.[39][34]
The album placed at number 72 on NME's list of the 100 greatest British albums ever to be released.[34] In addition, Q magazine placed Closer at number 8 in a list compiled of the 40 greatest albums to be released in the 1980s.[40][34] In 2012, Slant Magazine listed the album at number 7 upon their compiled list of the best albums of the 1980s.[34][41] In 2020, Rolling Stone included Closer in their "80 Greatest albums of 1980" list.[42]
Closer
Keith Jarrett
4/5
The Köln Concert is a live recording of solo piano improvisations performed by Keith Jarrett at the Opera House in Cologne (German: Köln) on 24 January 1975.[8] The double-vinyl album was released in 1975 by ECM.[9] It became the best-selling solo album in jazz history and the best-selling piano album[10] with sales of around 4 million.[11] According to music critic Tom Hull, the album "cemented his reputation as the top pianist of his generation".[12]
Subsequent to the release of The Köln Concert, Jarrett was asked by pianists, musicologists and others to publish the music. For years he resisted such requests since, as he said, the music played was improvised "on a certain night and should go as quickly as it comes".[19] In 1990, Jarrett finally agreed to publish an authorized transcription but with the recommendation that every pianist intending to play the piece should use the recording itself as the final word. A transcription for classical guitar has also been published by Manuel Barrueco. The first interpretation of the transcription was recorded by the Polish pianist Tomasz Trzcinski and published on the album Blue Mountains in 2006.[20]
In 2000, it was voted number 357 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[21]
The album was included in Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[22]
The Doors
3/5
L.A. Woman is the sixth studio album by the American rock band the Doors, released on April 19, 1971, by Elektra Records. It is the last to feature lead singer Jim Morrison during his lifetime due to his death three months after the album's release, though he would posthumously appear on the 1978 album An American Prayer. Even more so than its predecessors, the album is heavily influenced by blues. It was recorded without record producer Paul A. Rothchild after he fell out with the group over the perceived lack of quality of their studio performances. Subsequently, the band co-produced the album with longtime sound engineer Bruce Botnick.
The album received mostly positive reviews. Rolling Stone's Robert Meltzer was impressed by the sense of fun and the togetherness of the band, saying it was "the Doors' greatest album" and the best album of the year.[74] In Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau appreciated Morrison's sense of humor in some of the lyrics and believed "the band has never sounded better", although he was disappointed with "Been Down So Long" and "L'America".[64] More recently, Richie Unterberger, writing for AllMusic, described L.A. Woman as "uneven", but noted that the album contains compositions that "rate among their finest and most disturbing work".[4] Sal Cinquemani, reviewing the album for Slant Magazine, considers L.A. Woman to be "the sound of a band in perfect harmony". He describes the Doors' material as "disturbing and cynical over the years, and these songs were no exception".[72]
PopMatters's Nathan Wisnicki said Morrison's lyrics were less pretentious than previous work because of L.A. Woman's "more conventional blues".[68] Stephen Dalton of Classic Rock, reviewing the 40th Anniversary Edition of the album, remarks how "the original L.A. Woman still stands proud, an all-time classic journey into bright shining darkness."[65] David Quantick from BBC Music attributed the record's success to "a stripped-down yet full sound, a developed mysticism tied tightly to the band's brand of rock, and confidence born of having been a functioning unit for several years".[5] In his 1994 book The Complete Guide to the Music of The Doors, Peter K. Hogan describes the album as an expansion on the style from Morrison Hotel, but in a more coherent form. He also believed L.A. Woman was a fitting swan song for Morrison, who was pleased to finally record a blues-oriented album.[75]
The Jam
3/5
All Mod Cons is the third studio album by the British band The Jam, released in 1978 by Polydor Records. The title, a British idiom one might find in housing advertisements, is short for "all modern conveniences" and is a pun on the band's association with the mod revival. The album reached No. 6 in the UK Albums Chart.[4]
In his review for NME, Charles Shaar Murray said that All Mod Cons was "not only several light years ahead of anything they've done before but also the album that's going to catapult the Jam right into the front rank of international rock and roll; one of the handful of truly essential rock albums of the last few years."[20] Sounds critic Garry Bushell hailed it as the Jam's "statement of artistic triumph, musical maturation and compositional strength".[16] Dave Schulps of Trouser Press stated that "All Mod Cons firmly establishes Paul Weller (and the Jam) as a major talent (and band) for the '80s."[21]
NME ranked All Mod Cons as the second best album of 1978 in its end of year review.[22]
In 2000, Q placed All Mod Cons at number 50 on its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever".[23] In 2013, NME ranked All Mod Cons at number 219 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[24] The album is listed in the reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[7]
Marilyn Manson
2/5
Antichrist Superstar is the second studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on October 8, 1996, by Nothing and Interscope Records. It was recorded at Nothing Studios in New Orleans and produced by the band's eponymous vocalist along with Sean Beavan, former Skinny Puppy producer Dave Ogilvie and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. The recording of the album was marred by excessive drug use, which provoked a high level of antagonism between band members. Consequently, it was their last release to feature contributions from founding guitarist Daisy Berkowitz, who acrimoniously quit partway through recording
Antichrist Superstar is a rock opera concept album, and its title is based on the 1971 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Jesus Christ Superstar.[19] The central storyline of the album revolves around a supernatural being—a demagogic rockstar—who seizes all political power from humanity in order to initiate an apocalyptic end event.[7][20] This underlying concept was both inspired by and a tribute to the work of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche,[7] specifically his philosophical concept of an Übermensch.[21] It was also influenced by "the idea of putting yourself through a transformation to become something superhuman", which Manson said he garnered from Nietzsche's The Antichrist.[22] The album is a social critique which utilizes this premise as a metaphor for the perceived fascist elements of the conservative political movement and the Christian right in North America.[23] Manson also cited David Bowie's "We Are the Dead" (1974) as a major influence on the album lyrically, saying: "I remember hearing [that] song in the Nineties, when I first moved to L.A. It wouldn't have had the same impact on me if I'd heard it when I was a kid in Ohio—it felt like it was about the culture of Hollywood, the disgusting cannibalism."[24]
The album has been featured in multiple lists compiled by several British rock magazines. Kerrang! dubbed it the 3rd best album of 1996,[118] and placed it at number 14 on their list of "100 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die",[119] as well as at number 88 on its "100 Greatest Rock Albums".[120] In 2001, it featured on Q's list of the "50 Heaviest Albums Of All Time",[121] while NME placed it at number 92 on their 2009-compiled list of the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums".[122] It also appeared at number 92 on Classic Rock's list of the "100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever",[123] and, in 2006, the magazine—as well as its sister publication, Metal Hammer—included it on their respective lists of "The 200 Greatest Albums of the '90s".[124] Record Collector included Antichrist Superstar in their extensive list "10 Classic Albums from 21 Genres for the 21st Century", in the metal category.[125]
Jane's Addiction
3/5
(Gotham).
Nothing's Shocking is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Jane's Addiction, released on August 23, 1988 through Warner Bros. Records. Nothing's Shocking was well received by critics and peaked at number 103 on the Billboard 200. The single "Jane Says" reached number six on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks in 1988. Rolling Stone ranked it #312 on its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[4]
In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Greg Prato called Nothing's Shocking "a must-have for lovers of cutting-edge, influential, and timeless hard rock."[3] In 2006, Q magazine placed it at #32 in a list of the "40 Best Albums of the '80s".[27]
Talking Heads
3/5
Remain in Light is the fourth studio album by American rock band Talking Heads, released on October 8, 1980 by Sire Records. It was recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas and Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia between July and August 1980. It was the last Talking Heads album Brian Eno produced.
Byrne struggled with writer's block, but adopted a scattered, stream-of-consciousness lyrical style inspired by early rap and academic literature on Africa. The artwork was conceived by bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz, and crafted with the help of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's computers and design company M&Co. The band hired additional members for a promotional tour, and following its completion, they went on a year-long hiatus to pursue side projects.
Remain in Light was acclaimed by critics, who praised its sonic experimentation, rhythmic innovations, and cohesive merging of disparate genres. The album peaked at number 19 on the US Billboard 200 and number 21 on the UK Albums Chart, and spawned the singles "Once in a Lifetime" and "Houses in Motion". It has been featured in several publications' lists of the best albums of the 1980s and of all time, and is often considered Talking Heads' magnum opus. In 2017, the Library of Congress deemed the album "culturally, historically, or artistically significant",[1] and selected it for preservation in the National Recording Registry.[2]
The album attained widespread acclaim from media outlets. Ken Tucker of Rolling Stone felt it was a brave and absorbing attempt to locate a common ground in the early 1980s' divergent and often hostile musical genres; he concluded, "Remain in Light yields scary, funny music to which you can dance and think, think and dance, dance and think, ad infinitum."[71] Robert Christgau, in The Village Voice, called the record one "in which David Byrne conquers his fear of music in a visionary Afrofunk synthesis—clear-eyed, detached, almost mystically optimistic".[72] Michael Kulp of the Daily Collegian wrote that the album deserved the tag "classic" like each of the band's three previous full-length releases,[73] while John Rockwell, writing in The New York Times, suggested that it confirmed Talking Heads' position as "America's most venturesome rock band".[74] Sandy Robertson of Sounds praised the record's innovation,[75] while Billboard wrote, "Just about every LP Talking Heads has released in the last four years has wound up on virtually every critics' best of list. Remain in Light should be no exception."[76]
TV On The Radio
3/5
Dear Science is the third studio album by the band TV on the Radio. It was released on September 16, 2008, digitally through Touch and Go Records, with the physical release coming a week later through Interscope Records and DGC Records in North America and 4AD elsewhere.[1]
Dear Science was recorded in 2008 at the Stay Gold studio in Brooklyn, New York.[2] Musically, the album has been described as indie rock,[3] art rock,[4] funk,[5] soul,[5] and post-punk.[5] Kyp Malone said that the album's title came from "a note that Dave [Sitek] wrote in the studio that said,
"Dear Science, please start solving problems and curing diseases or shut the fuck up."[6]
Dear Science received rave reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 88, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 40 reviews. It was named the best album of 2008 by Rolling Stone,[19] The Guardian,[20] Spin,[21] MTV,[22] Entertainment Weekly,[23] the Pitchfork's readers poll,[24] and the Village Voice.[25]
Dear Science
The Electric Prunes
3/5
The Electric Prunes, sometimes referred to as I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night), is the 1967 debut album by the American garage rock band, the Electric Prunes, released on Reprise Records. The first track, "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)", was a hit and became the band's signature tune. The album also contains another notable psychedelic rock composition, "Get Me to the World on Time". The album was listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
The success of the Electric Prunes' single, "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)", which charted at number 11 in the U.S. and at number 49 in the UK, prompted the band to tour more and to record adverts. The band was featured in publicity photos for the November 1967 issue of Teen Pin-Ups. They also recorded an advert for the Vox wah-wah pedal and promoted use of the equipment in the Vox Teen Beat magazine.[3] Following the band's extensive promotional campaign, a second single, "Get Me to the World on Time", was released and charted at number 27 in the U.S.[1]
With the band having a busy touring schedule, the recording of the album was hurried in an effort to cash in on their recent success. The band was already composing material for what they hoped would be an album of their own design.[4] However, much of the album's content was out of their control as producer Dave Hassinger brought in the songwriting team of Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz. They, alone, produced seven of the 12 tracks, much to the frustration of the band. Mark Tulin and James Lowe, the band's main songwriters, were limited to just one track, the song "Luvin'".[3] The band considered some of the tracks just as filler and were disappointed in not having a choice in disclosing them. Tulin stated "We had nothing resembling freedom, let alone total freedom, in the selection of our songs. Consequently, there are definitely songs that I do believe didn't belong on the album..."[4]
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Crocodiles is the debut album by the English post-punk band Echo & the Bunnymen. It was released on 18 July 1980 in the United Kingdom and on 17 December 1980 in the United States. The album reached number 17 on the UK Albums Chart. "Pictures on My Wall" and "Rescue" had previously been released as singles.
Recorded at Eden Studios in London and at Rockfield Studios near Monmouth, Crocodiles was produced by Bill Drummond and David Balfe, while Ian Broudie had already produced the single "Rescue". The music and the cover of the album both reflect imagery of darkness and sorrowfulness. The album received favourable reviews from the music press, receiving four out of five stars by both Rolling Stone and Blender magazines.
Writing for NME in 1980, Chris Salewicz described the album as "being probably the best album this year by a British band."[12] In his review of the album for Smash Hits, Ian Cranna said that the album was "proof positive that there's just no substitute for a good song delivered with power and emotion." Cranna added, "[The band] deliver attractive melodies with dark and moody (but not obscure) personal lyrics, all turned into compulsive listening by a driving beat, ringing guitars and a hauntingly emotional voice."[27] Reviewing the album in 1981 for Rolling Stone magazine, David Fricke awarded it four out of five stars and described McCulloch's vocals: "[He] specializes in a sort of apocalyptic brooding, combining Jim Morrison-style psychosexual yells, a flair for David Bowie-like vocal inflections and the nihilistic bark of his punk peers into a disturbing portrait of the singer as a young neurotic."[8] Fricke went on to say, "Behind him, gripping music swells into Doors-style dirges ('Pictures on My Wall'), PiL-like guitar dynamics ('Monkeys'), spookily evocative pop ('Rescue') and Yardbirds-cum-Elevators ravers jacked up in the New Wave manner ('Do It Clean,' 'Crocodiles')." Reviewing the 2003 remastered version for American music magazine Blender's website, reviewer Andrew Harrison also gave the album four out of five stars and said, "[...] the Bunnymen were a pure nihilistic thrill, with Will Sergeant's desperate, mantra-like guitar summoning up a primal night of blinking hallucinations."[21]
Tears For Fears
3/5
Songs from the Big Chair is the second studio album by English pop rock band Tears for Fears, released on 25 February 1985 by Phonogram Records. The album peaked at number two in the UK and at number one in the US, becoming a multi-platinum seller and the band's most successful album to date. Songs from the Big Chair spawned the commercially successful singles "Mothers Talk", "Shout", "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", "Head over Heels", and "I Believe
Songs from the Big Chair received critical acclaim. Barry McIlheney of Melody Maker wrote that "none of you should really be too surprised that Tears for Fears have made such an excellent album", calling it "an album that fully justifies the rather sneering, told-you-so looks adopted by Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal on the sleeve", before concluding, "An awful lot of people will, of course, go on and on about overcoats, The Lotus Eaters and an alleged lack of depth. And an awful lot of people will have to eat an awful lot of words."[24] Ian Cranna of Smash Hits described the album as "looser, more exploratory" than the band's previous work and praised its "unflinching lyrical honesty".[22] Rolling Stone reviewer Don Shewey found Tears for Fears reminiscent of various other acts, noting traces of "U2's social conscience, the Bunnymen's echoing guitars and XTC's contorted pop wit" in the album's music, but commented that Chris Hughes' "sparkling" production "nudges Songs from the Big Chair slightly ahead of the pack".[25]
Bee Gees
3/5
Trafalgar is a 1971 album by the Bee Gees. It was their ninth album (seventh internationally), and was released in September 1971 in the US, and November 1971 in the UK. The album was a moderate hit in the United States, and peaked at No. 34. The lead single "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" was the first Bee Gees' No. 1 single in the United States but failed to chart in Britain as did the album. It is Geoff Bridgford's only full-length appearance on a Bee Gees album as an official member.
With "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" as the lead single from the album, "Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself" was released as the second single but only reached No. 57 on the US charts. "Israel" was released as a single in the Netherlands and reached No. 22. The album's cover depicts the battle of Trafalgar. Bridgford was credited on the sleeve notes on the original vinyl release as "Jeoff Bridgford".[6]
In support of the album, The Bee Gees toured the US in the fall of 1971, playing such cities as Boston, Asbury Park, New York City (7 shows), Memphis, Kansas City, and Indianapolis.
Sinead O'Connor
3/5
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got is the second album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor, released in March 1990 on Ensign/Chrysalis Records. It contains O'Connor's version of the Prince song "Nothing Compares 2 U", which was released as a single and reached number one in multiple countries. The album was nominated for four Grammy Awards in 1991, including Record of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Best Music Video, Short Form for "Nothing Compares 2 U", winning the award for Best Alternative Music Performance. However, O'Connor refused to accept the nominations and award.[4]
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got received critical acclaim. In 2012, it was ranked number 408 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[18] The album was ranked number 457 on the 2020 edition of the list.[19]
The Stooges
4/5
Raw Power is the third studio album by American rock band the Stooges (credited as Iggy and the Stooges), released on February 7, 1973 by Columbia Records. The album departed from the "groove-ridden, feel-based songs" of the band's first two records in favor of a more anthemic hard rock approach inspired by new guitarist James Williamson, who co-wrote the album's eight songs with singer Iggy Pop.[2] Though not initially commercially successful, Raw Power gained a cult following in the years following its release and, like its predecessors The Stooges (1969)[3][4] and Fun House (1970), is considered a forerunner of punk rock.[5
Raw Power has been credited by many sources for pioneering punk rock, although Paste magazine's Lizzie Manno adds that it has "also been cited as a major influence on heavy metal and hard rock".[17] According to Ted Maider of Consequence of Sound, Raw Power is "by far the most important punk record ever",[50] while Diffuser.fm writer James Stafford said, "One can make a reasonable argument for whether Raw Power or its predecessor, Fun House, lays claim to 'first punk record' status."[51] DIY's Jonathan Hatchman wrote, "Above all, the reason that Raw Power should be regarded as, at least, one of the greatest punk albums of all time, is the influence it has provided. Without it, punk may have never even happened."[52]
Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols once claimed that he learned to play guitar by taking speed and playing along to Raw Power.[53] Johnny Marr of The Smiths cited it as his all-time favorite record: "It gave me a path to follow as a guitar player. It was an opening into a world of rock & roll, sleaze, sexuality, drugs, violence and danger. That's a hard combination to beat".[54] He has also commented on James Williamson's guitar playing on the album: "I'm his biggest fan. He has the technical ability of Jimmy Page without being as studious, and the swagger of Keith Richards without being sloppy. He's both demonic and intellectual, almost how you would imagine Darth Vader to sound if he was in a band."[6] Talking more about the album, Marr considered Iggy Pop "as the greatest rock'n'roll singer of all time".[55] Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth said that it was one of the albums that shaped his life and music: "that record sliced my head off. The aggression and psychosexual imagery were really mysterious and alluring. In a way, it brought me into all those other aspects of music and literature that were really intriguing, like William S. Burroughs and the Beat Generation."[56]
Janet Jackson
4/5
Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Janet Jackson, released on September 19, 1989, by A&M Records. Although label executives wanted material similar to her previous album, Control (1986), Jackson insisted on creating a concept album addressing social issues. Collaborating with songwriters and record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, she drew inspiration from various tragedies reported through news media, exploring racism, poverty, and substance abuse, in addition to themes of romance. Although its primary concept of a sociopolitical utopia was met with mixed reactions, its composition received critical acclaim. Jackson came to be considered a role model for youth because of her socially conscious lyrics.
As with Control, recording for Rhythm Nation 1814 took place at Lewis and Jam's Flyte Tyme Studios in Minneapolis, Minnesota where they worked in seclusion with Jackson to complete the album. Noted for its use of sampling and utilizing heavily swung synthesized percussion throughout its production, the record encompasses a variety of musical styles, such as new jack swing, hard rock, pop, dance and industrial music. Songs range from mechanized dance rhythms to soft balladry, giving it appeal across multiple radio formats. It is the only album in the history of the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart to have seven commercial singles peak within the top five positions. It is also the first album to produce number one hits on the chart in three separate calendar years, beginning with "Miss You Much" in 1989, "Escapade" and "Black Cat" in 1990, and culminating with "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" in 1991.
Rhythm Nation 1814 became Jackson's second consecutive album to top the Billboard 200 and was certified 6× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It became the best-selling album of 1990 in the United States and has sold an estimated 12 million copies worldwide.[1][2] Due to its innovative production and lyrical exploration, critics have come to regard it as the pinnacle of Jackson's artistic achievement. Music scholars note the record garnered her a level of cross-cultural appeal unmatched by industry peers. Considered a "landmark" album, it has also been cited as an influence in the works of numerous music artists, setting stylistic trends in the years following its release.
Aside from its commercial performance, the album's composition has continued to receive acclaim for its sonic innovation. Upon its 25th anniversary, music critic and scholar Joseph Vogel observed that when viewed "as a complete artistic statement, Rhythm Nation 1814 was a stunning achievement. It married the pleasures of pop with the street energy and edge of hip-hop."[62] Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly asserted the record "has barely aged—it sounds as rich and vital as it did when it was first released, and stylistically as contemporary as anything on the Billboard charts."[114] Anderson also underscores that it pioneered several musical trends, citing records by pop and R&B artists including Rihanna, Pink, Beyoncé, Frank Ocean, Gwen Stefani, The Weeknd, Lady Gaga, Jhené Aiko, Miguel, Christina Aguilera, FKA Twigs, and Tinashe that have exhibited similarities to the "landmark" album.[114] Its single for "Alright" featuring Heavy D made Jackson the first pop artist to team with a rapper, "setting the trend for future pop and hip-hop collaborations."[115] Additionally, "Black Cat" set a precedent for female pop stars segueing into glam metal.[114] The album notably influenced Michael Jackson's Dangerous (1991) and HIStory (1995), the latter of which features the sibling's duet "Scream", produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.[116] Its impact also extends to indie and alternative rock music, with School of Seven Bells,[117] A Sunny Day in Glasgow,[118] and Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells citing the album as an influence in their work.[119] MTV's Brenna Ehrlich remarked: "From Beyoncé ... to Britney Spears to Robyn to Sleigh Bells, the influence of Jackson's game-changer of a record is still rippling through the radio waves (or SoundCloud waves) today."[120]
Guns N' Roses
3/5
Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. It was released on July 21, 1987, by Geffen Records.
The album was released to little mainstream attention in 1987. It was not until the following year that Appetite for Destruction became a commercial success, after the band had toured and received significant airplay with the singles "Welcome to the Jungle", "Paradise City" and "Sweet Child o' Mine". The album peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200 and became the seventh best-selling album of all time in the United States, as well as the best-selling debut album. With over 30 million copies sold worldwide, it is also one of the best-selling albums of all time.
Although critics were originally ambivalent toward the album, Appetite for Destruction has received retrospective acclaim and has been viewed as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2018, it was re-released as a remastered box set to similar acclaim.
Johnny Cash
2/5
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison is the first live album by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records on May 6, 1968. After his 1955 song "Folsom Prison Blues", Cash had been interested in recording a performance at a prison. His idea was put on hold until 1967, when personnel changes at Columbia Records put Bob Johnston in charge of producing Cash's material. Cash had recently controlled his drug abuse problems, and was looking to turn his career around after several years of limited commercial success. Backed by June Carter, Carl Perkins, and the Tennessee Three, Cash performed two shows at Folsom State Prison in California on January 13, 1968. The album consists of 15 songs from the first show and two from the second.
The album release of At Folsom Prison was prepared in four months. Despite the recent success of "Rosanna's Going Wild", a Cash single released just before the Folsom concerts that reached number two on the country charts, Columbia initially invested little in the album or its single "Folsom Prison Blues". This was due partially to Columbia's efforts to promote pop stars instead of country artists.[24][25] Nevertheless, the single charted on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 25, 1968; it also hit the country charts a week later.[26][27] The single suffered a setback when Sirhan Sirhan assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy on June 5, 1968. Radio stations ceased playing the single due to the macabre line: "I shot a man in Reno / Just to watch him die". Reeling in the success prior to the assassination, Columbia demanded Johnston remix the single with the line removed. Despite protests from Cash, the single was edited and re-released. The new version became a success, reaching number one on the country charts and the top forty on the national charts.[28] The single prompted the album to climb the album charts, eventually reaching number one on the Top Country Albums chart and number thirteen on the Pop Albums chart—the forerunner to the Billboard 200.[29] By August 1968, Folsom had shipped over 300,000 copies; two months later it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping over 500,000.[30][31]
At Folsom Prison received rave reviews. Al Aronowitz of Life stated Cash sang the songs like "someone who has grown up believing he is one of the people that these songs are about."[32] For The Village Voice, Ann Fisher wrote that "every cut is special in its own way" and Richard Goldstein noted the album was "filled with the kind of emotionalism you seldom find in rock."[33][34] Fredrick E. Danker of Sing Out! praised At Folsom Prison as "an album structured an aural experience for us".[35]
Gorillaz
4/5
Gorillaz is the debut studio album by English virtual band Gorillaz, released on 26 March 2001 in the United Kingdom by Parlophone and in the United States by Virgin Records. The album reached number three in the UK and number fourteen in the US, and the top ten in several countries. Gorillaz has sold over seven million copies worldwide. The album's success earned the group an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "Most Successful Virtual Band",[1] and spawned the singles "Clint Eastwood", "19-2000", "Rock the House", and "Tomorrow Comes Today".
Critics have described the album as alternative rock,[12][13] lo-fi,[14][15] dub,[16][17] hip hop,[18][19] trip hop,[17][20] and art pop,[21] with elements of punk rock,[22] rap rock,[23] art rock,[16] Britpop,[18] Latin,[22] and bubblegum pop.[22] The album's first single "Clint Eastwood", is named after the famous movie actor. The theme from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly can be heard periodically throughout the song; this was one of several Sergio Leone-directed Italian westerns of the late 1960s in which Eastwood plays a character with no name. Years after the release of this album, it was revealed that the track "Starshine" has an alternative version, which features Luton-based rap group Phi Life Cypher. This version is not available on any releases, but it is available on the Phi Life Cypher SoundCloud channel and also on the video-sharing website YouTube.[24]
All editions of the Gorillaz album feature an enhanced section that included screen savers, wallpaper and an autoplay, featuring a short movie which opens the user's Internet browser to a special section of the Gorillaz website, which gives the user full access to Murdoc's Winnebago.[25]
Del the Funky Homosapien collaborated on two songs on the album, "Clint Eastwood" and "Rock the House", both of which became singles and videos and achieved chart success. Del was not originally slated to collaborate on these songs. By the time Del came onto the project, the album was already finished, and Phi Life Cypher had recorded verses for "Clint Eastwood"; but when Del finished making Deltron 3030 with Dan the Automator, Automator asked if he could stay in the studio a little longer to record new verses for the Gorillaz songs.[26] For the purposes of the music videos and the Gorillaz storyline canon, Del performed as Gorillaz character "Del the Ghost Rapper", who was said to be a spirit that was hiding from death within the band's drummer, Russel Hobbs. Del later commented in an interview on the success of "Clint Eastwood" by saying that he actually wrote his rap for the song using the book How to Write a Hit Song, a book that he bought with a coupon his mother gave him. After the song went platinum he gave the plaque to his mother.[27] As part of Russel Hobbs' back-story, the character of Del was one of Russel's friends that was gunned down in a drive-by shooting, whose ghost possessed Russel.[28]
ZZ Top
3/5
Tres Hombres (English: Three Men) is the third studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released by London Records in July 1973 and was the band's first collaboration with engineer Terry Manning. It was the band's commercial breakthrough; in the US, the album entered the top ten while the single "La Grange" reached number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2000, the album was voted number 501 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[9] In 2003, it was ranked number 498 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and in 2012 ranked at number 490 on a revised list.[10] The album peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 200. In July 2013, 40 years after its release, the album was described by Andrew Dansby in the Houston Chronicle as "... full of characters and doings so steeped in caricature – yet presented straight-faced – as to invite skepticism. The album is stuffed with color and flavor, much like its famous gate-fold photo on the inside: a gut-busting couple of plates of food from the much-beloved but now-closed Leo's Mexican Restaurant on South Shepherd near Westheimer."[11] AllMusic commented that "Tres Hombres is the record that brought ZZ Top their first top ten record, making them stars in the process. It couldn't have happened to a better record", and rated it 4.5 out of 5 stars.[12] Andy Beta of Pitchfork awarded the album 9.0 out of 10, writing that, "ZZ Top's 1973 breakthrough was a masterful melding of complementary styles, cramming Southern rock and blues boogie through the band's own idiosyncratic filter."[13]
The song "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers" was covered by British rock band Motörhead on their 1977 EP of the same name.[14] "Jesus Just Left Chicago" has been performed 81 times in concert by American jam band Phish since 1987, and their version of the song appeared on their 1997 live album Slip Stitch and Pass and four volumes of their Live Phish archival concert series.[15]
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Born in the U.S.A. is the seventh studio album by American rock singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. It was released by Columbia Records on June 4, 1984. The album's music was written by Springsteen and recorded with his E Street Band and producers Chuck Plotkin and Jon Landau at The Power Station and The Hit Factory in New York City over the course of several years. The process of recording the album was intertwined with that of his previous album, Nebraska. The cover featured an iconic photograph of Springsteen from behind, taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Born in the U.S.A. showed Springsteen embracing a livelier mainstream sound than on his previous records but continued to express progressive themes and values in his lyrics.[9] According to Roger Scott, it was a "defiantly rock 'n' roll" album,[10] while Rolling Stone's Debby Bull said Springsteen incorporated "electronic textures" with music he "kept as its heart all of the American rock & roll from the early Sixties".[11] Music journalist Matty Karas regarded it as "a quintessential pop album that was also a perfect distillation of the anger and bitterness seething beneath the surface of Reagan-era America."[12] Although Springsteen's previous record Nebraska had darker songs, he said Born in the U.S.A. was not entirely different: "If you look at the material, particularly on the first side, it's actually written very much like Nebraska – the characters and the stories, the style of writing – except it's just in the rock-band setting."[13] Springsteen considered leaving "No Surrender" off the album, explaining that "you don't hold out and triumph all the time in life. ... You compromise, you suffer defeat; you slip into life's gray areas."[14] Co-producer Steven Van Zandt convinced Springsteen otherwise: "He argued that the portrait of friendship and the song's expression of the inspirational power of rock music was an important part of the picture."[14]
Justice
3/5
Cross (stylized as †; titled Justice on digital platforms[1]) is the debut studio album by French electronic music duo Justice. It was first released digitally on 11 June 2007,[1] and later on 18 June through Ed Banger Records and Because Music in most countries and Vice Records in the United States.
Cross was released to critical acclaim. On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews and ratings from mainstream critics, the album received a metascore of 81 based on 25 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".[11] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone stated that "with loads of melodrama and not a moment of subtlety, Justice define the new-jacques swing."[20] Jess Harvell of Pitchfork called the album a "harsh and mostly instrumental set that nonetheless plays like the ideal crossover electronic-pop record", noting that "Justice knows how to sequence a dance album to avoid drag and boredom."[19] Michaelangelo Matos of The A.V. Club described it as "an engaging study in contrasts and a killer party record."[13] MSN Music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a two-star honorable mention ((2-star Honorable Mention)(2-star Honorable Mention)) rating,[22] indicating a "likable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well enjoy".[23] Christgau stated: "As dance music, not my idea of a good time, but as electronic pop, so much trickier, sillier and more kinetic than Kraftwerk."[22]
The Replacements
3/5
Let It Be is the third studio album by American rock band The Replacements. It was released on October 2, 1984 by Twin/Tone Records. A post-punk album with coming-of-age themes, Let It Be was recorded by the band after they had grown tired of playing loud and fast exclusively as on their 1983 Hootenanny album; the group decided to write songs that were, according to vocalist Paul Westerberg, "a little more sincere."[1]
Let It Be is a post-punk album.[9] Westerberg's lyrics feature themes of self-consciousness and rejection as felt by awkward youths, and deal with topics such as generational discontent on "Unsatisfied", uncontrollable arousal on "Gary's Got a Boner", and amateurish sexuality on "Sixteen Blue".[10] According to music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the album's coming-of-age theme is aligned between adolescence and adulthood, and unlike many other adolescent-themed post-punk records, Let It Be remains less on the subject of angst and incorporates humor and more varied music.[2]
In a retrospective review, eMusic's Karen Schoemer said that Let It Be is "as classic as rock & roll could be" and cited it as a cornerstone album of alternative rock, along with R.E.M.'s Murmur, the Pixies' Surfer Rosa, and Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation.[29] Eric Boehlert of Salon called it a "post-punk classic".[30] Singer-songwriter Colin Meloy wrote of Let It Be in an edition of the 33⅓ series dedicated to the album: "I listened to Let It Be endlessly. The record seemed to encapsulate perfectly all of the feelings that were churning inside me [...] Paul Westerberg's weary voice sounded from my boombox and I trembled to think that here I was, thirteen and the 'hardest age' was still three years in the making."[31] In a 2005 review, Rolling Stone's Christian Hoard wrote that the Replacements "had no use for the principles or oblique artiness" of contemporary indie rock bands such as Sonic Youth and Hüsker Dü, and concluded that "few albums so brilliantly evoke the travails of growing up, and even fewer have so perfectly captured a young band in all its ragged glory."[19]
Let It Be has frequently been included on professional lists of the all-time best rock albums. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it at number 239 on its list of 'The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time' and called it "a post-punk masterpiece",[5] slipping to number 241 in a 2012 revision,[32] but climbing to number 156 in the 2020 reboot of the list.[33]
Jacques Brel
3/5
Enregistrement Public à l'Olympia 1964 is Jacques Brel's second live album. The original 25 cm LP version only contained track 1-8. Also known as Olympia 64, the album was reissued with a total of 15 chansons in 1988 as part of CD Box "Integrale", and on 23 September 2003 under the title Enregistrement Public à l'Olympia 1964 as part of the 16-CD box set Boîte à Bonbons by Barclay (980 817-1).[1][2] The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[3]
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
3/5
Tarkus is the second studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in June 1971 on Island Records. Following their 1970 European tour, the group returned to Advision Studios in London, in January 1971, to prepare material for a follow-up. Side one has the seven-part "Tarkus", with a collection of shorter tracks on side two.
Although it is now considered a quintessential progressive rock album,[citation needed] Tarkus received generally unfavourable reviews from critics upon its release, such as David Lebin in Rolling Stone who wrote: "Tarkus records the failure of three performers to become creators. Regardless of how fast and how many styles they can play. Emerson, Lake and Palmer will continue turning out mediocrity like Tarkus until they discover what, if anything, it is that they must say on their own and for themselves."[18]
François Couture, in a retrospective review for AllMusic, said that Tarkus is "a very solid album, especially to the ears of prog rock fans – no Greg Lake acoustic ballads, no lengthy jazz interludes". Couture concluded, "More accomplished than the trio's first album, but not quite as polished as Brain Salad Surgery, Tarkus is nevertheless a must-have."[12] Paul Stump's 1997 History of Progressive Rock praised the album's title track but criticized the "enervatingly portentous lyrics" and the traditional form of the solos (beginning and ending on downbeats, using blues voicings). He also said the two comedy songs ("Jeremy Bender" and "Are you Ready Eddie?") "have aged embarrassingly."[19]
3/5
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea is the fifth studio album by English alternative rock musician PJ Harvey, released on 24 October 2000 by Island Records.[2] Recorded during March to April 2000, it contains themes of love that are tied into Harvey's affection for New York City.[3]
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea received critical acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 88, based on 25 reviews.[6] NME hailed it as "a magnificent, life-affirming opus" by Harvey.[22] Robert Christgau called it "the best album of her career" in his review for Rolling Stone.[25]
the updated version of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, it was ranked at number 431,[39] then in the 2020 update, it was moved up to number 313.[40]
The Cure
3/5
Seventeen Seconds is the second studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 18 April 1980 by Fiction Records. The album marked the first time frontman Robert Smith co-produced with Mike Hedges. After the departure of original bassist Michael Dempsey, Simon Gallup became an official member along with keyboardist Matthieu Hartley. The single "A Forest" was the band's first entry in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.
The album's songs have been described by critics as featuring vague, often unsettling lyrics and dark, spare, minimalistic melodies. Some reviewers, such as Nick Kent of NME, felt that Seventeen Seconds represented a far more mature Cure, who had come very far musically in less than one year.[20] Ian Cranna of Smash Hits wrote that the band were creating more ambitious music, while still retaining their "powerful melodic intensity".[17] Chris Westwood of Record Mirror was less enthusiastic, viewing the album as "a sidewards step" rather than a progression; he found the material "biteless, a bit distant", showcasing a "reclusive, disturbed Cure, sitting in cold, dark, empty rooms, watching clocks".[21]
Simon Reynolds said the album was "translucent-sounding", with shades of the Durutti Column, Young Marble Giants and Another Green World by Brian Eno.[22] AllMusic writer Chris True said that while Seventeen Seconds had come to be largely overlooked in later years apart from its single "A Forest", it nonetheless represented an important development for the Cure, capturing them becoming "more rigid in sound, and more disciplined in attitude", and anticipating the bleak lyrical themes that would become more apparent on subsequent Cure albums.[11
Ash
3/5
1977 is the debut studio album by Northern Irish rock band Ash. It was released on 6 May 1996 by Home Grown and Infectious Records, with whom the band had signed following the release of several demo tapes. Ash released the mini-album Trailer in 1994, and followed it with three singles "Kung Fu", "Girl from Mars", and "Angel Interceptor", all of which would reappear on 1977. Ash recorded their debut album with producer Owen Morris at Rockfield Studios in Wales in early 1996. Described as a Britpop, power pop and garage rock album, 1977 drew comparisons to the Buzzcocks, Dinosaur Jr., and Sonic Youth.
Musically, the sound of 1977 has been described as Britpop,[35][36] power pop,[37][38] and garage rock,[39] with elements of glam rock and grunge,[40] drawing comparisons to the work of Buzzcocks and Sonic Youth, as well as the albums Bug (1988) by Dinosaur Jr., and Bandwagonesque (1991) by Teenage Fanclub.[41][42][38] Wheeler attributed the range of styles to the band's American label, Reprise Records, having sent him several CDs from their back catalogue.[30] They had spent two months coming up with random titles: Ash – The Album, Child Abuse, A Tribute to Apache Indian, Owen's Angels, Tim, Mark and the Other and Corporate Record Company Bullshit Wank.[30][43] When Morris eventually asked what it was going to be called, the band replied 1977.[30] It refers to the release year of Star Wars (1977) and the year Wheeler and Hamilton were born.[41][42] Though some commenters said it alluded to the year punk rock and Sex Pistols achieved mainstream popularity, author Charlie Porter in his biography on the band Ash: 77–97 dismissed this.[44] He said the genre's "vigour was extinguished by bitterness and internal cat-fights", de-evolving into a brand, "[s]o punk is not the reason this CD [...] is called 1977". He considered the name as "rather a blank name, a title that sounds sassy, but which means nothing. It leaves the music to be judge on its own merit".[45]
The Last Shadow Puppets
3/5
The Age of the Understatement is the debut album by The Last Shadow Puppets, featuring Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys, Miles Kane of The Rascals and James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco. It was released on 21 April 2008 in the UK, following the release of the title track as a single in the previous week.[6] It entered the UK Album Chart at No. 1 on 27 April 2008. The album was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Music Prize.[7]
The Age of the Understatement received largely positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 25 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[43]
Marc Hogan of Pitchfork gave the album a favorable review, stating, "The biggest difference between The Last Shadow Puppets and Turner's main gig is in the lyrics. Though less immediately noticeable than the majestic production, the change in the scale of Turner's songwriting is ultimately more profound." Hogan continues, calling the album "Turner's most impressive album-length statement yet, one that strives, musically and lyrically, for the epic grandeur of an era before GarageBand or MySpace, and avoids lapsing into pretentiousness by dint of its own headlong enthusiasm."[2] On the difference between Turner's projects, Mikael Wood of Spin, thought the album replaced "the Arctic Monkeys’ circa-now cynicism with old-school romance".[50]
Sonic Youth
3/5
EVOL is the third full-length studio album by the American alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Released in May 1986, EVOL was Sonic Youth’s first album on SST Records, and also the first album to feature then-new drummer Steve Shelley who had just replaced Bob Bert.
In retrospective reviews, critics cite EVOL as marking Sonic Youth’s transition from their no wave roots toward a greater pop sensibility, while bassist Kim Gordon has referred to it as the band’s “goth record.” Pitchfork has praised the album, saying that EVOL "[was] where the seeds of greatness were sown", and placed the album 31st on their Top 100 Albums of the 1980s list, alongside Sonic Youth's next two albums, Sister and Daydream Nation, which ranked 14th and first, respectively.[1]
EVOL has been well received by critics. Robert Christgau, with whom the band had sparred in previous years, gave the album a B+.[19] It ranked number 4 among the "Albums of the Year" by NME.[20] Slant Magazine, who placed EVOL at number 82 on their Best Albums of the 1980s list, described it as "one of [Sonic Youth's] strangest albums" and "a difficult album that's nonetheless one of the best latter-day invocations of no wave chaos."[21] Pitchfork described the album as "the true departure point of Sonic Youth's musical evolution – in measured increments, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo began to bring form to the formless, tune to the tuneless, and with the help of Steve Shelley's drums, they imposed melody and composition on their trademark dissonance." Pitchfork went on to say that EVOL "[was] where the seeds of greatness were sown",[1] and placed it 31st on their list of the Top 100 Albums of the 1980s.[1] Trouser Press labeled it "a near-masterpiece",[22] and Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave it a 4.5-star review, writing that EVOL is "a stunningly fluent mixture of avant-garde instrumentation and subversions of rock & roll."[10]
EVOL
Talvin Singh
4/5
OK is the debut studio album by English / Indian tabla player and record producer Talvin Singh, released on Island Records in 1998. It won him the Mercury Prize for 1999.[9] The record was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[10] It took nine months of travelling around and recording to complete the album. Singh recorded in London and on Okinawa Island to capture folk singers, as well as in India to collaborate with the Madras Philharmonic Orchestra.[11]
In the NME, reviewer Christian Ward noted that Singh was "trying to cover the globe with his music", as a voice intones "The world is sound", at the start of the album.[6] The record is rooted in India with odes to Asian underground scene, dub rhythms and jazz. There is also a contrast between "geisha choirs and cut-up beats", along with plaintive orchestral arrangements.[6] Reviewer noted that "convulsive rhythms compete with sensuous strings to create a deep, dark atmosphere", concluding with this positive sentence, "There are still more sonic territories to explore, but on this evidence, it seems that Talvin Singh will get there first."[
George Michael
3/5
Faith is the debut solo studio album by the English singer George Michael, released on 30 October 1987 by Columbia Records and Epic Records. In addition to playing various instruments on the album, Michael wrote and produced every track on the recording except for one, "Look at Your Hands", which he co-wrote with David Austin. A "black" inspired pop-R&B album, Faith's songs include introspective lyrics, which generated controversies about Michael's personal relationships at that time.[3]
Faith is one of the best-selling albums of all time having sold over 25 million copies worldwide and was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1996.[5] The album won several awards, including Album of the Year at the 31st Grammy Awards. Michael won three awards at the 1989 American Music Awards: Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album for Faith. He was also honoured with the MTV Video Vanguard Award. Often ranked as one of the best albums of the 1980s, Faith was ranked number 472 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In a revised list in 2020, it was listed at number 151.
Reviewing the reissue of Faith for the Metro in 2011, Arwa Haider claimed: "Faith still bursts with self-belief, designer vanity, classic songs and imagery, right from the opening title track which begins with a funeral church organ rendition of Wham!'s hit, "Freedom", before clicking into jaunty rock 'n' roll. It's easy to hear why Faith achieved multi-million status, although the masterful ballads ("Father Figure", "One More Try") have stood the test of time better than Michael's funk-pop."[28] Following the 30th anniversary of the release of the single "Faith", Nate Hertweck wrote in a Grammy Awards review that the song "change[d] everything".[29]
Charles Mingus
3/5
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is a studio album by American jazz double bassist, composer, and bandleader Charles Mingus. It was recorded on January 20, 1963, and released in July of that year by Impulse! Records. The album consists of a single continuous composition—partially written as a ballet—divided into four tracks and six movements.[1]
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is among the most acclaimed jazz records of the 20th century. Richard Cook and Brian Morton, writers of The Penguin Guide to Jazz, awarded the album a "Crown" token, the publication's highest accolade, in addition to the highest four-star rating.[6] Steve Huey of AllMusic awards The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady five stars out of five and describes the album as "one of the greatest achievements in orchestration by any composer in jazz history."[7] Q magazine describes the album as "a mixture of haunting bluesiness, dancing vivacity, and moments of Andalusian heat" and awards it four of five stars.[9]
Abdullah Ibrahim
4/5
Water from an Ancient Well is a jazz album by South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim that was first released in 1986.
The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[3]
Big Brother & The Holding Company
4/5
Cheap Thrills is the second studio album by American rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company. It was their last album with Janis Joplin as lead singer before she started a solo career. For Cheap Thrills, the band and producer John Simon incorporated recordings of crowd noise to give the impression of a live album, for which it was subsequently mistaken by listeners. Only "Ball and Chain" was actually recorded in concert at Winterland Ballroom.[1][2]
a contemporary review, Rolling Stone magazine's John Hardin panned Cheap Thrills as living up to its title and being merely satisfactory: "What this record is not is 1) a well-produced, good rock and roll recording; 2) Janis Joplin at her highest and most intense moments; and 3) better than the Mainstream record issued last year."[12]
Robert Christgau was more enthusiastic in his column for Esquire and called it Big Brother's "first physically respectable effort", as it "not only gets Janis's voice down, it also does justice to her always-underrated and ever-improving musicians."[13] He named it the third best album of 1968 in his ballot for Jazz & Pop magazine's critics poll.[14]
In a retrospective review penned in the 2000s, AllMusic's William Ruhlmann hailed Cheap Thrills as Joplin's "greatest moment" and said it sounds like "a musical time capsule [today] and remains a showcase for one of rock's most distinctive singers."[3]
JAY Z
5/5
The Blueprint is the sixth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released on September 11, 2001, through Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. Its release was set a week earlier than initially planned in order to combat bootlegging. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2001 at Manhattan Center Studios and Baseline Studios in New York City. Contrasting the radio-friendly sound of Jay-Z's previous work, The Blueprint features soul-based sampling and production handled primarily by Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Bink, as well as Timbaland, Trackmasters, and Eminem, who also contributes the album's sole guest feature.
At the time of the album's recording, Jay-Z was awaiting two criminal trials, one for gun possession and another for assault, and had become one of hip hop's most dissed artists, receiving insults from rappers such as Nas, Prodigy, and Jadakiss.[2][3] The album is also famous for both its producers Kanye West and Just Blaze's breakouts as major producers. West produced four of the thirteen tracks on the album, including the songs "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" and the controversial "Takeover", which included diss lyrics aimed at rappers Nas and Prodigy, while Just Blaze produced three tracks, "Girls, Girls, Girls", "Song Cry", and "U Don't Know", also including the hidden bonus track "Breathe Easy (Lyrical Exercise)".
The Blueprint received universal acclaim from music critics, with praise being directed at Jay-Z's lyricism and the production. It is considered one of his best albums and has also been labeled as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. Despite its release coinciding with the September 11 attacks, it sold over 427,000 copies in its opening week and debuted at number one in the US, holding the spot for three weeks. It was later certified 2x Multi-Platinum by the RIAA.
Beatles
3/5
A Hard Day's Night is the third studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 10 July 1964 by Parlophone, with side one containing songs from the soundtrack to their film of the same name. The American version of the album was released two weeks earlier, on 26 June 1964 by United Artists Records, with a different track listing that included selections from George Martin's film score. In contrast to the Beatles' first two albums, all 13 tracks on A Hard Day's Night were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, showcasing the development of their songwriting partnership.
Side one of the LP contains the songs from the film soundtrack. Side two contains songs written for, but not included in, the film, although a 1980s re-release of the film includes a prologue before the opening credits with "I'll Cry Instead" on the soundtrack.[20] The title of the album and film was the accidental creation of Starr.[21] According to Lennon in a 1980 interview with Playboy magazine: "I was going home in the car and [film director] Dick Lester suggested the title, 'Hard Day's Night' from something Ringo had said. I had used it in In His Own Write, but it was an off-the-cuff remark by Ringo. You know, one of those malapropisms. A Ringo-ism, where he said it not to be funny ... just said it. So Dick Lester said, 'We are going to use that title.'"[22]
A Hard Day's Night is the first Beatles album to feature entirely original compositions, and the only one where all the songs were written by Lennon–McCartney.[23] Lennon is the primary author of nine of the thirteen tracks on the album, as well as being the lead singer on these same nine tracks (although Paul McCartney sings lead on the title track's middle-eight). Lennon and McCartney co-wrote "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You", sung by Harrison,[24] while McCartney wrote "And I Love Her", "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Things We Said Today". It is one of three Beatles albums, along with Let It Be and Magical Mystery Tour, in which Starr does not sing lead vocal on any songs. (Starr sang the lead vocal on "Matchbox" during the sessions; it appeared instead on the Long Tall Sally EP.) It is also one of three Beatles albums, along with Please Please Me and Beatles for Sale, in which Harrison does not contribute to the songwriting.
George Harrison's resonant 12-string electric guitar leads [on A Hard's Day's Night] were hugely influential; the movie helped persuade the Byrds, then folksingers, to plunge all out into rock & roll, and the Beatles would be hugely influential on the folk-rock explosion of 1965. The Beatles' success, too, had begun to open the US market for fellow English bands like the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and the Kinks, and inspired young American groups like the Beau Brummels, Lovin' Spoonful, and others to mount a challenge of their own with self-penned material that owed a great debt to Lennon–McCartney.[33]
Motörhead
3/5
Ace of Spades is the fourth studio album by British rock band Motörhead, released on 8 November 1980 via Bronze Records. It is the band's most commercially successful album, peaking at number four on the UK Albums Chart and reaching gold status in the UK by March 1981. It was preceded by the release of the title track as a single on 27 October, which peaked in the UK Singles Chart at No. 15 in early November.[2]
The album has been described as "one of the best metal albums by any band, ever"[15] and a significantly influential "hard rock classic".[16][failed verification]AllMusic calls it "rock-solid, boasting several superlative standouts" and insists it "rightly deserves its legacy as a classic". Sid Smith of BBC Music enthused in 2007:
"When Lemmy sings the lyrics to '(We Are) The Road Crew' it's the sound of a grizzled veteran who has been there, done that and gone back for second helpings... If ever a piece of music was a manifesto for the mad, bad and dangerous to know party then the title track is it. Unrepentant and full of hell, there's not one note out of place."
Despite the band always referring to their music as rock 'n' roll,[17] the album, and particularly its title track, have been considered amongst the most influential in the development of thrash metal.[18] The title track is, for many, the definitive Motörhead anthem.[19]
The album is listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2020, it was ranked at 408 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.[3]
Public Image Ltd.
3/5
Public Image: First Issue is the debut studio album by English rock band Public Image Ltd, released in 1978 by record label Virgin.
However, the album is now considered a groundbreaking post-punk classic. AllMusic critic Uncle Dave Lewis stated that the record "helped set the pace" for the post-punk genre, adding that it was "among a select few 1978 albums that had something lasting to say about the future of rock music."[1] Pitchfork's Stuart Berman wrote, "First Issue's industrial-strength stompers anticipate the scabrous art-punk of the Jesus Lizard and Slint, while Levene's guitar curlicues on 'Public Image' are the stuff Daydream Nations are made of."[63] Public Image: First Issue is, along with Metal Box, included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[72]
Beach House
3/5
Teen Dream is the third studio album by American dream pop duo Beach House. It was released on January 27, 2010 as the band's debut album on the record label Sub Pop. Internationally, the album was released by Bella Union in Europe, Mistletone Records in Australia, and Arts & Crafts in Mexico. The album was produced by the band and Chris Coady.
Teen Dream received critical acclaim. Review aggregator Metacritic, which collates reviews from various publications, indicates a score of 82 out of 100 from 35 professional critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[8] Many reviews commented on the change in sound including BBC Music, who stated that "the most unmistakeable sound on Teen Dream is that of a band truly finding its own voice".[19] Several publications focused on Victoria Legrand's vocals, with Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone complimenting Legrand's "dusky torch singing"[17] and The Boston Phoenix praising her voice as "coiling like smoke in the arches of the church".[20] Robert Christgau, writing in MSN Music, selected "Lover of Mine" and "Norway" as highlights and awarded the album a one-star honorable mention rating,[21] indicating "a worthy effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well like."[22] In a negative review, Tom Hughes of The Guardian felt that Teen Dream is "carefully, even beautifully arranged", but nonetheless "oddly icy and melodically a little ineffectual".[12] Audra Schroeder of The Austin Chronicle called the album "solid" but felt that it was "not Beach House's masterpiece," quipping that the duo "still got some gold dust to kick up".[23]
Love
3/5
Da Capo is the second studio album by the American psychedelic rock band Love, released in November 1966. It was recorded between September and October 1966 at RCA Studios in Hollywood, California
Writer and musician Dave Swanson says that Da Capo builds upward from the foundation laid out on Love's debut album to incorporate more complex arrangements, instrumentation, and production. He notes the various musical influences that show throughout the album, such as: "breezy, jazzy pop" on "Orange Skies"; "Burt Bacharach-styled pop and bossa nova" merging on "¡Que Vida!"; the "defiant, proto-punk" sound on "7 and 7 Is"; and the acoustic style on "The Castle" which "prefigures" the band's next album Forever Changes.[27] In his biography of Arthur Lee, Barney Hoskyns says that the album introduced "a psychedelic and almost baroque edge" to the band's original garage-folk sound, and that side one of the album also features elements of Latin and Broadway music.[28]
The skills of Stuart and Cantrelli allowed Love to attempt a more sophisticated kind of music, namely jazz.[29] Because of this, Da Capo is one of the earliest rock albums to be described as jazz rock,[30] although Lee initially dismissed this label in a 1967 interview with Hit Parader: "I don't call it that. It's free music. We have to choose material that will fit this group and that's free music. We don't want any patterns; we go completely against the book."[31] The album Out of Sight and Sound by the Free Spirits, considered by some to be the first jazz rock record, was released about a month after Da Capo.[30]
Talking Heads
3/5
More Songs About Buildings and Food is the second studio album by American rock band Talking Heads, released on July 14, 1978, by Sire Records. It was the first of three albums produced by collaborator Brian Eno, and saw the band move toward a danceable style, crossing singer David Byrne's unusual delivery with new emphasis on the rhythm section composed of bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz.
Belle & Sebastian
3/5
Tigermilk is the 1996 debut album from Scottish pop group Belle and Sebastian. Originally given a limited release (1,000 copies) by Electric Honey, the album was subsequently re-released in 1999 by Jeepster Records.
The album is named after an instrumental that did not end up on the album – it was later performed on Belle and Sebastian's early tours. All of the songs on the album were written by Stuart Murdoch between 1993 and 1996, and originally performed solo on the Glasgow open mic circuit. Though he performs on the album, trumpet player Mick Cooke was not then an official member of the band.
Tigermilk has sold over 124,000 copies.[14] Pitchfork included "The State I Am In" at number 17 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s.[15] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[16]
An Ebay charity auction of the stuffed animal in the cover art of the Tigermilk album in 2019 [17] was won by Lisa Carr of Washington, DC. Lisa Carr had also previously won an auction for bandleader Stuart Murdoch's car in 2002 [18] and an auction of the stuffed animal on the cover of Dog on Wheels in 2004.
Merle Haggard
3/5
I'm a Lonesome Fugitive is the third studio album by Merle Haggard and The Strangers released on Capitol Records in 1967.
The song "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive" brought Haggard country stardom. Although it sounds autobiographical (Haggard had done time at San Quentin), David Cantwell states in his book The Running Kind that it was actually written by Liz Anderson and her husband Casey while driving cross country and was inspired by the popular television show The Fugitive starring David Jansen as Richard Kimble. Haggard felt a connection to the song immediately and when it was released it became his first number one country hit. When Anderson played the song for Haggard, she was unaware about his prison stretch. "I guess I didn't realize how much the experience at San Quentin did to him, 'cause he never talked about it all that much," Bonnie Owens, Haggard's backup singer, and then-wife, is quoted in the liner notes to the 1994 retrospective, Down Every Road. "I could tell he was in a dark mood...and I said, 'Is everything okay?' And he said, 'I'm really scared.' And I said, 'Why?' And he said, 'Cause I'm afraid someday I'm gonna be out there...and there's gonna be some convict...some prisoner that was in there the same time I was in, stand up—and they're gonna be about the third row down—and say, 'What do you think you're doing, 45200?'"[1] Haggard would address the issue on his next album, Branded Man.
I'm a Lonesome Fugitive was released on March 4, 1967 and rose to number 3 on the Billboard country albums chart and made it to number 165 on the pop charts. As with his previous album Swinging Doors, Haggard wrote nearly all the songs himself. As David Cantwell observed in 2013, most of the songs find Haggard in some sort of trap, citing the prison song "Life in Prison" and "House of Memories" ("My house is a prison...") and describes the album as "hurtling and out of control even when standing still.[4] Merle can do nothing but sit and wait for phone calls that never come...It's a fantastic album, start to end..." George Bedard of AllMusic praises Haggard's cover of the Jimmie Rodgers classic "Rough and Rowdy Ways," insisting that Haggard "could evoke the Ghosts of Country Past in an absolutely convincing way without nostalgia or imitation."[3]
The Modern Lovers
3/5
The Modern Lovers is the debut studio album by American rock band the Modern Lovers. It was released on Beserkley Records in 1976, although, bar "Hospital" (recorded in 1971), the original tracks had been recorded in 1972. Six of the original tracks were produced by John Cale
.The Modern Lovers was immediately given an enthusiastic critical reception, with critic Ira Robbins of Trouser Press hailing it as "one of the truly great art rock albums of all time".[3] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice felt that Jonathan Richman was deserving of his "critics' darling" status and stated that "by cutting through the vaguely protesty ambience of so-called rock culture he opens the way for a worldliness that is specific, realistic, and genuinely critical."[18]
In a retrospective write-up for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine states that "the combination of musical simplicity, driving rock & roll, and gawky emotional confessions makes The Modern Lovers one of the most startling proto-punk records—it strips rock & roll to its core and establishes the rock tradition of the geeky, awkward social outcast venting his frustrations."[8]
The Modern Lovers influenced numerous aspiring punk rock musicians on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Sex Pistols, whose early cover of "Roadrunner" was placed on The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. In the UK, the versions of "Roadrunner" produced by Cale and Kaufman were released as two sides of a single, which became a chart hit in 1977.[19]
In 2003, the album was ranked number 381 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[20] 382 in 2012,[21] and 288 in 2020.[22]
Björk
3/5
Debut is the debut studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk as an international singer,[nb 1] released in July 1993 by One Little Indian and Elektra Entertainment. It was produced by Björk and Nellee Hooper. It was Björk's first recording following the dissolution of her previous band, the Sugarcubes. The album departed from the rock style of her previous work and drew from an eclectic variety of styles, including electronic pop, house music, jazz and trip hop.
Debut is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of 1993 and the 1990s in general.[91] According to NME, it turned "an idiosyncratic vocalist from a feted cult band into a significant global pop star".[92] In 2013, John Hamilton of Idolator called the album "highly influential", and wrote "in spite of its advancing age, Debut's futurism has aged exquisitely."[93] The album has also been credited as one of the first albums to introduce electronic music into mainstream pop.[31][93] Stereogum's Tom Breihan wrote: "House music didn't quite have critical respect before Björk came along, and plenty of American writers didn't know what to make of the sound of Debut when it came out. [...] Debut didn't just establish Björk; it helped make sounds like that cool to a segment of the music-dork universe that might've remained deaf to its charms otherwise. At this point, it's virtually impossible to imagine a big publication slamming an adventurous dance-pop album for "cheap electronic gimmickry,"[nb 2] and Debut is a big part of that change."[31] Björk's embrace of England's dance culture also extended to her looks, her style at the time considered representative of 1990s acid house fashion.[35][36] Celebrating the album's twenty-year anniversary, Emily Mackay of NME wrote the album "put the lie to the post-grunge assumption that heartfelt, passionate solo artistry came in the form of acoustic guitar and heartbreak, creating a new breed of singer-songwriter."[47] Dubbing it an "influential masterpiece", she found influences of the album in the work of musicians such as M.I.A., Grimes, These New Puritans and Tune-Yards, writing: "It's in fascinatingly individual artists like those that you'll find [Björk's] influence – not, as many would have you believe, in every pretty-faced girl with a big voice."[47] Mackay also noted that the album's legacy echoes through dance-pop
The B-52's
3/5
The B-52's is the debut album by the Athens, Georgia-based new wave band the B-52's. The kitschy lyrics and mood, and the hook-laden harmonies helped establish a fanbase for the band, who went on to release several chart-topping singles. The album cover was designed by Tony Wright (credited as Sue Ab Surd).
The B-52's peaked at number 59 on the Billboard 200,[3] and "Rock Lobster" reached number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100.[4] In 2003, the television network VH1 named The B-52's the 99th greatest album of all time. Shortly before his death, John Lennon said he enjoyed the album.[5] In his 1995 book, The Alternative Music Almanac, Alan Cross placed the album ninth on the list of 10 Classic Alternative Albums. In 2020, the album was ranked number 198 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[6]
Critical reception for The B-52's was generally favorable; critics praised the album's kitschy lyrics and party atmosphere.[1][16] In his "Consumer Guide" column for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau remarked on his fondness "for the pop junk they recycle—with love and panache," while also noting that he was "more delighted with their rhythms, which show off their Georgia roots by adapting the innovations of early funk (a decade late, just like the Stones and Chicago blues) to an endlessly danceable forcebeat format."[17]
The Clash
3/5
London Calling is the third studio album by English rock band the Clash. It was originally released as a double album in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 by CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 by Epic Records.
The Clash recorded the album with producer Guy Stevens at Wessex Sound Studios in London during August, September and November 1979, following a change in management and a period of writer's block for songwriters Joe Strummer and Mick Jones. Bridging a traditional punk rock sound and a new wave aesthetic, London Calling reflects the band's growing interest in styles beyond their punk roots, including reggae, rockabilly, ska, New Orleans R&B, pop, lounge jazz, and hard rock. Themes include social displacement, unemployment, racial conflict, drug use, and the responsibilities of adulthood.
The album's songs are generally about London, with narratives featuring both fictional and life-based characters, such as an underworld criminal named Jimmy Jazz and a gun-toting Jimmy Cliff aspirant living in Brixton ("Guns of Brixton").[31] In the opinion of PopMatters journalist Sal Ciolfi, the songs encompass an arrangement of urban narratives and characters, and touch on themes such as sex, depression and identity crisis.[32] "Rudie Can't Fail" chronicles the life of a fun-loving young man who is criticised for his inability to act like a responsible adult.[27] "Clampdown" comments on people who forsake the open-minded idealism of youth and urges young people to fight the status quo.[33] "The Guns of Brixton" explores an individual's paranoid outlook on life,[19] while on "Death or Glory", Strummer examines his life in retrospect and acknowledges the complications and responsibilities of adulthood.[34] "Lover's Rock" advocates safe sex and planning.[35
]London Calling has since been considered by many critics to be one of the greatest rock albums of all time,[79] including AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who said that it sounded more purposeful than "most albums, let alone double albums".[26] "This epic double album, from its iconic sleeve to its wildly eclectic mash-up of styles, is surely the quintessential rock album", wrote BBC Music journalist Mark Sutherland.[80] In Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s (1990), Christgau called it the best double album since the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St. (1972) and said it expanded upon, rather than compromised, the Clash's driving guitar sound in a "warm, angry, and thoughtful, confident, melodic, and hard-rocking" showcase of their musical abilities.[72] According to the English music writer Dave Thompson, London Calling established the Clash as more than "a simple punk band" with a "potent" album of neurotic post-punk, despite its amalgam of disparate and occasionally disjointed musical influences.[81] Don McLeese from the Chicago Sun-Times regarded it as their best album and "punk's finest hour", as it found the band broadening their artistry without compromising their original vigor and immediacy.[71] PopMatters critic Sal Ciolfi called it a "big, loud, beautiful collection of hurt, anger, restless thought, and above all hope" that still sounds "relevant and vibrant".[32] In a review of its 25th anniversary reissue, Uncut wrote that the songs and characters in the lyrics cross-referenced each other because of the album's exceptional sequencing, adding that "The Vanilla Tapes" bonus disc enhanced what was already a "masterpiece".[82]
Bebel Gilberto
3/5
Tanto Tempo (lit. "So Much Time") is an album by Brazilian bossa nova singer Bebel Gilberto. Tanto Tempo was produced by Serbian producer Suba and co-produced by Béco Dranoff for the Ziriguiboom imprint of Crammed Discs. Suba died from smoke inhalation while saving the newly recorded album from a studio fire. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[8]
In 2011 it was awarded a platinum certification from the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 400,000 copies throughout Europe.[9] As of 2009 it has sold 309,000 copies in United States according to Nielsen SoundScan.[10] and as of 2004 it was reported that it has reached over a million copies sold worldwide.[11]
Roxy Music
3/5
Roxy Music is the debut studio album by the English rock band Roxy Music. It was released on 16 June 1972.
The opening track, "Re-Make/Re-Model", has been labelled a postmodernist pastiche, featuring solos by each member of the band echoing various touchstones of Western music, including The Beatles' "Day Tripper", Duane Eddy's version of "Peter Gunn", and Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries"; the esoteric "CPL 593H" was supposedly the licence number of a car spotted by Bryan Ferry that was driven by a beautiful woman. Brian Eno produced some self-styled "lunacy" when Ferry asked him for a sound "like the moon" for the track "Ladytron". "If There Is Something" was covered by David Bowie's Tin Machine, and was later featured quite extensively, almost as a central figure, in the British film Flashbacks of a Fool.
Several of the album's songs were thematically linked to films. "2HB", with its punning title, was Ferry's tribute to Humphrey Bogart and quoted the line "Here's looking at you, kid" made famous by the 1942 film Casablanca; "Chance Meeting" was inspired by David Lean's Brief Encounter (1945). "The Bob" took its title from Battle of Britain (1968) and included a passage simulating the sound of gunfire.
Reviewing for Creem in 1973, Robert Christgau said: "From the drag queen on the cover to the fop finery in the centerfold to the polished deformity of the music on the record, this celebrates the kind of artifice that could come to seem as unhealthy as the sheen on a piece of rotten meat. Right now, though, it's decorated with enough weird hooks to earn an A for side one. Side two leans a little too heavily on the synthesizer (played by a balding, long-haired eunuch lookalike named Eno) without the saving grace of drums and bassline."[17]
Around the time of the release of Roxy Music's third album Stranded, Ferry was quoted as saying that he did not like the odd production of Roxy Music and was re-recording many of its tracks. Ferry eventually re-recorded "Re-Make/Re-Model", "2HB", "Chance Meeting" and "Sea Breezes", and released them as B-sides to some of his solo singles between 1973 and 1976, collecting them together on his 1976 solo album Let's Stick Together.
In 1994, Roxy Music was ranked number 57 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. He described the album as "totally original and a breath of bizarre air", noting that it "put Bryan Ferry and Eno at the forefront of the art-rock movement."[18] In 2003, Rolling Stone included the album at number 62 in its list of the best debut albums of all time and stated: "In England in the early Seventies, there was nerdy art-rock and sexy glam-rock and rarely did the twain meet. Until this record, that is."[19] Uncut placed it at number nine on its 2015 list of the best debut albums.[20] In 2005, Q included Roxy Music at number 31 in a list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums" published in its special issue Pink Floyd & the Story of Prog Rock.[21] In 2012, Treble named it as one of 10 "essential" glam rock albums.[22
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
Californication is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was released on June 8, 1999, on Warner Bros. Records and was produced by Rick Rubin.
Californication marked the return of the guitarist John Frusciante, who had previously appeared on Mother's Milk and Blood Sugar Sex Magik, to replace Dave Navarro, and shifted the band's style. The lyrics incorporated the sexual innuendos already associated with the band, but added themes including death, suicide, California, drugs, globalization and travel.
The record marked a significant change in style for the band: Rolling Stone's Greg Tate noted that "while all previous Chili Peppers projects have been highly spirited, Californication dares to be spiritual and epiphanic".[5] Another critic, Billboard's Paul Verna, mentioned that the album brought out "the group's softer, melodic side", as opposed to their previous six albums.[6]
Since its release, some journalists have credited Californication with revitalizing the Red Hot Chili Peppers' image and relevancy.[44][68][69] During the eight year period between the band's breakthrough album–Blood Sugar Sex Magik–and Californication, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' only release was One Hot Minute, which was seen by fans and critics as a failure.[69] Additionally, the rise of the Internet and online music streaming platforms such as Napster gave consumers more options to listen to, which meant established bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers no longer had built-in followings.[70] Writing about this period of the band's career, Ryan Leas of Stereogum said: "RHCP had already been around since the early days of the '80s, but they were now approaching the other side of another decade, one that had granted them stardom ... they were positioned for, in need of, a comeback moment."[69] Loudwire's Chad Childer's offers similar commentary, and believes Californication helped solidify the band's status as eventual inductees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[68]
Minor Threat
3/5
Out of Step is the sole studio album by American hardcore punk band Minor Threat. It was released on 45 RPM vinyl in April 1983 through Dischord Records. Although Out of Step has only been released on CD in limited quantities, it has been repressed on vinyl as recently as 2010,[1] and all tracks from the album are available on Minor Threat's 1989 compilation album Complete Discography.
It is considered as an elementary piece of the punk rock (specifically hardcore punk) genre and has been cited by many critics and magazines as one of the best progressions for the history of rock music, which specifically helped shape the path of many genres of underground musical currents (alternative music). Its influence is notorious in future bands that would boost the youth crew movement, also in other genres such as grunge, post-hardcore, 90's skate punk and thrash metal, as well in the development of the New York hardcore music scene and aesthetics style.
Out of Step has received a number of accolades and is cited as a landmark album of the hardcore punk genre. It is mentioned in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Taylor Swift
4/5
Evermore (stylized in all lowercase) is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on December 11, 2020, through Republic Records, less than five months after the singer's eighth studio album, Folklore (2020). Evermore was a spontaneous product of Swift's extended collaboration with her Folklore co-producer Aaron Dessner, with whom she had developed a creative chemistry.
Swift launched Evermore as a surprise album like Folklore, dubbing them as sister records. She described Evermore as an offshoot of "the folklorian woods", which is an escapist, cottagecore-inspired, alternative music direction she first conceived with Folklore in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evermore is a record blending alternative rock, indie folk and chamber pop genres, carried by wintry compositions of fingerpicked guitars, somber pianos, lavish strings, and sparse percussion. Impressionist storytelling and mythopoeia dominate its lyrical technique. The subject matter has been described as an anthology of tales about love, marriage, infidelity, and grief, exploring the complexities of human emotion. American bands Bon Iver, Haim, and the National contribute guest vocals.
Evermore was met with widespread acclaim upon release, with several critics admiring its kinship with Folklore and Swift's expansion of her musical boundaries.[86][87] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from publications, the album received a weighted mean score of 85 based on 29 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[82]
Distinguishing Swift as an unrivaled songwriter, Brodie Lancaster of The Sydney Morning Herald found Evermore traveling deeper into the singer's fictitious narratives, and praised the depth and variety of its characters.[16]
Pink Floyd
4/5
The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. Primarily developed during live performances, the band premiered an early version of the suite several months before recording began. The record was conceived as an album that focused on the pressures faced by the band during their arduous lifestyle, and dealing with the apparent mental health problems suffered by former band member Syd Barrett, who departed the group in 1968. New material was recorded in two sessions in 1972 and 1973 at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) in London.
A concept album, The Dark Side of the Moon explores themes such as conflict, greed, time, death and mental illness. Snippets from interviews with the band's road crew are featured alongside philosophical quotations. The sleeve, which depicts a prism spectrum, was designed by Storm Thorgerson in response to keyboardist Richard Wright's request for a "simple and bold" design, representing the band's lighting and the album's themes. The album was promoted with two singles: "Money" and "Us and Them".
The Dark Side of the Moon is among the most critically acclaimed records in history, often featured on professional listings of the greatest albums of all time. The record helped propel Pink Floyd to international fame, bringing wealth and plaudits to all four of its members. A blockbuster release of the album era, it also propelled record sales throughout the music industry during the 1970s. It has been certified 14× platinum in the United Kingdom, and topped the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart, where it has charted for 962 weeks in total. With estimated sales of over 45 million copies, it is Pink Floyd's most commercially successful album, and one of the best-selling albums worldwide. In 2012, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Coldplay
3/5
A Rush of Blood to the Head is the second studio album by British rock band Coldplay. It was released on 26 August 2002 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom, and a day later by Capitol Records in the United States. Recording started after the band became popular worldwide with the release of their debut album Parachutes (2000), and one of its singles in particular, "Yellow".[6][7] The album was produced by the band and Ken Nelson, and makes greater use of the electric guitar and piano than its predecessor.
A Rush of Blood to the Head has been critically acclaimed, and the band received three Grammy Awards for the album; the 2003 Grammy for Best Alternative Album, which was the band's second win in a row, the 2003 Grammy for Best Rock Performance with the song "In My Place", and the 2004 Grammy for Record of the Year with the song "Clocks". In 2020, it was ranked number 324 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[10] It was also among ten albums nominated for the best British album of the previous 30 years by the Brit Awards in 2010, ultimately losing to (What's the Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis.[11]
Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times praised the album, commenting that it is "one of the year's best albums" and describing it as "sparser, stranger and even catchier than its predecessor".[39] Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield said that "A Rush of Blood to the Head is a nervier, edgier, thoroughly surprising album", adding, "where Parachutes was the clumsy diary of a high-strung kid, A Rush of Blood sounds more like a band with the confidence to test its own limits."[36] Ted Kessler of NME lauded the album, calling it "an album of outstanding natural beauty, an organic, wholesome work." MacKenzie Wilson of AllMusic echoed the above comments, saying that it is a "strong album". Wilson, who compliments Martin for his "sharpened" falsetto and refined "haunting delivery" and Buckland for his "riveting guitar work", notes that "regardless of the band still being in their mid-twenties, they've made an amazing record".[40] Emma Pearse of the American newspaper The Village Voice has the same sentiments, stating that it is "a little edgier, trancier, and more conversational" compared to Parachutes.[41] Conversely, Robert Christgau gave the album a one-star honorable mention ((1-star Honorable Mention)) and quipped "Let Green Eyes dump him for real and we'll see how long he hums in the void."[42
Adam & The Ants
3/5
Kings of the Wild Frontier is the second album by English new wave band Adam and the Ants. It was released in November 1980 by CBS Records International. This album introduced the Burundi beat sound to popular music.[6]
In his retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called it "one of the great defining albums of its time. There's simply nothing else like it, nothing else that has the same bravado, the same swagger, the same gleeful self-aggrandizement and sense of camp. This walked a brilliant line between campiness and art-house chutzpah, and it arrived at precisely the right time – at the forefront of new wave".[15] Trouser Press cites it as the album where Adam Ant "found his groove".[24]
Fiona Apple
4/5
Fetch the Bolt Cutters is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Fiona Apple. It was released on April 17, 2020, Apple's first release since The Idler Wheel... in 2012. The album was recorded from 2015 to 2020, largely at Apple's home in Venice Beach. It was produced and performed by Apple alongside Amy Aileen Wood, Sebastian Steinberg and Davíd Garza; recording consisted of long, often improvised takes with unconventional percussive sounds. GarageBand was used for much of this recording, and Fiona Apple credited the album's unedited vocals and long takes to her lack of expertise with the program.
Rooted in experimentation, the album largely features unconventional percussion. While conventional instruments, such as pianos and drum sets, do appear, the album also features prominent use of non-musical found objects as percussion. Apple described the result as "percussion orchestras". These industrial-like rhythms are contrasted against traditional melodies, and the upbeat songs often subvert traditional pop structures.
The album explores freedom from oppression; Apple identified its core message as: "Fetch the fucking bolt cutters and get yourself out of the situation you're in". The title, a quote from TV series The Fall, reflects this idea. The album also discusses Apple's complex relationships with other women and other personal experiences, including bullying and sexual assault. It has nevertheless been referred to as Apple's most humorous album
Fetch the Bolt Cutters' sound is defined by percussion. The piano-playing typical to Apple's work is still evident, but takes a more percussive form.[11][12] As well as drum sets and traditional percussion, the album features the use of found objects as percussion, such as a metal butterfly and the bones of Apple's deceased dog Janet.[3][1] The experimental rhythms on the album evoke industrial music and are juxtaposed against more traditional melodies.[13] Stereogum's Tom Breihan argues that while percussive music is typically "built around the idea of dancing, of guiding and channeling the rhythms of the human body", the album instead "plays as a wild, feverish attempt to mirror the chaos that goes on in the human mind when it's at its most overheated".[12] Apple has attributed the album's prominent use of percussion to a childhood habit, developed as a part of her obsessive-compulsive disorder, in which she would always walk rhythmically to a strict tempo.[6]
The album has been described as an art pop record,[14] and "the most sophisticated possible version" of bedroom pop.[15] It has been noted for its experimental approach to pop music.[16][17] Critics have noted its ambition and originality.[12][18][19] Nevertheless, it has been compared to the works of Joni Mitchell,[11][20] Tom Waits,[21][11][20] Nina Simone,[11][13] and Kate Bush,[21][11] who is quoted on the title track.[20] The album often rejects popular music's traditional verse-chorus structure. The unpredictable songs feature looped sections, sudden stops and tempo changes.[11][13][3] It has been noted as less melancholy than Apple's past work, with the uptempo songs being described as "funny, angry, and at times triumphant".[4] The album features frequent improvisation, as well as background noise such as the barking of dogs, largely as a result of its home recording.[4]
Fetch the Bolt Cutters was met with universal acclaim, with many critics deeming it an instant classic, a masterpiece, and Apple's best work to date.[43] At review aggregator Metacritic, the release received a weighted average score of 98 out of 100, based on 28 reviews,[35] making it the second-highest rated album in the website's history.[b][44] It is also the second-highest rated album on AnyDecentMusic?, with an average rating of 9.2/10, from 25 critics' assessments.[34][45] According to Tom Hull, it was the "best regarded/most hyped album of the year".[46]
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
3/5
Welcome to the Pleasuredome is the debut studio album by English synth-pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, first released on 29 October 1984 by ZTT Records.[13] Originally issued as a vinyl double album, it was assured of a UK chart entry at number one due to reported advance sales of over one million.[13] It actually sold around a quarter of a million copies in its first week.[14] The album was also a top-10 seller internationally in countries such as Switzerland, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand.
While commercially successful, the album also drew criticism for containing new versions of all of the songs from the group's (already much-remixed) singles from the same year ("Relax" and "Two Tribes", plus B-side "War"), as well as a surfeit of cover versions in lieu of much new original material. It was later revealed that Trevor Horn's production dominated the record so thoroughly that the band's own instrumental performances were often replaced by session musicians or Horn himself. Frankie's second album, Liverpool, actively featured the full band.
However, the album's evergreen ballad "The Power of Love" subsequently provided the group with their third consecutive UK number one single.
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
Bug is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr., released in October 1988 through SST Records. Blast First and Au Go Go Records released the album in the United Kingdom and Australia, respectively. It was the last Dinosaur Jr. album with original bassist Lou Barlow until Beyond in 2007.
In a retrospective review of Bug for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine described "Freak Scene" as the album's "masterpiece" and opined, "Although the majority of the album is firmly situated in the sprawling, noisy metallic fusion of hard rock and avant noise, Bug also demonstrates that J Mascis has a talent for winding folk-rock".[1] While finding its songs "quite uneven", Erlewine concluded that the album nonetheless constitutes "a major step forward for Mascis".[1]
Writing for Drowned in Sound in 2005, Mike Diver said of Bug, "The songwriting has increased tenfold since You're Living All Over Me ... really, if you like music – be it grunge, indie, punk, whatever – you will love this. Period. Go spend some money already."[11] Keith Cameron of Mojo wrote, "Bug marks the emergence of Mascis writing by rote. When applied to such an outlandishly great song as 'Freak Scene' his skills still blazed, however, and as formulaic exercises in discordant alienation go, Bug is better than most."[3]
Adele
3/5
21 is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter Adele. It was released on 24 January 2011[1] in Europe by XL Recordings and on 22 February 2011 in North America by Columbia Records. The album was named after the age of the singer during its production. 21 shares the Motown/soul influences of her 2008 debut album 19, but also draws influence from the American country and Southern blues music that Adele started listening to during the North American leg of her tour An Evening with Adele. Composed in the aftermath of the singer's separation from her then partner, the album explores themes of heartbreak, healing, introspection, and forgiveness.
A sleeper hit, 21 defied the modest commercial expectations of Adele's independent record label XL. It topped record charts in more than 30 countries and became the world's best-selling album of the year for both 2011 and 2012, helping to revitalise the lagging sales of the global music industry. In the United Kingdom, it is the best-selling album of the 21st century, the fourth best-selling album of all time, and the best-selling album by a solo artist of all time, while its 23-week tenure atop the UK Albums Chart is the longest by a female solo artist. In the United States, it is the best performing Billboard 200 album of all time,[2] holding the top position for 24 weeks, longer than any other album since 1985 and the longest by a female solo artist in Billboard 200 history.[3] It was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of over 10 million copies in the US. In addition, three of the five singles released in its promotion – "Rolling in the Deep", "Someone like You" and "Set Fire to the Rain" – became international number-one songs, while "Rumour Has It" charted in the top 20 in countries across Europe and North America. With sales of over 31 million copies worldwide, 21 is the best-selling album of the 21st century, and one of the best-selling albums of all time.[4][5]
The album's success has been attributed to its cross-cultural appeal,[138][231] which has catered to fans of various genres of pop, adult contemporary and R&B,[138] as well as various generations and musical timelines.[232][233] According to Sasha Frere-Jones of The New Yorker the album's success in the US can be attributed to its target audience—that is, "middle-aged moms ... the demographic that decides American elections."[234] Critics also suggest that the album's understated musical production and relative lack of artifice are striking deviations from the "bombastic theatrics" of the mainstream music industry.[233][235] Ethan Smith of The Wall Street Journal found that Adele's "deliberately unflashy" nature, full figure, and "everywoman" appeal gave her a lucrative niche in the market,[35][236] while her tendency to emphasise "substance over style" made her the "Anti-Lady Gaga".[35] Guy Adams of The Independent argued that 21's success signals the re-emergence of the more traditional approach to commercial success:
There are two approaches to the business of being noticed by today's record-buying public. The first ... revolves around oodles of hype and ever-more preposterous wardrobe selections. The second ... requires ... the confidence to let your music do the talking... Amazingly, given preconceived notions about America's supposed preference for style over substance, it is the second of these two sales techniques which appears to be working better.[236]
The Smiths
3/5
The Queen Is Dead is the third studio album by English rock band the Smiths. Released on 16 June 1986 in the United Kingdom by Rough Trade Records, and on 23 June 1986 in the US by Sire Records, it spent 22 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number two.[3] It also peaked at number 70 on the US Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, and was certified Gold by the RIAA in late 1990.
From contemporary reviews, Mark Coleman of Rolling Stone remarked on Morrissey's sense of humour and singled out the singer's performance on "Cemetry Gates" as a highlight, concluding that "like it or not, this guy's going to be around for a while."[40] Writing in pop magazine Smash Hits, Tom Hibbert gave a favourable review, stating that "the guitars are great, some of the words are marvellous, others like scratchings on a Fifth Form desk", as well as describing Morrissey as "half genius half buffoon".[41] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice wrote that despite his dislike of the Smiths' previous albums, he held an "instant attraction" to The Queen Is Dead, where he found that "Morrissey wears his wit on his sleeve, dishing the queen like Johnny Rotten never did and kissing off a day-job boss who's no Mr. Sellack", which "makes it easier to go along on his moodier escapades".[39] J. D. Considine found that the group "epitomize all that is admirable and annoying about British new music" finding the groups material "is terrifically tuneful" due to Marr's "incisive, visceral guitar work", but that Morrissey "had a tendency to wander away from conventional notions of pitch often mangling the band's melodies in the process".[42] Considine concluded that Morrissey was "mostly in control of his voice" praising "Cemetery Gates", "Bigmouth Strikes Again" and declaring that "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" as "the most affecting performance".[42]
Pitchfork listed The Queen Is Dead as the sixth-best album of the 1980s.[43] In 2000 it was voted number 10 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[44] In 2003, The Queen Is Dead was ranked number 216 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[45] and 218 in a 2012 revised list.[4] In 2006, it was named the second-greatest British album of all time by the NME.[46] In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at number three in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".[47] UK-based magazine Clash added The Queen Is Dead to its "Classic Album Hall of Fame" in its June 2011 issue, saying it "is an album to lose yourself in; it has depth, focus and some great tunes. It's easy to see why the album is held in such high esteem by Smiths fanatics and why, a decade later, it became a key influence for all things Britpop."[3] In 2012, Slant Magazine listed the album at number 16 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s" and said: "There may never again be an indie-rock album as good as The Queen Is Dead".[48] In 2013, The Queen Is Dead was ranked the greatest record of all time on the NME's Greatest Albums of All Time list.[49] At Rolling Stone, Gavin Edwards retrospectively viewed the album as "one of the funniest rock albums ever", noting that Morrissey had "learned to express his self-loathing through mockery" while Johnny Marr "matched his verbal excess with witty, supple music", and concluded, "If the queen's reaction to Morrissey was 'We are not amused,' then she was the only one."[36]
Earth, Wind & Fire
4/5
That's the Way of the World is the sixth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released on March 15, 1975 by Columbia Records. It was also the soundtrack for a 1975 motion picture of the same name.[2][3] The album rose to No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and Top Soul Albums charts.[4][5]That's the Way of the World has also been certified Triple Platinum in the U.S by the RIAA.[6]
Stephen Curwood of the Boston Globe said "these guys are great and this is a sound you shouldn't miss".[15] Variety exclaimed "Earth, Wind & Fire turn their multi-voiced big soul sound loose on eight solid numbers".[13] Daryl Easlea of the BBC wrote "Seen as a meditation on the rules of living, the album is nothing less than a spiritual soul masterpiece." He added "leader Maurice White synthesised all the elements of the group so far – straight-up funk, African mysticism, jazz and sublime balladry, and made a brief, focused album."[21] Chris Albertson of Stereo Review described the band's performance as a "disco delight" and the recording itself as "excellent".[19] Alex Henderson of Allmusic noted That's the Way of the World is "EWF's crowning achievement".[12] Gordon Fletcher of Rolling Stone said "Lousy production works to this LP's detriment — Maurice White has surprisingly chosen to have the entire album sound hot." Fletcher added "Great tunes (particularly the dynamic "Africano") and great musicianship are not what this one lacks — hopefully the next time out White will be able to tone things down accordingly in the places where a little under-statement is appropriate."[16] LA Weekly called the LP "Serious romantic music to wear silk bellbottom slacks to."[18] Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune wrote "Their new album 'That's the Way of the World' [Columbia], exploits the moods, if not the explosive instrumental power, that made their last platter 'Open Our Eyes,' a smash hit."[20] Robert Christgau of the Village Voice found that "Here ethnomusicology and colloquial homiletics are tacked onto the funk and soul and doowop and jazz, which makes for an instructive contrast -the taped-in-Africa Matepe Ensemble, whose spontaneous laughter closes out the coda, versus Maurice White, whose humorless platitutdes prove there's more to roots than turning a mbira into an ersatz vibraphone."[14] Vibe also proclaimed "That's the Way of the World coursed effortlessly through a myriad of genres, from rock to jazz to funk to heavy African influences".[17]
That's the Way of the World was nominated in 1975 and 1976 for an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Album. EWF also won a Rock Music Award for That's the Way of the World in the category of Best Rhythm and Blues Album.[22][23]
During 2004 That's the Way of the World was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2012 Rolling Stone placed the album at 486 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, calling it "make-out music of the gods".[24][25] For the 2020 update of the list, the album's rank climbed to number 420.[26]
Fiona Apple
4/5
Tidal is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Fiona Apple, released on July 23, 1996 by The WORK Group. Tidal produced six singles: "Shadowboxer", "Slow Like Honey",[2] "Sleep to Dream", "The First Taste", "Criminal" and "Never Is a Promise". "Criminal", the album's most popular single, won a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 1998. In 2017, Tidal got its first vinyl run as a Vinyl Me, Please exclusive "Record of the Month".[3]
Tidal was received well by critics,[15] with Jenny Eliscu of Rolling Stone and Richard Harrington of The Washington Post describing it as a mature effort comparable to the work of singer/songwriters Alanis Morissette and Tori Amos.[13][15] In 2010, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 83 among the 100 greatest albums of the 1990s.[16] The following year, Slant Magazine placed it at number 74.[17] The album is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[18] In 2022, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 25 on its list of "100 Best Debut Albums of All Time", claiming that it was "just the beginning — and Apple has kept topping herself artistically ever since."[19]
Eminem
5/5
The Slim Shady LP is the second studio album by American rapper Eminem. It was released on February 23, 1999, by Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. Recorded in Ferndale, Michigan following Eminem's recruitment by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, the album features production from Dr. Dre, the Bass Brothers, and Eminem himself.
Featuring West Coast hip hop, G-funk and horrorcore musical styles, the majority of The Slim Shady LP's lyrical content is written from the perspective of Eminem's alter ego, named Slim Shady, whom he created on the Slim Shady EP (1997). The Slim Shady LP contains cartoonish depictions of violence and heavy use of profanity, which Eminem described as horror film-esque, in that it is solely for entertainment value. Although many of the lyrics on the album are considered to be satirical, Eminem also depicts his frustrations of living in poverty.
At the 42nd Grammy Awards in 2000, the album won Best Rap Album, while "My Name Is" won Best Rap Solo Performance.[47] Rolling Stone ranked The Slim Shady LP number 275 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and 33 on its list of the "100 Best Albums of the '90s".[48][49] In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked The Slim Shady LP as the 352nd greatest album of all time on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. NME ranked it number 248 in its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[50] Blender ranked it number 49 in its list of The 100 Greatest American Albums of All Time.[51] "Ken Kaniff" was listed as number 15 on Complex's "50 Greatest Hip-Hop Skits" list, while the "Public Service Announcement" introduction to the album, along with the "Public Service Announcement 2000" introduction from The Marshall Mathers LP, was listed as number 50 on the list.[29][52] Spin later included it in their list of "The 300 Best Albums of 1985–2014".[53] It also won Outstanding National Album at the 2000 Detroit Music Awards.[54] In 2015, it was ranked at number 76 by About.com in their list of "100 best hip-hop albums of all time".[55] Christgau later named it among his 10 best albums from the 1990s.[56]In 2022, Rolling Stone ranked The Slim Shady LP number 85 in their list of "The 200 Greatest Rap Albums of all time".[57]
Slayer
2/5
Reign in Blood is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on October 7, 1986, by Def Jam Recordings.[1] The album was the band's first collaboration with producer Rick Rubin, whose input helped the band's sound evolve. The release date of the album was delayed because of concerns regarding the lyrical subject matter of the opening track "Angel of Death", which refers to Josef Mengele and describes acts such as human experimentation that he committed at the Auschwitz concentration camp.[2] The band's members stated that they did not condone Nazism and were merely interested in the subject.[3]
Reign in Blood was critically acclaimed by the underground and mainstream music press. Reviewing for AllMusic, Steve Huey awarded the album five out of five, describing it a "stone-cold classic."[15] Stylus Magazine critic Clay Jarvis awarded the album an A+ grade, calling it a "genre-definer," as well as "the greatest metal album of all time."[21] Jarvis further remarked the song "Angel of Death" "smokes the asses of any band playing fast and/or heavy today. Lyrically outlining the horrors to come, while musically laying the groundwork for the rest of the record: fast, lean and filthy."[21] Kerrang! magazine described it as the "heaviest album of all time,"[27] and listed the album at #27 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time".[28] Metal Hammer magazine named it "the best metal album of the last 20 years" in 2006.[29] Q Magazine ranked Reign in Blood among their list of the "50 Heaviest Albums of All Time",[30] and Spin Magazine ranked the album #67 on their list of the "100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005".[31] Critic Chad Bowar stated: "1986's Reign in Blood is probably the best thrash album ever recorded."[32] In August 2014, Revolver placed the album on its "14 Thrash Albums You Need to Own" list.[33] In 2017, it was ranked 6th on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".[34]
Reign in Blood is regarded by critics as one of the most influential and extreme thrash metal albums.[10] In its "Greatest Metal Bands Of All Time" poll, MTV praised Slayer's "downtuned rhythms, infectious guitar licks, graphically violent lyrics and grisly artwork," which they stated "set the standard for dozens of emerging thrash bands," while "Slayer's music was directly responsible for the rise of death metal." MTV described Reign in Blood as essential listening,[38] and the album was ranked number 7 on IGN's "Top 25 Most Influential Metal Albums".[39]
Janelle Monáe
4/5
The ArchAndroid is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Janelle Monáe, released on May 18, 2010, by Wondaland Arts Society, Bad Boy Records, and Atlantic Records. Production for the album took place at Wondaland Studios in Atlanta and was primarily handled by Monáe, Nate "Rocket" Wonder, and Chuck Lightning, with only one song without production by Monáe. She also collaborated for certain songs with Saul Williams, Big Boi, of Montreal, and Deep Cotton.
The ArchAndroid follows Janelle Monáe's debut EP Metropolis: The Chase Suite (2007) and is composed as the second and third parts to her Metropolis concept series.[5] Partly inspired by the 1927 film of the same name,[6] the series involves the fictional tale of Cindi Mayweather, a messianic android sent back in time to free the citizens of Metropolis from The Great Divide, a secret society that uses time travel to suppress freedom and love.[5]
Monáe has stated that the album's lyrical themes and storyline were heavily influenced by Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Conceptually, Kot described the album as "a self-empowerment manifesto couched inside a futuristic 'emotion-picture' about an android’s battle to overcome oppression. The notion of space travel and 'new worlds' becomes a metaphor for breaking the chains that enslave minorities of all types – a theme that has a long tradition in African-American music, from Sun Ra and Parliament-Funkadelic to Cannibal Ox and OutKast".[6] The Atlantic's Brentin Mock called The ArchAndroid "unique, forward-looking, and apoplectic... something of a jitterbug between Prince's 1986 movie Under the Cherry Moon and the 1977 Watts movie Killer of Sheep, and Daughters of the Dust".[10] Seth Colter Walls of Newsweek described the album as "rocking in parts like Dirty Mind–era Prince, unfolding in a suite form that recalls Abbey Road's side two, and bumping throughout with the best innovations of contemporary hip-hop".[11]
The Byrds
3/5
Younger Than Yesterday is the fourth album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released on February 6, 1967 on Columbia Records.[2][3] It saw the band continuing to integrate elements of psychedelia and jazz into their music, a process they had begun on their previous album, Fifth Dimension.[2][4] In addition, the album captured the band and record producer Gary Usher experimenting with new musical textures, including brass instruments, reverse tape effects and an electronic oscillator.[5]
Although Younger Than Yesterday was somewhat overlooked by the record-buying public at the time of its release, achieving only moderate chart success as a result, its critical stature has grown substantially over the years.[2][11] In his 2003 book Eight Miles High: Folk-Rock's Flight from Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock, Richie Unterberger states that Younger Than Yesterday "was [the Byrds'] best album besides Mr. Tambourine Man, and more progressive in many ways".[44] The author goes on to say that the album and its follow-up are "now revered as two of the great 1960s albums by historians and fans", while also acknowledging that "at the time, though, the Byrds were considered by many to be waning."[44] Unterberger also praised the album in his review for the AllMusic website, describing it as one of "the most durable of the Byrds' albums".[2]
Rock critic Robert Christgau, writing for Rolling Stone magazine in 2007, called Younger Than Yesterday "the Byrds' first mature album, a blend of space-flight twang and electric hoedown infused with the imminent glow of 1967 yet underlined with crackling realism".[45] Critic John Nork gave the album a glowing review on the Analogue Planet website, calling it "a scrumptious smorgasbord of eclectic musical styles and groundbreaking innovation", before concluding that "in every sense, Younger Than Yesterday is an utterly brilliant album, arguably the Byrds' best."[46] Alan Bisbort, writing in the book Rhino's Psychedelic Trip, described Younger Than Yesterday as "an essential snapshot of an incense-scented, acid-drenched world in motion: a kaleidoscope whose every turn yielded some fantastic window on the age".[47]
In 2003, the album was ranked at number 124 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[48] When the list was revised in 2012, to accommodate a number of albums released since 2003, Younger Than Yesterday was repositioned at number 127.[49] It was voted number 197 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).[50]
Patti Smith
4/5
Horses is the debut studio album by American musician Patti Smith. It was released on November 10, 1975 by Arista Records. A fixture of the mid-1970s underground rock music scene in New York City, Smith signed to Arista in 1975 and recorded Horses with her band at Electric Lady Studios in August and September of that year. She enlisted former Velvet Underground member John Cale to produce the album.
music,[91] while PJ Harvey commented in 1992: "I heard Horses once and it was brilliant—not so much her music as her delivery, her words, her articulation. Her honesty."[92] KT Tunstall wrote her hit single "Suddenly I See" (2004) about how she felt inspired to embrace her musical ambitions after seeing Smith on the cover of Horses.[93]
Horses has often been named by music critics as one of the all-time greatest albums.[94] Lars Brandle of Billboard wrote that the album had come to be regarded as "one of the finest in recorded music history."[95] It has appeared in numerous professional lists of the best albums of the 1970s and of all time.[96] In 2003 and 2012, Horses was ranked at number 44 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[97][98] later placing at number 26 on a 2020 updated list.[99] NME named it the 12th greatest album of all time in a similar list published in 2013.[100] In 2006, Time named Horses as one of the "All-Time 100 Albums",[101] and The Observer listed it as one of 50 albums that changed music history.[102] Three years later, the album was preserved by the Library of Congress into the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[103] Horses was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2021.[104]
The Streets
3/5
A Grand Don't Come for Free is the second studio album by English rapper and producer Mike Skinner, under the music project the Streets. It was released on 17 May 2004 and is listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[1] It is a rap opera and concept album that follows the story of its protagonist's relationship with a girl named Simone, alongside the mysterious loss of £1,000 from his home (the eponymous "grand").
Critical response for the album, like for his previous album, was near universally positive. It currently scores 91/100 on Metacritic,[5] slightly higher than his previous album, which scored 90/100.[16]
Critics noted the difference in style compared to Skinner's debut album. The Guardian said that the album "raises the stakes to such an extent that it sounds literally unprecedented: there isn't really any other album like this", and PopMatters stated that Skinner "is now in a class all his own; nobody else is making music like this."[17] Trouser Press said that "Skinner seems both edgier and more contemplative."[18]
3/5
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! is the debut studio album by the American new wave band Devo. It was originally released in August 1978 on the Warner Bros. label (Virgin Records in Europe). Produced by Brian Eno, the album was recorded between October 1977 and February 1978, primarily in Cologne, West Germany.
Later reception of the album has been more uniformly positive. Steve Huey of the online music database AllMusic termed it "arguably Devo's strongest set of material" and "a seminal touchstone in the development of American new wave."[2] Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! has scored on several "best of" lists, including Spin's list of the "50 Most Essential Punk Records" and Pitchfork's list of the 100 best albums of the 1970s.[48][49] It was ranked number 447 in Rolling Stone's 2003 list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, climbing to number 442 in the 2012 update and shooting up to number 252 in the 2020 reboot of the list.[50][51][52] It is also listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Gang Of Four
3/5
Entertainment! is the debut album by English post-punk band Gang of Four. It was released in September 1979 through EMI Records internationally and Warner Bros. Records in North America. Stylistically, it draws heavily on punk rock but also incorporates the influence of funk, dance music, reggae and dub. Its lyrics and artwork reflected the band's left-wing political concerns. It would be an influential release in the burgeoning post-punk movement.
In 2020, Entertainment! was ranked at number 273 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Composition
Edit
Entertainment! has been recognized as a seminal post-punk album.[1][2] It has also been described musically as dance-punk[3] and art punk.[4] The album was co-produced by King and Gill along with Rob Warr, their band manager at the time. King's lyrics were heavily influenced by Situationism, feminism, and the effect of alienation on personal life; a unifying notion is that "the personal is political". Topics include commodification ("Natural's Not in It", "Return the Gift"), proletarian life ("At Home He's a Tourist"), Great Man theory ("Not Great Men"), Special Category Status prisoners in Northern Ireland ("Ether"), and the impact of media reporting of acts of terrorism and Maoist guerrilla warfare in Latin America ("5.45"). A number of songs apply these themes to challenge traditional concepts of love and love songs ("Anthrax", "Contract") and sex ("Damaged Goods", "I Found That Essence Rare"). In his 2014 monograph on the album, Kevin J. H. Dettmar likens the album to James Joyce's Ulysses, saying; "both are concerned with the importance of narrative, of storytelling, as a mode of experiencing the world... that the stories we tell ourselves about "the way things are"—a body of stories that in another context we might call ideology—profoundly shape our experiences of the world.[5]
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
Very is the fifth studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 27 September 1993 by Parlophone, nearly three years after the duo's previous studio album, Behaviour, and following the compilation album Discography: The Complete Singles Collection. Very exhibits one of many turning points the Pet Shop Boys would make to their music, shifting from the subdued electronic pop of Behaviour to richly instrumented dance arrangements. The content and lyrics led to Very being called their "coming-out" album, since it was during this time that Neil Tennant had publicly discussed his long-rumoured homosexuality.
