If Tom Waits sang Leonard Cohen songs. Like Cohen, there's a deep spirituality entwined with male sexuality that I like in this. Such a smooth voice. Favourite track: "People Ain't No Good"

There’s this trend of saying “pop music today is so formulaic; it’s all written by algorithm.” Listen to this and just realize how paint-by-numbers this all is. The cover of “Tutti-Frutti” is just as bad as Pat Boone’s. Elvis said he hated his “chicken squawk” voice pre-army, but I really prefer it. This is only on the list for its history of being one of the first “albums.” Favourite track: “Blue Suede Shoes”

This album is SO good! This is the first album I got to the end and immediately started listening from the beginning again. I’ve never actually listened to Portishead, so this is a revelation. Her voice, the ambience, the emotion, it’s all so good. Favourite track: “It’s a Fire.”

At first I thought this was an album called Flamin’ Groovies by Teenage Head, which I was looking forward to. This is great. One of my new “I can listen to every track without skipping” albums. Looking it up on Wikipedia, Mick Jagger apparently said this was a better version of Sticky Fingers, and I agree. Rockabilly edging into proto-punk. I love this so much. Favourite track: “Whiskey Woman”

This is really good. This album is apparently one of the handful of albums Kurt Cobain said one time he really liked and then music critics fell over themselves to say “I liked it before it was cool!” (see also: Butthole Surfers, Mudhoney, Meat Puppets, etc.) But I really like this sound. Favourite track: “Victory”

Not a bad album by any means, but still has all the things I don't like about metal: repetitive riffs, lack of a musical narrative, overwrought lyrics about how tortured the whiny white boy is. Best song: Run to the Hills. Worst song: Gangland.

A grower. Has a lot of rasta spirituality infused in it. Took a while before I liked it, but it's good. Best song: Igziabeher (Let Jah Be Praised). Worst song: Ketchy Shuby.

I can't be impartial; this is one of my favourite albums of all time. I love the shoegaze sound that just washes over you, the way they make their guitars sound is incredible. Favourite track: "Only Shallow." Least favourite: "Sometimes."

The Doors leaning into a more blues-y sound. It's okay, not my favourite from them. Where are the 10-minute psychedelic epics? Has some great guitar work from Krieger, though. Favourite track: "Waiting for the Sun."

The frustration and urge to say “fuck that shit” at being told to be a model minority is something that hits home. “If you just stopped being angry/in your face/flaming/etc.” is bullshit and it’s nice to hear it called out. At the same time, isn’t all this posturing to prove how OG you are the same as white hipsters or nerds or whatever proving they’re “real” in whatever way? It takes some skill to make the simple flow of early 90s rap interesting. Also, misogyny, but obviously. Favourite track: “Turn off the Radio.”

I feel like this is almost “guilty pleasure” for me. It’s just straightforward hard rock; it feels unchallenging to listen to, musically. The “shock rock” is in the lyrics and I honestly can’t care too much about a song about necrophilia; it’s too ridiculous to take seriously, especially when it’s such an awful song, musically. I really like the clean production; it’s nice to listen to classic hard rock mixes from before the brickwalled sound took over everything. Really like the album art. Favourite track(s): “Generation Landslide” (unironically), “I Love the Dead” (so bad it’s good).

Um . . . I said the previous album was unchallenging to listen to. That is not the case here. I’ve always found jazz a kinda gimmicky genre and never really felt the desire to do a deep dive into it, which I’m sure is what would give me an appreciation for it; and this is that only more so. In the global stats for the website I’m getting these album suggestions from, which lets you rate them, this is the 6th lowest rated album. Favourite track: “Good Old Days.”

Um . . . I said the previous album was unchallenging to listen to. That is not the case here. I’ve always found jazz a kinda gimmicky genre and never really felt the desire to do a deep dive into it, which I’m sure is what would give me an appreciation for it; and this is that only more so. In the global stats for the website I’m getting these album suggestions from, which lets you rate them, this is the 6th lowest rated album. Favourite track: “Good Old Days.”

