From the art and name, I was expecting some sort of grim, gritty post-punk. What I got was another Springsteen-worshipping indie rock band like Arcade Fire. It's... fine. Nothing I'd ever purposefully seek out, but nothing I'd swerve across seven lanes of traffic to toss into a ravine.
I wasn't expecting someone to submit this album, but I'm really glad they did. This is a fantastic album with a truly tragic story. This album feels like sinking in quicksand.
By all metrics, Kayo Dot should appeal to me. I like heavy music, avant garde music, progressive music, long songs, loud/quiet dynamics... but it just doesn't. I've listened to this album before (several times) along with other Toby Driver projects. I check in every few years, and it still doesn't connect with me. That being said, it probably is a good choice for this list. There is a serious lack of any sort of metal inclusions in the wake of nu-metal, and this is one of the more critically acclaimed releases to come out in the last 25 years. It doesn't quite hit the level of prestige or crossover appeal that Mastodon, Agalloch, Isis, Deafheaven, Liturgy, Wolves in the Throne Room, Behemoth, Imperial Triumphant, or Blood Incantation have reached, but it's still in the pantheon of post-millennium metal.
I would have personally gone with Frizzle Fry, but this is a good choice too.
Fantastic, lean noise rock album. It's insane that this album came out in 1991, it feels so ahead of its time. It still sound fresh today.
Shockingly not terrible, but I Miss You is a godawful song.
It's fine, but it's just the same song over and over again.
The second white boy funk album from the user albums section. Curious considering how narrow the genre is.
This is cheesy as fuck, and Peter Steele has the personality of a walking nostril hair, but it's kinda fun too.
Why this over Electro-Shock Blues?
Two people submitted albums by this band? Bizarre.
It just feels like the same joke over and over again.
Overrated by King Giz fans (although it is still their best album) and the "concept" isn't as interesting as they seem to think it is. That being said, it's still a bop and Robot Stop does slap hard, although the rest of the album doesn't quite live up to it.
This is a compilation, not an album.
This is my first time listening to this album (outside of the singles, which I've heard thousands of times throughout my life). That being said, Beck had a project called Record Club in which he would assemble a group of musicians and friends and they would take one day to learn and cover an album from front to back. Record Club recorded five albums. Of those five albums, their version of Kick is an absolute masterpiece that I've listened to dozens of times. I can't say I'm super impressed with the original versions of these songs that much. The singles never did anything for me in the four decades I've heard them. I do have to acknowledge that since I love Beck's deconstructions of these songs, that there have to be the bones of some great pop songs here. I don't much care for the production, arrangements, or vocals, but considering what Beck was able to do with them, they should probably be respected.
The list doesn't need more Springsteen albums or live albums.
Occupies a sonic space somewhere in between a knock-off Mr. Bungle and Fun Lovin' Criminals-adjacent irrelevance.
I don't really see what anyone thinks Freddie Gibbs brings to the game that 2Pac didn't already do 20+ years earlier.
Fantastic, lean noise rock album. It's insane that this album came out in 1991, it feels so ahead of its time. It still sound fresh today.
The hideous album cover did not prepare me for a fairly solid alt-country album.
The last thing the list needs is MORE Britpop.
Bad Religion is one of those bands like AC/DC that just keeps making the same album over and over again. If forced to pick an album for inclusion, I would have probably picked Suffer personally.
Butt rock.
Generic pub rock. Don't people want more from their music?
This has some seriously great pop songs, but I would have included Beauty Behind the Mask over it. Beauty Behind the Madness is a great album from beginning to end, and it was more important for establishing Weeknd and his influence on the pop landscape. This album's pivot to synthwave was cool, but it wasn't super revolutionary or anything... and there was a lot of filler.
I like Igorrr, I don't know if I would have put him on this list, but I would have chosen Spirituality and Distortion over Savage Sinusoid if I did.
French Rufus Wainwright?
I prefer my jazz to feel a little bit less "clean," but it's not bad.
I would have personally gone with Frizzle Fry, but this is a good choice too.
I never really listened to these guys outside of whatever singles I was subjected to, which I couldn't discern from other commercial indie rock because it all just blends into a twee wash being vomited into my ears, so this just came off as a bitter pill in anticipation. The first two tracks had some interesting instrumentation, despite an obnoxious and unlikable vocalist who sounded like a digitally treated Paul Simon with all the charisma sucked out of him. The third track seemed to emphasize the vocalist's lack of charisma, and while the arrangement of the fourth track stepped it back up, the vocalist was now shoved to the forefront of my listening experience. There is a tepid ugliness to this, like some aggressively beige throw pillows drawing attention from an otherwise pleasant feng shui. It's like walking into a bathroom that seems pristine and noticing a fleck of shit crusted onto a toilet seat and then all of a sudden every single imperfection pops out to you, except instead of an errant pube or toothpaste spittle spatter, it's plasticky drum reverb and overly produced guitars. Just listen to Graceland and avoid all the aesthetic and production mistakes of the 2010s.
From the art and name, I was expecting some sort of grim, gritty post-punk. What I got was another Springsteen-worshipping indie rock band like Arcade Fire. It's... fine. Nothing I'd ever purposefully seek out, but nothing I'd swerve across seven lanes of traffic to toss into a ravine.
I think there should be a solo Robyn Hitchcock album on the list, but I would go with I Often Dream of Trains, Moss Elixir, or Jewels for Sophia.
This might be the best user submitted album that's entirely new to me. What an engaging listen.
It's certainly interesting as a historic document and for its story, but it is bunch of unfinished demos. It feels really weird rating it above any sort of complete artistic statement. This wasn't intended for release by the artist, and it shows. The audio levels are frustratingly wavering.
Streetlight Manifesto are less obnoxious and better songwriters than most ska-punk/third wave ska bands, but it's still one of the least enjoyable genres of music for me.
By all metrics, Kayo Dot should appeal to me. I like heavy music, avant garde music, progressive music, long songs, loud/quiet dynamics... but it just doesn't. I've listened to this album before (several times) along with other Toby Driver projects. I check in every few years, and it still doesn't connect with me. That being said, it probably is a good choice for this list. There is a serious lack of any sort of metal inclusions in the wake of nu-metal, and this is one of the more critically acclaimed releases to come out in the last 25 years. It doesn't quite hit the level of prestige or crossover appeal that Mastodon, Agalloch, Isis, Deafheaven, Liturgy, Wolves in the Throne Room, Behemoth, Imperial Triumphant, or Blood Incantation have reached, but it's still in the pantheon of post-millennium metal.
I really like this album, but it seems like a little soon to be adding this (and Brat).
I love the Stooges, but this is a poor recording that does not do justice to what I'm sure was a couple amazing shows to see in person.
I wasn't expecting someone to submit this album, but I'm really glad they did. This is a fantastic album with a truly tragic story. This album feels like sinking in quicksand.
I find the arrangements to be not super imaginative and I would like to hear more songs like The Chemical Worker's Song - there is a grit that makes it stand out, and the sea shanty vocal harmonies are the strongest part of this album. The songs where the lean into said harmonies (see also Wave Over Wave and the second half of Billy Peddle) are the highlights.
I'm getting the sense through a number of the user submitted albums that the Canadians feel under-represented.
Lateralus should be on this list. Aenima should be on this list. This album, no. I was honestly shocked when this album came out just how much of a drop in quality there was following Lateralus. Every so often I'll revisit it just to make sure that I wasn't wrong, and every time I'm reminded to go with my gut.
I prefer Prolonging the Magic, but still good.