The album Behaviour, released in 1990, although critically well-received, was commercially not as successful as their previous releases. In particular, the second single released, "Being Boring", which the duo had considered one of their strongest tracks, did not perform well on the UK charts, peaking at number 20 in November 1990. The subsequent Performance Tour which began in North American during Spring 1991 initially received mixed reviews in the United States and did not improve the poor showing of the album in the US charts, which only managed a peak of 45 on the US Billboard Album Charts. Journalist and close friend of the duo Chris Heath documented the American leg of the tour in his book Pet Shop Boys Versus America, at one point noting Chris Lowe's comment of "We should write another good dance album, write Behaviour off as a tax loss".
After the Performance Tour of 1991, Pet Shop Boys elected to take a break, releasing their compilation Discography: The Complete Singles Collection that November. This initially led some to believe that the group were close to breaking up, particularly as the group were no longer perceived at the peak of their popularity after their initial "golden period" in the mid to late 1980s.
When interviewed in 2006 for the documentary Pet Shop Boys: A Life In Pop, EMI representative Tony Wadsworth noted that when the record label first heard the songs on Very, "the smiles undoubtedly lit up the room [...] the songs were so obviously commercial." The promotion of Very was to include, for the first time, music videos that made use of the CGI available at the time and thus would guarantee more airplay on channels like MTV
Radiohead
4/5
Kid A is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 2 October 2000 by Parlophone. It was recorded with producer Nigel Godrich in Paris, Copenhagen, Gloucestershire and their hometown of Oxford, England. Radiohead considered releasing the material as a double album, but decided it was too dense; a second album of material from the sessions, Amnesiac, was released eight months later.
After the stress of promoting Radiohead's acclaimed 1997 album OK Computer, the songwriter, Thom Yorke, wanted to diverge from rock music. Drawing influence from electronic music, ambient music, krautrock, jazz, and 20th-century classical music, Radiohead used instruments such as modular synthesisers, ondes Martenot, brass and strings. They processed guitar sounds, incorporated samples and loops, and manipulated their recordings with software such as Pro Tools and Cubase. Yorke wrote impersonal and abstract lyrics, cutting up phrases and assembling them at random.
Kid A was widely anticipated. In a departure from industry practice, Radiohead released no singles or music videos and conducted few interviews and photoshoots. Instead, they became one of the first major acts to use the internet as a promotional tool; Kid A was made available to stream and was promoted with short animated films featuring music and artwork. Bootlegs of early performances were shared on filesharing services, and the album was leaked before release. In 2000, Radiohead toured Europe in a custom-built tent without corporate logos.
Kid A debuted at the top of the UK Albums Chart, and became Radiohead's first number-one album on the Billboard 200 in the US, where it sold more than 207,000 copies in its first week. Its departure from Radiohead's earlier sound divided fans and critics, and some dismissed it as pretentious, deliberately obscure, or derivative. However, it later attracted acclaim; at the end of the decade, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and the Times ranked Kid A the greatest album of the 2000s, and in 2020 Rolling Stone ranked it number 20 on its updated list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
In the years following its release, Kid A attracted acclaim. In 2005, Pitchfork wrote that it had "challenged and confounded" Radiohead's audience, and subsequently "transformed into an intellectual symbol of sorts ... Owning it became 'getting it'; getting it became 'anointing it'."[136] In 2015, Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone likened Radiohead's change in style to Bob Dylan's controversial move to rock music, writing that critics now hesitated to say they had disliked it at the time.[123] He described Kid A as the "defining moment in the Radiohead legend".[123] A year later, Billboard argued that Kid A was the first album since Bowie's Low to have moved "rock and electronic music forward in such a mature fashion".[137] In an article for Kid A's 20th anniversary, the Quietus suggested that the negative reviews had been motivated by rockism, the tendency among music critics to venerate rock music over other genres.[138
Aphex Twin
4/5
Selected Ambient Works 85–92 is the debut studio album by Aphex Twin, the pseudonym of British electronic musician Richard D. James. It was released on 9 November 1992 through Apollo Records, a subsidiary of Belgian label R&S Records.[1][2] The album consists of ambient techno tracks recorded onto cassette reputedly dating as far back as 1985, when James was thirteen to fourteen years old.[8] An analogue remaster of the album was released in 2006, followed by a digital remaster in 2008.
Selected Ambient Works 85–92 received critical acclaim and almost immediately acquired a "huge underground reputation".[38][24] Andrew Smith, reviewing the album in Melody Maker two weeks after its release, wrote: "Not since Kraftwerk has an artist understood texture in this way, made electronic music sound so organic and resonant, so full of life".[30] Simon Reynolds, writing in Melody Maker at the end of 1993, called the album "the most sheerly beautiful album of '93 [and] also the most significant," arguing that it "gave credibility to the then emergent genre of ambient techno" and "singlehandedly won over many indie fans who hadn't really listened to much techno, thus encouraging them to seek out more."[39]
John Bush of AllMusic described the album as "one of the indisputable classics of electronica, and a defining document for ambient music in particular."[7] Reviewing the album after its 2002 reissue, Rolling Stone's Pat Blashill called it a "gorgeous, ethereal album" in which James "proved that techno could be more than druggy dance music."[8] David M. Pecoraro of Pitchfork noted "the creeping basslines, the constantly mutating drum patterns, the synth tones which moved with all the grace and fluidity of a professional dancer," describing the album as "among the most interesting music ever created with a keyboard and a computer" despite its "primitive origins".[19] In 2012, Reynolds wrote that the album "infuses everyday life with a perpetual first flush of spring."[40] Peter Manning, in his book Electronic and Computer Music, noted that James, upon the release of 85–92, "managed finally to elevate [electronic music's] status to the mainstream consciousness of the general public".[41] The album expanded the scope of ambient music and, according to Savage, "defined a new techno primitive romanticism".[24][36]
Soundgarden
3/5
Superunknown is the fourth studio album by American rock band Soundgarden, released on March 8, 1994, through A&M Records. It is the band's second album with bassist Ben Shepherd, and features new producer Michael Beinhorn. Soundgarden began work on the album after touring in support of its previous album, Badmotorfinger (1991). Superunknown captured the heaviness of the band's earlier releases while displaying a more diverse range of influences.
Superunknown was a critical and commercial success and became the band's breakthrough album. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 310,000 copies in its opening week. The album also topped the Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand charts. Five singles were released from the album: "The Day I Tried to Live", "My Wave", "Fell on Black Days", "Spoonman", and "Black Hole Sun", the latter two of which won Grammy Awards and helped Soundgarden reach mainstream popularity. In 1995, the album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. The album has been certified six times platinum by the RIAA in the United States. In April 2019, Superunknown was ranked No. 9 on Rolling Stone's "50 Greatest Grunge Albums" list.[3]
Superunknown received universal acclaim from music critics. Q said, "Soundgarden dealt in unreconstructed heavy rock: a heavy guitar sound, depth-charge drumming ... Yet Superunknown also includes more measured moments".[42] Rolling Stone magazine's J. D. Considine was impressed by the record's range and, despite criticizing "Black Hole Sun" and "Half", he said "at its best, Superunknown offers a more harrowing depiction of alienation and despair than anything on In Utero".[43] Jon Pareles of The New York Times credited the band with trying to transcend conventional heavy metal: "Superunknown actually tries to broaden its audience by breaking heavy-metal genre barriers that Soundgarden used to accept."[46] In Entertainment Weekly, David Browne wrote, "Soundgarden is pumped and primed on Superunknown, and they deliver the goods." He praised it as a "hard-rock milestone – a boiling vat of volcanic power, record-making smarts, and '90s anomie and anxiety that sets a new standard for anything called metal."[39] Ann Powers from Blender said that "guitarist Thayil helps create the stoner-rock template", and that it "stands as Soundgarden's masterpiece".[37] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau, who had "mocked" Soundgarden's "conceptual pretentions for years", still felt their foredooming, pessimistic lyrics lacked much substance, but said they had improved composing, arranging, and producing on an album that was "easily the best—most galvanizing, kinetic, sensational, catchy—Zep rip in history".[47] In a retrospective review, AllMusic editor Steve Huey wrote, "It's obvious that Superunknown was consciously styled as a masterwork, and it fulfills every ambition."[15] It received a nomination in the Best Rock Album category for the 1995 Grammy Awards.[48]
Everything But The Girl
3/5
Idlewild is the fourth studio album by British musical duo Everything but the Girl. It was released on 29 February 1988 by Blanco y Negro Records and Sire Records.
Everything but the Girl (occasionally referred to as EBTG) were an English musical duo, formed in Kingston upon Hull, England in 1982, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, producer and singer Ben Watt. Everything but the Girl has received eight gold and two platinum album BPI certifications in the UK,[5] and one gold album RIAA Certification in the US.[6] They had four top ten singles and twelve top forty singles in the UK.[7] Their biggest hit song "Missing" charted high in several countries and reached number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1995 and spent over seven months on the UK Singles Chart thanks to an extremely popular remix by Todd Terry which later led to a Brit Award nomination for Best British Single.
Tom Waits
3/5
Heartattack and Vine is the seventh studio album by Tom Waits, released on September 9, 1980,[1] and his final album to be released on the Asylum label.
Though critical of the album in many respects, including Waits' vocal delivery and the "morbid pathos" of the ballads, Stephen Holden of Rolling Stone wrote that "Tom Waits finds more beauty in the gutter than most people would find in the Garden of Eden," and referred to him as a "unique and lovable minor talent."[11]
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[14]
The Avalanches
3/5
Since I Left You is the debut studio album by Australian electronic music group the Avalanches, released on 27 November 2000 by Modular Recordings. It was produced by group members Robbie Chater and Darren Seltmann (under the pseudonym Bobbydazzler), and samples extensively from various genres. The album was recorded and produced at two separate, near-identical studios by Chater and Seltmann, exchanging audio mixes of records they sampled.
Seltmann and Chater did not initially think that Since I Left You would receive much attention.[8] However, the album garnered widespread critical acclaim from the music industry. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, it received an average score of 89, based on 21 reviews.[30] It became one of the best reviewed albums of 2000,[40] as well as being the highest rated dance album on that site.[41] The album peaked in the top 30 on the ARIA Albums Chart and number 12 in Norway on the VG-lista Top 40 Albums Chart.[42][43] At the ARIA Music Awards of 2001, the Avalanches won four awards from nine nominations, including Breakthrough Artist – Album, Best Dance Release and Producer of the Year (for Chater and Seltmann aka Bobbydazzler) for Since I Left You.[44] The fourth award win was for the related single, "Frontier Psychiatrist" as Breakthrough Artist – Single.[44]
Beastie Boys
4/5
Licensed to Ill is the debut studio album by American rap rock group Beastie Boys. It was released on November 15, 1986, by Def Jam and Columbia Records, and became the first rap LP to top the Billboard album chart. It is one of Columbia Records' fastest-selling debut records to date and was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2015 for shipping over ten million copies in the United States.[
In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums.[22] It is the only album by a Jewish hip-hop act to receive 5 mics from The Source.[20] In 2003, the album was ranked number 217 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time[23] 219 in a 2012 revised list,[24] and 192 in a 2020 revised list.[25] In 2013 the magazine named it the best debut album of all time.[26] Vibe included it in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century.[27] Q gave the album four out of five stars, saying "Licensed to Ill remains the world's only punk rock rap album, arguably superior to Never Mind the Bollocks ... knowing that apathy and slovenliness were just around the corner."[28] Melody Maker gave the album a positive review, saying "There's lots of self-reverential bragging, more tenuous rhymes than are usually permitted by law and, most importantly of all, an unshakably glorious celebration of being alive ... A surprisingly enduring classic."[29] In 2002, Pitchfork ranked the album at #41 in its list of the "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s", despite their prior unflattering review of the album.[30] In the 2018 edition of the "Top 200 Albums of the 1980s", the album placed #103.[31]
3/5
Don't Come Home a Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind) is the ninth solo studio album by American country music singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn. It was released on February 6, 1967, by Decca Records.[1]
In the issue dated February 18, 1967, Billboard published a review of the album that said, "Top country stylist assembled a winning program of good country tunes, old and new, and delivers them in her own distinct style. Her touching performance of "There Goes My Everything" is contrasted by the rhythm arrangement of "The Devil Gets His Dues" and "I Got Caught". Bound to be a sales giant."[3]
Cashbox also published a review in the February 18 issue which said, "Loretta Lynn has taken the title of her current smash single "Don’t Come Home a Drinkin' (With Lovin’ on Your Mind)" for her new LP and come up with a package that all of her fans should be eager to hear. Besides the title song, Loretta offers such well known country tunes as "There Goes My Everything", "The Shoe Goes on the Other Foot Tonight", and "I'm Living in Two Worlds". Should be a big one for Loretta here."[4]
Christine and the Queens
3/5
Chris is the second studio album by French singer Christine and the Queens, released on 21 September 2018 in both English and French versions through Because Music.[8] It was preceded by the release of two singles, each of which were released in both English and French versions: "Girlfriend" / "Damn, dis-moi", featuring Dâm-Funk, and "Doesn't Matter" / "Doesn't Matter (Voleur de soleil)".[8] An English-language single, "5 Dollars", was also released alongside an S&M-inspired video,[9] followed by the French version of "La Marcheuse".[10]
In a track-by-track interview with Letissier, Pitchfork said the album "bounces from horny consumerism to melancholic machismo to stark vulnerability".[13] It contrasted Chris with Letissier's debut album Chaleur humaine, saying that album's "warmth was slow-burning, [while] Chris is red hot, sweaty, and insatiable".[13] Letissier later elaborated: "The first album was born out of the frustration of being an aberration in society, because I was a young queer woman. The second was really born out of the aberration I was becoming, which was a powerful woman—being lustful and horny and sometimes angry, and craving for this will to just own everything a bit more and apologise a bit less."[11]
The Fader stated the album is "less starry-eyed than its predecessor", calling the lyrics more direct and sharp than before.[14] It also claimed the album "explodes" Letissier's queer, feminist identity.[14] Letissier named some of her references for the album were "immediate, catchy pop productions" by the likes of Cameo and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, also specifically naming Michael Jackson's Dangerous and Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope as influences.[14] The track "Goya Soda" references the Spanish painter Francisco Goya.[13]
Chris received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 89, based on 26 reviews, signifying "universal acclaim".[16] Robert Steiner of The Boston Globe called the album a "refreshing, empowering record" and complimented its "stellar production and contagiously danceable jams", as well as Letissier's "engrossing lyricism".[23] Although he felt that the album "loses steam" in its second half, Steiner named "The Walker" as a highlight for its "poignant" portrayal of a victim of domestic violence.[23] In her review for AllMusic, Heather Phares concluded that "As she examines what masculinity, femininity, strength, and vulnerability mean to her, Christine has never sounded more exposed -- or in control. A triumph, Chris reaffirms just how masterfully she engages minds, hearts, and bodies."[17]
Eels
5/5
Beautiful Freak is the debut album by American rock band Eels. It was released on 13 August 1996 and is the first album released by record label DreamWorks.
Beautiful Freak
In a contemporary review of Beautiful Freak, Q praised the album as "a complete musical vision, a genre-spanning soundscape that reels you in with its myriad hooks".[11] Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Eels' maverick vision reminds you of all the great Los Angeles bands, from the Flying Burrito Brothers to X, that have chronicled the outsider, underdog attitude in the shadows of a record industry that never embraces them commercially."[9] Ethan Smith of Entertainment Weekly stated that "the Eels' postgrunge pop melodies and quirky, intelligent production make for catchy modern rock that's miles ahead of the competition", but felt that E's "attempts at warts-and-all portrayals of urban life come off as a disingenuous, arty pose" and that "a little less pretension would get these guys a lot further."[7] Chicago Tribune critic Mark Caro was less favorable, writing that E's lyrics paint him as "either naive and self-absorbed or patronizing and calculating".[14] The Village Voice's Robert Christgau assigned the album a "dud" rating,[15] indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought."[16]
In his retrospective review, James Chrispell of AllMusic wrote: "Concise pop tunes form the backbone of the album, yet tinges of despair and downright meanness surface just when you've been lulled into thinking this is another pop group".[4] Trouser Press wrote that "E's material works best when he finds the rare balance between his misanthropy and his capacity for warmth."[17]
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (stylized as good kid, m.A.A.d city) is the second studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on October 22, 2012, through Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album features guest appearances from Drake, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, Jay Rock, Anna Wise, and MC Eiht. It is Lamar's major label debut, after his independently released first album Section.80 in 2011 and his signing to Aftermath and Interscope the following year.
Good Kid, M.A.A.D City received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised its thematic scope and Lamar's lyrics. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, selling 242,000 copies in its first week – earning the highest first-week hip hop album sales of 2012 from a male artist. It became Lamar's first album to enter the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number 16, and entering the UK R&B Albums Chart at number two. The album was also named to many end-of-the-year lists, often topping them. It was later certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In 2020, the album was ranked 115th on Rolling Stone's updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Lyrically, the album chronicles Lamar's experiences in his native Compton and its harsh realities,[23] in a nonlinear narrative.[24] The songs address issues such as economic disenfranchisement, retributive gang violence[25] and downtrodden women,[26] while analyzing their residual effects on individuals and families.[25] Lamar introduces various characters and internal conflicts,[26] including the contrast of his homesickness and love for Compton with the city's plagued condition.[2] Del F. Cowie of Exclaim! observes a "transformation" by Lamar's character "from a boisterous, impressionable, girl-craving teenager to more spiritual, hard-fought adulthood, irrevocably shaped by the neighbourhood and familial bonds of his precarious environment."[14] Slant Magazine's Mark Collett writes that Lamar executes the character's transition by "tempering the hedonistic urges of West Coast hip hop with the self-reflective impulses of the East Coast."[27] David Amidon of PopMatters views that the album provides a "sort of semi-autobiographical character arc",[28] while MSN Music's Robert Christgau writes that Lamar "softspokenly" enacts a "rap-versus-real dichotomy".[12]
The album features naturalistic, vérité-like skits that dramatize the characters' limitations.[12] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times finds them to be a part of the album's "narrative strategy", with "prayers and conversations and different voices and recollections and interludes, all in service of one overarching story: Mr. Lamar's tale of ducking Compton's rougher corners to find himself artistically."[15] Pitchfork's Jayson Greene feels that they reinforce the album's theme of "the grounding power of family", interpreting "family and faith" to be "the fraying tethers holding Lamar back from the chasm of gang violence that threatens to consume him."[29]
Lamar exhibits a tempered delivery on the album[15] and raps with dense narratives, internal rhyme,[30] double and triple time flow[31] and multiple voices for different characters.[24] Music journalist Jody Rosen characterizes him as "a storyteller, not a braggart or punch-line rapper, setting spiritual yearnings and moral dilemmas against a backdrop of gang violence and police brutality."[30]
Fred Neil
3/5
Fred Neil is the second album from Fred Neil, a pioneer folk rock musician, recorded and released in 1966. The album has a more laid-back sound than his debut, and contains his best-known songs; "Everybody's Talkin' " and "The Dolphins". It was re-released in 1969 under the title Everybody's Talkin' in response to the international success of the soundtrack of the movie Midnight Cowboy, which made a hit of the new title track for Harry Nilsson.[2] Music journalist Richie Unterberger characterizes the album as Neil's "best",[3] and it was listed in the first (2005) edition of the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, edited by Robert Dimery.
Fred Neil (March 16, 1936 – July 7, 2001)[1] was an American folk singer-songwriter active in the 1960s and early 1970s. He did not achieve commercial success as a performer[2] and is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material – particularly "Everybody's Talkin'", which became a hit for Harry Nilsson after it was used in the film Midnight Cowboy in 1969.[1][3] Though highly regarded by contemporary folk singers,[2] he was reluctant to tour and spent much of the last 30 years of his life assisting with the preservation of dolphins.[3][4]
Nick Drake
3/5
Bryter Layter is the second studio album by English folk singer-songwriter Nick Drake. Recorded in 1970 and released on 5 March 1971 by Island Records, it would be his last album to feature backing musicians, as his next and final studio album, Pink Moon, would have Drake perform all songs solo.
In 2000, Q placed Bryter Layter at number 23 in its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever". It ranked at number 14 in NME's list of "The Greatest Albums of the '70s".[18]
It was voted number 306 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[19]
In 2003, the album was ranked number 245 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Contemporary reviews were mostly positive. In Sounds Jerry Gilbert called the album "superb" and said, "On their own merits, the songs of Nick Drake are not particularly strong, but Nick has always been a consistent if introverted performer, and placed in the cauldron that Joe Boyd has prepared for him, then things start to effervesce." Gilbert praised the "splendid arrangements" of Robert Kirby, and said that the songs "take time to work through to the listener, with help from the beautiful backing which every track receives".[11] Lon Goddard of Record Mirror was also impressed by Drake's guitar technique and Kirby's arrangements, and "Nick isn't the world's top singer, but he's written fantastic numbers that suit strings marvellously. Definitely one of the prettiest (and that counts!) and most impressive albums I've heard ... Happy, sad, very moving."[12] "The Disc Panel" in Disc and Music Echo stated that Drake "sings his own very personal songs in a strange, deep vaseline voice, probably more suited to crooning, accompanied at times by really funky backing" and called the record "an extraordinarily good hefty folk album".[13] However, Andrew Means of Melody Maker described the album as "late-night coffee'n'chat music" and said, "This is a difficult album to come to any firm conclusion on", stating that the reaction depended on the listener's mood and that "the 10 tracks are all very similar – quiet, gentle and relaxing."[14]
ZZ Top
3/5
Eliminator is the eighth studio album by American rock band ZZ Top. It was released on March 23, 1983, by Warner Bros. Records, and rose high on the charts in many countries. Four hit singles were released—"Gimme All Your Lovin'" which reached the American Top 40, "Sharp Dressed Man", "TV Dinners" and their most successful single, "Legs". A Diamond certified album in the United States, Eliminator is ZZ Top's most commercially successful release, with sales of 11 million in US.[4]
Recorded in 1982, the album represents a further step of modernization by bandleader Billy Gibbons. Since El Loco in 1981, Gibbons had been edging the band's boogie and blues rock sound toward the popular new-wave/synth-rock aesthetic while retaining ZZ Top's signature electric guitar emphasis. For Eliminator, he increased the tempo and used more synthesizers and drum machines, producing a "tighter" album with a steady, driving beat.[1] Pre-production engineer Linden Hudson collaborated with Gibbons in Texas on the album tempo and songs, then producer Bill Ham and engineer Terry Manning joined Gibbons in Memphis, Tennessee, to carefully craft the sound of each song after the full band was done recording, controversially replacing much of the contributions of bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard. Ham claimed the album was solely the work of ZZ Top, denying the involvement of others, but in 1986 Hudson won a lawsuit establishing himself as composer of the song "Thug".
Retrospective opinions are largely positive, praising ZZ Top's ability to match the spirit of the times.[22] Guitar World wrote in 2002 that ZZ Top had been expected to fail in the MTV era, but that they "surprised everyone with Eliminator, a brilliant merger of roadhouse blues and synthesizer swells and looped beats".[46] The Houston Chronicle wrote in 2018 that it brought together Gibbons's classic rock foundation and interest in new-wave synthesizers, retaining "a sense of the Delta blues under all the technology".[44] Critic Alan di Perna wrote in 2012 that "ZZ Top had found the potent combination that would bring them into the eighties and their era of greatest commercial triumph: raunchy guitar sounds coupled with the pounding drive and unrelenting sex machine rhythmic precision of electronic dance music and synth pop".[22]
Britney Spears
3/5
..Baby One More Time is the debut studio album by American pop singer Britney Spears. It was released on January 12, 1999, through Jive Records. It is Spears' most successful album with sales of over 25 million copies worldwide,[1] making it one of the best-selling albums of all time, as well as the best-selling debut album by a female artist. ...Baby One More Time has been cited as a hallmark for pop music and is praised for the revival of the teen pop genre. The album received two nominations at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
At the time of its release, ...Baby One More Time garnered mixed reviews from music critics, with many praising its commercial appeal but deeming it silly and premature. Retrospectively, it has been hailed for its major impact on pop culture, citing it as one of the most influential pop records of all time. The album was a massive global success, topping the charts in five countries and reaching the top ten in 17 territories. Spears became the fifth artist under the age of 18 to top the Billboard 200.[2] It received worldwide certifications, including a 14× platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of over 14 million copies in the US. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the album has sold 10.7 million copies,[3] with additional 1.6 million sold at BMG Music Clubs.[4]
Todd Rundgren
3/5
A Wizard, a True Star is the fourth album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released March 2, 1973, on Bearsville Records. It marked a departure from his previous, Something/Anything? (1972), with its lesser reliance on straightforward pop songs, a development he attributed to his experimentation with psychedelic drugs and his realization of "what music and sound were like in my internal environment, and how different that was from the music I had been making."[3][4]
Wizard, at different points, incorporates prog, psychedelic rock, Broadway show tunes, bubblegum pop, and Philadelphia soul.[23] Other influences were drawn from jazz and funk. Schuckett said that Rundgren often spoke of Ravel as his favorite classical composer at the time, although "I don't think Todd really listened to much funk, so [me and Moogy] were kind of showing him that stuff."[13] Musicologist Daniel Harrison likened Wizard to late 1960s Beach Boys work such as Smiley Smile, specifically in that the albums shared musical aspects such as "abrupt transitions, mixture of various pop styles, and unusual production effects."[24] Harrison added that few artists in this period chose to emulate the Beach Boys' experiments due to the band's poor commercial standing.[24] Rundgren said that adapting his sound to meet commercial expectations was never an issue for him since he already made "so much money from production", a rare luxury for an artist.[25] He recalled that Bearsville owner Albert Grossman, however, was "surprisingly" encouraging of Wizard. Klingman remembered Grossman walking in on a session of "Da Da Dali" and found Rundgren singing in an exaggerated Al Jolson voice while the band were purposely playing "all wrong notes", and yet "Albert didn't miss a beat. ... He just kept silent and nodded like everything was fine."[12]
The album's musician admirers include Tame Impala[46] and the electronic bands Simian Mobile Disco, Daft Punk, and Hot Chip.[8] "International Feel" was prominently featured in Daft Punk's 2006 film Electroma.[46] In 2018, Pitchfork's Sam Sodsky noted that the "fingerprints" of Wizard remain "evident on bedroom auteurs to this day, from Ariel Pink to Frank Ocean, who sampled its synths on 2016's Blonde."[4] Jellyfish and Imperial Drag co-founder Roger Joseph Manning Jr. praised the record for its unusual sound: "Stuff is distorting. Parts are panned all crazy; there’s so much nuttiness going on, but it ends up enhancing his songs because it adds that much more charm and character."[49]
There was no consideration to perform the album in its entirety at the time of release due to the difficulty in reproducing many of its sounds.[19] One song, "Just One Victory", did become a staple of Rundgren's concert performances as a closer. He later remarked that "People get pissed if we don't do it."[13] In 2009, he toured Wizard for the first time, playing the album in its entirety. The concerts featured an elaborate theatrical effects and numerous costume changes.[50] A second tour of the album was scheduled for 2020.[51
Little Simz
4/5
Grey Area (stylised as GREY Area) is the third studio album by English rapper Little Simz, released on 1 March 2019 through Age 101 Music and AWAL.
Grey
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 91, based on 15 reviews.[6]
In the review for AllMusic, Liam Martin praised the album by claiming that "On her third full-length album, Grey Area, Simz has reached a new peak, with an honest record that isn't afraid to take shots at the world at large. It's also incredibly concise -- an aspect that many of her peers often miss the mark on -- with no filler despite the broad variation the record boasts."[7] Kyann-Sian Williams of NME praised the album, giving it a perfect score and saying, "Across these 10 tracks, Simz utilises her most valuable commodity: honesty. Having stripped away the narrative cloak that shrouded the highlights of 'Stillness In Wonderland', she's crafted a knockout record – and finally come true on her early promise. This is the best rap record of the year so far."[11] William Rosebury of The Line of Best Fit said, "It's brave but vulnerable, energetic but reflective and youthful but wise. If you listen to any Little Simz track, you'll know instantly she's a great MC, but with this project she has stepped beyond that to become a uniquely gifted artist. An incredible album."[17]
Queen
3/5
Sheer Heart Attack is the third studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 8 November 1974 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. Digressing from the progressive themes featured on their first two albums, the album featured more pop-centric and conventional rock tracks and marked a step towards the "classic" Queen sound.[2] It was produced by the band and Roy Thomas Baker, and launched Queen to mainstream popularity in the UK and throughout the world.
In a retrospective review, AllMusic said that "the theatricality is now wielded on everyday affairs, which ironically makes them sound larger than life. And this sense of scale, combined with the heavy guitars, pop hooks, and theatrical style, marks the true unveiling of Queen, making Sheer Heart Attack as [sic] the moment where they truly came into their own."[2] Q called the record "indispensable" and "one of the great pop/rock admixtures of the '70s".[44] Pitchfork wrote: "Sheer Heart Attack not only improves on every aspect of their sound suggested by the first two records, but delivers some of the finest music of their career ... this is the band at the height of its powers."[42] Jon Bryan of Backseat Mafia described it as "the first album where Queen got it unarguably right", noting that "such obvious arrogance suited them".[40]
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Led Zeppelin II is the second studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 22 October 1969 in the United States and on 31 October 1969 in the United Kingdom by Atlantic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at several locations in both the United Kingdom and North America from January to August 1969. The album's production was credited to the band's lead guitarist and songwriter Jimmy Page, and it was also Led Zeppelin's first album on which Eddie Kramer served as engineer.
Led Zeppelin II was a commercial success, and was the band's first album to reach number one on charts in the UK and the US. The album's cover designer David Juniper was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package in 1970. On 15 November 1999, the album was certified 12× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales passing 12 million copies. Since its release, various writers and music critics have regularly cited Led Zeppelin II as one of the greatest and most influential albums of all time.[3]
The album was described as a "brilliant if heavy-handed blues-rock offensive", by popular music scholar Ronald Zalkind.[45] According to Robert Santelli's The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia (2001), Led Zeppelin "had already begun to move beyond its blues-rock influences, venturing into previously unexplored hard-rock territories".[46] Blues-derived songs like "Whole Lotta Love", "Heartbreaker", "The Lemon Song", "Moby Dick", and "Bring It On Home" have been seen as representing standards of the metal genre, where the guitar-based riff (rather than vocal chorus or verses) defines the song and provides the key hook.[17] Such arrangements and emphasis were at the time atypical in popular music.[13] Page's guitar solo in "Heartbreaker" was an influence on later renowned guitarists Eddie Van Halen, as inspiration for his two-handed tapping technique, and Steve Vai.[47]
Since its initial critical reception, Led Zeppelin II has earned several accolades from music publications, frequently ranked on critics' "best album" lists.[3] In 1989, Spin magazine ranked the album No. 5 on its list of The 25 Greatest Albums of All Time.[3] In 1990, CD Review ranked it sixth on their list of top 50 CDs for starting a "pop/rock" library; an accompanying blurb described the album as "white boy blues with a hard rock edge".[48] In 2000, Q magazine placed Led Zeppelin II at number 37 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.[49] In 2003, the album was ranked number 75 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[50] 79 in a 2012 revised list,[51] and 123 in a 2020 revised list.[52] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[53]
Sam Cooke
3/5
Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 is the second live album by the American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke. The album was recorded at the Harlem Square Club in Miami and released in June 1985 in the United States by RCA Records. Initially recorded on January 12, 1963, to be released as a live album entitled One Night Stand, the concert album was not released until 1985. RCA Victor, at the time, viewed the album as too gritty and raw and possibly damaging to his pop image, and quietly kept the recordings in their archive.
In 1985, executive Gregg Geller discovered the tapes and quickly issued Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 that year.[5] "Sam was what we've come to call a crossover artist: He crossed over from gospel to pop, which was controversial enough in its day. But once he became a pop artist, he had a certain mainstream image to protect," Geller said in 2013.[4] "The fact is, when he was out on the road, he was playing to a predominantly, almost exclusively black audience. And he was doing a different kind of show — a much more down-home, down-to-earth, gut-bucket kind of show than what he would do for his pop audience."[4]
Three mixes of the album have been released. The original 1985 mix contains a louder audience response, creating a "claustrophobic, frenzied power" and also features some minor instrumental studio overdubbing which was not used in subsequent mixes. The version included on the 2000 box set, The Man Who Invented Soul, turns the audience elements down, cleaning up Cooke's vocals as well as the music.[6] The 2005 remaster generally splits the difference between these two releases. However, some of the 2005 versions have a defect. Around the 0:56 mark of "Twistin' the Night Away", the song skips. It is not known why this defect is present, or why it has not been fixed as of today. [6]
Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 has generally been considered among the best live LPs ever released.[1][8] In the year of its release (1985), it was ranked at number 11 on The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll, as well as being named number 7 on NME's albums of the year.[9][10] Steve Leggett for AllMusic feels that "Not only is this one of the greatest live soul albums ever released, it also reveals a rougher, rawer, and more immediate side to Sam Cooke that his singles only hinted at, good as they were [...] the crucial key is and was always Cooke's vocals, and while he was a marvelously smooth, versatile, and urbane singer on his official pop recordings, here he explodes into one of the finest sets of raw secular gospel ever captured on tape. It is essential listening in any version."[6]
In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 443 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, with the rank climbing to number 439 in the 2012 revision and to number 240 in the 2020 reboot of the list.[11][12][13]
The Zombies
3/5
Odessey and Oracle is the second studio album by English rock band the Zombies. It was originally released in the UK in April 1968 by CBS Records.
The album gradually achieved critical praise and a cult following, and has since become one of the most acclaimed albums of the 1960s. It was ranked 100th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[7] When Rolling Stone revised their list in 2020, the album ranked 243rd.[8]
Missy Elliott
4/5
Under Construction is the fourth studio album by the American rapper Missy Elliott, released by The Goldmind Inc. and Elektra Records on November 12, 2002, in the United States. The album was primarily produced by Timbaland, with additional production by Craig Brockman, Nisan Stewart, Errol "Poppi" McCalla and Elliott herself.
Under Construction received general acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, it earned an average score of 81 out of 100, based on 19 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[8] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[18]
"It still sounds incredibly fresh, in all meanings of the word," observed the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' guitarist, Nick Zinner. Karen [O, Yeah Yeah Yeahs] singer] and I listened to it all the time. We used to play it before we'd go onstage... 'Funky Fresh Dressed' is my favourite track. I don't know what else to say other than it's amazing."[19]
The Teardrop Explodes
4/5
Kilimanjaro is the debut album by the neo-psychedelic Liverpool band The Teardrop Explodes, released on 10 October 1980.[10] It contains versions of the band's early singles – "Sleeping Gas", "Bouncing Babies", "Treason" & "When I Dream" – as well as their biggest hit, "Reward". The album also includes the song "Books" – originally a song by Julian Cope's previous band, The Crucial Three, it was also recorded by Echo & the Bunnymen (as "Read it in Books", released on the B-side of their debut single, and featured on some versions of Crocodiles). In 2000, Q magazine placed Kilimanjaro at number 95 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.
The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single "Reward", the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s. The group also launched the career of group frontman Julian Cope as well as that of keyboard player and co-manager David Balfe (later a record producer, A&R man and founder of Food Records). Other members included early Smiths producer Troy Tate.
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
Tusk is the twelfth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released as a double album on 12 October 1979 by Warner Bros. Records.[4] It is considered more experimental than their previous albums, partly as a consequence of Lindsey Buckingham's sparser songwriting arrangements and the influence of post-punk.[5] The production costs were estimated to be over $1 million (equivalent to $3.73 million in 2021), making it the most expensive rock album recorded to that date.[6]
In his review for Rolling Stone, Stephen Holden emphasized the experimental nature of the album, comparing it to the Beatles' "White Album" in that "Tusk is less a collection of finished songs than a mosaic of pop-rock fragments by individual performers."[2] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice was more ambivalent, lauding Buckingham's production and experimentation, while dismissing Christine McVie's and Stevie Nicks's contributions.[36] Retrospectively, AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine found the album to be timeless, calling it "a peerless piece of pop art" that rivals the more accessible Rumours album in terms of quality.[23] Amanda Petrusich of Pitchfork found the album "self indulgent" and "terrifically strange".[28] Contemporary and retrospective reviewers alike have noted the stark contrast between the album's lush opening track, "Over and Over", and jarring production of the following track, "The Ledge".[13][37]
Roxy Music
3/5
Country Life is the fourth album by English art rock band Roxy Music, released in 1974 by Island Records. It was released by Atco Records in the United States.[1] The album is considered by many critics to be among the band's most sophisticated and consistent.
In 2003, Country Life was ranked number 387 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It was one of four Roxy Music albums that made the list (For Your Pleasure, Siren and Avalon being the others).[16]
Amy Winehouse
4/5
Back to Black is the second and final studio album by English singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse, released on 27 October 2006 by Island Records. Winehouse predominantly based the album on her tumultuous relationship with then-ex-boyfriend and future husband Blake Fielder-Civil, who temporarily left her to pursue his previous ex-girlfriend. Their short-lived separation spurred her to create an album that explores themes of guilt, grief, infidelity, heartbreak and trauma in a relationship.
Influenced by the pop and soul music of 1960s girl groups, Winehouse collaborated with producers Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson, along with Sharon Jones' band The Dap-Kings, to assist her on capturing the sounds from that period while blending them with contemporary R&B and neo-soul music. Between 2005 and 2006, she recorded the album's songs with Remi at Instrumental Zoo Studios in Miami and then with Ronson and the Dap-Kings at Chung King Studios and Daptone Records in New York. Tom Elmhirst mixed the album at Metropolis Studios in London.
After the release of Back to Black, record companies sought out more experimental female artists. Other female artists signed to major labels included Adele, Duffy, V V Brown, Florence and the Machine, La Roux and Little Boots. In the years after Back to Black was released, Dan Cairns of The Sunday Times noted that there was a "notion [by A&R executives, radio playlisters and the public] that women are the driving commercial force in pop".[156] In March 2011, the New York Daily News ran an article attributing the continuing wave of British female artists that have been successful in the United States to Winehouse and her absence. Spin magazine music editor Charles Aaron was quoted as saying, "Amy Winehouse was the Nirvana moment for all these women [...] They can all be traced back to her in terms of attitude, musical styles or fashion." According to Keith Caulfield, chart manager for Billboard, "Because of Amy, or the lack thereof, the marketplace was able to get singers like Adele, Estelle and Duffy [...] Now those ladies have brought on the new ones, like Eliza Doolittle, Rumer and Ellie [Goulding]."[155] Linda Barnard of The Toronto Star finds Winehouse to be amongst "the British women who claimed chart-topping ownership [...] with powerful voices" and that her "impressive" five Grammy wins for Back to Black put her at the "pinnacle of pop music".[157] In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 33 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[158] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[159] In a retrospective review for Rolling Stone in 2010, Douglas Wolk gave the album four-and-a-half out of five stars and referred to it as "an unlikely marvel, a desperately sad and stirring record whose hooks and production (by Remi and Mark Ronson) are worthy of the soul hall-of-famers she namedrops—'Tears Dry on Their Own' is basically 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' recast as self-recrimination".[160] In a 2019 poll of music writers conducted by The Guardian, "Back to Black" placed first in a ranking of the best albums of the 21st Century.[161]
The Youngbloods
3/5
Elephant Mountain is an album by the American rock band The Youngbloods, released in 1969. It reached number 118 on the Billboard 200 chart.[1]
Reviewing for The Village Voice in 1969, Robert Christgau wrote, "In the manner of tight groups, the Youngbloods stretch thinner all the time. Not only have they lost Jerry Corbitt, but their own expertise has become somehow attenuated. Banana used to be the most tasteful electric pianist in rock. Now he has become so tasteful he can sounds like Roy Kral on a lazy night."[3] Lester Bangs was more enthusiastic in Rolling Stone, saying "this is one of the most encouraging albums I have heard in months. ... This album exudes that supremely rare commodity in these dark, bored, destructive times – joy."[4]
Years later, Rolling Stone said the album "bridges the gap between the last days of psychedelia and the outbreak of country-rock that had afflicted artists like the Byrds and Neil Young."[4] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Lindsay Planer praised the album, feeling that it "contains some of the band's strongest material to date".[1] The New York Times described the album as their "1969 folk-rock touchstone".[5]
Ghostface Killah
4/5
Fishscale is the fifth studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah, released March 28, 2006, on Def Jam in the United States. The album features guest appearances from every member of the Wu-Tang Clan, as well as Ghostface Killah's Theodore Unit. It also features production from several acclaimed producers, such as MF DOOM, Pete Rock, J Dilla, and Just Blaze, among others. The album follows an organized crime theme, and is named after a term for uncut cocaine.
Upon its release, Fishscale received universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 88, based on 32 reviews.[4] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called it a crack-trade "trend record that ranks with any Biggie or Wu CD". He found Ghostface Killah's stories to be as "vivid, brutal, and thought-out as any noir" and felt that the music features "a powerfully souled and sampled Clan-type groove" and a "screeching intensity" similar to Public Enemy's 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.[14] Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Raymond Fiore said that "he may not be reinventing himself with Fishscale, but as a must-hear street storyteller, Ghostface Killah's still at the top of his game."[7] Matt Barone from XXL wrote that, "with a few forced collaborations being its only flaw, Fishscale is Ghost’s most addictive dosage post Supreme Clientele. Packed with vivid street tales, comic relief and straight spittin’, the album continues his standard of excellence."[15]
Steve Jones from USA Today wrote that "Ghostface takes a timeworn hip-hop theme — dealing cocaine, and creates a riveting listening experience. He doesn't so much deliver rhymes as narrate graphically detailed scenes, rife with violence, passion and a little humor."[16] AllMusic writer Andy Kellman wrote in his review "...Ghost responds by pouring all that he has, both lyrically and vocally, into every track on the album. The scenarios he recounts are as detailed and off-the-wall as ever, elaborate screenplays laid out with a vocal style that's ceaselessly fluid and never abrasive."[5] In Q, Ted Kessler wrote, "Rappers rarely improve with age, but Wu-Tang Clan veteran Ghostface is the exception… Whether Ghostface's explaining how to cook crack on 'Kilo', how he likes his hair cut on 'Barbershop', or how he came to swim with 'SpongeBob in a Bentley Coupe' on 'Underwater', he remains rap's finest storyteller."[11] In his review for The A.V. Club, Nathan Rabin wrote:
Fishscale was ranked as one of the best albums of the year by many famous publishers.[17] It also appeared on several lists for best albums of the decade, with Stylus Magazine ranking it number eleven.[18] Uncut ranked it number 62 on their 150 Best Albums of the 2000s,[17] while Pitchfork ranked it number 75 on their Top 200 Albums of the 2000s, stating "History will remember Fishscale as Ghostface's Magical Mystery Tour: an artist convinced of his own genius empties every chamber on a batshit, pseudo-conceptual headtrip."[19] In 2009, Rhapsody ranked the album at number nine on its "Hip-Hop’s Best Albums of the Decade" list.[20] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[21] In 2022, the album was ranked 131st on Rolling Stone's list of the 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time.[22]
George Michael
3/5
Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 is the second solo studio album by the English singer-songwriter George Michael, released on 3 September 1990 by Columbia Records (Epic Records in the UK). The album was Michael's final album of all-new material on Columbia until 2004's Patience. Listen Without Prejudice was a stark departure from Michael's previous album, 1987's Faith, with largely acoustic instrumentation and a sombre intensity in many of the lyrics and melodies. While the album topped the UK Albums Chart, disappointing sales in the United States led to Michael's legal battles against Sony Music, in which he accused the corporation of not fully supporting him as an artist.[2]
In 2010, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[28] In a positive appraisal of the album's 2017 reissue, Pitchfork writer Alfred Soto situated the album in the context of the then-burgeoning HIV/AIDS pandemic: "[George Michael] understood black music as the product of a familiarity with death leavened by the banalities of earth: love, sex, comfort. Something was happening that autumn to gay artists closeted from their fans. In October [1990], Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe released Behaviour, the quietest album of the Pet Shop Boys' career. The unceasing piling up of bodies killed by HIV had made, for the moment, the bacchanal into a gauche if not repulsive gesture of sentimentality."[21] According to Soto: "For those of us too young for the plague years—who can imagine, at least, a life lived instead of convulsing in agony on a hospital bed—chastising Michael for leaning on elegies and ballads in 1990 strikes me as glib. In its original form, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 was the follow-up that Faith demanded; in this new incarnation, it's a miscellany unruffled by notions of coherence, an attempt to make art out of George Michael's quarrels with himself."[21]
The Magnetic Fields
3/5
69 Love Songs is the sixth studio album by American indie pop band the Magnetic Fields, released on September 7, 1999 by Merge Records. As its title indicates, 69 Love Songs is a three-volume concept album composed of 69 love songs, all written by Magnetic Fields frontman Stephin Merritt.
Merritt has said "69 Love Songs is not remotely an album about love. It's an album about love songs, which are very far away from anything to do with love."[4] The album features songs in many different genres, including country, synth pop, free jazz, and mournful love ballads. All the songs deal with love in one form or another, but often in an ironic or off-beat fashion, such as the track "Yeah! Oh, Yeah!" which tells the story of a husband murdering his wife. The songs of 69 Love Songs features lyrics exploring heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual relationships.
69 Love Songs received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 88, indicating "universal acclaim".[6] Betty Clarke of The Guardian hailed it as "an album of such tenderness, humour and bloody-minded diversity, it'll have you throwing away your preconceptions and wondering how you ever survived a broken heart without it."[9] Douglas Wolk of Spin called the album Stephin Merritt's "masterwork" and stated that "pop hasn't seen a lyricist of Merritt's kind and caliber since Cole Porter", praising his unique takes on standard love song clichés.[15] Nick Mirov of Pitchfork wrote that Merritt "has proven himself as an exceptional songwriter, making quantum leaps in quality as well as quantity on 69 Love Songs."[12] Robert Christgau, writing in The Village Voice, stated that despite his personal dislike of cynicism and reluctance to "link it to creative exuberance", the album's "cavalcade of witty ditties—one-dimensional by design, intellectual when it feels like it, addicted to cheap rhymes, cheaper tunes, and token arrangements, sung by nonentities whose vocal disabilities keep their fondness for pop theoretical—upends my preconceptions the way high art's sposed to."[16]
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
3/5
The "Chirping" Crickets is the debut album from the American rock and roll band the Crickets, led by Buddy Holly. It was the group's only album released during Holly's lifetime. In 2012, the album was ranked number 420 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[4] The album also appears in the book, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
The Crickets were an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in January 1957. Their first hit record, "That'll Be the Day", released in May 1957, peaked at number three on the Billboard Top 100 chart on September 16, 1957. The sleeve of their first album, The "Chirping" Crickets, shows the band line-up at the time: Holly on lead vocals and lead guitar, Niki Sullivan on rhythm guitar, Jerry Allison on drums, and Joe B. Mauldin on bass. The Crickets helped set the template for subsequent rock bands, such as the Beatles, with their guitar-bass-drums line-up, performing their own self-written material. After Holly's death in 1959 the band continued to tour and record into the 1960s and beyond with other band members through to the 21st century.
Bauhaus
3/5
Bauhaus expanded their style a bit on Mask, particularly by incorporating keyboards and acoustic guitar on songs such as "The Passion of Lovers", and funk rhythms and saxophone on tracks like "Kick in the Eye", "Dancing" and "In Fear of Fear".[citation needed]
The album cover is a drawing by guitarist Daniel Ash.[2] The original artwork for the album was a gatefold sleeve with blue text on the inside and a stark black-and-white image of the band.[citation needed] On later editions this inside was replaced with white text and a montage from the promotional video for the song "Mask".
In his retrospective review of the album, Ned Raggett of AllMusic called Mask "arguably even better than the band's almost flawless debut".[4] Trouser Press described the album as "[Bauhaus'] finest achievement".[8] Classic Rock reviewer Jonathan Selzer remarked how on Mask "Bauhaus managed to sound more expansive and less withdrawn, without losing any of their austere aura", gaining "a newfound accessibility that would see them break into the Top 30."[5]
Mask was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In the album's entry in the book, Australia's Fiend Magazine editor and contributing critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas wrote that "The sounds were harder-edged than those of Bauhaus' debut, but the introduction of more pop-friendly melodies helped to make Mask digestible for a mainstream audience."[9]
Sister Sledge
4/5
We Are Family is the third studio album by the American R&B vocal group Sister Sledge, released on January 22, 1979, in the United States and on April 30, 1979, in the United Kingdom by Cotillion Records. The album was written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the band Chic, and includes four hit singles: the title track, "He's the Greatest Dancer", "Lost in Music", and "Thinking of You", all of which have been sampled, remixed, and reissued in the decades after the album's release. The album reached number one on the Top R&B Albums chart and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, making it the band's most commercially successful album.
We Are Family is one of two albums produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers in 1979, the other being Chic's third album Risqué including hit singles "Good Times" and "My Forbidden Lover". Nile Rodgers has written that of the various albums produced by The Chic Organization for themselves and others, "pound for pound, I think We Are Family is our best album hands down."[8]
The lead vocals to "We Are Family" were recorded in a single take by the then 19-year-old Kathy Sledge.[9] "He's the Greatest Dancer" was the first single from the album and became the group's first major hit, reaching the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the R&B chart. We Are Family was digitally remastered and reissued on CD by Rhino Records in 1995.
4/5
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26 May 1967,[nb 1] Sgt. Pepper is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composition, extended form, psychedelic imagery, record sleeves, and the producer in popular music. The album had an immediate cross-generational impact and was associated with numerous touchstones of the era's youth culture, such as fashion, drugs, mysticism, and a sense of optimism and empowerment. Critics lauded the album for its innovations in songwriting, production and graphic design, for bridging a cultural divide between popular music and high art, and for reflecting the interests of contemporary youth and the counterculture.
A key work of British psychedelia, Sgt. Pepper is considered one of the first art rock LPs and a progenitor to progressive rock. It incorporates a range of stylistic influences, including vaudeville, circus, music hall, avant-garde, and Western and Indian classical music. With assistance from producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick, much of the recordings were coloured with sound effects and tape manipulation, as exemplified on "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" and "A Day in the Life". Recording was completed on 21 April. The cover, which depicts the Beatles posing in front of a tableau of celebrities and historical figures, was designed by the pop artists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth.
Sgt. Pepper's release was a defining moment in pop culture, heralding the album era and the 1967 Summer of Love, while its reception achieved full cultural legitimisation for pop music and recognition for the medium as a genuine art form. The album spent 27 weeks at number one on the Record Retailer chart in the United Kingdom and 15 weeks at number one on the Billboard Top LPs chart in the United States. In 1968, it won four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, the first rock LP to receive this honour; in 2003, it was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
2/5
Trout Mask Replica is the third studio album by the American band Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, released as a double album on June 16, 1969, by Straight Records. The music was composed by Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) and arranged by drummer John "Drumbo" French. Combining elements of R&B, garage rock, and blues with free jazz, avant-garde approaches, and other genres of American music,[7] the album is regarded as an important work of experimental music and art rock.[4]
Trout Mask Replica is considered to be Captain Beefheart's magnum opus,[33] and has appeared on lists of the greatest albums of all time.[34] BBC disc jockey John Peel said of the album, "If there has been anything in the history of popular music which could be described as a work of art in a way that people who are involved in other areas of art would understand, then Trout Mask Replica is probably that work."[35] Peel later ranked the record as the best pop album ever made.[36] Lester Bangs, in his original review for Rolling Stone in 1969, hailed the album as "a total success, a brilliant, stunning enlargement and clarification of [Captain Beefheart's] art", and said that, on "a purely verbal level", it is "an explosion of maniacal free-association incantations".[37] Years later, he wrote that "it was not even 'ahead' of its time in 1969. Then and now, it stands outside time, trends, fads, hypes, the rise and fall of whole genres eclectic as walking Christmas trees, constituting a genre unto itself: truly, a musical Monolith if ever there was one."[38] Steve Huey of AllMusic lauded the album as "stunningly imaginative", and wrote that its influence "was felt more in spirit than in direct copycatting, as a catalyst rather than a literal musical starting point. However, its inspiring reimagining of what was possible in a rock context laid the groundwork for countless experiments in rock surrealism to follow, especially during the punk/new wave era."[7]
The album's unconventional nature often alienates new
In 2000 it was voted number 50 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[46] He stated “This record is living proof of his bizarre genius.” In 2003, the album was ranked at number 59 by Rolling Stone in their list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and it was ranked number 60 on the 2012 revision of the list:[
Norah Jones
3/5
Come Away with Me is the debut studio album by American recording artist Norah Jones, released on February 26, 2002, by Blue Note Records. Recording sessions took place at Sorcerer Sound Studio in New York City and Allaire Studios in Shokan, New York.[1]
on the Billboard 200 in the US upon its release in February 2002 selling 10,000 copies in its first week.[9][10] Despite being released at a time when music piracy was high and album sales were declining,[11] the album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in August that same year.[3] The album eventually climbed to the top of the Billboard 200 in January 2003, almost a year after it was released.[10] By the time of the Grammy Awards the following month, Come Away with Me had already sold 3 million copies in the country.[12] Jones' success at the award show resulted in the album moving another 600,000 copies the week immediately following the awards.[12] In total, the album appeared on the Billboard 200 for 165 weeks[13] and sold 11.1 million copies in the US as of March 2016.[14] The album was certified Diamond by the RIAA in February 2005 for selling over ten million copies in the US.[3] It was also the eleventh best-selling album of the Nielsen SoundScan era as of 2016.[14]
The album received 3.5 out of 4 stars from both the Chicago Sun-Times and the Los Angeles Times reviews.[23][27] AllMusic's David R. Adler wrote that "while the mood of this record stagnates after a few songs, it does give a strong indication of Jones' alluring talents."[22] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice cited it as "the most unjazz album [Blue Note] has ever released" and criticized that "Jones's voice dominates the record."[32]
Joan Baez
3/5
Joan Baez, also known as Joan Baez, Vol. 1, is the debut solo album by folk singer Joan Baez. The album was recorded in the summer of 1960 and released the same year. The original release featured 13 traditional folk songs. Later reissues included three additional songs.[1][2
]In his Allmusic review, music critic Bruce Eder gave the album five out of five stars, commenting that the purity of the sound was notable at the time. He wrote of the album "Baez gives a fine account of the most reserved and least confrontational aspects of the folk revival, presenting a brace of traditional songs (most notably "East Virginia" and "Mary Hamilton") with an urgency and sincerity that makes the listener feel as though they were being sung for the first time".[8]
In 2015, the album was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.[3
Tricky
4/5
Maxinquaye is the debut album by English rapper and producer Tricky, released on 20 February 1995 by 4th & B'way Records, a subsidiary of Island Records. In the years leading up to the album, Tricky had grown frustrated with his limited role in the musical group Massive Attack and wanted to pursue an independent project. Shortly after, he met with vocalist Martina Topley-Bird, who he felt would offer a wider vision to his music, and signed a solo contract with 4th & B'way in 1993. Tricky recorded Maxinquaye the following year primarily at his home studio in London, with Topley-Bird serving as the album's main vocalist, while Alison Goldfrapp, Ragga and Mark Stewart performed additional vocals.
Maxinquaye has frequently appeared on authoritative lists of the greatest albums, including NME's 2013 list of the 500 greatest albums, which ranked it 202nd best.[57] Uncut named it 156th best on a similar list in 2016.[58] It was ranked high in a Q-published poll determining the 100 greatest British albums, Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" and Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90s", among other lists.[36] The record was also ranked 66th on Pitchfork's list of the 100 best albums from the 1990s, with the site's guest writer Rollie Pemberton crediting the record for helping shape "the landscapes of modern electronica and underground hip-hop".[59] Slant Magazine named it the 21st greatest electronic album of the 20th century and wrote that along with Blue Lines and Dummy, it was also "one of the most influential trip-hop albums of the '90s".[60][61] In 2015, it was placed at number one on Fact magazine's list of the 50 best trip hop albums, with an accompanying essay saying it contains "some of the most tortured and original electronic music cut to wax" which "left an indelible mark on British music, electronic and otherwise".[62]
Japan
3/5
Quiet Life is the third studio album by English new wave band Japan, first released on 17 November 1979 in Canada by record label Hansa (it would be released in the UK some weeks later).
Quiet Life was first released on 17 November 1979 in Canada, with journalist Rosalind Russell describing Japan as being a "cult band in Canada" and that the album was "shifting copies like candles in a power strike".[7] The band travelled to Toronto to perform two sets at the Ryerson Theatre on 24 November, which was their first show in six months (and also their last ever performance in North America), and was the first to feature Jane Shorter on saxophone.[8][7] The album was then released in Japan on 20 December 1979 and then everywhere else in January 1980 due to a delay in manufacturing the album. It was released in the UK on 18 January.[9]
In his retrospective review of the album, AllMusic critic Keith Farley wrote: "Quiet Life is the album that transformed Japan from past-tense glam rockers into futuristic synth popsters, though they'd been leaning in that direction for a while. It's also a solid proto-New Romantic synthesizer record".[15] Trouser Press viewed the selection of John Punter to produce the album as "significant, as the band's sights had shifted from gutter-glam to elegant decadence."[21] Writing for The Quietus, Joseph Burnett called Quiet Life "an album that pushed the elegant, improbably-coiffed Sylvian into the limelight, aided and abetted by some of the band's best songs," and found that it "deserves to be placed alongside Travelogue, Mix-Up and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark as one of the key early British synth-based pop/rock albums".
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
Will the Circle be Unbroken is the seventh album by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, with collaboration from many famous bluegrass and country-western players, including Roy Acuff, "Mother" Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Merle Travis, Pete "Oswald" Kirby, Norman Blake, Jimmy Martin, and others. It also introduced fiddler Vassar Clements to a wider audience.
The album's title comes from a song by Ada R. Habershon (re-arranged by A. P. Carter) and reflects how the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was trying to tie together two generations of musicians. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was a young country-rock band with a hippie look. Acuff described them as "a bunch of long-haired West Coast boys." The other players were much older and more famous from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, primarily as old-time country and bluegrass players. Many had become known to their generation through the Grand Ole Opry. However, with the rise of rock-and-roll, the emergence of the commercial country's slick 'Nashville Sound,' and changing tastes in music, their popularity had waned somewhat from their glory years. Acuff was initially contemptuous of the project, but later relented and participated.[3]
Rod Stewart
3/5
Every Picture Tells a Story is the third studio album by Rod Stewart. It was released on 28 May 1971. It incorporates hard rock, folk, and blues styles.[3] It went to number one on both the UK and US charts and finished third in the Jazz & Pop critics' poll for best album of 1971.[4] It has been an enduring critical success, including a number 172 ranking on Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[5]
This album is a mixture of rock, country, blues, soul, and folk, and includes Stewart's breakthrough hit, "Maggie May", as well as "Reason to Believe", a song from Tim Hardin's debut album of 1966. "Reason to Believe", with Pete Sears on piano, was released as the first single from the album with "Maggie May" as the B-side; however, "Maggie May" became more popular and was a No. 1 hit in both the UK and US.
Kid Rock
3/5
Devil Without a Cause is the fourth studio album by American rapper Kid Rock. Released on August 18, 1998, the album saw Kid Rock continuing to develop his sound, moving away from the predominantly hip hop sound of his previous albums to a largely rap metal, hard rock, nu metal, and rap rock sound, and marked the finalization of his stage persona as a 'redneck pimp'. Additionally, the song "Cowboy" is seen as being instrumental in the development of the fusion genre country rap.
The album's critical appraisal has continued long after the album's release, with Allmusic labeling Devil Without a Cause a "rap-rock masterpiece".[9] The song "Cowboy" is considered by AXS to be the first in the country rap genre; Cowboys & Indians claims that Kid Rock's song had a major impact on the country music scene and that artists Jason Aldean and Big & Rich, among others, were influenced by the song.[4][26]
15 years after the album's release, The Village Voice writer Chaz Kangas praised Kid Rock's artistry, writing, "in the Clinton era when your most viable pop stars were pristine teen-pop sensations, raucous nu-metal antagonists or alternative-to-alternative-to-alternative rock weirdos, Rock stood alone."[47] Praising the song "Cowboy", Kangas called it "one track from this era that's timeless without even trying to be."[47]
The 13th Floor Elevators
4/5
The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators is the debut studio album by the 13th Floor Elevators. The album's sound, featuring elements of psychedelia, hard rock, garage rock, folk, and blues, is notable for its use of the electric jug, as featured on the band's only hit, "You're Gonna Miss Me", which reached number 55 on the Billboard Charts with "Tried to Hide" as a B-side. Another single from the album, "Reverberation (Doubt)", reached number 129 on the Billboard's Bubbling Under Chart.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Beggars Banquet is the 7th British and 9th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 6 December 1968 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States. It was the first Rolling Stones album produced by Jimmy Miller, whose production work formed a key aspect of the group's sound throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Beggars Banquet marked a change in direction for the band following the psychedelic pop of their previous two albums, Between the Buttons and Their Satanic Majesties Request.[2] Styles such as roots rock and a return to the blues rock sound that had marked early Stones recordings dominate the record, and the album is among the most instrumentally experimental of the band's career, as they use Latin beats and instruments like the claves alongside South Asian sounds from the tanpura, tabla and shehnai, and African music-influenced conga rhythms.
Beggars Banquet was a top-ten album in many markets, including a number 5 position in the US—where it has been certified platinum—and a number 3 position in the band's native UK. It received a highly favourable response from music critics, who deemed it a return to the band's best sound. While the album lacked a "hit single" at the time of its release, songs such as "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Street Fighting Man" became rock radio staples for decades to come. One of their most acclaimed albums, it is considered the beginning of the band's enduring reputation as the "Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World". The album has appeared on many lists of the greatest albums of all time, including by Rolling Stone, and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus is the thirteenth studio album by the Australian alternative rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 20 September 2004 on Mute Records. It is a double album of seventeen songs.
B[13]
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus holds a score of 88 out of 100 from Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim".[2] Susan Carpenter of the Los Angeles Times described the album as "a bounty of gothic rock" and noted that "the more driving, menacing numbers have been separated from the slow and scurrilous in a double album that is not two-halves of a whole so much as two distinct records released simultaneously and in one package."[14] Thom Jurek of AllMusic described Abattoir Blues as "a rock & roll record... a pathos-drenched, volume-cranked rocker, full of crunch, punishment – and taste" and The Lyre of Orpheus as "a much quieter, more elegant affair... more consciously restrained, its attention to craft and theatrical flair more prevalent.".[3] Greg Simpson of Punknews.org said that Abattoir Blues "is very bluesy indeed, a rock and roll album with many angry songs and booming bass lines," while The Lyre of Orpheus "insists on being a separate album, due to its completely different more gentle feel."[15] Dan Lawrence of Stereogum ranked the album at fifth in their list of best albums in Cave's discography, and described it musically as "riotous gospel rock".[16]
In a rave review, Tiny Mix Tapes critic Grigsby wrote that while Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus "may not be the best beginner's guide" to the band, for "anyone who is a fan of the duration of his career, this album rewards the listener with a bit of the best of everything he has to offer."[17] Paste said: "Aside from the power of the music and lyrics, the set draws on Cave’s compelling persona: part priest, part sideshow barker--crooning one moment and eviscerating the next. While this has always been the core of his talent, on Abattoir/Lyre it is particularly rich and rewarding."[18] In a more mixed assessment, Douglas Wolk, writing in Spin, was complimentary of Abattoir Blues but felt that The Lyre of Orpheus was "effectively Abattoir spillover: more mellow, less grand in conception, but—somehow—more pretentious in execution."[13] In his Consumer Guide for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau designated three songs from the album ("The Lyre of Orpheus", "There She Goes, My Beautiful World", and "Hiding All Away") as "choice cuts",[19] indicating good songs "on an album that isn't worth your time or money".[20]
Dr. Dre
5/5
The Chronic is the debut studio album by the American hip hop producer and rapper Dr. Dre. It was released on December 15, 1992, by his record label Death Row Records and distributed by Interscope Records. Recording sessions took place in June 1992 at Death Row Studios in Los Angeles and at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood.[3]
Dr. Dre's production popularized the G-funk subgenre within gangsta rap. The Chronic has been widely regarded as one of the most important and influential albums of the 1990s and one of the best-produced hip hop albums.[9][10][11] In 2019, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[12]
The production on The Chronic was seen as innovative and ground-breaking, and received universal acclaim from critics. AllMusic commented on Dr. Dre's efforts, "Here, Dre established his patented G-funk sound: fat, blunted Parliament-Funkadelic beats, soulful backing vocals, and live instruments in the rolling basslines and whiny synths"[10] and that "For the next four years, it was virtually impossible to hear mainstream hip-hop that wasn't affected in some way by Dre and his patented G-funk."[13] Unlike other hip hop acts (such as The Bomb Squad) that sampled heavily, Dr. Dre only utilized one or few samples per song.[14] In Rolling Stone's The Immortals – The Greatest Artists of All Time, where Dr. Dre was listed at number 56, Kanye West wrote on the album's production quality: "The Chronic is still the hip-hop equivalent to Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life. It's the benchmark you measure your album against if you're serious."[15]
Sade
4/5
Diamond Life is the debut studio album by English band Sade, released in the United Kingdom on 16 July 1984 by Epic Records and in the United States on 27 February 1985 by Portrait Records. After studying fashion design, and later modelling, Sade Adu began backup-singing with British band Pride. During this time Adu and three of the original members of "Pride"—Paul Anthony Cook, Paul Denman and Stuart Matthewman—left the group to form their own band called Sade. After various demos and performances, Sade received interest from record labels and signed to Epic.
Lyrically, the album revolves around themes of love, discussing both the positives and the negatives of relationships; the music features jazzy textures, built over prominent basslines, smooth drums and subtle guitar. The album also features heavy use of brass instruments and keyboards.[8] According to Paul Lester of BBC Music, the album is "sufficiently soulful and jazzy yet poppy, funky and easy listening", Lester described the album is being predominantly a quiet storm album with elements of mellifluous R&B.[9] Sade's vocals on the album were described as "deliberately icy, her delivery and voice aloof, deadpan, and cold" while Ron Wynn of AllMusic stated that the album contained "slick production and quasi-jazz backing".[10]
Sade and the band were credited as being influential to neo soul. The band achieved success in the 1980s with music that featured a sophisti-pop style, incorporating elements of soul, pop, smooth jazz, and quiet storm.[48][49] Lester credited the album with giving quiet storm music a "wide, even international audience".[9] The band was part of a new wave of British R&B-oriented artists during the late 1980s and early 1990s that also included Soul II Soul, Caron Wheeler, The Brand New Heavies, Simply Red, Jamiroquai, and Lisa Stansfield.[50] AllMusic's Alex Henderson wrote, "Many of the British artists who emerged during that period had a neo-soul outlook and were able to blend influences from different eras".[50] Following the coining of the term "quiet storm" by Smokey Robinson, Sade was credited for helping give the genre a worldwide audience.[9]
Pixies
3/5
Bossanova is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Pixies. It was released on August 13, 1990 by English independent record label 4AD in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. Because of 4AD's independent status, major label Elektra handled distribution in the US.
The UK reviews of Bossanova were generally positive. In his September 1990 review of Bossanova, Q's Mat Snow said that "the Pixies are masters of the calculated incongruity," and commented that "they give other rockers an object lesson in the first principles of how it should be done."[19] Terry Staunton of NME noted that the album's production "leans towards the harsh garage grunge of Surfer Rosa, although the songs retain the strong melodies of Doolittle," and said that "Bossanova is the composite Pixies LP."[17]
In comparison to the band's previous albums, Rolling Stone reviewer Moira McCormick described Bossanova as "more of a straight-ahead rock album – by the Pixies' standards, meaning it's still safely off the mainstream."[20]
Dead Kennedys
3/5
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is the debut studio album by the American punk rock band Dead Kennedys. It was first released on September 2, 1980, through Cherry Red Records in the United Kingdom, and I.R.S. Records in the United States. It was later issued by Jello Biafra's own Alternative Tentacles label in the United States. It is the only Dead Kennedys studio album to feature drummer Bruce Slesinger and (on one track) guitarist Carlos Cadona.
Blur
3/5
Blur is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 10 February 1997 by Food Records. Blur had previously been broadly critical of American popular culture and their previous albums had become associated with the Britpop movement, particularly Parklife, which had helped them become one of Britain's leading pop acts. After their previous album, The Great Escape, the band faced media backlash and relationships between the members became strained.
Under the suggestion of the band's guitarist, Graham Coxon, the band underwent a stylistic change, becoming influenced by American indie rock bands such as Pavement. Recording took place in London as well as in Reykjavík, Iceland. Drummer Dave Rowntree described the music on the album as being more aggressive and emotional than their previous work. Producer Stephen Street claimed that lead singer-songwriter Damon Albarn had started writing about more personal experiences while Coxon revealed that listening to his lyrics it was clear to him that "he'd obviously gone off his head a bit more".
Blur received generally positive reviews from music critics in the United States,[46] but reviews were mixed in the UK press. The Guardian praised it, whereas The Times was more ambivalent and The Independent was negative.[47] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said the album highlights "the band's rich eclecticism and sense of songcraft. Certainly, they are trying for new sonic territory, bringing in shards of white noise, gurgling electronics, raw guitars, and druggy psychedelia, but these are just extensions of previously hidden elements of Blur's music."[19] Margaret Moser of The Austin Chronicle praised the album for "unveiling a punchy brand of muscular Brit-pop that dances around raucous, Kinks-like garage-pop ("Movin' On," "M.O.R."), tender, Beatles-like harmonies ("Beetlebum," "Look Inside America"), punky quirk ("Chinese Bombs"), soulful balladry ("Country Sad Ballad Man"), obligatory space-rock trip-hop ("Theme from Retro," "I'm Just a Killer for Your Love"), and a raise-yer-mug singalong ("On Your Own")."[18] Jonathan Bernstein of Spin also felt that, "despite their traitorous pronouncements, Blur's highlights are consistently British-bred."[45] James Hunter, writing for Rolling Stone, claimed that "what still makes [Blur] great is their deep grasp of style and genre. What they haven't done on Blur is roll out of bed, strum a few chords and loudly free-associate about the first thing that pops into their heads. This is a record that inhabits current American rock biases as cogently and intelligently as Parklife corralled the last few decades of British rock."[25]
Small Faces
3/5
Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake is the third studio album, and only concept album by the English rock band Small Faces. Released on 24 May 1968, the LP peaked at number one on the UK Album Charts on 29 June, where it remained for a total of six weeks.[1] It ultimately became the group's final studio album during their original incarnation (and the last album to contain solely new material until the release of reunion album Playmates in 1977). The album title and distinctive packaging design was a parody of Ogden's Nut-brown Flake, a brand of tinned loose tobacco that was produced in Liverpool from 1899 onwards by Thomas Ogden.[2][3]
Side one of the album showcases a variety of musical styles. The opening title track is an instrumental re-working of "I've Got Mine", a failed single from 1965. This recording uses a piano treated with wah-wah pedal and orchestral flourishes from a string section led by David McCallum senior (the father of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. star David McCallum.)[citation needed]. An eclectic selection of tracks follow; the proto-Hard rock of "Song of a Baker";[note 1] the psychedelic ballad "Long Agos And Worlds Apart"; cockney knees-up songs "Lazy Sunday" and "Rene" (the latter featuring a lengthy psychedelic jam as its coda); and the intense, soul-influenced ballad "Afterglow"[3] (titled "Afterglow of Your Love" on the subsequent single and some compilations). The single version of "Afterglow" - released in March 1969 a year after it was recorded and immediately after the group's disbandment was officially announced - was presented in a radically-different mix that eschewed the LP version's acoustic opening, altered the song's tempo and extended the instrumental coda.
Side two of the LP is based on an original fairy tale concept about a boy called Happiness Stan, consisting of a musical suite of six songs interlinked with narration provided by comic monologuist and performer Stanley Unwin in his unique, nonsensical private language of "Unwinese". Unwin was not the band's first choice for narrator, however – originally they approached the popular but mercurial absurdist comedian Spike Milligan to narrate the piece, but negotiations with Milligan foundered early and the more affable and amenable Unwin stepped in to everyone's eventual satisfaction. Unwin spent time observing the band at work and at play in the studio, and picking up on the private, coded language they used amongst themselves, he incorporated it alongside contemporary slang into his inventive and surreal narrative.[3]
Rush
3/5
2112 (pronounced "twenty-one twelve") is the fourth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on 1 April 1976[12] (or March 1976, according to some sources)[1][2][3] by Anthem Records. Rush finished touring for its unsuccessful previous album Caress of Steel, in early 1976. The band was in financial hardship due to the album's disappointing sales, unfavourable critical reception, and a decline in attendance at its shows. The band's international label, Mercury Records, considered dropping Rush but granted the band one more album following negotiations with manager Ray Danniels. Though the label demanded more commercial material, the band decided to continue developing its progressive rock sound. 2112 was recorded in February 1976 in Toronto with regular producer Terry Brown. Its centerpiece is a 20-minute title track, a futuristic science-fiction song that takes up the entire first side of the album. There are five individual tracks on side two.
Cashbox praised the album, calling it "a valid and melodic tale ... the story/song is a definite cohesive listen".[18] They said of "Temples of Syrinx that it "combines growling guitars with an incredibly shrill lead vocal."[31] In an article about 2112 for Creem, Dan Nooger wrote the album "features some significant Mellotron meanderings and amazingly eccentric lyrics".[17]
2112 was included in IGN's list "10 Classic Prog Rock Albums".[32]
In a reader's poll held by Rolling Stone, it placed second on the list of favourite Prog Rock albums.[33]
AllMusic's Greg Prato (4.5 out of 5): "1976's 2112 proved to be their much sought-after commercial breakthrough and remains one of their most popular albums."[26]
Ice T
3/5
O.G. Original Gangster is the fourth studio album by American rapper Ice-T, released May 14, 1991 by Sire Records. Recording took place from July 1990 to January 1991 in Los Angeles, California. Its production was handled by seven producers: Afrika Islam, Beatmaster V, Bilal Bashir, DJ Aladdin, Nat The Cat, SLJ and Ice-T himself, who also served as executive producer. It features guest appearances from Body Count, Prince Whipper Whip and various Rhyme Syndicate artists, such as Donald D, Evil E and Randy Mac.
From contemporary reviews, NME critic Dele Fadele praised O.G. Original Gangster as Ice-T's "best shot yet; riotous vignettes from a decaying America full of devious humour and striking pathos – all those things NWA profess to be but clearly aren't."[7] Fadele found that the music "is always restlessly inventive in catering for your solar plexus (even on the hardcore/Heavy Metal crossover token track)" and "complements highlights like the sad, droning 'The Tower', the optimistic 'Escape from the Killing Fields' (a scathing re-write of Public Enemy's 'Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos' that explains the original metaphor) and the out-of-character bad-tempered 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous'".[7]
The album peaked at number 15 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number 9 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. On July 24, 1991, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, indicating U.S. sales of more than 500,000 units.[1] O.G. Original Gangster was ranked at #25 in Melody Maker's list of the top 30 albums of 1991,[2] and was featured in The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums[3] and the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[4] The album was praised by many as his best.[5][6]
Paul Weller
3/5
Wild Wood is the second solo studio album by Paul Weller, released in September 1993. It made it to number 2 on the UK Albums Chart, and contained three UK hits: "Wild Wood", which reached number 14 on the UK charts, "Sunflower", which reached number 16, and "Hung Up", which reached number 11.
Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul music of the Style Council (1983–1989), before establishing himself as a solo artist with his eponymous 1992 album.
Sarah Vaughan
3/5
At Mister Kelly's is a 1957 live album by American jazz singer Sarah Vaughan, recorded at Mister Kelly's jazz club in Chicago
The Allmusic review by John Bush awarded the album four-and-a-half stars and said that At Mister Kelly's captures Vaughan at her "best and most relaxed", stating that "her unerring sense of rhythm carries her through every song on this set, whether the occasion calls for playfulness and wit ("Thou Swell," "Honeysuckle Rose") or a world-wise melancholia ("Willow Weep for Me")". Bush also praises Jimmy Jones and Roy Haynes[2]
Jethro Tull
3/5
Aqualung is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released on 19 March 1971, by Chrysalis Records. It is widely regarded as a concept album featuring a central theme of "the distinction between religion and God", though the band have said there was no intention to make a concept album, and that only a few songs have a unifying theme.[4] Aqualung's success signalled a turning point in the career of the band, which went on to become a major radio and touring act.
The songs on the album encompass a variety of musical genres, with elements of folk, blues, psychedelia, and hard rock.[11] The "riff-heavy" nature of tracks such as "Locomotive Breath", "Hymn 43" and "Wind Up" is regarded as a factor in the band's increased success after the release of the album, with Jethro Tull becoming "a major arena act" and a "fixture on FM radio" according to AllMusic.[12][13] In a stylistic departure from Jethro Tull's earlier albums, many of Aqualung's songs are acoustic. "Cheap Day Return", "Wond'ring Aloud" and "Slipstream" are short, completely acoustic "bridges", and "Mother Goose" is also mostly acoustic. Anderson claims his main inspirations for writing the album were Roy Harper and Bert Jansch.[9]
In retrospective reviews the album is generally lauded and viewed as a classic.[36][38] AllMusic's Bruce Eder called Aqualung "a bold statement" and "extremely profound".[12] In a review of the album's 40th anniversary re-release, Sean Murphy of PopMatters said that Aqualung "is, to be certain, a cornerstone of the then-nascent prog-rock canon, but it did—and does—exist wholly on its own terms as a great rock album, period". Murphy also praised the additional material featured on the release, finding that the new content was "where a great album gets even better".[37] Paul Stump's History of Progressive Rock was more measured in its praise, saying that Aqualung made little advancement over the group's previous album, Benefit. He identified the improvements as the deeper, wider arrangements, and the diversions of the melody from the bassline accompaniments.
John Martyn
3/5
One World is the seventh studio album by British guitarist and singer John Martyn, released in November 1977 by Island Records. The album, produced by Island owner Chris Blackwell at his Berkshire farm, was recorded with a myriad of musicians, including Steve Winwood, Danny Thompson, John Stevens, Hansford Rowe and Rico. The album followed a sabbatical where, at Blackwell's invite, Martyn holidayed in Jamaica in 1976 with his family, having become disillusioned with the music business. The trip helped revitalise his interest in music.
The album combines Martyn's experimental tendencies with more pop-leaning material, with influences from the dub music of Lee "Scratch" Perry, with whom Martyn worked during the trip to Jamaica and co-wrote the song "Big Muff". The record features a relaxing, echoing sound with usage of Martyn's distinctive Echoplex guitar effects, while his lyrics discuss love, specific people and his disintegrating marriage. Some of the recording was achieved outdoors, with Island's mobile recording studio being used to operate a live feed across the farm's surrounding lake; microphones picked up the full ambience of the area, including natural reverb and surrounding geese and trains, helping contribute to the album's sweeping sound.[1]
Upon release, One World received acclaim from music critics.[12] In a review for Record Mirror, Mary Ann Ellis hailed it as a "beautiful album with an ability to touch you with a lazy line or high/low note," adding that its sensitive, sincere nature would prevent it from selling well, but "[s]omehow I wouldn't want it to."[24] Steven X Rea of Crawdaddy! similarly said the album – with its "private territory" feel – was not radio friendly, despite the short lengths of four songs and appearances from Winwood, Newmark and Fairport Convention's rhythm section. Describing Martyn's style as a mix of blues, jazz and rock, he hailed One World for being "as blotto and as blessed with sometimes hazy, sometimes crystalline music, as anything he's ever done," drawing comparisons with Bessie Smith, Hoagy Carmichael and Skip James.[25] Monty Smith of NME felt the "mean, moogy and magnificent" album was the most "mesmerising" he had heard that year, deeming it "plain better than anything else."
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Hejira is the eighth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. The songs on the album were written during a series of road trips in 1975 and 1976, and reflect events that occurred during those trips, including several romantic relationships she had at the time. Characterized by lyrically dense, sprawling songs, as well as the overdubbed fretless bass playing of Jaco Pastorius (whom Mitchell had just met), Hejira continued the musician's journey beyond her pop records towards the freer, jazz-inspired music she would implement on later recordings. Some of the songs were written while Mitchell traveled as a member of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour, and she performed the album tracks "Coyote" and "Furry Sings the Blues" with The Band at their final concert (later released as Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz).
Reviewing for Rolling Stone, Ariel Swartley felt that Mitchell had abandoned melodies and memorable tunes in favour of "new, seductive rhythms" and "lush guitars", with the resulting sound, despite its "apparent simplicity", as "sophisticated and arresting as anything she's done".[33] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau was impressed with the way that "Mitchell subjugates melody to the natural music of language itself".[27]
In 1991 Rolling Stone placed the cover at No. 11 on its list of best album covers.[34]
It was voted number 776 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[35] In the 2020 edition of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, it was ranked No. 133.[36]
Megadeth
3/5
Rust in Peace is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth, released on September 24, 1990 by Capitol Records. It was the first Megadeth album to feature lead guitarist Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza. The songs "Hangar 18" and "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" were released as singles. A remixed and remastered version of the album featuring four bonus tracks was released in 2004.
In retrospective analysis, Rust in Peace has been cited as having a large impact on its genre.[43] Heavy metal magazine Decibel labeled the album as a "genre-defining work",[44] while Kerrang! wrote that the record "set a new standard for heavy metal in the 90s".[45] IGN named Rust in Peace the fourth most influential heavy metal album of all time, commenting that the album "displays Dave Mustaine's finest writing ever".[46] Additionally, Martin Popoff ranked it eleventh among the best heavy metal albums of all time.[47] In a reader poll organized by MusicRadar in 2010, Rust in Peace was voted as the sixth best metal album ever. The MusicRadar staff explained that the record saw Megadeth moving "into the big league", while staying true to their intricate sound and lyricism.[48] In a list compiled by Chad Bowar of About.com, Rust in Peace was placed as the best heavy metal album of the 1990s and named a "thrash masterpiece".[49] The album was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 33rd Grammy Awards.[50] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[51]
Fever Ray
3/5
Fever Ray is the debut solo studio album by Fever Ray, an alias of Karin Dreijer of Swedish electronic music duo the Knife. It was released on 12 January 2009 by Rabid Records. The album spawned four singles: "If I Had a Heart", "When I Grow Up", "Triangle Walks" and "Seven".
Fever Ray was lauded by music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 81, based on 27 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".[3]
Graeme Thomson of The Observer described the album as "an astonishingly stark record" that is "[b]uilt on the barest of electronic bones and brought to life through [Dreijer]'s almost primal vocals, the songs search for a spiritual pulse amid soulless modernity."[10] Ian Mathers of PopMatters stated the album is "not only as good as Silent Shout but [it's also] clearly akin to the sound [they] and [their] brother Olof perfected on that record", concluding, "Nothing that Fever Ray does is as immediate or soaring as a track like 'Marble House' but Fever Ray makes up for the lack of highs by being an even more all-enveloping experience than the last few Knife records."[14] Similarly, John Doran of the NME commented that Fever Ray "has none of the immediacy of albums such as the Knife's Silent Shout, with its playful eclecticism and heavier, dancefloor-leaning beats. Most importantly, it doesn't have a killer hit single in the style of 'Heartbeats'", adding that in order to "fully appreciate this beautiful and understated gem, [...] it's important to relinquish all desires for another 'Heartbeats' and enter fully into the world of Fever Ray." Doran also called the album "magnetic and rewarding" and compared it to the likes of Kate Bush, Underworld and Yellow Magic Orchestra.[
The Guardian named Fever Ray the second best album of 2009, calling it "[g]lacial, creepy and impish" and commenting, "Between the cavernous synths, the echoes and loops, the polyrhythms and snarling vocal processing, [Dreijer] managed to capture the feeling of being totally alone while also projecting a childlike wonder."[19] It was ranked the second best album of 2009 and twenty-fourth best album of the 2000s decade by Resident Advisor.[20][21] The Sunday Times named Fever Ray the third best album of 2009 by a new artist and wrote that [Dreijer] "responded to motherhood with an album of glacial sonic architecture, its unforgiving expanses conjuring up sleep-deprived mental churning", dubbing it an "electro classic".[22] NME, Drowned in Sound and Pitchfork all placed the album at number nine on their respective lists of the Top 50 Albums of 2009,[23][24] with the latter noting that "[w]hat's made [Dreijer]'s work even better is how [their] videos and performances amplify the music's sense of dread and mystery."[25]
X-Ray Spex
3/5
Germfree Adolescents is the 1978 debut album of English punk rock band X-Ray Spex. It contained the UK hit singles "The Day the World Turned Dayglo" (No. 23 in April 1978), "Identity" (No. 24 in July 1978) and "Germ Free Adolescents" which reached No. 18 in November 1978. Upon release, the critics noted it wasn't all new material: five songs on the twelve tracks had already been released on A Sides and B sides of singles.
Robert Christgau later deemed Germfree Adolescents "one of British punk's strongest" albums.[16] Trouser Press declared it "a masterpiece!"[17] The Rough Guide to Rock calls it a "storming album".[18]
In 1994, The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music named Germfree Adolescents the eighth best punk album of all time.[19] Seven years later, in May 2001, Spin magazine ranked the album at number five on its "50 Most Essential Punk Records" list.[20] In March 2003, Mojo magazine ranked the record at number 19 on its "Top 50 Punk Albums" list.[21] Germfree Adolescents is listed in the reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[22]
In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 354 in their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[23]
a-ha
3/5
Hunting High and Low is the debut studio album by Norwegian new wave band A-ha, released on 1 June 1985 in the United States and 28 October 1985 in the United Kingdom[1] by Warner Bros. Records. The album was a huge commercial success, reaching high positions on charts worldwide and peaking at number 15 on the US Billboard 200. The album was recorded at Eel Pie Studios in Twickenham, London, and produced by Tony Mansfield, John Ratcliff and Alan Tarney.
Hunting High and Low was A-ha's breakout album. Upon its release in October 1985, Hunting High and Low peaked at number 15 on the Billboard's Top 200 album chart. The album granted A-ha international recognition. Hunting High and Low got 3× platinum status in the UK and Platinum status in the United States and Germany, and Gold status in Brazil, and the Netherlands. The album reached No. 11 in the European top-100 albums sales chart.
The Prodigy
3/5
Music for the Jilted Generation is the second studio album by English electronic music group the Prodigy. It was first released in July 1994 by XL Recordings in the United Kingdom and by Mute Records in the United States. Just as on the group's debut album Experience (1992), Maxim Reality was the only member of the band's lineup—besides Liam Howlett—to contribute to the album.
The album is largely a response to the corruption of the rave scene in Britain by its mainstream status as well as Great Britain's Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which criminalised raves and parts of rave culture.[2] This is exemplified in the song "Their Law" with the spoken word intro and the predominant lyric, the "Fuck 'em and their law" sample. Many years later, after the controversy died down, Liam Howlett derided the title of the album, which he referred to as "stupid", and maintained that the album was never meant to be political in the first place.[5]
Many of the samples featured on the album are sound clips from, or inspired by, movies. "Full Throttle" contains a reverse sample from the original Star Wars movie, "Skylined" uses a sample of a sound effect from the 2nd episode of the first season of "The X-Files" and "The Heat (The Energy)" features a sample from Poltergeist III.[5]
Joan Armatrading
3/5
Joan Armatrading is the third studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, released in 1976 by A&M Records. It was her first album to be recorded entirely in London, as her first two albums – Whatever's for Us and Back to the Night being partially recorded in France and Wales respectively in addition to London.
Reviewing for Sounds, Phil Sutcliffe gave the album 5 out of 5, describing it as a "continuation of Back To The Night, [...] maintaining the musical standards of lightness, flexibility and clarity and in several songs stepping into a new dimension of expressiveness with her lyrics." "Unrecognised as she is we need Joan Armatrading like we need Bob Dylan and the Beatles. You'll play this record once in a while forever."[9]
Suede
3/5
Dog Man Star is the second album by English alternative rock band Suede, released in October 1994 on Nude Records. The album was recorded in London at Master Rock studios in early 1994, and was produced by Ed Buller. It was the last Suede album to feature guitarist Bernard Butler; growing tensions between him and singer Brett Anderson ended with Butler leaving the band before recording was complete. As a result, some tracks on the album had to be finished with the assistance of session musicians.
While Dog Man Star was acclaimed by many reviewers as a masterpiece,[4] the trend towards "lad pop" saw its chart and sales success obscured.[4] It was generally overlooked at the time,[6] and it polarised American critics, some labelling it as pretentious. The album has over time garnered wider acclaim from critics.[7] In the decade between Suede's 2003 separation and the release of Bloodsports, Dog Man Star steadily gained a strong following as a classic rock record. In October 2013, NME magazine placed the album at number 31 in its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[8]
The album featured in many best-of lists throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Some critics would designate it as a masterpiece into the new century,[45][92][28] although it was somewhat overlooked by many around the time of release,[6] and in the years that followed, one NME writer said it was "stealthily erased from history."[92] Following Suede's disbandment late 2003, some critics acknowledged this period of the band's history. In September 2003, shortly before Suede disbanded, the album featured in Stylus Magazine's 'On Second Thought' feature, which aims at providing a fresh look at unjustly ignored or misunderstood albums. The magazine’s contributor Jon Monks said, "Suede will never make a record this good again, whether it is because Butler left or merely it was a such a perfect time for Brett to be writing, they have failed to make anything nearly so encompassing as this."[1] In a 2006 retrospective review, Michael Furman of Tiny Mix Tapes, while comparing Suede to Radiohead, Oasis and Manic Street Preachers, all bands who released popular records around this time, said: "It is Suede's Dog Man Star, however, that often slips through the recollections of this period."[93] Echoing this sentiment, in 2008 writing for Head Heritage, Jason Parkes said: "Dog Man Star remains an interesting record and quite odd and too rich for the mainstream at the time."[19]
Elements of Anderson's lyrics were influenced by his drug use, citing William Blake as a big influence on his writing style.[12] He became fascinated with his use of visions and trance-like states as a means of creation, and claimed that much of the "fragmented imagery" on "Introducing the Band" was the result of letting his subconscious take over.[44] The song was a mantra he wrote after visiting a Buddhist temple in Japan.[41] The uncharacteristic single-chord opening song's style and lyrics baffled critics; some were unimpressed,[33][49] while Stuart Maconie felt the song had a "cryptic, disclocated ambience that makes it an ideal opener".[50] Lewis Carroll was an influence on the lyrics, who Anderson was reading at the time. There was also an Orwellian tone, which permeated into the second song and lead single "We Are the Pigs",[48] which depicts Anderson's visions of Armageddon and riots in the streets.[44] The song also features horns reminiscent of those used in the theme music from Peter Gunn.[51][52] Anderson's lyrical subjects became exclusively tragic figures, such as the addicted teenager in "Heroine", and James Dean in "Daddy's Speeding".[53]
Beastie Boys
4/5
Ill Communication is the fourth studio album by American hip-hop group Beastie Boys, released by Grand Royal Records on May 31, 1994. Co-produced by Beastie Boys and Mario Caldato, Jr., it is among the band's most varied releases, drawing from hip hop, punk rock, jazz, and funk, and continues their trend away from sampling and towards live instruments, which began with their previous release, Check Your Head (1992). The album features musical contributions from Money Mark, Eric Bobo and Amery "AWOL" Smith, and vocal contributions from Q-Tip and Biz Markie. Beastie Boys were influenced by Miles Davis's jazz rock albums On the Corner (1972) and Agharta (1975) while recording Ill Communication.[1]
Ill Communication placed at number 15 on The Village Voice's 1994 Pazz & Jop critics' poll,[20] number 19 on Spin's list of the "20 Best Albums of '94",[21] number three on NME's list of the "Top 50 Albums of 1994",[22] and number 13 on The Wire's annual critics' poll.[23] Guitar World included the album in its "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.[24] Rolling Stone included the album in its list of "Essential Recordings of the 90s",[25] and Q included the album in its list of the "90 Best Albums of the 1990s".[26] Mojo ranked the album number 54 on its list of "100 Modern Classics".[27] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[28]
Kanye West
5/5
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
Born to Run is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on August 25, 1975, by Columbia Records. As his effort to break into the mainstream, the album was a commercial success, peaking at number three on the Billboard 200 and eventually selling seven million copies in the United States. Two singles were released from the album: "Born to Run" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out"; the first helped Springsteen to reach mainstream popularity. The tracks "Thunder Road", "She's the One", and "Jungleland" became staples of album-oriented rock radio and Springsteen concert high points.
Born to Run received highly positive reviews from critics.[34] In a rave review for Rolling Stone magazine, Greil Marcus wrote that Springsteen enhances romanticized American themes with his majestic sound, ideal style of rock and roll, evocative lyrics, and an impassioned delivery that defines what is a "magnificent" album: "It is the drama that counts; the stories Springsteen is telling are nothing new, though no one has ever told them better or made them matter more."[35] John Rockwell, writing in The New York Times, said that the "solidly rock 'n' roll" album is more diverse than Springsteen's previous albums, while his detailed lyrics retain a universal quality that transcends the sources and myths he drew upon.[36] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice felt that he condenses a significant amount of American myth into songs, mostly centered on taking a lover for a joyride, and often succeeds in spite of his tendency for histrionics and "pseudotragic beautiful loser fatalism": "Springsteen may well turn out to be one of those rare self-conscious primitives who get away with it."[37] Langdon Winner was less enthusiastic in his review for The Real Paper and argued that, because Springsteen consciously adheres to traditions and standards extolled in rock criticism, Born to Run is "the complete monument to rock and roll orthodoxy".[38]
According to Acclaimed Music, it is the 16th most celebrated album in popular music history.[28] In 1987, it was ranked No. 8 by Rolling Stone in its "100 Best Albums of the Last Twenty Years"[42] and in 2003, the magazine ranked it 18th on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[43] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revision and dropping a few slots to number 21 in the 2020 reboot of the list.[44][45]
Judas Priest
2/5
British Steel is the sixth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 11 April 1980 by Columbia Records. It was the band's first album to feature Dave Holland on drums.
British Steel saw the band reprise the commercial sound they had established on Killing Machine. This time, they abandoned some of the dark lyrical themes which had been prominent on their previous releases, but some of it still remains. In a June 2017 appearance on Sirius radio podcast "Rolling Stone Music Now,"[4] Rob Halford said the band may have been inspired by AC/DC on some tracks after supporting them on a European tour in 1979.[5] British Steel was recorded in December 1979 at Tittenhurst Park, home of former Beatle Ringo Starr, after a false start at Startling Studios, also located on the grounds of Tittenhurst Park, due to the band preferring Starr's house to the recording studio itself. Digital sampling was not yet widely available at the time of recording, so the band used analog recording of smashing milk bottles to be included in "Breaking the Law", as well as various sounds in "Metal Gods" produced by billiard cues and trays of cutlery.[2] It is the first Judas Priest album to feature drummer Dave Holland, and it was released in the UK at a discount price of £3.99, with the advertisements in the music press bearing the legend "British Steal". The songs "Breaking the Law", "United", and "Living After Midnight" were released as singles.[2]
Aimee Mann
3/5
Whatever is the first solo album by the American singer-songwriter Aimee Mann, released in 1993.
Whatever received mostly positive reviews from critics. Most praised her sense of melody and the wordplay of her lyrics, exemplified by Entertainment Weekly in "hooky songs" and "evocative lyrics".[7] The Los Angeles Times reflected this by saying she "mixes words like a master, catching lifetimes of ache and Angst" in her songs[8] while the Chicago Tribune compared her to Elvis Costello.[5] Rolling Stone cited her music as "sunny, surreal melodies" with "razor-sharp lyrics".[11] The Independent's Andy Gill highly recommended the album, concluding that "it's the tension between Mann's disarmingly direct, conversational lyric style and the complexity of her musical design that gives Whatever its peculiar charge."[13] On the other hand, Robert Christgau only cited "Mr. Harris" as a "choice cut", finding nothing else to say about it.[14]
OutKast
4/5
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is the fifth studio album by American hip hop duo Outkast. It was released on September 23, 2003, by Arista Records. Issued as a double album, its length of over two hours is spread across solo albums from both of the group's members. Big Boi's Speakerboxxx is a Southern hip hop album with a P-Funk influence, while André 3000's The Love Below features psychedelic, pop, funk, electro, and jazz styles.[6]
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 91, based on 26 reviews.[13]
Reviewing for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called both discs "visionary, imaginative listens, providing some of the best music of 2003, regardless of genre".[14] Will Hermes wrote in Entertainment Weekly that the album's "ambition flies so far beyond that of anyone doing rap right now (or pop, or rock, or R&B)".[16] Blender magazine's Kris Ex felt that it "holds an explosion of creativity that couldn't have been contained in just one LP".[15] The Guardian's Dorian Lynskey described both discs as "sublime ... hip-hop's Sign o' the Times or The White Album: a career-defining masterpiece of breathtaking ambition".[17] According to Andy Gill of The Independent, the album set "a new benchmark not just for hip hop, but for pop in general", featuring "so many musical tributaries coursing into both Big Boi's progressive-rap pyrotechnics and Dre's freaky jazz-funk love odyssey that even their old tag of 'psychedelic hip-hop soul' starts to look restrictive".[18] Stylus Magazine's Nick Southall called it "a series of spectacular moments and memorable events".[6] NME magazine's John Mulvey described its two discs as "two Technicolor explosions of creativity that people will be exploring, analysing and partying to for years".[20] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine wrote that it is "greater than the sum of its parts, and this kind of expertly crafted pop and deftly executed funk rarely happen at the same time—not since Stankonia, at least."[24]
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
4/5
Music from the Penguin Cafe is the first studio album by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. It was recorded between 1974 and 1976, and released in 1976.
The Penguin Cafe Orchestra (PCO) were an avant-pop band led by English guitarist Simon Jeffes. Co-founded with cellist Helen Liebmann, it toured extensively during the 1980s and 1990s. The band's sound is not easily categorized, having elements of exuberant folk music and a minimalist aesthetic occasionally reminiscent of composers such as Philip Glass.[2]
Beatles
3/5
With the Beatles is the second studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released in the United Kingdom on 22 November 1963 on Parlophone, eight months after the band's debut Please Please Me. Produced by George Martin, the album features eight original compositions (seven by Lennon–McCartney and "Don't Bother Me", George Harrison's first recorded solo composition and his first released on a Beatles album) and six covers (mostly of rock and roll and Motown R&B hits). The sessions also yielded the non-album single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" backed by "This Boy". The cover photograph was taken by the fashion photographer Robert Freeman and has since been mimicked by several music groups over the years. A different cover was used for the Australian release of the album, which the Beatles were displeased with.
The album was ranked number 420 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003,[32] and was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[33] It was voted number 275 in the third edition of English writer Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[34] It was rated the 29th greatest album in the book Paul Gambaccini Presents the Top 100 Albums. This book "canvassed a panel of experts in seven countries" to determine the greatest albums.[35] Based on the album's appearances in professional rankings and listings, the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists With the Beatles as the 3rd most acclaimed album of 1963, the 64th most acclaimed album of the 1960s and the 345th most acclaimed album in history.[36]
2Pac
5/5
Me Against the World is the third studio album by American rapper 2Pac, released on March 14, 1995, by Interscope Records and Jive Records. 2Pac draws lyrical inspiration from his impending prison sentence, troubles with the police, and poverty.
According to 2Pac, Me Against the World was made to show the hip hop audience his respect for the art form. Lyrically, he intentionally tried to make the album more personal and reflective than his previous efforts. Considered by several music critics to be the best of any of his albums up to that point in his career, the album's musical production was handled by his mentor Shock G, Easy Mo Bee, Tony Pizarro, Johnny "J" and the Danish hip-hop duo Soulshock and Karlin, among others. Me Against the World features guest appearances from rap group Dramacydal and rapper Richie Rich.
Scott Walker
3/5
Scott 4 is Scott Walker's fifth solo album. It was released in late 1969 under his birth name, Scott Engel, and failed to chart. Reissues have been released under his stage name. It has since received praise as one of Walker's best works.