Not a lot of thoughts. Pretty decent overall. Is great music only great in context (apparently what makes this great is pioneering glam rock)? Without that context, it's only okay. Favourite song: "Cosmic Dancer"

New wave that sounds like something new, and not Duran Duran or whatever. There’s an energy here that is really infectious to listen to, exciting. Their cover of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” sounds like it should have been their song, not the Stones’. Favourite track: “Jocko Homo.”

People seem to think irony as a pop-culture phenomena was a 90s thing, but I’m realizing that there was a whole wave of it in the late 60s as psychedelic bands inexplicably made entire albums of joke songs with ragtime piano. I’m guessing everyone was burnt out by the end of the 60s. I feel like I should like this but it’s just lame, the whole side B is especially kind of unbearable. Favourite track: “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)”

I had a real “U2 sucks” phase when I was younger, and I think it kept me from realizing that this is a truly great album. True, half of the tracks (the singles) sound like the exact same song and I still think U2 straddles that terminally uncool line between dad rock and mom rock, but the sound is so good; I love Bono’s voice and The Edge’s guitar work so much. Favourite track: “Trip through Your Wires”

This album is SO good! This is the first album I got to the end and immediately started listening from the beginning again. I’ve never actually listened to Portishead, so this is a revelation. Her voice, the ambience, the emotion, it’s all so good. Favourite track: “It’s a Fire.”

Beck I need in small doses. This is a good album, a lot of solid sonic ideas floating around, but after one too many tracks it just becomes a mash. It’s just kind of what happens when “idea stew” is your approach to anything artistic rather than a definitive vision, and I really get that sense from Beck. Favourite track: “Jack-Ass”

Remember when electric instruments in folk music would freak people out? And then by the end of the 60s, that attitude was ridiculously quaint. I honestly think folk rock pushed things a bit too far in the rock direction, and this album strikes a really cool balance, because these songs just sound so trad. I love it. Favourite track: “Come All Ye”

I’m transported back to being driven to violin lessons as a kid when this was all over the adult contemporary station we would listen to on the way. Mixing electronica/techno and pop, it isn’t a bad sound overall. I really like Madge's voice on this. But these songs are really repetitive; not in that they sound the same, but each song just keeps pounding down the same musical motif again and again. It’s kind of draining. Favourite track: “Little Star”

“What’s your favourite R.E.M. album?” is basically a personality test. People who say this one are also a Type 3, ISTP. I’m kidding obviously. This seems like it’s R.E.M. searching for what would become their distinct sound, but not quite there yet. A lot of interesting “what could have been” ideas floating around, but an underdeveloped sense of what they would be. Favourite track: “Moral Kiosk.

If Tom Waits sang Leonard Cohen songs. Like Cohen, there's a deep spirituality entwined with male sexuality that I like in this. Such a smooth voice. Favourite track: "People Ain't No Good"

This is nice. Made in 2000, but going for a Dusty Springfield vibe just with more electronica influences. I like it. Favourite track: “Utopia”

Yes. The first time I heard this album, it hit me hard. Instantly my favourite Cohen album. Exhaustion at the end of life is not something I feel, but the basic feeling of just being exhausted by everything, that I get. This has some of Cohen’s best lyrics. “I struggled with some demons; they were middle-class and tame.” 27/10 album. Favourite track: “Steer Your Way”

Does there really need to be multiple Fairport Convention albums on this list? Anyways, significantly inferior to their follow-up. Kind of bland overall. A bunch of Dylan covers and some glimpses of what would come next. Favourite Track: “Percy’s Song”

Whether I like this or not seems to depend greatly on my mood. In a good mood, I am absolutely willing to put up with this record’s BS. Not so much if I’m annoyed, which is a bad thing for this album because I’ve mostly been listening while driving. It’s a joke album and the joke isn’t funny, really. Favourite track: “The Vibes Ain’t Nothing but the Vibes” (get it, because it’s a vibraphone . . . ugh)

This is kind of what the previous album should have been. While I think Barry Adamson took himself too seriously in not taking himself seriously, this strikes a better balance. More musically interesting and innovative too. Favourite track: “Some of Them Are Old”

I’m conflicted by this album. It was the first Beatles album I ever listened to, and it has them at their most experimental, but it also has just so many bad songs: “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” and “Revolution 1” particularly stand out (no, I did not mistype “9” there; I said “1” and I meant “1”). The Beatles’ worst songs are all on this album. At the same time, I love it; I just recognize it takes a lot of effort to love it. I will say the production on this album is phenomenal. Favourite track: “Happiness Is a Warm Gun”

Okay, I’m liking this. This is a recent album, 2017, and it’s very zeitgeist. “Thank God for technology 'cause where would we be if we couldn't tweet our thoughts? Won't you leave some things to mystery?” Favourite track: “Walk on By”

Good old fashioned alt-rock of the kind I adore, with a few other influences like trip-hop, it’s like this album was tailored for me; the way every piece of the sound works together is great. Favourite track: “A Stroke of Luck”

AKA “The Exorcist Theme.” Getting over that, this is kind of awesome; the two sides form a mirror of each other and have this incredible build up. Favourite track: There are only two of them. “Part One”

Hey, an album in a language other than English. I like it; pop Latin jazz but that's a sound I'm a bit into, more than other kinds of jazz. Favourite track: "Vento de Maio"

When I bought my first iPod back in 2005, this was the first album I downloaded and basked in the irony of listening to “Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedez Benz” on the then biggest symbol of conspicuous consumption. Anyways, I love this album so much. Janis’s voice is just one of the most powerful forces on earth. Favourite track: “A Woman Left Lonely”

I wouldn’t call myself a Zeppelin fan, really. But comparing this to a lot of the mediocre stuff they inspired like the T-Rex album earlier, this is refreshing. Prefer their earlier stuff to this, but this is a good album. Favourite track: “Kashmir”

I’m told that Stevie Wonder is amazing to listen to if you’re the kind of person who likes analyzing chord progressions in every bit of music you listen to. As it is, I’ve always been a “three chords and the truth” kind of girl, so this just sounds actually kind of bland. Not for me, except for . . . favourite track: “Superstition” (which is a banger)

Really? See, there’s this thing I don’t like in Canadian culture where thoroughly mediocre things become culture touchstones and are celebrated far more than they deserve just because they’re Canadian. This list is that, but British. And I like Supertramp. Not bad, not something you need to hear before you die. Favourite track: “Bloody Well Right”

It's okay. Not my thing. I do like how the sound works together, definitely sounds different compared to other electronica stuff I recall from around the same time. Atmospheric. But still not my thing. Favourite track: "Talisman"

There might be a reason this isn’t one of the Bowie “canon” albums, but I like it. It’s very different, with electronic instrumental tracks. I think listening to it offers a new perspective on Bowie and a different sort of experience. I approve. Favourite track: “Subterraneans”

Hey hey, my my. Listening to a live album has got me thinking about how weird it is that we listen to recorded music. I have loved live music experiences where they play music that I’m really not into on my own time. There’s a different energy that I don’t think a live album really captures. I miss live music. Anyways, this is good. I actually really like Neil’s voice. It’s authentic. Favourite track: “Thrasher”

Wait a minute, this sounds suspiciously like rock and/or roll. I love psychedelic rock, but I’m still willing to admit that the sound of the Hammond organ is one of the worst sounds in music. It doesn’t mix well at all. Still, miles better than the Electric Prunes album I listened to a while ago. Of course, the title track is basically a meme. Favourite track: “My Mirage”

Ah, teen angst. But this drives hard and meaningful. It's harder than their more popular stuff so a bit difficult to get into. I'm a fan of Tankian's vocals but they make everything work. I suppose this could be considered the "heavy metal" that I actually like. I don't think it counts. Favourite track: "Know"

This starts out really bad, with all the teribbleness of early 90s rap of bad flow and cheesy rhymes, then gets really good with all the awesomeness of early 90s rap, with on-point mixing and samples. Favourite track: "My Mind Spray"