Scott 4 was the first Walker album to consist solely of self-penned songs. The preceding Scott, Scott 2 and Scott 3 albums had each featured a mixture of originals and covers, including several translations of Jacques Brel songs, which were later collected to form the album Scott Walker Sings Jacques Brel. Scott 4 also features slightly less ornate orchestral arrangements than its predecessors, opting instead for a more skeletal, folk-inspired sound with greater emphasis on the rhythm section.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Sticky Fingers is the 9th British and 11th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. The Stones released it on 23 April 1971 on their new, and own label Rolling Stones Records. They had been contracted by Decca Records and London Records in the UK and the US since 1963. On this album Mick Taylor made his second full-length appearance on a Rolling Stones album (after the live album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!). It was the first studio album without Brian Jones who died two years earlier. The original cover artwork, conceived by Andy Warhol and photographed and designed by members of his art collective, The Factory, showed a picture of a man in tight jeans, and had a working zip that opened to reveal underwear fabric. The cover was expensive to produce and damaged the vinyl record, so later re-issues featured just the outer photograph of the jeans.
Sticky Fingers originally included 10 tracks. The music has been characterised by commentators as hard rock,[5] roots rock[6] and rock and roll.[7] According to Rolling Stone magazine, it is "the Stones' most downbeat, druggy album, with new guitarist Mick Taylor stretching into jazz and country".[8]
Sticky Fingers was listed as No. 63 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[43] No. 64 in a 2012 revised list,[44] and No. 104 in a 2020 reboot of the list.[45] In a 2018 retrospective review, The Guardian's Alexis Petridis ranked it the best album the band had ever produced, stating "their claim to be The Greatest Rock’n’Roll Band in the World has no more compelling evidence than the flawless 46 minutes of music here."[46]
AC/DC
3/5
Back in Black is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC. It was released on 25 July 1980 by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. It is the band's first album to feature lead singer Brian Johnson, following the death of previous lead singer Bon Scott.
As their sixth international studio release, Back in Black was an unprecedented success. It has sold an estimated 50 million copies worldwide,[2][3][4][5] and is one of the best-selling albums in music history. The band supported the album with a yearlong world tour, cementing them among the most popular music acts of the early 1980s. The album also received positive critical reception during its initial release, and it has since been included on numerous lists of "greatest" albums. Since its original release, the album has been reissued and remastered multiple times, most recently for digital distribution. On 9 December 2019, it was certified 25× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), making it the fourth best-selling album in the United States and the best-selling album that never reached the top spot in the American charts.[6]
Back in Black is an influential hard rock and heavy metal album.[58] According to Tim Jonze of The Guardian, it has been hailed by some as "a high watermark" for heavy metal music.[59] NME regarded it as an important release in 1980s metal and heavy rock, naming it one of the 20 best metal albums of its decade,[60] while The Daily Telegraph ranked it as one of the 20 greatest heavy metal albums of all time.[61] Paul Brannigan of Metal Hammer cited it as one of the ten albums that helped reestablish the genre's global popularity in 1980, making it "the greatest year for heavy metal".[62]
According to rock journalist Joe S. Harrington, Back in Black was released at a time when heavy metal stood at a turning point between a decline and a revival, as most bands in the genre were playing slower tempos and longer guitar solos, while AC/DC and Van Halen adopted punk rock's "high-energy implications" and "constricted their songs into more pop-oriented blasts". Harrington credited producer Lange for drawing AC/DC further away from the blues-oriented rock of their previous albums, and toward a more dynamic attack that concentrated and harmonized each element of the band: "the guitars were compacted into a singular statement of rhythmic efficiency, the rhythm section provided the thunderhorse overdrive, and vocalist Johnson belowed and brayed like the most unhinged practitioner of bluesy top-man dynamics since vintage Robert Plant." The resulting music, along with contemporaneous records by Motörhead and Ozzy Osbourne, helped revitalize and reintroduce metal to a younger generation of listeners, "eventually resulting in the punk-metal crossover personified by Metallica and others."[63] In 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die (2008), Tom Moon said Back in Black's "lean mean arena rock" and the production's "delicate balance of power and finesse" defined the commercial side of heavy music for years after its release."[64]
Brian Eno
4/5
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is a studio album by Brian Eno and David Byrne, released in February 1981. It was Byrne's first album without his band Talking Heads. The album integrates sampled vocals and found sounds, African and Middle Eastern rhythms, and electronic music techniques.[7] It was recorded before Eno and Byrne's work on Talking Heads' 1980 album Remain in Light, but problems clearing samples delayed its release by several months.
According to music journalist Simon Reynolds, many initial reviews of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts dismissed the album as "an eggheads-in-the-soundlab experimental exercise."[35] In Rolling Stone, Jon Pareles rated the album four out of five stars and applauded it as "an undeniably awesome feat of tape editing and rhythmic ingenuity" that generally avoids "exoticism or cuteness" by "complementing the [speech] sources without absorbing them".[36] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau was less impressed, giving it a "C+" and finding the recordings "as cluttered and undistinguished as the MOR fusion and prog-rock it brings to the mind's ear," while lacking "the songful sweep of Remain in Light or the austere weirdness of Jon Hassell".[37]
In later years, My Life has come to be regarded as a highly influential album, particularly in its use and treatment of sampled source material.[38] AllMusic critic John Bush describes it as a "pioneering work for countless styles connected to electronics, ambience and Third World music".[4] The Independent's Andy Gill found the album groundbreaking in its recontextualisation of sampling in a less overtly avant-garde context, with its sampled sounds instead being "marshalled by funk rhythms into repetitive hooks."[29] Writing in The Observer, Jason Cowley said that its immediate influence was felt "in the work of young artists of ambition, from David Sylvian to Kate Bush", and subsequently on later acts, among them electronic artists such as Massive Attack, Moby, and Thievery Corporation.[31] Chris Dahlen of Pitchfork felt that while its sampled vocals had lost some of their revolutionary impact, the album mostly lives up to its critical reputation "as a near-masterpiece, a milestone of sampled music, and a peace summit in the continual West-meets-rest struggle."[32]
Weather Report
3/5
Heavy Weather is the seventh album by Weather Report, released in 1977 through Columbia Records. The release originally sold about 500,000 copies; it would prove to be the band's most commercially successful album. Heavy Weather received a 5-star review from DownBeat magazine and went on to be voted jazz album of the year by the readers of that publication. On this album the lineup consisted of Weather Report founders Joe Zawinul (keyboards, synthesizers) and Wayne Shorter (saxophone), alongside Jaco Pastorius (bass), Alex Acuña (drums), and Manolo Badrena (percussion). It was produced and orchestrated by Zawinul, with additional production by Shorter and Pastorius, and engineered by Ron Malo.
Richard Ginell commented in a retrospective review for Allmusic that it was released "just as the jazz-rock movement began to run out of steam", however he felt that "this landmark album proved that there was plenty of creative life left in the idiom."[5]
In February 2011, Heavy Weather was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[8]
The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
In 2000, it was voted #822 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[9]
The singer Bilal names it among his 25 favorite albums, citing the interplay between Jaco Pastorius and Joe Zawinul.[10]
The Isley Brothers
4/5
3 + 3 is the eleventh album released by the Isley Brothers for the Epic label under their T-Neck imprint on August 7, 1973. In 2020, the album was ranked at 464 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.[4]
Their first album for the label after several years on Buddah Records, it was also the first time the family group, which had consisted of founding members O'Kelly Isley, Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley, officially included six members instead of the standard three. Following the recording and release of Brother, Brother, Brother (1972) the previous year, this was the first album to officially include younger brothers Ernie and Marvin and in-law Chris Jasper, even though all three had played on the previous several albums.
The success of the album is attributed to their first Top 10 pop record since "It's Your Thing" (1969), with their own cover of the self-penned "Who's That Lady", now re-titled "That Lady, Pt. 1 & 2". Other hit singles included the top five R&B single "What It Comes Down To", and their cover of Seals & Crofts' folk hit "Summer Breeze" (1972), which was also a top ten R&B single. The album became their first platinum album.
Syd Barrett
3/5
The Madcap Laughs is the debut solo album by the English singer-songwriter Syd Barrett. It was recorded after Barrett had left Pink Floyd in April 1968. The album had a chequered recording history, with work beginning in mid-1968, but the bulk of the sessions taking place between April and July 1969, for which five different producers were credited − including Barrett, Peter Jenner (1968 sessions), Malcolm Jones (early-to-mid-1969 sessions), and fellow Pink Floyd members David Gilmour and Roger Waters (mid-1969 sessions). Among the guest musicians are Willie Wilson from Gilmour's old band Jokers Wild and several members of Soft Machine.
Octopus" was released as a single in November 1969[nb 15] and The Madcap Laughs followed on 3 January 1970.[nb 16][54] The album was released by Harvest in the UK,[nb 17]. It sold 6,000 copies in the first few months[54][56] and reached number 40 in the UK[57] and was fairly well-reviewed by music critics.[17][54][56] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau, reviewing the 1974 two-LP set which included The Madcap Laughs, praised some of the music as "funny, charming, catchy – whimsy at its best. I love most of side one, especially 'Terrapin' and 'Here I Go,'" but opined that some of the material was "worthy of the wimp-turned-acid-casualty Barrett is."[58] Initial sales and reaction were deemed sufficient by EMI to sanction a second solo album.[54]
Upon release, Gilmour said: "Perhaps we were trying to show what Syd was really like. But perhaps we were trying to punish him ..."[56] Barrett stated that "It's quite nice but I'd be very surprised if it did anything. If I were to drop dead, I don't think it would stand a stand as my last statement." Waters was more optimistic, declaring Barrett a "genius".[56] Malcolm Jones was shocked by what he perceived as the substandard musicianship on the Gilmour and Waters-produced songs, however: "I felt angry. It's like dirty linen in public and very unnecessary and unkind ..."[56] Barrett later said of the album: "I liked what came out, only it was released far too long after it was done. I wanted it to be a whole thing that people would listen to all the way through with everything related and balanced, the tempos and moods offsetting each other, and I hope that's what it sounds like."[59] In a bid to increase sales, Jones wrote a letter to music magazine, Melody Maker, under an alternate name, writing how great the album was.[54]
Sabu
4/5
Palo Congo is the first album by conguero Sabú Martínez, featuring Arsenio Rodríguez and his brothers Raúl and "Quique".[1] It was recorded and released in 1957 through Blue Note Records...
Arsenio Rodríguez (born Ignacio Arsenio Travieso Scull; 31 August 1911 – 30 December 1970)[2][3] was a Cuban musician, composer and bandleader. He played the tres, as well as the tumbadora, and he specialized in son, rumba and other Afro-Cuban music styles. In the 1940s and 1950s Rodríguez established the conjunto format and contributed to the development of the son montuno, the basic template of modern-day salsa. He claimed to be the true creator of the mambo and was an important as well as a prolific composer who wrote nearly two hundred songs.
The Beach Boys
3/5
The Beach Boys Today! is the eighth studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released March 8, 1965 on Capitol Records. It signaled a departure from their previous records with its orchestral sound, intimate subject matter, and abandonment of car or surf songs. Side one features an uptempo sound, while side two consists mostly of introspective ballads. Supported by this thematic approach, the record became an early example of a rock concept album and established the group as album artists rather than just a singles band. It has since become regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time.
Unlike their prior albums, none of the songs employ just traditional rock instrumentation as accompaniment. Instead, a more eclectic selection of instruments, including timpani, harpsichord, vibraphone, and French horn, feature throughout the album. Lyrically, Wilson developed a more personalized, semi-autobiographical approach, with his songs written from the perspective of vulnerable, neurotic, and insecure narrators. The LP includes "She Knows Me Too Well", about a man who acknowledges his cruel treatment of his girlfriend, "Don't Hurt My Little Sister", about a sibling who appears to conflate fraternal and romantic feelings for his younger sister, and "In the Back of My Mind", a ballad that ends with a breakdown of instruments playing out of sync from each other.
The Beach Boys Today! remains a "highly acclaimed" album,[33] although most of the critical attention has been reserved for the second side of the record.[81] Writing in the book Icons of Rock, Scott Schinder highlighted the ballad side as "startling, both in their lyrical vulnerability and their distinctive arrangements."[34] Petridis opined that the "overlooked first half is equally fascinating" for its emotional content, noting that "even the filler of Don't Hurt My Little Sister carries a slightly dark undercurrent."[81] Journalist Paul Lester said that the album "set new standards for rock".[125] Writing for PopMatters, Bolin concluded that the LP's "intricate and sophisticated music ... brought the group, and pop music in general to a new place."[48]
William Orbit
4/5
Strange Cargo III is the fourth album by electronic instrumentalist William Orbit. It is the third in a series of similarly titled albums: Strange Cargo, Strange Cargo II and Strange Cargo Hinterland.
The album was performed, produced and mixed by William Orbit at Guerilla Studios, London. Mark Rutherford and Sugar J co-performed "Deus Ex Machina" with William Orbit, with Rutherford also co-writing the song. Rico Conning contributed flexible bleeps and roadhouse piano on "Time to get Wize", spiky piano and strings on "The Story of Light" and additional programming on "A Touch of the Night".[citation needed]
The album was featured in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[2]
Pantera
2/5
Vulgar Display of Power is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera. Released on February 25, 1992 through Atco Records, it was the band's second collaboration with producer Terry Date, after having previously worked with him on their breakthrough album Cowboys from Hell (1990).
The album was well received by both critics and fans, and is Pantera's highest selling album to date and would eventually be certified double platinum.[5] It is often considered one of the most influential heavy metal albums of the 1990s.[6] In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Vulgar Display of Power 10th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time'.[7] Several of its tracks have become among the band's best known, such as "Mouth for War", "A New Level", "Walk", "Fucking Hostile", and "This Love".
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Blood & Chocolate is the eleventh studio album by the British rock singer and songwriter Elvis Costello, released in the United Kingdom as Demon Records XFIEND 80, and in the United States as Columbia 40518. It is his ninth album with his long-standing backing band known as 'The Attractions'. After his previous album King of America with producer T-Bone Burnett and different musicians, this album reunited him with producer Nick Lowe and his usual backing group the Attractions. It peaked at No. 16 on the UK Albums Chart, and No. 84 on the Billboard 200.[6] In The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll for the year's best albums, Blood & Chocolate finished at number 9.[7] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[8] In 2000 it was voted number 475 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[9]
Will Birch likened the record's sound to the then-embryonic grunge style,[3] proclaiming it to be "six or eight years ahead of its time."[3] Similarly, Blood & Chocolate was described by Goldmine Magazine as a "brash, grungy" effort on 7 April 1989,[4] and in September 2007 as "ferocious and grungy" by Q Magazine.[5] AllMusic cataloged Blood & Chocolate a "straight-ahead rock & roll" album, while acknowledging lesser elements of folk and country.[2]
De La Soul
4/5
3 Feet High and Rising is the debut studio album by American hip hop group De La Soul, released on March 3, 1989[1] by Tommy Boy Records. It is the first of three collaborations with producer Prince Paul, which would become the critical and commercial peak of both parties. The album title comes from the Johnny Cash song "Five Feet High and Rising".[2] The album contains the singles "Me Myself and I", "The Magic Number", "Buddy", and "Eye Know".
Critically, as well as commercially, the album was a success. It is consistently placed on lists of the greatest albums of all time by noted critics and publications, with Robert Christgau calling it "unlike any rap album you or anybody else has ever heard".[3] In 1998, it was selected as one of The Source's "100 Best Rap Albums".[4] It was selected by the Library of Congress as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry, which selects recordings annually that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.[5]
"An inevitable development in the class history of rap, [De La Soul is] new wave to Public Enemy's punk", wrote Robert Christgau of the album in his 1989 "Consumer Guide" column for The Village Voice. "Their music is maddeningly disjunct, and a few of the 24-cuts-in-67-minutes (too long for vinyl) are self-indulgent, arch. But their music is also radically unlike any rap you or anybody else has ever heard — inspirations include the Jarmels and a learn-it-yourself French record. And for all their kiddie consciousness, junk-culture arcana, and suburban in-jokes, they're in the new tradition — you can dance to them, which counts for plenty when disjunction is your problem."[18] Rolling Stone magazine's Michael Azerrad called 3 Feet High and Rising "the first psychedelic hip-hop record", "(o)ne of the most original rap records ever to come down the pike", and an "inventive, playful" record which "stands staid rap conventions on their def ear."[14] When The Village Voice held its annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 1989, 3 Feet High and Rising was ranked at number one, outdistancing its nearest opponent (Neil Young's Freedom) by 21 votes and 260 points.[20]
Marianne Faithfull
3/5
English singer Marianne Faithfull. It was released on 2 November 1979 by Island Records. The album marked a major comeback for Faithfull after years of drug abuse, homelessness, and suffering from anorexia. It is often regarded as her "definitive recording" and Faithfull herself described it as her "masterpiece".
Broken English
The album was recorded at Matrix Studios in London. Faithfull collaborated with producer Mark Miller Mundy on the remaining songs for the album. After the whole album was recorded, he suggested making the music "more modern and electronic" and brought in Steve Winwood on keyboards. Musically, Broken English is a new wave rock album with elements of other genres, such as punk, blues and reggae.
Broken English received critical acclaim. It peaked at number 82 on the Billboard 200, becoming her first album to chart in the United States since Go Away from My World (1965) and giving Faithfull a first nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. It reached number 57 in the United Kingdom and entered the top five in Germany, France and New Zealand. Broken English was certified platinum in Germany and France and sold over one million copies worldwide. Two singles were released from the album, with "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" peaking at number 48 on the UK Singles Chart. The album was included on NME magazine's list of "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" and in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Pixies
3/5
Surfer Rosa is the debut studio album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in March 1988 on the British label 4AD.[3] It was produced by Steve Albini. Surfer Rosa contains many of the elements of Pixies' earlier output, including Spanish lyrics and references to Puerto Rico. It includes references to mutilation and voyeurism alongside experimental recording techniques and a distinctive drum sound.
Like Come On Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa displays a mix of musical styles; pop guitar songs such as "Broken Face", "Break My Body", and "Brick Is Red" are featured alongside slower, more melodic tracks exemplified by "Where Is My Mind?". The album includes heavier material, and prominently features the band's trademark quiet-loud dynamic. Frontman and principal songwriter Black Francis wrote the material, the only exception being "Gigantic," which was co-written with Kim Deal. "Gigantic" is one of only two Pixies album tracks on which Deal sang lead vocals.
Surfer Rosa's lyrical content includes examinations of mutilation and incest in "Break My Body" and "Broken Face", while references to superheroes appear on "Tony's Theme". Voyeurism appears in "Gigantic", and surrealistic lyrics are featured on "Bone Machine" and "Where Is My Mind?". Puerto Rico references and Spanish lyrics are found on the tracks "Oh My Golly!" and "Vamos." The latter track was previously featured on Come On Pilgrim, and appears on Surfer Rosa as a rerecorded version of the original song. Many of the themes explored on previous recordings are revisited on Surfer Rosa; however, unlike on the band's later albums, the songs in Surfer Rosa are not preoccupied with one overarching topic.
Both Surfer Rosa and Steve Albini's production of the album have been influential on alternative rock, and on grunge in particular. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain cited Surfer Rosa as the basis for Nevermind's songwriting.[47] When he first heard the album, Cobain discovered a template for the mix of heavy noise and pop he was aiming to achieve. He remarked in 1992 that he "heard songs off of Surfer Rosa that I'd written but threw out because I was too afraid to play them for anybody."[48] Cobain hired Albini to produce Nirvana's 1993 album In Utero, primarily due to his contribution to Surfer Rosa.[49] The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan described Surfer Rosa as "the one that made me go, 'holy shit'. It was so fresh. It rocked without being lame." Corgan was impressed by the album's drum sound, and acknowledged that The Smashing Pumpkins used to study the record for its technical elements.[28] Musician PJ Harvey said that Surfer Rosa "blew my mind," and that she "immediately went to track down Steve Albini."[50] Cobain listed Surfer Rosa as one of the top 50 albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his journal in 1993.[51]
John Lennon
5/5
Imagine is the second studio album by English musician John Lennon, released on 9 September 1971 by Apple Records. Co-produced by Lennon, his wife Yoko Ono and Phil Spector, the album's lush sound contrasts the basic, small-group arrangements of his first album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970),[1] while the opening title track is widely considered to be his signature song.
Lennon recorded the album from early to mid-1971 at Ascot Sound Studios, Abbey Road Studios and the Record Plant in New York City, with supporting musicians that included his ex-Beatles bandmate George Harrison, keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, bassist Klaus Voormann and drummers Alan White and Jim Keltner. Its lyrics reflect peace, love, politics, Lennon's experience with primal scream therapy, and, following a period of high personal tensions, an attack on his former writing partner Paul McCartney in "How Do You Sleep?" Extensive footage from the sessions was recorded for a scrapped documentary; parts were released on the documentary film Imagine: John Lennon (1988). The documentary John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky, based on that footage, was released in 2018.
Imagine was a critical and commercial success, peaking at number one on both the UK Albums Chart and US Billboard 200. Along with John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, it is considered one of Lennon's finest solo albums. In 2012, the album was voted 80th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album has been reissued multiple times, including in 2018 as The Ultimate Collection, a six-disc box set containing previously unreleased demos, rare studio outtakes, "evolution documentaries" for each track, and isolated track elements along with surround mixes
Goldie
3/5
Timeless is the debut studio album by British electronic musician Goldie. It was released on 31 July 1995 and is universally regarded as a groundbreaking release in the history of drum and bass music.[1] The album blended the complex, chopped and layered breakbeats and deep basslines of jungle and drum and bass with expansive, symphonic strings and atmospherics, and female vocals.[citation
Mudhoney
3/5
Superfuzz Bigmuff is the debut EP and first major release by the Seattle grunge band Mudhoney. It was released on October 20, 1988 through record label Sub Pop. The album was later re-released in 1990 in the form of Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Single
Along with Mudhoney's second album Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge, it was included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In its review, Jamie Gonzalo called it "sexy, smart, humorous and hard", as well as writing "[Mudhoney] emerged from the underground with this mischievous workout, achieving tense and dramatic musical structures with Turner's scalping guitars, Mark Arm's angry vocals, Matt Lukin's mighty bass and Dan Peters' propulsive drums."[10] Kurt Cobain listed the EP in his top fifty albums of all time.[11][12] Guitarist Turner also considered it to be Mudhoney's first official studio album, despite it being an EP initially.[13]
Malcolm McLaren
3/5
Duck Rock is an album released by British impresario Malcolm McLaren. It was originally issued in 1983 by Charisma Records, Virgin Records, and Chrysalis Records, and later re-released on CD in 1987. The album mixes up styles from South Africa, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the United States, including hip hop. The album proved to be highly influential in bringing hip hop to a wider audience in the United Kingdom. Two of the singles from the album, "Buffalo Gals" and "Double Dutch", became major chart hits on both sides of the Atlantic. Duck Rock was dedicated to Harry McClintock, better known as Haywire Mac. The album artwork was designed by Dondi White and Nick Egan, with the illustration by Keith Haring.
In a contemporary review of the album, The Village Voice's Robert Christgau found that "McLaren knows how to record African music for Western ears, and the ebullient tunes he's collected here more than make up for his annoyance quotient", but also criticised McLaren and Horn for failing to give credit to the South African musicians involved in the recording,[7] such as Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens. The mbaqanga group the Boyoyo Boys took legal action against McLaren over the similarity of "Double Dutch" with its own hit "Puleng". After a lengthy legal battle in the UK, the matter was settled out of court, with payment made to the South African copyright holders, songwriter Petrus Maneli and publisher Gallo Music, but Horn and McLaren retained their songwriting credits.[8]
Duck Rock was ranked at number nine among the "Albums of the Year" for 1983 by NME.[9] The album ultimately became a critical favourite, garnering accolades from various other publications in the years following its release.[10] William Ruhlmann of AllMusic retrospectively reviewed it as "an amazingly eclectic collection of world music mixed with urban hip-hop".[5] In 2013, NME ranked Duck Rock at number 298 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[11] In 2018, Pitchfork ranked Duck Rock at number 200 on its list of the 200 best albums of the 1980s.[12] The album also received BBC Two's Critical Music label.[13]
Tori Amos
3/5
Little Earthquakes is the debut solo album by the American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, featuring the singles "Silent All These Years", "China", "Winter" and "Crucify". After Atlantic Records rejected the first version of the album, Amos began working on a second version with her then-boyfriend Eric Rosse. The album was first released in the UK on January 6, 1992, where it peaked at number 14 in the charts.
Reviews of the album were generally positive. Josef Woodward of Rolling Stone wrote that "Amos shares common ground with artfolk songstresses like Kate Bush and Jane Siberry" and described her "quivery vibrato-laden holler – akin to Siouxsie Sioux's".[12] The song "Leather" was pictured as a "Kurt Weill-meets-Queen cabaret act". He described the album as "an often pretty, subtly progressive song cycle that reflects darkly on sexual alienation and personal struggles", and that by the end of the album "we feel as though we've been through some peculiar therapy session, half-cleansed and half-stirred. That artful paradox is part of what makes Little Earthquakes a gripping debut."[12] His original rating of three and a half stars out of five in the 1992 print version of the magazine was later rounded up to four stars out of five on Rolling Stone's website. Jean Rosenbluth of the Los Angeles Times wrote that few had "progressed from the silly to the sublime as quickly or smoothly as Amos" and praised Little Earthquakes as "a quixotic, compelling record that mixes the smart sensuality of Kate Bush with the provocative impenetrability of Mary Margaret O'Hara."[7] Among negative assessments, Stephanie Zacharek of Entertainment Weekly felt that Amos's songs "are too self-consciously weird" to be enjoyable,[14] while Village Voice critic Robert Christgau only expressed praise for the song "Me and a Gun", disregarding the rest as lesser versions of Kate Bush.[5]
In 1998, Q readers voted Little Earthquakes the 66th greatest album of all time,[16] and in 2002 the same magazine named it the fourth Greatest Album of All-Time by a Female Artist.[17] In a retrospective review of the album, AllMusic critic Steve Huey stated that with Little Earthquakes, Amos "carved the template for the female singer/songwriter movement of the '90s" and that while "her subsequent albums were often very strong, Amos would never bare her soul quite so directly (or comprehensibly) as she did here, nor with such consistently focused results."[4] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani cited it as Amos's most focused and accessible recording, which "almost immediately sparked cult interest in the singer, and has, over time, undoubtedly become a soundtrack (at least in part) to the lives of many anguished teens and adults."[18] Little Earthquakes was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[19] In 2000 it was voted number 73 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[20] In 2020 Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 233 on its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.[21]
Björk
3/5
Medúlla is the fifth studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk.[nb 1] It was released on 30 August 2004 in the United Kingdom by One Little Indian Records and in the United States by Elektra Entertainment. After the release of her electronic-influenced previous album Vespertine (2001), Björk intended to make an album almost entirely a cappella constructed with human vocals, in opposition to the previous album's intense process of composition and multiple layers of instrumentation. The album's title derives from the Latin word for "marrow".
Medúlla..
Medúlla received acclaim from music critics. The album holds a rating of 84 out of 100 at Metacritic.[57] The Guardian newspaper's David Peschek gave it five stars out of five and heralded it as "brave and unique".[60] Dominique Leone from Pitchfork commented that Medulla was "an interesting record", while saying Björk had "found a way to bathe her immediately distinctive melodies and vocal nuances in solutions that cause me to reevaluate her voice and her craft".[23] Barry Walters of Rolling Stone stated that "Medulla is both the most extreme record Bjork has ever released and the most immediately accessible."[64] Blender's Ann Powers was also positive, calling it "another playful step" in Björk's "unstoppable, wandering quest".[66] Matthew Gasteier from Prefix magazine called Medúlla her most joyful album since Post and also her strangest at the time.[67] Mark Daniell from Canadian website Jam! also gave it a positive review, saying "pairing gooey purrs with grooves provided by a human trombone might not seem like a good idea, but when Björk is the one making the arrangements the effect is spine tingling".[68] Andy Battaglia of The A.V. Club said that "Once perceptions and expectations settle out... the album proves arrestingly in thrall to its own twisted tongue".[38]
Hüsker Dü
3/5
Warehouse: Songs and Stories is the sixth and final studio album by punk rock band Hüsker Dü, originally released by Warner Bros. Records as a double album on two vinyl LPs. The band dissolved following the tour in support of its release, in part due to disagreements between songwriters Bob Mould and Grant Hart over the latter's drug use. This album, along with Candy Apple Grey, showcases the increasing maturity of Mould and Hart's writing—a change which alienated some long-time fans. This album is also known for its battle between the two songwriters, with Mould famously telling Hart that he would never have more than half of the songs on a Hüsker Dü album.[11]
Hüsker Dü (/ˈhʊskər ˈduː/) was an American punk rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist/vocalist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. They first gained notability as a hardcore punk band, and later crossed over into alternative rock. Mould and Hart were the band's principal songwriters, with Hart's higher-pitched vocals and Mould's baritone taking the lead in alternating songs.
Hüsker Dü is widely regarded as one of the key bands to emerge from the 1980s American indie scene. Music writer Michael Azerrad asserted in his 2001 book Our Band Could Be Your Life that Hüsker Dü was the key link between hardcore punk and the more melodic, diverse music of college rock that emerged. Azerrad wrote, "Hüsker Dü played a huge role in convincing the underground that melody and punk rock weren't antithetical."
David Bowie
3/5
Heroes" is the 12th studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 14 October 1977 through RCA Records. After releasing Low earlier that year, Bowie toured as the keyboardist of his friend and singer Iggy Pop. At the conclusion of the tour, they recorded Pop's second solo album Lust for Life at Hansa Tonstudio in West Berlin before Bowie regrouped there with collaborator Brian Eno and producer Tony Visconti to record "Heroes". It was the second release of his Berlin Trilogy, following Low and preceding Lodger (1979), and the only one wholly recorded in Berlin. Much of the same personnel from Low returned for the sessions, augmented by King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp.
As the second release of the Berlin Trilogy,[2] the music on "Heroes" expands on the material found on its predecessor Low.[31] The songs have been described by Consequence of Sound as art rock and experimental rock,[32][33] while also further continuing Bowie's work in the electronic[34] and ambient genres.[2][35] Like its predecessor, the songs on "Heroes" emphasise tone and atmosphere rather than guitar-based rock.[2] However, they are more positive in both tone and atmosphere than the songs of its predecessor;[36] author James Perone considers it more accessible,[37] while Visconti described it as "a very positive version of Low."[38] Biographer Paul Trynka writes that the record evokes "both past and future".[39] It also follows the same structure as its predecessor, with side one featuring more conventional tracks, and side two featuring mostly instrumental tracks.[40]
The Afghan Whigs
3/5
Gentlemen is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band the Afghan Whigs. It was recorded primarily at Ardent Studios in Memphis, with the band's frontman Greg Dulli producing, and released on October 5, 1993, by Elektra Records.[1]
The Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli, an amateur filmmaker during his teenage years, took direct inspiration for Gentlemen's thematic concept from Francis Ford Coppola's 1982 romantic fantasy film One from the Heart, identifying especially with the lead character played by Frederic Forrest. "He was just a real kind of heel", Dulli explained. "But you could tell he didn't want to be one, that he wasn't really one." With this idea as an impetus, Dulli proceeded in his songwriting to see the extent to which he could explore "the dark psyche of the '90s male".[4]
Gentlemen was hailed by Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot as a "riveting song cycle of romantic burn-out" featuring a narrator of questionable decency. Kot applauded Dulli for capturing "the moment when infatuation loses its bloom and gives way to something a bit more realistic". Despite the band's roots in the Sub Pop label, the critic observed "a decidedly non-grungy brand of guitar rock, with slightly busy drumming and arrangements that mirror the turmoil in Greg Dulli's voice".[9] In the Los Angeles Times, Richard Cromelin regarded the album as possibly "the most overlooked masterpiece" of 1993 and "a grueling immersion in the latest methods of warfare in the battle of the sexes—a dark, dramatic wallow in lust, shame, guilt, despair, deceit and obsession that's framed in dense, uplifting rock."[4] Rolling Stone magazine's Matt Diehl noted "a clean, oddly detached hard-rock sound that shifts erratically between purgative and disarmingly pretty, adding tension to Dulli's caterwauling".[13] Reviewing Gentlemen in March 1994 for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau applauded the raw recording quality and wrote in conclusion:
Those conflicted guitars are a direct function of the singer-writer-producer-guitarist's agonized self-exposure/-examination. If the album wears down into covers and instrumentals, that's only to signify its spiritual exhaustion. No reason to trust him—just his brain selling his ass at a higher convolution. But anyone susceptible to simpler lines, as fisherman or prey, can learn plenty. And the jaded can appreciate the clean, snakelike trajectory of the cast.[17]
Guided By Voices
3/5
Alien Lanes is the eighth full-length album by American lo-fi band Guided by Voices, released on April 4, 1995.[4]
In a contemporary review of Alien Lanes, Matt Diehl of Rolling Stone described the album's music as "hooky rock that infuses songwriting smarts and a love of melody with a sometimes spiky, sometimes whimsical sense of experimentation".[9] Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian gave the album a positive review, stating that "Pollard's songs are gems that stay just this side of self-conscious eccentricity".[7] Sullivan noted the songs' lengths, stating that they were "just enough time for Pollard to wheeze a few oblique lines and guitarist Tobin Sprout to trace out a raucous melody."[7] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice was less complimentary, giving the album a "dud" rating.[13]
The album was GBV's first release with Matador Records. According to James Greer's book Guided by Voices: A Brief History: Twenty-One Years of Hunting Accidents in the Forests of Rock and Roll the advance for the record was close to a hundred thousand dollars, one of the more expensive deals in Matador's history. In contrast to the lucrative deal, Greer mentions that "The cost for recording Alien Lanes, if you leave out the beer, was about ten dollars."
Circle Jerks
3/5
Group Sex is the debut studio album by American hardcore punk band Circle Jerks. It was released on October 1, 1980, by Frontier Records. The album consists of 14 songs in 15 minutes and is considered to be a landmark album in hardcore punk. It was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Group Sex was met with generally positive reviews and ratings, and the album has been called a classic of the hardcore punk genre. Mark Deming of AllMusic rated the album 4 out of 5 stars and stated, "As such things go, it's tight, reasonably well played, the songs kinda sorta have hooks, and Keith Morris is a pretty good frontman, but if you're looking for nuance, you're pretty much out of luck. Then again, if you were looking for nuance in a Circle Jerks album, you've obviously been misinformed as to how this punk rock stuff works".[8]
In November 2019, plans for a tour to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Group Sex were announced. The tour was scheduled to begin in 2020 and would feature the line-up of Keith Morris, Greg Hetson, Zander Schloss along with Queens of the Stone Age drummer Joey Castillo. This tour would mark the band's first performances since they went on hiatus in 2011.[10]The tour was postponed until September 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]In April 2022, six of the dates on their 40th anniversary tour were postponed due to Morris testing positive for the COVID-19 virus.[12]
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Natty Dread is the seventh album by Bob Marley and the Wailers, released in 1974. Previously Marley had recorded with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer as the Wailers, and this was his first record without them.
Natty Dread is a spiritually charged political and social statement. It opens with a blues-influenced positive celebration of skanking, reggae and sex, "Lively Up Yourself". The original and still unreleased demo of the Island version of "Lively Up Yourself" was recorded in 1973.
"No Woman, No Cry", the second track, is probably the best known recording on the album. It is a nostalgic remembrance of growing up in the impoverished streets of Trenchtown, the ghetto of Kingston, Jamaica, and the happiness brought by the company of friends. The song has been performed by artists as diverse as Boney M. (sung by Liz Mitchell), The Fugees, Pearl Jam, Jimmy Buffett, Rancid and Gilberto Gil. Songwriting credit for "No Woman, No Cry" went to V. Ford. Vincent Ford, better known as "Tartar" to his friends and neighbors, had been a kind friend of Marley as a child in Trenchtown. Marley claimed he would have starved to death on several occasions as a child if not for the aid of Tartar. The original version of the song was in gospel style, featuring Peter Tosh and some unknown female backing vocals and was cut for Island in 1973.
"Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)" is a warning against allowing a nation's poor to go hungry, with the prophetic warning "a hungry mob is an angry mob", while "Talkin' Blues" and "Revolution" go deeper into controversial political commentary. "Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock)" is a reflection on the potential impact of reggae music on Jamaican society. The song was written after Marley had been stopped by a night-time police carcheck. The influence of Marley's increasing devotion to Rastafari can be heard in religious-themed songs like "So Jah S'eh", "Natty Dread" and "Lively Up Yourself", while Marley's reputation as a romantic is confirmed with smooth, seductive songs like "Bend Down Low". The title track of the album takes its title from an idealised personification of the Rastafari movement, Natty Dread.
In 2003, the album was ranked No. 181 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[7] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.[9] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[10]
The Who
3/5
Live at Leeds is the first live album by English rock band The Who. It was recorded at the University of Leeds Refectory on 14 February 1970, and is their only live album that was released while the group were still actively recording and performing with their best-known line-up of Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon.
By the end of the 1960s, particularly after releasing Tommy in May 1969, The Who had become cited by many as one of the best live rock acts in the world. According to biographer Chris Charlesworth, "a sixth sense seemed to take over", leading them to "a kind of rock nirvana that most bands can only dream about".[6] The band were rehearsing and touring regularly, and Townshend had settled on using the Gibson SG Special as his main touring instrument; it allowed him to play faster than other guitars.[7] He began using Hiwatt amplifiers that allowed him to get a variety of tones simply by adjusting the guitar's volume level.[8][a]
The group were concerned that Tommy had been promoted as "high art" by manager Kit Lambert and thought their stage show stood in equal importance to that album's rock-opera format.[11] The group returned to England at the end of 1969 with a desire to release a live album from concerts recorded earlier in the US. However, Townshend balked at the prospect of listening to all the accumulated recordings to decide which would make the best album, and, according to Charlesworth, instructed sound engineer Bob Pridden to burn the tapes,[6][b] an order Townshend retrospectively called "one of the stupidest decisions of my life."[13] Pridden has since stated that some of the tapes must not have been burnt as some did eventually surface and get used.[14]
Live at Leeds has been cited as the best live rock recording of all time by The Daily Telegraph,[36] The Independent,[37] the BBC,[38] Q magazine,[39] and Rolling Stone.[40] In 2003, it was ranked number 170 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[41] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.,[42] and dropping to number 327 in 2020.[43] A Rolling Stone readers' poll in 2012 ranked it the best live album of all time.[44]
3/5
Black Holes and Revelations is the fourth studio album by English rock band Muse, first released on 3 July 2006 through Warner Bros. Records and Muse's Helium-3 imprint. It was recorded over four months with producer Rich Costey in New York City, London, Milan, and southern France. It saw a change in style for Muse, with influences including Depeche Mode, Millionaire, Lightning Bolt, Sly and the Family Stone, and music from southern Italy.[4] Like their previous albums, it features political and dystopian undertones, with lyrics covering topics such as political corruption, alien invasion, revolution and New World Order conspiracies, as well as more conventional love songs.
Black Holes and Revelations has been described as featuring progressive rock[10] and space rock,[11] and was said by some reviewers to carry a political message.[12] The album begins with the track "Take a Bow", which is an "attack on an all but unnamed political leader", incorporating lyrics such as "Corrupt, you corrupt and bring corruption to all that you touch".[12] These themes are carried through the album in the tracks "Exo-Politics" and "Assassin".[12]
The album touches on controversial subject matters, such as "The New World Order conspiracy, unjustifiable war, abusive power, conspiratorial manipulation and populist revolt,"[13] and is influenced by the conspiracy theories that the band are interested in.[8] Bellamy said he finds "the unknown in general a stimulating area for the imagination",[13] and this interest is reflected throughout the album, which features rebellious paranoia (particularly during "Assassin").[12] The album also includes more emotional themes, including regret, ambition,[12] and love.[14]
Amy Winehouse
3/5
Frank is the debut studio album by English singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse. It was released on 20 October 2003 by Island Records. Production for the album took place during 2002 to 2003 and was handled by Winehouse, Salaam Remi, Commissioner Gordon, Jimmy Hogarth and Matt Rowe. Its title alludes to the nature and tone of Winehouse's lyrics on the album,[3] as well as one of her influences, Frank Sinatra.[4]
Frank received mostly positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 78, based on 11 reviews.[25] AllMusic's John Bush called Winehouse "an excellent vocalist possessing both power and subtlety".[26] Nate Chinen of The New York Times complimented her original lyrics and called the music a "glossy admixture of breezy funk, dub and jazz-inflected soul".[36] The A.V. Club's Nathan Rabin commended its loose, organic songcraft and wrote that it "features languid, wide-open neo-soul grooves and jazzy vamping".[27] Beccy Lindon of The Guardian described Winehouse's sound as "somewhere between Nina Simone and Erykah Badu ... at once innocent and sleazy".[30] Entertainment Weekly's Chris Willman found its musical style reminiscent of Sade.[29] MusicOMH's John Murphy said that her lyrics are "commendably feisty and, as the album title suggests, frank".[3] Dan Cairns of The Times called Frank "a staggeringly assured, sit-up-and-listen debut, both commercial and eclectic, accessible and uncompromising".[37] Robert Christgau, writing for MSN Music, was less enthusiastic and graded the album a "dud",[28] indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought."[38]
David Bowie
3/5
Young Americans is the ninth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 7 March 1975 through RCA Records. The album marked a departure from the glam rock style of Bowie's previous albums, showcasing his interest in soul and R&B. Commentators have described the record as blue-eyed soul, although Bowie himself labelled the album's sound "plastic soul". Initial recording sessions took place following the first leg of his Diamond Dogs Tour in August 1974 at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia with producer Tony Visconti and a variety of musicians, including guitarist Carlos Alomar, who would become one of Bowie's most frequent collaborators. Backing vocalists included singer Ava Cherry, Alomar's wife Robin Clark and then-unknown singer Luther Vandross. After the initial sessions, the tour continued, with the setlist and design changed due to the influence of the new material recorded. This portion of the tour has been labeled the Soul tour.
Retrospectively, Young Americans continues to receive mixed reviews from critics and fans.[1] Erlewine felt the album was affected by a lack of strong songwriting. Although he praised the title track and "Fame", he concludes "Young Americans is more enjoyable as a stylistic adventure than as a substantive record."[15] Douglas Wolk regarded it as "distinctly a transitional record" in Pitchfork, stating: "It doesn't have the mad theatrical scope of Diamond Dogs or the formal audacity of Station to Station; at times, it comes off as an artist trying very hard to demonstrate how unpredictable he is." Nevertheless, Wolk also praised the fact that "while there had already been a handful of disco hits on the pop charts, no other established rock musician had yet tried to do anything similar."[17] Ultimate Classic Rock's Jeff Giles gave the album a positive review, saying "it remains a beloved bright spot in a discography with more than its share".[75]
Emmylou Harris
3/5
Pieces of the Sky is the second studio album and major-label debut by American country music artist Emmylou Harris, released on February 7, 1975, through Reprise Records.
Although she had released the obscure folk-styled Gliding Bird five years earlier, Pieces of the Sky became the album that launched Harris's career and is widely considered to be her début. In those intervening years she forged a musical relationship with Gram Parsons that altered the musical direction of her career. The album includes Harris's first high-charting Billboard country hit, the #4 "If I Could Only Win Your Love," and the relatively low-charting #73 "Too Far Gone" (originally a 1967 hit for Tammy Wynette). The overall song selection was varied and showed early on how eclectic Harris's musical tastes were. In addition to her own "Boulder to Birmingham" (written for Gram Parsons, who had died the previous year), she included the Merle Haggard classic "The Bottle Let Me Down," The Beatles' "For No One," and Dolly Parton's "Coat of Many Colors." (Parton, in turn, covered "Boulder to Birmingham" on her 1976 album All I Can Do.) On Shel Silverstein's "Queen Of The Silver Dollar," Harris's longtime friend and vocal collaborator, Linda Ronstadt, sings harmony.
Pieces of the Sky rose as far as the #7 spot on the Billboard country albums chart.
Pieces of the Sky was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Silver Jews
3/5
Bright Flight is the fourth studio album by indie rock group Silver Jews, released in 2001.[5][9]
The Guardian wrote: "Fusing gorgeous, tear-sodden country melodies with lyrics that inspire love and anxiety in equal measure, Bright Flight poetically captures a drunken night spent contemplating suicide while staring at the Nashville skyline."[10] The Stranger wrote that "the stories told and the places visited are rich with radiant imagery--not always happy, but encouraging in their pure, honest existence."[11] Trouser Press wrote that the album "is not, on the whole, as agreeably encompassing as American Water, it is the work of an artist increasingly able to get to the emotional heart of a song without relying on the crutches of irony and overt cleverness."[12]
Beatles
4/5
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Revolver (Beatles album)
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Revolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 5 August 1966, accompanied by the double A-side single "Eleanor Rigby" / "Yellow Submarine". The album was the Beatles' final recording project before their retirement as live performers and marked the group's most overt use of studio technology to date, building on the advances of their late 1965 release Rubber Soul. It has since become regarded as one of the greatest and most innovative albums in the history of popular music, with recognition centred on its range of musical styles, diverse sounds, and lyrical content.
Revolver expanded the boundaries of pop music, revolutionised standard practices in studio recording, advanced principles espoused by the 1960s counterculture, and inspired the development of psychedelic rock, electronica, progressive rock and world music. The album cover, designed by Klaus Voormann, combined Aubrey Beardsley-inspired line drawing with photo collage and won the 1967 Grammy Award for Best Album Cover, Graphic Arts. Aided by the 1987 international CD release, which standardised its content to the original Parlophone version, Revolver has surpassed Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in many critics' estimation as the Beatles' best album. It was ranked first in the 1998 and 2000 editions of Colin Larkin's book All Time Top 1000 Albums and third in the 2003 and 2012 editions of Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". It has been certified double platinum by the BPI and 5× platinum by the RIAA. A remixed and expanded edition of the album was released in 2022.
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
Searching for the Young Soul Rebels is the debut studio album by English pop group Dexys Midnight Runners, released on 11 July 1980, through Parlophone and EMI Records. Led by Kevin Rowland, the group formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England, and formed a strong live reputation before recording their first material. Recorded during April 1980, the album combines the aggressiveness of punk rock with soul music, particularly influenced by the Northern soul movement.
Mojo summed up the sound of the album as "an energetic mix of pop, Northern soul and punkish attitude."[10] The band intended to create a brassy sound mixed with the aggression and intensity of punk rock.[5] The music mainly consists of up-beat soul music ("Tell Me When My Light Turns Green", "Geno", "Seven Days Too Long") inspired by labels such as Motown and Stax,[11] and downbeat blues-jazz tunes ("I'm Just Looking", "I Couldn't Help It If I Tried", "Keep It").[9] "Seven Days Too Long" is a cover of the "Northern soul classic",[3] originally recorded by Chuck Wood. Rowland's lyrics have been described as "a mixture of punchy bravado, deep disgust and a rather heroic flaunting of his insecurities, sobbed rather than sung,"[11] and concern subjects such as ignorance towards Irish people ("Burn It Down"), an open letter to the dishonest music scene ("There, There, My Dear")[8] and a tribute to the soul singer Geno Washington ("Geno").
The Everly Brothers
3/5
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A Date with the Everly Brothers is the fourth studio album by American singing duo the Everly Brothers, released in 1960. It peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Pop albums charts and reached No. 3 in the UK.
Writing for Allmusic, critic Richie Unterberger wrote of the album "Although the material is not on the killer level of 'It's Everly Time', there are some very fine songs on their second Warner LP."[2]
The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 – January 3, 2014), the duo combined elements of rock and roll, country, and pop,[1] becoming pioneers of country rock.[2][3]
The music of the Everly Brothers influenced the Beatles, who referred to themselves as "the British Everly Brothers"[65] when Paul McCartney and John Lennon went hitchhiking south to win a talent competition.[80] They based the vocal arrangement of "Please Please Me" on "Cathy's Clown".[81] McCartney also referred to 'Phil and Don' in the lyrics to "Let 'Em In" from the 1976 album Wings at the Speed of Sound.
Arcade Fire
3/5
Neon Bible is the second studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. It was first released on March 5, 2007, in Europe and a day later in North America by Merge Records. Originally announced on December 16, 2006, through the band's website,[1] the majority of the album was recorded at a church the band bought and renovated in Farnham, Quebec.[2] The album is the first to feature drummer Jeremy Gara, and the first to include violinist Sarah Neufeld among the band's core line-up.
Compared to the band's debut, Funeral, Neon Bible experienced breakthrough commercial success.[39] During its first week, it debuted at number one in both Canada and Ireland, and number two in the United States, the United Kingdom and Portugal. Neon Bible was out-charted only by Notorious B.I.G.'s greatest hits compilation in the U.S. and the Kaiser Chiefs's Yours Truly, Angry Mob in the UK.[40] It was certified gold by the CRIA in Canada in March 2007.[41]
Upon release, Neon Bible garnered universal acclaim, receiving an 87—the seventh highest score of 2007—from review aggregator Metacritic.[42] NME reviewer Mark Beaumont commented the album "is a climactic monolith of a record in the grand tradition of melodic transatlantic clamour rock."[5] The A.V. Club reviewer Kyle Ryan interpreted the album as a commentary on the post-9/11 American world, saying that "the band is seemingly sending a beacon to other reasonable people forced underground by the world's insanity."[32] Stylus contributor Derek Miller saw the album in similar terms, saying that while the album touches on "violence, paranoia, the falsity of simple labor, the war-call of organized religion—a what's what of indie turmoil after 2003" the band go further to the point where its "thematic threads bind the songs."[43] Robert Christgau gave the album a "A+" grade, saying that Butler and co. "thud rather than thunder. But what a loud and joyous thud it is."[35]
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Blue is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released on June 22, 1971, by Reprise Records. Written and produced entirely by Mitchell, it was recorded in 1971 at A&M Studios in Hollywood, California. Created just after her breakup with Graham Nash and during an intense relationship with James Taylor, Blue explores various facets of relationships from love on "A Case of You" to insecurity on "This Flight Tonight". The songs feature simple accompaniments on piano, guitar and Appalachian dulcimer. The album peaked at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart, number 9 on the Canadian RPM Albums Chart and number 15 on the Billboard 200.
Today, Blue is generally regarded by music critics as one of the greatest albums of all time; the cohesion of Mitchell's songwriting, compositions and voice are frequent areas of praise. In January 2000, The New York Times chose Blue as one of the 25 albums that represented "turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music".[1] In 2020, Blue was rated the third greatest album of all time in Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", the highest entry by a female artist.[2] It was also voted number 24 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). In July 2017, Blue was chosen by NPR as the greatest album of all time made by a woman.[3]
Jason Ankeny of AllMusic describes Blue as "the quintessential confessional singer/songwriter album". Praising the songs as "raw nerves, tales of love and loss etched with stunning complexity", Ankeny concludes writing "Unrivaled in its intensity". The writers of Pitchfork gave the album a perfect 10-out-of-10 rating, calling it "possibly the most gutting break-up album ever made".[21]
50 Cent
5/5
Get Rich or Die Tryin' is the debut studio album by American rapper 50 Cent. It was released on February 6, 2003, by Interscope Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, Eminem's Shady Records, and 50 Cent's G-Unit Records.[1] After signing with Eminem, 50 Cent also worked heavily with Dr. Dre and Kaz Wilde acting as the album's executive producers, who worked to combine the gangsta rap and R&B combo prevalent in New York hip hop. Additional production is provided by Mike Elizondo, Sha Money XL (who also executive produced the album), Mr. Porter, Rockwilder, Dirty Swift, Megahertz, and more.
Prior to the release of his first studio album, titled Power of the Dollar, 50 Cent was shot nine times in Queens, New York, on May 24, 2000. He survived but was dropped from his label, Columbia Records, who canceled the album's release. In 2002, Eminem listened to a copy of 50 Cent's Guess Who's Back? mixtape album through Jackson's attorney, who was working with Eminem's manager Paul Rosenberg.[3] After being impressed with the mixtape, Eminem invited 50 Cent to Los Angeles where he was introduced to producer Dr. Dre.[4] 50 Cent signed a one-million-dollar record deal with Eminem and Dr. Dre; 50 Cent then released his next mixtape, No Mercy, No Fear. It featured his own 8 Mile single, "Wanksta" (in addition to appearances on three other tracks from the album), which was later put on Get Rich or Die Tryin'. Both Eminem and Dr. Dre had started working-productions on his debut album with additional help from producers Mike Elizondo, Sha Money XL among others.
Get Rich or Die Tryin' is credited with restoring gangsta rap to prominence in an era when prevailing trends favored "slick, flashy ladies-man rappers".[40][41] In a 2013 retrospective, Billboard states that the album "rewrote the hip-hop rulebook".[42] Neil Kulkarni of Crack states that Get Rich or Die Tryin' combined "Southern-style textures with gritty East Coast lyrical content" in a way that many succeeding artists would strive to replicate, and argues that the album's success paved the way for future gangsta rap artists including Jeezy, Rick Ross, and the Game.[41]
The Beau Brummels
3/5
Triangle is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Beau Brummels. Produced by Lenny Waronker and released in July 1967, it was the band's first album to include songs that vocalist Sal Valentino and guitarist Ron Elliott composed together. The band incorporated fantasy elements and surreal characters into the album's song titles and lyrics, and worked with a variety of session musicians to create Triangle's psychedelic musical style. The Beau Brummels were reduced to a trio—Valentino, Elliott, and Ron Meagher—at the time Triangle was recorded, as former group members Don Irving (guitars) and John Petersen (drums) left the band following the release of the group's previous album, Beau Brummels '66
Valentino said Triangle was partially inspired by several day trips he took to the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, a fine art museum in San Francisco.[8] He admired the collection of 17th century Flemish portraits and landscape paintings at the museum, from which dark yet incandescent hues emanated.[8] Elliott described the album as a "mythological cartoon about love written from some weird spaces",[8] and explained it as "sort of a mood swing into the world that was around us at the time. It was sort of dissolving into this drug culture. So the music became very ethereal, mystic, and mysterious".[5] In contrast with the band's generally straightforward recordings for the Autumn label, Triangle's lyrics are more abstract, containing Tolkienesque fantasy elements[9] and dream-like characters, such as the gypsy in "Only Dreaming Now", the "Painter of Women", "The Keeper of Time", and "The Wolf of Velvet Fortune", as well as the destination of "Magic Hollow".[6]
Elliott, the band's principal composer, sought to move away from the formulaic songs that Autumn Records wanted.[10] Having regained artistic freedom in the studio, and with the band no longer touring, Elliott and Valentino focused on creating an album of songs which were written and recorded specifically for that purpose.[10][11] The resulting sessions for Triangle saw Elliott and Valentino collaborate as songwriters for the first time.[5] Four of the album's tracks were written by Elliott with frequent collaborator Bob Durand.[5] The album also contained the Randy Newman composition "Old Kentucky Home" and a cover version of Merle Travis's "Nine Pound Hammer", both of which hinted at the country rock direction explored more heavily by the band on their 1968 album, Bradley's Barn.[6] Session musicians included guitarist James Burton, drummer Jim Gordon, bassist Carol Kaye, and Van Dyke Parks, who played harpsichord on "Magic Hollow", adding to the album's psychedelic musical style.[12] Elliott returned the favor, playing guitar on Parks' 1968 debut album, Song Cycle.[8]Triangle also features strings, brass, accordion, woodwinds, and numerous types of percussion.[8]
David Gray
3/5
White Ladder is the fourth studio album by English folk singer-songwriter David Gray. It was first released in March 1999 through Gray's own record label, IHT Records, but failed to chart. On 24 April 2000, the album was re-released by Dave Matthews' label ATO Records and debuted at number 69 on the UK Albums Chart, before climbing to number one on 5 August 2001, more than a year later. White Ladder produced five singles, including the hit "Babylon", which ignited interest in the album and shot Gray to worldwide fame. Other singles released from the album were "This Year's Love", "Please Forgive Me", "Sail Away", and "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye".
Gray believes that the success of White Ladder paved the way for "soul-baring" artists such as James Blunt, Ed Sheeran, George Ezra, James Bay, and Tom Walker. In an interview with the Daily Star, he said: "When I started out, a man with a guitar baring his soul wasn't in vogue at all. Suddenly, it's everywhere! [The album's] success came from nowhere, and it changed how the business thought about what music should be. Since then, there have been lots of artists who've taken it on and done their own thing."[44]
Country Joe & The Fish
3/5
Electric Music for the Mind and Body is Country Joe and the Fish's debut album. Released in May 1967 on the Vanguard label, it was one of the first psychedelic albums to come out of San Francisco.
Bruce Eder in a retrospective review for AllMusic felt that the album is "one of the most important and enduring documents of the psychedelic era". The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[3]
Suzanne Vega
3/5
Suzanne Vega is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega, released on May 1, 1985, by A&M Records. It was well-received by music journalists in the U.S.[5] and reached platinum status in the United Kingdom. Produced by Lenny Kaye and Steve Addabbo, the songs feature Vega's acoustic guitar in straightforward arrangements. A video was released for the album's song "Marlene on the Wall",[6] which went into MTV and VH1's rotations.
Suzanne Nadine Vega (née Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter best known for her folk-inspired music.[1][2] Vega's music career spans almost 40 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s, releasing four singles that entered the Top 40 charts in the UK during the 1980s and 1990s, including "Marlene on the Wall", "Left of Center", "Luka" and "No Cheap Thrill". "Tom's Diner", which was originally released as an a cappella recording on Vega's second studio album, Solitude Standing (1987), was remixed in 1990 as a dance track by English electronic duo DNA with Vega as featured artist, and it became a Top 10 hit in over five countries. The original a cappella recording of the song was used as a test during the creation of the MP3 format.[3] The role of her song in the development of the MP3 compression prompted Vega to be given the title of "The Mother of the MP3".[4]
Miles Davis
4/5
Bitches Brew is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was recorded from August 19 to 21, 1969, at Columbia's Studio B in New York City and released on March 30, 1970 by Columbia Records. It marked his continuing experimentation with electric instruments that he had featured on his previous record, the critically acclaimed In a Silent Way (1969). With these instruments, such as the electric piano and guitar, Davis departed from traditional jazz rhythms in favor of loose, rock-influenced arrangements based on improvisation. The final tracks were edited and pieced together by producer Teo Macero
Bonnie Raitt
3/5
Nick of Time is the tenth studio album by the American singer Bonnie Raitt, released on March 21, 1989. It was Raitt's first album to be released by Capitol Records. A commercial breakthrough after years of personal and professional struggles, Nick of Time topped the Billboard 200 chart, selling five million copies, and won three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, which was presented to Raitt and producer Don Was. In 2003, the album was ranked number 229 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[1] then was re-ranked at number 230 on the 2012 list.[2] As of September 2020, it is ranked at number 492.[3] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2022, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[4]
Nick of Time features a smooth and understated rock sound.[14] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote: "[Raitt] never rocks too hard, but there is grit to her singing and playing, even when the surfaces are clean and inviting."[15] There are many genres explored in Nick of Time, including blues rock, country, R&B, and pop.[14] When Was was announced as the producer, some listeners wondered if he would instill a funk rock sound into the album, given his reputation with Was (Not Was).[16] Was decided to instead maintain the laid-back blues sound Raitt had developed earlier in her career. According to Raitt: "There's less production, less slickness. Basically, it's a return to my roots."[17]
Ryan Adams
3/5
Gold is the second studio album by Ryan Adams, released September 25, 2001 on Lost Highway Records. The album remains Adams' best-selling album, certifying gold in the UK[1] and going on to sell 364,000 copies in the U.S. and 812,000 worldwide.[2] Adams noted that "with Gold, I was trying to prove something to myself. I wanted to invent a modern classic."[3]
Adams is recognized for his highly prolific songwriting and a singing style that resembles that of a country rocker, even though he played punk rock in the early part of his career. Adams has frequently experimented with different genres, although for the major part of his career his musical style has been alternative rock. He is also one of the few artists to emerge from the alt-country scene into mainstream commercial success.[97] His musical style and dynamism has been praised by various artists like Frank Turner,[98] Elton John,[99] Willie Nelson,[100] Taylor Swift,[101] Norah Jones,[102] Wesley Schultz,[103] Jared Followill[104] and Noel Gallagher.[105] American author Stephen King is also a fan of Adams', and stated, "I won't say Adams is the best North American singer songwriter since Neil Young... but I won't say he isn't either".[106]
Nick Drake
5/5
Pink Moon is the third and final studio album by the English musician Nick Drake, released in the UK by Island Records on 25 February 1972.[1] It was the only one of Drake's studio albums to be released in North America during his lifetime. Pink Moon differs from Drake's previous albums in that it was recorded without a backing band, featuring just Drake on vocals, acoustic guitar and a brief piano riff overdubbed onto the title track.
Nick Drake's first two albums with Island Records, Five Leaves Left (1969) and Bryter Layter (1971), had sold poorly, and combined with Drake's reluctance to perform live or engage in album promotion, Island was not confident of another album from Drake.[2] Additionally, Drake had isolated himself in his London apartment and was suffering from depression. In 1971 he saw a psychiatrist and was prescribed antidepressants, which he was reluctant to take due to the stigma associated with depression and his fears concerning the medication's interaction with marijuana, which he smoked regularly.[2]
Although critics often associate Drake's music with his depression — especially the perceived melancholy of Pink Moon — Cally Calloman of Bryter Music, which manages Drake's estate, remembers it differently: "Nick was incapable of writing and recording while he was suffering from periods of depression. He was not depressed during the writing or recording of Pink Moon and was immensely proud of the album."[3]
Bethany Klein, a professor in the Department of Media and Communication at the University of Central England states, "The role of 'Pink Moon' in the success of "Milky Way" was interesting, in that it both added to the artistry of the commercial and was also protected by the visual artistry of the spot: because the ad 'worked' (it was an aesthetic success) the usual negative discourse surrounding the use of popular music in advertising was, if not stopped, at least reduced and accompanied by positive appraisals ... The linking together of the ad being a 'watershed' and being 'nicely done' is no coincidence; it is because the ad is so well executed and so aesthetically successful that the industry and the public reassessed the use of music in advertising around this example."[41] In 2001, Volkswagen gave all new Volkswagen Cabrio buyers a compilation CD which featured "Pink Moon" as the first track.
Talking Heads
3/5
Fear of Music is the third studio album by American rock band Talking Heads, released on August 3, 1979, by Sire Records. It was recorded at locations in New York City during April and May 1979 and was produced by Brian Eno and Talking Heads. The album reached number 21 on the Billboard 200 and number 33 on the UK Albums Chart. It spawned the singles "Life During Wartime", "I Zimbra", and "Cities".
Fear of Music is largely built on an eclectic mix of disco rhythms, cinematic soundscapes, and conventional rock music elements.[citation needed]
Byrne credits the inspiration for the album, especially "Life During Wartime", to life on Avenue A in the East Village.[12] Instead of incorporating characters in society, as he did on More Songs About Buildings and Food, Byrne decided to place them alone in dystopian situations.[4] Weymouth was initially skeptical of Byrne's new compositions, but the frontman managed to persuade her.[8]
Album opener "I Zimbra" is an African-influenced disco track and includes background chanting from assistant recording engineer Julie Last.[7][13] The lyrics are based on a nonsensical poem by Dadaist writer Hugo Ball.[10] The sound of the lyrics, combined with the tribal sound of the song (enhanced by guesting guitar virtuoso Robert Fripp), gave it an "ethnic" style; band member Jerry Harrison has said that this song influenced what the band was to do on their next album, Remain in Light (1980).[14]
"Cities" details a search for the perfect urban settlement to live in and was born out of Talking Heads' preferences for urban homes, especially in Manhattan.[15] "Paper" compares a love affair with a simple piece of paper.[8] In "Life During Wartime", Byrne cast himself an "unheroic urban guerrilla", who renounced parties, survived on basic supplies like peanut butter, and heard rumors about weapons shipments and impromptu graveyards. The character is only connected to the imminent collapse of his civilization. Byrne considered the persona "believable and plausible".[4] "Air" is a protest song against the atmosphere, an idea Byrne does not consider "a joke". Inspired by The Threepenny Opera, the lyricist wanted to create a melancholic and touching track about a person who feels so depressed that even breathing feels painful.[15]
Lightning Bolt
2/5
Wonderful Rainbow is the third studio album by noise rock band Lightning Bolt. It is considered to be their most accessible album, featuring heavy but catchy bass guitar riffs and frenetic drums.
Wonderful Rainbow is the third studio album by noise rock band Lightning Bolt. It is considered to be their most accessible album, featuring heavy but catchy bass guitar riffs and frenetic drums.
Lightning Bolt are known for their guerrilla-style live performances, where they typically play on the ground rather than a stage, with the crowd gathered around them. The band's sound is typically loud and aggressive, though the group cites composers Philip Glass and Sun Ra as compositional influences.
System Of A Down
2/5
System of a Down is the debut studio album by Armenian-American heavy metal band System of a Down, released on June 30, 1998, by American Recordings and Columbia Records.
The album is generally considered nu metal and alternative metal, both of which would become staples for the band. Lyrical themes throughout the album vary, with many songs following a theme of being anti-war, but also has topics of genocide, religion, and brainwashing. "Suite-Pee" is a criticism of pedophilia within the Church and religious extremism.[5] "Soil" is, according to guitarist Daron Malakian at a Lowlands show, "about death, and friends that die, and life that dies". "Mind" talks about government mind control, specifically mentioning CIA brainwashing in the album's liner notes. "P.L.U.C.K." is a song dedicated to the victims of the Armenian genocide, and is meant to be a criticism and denouncing of the Turkish Government.
The Pogues
3/5
Rum Sodomy & the Lash is the second studio album by the London-based folk punk band The Pogues, released on 5 August 1985.[2] The album reached number 13 on the UK charts. The track "A Pair of Brown Eyes", based on an older Irish tune, reached number 72 on the UK singles chart. "The Old Main Drag" later appeared on the soundtrack to the film My Own Private Idaho.
Rum Sodomy & the Lash received very positive reviews from critics. Melody Maker's Adam Sweeting said, "The brightest, most intense moments of Rum ... aren't about particularities of style or delivery. This is, apart from anything else, music to hang on to other people by to stave off brutal fact and the weight of history. While The Pogues make music for drunks as well, probably, as anyone has they're also dragging an oft-ignored folk tradition into the daylight with an altogether improbable potency ... Rum ... has soul, if not a great deal of innovation, and somewhere among the glasses and the ashtrays lie a few home truths."[19] Sounds' Jane Simon called Rum Sodomy & the Lash "the finest slice of story-telling your heart could wish for".[15] David Quantick of NME described the record as "a collection of free-ranging stuff to be sure; from the funereal folk ballad to the near spaghetti-western instrumental, raucous celebration to brown study, cheerful melody to downright strangeness. It's never sentimental, it's rarely polite, and it's certainly not ordinary ... Rum Sodomy and the Lash is more than the best record The Pogues could be expected to make at this time. It's more than a brilliant example of a band using its resources in an imaginative manner. It's probably the best LP of 1985."[20] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice wrote that "none of it would mean much without the songs—some borrowed, some traditional, and some proof that MacGowan can roll out bitter blarney with the best of his role models."[18]
Travis
4/5
The Man Who is the second studio album by the Scottish rock band Travis. The album was released on 24 May 1999 through Independiente. It saw a change in musical direction for the band, moving away from the rockier tone of their debut Good Feeling (1997). Four singles were released: "Writing to Reach You", "Driftwood", and the top 10 hits "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" and "Turn".
Initial reviews of The Man Who were mixed, with several publications who had championed the more rock-oriented Good Feeling criticising the album for the band's move towards melodic, melancholic material.[18][19] Stuart Bailie of NME objected to the band's decision to scale back the "rowdy" aspects of Good Feeling to make a record "over-loaded with ballads", and concluded that despite the presence of some good songs, "Travis will be the best when they stop trying to make sad, classic records."[13] Danny Eccleston of Q wrote that The Man Who loses momentum after its first four songs, with the remainder of the album being "almost tyrannically tasteful" and lacking "the most enchanting aspects of Good Feeling".[20] Select's Steve Lowe, however, felt that even without much musical innovation or a defining statement, the album showcases the band as "ordinary chaps making extraordinarily pretty music" and "good songwriters not trying too hard".[21]
By the end of the year, the album's critical standing had improved dramatically.[19] Select named The Man Who the best album of 1999,[26] and the album also placed on the year-end lists of publications such as Melody Maker,[27] Mojo,[28] NME and Q.[29][30] The Man Who won the award for Best Album at the 2000 Brit Awards, with Travis being named Best British Group.[22] At the Ivor Novello Awards, Travis frontman Fran Healy won the awards for Best Songwriter(s) and Best Contemporary Song for "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?"[31] The Man Who received a belated American release in early 2000, and the same year Travis undertook an extensive 237-gig world tour, including headlining the 2000 Glastonbury, T in the Park and V Festivals, and a US tour leg with Oasis.[22]
Manu Chao
4/5
Clandestino is the first full-length solo album by Manu Chao, released in 1998. The album contains many soundbites throughout, two of which are bits of a speech by Subcomandante Marcos and, like Chao's subsequent albums, was mostly recorded by the musician himself in various locations around the world, using a small laptop—which is referred to in the liner notes as Estudio Clandestino. The French edition of Rolling Stone magazine named this album the 67th greatest French rock album (out of 100).[4] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[5] The album was ranked number 469 in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2020.[6]
Manu Chao sings in Spanish, French, English, Portuguese, Galician, Arabic and Wolof,[14] often mixing several languages in the same song. His music has many influences, such as punk, rock, French chanson, Iberoamerican salsa, reggae, ska, and Algerian raï. These influences were obtained from immigrants in France, his Iberian connections, and foremost his travels in Mesoamerica as a nomad following the disbanding of Mano Negra. While Mano Negra called their style patchanka (literally "patchwork"), Manu Chao speaks of música mestiza (de:Mestizo-Musik), a musical style which may also incorporate elements of rap, flamenco, Afro-Cuban music, samba and cumbia.
In many of his pieces he layers lyrics, music, and sound recordings over each other.[15] In the short documentary film Infinita tristeza (essentially a video travelogue of Chao's 2001 tour of South America), included within the bonus section of his 2002 live DVD release Babylonia en Guagua, Chao explained that his only recording tool is a small IBM (later Lenovo) ThinkPad laptop computer, which he carries with him wherever he goes; he has occasionally used conventional recording studios, such as Europa Sonor in Paris, to overdub instruments such as drums, electric guitars and brass, but the vast majority of his material (including all sorts of spoken-word samples from radio stations, TV, films, old vinyl records and, on Próxima Estación: Esperanza, announcements from the Madrid Metro) has been recorded by Chao himself exclusively on his laptop. The Spanish credit Grabado en el Estudio Clandestino ("Recorded in Studio Clandestino/Clandestine Studio"), which appears on all of his solo album starting from 1998's Clandestino, actually refers to the laptop.
Rage Against The Machine
3/5
Rage Against the Machine is the debut studio album by American rock band Rage Against the Machine.[5] It was released on November 3, 1992 by Epic Records. The band released their first commercial demo tape of the same name 11 months prior to the album's release. The tape contained earlier recordings of 7 of the 10 songs found on this album.
Rage Against the Machine was a critical success upon release with several critics noting the album's politically motivated agenda and praising Zack de la Rocha's strong vocal delivery. Rated number 24 on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time", the album peaked at number 1 on the US Billboard Heatseekers chart and number 45 on the US Billboard 200 and has gone on to achieve triple platinum sales certification in the US. Multiple publications consider it one of the best albums of the 1990s.[6]
Rage Against the Machine received critical acclaim. In a contemporary review, NME wrote that "what makes RATM more than just another bunch of prodigiously capable genre-benders is their total lack of pretension or contrivance ... the results burn with an undeniable conviction."[15] Q magazine deemed it "a record of real attitude and energy",[20] while Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn hailed it as "a striking, politically conscious debut" and de la Rocha "a bona fide star who combines on stage a Bob Marley-like charisma and a Chuck D.-style rap command -- and the music itself is as tough and relentless as his raps."[13]
Robert Christgau was somewhat less impressed in The Village Voice, summing it up as "metal for rap-lovers—and opera-haters" while naming "Know Your Enemy" and "Wake Up" as highlights.[21] AllMusic reviewer Eduardo Rivadavia wrote in a retrospective review, "it was the first album to successfully merge the seemingly disparate sounds of rap and heavy metal", he also praised the album's "meaningful rhymes and emotionally charged conviction" calling it "essential".[11]
In 2001, Q named Rage Against the Machine as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time. The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2003, the album was ranked number 368 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[22] climbing to number 365 in the 2012 revision and shooting up to number 221 in the 2020 reboot of the list.[23][24] It was ranked number 24 on the magazine's list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".[25]
Nirvana
4/5
In Utero is the third and final studio album by American rock band Nirvana. It was released on September 21, 1993, by DGC Records. After breaking into the mainstream with their second album, Nevermind (1991), Nirvana hired Steve Albini to record In Utero, seeking a more complex, abrasive sound that was also reminiscent of their debut album, Bleach (1989). Although frontman and lyricist Kurt Cobain claimed that the album was “very impersonal”, many of its songs contain heavy allusions to his personal life and struggles, expressing feelings of angst that were common on Nevermind.
listeners played the record, they would discover "this aggressive wild sound, a true alternative record".[52]
Several songs on In Utero were written years prior to recording; some dated to 1990.[53] Cobain favored long song titles, such as "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle", in reaction to contemporary alternative rock bands that used single-word titles.[54] He continued to work on the lyrics while recording.[55] He told Darcey Steinke in Spin in 1993 that, in contrast to Bleach and Nevermind, the lyrics were "more focused, they're almost built on themes".[56] Azerrad asserted that the lyrics were less impressionistic and more straightforward than in previous Nirvana songs. Azerrad also noted that "virtually every song contains some image of sickness and disease".[49] In a number of songs, Cobain made reference to books; "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle" was inspired by Shadowland, a 1978 biography of actress Frances Farmer, with whom Cobain had been fascinated ever since he read the book in high school.[57] "Scentless Apprentice" was written about Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, a historical horror novel about a perfumer's apprentice who attempts to create the ultimate perfume by killing virgin women and taking their scent.[58]
In Utero has continued to perform commercially and gather critical praise. In a 2003 Guitar World article for the album's tenth anniversary, Cobain biographer Charles R. Cross argued that In Utero was "a far better record than [Nevermind] and one that only 10 years later seems to be an influential seed spreader, judging by current bands. If it is possible for an album that sold four million copies to be overlooked, or underappreciated, then In Utero is that lost pearl."[113] That year, Pitchfork named In Utero the 13th best album of the 1990s.[114] Rolling Stone ranked it number 435 on its list The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[115] and 173 in its 2020 updated list.[116] It also ranked it the seventh best album of the 90s.[117]
Jane's Addiction
3/5
Ritual de lo Habitual is the second studio album[5] by Jane's Addiction, released on August 21, 1990, by Warner Brothers. Co-produced by Dave Jerden, it was the band's final studio album before their initial break-up in 1991. Singles from Ritual de lo Habitual include "Been Caught Stealing" and "Stop!". Ritual de lo Habitual is certified 2× Platinum in the U.S.
The album is divided into halves. Tracks 1 through 5 are hard rock songs unrelated to each other.
Tracks 6 through 9 are in memoriam of singer Perry Farrell's deceased girlfriend Xiola Blue, who died of a heroin overdose in 1987 at the age of 19. "Three Days" and "Then She Did" bear a progressive rock influence, while "Of Course" carries a klezmer influence, with a prominent violin throughout. Eric Avery refused to play bass on "Of Course" out of resentment from being told what to play on other songs. Recording engineer and guitar tech Ronnie S. Champagne, who would later confess that Farrell had a tendency to dictate the other members' parts during the recording of this album, ended up playing bass on the song instead. For his part, Avery would later admit regret at not playing on the track.[7]
Ritual de lo Habitual was acclaimed by music critics, similar to the band's previous album. "The gigantic swerve and swagger of 'Stop', the Chili Pepperish taunts of 'Ain't No Right', 'Of Course''s raga rocking and, above all, the epic 'Three Days', where guitarist David Navarro gets to pile the layers shoulder high, prove to be the stuff of true compulsion," wrote Peter Kane in Q. "Enigmatic, audacious and unpredictable to the last."[16]
Khaled
3/5
Kenza (Arabic: كنزة) is a 1999 studio album by Algerian singer-songwriter Khaled.
Khaled is one of the most important musicians in the history of Raï music in his native Algeria and is one the world's best-known Arab singers.[2] To date, Khaled has sold over 80.5 million albums (10 diamond, platinum, and gold) worldwide, making him one of the bestselling Arabic-language singers in history.[3][4] Among his most famous songs are "Aïcha", "Didi", "El Arbi", "Abdel Kader", "La Poupée qui fait non", "Wahran Wahran", "Bakhta", "C'est la vie", and "Alech Taadi".[5]
He holds the Guinness World Record for Best-selling artist of raï music.[6]
3/5
Close to the Edge is the fifth studio album by English progressive rock band Yes. It was released on 13 September 1972 by Atlantic Records, and is their last album of the 1970s to feature their original drummer Bill Bruford. After scoring a commercial and critical hit with Fragile and touring the album, Yes regrouped to prepare material for a follow-up, ideas for which had been put down some months before. The album's centrepiece is the 18-minute title track, with themes and lyrics inspired by the Herman Hesse novel Siddhartha. Side two contains two non-conceptual tracks, the folk-inspired "And You and I" and the comparatively straightforward rocker "Siberian Khatru". Bruford found the album particularly laborious to make, which culminated in his decision to quit the band after it was recorded, to join King Crimson.
Close to the Edge received favourable reviews among critics at the time of release in magazines and newspapers. New Musical Express printed a more mixed review from Ian MacDonald on 2 September 1972. He thought the group were "not just close to the edge, they've gone right over it", though they "played their God-damned guts out" on the album which he called "an attempt to overwhelm us which resulted in only unmemorable meaninglessness". MacDonald concluded: "On every level but the ordinary aesthetic one, it's one of the most remarkable records pop has yet produced".[60] American music magazine Cashbox hailed the album as "a recording masterpiece".[61] In a positive review, Billboard selected the album in its weekly "Billboard Pick" feature, noting that Yes had "progressed to the point where they are light years beyond their emulators, proving to be no mere flash in the pan. The sound tapestries they weave are dainty fragments, glimpses of destinies yet to be formed, times that fade like dew drops in the blurriness of desires half-remembered. All involved deserve praise and thanks, this being not a mere audio experience, transcending the medium it brings all senses into play."[62]
The Gun Club
3/5
Fire of Love is the debut album of the American rock band the Gun Club, released in 1981 on Ruby Records.[2]
The album is considered groundbreaking in being the first of its kind to combine the hard, stripped-down sound of punk rock with American roots music.[9] In turn, this innovation helped to create the punk blues style as well as inspiring countless garage rock musicians. Several musicians have cited Fire of Love as an influence.
ABBA
3/5
Arrival is the fourth studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was originally released in Sweden on 11 October 1976 by Polar Records. It became one of ABBA's most successful albums to date, producing three of their biggest hits: "Dancing Queen", "Money, Money, Money" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You". The track "Fernando", which had been recently released as a single in March 1976, was included on the Australian and New Zealand versions of the album. Arrival was the best-selling album of 1977 in the United Kingdom and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.[
In a review upon the album's 2001 reissue by Universal Records, AllMusic editor Bruce Eder found the material "brilliant" and complimented the reissue's "upgraded sound," as well as "those dramatic musical effects that this group played for maximum effect, which gave their music a raw power that their detractors usually overlooked; in the new edition, it's impossible to ignore."[15] In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), music journalist Arion Berger recommended its Universal reissue to consumers.[10]
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
3/5
Architecture & Morality is the third studio album by English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released on 6 November 1981 by Dindisc.[7] Inspired by religious music, the group sought to broaden their musical palette by utilising elaborate choral samples, the Mellotron, and other new instruments to create a more naturalistic, emotive sound. The artwork was designed by longtime OMD collaborator Peter Saville, along with associate Brett Wickens, while its title was derived from the book Morality and Architecture by David Watkin.
Architecture & Morality has appeared in lists of 1981's greatest albums,[a] being ranked no. 1 by The Morning News. The magazine added that "it's stood as the blueprint for synth-pop; few have approached an improvement upon its design".[3] The record placed fourth in Tylko Rock writer Tomasz Beksiński's top 10 albums of the New Romantic era,[45] was voted 13th in Classic Pop's reader poll of the "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s",[46] and was included in Mojo's 80 favourite albums of the decade.[47] It also featured in critic Mark Fisher's "Top 100 British Albums",[48] Phantom FM's "Top 500 Albums of All Time",[49] and the book, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[50] In genre-specific lists, Architecture & Morality was ranked the eighth-greatest electropop record by Classic Pop,[51] and the 35th-best new wave album by Ultimate Classic Rock, who called it "crucial" to synth-pop's MTV-era transformation from "industrial-town dirges to sleek, love-struck modern pop music".[52]
Tom Waits
3/5
Rain Dogs is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in September 1985 on Island Records.[1] A loose concept album about "the urban dispossessed" of New York City, Rain Dogs is generally considered the middle album of a trilogy that includes Swordfishtrombones and Franks Wild Years.[citation needed]
The album has been noted as one of the most important musically and critically in Waits' career, in particular to the new direction which he undertook from 1983's Swordfishtrombones onwards. AllMusic critic William Ruhlmann wrote, "Rain Dogs can't surprise as Swordfishtrombones had." Nevertheless, Ruhlman further commented that "much of the music matches the earlier album, and there is so much of it that that is enough to qualify Rain Dogs as one of Waits' better albums."[15] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice stated that Waits "worked out a unique and identifiable lounge-lizard sound that suits his status as the poet of America's non-nine-to-fivers."[23]
In his 1985 review for Rolling Stone, Anthony DeCurtis gave the album a mixed review, writing: "Rain Dogs insists on nosing its way around the barrooms and back alleys Waits has so often visited before."[24] However, in a more recent review in 2002, Rolling Stone critic Arion Berger praised the album, describing the music as "bony and menacingly beautiful." Berger also observed that "it's quirky near-pop, the all-pro instrumentation pushing Waits' not-so-melodic but surprisingly flexible vocals out front, where his own peculiar freak flag, his big heart and his romantic optimism gloriously fly."[2]
Nanci Griffith
3/5
The Last of the True Believers is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith, released in 1986 by Philo Records. The acclaim accorded her from her previous album, Once in a Very Blue Moon, and this album earned her a contract with a major recording company. Here, Griffith continued her turn toward a more country-oriented work than her first two albums, which were primarily folk-sounding. It also includes two songs which were later hits for Kathy Mattea, "Love at the Five and Dime" from Walk the Way the Wind Blows (1986) and "Goin' Gone", her first number one, from Untasted Honey (1987
Her career spanned a variety of musical genres, predominantly country, folk, and what she termed "folkabilly."[1] Griffith won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1994 for her 1993 recording, Other Voices, Other Rooms.[9] This album features Griffith covering the songs of artists who were her major influences. One of her better-known songs is "From a Distance," which was written and composed by Julie Gold, although Bette Midler's version achieved greater commercial success.[citation needed] Similarly, other artists have occasionally achieved greater success than Griffith herself with songs that she wrote or co-wrote. For example, Kathy Mattea had a country music top five hit with a 1986 cover of Griffith's "Love at the Five and Dime"[10][citation needed] and Suzy Bogguss had one of her largest hits with Griffith's and Tom Russell's "Outbound Plane".[10][citation needed]
Dr. Octagon
4/5
Dr. Octagonecologyst is the debut solo studio album by American rapper and Ultramagnetic MCs member Kool Keith, released under the alias Dr. Octagon.[3] Originally titled Dr. Octagon, it was released on May 7, 1996, on Bulk Recordings in the United States and Mo' Wax in the United Kingdom. The album was later reissued with a different track listing by DreamWorks Records in 1997 under the title Dr. Octagonecologyst. The album was produced by Dan "The Automator" Nakamura and featured the work of turntablist DJ Qbert. KutMasta Kurt provided additional production work. The artwork for Dr. Octagonecologyst was drawn by Brian "Pushead" Schroeder.
Dr. Octagonecologyst introduces the character of Dr. Octagon, a homicidal, extraterrestrial, time-traveling gynecologist and surgeon. The album's distinctive sound fuses genres such as psychedelic music, trip hop and electronic music. Thornton's lyrics are often abstract, absurd, and avant-garde, using surrealism, non-sequiturs, hallucinatory psychedelia, and horror and science-fiction imagery, as well as sexual humor, absurdist/surrealistic humor, and juvenile humor.[4]
Kool Keith's lyrics and Nakamura's production were highly praised, as was DJ Qbert's innovative scratching. Dr. Octagonecologyst has since been ranked as one of the best hip hop albums of the 1990s. The character of Dr. Octagon has also appeared in Kool Keith projects like First Come, First Served (1999) and Dr. Dooom 2 (2008), both of which contain tracks in which Octagon is murdered by Dr. Dooom, The Return of Dr. Octagon, Moosebumps: An Exploration Into Modern Day Horripilation and Space Goretex. Kool Keith later stated that the album sold around 200,000 copies without any major promotion or marketing budget.
Screaming Trees
3/5
Dust is the seventh studio album by Screaming Trees, released on June 25, 1996.
After an aborted attempt at recording a followup to Sweet Oblivion with producer Don Fleming, the band hired producer George Drakoulias to man the controls for what eventually turned out to be their last album released during the group's lifetime. In contrast to the group's previous recordings that were more influenced by psychedelic rock and punk rock, Dust contains music that is equally influenced by folk and blues, while still retaining a harder-edged sound. "All I Know" was released as a single from the album and became a success on rock radio. "Dying Days" features Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready.
R.E.M.
3/5
Document is the fifth studio album by American rock band R.E.M., released on August 31, 1987,[3] by I.R.S. Records. It was the first album by the band to be produced by Scott Litt.
In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau said the band had moved on from their past work's escapism and that "their discovery of the outside world has sharpened their sense of humor along with everything else", citing "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" as an "inspirational title".[23] Rolling Stone reviewer David Fricke felt that the album was R.E.M.'s "finest to date", and said that "Document is the sound of R.E.M. on the move".[20]
Taylor Swift
4/5
1989 is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on October 27, 2014, by Big Machine Records. After music critics questioned her status as a country musician following her pop and electronic-influenced fourth studio album Red (2012), Swift was inspired by 1980s synth-pop to recalibrate her artistry from country to pop music. On 1989, titled after her birth year to signify her symbolic artistic rebirth, Swift enlisted Max Martin as co-executive producer.
Although 1989's production was a dramatic change from that on Swift's country repertoire, her distinctive storytelling ability, nurtured by her country background, remained intact in her songwriting.[37][38] The songs are primarily about Swift's recurring themes of the emotions and reflections resulting from past romantic relationships.[33][39][40] However, 1989 showcased a maturity in Swift's perspectives: Rolling Stone observed that the album was her first not to villainize ex-lovers, but instead expressed "wistful and nostalgic" viewpoints on broken romance.[18] Pitchfork's Vrinda Jagota summarized 1989 as a "fully-realized fantasy of self-reliance, confidence, and ensuing pleasure", where Swift had ceased to dramatize failed relationships and learned to celebrate the moment.[41] The album's liner notes, which include a one-sentence hidden message for each of the 13 songs, collectively tell a story of a girl's tangled relationship. Ultimately, she finds that, "She lost him but she found herself and somehow that was everything."[42] Swift explained her shift in attitude to NPR: "In the past, I've written mostly about heartbreak or pain that was caused by someone else and felt by me. On this album, I'm writing about more complex relationships, where the blame is kind of split 50–50 ... even if you find the right situation relationship-wise, it's always going to be a daily struggle to make it work."[15]
1989's commercial success transformed Swift's image from a country singer to that of a pop icon.[28][177][178] It was the second album to spawn five or more US top-10 singles in the 2010s decade,[note 7] and made Swift the second woman to have two albums each score five US top-10 hits.[note 8] Its singles received heavy rotation on US radio over a year and a half following its release, which Billboard noted as "a kind of cultural omnipresence" that was rare for a 2010s album.[181] The academic Shaun Cullen specializing in the humanities described Swift as a figure "at the cutting edge of postmillennial pop".[182] 1989's electronic-pop production expanded on Swift's next two studio albums, Reputation (2017) and Lover (2019).[106]
Iggy Pop
3/5
The Idiot is the debut studio album by American musician Iggy Pop, released on March 18, 1977 through RCA Records. It was produced by David Bowie and primarily recorded at the Château d'Hérouville in Hérouville, France. The album followed the break-up of Pop's band the Stooges in 1974 and a period of drug addiction for both Pop and Bowie, after which the two moved to Europe in an effort to kick their addictions.
The Idiot marks a drastic departure for Pop from the aggressive proto-punk sound of the Stooges, reflecting a more subdued, inward-looking sound featuring elements such as "fragmented guitar figures, ominous basslines, and discordant, high-relief keyboard parts" as well as his "world-weary baritone."[18] At the time of its release, Pop described The Idiot as "a cross between James Brown and Kraftwerk".[1] Retrospectively, commentators have categorized The Idiot primarily as art rock,[19] but have also noted the presence of gothic rock,[20] industrial rock, post-punk,[21] and punk rock.[22] In 1981, NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray suggested that The Idiot's electronic sound had been "pioneered" on Bowie's Low (1977),[23] whereas in 2016, Nicholas Pegg described it as "a stepping stone between Bowie's Station to Station and Low".[13] According to critic Simon Reynolds of Tidal Magazine, the album's "mechanistic grooves, brittle drums and harsh guitar textures" anticipated Bowie's Berlin Trilogy and allowed Bowie to explore his fascination with German electronic sounds inspired by Neu! and Cluster.[24] Wesley Strick of Circus magazine described the music as "mechanized", similar to Bowie's "Fame", but "with rhythms keyed off a quickened pulse",[25] while Richard Riegel of Creem called it "professional studio metal, with occasional German-electronic overtones".[26] NME's Nick Kent described the music as "totally rivetted and fettered to a thoroughly unhealthy aroma of evil and twilight zone zombie-time unease".[27] Bowie biographer David Buckley called The Idiot "a funky, robotic Hellhole of an album".[16]
Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees described The Idiot as a "re-affirmation that our suspicions were true – the man was a genius and what a voice! The sound and production is so direct and uncompromised."[70] The album has been cited as a major influence on post-punk, industrial, and gothic rock artists, including Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, and Joy Division.[1] uDiscoverMusic's Tim Peacock later argued The Idiot invented post-punk.[77] The album particularly influenced Joy Division, who formed in the months between the releases of Low and The Idiot.[28] Their debut album Unknown Pleasures (1979) drew heavily on the "industrial soundscapes" and "relentless percussion" of tracks like "Nightclubbing" and "Mass Production", also noting that The Idiot was still playing on the turntable of the band's singer Ian Curtis when he was found having committed suicide in 1980.[13]
In addition, Seabrook cites "Mass Production" as an influence on modern alternative rock acts like the Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead.[28] In 2011, Killing Joke's Youth described The Idiot as one of his 13 favorite albums.[78] Pitchfork later ranked The Idiot number 96 in its list of the 100 Best Albums of the 1970s in 2004.[79] The album was also included in the 2018 edition of Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[80]
Yes
3/5
The Yes Album is the third studio album by English progressive rock band Yes, released on 19 February 1971 by Atlantic Records.[3] It was the band's first album to feature guitarist Steve Howe, who replaced Peter Banks in 1970, as well as their last to feature keyboardist Tony Kaye until 1983's 90125.
The album was a critical success and a major commercial breakthrough for Yes, who had been at risk of being dropped by Atlantic due to the commercial failures of their first two albums. It reached number 4 in the United Kingdom and number 40 in the United States, and was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for surpassing one million copies. The album has been reissued on CD several times, and was given a Blu-ray release in 2014 remixed by Steven Wilson.
Yes had started their career as a covers band, performing radical re-arrangements of hit songs, and their first two albums included covers in this vein. The Yes Album was the first to feature group-written material in its entirety.[23] Some familiar elements remained: Anderson, Howe and Squire sang three-part vocal harmony throughout the record, while Squire's melodic bass and Bill Bruford's spacious drumming made up their unique rhythm section.[24]
Turbonegro
3/5
Apocalypse Dudes is the fourth album by the Norwegian band Turbonegro. It is the first studio album with Euroboy as the lead guitarist and the last before the band disbanded in December 1998. Released in early 1998 in Norway and Germany, the album was a huge success for the then underground band.
Apocalypse Dudes presents Turbonegro's trademark deathpunk sound, "a new resurgence of glam rock'n'roll" as the Boomba announcement put it[11] - much due to guitarist Euroboy, who had been playing with the band live since 1996.
Moshable magazine commented, "Apocalypse Dudes is the perfect mix of classic 70's US punk / rock'n'roll like The Dictators, The Heartbreakers & The Ramones... every tune on this release is fucking brilliant." Jello Biafra was quoted as saying, "The new Turbonegro record is possibly the most important European record ever."
Buena Vista Social Club
4/5
Buena Vista Social Club is the debut album by the Buena Vista Social Club, an ensemble of Cuban musicians directed by Juan de Marcos González and American guitarist Ry Cooder. It was recorded at Havana's EGREM studios in March 1996 and released on September 16, 1997, on World Circuit. It is the only standard studio album exclusively credited to the Buena Vista Social Club.
In 1996, American guitarist Ry Cooder had been invited to Havana by British world music producer Nick Gold of World Circuit Records to record a session where two African highlife musicians from Mali were to collaborate with Cuban musicians.[1] On Cooder's arrival (via Mexico to avoid the ongoing U.S. trade and travel embargo against Cuba),[2] it transpired that the musicians from Africa had not received their visas and were unable to travel to Havana. Cooder and Gold changed their plans and decided to record an album of Cuban son music with local musicians.[1] Already involved in the African collaboration project were Cuban musicians including bassist Orlando "Cachaito" López, guitarist Eliades Ochoa and musical director Juan de Marcos González, who had himself been organizing a similar project for the Afro-Cuban All Stars. A search for additional musicians led the team to singer Manuel "Puntillita" Licea, pianist Rubén González and octogenarian singer Compay Segundo, who all agreed to record for the project.[1]
Within three days of the project's birth, Cooder, Gold and de Marcos had organized a large group of performers and arranged for recording sessions to commence at Havana's EGREM Studios, formerly owned by RCA records, where the equipment and atmosphere had remained unchanged since the 1950s.[3] Communication between the Spanish and English speakers at the studio was conducted via an interpreter, although Cooder reflected that "musicians understand each other through means other than speaking".[1]
Buena Vista Social Club earned considerable critical praise and has received numerous accolades from music writers and publications.[20][21] In 2003, the album was ranked number 260 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[22] one of only two albums on the list to be produced in a non-English speaking country. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[23] As of 2020, the album has sold over 8 million copies.[24]
The Jam
3/5
Sound Affects is the fifth studio album by English rock band the Jam. The album was released on 28 November 1980 by Polydor Records. It is the only Jam album to be co-produced by the band themselves, and contains the only album track co-written by the entire band, "Music for the Last Couple".[1]
Noted musical influences on Sound Affects include post-punk groups such as Wire, Gang of Four, and Joy Division and, particularly evident in Rick Buckler's drumming, Michael Jackson's Off the Wall. Paul Weller has freely admitted that the Beatles' Revolver was a major influence on much of the material on Sound Affects.[3] At the time of its release, he said that he considered the album a cross between Off the Wall and Revolver.[2]
In 2006, Q placed Sound Affects at number 15 on its list of the "40 Best Albums of the '80s".[21] In 2013, NME ranked Sound Affects at number 487 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[22] In 2020, Rolling Stone included Sound Affects in their "80 Greatest albums of 1980" list, praising the band for crafting their "finest album", while encapsulating "the classic English songcraft of the Kinks and the Small Faces, singing about working-class anger".[23] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[24]
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
3/5
Oar is the only solo studio album by American rock musician Skip Spence, released on May 19, 1969 by Columbia Records. It was recorded over seven days in December 1968 in Nashville, and features Spence on all of the instruments.[2]
Described as "one of the most harrowing documents of pain and confusion ever made",[7] the album was recorded after Spence had spent six months in Bellevue Hospital. Spence had been committed to Bellevue following a delusion-driven attempt to attack Moby Grape bandmates Don Stevenson and Jerry Miller with a fire axe.[2][8]
At the time of Spence's release from hospital, he had written a number of songs that he wanted to record. Producer David Rubinson suggested that Spence record at the Columbia studios in Nashville, where there was a particularly patient recording engineer, Mike Figlio. Rubinson instructed Figlio to keep the tapes running at all times, to record everything that Spence did. The majority of the tracks were recorded using a three-track recorder. Rubinson chose to stay away from the studio, concerned that Spence's recording activities would be distracted by the presence of a producer.[2]
In 2013, the album was listed at number 8 on Ballast's list of top 50 Canadian albums of all time.[14] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[15] In 1998, The Wire included Oar in their list of "100 Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening)". The staff described the "brilliant" album as "a progenitor of both the loner/stoner and lo-fi movements", further writing that: "Recorded on three track(!), absolutely solo, Oar represents a type of internalized psychedelic exploration that would not find a real audience for decades."[16]
The Undertones
3/5
Hypnotised is a 1980 album released by The Undertones. The album, the second of four released by the band, was recorded at Wisseloord Studios in the Netherlands in December 1979, and at Eden Studios in London in January 1980, with the majority of the songs to appear on the album being written between March and December 1979.[2] In addition, although the primary lyrical concern of the songs upon this album focused upon teenage angst, boisterousness, and heartbreak (as had been the case with their debut album), several of the songs upon Hypnotised are notably both lyrically and musically more sophisticated than material released upon The Undertones.[3]
A May 1980 review published in Billboard described the album as "a sprightly collection of 15 short and punchy songs that convey a sense of humor, catchy melodies and lyrics that standout above your average rock fare" and noted that "the vocal intensity gives the songs its streetwise urban kick and the biting guitar riffs cushion the lyrics with the kind of support that calls attention to each song".[16]
In July 1980, Ira Robbins of rock and roll fanzine Trouser Press stated: "Hypnotised is a wonderful album. [The album contains] clever lyrics and great hooks that make the LP a thoroughly entertaining affair. Their songs are uncomplicated and unpretentious; not aesthetic benchmarks on the state of the world."[17]
Wilco
3/5
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is the fourth studio album by American rock band Wilco, first released on September 18, 2001. Recording sessions for the album began in late 2000. These sessions, which were documented for the film I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, were marred by conflicts including a switch in drummers and disagreements among the band members and engineers about songs. Despite this, the album would be completed in early 2001. The album showcased a more atmospheric and experimental sound than the band's previous work, and has been described as art rock[1][2] and indie rock[3] by music critics. It was the band's first album with drummer Glenn Kotche, and last with multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Jay Bennett
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was acclaimed by critics upon release.[23] Brent Sirota of Pitchfork gave the album a perfect 10 rating, noting that the album was "simply a masterpiece."[29] David Fricke of Rolling Stone praised its resemblance to psychedelia while Allmusic writer Zac Johnson lauded its musical "complexity".[24][31] E! Online said that its "rich, exotic flavor gets more intense the longer you chew on it",[23] while Stylus Magazine called it "a great album, and an outstanding place for prospective new Wilco fans to start."[34] Billboard gave it a favorable review and called it "a more adventurous and rewarding release".[35] The Austin Chronicle gave it four stars out of five and said that "After a while -- a familiarity period if you will -- it becomes clear that these songs are not only fully realized, they're damn near brilliant."[36] Playlouder gave it four stars out of five and called it "The most worth-the-wait long-awaited album in the world ... ever? Could be ..."[37] Uncut also gave the album four stars out of five and said, "The most common description of this much-discussed album over the past few months is that YHF is Americana's Kid A. In truth, it's more successful than that."[23] Blender likewise gave it four stars out of five and stated: "Tweedy whittles down the arrangements and drops in enough experimental nuances to make the whole thing sound refreshingly lo-fi."[23] Q likewise gave it four stars and called it "battered, bonkers and bewitching in equal parts" and that it "at last finds Wilco's 'interesting' phase become downright fascinating."[23] Yahoo! Music UK gave it eight stars out of ten and said, "Tweedy takes conventional songforms birthed on his acoustic guitar and scrambles them completely, reassembled into fractured, dissonant epics with the help of the reliably brilliant Jim O'Rourke."[38]
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot found a place on many lists of the greatest albums of the 2000s. Rolling Stone ranked the album at number three on its list of the 100 Best Albums of the Decade.[48] Pitchfork put the album at number four on the Top 200 Albums of the 2000s.[49] The alternative music website also named "Poor Places" and "Jesus, Etc." as the 147th and 61st best songs of the decade, respectively.[50] Paste named the album the second-best album of the decade.[51] Some music outlets have ranked Yankee Hotel Foxtrot as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2006, readers of Q Magazine voted it the 100th "Greatest Album Ever".[52] In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked it #493 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, saying, "Wilco's great leap forward was a mix of rock tradition, electronics, oddball rhythms and experimental gestures."[53], and in the 2020 reboot of the list, they elevated the album's position to #225.[54]
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
To Pimp a Butterfly is the third studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on March 15, 2015, by Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album was recorded in studios throughout the United States, with production from Sounwave, Terrace Martin, Taz "Tisa" Arnold, Thundercat, Rahki, LoveDragon, Flying Lotus, Pharrell Williams, Boi-1da, Knxwledge, and several other high-profile hip hop producers, as well as executive production from Dr. Dre and Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. Guest appearances include Thundercat, George Clinton, Bilal, Anna Wise, Snoop Dogg, James Fauntleroy, Ronald Isley, and Rapsody.
Primarily a hip hop album, To Pimp a Butterfly incorporates numerous other musical styles spanning the history of African-American music, most prominently jazz, funk, and soul. Lyrically, it features political commentary and personal themes concerning African-American culture, racial inequality, depression, and institutional discrimination. This thematic direction was inspired by Lamar's tour of historic sites during his visit to South Africa, such as Nelson Mandela's jail cell on Robben Island.
To Pimp a Butterfly sold 324,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, earning a chart debut at number one on the US Billboard 200, while also becoming Lamar's first number-one album in the UK. It was eventually certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and sold one million copies in the United States by 2017. Five singles were released in promotion of the album, including the top 40 hit "I". Lamar also supported the album with the Kunta's Groove Sessions Tour from late 2015 to early 2016.
The album has received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised its musical scope and the social relevance of Lamar's lyrics. It earned Lamar seven nominations at the 2016 Grammy Awards, including a win for Best Rap Album and an Album of the Year nomination. He received four additional nominations for other collaborations from that year, receiving a total of 11 Grammy nominations, which was the most nominations for any rapper in a single night. The most critically acclaimed album of 2015 as well as one of the most critically acclaimed of its entire decade, it topped The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop poll of American critics nationwide, and was also ranked as the best album of 2015 by many other publications. In the years following its release, several publications named To Pimp a Butterfly one of the best albums of the 2010s; in 2020, the album was ranked 19th on Rolling Stone's updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
David Bowie
3/5
The Next Day is the 25th studio album by English musician David Bowie, released in March 2013. Having retreated from public view after his 2004 heart attack, it was his first studio release in ten years. Co-produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti, the album was recorded in New York City at the Magic Shop and Human Worldwide Studios between May 2011 and October 2012. It featured contributions from collaborators old and new, including Gerry Leonard, Earl Slick, Gail Ann Dorsey, Steve Elson, Sterling Campbell and Zachary Alford. The sessions were recorded in secret; all personnel involved signed non-disclosure agreements.
The Next Day received critical acclaim and was regarded as Bowie's best work in decades; it placed on several year-end lists. Many reviewers highlighted the vocal and musical performances, and made positive comparisons to his earlier works, though some felt the album lacked innovation and was overlong. Among the first surprise albums of the 2010s, The Next Day was included in the 2014 revised edition of Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Commentators generally characterise The Next Day as a rock album,[15][16][17] or art rock.[18][19] The tracks feature similar styles and references to many of Bowie's past albums, from Ziggy Stardust (1972) and Low (1977), to Never Let Me Down (1987) and Hours (1999);[5] several likened it to the music of Scary Monsters in particular.[15][20] Some critics viewed The Next Day as an extension of its two predecessors,[21][22] Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of Financial Times stating that it is "as though it were indeed recorded on the next day and not after 10 years of unexplained inactivity".[23]
Dark themes pervade the lyrics of The Next Day, leading biographer Nicholas Pegg to call it one of Bowie's "bleakest" albums. In contrast to the spiritual ideals that encapsulated Heathen and Reality, the author relates The Next Day's lyrical themes to Bowie's 1967 self-titled debut, Lodger (1979) and his first album with the band Tin Machine (1989).[5] Many of the tracks concern conflict, from physical, emotional and spiritual, to cultural and ideological.[24] Several probe the mind-sets of individuals,[25] many of whom feel abandoned or lost, either out of reach or out of their depth.[21] The tracks contains images of tyranny, oppression, violence and slaughter,[5] with characters including assassins, hitmen, revolutionaries and soldiers.[4] Regarding the assortment of characters, Uncut's David Cavanagh wrote that The Next Day transports listeners "from one scenario to another, often across continents and centuries, requiring us to readjust and get our bearings".[21] According to Visconti, Bowie spent time during his sabbatical from music reading books on medieval English history, Russian history and the monarchs of Great Britain, which were reflected in the album's lyrics; Pegg compares it to the material on Hunky Dory (1971) and Station to Station (1976).[5][16] The Guardian's Alexis Petridis found the lyrics "so dense and allusive you occasionally feel in need of a set of York Notes to get through them".[26] The presence of younger characters was also highlighted by Pegg and Cavanagh.[5][21]
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Imperial Bedroom is the seventh studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, and his sixth with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation). It was released on 2 July 1982 through F-Beat Records in the United Kingdom and Columbia Records in the United States. Recording took place at AIR Studios in London from late 1981 to early 1982 with production handled by Geoff Emerick. Placing an emphasis on studio experimentation, the album saw the group use unusual instruments, including harpsichord, accordion and strings arranged by Nieve. Songs were rewritten constantly while Costello tinkered with the recordings, adding numerous overdubs.
departure from the artist's previous albums,[14] Imperial Bedroom employs a variety of musical styles, characterised by commentators as new wave,[15][16] baroque pop,[17][18][19] and art rock.[12][20] Reviewers also found it Beatlesque,[18][21] and drew comparisons to Tin Pan Alley.[22][23][24] Senior AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine regarded the songs as an extension of the jazz and pop infatuations explored on Trust.[24] In The New York Times, Palmer summarised, "the music is a sumptuous mélange of pop styles, from Beatles-baroque to Phil Spector Wall-of-Sound to torch-song intimacy."[25] Rolling Stone's Parke Puterbaugh wrote that the album contains a "potent, articulate musical kick" that relates to the Who's Tommy (1969), the Pretty Things' S.F. Sorrow (1968) and the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).[26] Biographer David Gouldstone says the production makes the songs sound "spontaneous and immediate",[7] while author James E. Perone remarks that Costello's voice is higher in the mix, presenting a "clearer presentation" of his voice than any of Lowe's productions.[12]
In later decades, Imperial Bedroom has received acclaim as one of Costello's best and most essential records,[24][42][78][19] with some proclaiming it his masterpiece.[12][31][21] Commentators agreed the record was Costello's showcase as a songwriter,[35][79] standing as the Bob Dylan or Van Morrison of the new wave era,[31] and earning him the respect of musicians and critics who disregarded him as a punk rocker.[24] In his book Let Them All Talk, Hinton proclaims Imperial Bedroom as "an album of astonishing vitality and musical optimism" that "remains perhaps his most perfect achievement", occupying "an aural richness" that would return on 1996's All This Useless Beauty.[11] Reviewing Costello's entire career, Klinger argued that its musical styles predated the artist's collaborations with Burt Bacharach, Allen Toussaint and the Brodsky Quartet.[42] On its 40th anniversary, Allison Rapp of Ultimate Classic Rock stated that Imperial Bedroom was one of Costello's most mature attempts at wrestling with one's existentialism.[80]
Five years later in 2003, Rolling Stone placed Imperial Bedroom at number 166 on list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[85] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.[86]
The Doors
3/5
Morrison Hotel is the fifth studio album by American rock band the Doors, released on February 9, 1970, by Elektra Records. After the use of brass and string arrangements recommended by producer Paul A. Rothchild on their previous album, The Soft Parade (1969), the Doors returned to their blues rock style and this album was largely seen as a return to form for the band. The group entered Elektra Sound Recorders in Los Angeles in November 1969 to record the album which is divided into two separately titled sides, namely: "Hard Rock Café" and "Morrison Hotel". Blues rock guitar pioneer Lonnie Mack and Ray Neapolitan also contributed to the album as session bassists.
In more recent reviews, Thom Jurek of AllMusic expressed that the Doors employed blues and R&B "to some degree on all of their albums, but never as consistently, adeptly, or provocatively as they did on Morrison Hotel, with absolutely stunning results."[29] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine gave the record three stars out of five; he praised Morrison's vocals as "cleaner and clearer" than before, and hailed particularly "Peace Frog" as one of the greatest songs in the Doors catalogue.[33] Morrison Hotel holds currently a 78/100 approval rating based on 5 critic reviews on Metacritic.[28]
Kanye West
5/5
The College Dropout is the debut studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on February 10, 2004, by Def Jam Recordings and Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records. In the years leading up to release, West had received praise for his production work for rappers such as Jay-Z and Talib Kweli, but faced difficulty being accepted as an artist in his own right by figures in the music industry. Intent on pursuing a solo career, he signed a record deal with Roc-A-Fella and recorded the album over a period of four years, beginning in 1999.
A widespread critical success, The College Dropout was praised for West's production, humorous and emotional raps, and the music's balance of self-examination and mainstream sensibilities. The album earned the rapper several accolades, including nominations for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album at the 2005 Grammy Awards, winning for the latter. It has since been named by numerous publications as one of the greatest albums of all time, including Rolling Stone and NME, who ranked it at 74 and 273 respectively on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time lists, and is credited for popularizing the chipmunk soul and conscious rap subgenres in the 2000s.
The College Dropout diverged from the then-dominant gangster persona in hip hop in favor of more diverse, topical subjects for the lyrics.[13] Throughout the album, West touches on a number of different issues drawn from his own experiences and observations, including organized religion, family, sexuality, excessive materialism, self-consciousness, minimum wage labor, institutional prejudice, and personal struggles.[26][27][28] Music journalist Kelefa Sanneh wrote, "Throughout the album, Mr. West taunts everyone who didn't believe in him: teachers, record executives, police officers, even his former boss at the Gap".[29] West explained, "My persona is that I'm the regular person. Just think about whatever you've been through in the past week, and I have a song about that on my album".[30] The album was musically notable for West's unique development of his "chipmunk soul" production style,[31] in which R&B and soul music samples were sped up and pitch shifted.[32][33]
Elis Regina
3/5
Elis Regina Carvalho Costa (March 17, 1945 – January 19, 1982), known professionally as Elis Regina (Brazilian Portuguese: [eˈli(j)z ʁeˈʒinɐ]), was a Brazilian singer of MPB and jazz music. She is also the mother of the singers Maria Rita and Pedro Mariano.[1]
Terence Trent D'Arby
3/5
Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby is the debut studio album by Terence Trent D'Arby. It was released in July 1987 on Columbia Records, and debuted at number one in the UK, spending a total of nine weeks (non-consecutively) at the top of the UK Albums Chart. It hit number 1 in Australia and Switzerland. It was eventually certified 5× Platinum (for sales of 1.5 million copies). Worldwide, the album sold a million copies within the first three days of going on sale.[8] The album was also a hit in the US, although its success was slower. It was released there in October 1987, eventually peaking at number four on May 7, 1988,[9] – the same week that the single "Wishing Well" hit number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. It did peak higher on the Billboard R&B Albums chart at number one around the same time.[10]
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[12] In 2012, journalist Daryl Easlea said the album was crystallized as Trent's moment, "a soundtrack to the turning point when the 80s turned from austerity to prosperity. It's as central to that decade as the much-seen image of the city trader waving his wad of banknotes to the camera. It remains one big, infectiously glorious record."[13]
Traffic
3/5
John Barleycorn Must Die is the fourth studio album by English rock band Traffic, released in 1970 as Island ILPS 9116 in the United Kingdom, United Artists UAS 5504 in the United States, and as Polydor 2334 013 in Canada. It marked the band's comeback after a brief disbandment, and peaked at number 5 on the Billboard 200, making it their highest-charting album in the US,[2] and has been certified a gold record by the RIAA. In addition, the single "Empty Pages" spent eight weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 74.[3] The album was marginally less successful in the UK, reaching number 11 on the UK Albums Chart.[4]
The album featured influences from jazz and blues, but the version of the traditional English folk tune that provided the album's title, "John Barleycorn", also showed the musicians attending to a modern interpretation of traditional folk music in the vein of contemporary British bands Pentangle and Fairport Convention. Whereas previous Traffic albums had been dominated by more concise song structures, John Barleycorn saw the group develop into a looser, jam-oriented progressive rock and jazz fusion style, setting the tone for their subsequent output in the 1970s.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Bayou Country is the second studio album by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, released by Fantasy Records in January 1969, and was the first of three albums CCR released in that year.[1] Bayou Country reached number 7 on Billboard's album chart and produced the band's first No. 2 hit single, "Proud Mary".
After ten years of struggling as the Blue Velvets and the Golliwogs, singer/guitarist John Fogerty, his brother guitarist Tom Fogerty, bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford scored a No. 11 hit single with "Susie Q" in June 1968 under the name Creedence Clearwater Revival. Their self-titled album peaked at No. 52 on the Billboard albums chart. Despite their new-found success, however, seeds of discontent among the four members had already been planted due to John Fogerty assuming control of the band at just about every level. "There was a point at which we had done the first album. Everybody had listened to my advice. I don't think anybody thought too much about it," Fogerty recalled to Michael Goldberg of Rolling Stone in 1993. "But in making the second album, Bayou Country, we had a real confrontation. Everybody wanted to sing, write, make up their own arrangements, whatever, right? This was after ten years of struggling. Now we had the spotlight. Andy Warhol's fifteen minutes of fame. 'Susie Q' was as big as we'd ever seen. Of course, it really wasn't that big...I didn't want to go back to the carwash." In 2007, the singer elaborated to Joshua Klein of Pitchfork, "I determined, we're on the tiniest record label in the world, there's no money behind us, we don't have a manager, there's no publicist. We basically had none of the usual star-making machinery, so I said to myself I'm just going to have to do it with the music...Basically I wanted to do what the Beatles had done. I sensed that I just had to do it myself."
Saint Etienne
3/5
Foxbase Alpha is the debut studio album by English band Saint Etienne, released on 16 September 1991 by Heavenly Recordings.[12]
The album includes one of the group's best-known songs: a cover of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart". The cover quite differs from the original in that the original's mostly major chord progression is turned here into mostly minor, which emphasises a more melancholic feel. It is also arranged in 4/4 (as opposed to the original's waltz time), with a driving piano-bass-drum section. Andrew Weatherall later remixed the song to further emphasise the dub bassline; this remix was featured on both releases of the single and on the compilation Casino Classics (on American and European versions of the single, a Flowered Up remix is erroneously featured instead of the Andrew Weatherall mix). The follow-up single "Kiss and Make Up" was also a cover version, of a song written and originally recorded by The Field Mice. Ian Catt was the engineer/co-producer on both versions.
Hugh Masekela
4/5
Home Is Where the Music Is is a 1972 jazz and Afrobeat double LP by Hugh Masekela issued by the joint American label Chisa/Blue Thumb Records.[6][7][8] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[9]
Thom Jurek of Allmusic stated: "Home Is Where the Music Is, is a stone spiritual soul-jazz classic, that melds the sound of numerous emerging jazz schools in its pursuit of musical excellence; it succeeds on all counts and is one of the greatest recordings in Hugh Masekela's long career. In a year full of amazing titles, this is still a standout."
Led Zeppelin
4/5
The untitled fourth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV,[a] was released on 8 November 1971 by Atlantic Records. It was produced by guitarist Jimmy Page and recorded between December 1970 and February 1971, mostly in the country house Headley Grange. The album is notable for featuring "Stairway to Heaven", which has been described as the band's signature song.[6]
Led Zeppelin IV received overwhelming praise from critics.[51] In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, Lenny Kaye called it the band's "most consistently good" album yet and praised the diversity of the songs: "out of eight cuts, there isn't one that steps on another's toes, that tries to do too much all at once."[71] Billboard magazine called it a "powerhouse album" that has the commercial potential of the band's previous three albums.[72] Robert Christgau originally gave Led Zeppelin IV a lukewarm review in The Village Voice, but later called it a masterpiece of "heavy rock".[73] While still finding the band's medieval ideas limiting, he believed the album showed them at the pinnacle of their songwriting,[74] and regarded it as "the definitive Led Zeppelin and hence heavy metal album".[63]
In 2000, Led Zeppelin IV was named the 26th-greatest British album in a list by Q magazine.[83] In 2002, Spin magazine's Chuck Klosterman named it the second-greatest metal album of all time and said that it was "the most famous hard-rock album ever recorded" as well as an album that unintentionally created metal—"the origin of everything that sounds, feels, or even tastes vaguely metallic".[84] In 2000 it was voted number 42 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[85] In 2003, the album was ranked number 66 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", then re-ranked number 69 in a 2012 revised list,[86] and re-ranked 58 in a 2020 revised list.[87] It was also named the seventh-best album of the 1970s in a list by Pitchfork.[88] In 2016, Classic Rock magazine ranked Led Zeppelin IV as the greatest of all Zeppelin albums.[89]
Happy Mondays
3/5
Bummed is the second studio album by English rock band Happy Mondays, released in November 1988 on Factory Records. During 1987 and early 1988, the band discovered house music and the rave drug ecstasy. Factory producer Martin Hannett was subsequently enlisted to produce the band's next album. Sessions were held at The Slaughterhouse recording studio in Driffield over three weeks. The period was noted for heavy drug use by the band and Hannett, with their manager later calling it the first "ecstasy-fuelled" album. Hannett moved recording to Strawberry Studios, where extra instrumentation was added. Bummed is a Madchester release described as "stiff psychedelic funk" by AllMusic. Much of the lyrical content on the album was influenced by the 1970 film Performance, with dialog from the film sampled throughout.
Bummed was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. NME writer James Brown lauded the album's "shocking originality" and found that its sound would "fit startlingly amidst the rapid mutation of the current underground dance boom."[91] Q's Martin Aston said it "continues the band's warped version of Northern Soul rhythms, with stabbing guitars and Hammond organs, wayward sequencers, a dislocated rhythm section and surly sardonic vocalist ... [The] only real failing is its lack of versatility, but it's Happy Mondays' stroppy spirit that counts most of all."[92] Tony Beard of Record Mirror noted the band's musical development, writing that "the sound they slip into is a world away from the cack-handed northern funk they used to bash out."[93] Chicago Tribune journalist Greg Kot complimented Hannett's production, calling it "one excellent reason" for listeners to buy the album.[89]
Michael Jackson
4/5
Bad is the seventh studio album by the American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson. It was released on August 31, 1987, by Epic Records, nearly five years after Jackson's previous album, Thriller (1982). Written and recorded between January 1985 and July 1987, Bad was the third and final collaboration between Jackson and producer Quincy Jones, with Jackson co-producing and composing all but two tracks. Jackson notably adopted an edgy look and sound with Bad, departing from his signature groove-based style and high-pitched vocals. The album incorporates pop, rock, funk, R&B, dance, soul, and hard rock styles. Jackson also experimented with newer recording technology, including digital synthesizers and drum machines, resulting in a sleeker and more aggressive sound. Jackson wrote nine of the eleven songs on the album. Lyrical themes on the album include media bias, paranoia, racial profiling, romance, self-improvement, and world peace. The album features appearances from Siedah Garrett and Stevie Wonder.
In 2003, Bad was ranked number 202 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[131] 203 in a 2012 revised list,[132] and 194 in a 2020 list.[133] In NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, Bad was ranked number 204.[134] It was also included in the book titled 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[135] In 2009, VH1 listed Bad at number 43 on their list of 100 Greatest Albums of All Time of the MTV Generation.[136] In 2012, Slant Magazine ranked the album at number 48 on its list of The 100 Best Albums of the 1980s.[137] Billboard ranked Bad at number 138 on its list of the Greatest of All Time Billboard 200 Albums.[138] It was ranked number 30 in Billboard's list of the Greatest of All Time R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, out of 100 albums.[139] Billboard's critics ranked it the 41st best album on its list of all 92 diamond-certified albums.[140]
Isaac Hayes
3/5
Hot Buttered Soul is the second studio album by American soul musician Isaac Hayes. Released in 1969, it is recognized as a landmark in soul music.[5][6] Recorded with The Bar-Kays, the album features four lengthy tracks, including a 12-minute version of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David cover "Walk On By" and an almost 19-minute long version of Jimmy Webb's "By the Time I Get to Phoenix"; both songs were edited significantly and released as a double A-side single in July 1969.[2]
Contemporary and retrospective reviews of the album were highly positive. Allmusic ranks Hot Buttered Soul as perhaps the best record of Hayes's career, second only to 1971's Black Moses, and said the album pioneered new developments in R&B music for the 1970s.[5] In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 373 in their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[17]
The Who
4/5
My Generation is the debut studio album by English rock band the Who, released on 3 December 1965 by Brunswick Records in the United Kingdom, and Festival Records in Australia. In the United States, it was released on 25 April 1966 by Decca Records as The Who Sings My Generation, with a different cover and a slightly altered track listing.[5] Besides the members of the Who, being Roger Daltrey (vocals), Pete Townshend (guitar), John Entwistle (bass) and Keith Moon (drums), the album features contributions by session musician Nicky Hopkins (piano).
In his 1967 column for Esquire, music critic Robert Christgau called My Generation "the hardest rock in history".[21] In 1981, he included its American version in his "basic record library".[22] Richie Unterberger hailed the album as "the hardest mod pop" ever recorded in a retrospective review for AllMusic: "At the time of its release, it also had the most ferociously powerful guitars and drums yet captured on a rock record."[4] Mark Kemp wrote of the record in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004):
The American edition of the album was included in "A Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).[24] In 2000, musician Elvis Costello named the album one of his "500 [favorite] albums that can only improve your life" and "better than everything that I've made".[25] In 2003, My Generation was ranked number 236 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[26] then was re-ranked number 237 on the 2012 revised list,[27] and named the second greatest guitar album of all time by Mojo magazine.[28] In 2004, it was No. 18 in Q magazine's list of the 50 Best British Albums Ever.[29] In 2006, it was ranked No. 49 in NME's list of the 100 Greatest British Albums.[30] In 2004, the title track was No. 11 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. In 2006, "The Kids Are Alright" was No. 34 in Pitchfork's list of the 200 greatest songs of the 1960s.[31] In June 2009, the edited 1966 US version of the album "The Who Sings My Generation" was selected by the Library of congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "Culturally, historically and aesthetically significant".[32] Writing for the BBC, Chris Jones described the album as "one of the most vital and important reasons to love rock 'n' roll".[33]
Cat Stevens
3/5
Tea for the Tillerman is the fourth studio album by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, released in November 1970.
In a retrospective five-star review, AllMusic's William Ruhlmann praised Stevens' themes of spirituality and transcendence, and felt that he had continued to show his ability as a pop melodicist: "As a result, Tea for the Tillerman became a big seller and, for the second time in four years, its creator became a pop star."[9] On 18 November 2003, Rolling Stone included this album in its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list at number 206,[10] number 208 in a 2012 revised list,[11] and currently at number 205 on its latest list published in 2020. In 2006, the album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[12] In 2007, the album was included in the list of "The Definitive 200 Albums of All Time", released by The National Association of Recording Merchandisers and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[13] It was voted number 342 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.
Elvis Presley
3/5
Elvis Is Back! is the fourth studio album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley, released on April 8, 1960 by RCA Victor. It was Presley's first album released in stereo. Recorded over two sessions in March and April, the album marked Presley's return to recording after his discharge from the U.S. Army. It was Presley's first album of new material since Elvis' Christmas Album was issued in 1957.
Elvis Is Back! represented a new sound for Presley; it moved him further toward pop music, a direction he continued to take over much of the decade.[32] The album features a mixture of genres, including rock, rhythm and blues and pop ballads.[2] Critics generally agreed that Presley had acquired a "deeper, harder voice quality",[33] and said his interpretations were "increasingly sophisticated". The album includes a variety of material; Presley and the session musicians, known as "The Nashville A-Team", had the benefit of recording equipment that was state-of-the-art for its time.[a] Elvis Is Back! was the first Presley album to be released in stereo.[34] The album's front cover shows Presley standing in front of a blue stage curtain, dressed in an Army trench coat and smiling as he glances to his left. The back cover features an image of Presley grinning; he is dressed in an Army regulation fatigue jacket and cap. The inside of the gatefold cover features fifteen photographs of Presley taken at various times during his Army service.[35]
In his review for AllMusic, Bruce Eder wrote that the album "shows a mature Elvis Presley [who] displayed the rich, deep vocalizing that would challenge critics' expectations of Elvis Presley playing rhythm guitar throughout". Eder concluded that on Elvis Is Back!, Presley "comes off better than on any of his other albums since arriving at RCA".[49] Will Hermes of Rolling Stone praised its "wildly varied material, revelatory singing, impeccable stereo sound".[55] Writing for Rough Guides in 2004, Paul Simpson commented: "Among the 1800 or so records in Elvis's collection at Graceland is a copy of Elvis Is Back!, almost white from the number of times it was played. You can understand why this would be his favourite album." Simpson admired Presley's blues singing on "Like a Baby" and "Reconsider Baby", and added, "it's hard to believe that this commitment and exhilaration was to be heard only fitfully for most of the 1960s, often on songs buried on B-sides or as bonuses on dodgy soundtrack albums."[44]
Fishbone
3/5
Truth and Soul is the second studio album by American rock band Fishbone. It was released on September 13, 1988. As is typical of the band's history of music the album features a wide array of genres including punk, ska, reggae, soul, funk, and blues. Additionally, Truth and Soul includes the band's earliest foray into hard rock and heavy metal. The album begins with a cover version of Curtis Mayfield's "Freddie's Dead", originally from the soundtrack to the film Super Fly.
Retrospective reviews were generally positive. Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Greg Prato awarded the album four-and-a-half stars out of five and noted that, as Fishbone's first significant use of hard rock, guitarist Kendall Jones' guitar-playing yielded "often-spectacular results."[2] Robert Christgau gave the album a B rating and said that he didn't think the album flowed well when taken as a whole, but that each song on its own could "change any radio station's pace quite satisfactorily."[13] Additionally, the album was awarded four-out-of-five stars in 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide.[14] Music critic Tom Moon called the album one of his "1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die"[15] and Robert Dimery listed it as one of his 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[16]
Lucinda Williams
3/5
Car Wheels on a Gravel Road is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, released on June 30, 1998, by Mercury Records. The album was recorded and co-produced by Williams in Nashville, Tennessee and Canoga Park, California, and features guest appearances by Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris.
Car Wheels on a Gravel Road explores a variety of music genres, including country, pop, blues, and folk.[15] Two genres commonly associated with Car Wheels on a Gravel Road are Americana and alternative country, although Williams argues that Americana did not formally exist until the creation of the Americana Music Honors & Awards in 2002.[16] According to Williams: "Before that, there was alternative country and alternative rock. [Americana] was creeping in there already."[4] Andy Greene of Rolling Stone notes that the overall sound of Car Wheels on a Gravel Road differed from the purveying trend in country music at the time, which was to incorporate more pop influences, as evidenced by the commercial success of Shania Twain's 1997 album Come On Over.[17
Car Wheels on a Gravel Road has also been praised in retrospective appraisals. In a five-star review, About.com's Kim Ruehl credited the album with solidifying Williams' status as one of the best singer-songwriters of all time, as she "single-handedly marries the genres of traditional and alternative country, roots rock and American folk music so smoothly, it almost feels like magic."[35] In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine called the record an alternative country masterpiece and ranked it No. 304 on their list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and ranked it No. 305 in 2012 revised list.[36] In September 2020, Rolling Stone updated its Top 500 albums of all-time list, which reflected an updated and diverse judging pool, and the album rose to No. 98 on that list.[37]
3/5
Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water is the third studio album by American nu metal band Limp Bizkit, released on October 17, 2000, by Flip and Interscope Records.
Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water received mixed reviews from critics, as Metacritic gave it a 49 out of 100.[37] AllMusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote, "Durst's self-pitying and the monotonous music give away that the band bashed Chocolate Starfish out very quickly – it's the sound of a band determined to deliver a sequel in a finite amount of time."[27] The Rolling Stone Album Guide awarded the album pop three out of five stars,[35] whereas the magazine itself gave the album a 3.5 out of 5. Readers of Kerrang! voted it as the worst album of 2000, with the band and Fred Durst also being voted the worst band of 2000 and "Arse of the Year", respectively.[38]
Even so, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water was listed in the book for 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, but later removed in recent editions of the book.[39]
Little Richard
3/5
Here's Little Richard is the debut album by American musician Little Richard, released on March 4, 1957.[1] Promoted as "six of Little Richard's hits and six brand new songs of hit calibre", the album compiles many of the A-sides and B-sides from Richard's hit singles including the Billboard top 40 entries "Tutti Frutti", "Long Tall Sally", "Slippin' and Slidin'", "Rip It Up" and "Jenny, Jenny" and the top 10 Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers hits "Ready Teddy", "She's Got It" and "Miss Ann".[2]
Among retrospective reviews, Mark Deming of AllMusic commented that "these 12 tunes may not represent the alpha and omega of Little Richard's best music, but every song is a classic and unlike many of his peers, time has refused to render this first album quaint -- Richard's grainy scream remains one of the great sounds in rock & roll history, and the thunder of his piano and the frantic wail of the band is still the glorious call of a Friday night with pay in the pocket and trouble in mind".[24] Writing for Time in 2010, Alan Light described the album as "glorious anarchy, let loose by a crack team of New Orleans musicians with the most distinctive, most outrageous voice of them all leading the charge".[31] Reviewing the album's 2012 reissue, Terry Staunton of Record Collector deemed the album's "raucous rockers" still startling and "rarely equalled for their flash and ferocity".[20] In 2014, Classic Rock's Matt Stock wrote "every track on Here's Little Richard is a stone-cold classic".[17]
In 2003, the album was ranked number 50 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[32] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list,[33] but dropping to number 227 in the 2020 revision.[3
Ray Price
3/5
Night Life is the sixth album by country western singer and guitarist Ray Price, backed by his regular touring band, the Cherokee Cowboys. The album was released in 1963 on the Columbia Records label.[1] The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[2]
Faust
3/5
Faust IV is the fourth studio album by the German krautrock group Faust, released in 1973. The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, where it is referred to as a "krautrock classic".[4] This was the last album by the first incarnation of the band, they returned in 1994 with the release of Rien featuring a different line-up.[5]
Faust (English: "fist") are a German rock band from Hamburg. Formed in 1971 by producer and former music journalist Uwe Nettelbeck, the group was originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier (b.1949), Hans Joachim Irmler (b.1950),[5] Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron (b.1949),[6] Rudolf Sosna (1946 – 1996) and Gunther Wüsthoff, working with engineer Kurt Graupner.[7] Their work was oriented around dissonance, improvisation, and experimental electronic approaches,[2] and would influence subsequent ambient and industrial music.[7] They are considered a central act of West Germany's 1970s krautrock movement.[8]
Calexico
3/5
Feast of Wire is the fourth studio album by American indie rock band Calexico. The album was released on June 18, 2003, through Quarterstick Records. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[1]
Joe Tangari of Pitchfork called Feast of Wire Calexico's "first genuinely masterful full-length, crammed with immediate songcraft, shifting moods and open-ended exploration," and "the album we always knew they had in them but feared they would never make."[9]
Calexico is a Tucson, Arizona-based Americana, Tex-Mex, indie rock band. The band's two main members, Joey Burns and John Convertino, first played together in Los Angeles as part of the group Giant Sand. They have recorded a number of albums on Quarterstick Records, and their 2005 EP, In the Reins, recorded with Iron & Wine, reached the Billboard 200 album charts. Their musical style is influenced by traditional Latin sounds of mariachi, conjunto, cumbia, and tejano mixed with country, jazz, and post-rock.
3/5
Live 1966: The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert is a two-disc live album by Bob Dylan, released in 1998. It is the second installment in the ongoing Bob Dylan Bootleg Series on Legacy Recordings, and has been certified a gold record by the RIAA.[1] It was recorded at the Manchester Free Trade Hall during Dylan's 1966 world tour, though early bootlegs attributed the recording to the Royal Albert Hall so it became known as the Royal Albert Hall Concert.[2] Extensively bootlegged for decades, it is an important document in the development of popular music during the 1960s.[3]
The set list consisted of two parts, with the first half of the concert being Dylan alone on stage performing an entirely acoustic set of songs, while the second half of the concert has Dylan playing an "electric" set of songs alongside his band the Hawks. The first half of the concert was greeted warmly by the audience, while the second half was highly criticized, with heckling going on before and after each song.
Pere Ubu
3/5
Dub Housing is the second album by American rock band Pere Ubu. Released in 1978 by Chrysalis Records, the album is now regarded as one of their best, described by Trouser Press as "simply one of the most important post-punk recordings."[1]
The title is an allusion to the visual echoes of blocks of identical row houses in Baltimore,[2] presumably reminiscent of the echo and reverberation that characterize dub. "Dub" is also a reference to Jehovah's Witnesses, who refer to themselves as "Dubs". Lead singer David Thomas was a Jehovah's Witness. On a 1979 concert bootleg recording,[3] during the song "Sentimental Journey," David Thomas ad-libs the line "I live in a dub house!" The photograph on the cover shows the apartment building at 3206 Prospect Avenue near downtown Cleveland in which members of the band lived when this album was recorded.
Meat Puppets
3/5
Meat Puppets II is the second album by the Phoenix, Arizona band the Meat Puppets, released in 1984. It is a departure from their self-titled debut album, which consisted largely of noisy hardcore with unintelligible vocals. It covers many genres from country-style rock ("Magic Toy Missing", "Climbing" and Lost") to slow acoustic songs ("Plateau" and "Oh, Me") to psychedelic guitar effects ("Aurora Borealis" and "We’re Here").
Kurt Loder in an April 1984 review in Rolling Stone described Meat Puppets II as "one of the funniest and most enjoyable albums" of the year, feeling that the band had developed beyond thrash music to become "a kind of cultural trash compacter" in which they blend head-banging with "a bit of the Byrds...Hendrix-style guitar...and...Blonde on Blonde-style wordsmithing".[8] In his review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau felt that Curt Kirkwood had combined "the amateur and the avant-garde with a homely appeal", which resulted in a "calmly demented country music" in a "psychedelic" vein.[10]
Robert Hilburn commented in the Los Angeles Times that they were "far more of an acquired promising though willfully unfocused rock act".[11]
Genesis
3/5
Selling England by the Pound is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock band Genesis, released in September 1973 on Charisma Records. It reached No. 3 in the United Kingdom and No. 70 in the United States. A single from the album, "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", was released in February 1974 and became the band's first top 30 hit in the UK.
Selling England by the
Critics and the band members themselves have given mixed opinions of the album, though guitarist Steve Hackett has said it is his favourite Genesis record.[3] Its reputation has improved over time, appearing on various critical and fan-voted rankings of the best progressive rock albums.[4][5] The album has continued to sell and has reached Gold certification by the British Phonographic Industry and the Recording Industry Association of America. It was remastered for CD in 1994 and 2007. Several of the album tracks became fan favourites and featured as a regular part of the band's live setlist into the 1980s.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
3/5
Following the collaboration on Paul Simon's 1986 album Graceland which brought the group to international prominence, Shaka Zulu (produced by Simon) marked the band's first genuine international hit, securing them an American audience which would be built upon by the successes of Journey of Dreams (1988) and Two Worlds, One Heart (1990). Shaka Zulu was a collection of newly recorded versions of older Mambazo hits, such as "Unomathemba", "Hello My Baby" and "Lomhlaba Kawunoni".
Shaka Zulu won a Grammy in 1988 for Best Traditional Folk Recording.
The album was also featured in Robert Dimery's 2006 musical reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Dirty Projectors
3/5
Bitte Orca is the fifth studio album by American experimental rock band Dirty Projectors, released on June 9, 2009, on Domino Records. The word "bitte" is a German word for "please", and "orca" is another name for a killer whale. Frontman David Longstreth states that he liked the way the words sound together.[3] Longstreth notes that the music contained within the album "felt very [much] about colors, and their interaction,"[3] and that the music was written with the notion of the band, as a whole, in mind.[3]
Reviewing the version of Bitte Orca which leaked onto the internet two months before its official release date, Stereogum called the album "stunning" and "pay-off for joining Dave Longstreth on his years of recorded self-discovery."[23] Prefix called the album "a breakthrough, which filters their left-field avant aesthetics through more conventional song structures."[24]
Pitchfork awarded the album a 9.2 upon initial release, calling it "a testament to the leaps and bounds Longstreth has made as a songsmith and Dirty Projectors have made as a band."[1] Pitchfork eventually ranked Bitte Orca at number 2 on its 2009 "Best Of" list, and 56 on its list of the Top 200 Albums of the 2000s, as well as naming the track 'Stillness Is the Move' the second best track of 2009.[25] Rolling Stone ranked the same track at 85 in its 100 Best Songs of the Decade.
Lauryn Hill
4/5
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is the debut solo album by American singer and rapper Lauryn Hill. It was released on August 25, 1998, by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is a neo soul and R&B album with some songs based in hip hop soul and reggae. Its lyrics touch upon Hill's pregnancy and the turmoil within her former group the Fugees, along with themes of love and God. The album's title was inspired by the film and autobiographical novel The Education of Sonny Carson, and Carter G. Woodson's The Mis-Education of the Negro.
After touring with the Fugees, Hill became involved in a romantic relationship with Jamaican entrepreneur Rohan Marley, and shortly after, became pregnant with their child. This pregnancy, as well as other circumstances in her life, inspired Hill to make a solo album. Recording sessions for the album took place from late 1997 to June 1998 mainly at Tuff Gong Studios in Kingston, as Hill collaborated with a group of musicians known as New Ark in writing and producing the songs.
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is considered a neo soul album, according to Christopher John Farley of Time[30] and Rhapsody writer Mosi Reeves;[31] Complex magazine refers to it more generally as R&B.[32] Its music incorporates styles such as soul, hip hop, and reggae,[33] with some songs based in hip hop soul, according to the Encyclopedia of African American Music (2010).[34] "When It Hurts So Bad" is musically old roots reggae mixed with soul. While mostly in English, "Forgive Them Father" and "Lost Ones" both feature singing in patois, which is the common dialect in Jamaica. Although heavily R&B, the song "Superstar" contains an interpolation of the rock song "Light My Fire" by The Doors. Hill said that she "didn't want to come out with a [Fugees] type of sound", but create "something that was uniquely and very clearly a Lauryn Hill album."[24] She also said that she did not intend for the album's sound to be commercially appealing: "There's too much pressure to have hits these days. Artists are watching Billboard instead of exploring themselves. Look at someone like Aretha, she didn't hit with her first album, but she was able to grow up and find herself. I wanted to make honest music. I don't like things to be too perfect, or too polished. People may criticize me for that, but I grew up listening to Al Green and Sam Cooke. When they hit a high note, you actually felt it."[35]
The album was the first in the history of XXL to receive a perfect "XXL" rating.[94] In 2007, the album was placed on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "200 Definitive Albums of All Time" list.[172] In 2015, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.[173]
In 2017, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was among the first batch of albums to preserved in Harvard University's Loeb Music Library.[174] That same year, NPR named it the second greatest album made by a woman.[175] The album has also been included in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American history.[176] While ranking it 314th on their "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", Rolling Stone credited Hill with taking 1970s soul and making it "boom and signify to the hip-hop generation".[177] The magazine's placement of The Miseducation at number 10 on a revised edition in 2020 made it the highest ranking rap album on the list.[178]
Influence on contemporaries
Edit
Several artists have cited the album as an inspiration for their musical work including Omar Apollo,[179] H.E.R.,[180] Ella Mai,[181] Rachel Platten,[182] and Macy Gray.[183][184] Furthermore Ella Mai,[185] Rihanna,[186] H.E.R.,[187] Dan Smith of Bastille[188][184] and Adele[189] have all called The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill their personal favorite album. American entertainer Donald Glover stated that it's his most-listened to album,[190] while Zendaya,[191] along with rappers J. Cole[192] and Kendrick Lamar[193] have cited it as their favorite album by a female artist.
Elton John
4/5
Madman Across the Water is the fourth studio album by English musician Elton John, released in 1971 through DJM and Uni Records. The album was his third album to be released in 1971, at which point John had been rising to prominence as a popular music artist. John's first progressive rock album,[4][5] Madman Across the Water contains nine tracks, each composed and performed by John and with lyrics written by songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman plays Hammond organ on two songs.
Madman was John's first foray into progressive rock, and it did not sell well.[4][5] His next album, Honky Château, shifted gears to glam rock, beginning a string of more successful releases. He did not touch upon prog rock again until Blue Moves in 1976, another less popular album.[18] Madman was helped in North America by FM radio deejays willing to play the lengthy singles, unlike BBC Radio 1.[5]
Koffi Olomide
3/5
Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba (13 July 1956),[1] known professionally as Koffi Olomidé, is a Congolese Soukus singer, dancer, producer, and composer. He has had several gold records in his career. He is the founder of the Quartier Latin International orchestra with many notable artists, including Fally Ipupa and Ferré Gola.
Koffi Olomide is among the greatest Congolese and African musical artists of all time. Many artists look up to him for inspiration. President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) recently appointed him as one of the country's cultural ambassadors.
Brian Wilson
3/5
Brian Wilson Presents Smile (also referred to as Smile or the abbreviation BWPS)[7] is the fifth studio album by American musician Brian Wilson, released on September 28, 2004 on Nonesuch. It features all-new recordings of music that he had originally created for Smile, an unfinished album by the Beach Boys that he abandoned in 1967. Revisiting Smile was an intense emotional undertaking for Wilson, as he had been deeply traumatized by the circumstances that had originally surrounded the project.
Motivated by the positive reception, Wilson agreed to record a studio version of Smile after two weeks of consideration.[45] Recording began on April 13, 2004 with his ten-piece touring band, augmented by a ten-piece string section and an acoustic bassist. The basic tracks were recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders in four days, with overdubbing and mixing continuing until July with some stops at engineer Mark Linett's Your Place or Mine studio.[33]
When played live, digital keyboards were used to replicate the sound of various instruments such as harpsichord and tack piano, and electric drums were used in place of timpanis. These digital keyboards were kept for the album's recording, though a real upright piano and timpani was used. Some alterations were also made to tracks' specific arrangements, since they had been arranged with an audience in mind, along with the logistics of only having ten performers on stage.[33] Linett explained: "For the studio version of Smile, Brian and the band eliminated some of the flourishes that were designed just for live performance and substantially reworked the instrumental arrangements."[7] Most engineering for the album followed practices that were common during the 1960s, and tracks were recorded and sequenced in discrete sections the same as they would have been on the original Smile.[7][33] The vocals were recorded using a Universal Audio tube mixing console identical to the one used by the Beach Boys at United Western Recorders in the 1960s.[7]
2009, BWPS was named the 88th best album of the decade by Rolling Stone.[105][nb 14] In 2010, it was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[107] In 2020, it was ranked number 399 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". The editors wrote, "Close your eyes and you can imagine how it might've changed the world in 1968 [sic], but with Wilson's influence still all over scads of indie bands in 2004, it sounds and feels majestically modern."[108][nb 15] In 2022, it was ranked number 102 on Uncut's list of the greatest albums released since 1997,[109] as well as number 21 on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest concept albums in history.[110]
Björk
3/5
Vespertine is the fourth studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk.[nb 1] It was released on 27 August 2001 in the United Kingdom by One Little Independent Records and in the United States by Elektra Entertainment. Production on the album began during the filming of Dancer in the Dark. With Vespertine, Björk aspired to create an album with an intimate and domestic feeling, deviating from the brash sonority of her previous studio album Homogenic (1997).
The musical style of the album reflected Björk's newly found interest in the minimal and intricate electronic music of producers such as Opiate, Console and the duo Matmos, who were all enlisted for the album. With the rising popularity of Napster and music downloads, she also composed arrangements with thin, "icy" sounding instruments whose quality would not be compromised when downloaded and played on a computer, including the harp, the celesta, clavichord, strings and custom music boxes. Assisted by Matmos, Björk created "microbeats" from various commonplace sounds, such as that of shuffling cards and ice being cracked. Lyrically, the album revolves around sex and love—sometimes explicitly—inspired by her at the time new relationship with Matthew Barney; other lyrical sources include the poetry of E. E. Cummings and British playwright Sarah Kane's Crave.
Peter Frampton
3/5
Frampton Comes Alive! is the first double live album by English rock musician Peter Frampton, released in 1976 by A&M Records. It is one of the best-selling live albums. "Show Me the Way", "Baby, I Love Your Way", and "Do You Feel Like We Do" were all released as singles; all three reached the Top 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and frequently receive significant amount of airplay on classic rock radio stations. Following four solo albums with little commercial success, Frampton Comes Alive! was a breakthrough for Frampton.
Frampton Comes Alive! was voted "Album of the Year" in a 1976 Rolling Stone readers' poll. It stayed on the chart for 97 weeks and was still No. 14 on Billboard's 1977 year-end album chart. It was ranked No. 41 on Rolling Stone's "50 Greatest Live Albums of All Time" list.[4] Readers of Rolling Stone ranked it No. 3 in a 2012 poll of all-time favourite live albums.[5]
Slade
3/5
Slayed? is the third studio album by the British rock group Slade. It was released on 1 November 1972 and reached No. 1 in the UK. It remained on the chart for 34 weeks and was certified Silver in early 1973.[1][2] The album was also the band's most successful of the 1970s in the US, peaking at No. 69 and remaining in the charts for 26 weeks.[3] In Australia, the album reached No. 1 and went Gold, knocking the band's live album Slade Alive! to No. 2.[4][5][6] Slayed? was produced by Chas Chandler.
Upon release, Record Mirror described the album as "all pretty stomping, insistent and bawled out stuff", adding "they deliver the goods here, alright".[17] In the Record Mirror poll results of 1974, Slayed? was listed at No. 4 on the Top 10 list of best British albums.[18] New Musical Express said the album was "one of the greatest rock 'n' roll releases ever".
Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times felt that aside from some "effective moments" on side one, side two best displayed Slade's "power and direction". He concluded: "If you've been missing the solid, raunchy rock sound in recent months, get slayed and play it loud."[19] Tom Von Malder of The Wheeling Herald (Illinois) felt the album recalled the "kind of raw music that the Rolling Stones used to play when they did "Street Fighting Man"." Malder concluded: "Slade is punk, street rock at its best and loudest."[20] American rock critic Robert Christgau felt the album showcased "boot-boy anthems that are every bit as overpowering as has been reported, and also more fun. Noddy Holder can wake up the crazee in my neighborhood any time he wants." Henry McNulty of the Hartford Courant described the album as a "fierce, unrelenting type of rock", as well as a "total body assault, leaving the mind free to wander in the void where the meaning ought to be."[21]
The Killers
4/5
Hot Fuss is the debut studio album by American rock band the Killers, released on June 7, 2004, in the United Kingdom and on June 15, 2004, in the United States by Island Records. The album is mostly influenced by new wave music and post-punk. Hot Fuss spawned four commercially and critically successful singles: "Mr. Brightside", "Somebody Told Me", "All These Things That I've Done" and "Smile Like You Mean It".
Rolling Stone ranked Hot Fuss 43rd on its list of the "100 Best Albums of the Decade", and it was, at one point, listed among the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Gigwise readers voted it the number-one "Best Debut Album of All Time" in 2013.[29] Rolling Stone ranked Hot Fuss the 33rd of its list of "The 100 Greatest Debut Albums of All Time
Richard Hawley
4/5
Coles Corner is the fourth studio album from English pop/rock musician Richard Hawley, released on 5 September 2005 in the UK and on 6 September 2005 in the US. The title immortalises the legendary Sheffield landmark Coles Corner, a popular meeting place of old and new lovers. The album was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize for best album.
Critics were almost unanimous in their praise for Coles Corner. AllMusic said that "early rock & roll and rockabilly, country, traces of the vintage-'40s pop, jazz, and even some blues, fall together in a seamless, nearly rapturous whole... Coles Corner is glorious, magical, and utterly lovely in its vision, articulation, and execution".[2] PopMatters stated that "Coles Corner heads full-bore into the vintage sounds of five decades ago... It takes a certain flair for a modern-day artist to pull off such a retro sound, and Hawley's complete lack of irony and bombast on this record makes it work... It's certainly not uncommon for contemporary artists to mine the past and successfully corner the ever-growing adult contemporary market... but none of those youngsters can match the style and grace with which Richard Hawley crafts his music. It's achingly beautiful, disarmingly intimate, simply the best-kept secret in popular music today."[8] The Guardian called the tracks "old-fashioned, lovelorn, immaculately produced songs" and said "[Hawley's] third album follows the template of its predecessors... if there is a difference it's in the richness of the emotions and textures".[3] Mojo called it "a glorious melange of love, loss, regret, homesickness and romance".[4] Pitchfork said "Coles Corner is unapologetically retro to the max but it works... Hawley resides deep inside this material, writing songs with the melodic muscle to stand up next to standards... you realize that Hawley's music can go wherever he wants it to go. He's not stuck in the past. He inhabits his record collection because he likes it there and has a feeling we will too. He's right."[7]
Maxwell
3/5
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite is the debut album by American R&B singer-songwriter Maxwell. It was recorded in 1994 and 1995, then released on April 2, 1996, by Columbia Records.
Maxwell's Urban
Maxwell largely wrote and produced the album himself, recording in sessions at Electric Lady Studios, RPM, Sorcerer, and Chung King Studios in New York City, and CRC recording studios in Chicago. The resulting music features a mellow, groove-based sound with elements of funk, jazz, smooth soul, and quiet storm. A concept album, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was composed as a song cycle that focuses on an adult romance, based in part on Maxwell's personal experiences.
A concept album,[1] Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite is a song cycle that focuses on an adult romance from first encounter to its dramatic conclusion.[19] Over the course of the album, Maxwell details a single passionate encounter.[13] Throughout, it examines the concept with lyrical themes of love, sex and spirituality,[19] as well as issues such as commitment, marriage and monogamy.[20] Maxwell has described the themes and his thoughts on romance as "idealistic" on Urban Hang Suite.[21] Rolling Stone editor David Fricke compared the album's concept to that of Marvin Gaye's 1978 record Here, My Dear, which dealt with his divorce, saying that Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite had been reworked as a treatise on monogamy.[9] The album has been noted for the sincerity of Maxwell's lyrics, which depict a man's weakness and vulnerability to a woman's love.[8][16] In an interview with music journalist Mark Coleman, Maxwell cited his respect for African-American women as the inspiration for the respectful nature of his lyrics towards women.[3] Maxwell told Interview's Dimitri Erhlich that his main muse for Urban Hang Suite was women, and further elaborated on his inspiration, stating:
Along with musicians D'Angelo and Erykah Badu, Maxwell was credited with helping to shape the "neo soul" movement that rose to prominence during the late 1990s.[1][54] Along with D'Angelo's Brown Sugar (1995) and Badu's Baduizm (1997),[54] Urban Hang Suite has been recognized by writers for beginning neo soul's popularity and helping the genre obtain commercial visibility.[55][56] However, in contrast to D'Angelo, Maxwell was more conventional in his approach on his debut album.[11] The term "neo soul" was penned in the late 1990s by record executive Kedar Massenburg, who managed both D'Angelo and Erykah Badu.[54] According to Shapiro, the term itself refers to a musical style that obtains its influence from more classical styles, and bohemian musicians seeking a soul revival, while setting themselves apart from the more contemporary sounds of their mainstream R&B counterparts.[54] In commenting on the "new soul revival" in music, Maxwell told Entertainment Weekly in 1997 that "everything out there musically was inspired or influenced by something from the past. It's not about creating some super-fresh new thing. If it doesn't lend itself to your history, how is it going to extend to your future?"[2] According to Kerika Fields, Maxwell received an overwhelmingly positive reaction to his debut album from music listeners due to their weariness of contemporary black music's predictability.[57]
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
Run-D.M.C. is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Run-D.M.C., released on March 27, 1984, by Profile Records. The album was produced by Russell Simmons and Larry Smith. It was considered groundbreaking for its time, presenting a tougher, more hardcore form of hip-hop. The album's sparse beats and aggressive rhymes were in sharp contrast with the light sound that was popular in hip hop at the time.
Run-D.M.C. peaked at number 53 on the Billboard 200, and number 14 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. The album became the first rap album which was certified as Gold by the RIAA (December 17, 1984).[1][2][3] The album features five the Billboard singles: "It's Like That", "Hard Times", "Rock Box", "30 Days" and "Hollis Crew". The first single from this album, "It's Like That", released on August 10, 1983, opened a new page in the history of hip-hop with a tone of social protest (unemployment, inflation). "It's Like That" is judged by many to be the first hardcore rap song,[4][5] and the first new school hip-hop recording.[6] "Sucker M.C.'s" is one of the first diss tracks,[7] and "Rock Box" is the first song in the rap rock genre.[5]
With Run-D.M.C., Run-D.M.C. came to be regarded by music critics as pioneering the movement of new school hip hop of the mid-1980s.[8] In 1989, the album was ranked number 51 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s.[9] In 2003, the album was ranked number 240 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, with the ranking changing to numbers 242 and 378 in the 2012 and 2020 updates of the list, respectively.[10] The album was reissued by Arista Records in 1999 and 2003. An expanded and remastered edition was released in 2005 and contained 4 previously unreleased songs.[11]
Massive Attack
3/5
Blue Lines is the debut studio album by English electronic music group Massive Attack,[a] released on 8 April 1991 by Wild Bunch and Virgin Records.[1] The recording was led by members Grantley "Daddy G" Marshall, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, and Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles, with co-production by Jonny Dollar. It also features contributions by singers Shara Nelson and Horace Andy. Generally regarded as the first "trip hop" album, Blue Lines blended elements of hip hop (such as breakbeats, sampling, and rapping) with dub, soul, reggae, and electronic music.
According to Acclaimed Music, a site which uses statistics to numerically represent critical reception, Blue Lines is the 43th best-received album of all time, and third best-received of the 1990s.[24] In 1997, Blue Lines was named the 21st greatest album of all time in a "Music of the Millennium" poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. The following year, Q readers placed it at number 58 in its list of the "100 Greatest Albums Ever", and in 2000, the album was voted at number 9 in the magazine's poll of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever". In 2003, the album was ranked number 395 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time",[25] 397 in a 2012 revised list,[2] and 241 in a 2020 revised list.[3] Pitchfork ranked it at number 85 in its 2003 list of "The Top 100 Albums of the 1990s".[4] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[26] The track "Unfinished Sympathy" has also been singled out for praise, being hailed by BBC Radio 2 as "one of the most moving pieces of dance music ever, able to soften hearts and excite minds just as keenly as a ballad by Bacharach or a melody by McCartney."[27]
Leonard Cohen
3/5
I'm Your Man is the eighth studio album by Canadian singer Leonard Cohen,[2] released on February 2, 1988 by Columbia Records. The album marked Cohen's further move to a more modern sound, with many songs having a synthesizer-oriented production. It soon became the most successful studio album which Cohen had released in the US, and it reached number one in several European countries, transforming Cohen into a best-selling artist.[3]
return to form. It was No. 1 in Norway for 16 weeks.[21] The album is silver in the UK and gold in Canada.[3] In the original Rolling Stone review, David Browne called it "the first Cohen album that can be listened to during the daylight hours."[6] Jason Ankeny of AllMusic writes that I'm Your Man "re-establishes Leonard Cohen's mastery. Against a backdrop of keyboards and propulsive rhythms, Cohen surveys the global landscape with a precise, unflinching eye: the opening 'First We Take Manhattan' is an ominous fantasy of commercial success bundled in crypto-fascist imagery, while the remarkable 'Everybody Knows' is a cynical catalog of the land mines littering the surface of love in the age of AIDS."[2] It was ranked 51 on Pitchfork's list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s.[22] Tom Waits has named it one of his favourite albums.[23] Slant Magazine listed the album at number 29 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".[24] In a Rolling Stone top ten readers poll, three songs from the album – "I'm Your Man", "Tower of Song", and "Everybody Knows" – were voted the best Leonard Cohen songs of all time, ranking #10, #8 and #4, respectively. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[25] It was voted number 495 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[26]
Pulp
3/5
Different Class (released in Japan as Common People) is the fifth studio album by English rock band Pulp, released on 30 October 1995 by Island Records.
The album was a critical and commercial success, entering the UK Albums Chart at number one and winning the 1996 Mercury Music Prize. It has been certified four times platinum, and had sold 1.33 million copies in the United Kingdom as of 2020.[3] In 2013, NME ranked the album at number six in its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[4]
Different Class received widespread acclaim from music critics in the UK. In the NME John Mulvey summarised the record as "funny, phenomenally nasty, genuinely subversive, and, of course, hugely, flamingly POP!... Different Class is a deft, atmospheric, occasionally stealthy and frequently booming, confident record."[11] Melody Maker awarded the album its star rating of "bloody essential", and its critic Simon Reynolds observed that "the album's title alone announces that Cocker's broadened his scope, has another axe to grind: social antagonism", and stated that Pulp was "not so much the jewel in Britpop's crown, more like the single solitary band who validate the whole sorry enterprise".[17] In Q Robert Yates felt that "the range of Different Class is impressive: tracks such as ["Live Bed Show" and "F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E."] render more redundant than ever the view of Pulp as kitsch",[13] while in Vox Keith Cameron awarded the album eight out of ten and wrote that "no other Pulp album of recent years froths around the mouth so unselfconsciously... Pulp have managed to elevate their grandiose, popoid vision-thing to new and greater heights, without crashing into the realms of extreme fantasy."[18] In Mojo Bob Stanley stated, "You'd have to be a fool or a low-fi obsessive not to concede that it's easily the closest that Pulp have come to realising their potential... Different Class is curiously sparse yet lush enough in all the right places, warm and soulful where unnecessary electro-clutter used to be", and concluded, "Arguments about Blur versus Oasis are irrelevant. Pulp are in a different class."[19] Select ranked the album at number one in its end-of-year list of the 50 best albums of 1995.[20
Released in 1995 at the height of the Britpop era, it is often considered an album which best defines the era and has featured at the number one position on several best Britpop albums polls, including The Village Voice,[33] BuzzFeed,[34] Pitchfork,[35] Spin.[36] Exactly twenty years on from its release, Complex magazine declared Different Class as "the most important Britpop album."[37] Having not featured in Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, the album was ranked at number 162 in their revised 2020 list.[38] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[39]
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
3/5
Siembra (transl. "Sowing") is the second studio album by Panamanian singer and songwriter Rubén Blades and Puerto Rican-American trombonist Willie Colón. It was released through Fania Records on 7 September 1978. It is considered the best selling salsa album in the history of salsa music and Latin music.[1] Was recorded by Jerry Masucci and Johnny Pacheco at the La Tierra Sound Studios between 1977 and 1978.
Dizzee Rascal
4/5
Boy in da Corner is the debut studio album by English rapper and producer Dizzee Rascal. It was first released on 21 July 2003 by XL Recordings in the United Kingdom before being released the following year in the United States.
A widespread critical success, Boy in da Corner became one of the most acclaimed records of 2003 and went on to win the Mercury Prize for best album from the UK and Ireland. It also peaked at number 23 on the British albums chart and sold over 250,000 copies worldwide by 2004. With the album's success, Dizzee Rascal gave mainstream exposure to grime music while becoming the UK's first internationally recognised rap star.
Boy in da Corner received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, the album received an aggregate score of 92 out of 100, based on 28 reviews.[4] NME called it "one of the most assured debut albums of the last five years".[10] Entertainment Weekly stated that, "Combining U.K. garage beats and a distinctly British sensibility, Rascal spits out phrases with the energy and finesse of a championship boxer".[7] Rolling Stone wrote, "If you want a vision of the future of hip-hop and techno, get this record".[12] AllMusic called it "Startling, tirelessly powerful, and full of unlimited dimensions, nothing could truly weigh down this debut".[5] Pitchfork's Scott Plagenhoef stated, "Dizzee's despairing wail, focused anger, and cutting sonics places him on the front lines in the battle against a stultifying Britain, just as Pete Townshend, Johnny Rotten, and Morrissey have been in the past".[11] In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau wrote that "His adolescent gulps and yowls are street-Brit with a Jamaican liquidity, as lean, eccentric, and arresting as the beats."[14] Fellow Village Voice critic Jeff Chang stated, "When Dizzee thinks very deeply—worrying about growing up, about those around him who won't grow up, about dying before he grows up—he sounds like, what else can we call it, the real thing".[15] Stylus Magazine stated, "Most of Boy in Da Corner's most compelling moments come from this uneasy interaction between irrational youth and ultra-rational mechanized society".[16] Alexis Petridis from The Guardian called Dizzee "the most original and exciting artist to emerge from dance music in a decade".[8]
George Harrison
4/5
All Things Must Pass is the third studio album by English rock musician George Harrison. Released as a triple album in November 1970, it was Harrison's first solo work after the break-up of the Beatles in April that year. It includes the hit singles "My Sweet Lord" and "What Is Life", as well as songs such as "Isn't It a Pity" and the title track that had been overlooked for inclusion on releases by the Beatles. The album reflects the influence of Harrison's musical activities with artists such as Bob Dylan, the Band, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends and Billy Preston during 1968–70, and his growth as an artist beyond his supporting role to former bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney. All Things Must Pass introduced Harrison's signature slide guitar sound and the spiritual themes present throughout his subsequent solo work. The original vinyl release consisted of two LPs of songs and a third disc of informal jams titled Apple Jam. Several commentators interpret Barry Feinstein's album cover photo, showing Harrison surrounded by four garden gnomes, as a statement on his independence from the Beatles.
All Things Must Pass was critically and commercially successful on release, with long stays at number one on charts worldwide. Co-producer Phil Spector employed his Wall of Sound production technique to notable effect; Ben Gerson of Rolling Stone described the sound as "Wagnerian, Brucknerian, the music of mountain tops and vast horizons".[2] Reflecting the widespread surprise at the assuredness of Harrison's post-Beatles debut, Melody Maker's Richard Williams likened the album to Greta Garbo's first role in a talking picture and declared: "Garbo talks! – Harrison is free!"[3] According to Colin Larkin, writing in the 2011 edition of his Encyclopedia of Popular Music, All Things Must Pass is "generally rated" as the best of all the former Beatles' solo albums.[4]
Author Mark Ribowsky says that All Things Must Pass "forged the seventies first new rock idiom",[305] while music historian David Howard writes that the album's combination of expansive hard rock and "intimate acoustic-confessionals" made it the touchstone for the early 1970s rock sound.[306] Another Rolling Stone critic, James Hunter, commented in 2001 on how All Things Must Pass "helped define the decade it ushered in", in that "the cast, the length, the long hair falling on suede-covered shoulders ... foretold the sprawl and sleepy ambition of the Seventies."[307]
In his PopMatters review, John Bergstrom likens All Things Must Pass to "the sound of Harrison exhaling", adding: "He was quite possibly the only Beatle who was completely satisfied with the Beatles being gone."[272] Bergstrom credits the album with heavily influencing bands such as ELO, My Morning Jacket, Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear, as well as helping bring about the dream pop phenomenon.[272] In Harris' view, the "widescreen sound" used by Harrison and Spector on some of the tracks was a forerunner to recordings by ELO and Oasis.[308]
Slint
4/5
Spiderland is the second and final studio album by the American rock band Slint. It contains six songs played over 40 minutes, and was released by Touch and Go Records on March 27, 1991. Slint's lineup at the time of recording comprised Brian McMahan on vocals and guitar, David Pajo on guitar, Todd Brashear on bass guitar and Britt Walford on drums. Spiderland was engineered by Brian Paulson and recorded over four days in August 1990. The music and vocal melodies were composed throughout the summer of 1990, while lyrics were written in-studio.
Forming in 1986 in Louisville, Kentucky, Slint had met as teenagers playing in the Midwestern punk scene but soon diverged sonically from their hardcore roots. By the time they recorded Spiderland in late 1990, the band had developed a complex, idiosyncratic sound characterized by atypical rhythmic meters, harmonic dissonance and irregular song structures. McMahan's vocal delivery on the record alternates between spoken word, singing and shouting. The lyrics are presented in a narrative style and cover themes such as unease, social anxiety, loneliness, and despair
Slint broke up shortly before the album's release due to McMahan's depression. In the US, Spiderland initially attracted little critical attention and sold poorly. However, a warm reception from UK music papers and gradually increasing sales in subsequent years helped it develop a significant cult following. Spiderland is widely regarded as foundational to the 1990s post-rock and math rock movements, and is cited by critics as a milestone of indie and experimental rock, inspiring a myriad of subsequent artists. Slint reunited in 2005 to perform the album in its entirety across three international tours.
Spiderland is considered a major influence on the post-rock bands Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Isis and Explosions in the Sky.[54] Lou Barlow of Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh said the album was "quiet-to-loud" while still sounding like nothing before, as if "a new kind of music",[15] while PJ Harvey included it in her 1992 "Ten For Today" list of records.[55] Bob Nastanovich of Pavement[56] ranked it as among his favorite albums. Its cover was recreated by The Shins in the music video for "New Slang".[57] The album is regarded as essential to "the fabric of math-rock genre".[58] Peschek described it as "the ur-text for what became known as post-rock, a fractured, almost geometric reimagining of rock music stripped of its dionysiac impulse."[17] Rachel Devine of The List called Spiderland "arguably the most disproportionately influential [album] in music history".[59] Pitchfork's Stuart Berman noted how the album "motivated a cluster of semi-popular bands in the late-90s and early 2000s to adopt its whisper-to-scream schematic. It's the boundless inspiration it perpetually provides for all the bands that have yet to emerge from the basement."[60] In 2015, Gigwise named the album in their list of "The 11 most vicious post-hardcore albums ever."[61]
The Flaming Lips
3/5
The Soft Bulletin is the ninth studio album by American rock band the Flaming Lips, released by Warner Bros. Records on May 17, 1999, in the United Kingdom, and on June 22, 1999, in the United States. The album was released to widespread acclaim, and was hailed by critics as a departure from their previous guitar-heavy alternative rock sound into a more layered, intricately arranged work.
The Soft Bulletin
Steve Earle
3/5
Guitar Town is the debut studio album from American singer-songwriter Steve Earle, released on March 5, 1986. It topped the Billboard country album charts, and the title song reached #7 on the country singles charts. Earle was also nominated for two 1987 Grammy Awards, Best Male Country Vocalist and Best Country Song, for the title track.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 489 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2012, the magazine ranked it at #482 on a revised list, calling it "the rocker's version of country, packed with songs about hard living in the Reagan Eighties."[4]
Barry Adamson
3/5
Oedipus Schmoedipus is an album by the English musician Barry Adamson, released in 1996.[2][3] Like Adamson's previous albums, Oedipus Schmoedipus was conceived as a soundtrack to an imaginary film.[4] The album peaked at No. 51 on the UK Albums Chart.[5]
Barry Adamson (born 11 June 1958)[1] is an English pop and rock musician, composer, writer, photographer and filmmaker. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as a member of the post-punk band Magazine and went on to work with Visage, The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the electro musicians Pan Sonic. In addition to prolific solo work, Adamson has also remixed Grinderman, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Recoil and Depeche Mode. He also worked on the soundtrack for David Lynch's
Fela Kuti
3/5
Live! is an album recorded in 1971 by Fela Kuti's band Africa '70, with the addition of former Cream drummer Ginger Baker on two songs. It was released in 1971 by EMI in Africa and Europe and by Capitol/EMI in the United States and Canada. It was reissued on CD by Celluloid in 1987 and was reissued on CD in remastered form by Barclay with a bonus track from 1978.
Baker travelled with Kuti into Africa in a Land Rover to learn about the continent's rhythms, as documented in Tony Palmer's film Ginger Baker in Africa (1971). The bonus track on the Barclay CD reissue features a 16-minute drum duet between Baker and Africa '70's drummer Tony Allen recorded at the 1978 Berlin Jazz Festival. The album is on Rolling Stone's list of the 50 greatest live albums of all time.[4] The album is also included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[5
Frank Black
3/5
Teenager of the Year is the second solo studio album by American musician Frank Black. The album was released in 1994 by 4AD in the United Kingdom and Elektra Records in the United States. It was co-produced by former Pere Ubu member Eric Drew Feldman, who also played keyboards on the album.[11] Teenager also features work by several backing musicians, including Lyle Workman, Moris Tepper and Black's Pixies bandmate Joey Santiago.
The album reached No. 2 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart and No. 131 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1994.[12][13] The single "Headache" reached No. 10 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart that year.[14]
Although not originally well-received, the record is now widely praised by both critics and fans.[15] The album is often cited as the high-point of Francis' post-Pixies catalogue,[1][11][15] and was ranked No. 94 on Pitchfork's "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s".[15]
Robert Wyatt
4/5
Rock Bottom is the second solo album by former Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt. It was released on 26 July 1974 by Virgin Records. The album was produced by Pink Floyd's drummer Nick Mason, and was recorded following a 1973 accident which left Wyatt a paraplegic. He enlisted musicians including Ivor Cutler, Hugh Hopper, Richard Sinclair, Laurie Allan, Mike Oldfield and Fred Frith in the recording.
The opening track "Sea Song" was covered in 1985 by Tears for Fears for the B-side of the single "I Believe (A Soulful Re-Recording)", the original version of which was dedicated to Wyatt in the LP liner notes.
According to Roland Orzabal, "This track was the B-side to 'I Believe', which was so clearly inspired by Robert Wyatt that I thought it would be a good idea to cover one of his songs for the flip side. His voice in my opinion is one of the best, not something I felt I could match, but if I introduced one person to his music then it would have been worth it."[24]
The North Sea Radio Orchestra, alongside
The Icarus Line
3/5
Penance Soiree is the second full-length album released by Los Angeles band The Icarus Line. It was one of 2004's most critically acclaimed releases, and its reputation has subsequently earned praise in various publications, including the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[1]
Penance Soiree
The Human League
3/5
Dare (released as Dare! in the United States) is the third studio album by English synth-pop band The Human League, first released in the United Kingdom in October 1981 then subsequently in the US in mid-1982. The album was recorded between March and September 1981 following the departure of founding members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, and saw the band shift direction from their previous avant-garde electronic style toward a more pop-friendly, commercial sound led by frontman Philip Oakey.
Dare became critically acclaimed and has proved to be a genre-defining album, whose influence can be felt in many areas of pop music.[4] The album and its four singles were large successes, particularly "Don't You Want Me". The album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
Dare has appeared on several lists of the greatest albums of all time. Sounds magazine ranked it the 81st best album of all time in 1986, and the 44th best album of the 1980s three years later.[29][30] In 1990, Dare was listed by Rolling Stone as the 78th best album of the previous decade.[31] Q placed the record at number 69 on its 2000 list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever";[16] the same magazine, in 2006, ranked Dare the 19th best album of the 1980s.[32] In 2006, British Hit Singles & Albums and NME organised a poll in which 40,000 people worldwide voted for the 100 best albums ever, with Dare placing at number 77.[33] Slant Magazine listed it in 2012 as the 86th best album of the 1980s.[34] In 2013, NME ranked the record 111th on its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[35] Meanwhile, Uncut ranked Dare 132nd on its list of the 200 greatest albums of all time in 2015.[36] Paste placed Dare at number 34 on its 2016 list of the best new wave albums.[2
Skunk Anansie
3/5
Post Orgasmic Chill is the third studio album by British rock band Skunk Anansie, first released in 1999. Two album covers exist: the European version with the band lounging in an oceanside apartment, and the American version with the band standing on the Atlantic City boardwalk. It was a complete departure from their previous two albums,[2] which had elements of punk rock and alternative rock by moving to a new harder sound with elements of hard rock and alternative metal. It took eleven years for the group to release their next album, Wonderlustre.
Dare has appeared on several lists of the greatest albums of all time. Sounds magazine ranked it the 81st best album of all time in 1986, and the 44th best album of the 1980s three years later.[29][30] In 1990, Dare was listed by Rolling Stone as the 78th best album of the previous decade.[31] Q placed the record at number 69 on its 2000 list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever";[16] the same magazine, in 2006, ranked Dare the 19th best album of the 1980s.[32] In 2006, British Hit Singles & Albums and NME organised a poll in which 40,000 people worldwide voted for the 100 best albums ever, with Dare placing at number 77.[33] Slant Magazine listed it in 2012 as the 86th best album of the 1980s.[34] In 2013, NME ranked the record 111th on its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[35] Meanwhile, Uncut ranked Dare 132nd on its list of the 200 greatest albums of all time in 2015.[36] Paste placed Dare at number 34 on its 2016 list of the best new wave albums.[2
Rufus Wainwright
3/5
Want Two is the fourth album by American-Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. The album was released on November 16, 2004. Four of the tracks on this album were released in the summer of 2004 as the EP Waiting for a Want on the iTunes music store.
Want Two is, according to Wainwright, the darker sibling of 2003's Want One – its subject matter concerned with "the world we live in" (RW Geffen Bio) after Want One's focus on the intensely personal. The artist's song selections here show his range to be broad, veering from romantic ballad ("Peach Trees") to tragic ballad ("This Love Affair"), sophisticated pop ("The One You Love") to third person/first person narrative lament ("The Art Teacher"), personal tongue in cheek manifesto ("Gay Messiah"), to a classical pop hybrid written about Jeff Buckley ("Memphis Skyline") and songs beyond category. "Agnus Dei" is used in the trailer for the 2007 film Trade.
Joy Division
3/5
Unknown Pleasures is the debut studio album by English rock band Joy Division, released on 15 June 1979 by Factory Records.[1] The album was recorded and mixed over three successive weekends at Stockport's Strawberry Studios in April 1979, with producer Martin Hannett contributing a number of unconventional recording techniques to the group's sound. The cover artwork was designed by artist Peter Saville, using a data plot of signals from a radio pulsar.[2] It is the only Joy Division album released during lead singer Ian Curtis's lifetime.
Retrospective critical writing on the album has been virtually unanimous in its praise. In 1994, Jon Savage described the music as "a definitive Northern Gothic statement: guilt-ridden, romantic, claustrophobic".[4] Analysing Curtis's work, music journalist Richard Cook remarked in 1983: "sex has disappeared from these unknown pleasures; it is an aftermath of passion where everything's (perhaps) lost".[49] Stuart Maconie of Select deemed Unknown Pleasures "music without a past or a future but with the muscularity of all great rock" and "one of the greatest first albums ever."[46]
Ned Raggett, reviewing the album for AllMusic, described Unknown Pleasures as "All visceral, all emotional, all theatrical, all perfect—one of the best albums ever."[15] Robert Christgau said that it was Curtis's "passionate gravity that makes the clumsy, disquieting music so convincing".[40] Colin Larkin called the music "distinctive and disturbing" in his Encyclopedia of Popular Music (2011), while highlighting "She's Lost Control", where Curtis was "at his most manically arresting".[41] In relation to the remastered re-released album in 2007, the British music magazine NME described the album as "simply one of the best records ever made, and is still powerful enough to floor you 28 years on".[42]
Throwing Muses
3/5
Throwing Muses is the 1986 debut album of the band Throwing Muses, released on British independent label 4AD.[1] This was the first album by an American band to be released on 4AD, which had concentrated primarily on British-based acts up to this point.[2] The release marked a shift in the label's direction; a year later 4AD would sign Pixies based in part on the band's connection to Throwing Muses, and by the mid-1990s much of the label's roster was made up of American bands.[citation needed]
The Village Voice C[8]
AllMusic calls the album a "powerful debut" whose "startling collision of punk energy, folky melodicism, and Kristin Hersh's mercurial voice and lyrics...puts the work of most self-consciously 'tortured' artists to shame." The review praises the record's "fluid, effortless emotional shifts"—also described as "violent, vibrant mood swings".[3] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[9]
Spin called it, "a record of dense textures, guitar splatter and belljar lyrics. The fragmented sound of Throwing Muses, a college girl's dining hall conversation set to antagonistic electric screeching, was painful, self-loathing, man-love-hating, ".[10]
Stan Getz
4/5
Getz/Gilberto is an album by American saxophonist Stan Getz and Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, featuring pianist and composer Antônio Carlos Jobim (Tom Jobim), who also composed many of the tracks. It was released in March 1964 by Verve Records. The album features the vocals of Astrud Gilberto on two tracks, "Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl from Ipanema") and "Corcovado". The artwork was done by artist Olga Albizu. Getz/Gilberto is a jazz and bossa nova album and includes tracks such as "Desafinado", "Corcovado", and "Garota de Ipanema". The last received a Grammy Award for Record of the Year and started Astrud Gilberto's career. "Doralice" and "Para Machucar Meu Coração" strengthened Gilberto's and Jobim's respect for the tradition of pre-bossa nova samba.
Getz/Gilberto is considered the record that popularized bossa nova worldwide and is one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time, selling over one million copies.[1] It was included in Rolling Stone's and Vibe's lists of best albums of all time. Getz/Gilberto was widely acclaimed by music critics, who praised Gilberto's vocals and the album's bossa nova groove and minimalism. Getz/Gilberto received Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group and Best Engineered Recording - Non-Classical; it also became the first non-American album to win Album of the Year, in 1965.
R.E.M.
3/5
Green is the sixth studio album by American rock band R.E.M., released on November 7, 1988, by Warner Bros. Records. The second album to be produced by the band and Scott Litt, it continued to explore political issues both in its lyrics and packaging. The band experimented on the album, writing major-key rock songs and incorporating new instruments into their sound including the mandolin, as well as switching their original instruments on other songs.
Green was released on November 7, 1988, in the United Kingdom, and the following day in the United States. R.E.M. chose the American release date to coincide with the 1988 presidential election, and used its increased profile during the period to criticize Republican candidate George H. W. Bush while praising Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis.[19] With warm critical reaction and the conversion of many new fans, Green ultimately went double-platinum in the US, reaching number 12, and peaked at number 27 in the UK. "Orange Crush" became R.E.M.'s first American number one single on both the Mainstream and Modern Rock Tracks charts. It was the band's first gold album in the UK, making it the quartet's European breakthrough. "What I love about it is the immensely unlikely lyrics," remarked Neil Hannon, frontman of The Divine Comedy, "and, in the mandolin on 'You Are The Everything' and 'The Wrong Child', it's got a bit of what comes later but in a much purer way. It's so small and intense, it's amazing."[20] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau praised the first half of the album, calling it "rousing, funny, serious, elegiac" while panning the second half for "dubious poetry and heavy tempos."[18]
Nirvana singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain listed it in his top 50 albums of all time.[25] In 1989, Sounds ranked the album at number 62 in its list of "The Top 80 Albums from the '80s."[26] In 1993, The Times ranked the album at number 70 in their list of "The 100 Best Albums of All Time."[27] In 2013, NME ranked it at number 274 in its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[26]
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
Siamese Dream is the second studio album by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on July 27, 1993, on Virgin Records. Despite recording sessions fraught with difficulties and tensions, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard charts, and was eventually certified 4× Platinum, with the album selling over six million copies worldwide,[9] cementing the Smashing Pumpkins as an important group in alternative music.
Four singles were released in support of Siamese Dream: "Cherub Rock", "Today", "Disarm", and "Rocket". The album has received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike, with the album's musical influences and lyrical material standing out compared to other releases during the alternative rock and grunge movements of its time. The album has since been considered "one of the finest alternative rock albums",[1] and is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of the 1990s and of all time.[10] Rolling Stone magazine has ranked it between numbers 341 and 362 on various iterations of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.[11][12]
Siamese Dream was released on July 27, 1993, and debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 the following week.[47] The album was almost universally lauded by music critics. Select's Andrew Perry praised it as "the most grand-scale, expansively-passionate blasts of music you'll hear this year" and remarked that it would be "hard for anyone to top this one".[46] John Harris of NME wrote that Siamese Dream, "for all its air of non-committal blankness and exercise-book psychoanalysis, is a startling, deeply satisfying record".[41] Steve Hochman of the Los Angeles Times predicted that "the scale of its success will likely be tied to how many fans are willing to stop moshing and enter into some rather contemplative, even tender territory", and wrote that "the songs tend to drift in places, and some get a bit long-winded, but the overall balance between the harsh and the sweet makes for a strong and distinctive package".[48] Lorraine Ali of Rolling Stone called the album "a strong, multidimensional extension of Gish that confirms that Smashing Pumpkins are neither sellouts nor one-offs."[44]
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Exodus is the ninth studio album by Jamaican reggae band Bob Marley and the Wailers, first released in June 1977 through Island Records, following Rastaman Vibration (1976). The album's production has been characterized as laid-back with pulsating bass beats and an emphasis on piano, trumpet and guitar. Unlike previous albums from the band, Exodus thematically moves away from cryptic story-telling; instead it revolves around themes of change, religious politics, and sexuality. The album is split into two halves: the first half revolves around religious politics, while the second half is focused on themes of making love and keeping faith.
Jamming", "Waiting in Vain", "One Love/People Get Ready", and "Three Little Birds" were all major international hits. Exodus peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200 and at number 15 on the Black Albums chart, as well as remaining in the UK charts for 56 consecutive weeks, where it peaked at number 8.
In 1999, Time magazine named Exodus the best album of the 20th century.[12] In 2001, the TV network VH1 named it the 26th greatest album of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 169 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[13] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list,[14] re-ranking at number 71 in a 2020 revised list.[15]
Brian Eno
3/5
Wild Beasts
3/5
Two Dancers is the second studio album by British indie rock band Wild Beasts. It was released on 3 August 2009 in the UK on Domino Records, with a US release on 8 September. The track "Hooting and Howling" was released as the album's first single on 20 July. Two Dancers was very well received by critics.
Aggregating website Metacritic reports a "universal acclaim" rating of 83% from notable critics. Pitchfork Media said, "Wild Beasts certainly aren't the first rock band to stand up society's dregs and outcasts, but few others immortalize them on such a wondrous, mythic scale." Drowned in Sound stated, "Two Dancers, then, doesn't so much follow up their debut as announce Wild Beasts as one of our genuinely special bands, one that can compete—in terms of both musical and lyrical ingenuity as well as sheer pop nous—with any US act you've seen talked up in the music press this year."
4/5
São Paulo Confessions is an album by the Serbian-born musician Suba—his musical account of life in that humid, foggy, and manic megalopoliis
Core musicians on the album are then 21-year-old vocalist Cibelle, and veteran percussionist João Parahyba; additional musicians include mangue band Mestre Ambrósio, and guitarists Roberto Frejat (then frontman of Barão Vermelho), Edgard Scandurra of Ira!, and André Geraissatti, and vocalists Katia B., Taciana, Joana Jones and Arnaldo Antunes.
The Temptations
3/5
All Directions is a 1972 album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label, produced by Norman Whitfield. It reached number two on the Billboard 200, making it the band's most successful non-collaborative album on the chart, and became their twelfth album to reach number one on the Top R&B Albums chart.
The LP features the #1 hit "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", a twelve-minute cover of a Whitfield-produced Undisputed Truth single. "Papa" won three Grammy Awards in 1973: Best R&B Performance by a Group for the Temptations, Best R&B Instrumental Performance for Whitfield and arranger/conductor Paul Riser's instrumental version of "Papa" on the single's b-side, and Best R&B Song for Whitfield and lyricist Barrett Strong. All Directions was Strong's final LP as the Temptations' lyricist; Strong in fact had no direct involvement in the album as both of his compositions for it – "Papa was a Rollin' Stone" and "Funky Music Sho' 'Nuff Turns Me On", were both covers (originally by The Undisputed Truth and Edwin Starr, respectively). Strong left Motown to
Finley Quaye
3/5
Maverick a Strike is the debut studio album by Scottish musician Finley Quaye. It was released on 6 August 1997 through 550 Music and Epic Records. The album spawned five singles: "Sunday Shining", "Even After All", "It's Great When We're Together", "Your Love Gets Sweeter", and "Ultra Stimulation", all of which charted on the UK Singles Chart.[2] The album peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. The album has been certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.
Underworld
3/5
Second Toughest in the Infants is the fourth studio album by British electronic music group Underworld, and the second in their "MK2" line-up with Darren Emerson. With this album, Underworld expanded on their progressive palette, while developing their signature sound of abrasive beats and anthemic melodies. The name of the album derives from a comment made by member Rick Smith's six-year-old nephew, Simon Prosser, when asked on his progress at infant school (the level of schooling attended by four- to seven-year-old children in the United Kingdom).[1] Second Toughest featured the single "Pearl's Girl". The re-issue featured the band's best known single, "Born Slippy .NUXX".
Like their previous effort Dubnobasswithmyheadman, Second Toughest in the Infants received critical acclaim. Anya Sacharow of Entertainment Weekly described the album as "no dumb-bass dance music", adding that Underworld "know how to expand the frenzy of techno and jungle and then retreat to an ambient cool".[6] Melody Maker called Underworld "modest/cynical/smart enough to borrow jungle's finest trademarks",[14] while NME praised them as "smooth of touch, sleek of footing and downright slippery of rhythm" and concluded that they "breezily persevere in their quest for Western groove domination."[9] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said that Second Toughest in the Infants "carries the same knockout punch of their debut, Dubnobasswithmyheadman, but it's subtler and more varied, offering proof that the outfit is one of the leading dance collectives of the mid-'90s."[15]
Incubus
3/5
Make Yourself is the third studio album by American rock band Incubus, released through Epic Records on October 26, 1999. It is certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and produced three charting singles—"Pardon Me", "Stellar", and "Drive"—all of which reached the top three of the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, with the latter topping the chart and also becoming the band's sole top ten hit to date on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number nine.
Make Yourself has received generally positive reviews from critics. Steve Huey of AllMusic awarded it four out of five stars, writing "Make Yourself makes a bid for broader mainstream success while keeping the group rooted in a hybrid of familiar late '90s alt-metal (i.e., roaring guitars, white-noise sonic textures, and an undercurrent of electronics) and Chili Pepper funk-rock. Where S.C.I.E.N.C.E. sometimes veered abruptly between the two genres without really fusing them, Make Yourself finds the band settling more comfortably into its sound."[6]
Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine also gave it four out of five stars, writing in April 2001, "whether it’s rehashed hard rock or a non-enterprising rap-metal hybrid, there isn’t much to differentiate between most rock bands these days. Incubus, however, sets themselves apart with their second full-length release Make Yourself. A superb blend of metal guitar riffs, classic punk-rock mentality, and subtle hip hop and electronic elements, Incubus doesn’t just imitate these genres, but rather, redefines them in an otherwise non-revolutionary rock landscape."[21] The New Rolling Stone Album Guide states that on Make Yourself, "Incubus had found a beta-male approach to new-metal: roaring, assymetrical riffs and herky-jerky dynamics coexisting with Boyd's yearning tenor and burgeoning melodic gift."[20] In November 1999, Tulane Hullabaloo writer Henry Rienka claimed that it was a rap rock album in the style of bands such as Hed PE, and wrote that, "their union of grinding guitar, vinyl scratching, and urgent rock/rap vocals produces thrashing, grooving, and bouncing boobies."[23] He added, "Make Yourself just doesn't quite match up with their breakthrough release; 1997's S.C.I.E.N.C.E. On this effort, Incubus seems more concerned with playing with sounds and differentiating themselves from Kid Rock than they do with making enjoyable music."[23] Kevin Stewart-Panko of Canadian publication Exclaim! gave Make Yourself a positive review in December 1999, writing "Incubus is simply an awesome band. They have the distorted guitars, but they also have finger wagging melodies, an actual singer and dance floor elements. It’s similar stuff that plagued Faith No More about ten years ago, and Incubus has a noticeable FNM influence, especially Brandon Boyd's voice, which eerily recalls a youthful Mike Patton."[24]
Paul McCartney
4/5
McCartney is the debut solo album by English musician Paul McCartney, released on 17 April 1970 by Apple Records. McCartney recorded it in secrecy, mostly using basic home-recording equipment at his house in St John's Wood. Mixing and some recording took place at professional London studios. In its loosely arranged performances, McCartney eschewed the polish of the Beatles' past records in favour of a lo-fi style. Apart from occasional contributions by his wife, Linda, McCartney performed the entire album alone by overdubbing on four-track tape.
McCartney received mostly negative reviews, while McCartney was vilified for seemingly ending the Beatles. The record was widely criticised for being under-produced and for its unfinished songs, although the ballad "Maybe I'm Amazed" was consistently singled out for praise. Commercially, McCartney benefited from the publicity surrounding the break-up; it held the number 1 position for three weeks on the US Billboard Top LPs before yielding that position to Let It Be. It peaked at number 2 in Britain.
In later years, the album was credited for having had an impact on DIY musicians and lo-fi music styles.[1][2] McCartney also recorded two successor albums: McCartney II (1980) and McCartney III (2020). In 2011, the first McCartney record was reissued with bonus tracks as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection.
Green Day
3/5
Dookie is the third studio album and the major label debut by American punk band Green Day, released on February 1, 1994, by Reprise Records. The band's first collaboration with producer Rob Cavallo, it was recorded in late summer 1993 at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California. Written mostly by frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, the album is heavily based around his personal experiences, with themes such as boredom, anxiety, relationships, and sexuality. The album was promoted with five singles: "Longview", "Basket Case", a re-recorded version of "Welcome to Paradise" (originally on their Kerplunk! album), "When I Come Around", and "She".
After several years of grunge's dominance in popular music, Dookie brought a livelier, more melodic rock sound to the mainstream, with unassuming lyrics that reached a universal audience and propelled Green Day to worldwide popularity. Considered one of the defining albums of the 1990s and punk rock in general, it also revived the general public's interest in the genre. The album influenced a new wave of groups associated with punk rock and pop-punk, such as Blink-182, Sum 41, Rancid, and Fall Out Boy.
Dookie received critical acclaim upon its release and won the band a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album in 1995. It was also a worldwide success, reaching number two in the United States and the top five in several other countries. It was later certified diamond by the RIAA, and has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, making it the band's best-selling album and one of the best-selling albums worldwide. Regarding its legacy, Dookie has been labeled by critics and journalists as one of the greatest punk rock and pop-punk albums of all time. Rolling Stone placed Dookie on three iterations of their "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list,[5] and at number 1 on their "50 Greatest Pop-Punk Albums" list.[6]
The Byrds
3/5
Mr. Tambourine Man is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released on June 21, 1965, by Columbia Records.[1] The album is characterized by the Byrds' signature sound of Jim McGuinn's[nb 2] 12-string Rickenbacker guitar and the band's complex harmony singing.[2] The material on the album mostly consists of cover versions of folk songs, primarily composed by Bob Dylan, and originals written or co-written by singer Gene Clark.[3] Along with the Dylan-penned single of the same name, Mr. Tambourine Man established the band as an internationally successful act[4] and is widely regarded by critics as representing the first effective American challenge to the chart dominance of the Beatles and other British Invasion bands during the mid-1960s.[3][5]
The "Mr. Tambourine Man" single and album instantly established the band on both sides of the Atlantic, challenging the dominance of the Beatles and the rest of the British Invasion.[3][5] The releases also introduced the new genre of folk rock,[5] with the U.S. music press first using the term to describe the Byrds' blend of beat music and folk at roughly the same time as the band's debut single peaked at number 1.[6] Some critics, including Richie Unterberger and Burt Robert, have opined that, although the roots of folk rock were to be found in the American folk music revival of the early 1960s, the Animals' recording of "The House of the Rising Sun", and the twelve-string guitar jangle of the Searchers and the Beatles, it was the Byrds who first melded these elements into a unified whole.[3][27][39]
In the months following the release of the Mr. Tambourine Man album, many acts began to imitate the Byrds' hybrid of a British Invasion beat, jangly guitar playing, and poetic or socially conscious lyrics.[3][7] The band's influence can be heard in many recordings released by American acts in 1965 and 1966, including the Turtles, Simon & Garfunkel, the Lovin' Spoonful, Barry McGuire, the Mamas & the Papas, Jefferson Airplane, We Five, Love, and Sonny & Cher.[27][40][41][42][43] This jangly, folk rock sound that was pioneered by the Byrds on Mr. Tambourine Man has also been influential on successive generations of rock and pop musicians, including such acts as Big Star, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, R.E.M., the Church, Hüsker Dü, the Long Ryders, the Smiths, the Bangles, the Stone Roses, the La's, Teenage Fanclub, the Bluetones, Wilco, and Delays, among others.[44][8]
In 2003, the album was number 232 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; it was 233 in the 2012 revision of the list[45] and 287 in the 2020 revision.[46]
Iron Maiden
3/5
The Number of the Beast is the third studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released on 22 March 1982 in the United Kingdom by EMI Records and in the United States by Harvest and Capitol Records. The album was their first to feature vocalist Bruce Dickinson and their last with drummer Clive Burr.
The Number of the Beast was met with critical and commercial success, and became the band's first album to top the UK Albums Chart and reach the top 40 of the US Billboard 200. The album produced the singles "Run to the Hills" and "The Number of the Beast", the former of which became the band's first top-ten UK single. The album was also controversial, particularly in the United States, due to the religious references in its artwork and the title track's lyrics. Since the release of The Number of the Beast, "The Beast" has become an alternate name for Iron Maiden and was later used in the titles of some of their compilations and live releases, including Best of the Beast and Visions of the Beast.
Shack
3/5
H.M.S. Fable is the third album by Liverpudlian band Shack, released in June 1999 via London Records. It was the band's first album following their reformation after the interest generated by their previous much-delayed album Waterpistol and the album by offshoot band The Strands. H.M.S. Fable was well received by the critics: among the UK music publications, the album was placed at number 2 on both the NME and Uncut critics' poll of the albums of the year for 1999, and number 5 in Select magazine.
Before founding Shack, Michael and John Head were in the cult 1980s band the Pale Fountains, and released two albums, Pacific Street in March 1984 and ...From Across the Kitchen Table in March 1985.[1] However, though critically acclaimed, the albums only reached numbers 85 and 94 on the UK Albums Chart.[2] That band ended around 1986 and returned from London to their home town of Liverpool. Bassist and founding member Chris "Biffa" McCaffrey died of a brain tumour in 1989, a few years after the band broke up.
The Damned
3/5
Machine Gun Etiquette is the third studio album by English punk rock band the Damned, released on 2 November 1979 by Chiswick Records.
AllMusic's retrospective review reported that when it was released, Machine Gun Etiquette was "deservedly hailed as another classic from the band". The website praised the variety of styles explored and the group's typically strong wit.[5] Scott Rowley of Classic Rock magazine, reviewing the 25th Anniversary Edition of the album, defined it as "a riotous, ballsy rush of an album [...] the sound of a band coming into its own", adding that "while the Clash looked to America for inspiration, the Damned remained resolutely British", perhaps ironically given that the front cover depicted the band in a New York street scene[8] at 704 7th Avenue, New York City.[14]
Depeche Mode
3/5
Violator is the seventh studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was first released on 19 March 1990 by Mute Records internationally, and by Sire and Reprise Records in the United States.
Compared to previous efforts, the band decided to try a new approach to recording. Alan Wilder said, "Usually we begin the making of a record by having extensive pre-production meetings where we decide what the record will actually sound like, then go into a programming studio. This time we decided to keep all pre-production work to a minimum. We were beginning to have a problem with boredom in that we felt we'd reached a certain level of achievement in doing things a certain way." Martin Gore elaborated, "Over the last five years I think we'd perfected a formula; my demos, a month in a programming studio, etc. etc. We decided that our first record of the '90s ought to be different."[2]
With co-producer Flood, Wilder began a complementary working relationship, with Flood able to provide the technical know-how and Wilder working on the arrangements and song textures. "That's how we made the group work at that time", clarified Wilder, "by accepting that we all had different roles and not actually all trying to do the same thing. So we ended up with this unwritten agreement in the band, where we'd all throw together a few ideas at the beginning of a track. Then Fletch and Mart would go away, and they'd come back after we'd worked on it for a while to give an opinion."[3]
In a contemporary review for Melody Maker, music critic Paul Lester called Violator "Depeche Mode's most arresting work to date."[21] Tim Nicholson of Record Mirror was enthused by the stripped-down quality of the songs and called the album a "compromise between pop music and something a little more sinister", adding: "There are no noises out of place in this perfectly formed void."[22] Ian Cranna of Q magazine found the music subtly clever and deemed Violator "a fine record which may not set the world on fire but deserves to singe it a bit."[23] NME writer Helen Mead felt that the album "seems almost a step back, in that it's cleaner, sparser, more clinical" than Music for the Masses, but concluded that "there is security in the knowledge that everything is very clear cut in Depeche Mode's blue and white world."[24] In a less enthusiastic review, Robert Christgau said that Depeche Mode conceded to fickle teenage demographics on Violator.[13] Rolling Stone magazine's Chuck Eddy said that, despite the album's "ambient charm", Gahan sounds "slimy and self-involved", and in their attempt to make listeners dance, Depeche Mode "revert to morose pop psychology and then never tell you how come they're so sad."[25] Entertainment Weekly's Greg Sandow found that the music is over-reliant on "distinctive and curious", but ultimately trivial, sound effects.[26]
Violator was ranked number 342 on Rolling Stone's 2003 and 2012 lists of the 500 greatest albums of all time and number 57 on the magazine's 2010 list of the 100 best albums of the 1990s.[27][28][29] It was ranked number 167 on Rolling Stone's 2020 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[30
Black Sabbath
3/5
Vol. 4 is the fourth studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released on 25 September 1972. It was the first album by Black Sabbath not produced by Rodger Bain; guitarist Tony Iommi assumed production duties. Patrick Meehan, the band's then-manager, was listed as co-producer, though his actual involvement in the album's production was minimal.
Vol. 4 was released in September 1972, and while most critics of the era were dismissive of the album, it achieved gold status in less than a month, and was the band's fourth consecutive release to sell one million copies in the United States.[21] It reached number 13 on Billboard's pop album chart[22] and number 8 on the UK Albums Chart.[23] The song "Tomorrow's Dream" was released as a single but failed to chart.[24] Following an extensive tour of the United States, the band toured Australia for the first time in 1973, and later Europe.
Rock critic Lester Bangs, who had derided the band's earlier albums, applauded Vol. 4, writing in Creem, "We have seen the Stooges take on the night ferociously and go tumbling into the maw, and Alice Cooper is currently exploiting it for all it's worth, turning it into a circus. But there's only one band that's dealt with it honestly on terms meaningful to vast portions of the audience, not only grappling with it in a mythic structure that's both personal and powerful but actually managing to prosper as well. And that band is Black Sabbath." Bangs also compared the band's lyrics to those of Bob Dylan and William S. Burroughs. In June 2000, Q[25] placed Vol. 4 at number 60 in its list of The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever[26] and described the album as "the sound of drug-taking, beer-guzzling hooligans from Britain's oft-pilloried cultural armpit let loose in LA." In his 2013 biography on the band Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe, Mick Wall insists "Under the Sun" would become the "sonic signpost" for bands that would follow Sabbath in years to come, such as Iron Maiden and Metallica. Frank Zappa has identified "Supernaut" as one of his all-time favorites.[27] (In a 1994 interview with Guitar for the Practicing Musician, Butler revealed, "I loved Zappa's lyric approach. That influenced me lyrically, definitely.") "Supernaut" was also one of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham's favourite songs.[28]
The Black Crowes
3/5
Shake Your Money Maker (also stylized as The Black Crowes Present: $hake Your Money Maker[2]) is the debut studio album by American rock band the Black Crowes, released on February 13, 1990, on Def American Recordings. It is the only album by the band to feature guitarist Jeff Cease. The album is named after a classic blues song written by Elmore James. The Black Crowes have played the song live many times over the years, but it is not included on this album.
When the album came out in February 1990, critical reception was mostly favorable. Rolling Stone gave the album three out of five stars, and its readers and critics voted the Black Crowes "Best New American Band" in 1990;[16] the band appeared on the cover of the magazine's 605th issue (May 1991) following their firing from the ZZ Top tour in March that year. The issue's interview of Chris and Rich Robinson compared the band to 1970s acts, with journalist David Fricke explicitly citing Faces and The Rolling Stones and Rich Robinson mentioning Aerosmith.[17] AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars, praising Rich Robinson's guitar playing and Chris Robinson's "appropriate vocal swagger".[1] Entertainment Weekly gave it a B+ and stated, "The Black Crowes are to the early Rolling Stones what Christian Slater is to the young Jack Nicholson: a self-conscious imitation, but fine enough in its own right. Authentic bluesmen these Crowes will never be, but their sheer energy earns 'em the right to trash it up."[13]
"Hard to Handle", "Jealous Again" and "Twice As Hard" broke into the Mainstream Rock Tracks charts, respectively reaching the first, fifth and eleventh position. By the end of the year, Shake Your Money Maker had sold one million copies[citation needed] and eventually sold two million more,[5] thus receiving triple platinum certification. In 1991, "She Talks to Angels" and "Seeing Things" respectively reached the first and second position of the Mainstream Rock Tracks charts.
Alanis Morissette
3/5
Jagged Little Pill is the third studio album by Canadian singer Alanis Morissette, released on June 13, 1995, through Maverick. It was her first album to be released worldwide. It marked a stylistic departure from the dance-pop sound of her first two albums, Alanis (1991) and Now Is the Time (1992). Morissette began work on the album after moving from her hometown Ottawa to Los Angeles, where she met producer Glen Ballard. Morissette and Ballard had an instant connection and began co-writing and experimenting with sounds. The experimentation resulted in an alternative rock album that takes influence from post-grunge and pop rock, and features guitars, keyboards, drum machines, and harmonica. The lyrics touch upon themes of aggression and unsuccessful relationships, while Ballard introduced a pop sensibility to Morissette's angst.[7] The title of the album is taken from a line in the first verse of the song "You Learn".