“It’s about the notes he’s not playing, man.” I wasn’t aware there were any left. No, I’m sorry. No. I’m sure it’s great. I’m sure it’s mind-blowing. I’m sure it’s the height of artistic achievement that music critics say it is. But still no. Jazz, and especially experimental jazz, is a genre I love listening to live and hate listening to recorded. It’s a really weird contradiction for me that I can’t quite explain other than the live experience hits very different. Favourite track: “Spanish Key”

Yee. Haw. He has a really nice voice, and the songs are fun but a) they're all the same, and b) it almost sounds like it”s mixing in doo-wop influences? It's so very, very 50’s and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I don’t hate it. I can’t hear “El Paso” without thinking of advertisements for taco kits. Favourite track: “The Master's Call”

I can’t help but compare his voice to his son’s, and it’s just so much worse. That weird back of the throat closing thing when he goes up high. This album goes between some really great songs and some songs that must be what all 60’s folk sounds like to people who hate 60’s folk music. Favourite track: “Phantasmagoria in Two”

Putting together the pre-recorded music for church has given me a good appreciation for just how difficult and involved the craft of the producer is. You can have a bunch of samples, you can have an idea for how they’ll fit together, but making that actually sound good when those clips have such wildly different audio quality takes is difficult and awe-inspiring when done well. I love this, love the vibes, love the sound. Favourite track: “Building Steam with a Grain of Salt”

This is the first album I’ve listened to in this project that I have just flat out hated. There have been ones not for me, ones I’ve thought were kind of lame, ones that turned me off. But something about this, right from the first track, was kind of stomach-churning. It should be the kind of music I really like; the songwriter from the Byrds trying to do Bob Dylan, but when you have a genre built on authenticity, the worst thing is if you give off a smarmy, false air, and I get that from this. I think it had something to do with the patronizing bullshit of the first track. Do you dislike Cat Stevens? This is that, but worse. Ugh. Favourite track: “Tears of Rage” (the one he didn't write). Least favourite track: The bonus re-issue (which is all Spotify has) has the single worst version of “Stand by Me” I’ve ever heard.

Oh thank God, what a palette cleanser after the last album. This is great. I don’t have a lot of thoughts about it other than it’s great. Soulful, fun. Favourite track: “Don’t Let Him Take Your Love from Me”

This is pretty good; eclectic and varied, but also a bit over-indulgent. I like strong melodies and the complete lack of them made this hard to get into. Music that is basically designed to be background music for an indie film. But the sound is nice, and if you stop to really listen, there’s a ton to find and hear in every second. Favourite track: “Gay Messiah”

For only having 7 tracks, this album still feels satisfying. One I would call a dud—“The Losing End” because I don’t like that country shuffle beat and any song that uses it—but everything else is A+. Favourite track: “Running Dry (Requiem for the Rockets)”

Dylan becomes the grizzled old blues singer he always wanted to be. This has the themes of the Leonard Cohen album from earlier, but whereas Cohen made that album then died, Dylan made this in 97 and is still alive. I like it, I love Dylan, but I think I’d rather be listening to the blues that inspired it. Favourite track: “Not Dark Yet”

Who could dislike ELO? Who is not happy listening to this music? Well, probably many people for some valid reasons, but I’m not one of them. I love how the strings are used on this record. Not overdone, just the right amount coming in at just the right time. Every track is magic. I love it. Favourite track: C’mon. “Mr. Blue Sky”

I keep getting repeat artists who don’t have a ton of records on the list. But okay. This is good. Better than the last one, more meaningful and soulful. I feel like the vocals are much tighter. The last two tracks are pure gold. Favourite track: “Mother Nature”

The stereotype of country used to be sad songs about your girl leaving you, rather than songs about beer and trucks. Here’s some of that original flavour. Some of these songs are good, some are meh. That’s all I can say. Favourite track: “Mary Don’t Go ‘Round”

At first I thought this was an album called Flamin’ Groovies by Teenage Head, which I was looking forward to. This is great. One of my new “I can listen to every track without skipping” albums. Looking it up on Wikipedia, Mick Jagger apparently said this was a better version of Sticky Fingers, and I agree. Rockabilly edging into proto-punk. I love this so much. Favourite track: “Whiskey Woman”