Jagged Little Pill was a worldwide commercial success, topping the charts in thirteen countries. With sales of over 33 million copies worldwide, it is one of the best-selling albums of all time and made Morissette the first Canadian to achieve double diamond sales.[8] Jagged Little Pill was nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning five, including Album of the Year, making the then 21-year-old Morissette the youngest artist to win the top honor up to that point. Rolling Stone ranked Jagged Little Pill at number 69 on its 2020 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[9][10]
Jagged Little Pill departed from Morissette's previous releases – Alanis and Now Is the Time – that predominantly featured dance-pop. Most of the lyrics were written by Morissette and Glen Ballard. The album opens with "All I Really Want". It features harmonica, swirly guitars and canned drums, and is in a grunge-pop vein. The lyrics talk about "intellectual intercourse" and a mental connection with another angry, frustrated, frightened, uncomfortable soul. The lyrics of "You Oughta Know" have been described as exploring themes of "raw anger and frank portrayal of female sexuality".
UB40
3/5
Signing Off is the debut album by British reggae band UB40, released in the UK on 29 August 1980 by Dudley-based independent label Graduate Records. It was an immediate success in their home country, reaching number 2 on the UK albums chart, and made UB40 one of the many popular reggae bands in Britain, several years before the band found international fame. The politically-concerned lyrics struck a chord in a country with widespread public divisions over high unemployment, the policies of the recently elected Conservative party under Margaret Thatcher, and the rise of the racist National Front party, while the record's dub-influenced rhythms reflected the late 1970s influence in British pop music of West Indian music introduced by immigrants from the Caribbean after the Second World War, particularly reggae and ska – this was typified by the 2 Tone movement, at that point at the height of its success and led by fellow West Midlands act The Specials, with whom UB40 drew comparisons due to their multiracial band line-up and socialist views.
The album was extremely well received and lauded by the UK music magazines at the time of its original release. Sounds awarded Signing Off five stars out of five, claiming that "it is an (almost) perfect album... It's rare to find a debut album so detailed, so excellently played and so packed with bite – I sometimes think it hasn't really happened since The Clash."[23] NME described the album as "a courageous debut... Their radical sentiments and trenchant lyrics are given all the more force by the soft-fist of UB40's measured musical delivery... The music might be mellow, but the hard-backed sentiments are hardly those of the nice reggae band you may have pigeonholed the UBs as."[24] Melody Maker said "The UBs, chirpy and still fully independent, have wrapped up their initial promise and persuasion and delivered a well-girthed winner of a debut album... Certainly the music of UB40 benefits far more in both quality and quantity from the exacting freedom of an LP than any of their close contemporaries... the band have broadened out the unique, shy commerciality of the two singles, "King" and "Food for Thought"... to an approach that sharpens the shape of their music and magnifies the message."[25] Record Mirror called the band "important" and observed that "their subtle dance music is opening up a lot of ears to the pleasures of British reggae".[22]
CHIC
3/5
C'est Chic is the second studio album by American R&B band Chic, released on Atlantic Records in 1978.
C'est Chic includes the band's signature hit "Le Freak", which topped the US Hot 100 chart, US R&B, and US Club Play in October 1978,[8] selling six million copies in the US. The album also contains the hit single "I Want Your Love" (number 5 R&B,[8] number 7 Pop,[8] number 4 UK[9]).
Kings of Leon
3/5
Aha Shake Heartbreak is the second studio album by American rock band Kings of Leon. It was first released in Europe on November 1, 2004, then in the United States on February 22, 2005, with alternate cover artwork. It is the only album by Kings of Leon to have a Parental Advisory label, because of profanity in "Taper Jean Girl", "Rememo", "Soft", and "Four Kicks". The U.S. album cover is reminiscent of Queen's A Night at the Opera.
At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 74, based on 31 reviews, which indicates it received "generally favorable reviews".[15] Rolling Stone listed it as the 39th best album of its decade,[16] and it was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[17]
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
3/5
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is the debut album by the band of the same name, released on November 9, 1976, by Shelter Records. The album was recorded and mixed at the Shelter Studio in Hollywood, California
The B-side "Fooled Again (I Don't Like It)" is a live version taken from The Official Live Bootleg.
A live version of the song, recorded on November 11, 1977 at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, was included on the 2018 box set An American Treasure.[2]
The Dictators
3/5
The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! is the debut album by American punk rock band The Dictators. It was released in March 1975 and is considered one of the first examples of punk rock.[1][2][3]
The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! has been well-received critically and is considered a precursor to punk rock. In its retrospective review, AllMusic notes that while the album was confusing to audiences at the time of its release, it became inspirational for dozens of groups to follow.[4] Trouser Press enthused that the band deserves \"scads of credit\" for \"blazing a long trail, melding the essentials of junk culture... with loud/hard/fast rock'n'roll and thus creating an archetype\".[10] According to a 2001 article in The Village Voice, the album's \"blueprint for bad taste, humor, and defiance\" has been replicated in the work of such bands as the Ramones and Beastie Boys.[11]
Trouser Press lauded the album as a \"wickedly funny, brilliantly played and hopelessly naïve masterpiece of self-indulgent smartass rock'n'roll\".[10] Entertainment Weekly wrote: \"Go Girl Crazy's junk-generation culture and smart-aleck sensibility did provide an essential blueprint for '70s punk. With its TV references and homely vocals, this ground-breaking and long-unavailable album continues to inspire underground groups everywhere.\"[7] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff enjoyed the album and considered the Dictators \"more obviously comedians than musicians\", \"with a sense of self-deprecating humor poking sticks at the seriousness of heavy metal\".[6]
The Vines
3/5
Highly Evolved is the debut studio album by Australian alternative rock band The Vines. It was released on 14 July 2002 on Capitol Records. Produced by Rob Schnapf, known for his collaboration with Tom Rothrock on Elliott Smith's albums Either/Or, XO, and Figure 8, Highly Evolved was an immensely popular debut, part of a trend towards garage rock revival bands known as much for the relentless hype from the UK music press as for their music; The Vines were frequently compared to Nirvana. The debut single, "Highly Evolved", was chosen as Single of the Week by influential British music magazine NME. The magazine also voted it the 2nd best album of the year in 2002. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[12] In October 2010, it was listed in the book 100 Best Australian Albums.
3/5
The World Is a Ghetto is the fifth album by American band War, released in late 1972 on United Artists Records. The album attained the number one spot on Billboard, and was Billboard magazine's Album of the Year as the best-selling album of 1973.[2] In addition to being Billboard's #1 album of 1973, the album was ranked number 444 on Rolling Stone magazine's original list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[3] The title track became a gold record.[citation needed]
In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, Gordon Fletcher said The World Is a Ghetto found War progressing further in the arena of soul and jazz music, and "closer to total mastery of their music as they attempt to use it to communicate the essence of ghetto life".[10] Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic in Creem, believing he "should love this big Afro-roots band" in theory, but was critical of the fairly slow quality of the music and the lyrics, calling it "blackstrap-rock".[8] He singled out the "jazz pretensions" of "Four Cornered Room" and "City, Country, City", finding the latter's rhythmic foundation solid but the song too long and mawkish.[7]
In a retrospective review, Bruce Eder from AllMusic said the album's music encompassed "not only soul and funk but elements of blues and psychedelia" and a "classy, forward-looking production" comparable to Curtis Mayfield's 1970 album Curtis and Marvin Gaye's What's Going On (1971).[6] The Crisis journalist Bruce Britt identified The World Is a Ghetto as one of the few Black rock recordings that became a classic within the pan-African community during FM rock radio's segregation of African-American rock acts in the 1970s,[11] a viewpoint echoed by music historian Jefferson Morley.[12] The Washington Post critic Geoffrey Himes names it an exemplary release of the progressive soul development from 1968 to 1973.[13]
Tim Buckley
3/5
Happy Sad is the third album by American singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, released in April 1969. It was recorded at Elektra Sound Recorders in Los Angeles, California and was produced by former Lovin' Spoonful members Zal Yanovsky and, coincidentally, his subsequent replacement Jerry Yester. It marked the beginning of Buckley's experimental period, as it incorporated elements of jazz that he had never used before. Many of the songs here represent a departure from the binary form that dominated much of his previous work.
Released at the height of his popularity, Happy Sad was his highest charting album, reaching No. 81 in the US Pop albums chart, but Buckley's experimentation on this album would alienate some of the fanbase and his mainstream appeal he gained with Goodbye and Hello. However, this was only the beginning of Buckley's experimentation with sound and genre, and subsequent releases would further reduce his mainstream popularity and see his sales take a downturn
GZA
4/5
Liquid Swords is the second solo studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member GZA, released on November 7, 1995, by Geffen Records.[1] Recording sessions for the album began midway through 1995 at producer RZA's basement studio in the New York City borough of Staten Island. The album heavily samples dialogue from the martial arts film Shogun Assassin and maintains a dark atmosphere throughout, incorporating lyrical references to chess, crime and philosophy. Liquid Swords features numerous guest appearances from the other eight members of Wu-Tang Clan along with Wu-Tang affiliate Killah Priest.
as \"one of the group's undisputed classics\", along with Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993) and Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (1995).[15] Reviewing Liquid Swords for RapReviews' \"Back to the Lab\" series, writer Steve Juon called it \"an album of 100% Wu-Tang sonic mastery\", adding that among Wu-Tang Clan solo albums, \"it may the best—if not one of the top two or three.\"[7] Nick Catucci, writing in The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), said that, on the album, GZA \"went goth, painting the Wu's street grime black.\"[29] Record Collector's Paul Bowler stated that Liquid Swords represented an artistic peak for the Wu-Tang Clan as a whole, noting what he found to be their subsequent creative decline from Wu-Tang Forever (1997) onward.[22] Chris Smith from Stylus Magazine wrote that the group \"never yet managed to make anything this memorable, otherworldly, and strangely beautiful again.\"[8]
Kelela
3/5
Take Me Apart is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Kelela. It was released on October 6, 2017, through Warp.[1] Combining electronic music and R&B, the album was noted for its futuristic sound and its incorporation of various musical styles. Kelela worked on the album for four years with producers she had previously collaborated with on her previous releases, Cut 4 Me (2013) and Hallucinogen (2015).
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 84, based on 23 reviews, indicating "widespread critical acclaim".[32] Stereogum awarded it as their album of the week, with Tom Breihan deeming it as "a towering achievement of an album."[14] Treble Zine also labeled it as the album of the week, with Jackie Im stating: "Underlying is a desire to privilege her own voice, which is a lot of what makes Kelela's music so urgent."[15] The New York Times critic Jon Pareles wrote, "The songs are intricately plotted to give the illusion of being impulsive and obsessive, buffeted by shifting emotions: by turns sensual and wary, vulnerable and guarded, leisurely and urgent."[41] Kyle Mullin of Exclaim! praised the album, stating that "Take Me Apart is a subtle, sexy LP from a woman who knows what she wants, and clearly aims to write anthems for fans feeling the same way."[6] Maura Johnston of Rolling Stone described the album as "forward-thinking R&B," and called it "restlessly innovative."[40]
NME's Nick Levine said "nothing about this lush and accomplished album suggests Kelela is an artist who wants to repeat herself."[5] Julianne Escobedo Shepherd of Pitchfork said that Kelela "might be singing about different partners, but it's the value and dignity she gives to her feelings that provides the true backdrop on Take Me Apart. In the process of setting out to solidify her own sound, Kelela has finally fallen for herself."[38] The Skinny's Nadia Younes wrote, "Take Me Apart may not appear as immediately interesting and unique as her previous work but there are layers upon layers of elements to be explored, digested and, ironically enough, taken apart."[13] Rachel Aroesti from The Guardian said "Kelela's vocal stops Take Me Apart ending up as a fragmented series of sounds: consistently exquisite as it dances between lovesick confusion and shrewd sensuality."[9] Spin's Brian Josephs wrote, "Kelela proudly stands within the genre's tradition. For the most part, she avoids making any grandstanding romantic or political statements, but Take Me Apart finds its purpose within the subdued complexities."[42]
The Associates
3/5
Sulk is the second studio album by Scottish post-punk and pop band the Associates. It was released on 14 May 1982 on their own Associates imprint of Beggars Banquet Records for the UK and throughout the rest of Europe on WEA Records[2][3] and in the US on 4 October by Sire Records.
The bulk of Sulk was written and recorded in the same sessions for compilation album Fourth Drawer Down (1981), and the bizarre antics in the studio were a result of the band experimenting with ways of creating new sounds. Rankine said, "We were constantly thinking of what we could do to make this sound different, what can we do with the tools that we've got—which was the musicians. We were the tools. It wasn't just for the sake of being different. But we'd look up lists of instruments and go, 'What the hell is a jangle piano?' The next day this piano would suddenly arrive with all these little metal bits. And that's what we used on 'Party Fears Two', for the intro." He also described their restructuring of the traditional drum kit to create an attention-grabbing sound: "What we did on ["Bap de la Bap"] and quite a lot of the songs on Sulk was take away all the tom-toms and make the whole drum kit out of snare drums. So there'd be a seven-inch metal snare drum as the snare and a five-inch copper snare as one of the toms, and then maybe a real deep nine-inch black beauty made out of ebony as another tom-tom. So it made the whole thing really explosive."[10]
Mackenzie's lyrics on Sulk are often cryptic and ambiguous. Speaking to NME at the time of the album's release about the band's biggest hit single, Mackenzie said, "'Party Fears' could be about a whole lot of things. It could be about a husband and wife arguing with each other. It could be about communism and conservatism, political party extremes. It could be about schizophrenics. The lyrics of a song like that go deliberately to the extremes to get something across, like an actor using a heavy hand gesture when he speaks a line."[2]
an Pye of Melody Maker stated that the group's "melodramatic aspirations" needed a voice like MacKenzie's to be able to carry them out successfully, and said, "In parts, Sulk is really over-produced, the stamp of perfectionists, and while there's nothing to match the commercial appeal of their two [singles], this record has an almost timeless majesty that can only make Billy Mackenzie's rapturous grin grow wider still".[19] Paul Morley of NME wrote "Sulk deals with everything, in its hectic, drifting way ... There is an uninterruptible mix-up of cheap mystery, vague menace, solemn farce, serious struggle, arrogant ingenuity, deep anxiety, brash irregularity, smooth endeavour ... Sometimes Sulk is simply enormous: and then again it is fantastically unlikely."[20]
Ministry
3/5
ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ (commonly known as Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs or simply Psalm 69) is the fifth studio album by American industrial metal band Ministry, released on July 14, 1992, by Sire Records. It was produced by frontman Al Jourgensen and bassist Paul Barker, and was recorded from March 1991 to May 1992 in Chicago, Illinois and Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The album's title, initially intended to be The Tapes of Wrath, ended up being derived from Aleister Crowley's The Book of Lies.
Video game composer Frank Klepacki cited Psalm 69 album as a primary influence in creating the soundtrack for the 1995 video game Command & Conquer.[30]
Psalm 69 was ranked No. 80 on the Rolling Stone's "Top 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time" list, with author Suzy Exposito concluding that "the result of the album was a manic drag race into a swampy hellmouth of thrash Americana – and it worked".[27] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[28
3/5
They Were Wrong, So We Drowned is the second album by noise rock band Liars, released in 2004.
The album is considered a massive departure from the post-punk-inspired style of their debut They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top, exploring a more freeform, tribal sound. The album takes the form of a very loose concept album concerning witchcraft upon The Brocken (a mountain) during Walpurgis Night, and tales of witch trials in the area around the Harz Mountains in Germany. The recording coincided with the band's relocation from Williamsburg, Brooklyn to the woods of rural New Jersey, which also inspired the initial direction of the album.
Liars is an Australian-American experimental rock band formed in Brooklyn, New York, in 2000. Angus Andrew is the founding and only constant member of Liars, currently joined by multi-instrumentalist Cameron Deyell and drummer Laurence Pike.[1] Aaron Hemphill played with the band from its inception until his amicable departure from the project in 2017. Julian Gross joined the band for their second album They Were Wrong, So We Drowned in 2004, and played with the band until his departure in 2014. Liars have released ten studio albums and are signed to Mute Records. They combine elements of punk-rock with electronica,[2] with Andrew inspired by artists such as Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), The Cure, PJ Harvey, Underworld, The Doors and Michael Franks.[3]
The Monkees
3/5
Headquarters is the third album by the Monkees, released in May 1967 after the first season of their television series had concluded. It was the first album on which the group members made substantial songwriting and instrumental contributions, rather than relying on session musicians and professional songwriters. After a struggle for creative autonomy with their record label, the group had been allowed, to a degree, to record by themselves. Headquarters became the group's third consecutive No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified double platinum in the United States with sales of more than two million copies within the first two months of release. It also peaked at No. 2 on the UK charts. It is included in the 2006 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
The album was released on May 22, 1967, and charted at No. 1 in the U.S., only to be replaced the following week by the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band; it then began a run of 11 consecutive weeks at the No. 2 position as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Headquarters became the two top-selling records during the legendary "Summer of Love" period.
The album was issued on the compact disc format for the first time by Arista Records in 1989, remixed from the multi-tracks, then later from the original stereo master tape in 1995, with several bonus tracks on Rhino Entertainment. In 2000, Rhino, through its Rhino Handmade division, issued The Headquarters Sessions, a three-disc box set of outtakes from the session as well as the album's original monophonic mix presented in an alternate running order that had been rejected before the album's official release.
David Ackles
3/5
American Gothic is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter David Ackles. It was released on July 4, 1972, by record label Elektra.
"Vivid, lyrical – but at times maudlin and self-indulgent, American Gothic is [Ackles'] best to date".[6] Robert Christgau's review was critical, writing "'I won't get maudlin,' Ackles promises midway into the second side, locking himself in the barn as the dappled stallion gallops to join his brothers and sisters on the open range with his mane flying free in the breeze."[3]
In its retrospective review, AllMusic wrote "American Gothic remains one of those great albums that never found its audience. It waits to be rediscovered."[1]
American Gothic was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[7] Mojo called it "one of the most beautiful but rarely heard albums of his era".[8]
Snoop Dogg
4/5
Doggystyle is the debut studio album by American rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg. It was released on November 23, 1993, by Death Row Records and Interscope Records. The album was recorded and produced following Snoop's appearances on Dr. Dre's debut solo album The Chronic (1992), to which Snoop contributed significantly. The West Coast style in hip-hop that he developed from Dre's first album continued on Doggystyle.[1] Critics have praised Snoop Dogg for the lyrical "realism" that he delivers on the album and for his distinctive vocal flow.[1][2]
Despite some mixed criticism of the album initially upon its release, Doggystyle earned recognition from many music critics as one of the most significant albums of the 1990s, as well as one of the most important hip-hop albums ever released.[3] Much like The Chronic, the distinctive sounds of Doggystyle helped introduce the hip-hop subgenre of G-funk to a mainstream audience, bringing forward West Coast hip hop as a dominant force in the early-mid 1990s.[1][4]
Doggystyle is seen by many hip hop pundits as a "classic".[35] It is credited with defining West Coast hip hop; shifting the emphasis to more melodious, synth-driven, and funk-induced beats. About.com stated during the period the album was released, "Gangsta rap never sounded so sweet." The album is credited for further establishment of the slurred "lazy drawl" that sacrificed lyrical complexity for clarity and rhythmic cadence on Doggystyle and The Chronic.[1][2] The album is considered one of the first G-funk albums, the style of which many rappers duplicated in later years.[1]
Anita Baker
3/5
Rapture is the second album by American vocalist Anita Baker, released in 1986. This became Baker's breakout album and earning her two Grammy Awards. The album's first track, "Sweet Love", was a top 10 Billboard hit in addition to winning a Grammy Award. The music video for the track "Same Ole Love" was filmed at Baker's Keyboard Lounge.[1]
In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, Rob Hoerburger regarded Rapture as a relatively "modest" album compared to more histrionic female singers, while praising the symbiotic relationship Baker shared with her band. Occasionally, he believed, the groove-based music lacked variety, and the singer drifted into "some superfluous scatting and pseudo-jazz harmony", but Hoerburger ultimately deemed her "an acquired but enduring taste".[7] At the end of 1986, Rapture was ranked number 2 among the "Albums of the Year" by NME.[8] It was voted the 23rd best album of the year in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics, published by The Village Voice.[9] Robert Christgau, the newspaper's lead music critic, was less impressed and viewed the record as merely a soulful, sexier version of soft rock and easy listening: "it's all husky, burnished mood, the fulfillment of the quiet-storm format black radio ... a reification of the human voice as vehicle of an expression purer than expression ever ought to be".[10]
In 1989, Rapture was ranked number 36 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest albums from the 1980s.[11] The same publication would later include the album as number 404 on their 2020 list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[12] In retrospect, AllMusic's Alex Henderson said, "Rapture's tremendous success made it clear that there was still a sizeable market for adult-oriented, more traditional R&B singing."[3] According to The Mojo Collection (2007), "when provocative new trends in black music were exploding from the street by the month, Baker kept her head and made a traditional (i.e., with its roots in the '70s) soul record with brooding, slow-burn minor tunes of romantic celebration and earthy longing."[13] According to CBC Music journalist Amanda Parris, "Baker defined quiet storm in the '80's and her album Rapture is one of the subgenre's milestones."[14] Pitchfork placed the album at number 149 on its list of The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s.[15]
TLC
3/5
CrazySexyCool is the second studio album by American girl group TLC, released on November 15, 1994, by LaFace and Arista Records. Following the group's record deal, they released their debut album Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip in 1992 to positive reviews and commercial success. The following year the group began working on a follow-up with an unproductive recording process due to personal struggles, notably those of member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes who was involved in a volatile romantic relationship and struggling with alcoholism. The album's recording lasted until September 1994, with Lopes' role diminished because she was in rehab.
The album saw the group reunite with producers Dallas Austin, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Jermaine Dupri as well as new collaborators Organized Noize and Chucky Thompson, and also featured contributions from Sean "Puffy" Combs who helped with the notable hip hop soul sound. CrazySexyCool featured hip hop beats, funk, deep grooves, propulsive rhythms and smooth production. The album's lyrical content was seen as a departure from the group's debut and was seen as a coming-of-age project which explored themes such as sexuality, romanticism, inexperience, and youthful optimism.
CrazySexyCool was noted as a departure from the group's debut, and was seen as move away from the group's predominantly rap connections. The songs on the album contained sensual R&B sounds built over edgy hip-hop beats; containing propulsive rhythms along with clap-commanding high production, bouncy funk elements and smooth rhythms.[21]
CrazySexyCool was met with critical acclaim. In his review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the album as a "smooth, seductive collection of contemporary soul reminiscent of both Philly soul and Prince", adding that the material was "consistently strong".[24] Erlewine continued to write that the album is "powered" by new jack swing and hip-hop beats with influences of mid-tempo funk, deep grooves, horns and guitar lines.[24] He also referred to "Waterfalls" as "one of the classic R&B songs of the '90s".[24]
Gram Parsons
3/5
Grievous Angel is the second and final solo studio album by Gram Parsons, compiled from summer 1973 sessions and released four months after his death from a morphine and alcohol overdose in September 1973. Prominently featuring a young Emmylou Harris, Grievous Angel received great critical acclaim upon release but failed to find commercial success, a fate shared with Parsons’ previous efforts solo and with The Flying Burrito Brothers. Grievous Angel peaked at number 195 on the Billboard charts.[6] Despite its modest sales, it is viewed as a successful example of the hybrid between country and rock and roll Parsons called "Cosmic American Music".
The sessions for Grievous Angel took place at Wally Heider Studio 4 in Hollywood with Parsons producing. In a 2013 Uncut cover story about Parsons's solo work, acoustic guitarist Herb Pedersen recalls to David Cavanagh that when the singer showed up he was a mess: "He came in late. Emmy brought him to the studio. She was kind of minding him. We'd already tracked four or five tunes, and he was not in any kind of shape to record with us. He was generally out of it for the most part." Parsons, who was battling heroin and alcohol addiction, would rally, however, with bassist Emory Gordy recalling in David N. Meyers 2007 Parsons biography Twenty Thousand Roads, "Gram played us each of the songs that he had ready...We took it from there. It was loose as far as formal arranging was concerned – we played what we thought was right for the song, and it all seemed to fall together...He was in good shape, Gram. There was a lot of energy going on in the studio for the whole of that album. Gram was bouncing all over the place and Emmy was bouncing around him. They were great, happy sessions." In the 2004 documentary Fallen Angel, however, manager Phil Kaufman claims Parsons was still drinking like he had been during the recording of GP, "but not as bad. He was hiding what he was doing. In other words, before he was more blatant in his drinking and his drugs."
rievous Angel was released in January 1974 and peaked at a disappointing 195 on the Billboard 200. Critically however, the album received much interest and was deemed an artistic triumph. Allan Jones of Melody Maker wrote, "Both GP and Grievous Angel need no analysis. There are no words to describe the sense of desperation and the haunting quality of these last works. They just need to be listened to." Tom Russell of Helix concurred, writing, "His influence on bringing country music to rock and roll is as important as Bob Dylan's combining folk lyrics with rock." Mark Deming of AllMusic writes that the LP "may not have been the finest work of his career, but one would be hard pressed to name an artist who made an album this strong only a few weeks before their death – or at any time of their life, for that matter." When Uncut compiled Parsons' "20 Greatest Tracks" in their February 2013 issue, the top three – "Hickory Wind," "Brass Buttons," and "$1000 Wedding," all appear on Grievous Angel.
The Only Ones
3/5
The Only Ones is the debut studio album by English power pop band The Only Ones, released in 1978 by Columbia Records. It was produced by the Only Ones themselves, with the assistance of Robert Ash and was mixed at Basing St., Escape and CBS.
The Only Ones
Trouser Press called it "the best of the three original albums" in which "Perrett's languid vocals and songs provide the character and focus, while the band's skills carry it off handsomely".[8] The album is still widely admired by British critics. In 1994, The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music named The Only Ones one of the 50 best punk albums of all-time. The compilers claimed that the Only Ones were "the closest thing the UK had to Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers, a laconic, shamble of a band who were, at moments, touched by a creative greatness that made you get out of the glare".[9]
Since the end of the 1990s, the album has also appeared on several all-time greatest albums lists.[10][11][12] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[13]
Supergrass
3/5
I Should Coco is the debut studio album by English alternative rock band Supergrass, released on 15 May 1995 by Parlophone. The title of the album is cockney rhyming slang for "I should think so".[1]
Supergrass were formed in 1993 by Gaz Coombes, Mick Quinn and Danny Goffey, and they released their debut single, "Caught by the Fuzz", in October 1994 on the small independent local label Backbeat Records. Success of the single brought a major label record deal. I Should Coco was recorded in Cornwall and produced by Sam Williams, who had been impressed by the band while scouting in Oxford. At the height of the Britpop era, the album became the band's most successful release when it reached number one on the UK Albums Chart,[2] and subsequently gained platinum status, selling over a million copies worldwide and 500,000 in the UK.[3] The most successful single released from I Should Coco is "Alright", which peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart,[2] and gained platinum status.[4]
Culturally, the album's glorification of teenage freedom made a very big impact on the overall Britpop music scene. The whole genre was seen as the voice of youth, but Supergrass, still teens themselves when the album was made, addressed the subject with more insight than most. The most well-known song from the album, "Alright", is still played regularly in Britain and Ireland, and held up as a musical example of teenage rebellion. Though it is one of their most popular songs, the band rarely play "Alright" in their live sets any more. In a 1999 interview, Gaz Coombes joked, "We don't play 'Alright' anymore. We should play it in a minor key, and in the past tense."[35] Around the time of its release Coombes said that "it wasn't written as an anthem. It isn't supposed to be a rally cry for our generation. The stuff about 'We are young/We run green ...' isn't about being 19 but really 13 or 14 and just discovering girls and drinking. It's meant to be light-hearted and a bit of a laugh, not at all a rebellious call to arms." Danny Goffey noted, "It certainly wasn't written in a very summery vibe. It was written in a cottage where the heating had packed up and we were trying to build fires to keep warm."[21]
The Divine Comedy
3/5
A Short Album About Love is the fifth studio album by Northern Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy, released in 1997 by Setanta Records. It was recorded on 20 October 1996 at Shepherd's Bush Empire, London.
Everybody Knows (Except You)" was released as a single on three separate CDs, each one featuring an extra three live tracks. It became one of the band's biggest hits, reaching No. 14 in the UK charts.[7] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[8]
Shivkumar Sharma
4/5
Call of the Valley is a Hindustani classical album, recorded and released in 1968 on the label His Master's Voice. Conceived as a suite, the instrumental album follows a day in the life of an Indian shepherd from Kashmir, using ragas associated with various times of the day to advance the dramatic narrative. Brij Bhushan Kabra plays slide guitar, Shivkumar Sharma plays the santoor, and Hariprasad Chaurasia plays the flute and bansuri, with tabla played by Manikrao Popatkar. The atmospheric music is traditional, but the innovative use of guitar and flute make the sound more acceptable for Western audiences. Most of the artists were about 30 at the time of recording.
Call of the Valley helped to introduce Indian music to Western ears and became the best selling Indian music album worldwide, becoming a milestone in world music. The artists became well known after the album's release. Beatles Paul McCartney and George Harrison, Byrds members David Crosby and Roger McGuinn, and Bob Dylan are fans of the album.[2] AllMusic reviewer Ken Hunt advises that "If the newcomer buys only one Indian classical recording, it should be "Call of the Valley"."[1] It is listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Dr. John
3/5
Gris-Gris (stylized as GRIS-gris, /ˈɡriːˌɡriː/, named for a kind of talisman) is the debut album by American musician Dr. John (a.k.a. Mac Rebennack). Produced by Harold Battiste, it was released on Atco Records in 1968. The album introduced Rebennack's Dr. John character, inspired by a reputed 19th century voodoo doctor.[6] The style of Gris-Gris is a hybrid of New Orleans R&B and psychedelia.[7] It was recorded in California, albeit with several native New Orleans musicians.
Gris-Gris failed to chart in the United Kingdom and the United States. It was re-issued on compact disc decades later and received much greater praise from modern critics, including being listed at number 143 on the 2003 and 2012 editions and at number 356 on the 2020 edition of Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Rebennack desired to make an album that combined the various strains of New Orleans music behind a front man called Dr. John, after a black man named Dr. John Montaine, who claimed to be an African potentate.[9] Rebennack chose this name after hearing about Montaine from his sister, and feeling a "spiritual kinship" with him.[9] Rebennack originally wanted New Orleans singer Ronnie Barron to front the band as the Dr. John character, but Don Costa, who managed Barron at the time, advised him against it, claiming it to be a bad career move. Rebennack took on the Dr. John stage name himself.[8][9]
Morrissey
3/5
Madness
3/5
The Rise & Fall is the fourth studio album by English ska band Madness, released on 8 October 1982 by Stiff Records.[1] This album saw Madness at their most experimental, exhibiting a range of musical styles including jazz, English music hall, and Eastern influences. NME described it at the time of its release as "the best Madness record". It has often been retrospectively described as a concept album.
Initially conceived as a concept album about nostalgia for childhood, the concept was eventually dropped, though the original theme is still evident particularly in the title track and the album's major hit "Our House".[3] This theme was also mentioned recently when interviewed as part of T in the Park highlights, where their lead vocalist Suggs claimed that all the band members were told to write about their childhood memories for The Rise & Fall (although he did say that their keyboardist Mike Barson got the wrong idea, and went off and wrote about New Delhi).[citation needed]
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album four and a half out of five stars and wrote that "The Rise & Fall is recognizably Madness in sound and sensibility; faint echoes of their breakneck nutty beginnings can be heard on "Blue Skinned Beast" and "Mr. Speaker Gets the Word," the melodies are outgrowths of such early masterpieces as "My Girl," there’s a charming, open-hearted humo[u]r and carnival[-]esque swirl that ties everything together." also noting that "The rest of the record contains the same wit, effervescence, and joy, capturing what British pop life was all about in 1982, just as the Kinks Village Green Preservation Society did in 1968 or Blur's Parklife would do in 1994."[5]
Holger Czukay
3/5
Movies is the second album by Holger Czukay, released in 1979 through Electrola.
Holger Schüring[1] (24 March 1938 – 5 September 2017),[2] known professionally as Holger Czukay (/ˈʃʊkaɪ/),[3] was a German musician best known as a co-founder of the krautrock group Can. Described as "successfully bridg[ing] the gap between pop and the avant-garde",[4] Czukay was also notable for having created early important examples of ambient music, for having explored "world music" well before the term was coined, and for having been a pioneer of sampling.
James Taylor
3/5
Sweet Baby James is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor, released on February 1, 1970, by Warner Bros. Records.
The album includes two of Taylor's earliest successful singles: "Fire and Rain", and "Country Road", which reached number three and number thirty seven on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. The album itself reached number three on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart.
Sweet Baby James made Taylor one of the main forces of the ascendant singer-songwriter movement in the early 1970's and onward. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, in 1971, and was listed at number 104 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[2] In 2000 it was voted number 228 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[3]
Reviewing for Rolling Stone in 1970, Gary von Tersch observed in the music "echoes of the Band, the Byrds, country Dylan and folksified Dion", which Taylor manages to negotiate into a "very listenable record that is all his own".[14] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau was harsher in his appraisal of the album, saying that "Taylor's vehement following bewilders me; as near as I can discern, he is just another poetizing simp. Even the production is conventional. For true believers only."[12] In a retrospective review, AllMusic's William Ruhlmann was more receptive to "Taylor's sense of wounded hopelessness", believing it reflected "the pessimism and desperation of the 1960s hangover that was the early '70s" and "struck a chord with music fans, especially because of its attractive mixture of folk, country, gospel, and blues elements, all of them carefully understated and distanced."[8]
Jeru The Damaja
4/5
The Sun Rises in the East is the debut album by American hip hop rapper Jeru the Damaja, released May 24, 1994 on Payday Records. Production on the album was handled by DJ Premier. The album features fellow Gang Starr Foundation member Afu-Ra. The album cover depicts the World Trade Center on fire only one year after the 1993 bombing of the North Tower.[1]
The Sun Rises in the East was well received by most music critics upon its release. It is considerably significant in hip hop, as it contributed to the revival of the East Coast hip hop scene, along with albums such as Wu-Tang Clan's Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993), Nas's Illmatic (1994), Big L's Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous (1995), Notorious BIG's Ready to Die (1994), Onyx's Bacdafucup (1993), Smif-N-Wessun's Dah Shinin (1995) and Black Moon's Enta da Stage (1993). The album has been considered by critics to be Jeru the Damaja's best work.[1
Melody Maker named The Sun Rises in the East "bloody essential", calling it "hypnotic and chilling as a blues party on Pluto" and "another step forward for hip hop."[9] NME said that "Jeru is more original than most [rappers]",[5] while The Source remarked that "the music both contrasts and complements his disjointed flow and deep poetical lyricism."[8
Drive Like Jehu
3/5
Yank Crime is the second and final album by the San Diego, California post-hardcore band Drive Like Jehu, released on April 26, 1994 by Interscope Records. It was the band's major-label debut and its artwork was created by singer/guitarist Rick Froberg. The band toured in support of the album but then quietly disbanded the following year as the members moved off to pursue other interests.
solid lines down to the bare minimum, and the band fills in the resulting space with pure venom."[5] He also commented on the album's significance to emo, saying "It's often easy to forget that DLJ were considered emo in their day; Froberg's howls of 'Ready, ready to let you in!' on 'Super Unison' seem like a sick parody of stylish vulnerability. Then the song mutates into a gorgeous, snare-drum rolling open sea, and everything you've ever liked (and still like) about this genre in its purest form comes flooding back."[5] The album's significance to the emo genre was also noted by Ned Raggett of AllMusic, who wrote: "Perhaps even more than [their 1992 debut album], Yank Crime solidified Drive Like Jehu's reputation as kings of emo. While use of that term rapidly degenerated to apply to sappy miserableness by the decade's end, here the quartet capture its original sense, wired, frenetic, screaming passion, as first semi-created by the likes of Rites of Spring."[1]
Ride
3/5
Nowhere is the debut album by British shoegaze band Ride, released 15 October 1990. Rolling Stone called the album "a masterpiece",[1] and online magazine Pitchfork called it "one of shoegazing's enduring moments".[2]
AllMusic has cited Nowhere as one of the greatest albums of the shoegaze genre.[11] Nowhere was ranked at number 74 on Pitchfork's 2003 list of the top 100 albums of the 1990s,[19] and at number 277 on Spin's 2015 list of "The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years".[20] It is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[21] The track "Vapour Trail" was named the 145th best song of the 1990s by Pitchfork in 2010,[22] and the 81st best song of the 1990s by NME in 2012.[23]
Blondie
4/5
Parallel Lines is the third studio album by American rock band Blondie, released in September 1978, by Chrysalis Records to international commercial success. The album reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom in February 1979 and proved to be the band's commercial breakthrough in the United States, where it reached No. 6 in April 1979. In Billboard magazine, Parallel Lines was listed at No. 9 in the top pop albums year-end chart of 1979. The album spawned several successful singles, notably the international hit "Heart of Glass".
According to music journalist Robert Christgau, Parallel Lines was a pop rock album in which Blondie achieved their "synthesis of the Dixie Cups and the Electric Prunes".[3] Its style of "state-of-the-art pop/rock circa 1978", as AllMusic's William Ruhlmann described it, showed Blondie deviating from new wave and emerging as "a pure pop band".[4] Ken Tucker believed the band had eschewed the "brooding artiness" of their previous albums for more hooks and pop-oriented songs.[5] Chapman later said, "I didn't make a punk album or a New Wave album with Blondie. I made a pop album."[6] The album's eleven pop songs have refined melodics, and its sole disco song, "Heart of Glass", features jittery keyboards, rustling cymbals by drummer Clem Burke, and a circular rhythm.[7] Burke credited Kraftwerk and the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever as influences for the song and said that he was "trying to get that groove that the drummer for the Bee Gees had".[8]
Lyrically, Parallel Lines abandoned what Rolling Stone magazine's Arion Berger called the "cartoonish postmodernist referencing" of Blondie's previous new wave songs in favor of a "romantic fatalism" that was new for the band.[7] "Sunday Girl" deals with the theme of teen loneliness. Music critic Rob Sheffield said that the lyric "dusty frames that still arrive / die in 1955", in "Fade Away and Radiate", is the "best lyric in any rock'n'roll song, ever, and it's still the ultimate statement of a band that always found some pleasure worth exploiting in the flashy and the temporary."[9]
The album was met with universal acclaim from critics.[10] Writing in The Village Voice in 1978, Robert Christgau said although Blondie still could not write a perfect hit single, the record was a consistent improvement over Plastic Letters.[3] Years later, he wrote in Blender that it was "a perfect album in 1978" and remained so with "every song memorable, distinct, well-shaped and over before you get antsy. Never again did singer Deborah Harry, mastermind Chris Stein and their able four-man cohort nail the band's signature paradoxes with such unfailing flair: lowbrow class, tender sarcasm, pop rock."[22] New York Times critic John Rockwell named Parallel Lines the eighth best album of 1978.[23] Daryl Easlea from BBC Music, who felt the record combined power pop and new wave styles, credited Mike Chapman's production and flair for pop songwriting for helping make Parallel Lines an extremely popular album in the United Kingdom, where it was a number-one hit and charted for 106 weeks during the late 1970s.[24] Q magazine called the album "a crossover smash with sparkling guitar sounds, terrific hooks and middle-eights more memorable than some groups' choruses."[18]
In a retrospective appraisal of 1970s post-punk albums, Spin magazine's Sasha Frere-Jones said Parallel Lines may have been "the perfect pop-rock record" and Blondie's best album.[25] Christian John Wikane from PopMatters later called it "a creative and commercial masterpiece by Blondie ... indisputably one of the great, classic albums of the rock and roll era."[26] In the opinion of Pitchfork critic Scott Plagenhoef, the album popularized "the look and sound of 1980s new wave" with classic songs that showcased the depth and complexity of Harry's sexuality and singing.[17] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine was also impressed by her singing, which he felt varied from "purring like a kitten and then building to a mean growl", and cited "Heart of Glass" as the album's best track because of her "honey-dipped vocal".[20]
Kacey Musgraves
4/5
Golden Hour is the fourth studio album by American country music singer and songwriter Kacey Musgraves, released on March 30, 2018, through MCA Nashville.[3] Musgraves co-wrote all 13 tracks and co-produced the album with Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk. A country pop record, Golden Hour also contains elements of disco, electropop, electronica, and yacht rock.[4][5][6]
Golden Hour debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200.[7] Receiving widespread critical acclaim, the album and its songs won in all four of their nominated categories at the 61st Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Best Country Album. The album's first two singles also won awards: "Butterflies" for Best Country Solo Performance and "Space Cowboy" for Best Country Song.[8] Golden Hour also won Album of the Year at the 52nd Annual Country Music Association Awards.[9] In 2020, Golden Hour was ranked at 270 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.[10]
Golden Hour received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 89, based on 18 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[18] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album four and a half out of five stars and called it "warm and enveloping, pitched halfway between heartbreak and healing—but (it) lingers in the mind because the songs are so sharp, buttressed by long, loping melodies and Musgraves' affectless soul baring."[5] Writing for The Independent and rating the album a perfect 5 out of 5, Roisin O'Connor states the album is "a reminder that sometimes – often, if you're looking in the right places – life is beautiful."[22] Additionally, it was a Spin "Essential" and of the genre-bending songs on the album, reviewer Katherine St. Asaph calls it "not classicist, but perhaps it might be classic."[28] The album was rated number one by the BBC poll of polls, a compilation of best-of-the-year lists across 35 music reviewers, on a list of the best albums of 2018.[29] The album also placed number one in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 2018.[30]
Sex Pistols
3/5
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols is the only studio album by English punk rock band the Sex Pistols, released on 28 October 1977 by Virgin Records in the UK and on 11 November 1977 by Warner Bros. Records in the US. The album has influenced many bands and musicians, and the industry in general. In particular, the album's raw energy, and Johnny Rotten's sneering delivery and "half-singing", are often considered game-changing. It is frequently listed as the most influential punk album, and one of the greatest and most important albums of all time.
Wu-Tang Clan
3/5
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) is the debut studio album by the American hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, released on November 9, 1993, by BMG, RCA Records and Loud Records. Recording sessions took place during late 1992 to early 1993 at Firehouse Studio in New York City, and the album was produced by the group's de facto leader RZA. Its title originates from the martial arts films Enter the Dragon (1973) and The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978).[4]
Adam Heimlich of the New York Press considers the album a touchstone of hardcore hip hop, a gritty, stripped-down, dark and violent subgenre of hip hop and the signature sound of New York City's rap scene during the mid-1990s. He writes that "the Wu-Tang Clan ... all but invented 90s New York rap, back when the notion of an East Coast gangsta still meant Schoolly D or Kool G. Rap ... [They] designed the manner and style in which New York artists would address what Snoop and Dre had made rap's hottest topics: drugs and violence."[15] As the album helped return New York City hip hop to national prominence, a new generation of New York rappers, many of them inspired by the Wu-Tang Clan's example, released a flurry of classic albums that later became known as the East Coast Renaissance.[17] Enter the Wu-Tang has been recognized by critics as a landmark album in the movement.[13] AllMusic indicates that the success of the album paved the way for Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., Mobb Deep, and Jay-Z.[17]
At the time of the album's release, mainstream hip hop was dominated by the West Coast. Enter the Wu-Tang (along with Nas' critically acclaimed Illmatic and the commercial success of The Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready to Die) was able to shift the emphasis away from the melodious, synthesizer-driven G-funk and restore interest into the East Coast hip hop scene.[51] According to one columnist, "When Enter the Wu-Tang: The 36 Chambers first graced the pages of rap lore in 1993, Dr. Dre's funk-filled, West Coast gangster rap dominated the business. Though this initial dominance was difficult to overcome, Wu-Tang still managed to carve out a piece of rap history."[13]
Madonna
3/5
Ray of Light is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released in early 1998 by Maverick Records. A major stylistic and aesthetical departure from her previous work, Bedtime Stories, Ray of Light is an electronica and techno-pop record which incorporates multiple genres, including ambient, trip hop, art pop, psychedelic music and Middle Eastern music, while also seeing Madonna singing with greater breadth and a fuller tone. Mystical themes are also strongly present in both the music and lyrics, as a result of Madonna embracing Kabbalah, her study of Hinduism and Buddhism, and her daily practice of Ashtanga yoga.
Considered as her best body of work, the album received universal critical acclaim, with reviews praising the singer's new musical direction, Orbit's complex, innovative and experimental production, and Madonna's songwriting skills. Referred to as her "most adventurous" record, Ray of Light has been noted for its introspective, spiritual, and religious nature with Madonna's vocals also being lauded. Retrospectively, the album has continued receiving critical acclaim from contemporary critics and is often considered to be her magnum opus. On top of this, the album is frequently cited by critics as one of the greatest mainstream pop albums of all time.[2] Madonna has retrospectively referenced it as her most quintessential album yet. Ray of Light won four Grammy Awards from a total of six nominations.
Ray of Light has been credited for bringing electronica music into global pop culture. The Los Angeles Times noted that "aside from occasional breakthroughs such as Fatboy Slim, electronica wasn't totally mainstream fare when Madonna released Ray of Light."[134] Until the album brought the genre to the top of music charts, according to author J. Randy Taraborrelli, "techno and electronica had, for years, been the music played at so-called raves, hugely popular, illegal underground parties taking place in abandoned warehouse and deserted areas on the outskirts of town all around the world."[135] AllMusic editor Liana Jonas stated that the album's title track has "brought mainstream attention to electronica music, which ascended from its underground status to wild popularity in the early 21st century."[136] The Observer's writer Daryl Deino called Ray of Light "a risk-taking album that helped define mainstream electronic dance music."[137]
The Mothers Of Invention
3/5
We're Only in It for the Money is the third studio album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on March 4, 1968, by Verve Records. As with the band's first two efforts, it is a concept album, and satirizes left- and right-wing politics, particularly the hippie subculture, as well as the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was conceived as part of a project called No Commercial Potential, which produced three other albums: Lumpy Gravy, Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, and Uncle Meat.
In his lyrics for We're Only in It for the Money, Zappa speaks as a voice for "the freaks—imaginative outsiders who didn't fit comfortably into any group", according to AllMusic writer Steve Huey.[11] Subsequently, the album satirizes hippie culture and left-wing politics, as well as targeting right-wing politics, describing both political sides as "prisoners of the same narrow-minded, superficial phoniness."[7][11][13]
Zappa later stated in 1978, "hippies were pretty stupid. ... the people involved in [youth] processes ... are very sensitive to criticism. They always take themselves too seriously. So anybody who impugns the process, whether it's a peace march or love beads or whatever it is – that person is the enemy and must be dealt with severely. So we came under a lot of criticism, because we dared to suggest that perhaps what was going on was really stupid."[5]
Barret Hansen praised the album in an April 1968 review for Rolling Stone.[5] He felt it was the most "advanced" rock album released up to that date, though not necessarily the "best"; he compared Zappa with the Beatles, and felt that the wit and sharpness of Zappa's lyrics was more intelligent, but unless one were to adopt a utilitarian view, he would not deny the beauty of the Beatles' music. He concluded that while the initial listening may be significantly profound, due to the reliance on shock, subsequent listening may be reduced in value; and he returns to a comparison with the Beatles, in which he feels that Zappa has the greater musical genius, but is less comfortable to listen to.[27]
Rod Stewart
3/5
Gasoline Alley is the second solo studio album by the British singer-songwriter Rod Stewart. It was released on 12 June 1970 by Vertigo Records. It is a collection of covers combined with Stewart's own compositions.[1] Like many of Stewart's solo albums from the period, it featured significant musical contributions from the other members of his band Faces.
Gasoline
The album was well received, with Langdon Winner of Rolling Stone feeling that Stewart had "a rare sensitivity for the delicate moments in a person's existence",[3] and that this, Stewart's second solo album, was the work "of a supremely fine artist".[3]
Love
3/5
Forever Changes is the third studio album by the American rock band Love, released by Elektra Records in November 1967.[9] The album saw the group embrace a subtler folk-oriented sound and orchestration, while primary songwriter Arthur Lee explored darker themes alluding to mortality and his creeping disillusionment with the 1960s counterculture. It was the final album recorded by the original band lineup; after its completion, Bryan MacLean left the group acrimoniously and the other members were dismissed by leader Lee.
In 2008, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and in 2011, the album was added to the National Recording Registry.[45] Rolling Stone ranked it number 180 on its 2020 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[46] The album was also included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).[47] It was voted number 12 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).[48] In 2013, NME ranked the album number 37 on their list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Publishers such as AllMusic[49] and Slant Magazine[50] have praised the album as well. In a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4, the album was ranked 83rd in the 100 greatest albums of all time.[51] The album was included in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[52]
Otis Redding
4/5
Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul (often referred to simply as Otis Blue) is the third studio album by American soul singer and songwriter Otis Redding. It was first released on September 15, 1965, as an LP record through the Stax Records subsidiary label Volt.
Otis Blue is composed mainly of cover versions of contemporary R&B hits, covering themes from the blues and love ballads, among others. Three of the LP's eleven songs were written by Redding, and three others were written by fellow soul singer Sam Cooke, who had died several months before the album was made. Except for one track, Otis Blue was recorded in the span of 24 hours from July 9 to 10, 1965, at the Stax recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee. As with Redding's previous records, he was backed by the Stax house band Booker T. & the M.G.'s, a horn section featuring members of the Mar-Keys and the Memphis Horns, and pianist Isaac Hayes, providing a rhythmic Southern soul accompaniment for the singer's exuberant and forceful performances.
Otis Blue has been regarded by music critics as Redding's best work.[32] Uncut magazine's Neil Spencer called it "the greatest album of his career [and] arguably the definitive album of the soul era",[15] while Rolling Stone described it as "Redding's true dictionary of soul, a stunning journey through the past and future vocabulary of R&B ... documenting a masterful artist rising to ... the immense challenge of his times."[39] In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Paul Evans named it Redding's "first masterwork",[40] and fellow Rolling Stone critic David Fricke called it "perfect".[9] Writing for Blender, Christgau appraised it as "the first great album by one of soul's few reliable long-form artists",[23] while The Mojo Collection regarded it as "the definitive Southern soul album"[41] and Patrin deemed it the "greatest studio-recorded soul LP" from the 1960s.[14]
In a retrospective review for Pitchfork, Patrin went on to call Otis Blue "a hell of a record, the crowning achievement of a man who could sound pained and celebratory and tender and gritty and proud all at once, with a voice that everyone from John Fogerty to Swamp Dogg to Cee-lo owes a debt to".[14] Bruce Eder from AllMusic explained further that "Redding's powerful, remarkable singing throughout makes Otis Blue gritty, rich, and achingly alive, and an essential listening experience", showcasing "his talent unfettered, his direction clear, and his confidence emboldened".[11] "Song for song, it's difficult to imagine a better soul record", wrote Stephen Deusner in the Memphis Flyer, crediting the singer's "effortlessly expressive vocals" and the "measured accompaniment" of the Stax house band.[6] Similarly, Spencer praised "Cropper's stinging guitar and the atonal Memphis horns", saying it is "as much their album as Redding's",[15] while Q noted how the performers' individual musical elements coalesce with "a beautiful precision which borders on a kind of Southern soul sorcery ... arguably the hottest and strongest half-hour in soul".[38] Angus Taylor of BBC Music found Otis Blue to be "at the crossroads of pop, rock, gospel, blues and soul", with a series of "short, punchy" songs "flawlessly ordered to ebb and flow between stirring balladry and foot stomping exuberance", making it Redding's "definitive statement".[42] Harold, in PopMatters, also praised the diverse sound, which, according to her, is a mixture of "Motown pop, the blues, British rock, and Southern Soul", although she cited Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul (1966) as Redding's best album.[13]
Otis Blue has featured on many professional lists of the best albums. According to Lewis, it is "predictably named as a Top 100 album, the token soul set in lists compiled by trendies who surely never bought it at the time."[33] In 1993, NME ranked it 35th on the magazine's "Greatest Albums of All Time" issue[43] and 405th on a similar list in 2013.[44][45] The album was also ranked at number 74 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" (2003), number 78 in a 2012 revised edition of the list,[46] and number 178 in a 2020 revised edition.[47] Time placed it at number 92 on the magazine's "All-Time 100 Greatest Albums". It has also appeared in Q magazine's "Best Soul Albums of All Time" and Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[48] Based on such rankings, the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists Otis Blue as the 74th most acclaimed album in history, as well as the 20th most from the 1960s and the fourth most among 1965 releases.[49]
CHVRCHES
4/5
The Bones of What You Believe is the debut studio album by Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches, released on 20 September 2013 by Virgin Records and Goodbye Records. Recorded between 2011 and 2013 in Glasgow,[5] the album was written, composed, and produced by the band as a collaborative effort. It was made available as both a 12-track standard edition and an 18-track special version, the latter including two extra songs, two remixes and two live videos.[6] The album was debuted with a launch party broadcast live on music streaming platform Boiler Room.[7][8]
The Specials
3/5
More Specials is the second album by English ska band the Specials, released by 2 Tone Records in September 1980. After the success of the band's self-titled debut, band member Jerry Dammers assumed the role as the band's leader and stirred them into expanding their 2 Tone sound into other genres of music, most prominently a lounge music and easy listening style inspired by Muzak. Several band members disagreed with Dammers' vision and brought their own influences to the album, including from northern soul and rockabilly, contributing to an eclectic sound palette. The relations between band members continued to sour into the album's accompanying tour and most of the band departed in 1981.
Music critic Jon Harrington wrote that the "eclectic mixture of styles" on More Specials influenced 1990s trip hop acts including Massive Attack and Portishead,[22] while the revival of interest for easy listening in the mid-1990s could be traced back to Dammers' work on More Specials.[22] Blur were also influenced by More Specials, and some critics have compared several Blur songs to the album; Ian Wade of The Quietus felt the "spectral gloom" of More Specials resides "like a shadow" over Blur's fourth album The Great Escape (1995), most notably on the "kitchen-sink-ska" of "Fade Away",[58] while "Best Days" and "He Thought of Cars" from the same album were said by Scott Plagenhoef of Stylus Magazine to develop upon the "lounge-inspired post-punk" of More Specials.[20] Wade also cites the B-sides "Supa Shoppa" (1994) and especially "The Horrors" (1995) as further examples, the latter song combining "a cheap tango rhythm-preset with schoolhouse piano to push More Specials' postcard bleakness into something approaching existential dread."[58] Orbital sampled "Man at C&A" on the song "Are We Here?" from Snivilisation (1994).[59]
Panter originally felt the album had a strong "beyond cynicism" vibe that seemed "angry at its own impotence. It didn't seem to care."[23] He did not listen to the album for 20 years "because it just reminds me of that time when the band was just falling to bits because it was exhausted." Upon revisiting the album, he found it to be inferior to the band's debut album but noted "it really stands up. Some of the songs are my favourites – 'Man at C&A', I love 'International Jet Set' and 'Enjoy Yourself' has become anthemic these days."[11] The band were considering commemorating the album's 35th anniversary in some fashion in 2015, but these plans did not materialise.[15]
Ravi Shankar
4/5
The Sounds of India is an album by Ravi Shankar which introduces and explains Hindustani classical music to Western audiences. Released by Columbia Records in 1957, it was influenced by Ali Akbar Khan's The Sounds of India,[1] and recorded and produced by George Avakian in 1957 at Columbia's New York studio.[2]
It is regarded today as being of historical interest for showing both Shankar's musical skills and his interest in teaching the West about classical Indian music.[3]
AllMusic reviewer Adam Greenberg feels that The Genius of Ravi Shankar (1990)[4] is a better choice for listening to Shankar's earlier music, though regards this album as a useful historical document for both "Shankar's amazing abilities" and his love for teaching Western listeners about Hindustani classical music by using short lessons before each performance.[3] Yoshi Kato, in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, feels that as Shankar was already familiar to Western audiences, particularly via the interest shown by George Harrison, he was "the perfect musical ambassador", and this album is an "excellent way" into Shankar's music.[5] For Christian Larrède, writing in Music Story, the album "reste une curiosité" (remains a curiosity), and the short lengths of the chosen music along with the spoken introductions "ne souffrent pas de l’entreprise ouvertement pédagogique" (do not [cause the album to] suffer from the obvious educational enterprise).[6]
Metallica
3/5
...And Justice for All is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on September 7, 1988,[4] by Elektra Records. It was the first Metallica album to feature bassist Jason Newsted, following the death of their previous bassist Cliff Burton in 1986. Burton received posthumous co-writing credit on "To Live Is to Die" as Newsted followed bass lines Burton had recorded prior to his death.
Released on September 7, 1988, by Elektra Records,[51] ...And Justice for All was acclaimed by music critics.[52] In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, Michael Azerrad said that Metallica's compositions are impressive and called the album's music "a marvel of precisely channeled aggression".[25] Spin magazine's Sharon Liveten called it a "gem of a double record" and found the music both edgy and technically proficient.[53] Simon Reynolds, writing in Melody Maker, said that "other bands would give their eye teeth" for the songs' riffs and found the album's densely complicated style of metal to be distinct from the monotonous sound of contemporary rock music: "Everything depends on utter punctuality and supreme surgical finesse. It's probably the most incisive music I've ever heard, in the literal sense of the word."[23] Borivoj Krgin of Metal Forces said that it was the most ideal album he has heard because of typically exceptional production and musicianship that is more impressive than that of Master of Puppets.[45] In a less enthusiastic review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau believed that the band's compositions lack song form and that the album "goes on longer" than Master of Puppets.[50] In 1988, ...And Justice for All was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance, but controversially lost to Jethro Tull's Crest of a Knave.[54] In 2007, Entertainment Weekly, named this one of the 10 biggest upsets in Grammy history.[55]
In a retrospective review, Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune said that ...And Justice for All was both the band's "most ambitious" and ultimately "flattest-sounding" album.[43] AllMusic's Steve Huey noted that Metallica followed the blueprint of the previous two albums, with more sophisticated songs and "apocalyptic" lyrics that envisioned a society in decay.[14] Music journalist Mick Wall was critical of the progressive elements on the album and believed that, apart from "One" and "Dyers Eve", most of the album sounded clumsy.[9] Colin Larkin, writing in the Encyclopedia of Popular Music (2006), wrote that, apart from the praiseworthy "One", the album diminished the band's creativity by concentrating the songs with too many riffs.[44] Ulrich said in retrospect that the album has improved with time and it is well-liked among their contemporaries.[22]
Prince
3/5
1999 is the fifth studio album by American recording artist Prince, released on October 27, 1982, by Warner Bros. Records. It became his first album to be recorded with his band the Revolution. 1999's critical and commercial success propelled Prince to a place in the public psyche and marked the beginning of two years of heightened fame via his following releases.[9]
1999 received widespread acclaim from critics, and was seen as Prince's breakthrough album. On March 24, 1999, 1999 was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Following Prince's death in 2016, the album re-entered the Billboard 200 and peaked at number seven, besting its original performance on the chart thirty-three years earlier. A re-release and remaster of the album, including 35 previously unreleased recordings, was released in November 2019.[10]
1999 has been ranked as one of the greatest albums of all time by several publications and organizations.[11] The music videos for both "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" received heavy rotation on MTV, making Prince one of the first black artists to be prominently featured on the television channel.[12] According to the Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), "1999 may be Prince's most influential album: Its synth-and-drum machine-heavy arrangements codified the Minneapolis sound that loomed over mid-'80s R&B and pop, not to mention the next two decades' worth of electro, house, and techno."[9] It is also included on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2008, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[13]
Cee Lo Green
4/5
Cee-Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine is the second studio album by Cee Lo Green, released on March 2, 2004.[12]
The Hives
3/5
Your New Favourite Band is a collection by The Hives released in 2001, featuring tracks from their first two albums and the A.K.A. I-D-I-O-T EP. It was released by Alan McGee's Poptones record label, which was licensed the band's songs by Burning Heart Records. The decision to release such a compilation was made with the intention of achieving mainstream success in the UK and other territories. The album was featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[5]
The Hives are a Swedish rock band that formed in 1993 in Fagersta. After gaining traction in their home country through the 1990s, they rose to prominence internationally in the early 2000s during the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of their second album album Veni Vidi Vicious – which contained their breakthrough single and signature song, "Hate to Say I Told You So". The band is especially well known for their high-energy and eccentric live shows, with music critics having hailed them as amongst the best live rock bands of the last two decades.[1][2]
Ice Cube
4/5
The Predator is the third studio album by American rapper Ice Cube. It was released on November 17, 1992, through Lench Mob Records and Priority Records. The album was released just within months of the 1992 Los Angeles riots; many songs comment on racial tensions in the United States. The production on the album was primarily handled by DJ Pooh, Sir Jinx, Torcha Chamba and DJ Muggs. The title is in part reference to the movie Predator 2, and the album itself includes samples from the film.[1]
In a 2014 interview with rapper and producer Q-Tip, actor Leonardo DiCaprio expresses his admiration for The Predator. He stated that the album was the "magnum opus of Ice Cube's solo career" and it was a "voice for the angry and unheard during the 90s".
Scissor Sisters
3/5
Scissor Sisters is the debut studio album by American glam rock band Scissor Sisters, first released on February 2, 2004. It was released by Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Universal Motow
Scissor Sisters reached number 1 on the UK and Irish albums charts and was the best-selling album of 2004 in the UK. Since its release, it been certified 9× Platinum in the UK, selling over 2,700,000 copies in the country alone.[6] In Ireland, it has been certified 5× Platinum. The album was not as successful in their native US, peaking at number 102 on the Billboard 200. As of February 2007, it has sold 299,000 copies in United States.[7] Scissor Sisters has sold 3,300,000 copies worldwide,[8] and is listed as one of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die in the book of the same name, edited by Robert Dimery.[9]
Kate Bush
3/5
The Dreaming is the fourth studio album by English art rock singer Kate Bush, released on 13 September 1982 by EMI Records. Recorded over two years, the album was produced entirely by Bush and is often characterised as her most uncommercial and experimental release. The Dreaming peaked at No. 3 on the UK album chart and has been certified Silver by the BPI, but initially sold less than its predecessors and was met with mixed critical reception. Five singles from the album were released, including the UK No. 11 "Sat in Your Lap" and the title track.
In a later review AllMusic called it "a theatrical and abstract piece of work", as well as "a brilliant predecessor to the charming beauty of 1985's Hounds of Love."[20] The Quietus called it "a brave volte face from a mainstream artist" and "a startlingly modern record too", noting its "organic hybridization, the use of digital and analogue techniques, its use of modern wizardry to access atavistic states."[6] In 2014, critic Simon Reynolds called The Dreaming a "wholly unfettered mistress-piece" and "a delirious, head-spinning experience".[15] Bush herself has called The Dreaming her "She's gone mad album" and said it was not particularly commercial. On later revisiting the album she said she was surprised by the sound, saying that it was quite an angry record.[37] Uncut has said that it was a "multi-layered, polyrhythmic and wildly experimental album [and] remains a landmark work".[38]
Peter Gabriel
3/5
So is the fifth studio album by English singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel, released on 19 May 1986 by Charisma Records and Virgin Records. After working on the soundtrack to the film Birdy (1984), producer Daniel Lanois was invited to remain at Gabriel's Somerset home during 1985 to work on his next solo project. Initial sessions for So consisted of Gabriel, Lanois and guitarist David Rhodes, although these grew to include a number of percussionists.
Although Gabriel continued to use the pioneering Fairlight CMI digital sampling synthesizer, songs from these sessions were less experimental than his previous material. Nevertheless, Gabriel drew on various musical influences, fusing pop, soul, and art rock with elements of traditional world music, particularly African and Brazilian styles. It is Gabriel's first non-eponymous album, So representing an "anti-title" that resulted from label pressure to "properly" market his music. Gabriel toured So on the This Way Up tour (1986–1987), with some songs performed at human rights and charity concerts during this period.
So is often regarded as Gabriel's best album, as well as one of the best albums of the 1980s. It enabled Gabriel to transform from a cult artist, acclaimed for his cerebral, experimental solo work, into a mainstream, internationally known star.[93] Rolling Stone placed So at 187 (2003 edition) and 297 (2020 edition) on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and at 14 on its 100 Best Albums of the 1980s, noting that "despite its mass appeal, however, So also presented compelling challenges."[94][95][96] Stereogum placed it at number one on its list of Gabriel's best albums, writing, "Peter Gabriel's fifth studio album is a mesmerizing dichotomy: simultaneously hooky and experimental; timeless, yet completely crystallizing its moment in history ... It's a masterpiece.[9
Lana Del Rey
3/5
Chemtrails over the Country Club is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. It was released on March 19, 2021, by Interscope and Polydor Records. After working with him on her previous studio album, Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019), Del Rey enlisted producer Jack Antonoff as her co-producer for the majority of the album, while previous collaborator Rick Nowels produced one of the album's tracks. The album features collaborations with Nikki Lane, Weyes Blood, and Zella Day.
Chemtrails over the Country Club is described as a folk, country folk, and Americana record. According to Del Rey, the album is about her friends and family. Other themes featured on the album are themes of escapism, love, heartbreak, and nostalgia, while encompassing her usual references to Americana, alongside emotions of disillusionment.
Chemtrails over the Country Club received acclaim from music critics, with many comparing its sound to its predecessor. The album debuted at number one in eight countries, including the United Kingdom, becoming Del Rey's fifth number one album in the country, and reached the top 5 in twenty countries, including the United States, where it peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, becoming Del Rey's sixth consecutive top five album in the country.
The Slits
2/5
Cut is the debut studio album by English punk band the Slits, released on 7 September 1979. It was recorded at Ridge Farm Studios in Rusper and produced by Dennis Bovell. The album was praised by later acts such as Kurt Cobain and Massive Attack.
Musically, Cut works in an "innovative" fusion of punk and reggae.[1] It also incorporates "restless [and] offbeat" art pop.[2]
Andy Kellman for AllMusic called it "entirely fun and catchy" despite its "less-than-polished nature and street-tough ruggedness".[3] Robert Christgau applauded it, writing that "for once" there was "a white reggae style that rival[ed] its models for weirdness and formal imagination."[5]
Cut's mark has been noted on several musical movements. "A post-punk masterpiece", it paved the genre's direction alongside fellow 1979 releases the Pop Group's Y and PiL's Metal Box.[16] The Guardian's Lindesay Irvine saw the album explore "adventurous" sonics while maintaining a "defiant" attitude. This included a full embrace of Jamaican music influences, with which he credited the Slits as one of the first bands to do so.[17] Indeed, PopMatters felt that Cut spoke to post-punk's appropriation of dub and reggae clearer than any other of the genre's records.[18] Irvine argued that it inspired later post-punk acts like Culture Club to "[get] their nerve up".[17] PopMatters said that Cut's most influential aspect was singer Ari Up's "wailing vibrato and gnashing power" that would be revamped during the movement.[18]
Cut is credited with shaping the 1990s musical movement riot grrrl.[1][19] Rolling Stone wrote that the scene's bands Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney came to be because of it.[1]
Bands to whom Cut has been appreciated by and/or influential to include Sleater-Kinney and trip hop group Massive Attack.[20] In his posthumously released journals, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain listed Cut (as "Typical Girls") as one of his 50 favorite records of all time.[21]
Donald Fagen
4/5
The Nightfly is the debut solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Donald Fagen. Produced by Gary Katz, it was released October 1, 1982, by Warner Bros. Records. Fagen is best known for his work in the group Steely Dan, with whom he enjoyed a successful career since the 1970s. The band separated in 1981, leading Fagen to pursue a solo career. Although The Nightfly includes a number of production staff and musicians who had played on Steely Dan records, it was Fagen's first release without longtime collaborator Walter Becker.
Unlike most of Fagen's previous work, The Nightfly is almost blatantly autobiographical. Many of the songs relate to the cautiously optimistic mood of his suburban childhood in the late 1950s and early 1960s and incorporate such topics as late-night jazz disc jockeys, fallout shelters, and tropical vacations. Recorded over eight months at various studios between New York City and Los Angeles, the album is an early example of a fully digital recording in popular music. The nascent technology, as well as the perfectionist nature of its engineers and musicians, made the album difficult to record.
The album remains a favorite among audiophiles.[26] According to Paul Tingen, from Sound on Sound magazine, The Nightfly was "for years a popular demonstration record in hi-fi stores across the globe."[41] Paul White, editor-in-chief of Sound on Sound, said The Nightfly "is always a good reference for checking out monitoring systems and shows what good results could be obtained from those early digital recording systems in the right hands."[70] In addition to its use in recording studio tests, Clive Young of Pro Sound News called Fagen's "I.G.Y." the "Free Bird" of pro audio, claiming that almost every live sound engineer uses the song to test the front-of-house system's sound response.[71] EQ Magazine rated The Nightfly as among the Top 10 Best Recorded Albums of All Time, alongside the Beatles's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds.[72]
Digital Underground
3/5
The album is a concept album about "G.S.R.A." (Genetic Suppression Relief Antidotes), a pharmaceutical substance that is produced in the form of a large glowing pill about the size of a quarter, which comes in a condom-sized package and is allegedly developed by the government to provide its intended users such as astronauts with a satisfying sexual experience in situations where the normal attainment of such experiences would be counter-productive to the mission at hand.
The album was released in the spring of 1990 following the success of its two lead-off singles: "Doowutchyalike", a moderate club hit, followed by "The Humpty Dance", which reached No. 11 on the pop chart, No. 7 on the R&B chart, and No. 1 on the Billboard Rap Singles chart. Sex Packets was released to positive reviews and eventually achieved platinum sales.[9] The album was re-issued on February 8, 2005 by Rhino Entertainment. The album is broken down track-by-track by Digital Underground in Brian Coleman's book Check the Technique.[10]
Digital Underground was an American alternative hip hop group from Oakland, California. Their personnel changed and rotated with each album and tour.
Kraftwerk
4/5
Autobahn is the fourth studio album by German electronic music band Kraftwerk, released in November 1974 by Philips Records. The album marked several personnel changes in the band, which was initially a duo consisting of Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter; later, the group added Klaus Röder on guitar and flute, and Wolfgang Flür on percussion. The album also completed the group's transition from the experimental krautrock style of their earlier work to an electronic pop sound consisting mostly of synthesizers and drum machines. Recording started at the group's own Kling Klang facility, but was predominantly made at Conny Plank's studio. Autobahn also includes lyrics and a new look for the group that was suggested by Emil Schult, an associate of Schneider and Hütter.
Most of the album is taken up by the 22-minute "Autobahn", featuring lyrics by Schneider, Hütter, and Schult. The song was inspired by the group's joy of driving on Germany's autobahns, and recorded music that reflected a trip emulating the sounds of a vehicle. The album's release in West Germany saw little press attention. "Autobahn" was released as a single and received airplay at a Chicago radio station, leading it to spread across the United States. In 1975, the song became an international hit and Kraftwerk's first release of their music in the US. "Autobahn"'s success led to the band touring the United States with new member Karl Bartos, who would replace Röder, followed by a tour of the United Kingdom.
In his review of Sequencer (1976) by Synergy, critic Michael Hooker noted the increasing interest in synthesizer composition since the release of Autobahn.[34] Other artists, such as David Bowie, began noting Autobahn as an influence. Bowie said; "the preponderance of electronic instruments convinced me that this was an area that I had to investigate a little further".[62] Michael Rother stated Autobahn had an impact on his band Harmonia, and led him to starting thinking about adding voices on tracks; he said; "on Harmonia's Deluxe you can hear an echo of that".[63] Producer Arthur Baker first heard Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" when working at record store in high school; he would later use the melody of the group's songs for "Planet Rock" for Afrika Bambaataa.[64]
Genesis
4/5
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is the sixth studio album by the English progressive rock band Genesis. It was released as a double album on 18 November 1974 by Charisma Records and is their last to feature original frontman Peter Gabriel. It peaked at No. 10 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 41 on the Billboard 200 in the US. It is currently their longest album to date.
While the band worked on new material at Headley Grange for three months, they decided to produce a concept album with a story devised by Gabriel about Rael, a Puerto Rican youth from New York City who is suddenly taken on a journey of self-discovery and encounters bizarre incidents and characters along the way. The album was marked by increased tensions within the band as Gabriel, who insisted on writing all of the lyrics, temporarily left to work with filmmaker William Friedkin and needed time to be with his family. Most of the songs were developed by the rest of the band through jam sessions and were put down at Glaspant Manor in Wales using a mobile studio.
The album received a mixed critical reaction at first, but it gained acclaim in subsequent years and has a cult following. The songs "Counting Out Time" and "The Carpet Crawlers" were released as singles in the UK in 1974 and 1975, respectively; both failed to chart. A single of "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" was released in the US. Genesis promoted the album with their 1974–75 tour across North America and Europe, playing the album in its entirety. The album reached Gold certification in the UK and the US. The album was remastered in 1994 and 2007, the latter as part of the Genesis 1970–1975 box set which contains a 5.1 surround sound mix and bonus material.
Scritti Politti
3/5
Cupid & Psyche 85 is the second studio album by British pop band Scritti Politti, released in the UK on 10 June 1985 by Virgin Records.[9] The release continued frontman Green Gartside's embrace of commercial pop music stylings and state-of-the-art studio production, while its lyrics reflect his preoccupation with issues of language and politics.[10]
Reviews for Cupid & Psyche 85 were generally positive. Melody Maker said, "It may not be the sweetest sound in all the world... but it's close. In pursuit of the silkier sensations to be cut from the sow's ear of pop, Scritti's Green has finally let the slide rule slip and succumbed to sensuality. His guerrilla days as the post-Marxist irritant of his peculiarly capitalist trade [...] aren't completely lost, of course. He's still aware of the irony of his role, and nagging snatches of guilt and cries of conscience continually pepper Cupid, subverting its aims." The review concluded that "as a free-standing product, this is pop as it should be: smart, sweet but not sickly, rich and seductive, exotic, teasing, tempting and, judging by its persistent insinuation onto my Walkman, a durable, desirable thrill".[1] Awarding the album "4¾ stars out of 5", Sounds wrote, "If you only indulge yourself in one smooth, non-alternative, chainstore pop album this year, make it this".[25] However, NME dismissed Green's wordplay as insincere: "In his pop music, he plays with the language of the medium, both verbal and musical, in a way which implicitly criticises the way the language was used originally... Unfortunately, when this kind of post-modernist dissection is applied to affairs of the heart it can't help but come across hollow and artificial, because it's getting further removed from the business of actually moving, of authentic emotional experience."[29]
In the US, Spin stated that "no disco was ever this sublime" and that Green's mixture of pop music and intellectualism "benefits us by teaching us the vocabulary of emotion. Green's gilded, fabricated palace of sentiment makes you want to know more about these matters even as his clever-dick wordplay, woozy vocals and slick manipulation of modern dance music's subtlest syncopations lead you onto some empty dance floor of the soul."[30] Writing for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau wrote that "the high-relief production and birdlike tunes and spry little keyb arrangements and hippety-hoppety beat and archly ethereal falsetto add up to a music of amazing lightness and wit that's saved from any hint of triviality by wordplay whose delight in its own turns is hard to resist."[28] Rolling Stone was cooler towards the record, acknowledging that Scritti Politti's new direction worked well on "Wood Beez" and "Absolute", but that "the rest of Cupid & Psyche 85 isn't deviant enough. Green has absorbed the lessons of dance masters like Arif Mardin so well that he often imitates the very formulas he seeks to undermine... Stylishly wrought, at times delightfully eccentric, Cupid & Psyche 85 is ultimately too true to its form to be genuinely subversive."[31] In a retrospective review, AllMusic called the album "a state-of-the-art, immaculately constructed set of catchy synth pop."[2]
Billy Joel
5/5
The Stranger is the fifth studio album by American singer Billy Joel, released in September 1977 by Columbia Records. It was the first of Joel's albums to be produced by Phil Ramone, with whom he would work for five subsequent albums.[3]
Spending six weeks at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200, The Stranger is considered Joel's critical and commercial breakthrough. Four singles were released in the US, all of which became top-40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts: "Just the Way You Are" (No. 3), "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)", "She's Always a Woman" (both No. 17), and "Only the Good Die Young" (No. 24). Other songs, such as "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" and "Vienna", have become staples of his career and are frequently performed in his live shows. The album won two awards at the 1978 Grammy Awards: Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Just the Way You Are". It remains his best-selling non-compilation album to date, and surpassed Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water to become Columbia's best-selling album release, with more than 10 million units sold worldwide. Rolling Stone later named it one of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Robbie Williams
3/5
Life thru a Lens is the debut solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams. It was Williams' first solo album following his departure from Take That. Released on 29 September 1997 through Chrysalis Records, it is influenced by Britpop, a departure from the poppier tone of music Take That employed. The album's working name was The Show-Off Must Go On.[4]
The sound of the album is influenced by Britpop, especially bands such as Oasis,[1] a direction his former Take That bandmate Mark Owen had also chosen to pursue on his debut album Green Man (1996). John Bush of AllMusic said that Life thru a Lens "continually betrays overt influences from Oasis and other Britpop stars, but triumphs nevertheless due to gorgeous production, Williams' irresistible personality, and the overall flavor of outrageous, utterly enjoyable pop music."[1]
Beatles
5/5
Abbey Road is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It is the last album the group recorded,[2] although Let It Be was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970.[3] It was mostly recorded in April, July and August 1969, and was released on 26 September 1969 in the United Kingdom, and 1 October 1969 in the United States, reaching number one in both countries. A double A-side single from the album, "Something" / "Come Together" was released in October, which also topped the charts in the US.
Abbey Road incorporates styles such as rock, pop, blues, singer-songwriter, and progressive rock,[4] and makes prominent use of the Moog synthesizer and guitar played through a Leslie speaker unit. It is also notable for having a long medley of songs on side two that have subsequently been covered as one suite by other notable artists. The album was recorded in a more collegial atmosphere than the Get Back / Let It Be sessions earlier in the year, but there were still significant confrontations within the band, particularly over Paul McCartney's song "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", and John Lennon did not perform on several tracks. By the time the album was released Lennon had left the group, though this was not publicly announced until McCartney also quit the following year.
Although it was an immediate commercial success, it received mixed reviews. Some critics found its music inauthentic and criticised the production's artificial effects. By contrast, critics today view the album as one of the Beatles' best and rank it as one of the greatest albums of all time. George Harrison's two songs on the album, "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun", have been regarded as among the best he wrote for the group. The album's cover, featuring the group walking across a zebra crossing outside Abbey Road Studios, has become one of the most famous and imitated in the history of recorded music.
Many critics have since cited Abbey Road as the Beatles' greatest album.[125] In a retrospective review, Nicole Pensiero of PopMatters called it "an amazingly cohesive piece of music, innovative and timeless".[126] Mark Kemp of Paste viewed the album as being "among the Beatles' finest works, even if it foreshadows the cigarette-lighter-waving arena rock that technically skilled but critically maligned artists from Journey to Meatloaf would belabor throughout the '70s and '80s".[122] Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph dubbed it the Beatles' "last love letter to the world" and praised its "big, modern sound", calling it "lush, rich, smooth, epic, emotional and utterly gorgeous".[119]
Abbey Road received high rankings in several "best albums in history" polls by critics and publications.[127][128][129] It was voted number 8 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's book All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[130] Time included it in their 2006 list of the All-Time 100 Albums.[131] In 2009, readers of Rolling Stone named Abbey Road the greatest Beatles album.[127][132] In 2020, the magazine ranked the album at number 5 on its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", the highest Beatles record on the list;[133] a previous version of the list from 2012 had ranked it at number 14.[134] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[135]
Iggy Pop
3/5
Lust for Life is the second solo studio album by American musician Iggy Pop, released on September 9, 1977, through RCA Records. It was his second collaboration with English musician and friend David Bowie after The Idiot, released in March the same year. Shortly after Bowie released his own album Low in January, Pop went on a tour to support The Idiot with Bowie as his keyboardist. At the tour's conclusion, Pop and Bowie regrouped in Berlin to record the former's next solo album.
Lust for Life has appeared on several best-of lists by multiple publications. Sounds and Mojo ranked the album 21st and 44th in their lists of the 100 greatest albums of all time in 1986 and 1995, respectively.[79][80] Pitchfork ranked Lust for Life number 64 in its list of the 100 Best Albums of the 1970s in 2004.[81] In 2013, NME ranked the album 217th in their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[82] It was also included in the 2018 edition of Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[83]
Joe Ely
3/5
Honky Tonk Masquerade is the second album by country singer-songwriter Joe Ely, released in 1978.
Ely's second album has been highly regarded by critics around the world. It was included in the 2005 book, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[6] Writer Steve Pond places the album at number 40 on Rolling Stone's list of "50 Essential Albums of the 70s", calling it "the decade's most sure-footed country-rock collaboration".[7] Pond places the album in the same class as such 1970s "country landmarks" as Guy Clark's Old No. 1, Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger, and Terry Allen's Lubbock (On Everything). In addition, New Zealand critic Fred Muller places the album on his list of the top ten "best albums of the rock era".[8]
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
4/5
The Message is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, released on October 3, 1982 by Sugar Hill Records. It features the influential title track and hip hop single "The Message".
Reviewing in December 1982 for The New York Times, Robert Palmer hailed The Message as the year's best album and explained that while the emerging rap genre had often been criticized for confining itself to "bragging and boasting ... The Message is different. It's a gritty, plain-spoken, vividly cinematic portrait of black street life...social realism has rarely worked well in a pop-music context, but The Message is an utterly convincing cry of frustration and despair that cannot be ignored."[9] Robert Christgau ranked it as the 21st best album of 1982 his list for The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[10] In Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s (1990), he wrote that, although "She's Fresh" is the "only instant killer", each song's attempt to experiment and "touch a lot of bases with a broad demographic ... justifies itself".[3]
According to music journalist Tom Breihan, The Message was a "singles-plus filler cash-in" that proved "a fascinating time capsule of rap's early attempts with the album format" as well as "a full-length artistic breakthrough, a rap album that earned respect on its own terms".[11] In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Ron Wynn called it the "ultimate peak" for Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, naming the title track as its highlight.[2] Miles Marshall Lewis, reviewing the album's 2002 British reissue in The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), cited "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" as the "clincher" and "the only prime-period example of Flash's ability to set and shatter moods, with his turntables and faders running through a collage of at least 10 records that sound like hundreds."[5] Mark Richardson from Pitchfork said that The Message featured "two absolutely essential songs"—the title track and "Scorpio," which he dubbed "the greatest early electro track." However, he felt the rest of the songs were inferior.[6] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[12]
The Prodigy
3/5
The Fat of the Land is the third studio album by English electronic music group the Prodigy, released on 30 June 1997 through XL Recordings. The album received critical acclaim and topped the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. It has sold over 10 million copies worldwide as of 2019.[6][7]
The album has been featured in a number of music publication lists:
In 1998, Q magazine readers voted The Fat of the Land the ninth greatest album of all time. In 2000, Q placed it at number 47 in its list of the 100 greatest British albums ever.[citation needed] It has also been ranked number 43 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime" list,[23] and was included in their "90 Best Albums of the 1990s"[24] and "50 Best Albums of 1997" lists.[25]
Rolling Stone included it in their "Essential Recordings of the 90s" list.[26]
Spin ranked it number 20 on their list of the "Top 20 Albums of the Year [1997]" list.[27]
Melody Maker ranked it number 13 on their list of "Albums of the Year" for 1997[28] and number 29 in their 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.[29]
NME ranked it number 17 in their 1997 Critics' Poll.[30]
In 2000 it was voted number 269 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[31]
Heavy metal-focused magazine Metal Hammer included it in their 2020 list of the top 10 1997 albums, citing it as "the point at which rave culture collided with metal culture".[32]
3/5
Kick Out the Jams is the debut album by American proto-punk band MC5. It was released in February 1969, through Elektra Records. It was recorded live at Detroit's Grande Ballroom over two nights, Devil's Night and Halloween, 1968.[5]
The LP peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard 200 chart, with the title track peaking at No. 82 in the Hot 100. Although the album received an unfavorable review in Rolling Stone magazine upon its release, it has gone on to be considered an important forerunner to punk rock music, and was ranked number 294 in both 2003 and 2012 editions of Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" lists,[6][7] and at number 349 in a 2020 revised list.[8]
The Mothers Of Invention
4/5
Freak Out! is the debut album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on June 27, 1966, by Verve Records. Often cited as one of rock music's first concept albums, it is a satirical expression of frontman Frank Zappa's perception of American pop culture and the nascent freak scene of Los Angeles. It was also one of the earliest double albums in rock music,[not verified in body] as well as the first two-record debut album. In the UK, the album was originally released as an edited single disc.
“Freak Out!” reached No. 130 on the Billboard chart,[37] and was not a critical success when it was first released in the United States.[8] Many listeners were convinced that the album was drug-inspired,[5] and interpreted the album's title as slang for a bad LSD trip. The album made the Mothers of Invention immediate underground darlings with a strong counter-cultural following.[38] In The Real Frank Zappa Book, Zappa quotes a negative review of the album by Pete Johnson of the Los Angeles Times, who wrote:
I guess you might call it surrealistic paintings set to music. Not content to record just two sides of musical gibberish, the MOI devote four full sides to their type of "artistry". If anyone owns this album, perhaps he can tell me what in hell is going on ... The Mothers of Invention, a talented but warped quintet, have fathered an album poetically entitled Freak Out, which could be the greatest stimulus to the aspirin industry since the income tax.[39]
The album developed a major cult following in the United States by the time MGM/Verve had been merged into a division of PolyGram in 1972. At that time many MGM/Verve releases including Freak Out! were prematurely deleted in an attempt to keep the struggling company financially solvent. Zappa had already moved on to his own companies Bizarre Records and Straight Records, which were distributed by Warner Bros. Records. Freak Out! was initially more successful in Europe and quickly influenced many English rock musicians.[18] According to David Fricke, the album was a major influence on the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.[40] Paul McCartney regarded Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as the Beatles' Freak Out! [41] Zappa criticized the Beatles, as he felt they were "only in it for the money".[42]
Freak Out! was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999,[43] ranked at number 243 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003,[44] and 246 in a 2012 revised list.[45] It was also featured in the 2006 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[46] The album was named as one of Classic Rock magazine's "50 Albums That Built Prog Rock".[47] It was voted number 315 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000
Nirvana
5/5
Nevermind is the second album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind features a more polished, radio-friendly sound than the band's prior work.[4] It was recorded at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, and Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin in May and June 1991, and mastered that August at the Mastering Lab in Hollywood, California.
Written primarily by frontman Kurt Cobain, Nevermind is noted for channeling a range of emotions, being noted as dark, humorous, and disturbing. It includes anti-establishment views, anti-sexism, frustration, alienation, and troubled love inspired by Cobain's broken relationship with Bikini Kill's Tobi Vail. Contrary to the popular hedonistic themes of drugs and sex at the time, writers have observed that Nevermind re-invigorated sensitivity to mainstream rock. According to Cobain, the sound of the album was influenced by bands such as Pixies, R.E.M., the Smithereens, and Melvins. Though the album is considered a cornerstone of the grunge genre, it is noted for its musical diversity, which includes acoustic ballads ("Polly" and "Something in the Way") and punk-inspired hard rock ("Territorial Pissings" and "Stay Away").[5]
Nevermind became an unexpected critical and commercial success, hitting the top 10 charts across the world. By January 1992, it reached number one on the US Billboard 200 and was selling approximately 300,000 copies a week. The lead single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" reached the top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100 and went on to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Its video was also heavily rotated on MTV. Three other successful singles were released: "Come as You Are", "Lithium", and "In Bloom". The album was voted the best album of the year in Pazz & Jop critics' poll, while "Smells Like Teen Spirit" also topped the single of the year and video of the year polls. The album also garnered the band three Grammy Award nominations in total across the 34th and 35th Grammy Awards, including Best Alternative Music Album.
Nevermind and its singles' success propelled Nirvana to being widely regarded as the biggest band of the 1990s, with Cobain being dubbed by critics as the "voice of his generation." The album brought grunge and alternative rock to a mainstream audience while ending the dominance of hair metal, drawing similarities to the early 1960s British Invasion of American popular music. It is also often credited with initiating a resurgence of interest in punk culture among teenagers and young adults of Generation X, becoming seminal to the counterculture of the decade. It has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. In March 1999, it was certified Diamond by the RIAA. Among the most acclaimed and influential albums in the history of music, Nevermind was added to the National Recording Registry in 2004 as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", and is frequently ranked highly on lists of the greatest albums of all time. The album has since been reissued with alternate takes and live performances.
The album is noted for channeling a range of emotions, being noted as dark, humorous, and disturbing.[36] Thematically, it includes anti-establishment views,[37] and lyrics about sexism,[38] frustration, loneliness, sickness, and troubled love.[39] Contrary to the popular hedonistic themes of drugs and sex at the time, writers have observed that the album re-invigorated sensitivity to mainstream rock.[40] Cobain said that the lyrics were taken from two years of poetry he accumulated, which he then cut up and chose lines he preferred,[41] noting that they're "not usually thematic at all."[42] On the other hand, Grohl has said that Cobain told him, "Music comes first and lyrics come second," and Grohl believes that above all Cobain focused on the melodies of his songs.[6] Cobain was still working on the album's lyrics well into the recording of Nevermind. Additionally, Cobain's phrasing on the album is often difficult to understand. Vig asserted that clarity of Cobain's singing was not paramount, saying that "Even though you couldn't quite tell what he was singing about, you knew it was intense as hell."[6] Cobain later complained when rock journalists attempted to decipher his singing and extract meaning from his lyrics, writing: "Why in the hell do journalists insist on coming up with a second-rate Freudian evaluation of my lyrics, when 90 percent of the time they've transcribed them incorrectly?"[43]
The album had an enormous impact towards youth culture. Goodman says that Nevermind "killed off hair metal, and sparked a cultural revolution across the globe".[40] Speaking to the BBC, Brazilian cultural studies academic Moyses Pinto stated that he was struck by Nevermind, saying "I thought: 'this is perfect'; it sounded like a bright synthesis of noise and pop music."[114] In similar praise, Kgomotso Neto says that the impact of Nirvana, as well as MTV, during the time of Nevermind, caused a new youth who listened to the same music and dressed similarly (grunge fashion). Neto further remarks that "there was a cultural homogeneity probably never experienced before" and that "grunge culture became dominant very quickly; all that had been 'cool' suddenly became ugly and exaggerated, and Kurt [Cobain] was the symbol of transgression."[114] Michael Azerrad argued in his Nirvana biography Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana (1993) that Nevermind marked an epochal generational shift in music similar to the rock-and-roll explosion in the 1950s and the end of the dominance of the baby boomer generation on popular music. Azerrad wrote, "Nevermind came along at exactly the right time. This was music by, for, and about a whole new group of young people who had been overlooked, ignored, or condescended to."[115
Public Enemy
4/5
Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black is the fourth studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on October 1, 1991, by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records.[1][4] The album received critical acclaim, ranking at No. 2 in The Village Voice's 1991 Pazz & Jop critics' poll.
Upon release, Apocalypse 91 earned critical acclaim. Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone praised its production and lyrics, stating that Apocalypse 91 "attempts nothing short of setting a sociopolitical agenda for the black community."[18] Similarly, Ronin Ro of The Source highlighted Chuck D's powerful and focused lyrics as well as the uncompromising and raw nature of the album.[20] NME credited the album for being "more soulful" and funkier than its predecessors, but admitted that it includes some filler.[16] In Playboy, prominent critic Robert Christgau highlighted the first half of the album, calling it "Public Enemy's most exciting sustained sequence ever", but criticized the second half for being less consistent.[22]
"Apocalypse '91 is great rather than classic because you can't make four classic albums in a row…" observed the hip-hop fanzine Louder Than A Bomb!. "PE are still the best band in America and they've once again made the best album of the year."[23]
Tim Buckley
3/5
Goodbye and Hello is the second album by Tim Buckley, released in August 1967, recorded in Los Angeles, California, in June of the same year.
Matthew Greenwald in a retrospective review for AllMusic felt that it is "an excellent and revolutionary album that was a quantum leap for both Tim Buckley and the audience".[1]
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[2] In 2000, it was voted number 516 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[3]
Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He began his career based in folk rock, but subsequently experimented with genres such as psychedelia, jazz, the avant-garde, and funk as well as unconventional vocal stylings. His commercial peak came with the 1969 album Happy Sad, reaching No. 81 on the charts, while his experimental 1970 album Starsailor went on to become a cult favorite.[5] The latter contained his best known song, "Song to the Siren." Buckley died at the age of 28 from a heroin and morphine overdose, leaving behind sons Taylor and Jeff.
Mudhoney
3/5
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge is the second studio album by American rock band Mudhoney.[3][12] It was recorded in 1991, at a time when the band was thinking of signing to a major record label, but decided to release the album on Sub Pop. The album shipped 50,000 copies on its original release.[13] It is credited with helping to keep Sub Pop in business.[14]
Entertainment Weekly wrote: "Imagine the heaviest of Black Sabbath heavy metal, only somewhat speeded up and with added touches of humor, and you have a good approximation of the Mudhoney way of life."[8] Trouser Press wrote that "Conrad Uno’s dry 8-track production sharpens Mudhoney’s garage-rock edge — evident in Arm’s fuzzed-out vocals and a shared fondness for second-hand blues progressions — enough to stand apart from the watered-down metal of most flannel merchants, but they don’t go anywhere with it."[5] The Spin Alternative Record Guide called the album "charming," writing that a "revitalized sense of hooks connect Mudhoney more directly back to '60s garage."[11]
Along with the band's debut EP Superfuzz Bigmuff, the album was included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, with reviewer Jason Chow calling it "a classic album, one of the best of the genre."[16]
Barry Adamson
4/5
Moss Side Story is the debut album of British musician Barry Adamson released in 1989. The album is a concept album, a soundtrack album to a non-existent crime film.
The music is almost completely instrumental except for occasional screams, vocal samples and a choir. To achieve the soundtrack effect, the song titles are descriptive of a film noir plot outline. The inner sleeve came with a short story written by Dave Graney which added to the concept. This complemented outer sleeve which displays the tag line: "In a black and white world, murder brings a touch of colour..." In a 2017 interview, Adamson reported that he recorded Moss Side Story due to his fascination with film music and as "a calling card [to] send it around to people" in hopes of being hired to write music for actual films.[2]
The NME review of the albums describes it as a "Grand filmic suite intended as the soundtrack to a "provocative film thriller set in Manchester's Moss Side" and that Moss Side Story is "one of the best soundtracks ever, the fact that it has no accompanying movie is a trifling irrelevance."[4]
A retrospective review by Ritchie Unterberger of Allmusic described the album as "a sinister and edgy soundscape" that remained Adamson's best solo effort by far.[1]
Sleater-Kinney
3/5
Dig Me Out is the third studio album by the American rock band Sleater-Kinney, released on April 8, 1997, by Kill Rock Stars. The album was produced by John Goodmanson and recorded from December 1996 to January 1997 at John and Stu's Place in Seattle, Washington. Dig Me Out marked the debut of Janet Weiss, who would become the band's longest-serving drummer. The music on the record was influenced by traditional rock and roll bands, while the lyrics deal with issues of heartbreak and survival. The album cover is an homage to the Kinks' 1965 album The Kink Kontroversy.
Two singles were released in support of the album: "One More Hour" and "Little Babies". The title track "Dig Me Out" peaked at number six on the KEXP Top 90.3 Album Chart in 1997 without being released as a single. The album was acclaimed by music critics, who praised the album's energy and feminist lyrics. Retrospectively, Dig Me Out is considered the band's breakthrough record and is frequently included on several publications' best album lists. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked it No. 189 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Retrospectively, Dig Me Out is considered Sleater-Kinney's breakthrough album.[2] According to About.com's Anthony Carew, the record took the band "from the cult corner of the Pacific Northwest to international acclaim".[34] Writing for Nooga.com, Joshua Pickard stated that the album "was a revelation for both its clever use of punk principles and for its breakdown of social assumptions."[35] With the album, Pickard felt that Sleater-Kinney "succeeded in reshaping what was considered possible for punk rock", and that the album transformed the band into "an institution of rebellion and proponents of a musical insurgency. And they never compromised on their ideas of what music could and should be."[35]
Dig Me Out is frequently included on several publications' best album lists. In 1999, Spin editors ranked it at No. 21 on their list of The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s.[36] In 2001, the magazine placed it at No. 19 on its list of 50 Most Essential Punk Records.[37] In 2005, the album was ranked No. 24 in Spin's 100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005.[38] In 2008, the song "Dig Me Out" was ranked No. 44 in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time".[39] In 2011, the album was placed at No. 71 by Slant Magazine on its list of The 100 Best Albums of the 1990s.[40] In 2012, the album was ranked No. 272 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[41] and No. 189 on their 2020 edition.[42] Spin ranked it at No. 74 on their 125 Best Albums of the Past 25 Years, stating that "Dig Me Out captures the noise of a soul-filled body shaking itself awake, and that's an experience that bridges any gender divide."[43] The album was ranked No. 47 on Pitchfork's 150 Best Albums of the 1990s.[44] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[45]
The Divine Comedy
3/5
Casanova is the fourth studio album by Northern Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy. It was released in 1996 by Setanta Records, and it happened to be the band's commercial breakthrough. It was certified Gold in the UK in July 1997, aided by the release of the album's first single, "Something for the Weekend", which reached No. 13 on the charts. Two other singles released from the album, "Becoming More Like Alfie" and "The Frog Princess", charted at No. 27 and No. 15, respectively.[3]
The album's sixth track, "Songs of Love", made its debut on the popular Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted,[5] officially remaining the show's theme song, as heard in its opening titles and end credits. The song was later covered by Ben Folds on his EP Sunny 16 in 2003 and Peter Bjorn and John as part of Under the Radar's Covers of Covers album in 2022.[14]
The album was included in the 2010 edition of the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[15] In 2014, NME included the album in its list of "30 Glorious Britpop Albums That Deserve a Reissue Pronto," saying "Gawky Neil Hannon as smooth loverman was a conceit that actually worked and it produced two of Britpop's least obvious classics in the hilarious Cold Comfort Farm-inspired tale of 'Something for the Weekend' and the movie fantasy of 'Becoming More Like Alfie'."[16]
The xx
5/5
xx is the debut album by the English indie pop band the xx. It was released on 14 August 2009 by Young Turks, then an imprint label of XL Recordings, and recorded from December 2008 to February 2009 at the label's in-house studio in London. Producing the album, Jamie Smith of the xx created electronic beats for the songs on his laptop and mixed them in a detailed process with the audio engineer Rodaidh McDonald, who attempted to reproduce the intimate, unembellished quality of the band's original demos.
In subsequent years, xx proved highly influential as many indie bands and mainstream pop acts incorporated the record's distinctive musical characteristics into their own songs. Petridis later wrote that to his surprise much of 2016's best-selling singles "sounded oddly but irrefutably" like the album: "You can hear its muted, echoing guitars on everything from the Chainsmokers' 'Don't Let Me Down' to Shawn Mendes' 'Stitches' to Zara Larsson's 'Lush Life'." Ryan Tedder, who wrote hit songs for such top-selling singers as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande, said the xx's "hauntingness" on the record "gets referenced in at least every other [writing] session".[66]
John Lennon
4/5
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band is the debut solo album by English musician John Lennon. Backed by the Plastic Ono Band, it was released by Apple Records on 11 December 1970 in tandem with the similarly titled album by his wife, Yoko Ono. At the time of its issue, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band received mixed reviews overall, but later came to be widely regarded as Lennon's best solo album.[2]
Co-produced by Lennon, Ono and Phil Spector, it followed Lennon's recording of three experimental releases with Ono and a live album from the 1969 version of the Plastic Ono Band. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band contains a largely raw production sound with songs heavily influenced by Lennon's recent primal scream therapy. Its lyrics reflect Lennon's personal issues and includes themes of child-parent abandonment and psychological suffering. The tracks were recorded in September and October 1970 at Abbey Road Studios in London, simultaneously with Ono's similarly titled solo album.
In 2000, Q placed John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band at number 62 in its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever".[89] In 1987, the album was ranked fourth on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 best albums of the period 1967–87,[90] and in 2003, it was placed at number 22 in the magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[91] 23 in a 2012 revised list,[47][92] and 85 in a 2020 revised list.[93] In 2006, the album was placed by Pitchfork at number 60 of its Top 100 Albums of the 1970s.[94] In 2006, the album was chosen by Time as one of the 100 best albums of all time.[95]
Plastic Ono Band is considered by some to be Lennon's best solo album[2] and is certainly one of his most influential works.[63] The record became known as "the Primal Album".[41] Janov incorporated it into his therapy course,[41] although he rued that Lennon had cut off his therapy prematurely and that "We had opened him up, and we didn't have time to put him back together again."[13][85]
Songhoy Blues
4/5
Songhoy Blues is a desert blues music group from Timbuktu, Mali. The band was formed in Bamako after being forced to leave their homes during the civil conflict and the imposition of Sharia law.[3] The band released its debut album, Music in Exile, via Transgressive Records on February 23, 2015, while Julian Casablancas' Cult Records partnered with Atlantic Records to release the album in North America in March 2015. The group is one of the principal subjects of the documentary film They Will Have To Kill Us First.[4]
According to Jane Cornwell, writing for The Australian, Songhoy Blues "are an all-stops-out guitar band. 'World music' they are not". Band member Garba Toure states,"We grew up listening to old music by the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and John Lee Hooker. But our main diet was hip hop and R&B. We can't stay in the traditional aesthetic of our grandparents; that was another time. Besides, we love electric guitars too much".[15] Helen Brown of the Daily Telegraph describes the band's music as "Africa-blues-rock", stating that Songhoy Blues "do owe a musical debt to Ali Farka Touré (whose songs they started out covering), but they're definitely etching out their own groove".[3] Garba Touré is the son of Ali Farka Touré's long-time percussionist.[15]
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Cosmo's Factory is the fifth studio album by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, released by Fantasy Records on July 8, 1970. Six of the album's eleven tracks were released as singles in 1970, and all of them charted in the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100. The album spent nine consecutive weeks in the number one position on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified 4x platinum by the RIAA in 1990.
Perhaps more than any other Creedence album, Cosmo's Factory displays the wide range of musical ingredients that provided the foundation for their "swamp rock" sound: R&B ("Before You Accuse Me", "My Baby Left Me"), soul ("I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "Long As I Can See the Light"), country ("Lookin' Out My Back Door"), rockabilly and classic rock and roll ("Ooby Dooby", "Travelin' Band"), and psychedelia ("Ramble Tamble").
In 2003, the album was ranked number 265 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time; it was ranked number 413 on the revised 2020 list.[23][24]
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
3/5
Devotional Songs is a studio album by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Party released in 1992. The music is Sufi devotional music known as Qawwali.[1] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[2]
Throbbing Gristle
3/5
D.o.A: The Third and Final Report is the second studio album by industrial music pioneers Throbbing Gristle, released in December 1978 by record label Industria..
Pitchfork described the album as "a nauseating masterpiece, and an essential recording".[4] AllMusic stated that the album "is nearly as harsh and uncompromising as The Second Annual Report. While both albums are a mixture of live and studio material, D.o.A is much more stylistically varied -- rather than focusing on multiple versions of the same pieces (plus a 20-minute film score), each of the 13 tracks is distinct, ranging from captured conversations to thoroughly composed creations."[2]
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[8] On the album, Throbbing Gristle member Chris Carter recalled: "DoA showcased some of our strongest work and established the course we would head in."[7]
Lou Reed
3/5
Berlin is the third solo studio album by American rock musician Lou Reed, released in October 1973 by RCA Records. A concept album, Berlin tells the story of a couple's struggle with drug addiction and abuse. Initially, critical reception was mixed but appraisals of the album have warmed over the years: in 1973 Rolling Stone declared the album "a disaster", but by 2012 the album was ranked No. 344 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[2][3]
Instrumentally, Reed plays acoustic guitar. As with Reed's previous two studio albums, Berlin re-drafts several songs that had been written and recorded previously. The title track first appeared on Reed's solo debut album, only here it is simplified, the key changed and re-arranged for solo piano. "Oh, Jim" makes use of the Velvet Underground outtake "Oh, Gin". "Caroline Says II" is a rewrite of "Stephanie Says" from VU (though the latter was not released until 1985). The Velvet Underground had also recorded an alternative demo of "Sad Song", which had much milder lyrics in its original form. "Men of Good Fortune" had also been played by the Velvet Underground as early as 1966; an archival live recording, which can only be heard at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, features the song.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
What's Going On is the eleventh studio album by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. It was released on May 21, 1971, by the Motown Records subsidiary label Tamla. Recorded between 1970 and 1971 in sessions at Hitsville U.S.A., Golden World, and United Sound Studios in Detroit, and at The Sound Factory in West Hollywood, California, it was Gaye's first album to credit him as a producer and to credit Motown's in-house studio band, the session musicians known as the Funk Brothers.
What's Going On is a concept album with most of its songs segueing into the next and has been categorized as a song cycle. The narrative established by the songs is told from the point of view of a Vietnam veteran returning to his home country to witness hatred, suffering, and injustice. Gaye's introspective lyrics explore themes of drug abuse, poverty, and the Vietnam War. He has also been credited with promoting awareness of ecological issues before the public outcry over them had become prominent ("Mercy Mercy Me").
What's Going On stayed on the Billboard Top LPs for over a year and became Gaye's second number-one album on Billboard's Soul LPs chart, where it stayed for nine weeks. The title track, which had been released in January 1971 as the album's lead single, hit number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and held the top position on Billboard's Soul Singles chart five weeks running. The follow-up singles "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" also reached the top 10 of the Hot 100, making Gaye the first male solo artist to place three top ten singles on the Hot 100 from one album.
The album was an immediate commercial and critical success, and came to be viewed by music historians as a classic of 1970s soul. Broad-ranging surveys of critics, musicians, and the general public have shown that What's Going On is regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time and a landmark recording in popular music.[1] In 1985, writers on British music weekly the NME voted it the best album of all time. In 2020, it was ranked number one on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[2]
According to Paul Gambaccini, Gaye's death in 1984 prompted a critical re-evaluation of the album, and most reviewers have since regarded it as an important masterpiece of popular music.[35] In MusicHound R&B (1998), Gary Graff said What's Going On was "not just a great Gaye album but is one of the great pop albums of all time",[27] and Rolling Stone later credited the album for having "revolutionized black music".[15] The Washington Post critic Geoffrey Himes names it an exemplary release of the progressive soul development from 1968 to 1973,[37] and Pitchfork's Tom Breihan calls it a prog-soul masterpiece.[38] BBC Music's David Katz described the album as "one of the greatest albums of all time, and nothing short of a masterpiece" and compared it to Miles Davis's Kind of Blue by saying "its non-standard musical arrangements, which heralded a new sound at the time, gives it a chilling edge that ultimately underscores its gravity, with subtle orchestral enhancements offset by percolating congas, expertly layered above James Jamerson's bubbling bass".[39] In his 1994 review of Gaye's re-issues, Chicago Tribune reviewer Greg Kot described the album as "soul music's first 'art' album, an inner-city response to the Celtic mysticism of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, the psychedelic pop of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [and] the rewired blues of Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited."[25] Richie Unterberger found the album somewhat overrated, writing in The Rough Guide to Rock (2003) that much of its "meandering introspection" paled in comparison to its three singles.[40]
Queen Latifah
4/5
All Hail the Queen is the debut studio album by American rapper Queen Latifah. The album was released on November 7, 1989, through Tommy Boy Records. The feminist anthem[1] "Ladies First", featuring Monie Love, remains one of Latifah's signature songs.
In 2023, All Hail the Queen was inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry, based on its "cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage."[15] In their statement explaining their inclusion of the album, the Library of Congress said, "[Queen Latifah's] album showed rap could cross genres including reggae, hip-hop, house, and jazz – while also opening opportunities for other female rappers."[16]
Joanna Newsom
3/5
Ys (/ˈiːs/ EESS) is the second studio album by American musician Joanna Newsom. It was released by Drag City on November 14, 2006. The album was produced by Newsom and Van Dyke Parks, recorded by Steve Albini, mixed by Jim O'Rourke, with accompanying orchestral arrangements by Van Dyke Parks. It features guest vocals from Bill Callahan and Emily Newsom. The vocals and harp were recorded at The Village Recording Studio in Los Angeles in December 2005, with the orchestration being recorded between May and June 2006 at the Entourage Studios in Los Angeles.[6]
The album consists of five tracks with song durations ranging from 7 to 17 minutes that deal with events and people who had been important in Newsom's life in the year previous to recording. These events include the sudden death of Newsom's best friend, a continuing illness and a tumultuous relationship.[7] The album was named after the city of Ys, which according to myth was built on the coast of Brittany and later swallowed by the ocean. The album's title was the last element to be confirmed and was a result of a dream that Joanna had which featured the letters Y and S and a book recommended by a friend that contained reference to the myth.[7] Newsom grew up near Yuba and Sutter counties in California, an area which is commonly abbreviated as "YS" for "Yuba-Sutter", which may have additionally inspired the title.
Ys received acclaim. It was Newsom's first album to chart in the Billboard 200, where it peaked at number 134, and charted in the United Kingdom, France, Norway and Ireland. It has featured on several music publications' lists of the greatest albums.
Following its release in November 2006, Ys received widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 85, indicating "universal acclaim".[11] Chris Dahlen of Pitchfork called Ys "great because Newsom confronts a mountain of conflicting feelings, and sifts through them for every nuance".[18] Describing it as "incredibly likeable, and more convivial than the twee Milk Eyed Mender", Jimmy Newlin of Slant Magazine dubbed Ys "a precious—in every sense of the word—masterpiece".[21] Uncut's John Mulvey felt that though its "vast scale" opens up the potential for "self-indulgence" and "prog folly", upon listening to the record "all the doubts evaporate. Every elaboration has a purpose, every labyrinthine melodic detour feels necessary rather than contrived."[3] Heather Phares of AllMusic described Ys as "a demanding listen, but it's also a rewarding and inspiring one",[12] while Alexis Petridis of The Guardian concluded that the album is a "hard sell, perhaps, but it could be the best musical investment you make all year".[14]
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
It's Blitz! is the third studio album by American indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, released on March 6, 2009, by Interscope Records. It was originally set for release on April 13, 2009. However, after being leaked to the Internet on February 22,[4] the release date was pushed forward to March 9 for the digital version and March 31 for the physical version.[5]
It's Blitz! received universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 82, based on 36 reviews.[10] The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan commended the band's more dance-oriented sound, writing their "glittery new disco sound suits them very well. It's all cool, brittle catchiness, with a debt owed to Eat to the Beat-era Blondie".[14] Emily Mackay of NME wrote that "It's Blitz!'s heartfelt love letter to the transcendent possibilities of the dancefloor is an unexpectedly emphatic reassertion of why Yeah Yeah Yeahs are one of the most exciting bands of this decade",[17] while Spin's Charles Aaron said that it is "the alternative pop album of the decade—one that imbues The Killers' Hot Fuss and MGMT's Oracular Spectacular with a remarkable emotional depth and finesse".[2] Theon Weber of The Village Voice said that Karen O "isn't revealed to us through the record's lyrics, which are as gnomic as ever, but through attitudes, tones, put-on sneers, and audible grins."[20] Mojo gave it a score of four stars out of five and wrote that the band has "managed to mix the human and the electronic, the emotional and the artsy, the fashion-forward and the oddly retro."[21]
Blender also gave the album four stars out of five and hailed it as "the sound of a band reborn with new momentum, and on an album that requires dancing, the message is clear: It doesn't matter where you came from. Just keep moving."[22] Clash commented that the trio had achieved growth without distancing themselves from what made their name: "The album proves that they can provide epic music with personal themes, that YYYs can expand without losing what made us fall for them in the first place".[23] Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that the band "grapple with separation and need, using dance beats to suggest the compulsive pleasure seeking that tries to drown out loneliness", and he commended their musical direction, stating, "The band is echoing the evolution of postpunk, from dogmatic austerity to technologically assisted".[24] Uncut's April Long gave it a score of four stars out of five and praised its "spirit of experimentation", stating "What unifies them is a warm romanticism that runs throughout, edging out Karen's blatant eroticism of yore – even though there are more come-downs than come-ons, every song seems to glow from within".[25]
Destiny's Child
4/5
Survivor is the third studio album by American girl group Destiny's Child. It was released on May 1, 2001, by Columbia Records. As their breakthrough second studio album The Writing's on the Wall (1999) became a rising commercial success, Destiny's Child faced the controversial departure of original members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson, who were replaced with Farrah Franklin and Michelle Williams, in February 2000. Soon afterwards, they commenced production of their third studio album, tentatively titled Independent Women.
Upon its release, Survivor received generally positive reviews, mostly aimed at its production, while its balladry, length and lyrical content ignited criticism. Retrospective critical commentaries have credited the record for its impact on mainstream music of the 2000s and for serving as foundation for Beyoncé's solo career. A global commercial success, the album debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 663,000 units, becoming Destiny's Child's first number-one album on the chart. It has gone on to be certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). At the 44th Annual Grammy Awards (2002), the album was nominated for Best R&B Album. By 2004, it had sold over ten million copies worldwide, being among the best-selling girl group albums of all time.
Survivor is predominantly an R&B and pop record exploring genres such as hip hop, funk and dance.[31][32][33][34] Its lyrical themes include dynamics between women, self-esteem, independence and romantic relationships.[35][36] The album opens with the uptempo club track "Independent Women Part I", which encourages female empowerment and financial independence. As it was recorded for the accompanying soundtrack for Charlie's Angels (2000), it makes numerous lyrical references to the film.[18] The album's title track features looped strings built around an "abrasive" hip hop instrumental.[30][36] Lyrically, it's considered a "prolonged and rather vindictive attack" on the former members of Destiny's Child–LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson and Farrah Franklin.[37] The "blinding Prince-like R&B-jazz odyssey" "Bootylicious" features a lyrical response to those who had criticized Beyoncé's weight gain, against a prominent guitar riff sample from Stevie Nicks' 1981 song "Edge of Seventeen".[31][38] "Nasty Girl" features the group "hurling insults at a hip-hop harlot",[34] while dismissing "classless" women altogether.[39] It features an uncredited interpolation of Salt-N-Pepa's 1986 song "Push It".[40] Pizzicato string-driven "Fancy" is seen as another diss track directed towards the group's former members.[37][33]
Baaba Maal
3/5
Baaba Maal (Fula: 𞤄𞤢𞥄𞤦𞤢 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤, born 13 June 1953) is a Senegalese singer and guitarist born in Podor, on the Senegal River. In addition to acoustic guitar, he also plays percussion. He has released several albums, both for independent and major labels. In July 2003, he was made a UNDP Youth Emissary
After returning from study in Paris, Maal studied traditional music with Mansour Seck and began performing with the band Daande Lenol. Maal's fusions continued into the next decade with his Firin' in Fouta (1994) album, which used ragga, salsa and Breton harp music to create a popular sound that launched the careers of Positive Black Soul, a group of rappers, and also led to the formation of Afro Celt Sound System. His fusion tendencies continued on 1998's Nomad Soul, which featured Brian Eno as one of seven producers. In addition to his various solo releases, he contributed to two tracks, "Bushes" and "Dunya Salam", on the concept album 1 Giant Leap.
Nick Drake
4/5
Five Leaves Left was recorded between May 1968 and April 1969 at Sound Techniques in London, England. Engineer John Wood recalled that "[Drake] would track live, singing and playing along with the string section" without the use of any overdubbing. For the song "River Man", producer Joe Boyd described Drake playing on a stool in the centre of the studio while surrounded by a semi-circle of instruments. The studio's environment was also an important factor as it had multiple levels to it which enabled the creation of interesting sounds and atmospheres.[1][5]
Among his various backing musicians, Drake was accompanied by Richard Thompson from Fairport Convention and Danny Thompson of Pentangle. Robert Kirby, a friend of Drake's from Cambridge University, arranged the string instruments for several tracks while Harry Robinson arranged the strings for "River Man".[6] The title of the album is a reference to the old Rizla cigarette papers packet, which used to contain a printed note near the end saying "Only five leaves left".[7]
Until the 1990s Drake's albums had been critically and popularly ignored.[5][6] By the 1990s, though, Drake and his work had begun to attract more attention. A 1989 retrospective assessment of Five Leaves Left by Len Brown in NME awarded the album 9/10 and stated that it "remains a masterpiece of English melancholy; a moving work that first revealed Drake's remarkable talent to communicate his fears of passing light and life, with simple beauty; his skill to charge listeners with emotions equal to his own".[19] Including it in a 1999 list of twelve of "the best folk albums of all time", Q in 1999 called it "the pinnacle of a melancholy canon of work so distinctive that admirers can only speculate miserably on what might have been".[20] A 2007 review by Chris Jones for the BBC said, "it's hard not to be still floored by the beauty of [Drake's] first album" and lauded its "unique vision" mixing elements of English folk music and jazz.[6]
The release of the remastered version in 2000 resulted in further positive retrospective reviews from music magazines. John Harris wrote in Q that "the record's abiding impression" was of "a hesitant, slightly troubled soul peering at the straight world and wondering what will become of both him and the people he beholds".[16] In Uncut Ian MacDonald said, "A fine debut, Five Leaves Left would have been stronger still had 'I Was Made to Love Magic' and 'Time of No Reply' been used instead of 'Thoughts of Mary Jane' and 'Man in a Shed' ... This aside, the album remains singular – cool and shady amid the celebratory sunshine of the late Sixties."[18] Alternative Press called it "[one] of the most beautiful and melancholy albums ever recorded".[21]
Accolades
Edit
Five Leaves Left has regularly appeared on lists of the best albums of all time. The album was ranked number 283 on Rolling Stone magazine's original 2003 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[22] NME ranked it at number 258 on their 2013 list of "NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", noting that "his maudlin songs are brought vividly to life with orchestration from Fairport Convention, Pentangle and arranger Robert Kirby".[23] A list of the "200 Greatest Albums of All Time" in Uncut in 2016 placed the album at number 183.[24]
Linkin Park
4/5
Hybrid Theory is the debut studio album by American rock band Linkin Park, released on October 24, 2000, through Warner Bros. Records. Recorded at NRG Recordings in North Hollywood, California, and produced by Don Gilmore, the album's lyrical themes deal with problems lead vocalist Chester Bennington experienced during his adolescence, including drug abuse and the constant fighting and divorce of his parents. Hybrid Theory takes its title from the previous name of the band as well as the concept of music theory and combining different styles. This is also the only album on which bassist Dave Farrell does not play.
Four singles were released from Hybrid Theory: "One Step Closer", "In the End", "Crawling" and "Papercut", all of them being responsible for launching Linkin Park into mainstream popularity. While "In the End" was the most successful of the four, all of the singles in the album remain some of the band's most successful songs to date. Although "Runaway", "Points of Authority", and "My December" from the special edition bonus disc album were not released as singles, they were minor hits on alternative rock radio stations thanks to the success of all of the band's singles and the album; "Runaway" has also made several appearances on radio stations.
The music of Hybrid Theory draws from diverse inspirations. Bennington's singing style is influenced by acts such as Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots,[14] while the riffs and playing techniques of guitarist Brad Delson are modeled after Deftones, Guns N' Roses,[15] U2, and The Smiths.[14] The lyrical content of the songs primarily touches upon the problems that Bennington encountered during his childhood, including constant and excessive drug and alcohol abuse,[14] the divorce of his parents, isolation,[26] disappointments, and the aftermath feelings of failed relationships.[27] Stylistically, the album has been described as nu metal,[28][29][30][31][32][33] rap metal,[28][34][35][36] rap rock,[37][38][39][40] alternative metal,[40][41] alternative rock,[42][43] and hard rock.[44][45]
Hybrid Theory debuted at number 16 on the US Billboard 200, selling 50,000 copies in its first week.[87][88] It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) five weeks after its release.[15] In 2001, the album had sold 4.8 million copies in the United States, making it the best-selling album of the year,[89][90] and it was estimated that the album continued selling 100,000 copies per week in early 2002.[14] Throughout the following years, the album continued to sell at a fast pace and was eventually certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2005 for shipment of ten million copies in the United States; in 2017, it was awarded another level of platinum status for a total of 11× Platinum.[91] In 2001 the album was the second best-selling album globally, selling 8.5 million copies.[92] To date, the album has sold 27 million copies worldwide,[93] which makes it the best selling debut album of the 21st century.[94] As of September 2020, the album has been certified 12x Platinum (Diamond) and has sold 10.5 million copies in the United States per Nielsen SoundScan.[95][96]
Living Colour
3/5
Vivid is the debut studio album by American band Living Colour, released on May 3, 1988, through Epic Records. It was one of the most popular albums of 1988, peaking at number six on the US Billboard 200 chart and being certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Vivid has been described as a hard rock,[2][3][4][5] funk metal,[6][7] alternative metal,[8] heavy metal,[9] and funk rock album,[10] with elements of funk,[3][4][11][12] soul,[3][4] jazz,[4][11] avant-garde jazz,[12] arena rock,[12] pop,[11][13] punk rock,[12] and rap.[11]
In The Philadelphia Inquirer, Ken Tucker commented that Living Colour "defies musical stereotypes by evincing influences that include Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jimi Hendrix, Roxy Music and Sly Stone to yield a fierce, funny album."[18] Mark Sinker of NME likewise highlighted the band's diversity of influences, including their embrace of older musical styles "that even metal heads haven't taken seriously", and concluded that Vivid "lives up, simultaneously, to the pinhead directness of Zeppelin and the total Texas-New Yorker strangeness of Ornette Coleman's Prime Time."[17] "In its own way," wrote Rolling Stone critic David Fricke, "Vivid is an open letter to rock & roll itself, a demand for equal time and respect from a music that is Living Colour's birthright."[12] He added that the album "will not change the world single-handedly, but it's a timely reminder of why it's always worth trying."[12] Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic in The Village Voice, finding that "while it's momentarily exhilarating to hear this all-black band come power-chording out of the box, after a while the fancy arrangements and strained soul remind me of, I don't know, Megadeth."[21]
Living Colour is an American rock[4] band from New York City, formed in 1984. The band currently consists of guitarist Vernon Reid, lead vocalist Corey Glover, drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Doug Wimbish (who replaced Muzz Skillings in 1992). Stylistically, their music is a creative fusion influenced by heavy metal, funk, jazz, hip hop, punk, and alternative rock. The band's lyrics range from the personal to the political, including social commentary on racism in the United States.
Public Image Ltd.
3/5
Metal Box is the second studio album by Public Image Ltd, released by Virgin Records on 23 November 1979.[6] The album takes its name from the round metal canister which contained the initial pressings of the record. It was later reissued in standard vinyl packaging as Second Edition in February 1980 by Virgin Records in the United Kingdom, and by Warner Bros. Records and Island Records in the United States.
The album was a departure from PiL's 1978 debut First Issue, with the band moving into a more avant-garde sound characterised by John Lydon's cryptic lyrics, propulsive dub-inspired rhythms led by bassist Jah Wobble, and an abrasive, "metallic" guitar sound developed by guitarist Keith Levene.
Metal Box is widely regarded as a landmark of post-punk.[1] In 2012, the album was ranked number 461 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[7]
Metal Box is now considered a post-punk classic, and is highly acclaimed. Andy Kellman of AllMusic said that "PIL managed to avoid boundaries for the first four years of their existence, and Metal Box is undoubtedly the apex", noting that the album "hardly [sounds] like anything of the past, present, or future". He also compared it to the works of Captain Beefheart and Can.[1] Drowned in Sound reviewer Mark Ward wrote that the album "tears away from Lydon's sweaty punk roots and into the cold chambers of dub evoked by Can, the more outré electronics of Bowie's Berlin years and the coruscating post-punk sound that guitarist Levene was in the process of pioneering" and that "if you don't yet have a copy, you really should".[33] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau described the album's sound as "a full-bodied superaware white dub with disorienting European echoes."[3]
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
Rumours is the eleventh studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 4 February 1977 by Warner Bros. Records. Largely recorded in California in 1976, it was produced by the band with Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut. The recording sessions took place in the aftermath of several relationship breakups among its members in addition to heavy drug use, both of which shaped the album's direction and lyrics.
Recorded with the intention of making "a pop album" that would expand on the commercial success of their self-titled 1975 album, the music of Rumours is characterized by a mix of electric and acoustic instrumentation, accented rhythms, guitars, and keyboards, while its lyrics concern personal and often troubled relationships. Its release was postponed by delays in the mixing process. Following the album's release, Fleetwood Mac undertook worldwide concert tours. Rumours became the band's first number-one album on the UK Albums Chart and also topped the US Billboard 200. The songs "Go Your Own Way", "Dreams", "Don't Stop", and "You Make Loving Fun" were released as singles, all of which reached the US top 10, with "Dreams" reaching number one.
Rumours was an instant commercial success, selling over 10 million copies worldwide within just a month of its release. It garnered widespread acclaim from critics, with praise centred on its production quality and vocal harmonies, which frequently relied on the interplay among the band’s three vocalists, and which has subsequently inspired the work of musical acts in various genres. It won Album of the Year at the 1978 Grammy Awards and received Diamond certifications in several countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia, and the US, where it was certified 21× Platinum. As of February 2023, Rumours has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the sixth best-selling album of the 1970s, and the 9th best-selling album of all time.
Mick Fleetwood has called Rumours "the most important album we ever made", because its success allowed the group to continue recording for years to come.[88] Pop culture journalist Chuck Klosterman links the record's sales figures to its "really likable songs" but suggests that "no justification for greatness" is intrinsically provided by them.[89] The Guardian collated worldwide data in 1997 from a range of renowned critics, artists, and radio DJs, who placed the record at number 78 in the list of the 100 Best Albums Ever.[90] In 1998, Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours was produced by Fleetwood and released. The record contained each song of the original Rumours covered by a different act influenced by it. Among the musicians involved were alternative rock bands Tonic, Matchbox 20, and Goo Goo Dolls; Celtic rock groups The Corrs and The Cranberries; and singer-songwriters Elton John, Duncan Sheik, and Jewel.[91] Other diverse acts influenced by Rumours include baroque pop artist Tori Amos,[92] hard rock group Saliva,[93] indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie,[94] and art pop singer Lorde, who called it a "perfect record".[95]
"There was a time when Fleetwood Mac's Rumours was just seen as an album that sold incredibly well; over the past five years, though, it's become more acceptable to classify Rumours as great in and of itself."[89]
—Chuck Klosterman in 2004, on recognition for the record
In 1998, Q placed Rumours at number three—behind The Clash's London Calling and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon—in its list of 50 Best Albums of the 70s.[96] In 1999, Vibe featured it as one of 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century.[97] In 2001, VH1 ranked the record at number 16 during its 100 Greatest Albums countdown,[89] while Slant included it as one of 50 Essential Pop Albums.[98] The same year, USA Today placed Rumours at number 23 in its Top 40 Albums list,[99] while Rolling Stone ranked it at number 25 in its special issue of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", the highest Fleetwood Mac record,[100] and 26 in a 2012 revised list.[101] In 2000 it was voted number 31 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[102] In 2006, Time named it in its All-TIME 100 Albums shortlist,[103] while Mojo featured it in its unnumbered list of 70 from the 1970s: Decade's Greatest Albums.[104] The record is included in both The Guardian's "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die" and the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[105][106] For the 2013 reissue of the album, Pitchfork's Jessica Hopper gave the album a rare 10 out of 10, earning it a "best new reissue" designation.[61]
The Velvet Underground
3/5
White Light/White Heat is the second studio album by American rock band the Velvet Underground. Released on January 30, 1968, on Verve Records, it was the band's last studio recording with multi-instrumentalist and founding member John Cale. Recorded after Reed fired Andy Warhol, who had produced their debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico, they hired Steve Sesnick as a manager and hired producer Tom Wilson who had worked on the band's debut. White Light/White Heat was engineered by Gary Kellgren.
wrote for Shelley Albin, his middle school girlfriend.[14][23] The song itself is derived from a story Reed penned at Syracuse University.[12] It discusses two characters, Marsha and Waldo, over guitar feedback[14] in the form of a blues-rock instrumental. This would be Cale's first vocal performance for the band, and it showed the group's improvisational roots.[6]
"Lady Godiva's Operation" contains a lyrical style influenced by William S. Burroughs.[10] Partially inspired by his teenage experience with electroshock treatments,[14][6] the track is another of Reed's short stories set to music, but is more instrumentally advanced than "The Gift". Cale adds backing vocals, which are "sung" rather than spoken, and he shuddered and imitated the sounds of an oxygen machine while recording the track. What type of operation Lady Godiva is undertaking is unclear, though it seems to be about a transsexual and related to sex change; Reed sings about gender-altering surgery, as seen in the lines "Doctor arrives with knife and baggage / sees the growth as just so much cabbage".[24]
The title of "Here She Comes Now" is a double entendre.[10] The song was written to be sung by Nico, before the band fell out with her.[8] A folk rock song, it is the only track on the album that resembles contemporary rock. It is also the only song that would be jointly credited to Reed, Cale, and Morrison.[6]
Side two
I Heard Her Call My Name" is a love song for a dead girl. Reed's guitar playing was inspired by Jimi Hendrix,[10] and the song has been described as free jazz with "banshee-like guitar breaks" by Unterberger.[6] It has elements of garage-rock,[21] while the guitar solo was influenced by jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman.[8] Reed biographer Howard Sounes summarized the track as "[Tucker] maintaining a frantic beat as [Reed] delivered a speed rap ending with a mind-splitting guitar solo".[14]
Reed said in a Rolling Stone interview that "Sister Ray" was included at the suggestion of Warhol, who asked that he "gotta make sure that you do the 'sucking on my ding-dong' song".[25][c] The track was written on a train home from a poor performance in Connecticut. Reed explained the song as "a bunch of drag queens taking some sailors home with them, shooting up on smack and having this orgy when the police appear". The title named is after a drag queen.[10] The song also has free jazz influences from Reed's interest in Coleman and Cecil Taylor;[7] it is mostly improvisation.[6] Wilson produced Taylor's album Jazz Advance earlier in 1956.[12] The song tells this story through a cast of characters, which Soumes noted is reminiscent of Reed's general songwriting style: it is "a semi-abstract story with use of repetition and drug slang, also playing with the sounds of words, stuttering and jamming words together". Soumes also noted that it contains similar themes to Reed's favorite and most influential books, Hubert Selby Jr.'s Last Exit to Brooklyn (1964) and John Rechy's City of Night (1963).[14] The instrumental jam was spontaneous, as Reed desired, and it also has no bass guitar.[10] The guitars in the track created a "dense musical backdrop" to its lyrics before a distorted electric organ, played by Cale, joined in. Tucker would state that it was more than just noise, as everyone playing still followed Tucker's beat. The third verse contains explicit sexual references, which was rare for Reed,[14] particularly in the line "She's just suckin' on my ding dong/I'm searchin' for my mainline".[26]Reed called the song "Sister Ray" in a nod to Ray Davies of the British band the Kinks.[27]
White Light/White Heat has been included in several lists by music publications as one of the greatest albums of the 1960s decade and of all time. It was listed at number 292 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, with the ranking slipping to number 293 in the 2012 revision and climbing to number 272 in the 2020 reboot of the list.[54][55][56] It was voted number 309 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[57] Pitchfork ranked it number 26 on its list of the best albums of the 1960s, behind Stand! by Sly and the Family Stone.[58] NME ranked it number 89 in its inaugural 1974 list of the top 100 albums of all time,[59] eventually listing it as number 352 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, behind Sweetheart of the Rodeo by the Byrds.[60] The album has been listed in unranked "best of" lists, such as Ultimate Classic Rock's top 100 albums of the 1960s.[61] NME additionally included it on its "101 Albums To Hear Before You Die".[62] Internationally, French magazine Rock & Folk listed it in its 555 albums from 1954–2014,[63] and Italian magazine Ondarock [it] listed it as a rock milestone.[64]
Radiohead
4/5
Amnesiac is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 30 May 2001 by EMI subsidiaries Parlophone and Capitol Records. It was recorded with the producer Nigel Godrich in the same sessions as Radiohead's previous album Kid A (2000). Radiohead split the work in two as they felt it was too dense for a double album. As with Kid A, Amnesiac incorporates influences from electronic music, 20th-century classical music, jazz and krautrock. The final track, "Life in a Glasshouse", is a collaboration with the jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton and his band.
Amnesiac was nominated for the Mercury Prize and several Grammy Awards, winning for Best Recording Package for the special edition. "Pyramid Song" was named one of the best tracks of the decade by Rolling Stone, NME and Pitchfork, and Rolling Stone ranked Amnesiac number 320 in their 2012 "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. Kid A Mnesia, an anniversary reissue compiling Kid A, Amnesiac and previously unreleased material, was released in 2021.
Amnesiac incorporates elements of experimental rock,[19] electronica,[20] alternative rock[21] and jazz.[22] Colin Greenwood said it contained "traditional Radiohead-type songs" alongside more experimental work.[23] The Atlantic contrasted it with "the surgical glint" of Kid A, with "swampy and foggy" arrangements and "uneasy" chords and rhythms.[22]
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
This Year's Model is the second studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 17 March 1978 through Radar Records. After being backed by Clover for his debut album My Aim Is True (1977), Costello formed the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation)—as his permanent backing band. Recording sessions took place at London's Eden Studios in eleven days between late 1977 and early 1978. Nick Lowe returned as producer, and Roger Béchirian acted as engineer. Most of the songs were written prior to the sessions, and debuted live during the latter half of 1977.
Embracing new wave, power pop and punk rock, the songs draw from bands such as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. The lyrics explore subjects such as technologies of mass control and failing relationships, but in a manner that some reviewers found misogynistic. Echoing the lyrics of some of the tracks, the cover artwork, designed by the English graphic artist Barney Bubbles, shows Costello behind a camera on a tripod, emphasising his role as an observer.
In the 2002 liner notes, Costello mentioned the Rolling Stones' Aftermath (1966) as a major influence on This Year's Model.[1][8] Musically, the album embraces several styles, including new wave,[5][24][25] power pop,[26] punk rock,[27] and pop rock;[28] St. Michael also recognised references to Merseybeat and glam.[3] According to biographer Tony Clayton-Lea, rather than reusing the rockabilly and country sounds of My Aim Is True, This Year's Model opts for straightforward pop music "as influenced by punk rock".[13] AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine, on the other hand, defines the album as pure punk, with music that is "nervous, amphetamine-fueled, [and] nearly paranoid".[29]
This Year's Model was well received on release.[23] Many critics deemed it superior to My Aim Is True, praised the Attractions as a better band than Clover, and highlighted the strong songwriting and performances.[i] Melody Maker's Allan Jones announced it as a masterpiece and called the album "an achievement so comprehensive, so inspired, that it exhausts superlatives". He wrote that "the penetration of the language matches the vaulting hysteria of the performance" and concluded that the record "promotes its author to the foremost ranks of contemporary rock writers", such as Bruce Springsteen.[63] Cash Box remarked that This Year's Model allowed Costello to surpass early comparisons of Springsteen and Graham Parker to establish his own identity.[61] In RAM magazine, O'Grady dubbed This Year's Model "the best collection of...fashion-conscious songs since Ray Davies [of the Kinks] started his 'Dedicated Follower of Fashion' period."[39] Tom Zito of The Washington Post had a hard time recalling an artist whose sophomore record surpassed their "already impressive" debut.[62]
This Year's Model continues to receive critical acclaim. Journalists praise the Attractions' music,[29][34][78] describing them as one of the best backing bands in rock music.[28][34][83] Gouldstone wrote that with Costello on guitar, they became a band who are "capable of making even mediocre music listenable and of giving Costello's greatest songs an enthralling sense of intensity and immediacy."[10] Erlewine described them as giving the album a "reckless, careening feel", further commending the sound, concluding that "Costello and the Attractions never rocked this hard, or this vengefully, ever again."[29] Writing for Pitchfork in 2002, Matt LeMay said they were the reason the album was superior to My Aim Is True, and that "it's not only a more complex and dynamic album, but also one that steers well clear of the retro guitar twang that marred the less interesting bits of his debut."[78] Declaring This Year's Model not only Costello's best, but one of the best albums ever made, he stated that it balanced the "raw energy" of its predecessor with the "more elegant pop songwriting" of his later works."[78] Writing for Blender magazine, Douglas Wolk considered the Attractions "perfect creative foils" for Costello, particularly signalling out Nieve's playing throughout the record.[74]
Critics consider This Year's Model one of Costello's best, and "angriest",[28][84] works.[50][85][86] Spin's Al Shipley argued that Costello was never able surpass the record's "inventive punch",[86] while Michael Gallucci of Ultimate Classic Rock deemed it the work that "bridged his brief past with his wide-open future".[50] Troper deemed it Costello's "most consistent" release and finest with the Attractions, finding it the artist's "most live-sounding, most punk, and most honest record of his dauntingly expansive career".[34] PopMatters writers Jason Mendelsohn and Eric Klinger hailed the album as "simple, refreshing, and surprisingly modern" and "an object lesson that the New Wave could compete on the old school's field", respectively.[83] Consequence of Sound's Ryan Bray named it the first of Costello and the Attractions' eight-year run he nicknamed "murderer's row".[28] Reviewing in 2008, Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield named This Year's Model as an album everyone should own, saying the songs "remain brutally funny, sung with moments of unexpected tenderness".[84] Regarding Costello's musicianship, Uncut's Paul Moody argued that after he "dispensed with his musical safety net entirely" from My Aim Is True, This Year's Model began "his insatiable urge to 'bite the hand that feeds me'."[82] The album was not without its detractors. Mojo magazine's Jim Irvin was more mixed on the material and arrangements, overall finding the album "unfeasibly invigorating" following its "mild-mannered" predecessor, but liked Lowe's production.[87]
his Year's Model often appears on lists of the greatest albums of all time.[92] In 2000 Q placed it at number 82 on its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever".[93] In 1987, Rolling Stone placed the album at number 11 on its list of the best of the past 20 years, and said that Costello charted "the modern romantic terrain with keen cynicism, caustic wit and furious energy."[94] The same magazine ranked the album number 98 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003,[95] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list,[96] and dropping to number 121 in a 2020 revised list.[97] In lists compiling the 100 greatest albums of all time, Mojo, NME and Spin ranked This Year's Model at numbers 69, 40 and 8 in 1995, 1985 and 1989, respectively.[98][99][100] NME listed it at number 256 in their 2013 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[101] In a 2018 issue selecting 70 landmark albums of the past 70 years, Record Collector chose This Year's Model as their pick for 1978.[90] In 2004, Pitchfork's Sam Ubl ranked it the 52nd best album of the 1970s, calling it "one of [Costello's] most deceptive rock records",[102] and in 2012, Paste placed it at number 35 in a similar list.[103] Ultimate Classic Rock also included it in their list of the 100 best rock albums from the decade.[104] Paste magazine also ranked it the 19th greatest new wave album in 2016.[24]
Jeff Buckley
4/5
Grace is the only studio album by American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley, released on August 23, 1994, by Columbia Records. The album had poor sales and received mixed reviews at the time of its release.[4] However, in recent years it has dramatically risen in critical reputation. An extended version of the album (subtitled "Legacy Edition"), celebrating its tenth anniversary, was released on August 23, 2004, and peaked at number 44 in the UK
Grace has been highly rated in magazines such as Q, in which readers voted Grace the 75th greatest album of all time in 1998; the same vote was taken again in 2005 and Grace then ranked 13th.[17][18] In 2003, the album was ranked number 303 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[19] and 304 in a 2012 revised list, and later 147 in the 2020 list.[20][21] In 2006, Mojo named Grace the No. 1 Modern Rock Classic of All Time.[22] It was also rated as Australia's second favourite album on My Favourite Album, a television special aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on December 3, 2006.[23] In 2003, Buckley's cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" was ranked No. 259 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.[24] VH1 also rated the album No. 73 on its "100 Greatest Albums of Rock & Roll" show/list.[25] It was voted number 99 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[26] Larkin stated "his music achieved a perfection that was staggering for a debut album."
Röyksopp
4/5
Melody A.M. is the debut studio album by Norwegian electronic music duo Röyksopp, released on 13 September 2001 by Wall of Sound. The album reached number one in the Norwegian Albums chart. In the UK, it reached number nine in the country's Album chart, and topped both the Dance Albums and the Independent Albums charts. As of 2005, the album had sold 750,000 copies worldwide,[1] with 454,271 sold in the United Kingdom alone.[2]
Jon Setzen of the San Francisco Chronicle describes the album as "an across-the-board mix of bleepy synths, crunch beats and ambient, dreamy vocals, with even a bit disco mixed in at times".[3] With the album, "Röyksopp balances the haunted atmospheres of Boards of Canada with the more traditional "songwriting" sensibility of downbeat specialists like Groove Armada or Koop", according to John Bush of AllMusic.[4] Andy Gill of The Independent said that Melody A.M. exemplifies the band's intention to combine "Satie-esque harmonies and melodies like those of Francis Lai with the best aspects of three decades of electronic dance music: that Seventies analogue warmth, those fat Eighties beats and that meticulous Nineties programming."[5] Nick DeCicco of Daily Republic also compared the record to the works of Air, Massive Attack, Tricky, Portishead and Moby.[6] The album features vocals by Anneli Drecker and Erlend Øye.[7]
A.M. was met with universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 81, based on 21 reviews.[16]
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
Actually (stylised as Pet Shop Boys, actually.) is the second studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 7 September 1987 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom and by EMI Manhattan in North America. According to Neil Tennant[2][3][4] and music historian Wayne Studer,[5] Actually loosely critiques Thatcherism,[2][5] the political zeitgeist of the 1980s, and was recorded in anticipation of Margaret Thatcher's re-election.[6]
is featured in the 2005 musical reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die,[19] and has been recognised in various other "must-listen" lists. In 2006, Q magazine included Actually in its list of the "40 Best Albums of the '80s" at number 22.[20] In 2012, Slant Magazine ranked the record at number 88 on its list of the "100 Best Albums of the 1980s".[21] In 2020, Rolling Stone placed Actually at number 435 on its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[22]
Actually was well received by critics. In December 1987, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice praised it as "actual pop music with something actual to say—pure commodity, and proud of it."[18] In his retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said that Actually is the album where "the Pet Shop Boys perfected their melodic, detached dance-pop."[9]
Jungle Brothers
4/5
Done by the Forces of Nature is the second studio album by American hip hop group Jungle Brothers, released on November 7, 1989, by Warner Bros. Records.[1] Recording sessions for the album took place in 1989 at Calliope Studios in New York City, and production was handled by the Jungle Brothers.[2] It was mixed at Apollo Studios by Kool DJ Red Alert and the Jungle Brothers.[2] The album's title may refer to a line from the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu scripture, wherein Krishna says, "Those who are deluded by the illusive power (Maya) of Nature become attached to the work done by the forces of nature," 3:28.[citation needed]
Done by the Forces of Nature peaked at number 46 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It also received rave reviews from music critics who praised its Afrocentric themes, clever lyrics, house-influenced production, and eclectic sampling of music genres such as jazz, R&B, funk, and African music. Done by the Forces of Nature has been considered a golden age hip hop classic, as well as one of the greatest and influential hip hop albums of all time. In 1998, it was included in The Source magazine's "100 Best Albums" list.
The album has been considered a classic of hip hop's golden age and one of the most influential albums in hip hop.[17][18] It has also been described by critics as an "underrated classic".[17][19] Michael Azerrad, writing in Trouser Press, said that it was "largely overlooked," but is "one of rap's finest hours" with a "highly musical hip-hop" that "radiates upbeat spirituality".[20] The Chicago Tribune's Rick Reger called it a "masterpiece ... one of hip-hop's most imaginative, engaging records".[21] In retrospect, Rolling Stone's Nathan Brackett wrote "At their prime in the late '80s, the Jungle Brothers reflected all of hip-hop's potential – their second album, 1989's spiritual, street-wise Done by the Forces of Nature, was as conscious as it was funky and stands out as one of the most overlooked rap albums of that decade."[22] In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, Peter Relic comments that the "Jungle Brothers were ahead of their time" with the album and cites the track "Doin' Our Own Dang" as "the definitive Native Tongues posse cut".[9] Rolling Stone placed the album thirty-seventh on its list of "The 50 Coolest Records".[23] In 1998, Done by the Forces of Nature was included in The Source's "100 Best Albums" list.[24] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[25]
King Crimson
3/5
Larks' Tongues in Aspic is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock group King Crimson, released on 23 March 1973 through Island Records in the UK and Atlantic Records in the United States and Canada. This album is the debut of King Crimson's third incarnation, featuring co-founder and guitarist Robert Fripp along with four new members: bass guitarist and vocalist John Wetton, violinist and keyboardist David Cross, percussionist Jamie Muir, and drummer Bill Bruford. It is a key album in the band's evolution, drawing on Eastern European classical music and European free improvisation as central influences.
In his contemporary review, Alan Niester of Rolling Stone summarized the album saying "You can't dance to it, can't keep a beat to it, and it doesn't even make good background music for washing the dishes" and recommended listeners to "approach it with a completely open mind." He described the songs on the album as "a total study in contrasts, especially in moods and tempos – blazing and electric one moment, soft and intricate the next." While not fully appreciative of the music on the record, he complimented the violin playing as "tasteful [...] in the best classical tradition."[18]
Can
3/5
Tago Mago is the second studio album by the German krautrock band Can, originally released as a double LP in August 1971 on the United Artists label. It was the band's first album to feature Damo Suzuki after the 1970 departure of previous vocalist Malcolm Mooney.[5] Recorded in a rented castle near Cologne, the album features long-form experimental tracks blending rock improvisation, funk rhythms and musique concrète techniques.[6]
Tago Mago has been described as Can's best and most extreme record in sound and structure.[7] The album has received widespread critical acclaim and is cited as an influence by various artists. Drowned in Sound called it "arguably the most influential rock album ever recorded."[8]
Tago Mago has been critically acclaimed and is credited with pioneering various modern musical styles. Raggett called Tago Mago a "rarity of the early '70s, a double album without a wasted note."[1] Many critics, particularly in the UK,[34] were eager to praise the album, and by the end of 1971 Can played their first show in the UK.[35]
Julian Cope wrote in Krautrocksampler that Tago Mago "sounds only like itself, like no-one before or after" and described the lyrics as delving "below into the Unconscious."[14] Dummy called it "a genre-defining work of psychedelic, experimental rock music."[3] Critic Simon Reynolds described the record's sound as "shamanic avant-funk."[2]
Influence
Edit
Various artists have cited Tago Mago as an influence on their work. John Lydon of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd. called it "stunning" in his autobiography Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs.[36] Bobby Gillespie of Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream said: "The music was like nothing I'd ever heard before, not American, not rock & roll but mysterious and European."[37] Mark Hollis of Talk Talk called Tago Mago "an extremely important album" and an inspiration for his own Laughing Stock.[38] Marc Bolan listed Suzuki's freeform lyricism as an inspiration.[39] Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke of Radiohead cite the album as an early influence.[40]
Hawkwind
3/5
The Space Ritual Alive in Liverpool and London (commonly known as Space Ritual) is a 1973 live double album recorded in 1972 by UK rock band Hawkwind. It is their fourth album, reached number 9 in the UK Albums Chart and briefly dented the Billboard Hot 200, peaking at number 179.
"Sonic Attack" had been written by science fiction author Michael Moorcock, who often performed with the band when convenient and Calvert was unavailable. Here it is recited by Calvert and it was scheduled for single release, promotional copies being distributed in a cloth sleeve, but it never did receive a full release.
In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came number 8 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".[10] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die at number 276.[11]
The Space Ritual show attempted to create a full audio-visual experience, representing themes developed by Barney Bubbles and Robert Calvert entwining the fantasy of starfarers in suspended animation traveling through time and space with the concept of the music of the spheres.[6] The performance featured dancers Stacia, Miss Renee and Tony Carrera, stage set by Bubbles,[7] lightshow by Liquid Len and poetry recitations by Calvert. On entering the venue, audience members were given a programme[8] (reproduced on the 1996 remaster CD) featuring a short sci-fi story by Bubbles setting the band in a Starfarers scenario returning to Earth.[nb 1]
Robert Wyatt
4/5
Shleep is the seventh album by Canterbury scene and progressive rock veteran and musician Robert Wyatt, released in 1997.
The album brought together a diverse range of musicians from a range of genres. After Wyatt's largely one-man recordings of the 1980s, Shleep marked a return to featuring other artistes as on his 1970s albums. The balance of his discography would follow suit. The Wire named Shleep its record of the year in its annual critics' poll.[4]
Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945[3][4]) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole,[5] he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming paraplegic following an accidental fall from a window in 1973, which led him to abandon band work, explore other instruments, and begin a forty-year solo career.[3]
A key player during the formative years of British jazz fusion, psychedelia and progressive rock, Wyatt's own work became increasingly interpretative, collaborative and politicised from the mid-1970s onwards. His solo music has covered a particularly individual musical terrain ranging from covers of pop singles to shifting, amorphous song collections drawing on elements of jazz, folk and nursery rhyme.
Queens of the Stone Age
3/5
Queens of the Stone Age is the debut studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released by Loosegroove Records on September 22, 1998. It was primarily written and recorded in April 1998 by founding member Josh Homme and his former Kyuss bandmate Alfredo Hernández, with Hernández playing drums and Homme singing and playing the rest of the instruments. Homme also produced the album alongside Joe Barresi. Bassist Nick Oliveri, also a former member of Kyuss, would join the band by the time of the album's release. Queens of the Stone Age received generally positive reviews from critics, who placed it in the stoner rock genre and drew comparisons to krautrock bands such as Neu! and Can, as well as to Kyuss and other metal bands.
Queens of the Stone Age received generally positive reviews from critics. Writing for NME, reviewer Kitty Empire scored it 8 out of 10, comparing it to Kyuss and saying that "for all its indisputable primitive charms, Queens of the Stone Age is actually a step forward in stoner evolution. The guitars are still flint-hard, the tunes still load-bearing. But the sound roaring out of the speakers is far sleeker and more hypnotic than the dumb chug that stoner rock has periodically devolved into in Homme's absence. The excellent 'Regular John' sounds almost motorik, as though Neu! had level billing with [Black] Sabbath one strange night. There are keyboards and maracas on the very un-stone age 'I Was a Teenage Hand Model'. And Homme—who didn't sing in Kyuss—frequently swaps his bone-dry metallic tones for something a little more soulful on songs like 'You Can't Quit Me Baby'."[13] Tom Sinclair of Entertainment Weekly gave it a B- rating, remarking that the band "delivers a workmanlike collection of heavy music that's just a bit too cerebral to fall under the stoner rock rubric (Fu Manchu). Queens of the Stone Age is intermittently potent, but when you hear the ripped-off 'If Only' (a.k.a. the Stooges' 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'), you can't help but think QOTSA might be a great band—if only they could write a song that good on their own."[12]
Afrika Bambaataa
4/5
Planet Rock: The Album is an old school hip hop album by Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force, released in 1986 as a collection of previous singles. The song "Planet Rock" was one of the earliest hits of the hip hop music genre and remains one of its pioneering recordings. The single's liner notes include members of Kraftwerk with the songwriting credits. In creating the track, portions of Kraftwerk's "Numbers" and "Trans-Europe Express" were interpolated (re-recorded in the studio, rather than through the use of a digital sampler), along with portions of songs by Captain Sky and Ennio Morricone.
The song "Planet Rock" was ranked by Rolling Stone magazine at #240 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,[3] and went on to become the first gold-certified vinyl 12-inch single. Slant Magazine listed the album at #84 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".[4] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[5] "Renegades of Funk", the third track, was covered by Rage Against the Machine on its Renegades album.
George Jones
3/5
The Grand Tour is an album by the American country music artist George Jones, released in 1974 as his fifth album for Epic Records. It peaked at #11 on the Billboard Country Albums chart and contained the hit title track, which reached a peak of #1 in August 1974
The Grand Tour is considered one of Jones's greatest albums. Thom Jurek of AllMusic gives the album a perfect score (5 out of 5) and writes: The Grand Tour was "a watershed for Jones, boasting the title track as one of the most devastating country singles ever issued that came so close to crossing over it was being played on some adult pop stations along with Sinatra, Bennett, Dionne Warwick, and Herb Alpert...Ultimately, this is Jones' country, the kind of country music that is pure yet as sophisticated as Sherrill wanted it to be." In July 2013, Andrew Meuller of Uncut compared the album to Frank Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours, calling it "An exultant wallow in heartbreak" with Jones inhabiting songs "like an inmate on suicide watch."
Einstürzende Neubauten
2/5
Kollaps is the first official LP by Einstürzende Neubauten,[1] released in 1981 on German label ZickZack as #ZZ 65. The songs are a mixture of rough punk tunes as well as industrial noises obtained from self-made music machines, electronics, and found objects such as metal plates. The album was reissued in 2002 with Stahldubversions, originally released in 1982. Blixa Bargeld, N.U. Unruh and F.M. Einheit appear on the album. "Jet'M" is a cover of the Serge Gainsbourg song "Je t'aime... moi non plus". Track 15 of many CD versions of the album is a live recording of "Negativ Nein" from 26 June 1987 at the Tempodrom in Berlin.
Trouser Press described Kollaps as "one of the most shocking visions ever committed to vinyl."[3] The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[4]
Doves
3/5
The Last Broadcast is the second studio album by British indie rock band Doves. The album was released by Heavenly Recordings on 29 April 2002, and went straight to number 1 on the UK Albums Chart. The album's first single "There Goes the Fear" entered the UK Singles Chart at number 3, the band's highest-charting single to date, despite being released and deleted on the same day. Two further singles, "Pounding" and "Caught by the River", were also successful, charting in the Top 30. The Last Broadcast garnered critical acclaim upon its release, and was a shortlist nominee for the Mercury Prize in 2002.
The Last Broadcast was released on 29 April 2002, and topped the UK Albums Chart.[5] The release of the first single "There Goes the Fear" on 15 April brought the band their highest-charting single to date, peaking at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.[5] The single, pressed as a limited edition eCD and a 10" vinyl record, was released and deleted on the same day. When asked in a 2010 interview with Under the Radar as to why the single was limited, Jez Williams stated, "It was to do something different from the norm. Just wanted to try something different really. I can't remember exactly whose idea it was. It might have been the manager's, but we were kind of into it. A kind of statement, in a way. We liked the fact that you could only get a hold of a certain amount of this or a certain amount of that. Especially in this day and age of readily available bits of music, it's kind of nice: a physical copy that's precious to you because you managed to get to the shop that day and actually own that."[6] The Last Broadcast sold 52,000 copies in its first week,[7] and has since been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.[8] The album's second single "Pounding" was released in July 2002, and peaked at number 21, while third and final single "Caught by the River" was released in October 2002 and reached number 29 on the charts.[5] Like "There Goes the Fear" before them, the singles for "Pounding" and "Caught by the River" were also limited in released quantities. The Last Broadcast was released by Capitol Records in the United States on 4 June 2002; first pressings of the album stateside included a limited edition bonus disc, featuring four songs released as B-sides on the UK singles.
The Last Broadcast was met with critical praise. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 85, based on 20 reviews.[11] NME awarded the album 9 out of 10 stars, calling the album "the most uplifting miserable album you'll hear all year."[16] The Austin Chronicle called the album "[a] stunner... an infectious, melancholy, ultimately euphoric barrage of sound wrapped in a sheeting of guitars and subtle effects that coalesce around frontman Jimi Goodwin's plaintive voice and brothers Jez and Andy Williams' lovely, pounding, relentless vibe that echoes with hints of Northern soul and terrifically big beats."[22] Blender called the album "utterly entrancing,"[23] while AllMusic praised it as a "musical daybreak."[12]
Like its predecessor Lost Souls in 2000, The Last Broadcast was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2002. The album lost to Ms. Dynamite's debut album A Little Deeper. Kludge included it on their list of best albums of 2002.[24]
Bill Callahan
3/5
Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle is the second solo album by American musician Bill Callahan under his own name, released on April 14, 2009 via Drag City.[1]
Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle received very positive reviews from music critics and made several publications' year-end best album lists, notably being named the second best album of 2009 by Mojo magazine.
In 2013, NME listed the album at number 443 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[16]
The Cars
3/5
The Cars is the debut studio album by American new wave band The Cars, released on June 6, 1978, by Elektra Records. The album was managed by longtime producer Roy Thomas Baker, and spawned several hit singles, including "Just What I Needed", "My Best Friend's Girl", and "Good Times Roll", as well as other radio and film hits such as "Bye Bye Love" and "Moving in Stereo". The Cars peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart, and has been certified six-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Musically, The Cars has been described as new wave,[2][3] power pop,[4] and synth-rock.[4] It featured a large amount of technology on many of its tracks, due to the band's appreciation for new equipment. Robinson said, "We'd always get the latest stuff from music stores even if it would be obsolete in two months. It reached the point where I'd have 10 or 12 foot switches to hit during a short set."[1] The album also is notable for frontman Ocasek's use of irony and sarcasm. Keyboardist Hawkes said, "There was definitely a little self-conscious irony in there. We started out wanting to be electric and straight-ahead rock, and it kind of turned into an artier kind of thing."[1]
In 2000, it was voted number 384 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[18] Rolling Stone ranked The Cars at number 282 on its 2003 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time",[19] with the ranking slipping to number 284 in the 2012 update of the list, and to number 353 in the 2020 update.[20][21]
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
Axis: Bold as Love is the second studio album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was first released by Track Records in the United Kingdom on December 1, 1967, only seven months after the release of the group's highly successful debut, Are You Experienced. In the United States, Reprise Records delayed the release until the following month. The album reached the top ten in the album charts in both countries.
Axis: Bold as
The album displayed several musical styles and critics saw it as demonstrating Jimi Hendrix's growth as a songwriter. It introduced "Spanish Castle Magic" and "Little Wing", two Hendrix compositions that draw on his roots performing with rhythm and blues bands and would remain in his live repertoire throughout his career.
Axis: Bold as Love was quite successful and was certified platinum in the US and silver in the UK. In 2000, it was voted number 147 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[1] Rolling Stone ranked it number 92 on its 2020 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Track released Axis: Bold as Love in the UK on December 1, 1967, where it peaked at number five and spent 16 weeks on the charts.[56] In February 1968, it charted at number three in the United States.[57] The album was also well received by music critics, who praised its mixture of hard rock, rhythm and blues, and jazz.[58]
In his preview of the album for Rolling Stone, Nick Jones described it as "at times shatteringly beautiful" and highlighted "Spanish Castle Magic".[40] Reviewing Axis in the same publication, Jim Miller hailed it as "the refinement of white noise into psychedelia ... the finest voodoo album that any rock group has produced to date".[59] Q magazine wrote in a retrospective review that the album "dazzles as the Experience creates a genre probably short-lived because nobody else could play it".[53] AllMusic's Cub Koda considered it a demonstration of Hendrix's "remarkable growth and depth" as a songwriter, utilizing Curtis Mayfield-like soul guitar work, "Dylanesque lyrical imagery, and Fuzz Face hyperactivity to produce yet another side to his grand psychedelic musical vision".[46] According to author Peter Doggett, the record "heralded a new subtlety in Hendrix's work",[60] while BBC Music's Chris Jones said it is distinguished from his other Hendrix albums as his "coming-of-age-in-songwriting album ... his peak in crafting pop rock perfection".[61]
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
Bookends is the fourth studio album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Produced by Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel and Roy Halee, the album was released on April 3, 1968, in the United States by Columbia Records. The duo had risen to fame two years prior with the albums Sounds of Silence and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme and the soundtrack album for the 1967 film The Graduate.
Bookends is a concept album that explores a life journey from childhood to old age. Side one of the album marks successive stages in life, the theme serving as bookends to the life cycle. Side two largely consists of previously-released singles and of unused material for The Graduate soundtrack. Simon's lyrics concern youth, disillusionment, relationships, old age, and mortality. Much of the material was crafted alongside producer John Simon (no relation), who joined the recording when Paul Simon suffered from writer's block. The album was recorded gradually over the period of a year, with production speeding up around the later months of 1967.
The album, alongside The Graduate soundtrack, propelled Simon & Garfunkel to become the biggest rock duo in the world.[42] Simon was approached by numerous film producers who wished him to write music for their films or license a track; he turned down Franco Zeffirelli, who was preparing to film Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and John Schlesinger, who likewise was readying to shoot Midnight Cowboy.[42] In addition to Hollywood proposals, producers from the Broadway show Jimmy Shine (starring Simon's friend Dustin Hoffman, also the lead in Midnight Cowboy) asked for two original songs and Simon declined.[33] He eventually paired with Leonard Bernstein, with whom he collaborated for a short time on a sacred mass (he eventually withdrew from the project, "finding it perhaps too far afield from his comfort zone").[33]
Disc jockey and author Pete Fornatale writes that Bookends represents "a once-in-a-career convergence of musical, personal, and societal forces that placed Simon & Garfunkel squarely at the center of the cultural zeitgeist of the sixties".[32] Rolling Stone credited the record with striking a chord among lonely, adrift young adults near the end of the decade, writing that a lyric in "A Hazy Shade of Winter"—"Time, time, time, see what’s become of me..."—"defined the moment for a generation on the edge of adulthood".[55] Many viewed Bookends as the band's most accomplished work at the time, a breakthrough in production and songwriting. "Bookends was our first serious piece of work, I'd say", said Simon in a 1984 interview with Playboy.[36]
Fugazi
3/5
Repeater is the full-length debut studio album by the American post-hardcore band Fugazi. It was released on April 19, 1990, as Repeater on LP, and in May 1990 on CD bundled with the 3 Songs EP as Repeater + 3 Songs. It was recorded at Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, Virginia, and produced and engineered by Don Zientara and Ted Niceley.
Repeater featured an alternative rock sound that predated significant releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, which would unexpectedly go on to break the genre into the mainstream.[5] Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine was influenced by the album,[19] as were Steve Holmes of American Football and Metz.[20][21] Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan named it one of his favorite records of all time.[22]
La Dispute covered the title track live.[23] The track "Merchandise" has been covered by Face to Face (on their album Standards & Practices), Ted Leo and the Pharmacists[24] and Dogstar.[25] "Blueprint" was covered by Gogol Bordello live,[26] Ben Lee[27] and Tim Timebomb.[28] The track was quoted by The Knife on the track "Raging Lung" off of Shaking the Habitual.[29] It has also been sampled by Emynd for Stranger Day's track "Not Playin'".[30] "Styrofoam" has been covered by Stereotyperider.[31] "Shut the Door" has been covered by Boy Eats Drum Machine.[32]
Accolades
Edit
As of October 2022, aggregator website Acclaimed Music finds the album to be the 652nd most acclaimed album of all time.[12]
Kings of Leon
3/5
Youth & Young Manhood is the debut album from American rock band Kings of Leon, released on July 7, 2003, in the United Kingdom and on August 19, 2003, in the United States.
Critical reception for the album was generally favorable, as evidenced by its score of 79, based on 21 reviews, at Metacritic, a website that assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics.[4] Many appreciated the band's punk- and garage rock-influenced revival of the southern rock genre, with NME hailing the album among the "best debuts of the past 10 years". AllMusic claimed the album was not "sonically adventurous", but that "in the new-millennium pop realm, some greasy licks sure sound good".[5] James Hunter of The Village Voice called the album "2003's finest rock debut", saying the band had built on its first EP.[16] Greg Kot wrote a favorable review in Rolling Stone, in which he declared that the band knew "when to lay back and let things simmer", as well as "when to jump up and testify with tambourines banging".[12] At the end of the year, Rolling Stone critics named the album the tenth-best of 2003[17] and NME named it the seventh best.[18] Later, it was ranked at number 80 in Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the Decade list[19] and included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[20]
Elvis Presley
3/5
Elvis Presley (released in the UK as Elvis Presley Rock n' Roll[7]) is the debut studio album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. It was released by RCA Victor, on March 23, 1956,[8] catalog number LPM-1254. The recording sessions took place on January 10 and January 11 at the RCA Victor Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, and on January 30 and January 31 at the RCA Victor studios in New York. Additional material originated from sessions at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on July 5, August 19 and September 10, 1954, and on July 11, 1955.[9]
By the second half of 1955, singles on Sun Records by Presley began making the national country and western singles chart, "Baby Let's Play House" and "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" going to number 5 and number 1 respectively.[17] Colonel Tom Parker, the new manager of Presley, had extensive dealings with RCA Victor through his previous client, singer Eddy Arnold, especially with the head of the Country and Western and Rhythm and blues division, Steve Sholes.[18] At the urging of Parker, on November 21, 1955, Sholes bought Presley's contract from Sam Phillips, the head of Sun Records and Studio, for the unprecedented sum of $40,000.[19] Presley and rock and roll were still untested properties for the major labels in the music business, but this album, along with the number one single "Heartbreak Hotel", proved the selling power of both: it was the first RCA Victor pop album to earn more than $1,000,000,[11] and in 1956 it had sold over one million units.[11][20]
Dagmar Krause
3/5
Tank Battles: The Songs of Hanns Eisler is a solo album by German singer Dagmar Krause released by Island Records in 1988. It is a collection of 26 songs by German composer Hanns Eisler sung by Krause in English. She also sang the songs in the original German which were released by Island at the same time on a companion album, Panzerschlacht: Die Lieder von Hanns Eisler.
In a review of Tank Battles at AllMusic, John Dougan called it "[a] worthy follow up" to Krause's previous album, Supply and Demand. He said her vocals here are "stunning" and the instrumental backing is "impeccable".[1]
Writing in The Wire, Philip Clark called Tank Battles a "laudable attempt" by Krause to present a modern interpretation of songs by Eisler-Brecht.[2] He said producer Greg Cohen's "sensitive arrangements" of the album's material "winningly evokes 1920s Berlin".[2] Clark stated that Krause's "vocal production, the shaping of her melodic contours and the brittle, staccato phrasing" all owes itself to Eisler's work.[2]
Blue Cheer
3/5
Vincebus Eruptum (/vɪŋˈkeɪbəs ɪˈrʌptəm/; pseudo-Latin) is the debut album of American rock band Blue Cheer. Released on January 16, 1968,[1][2][3] the album features a heavy-thunderous blues sound, which would later be known as heavy metal.
Blue Cheer's debut album has widely been held in high regard by critics. Writing for music website AllMusic, Mark Deming described Vincebus Eruptum as "a glorious celebration of rock & roll primitivism run through enough Marshall amps to deafen an army", praising the band's "sound and fury" as one of the founding movements of heavy metal.[10] Pitchfork reviewer Alexander Linhardt gave the album nine out of ten points, noting that the album was less structured than its successor, Outsideinside.[12] It has been described by Billboard as "the epitome of psychedelic rock",[14] while VH1 called it an "acid rock masterwork".[15] Martin Popoff was less enthusiastic in his review and called the music "derivative" and "equating closer to acid-washed loud and slurring renditions of '60s rock" than heavy metal, judging the album "a howling mess."[11]
Online music service Rhapsody included Vincebus Eruptum in its list of the "10 Essential Proto-Metal Albums", suggesting that the band "not only inspired the term 'power trio,' they practically invented heavy metal."[16] In 1998, The Wire included Vincebus Eruptum in their list of "100 Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening)", calling it a "seminal" album that "snarled rabidly in the face of hippy innocence and soon became a Hells Angels party stomper." They also note the strong influence the album had on 1990s Japanese noise trios such as High Rise and Musica Transonic.[17
Sisters Of Mercy
3/5
Floodland is the second studio album by English gothic rock band the Sisters of Mercy. It was released on 16 November 1987, through Merciful Release internationally and distributed by WEA, with Elektra Records handling the United States release. After the release of the band's debut studio album, First and Last and Always (1985), members Craig Adams and Wayne Hussey left to form the Mission, causing the dissolution of the Sisters of Mercy. As a result, band frontman Andrew Eldritch formed a side project known as the Sisterhood, recording new material with them. After the project's first album was received negatively overall, Eldritch restarted the Sisters of Mercy and hired the Sisterhood member Patricia Morrison for the recording of a new album.
Floodland was met with mixed reviews from music critics. Mark Coleman of Rolling Stone felt that the album was a step down from the Sisters of Mercy's previous material. He described it as "Meat Loaf joining the Cure for a remake of Lou [Reed]'s Berlin", adding that the album is "hilarious, sure, but always listenable at the very least". Coleman provided praise, however, for "This Corrosion", calling it a "bona fide toe-tapper of a single."[42] In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau compared the band's "doldrums" negatively to fellow gothic rock band Fields of the Nephilim, albeit less dumb as well as compensated with "disco" and "proper nouns".[43]
Floodland has since received retrospective praise from music critics, however. Writing for AllMusic, Chris True heralded the album as "a definite milestone," complimenting its "lush production" and "lyric imagery that is both scary and glorious." He added that the band create "a black soundscape that is majestic and vast" with "Dominion" / "Mother Russia" and that "slower tracks, like 'Flood' and '1959,' are some of the best ethereal sounds goth has to offer, and the downright regal 'This Corrosion' is one of the best songs of the genre."[44] Sputnikmusic staff member ManosG wrote that "Floodland may not be as dark, influential or focused as the band’s debut but is still an excellent album with an amazing vocal performance by Andrew [Eldritch]". He also called "Lucretia My Reflection" one of the best songs in the Sisters of Mercy's discography, alongside giving praise to "Dominion / Mother Russia", "1959", "This Corrosion", and "Flood II".[23] Floodland was later considered an essential gothic rock album by Classic Rock,[46] Consequence,[47] Spectrum Culture,[48] LA Weekly,[49] and Treble.[50]
The Blue Nile
3/5
A Walk Across the Rooftops is the debut album by Scottish band The Blue Nile, released on 30 April 1984 on Linn Records in the UK and on A&M Records in the US. Although the album was released to little fanfare and was not a big hit on its initial release, it slowly accumulated fans and sales through word of mouth as the years passed, and by the time the follow-up Hats was released in 1989, A Walk Across the Rooftops had sold 80,000 copies.[4] It continued to gather praise when reissued in 2012.
A Walk Across the Rooftops received great acclaim from the UK music press on its release in 1984. In a five-star review Sounds said, "Their music cuts a deep swathe right through the centre of blond-streaked wimpdom, without stance or calculation ... For the first time in a long time, they make you care.[25] Melody Maker proclaimed, "The Blue Nile's stunning debut album seduces the emotions as well as the senses, and instead of fighting its effect, the sensible thing to do is relax and enjoy it ... There's a mesmeric quality in this music that makes you want to savour every track with the respectful appreciation of a connoisseur. Like a good book you don't want it to end, but when it does that thrilling potency loses nothing in repetition ... A Walk Across the Rooftops generates a rarefied atmosphere that's a comfort to the soul. If this is just a sampler of The Blue Nile's catalogue, then we're in for a whole new chapter in delight."[27] NME described the album as "music to shade your dreamtime in subtle colours, a quiet influence, delicious persuasion ... It's difficult to describe (often a good sign), without too many specific features to pick upon. It's easier to suggest the moods it evokes: romance, doubt, a rich sadness. The keynote is restraint; far from straining for effort, The Blue Nile allow their music to find its own atmospheres ... To correct any misunderstanding: what The Blue Nile are not is, say, wispy or precious. There's red meat in this music, and a human pulse beat. The beauty is unassuming, the intelligence is uncontrived. It's good news. Great music is still being made."[28]
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Armed Forces is the third studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 5 January 1979 in the United Kingdom through Radar Records. It was his second album with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation)—and the first to officially credit them on the cover. The album was recorded in six weeks from August to September 1978 in London under the working title Emotional Fascism. Produced by Nick Lowe and engineered by Roger Béchirian, the sessions saw Costello exert more control over production compared to This Year's Model, while Nieve contributed more to song arrangements.
Hinton argues that Armed Forces marked the end of the angry persona of Costello's early works,[9] although Thomson cites Get Happy!! as the first step away from the persona.[75] Bruno saw the songs on Get Happy!! as a response to the events of the Armed Funk tour.[76] Despite the tour's initial impact on him, his career recovered from the incident. He later reflected: "Some of the highly charged language may now seem a little naive; it is full of gimmicks and almost overpowers some songs with paradoxes and subverted clichés piling up into private and secret meanings. I was not quite 24 and thought I knew it all."[37] Although he continued to reference aggressive and fascist themes in his lyrics, including on his 2020 album Hey Clockface, David A. Graham of The Atlantic argued that "he has never written another record so searing in its combination of romantic and political fury as Armed Forces."[28] Graham further contended that the fascist elements described on Armed Forces were still alive in America during the presidency of Donald Trump, writing: "More than four decades after its release, Armed Forces feels more frighteningly vital and relevant than ever."[28]
The Cardigans
3/5
First Band on the Moon is the third studio album by the Cardigans. It features the international single "Lovefool". It was first released on 12 August 1996 and internationally on 6 September 1996.
The Cardigans are a Swedish rock band formed in Jönköping, Sweden, in 1992[2] by guitarist Peter Svensson, bassist Magnus Sveningsson, drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead singer Nina Persson. Post-hiatus shows since 2012 have been with Oskar Humlebo on guitar instead of Svensson.[3]
Christina Aguilera
3/5
Back to Basics is the fifth studio album by American singer Christina Aguilera. It was released on August 9, 2006, in the United States by RCA Records as a double album. Serving as executive producer, she enlisted a wide range of producers, including DJ Premier, Rich Harrison, Rob Lewis, Mark Ronson, and Linda Perry. Recording sessions took place between February 2005 and April 2006 at several studios in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Inspired by Aguilera's 1920s–1950s idols, including Billie Holiday, Otis Redding, Etta James, and Ella Fitzgerald, Back to Basics was described by Aguilera herself as a fusion of old-school jazz and soul inspirations with a modernized style. Primarily a pop and R&B record, its first disc juxtaposes rhythm and blues with hip hop and urban elements with most songs employing samples, while the second contains all original tracks with the exception of "Candyman", which samples "Tarzan & Jane Swingin' on a Vine". Lyrically, the album is inspired by Aguilera's previous life events including her marriage with Jordan Bratman in 2005.
Various publications published articles about Back to Basics to celebrate its tenth anniversary of release, including Idolator and Fuse.[80][81] In an article published on August 9, 2016, Katherine Barner of Idolator wrote that the album "put [Aguilera's] talent and musical diversity at the forefront" and that it "set Aguilera apart from her pop peers" such as Britney Spears, Pink, Janet Jackson, Christina Milian and Paris Hilton.[80] On August 15, 2016, Jeff Benjamin of Fuse called Back to Basics Aguilera's "riskiest album", and stated: "While Aguilera shows the world who she truly was on Stripped, BTB appeared to be the first time Xtina got to truly create her own universe."[81]
Paul Revere & The Raiders
3/5
Midnight Ride is the fifth studio album by American rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders; released by Columbia Records (CS 9308). Produced by Terry Melcher and released in May 1966, the album featured the U.S. top five single "Kicks."[2] The album also includes "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone," The Monkees' version of which became a U.S. Top 20 hit in 1967.[3]
The Fall
3/5
This Nation's Saving Grace is the eighth studio album by the English post-punk band the Fall, released in 1985 by Beggars Banquet. In contrast to the band’s earlier albums, This Nation's... is noted for its pop sensibilities and guitar hooks, and John Leckie's accessible production.[2] This Nation's... was recorded in London between June and July 1985, and is the second of the three consecutive Fall albums produced by John Leckie. The album was accompanied by the singles "Couldn't Get Ahead" and "Cruiser's Creek", and tours of Europe and America.
This Nation's Saving Grace was highly praised by the UK music press on release. The NME's David Quantick wrote the Fall had managed to create "one of their most accessible LPs yet" which was yet "infinitely more peculiar than almost anything else released this year."[46] In a very positive review for Sounds, Chris Roberts wrote "Oh, to be thirteen again and have this be the first record one heard".[43] In contrast to the prevailing view of the Fall's development after recruiting Brix, Music Week suggested the album offered more of the same but lacked potential for mainstream crossover.[41]
The Young Rascals
3/5
Groovin' is the third album by rock band The Young Rascals. The album was released on July 31, 1967 and rose to #5 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, number 7 on the R&B chart, and number 2 in Canada.[1] Eight of the songs were released on singles with the title track reaching number 1 on the Pop chart in the U.S.
Writing for Allmusic, critic Bruce Eder wrote the album moved into the psychedelic genre while retaining a "soulful core". He called the album "their best of their entire history... but 'Groovin'' was only one small strong point on the album of the same name."[4]
This was the last album on which the band was billed as The Young Rascals; their next album, Once Upon a Dream, would be credited to simply The Rascals. The album began the Rascals' first forays into the psychedelic genre that they would explore further on Once Upon a Dream.[2]
Stereolab
3/5
Emperor Tomato Ketchup is the fourth studio album by English-French rock band Stereolab. It was released on 18 March 1996 and was issued by Duophonic Records and Elektra Records.
On its release, Emperor Tomato Ketchup earned positive reviews from music critics.[12]
In 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, Roni Sarig wrote that Stereolab created their "most well-rounded, confident, and accomplished statement" with Emperor Tomato Ketchup, forgoing their earlier lo-fi aesthetic and crafting "an impeccably produced, creatively mixed collection that's a joy to behold in its full high-fidelity glory."[21] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic stated that "Stereolab were poised for a breakthrough" with Emperor Tomato Ketchup given both their growing influence on alternative rock and their increasingly accessible musical direction.[15] He noted that the album saw the band composing hookier songs while incorporating "more avant-garde and experimental influences", resulting in it being their "most complex, multi-layered record."[15] Record Collector's Oregano Rathbone likewise said that Emperor Tomato Ketchup contained "defining examples of Stereolab's rewardingly oxymoronic tendencies".[20]
Emperor Tomato Ketchup has appeared in numerous lists of the greatest albums. Spin named it the 46th best album of the 1990s.[24] It was ranked 51st on Pitchfork's list of the decade's best albums, with staff writer Brent DiCrescenzo praising it as Stereolab's "most definitive and recommended statement" and recalling that it "sounded wholly futuristic and alien" at the time of its release.[25] Tom Moon included Emperor Tomato Ketchup in his book 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die (2008),[2] and it was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[26
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
There's a Riot Goin' On is the fifth studio album by American funk and soul band Sly and the Family Stone. It was recorded from 1970 to 1971 at Record Plant Studios in Sausalito, California and released later that year on November 1 by Epic Records.[7] The recording was dominated by band frontman/songwriter Sly Stone during a period of escalated drug use and intra-group tension.
With the album, Sly and the Family Stone departed from the optimistic sound of their previous music and explored a darker, more challenging sound featuring edgy funk rhythms, primitive drum machine, extensive overdubbing, and a dense mix. Conceptually and lyrically, There's a Riot Goin' On embraced apathy, pessimism, and disillusionment with both Stone's fame and 1960s counterculture amid a turbulent political climate in the United States at the turn of the 1970s, influenced by the decline of the civil rights movement and the rise of the Black Power movement. The album's title was originally planned to be Africa Talks to You, but it changed in response to Marvin Gaye's album What's Going On (1971), released six months before Riot.[8]
There's a Riot Goin' On has been considered one of the first instances of the funk music later popularized by George Clinton and Funkadelic, the Ohio Players, and similar acts. The album, as well as the follow-ups Fresh and Small Talk, are considered among the first and best examples of the matured version of funk music, after prototypical instances of the sound in Sly & the Family Stone's 1960s work.[58] Riot's sound also helped inspire Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock to crossover to jazz-funk.[59] It was called "a masterpiece of darkly psychedelic funk" by AllMusic contributor Steve Huey,[1] and "a phenomenal, dirty, psychedelic funk album" by Drowned in Sound journalist Jon Falcone, who said it soundtracked the political and social turbulence that opened the 1970s.[2] Paul Grimstad from Brooklyn Rail regarded it as a "frigid yet weirdly intimate" avant-pop record.[4]
In 1994 There's a Riot Going On was ranked number 14 in Colin Larkin's Top 50 Soul Albums. Larkin described the album as "unlike anything heard before in black music".[60] A 2003 article for Rolling Stone commented; "Sly and the Family Stone created a musical utopia: an interracial group of men and women who blended funk, rock and positive vibes... Sly Stone ultimately discovered that his utopia had a ghetto, and he brilliantly tore the whole thing down on There's a Riot Goin' On, which does not refute the joy of his earlier music."[61] In addition to being featured near the top of several major publications' "best album" lists, Riot was also ranked at number 99 on Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list,[62] one of four Sly & the Family Stone entries to be included on the list; it is the second highest of the band's entries, preceded by Greatest Hits (#60), and followed by Stand! (#118) and Fresh (#186).[13] In the 2020 updated list, the album was raised to number 82 and became the highest ranked of the three Sly & The Family Stone entries, ahead of Stand! (#119) & Greatest Hits (#343).[14] Pitchfork named it the fourth best album of the 1970s.[63]
Pere Ubu
3/5
The Modern Dance is the debut album by American rock band Pere Ubu. It was released in January 1978 by record label Blank.
The Modern Dance has been critically acclaimed. Reviewing for The Village Voice in 1978, Robert Christgau wrote that "even though there's too much Radio Ethiopia and not enough 'Redondo Beach,'" he would be "listening through the failed stuff—the highs are worth it."[13] In Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), he reaffirmed that "the highs are worth it, and the failed stuff ain't bad" in his revised review.[4] Ken Tucker, writing in Rolling Stone, called it vivid and exhilarating, even if "harsh and willfully ugly".[14]
Fairport Convention
4/5
Unhalfbricking is the third album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and their second album released in 1969. It is seen as a transitional album in their history and marked a further musical move away from American influences towards more traditional English folk songs that had begun on their previous album, What We Did on Our Holidays[2] and reached its peak on the follow-up, Liege & Lief, released later the same year.[3]
The album features several Bob Dylan songs, which he had not yet released. It also features what is arguably Sandy Denny's most notable achievement as a songwriter with the song "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?", which has been covered by many other performers and is now regarded as a classic. The only traditional song on the album, "A Sailor's Life", is seen as pivotal in the development of English folk rock music.
AllMusic's Richie Unterberger described Unhalfbricking as "a transitional album for the young Fairport Convention, in which the group shed its closest ties to its American folk-rock influences and started to edge toward a more traditional British folk-slanted sound".[2]
The Dandy Warhols
4/5
..The Dandy Warhols Come Down is the second studio album by American rock band The Dandy Warhols. It was released on July 15, 1997, by Capitol.
The album featured a shift in style from the garage rock influenced sound of their previous album, 1995's Dandys Rule OK, to a more and pop-influenced sound.[5]
Taylor compared the track "Good Morning" to the style of musician Lloyd Cole.[6]
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Pitchfork also included it in their The Best Britpop Albums... That Aren't British list.[18]
"Boys Better" was featured on the soundtrack for the films Good Will Hunting, Igby Goes Down, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. "Every Day Should Be a Holiday" was featured in the movie There's Something About Mary, Fanboys and the trailer for Sideways
Janis Joplin
3/5
Pearl is the second and final solo album (and fourth album overall) by Janis Joplin, released on January 11, 1971, three months after her death on October 4, 1970. It was the final album with her direct participation, and the only Joplin album recorded with the Full Tilt Boogie Band, her final touring unit. It peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, holding that spot for nine weeks. It has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA.[1]
In 2003, the album was ranked number 122 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[10] moving to 125 in a 2012 revised listing.[11] It was moved to a 259 ranking in the 2020 list.
Janis Lyn Joplin[1] (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most successful and widely known rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals[2] and "electric" stage presence.[3][4][5]
Lupe Fiasco
5/5
Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor (commonly referred to as Food & Liquor) is the debut studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, released on September 19, 2006, on 1st & 15th Entertainment and Atlantic Records. The album features production from The Neptunes, Kanye West, Mike Shinoda, Craig Kallman, Prolyfic, Needlz, Soundtrakk, and Brandon Howard. Jay-Z, Chill, and Fiasco himself are credited as the executive producers for the album. Songs on the record discuss poverty, Islam, terrorism, racism, and individuality.
"In Chicago, instead of having bodegas like in New York, the majority of the corner stores are called 'Food and Liquors.' The store is where everything is at, whether it be the wine-o hanging by the store, or us as kids going back and forth to the store to buy something. The 'Food' is the good part and the 'Liquor' is the bad part. I try to balance out both parts of me."[6]
The album was named best hip hop album of 2006 by several publications and was ranked within several year-end lists.[41][42][43][44] It was also one of the best-reviewed albums of 2006 at Metacritic.[45] Food & Liquor finished 34th in the voting for the Pazz & Jop, an annual critics poll run by The Village Voice.[46] Robert Christgau, the poll's creator, named it the 19th best album of the year in his own list.[47] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[48]
R.E.M.
3/5
Murmur is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on April 12, 1983, by I.R.S. Records. Murmur drew critical acclaim upon its release for its unusual sound, defined by lead singer Michael Stipe's cryptic lyrics, guitarist Peter Buck's jangly guitar style, and bass guitarist Mike Mills's melodic basslines.
Murmur was released in April 1983. The record reached number 36 on the Billboard album chart.[28] A re-recorded version of "Radio Free Europe" was the album's lead single and reached number 78 on the Billboard singles chart that year. Despite the acclaim awarded the album, by the end of 1983 Murmur had only sold about 200,000 copies, which I.R.S.'s Jay Boberg felt was below expectations.[29] Murmur was eventually certified gold (500,000 units shipped) by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1991.[30]
The album drew substantial critical acclaim. Rolling Stone gave the album four out of five stars. Reviewer Steve Pond felt the album fulfilled the promise the band showed on Chronic Town. He wrote, "Murmur is the record on which [R.E.M.] trade that potential for results: an intelligent, enigmatic, deeply involving album, it reveals a depth and cohesiveness to R.E.M. that the EP could only suggest." He concluded, "R.E.M. is clearly the important Athens band."[24] Jonathan Gregg of Record described Murmur as "a splendid little film noir of an album, austere but rich in implication." He particularly praised the band's distinctive "twitchy, restless dance beat" and the incomprehensibility of the album's meaning, noting that Stipe's already enigmatic lyrics are often hard to make out due to being sung with a deliberate slur, lost in a muddy mix, and/or drowned out by the instrumental work, resulting in an impressive sense of meaning even as the meaning itself is not understood.[31] It was Rolling Stone's Best Album of 1983, beating Michael Jackson's Thriller, The Police's Synchronicity and U2's War. Buck noted in 2002 that I.R.S. was "mind-boggled" by the album's positive reviews, especially in the British press, since R.E.M. had not yet toured that country.[32]
Accolades
Edit
Since its release, Murmur has featured heavily in various "must have" lists compiled by the music media. In 1989, it was rated number eight on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s.[33] In 2003, the TV network VH1 named Murmur the 92nd greatest album of all time. Some of the more prominent of these lists to feature Murmur are shown below; this information is adapted from acclaimedmusic.net. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[34]
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
3/5
Now I Got Worry is the fifth studio album by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. It was released via Matador Records on October 15, 1996.[1] "Fuck Shit Up" is a cover of a Dub Narcotic song.[1] "Weird Al" Yankovic directed the music video for "Wail".[2]
Mark Deming of AllMusic gave the album 4 stars out of 5, saying, "Now I Got Worry may not be JSBX's best album, but it does capture their taut, blazing, live sound and their eccentric studio approach with a better balance than anything else in their catalog; if you want to get slapped upside the head while you boogie all night long, this is the album for you."[3]
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[13]
Os Mutantes
3/5
Os Mutantes (Brazilian Portuguese: [uz muˈtɐ̃tʃis], "the mutants") is the debut album by the Brazilian tropicalia band Os Mutantes. It was originally released in 1968 by Polydor and blends traditional Brazilian music styles with American and British psychedelia. The album includes a cover of The Mamas & The Papas' "Once Was a Time I Thought", translated into "Tempo no Tempo",[5] and a cover of "Le premier bonheur du jour", previously recorded by Françoise Hardy. It was reissued in 1999 on Omplatten Records and again in 2006 by Omplatten's (and Polydor's) parent company, Universal Records.
In retrospective reviews following the album's re-release more than three decades after its recording, AllMusic called the album "a wildly inventive trip that assimilates orchestral pop, whimsical psychedelia, musique concrète, found-sound environments, [as well as] fuzztone guitars and go-go basslines," concluding that "it's far more experimental than any of the albums produced by the era's first-rate psychedelic bands of Britain or America."[3] Crawdaddy stated that non-Portuguese speakers "might have no idea what the psychedelic popsters are singing about, but the wild inventiveness and playful hooks of their debut speak loudly enough. The record was deeply influenced by the music coming out of the US and the UK at the time, but [...] Os Mutantes were breaking new ground."[4] Author John Bush labeled the album "crazed psychedelic pop" and a "raucous, entertaining mess of a record featuring long passages of environmental sounds, tape music, and tortured guitar lines no self-respecting engineer would've allowed in the mix."[12] Ultimate Classic Rock called it one of the top 25 psychedelic rock albums.[1
Justin Timberlake
4/5
Justified is the debut solo studio album by American singer Justin Timberlake. It was released on November 5, 2002, by Jive Records. The album was written and recorded in a six-week period as Timberlake's band NSYNC was on hiatus. For his solo album, Timberlake began to adopt a more mature image as an R&B artist opposed to the previous pop music recorded by the group. The majority of the album was produced by the Neptunes (credited as "Williams and Hugo") and Timbaland, and features guest appearances by Janet Jackson, Clipse, and Bubba Sparxxx. Primarily an R&B album, Justified also contains influences of dance-pop, funk, and soul music.
For a 2018 Billboard article, writers Taylor Weatherby and Nina Braca said the album "may possibly be the most iconic debut album from a former band member in pop music history", describing it as "[a] bona-fide success that foreshadowed Timberlake's superstardom to come" and "at the same time, a declaration of independence from his poppier beginnings."[102] From the same magazine, Dan Weiss deemed Justified as Timberlake's "classic album."[103] Writers from Consequence of Sound deemed it "the standard for former teen pop stars' bids to be taken seriously" when comparing it to other debut solo albums released later,[104] and Herald Sun considered it a "boy band to men blueprint."[105] British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran cited the album as an inspiration for his 2014 single "Sing",[106] and Shawn Mendes for his 2018 song "Lost in Japan".[107] One Direction's Liam Payne, talking about his debut solo album, stated he was focusing on making a record like Justified.[108] In 2009, Filipina singer Nina covered "Never Again" for her acoustic radio show and album, Renditions of the Soul.
American Music Club
3/5
California is the third studio album by American indie rock band American Music Club. It was released on November 10, 1988 on Frontier Records.[4]
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[5] In the album's article in the book, reviewer Arnar Eggert Thoroddsen, from Iceland's daily newspaper Morgunblaðið, describes the album as the band's "definitive statement."[5]
Eitzel spent his formative years in a military family living in Okinawa, Taiwan, Ohio and the United Kingdom.[3] He moved to America in 1979, and came out as gay in 1985.[4][5]
He started making music while he was a teenager in Southampton, England. His first band was a punk band called the Cowboys when he moved to Columbus, Ohio, at 19. They released one single in 1980. His second band was called The Naked Skinnies[6] and they released one single in 1981. He moved to San Francisco with The Naked Skinnies in 1981 where they disbanded in 1982. Eitzel formed American Music Club (AMC) in San Francisco in 1982. The band performed and created albums for twelve years. At one point, Eitzel also sang with San Francisco's Toiling Midgets, and often recorded solo work while involved in AMC.
American Music Club disbanded in 1994, and Eitzel focused on his solo career, releasing 60 Watt Silver Lining[7] in 1996. Also in 1996, Eitzel contributed to the AIDS benefit album Offbeat: A Red Hot Soundtrip produced by the Red Hot Organization. Following this, he released West in 1997, co-writing all of the songs with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, with whom he also toured. He followed up with Caught in a Trap and I Can't Back out 'Cause I Love You Too Much, Baby, assisted by Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo bass guitarist James McNew.
Sufjan Stevens
5/5
Illinois (styled Sufjan Stevens Invites You to: Come on Feel the Illinoise on the cover; sometimes spelled as Illinoise) is a 2005 concept album by American singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens. His fifth studio album, it features songs referencing places, events, and persons related to the U.S. state of Illinois. Illinois is Stevens' second based on a U.S. state—part of a planned series of fifty that began with the 2003 album Michigan and that Stevens has since acknowledged was a joke.
Stevens recorded and produced the album at multiple venues in New York City using low-fidelity studio equipment and a variety of instruments between late 2004 and early 2005. The artwork and lyrics explore the history, culture, art, and geography of the state—Stevens developed them after analyzing criminal, literary, and historical documents. Following its release, Stevens promoted Illinois with a world tour.
Critics praised the album for its well-written lyrics and complex orchestrations. In particular, reviewers noted Stevens' progress as a songwriter since the release of Michigan. Illinois was named the best-reviewed album of 2005 by review aggregator Metacritic, and was included on several reviewers' "best of the decade" lists—including those of Paste, NPR, and Rolling Stone. According to aggregate website Acclaimed Music, Illinois is the most acclaimed album of 2005, 7th most acclaimed album of 2000s and 95th most acclaimed album in history.[1] The album amounted to Stevens' greatest public success to date; it was his first to place on the Billboard 200, and it topped the Billboard list of "Heatseekers Albums". The varied instrumentation and experimental songwriting on the album invoked comparisons to work by Steve Reich, Neil Young, and the Cure. Besides numerous references to Illinois, Stevens continued a theme of his songwriting career by including multiple references to his Christian faith.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Peter Gabriel is the third solo studio album by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel, released on 30 May 1980 by Charisma Records. The album, produced by Steve Lillywhite, has been acclaimed as Gabriel's artistic breakthrough as a solo artist. AllMusic wrote that it established him as "one of rock's most ambitious, innovative musicians".[10]
The photo was taken with a Polaroid SX-70 instant camera. The sleeve's designer Storm Thorgerson said: "Peter himself joined with us at Hipgnosis in disfiguring himself by manipulating Polaroids as they 'developed' ... Peter impressed us greatly with his ability to appear in an unflattering way, preferring the theatrical or artistic to the cosmetic."[21]
In 1989, Peter Gabriel was ranked at No. 46 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s.[32] In 2000, Q placed the album at No. 53 on its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever";[33] six years later, the magazine placed it at No. 29 on its list of the 40 best albums of the 1980s.[34] In 2018, Pitchfork ranked Peter Gabriel at No. 125 on its revised and expanded list of the 200 best albums of the 1980s.[35] In 2020, Rolling Stone included this record in their "80 Greatest albums of 1980" list, praising Gabriel "for a haunting LP that touches on political assassinations (“Family Snapshot”), the futility of war (“Games Without Frontiers”), and the brutal murder of South African activist Steve Biko (“Biko”). He made more popular albums after this one, but never better ones.".[36]
The xx
3/5
See You is the third studio album by English indie pop band the xx. It was released on 13 January 2017 by the Young Turks record label. It was the band's first album in more than four years, following 2012's Coexist.
The xx began recording I See You in 2014 at Marfa Recording Co. in Marfa, Texas, and were assisted by producer Rodaidh McDonald. According to the band, they had a more progressive, wide-ranging musical concept in mind, compared to their previous two albums. Jamie xx, the band's multi-instrumentalist and producer, said the album's sound and aesthetic were influenced by his 2015 club-influenced solo recording, In Colour.
I See You was released to widespread critical acclaim, with many reviewers finding its music less insular than the xx's previous recordings. It became the band's second number-one album in the United Kingdom and an international top-ten chart success. Four singles were released to promote the album, beginning with "On Hold", while the xx embarked on the European I See You Tour and subsequent concerts in the Americas.
Kings of Leon
4/5
Only by the Night is the fourth studio album by American rock band Kings of Leon, released in September 2008 through RCA Records. Writing for the band's fourth album commenced just days after the release of their third, Because of the Times. The album was recorded by producers Jacquire King and Angelo Petraglia in April 2008 at Nashville's Blackbird Studio.
Only by the Night received a nomination for Best Rock Album at the 51st Grammy Awards with the single "Sex on Fire" receiving two nominations for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Rock Song.[6] "Sex on Fire" was awarded with the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals on February 8.
At the 52nd Grammy Awards the song "Use Somebody" won the Record of the Year, Best Rock Song and the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
The album was also awarded "2008 Album of the Year" by the UK's Q Magazine,[26] as well as Rolling Stone voting it as the 20th best album out of their top 50 Best Albums of 2008.[27] The album was also awarded Best International Album at the BRIT Awards, the Meteors and the Juno Awards.
Minutemen
3/5
Double Nickels on the Dime is the third album by American punk trio Minutemen, released on the California independent record label SST Records in 1984. A double album containing 45 songs, Double Nickels on the Dime combines elements of punk rock, funk, country, spoken word and jazz, and references a variety of themes, from the Vietnam War and racism in America, to working-class experience and linguistics.
Although not commercially successful upon its release, Double Nickels on the Dime marked the point where many punk bands began to ignore the stylistic limitations of the hardcore scene. According to American Hardcore: A Tribal History author Steven Blush, Double Nickels on the Dime was, along with Zen Arcade, "either the pinnacle or downfall of the pure hardcore scene."[2] Watt later commented that Double Nickels on the Dime was the "best album I ever played on."[15]
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[47] AcclaimedMusic.net finds it to be the 305th most acclaimed album of all time.[48] In 2019, the listeners of KEXP-FM ranked it the 223rd greatest album of all time (out of 666).[49]
Youssou N'Dour
3/5
Immigrés is an album by Senegalese singer and percussionist Youssou N'Dour. AllMusic remarks that the album is "a good part of what put [N'Dour] on the international map".[1]
Though the album has been criticized for its use of synthesizers,[1] it has been praised as a showcase for N'Dour's voice.[3] Rolling Stone described the album as "wonderfully moving,"[4] and AllMusic terms it "almost a classic".[1]
NME ranked it number 18 among the "Albums of the Year" for 1984,[5] and it was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[6]
Van Halen
3/5
Van Halen is the debut studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on February 10, 1978, by Warner Bros. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest debut albums in rock[4][5][6] and was a major commercial success. The album peaked at number 19 on the US Billboard 200[7] and has sold more than 10 million copies in the United States. It received diamond certification by the RIAA and was received well by the general public making it one of the best-selling albums in the United States.[8]
In the United States, Van Halen reached number 19 on the Billboard Top 200; their debut single, a cover of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me", spent three weeks on the chart, peaking at number 36.[30]
Soon after its February 1978 release, Van Halen became regarded by fans and critics as one of rock and roll's greatest debut albums; however, its initial critical reception was mostly negative. In 1978, Rolling Stone critic Charles M. Young predicted, "In three years, Van Halen is going to be fat and self-indulgent and disgusting ... follow[ing] Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin right into the toilet. In the meantime, they are likely to be a big deal."[31] But he also wrote that: "Van Halen's secret is not doing anything that's original while having the hormones to do it better than all those bands who have become fat and self-indulgent and disgusting. Edward Van Halen has mastered the art of lead/rhythm guitar in the tradition of Jimmy Page and Joe Walsh; several riffs on this record beat anything Aerosmith has come up with in years. Vocalist Dave Lee Roth manages the rare hard-rock feat of infusing the largely forgettable lyrics with energy and not sounding like a castrato at the same time. Drummer Alex Van Halen and bassist Michael Anthony are competent and properly unobtrusive."[32] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said, "For some reason Warners wants us to know that this is the biggest bar band in the San Fernando Valley ... The term becomes honorific when the music belongs in a bar. This music belongs on an aircraft carrier."[24]
M.I.A.
3/5
Arular is the debut studio album by British recording artist M.I.A. It was released on 22 March 2005 in the United States, and one month later in the United Kingdom, with a slightly different track listing. In 2004, the album's release was preceded by two singles and a mixtape. M.I.A. wrote or co-wrote all the songs on the album, while collaborators included Justine Frischmann, Switch, Diplo, Richard X, Ant Whiting and Greg "Wizard" Fleming.
A[55]
Arular received widespread acclaim from music critics. Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, reported an average score of 88 based on 33 reviews, described as "universal acclaim".[46]
Julianne Shepherd of Spin appreciated the album's fusion of "hip hop's cockiness with dancehall's shimmy and the cheap and noisy aesthetics of punk" and claimed that Arular would be regarded as the best political album of the year.[55] Adam Webb, writing for Yahoo! Music, described the album's style as "professionally amateurish" and M.I.A.'s approach as "scattergun", but said that she "effortlessly appropriates the music of various cultures and filters them through the most elementary equipment". He said, "dancehall is the primary influence, but also one of many seismic collisions with several other genres."[56]
Radiohead
3/5
OK Computer is the third studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released in the UK on 16 June 1997 by EMI. With their producer, Nigel Godrich, Radiohead recorded most of OK Computer in their rehearsal space in Oxfordshire and the historic mansion of St Catherine's Court in Bath in 1996 and early 1997. They distanced themselves from the guitar-centred, lyrically introspective style of their previous album, The Bends. OK Computer's abstract lyrics, densely layered sound and eclectic influences laid the groundwork for Radiohead's later, more experimental work.
The album's lyrics depict a world fraught with rampant consumerism, social alienation, emotional isolation and political malaise; in this capacity, OK Computer is said to have prescient insight into the mood of 21st-century life. The band used unconventional production techniques, including natural reverberation, and no audio separation. Strings were recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. Most of the album was recorded live.