Huh. I think this took a while to grow, but it did grow on me. A variety of musical ideas swimming about but the trade off is in coherence. Still, it gets better after the first track. Favourite track: "The Sound of Someone You Love Who's Going Away and It Doesn't Matter"

Background music for a hipster party. I actually don’t really like this. I don’t dislike it; I’m just neutral. Something about it sounds like it’s not as important as it wants to be. Favourite track: “Too Afraid to Love You”

Not my thing. I find the repetition hard to deal with track after track. It started out pretty okay, but became weary by the end. I'm not sure driving is the way to listen to this one. Favourite track: I dunno. "U Can't Stop Me."

Confession: I do not like Sinatra’s voice. The sliding into every note thing. Other than that, this is basically bubblegum pop. I actually like it; that’s not a dig. Unless you’re the kind of person for whom all music has to be super serious, in which case I don’t think that this is it, just ‘cause it’s old. Fun, but that’s it. Favourite track: “Old Devil Moon”

This is really good. This album is apparently one of the handful of albums Kurt Cobain said one time he really liked and then music critics fell over themselves to say “I liked it before it was cool!” (see also: Butthole Surfers, Mudhoney, Meat Puppets, etc.) But I really like this sound. Favourite track: “Victory”

I’m sure someone likes this, but that someone isn’t me. Some of the tracks approached funny, but didn’t quite get there. I get the Indian influences, but that’s not a sound I’m able to appreciate yet. Imagine someone wasn’t accustomed to whisky and you gave them the smokiest Islay Scotch; that’s what this is like. Favourite track: “Jimmy”

The pedantic complaining about “Ironic” is *literally* the most annoying thing in the universe. You know what she meant. Everyone talks about this album being really bitter, but it’s actually the upbeat songs that are standout for me. Favourite track: “Head over Feet” is kinda the perfect love song.

Yet more British ephemera that seems to just characterize so much of this list. The beats are really good, complex, and the drum textures just make is sound so expansive; but that’s not why I listen to music. This would be great at a party or in the background of a modern JRPG. Favourite track: “Angel”

Big band jazz makes me think of Hanna Barbara cartoons. I’m listening to this expecting the Jetsons or something. I could take it or leave it. I can tell there’s something more to it than usual big-band jazz, but I don’t have the jazz knowledge to identify it; I don’t know what to listen for. Favourite track: “Fantail”

I kind of think Jack White is a boring and uncreative guitarist and think the hate Meg gets for not being a good drummer is misplaced. All of the riffs are basically rip-offs. That said, this album kind of proves that musical virtuosity isn’t needed to sound good, and often gets in the way. These songs sound basic, but in a good way. Favourite track: “Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine”

Hooooly shit. I’m really happy to see them on the list because Silent Shout by the Knife is one of my biggest “wtf why isn’t this on the list” albums, but at least I get this solo project. This is amazing. When I’m powering through the dregs of the list, the endless British mediocrity and cock rock, I need to remind myself that I’ll occasionally hear an album like this. The way they use their voice. This is so, so good. Favourite track: “Keep the Streets Empty for Me”

All of the yes. That voice. Not my favourite E.S. album (Either/Or), but still really really good. At the same time, listening to this, I’m realizing there’s something really cold and distant about it, not as intimate as his other stuff, and the fact that it’s the last album released while he was alive while his mental health was deteriorating brings that home, and I think makes it a bit haunting in a way. Favourite track: “Can’t Make a Sound”

There’s this trend of saying “pop music today is so formulaic; it’s all written by algorithm.” Listen to this and just realize how paint-by-numbers this all is. The cover of “Tutti-Frutti” is just as bad as Pat Boone’s. Elvis said he hated his “chicken squawk” voice pre-army, but I really prefer it. This is only on the list for its history of being one of the first “albums.” Favourite track: “Blue Suede Shoes”

This does not deserve to be on the list for any reason. What the f***?