Despite lowered sales estimates by EMI, who deemed the record uncommercial and difficult to market, OK Computer reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and debuted at number 21 on the Billboard 200, Radiohead's highest album entry on the US charts at the time, and was soon certified five times platinum in the UK and double platinum in the US. "Paranoid Android", "Karma Police", "Lucky" and "No Surprises" were released as singles. The album expanded Radiohead's international popularity and has sold at least 7.8 million units worldwide.
OK Computer received acclaim and has been cited as one of the greatest albums of all time.
The album's lyrics, written by Yorke, are more abstract compared to his personal, emotional lyrics for The Bends. Critic Alex Ross said the lyrics "seemed a mixture of overheard conversations, techno-speak, and fragments of a harsh diary" with "images of riot police at political rallies, anguished lives in tidy suburbs, yuppies freaking out, sympathetic aliens gliding overhead."[50] Recurring themes include transport, technology, insanity, death, modern British life, globalisation and anti-capitalism.[51] Yorke said: "On this album, the outside world became all there was ... I'm just taking Polaroids of things around me moving too fast."[52] He told Q: "It was like there's a secret camera in a room and it's watching the character who walks in—a different character for each song. The camera's not quite me. It's neutral, emotionless. But not emotionless at all. In fact, the very opposite."[53] Yorke also drew inspiration from books, including Noam Chomsky's political writing,[54] Eric Hobsbawm's The Age of Extremes, Will Hutton's The State We're In, Jonathan Coe's What a Carve Up! and Philip K. Dick's VALIS.[55]
The songs of OK Computer do not have a coherent narrative, and the album's lyrics are generally considered abstract or oblique. Nonetheless, many musical critics, journalists, and scholars consider the album to be a concept album or song cycle, or have analysed it as a concept album, noting its strong thematic cohesion, aesthetic unity, and the structural logic of the song sequencing.[nb 1] Although the songs share common themes, Radiohead have said they do not consider OK Computer a concept album and did not intend to link the songs through a narrative or unifying concept while it was being written.[34][56][57] Jonny Greenwood said: "I think one album title and one computer voice do not make a concept album. That's a bit of a red herring."[58] However, the band intended the album to be heard as a whole, and spent two weeks ordering the track list. O'Brien said: "The context of each song is really important ... It's not a concept album but there is a continuity there."[56]
OK Computer has appeared frequently in professional lists of the greatest albums of all time. A number of publications, including NME, Melody Maker, Alternative Press,[184] Spin,[185] Pitchfork,[186] Time,[187] Metro Weekly[188] and Slant Magazine[189] placed OK Computer prominently in lists of best albums of the 1990s or of all time. It was voted number 4 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000). Rolling Stone ranked it 42 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2020.[190] It was previously ranked at 162 in 2003[191] and 2012.[192] Retrospective reviews from BBC Music,[193] The A.V. Club[176] and Slant[183] were favourable. Rolling Stone gave the album five out of five in the 2004 edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide, with Rob Sheffield writing: "Radiohead was claiming the high ground abandoned by Nirvana, Pearl Jam, U2, R.E.M., everybody; and fans around the world loved them for trying too hard at a time when nobody else was even bothering."[182] Christgau said later that "most would rate OK Computer the apogee of pomo texture".[194] In 2014, the United States National Recording Preservation Board selected the album for preservation in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, which designates it as a sound recording that has had significant cultural, historical or aesthetic impact in American life.[195] In The New Yorker, Kevin Dettmar of described it as the record that made modern world possible for alternative rock music.[196]
Giant Sand
3/5
Chore of Enchantment is a studio album by the alternative rock band Giant Sand.[1] It was released in March 2000 by Thrill Jockey.[2]
The British music journalism publication NME praised the album's "raw but tender empathy in songs full of unexpected departures".[5]
Giant Sand (formerly Giant Sandworms) is an American musical group from Tucson, Arizona, United States.[1] Its most constant member is singer-songwriter Howe Gelb.[1] The groups have developed idiosyncratic sound rooted in alternative country, but touching on a wide range of other styles and featuring Gelb's beatnik-influenced vocals and songwriting.[2] Since about 2012, they have also performed as Giant Giant Sand when featuring a larger ensemble than their traditional four to six musicians.
Elvis Costello
3/5
Brutal Youth is an album by Elvis Costello, released in 1994.[12][13] This album contains the first recordings Costello made with his band the Attractions since Blood and Chocolate (1986). About half the album features a band consisting of Costello (guitar), Steve Nieve (keyboards) and Pete Thomas (drums) with Nick Lowe (not a member of the Attractions) on bass. Costello himself plays bass on two tracks (2 and 8), and the complete Attractions line-up (Nieve, Pete Thomas and Bruce Thomas on bass) appears with Costello on tracks 3, 4, 6, 9 and 10.
Trouser Press wrote: "Throughout, deft instrumental touches, superb singing and the easy confidence of a still-competitive athlete returning to the scene of his greatest triumph make this another effortless win."[19] In The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll for the year's best albums, Brutal Youth finished at #31.[20]
Hot Chip
3/5
In Our Heads is the fifth studio album by English electronic music band Hot Chip, released on 6 June 2012. It is the band's first album to be released by Domino. It was recorded in a span of five months at English producer Mark Ralph's Club Ralph studio in London.[1] The promotional single "Flutes", for which a video debuted on 15 March 2012, was made available as a free download when pre-ordering the album through Domino.[2][3] A limited-edition 12-inch vinyl of the song was eventually released on 2 April 2012.[4]
In Our Heads received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 79, based on 40 reviews.[11] Heather Phares of AllMusic viewed In Our Heads as one of Hot Chip's "most confident, joyous, and danceable albums yet", as well as the band's "most direct album yet, delivering their quirks and grooves with bigger, broader strokes that don't feel dumbed down".[12] The Guardian journalist Alexis Petridis opined, "No matter where the music on In Our Heads ventures [...] it never feels forced. There's a similar subtlety in the songwriting, which is deeply idiosyncratic without smashing you over the head with its quirkiness."[14] Sean Thomas of Drowned in Sound stated that In Our Heads is "arguably [the band's] consistent record to date", adding that "[t]he over riding result is that Hot Chip now seem infinitely more comfortable and competent in their skins."[22] In a review for PopMatters, Brice Ezell commented that the album "could be the best thing we've heard from [Hot Chip]", concluding that "In Our Heads is proof that Hot Chip are succeeding on their consistently impressive musical journey, and as far as I can see there's still much to be learned from these songwriters."[23]
Ryan Adams
3/5
Heartbreaker is the debut solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Ryan Adams, released September 5, 2000, by Bloodshot Records. The album was recorded over fourteen days at Woodland Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. It was nominated for the 2001 Shortlist Music Prize. The album is said to be inspired by Adams' break-up with music industry publicist Amy Lombardi.[2]
Heartbreaker was considered by critics to be a fresh start for Ryan Adams after the demise of his previous band Whiskeytown. AllMusic's Mark Derning wrote that the album "is loose, open, and heartfelt in a way Whiskeytown's admittedly fine albums never were, and makes as strong a case for Adams' gifts as anything his band ever released", concluding that "the strength of the material and the performances suggest Adams is finally gaining some much-needed maturity, and his music is all the better for it."[4] The A.V. Club's Keith Phipps wrote: "Adams has recorded an intimate, largely quiet record that indisputably establishes his identity as an independent singer-songwriter".[14] Pitchfork's Steven Byrd called it "an album of astonishing musical proficiency, complete honesty and severe beauty."[9] Rolling Stone's Anthony DeCurtis was less enthusiastic, stating that Adams' songs "too often fail to rise above their plain-spoken details to take on the symbolic power he yearns for".[11] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice selected "To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)" as a "choice cut",[15] indicating a "good song on an album that isn't worth your time or money."[16]
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die[17] and was placed at #23 on Paste Magazine's "The 50 Best Albums of the Decade" list.[18]
Jimmy Smith
4/5
Back at the Chicken Shack is an album by Jimmy Smith. It was recorded in 1960 and released in 1963 on the Blue Note label. Smith recorded the album in the same session as his previous album Midnight Special. It was cited in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[4]
James Oscar Smith (December 8, 1928[1] – February 8, 2005)[2] was an American jazz musician whose albums often appeared on Billboard magazine charts. He helped popularize the Hammond B-3 organ, creating a link between jazz and 1960s soul music.
Smith influenced a constellation of jazz organists, including Jimmy McGriff, Brother Jack McDuff, Don Patterson, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Joey DeFrancesco, Tony Monaco and Larry Goldings, as well as rock keyboardists such as Jon Lord, Brian Auger and Keith Emerson. Emerson would later recount a story where Smith grabbed Emerson's "meat and two veg" as a humorous greeting.[12] Later, Smith influenced bands such as Medeski, Martin & Wood and the Beastie Boys, who sampled the bassline from "Root Down (and Get It)" from Root Down—and saluted Smith in the lyrics—for their own hit "Root Down". Often called the father of acid jazz, Smith lived to see that movement come to reflect his organ style. In the 1990s, Smith went to Nashville, taking a break from his ongoing gigs at his Sacramento restaurant which he owned and, in Music City, Nashville, he produced, with the help of a webmaster, Dot Com Blues, his last Verve album. In 1999, Smith guested on two tracks of a live album, Incredible! (Smith's nickname during the 1960s) with his protégé, Joey DeFrancesco, a then 28-year-old organist. Smith and DeFrancesco's collaborative album Legacy was released in 2005 shortly after Smith's death.[13]
Red Snapper
4/5
The Guardian called Our Aim Is to Satisfy the band's best album to date, writing that they intersperse "moody, atmospheric instrumentals with funkier, soulful vocal tracks to make a collection that flows smoothly from beginning to end, a soundtrack for urban Britain that suggests a more revved-up Massive Attack."[6]
Red Snapper are a British instrumental band founded in London in 1993 by Ali Friend (double bass), Richard Thair (drums), and David Ayers (guitar).[1] The three core members are also joined by various guest musicians and vocalists on different records. Since the 2007 reunion Tom Challenger (saxophone) has also been a member of the band.[2] According to music journalist Jason Ankeny of AllMusic, "the British acid jazz trio [are] notable for their pioneering synthesis of acoustic instruments and electronic textures".[1]
Django Django
4/5
Django Django is the debut album by British art rock band Django Django. The album was released on 30 January 2012 in the United Kingdom via Because Music, and charted on the UK Albums Chart at #33. In 2014 it was awarded a gold certification from the Independent Music Companies Association,[2] which indicated sales of at least 75,000 copies throughout Europe.[3]
Django Django holds a score of 80 out of 100 on review aggregate site Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7] The Guardian reviewer Michael Hann praised the album's "top-notch" songwriting and "updated psychedelia that beguiles and delights", concluding that "surely this debut won't be topped in 2012".[9]
The track "WOR" has been recently used in a Toyota Australia advertisement for the 2019 Toyota CH-R Next Gen Turbo.
"Hail Bop" was featured in the football video game by EA Sports, FIFA 13 and "Waveforms" in Grand Theft Auto V.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Innervisions is the sixteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, and musician Stevie Wonder, released on August 3, 1973, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. A landmark recording of Wonder's "classic period",[3] the album has been regarded as his transition from the "Little Stevie Wonder" known for romantic ballads into a more musically mature, conscious, and grown-up artist.[4] On the album, Wonder continued to experiment with the revolutionary T.O.N.T.O. (The Original New Timbral Orchestra) synthesizer system developed by Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, and Innervisions became hugely influential on the future sound of commercial soul and black music.
The album peaked at number four on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart and number one on the Billboard Soul LPs chart, eventually finishing at number four on the magazine's Top Pop Albums chart for 1974. At the 16th Grammy Awards, it won Album of the Year and Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording, while "Living for the City" won Best R&B Song. Innervisions is widely considered by fans, critics, and colleagues to be one of Wonder's finest works and one of the greatest albums ever made.[5] It was ranked number 34 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and, in 1999, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[6]
critics, and colleagues to be one of Stevie Wonder's finest works, and one of the greatest albums ever made.[5] The Washington Post critic Geoffrey Himes called it an exemplary release of the progressive soul development from 1968 to 1973.[24] In his Rock & Roll Review: A Guide to Good Rock (1991), Bill Shapiro wrote: "This recording represents the pinnacle of a very important artist's career, and of his physically blind, but nonetheless extraordinary humane vision. For all intents and purposes, and for all of its richness and variety of texture, it is essentially all Stevie Wonder. He personally created and arranged every sound heard. His canvas stretches from the tough realities of ghetto streets to the transcendent joy of spiritual acceptance, each rendered with an original, unique musical palette. The feel is a little more jazz than funk, the result is simply glorious pop music – uplifting sound and message."
The album has been included in countless lists of the greatest albums of all time. It was voted number 143 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[25] In 2001, VH1 named the album the 31st greatest album of all time, saying: "The whole message of this album seems to be caution – Wonder seems to be warning the black community to be aware of their own plight, strive for improvement, and take matters into their own hands. But this is all against the backdrop of the harsh social realities of America circa 1973, and nowhere does this conflict hit home more than in Wonder's magnum opus, 'Living for the City', a raw piece of modern blues on which Wonder played every instrument. The message of urban struggle resonates even more strongly now than it did thirty years ago, proving that the 'inner-visions' of this LP were visionary as well."
In 2003, the album was ranked number 23 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time; it was number 24 on the 2012 version of the list,[26] and number 34 on the 2020 edition.[27] The magazine wrote on the occasion of the initial list:
Stevie Wonder may be blind, but he reads the national landscape, particularly regarding black America, with penetrating insight on Innervisions, the peak of his 1972-73 run of albums–including Music of My Mind and Talking Book. Fusing social realism with spiritual idealism, Wonder brings expressive color and irresistible funk to his synth-based keyboards on "Too High" (a cautionary anti-drug song) and "Higher Ground" (which echoes Martin Luther King Jr.'s message of transcendence). The album's centerpiece is "Living for the City", a cinematic depiction of exploitation and injustice.
Harry Nilsson
3/5
Nilsson Schmilsson is the seventh studio album by American singer Harry Nilsson, released by RCA Records in November 11, 1971. It was Nilsson's most commercially successful work, producing three of his best-known songs. Among these was the number 1 hit "Without You", written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of the group Badfinger. The album was the first of two Nilsson albums recorded in London and produced by Richard Perry.
"Jump into the Fire" and "Coconut", both written by Nilsson, also became hits. The album performed well at the 1973 Grammy Awards, earning a nomination for Album of the Year, while "Without You" won the Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. In 2006, Nilsson Schmilsson was ranked number 84 on Pitchfork's "Top 100 Albums of the 1970s".[11] The album was ranked #281 in the 2020 revision of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.[12]
Spacemen 3
3/5
Playing with Fire is the third studio album by Spacemen 3, released in February 1989. The original CD version included two live bonus tracks recorded in the Netherlands, and an ensuing release on Taang! Records included two more b-sides from the "Revolution" single. A reissued version from 2001 has an entire extra disc of demos and rarities. The album was featured in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Stereogum placed "Revolution" at twentieth in their list of the "31 Essential Shoegaze Tracks".[1
Spacemen 3 were an English rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of "trance-like neo-psychedelia" consisting of heavily distorted guitar, synthesizers, and minimal chord or tempo changes.[1]
Spacemen 3
Ali Farka Touré
4/5
Talking Timbuktu is the 1994 collaboration album between Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré and American guitarist/producer Ry Cooder. The guitar riff from the song "Diaraby" was selected for the Geo-quiz segment of The World PRI-BBC radio program and was retained by popular demand when put to a vote by the listeners. In 2009, the album was awarded a gold certification from the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 100,000 copies throughout Europe.[2]
Grant Lee Buffalo
4/5
Fuzzy is the debut studio album by American rock band Grant Lee Buffalo, released in 1993 by Slash Records. According to the band's website, "Fuzzy would galvanize the sound of Grant Lee Buffalo, i.e., the acoustic feedback howl of overdriven 12-string guitars, melodic distorto-bass, tribal drum bombast, the old world churn of pump organs and parlor pianos."[8]
Grant Lee Buffalo was an American rock band based in Los Angeles, California, United States, consisting of Grant-Lee Phillips (vocals and guitar), Paul Kimble (bass) and Joey Peters (drums). All three were previously members of another Los Angeles band, Shiva Burlesque.[1]
Mercury Rev
3/5
Deserter's Songs is the fourth studio album by American rock band Mercury Rev, released in late September 1998. British music magazine NME named Deserter's Songs album of the year for 1998. Limited edition copies of the album came in a brown cardboard envelope-like package, with a stamp on the cover postmarked with the release date, as well as two art postcards.
The success of this album was a pleasant surprise for the band. After the commercial failure of their previous album See You on the Other Side, which frontman Jonathan Donahue considered to be the band's best album, they decided to make one more record entirely for themselves, ignoring commercial influences, and expecting to split up shortly afterward. Surprisingly, Deserter's Songs was their most successful album, bringing them popularity in the UK and Europe, also making a smaller mark in the US.
Duke Ellington
4/5
Ellington at Newport is a 1956 live jazz album by Duke Ellington and his band of their 1956 concert at the Newport Jazz Festival, a concert which revitalized Ellington's flagging career. Jazz promoter George Wein describes the 1956 concert as "the greatest performance of [Ellington's] career... It stood for everything that jazz had been and could be."[5] It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, which ranks it "one of the most famous... in jazz history".[6] The original release was partly recreated in the studio after the Ellington Orchestra's festival appearance.
The Monks
3/5
Black Monk Time is the only studio album by German-based American rock band The Monks. It was released in March 1966 through Polydor Records and was the only album released during the band's original incarnation. The album's subversive style and lyrical content was radical for its time and today is considered an important landmark in the development of punk rock.
Black Monk Time was described in the mid-1990s by Julian Cope of The Teardrop Explodes as a "lost classic".[17] Of the album's raw style, and the context of its production, Cope writes:
NO-ONE ever came up with a whole album of such dementia. The Monks' Black Monk Time is a gem born of isolation and the horrible deep-down knowledge that no-one is really listening to what you're saying. And the Monks took full artistic advantage of their lucky/unlucky position as American rockers in a country that was desperate for the real thing. They wrote songs that would have been horribly mutilated by arrangers and producers had they been back in America. But there was no need for them to clean up their act, as the Beatles and others had had to do on returning home, for there were no artistic constraints in a country that liked the sound of beat music but had no idea about its lyric content.[18]
The Doors
3/5
The Doors is the debut studio album by American rock band The Doors, released on January 4, 1967, by Elektra Records. It was recorded in August 1966 at Sunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood, California, under the production of Paul A. Rothchild. The album features the extended version of the breakthrough single "Light My Fire" and the lengthy closer "The End" with its Oedipal spoken word section.[4] Publications including BBC and Rolling Stone have considered it one of the greatest and most unique debut albums in recorded history.[5][6]
popular music into areas previously thought impossible: the incitement to expand one's consciousness of opener 'Break on Through' was just the beginning of its incendiary agenda."[95] AllMusic critic Richie Unterberger, lauded The Doors as a "tremendous debut album, and indeed one of the best first-time outings in rock history", concluding in his review that "The End" was "a haunting cap to an album whose nonstop melodicism and dynamic tension would never be equaled by the group again, let alone bettered."[75]
The Doors has been numerously cited as the group's finest record.[2][75][96] In 2000, the album was voted number 46 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[97] The Doors was ranked No. 42 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[98] When the list was revised in 2020, the album was repositioned at No. 86.[99] Two of the album's songs, "Light My Fire" and "The End", were also among on Rolling Stone's 2004 list "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[100
All That You Can't Leave Behind is the tenth studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, and was released on 30 October 2000 through Island Records and Interscope Records.[2] Following the band's experimentation with alternative rock and dance music in the 1990s and the mixed reception to their 1997 album, Pop, U2 returned to a sound more akin to their earlier records for All That You Can't Leave Behind. The group reunited with Eno and Lanois, who had produced three prior U2 albums together. The record was originally named "U2000", which had been a working title for their PopMart Tour.
At the end of 2000, All That You Can't Leave Behind was voted the seventh-best album of the year in the Pazz & Jop annual critics poll published by The Village Voice. "Beautiful Day" finished fourth in the singles voting.[45] Spin ranked it the 20th-best album of the year.[46] The album and its singles earned U2 seven Grammy Awards over the course of two years. At the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2001, "Beautiful Day" won Song of the Year, Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and Record of the Year. In the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2002, "Walk On" won Record of the Year, "Elevation" won Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The album also won Best Rock Album and was nominated for Album of the Year. All That You Can't Leave Behind is the only album ever to have two singles win Record of the Year in two consecutive years.[47]
In 2003, All That You Can't Leave Behind was ranked 139th on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"; the magazine wrote that U2 "brought things back to essentials" with songs that "grapple with mortality – particularly the gospel-soul ballad 'Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of' – and take on new resonance after September 11th".[54] In 2012, the album was re-ranked at number 280 on an updated version of the list.[55] In 2009, it was ranked by Rolling Stone as the 13th-best album of the decade, while "Beautiful Day" was rated the ninth-best song.[56][57] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[58]
Lambchop
3/5
Nixon is the fifth studio album by American rock band Lambchop. It was released on February 7, 2000 and was issued by Merge Records and City Slang.
Nixon was released to highly positive reviews from music critics, receiving a score of 84 out of 100 on the review aggregation website Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim".[10] The album was particularly well received by the British music press.[16] NME critic Gavin Martin deemed it Lambchop's best record and said that its "sheer sonorous delight" justified comparisons to The Beach Boys' 1966 album Pet Sounds,[14] while Allan Jones of Uncut praised Nixon as "one of the first great records of the new millennium".[19] At the end of 2000, Nixon was named one of the year's best albums by numerous British publications, including Uncut (who ranked it as the best album of 2000),[20] Mojo,[21] NME,[22] and Q.[23
Billie Holiday
3/5
Lady in Satin is an album by the jazz singer Billie Holiday released in 1958 on Columbia Records, catalogue CL 1157 in mono and CS 8048 in stereo. It is the penultimate album completed by the singer and last released in her lifetime (her final album, Last Recording, being recorded in March 1959 and released just after her death). The original album was produced by Irving Townsend and engineered by Fred Plaut.
Reaction to the album has been mixed. Holiday's voice had lost much of its upper range in her 40s, although she still retained her rhythmic phrasing. The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave the album a three-star rating out of a possible four stars, but expressed a basic reservation about the album, describing it as "a voyeuristic look at a beaten woman."[9] The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide said "Lady in Satin presents the Lady overdressed. It's an album from the late Fifties, when much of Billie's punch was gone."[7]
The KLF
3/5
The White Room is the fourth and final studio album by British electronic music group The KLF, released on 3 March 1991. The album features versions of the band's hit singles, including "What Time Is Love?", "3 a.m. Eternal", and "Last Train to Trancentral".
Writing for Select, Andrew Harrison praised The White Room as "an enthralling album" which "plays a disconcerting game with the listener's expectations of the commercial end of house."[14] In Q, Iestyn George called the album "strikingly imaginative" and "a more subtle form of subterfuge" than previous works.[12] Anthony Farthing of Sounds viewed it as "a neat summation of Drummond and Cauty's colourful history – it embraces their previous JAMs-related guises while still updating the Kopyright Liberation Front's corporate identity."[16] Entertainment Weekly's Marisa Fox wrote that the album's "diverse music is too rich to be labeled",[9] while The Village Voice's Robert Christgau commented that the KLF "like everything I like about house and are canny enough to can the boring parts."[17] NME journalist James Brown, however, found the album "insignificant and unadventurous", criticising its songs' lack of "direction" and "hard substance".[11]
In a retrospective review of the album, John Bush of AllMusic said that The White Room "represents the commercial and artistic peak of late-'80s acid-house."[8] Franklin Soults stated in the 2004 Rolling Stone Album Guide that on The White Room, "the KLF became what they'd mocked with this enduring embrace of Euro-trash club culture. They knew their exit cue."[13] Splendid magazine thought some of the tracks to be filler and the album "silly" in places, but were extremely impressed by the "Stadium House" songs. "As providers of perverse, throwaway, three-minute pop-song manna," they concluded, "the KLF were punk rock, the Renaissance, Andy Warhol and Jesus Christ all rolled into one."[18]
In 1993, NME staff and contributors voted the album the 81st best of all time,[19] and in 2000, Q listed it as the 89th best British album of all time
FKA twigs
3/5
LP1 is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter FKA Twigs, released on 6 August 2014 by Young Turks. Production for the album is handled by FKA Twigs herself, alongside Emile Haynie, Arca, Cy An, Devonté Hynes, Clams Casino, Paul Epworth, Sampha and Tic.
On LP1, Twigs expands her avant-pop landscape, yielding "boundaries-pushing" pop music.[10][11] It also dons a large electronic component. Indeed, Entertainment Weekly felt that without Twigs' voice, it would be a work of avant-garde electronics.[12][13] It is seen for its "glitchy futuristic" take on R&B, casting the genre in "thrilling hyper-real hues".[14][15] Stereogum saw Twigs' music as "fluid" experimental R&B, while Q saw it as an "uncanny" fusion of indie R&B with "nervy" trip hop.[16][17]
LP1 received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 86, based on 38 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[30] Miles Raymer of Entertainment Weekly stated, "A singular kind of diva who asserts herself subtly, twigs sings in a near whisper that often threatens to blend in with the instruments behind it. But she exerts enough of a magnetic pull to lure listeners into some challenging territory".[13] Christopher Hooton of The Independent wrote that "while sultry, drug-addled R&B is an increasingly crowded genre, Twigs takes a hammer to the kind that The Weeknd made famous and plays in the rubble." Hooton continued, "FKA Twigs emerges the high priestess of R&B's latest corruption, and the world will kneel at the altar."[33] Kyle Fowle of The A.V. Club commended FKA Twigs for "manag[ing] to craft a cohesive aesthetic that draws on modern R&B and electronic while also remaining inventive", concluding, "Few debuts possess such control and ambition all in one; LP1 is the rare album that manages to sound both lived in and completely futuristic."[12] AllMusic's Heather Phares noted the album contains "a lusher sound that's more accessible, and more overtly R&B, than FKA Twigs' earlier work but maintains its ethereal sensuality", adding that "FKA Twigs' music was already so fully realized that LP 1 can't really be called Barnett coming into her own; rather, her music has been tended to since the 'Water Me' days, and now it's flourishing
MC Solaar
3/5
Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo is the debut studio album by French rapper MC Solaar. The album title is a pun on the French version of the Biblical proverb "qui sème le vent récolte la tempête" (he who sows the wind reaps the whirlwind, Hosea 8:7). It was released in 1991 and gained considerable success.
Claude M'Barali, professionally known as MC Solaar (French pronunciation: [ɛm si sɔˈlaʁ]; born 5 March 1969), is a French rapper of Senegalese and Chadian origin. He is one of France's most famous and influential hip hop artists. Some consider him the best French rapper of all time.[1][2]
Soul II Soul
3/5
Club Classics Vol. One (US title: Keep On Movin') is the debut album by the British group Soul II Soul. Released in 1989, the album featured the group's hit singles "Keep on Movin'" and "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)", the latter of which was a UK number-one hit and the fifth best-selling single in the UK that year. The album also reached number one and was certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 900,000 copies.[2]
Club Classics Vol. One
Alex Henderson, in a retrospective review for AllMusic, commented that the musical influences ranged from "Chic to hip hop to African music", and that the album was "among the most rewarding R&B releases of 1989".[1]
Steely Dan
4/5
Can't Buy a Thrill is the debut studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released by ABC Records in November 1972. It was written by band members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, and recorded in August 1972 at the Village Recorder in West Los Angeles, California, with producer Gary Katz. The album is one of Steely Dan's most stylistically eclectic, encompassing the sounds of soft rock, folk rock, jazz-rock and pop, alongside philosophical, elliptical lyrics.
According to writers Marjorie Galen and Gordon Matthews, Can't Buy a Thrill features an upbeat soft rock style.[1] Music journalist Paul Lester said it incorporates mambo, swing, jazz, and Latin musical elements.[8] Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that "there are very few of the jazz flourishes that came to distinguish their [later] albums", but added that the first single from the album, "Do It Again", incorporates a tight Latin jazz beat, while the second single, "Reelin' In the Years", features jazzy guitar solos and harmonies.[2] Robert Christgau described "Do It Again" as a toned-down mambo song with "tragic" lyrics about a "compulsive" loser.[9]
"Fire in the Hole", which features "angry, strident piano" by Fagen, takes its title from a phrase used by American soldiers in Vietnam, and alludes to the many students who evaded the draft in the late 1960s and early 1970s (Becker and Fagen included).[10]
The Police
3/5
Reggatta de Blanc (White Reggae) is the second studio album by British rock band the Police, released on 5 October 1979 by A&M Records.[1] It was the band's first release to top the UK Albums Chart and features their first two UK number-one singles: "Message in a Bottle" and "Walking on the Moon". In early 1980, the album was reissued in the United States on two 10" discs, one album side per disc, and as a collector's edition with a poster of the band.
As on the band's first album, Reggatta de Blanc features the Police's original fusion of hard rock, British pop, Jamaican reggae, and new wave music.[9] The instrumental "Reggatta de Blanc", one of the few songs written by the Police as a group, was developed from an extended instrumental piece that the band would typically work into their live performances of "Can't Stand Losing You".[10] "Bring On the Night" was written three years earlier as "Carrion Prince", the title taken from Ted Hughes's poem "King of Carrion", and is about Pontius Pilate; however, after reading The Executioner's Song, Sting felt that the words fitted Gary Gilmore's death wish, and says that since then, "I sing it with him in mind."[7] "The Bed's Too Big Without You" was covered by reggae singer Sheila Hylton in 1981, and became a UK Top 40 hit.[11]
Reggatta de Blanc has appeared frequently on professional listings of the greatest albums.[16] In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked the record at number 369 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time;[30] on an updated version of the list published in 2012, it placed at number 372.[31] In 2006, it was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[32] In 2014, Spin cited it as one of the major moments in the history of white reggae.[2] Based on such rankings, the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists Reggatta de Blanc as the 418th-most acclaimed album in history.[33] In an interview with Modern Drummer, Stewart Copeland named it his favourite Police album.[34]
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
3/5
Safe as Milk is the debut studio album by American music group Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, released in June 1967 by Buddah Records. A heavily blues-influenced work, the album features a 20-year-old Ry Cooder, who played guitar and wrote some of the arrangements.
Safe As Milk was prominently advertised in Billboard, World Countdown and elsewhere in June 1967.[citation needed] However, the band's planned appearance at the Monterey Festival that month fell through, and the record did not achieve popular success, failing to chart in either the United States, where none of Beefheart's albums would ever enter the top 100, or in the United Kingdom, where the band would enjoy modest success with later works such as Trout Mask Replica (1969). John Lennon had two Safe As Milk promotional stickers on cupboard doors at his home.[18][19] In 1968, Rolling Stone praised Beefheart's voice, but stated that the album "failed by lapsing into dull commercial rock on the order of Love's early efforts."[20]
The album made a greater impact in Europe than in the U.S., with the British underground DJ John Peel being a noted admirer from the start, though the original British release was in mono only.
The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[7] In 1999, Jon Savage reflected in Mojo: "Safe as Milk remains a towering achievement: an avant-garde pop masterpiece from the time when they had only just started to make them. Along with the first couple of Love and Mothers' albums and The Velvet Underground and Nico, Safe as Milk had a huge impact in the UK, largely thanks to radio play by John Peel; don't forget that it was hardly possible to get any actual San Franciscan albums until the end of 1967."[21]
Eric Clapton
3/5
461 Ocean Boulevard is the second solo studio album by English musician Eric Clapton. It was released in late July 1974 by RSO Records, after the record company released the hit single "I Shot the Sheriff" earlier in the month. The album topped various international charts and sold more than two million copies.
Reviewing for Creem in September 1974, Robert Christgau said: "As unlikely as it seems, Clapton has taken being laid-back into a new dimension. Perhaps the most brilliant exploration of the metaphorical capacities of country blues ever attempted, way better than Taj Mahal for all of side one. On side two, unfortunately, he goes a little soft. But I'll settle for two questionable live albums if he'll give us a solo record as good as this every three years."[31] He later expanded on this praise in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981):
By opening the first side with 'Motherless Children' and closing it with 'I Shot the Sheriff', Clapton puts the rural repose of his laid-back-with-Leon music into a context of deprivation and conflict, adding bite to soft-spoken professions of need and faith that might otherwise smell faintly of the most rural of laid-back commodities, bullshit. And his honesty has its reward: better sex. The casual assurance you can hear now in his singing goes with the hip-twitching syncopation he brings to Robert Johnson's 'Steady Rolling Man' and Elmore James's 'I Can't Hold Out', and though the covers are what make this record memorable it's on 'Get Ready', written and sung with Yvonne Elliman, that his voice takes on a mellow, seductive intimacy he's never come close to before.[30]
In 1974, journalist Ken Emerson at Rolling Stone called Clapton's guitar work unnotable and criticized Clapton for hiding behind his other musicians, whom Emerson deemed less than capable. Emerson also questioned Clapton's decision to play a dobro on the album, but called "Let It Grow" a highlight. Emerson considered Clapton's re-arrangement of "Motherless Children" to be too upbeat for a sombre song.[24]
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine calls the studio album a "tighter, more focused outing that enables Clapton to stretch out instrumentally" and adds that the "pop concessions on the album [as well as] the sleek production [and] the concise running times don't detract from the rootsy origins of the material". Finishing his review, Erlewine notes, the 461 Ocean Boulevard "set the template for Clapton's 1970s albums". The critic awarded the release four and a half out of five possible stars.[28] For the Blender magazine review of the album's 2004 deluxe edition, Jon Pareles called the Eric Clapton of the Cream-era superior to the Clapton of the 461 Ocean Boulevard-era, because of what Pareles describes as strained singing on 461 Ocean Boulevard. Pareles also described Clapton's remake of "I Shot the Sheriff" as a copy with no original arrangement; he also praised the song "Let It Grow", but criticized it for sounding too much like "Stairway to Heaven".[37]
In a retrospective review for Uncut, Nigel Williamson considered that with 461 Ocean Boulevard, Clapton "rediscovered the primacy of music in his life".[35] Critic Ryan Book from The Music Times likes the track listing very much and thinks that "the climate comes out in Clapton's work, ten tracks ranging from bright blues rock to, well, 'Let It Grow'."[5] Eduardo Rivadavia at Ultimate Classic Rock calls the release a "watershed solo LP" and notes the popularity of the album, stating it is a "wanted man". The journalist finished his review by calling 461 Ocean Boulevard the album in which Clapton's "incomparable talents and this inspired song set were finally captured".[38
3/5
Wild Gift is the second studio album by American rock band X, released on May 4, 1981, by Slash Records. It was very well received critically, and was voted the year's second best album in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop poll. Wild Gift was later ranked at number 334 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Wild Gift showcases the band's unique punk rock style, which infuses roots rock, country, blues, R&B, and rockabilly.
In 1988, Slash issued Los Angeles and Wild Gift jointly on a single compact disc. Wild Gift was remastered and reissued in 2001 by Rhino Records, with seven bonus tracks.
The track "White Girl" was sampled by the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their 1989 album Mother's Milk, in the song "Good Time Boys".[1] The Chili Peppers song's lyrics mentioned X's John Doe specifically, "whose voice is made of gold".
Ozomatli
3/5
Street Signs is the third studio album by American rock band Ozomatli. It was released on June 22, 2004, through Real World Records and Concord Records. Recording sessions took place at Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank, Beatdown Studios, G Digital Recording, Mountain Mouth Studios, and Dog Dropping Studios in Los Angeles, with additional recording at The Plant in Sausalito, California and Music Lane Recordings in Austin, Texas. Production was handled by the band themselves, together with T-Ray, Chali 2na, Daniel Lewis, Don Corleon, Jason Roberts, J. B. Eckl and KC Porter.
The album peaked at number 125 on the Billboard 200, number two on the Top Latin Albums, Latin Pop Albums and Heatseekers Albums, and number seven on the Independent Albums chart in the United States.
It won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards,[6] as well as the Latin Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album at the 6th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.[7] Street Signs was included in Robert Dimery's 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[8]
The song "Saturday Night" was featured in the video games Madden NFL 2005,[9] MX vs. ATV Unleashed,[10] and Sleeping Dogs, in the soundtrack to the 2013 film Turbo, and the trailer for the 2010 comedy film Hot Tub Time Machine.
James Brown
3/5
Live at the Apollo is the first live album by James Brown and the Famous Flames, recorded at the Apollo Theater in Harlem in October 1962 and released in May 1963 by King Records. Capturing Brown's popular stage show for the first time on record, the album was a major commercial and critical success and cemented his status as a leading R&B star.
The album was recorded on the night of October 24, 1962, at Brown's own expense. Although not credited on the album cover or label, Brown's vocal group, The Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Bobby Bennett, and Lloyd Stallworth), played an important co-starring role in Live at the Apollo, and are included with Brown by MC Fats Gonder in the album's intro. It wasn't until the CD release of this album, decades later, that The Flames were finally credited for their work on this album. Brown's record label, King Records, originally opposed releasing the album, believing that a live album featuring no new songs would not be profitable. The label finally relented under pressure from Brown and his manager Bud Hobgood.[9]
In 2015, Rolling Stone listed it as the greatest live album of all time.[22]
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Fulfillingness' First Finale is the seventeenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, released on July 22, 1974 by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. It is the fourth of five albums from what is considered Wonder's "classic period".[2][3][4]
Following the epic scope and social consciousness themes of Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale, in contrast, projected a more reflective, personal, and somber tone. The musical arrangements used in several songs, especially the bleak "They Won't Go When I Go" and the understated "Creepin'", were sparse compared to those of some of Wonder's other 1970s tracks. Wonder had not completely foregone social commentary, as evidenced by the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "You Haven't Done Nothin'", which launched a pointed criticism of the Nixon administration bolstered by clavinet, drum machine, and a cameo by the Jackson 5.
Dolly Parton
3/5
Trio is a collaborative album by American singers Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris. It was released on March 2, 1987, by Warner Bros. Records. The album has platinum certification in the U.S. for sales of one million copies, and has total worldwide sales of approximately four million. A second collaborative album, Trio II, was released in 1999.
Billboard published a review in the issue dated March 14, 1987, which said, "If the 'new traditionalists' in country music still have a body of work to draw from, it's largely because these three celestial songbirds kept it alive and vibrant throughout the adulterated '70s. But the members of the trio are not resting on their reputations here; their album is stunningly beautiful on every cut. Crossover is certain and will most likely be instantaneous, fueled by Ronstadt's current ride atop the Hot 100—in a duet with James Ingram—with 'Somewhere Out There'."[4]
In the March 14, 1987 issue of Cashbox a review was published that said, "The long-awaited collaboration of three of country/pop’s greatest voices is an unqualified success. The near-perfect song selection gives the three ample room to develop subtleties and nuance that in places is heart rending (listen to "Telling Me Lies"). These three singular voices blend together in seamless harmony, floating over the sweetest country melodies and poignant understated lyrics. Augmented by an assemblage of some of the best sidemen available, including Albert Lee and Mark O’Connor among them."[5]
k.d. lang
3/5
Ingénue is the second solo album by Canadian singer k.d. lang, released in 1992. It is Lang's most successful album on the pop charts, both in her native Canada and internationally, and has more of a cabaret flavor than her earlier more country-influenced work.[2]
"Constant Craving" was the first single released from the album. It peaked at number 8 in Lang's native Canada,[3] number 38 on the US Billboard Hot 100[4] and number 15 in the UK Singles Chart when re-released, becoming her biggest solo hit single there.[5] "Constant Craving" inspired (albeit subconsciously) The Rolling Stones' 1997 single "Anybody Seen My Baby?", from their Bridges to Babylon album, with the result that the Stones gave writing credits on that song to Lang and her collaborator Ben Mink.[6]
"Miss Chatelaine" was released as the second single from the album. The song's video depicted Lang—who was usually best known for a fairly androgynous appearance—in an exaggeratedly feminine manner, surrounded by bright pastel colours and a profusion of bubbles reminiscent of a performance on The Lawrence Welk Show,[citation needed] complete with an accordion in the instrumentation.
Orbital
3/5
Orbital (also known as Orbital 2 or the Brown Album) is the second studio album by English electronic music duo Orbital, released on 24 May 1993 by Internal and FFRR Records. Like the duo's debut album, the album was officially untitled.
Orbital
The album received widespread acclaim. In the UK, NME praised the record, saying, "The techno album is a doughty brute to master. Only a few have managed it successfully [...] but Phil and Paul Hartnoll have done it twice... The expression 'intelligent ambience' is bandied around to describe spacey dance music with undue regularity, but Untitled actually satisfies the description. Scientific and terrific."[13] Q also recognised that the duo had made a second successful album, saying, "Like their first album, Orbital's current effort is a finely balanced combination of muso trickery and astute dance tracks... Again, like the latter, it benefits from repeated listening."[14] Select stated that "the marvel is that they create such vastness in your ear from micro-minimalist ingredients", and described the record as "infinitely inventive, unique in its conception and electronically sexy".[16]
Melody Maker claimed that "This new album (untitled, like the first) puts them firmly back in the firmament". In a reference to the most talked about band at the time of the album's release, Suede and their sexually ambiguous frontman Brett Anderson, and including a pun on "Anarchy in the U.K.", the debut single by the Sex Pistols, the review concluded, "As warm as plasma and as eerie as ectoplasm, Orbital's (out-of-)body-music is the true sound of Androgyny-in-the-UK."[20] Vox observed that "this collection sees Paul and Phil Hartnoll drifting still further into the heart of the machine, touching upon the sometimes fragile soul of Techno", before declaring that "Orbital are still leading the field".[19]
Accolades
edit
This album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die alongside their 1994 LP Snivilisation.[21] Along with 1996's In Sides, it was also included in Q magazine's "90 Best Albums of the 1990s".[22] In 1996, Mixmag ranked the album at number nine in its list of the "50 Best Dance Albums of All Time".[23] In 1999, Ned Raggett ranked the album at number 21 on his list of "The Top 136 or So Albums of the Nineties".[24]
The Zutons
3/5
Who Killed...... The Zutons? is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Zutons, released via Deltasonic on 19 April 2004. The album's last known sales are that of 581,088 as of July 2006.
recalled the Zombies.[12] It talks about turf wars,[19] and was reminiscent of Dire Straits.[20] "Railroad" describes a woman being sent a love letter from her immigrant-working partner.[15] Chowdhury said McCabe played a Chinese-styled scale, to which he responded by saying: "right a song about the Chinese who built the railroads in America".[21] "Long Time Coming" is a guitar pop song that comes across as a mix of the Coral and Franz Ferdinand,[22] with harmonies that reminded McCabe of Tina Turner.[23] "Nightmare Part II" is about having a fever dream.[22] Entertainment Weekly writer Timothy Gunatilaka said Harding's "soulful fluttering adds a delicate beauty" to "Not a Lot to Do",[24] which laments the inertia of a Sunday afternoon.[15] "Remember Me" is a Merseybeat track driven by horns,[5] which Dobson said served as a "eulogy to a best mate lost to romance".[8] "Dirty Dancehall" is about McCabe's love–hate relationship with Liverpool.[12] "Don't Ever Think (Too Much)" discusses a man who almost jumps off a cliff before he changes his mind; McCabe explained: "You know, about how your head races all the time. I think that’s part of growing up really, you don’t realise what’s wrong with you".[4]
Eminem
4/5
The Marshall Mathers LP is the third studio album by American rapper Eminem, released on May 23, 2000, by Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album was produced mostly by Dr. Dre and Eminem, along with the 45 King, the Bass Brothers, and Mel-Man. Recorded over a two-month period in several studios around Detroit, the album features more introspective lyricism, including Eminem's thoughts on his rise from rags to riches, the criticism of his music, and his estrangement from his family and wife. A transgressive work, it incorporates horrorcore and hardcore hip hop, while also featuring satirical songs. The album includes samples or appearances by Dido, RBX, Sticky Fingaz, Bizarre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Nate Dogg, and D12.
Tyler, the Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, Kendrick Lamar, and Juice WRLD.[92] Bonsu Thompson of Medium described the album as "a masterful confluence of punk, bluegrass, and subterranean hip-hop that gave life to a singular brand of Americana rap."[28] Thompson further praised the album's impact on white rappers, saying, "For a snapshot of the album's seismic influence, compare the pre–Marshall Mathers LP decade of White rappers like Everlast and MC Serch with the post-2000 landscape of Action Bronson, G-Eazy, and the late Mac Miller [...] Eminem homogenized the White rapper."[28]
The Rolling Stones
3/5
The Rolling Stones is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released by Decca Records in the UK on 16 April 1964. The American edition of the LP, with a slightly different track list, came out on London Records on 30 May 1964, subtitled England's Newest Hit Makers, which later became its official title.
The majority of the tracks reflect the band's love for R&B. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (whose professional name until 1978 omitted the "s" in his surname) were fledgling songwriters during early 1964, contributing only one original composition to the album: "Tell Me (You're Coming Back)". Two songs are credited to "Nanker Phelge" – a pseudonym the band used for group compositions from 1963 to 1965. Phil Spector and Gene Pitney both contributed to the recording sessions, and are referred to as "Uncle Phil and Uncle Gene" in the subtitle of the Phelge instrumental "Now I've Got a Witness".
U2
4/5
War is the third studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Steve Lillywhite, and was released on 28 February 1983 on Island Records. The album is regarded as U2's first overtly political album, in part because of songs like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Year's Day", as well as the title, which stems from the band's perception of the world at the time; lead vocalist Bono stated that "war seemed to be the motif for 1982."[3]
In 1989, War was ranked number 40 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 100 Greatest Albums of the '80s".[62] In 2003, the magazine ranked War 221st on its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", describing it as "the band's most overtly political album... charged with explosive, passionate guitar rock".[63] An updated version of the list in 2012 re-ranked the album at number 223.[6] Slant Magazine ranked War 94th on its list of the "Best Albums of the 1980s."[64]
Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot deemed War a "breakthrough" for U2 in which "the band's passion comes through with gripping clarity."[56] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic viewed it as U2's first album to achieve "greatness", finding that their lyrics – which he said "came across as grandstanding" in U2's earlier work – cohered into a "remarkably clear" vision on War and, complemented by the band's "muscular, forceful performances", succeed at "making the universal sound personal".[52] J. D. Considine and Nathan Brackett's overview of U2's discography in the 2004 edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide states that with War, the band brought more focus to their songwriting and effectively balanced personal and political subject matter, while also creating a musically "richer and more varied" album than October.[60]
Wire
3/5
Pink Flag is the debut studio album by English rock band Wire.[5] It was released in November 1977[6] by Harvest Records. The album gained Wire a cult following within independent and post-punk music upon its initial release, later growing to be highly influential on many other musicians.[5]
Although the album was released to critical acclaim,[20] it was not a big seller. It was listed at number 412 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2012[21] – jumping up to number 310 in its 2020 edition[22] – and at number 378 in NME's list of the same name in 2013.[23] Music journalist Stuart Maconie described it as "extraordinary" by the standards of the time at which it was produced.[24] Pitchfork ranked Pink Flag number 22 in its list "Top 100 Albums of the 1970s".[25] The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
In a retrospective review, Steve Huey of AllMusic opined that Pink Flag was "perhaps the most original debut album to come out of the first wave of British punk" and also "recognizable, yet simultaneously quite unlike anything that preceded it. Pink Flag's enduring influence pops up in hardcore, post-punk, alternative rock, and even Britpop, and it still remains a fresh, invigorating listen today: a fascinating, highly inventive rethinking of punk rock and its freedom to make up your own rules."[7] Retrospectively, Trouser Press called the album "a brilliant 21-song suite" in which the band "manipulated classic rock song structure by condensing them into brief, intense explosions of attitude and energy, coming up with a collection of unforgettable tunes".[19] Pitchfork writer Joe Tangari summarized the album as "a fractured snapshot of punk alternately collapsing in on itself and exploding into song-fragment shrapnel."[12]
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
3/5
Jack Takes the Floor is an album by American folk musician Ramblin' Jack Elliott, released in Great Britain in 1958. The original release was a 10-inch LP.[1]
The album was reissued with two additional songs: "Old Blue" and "East Texas Talking Blues" as Muleskinner. A later reissue further added "Brother Won't You Join the Line?" and "There Are Better Things to Do".
Doves
3/5
Lost Souls is the debut studio album by British indie rock band Doves, released by Heavenly Recordings on 3 April 2000. The album was recorded over a period of several years, following the dissolution of Doves' original musical incarnation as house music act Sub Sub. Lost Souls was a moderate chart success in the UK; the album peaked at number 16, while the three singles taken from the album charted in the Top 40.
Lost Souls was met with generally positive reviews. In a 2009 review, BBC praised the album, and described the album as a rock record that kept the dance spirit alive, but could also appeal to a pop audience: "Lost Souls was a record that was widely discussed, and people wondered aloud whether its success marked the end of another era of dance music. In truth, it was a record about growing up; about giving up the drugs and the madness of The Haçienda, where the three Cheshire lads met. But because the simmering emotion on songs like 'The Cedar Room' was expressed through guitars rather than synths, in no way did that mean that Doves were taking dance music out the back and burying it in a shallow grave. But there was emotion, too – 'The Cedar Room' is a beautiful seven-minute break-up song that complains: 'I tried to sleep alone, but I couldn't do it.' This was a pop album that eventually appealed widely, and not just to the grown-up clubbers that could have been its sole audience."[33] Q called the album "heavy, sombre and lugubrious ... it makes for seriously claustrophobic listening, until it takes a great gulp of euphoria."[34] NME awarded the album 9 out of 10, and called the album "a serious and intense record ... the first great album to come from Manchester since Definitely Maybe... they make being sad after drugs sound great."[26] In a mixed review, Pitchfork reviewer Sam Eccleston took a "straightforward" and "cynical" approach with the album and rated it 6.8 out of 10, saying, "Tonally, Lost Souls reflects the after-after-midnight hours, as if the boys felt the need to document the hung-over and blissed-out aftermath of the dancing-hours frenzy their Sub Sub days offered listeners years ago." The review goes on to say that, "The heart of the problem on Lost Souls is its overreaching ambition ... [but] ... despite its reach and ambition, works best in its most conventionally melodic moments."[27]
Christina Aguilera
4/5
Stripped is the fourth studio album by American singer Christina Aguilera. It was released on October 22, 2002, by RCA Records. Looking to transition from the teen pop styles of her self-titled debut album (1999), Aguilera took creative control over her next album, both musically and lyrically. She also changed her public image and established her alter ego Xtina. Musically, the record incorporates pop and R&B with influences from many different genres, including soul, rock, hip hop, and Latin music. Lyrically, most of the songs from the album discuss the theme of self-respect, while a few other songs talk about sex and feminism. As an executive producer, Aguilera enlisted numerous new collaborators for the album.
Following its release and five successful singles, Stripped became one of Aguilera's strongest charting albums.[108] In the United States, the album became the tenth bestselling album of 2003, and Aguilera was ranked as the most successful female pop artist of the year with six chart entries.[108] Likewise, Aguilera was the fourth most successful female musical act on the US Billboard 200, and the thirteenth overall.[108] Due to the successful single releases, the magazine ranked Aguilera as the second bestselling female singles artist on the US Billboard Hot 100, only behind Beyoncé, and the top female Mainstream Top 40 artist.[108] In 2017, Billboard named Stripped as one of the most important albums of the 2000s, noting the cultural and sonic influence the album had on an array of artists including Rihanna, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus and Ariana Grande.[109]
The Coral
3/5
The Coral is the debut studio album by British rock band the Coral. It was released on 29 July 2002, through the Deltasonic record label. After finalising their line-up, the band had a residency at The Cavern Club, and were spotted and signed by Alan Willis of Deltasonic soon afterwards. Following the release of a single and an EP, and two UK tours, the band began recording their debut album. Sessions were held at Linford Manor Studios, Milton Keynes in early 2002, and were produced by the Lightning Seeds frontman Ian Broudie and the Coral. Described as a neo-psychedelia and folk rock album, frontman James Skelly's voice was compared to Eric Burdon of the Animals and Jim Morrison of the Doors.
The Coral was met with universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 81, based on 18 reviews.[74]
Eagles
3/5
Eagles is the debut studio album by American rock band the Eagles. The album was recorded at London's Olympic Studios with producer Glyn Johns and released in 1972. The album was an immediate success for the young band, reaching No. 22 on the charts and going platinum. Three singles were released from the album, each reaching the Top 40: "Take It Easy" (number 12), "Witchy Woman" (number 9), and "Peaceful Easy Feeling" (number 22). The band, starting with this album, played a major role in popularizing the country rock sound.[2]
The album was ranked number 368 in the 2012 edition of Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[3] and at number 207 in the 2020 reboot of the list.[4] The single "Take It Easy" is part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".[5]
The Beta Band
4/5
Hot Shots II is the second studio album by the Scottish musical group The Beta Band, released on 16 July 2001. Colin "C-Swing" Emmanuel and the band co-produced the album. The band's previous work had used dense experimentation but Hot Shots II had a minimal style influenced by R&B, hip hop and electronica.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
3/5
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1972.[1] Fronted by Alex Harvey accompanied by Zal Cleminson on guitar, bassist Chris Glen, keyboard player Hugh McKenna (28 November 1949–18 December 2019) and drummer Ted McKenna, their music was a blend of glam rock, blues rock and hard rock,[2] with cabaret elements.[3] Their stage performances incorporated theatrical elements. The band were popular in continental Europe, and influential in Australia, most notably on AC/DC (particularly their singer Bon Scott) and on the young Nick Cave and his first band The Boys Next Door.
Rocket From The Crypt
3/5
Scream, Dracula, Scream! is an album by American punk rock band Rocket from the Crypt, released in 1995 by Interscope Records.[11] It was the band's first major-label release. Music videos were filmed for the singles "On a Rope," "Born in '69" and "Young Livers," and the band embarked on extensive tours of the US, UK and Europe. They experienced a surge of popularity in the UK, where "On a Rope" entered the music charts at #12 and was a hit on MTV Europe, earning them rave reviews in New Musical Express and allowing them to play Top of the Pops.
CHIC
3/5
Risqué is the third studio album by American disco band Chic, released on Atlantic Records on July 30, 1979. One of the records that defined the disco era,[3] the album became highly influential not only within the movement, but also in other styles such as hip hop, art rock and new wave.[4] In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 414 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[5]
Risqué received widespread critical acclaim for its lyrics and tone. In a review for BBC, Daryl Easlea called the album "one of the greatest exhibits in the case for disco's defence," and saying that it was "Chic's most sustained artistic statement, a celebration of a 70s that was collapsing under its own excess and hedonism."[14]
"Good Times" has been extensively sampled in other artists' works, most notably in the first top 40 rap single, "Rapper's Delight" by Sugarhill Gang, that same year. "Will You Cry" was sampled in "Just a Moment" by Nas from the 2004 album Street's Disciple.
The Residents
2/5
Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen, later renamed as just Duck Stab, is the fifth studio album by American art rock group The Residents, released in November 1978. It is named after the first side of the album, Duck Stab!, a seven-song EP released earlier in 1978 featuring shorter songs similar to the first side of Fingerprince. Buster and Glen, the B-side of the album, was intended to follow Duck Stab! presumably in early 1979.
The shorter length of the songs made the album more accessible for fans who had recently heard "Satisfaction", and songs like "Constantinople" and "Hello Skinny" helped cement the band's cult following. Some noted that the Residents were approaching commercial elements with this EP, but they were purposefully avoiding others, such as a traditional chorus/verse structure.[5] This album features guitar by Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman.
The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[6]
Chicago
3/5
Chicago Transit Authority is the debut studio album by the American rock band Chicago. It was recorded and released in April 1969 and became a sleeper hit, reaching number 17 on the Billboard 200 by 1971. Chicago Transit Authority spawned several successful singles, including "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Questions 67 and 68" and "Beginnings". The album stayed on the Billboard chart for 171 weeks,[4] beating the previous record for a rock album's longevity of 155 weeks[5] and has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[6] For this inaugural recording effort, the group was nominated for a Grammy Award for 1969 Best New Artist of the Year.[7] The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.[8]
Keyboardist Robert Lamm, guitarist Terry Kath and bassist Peter Cetera shared lead vocals, while James Pankow, Lee Loughnane and Walter Parazaider handled all brass and woodwinds (trombone, trumpet and saxophone, clarinet and flute respectively) and Danny Seraphine played drums. (Parazaider is pictured in the album package playing flute, but doesn't actually play it on the album.) Band members added percussion during sections of a song when they weren't playing their main instrument. For example, on "I'm a Man", Pankow was on cowbell, Parazaider on tambourine, and Loughnane on claves.[11] Lamm, Kath and Pankow were the band's main composers at this time. According to the band's producer, James William Guercio, Jimi Hendrix was an avowed fan of Kath's playing.[21][14] According to the album's original liner notes, the solo performance of Kath on "Free Form Guitar" was created without the use of any pedals.[22] In a nod to Hendrix's guitar expressionism (Hendrix most notably used wah and fuzz pedals),[citation needed] Kath instead plugged directly into his studio amplifier and improvised the entire track in one take for the purpose of pure tone.[22] "Free Form Guitar" was an influence on the genre of noise music.[citation needed]
Sonic Youth
3/5
Dirty is the seventh full-length studio album and second double album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on July 21, 1992, by DGC Records. The band recorded and co-produced the album with Butch Vig in early 1992 at the Magic Shop studios. The sound on Dirty was inspired by the popularity of grunge music at the time, and has been described by Billboard magazine as avant-rock.[1] Some songs on the album mark the first appearance of three guitars in a few Sonic Youth songs.
Dirty was generally well-received by critics. Entertainment Weekly praised the album, calling it "possibly the finest hour (59 minutes, actually) from this New York noise & roll band. It is also much-needed proof that the old-fangled concept of a rock guitar band can still result in vital, undeniably moving music", and ending the review with, "At this point, every other rock & roll album that visits our planet this year will have a hard time topping [Dirty]".[30] Rolling Stone opined that Dirty "easily rank[s] with Daydream Nation and Sister" as "the band's most unified and unforgettable recorded works".[33]
The opening song, "100%", was written about the murder of Joe Cole, a roadie and the band's friend, and how it affected many people, including Sonic Youth.[15] The next song, "Swimsuit Issue", is about a then-current Geffen employee who was remanded to therapy for sexual harassment, hence the lyrics "Don't touch my breast, I'm just working at my desk." The last section of the song features Gordon naming all of the models in the March 1992 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.[16] The lyrics to "Drunken Butterfly" were taken wholly from song titles and lyrics of Heart songs, and the track was originally titled "Barracuda" after a Heart song.[17] The final title was taken from Heart song "Dog & Butterfly", which sounds a bit like "drunken butterfly". "Sugar Kane" is said to be about Marilyn Monroe.[18] "Chapel Hill," one of the first songs written for the album along with "Orange Rolls, Angel's Spit",[19] is about the town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and the 1991 murder of bookseller Bob Sheldon. "JC", like "100%", was written about Joe Cole. The song's working title was "Moonface".[20]
LTJ Bukem
4/5
Logical Progression (also known as LTJ Bukem Presents Logical Progression) is a compilation album spearheaded by the English musician and label head LTJ Bukem, released in 1996.[2][3] It includes tracks by Bukem and artists who recorded for his label, Good Looking Records, as well as his remixes.[4][5]
Eric Weisbard, writing in Spin, called the compilation "the most rhythmically rich drum'n'bass compilation I've heard, whir-whizz shimmer that's less reggae than other jungle, an uncut slice of British trendiness."[14] Rolling Stone wrote: "While Bukem's dense tunes fare slightly better than the anesthetized soundscapes that fill most of Logical Progression, it is tracks like Photek's spooky, claustrophobic 'Pharoah' (which sounds like 'Riders on the Storm' meets 'Cold Sweat' at high speed) and Aquarius and Tayla's oceanic 'Bringing Me Down' that provide the real sustenance."[15]
Newsday determined that "Bukem's songs 'Demon's Theme', 'Music' and 'Horizons' are like signature tunes from another galaxy, but his mix CD, replete with surface noise from the original vinyl, is doomed to attract that most damning of indictments from the uninitiated: that it all sounds the same."[16] The Chicago Tribune concluded that Bukem "charts new territory by orchestrating a psychedelic urban symphony incorporating trance's slow Middle Eastern tonalities, jungle's industrialized West Indian drum roll and a lyrically experimental hip-hop."[10] The Independent deemed the album a "spring-heeled, summer's-coming drum'n'bass selection."[17]
Ms. Dynamite
4/5
A Little Deeper is the debut studio album by English singer and rapper Ms. Dynamite. It was released on 10 June 2002 by Polydor Records.[2] The album won the Mercury Prize in 2002.[3] As of September 2011, it had sold 495,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[
Ms. Dynamite (originally Lady Dynamite) was first known for her vocals on the UK garage underground track "Booo!", which was regularly played on London pirate radio stations and was later released as a single. While working at the radio station RAW FM,[3] Ms. Dynamite was discovered by Richard Forbes ("DJ Sticky") at a West End club. Interest grew from all major British labels and eventually she was signed via her management Bigga Beats to Polydor Records, where she met producer Salaam Remi, who cultivated her talent.
She released her debut album, A Little Deeper, in 2002, which featured hit songs "It Takes More" and "Dy-Na-Mi-Tee". In 2003, the album was released in the United States to critical acclaim.[citation needed] In 2002, Dynamite won the prestigious Mercury Music Prize,[4] for A Little Deeper. She donated the £20,000 prize to the NSPCC.
808 State
3/5
90 is the second studio album by British electronic music group 808 State, released on 4 December 1989 as their first album on ZTT Records.[7] The album features the single "Pacific State", which reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1989.[8] 90 was released in the United States as Utd. State 90, without "The Fat Shadow (Pointy Head Mix)", but with other bonus tracks.[9]
Slant Magazine listed the album at number 54 on its list of the "Best Albums of the 1980s", calling it a "thrilling expansion of the possibilities for acid house and arguably the best LP ever produced in the style".[10] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[11]
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
4/5
Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury is the debut album by alternative hip hop crew The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, released in 1992. Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury was met with critical acclaim.
In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau said that, although some of the ideas and metaphors are unconvincing, Michael Franti's "intellectual grasp thrusts him immediately into pop's front rank". He also praised DJ Rono Tse as "a one-man hip hop band" who, with the help of percussionist Mark Pistel, "creates more music than he samples, stretching Bomb Squad parameters to carry the tracks whenever Franti falters."[11] Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury finished number 19 in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[12] Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it number 14 in his own list.[13]
In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Ned Raggett said that the group "tackled every last big issue possible with one of 1992's most underrated efforts." He felt that, while its mix of "Bomb Squad and industrial music approaches" make it an appealing album, Franti's thematic breadth and "rich voice" are highlights.[2]
Big Star
3/5
#1 Record is the debut album by the American rock band Big Star. It was released on April 24, 1972, by Memphis-based Ardent Records.
Many critics praised the album's vocal harmonies and songcraft but #1 Record suffered from poor distribution and sold fewer than 10,000 copies upon its initial release. However, #1 Record gained wider attention in the late 1970s in the UK when EMI reissued it with Radio City as a double LP package due to increasing demand.[4] The same combination was used when the album was released on CD in 1992.[5] It is now widely-regarded as a seminal work in pop rock and power pop. In 2020 it was ranked number 474 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[6] Rolling Stone also ranked the song "Thirteen" as number 406 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[7] It was voted number 188 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Physical Graffiti is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was released as a double album on 24 February 1975. It was the group's first album to be released under their new label, Swan Song Records.
The band wrote and recorded eight new songs for the album in early 1974 at Headley Grange, a country house in Hampshire, which gave them ample time to improvise arrangements and experiment with recording. The total playing time covered just under three sides of an LP, so they decided to expand it into a double by including previously unreleased tracks from the sessions for the earlier albums Led Zeppelin III, Led Zeppelin IV and Houses of the Holy. The album covered a range of styles including hard rock, progressive rock, rock 'n' roll and folk.[1] The album was then mixed over summer 1974 and planned for an end-of-year release; however, its release was delayed because the Peter Corriston-designed die-cut album cover proved difficult to manufacture.
Physical Graffiti was commercially and critically successful upon its release and debuted at number one on album charts in the UK and number three in the US.[2] It was promoted by a successful US tour and a five-night residency at Earl's Court, London. The album has been reissued on CD several times, including an expansive 40th anniversary edition in 2015. Physical Graffiti was later certified 16× platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2006, signifying shipments of over eight million copies.
The White Stripes
3/5
Get Behind Me Satan is the fifth studio album by the American rock duo the White Stripes, released on June 7, 2005, on V2 Records. Though still basic in production style, the album marked a distinct change from its guitar-heavy 2003 predecessor, Elephant. With its reliance on piano-driven melodies and experimentation with marimba on "The Nurse" and "Forever For Her (Is Over For Me)", Get Behind Me Satan plays down the punk, garage rock and blues influences that dominated earlier White Stripes albums. Frontman Jack White plays with different technique than in the past, replacing electric guitar with piano, mandolin, and acoustic guitar on all but a handful of tracks, as his usual riff-conscious lead guitar style is overtaken by a predominantly rhythmic approach.
Get Behind Me Satan entered the U.S. and UK charts at No. 3, ranking higher in the U.S. charts than their previous records, but lower in the UK charts than Elephant. "Blue Orchid", the first single, became a radio hit in the United States and the band's second UK Top 10 hit. "My Doorbell" was the second single from the album, followed by "The Denial Twist". Both also reached the Top 10 in the UK and charted on the Modern Rock Charts as well.
In 2006, the album was included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, edited by Robert Dimery,[26] but was removed in the 2007 edition. "Instinct Blues" was featured in Michel Gondry's 2006 film The Science of Sleep. It was voted the sixth best album of the year in the 2006 Village Voice Pazz and Jop critic poll, with the song "My Doorbell" being voted as the year's ninth best single.
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
m b v is the third studio album by Irish-English rock band My Bloody Valentine, self-released on 2 February 2013. Produced by the band's vocalist and guitarist Kevin Shields, m b v was the band's first full-length release of original material since Loveless (1991), over two decades earlier.
m b v received universal acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 87, based on 46 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[34] AllMusic rated m b v four out of five stars.[35] Writing for The A.V. Club, Jason Heller said the album "stands as something potentially timeless—and immediately breathtaking". Heller drew comparisons between the first half of the album and Loveless, and stated that the latter half "relinquishes the familiar and swims far beyond the sight of shore", in his A− review.[36] BBC Music reviewer Ian Wade gave m b v a favourable review, describing "the lack of a dramatic shift in direction" as "comforting". He referred to the album as "a perfect follow-up to Loveless and noted it "represents an astounding return".[45] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune awarded the album two and a half stars out of four and described m b v as being in thirds, saying "the opening trio of songs offers a paler version of the revolutionary Loveless sound", "the album takes a turn in its middle third with 'Is This and Yes,' essentially a long palette cleanser devoid of guitars" and "the album's final three songs serve as the antidote".[46]
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Green River is the third studio album by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, released on August 7, 1969 by Fantasy Records. It was the second of three albums they released in that year, preceded by Bayou Country in January and followed by Willy and the Poor Boys in November.
2003, Green River was ranked number 95 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[16] and was featured in Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[17] It features two of the band's best-known songs, "Bad Moon Rising" and the title track. The album was remastered and reissued on 180-gram vinyl by Analogue Productions in 2006.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
Ragged Glory is the 18th studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young, and his sixth album with the band Crazy Horse. It was released by Reprise Records on September 10, 1990.[4] Ragged Glory was voted the 36th best Grunge album of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine in 2019. [1]
contemporary review for Rolling Stone, Kurt Loder hailed Ragged Glory as "a monument to the spirit of the garage - to the pursuit of passion over precision" and calling it "a great one".[7] In the Los Angeles Times, John D'Agostino deemed the record "garage rock" and "impressive primitivism coming from a 45-year-old rock icon",[2] while Village Voice critic Robert Christgau called it "an atavistic garage stomp" that "makes good on several potent fantasies--eternal renewal, the garage as underground, the guitar as shibboleth and idea."[23] It was voted album of the year in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll,[24] and in 2010 it was selected by Rolling Stone as the 77th best album of the 1990s.[25] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[26]
The CD single culled from the album, "Mansion on the Hill", included the otherwise unreleased song "Don't Spook the Horse" (7:36). "F*!#in' Up" (pronounced "Fuckin' Up") is frequently covered by Pearl Jam live (see Category:Pearl Jam Official Bootlegs for recordings), and was performed by Bush in their headlining set at Woodstock 1999. Toronto-based band Constantines recorded a version of "F*!#in' Up" in Winnipeg,[27] which surfaced as the B-side to their "Our Age" 7"[28] in November 2008. Scottish heavy metal band The Almighty recorded the song and included it as a B-side (with an uncensored title) to their "Out of Season" single in 1992. An outtake from the sessions for the album, "Interstate", was released on the vinyl version of the 1996 album Broken Arrow and on the CD single for the track "Big Time".[citation needed] UK Americana band The Whybirds frequently covered the song live.[29]
Goldfrapp
3/5
Felt Mountain is the debut studio album by English electronic music duo Goldfrapp. It was released on 11 September 2000 by Mute Records. The album takes influence from a variety of music styles such as 1960s pop, cabaret, folk and electronica.[4]
The album received critical acclaim. AllMusic reviewer Heather Phares referred to the album as a "strange and beautiful mix of the romantic, eerie, and world-weary" and named it "one of 2000's most impressive debuts".[4] Eric Wittmershaus of Flak Magazine called Felt Mountain "an enchanting, accessible debut", citing "Human" and "Deer Stop" as its best songs.[11] In a review for Pitchfork, Matt LeMay described the album as "elegant and graceful", but felt that the "songs aren't all that different from one another."[5] Sacha Esterson of musicOMH compared Felt Mountain to Portishead and wrote that it could be a "contender for the year's best album".[20] Yahoo! Music's Ken Micallef commented that the duo "make elegiac music as elegant as 'Diamonds Are Forever' and as haunting as Bobbie Gentry's 'Ode to Billie Joe'", concluding that the album's "dark night of the soul is mostly bleak, beautiful, and deliciously bizarre."[21] Andrew Lynch of entertainment.ie noted that "[a]lthough at times it feel [sic] a little contrived, for the most part this is stylishly decadent music that should appeal to all fans of film noir."[22] NME viewed the album as "cold, desolate and old-fashioned" and argued that Felt Mountain was not a "bad concept" except that "Portishead got there first, and managed to update the spy-film vibe with a hefty dose of break-driven twilight melancholia."[16]
Q magazine included the album on its list of the top 50 albums of 2000.[23] The following year, Felt Mountain was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, an annual music prize awarded for the best British or Irish album from the previous year.[24] In 2006, the album was included in Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[25] In November 2009, The Times ranked Felt Mountain at number 16 on its list of the 100 best pop albums of the 2000s.[26] The album was placed at number 94 on Slant Magazine's list of the best albums of the 2000s.[27]
Morrissey
3/5
You Are the Quarry is the seventh studio album by English alternative rock singer Morrissey. It was released on 17 May 2004 by record label Attack, and was his first album in seven years following 1997's Maladjusted. The album was a huge comeback for Morrissey; all four of its singles reached the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, and the album itself reached number 2. The album also reached number 11 on the Billboard 200, making it Morrissey's highest-charting album in the United States.
The Cult
3/5
Electric is the third album by British rock band the Cult, released in 1987.[3][4] It was the follow-up to their commercial breakthrough Love. The album equalled its predecessor's chart placing by peaking at number four in the UK but exceeded its chart residency, spending a total of 27 weeks on the chart (the most successful run for an album by The Cult).[5]
The album marked a deliberate stylistic change in the band's sound from gothic rock to more traditional hard rock.[6] Rick Rubin, the producer on Electric, had been specifically hired to remake the band's sound in an effort to capitalize on the popularity of hard rock, glam metal and heavy metal in the 1980s.[7] The album was featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Super Furry Animals
3/5
Rings Around the World is the fifth studio album and the major label debut by Super Furry Animals. Released on 23 July 2001 by Epic Records in the United Kingdom, it was the first album by any artist to be simultaneously released on both audio CD and DVD. The record reached number 3 in the UK Albums Chart and includes the singles "Juxtapozed with U", "(Drawing) Rings Around the World" and "It's Not the End of the World?"
Musically Rings Around the World is an eclectic record incorporating pop, prog, punk, jungle, electronica, techno and death metal. Rhys has offered several explanations of the album's lyrical content, claiming the record is "about Earth, and the pollution of space" and also that it addresses the human condition.[2][3] Critics meanwhile have referred to the record as "thematically eccentric" and lacking an "overarching theme".[4][5] Critical reception was generally positive, with the album being nominated for 2001's Mercury Music Prize and placing at #1 in Mojo's "best albums of 2001" feature. Some reviews claimed it to be the best record of the band's career although the NME described it as the band's worst album.
Musically Rings Around the World is an eclectic record incorporating pop, prog, punk, jungle, electronica, techno and death metal. Rhys has offered several explanations of the album's lyrical content, claiming the record is "about Earth, and the pollution of space" and also that it addresses the human condition.[2][3] Critics meanwhile have referred to the record as "thematically eccentric" and lacking an "overarching theme".[4][5] Critical reception was generally positive, with the album being nominated for 2001's Mercury Music Prize and placing at #1 in Mojo's "best albums of 2001" feature. Some reviews claimed it to be the best record of the band's career although the NME described it as the band's worst album.
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
3/5
The Good, the Bad & the Queen is the debut studio album by the English supergroup the Good, the Bad & the Queen, comprising Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Simon Tong and Tony Allen, and produced by Danger Mouse. The album was released in January 2007.[12][13] The album debuted at number two in the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold in the UK within days of its release despite little media recognition and airplay.[14] In the United States, the album entered the Billboard 200 at No. 49.
The Darkness
3/5
Permission to Land is the debut studio album by the British glam rock band The Darkness, released on 7 July 2003 in the UK and 16 September 2003 in the US. The album topped the UK Albums Chart[1] and reached number thirty-six on the American Billboard 200 chart.[2] Five singles were released from Permission to Land: "Get Your Hands off My Woman", "Growing on Me", "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" (which only appears on the German Christmas edition), and "Love Is Only a Feeling". "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" was the most successful, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart.[1]
The album received widespread acclaim by critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album earned an average score of 79, based on 19 reviews.[7]
"Permission to Land will never be the album that The Darkness think it is," decided Classic Rock, "but, taken in the spirit that it is offered, it's certainly more fun than Use Your Illusion."[6] In July 2019, Decibel Magazine inducted Permission to Land into their Hall of Fame, stating that the album "that came to define hard rock in the early aughts sounds nothing like anything else that was released in 2003 – or the previous decade, for that matter".[18]
Frank Sinatra
3/5
In the Wee Small Hours is the ninth studio album by American vocalist Frank Sinatra. It was released in April 1955 by Capitol and produced by Voyle Gilmore with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. The album's songs deal with themes such as introspection, melancholy, lost love, failed relationships, depression and night life. The cover artwork reflects these themes, portraying Sinatra alone at night on an eerie and deserted city street awash in blue-tinged street lights.
In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it number 100 on their list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, dropping it to number 101 in the 2012 revision and to number 282 in the 2020 update.[4][5][6]
The album marks a turning point for Sinatra, the beginning of Sinatra's "mature" singing style, carrying with it both depth of emotive expression and willingness to experiment rhythmically.[44] Sinatra's relationship with Gardner had previously largely been unaccepted by the general public. John Rockwell believes it was this album, because of the genuine emotional palette on display, that changed the perception of the "validity" of the ill-fated romance.[15]
Charles Granata opines that this album of ballads best defines Sinatra and the era in which it was recorded.[29] Based largely on Sinatra's reputation, this album helped change the "tough guy" image, allowing for a larger range of acceptable emotional responses from men, which might previously have been perceived as for wimps.[66] Directly before Sinatra's funeral service, songs from "the Ava album" were played by a trio led by Bill Miller.[67]
The title track, "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning", has been recorded by a number of artists following Sinatra's version, including Johnny Hartman, Astrud Gilberto, Lou Rawls, Carly Simon, Art Blakey, Count Basie and His Orchestra, Andy Williams, Wes Montgomery, Ruby Braff, Jamie Cullum, John Mayer, Susan Wong, Curtis Stigers (on his 2009 album Lost in Dreams) and many others.
In his autobiography, B.B. King speaks about how he was a "Sinatra nut" and how he went to bed every night listening to In the Wee Small Hours.[68] In Marvin Gaye's biography Divided Soul, the album is cited as a favorite and an inspiration for his posthumously released "ballad" album Vulnerable along with Billie Holiday's Lady in Satin. Claus Ogerman considered In the Wee Small Hours to be "the pinnacle of everything in pop music."[69]
3/5
Apple Venus Volume 1 is the thirteenth studio album by the English rock band XTC, released in February 1999. It was the first on the band's own Idea Records label through Cooking Vinyl and distributed in the United States by TVT Records. The album relies heavily on strings, acoustic guitars and keyboards, expanding upon the more orchestral approach developed on the group's previous LP Nonsuch (1992), whilst its lyrics tackle paganist themes, middle age, blossoming romance, and rebirth. Apple Venus Volume 1 was met with critical acclaim and moderate sales, peaking at number 42 on the UK Albums Chart and number 106 on the US Billboard 200.
Released on 17 February 1999, Apple Venus Volume 1 was met with critical acclaim and moderate sales.[46] It had minimal promotion.[10] PopMatters' Sarah Zupko deemed the album "more than worth the wait. Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding used their time off well, lavishing extra care and attention on this set of tunes that rank among the best music they have ever produced. ... this record is a shoo-in for one of 1999’s best records".[47] Scott Schinder gave the album an A− for Entertainment Weekly, writing: "The gorgeous yet vaguely unsettling arrangements are well suited to the exquisitely flawed humanism of Andy Partridge’s and Colin Moulding’s compositions, lending an appropriately uneasy edge to bittersweet tunes like 'I Can’t Own Her,' 'Greenman,' and 'The Last Balloon.'"[39]
In comparing the album to the group's earlier work, Pitchfork's Zach Hooker said: "Apple Venus finds them picking up pretty much where they left off. Or maybe even a little bit before they left off." Stylistically, he regarded the album as the middle point between Oranges and Lemons and Skylarking, calling Apple Venus "a little nestegg of excellent songs".[20] Rolling Stone's Barry Walters wrote that the LP "packs the wit and nerve that made their rock snap but does it with brass, acoustic guitars, violins, woodwinds and minimal percussion. ... instead of evoking the Sixties, Partridge and Moulding suggest a timeless pastoral past rich with melody and subtlety."[25] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted: "Although there are similarities with the pastoral Skylarking or parts of Nonsuch, there is really no comparable record in XTC's canon, given its sustained mood, experimentalism, and glimpses of confession ... [Apple Venus] easily ranks as one of XTC's greatest works".[1]
The Psychedelic Furs
3/5
Talk Talk Talk is the second studio album by the English rock band the Psychedelic Furs. It was released 15 May 1981 by Columbia Records. It was reissued with bonus tracks in 2002 by Columbia/Legacy and on vinyl in the UK in 2011 without bonus content
AllMusic noted that with Talk Talk Talk, "the Furs introduce[d] a brighter, poppier side to their underground rock edge".[2]
Dusty Springfield
4/5
A Girl Called Dusty is the debut studio album by English singer Dusty Springfield. It was released on 17 April 1964 in the United Kingdom by Philips Records. The album peaked at No. 6 on the UK Album Charts and No.5 on NME charts in May 1964.[1]
A Girl Called Dusty
Dusty Springfield had been a member of the girl group The Lana Sisters from 1958 to 1960, and the folk-pop trio The Springfields from 1960–1963, in the latter case with her brother Tom Springfield. While on tour in the US in the early 1960s she was exposed to soul music, which was to have a profound impact on her subsequent life and career. Although The Springfields were moderately successful, with songs such as "Island of Dreams", "Bambino" and "Silver Threads And Golden Needles" (a No. 16 US country hit), their style of music limited the wide range of material that Dusty Springfield wanted to sing. Therefore, in 1963, Springfield decided to begin a career as a solo singer.
Her first single, "I Only Want to Be with You", was actually recorded while still a member of The Springfields, and was released one week after their final concert. The song was a success in both Britain and the US and led to the recording of A Girl Called Dusty which was released in 1964. The album contained a mix of mostly straightforward pop songs and a few Motown influenced numbers, such as "When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes", "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" and "Mockingbird". It also marked Springfield's first collaboration with well-known songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David, as well as Gerry Goffin and Carole King, whose songs Springfield continued to record for the rest of her career.
At the time, A Girl Called Dusty was not released to the US market. Instead, Philips released a compilation of singles and tracks recorded for the album as Stay Awhile/I Only Want To Be With You. It was named after her first two singles, which had been Top 20 hits in the US. Later in 1964, Philips released Dusty, a second version of A Girl Called Dusty with a different track listing and different tracks.
G. Love & Special Sauce
3/5
. Love and Special Sauce is the debut album by G. Love & Special Sauce released on May 10, 1994, via Epic Records. The album was certified Gold after selling 500,000 copies.[4] It contains the song "Cold Beverage," which became a college-radio staple,[5] as well as "Baby's Got Sauce," which Seattle's KEXP-FM 90.3 called the song of the year.[6]
G. Love & Special Sauce is an American rock band from Philadelphia.[1] They are known for their unique, "sloppy", and "laid back" sound that encompasses blues, hip hop, rock, and soul. The band features Garrett Dutton, better known as G. Love; Jeffrey Clemens on drums; and Jim Prescott on bass.[2]
Tom Waits
3/5
Bone Machine is the eleventh studio album by American singer and musician Tom Waits, released by Island Records on September 8, 1992. It won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album and features guest appearances by David Hidalgo, Les Claypool, Brain, and Keith Richards. The album marked Waits' return to studio albums, coming five years after his previous effort Franks Wild Years (1987).
Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz, blues, country, and spoken word during the 1970s, but his music since the 1980s has reflected greater influence from rock, vaudeville, German Expressionism and experimental genres.[citation needed]
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Francis Albert Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim is a 1967 album by Frank Sinatra and Antônio Carlos Jobim. The tracks were arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman, accompanied by a studio orchestra. Along with Jobim's original compositions, the album features three standards from the Great American Songbook, ("Change Partners", "I Concentrate on You", and "Baubles, Bangles and Beads") arranged in the bossa nova style.
Drive-By Truckers
3/5
Southern Rock Opera is the third studio album by the American rock band Drive-By Truckers, released in 2001. A double album covering an ambitious range of subject matter from the politics of race to 1970s stadium rock, Southern Rock Opera either imagines, or filters, every topic through the context of legendary Southern band Lynyrd Skynyrd. The record was originally self-released on Soul Dump Records. The album was re-released on July 16, 2002 by Lost Highway Records. The album was financed by issuing promissory notes in exchange for loans from fans, family and friends of the band.[citation needed]
The critical praise for Southern Rock Opera created no shortage of buzz around the album and the band.[citation needed] The Truckers did not have the means to press the necessary number of copies of the album on their own.
In order to meet demand, Drive-By Truckers signed a large-scale distribution deal with Lost Highway Records. Southern Rock Opera was re-released, this time worldwide, on July 16, 2002.
Drive-By Truckers' lyrics are noted for expressing the progressive political views of the band, particularly band member and songwriter Patterson Hood.[58][59] Jonathan Bernstein, writing for Rolling Stone, described American Band as the group's most politically charged album, describing the songs as "blunt, pissed-off Trump-era anthems",[60] nearly half which deal with gun violence.[60] The song "Ramon Casiano" is about the little known story of gun rights advocate and former NRA leader Harlon Carter, who shot and killed a 15-year-old Hispanic boy in 1931, but escaped incarceration.[61] Hood wrote "What it Means" in response to the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, unarmed black teenagers whose killings sparked the Black Lives Matter movement.[62] “Surrender Under Protest,” “Ever South,” and “Guns of Umpqua” examine generations of racial injustice in a country that "shoots first and asks questions later."[62] "Once They Banned Imagine" discusses censorship of art in times of crisis, particularly after the September 11 attacks. Band member and songwriter Mike Cooley recalled that "After the 9/11 attacks, Clear Channel put out that list of songs that their stations shouldn’t play. I couldn’t get my head around the notion that John Lennon’s "Imagine" was on that list, that it was something we didn’t need to hear at a time when it was exactly what we needed to hear. The Red Scare, the War on Crime, the War on Terrorism, they’re just excuses for cracking down on anything the establishment finds objectionable.”[63] The follow-up album, The Unraveling, continues the band's political songwriting, with "Thoughts and Prayers" and "Babies in Cages" discussing the issues of gun violence and the Trump administration family separation policy directly.[64] The New OK contained songs written in response to the Black Lives Matter protests in Portland, Oregon and the COVID-19 pandemic.[65]
Klaxons
4/5
Myths of the Near Future is the debut album by English rock band Klaxons. It was released on 29 January 2007 through Polydor Records. Following their debut single, the band coined the term "new rave" to refer to their sound; not long after their second single, they signed to Polydor Records. They recorded their debut album with James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco at The Premises and Parkgate Studios. Myths of the Near Future, which takes its title from a poem, is a science-fiction concept album about the future; its sound recalled the dance-punk works of Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand. Some of the song's titles and lyrics are literary references to the works of J. G. Ballard, William S. Burroughs and Thomas Pynchon.
The band were described as "acid-rave sci-fi punk-funk" by the NME in Tim Chester's Radar feature and were at the forefront of the New Rave movement. Generally derided by critics, Jamie Reynolds explained New Rave as something that "started as an in-joke and became a minor youth subculture".[65][66]
The band's Facebook page lists the band's genre as "Psychedelic / Progressive / Pop".[67
Van Morrison
3/5
It's Too Late to Stop Now is a 1974 live double album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It features performances that were recorded in concerts at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, California, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, and the Rainbow in London, during Morrison's three-month tour with his eleven-piece band, the Caledonia Soul Orchestra, from May to July 1973. Frequently named as one of the best live albums ever, It's Too Late to Stop Now was recorded during what has often been said to be the singer's greatest phase as a live performer.
According to Elmore Magazine's Mike Jurkovic, when It's Too Late to Stop Now was first released in 1974, "everyone—and I do mean everyone—tripped over themselves to hail the two-LP set as one of the greatest live renderings of the rock era."[1] Reviewing the album in Creem, Robert Christgau hailed it as Morrison's best since Moondance (1970) while writing, "Songs that wore poorly or were just lame in the first place have more force and tightness here than in their studio versions".[21] Ken Emerson was somewhat less impressed in Rolling Stone: "On It's Too Late Morrison's voice is in fine form, but much else is not...The other musicians, most of whom have played with Morrison many times before, never detract, but Morrison could be better served....But the power of Morrison's vocals overcomes these drawbacks."[27] At the end of 1974, It's Too Late to Stop Now was voted the 20th best album of the year in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics, published by The Village Voice.[28] Ellen Willis, Greil Marcus, and Christgau ranked it 2nd, 6th, and 18th, respectively, in their ballots for the poll.[29]
Pixies
3/5
Doolittle is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in April 1989 on 4AD. Doolittle was the Pixies' first international release, with Elektra Records as the album's distributor in the United States and PolyGram in Canada. Vocalist Black Francis' lyrics invoke biblical violence, surrealist imagery, and contain descriptions of torture and death, while the album is often praised for the quiet/loud dynamic set up between Black's vocals, Joey Santiago's guitar and the rhythm section.
Doolittle" has appeared in lists as one of the best albums of the 1980s and of all time. In 2017, Pitchfork ranked it as the fourth best album of the 1980s;[81] a 2003 poll of NME writers ranked Doolittle as the second-greatest album of all time;[56] and Rolling Stone placed the album at 141 on its 2020 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[82]
The album is widely regarded as one of the key alternative rock albums of the 1980s. It established the Pixies' loud–quiet dynamic,[83] which became highly influential on alternative rock.[84][21] After writing "Smells Like Teen Spirit", both Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic of Nirvana thought: "this really sounds like the Pixies. People are really going to nail us for this."[85] Norton was frequently credited with capturing the album's dynamics and became highly sought after by bands wishing to achieve a similar sound.[86] Fellow alternative musician PJ Harvey was "in awe" of "I Bleed" and "Tame", and described Francis's writing as "amazing".[87]
Tom Waits
3/5
Nighthawks at the Diner is the third studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released on October 21, 1975 on Asylum Records.[1] It was recorded over four sessions in July in the Los Angeles Record Plant studio in front of a small invited audience set up to recreate the atmosphere of a jazz club.[2] The album peaked at 164 on the Billboard 200,[3] the highest place Waits had held at the time, and is currently certified silver by the BPI.[4] It has received critical acclaim for its successful mood-setting, capturing of the jazz-club atmosphere[5] and characterization.[6]
The album has been generally well received by critics, and is considered by some to be the best album of his early career.[17] It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[17] In its accompanying chapter in the book, Peter Watts stated that "although it could be dismissed as an entertaining conceit, the fake nightclub atmosphere of Nighthawks... possibly captures the appeal of early Waits even better than the two impressive albums that preceded it."[17] AllMusic reviewer Mark Deming wrote: "You could call it overdone, but then, this kind of material made its impact through an accumulation of miscellaneous detail, and who's to say how much is too much?". He positively noted Waits' addition of comedy and acting into the set.[5] On November 18, 2010, Rhapsody named it the album of the day, with staff writer Nate Cavalieri noting that "Waits' meticulous persona is remarkable."[8]
Jefferson Airplane
3/5
Surrealistic Pillow is the second studio album by the American rock band Jefferson Airplane, released by RCA Victor on February 1, 1967. It is the first album by the band with vocalist Grace Slick and drummer Spencer Dryden. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard album chart and has been certified platinum by the RIAA.[9] It is considered to be one of the most influential and quintessential works of the early psychedelic rock and 1960s counterculture eras.[10][11][12][13]
In 2003, the album was ranked number 146 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time",[28] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list, and dropping to number 471 in the 2020 revised list.[29][30] It was voted number 174 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[4]
Jefferson Airplane's fusion of folk rock and psychedelia was original at the time, in line with musical developments pioneered by the Byrds, the Beach Boys, the Mamas & the Papas, Bob Dylan, the Yardbirds, and the Beatles, among other mid-1960s rock bands. Surrealistic Pillow was the first blockbuster psychedelic album by a band from San Francisco, announcing to the world the active bohemian scene that had developed there starting with the Beats during the 1950s, extending and changing through the 1960s into the Haight-Ashbury counterculture. Subsequent exposure generated by the Airplane and others wrought great changes to that counterculture, and by 1968 the ensuing national media attention had precipitated a very different San Francisco scene than had existed in 1966. San Francisco photographer Herb Greene photographed the band for the album's cover art.[23]
Leftfield
3/5
Leftism is the debut studio album by English electronic music duo Leftfield, released in 1995 on Columbia Records. It contained a mixture of new tracks along with reworked versions of previous Leftfield singles. The album contains guest spots from musicians not associated with dance music at the time such as John Lydon from Public Image Ltd. (and formerly of Sex Pistols) and Toni Halliday from Curve. The album was described as progressive house, although some journalists found that label too limiting, suggesting the album incorporated many genres. After completing the album, the duo initially were not pleased with it.
Later reviews of the album were generally positive. In 2000, Q gave a re-issue of the album four stars out of five, opining that "It's hard to overestimate the significance of Leftism, roundly acknowledged upon its release in 1995 as the first truly complete album experience to be created by house musicians and the first quintessentially British one."[23] Q specifically praised the song "Open Up", describing it as having a "revolutionary fervour that once gripped dance, and that's missing from pretty much all pop music at the moment."[23] In 2010, Clash praised the album, finding that it "remains a landmark in dance music. Perhaps the first successful, fully formed album from the genre, which remains a classic of the era and inspiration for many who followed."[6] Exclaim! referred to the album positively in 1999, stating that Leftism is "regarded as a classic and highly influential dance album, its gleeful risk-taking and lovingly honed production certainly setting a standard for electronic music producers to aim for".[24] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[25] In 2000 it was voted number 59 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[26] In 2007, The Guardian included the album in their list of "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die".[27]
Billy Bragg
3/5
Talking with the Taxman About Poetry is the third album by Billy Bragg, released in September 1986. With production by John Porter and Kenny Jones, Talking with the Taxman About Poetry featured more musicians than Bragg's previous works, which were generally little more than Bragg himself and a guitar.
Reviewing Talking with the Taxman About Poetry for Rolling Stone, David Handelman called the album "a winning mesh, by turns as political as the Clash, as clever as Elvis Costello, as melodic as Ray Davies and as rocking as Chuck Berry."[13] Ira Robbins of Trouser Press praised it as "a great leap forward, the deft application of understated instrumental accompaniment on some of Bragg's best-ever songs."[14]
Fatboy Slim
4/5
Better Living Through Chemistry is the debut studio album by English electronic music producer Fatboy Slim. It was released on 23 September 1996 in the United Kingdom by Skint Records and in the United States by Astralwerks. It was Fatboy Slim's first work to chart outside of the UK, with the single "Going Out of My Head" notably charting in the US,[1] and was certified gold by the BPI.[2]
The album received generally positive reviews from critics. A 1997 review from Rolling Stone claimed the album to be "of the most fun, shamelessly genre-hopping dance albums of the year".[7] AllMusic rated it four stars out of five, recommending the album to "those who can't get enough of the popular technoid-sampled alternative dance style of the late '90s".[3]
Norman Quentin Cook[1] (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963),[2] also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim (among others), is an English musician, DJ, and record producer[3] who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist for the Hull-based indie rock band the Housemartins, who achieved a UK number-one single with their a cappella cover of "Caravan of Love". After the Housemartins split up, Cook formed the electronic band Beats International in Brighton, who produced the number-one single "Dub Be Good to Me". He then played in Freak Power, Pizzaman, and the Mighty Dub Katz with moderate success.
Fairport Convention
3/5
Liege & Lief is the fourth album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. It is the third album the group released in the UK during 1969, all of which prominently feature Sandy Denny as lead female vocalist (Denny did not appear on the group's 1968 debut album), as well as the first to feature future long-serving personnel Dave Swarbrick and Dave Mattacks on violin/mandolin and drums, respectively, as full band members (Swarbrick had previously guested on Unhalfbricking). It is also the first Fairport album on which all songs are either adapted (freely) from traditional British and Celtic folk material (for example "Matty Groves", "Tam Lin"), or else are original compositions (such as "Come All Ye", "Crazy Man Michael") written and performed in a similar style. Although Denny and founding bass player Ashley Hutchings quit the band before the album's release, Fairport Convention has continued to the present day to make music strongly based within the British folk rock idiom, and are still the band most prominently associated with it.
Nevertheless, the album has come to be regarded as a major influence in the development of British folk rock. It was voted the 'most important folk album of all time' by BBC Radio 2 listeners in 2002, and at the 2006 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Liege and Lief won the award for Most influential Folk Album of all time. At the event, the original line-up of Simon Nicol, Richard Thompson, Ashley Hutchings, Dave Swarbrick, Dave Mattacks, with Chris While replacing Sandy Denny, performed Matty Groves. Georgia Lucas, the daughter of Sandy Denny and Trevor Lucas, accepted the award on behalf of her late mother. This commemoration was repeated on 10 August 2007 at Cropredy, when the complete album was performed (see "External links"). Prior to that occasion, effective reunions of the Liege and Lief lineup had performed at previous Cropredy festivals, for example with Vikki Clayton standing in for Denny to perform "The Deserter", "Tam Lin" and "Crazy Man Michael" at the 25th anniversary concert in 1992, and the same line-up performing "Come All Ye", "Reynardine" and "Matty Groves" at the 1997 30th anniversary concert.[25][26]
In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Mark Deming said of the album that "while [it] was the most purely folk-oriented Fairport Convention album to date, it also rocked hard in a thoroughly original and uncompromising way".[27] In June 2007, Mojo magazine listed Liege & Lief at number 58 in its list of "100 Records that changed the world".[28] In his 2010 book on the UK folk-rock music scene Electric Eden, author Rob Young devoted 13 pages to the Liege and Lief period and its resulting album, stating that the album "retains a coherence and integrity shared by very few British folk-rock records" and that in its music, "... Fate is exacted; English balladry displays its full menace and mystery; and there's a tentative reflection upon pain and loss, tainted by hard experience".[29] For Patrick Humphries, on the other hand, writing in 1996, the album is less than 100% successful: "Come all Ye" sounds "rather forced", the band's reading of "The Deserter" is described as "pedestrian", and "Tam Lin" is described as "leaden" and the soloing on it as "timid"; he does, however, praise "Matty Groves" as "relish[ing] the interplay between Swarbrick and Thompson", "Reynardine" for the quality of Denny's singing, the instrumental medley as giving Swarbrick's fiddle a chance to shine (along with Thompson's and Hutchings' guitar and bass contributions), "Crazy Man Michael" as "a substantial conclusion to the album", and "Farewell, Farewell" as "a flawless example of what Fairport were capable of at their peak."[30]
Slipknot
3/5
Slipknot is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. It was released on June 29, 1999, by Roadrunner Records, following a demo containing a few of the songs which had previously been released in 1998.[4] Later, it was reissued in December 1999 with a slightly-altered track listing and mastering as the result of a lawsuit. It was the first release by the band to be produced by Ross Robinson, who sought to refine Slipknot's sound rather than alter the group's musical direction. This is the only album to feature original guitarist Josh Brainard who left at the end of recording in late 1998 while the band was taking a brief break. Jim Root, who recorded two tracks at this point, would appear full time on subsequent albums starting with their next album Iowa.
Slipknot received acclaim by critics and fans; following its release the band gained popularity beyond their own expectations.[36] Reviewing for AllMusic, Rick Anderson awarded the album four out of five stars, calling it "an auspicious debut" and proclaimed, "You thought Limp Bizkit was hard? They're The Osmonds. These guys are something else entirely. And it's pretty impressive."[3] The album's aggression and heavy sound was widely praised; Rolling Stone stated Slipknot is "metal with a capital m",[37] Kerrang! added "raw and wholly uncompromising, each track delivered a powerful blow to the senses", and in 2001, Q magazine included the album in their list "50 Heaviest Albums of All Time".[24][33] CMJ ranked the album as the twelfth highest "Editorial Pick" for 1999.[38] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die by Robert Dimery.[39] Jon Hotten of Classic Rock magazine described Slipknot's "scary, genre-busting debut" as a "clever synthesis of a slasher movie aesthetics with some grindingly heavy metal" and judged the band as apparently not "built to endure".[32]
In 2021, it was named one of the 20 best metal albums of 1999 by Metal Hammer magazine.[40]
Crosby, Stills & Nash
4/5
Crosby, Stills & Nash is the debut studio album by the folk rock supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN), released in 1969 by Atlantic Records. It is the only release by the band prior to adding Neil Young to their lineup. The album spawned two Top 40 singles, "Marrakesh Express" and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", which peaked respectively at No. 28 during the week of August 23, 1969, and at No. 21 during the week of December 6, 1969, on the US Billboard Hot 100. The album itself peaked at No. 6 on the US Billboard Top Pop Albums chart. It has been certified four times platinum by the RIAA for sales of 4,000,000.[2]
In a contemporary review, Rolling Stone critic Barry Franklin called Crosby, Stills & Nash "an eminently playable record" and "especially satisfying work", finding the songwriting and vocal harmonies particularly exceptional.[18] Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic in The New York Times, writing that "[Crosby, Stills & Nash] is as perfect as has been expected. But it also demonstrates the dangers of perfection: the wildness that should liberate great rock is so well-controlled that when it appears (as on Nash's excellent 'Pre-Road Downs') it seems to have been inserted just to prove the music is rock: the only exception is Crosby's wailing vocal on 'Long Time Gone.'"[19] In his capsule-review column for The Village Voice, he jokingly said the vocal saves the album from "a special castrati award".[16]
In a retrospective review, Jason Ankeny of AllMusic believed some of the songs' themes "haven't dated well" but "the harmonies are absolutely timeless, and the best material remains rock-solid".[14] In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked Crosby, Stills & Nash number 259 on their list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[20] then was re-ranked 262nd in 2012.[21] It was voted number 83 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000). [22]
3/5
Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus is the fourth album by the American rock band Spirit. It was produced by David Briggs, who is best known for his work with Neil Young. The original LP was released in November 1970 by Epic. The band's lowest charting album to that point, it peaked at #63 on the Billboard 200 in February 1971, spending only fourteen weeks on the chart. However, it sold well as a catalog item and became the band's only album to ultimately attain a RIAA gold certification in the U.S., achieving that status in 1976.[5] On the Canadian RPM Magazine Top 100 charts, the album reached #49 and was in the top 100 for 10 weeks.[6]
"Nature's Way" became one of Spirit's signature songs, but was not a big hit at the time, peaking at #111 on the Billboard pop charts in 1971. To capitalize on the album's enduring appeal, "Mr. Skin" (the B-side of "Nature's Way") was released as an A-side in 1973 and also charted, peaking at #92. It was voted number 332 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000). [7]
Herbie Hancock
3/5
Head Hunters is the twelfth studio album by American pianist, keyboardist and composer Herbie Hancock, released October 26, 1973, on Columbia Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in the evening at Wally Heider Studios and Different Fur Trading Co. in San Francisco, California. The album was a commercial and artistic breakthrough for Hancock, crossing over to funk and rock audiences and bringing jazz-funk fusion to mainstream attention, peaking at number 13 on the Billboard 200. Hancock is featured with woodwind player Bennie Maupin from his previous sextet and new collaborators – bassist Paul Jackson, percussionist Bill Summers and drummer Harvey Mason. The latter group of collaborators, which would go on to be known as The Headhunters, also played on Hancock's subsequent studio album Thrust (1974). All of the musicians (with the exception of Mason) play multiple instruments on the album.
In 2005, the album was ranked number 498 in the book version of Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. While it was not included in Rolling Stone's original 2003 online version of the list, nor its 2012 revision, it was ranked at number 254 in the 2020 revision.[11] Head Hunters was a key release in Hancock's career and a defining moment in the genre of jazz, and has been an inspiration not only for jazz musicians, but also to funk, soul music, jazz funk and hip hop artists.[2] The Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry, which collects "culturally, historically or aesthetically important" sound recordings from the 20th century.[12]
Incredible Bongo Band
4/5
The Incredible Bongo Band, also known as Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band, was a project started in 1972 by Michael Viner, a record artist manager and executive at MGM Records, producer, MGM Records executive and Curb Records founder Mike Curb and arranger Perry Botkin, Jr.[1][2] Viner was called on to supplement the soundtrack to the B-film The Thing With Two Heads.[3] The band's output consisted of upbeat, funky, instrumental music. Many tracks were covers of popular songs of the day characterized by the prominence of bongo drums, conga drums, rock drums and brass.
The War On Drugs
3/5
Lost in the Dream is the third studio album by American indie rock band The War on Drugs, released on March 18, 2014 through Secretly Canadian. The recording session, which took place over a two-year period, was characterized by numerous rewrites. The album's lyrical themes were influenced by the loneliness and depression Granduciel faced after he finished touring. Musically, the record was inspired by 1980s rock, as well as Americana, with influences coming from Bruce Springsteen, Spacemen 3 and Neil Young & Crazy Horse.
The music on Lost in the Dream is inspired by 1980s rock, as well as Americana and Krautrock.[10][11][12] Artists who have been cited as influences on the album's overall sound include Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, The Waterboys and Spacemen 3.[10][13][14] The album's sound is characterized by synthesizers, keyboards, horns and "ambient guitars".[13][15] Whereas the previous albums by The War on Drugs contained several instrumental tracks, Lost in the Dream only has one instrumental track, "The Haunting Idle".[16]
Lost in the Dream received acclaim from contemporary music critics. On Metacritic, it holds a score of 86 out of 100 based on 40 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[23] Pitchfork's Stuart Berman gave Lost in the Dream a "Best New Music" designation and remarked that the album is "loaded with songs whose greatness is revealed slowly, where the simplest, most understated chord change can blow a track wide open and elevate it from simply pretty to absolutely devastating."[10] AllMusic's Fred Thomas called Lost in the Dream "the War on Drugs' Daydream Nation or Disintegration" and wrote of the album: "It's a near flawless collection of dreamy vibes, shifting moods, and movement, and stands easily as Granduciel's finest hour so far."[13] Dan Caffrey of Consequence of Sound felt that over repeated plays of the album, one gradually realizes "that Granduciel is discovering the problems of his life, not figuring them out or even reflecting on them. This all makes for an album that truly sounds like it's coming to life."[16] Ross Horton of musicOMH called Lost in the Dream "a tender, inviting, consoling, comforting record that you'll play again and again (stoned or not)" and "perfect in every way".[14]
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
Isn't Anything is the debut studio album by Irish-English rock band My Bloody Valentine, released on 21 November 1988 by Creation Records. Its innovative guitar and production techniques consolidated the experimentation of the band's preceding EPs[6] and would make the album a pioneering work of the subgenre known as shoegazing.[7][8][9] Upon its release, the album received rave critical reviews and reached #1 on the UK Independent Albums Chart.
Upon its release, Isn't Anything received acclaim from critics. "If Isn't Anything had been made by Americans", wrote NME reviewer Jack Barron, "My Bloody Valentine would be greeted as the new messiahs of dreamrock guitar."[27] A 1988 year-end roundup of the year's top albums in Melody Maker ranked Isn't Anything third of the year and called it "a raving nymphomania and out-of-body experience [that] establishes them as absent-minded rulers of this daydream nation."[14]
AllMusic editor Heather Phares referred to Isn't Anything as "the most lucid, expansive articulation yet of the group's sound" and said the album "captures My Bloody Valentine's revolutionary style in its infancy and points the way to Loveless, but it's far more than just a dress rehearsal for the band's moment of greatness."[6] Entertainment Weekly reviewer Ken Tucker reflected on Isn't Anything in 1993, saying "the passion of their playing – the rafter-shaking guitar chords, the baleful vocals – attests to their faith in romance, betrayal, and dizzy crushes. They nearly bury their somber melodies beneath surface noise. But unearthing the tunes is part of the listening pleasure."[23]
The remasters of Isn't Anything also generated favourable reviews. Uncut's Stephen Troussé wrote: "[I]n rock algebra you might deduce that they'd worked out some new equation involving the barbed languor of the Mary Chain, the speedfreak urgency of Sonic Youth, and a dash of The Vaselines' sauce – but none of that accounts for the savagely sensual results."[30]
Isn't Anything is regarded by many as among the greatest albums of the 1980s. The album has been included in The Guardian's list of 1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die[31] and ranked at #16 in their Alternative Top 100 Albums list.[32] The album was also ranked #24 in The Irish Times' list of Top 40 Irish Albums of All Time,[33] selected by Pitchfork staff as #22 on their "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s" list[34] and listed at #92 on Slant Magazine's list of Best Albums of the 1980s.[35] Uncut writer David Stubbs has called Isn't Anything "one of the most important, influential British rock albums of the eighties."[10] In its 2013 update, the NME ranked the album at 187 in the list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[36] Pitchfork selected the album as the fourth-best shoegaze album of all time.[37]
The Libertines
3/5
The Libertines is the second studio album by English indie rock band The Libertines. Released on 30 August 2004, it is particularly biographical of the relationship between frontmen Carl Barât and Pete Doherty. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 72,189 copies in its first week of release.
The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[12] In 2006, NME placed the album 47 in a list of the greatest British albums ever.[13] In 2013, NME ranked the album at number 99 in its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[14] On the other hand, The Libertines was voted the third-most overrated album ever made in a 2005 BBC public poll.[15]
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Porcupine is the third studio album by the English post-punk band Echo & the Bunnymen. First released on 4 February 1983, it became the band's highest-charting release when it reached number two on the UK Albums Chart despite initially receiving poor reviews. It also reached number 137 on the American Billboard 200, number 85 on the Canadian RPM 100 Albums and number 24 on the Swedish chart. In 1984, the album was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry. The album includes the singles "The Back of Love" and "The Cutter."
Porcupine was first released as an LP by Korova in the United Kingdom on 4 February 1983.[17] It was subsequently released in the United States by Sire Records on 23 February 1983. The original album had ten tracks with five tracks on each side. Like Echo & the Bunnymen's previous album, the album cover was designed by Martyn Atkins and the photography was by Brian Griffin.[11] The album was released on CD on 7 April 1988.
Along with the other four of the band's first five albums, Porcupine was remastered and reissued on CD in 2003 – these releases were marketed as 25th anniversary editions. Seven bonus tracks were added to the album: "Fuel" was the second B-side track on the 12-inch version of "The Back of Love"; alternate versions of "The Cutter", "My White Devil", "Porcupine", "Ripeness" and "Gods Will Be Gods" which were all early versions recorded during the album's sessions; and "Never Stop (Discotheque)" the 12-inch version of the non-album single which was released after Porcupine.[17] The alternate versions of "My White Devil", "Porcupine" and "Ripeness" had all previously been unissued. The reissued album was produced by Andy Zax and Bill Inglot.
Tracy Chapman
5/5
Tracy Chapman is the debut album by American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman, released on April 5, 1988, by Elektra Records. The album was recorded at the Powertrax studio in Hollywood, California. In 1987, Chapman was discovered by fellow Tufts University student Brian Koppelman. He offered to show her work to his father, who owned a successful publishing company; however, she did not consider the offer to be serious. After multiple performances, however, Koppelman found a demo tape of her singing her single "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", which he promoted to radio stations, and she was eventually signed to Elektra Records.
In 1989, the album was rated No. 10 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Albums of the 80s". In 2003, the album was ranked No. 261 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", No. 263 in a 2012 revised list,[24] and No. 256 in a 2020 revised list.[25]
Tracy Chapman received acclaim from music critics. According to Rolling Stone, Chapman "caught everyone's ear in the hair-metal late Eighties" with the album.[19] Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic wrote, "Arriving with little fanfare in the spring of 1988, Tracy Chapman's eponymous debut album became one of the key records of the Bush era, providing a touchstone for the entire PC movement while reviving the singer-songwriter tradition."[9] According to Erlewine, "the juxtaposition of contemporary themes and classic production precisely is what makes the album distinctive – it brings the traditions into the present."[9] He highlighted the album as her best album of her whole discography.[20] Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic in his review for The Village Voice. He found "Fast Car" and "Mountains o' Things" very perceptive and Chapman an innately gifted singer but was disappointed by the presence of "begged questions" and "naive left-folkie truisms" such as "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution" and "Why": "She's too good for such condescension ... Get real, girl."[18]
Blood, Sweat & Tears
3/5
Blood, Sweat & Tears is the second album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, released on December 11, 1968. It was commercially successful, rising to the top of the U.S. charts for a collective seven weeks and yielding three successive Top 5 singles. It received a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1970 and has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA with sales of more than four million units in the U.S. In Canada the album enjoyed four runs and altogether eight weeks at No. 1 on the RPM national album chart.
In his Allmusic retrospective review, music critic William Ruhlmann called the players a "less adventurous unit" than on the debut album, but called the album "more accessible... It was a repertoire to build a career on, and Blood, Sweat & Tears did exactly that, although they never came close to equaling this album."[1] In his lengthy contemporary review, Jon Landau of Rolling Stone dismissed the album, writing; "The listener responds to the illusion that he is hearing something new when in fact he is hearing mediocre rock, OK jazz, etc., thrown together in a contrived and purposeless way."[2]
Cowboy Junkies
3/5
The Trinity Session is the second studio album by Canadian alternative country band Cowboy Junkies, released in early 1988 by Latent Recordings in Canada,[11] and re-released worldwide later in the year on RCA Records. "Working on a Building" and "Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)" did not appear on the Latent Records release. "Blue Moon Revisited" was originally released on It Came from Canada, Vol. 4 (1988), a compilation of Canadian independent bands.
In 2000, it was ranked number 999 in the third edition of the book All Time Top 1000 Albums.[17] It was listed as the 42nd best album of the 1980s by Pitchfork in 2002.[18] In Bob Mersereau's 2007 book The Top 100 Canadian Albums, The Trinity Session was included at number 62.[19] In 2015, the album was named the winner in the 1980s category of the inaugural Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, an annual Canadian music award for classic albums released prior to the creation of the Polaris Music Prize.[20] It was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (2005).[21]
The Pharcyde
3/5
Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde is the debut album by American hip hop collective The Pharcyde, released on November 24, 1992, through the Delicious Vinyl and EastWest labels. The album was produced by former group member J-Swift, and features only one guest appearance, provided by little-known Los Angeles rapper Bucwheed (known then as "Buckwheat" from The Wascals). In the years after its release, Bizarre Ride has been hailed by music critics and alternative hip hop fans, as a classic hip hop album along with Souls of Mischief's 93 'til Infinity,[2] and has appeared in numerous publications' "best albums" lists.
Much of the album's acclaim was due to the eccentric, comedic content provided by the four emcees, who were described as a "pack of class clowns set loose in a studio" by Rolling Stone. The album's wacky storytelling and light-hearted playfulness provided an alternative to the pessimistic, hardcore hip hop that had ruled the scene at the time. Due to its light lyrical content, the album has been described as an extension of the "Daisy Age", established by De La Soul and the Native Tongues Posse. AllMusic described the group's rapping as "amazing", and stated, "The L.A.-based quartet introduced listeners to an uproarious vision of earthy hip-hop informed by P-Funk silliness and an everybody-on-the-mic street-corner atmosphere that highlights the incredible rapping skills of each member."[2] Instead of focusing on the troubles of the inner city, the quartet use their verses to provide humorous first-person narratives, with varying topics. On the album opener "Oh Shit", SlimKid, Imani and Fatlip trade embarrassing tales about drunken antics, unusual sex partners and transsexuals.[12] SlimKid, Imani and guest rapper Buckwheat use the song "On the DL" to vent personal stories that they'd like to be kept "on the down-low", with topics including masturbation and murder.[13] On the single "4 Better or 4 Worse", Fatlip dedicates an entire verse to prank calling, in which the rapper spouts insane and psychotic threats while a confused female victim continually threatens to call the police.[14] The group's debut single "Ya Mama", described by the Rolling Stone Album Guide as the album's most memorable track, calling it a "marathon game of the dozens",[1] sees the four rappers trading comical insults towards each other's mothers. An online reviewer comments on the group's humorous rapping style:
The first album by the lovably obnoxious California rappers, is a wonderfully adventurous exploration that covers almost every social topic known to man in the best way possible – with a brilliant mixture of low and high comedy and introspective contemplation. The four rappers that form The Pharcyde are all very humorous, thoughtful, surprsingly lucid and self-depreciating, and most importantly, they can actually rap.[15]
While the majority of the album has a focus on comedic stories, the song "Officer" touches on the topic of racial profiling. "Otha Fish" finds the group rising up and moving on from their past hang-ups as described in the previous track, "Passing Me By", the album's hit single. On the song, the four recount heartbreaking tales of school-boy crushes that had eluded them. Their mix of humor and social insight was one factor in the album's acclaim. An editorial reviewer comments on the group's unique style:
While alternative East Coast hip hop albums, such as De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising ultimately sold over a million copies,[34] there was no equivalent from the West Coast. With Bizarre Ride, The Pharcyde became one of the first alternative acts on the West Coast to sell large numbers of albums. Though Bizarre Ride did reach Gold status, the album's sales paled in comparison to West Coast G-funk releases of the era, such as The Chronic by Dr. Dre and Doggystyle by Snoop Dogg.[4]
Skepta
4/5
Konnichiwa is the fourth studio album by British rapper Skepta. The title is the greeting "hello" in the Japanese language. After numerous delays, it was released on 6 May 2016 by Boy Better Know.[1] Konnichiwa features guest appearances from Jme, Boy Better Know, D Double E, Novelist, Wiley, Chip, Pharrell Williams, ASAP Nast and Young Lord.[2] Konnichiwa was executively produced by Skepta himself, who produced all but three songs on the album. Pharrell also worked on production with Skepta on the album.[3]
Konnichiwa peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart. The album also charted in Australia, Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. It was supported by four singles, including the top 40 entries "That's Not Me", "Shutdown" and "Man". Konnichiwa is certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The album received acclaim from critics as well, who praised its role and success in the resurgence of grime music and its cultural identity.
Skepta explained that he considered his album to be like "a movie", "Konnichiwa is a classic, The album [was] delayed for kick drums. To put it out was a definite happy point."[13] He also talked about dealing with his critics in the grime scene, "I'm out for revenge, fam, I come into this ting pure-hearted and loving music, and people take me for an idiot, you get what I'm saying? So when I spit now people are gonna hear a madman, they're gonna hear a monster, they're gonna hear someone who's out for revenge - and I'm out for revenge".[13] Skepta stated that music would "represent the country" (Britain).[3]
Konnichiwa was executively produced by Skepta himself, who produced all but three songs on the album. During the production stages Skepta used mostly an old-school toolkit, drum and bass sounds and the odd twinkling piano riff or brass volley. Speaking about his choice to produce the album and use the latter tools Skepta stated "I want anybody from around the world to be able to listen to the album and know it comes from London."[14] One producer who Skepta did work with was singer Pharrell. Skepta described their studio time and their musical relationship like working with "someone I've known all my life, and we're both there to make the sickest track that we can."[3]
The Saints
3/5
Eternally Yours is the second album by Australian punk rock band The Saints, released in 1978. Produced by band members Chris Bailey and Ed Kuepper, the album saw the band pursue a bigger, more R&B-driven sound, augmented by a horn section. The album also saw the introduction of bass guitarist Algy Ward, who replaced the band's previous bass player, Kym Bradshaw in mid-1977.
Retrospective reviews of the album have been far more positive. Writing for AllMusic, Mark Deming reflected that while the album "didn't sound like a standard-issue punk album in 1978, [...] it's stood the test of time much better than most of the work of punk's first graduating class."[1] "With consistency and tasteful variety (handling sharp acoustic ballads as well as the standard burners)," wrote Trouser Press, "the LP is deservedly regarded as a punk classic".[12] The album is listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[13]
The album has continued to receive praise from numerous musicians as well. According to Byron Coley, Mike Saunders of Angry Samoans-fame had once declared that Eternally Yours "was the only album that deserved to have a lyric sheet".[14] John Robb of The Membranes described the album as "one of the classic hidden gems of the punk canon", adding, "The band married Ed Kuepper's Wall of Sound guitars and Chris Bailey's fantastic sneering vocals with the fattest, baddest horn section and made it work." He claims the album was a "new template" for future punk releases.[9] Tim Sommer, writing for The New York Observer, called it "not only one of the best albums to come out of the whole first wave of punk, it’s also one of the best albums of the decade."[15] Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees-fame included the album on his list of 12 "must-have" CDs, comparing it to a "greatest-hits record."[16] Kurt Cobain included the song "Know Your Product" amongst his top 50 records of all time.[17][18]
The National
3/5
High Violet is the fifth studio album by The National, which was released on May 10, 2010, in Europe and on May 11, 2010, in North America via 4AD.[1] The band produced the album themselves, assisted by Peter Katis with whom they worked on their previous albums Alligator and Boxer at their own studio in Brooklyn, New York, and at Katis' Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut.[2] The sculpture on the album cover was created by artist Mark Fox, and is called The Binding Force.[2][3]
High Violet was released to widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 85 out of 100 based on 36 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[16] BBC Music critic Mike Diver hailed the album as the National's "finest disc to date" and "a potential album of the year".[27] Andrew Gaerig of Pitchfork wrote that "when they aim for powerful or poetic, they get there" and described High Violet as "the sound of a band taking a mandate to be a meaningful rock band seriously."[24] Steven Hyden of The A.V. Club called the album "carefully considered without being labored" and "richly detailed without being fussy".[18] The Guardian's Dave Simpson wrote that High Violet "is beautifully subtle" and "grows in power with each listen",[20] and The Independent's Andy Gill called it "a masterclass in subtle emotional shading".[28] Sputnikmusic writer Channing Freeman cited the album as the band's "third masterpiece in a row".[29]
High Violet appeared on several publications' year-end lists of the best albums of 2010. Time named it the fourth best album of the year,[30] and it also placed at number 15 on Rolling Stone's list of the 30 best albums of 2010.[31] Pitchfork placed it at number 28 on their list of the 50 best albums of 2010.[32] Exclaim! ranked High Violet at number 7 on their list of the Best Pop & Rock Albums of 2010, with critic Travis Persaud stating that it "continues the envious feat of releasing another album that's superior to its predecessor."[33] The album placed at number eight on The Village Voice's year-end Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[34] High Violet was awarded a Q Award for Best Album, an honor presented to the National by English musician Bernard Sumner.[35] The album was also included in the 2011 edition of the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2019, Pitchfork ranked the album at number 147 on their list of "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s".[36]
The Strokes
3/5
Is This It is the debut studio album by American rock band the Strokes. It was first released on July 30, 2001, in Australia, with RCA Records handling the release internationally and Rough Trade Records handling the United Kingdom release. It was recorded at Transporterraum in New York City with producer Gordon Raphael during March and April 2001. For their debut, the band strived to capture a simple sound that was not significantly enhanced in the studio. Building on their 2001 EP The Modern Age, the band members molded compositions largely through live takes during recording sessions, while lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas continued to detail the lives and relationships of urban youth.
Promoted by the music press for its twin-guitar interplay and melodic, pop-influenced sound, Is This It peaked at number 33 on the US Billboard 200 and number two on the UK Albums Chart, going on to achieve platinum status in several countries. The album received widespread critical acclaim, with many critics praising it for its charisma and rhythm, which often referenced the works of 1970s garage rock bands. The release of the album is widely considered to be a watershed moment, and crucial in the reinvention of post-millennium guitar music. It has featured in several publications' lists of the best albums of the 2000s and of all time.[1][2][3]
Probably the most important rock album of the past 10 years: it prised the zeitgeist away from nu-metal, restored the pre-eminence of rattling neo-new-wave, and was the chief catalyzing influence on Arctic Monkeys."[78]
—The Guardian in 2007, on the importance of Is This It to guitar bands and alternative music during the 2000s
Gary Mulholland of The Observer considers the release of Is This It a "world-changing moment" and notes that its impact was "immediate and dramatic" on both music and attire.[79] BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe suggests that the album moved popular opinion from DJs and pop music to "skinny jeans and guitars", "the template for rock 'n' roll in the modern day".[80] Tam Gunn of Fact agrees and explains that it "caused a sea change" in mainstream music in the US and the UK,[81] while Anthony Miccio of Stylus points out that the Strokes' success created the commercial context for "other new-wavers" to flourish.[82] Rolling Stone writes that Is This It inspired "a ragged revolt" in Britain, led by the Libertines and Arctic Monkeys, and continued its influence in the US on the success of bands like Kings of Leon.[83] The Observer shares a similar view and concludes that "a fine brood of heirs", like the Libertines and Franz Ferdinand, would not have existed and been successful if the Strokes had not reinvigorated "rock's obsession with having a good time".[84] Jared Followill of Kings of Leon notes that the album was one of the main reasons that he wanted to get into a band; he states, "The title track was one of the first basslines I learned ... I was just 15 at the time."[85]
Jed Gottlieb of the Boston Herald argues that, although Is This It provided substantial musical influence, its biggest success was in revamping the music industry and making A&R delegates scout and promote alternative bands.[86] Gunn links the success of alternative music in British charts throughout the 2000s to the album, but notes that "the copyists" could never match the attention to detail and heartfelt emotion of the Strokes.[81] Mulholland adds that even the pop stars of that decade who rediscovered disco, electro, and synthpop owe a debt to the record, because its commercial success "made every forgotten art-pop experiment of the late 70s and early 80s instantly hip and ripe for reinvention".[79] Hamish MacBain of NME writes that "the western world has moved on, and is now swinging to the tune of Is This It",[87] while Pitchfork's Joe Colly suggests that "you only capture this kind of a lightning in a bottle once".[88] Gunn concludes that, while the status of the album as the 2000s' most influential guitar record may be "a double-edged sword" because of poor quality copyists, its status as the decade's best pop album should not be in doubt.[81]
the 2020 reboot of the list, Rolling Stone raised the rank of Is This It higher to number 114.[103]
T. Rex
3/5
The Slider is the seventh studio album by English rock band T. Rex, and the third since abbreviating their name from Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was released on 21 July 1972 by record labels EMI and Reprise. Two number-one singles, "Telegram Sam" and "Metal Guru", were released to promote the album. Issued at the height of the band's popularity, The Slider received acclaim from critics, and reached number 4 in the UK charts and number 17 in the US.
Johnny Marr of the Smiths cited it as one of his favourite albums, saying: "The Slider came out and it had 'Metal Guru' on it. It was a song that changed my life as I had never heard anything so beautiful and so strange, but yet so catchy. 'Telegram Sam' was also on that album and the whole thing was unusually spooky and had a weird atmosphere, considering it was a number one record and they were essentially a teenybop band".[22] Gary Numan also hailed it among his favourites: "Song after song after song… and the title track; it's a not typical album-title track. You'd normally go for one of the big singles and The Sliders got a very slow, lazy groove thing. It's just great. It's just the sexiest track".[23]
"Ballrooms of Mars" was featured in the 2003 comedy film School of Rock, and was used as the opening theme of the Spanish TV series Punta Escarlata. "Ballrooms of Mars" also appeared in the 2013 film Dallas Buyers Club. The lyrics of the song "Baby Boomerang" became a plot element in a 1973 episode of Cannon, "The Hard Rock Roller Coaster."
Johnny Cash
3/5
Johnny Cash at San Quentin is the 31st overall album and second live album by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash, recorded live at San Quentin State Prison on February 24, 1969, and released on June 16 of that same year. The concert was filmed by Granada Television, produced and directed by Michael Darlow.[3] The album was the second in Cash's conceptual series of live prison albums that also included At Folsom Prison (1968), På Österåker (1973), and A Concert Behind Prison Walls (1976).
Reviewing for The Village Voice in 1969, Robert Christgau said of the album, "Much inferior to Folsom Prison and Greatest Hits, which is where to start if you're just getting into Cash. Contains only nine songs, one of which is performed twice. Another was written by Bob Dylan."[9] Rolling Stone magazine's Phil Marsh wrote, "Cash sounds very tired on this record ('ol' Johnny does best under pressure,' he says), his voice on some songs just straying off pitch. But the feeling that actual human communication is taking place more than compensates for this. Communicating to an audience at the time is becoming a lost art because of the ascension of recorded music as the music of this culture."[10]
The album was nominated for a number of Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and won Best Male Country Vocal Performance for "A Boy Named Sue".
Laibach
3/5
Opus Dei is the third studio album by Slovenian band Laibach, released in 1987. It features "Geburt einer Nation" ("birth of a nation"), a German language cover version of Queen's "One Vision", and two reworkings of the Austrian band Opus' sole international hit single "Live Is Life". The Opus song became the German language "Leben heißt Leben" and the English language "Opus Dei". "The Great Seal" is the national anthem of the NSK State, the lyrics taken from Churchill's "We shall fight on the beaches" speech. A new arrangement of the song appears on Laibach's album Volk, with the title "NSK". On Volk, the song is credited to Laibach and Slavko Avsenik, Jr.
There are two further connections with Queen's A Kind of Magic album. Although the drum loop in "Trans-National" is nearly identical to that in Queen's "Don't Lose Your Head", it is composed in fact from samples from the introduction musical theme from the movie Battle of Neretva, composed by Bernard Herrmann.[citation needed] The elements of "How the West Was Won" (specifically the rhythm and harmonised guitars) are inspired by Queen's "Gimme the Prize".[citation needed]
The attention this album received from MTV and others led to Laibach's first worldwide tour.[citation needed] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[2]
Grateful Dead
3/5
Live/Dead is the first official live album (and fourth overall) released by the rock band Grateful Dead. Recorded over a series of concerts in early 1969 and released later the same year, it was the first live rock album to use 16-track recording.
The album was met with very positive reviews, with Village Voice critic Robert Christgau writing that it "contains the finest rock improvisation ever recorded"[6] and Rolling Stone magazine's Lenny Kaye saying it foreshadows "where rock is likely to be in about five years".[8] In his ballot for Jazz & Pop magazine's 1970 critics poll, Christgau ranked Live/Dead as the third best popular music album.[9][nb 1]
In retrospect, AllMusic notes that "few recordings have ever represented the essence of an artist in performance as faithfully as Live/Dead",[5] while Grateful Dead scholar Blair Jackson regards it as the best psychedelic rock album of the 1960s.[10] Engineer and author Michael Hageloh claims that with the album, the Dead "spontaneously create[d] the form now known as 'jam rock'" and became "legends with a generation-spanning cult following".[11] Drummer Bill Kreutzmann comments "It was our first live release and it remains one of our best-loved albums. Its appeal was that it took great 'you-had-to-be-there' live versions of songs like 'Dark Star' and 'The Eleven' and put them right in people’s living rooms."[3]
In 2003, the album was ranked number 244 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[12] and 247 in a 2012 revised list.[13] It was voted number 242 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[14]
Primal Scream
3/5
Vanishing Point is the fifth studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was released on 7 July 1997 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and in the United States by Reprise Records. It peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart.[1] The album shows inspiration from genres such as dub, ambient, dance music, and krautrock, as well as bands such as Motörhead, Can, and the Stooges. It was the band's first album to feature Gary 'Mani' Mounfield on bass, formerly of the Stone Roses, although Marco Nelson played bass on "Burning Wheel", "Star", "If They Move, Kill 'Em'", and "Stuka". Other guest appearances on Vanishing Point include Augustus Pablo, Glen Matlock, and the Memphis Horns.
Vanishing Point received positive reviews from critics, who welcomed it as a return to form after 1994's Give Out But Don't Give Up.[citation needed] NME named it the 4th best album of 1997.[14] In 2012, NME journalist Mark Beaumont ranked it as the band's fourth best album, calling it "a brilliant record for its statement of intent alone – it stamped in stone Primal Scream's mandate to never repeat themselves and consistently indulge their experimental spirit".[15] The album was also included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[16]
The Beta Band
3/5
Heroes to Zeros is the third and final studio album by The Beta Band, released in 2004. It was produced by The Beta Band and mixed by Nigel Godrich.
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[13]
Cornershop
3/5
When I Was Born for the 7th Time is the third studio album by the English indie rock band Cornershop, released on 8 September 1997 by Wiiija. The album received high acclaim from music critics and features the international hit single "Brimful of Asha".
Soft Cell
3/5
Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is the debut studio album by English synth-pop duo Soft Cell, released on 27 November 1981 by Some Bizzare Records.[1][2] The album's critical and commercial success was bolstered by the success of its lead single, a cover version of Gloria Jones's song "Tainted Love", which topped the charts worldwide and became the best-selling British single of 1981. In the United States—as a result of the single's success, the album had reported advance orders of more than 200,000 copies.[2] The album spawned two additional top-five singles in the UK: "Bedsitter" and "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye".
Reviews for the album were mixed. Critic Steve Sutherland of Melody Maker said "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret... is the brashest, most brilliant and least-caring indictment of pop music's bankruptcy I've ever heard. No compassion, no sorrow, no joy, it just faces facts and moves to the motions... Like traditional cabaret, the whole thing parodies true emotion and like the best subversive cabaret its shallowness makes those devalued emotions even more painful – the very real decadence of this album springs from its callous realisation of pop's impotency, and yet its bored resignation to the ritual."[14] Similarly, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice stated that "these takeoffs on Clubland "decadence" get at the emotion underneath with just the right admixture of camp cynicism."[15] However, NME found the album's premise was hollow, complaining that "the Soft Cell sex strategy should offer something spicy, rude and even a little wonderful... but Soft Cell are conceptualists who rely on too many preconceptions and play around with too many ideas to convince you of any personal energy or commitment... Soft Cell are very plain fare – unspectacular music and very drab and flat lyrics, wrapped in a hint of special promise which is never realised."[16]
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
Stephen Stills
3/5
Stephen Stills is the debut solo album by American musician Stephen Stills released on Atlantic Records in 1970. It is one of four high-profile albums (all charting within the top fifteen) released by each member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the wake of their 1970 chart-topping album Déjà Vu, along with After the Gold Rush (Neil Young, September 1970), If I Could Only Remember My Name (David Crosby, February 1971) and Songs for Beginners (Graham Nash, May 1971). It was primarily recorded between CSNY tours in London and Los Angeles. It was released in the United States on November 16, 1970, and in the United Kingdom on November 27, 1970.
Reviews of the album were decidedly mixed, ranging from lukewarm to positive. Ed Ward in a contemporary review in Rolling Stone felt that the album had an "elusive" quality, and though he didn't dislike the album, and admired parts, he felt it lacked "meat". However, he felt that "Love the One You're With" would make a "killer single".[20] In another contemporary review, Robert Christgau awarded the album a C+, saying he "effortlessly swings," picking out "Go Back Home" for praise, and is too "damn skillful to put down". Yet he felt there was something "undefined about the record."[21]
However, three contemporary reviews Record World, Cashbox, and Billboard were full of praise for the album. Record World called Stills "one of the steadiest performers on the rock circuit" and said the "result of the album was stupendous".[22] Cashbox said Stills' "keyboard, guitars and vocals were brilliant" and the songs were "among the best he's ever written".[23] Billboard said Stills was "a complex talent bursting with soul and depth" and "via brilliant arrangements takes rock to new and musical heights."[24] Richard Williams for Melody Maker 1970, said "'Love the One You're With' and 'Sit Yourself Down' are both comfortable and smooth-harmonised songs, which could have come from Déjà vu. 'Church (Part Of Someone)' is a stretched gospel song, maybe the best he's ever written with thick choral responses (I'd dig to hear Lorraine Ellisson singing it)'.[18]
The The
3/5
Infected is the second studio album by the English post-punk band the The, released on 17 November 1986 by Some Bizzare and Epic.[1] The album produced four UK singles, including the band's best-selling single "Heartland," which reached number 29 in the UK and spent 10 weeks on the chart, "Infected", "Slow Train to Dawn" and "Sweet Bird of Truth". Although Infected only peaked at number 14 on the UK Albums Chart, it remained on the chart for 30 weeks.[2]
The reviews by the British music magazines were mostly very positive, with reviewers impressed by the bleakness of the lyrics and the strength of Johnson's vision. Melody Maker stated, "Kicking concepts of democratic creativity in the kidneys, Johnson has justifiably come out with a one-man vision of terrifying proportions."[13] Sounds claimed that "there's self-controlled passion and strength seeping out all over this thing",[12] while Q described the album as "grim stuff, with the lyrical tension well-matched by the music. Imagine a bizarre collision between Soft Cell and Tom Waits and you might get some idea of the disparate elements sloshing around in each of these songs."[10] Record Mirror opined that "coming to any judgement about this new record is quite daunting. What becomes clear, however, is that we are dealing with something special... Two sides of this intense brooding can be a bit much to take though, and the lyrics are at times self-consciously poetic, but these are minor complaints. Infected might not be a particularly optimistic record, but it is rather a good one."[11] Only NME was critical of the album, describing it as "shocking" but then pondering: "The question is – and it's one that was endlessly asked of Low – what remains after the initial impact, my shock, wears off? The answer to that will vary, naturally, from one burning blue soul to the next; for me, the lasting afterglow is one of detachment... In the final analysis, living with Infected is like having one of those vast, mirror-windowed office blocks built across the road from your front door. You can't fail to notice it, and you'll be impressed, sure. But you won't grow to love it."[14]
A retrospective review in AllMusic said, "Instead of the light fare displayed on Soul Mining, Infected's songs seethe instead of preen, and Matt Johnson's lyrics are laced with tension. Thematically, he plunges a lance into the exposed midsection of Great Britain, analyzing the state of modern urban life in the country... Infected was the first true indication of Johnson's mercurial nature, and established the dissonance and reinvention of his later work."[8]
Gene Clark
3/5
White Light, aka Gene Clark, is the second solo album by Gene Clark, former member of The Byrds. It only achieved commercial success in the Netherlands, where rock critics also voted it album of the year.[2] Like all of his post-Byrds records, it did very poorly on the US charts.
Music critic Thom Jurek, writing for AllMusic, wrote that the album "has established itself as one of the greatest singer/songwriter albums ever made... Using melodies mutated out of country, and revealing that he was the original poet and architect of the Byrds' sound on White Light, Clark created a wide open set of tracks that are at once full of space, a rugged gentility, and are harrowingly intimate in places. His reading of Bob Dylan's "Tears of Rage", towards the end of the record rivals, if not eclipses, the Band's. Less wrecked and ravaged, Clark's song is more a bewildered tome of resignation to a present and future in the abyss. Now this is classic rock."[4]
Tom Tom Club
4/5
Tom Tom Club is the debut studio album by Tom Tom Club, released in 1981, containing the UK hit singles "Wordy Rappinghood", which reached No. 7 in June 1981 and "Genius of Love", which reached No. 65 in October of the same year. It was re-released in the UK in 1982 to include "Under the Boardwalk", which reached No. 22 in August 1982. When released in the United States, "Genius of Love" peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100.[7] Both "Wordy Rappinghood" and "Genius of Love" topped the US dance chart.
Tom Tom Club is an American new wave band founded in 1981 by husband-and-wife team Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth and as a side project from Talking Heads.[3] Their best known songs include the UK top 10 hit "Wordy Rappinghood" and the US top 40 hit "Genius of Love", both from their 1981 debut album, and a cover of The Drifters' "Under the Boardwalk" that reached the UK top 30.
The Kinks
3/5
The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Kinks. Released on 22 November 1968, Village Green is regarded by commentators as an early concept album. A modest seller on release, it was the band's first studio album which failed to chart in either the United Kingdom or United States, but was lauded by contemporary critics for its songwriting. It was embraced by America's new underground rock press, completing the Kinks' transformation from mid-1960s pop hitmakers to critically favoured cult band.
In the decades after its release, Village Green developed a cult following.[377][378] The album's themes appealed to English songwriters,[377] and Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes its "defiantly British sensibilities became the foundation of generations of British guitar pop".[119] Among the album's earliest English supporters was Pete Townshend of the Who,[379] who later described it as Ray's "masterwork" and "his Sgt. Pepper".[380][nb 42] The album's themes resonated with British bands in the mid-1970s who rose to prominence during the new wave movement, like the Jam, XTC, Squeeze and Madness.[377] In the 1990s, as Britpop groups sought to emphasise their Englishness through their music,[382] Village Green inspired bands like Blur, Oasis and Pulp.[383][384] Noel Gallagher of Oasis and Blur guitarist Graham Coxon each named the album as one of their favourites.[385][386] It has been a major influence on Blur's principal songwriter Damon Albarn,[383][387] who expressed similar sentiments of nostalgia for a past England on Blur's albums Modern Life is Rubbish (1993) and Parklife (1994).[64][388][nb 43]
Driven in part by its influence on other artists,[378][355] Village Green experienced a broader critical and commercial resurgence in the 1990s.[332] The Kinks' emerging status in the 1990s as figures of the 1960s was propelled by the newfound popularity of Village Green.[390] In America, the album attracted the attention of indie rock bands[378] and Anglophiles,[391] who covered its songs extensively in the late 1980s and 1990s.[392][nb 44] Other artists incorporated its elements into their own work.[nb 45]
Village Green appears on professional rankings of the best albums. The album was voted No. 221 in the first edition of English writer Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (1994).[409] It placed No. 171 and No. 141 in Larkin's updated second and third editions, published in 1998 and 2000, respectively.[410] In 2003, Rolling Stone placed it at No. 255 in the magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[411] When the list was updated in 2012 and 2020, it was placed at No. 258 and No. 384, respectively.[412][413] Rolling Stone also ranked it No. 28 on its "50 Greatest Concept Albums of All Time" list in 2022.[414] In Pitchfork and Paste's lists of the best albums of the 1960s, they placed Village Green at No. 27 and No. 18, respectively.[415][416]
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
3/5
See a Darkness is the sixth album by American musician Will Oldham, released on Palace Records on January 19, 1999, as the first album under the name Bonnie "Prince" Billy. The album features appearances from Bob Arellano, Colin Gagon, Paul Oldham, David Pajo, and Peter Townsend.
See a Darkness has been ranked in several publications' lists of best albums. Pitchfork ranked it the ninth best album of the 1990s.[13] In 2004, Stylus Magazine placed I See a Darkness at number 171 on its list of the 200 best albums of all time,[14] while in 2006, Mojo deemed it a "modern classic" and the twentieth best album released during the magazine's lifetime.[15] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[2]
Radiohead
4/5
Hail to the Thief is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was released on 9 June 2003 through Parlophone internationally and a day later through Capitol Records in the United States. It was the last album released under Radiohead's record contract with EMI, the parent company of Parlophone and Capitol.
After transitioning to a more electronic style on their albums Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001), which were recorded through protracted studio experimentation, Radiohead sought to work more spontaneously, combining electronic and rock music. They recorded most of Hail to the Thief in two weeks in Los Angeles with their longtime producer Nigel Godrich, focusing on live takes rather than overdubs. The songwriter, Thom Yorke, wrote lyrics influenced by the unfolding war on terror, fairy tales and children's literature. The cover artwork, created by the artist Stanley Donwood, is a roadmap of Hollywood with words taken from roadside advertising in Los Angeles and from Yorke's lyrics.
The Hail to the Thief lyrics were influenced by what Yorke called "the general sense of ignorance and intolerance and panic and stupidity" following the 2000 election of US president George W. Bush.[20] He took words and phrases from discourse around the unfolding war on terror and used them in the lyrics and artwork.[2] He denied any intent to make a "political statement" with the songs,[2] but said: "I desperately tried not to write anything political, anything expressing the deep, profound terror I'm living with day to day. But it's just fucking there, and eventually you have to give it up and let it happen."[23]
Yorke, a new father, adopted a strategy of "distilling" the political themes into "childlike simplicity".[20] He took phrases from fairy tales and folklore such as the tale of Chicken Little,[4] and from children's literature and television he shared with his son, such as the 1970s TV series Bagpuss.[3] Parenthood made Yorke concerned about the condition of the world and how it could affect future generations.[24] Greenwood felt Yorke's lyrics expressed "confusion and escape, like 'I'm going to stay at home and look after the people I care about, buy a month's supply of food'."[19]
Yorke also took phrases from Dante's Inferno, the subject of his partner Rachel Owen's PhD thesis.[25] Several songs, such as "2 + 2 = 5", "Sit Down Stand Up", and "Sail to the Moon", reference Christian versions of good and evil and heaven and hell, a first for Radiohead's music.[26] Other songs reference science fiction, horror and fantasy, such as the wolves and vampires of "A Wolf at the Door" and "We Suck Young Blood", the reference to the slogan "two plus two equals five" in the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, and the allusion to the giant of Gulliver's Travels in "Go to Sleep".[27]
Hail to the Thief has a score of 85 out of 100 on review aggregate site Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim".[40] Neil McCormick, writing for The Daily Telegraph, called it "Radiohead firing on all cylinders, a major work by major artists at the height of their powers".[83] Chris Ott of Pitchfork wrote that Radiohead had "largely succeeded in their efforts to shape pop music into as boundless and possible a medium as it should be" and named it the week's "Best New Music".[42] The New York critic Ethan Brown said that Hail to the Thief "isn't a protest album, and that's why it works so well. As with great Radiohead records past, such as Kid A, the music – restlessly, freakishly inventive – pushes politics far into the background."[84] Andy Kellman of AllMusic wrote that "despite the fact that it seems more like a bunch of songs on a disc rather than a singular body, its impact is substantial", concluding that the band "have entered a second decade of record-making with a surplus of momentum".[78] In Mojo, Peter Paphides wrote that Hail to the Thief "coheres as well as anything else in their canon".[81]
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Henry's Dream is the seventh album released by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, in April 1992.
It was the first album to feature long-standing members Martyn P. Casey (bass) and Conway Savage (piano, organ, backing vocals), both Australian. Savage also performs a duet with Cave in the chorus of 'When I First Came to Town'. The album title is a reference to The Dream Songs, a long poem by John Berryman.[2]
Upon its release, Henry's Dream received generally positive critical acclaim. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly said that Henry's Dream "sets Cave's deep, dolorous voice and scab-picking lyrics to windswept, tote-that-barge arrangements" and "may finally demonstrate what the fuss is all about".[21] Holly George-Warren of Rolling Stone praised the album as "provocative – albeit harrowing – music".[26] However, The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau, in a negative assessment, wrote that "if this is your idea of great writing, you may be ripe for his cult. Otherwise, forget it—the voice alone definitely won't do the trick."[29] In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Ned Raggett noted that the album "showed the band in fierce and fine fettle once more" and described Cave's lyrics as "a series of striking, compelling lyrics again exploring love, lust and death", adding that the songs "showcase the Seeds' peerless abilities at fusing older styles with noisy aggression and tension" and citing "Loom of the Land" as "one of Cave's best songs ever".[2
Slipknot
3/5
All Hope Is Gone is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot, released on August 26, 2008 by Roadrunner Records. The album was published in two versions: the standard album in a CD case and a special edition packaged in a six-fold digipak containing three bonus tracks, a 40 page booklet, and a bonus DVD with a documentary of the album's recording. Preparation for the album began in 2007, while recording started in February 2008 in the band's home state of Iowa. Before the album's launch, Slipknot released a series of promotional images and audio samples from the album through various websites. All Hope Is Gone was considered the band's most eclectic-sounding album at the time of release, incorporating elements from their previous three. The album shows Slipknot moving away from the nu metal genre towards a groove metal style. Songs such as the opening track "Gematria (The Killing Name)" and the title track espouse the band's more brutal, death metal-influenced edge, reminiscent of songs such as "(sic)" from their debut self-titled album; slow burning, "trippy" elements such as "Gehenna", recalling "Skin Ticket" from their second album Iowa; and more tragic, sentimental tracks such as "Dead Memories" and "Snuff".
All Hope Is Gone was generally well received by critics. Several music critics anticipated the album immediately after the release of Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). In its review of Vol. 3, AllMusic stated, "There's a sense that whatever Slipknot do next might be their ultimate broadcast to the faithful."[64] Copies of All Hope Is Gone intended for reviewers were pressed under the false name "Rusty Cage" to reduce the risk of the album leaking onto the Internet.[65] Stephen Erlewine wrote in his review for AllMusic that the early "cluster of cacophony" of "Gematria" is "so effective [...] that when things do get a little softer a little later on, the album threatens to collapse like a soufflé" and opined that "one more power ballad like Snuff would be enough to derail the album."[41] He gave the album a rating of four out of five stars.[41] Regarding the album's creation process, Darren Sadler of Rock Sound wrote, "Slipknot raised their collective middle fingers, and created an album that stands out head and shoulders above everything else that will be released this year."[40] He compared the album's sound to those of other bands such as Stone Sour, Morbid Angel, and Meshuggah, and he gave the album a score of 9 out of 10.[40] Ryan Ogle of Blabbermouth.net gave All Hope Is Gone 7.5 out of 10 stars. Ogle stated that the fans' views of the "diversity" of the album would be Slipknot's "saving grace, or their misfortune", concluding, "While it may not be as jaw-dropping or revolutionary as some might have hoped, it's by no means a bad release."[58] Reviewing for Blender, writer Darren Ratner observed a different theme in the lyrics when compared to previous Slipknot albums, noting that the band is able to "make ugliness sound just a little bit pretty".[66] Marc Weingarten of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+ rating, calling All Hope Is Gone "a metal assault-and-battery on the hypocrisies of the modern world".[59] Jim Kaz of IGN stated that the band's attempt to move from nu-metal to "more classic metal elements" was "the best career move they could've made".[42] Kaz gave All Hope Is Gone a score of 8.1 out of 10, writing, "[It] effectively [builds] upon the band's collective strengths."[42] Q noted that the band no longer resembled "a threat to Western civilisation" but claimed that the album delivered one shock; "how listenable they've become", including "Snuff" in the top 50 downloads for August 2008.[67]
Bee Gees
3/5
Miles Davis
4/5
In a Silent Way is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis, released on July 30, 1969, on Columbia Records. Produced by Teo Macero, the album was recorded in one session date on February 18, 1969, at CBS 30th Street Studio in New York City. Macero edited and arranged Davis's recordings from the session to produce the album. Marking the beginning of his "electric" period, In a Silent Way has been regarded by music writers as Davis's first fusion recording, following a stylistic shift toward the genre in his previous records and live performances.
Upon its release, the album was met by controversy among music critics, particularly those of jazz and rock music, who were divided in their reaction to its experimental musical structure and Davis's electric approach. Since its initial reception, it has been regarded by fans and critics as one of Davis's greatest and most influential works. In 2001, Columbia Legacy and Sony Music released the three-disc box set The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions, which includes additional tracks.[4]
In a Silent Way has been retrospectively regarded by fans and critics as one of Davis' best albums.[21] In a retrospective review, Blender writer K. Leander Williams called it "a proto-ambient masterpiece". Citing it as "one of Davis's greatest achievements", Chip O'Brien of PopMatters viewed that producer Teo Macero's studio editing on the album helped Davis "embrace the marriage of music and technology".[10] In regards to its musical significance, O'Brien wrote that In a Silent Way "transcends labels",[10] writing "It is neither jazz nor rock. It isn't what will eventually become known as fusion, either. It is something altogether different, something universal. There is a beautiful resignation in the sounds of this album, as if Davis is willingly letting go of what has come before, of his early years with Charlie Parker, with John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley, of his early '60s work, and is embracing the future, not only of jazz, but of music itself".[10] Stylus Magazine writer Nick Southall called the album "timeless" and wrote of its influence on music, stating "The fresh modes of constructing music that it presented revolutionised the jazz community, and the shifting, ethereal beauty of the actual music contained within has remained beautiful and wonderful, its echoes heard through the last 30 years, touching dance music, electronica, rock, pop, all music".[9] The Penguin Guide to Jazz has included In a Silent Way in its suggested "Core Collection".[18] The album was also included in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[28]
Magazine
3/5
Real Life is the debut studio album by English rock band Magazine. It was released in June 1978 by record label Virgin. The album includes the band's debut single "Shot by Both Sides", and was also preceded by the non-album single "Touch and Go", a song from the album's recording sessions.
The album was written over the preceding year by the band, with Howard Devoto providing all of the lyrics. The two earliest songs, "Shot by Both Sides" and "The Light Pours Out of Me", were co-written with Devoto's former Buzzcocks bandmate Pete Shelley. The majority of the material on the album was written by Devoto in collaboration with guitarist and founding member John McGeoch. "Motorcade" was co-written with the group's keyboardist, the classically trained composer Bob Dickinson, who played with the group in mid-1977 before being dismissed without warning at a meeting convened by Devoto in November of that year. Dickinson has cited the influence of Satie on elements of the keyboard part in this song. In early January 1978, Dickinson was invited by Devoto to play for a few gigs but he declined the offer due to his ongoing postgrad electronic music research at Keele University. The music for the album's final track, "Parade", was written by Dickinson's replacement, Dave Formula, with bassist Barry Adamson. "Definitive Gaze" was recorded for a Peel session as "Real Life" on 14 February 1978.
Having toured much of the album through 1977 and early 1978, the group's then lineup of Devoto (vocals), McGeoch (guitar and saxophone), Adamson (bass), Formula (keyboards) and Martin Jackson (drums) recorded the album in sessions using the Virgin Mobile and at Abbey Road Studios between March and April 1978. The album was produced and engineered by John Leckie
Milton Nascimento
3/5
Clube da Esquina is a 1972 double album by the Brazilian music artists collective Clube da Esquina, credited to Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges. Considered an important record in the history of Brazilian music, it features arrangements by Eumir Deodato and Wagner Tiso, and conductions by Paulo Moura.[1][3] The album garnered attention for its engaged compositions and miscellany of sounds.
The LP was considered in the list of the Brazilian version of Rolling Stone as the 7th best Brazilian album of all time.[5] Spin ranked the album at number 19 in its list for the 50 Best Albums of 1972.[6] In professional reviews, Clube da Esquina follows as one of the most significant albums in Milton Nascimento's and Lo Borges' career, as well to Brazilian Popular Music (known there as MPB).[1]
At the time of the album's release the critical response was not uniformly positive. Márcio Borges stated "Naturally, the critics were terrible. They wanted to compare Bituca (Milton) with Caetano Veloso and Chico Buarque, they didn't understand a bit of the inter-racial, international, interplanetary ecumenism proposed by the atemporal dissonances from Bituca. They despised the findings of Chopin and the beatlemaniac love from little Lo."[7]
Laura Nyro
3/5
Eli and the Thirteenth Confession is the second album by New York City-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro, released in 1968.
The album's themes are of passion, love, romance, death, and drugs, and the songs are delivered in Nyro's distinctive brash, belting vocals. Musically, it is a multi-layered and opulent work, including multi-tracked vocals and strings. The album's loose genre is pop, but it also incorporates elements of soul, gospel, jazz, and rock.[citation needed]
It is generally considered to be Nyro's most accessible and most famous work, although it is arguably not the most commercially successful or critically favored (both honors go to the follow-up, New York Tendaberry). The album was her first chart entry, reaching No. 181 on the Billboard 200, when it was known as "Pop Albums." In the February 2016 issue of UNCUT magazine it was rated in the 100 Greatest Albums of All Time. Many musicians, including Elton John and Todd Rundgren were directly influenced by the album and bandleader Paul Shaffer told CBC Television's George Stroumboulopoulos that he considers this album to be his one "desert island record".[citation needed]
Six songs from Eli and the Thirteenth Confession are included in the ballet Quintet performed by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Rolling Stone ranked it No. 463 in the 2020 edition of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[8]
John Cale
3/5
Paris 1919 is the third solo studio album by the Welsh musician John Cale, released on 25 February 1973 by Reprise Records. Musicians such as Lowell George and Wilton Felder performed on the release. It was produced by Chris Thomas, who had previously worked producing Procol Harum.[4]
AC/DC
3/5
Highway to Hell is the sixth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 27 July 1979. It is the first of three albums produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, and is the last album featuring lead singer Bon Scott, who died on 19 February 1980.
Of the album, Greg Kot of Rolling Stone wrote: "The songs are more compact, the choruses fattened by rugby-team harmonies. The prize moment: Scott closes the hip-grinding 'Shot Down in Flames' with a cackle worthy of the Wicked Witch of the West."[2] In a 2008 Rolling Stone cover story, David Fricke noted: "Superproducer 'Mutt' Lange sculpted AC/DC's rough-granite rock into chart-smart boogie on this album." AllMusic called the song "Highway to Hell" "one of hard rock's all-time anthems."[25] The album was ranked number 199 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time;[35] it was number 200 on the 2012 revised list.[36] The 2010 book The 100 Best Australian Albums included Highway to Hell in the top 50 (Back in Black was No. 2).[37]
Björk
3/5
Vulnicura is the eighth[nb 1] studio album by Icelandic musician and singer Björk. It was produced by Björk, Arca and The Haxan Cloak, and released on 20 January 2015 by One Little Indian Records. Björk said the album expresses her feelings before and after her breakup with American contemporary artist Matthew Barney and the healing process.[5]
The music on Vulnicura has been described by critics as incorporating electronic,[26][27] avant-garde,[28][29][30] and ambient[31] music.
The album is primarily composed of string arrangements and electronic beats, as a return to the sound Björk pursued on her 1997 album Homogenic. In an interview with Pitchfork, Björk exposed how working on string arrangements served as a way to keep her mind busy after her breakup: "The only way I could deal with that was to start writing for strings; I decided to become a violin nerd and arrange everything for 15 strings and take a step further."[32]
The La's
3/5
The La's is the only studio album by English rock band the La's, released on 1 October 1990 by Go! Discs. It included "There She Goes", the group's biggest hit, and "Timeless Melody". A deluxe edition of The La's was released on 7 April 2008. In 2013, NME ranked The La's at number 153 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
In 2013, NME ranked The La's at number 153 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[13] In 2016, Rolling Stone placed the record at number 13 on its list of the "40 Greatest One-Album Wonders".[14] The La's was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[15] Noel Gallagher of Oasis named it as one of his 13 favourite albums.[16]
Haircut 100
3/5
Pelican West is the debut studio album by the British new wave band Haircut One Hundred, released on 26 February 1982 by Arista Records. It peaked at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart[8] and No. 31 on the Billboard 200,[9] and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).[10]
Mott The Hoople
3/5
Mott is the sixth studio album by British rock band Mott the Hoople. It peaked at No. 7 in the UK Albums Chart.[3] It is the last album to feature guitarist Mick Ralphs, and the first without organist Verden Allen; because of Allen's departure, most organ and other keyboard parts are played by Ralphs.
the album was ranked number 366 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[4] and 370 in a 2012 revised list.[5]
Neil Young
3/5
After the Gold Rush is the third studio album by the Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released in September 1970 on Reprise Records. It's one of four high-profile solo albums released by members of folk rock group Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the wake of their chart-topping 1970 album Déjà Vu. Young's album consists mainly of country folk music along with several rock tracks, including "Southern Man."[3] The material was inspired by the unproduced Dean Stockwell-Herb Bermann screenplay After the Gold Rush
After the Gold Rush has appeared on a number of greatest albums lists. In 1998 Q magazine readers voted After the Gold Rush the 89th greatest album of all time. It was ranked 92nd in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time. In 2003, Rolling Stone named the album the 71st greatest album of all time, 74th in a 2012 revised list,[38] and 90th in the 2020 list.[39] Pitchfork listed it 99th on their 2004 list of the "Top 100 Albums of the 1970s".[40] In 2006, Time magazine listed it as one of the "All-Time 100 Albums".[41] It was ranked third in Bob Mersereau's 2007 book The Top 100 Canadian Albums. Its follow-up album, Harvest, was named the greatest Canadian album of all time in that book. In 2005, Chart magazine readers placed it fifth on a poll of the best Canadian albums. In 2002, Blender magazine named it the 86th greatest "American" album.[citation needed] New Musical Express named it the 80th greatest album of all time in 2003.[citation needed] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[42] It was voted number 62 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd edition (2000).[43]
The Kinks
4/5
Something Else by the Kinks, often referred to simply as Something Else, is the fifth studio album by the English rock band the Kinks, released on 15 September 1967 by Pye Records. The album continued the Kinks' trend toward an eccentric baroque pop and music hall-influenced style defined by frontman Ray Davies' observational and introspective lyrics. It also marked the final involvement of American producer Shel Talmy in the Kinks' 1960s studio recordings; henceforth Ray Davies would produce the group's recordings. Many of the songs feature the keyboard work of Nicky Hopkins and the backing vocals of Davies's wife, Rasa. The album was preceded by the singles "Waterloo Sunset", one of the group's most acclaimed songs, and the Dave Davies solo record "Death of a Clown", both of which charted in the UK top 3.
The album sold poorly in the UK, in part because it competed with budget-priced compilation albums of early Kinks hits from 1964 to 1966;[citation needed] also, Pye Records had released "Waterloo Sunset", "Death of a Clown" and other songs before the album appeared. Something Else also sold poorly in the US upon release there in January 1968, where the group was still the subject of a US ban on live and television performances.
James Pomeroy, in a March 1968 review in Rolling Stone, felt it was the best album the Kinks had made to that point, praising the "humor, cynicism, perception and irony" where he felt the band are at their best.[16] He picked out "David Watts" and "Waterloo Sunset" as the best tracks, and also praised the three contributions of Dave Davies.[16]
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt that the work was characterised by "nostalgic and sentimental" songwriting, and that part of "the album's power lies in its calm music, since it provides an elegant support for Davies' character portraits and vignettes".[2]
In 2003, Something Else was ranked No. 288 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[8] No. 289 in a 2012 revised list,[17] and later at No. 478 in the 2020 revised list.[18]
Flamin' Groovies
3/5
Teenage Head is the third studio album by the San Francisco rock band Flamin' Groovies, released in March 1971 by Kama Sutra Records.[11]
In addition to the band's role in the advancement of power pop, the Flamin' Groovies have also been called one of the forerunners of punk rock.[9]
Jack White
3/5
Blunderbuss is the debut solo studio album by American musician Jack White. It was released in digital and physical formats beginning April 23, 2012, through Third Man Records, in association with XL Recordings and Columbia Records. Written almost entirely by White, the album was recorded and produced by him at Third Man Studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Various musical styles appear throughout, including blues rock, folk, and country soul.
In 2012, "Sixteen Saltines" was nominated for Best Rock Video at the MTV Video Music Awards and Best Indie/Rock Video – International at the UK Music Video Awards.[80][81][82] Blunderbuss was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards in 2013, while "Freedom at 21" received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.[83] "I'm Shakin'" was nominated for the awards of Best Rock Performance and Best Music Video at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.[84]
Rolling Stone ranked Blunderbuss number three on its list of the best albums of 2012, saying that "every hypocritical kiss on the record hits like a hammer".[85] The album was later included in the 2014 edition of the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[
John Anthony White (né Gillis; born July 9, 1975) is an American musician who served as the guitarist and lead singer of the rock duo the White Stripes. White is widely credited as one of the key artists in the garage rock revival of the 2000s. He has won 12 Grammy Awards, and three of his solo albums have reached number one on the Billboard 200. Rolling Stone ranked him number 32 on its 2023 list of greatest guitarists of all time.[1] David Fricke's 2010 list ranked him at number 17.[2][3] In 2012, The New York Times called White "the coolest, weirdest and savviest rockstar of our time".[4]
TV On The Radio
3/5
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes is the 2004 debut album by the American art rock band TV on the Radio. The album was recorded at Headgear Studio in Brooklyn. It was awarded the Shortlist Music Prize for 2004. It was released on CD, 12" vinyl and MP3 download formats. The CD is enhanced with two different quality QuickTime video files of the "Dreams" music video. The 12" features two records with the extra song "You Could Be Love" and a different track order from the CD. The MP3 version includes two extra songs not available on the CD. "Staring at the Sun" has the intro edited from the original version on Young Liars, and is the same version used on the single and video.
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[13
Funkadelic
4/5
Maggot Brain is the third studio album by the American funk rock band Funkadelic, released by Westbound Records in July 1971. It was produced by bandleader George Clinton and recorded at United Sound Systems in Detroit during late 1970 and early 1971.[1] The album was the final LP recorded by the original Funkadelic lineup; after its release, founding members Tawl Ross (guitar), Billy Nelson (bass), and Tiki Fulwood (drums) left the band for various reasons.[2]
Maggot Brain was also influential to subsequent artists.[34] Vernon Reid of the band Living Colour said, "'Maggot Brain' is a magnum opus of rock 'n' roll."[34] Michael Melchiondo of the band Ween said, "When I heard 'Maggot Brain,' it was like, [...] there's this whole other thing, and it's even better, and there's more of it. And I can go see it live, and there's nine guitar players that are this good. So that was the hugest, hugest deal." Melchiondo paid tribute to Eddie Hazel on the Ween instrumental "A Tear for Eddie", which appeared on the band's Chocolate and Cheese album.[34] The Mars Volta's Amputechture album featured a "Maggot Brain"-inspired solo on the song "Vicarious Atonement".[34] Jazz musician Angel Bat Dawid also drew influence from Funkadelic and "Maggot Brain".[34] The alternative rock band Sleigh Bells sampled "Can You Get To That?" in their hit song "Rill Rill".[34] Rapper Esham, a pioneer of horrorcore, sampled "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks" and "Super Stupid" on his 1990 song "Red Rum".[34] Rapper Redman pays tribute to the Maggot Brain cover art in the art for his album Dare Iz a Darkside, which contains a song called "Cosmic Slop", which takes its name from the Funkadelic album of the same name.[34] Childish Gambino's album Awaken, My Love! drew influence from the Maggot Brain album, as did D'Angelo on his Black Messiah album, which The New York Times said "captured American unrest through the studio murk of Sly Stone, the fervor of Funkadelic and the off-kilter grooves somewhere between J Dilla and Captain Beefheart."[34] "Super Stupid" was the only cover song recorded by the alternative metal band Audioslave, who were influenced by Funkadelic.[34] André 3000 of the hip hop group Outkast said of Maggot Brain, "That album blew my mind. It made me want to learn to play guitar, and its huge range of styles — funk, bluegrass, country, opera — helped build our sound."[34] The singer Bilal names it among his 25 favorite albums, citing its "loose" creative direction as an influence on his own music.[35]
In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked Maggot Brain #486 on the magazine's list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, with the magazine raising its rank in 2012 to #479, calling it "the heaviest rock album the P-Funk ever created".[36][37] In the 2020 reboot of the list, the album's rank shot up to #136.[38] The record was also listed in the music reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[1]
N.E.R.D
4/5
Fly or Die is the second studio album by American rap rock band N.E.R.D. It was released on March 23, 2004.
N.E.R.D.[A] (a backronym of No-one Ever Really Dies) is an American hip hop and rock band, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1999. The Neptunes were signed by Teddy Riley to Virgin. After producing songs for several artists throughout the late 1990s, the duo formed the band with Shay Haley as a side project of The Neptunes in 1999. N.E.R.D.'s debut album, In Search Of..., sold 603,000 copies in the United States and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was also awarded the second annual Shortlist Music Prize. The band's second album, Fly or Die, sold 412,000 copies in the United States, but shipped at least 500,000 units, certifying it Gold.[2][3]
Pharrell Williams – lead vocals, piano, keyboards, drums, percussion, programming
Chad Hugo – guitars, piano, keyboards, saxophone, bass guitar, programming, backing vocals
Shay Haley – drums, percussion, backing
Leonard Cohen
3/5
You Want It Darker is the fourteenth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released on October 21, 2016, by Columbia Records, 17 days before Cohen's death.[1][2] The album was created at the end of his life and focuses on death, God, and humor. It was released to critical acclaim. The title track was awarded a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance in January 2018. It was Cohen's last album released during his lifetime and was followed by the posthumous album Thanks for the Dance in November 2019.
Musically, the album is "a little bit more sparse and acoustic" compared to his recent albums, according to Adam Cohen. Blues dominates the album.[3][5] Due to the fact that Cohen's Jewish faith was important to him, he invited Cantor Gideon Zelermyer and Shaar Hashomayim Choir, from his childhood synagogue in Quebec to join him on the album.[6]
Rufus Wainwright
3/5
Want One is the third studio album by the Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released through DreamWorks Records on September 23, 2003.[3] The album was produced by Marius de Vries and mixed by Andy Bradfield, with Lenny Waronker as the executive in charge of production. Want One spawned two singles: "I Don't Know What It Is", which peaked at number 74 on the UK Singles Chart,[4] and "Oh What a World". The album charted in three countries, reaching number 60 on the Billboard 200, number 130 in France, and number 77 in the Netherlands.[5][6][7
N.W.A.
4/5
Straight Outta Compton is the debut studio album by American gangsta rap group N.W.A, which, led by Eazy-E, formed in Los Angeles County's City of Compton in early 1987.[3][4] Released by his label, Ruthless Records, on August 8, 1988,[1] the album was produced by N.W.A members Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, and Arabian Prince, with lyrics written by N.W.A members Ice Cube and MC Ren[5] along with Ruthless rapper The D.O.C.[3] Not merely depicting Compton's street violence, the lyrics repeatedly threaten to lead it by attacking peers and even police. The track "Fuck tha Police" drew an FBI agent's warning letter, which aided N.W.A's notoriety, with N.W.A calling itself "the world's most dangerous group."[3][6][7]
1991, while criticizing group members for allegedly carrying misogynist lyrics into real life, Newsweek incidentally comments that Straight Outta Compton, nonetheless, "introduced some of the most grotesquely exciting music ever made".[33] Writing in retrospect, Steve Huey, in AllMusic, deems the album mainly just "raising hell" while posturing, but finds that "it still sounds refreshingly uncalculated because of its irreverent, gonzo sense of humor, still unfortunately rare in hardcore rap".[24] In the 2004 Rolling Stone Album Guide, Roni Sarig states that although Straight Outta Compton was viewed as a "perversion" of the "more politically sophisticated" style of hip hop exemplified by Public Enemy, the album displays "a more righteous fury than the hundreds of copycats it spawned".[50]
Rankings
edit
The first rap album ever to gain five stars from Rolling Stone at initial review, it placed 70th among the magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in its 2020 revised list.[58] Time, in 2006, named it one of the 100 greatest albums of all time.[59] Vibe appraised it as one of the 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century.[60] In 2012, Slant Magazine listed it 18th among the "Best Albums of the 1980s".[28] In any case, in November 2016, Straight Outta Compton became the first rap album inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[12] In 2017, Straight Outta Compton was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, who deemed it to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[61]
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Songs in the Key of Life is the eighteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter and musician Stevie Wonder. A double album, it was released on September 28, 1976, by Tamla Records, a division of Motown. It was recorded primarily at Crystal Sound studio in Hollywood, with some sessions recorded at the Record Plant in Hollywood, the Record Plant in Sausalito, and The Hit Factory in New York City; final mixing was conducted at Crystal Sound.[6] The album has been regarded by music journalists as the culmination of Wonder's "classic period" of recording.[7]
The album won Album of the Year at the 19th Grammy Awards and is the best-selling and most critically acclaimed album of Wonder's career. Widely regarded as his magnum opus and one of the greatest albums in the history of recorded music, many musicians have remarked on the quality of the album and its influence on their own work; indeed, some notable musicians have named it as the greatest album of all time. It was voted number 89 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums[10] and ranked number 4 on Rolling Stone's 2020 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[11] In 2002, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame,[12] and in 2005 it was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, which deemed it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Many musicians have remarked on the quality of the album and its influence on their own work. Elton John said, in his notes about Wonder for Rolling Stone's 2003 list of "The Immortals – The Greatest Artists of All Time" (in which Wonder was ranked number 15): "Let me put it this way: wherever I go in the world, I always take a copy of Songs in the Key of Life. For me, it's the best album ever made, and I'm always left in awe after I listen to it."[37] In an interview with Ebony magazine, Michael Jackson called Songs in the Key of Life his favorite Stevie Wonder album. Kanye West, in a 2005 interview with Clash, remarked: "I'm not trying to compete with what's out there now. I'm really trying to compete with Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. It sounds musically blasphemous to say something like that, but why not set that as your bar?"[38] George Michael cited the album as his favorite of all time.[39] He released a live recording of "Love's in Need of Love Today" as a B-side to "Father Figure" in 1987 and performed the song on his Faith tour the next year, performed "Village Ghetto Land" at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute in 1988, covered "Pastime Paradise" and "Knocks Me Off My Feet" on his 1991 Cover to Cover tour, and (with Mary J. Blige) had a hit single in 1999 with a cover of "As".
The Bees
3/5
Sunshine Hit Me is the debut album from the British band The Bees. At the time when the album was recorded the band only comprised Paul Butler and Aaron Fletcher, who wrote, performed and recorded the album alone using a home studio in Butler's parents' garden. Both Butler and Fletcher had been active in the Isle of Wight music scene for a while, performing in local indie/electronic outfits Pnu Riff and, more recently, the Exploding Thumbs. Butler had also guested on several other albums produced on the island, including some by Max Brennan.
The album is eclectic and summery, with a range of influences that include psychedelia, Jamaican dub, reggae, indie, 1960s rock and others. It earned a Mercury Music Prize nomination and also featured in the 2005 and 2008 editions of the book 1001 Albums: You Must Hear Before You Die by Michael Lydon.[1] The main single "A Minha Menina" was used in a Citroën car advertisement, which also helped the band to get noticed. The track was also used in an advert for Magners Irish Cider in December 2008, as well as a Mars advertisement in Australia in 2002.
Madonna
3/5
Music is the eighth studio album by American singer Madonna, released on September 18, 2000, by Maverick and Warner Bros. Records. Following the success of her previous album Ray of Light in 1998, the music scene was being dominated by a younger generation of singers like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, prompting Madonna to look for a distinctive sound within this market. Her collaborations with Mirwais Ahmadzaï and William Orbit resulted in a more experimental direction for the album. Music incorporates many different genres into its overall dance-pop and electronica vibe, taking influences from funk, house, rock, country and folk. Elaborating a western theme for the album, Madonna reinvented her image as a cowgirl
Soft Machine
3/5
Third is a live and studio album by the English rock band Soft Machine, released as their third overall in June 1970 by CBS Records. It is a double album with a single composition on each of the four sides, and was the first of two albums recorded with a four-piece line-up of keyboardist Mike Ratledge, drummer and vocalist Robert Wyatt, saxophonist Elton Dean, and bass guitarist Hugh Hopper. Third marks a shift in the group's sound from their psychedelic origins towards jazz rock and electronic music.
According to Paul Stump's The Music's All that Matters: A History of Progressive Rock, Third was "unanimously acclaimed as the band's zenith."[15] A retrospective review in Allmusic praised the exotic instrumentation and fusion of genres, and concluded, "Not exactly rock, Third nonetheless pushed the boundaries of rock into areas previously unexplored, and it managed to do so without sounding self-indulgent. A better introduction to the group is either of the first two records, but once introduced, this is the place to go."[4]
In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock (2005), the album came #20 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".[16]
The Velvet Underground
3/5
The Velvet Underground & Nico is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Velvet Underground and the German singer Nico, released in March 1967 through Verve Records. It was recorded in 1966 while the band were featured on Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable tour. The album features experimental performance sensibilities and explicit lyrical topics, including drug abuse, prostitution, sadomasochism and sexual deviancy.
The Velvet Underground & Nico was notable for its overt descriptions of topics such as drug abuse, prostitution, sadism and masochism and sexual deviancy. "I'm Waiting for the Man" describes a protagonist's efforts to obtain heroin,[26][27] while "Venus in Furs" is a nearly literal interpretation of the 19th century novel of the same name (which itself prominently features accounts of BDSM).[28] "Heroin" details an individual's use of the drug and the experience of feeling its effects.[29]
Lou Reed, who wrote the majority of the album's lyrics, never intended to write about such topics for shock value. Reed, a fan of poets and authors such as Raymond Chandler, Nelson Algren, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, and Hubert Selby, Jr., saw no reason the content in their works could not translate well to rock and roll music. An English major who studied for a B.A. at Syracuse University, Reed said in an interview that he thought joining the two (gritty subject matter and music) was "obvious".[22] "That's the kind of stuff you might read. Why wouldn't you listen to it? You have the fun of reading that, and you get the fun of rock on top of it."[22]
Dion
3/5
Born to Be with You is the fourteenth solo studio album by Dion, released in October 1975. Six of the eight tracks were produced by Phil Spector,[2] who had expressed admiration of Dion's earlier work with his doo-wop group, Dion and the Belmonts.
Dwight Yoakam
3/5
Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room is the third studio album by American country music singer Dwight Yoakam, released on August 2, 1988. The album contains Yoakam's first two No. 1 Hot Country Singles singles. The first was "Streets of Bakersfield," a duet with country music veteran Buck Owens, who had originally released a version of the song in 1973. The second was an original composition of Yoakam's titled "I Sang Dixie." A third song on the album, "I Got You," also an original composition, peaked at No. 5. The title song, "Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room (She Wore Red Dresses)," also charted, but only to the No. 46 position.[1]
e album was one of Rolling Stones' highest rated albums of 1988, at number 14.[12] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[13] Writing in 2014, the alternative weekly Nashville Scene said the album "established him (Yoakam) as a master of persona, as well as an ingenious record-maker and self-deprecating songwriter."[14]
Mekons
3/5
Fear and Whiskey is the fourth studio album by English rock band the Mekons. It was released in 1985 and marked a dramatic shift in their sound following a short hiatus. It has been credited as being one of the first alternative country albums,[4] as it blends the band's previously-established punk rock style with a country music sound. Due to the limited production and distribution capabilities of parent label Sin Records, the initial album release was met with only modest commercial success but with broad critical praise. It remained largely unavailable until it was re-released in 2002 by Quarterstick Records, a subsidiary of Touch and Go Records
The album's lyrics describe a dark scenario of a community struggling to retain its capacity for joy and humanity through a devastating war. Rock critic Robert Christgau described it as "a sort of concept album sort of about life during wartime".[3]
Spin said the album was, "From the border territory where folk meets country and country meets rock, it comes complete with poke-a-long. American western guitars, boy-next-door vocals, and subtle sound effects. Mekons country is where "Rocky Raccoon" was born. Full of tales. A mite surreal. Guitars twang like sheep brays."[10]
Rush
3/5
Moving Pictures is the eighth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on February 12, 1981 by Anthem Records. After touring to support their previous album, Permanent Waves (1980), the band started to write and record new material in August 1980 with longtime co-producer Terry Brown. They continued to write songs with a more radio-friendly sound, featuring tighter and shorter song structures compared to their earlier albums.
Kerrang! magazine listed the album at No. 43 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time".[18] Rolling Stone has listed Moving Pictures at No. 10 on the 2012 readers poll 'Your Favorite Prog Rock Albums of All Time', at No. 3 on the 2015 list '50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time' (behind Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon at #1 and King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King at #2), and at No. 379 on the 2020 edition of its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[19] [20] [21] In 2014, readers of the Rhythm voted Moving Pictures the greatest drumming album in the history of progressive rock.[22] Moving Pictures and 2112 (1976) are the two Rush albums listed in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[23]
White Denim
3/5
D is the fourth full-length studio album by the Texan band White Denim, released by Downtown Records on May 24, 2011 to wide critical acclaim.
According to Rolling Stone, White Denim are "...like a jam band that refuses to be boring", mixing sublimely "psychedelia, hardblues, boogie, prog rock and fusion riffs like inspired kids weaned on 64GB iPods and 64-ounce Slurpees" in a way that "often recalls late-Sixties Grateful Dead, when their songs still had garage-rock drive but were exploding every which way."[7] "The freakouts are mathematically calibrated, come with joyous hooks, and can coalesce into something conventionally heroic," notes Uncut magazine.[12] The album has been described as "White Denim's most thrillingly off-kilter record to date" and "another joyous rampage through rock's dusty attic" by Mojo and Q critics, respectively.[12]
Uncut placed the album at number 4 on its list of "Top 50 albums of 2011",[17] while Mojo, NME, and Rolling Stone ranked it 6, 37, and 46, respectively.[18][19][20] This album peaked #16 on the top heatseekers albums chart. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[21]
The Mars Volta
4/5
De-Loused in the Comatorium is the debut studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released on June 24, 2003, on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal Records. Based on a short story written by lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala and sound manipulation artist Jeremy Ward, the concept album is an hour-long tale of Cerpin Taxt, a man who enters a week-long coma after overdosing on a mixture of morphine and rat poison. The story of Cerpin Taxt alludes to the death of El Paso, Texas artist—and Bixler-Zavala's friend—Julio Venegas (1972–1996).
De-Loused became, both critically and commercially, the band's biggest hit, eventually selling in excess of 500,000 copies despite limited promotion, and was featured on several critics' "Best of the Year" lists.[citation needed] The album was ranked number 55 on the October 2006 issue of Guitar World magazine's list of the 100 greatest guitar albums of all time.[13] "Drunkship of Lanterns" was named the 91st best guitar song of all-time by Rolling Stone.[14]
Richard Thompson
3/5
Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight is the second album released by Richard Thompson, and his first to include his then wife, Linda Thompson, the pair being credited as Richard and Linda Thompson. It was issued by Island Records in the UK in 1974. Although the album was never commercially successful, and was critically ignored upon its release (and not released outside of the UK until by Hannibal Records in 1983), it is now considered by several critics to be a masterpiece and one of the finest releases by the two singers, whether working singly or together.
The Soft Boys
3/5
Initially unsuccessful, the album has gone on to be viewed as a psychedelic classic, influential on the development of the neo-psychedelia music genre and on a number of bands, especially R.E.M. It is included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[7]
Whilst commercially unsuccessful originally, Underwater Moonlight has gone on to be viewed as a one-off psychedelic classic.[10] Matt LeMay of Pitchfork, in a 2010 review, felt that the album was commercially unsuccessful because the timing was wrong: at the time of its release, audiences had little interest in "music that incorporated the indelible harmonies of the Byrds and the surrealism of Syd Barrett", but that anyhow the album is "best considered with the benefit of hindsight, and for all the famous music it inspired, there is still nothing quite like Underwater Moonlight".[17] In 2001, Bill Holdship of Rolling Stone wrote that the album's influences could be detected "on bands ranging from R.E.M. and the Replacements to the Stone Roses and the Pixies".[22] According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic, Underwater Moonlight "influenced the jangle pop of R.E.M. and other underground pop of the 1980s."[12]
Big Black
3/5
Atomizer is the debut full-length album by American punk rock group Big Black released in 1986.
Teenage Fanclub
3/5
Bandwagonesque is the third album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released in November 1991 on Creation Records. The album gave the band substantial US success when the single "Star Sign" reached number four on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, becoming their biggest hit in that country, with "What You Do to Me" and "The Concept" also becoming top 20 hits on that chart. Bandwagonesque was voted 'album of the year' for 1991 by American music magazine Spin, famously beating Nirvana's Nevermind.[3]
In 2000, Bandwagonesque was voted number 386 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[20] In 2013, NME ranked Bandwagonesque at number 115 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[21]
Beck
3/5
Guero is the ninth studio album by American musician Beck, released on March 29, 2005, by Interscope Records. It was produced with John King and Mike Simpson of the Dust Brothers, who had worked with Beck on his 1996 album Odelay,[1] as well as Tony Hoffer.[2]
Guero received generally positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic it has a score of 78 out of 100, based on reviews from 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[12] Several critics compared the album to Beck's 1996 album Odelay,[19][17][16] while others observed that such comparisons were inevitable but ultimately misguided.[21][15]
Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone called the album "the first record since Odelay where Beck mixes up the medicine the way he did in his Nineties prime". Contrasting the album with the "wiseass charisma" of his early albums, Sheffield noted that Beck now sounded "like an extremely bummed-out dude who made it to the future and discovered he hates it there."[21] David Browne of Entertainment Weekly called Guero "alive and frisky" when compared to its predecessor, Sea Change (2002), and called it Beck's "most inviting, least off-putting work in years", praising its "slightly broader emotional range". Browne stated that the album felt "simultaneously familiar and new" and was "the first record on which the many moods and sides of Beck coexist".[15] Andy Gill of The Independent observed that "Beck darts around the musical map like an animated flea," and praised the album's "judicious blends of beats, riffs, songs and raps spiralling off in a variety of directions". Gill highlighted the song "Missing" and its "reflections on the essential patchwork incompleteness of life", comparing it to Beck's work on the whole, "which typically makes unorthodox wholes from diverse fragments."[17]
Girls Against Boys
3/5
Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby is the second studio album by the indie rock band Girls Against Boys. It was released in 1993 on Touch and Go Records.[2]
In his retrospective review, Ned Raggett of AllMusic wrote, "when Girls Against Boys released Venus Luxure, it was clear that the quartet had really turned into something spectacular. Avoiding the clichés of early-'90s indie rock for its own surly, charismatic edge, Girls Against Boys here kicked out the jams like nobody's business."[3] Trouser Press wrote that "Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby is where all the flailing around starts to gel."[2]
The Go-Betweens
3/5
16 Lovers Lane is the sixth album by Australian indie rock group The Go-Betweens, released in 1988 by Beggars Banquet Records. Prior to the recording of the album, longtime bassist Robert Vickers left the band when the other group members decided to return to Australia after having spent several years in London, England; he was replaced by John Willsteed. The album was recorded at Studios 301 in Sydney, between Christmas 1987 and Autumn 1988.
In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau described 16 Lovers Lane as the Go-Betweens' "straightest and catchiest bunch of love songs" and called the band "still the romantic poets good popsters ought to be."[20] Record Mirror critic Johnny Dee lauded the album as "classic, tearful, moving."[17] In Spin, Evelyn McDonnell wrote that the band reminded her of "whooping cranes: great gangling creatures capable of heights of gracefulness when in flight and passionate spasms when in heat. Similarly, the Go-Betweens infuse portentious poetry into giddy pop structures, then throw the uncertain songs in the air, whispering 'Fly or fuck.'"[21] On the album's more ornate production, McDonnell felt that Wallis' "tendency to over-embellish" resulted in occasional "putrid moments",[21] while Michael Azerrad of Rolling Stone observed "a strangely pleasant flirtation with banality in the album's honeyed melodies, soft strings and wistful, understated vocals", despite the songs conveying "a depth of emotion and a height of intellect rarely found in pop".[18]
The Byrds
3/5
The Notorious Byrd Brothers is the fifth album by the American rock band the Byrds, and was released in January 1968, on Columbia Records.[1][2] The album represents the pinnacle of the Byrds' late-‘60s musical experimentation, with the band blending together elements of psychedelia, folk rock, country, electronic music, baroque pop, and jazz.[3][4][5] With producer Gary Usher, they made extensive use of a number of studio effects and production techniques, including phasing, flanging, and spatial panning.[6][7][8] The Byrds also introduced the sound of the pedal steel guitar and the Moog modular synthesizer into their music, making it one of the first LP releases on which the Moog appears.[7][9]
Recording sessions for The Notorious Byrd Brothers took place throughout the latter half of 1967 and were fraught with tension, resulting in the loss of two members of the band;[9] rhythm guitarist David Crosby was fired in October 1967 and drummer Michael Clarke left the sessions midway through recording, returning briefly before finally being dismissed after completion of the album.[10][11] Additionally, original band member Gene Clark, who had left the group in early 1966, rejoined for three weeks during the making of the album, before leaving again.[12] Author Ric Menck has commented that in spite of these changes in personnel and the conflict surrounding its creation, The Notorious Byrd Brothers is the band's most cohesive and ethereal-sounding album statement.[13]
Over the years, The Notorious Byrd Brothers has gained in reputation and is often considered the group's best work, while the contentious incidents surrounding its making have been largely forgotten.[5][6][16] The album managed to capture the band at the height of their creative powers, as they pushed ahead lyrically, musically and technically into new sonic territory.[3] Band biographer Johnny Rogan has written that the Byrds' greatest accomplishment on the album was in creating a seamless mood piece from a variety of different sources, bound together by innovative studio experimentation.[3] Although the album is widely regarded as the band's most experimental, its running time of a little under 29 minutes also makes it their briefest.
The album was voted the fourth-best album ever in a 1971 ZigZag magazine readers' poll and the 1977 edition of the Critic's Choice: Top 200 Albums book ranked it at number 154 in a list of the "Greatest Rock Albums of All-Time".[56][57] A subsequent edition of the book, published in 1988, ranked the album at number 75.[57] The album was included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).[58] In 1995, Mojo magazine placed the album at number 36 in their list of "The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made".[59] In 2003, the album was ranked at number 171 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time",[60] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.[61] It also ranked number 32 on the NME's list of the "100 Best Albums".[62] In 2004, Q magazine included the album in its list of "The Music that Changed the World".[63] It was voted number 158 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[64]
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Peter Gabriel is the debut studio album by the English singer-songwriter and producer Peter Gabriel, released on 25 February 1977 by Charisma Records. After his departure from the progressive rock band Genesis was made public in 1975, Gabriel took a break to concentrate on his family life. In 1976, he began writing material for a solo album and met producer Bob Ezrin, who agreed to produce it. Gabriel hired several additional musicians to play on the album, including guitarist Robert Fripp and bassist Tony Levin. The album was later known as Peter Gabriel I or Car, referring to the album's artwork produced by Hipgnosis. Some music streaming services, including Gabriel's own Bandcamp page,[6] refer to it as Peter Gabriel 1: Car.[7]
Rolling Stone critic Stephen Demorest described Peter Gabriel as "a grab bag collection of songs that bear little resemblance to one another" and called it "an impressively rich debut album".[30] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice found it "a lot smarter" than Gabriel's past work in Genesis, and despite noting that "every time I delve beneath its challenging textures to decipher a line or two I come up a little short", felt that the album was "worth considering".[29] Nick Kent, writing in NME in 1978, said that Peter Gabriel was "a fine record with at least one 24-carat irresistible classic in 'Solsbury Hill' and a strong supporting cast of material that, all in all, in a year besmeared with great albums was, in retrospect, sorely underrated".[31] The album received the prize of the French Académie Charles Cros.[32]
The Verve
3/5
A Northern Soul is the second studio album by English rock band the Verve, released on 3 July 1995 through Hut Records. With the tumultuous promotion for their debut studio album, A Storm in Heaven (1993), combined with their friends in Oasis becoming popular, relationships between members of the Verve became strained. After connecting with Oasis producer Owen Morris, the Verve went to a rehearsal space in Wigan to write material for the next album, which they recorded at Loco Studios in Wales. The sessions gained notoriety for the stories that emerged from the time, including Ashcroft going missing for five days and him allegedly totaling a car on the studio's lawn. In the first three weeks, they had finished 15 tracks; after this point, the situation soured as guitarist Nick McCabe grew exhausted from dealing with the other members frequently partying and taking ecstasy, in addition to vocalist Richard Ashcroft and Morris screaming and destroying objects. Eventually, McCabe had a different working schedule from the others, starting at 10–11 a.m. while the rest of the band started at 6 p.m.
Retrospective reviews also praised the music of A Northern Soul. Journalist Rob Sheffield in The New Rolling Stone Album Guide said it "kicked home with the gorgeous breakup ballad 'On Your Own' and the epic 'History,' [...] It was their breakthrough, and the Verve celebrated by splitting up almost immediately."[134] Radhika Takru of Drowned in Sound wrote that there was "no denying A Northern Soul's musical maturity and the far more elaborate spectrum of emotions it covered" compared to their debut. He could "hear experience and control (which is what you can expect when you're a grown-up for whom death and taxes are de rigeur). A Northern Soul is not as personal, and far more guarded and reflective than its predecessor which sits young, loud and reckless."[127] Hogwood saw it as "far from comfortable music, made at the peak of the band’s overindulgence and prodigious drug taking."[42] The Line of Best Fit's Ed Nash noted that Ashcroft was "establishing himself as a songwriter of note, but the problem was his balladry left little room for McCabe’s stratospheric guitars. Something had to give and it was the guitarist."[129] Record Collector writer Tim Peacock said the album was a "more conventional, earthbound rock record weighed down by Ashcroft’s plaintive existential angst."[131] Childs said the album was a "testament to giving up and restarting just to discover you then want to give up again. [...] The album’s content could be a paean reflecting the band’s doubt [...] the cold chorus of perhaps dark days ahead."[43] Beaumont, in a review for Classic Rock, commented that despite its troubled production, the album was "surprisingly coherent. [...] Though still prone to a lengthy psych wibble, A Northern Soul was a tempestuous transition album from the band least likely to stay together long enough to own the 90s."[135] For Rolling Stone Germany, journalist Sassan Niasseri said that with the album, the band displayed their "rather strenuous Led Zeppelin homage, tank driver rock."[132]
Serge Gainsbourg
3/5
stoire de Melody Nelson ([is.twaʁ də me.lɔ.di nɛl.sɔn] "Story of Melody Nelson") is a 1971 concept album by French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. Produced by Jean-Claude Desmarty, the album was released on March 24, 1971 through Philips Records. Its narrative follows an illicit romance which develops between the middle-aged narrator and 15-year-old girl Melody Nelson.
While recklessly driving his Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost one day, the album's unnamed narrator is distracted by the silver statue on his car's hood and collides with a young red-haired girl on a bicycle. The two exchange information after the accident, and the girl introduces herself as Melody Nelson ("Melody"). The narrator falls instantly in love with Melody, who is revealed to be only fourteen years old ("Ballade de Melody Nelson"), but who nevertheless makes the narrator happier than he could have ever imagined ("Valse de Melody"). He plans to take her virginity, knowing she has never been in love before ("Ah ! Melody"), and they travel to a secret hotel where they have sex ("L’Hôtel particulier"). Afterwards, Melody boards a cargo plane to return home to Sunderland, but a failure in the plane's autopilot causes it to crash, killing her ("En Melody"). The narrator laments Melody's death and compares his misguided hope that she might return one day to the cargo cults of Melanesia, wondering if they caused the plane's crash and finding himself unable to think of anyone or anything else ("Cargo culte").
Histoire de Melody Nelson is regarded by many critics and fans to be Gainsbourg's magnum opus and his most influential release. While it became a pivotal album of the 1970s and was instrumental in the development of French rock music and trip hop genre, it has also influenced many musical artists outside France, including Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, Beck, Tricky, Broadcast, Barry Adamson of Magazine, David Holmes, Cibo Matto, Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy, Stereolab, Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Portishead, The Last Shadow Puppets and Arctic Monkeys.[8][9][12][13] Portishead based its musical style on the album's mixture of orchestrations with dusty drums, while Beck utilized the album's main theme heavily on his song "Paper Tiger", on his 2002 album, Sea Change.[13] French electronic music act Air was also influenced by the album.[9][13][14] Faith No More and Mr. Bungle vocalist Mike Patton also expressed his appreciation for the album and Gainsbourg's music, stating that "he was immediately awe-struck by the elegance, variety and detail of Serge's 'pop' forms". "It made me think that I had a lot to learn".[13]
The Thrills
3/5
So Much for the City is the debut album of the Irish indie/pop band The Thrills. It was released on 27 May 2003 and quickly achieved success in Ireland, spending 61 weeks in the top 75 of the Irish Albums Chart.[12] The album also won 'Album of the Year' at the national music awards. It gained significant popularity in the UK, debuting at #3 and remaining in the charts for 25 weeks.[13] The single "Big Sur" reached #17 in the UK,[13] which remains their highest charted position in the country to date.
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[16]
The song "Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)" was ranked by Q Magazine at number 550 on their list of the 1001 best songs ever made.[17]
The song "Say It Ain't So" appeared on US President George W. Bush's iPod in 2005.[18]
Coldcut
3/5
What's That Noise? is the debut album by Coldcut, released in 1989.[4]
The album was featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Trouser Press wrote: "In between the vocal tracks are various 'Beats & Pieces', as one title has it: samples, melodies and grooves that help flesh out What’s That Noise?, a patchy but generally rewarding debut."[7] The Stranger called the album a "classic LP [that] married cut-and-paste techniques with old-fashioned songwriting smarts."[8]
Traffic
3/5
Traffic is the second studio album by the English rock band of the same name, released in 1968 on Island Records in the United Kingdom as ILPS 9081T (stereo), and United Artists in the United States, as UAS 6676 (stereo). The album peaked at number 9 in the UK Albums Chart[2] and at number 17 on the Billboard Top LPs chart.[3] It was the last album recorded by the group before their initial breakup.
AllMusic gave a positive retrospective review of the album, commenting that it achieved a strong balance between Dave Mason's simple and straightforward folk-rock songs and Steve Winwood's complex and often haunting rock jams.[6]
It was voted number 312 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).[9] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[10]
Radiohead
4/5
In Rainbows is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was self-released on 10 October 2007 as a pay-what-you-want download, followed by a physical release internationally through XL Recordings on 3 December 2007 and in North America through TBD Records on 1 January 2008. It was Radiohead's first release after their recording contract with EMI ended with their album Hail to the Thief (2003).
Radiohead released In Rainbows online and allowed fans to set their own price, saying this liberated them from conventional promotional formats and removed barriers to audiences. It was the first such release by a major act and drew international media attention. Many praised Radiohead for challenging old models and finding new ways to connect with fans, while others felt it set a dangerous precedent at the expense of less successful artists.
Radiohead promoted In Rainbows with webcasts, music videos, competitions and a worldwide tour. "Jigsaw Falling into Place" and "Nude" were released as singles; "Nude" became Radiohead's first US top-40 song since their debut single "Creep" (1992). The retail release of In Rainbows topped the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200, and by October 2008 it had sold over three million copies worldwide. It was the bestselling vinyl record of 2008, and is certified platinum in the UK and Canada and gold in the US, Belgium and Japan. In Rainbows received acclaim, winning Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package, and was ranked one of the best albums of the year and the decade by various publications. Rolling Stone included In Rainbows in its updated lists of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
In Rainbows incorporates elements of art rock,[24] experimental rock,[24][25] alternative rock,[26] art pop,[27] and electronica.[28] O'Brien said Radiohead were hesitant to create an "epic" record, which they felt had negative associations of stadium rock. However, he conceded that "epic is also about beauty, like a majestic view, and what we did on this record was to allow the songs to be epic when they have to be". He gave "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" as an example of a song that was "obviously epic in scope".[8]
Yorke said that the In Rainbows lyrics were based on "that anonymous fear thing, sitting in traffic, thinking, 'I'm sure I'm supposed to be doing something else' ... It's similar to OK Computer in a way. It's much more terrifying."[36] He said that, unlike Hail to the Thief, there was "very little anger" in In Rainbows: "It's in no way political, or, at least, doesn't feel that way to me. It very much explores the ideas of transience. It starts in one place and ends somewhere completely different."[37] In another interview, Yorke said the album was about mortality and the realisation that he could die at any moment.[38] O'Brien described the lyrics as "universal" and about "being human", with no political agenda.[20] The title In Rainbows was chosen because it was open-ended and not provocative or polarising, and reflected Donwood's artwork.[39]
In Rainbows was ranked among the best albums of 2007 by many music publications.[142] It was ranked first by Billboard, Mojo and PopMatters, third by NME and The A.V. Club, fourth by Pitchfork and Q, and sixth by Rolling Stone and Spin.[142] It was also named one of the best albums of the decade by several publications: NME ranked it 10th,[143] Paste 45th,[144] Rolling Stone 30th,[145] the Guardian 22nd,[146] and Newsweek fifth.[147] Rolling Stone included In Rainbows on its updated lists of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time at number 336 in 2012[148]
Booker T. & The MG's
4/5
Green Onions is the debut album by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, released on Stax Records in October 1962. It reached number 33 on the pop album chart in the month of its release. The title single was a worldwide hit and has been covered by dozens of artists, including the Blues Brothers and Roy Buchanan (both with Steve Cropper on guitar), as well as The Ventures, Al Kooper, The Shadows, Mongo Santamaría, Deep Purple (Live and studio versions) and Count Basie.
Booker T. & the M.G.'s were an American instrumental R&B/funk band that was influential in shaping the sound of Southern soul and Memphis soul. The original members of the group were Booker T. Jones (organ, piano), Steve Cropper (guitar), Lewie Steinberg (bass), and Al Jackson Jr. (drums). In the 1960s, as members of the Mar-Keys, the rotating slate of musicians that served as the house band of Stax Records, they played on hundreds of recordings by artists including Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Bill Withers, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor and Albert King. They also released instrumental records under their own name, including the 1962 hit single "Green Onions". As originators of the unique Stax sound, the group was one of the most prolific, respected, and imitated of its era.[1][2]
Julian Cope
3/5
Peggy Suicide is the seventh album by Julian Cope. It is generally seen as the beginning of Cope's trademark sound and approach, and as a turning-point for Cope as a maturing artist.
On the album's songs, Cope laid bare many of his personal convictions including his hatred of organized religion and his increasing public interest in women's rights, the occult, alternative spirituality (including paganism and Goddess worship), animal rights, and ecology.[11] He had referred in passing to these beliefs in previous songs, but never so directly. The album was written in the aftermath of the British anti-poll tax riots in 1990. Cope had taken part in the protest, and several songs on the album refer directly to its events.[6] Cope's forthright new political stance was reflected in the song "Leperskin", which refers to the contemporary British prime minister Margaret Thatcher (who resigned between the recording of Peggy Suicide and its release) as an "apostolic hag". For one particular track, the anti-police tirade "Soldier Blue", Cope sampled Lenny Bruce's live album The Berkeley Concert and mixed in samples of the Poll Tax Riot.
The Beach Boys
3/5
Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966 by Capitol Records. It was initially met with a lukewarm critical and commercial response in the United States, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. In the United Kingdom, the album was lauded by critics and reached number 2 on the Record Retailer chart, remaining in the top ten for six months. Promoted there as "the most progressive pop album ever", Pet Sounds was recognized for its ambitious production, sophisticated music, and emotional lyrics. It is now considered to be among the greatest and most influential albums in music history.[1]
Incorporating elements of pop, jazz, exotica, classical, and the avant-garde, Wilson's Wall of Sound–based orchestrations mixed conventional rock set-ups with elaborate layers of vocal harmonies, found sounds, and instruments rarely if ever associated with rock, such as bicycle bells, French horn, flutes, Electro-Theremin, string sections, and soda cans. It marked the most complex instrumental and vocal parts of any Beach Boys album, and the first in which studio musicians (such as the Wrecking Crew) replaced the band on most of the instrumental tracks. The album could not be reproduced live and was the first time that any group departed from their usual small-ensemble pop/rock band format for a whole LP. Its unprecedented total production cost exceeded $70,000 (equivalent to $630,000 in 2022). Lead single "Caroline, No" was issued as Wilson's official solo debut. It was followed by two singles credited to the group: "Sloop John B" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (backed with "God Only Knows"). A planned successor album, Smile, was never finished.
Pet Sounds revolutionized music production and the role of professional record producers, especially through Wilson's pioneering studio-as-instrument praxis. The record contributed to the cultural legitimization of popular music, a greater public appreciation for albums, the popularity of synthesizers, and the development of psychedelic music and progressive/art rock. It also introduced novel approaches to orchestration, chord voicings, and structural harmonies; for example, most of the compositions feature a weak tonal center, rendering their key signatures ambiguous. Although it had been widely revered by industry insiders, the album was obscure to mass audiences before being reissued in the 1990s, after which it topped several critics' and musicians' polls for the best album of all time, including those published by NME, Mojo, Uncut, and The Times. The album has also been consistently ranked number 2 in all editions of Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
In 1998, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences inducted Pet Sounds into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[381] Paul Williams, writing in 1998, declared that the record was now universally regarded as a 20th century "classic" comparable to Joyce's Ulysses, Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Picasso's Guernica.[382] Historian Michael Roberts states that "the album's induction into the canon of popular music" had arguably followed the release of its 1997 expanded reissue, The Pet Sounds Sessions.[383] In Music USA: The Rough Guide (1999), Richie Unterberger and Samb Hicks deemed the album a "quantum leap" from the Beach Boys' earlier material, and "the most gorgeous arrangements ever to grace a rock record".[384]