The Boatman's Call
Nick Cave & The Bad SeedsIf 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"
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"
Thereโs this trend of saying โpop music today is so formulaic; itโs all written by algorithm.โ Listen to this and just realize how paint-by-numbers this all is. The cover of โTutti-Fruttiโ is just as bad as Pat Booneโs. Elvis said he hated his โchicken squawkโ voice pre-army, but I really prefer it. This is only on the list for its history of being one of the first โalbums.โ Favourite track: โBlue Suede Shoesโ
At first I thought this was an album called Flaminโ Groovies by Teenage Head, which I was looking forward to. This is great. One of my new โI can listen to every track without skippingโ 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: โWhiskey Womanโ
This album is SO good! This is the first album I got to the end and immediately started listening from the beginning again. Iโve never actually listened to Portishead, so this is a revelation. Her voice, the ambience, the emotion, itโs all so good. Favourite track: โItโs a Fire.โ
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 โI liked it before it was cool!โ (see also: Butthole Surfers, Mudhoney, Meat Puppets, etc.) But I really like this sound. Favourite track: โVictoryโ
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 โfuck that shitโ at being told to be a model minority is something that hits home. โIf you just stopped being angry/in your face/flaming/etc.โ is bullshit and itโs nice to hear it called out. At the same time, isnโt all this posturing to prove how OG you are the same as white hipsters or nerds or whatever proving theyโre โrealโ in whatever way? It takes some skill to make the simple flow of early 90s rap interesting. Also, misogyny, but obviously. Favourite track: โTurn off the Radio.โ
I feel like this is almost โguilty pleasureโ for me. Itโs just straightforward hard rock; it feels unchallenging to listen to, musically. The โshock rockโ is in the lyrics and I honestly canโt care too much about a song about necrophilia; itโs too ridiculous to take seriously, especially when itโs such an awful song, musically. I really like the clean production; itโs nice to listen to classic hard rock mixes from before the brickwalled sound took over everything. Really like the album art. Favourite track(s): โGeneration Landslideโ (unironically), โI Love the Deadโ (so bad itโs good).
Um . . . I said the previous album was unchallenging to listen to. That is not the case here. Iโve always found jazz a kinda gimmicky genre and never really felt the desire to do a deep dive into it, which Iโm sure is what would give me an appreciation for it; and this is that only more so. In the global stats for the website Iโm getting these album suggestions from, which lets you rate them, this is the 6th lowest rated album. Favourite track: โGood Old Days.โ
Um . . . I said the previous album was unchallenging to listen to. That is not the case here. Iโve always found jazz a kinda gimmicky genre and never really felt the desire to do a deep dive into it, which Iโm sure is what would give me an appreciation for it; and this is that only more so. In the global stats for the website Iโm getting these album suggestions from, which lets you rate them, this is the 6th lowest rated album. Favourite track: โGood Old Days.โ
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. Thereโs an energy here that is really infectious to listen to, exciting. Their cover of โ(I Canโt Get No) Satisfactionโ sounds like it should have been their song, not the Stonesโ. Favourite track: โJocko Homo.โ
People seem to think irony as a pop-culture phenomena was a 90s thing, but Iโm 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. Iโm guessing everyone was burnt out by the end of the 60s. I feel like I should like this but itโs just lame, the whole side B is especially kind of unbearable. Favourite track: โI Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)โ
I had a real โU2 sucksโ 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 Bonoโs voice and The Edgeโs guitar work so much. Favourite track: โTrip through Your Wiresโ
This album is SO good! This is the first album I got to the end and immediately started listening from the beginning again. Iโve never actually listened to Portishead, so this is a revelation. Her voice, the ambience, the emotion, itโs all so good. Favourite track: โItโs a Fire.โ
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. Itโs just kind of what happens when โidea stewโ is your approach to anything artistic rather than a definitive vision, and I really get that sense from Beck. Favourite track: โJack-Assโ
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: โCome All Yeโ
Iโm 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 isnโt 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. Itโs kind of draining. Favourite track: โLittle Starโ
โWhatโs your favourite R.E.M. album?โ is basically a personality test. People who say this one are also a Type 3, ISTP. Iโm kidding obviously. This seems like itโs R.E.M. searching for what would become their distinct sound, but not quite there yet. A lot of interesting โwhat could have beenโ ideas floating around, but an underdeveloped sense of what they would be. Favourite track: โMoral 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: โUtopiaโ
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 Cohenโs best lyrics. โI struggled with some demons; they were middle-class and tame.โ 27/10 album. Favourite track: โSteer Your Wayโ
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: โPercyโs Songโ
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 recordโs BS. Not so much if Iโm annoyed, which is a bad thing for this album because Iโve mostly been listening while driving. Itโs a joke album and the joke isnโt funny, really. Favourite track: โThe Vibes Ainโt Nothing but the Vibesโ (get it, because itโs 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: โSome of Them Are Oldโ
Iโm 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: โOb-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,โ and โRevolution 1โ particularly stand out (no, I did not mistype โ9โ there; I said โ1โ and I meant โ1โ). The Beatlesโ 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: โHappiness Is a Warm Gunโ
Okay, Iโm liking this. This is a recent album, 2017, and itโs very zeitgeist. โThank God for technology 'cause where would we be if we couldn't tweet our thoughts? Won't you leave some things to mystery?โ Favourite track: โWalk on Byโ
Good old fashioned alt-rock of the kind I adore, with a few other influences like trip-hop, itโs like this album was tailored for me; the way every piece of the sound works together is great. Favourite track: โA Stroke of Luckโ
AKA โThe Exorcist Theme.โ 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. โPart Oneโ
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 โLord, wonโt you buy me a Mercedez Benzโ on the then biggest symbol of conspicuous consumption. Anyways, I love this album so much. Janisโs voice is just one of the most powerful forces on earth. Favourite track: โA Woman Left Lonelyโ
I wouldnโt 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: โKashmirโ
Iโm told that Stevie Wonder is amazing to listen to if youโre the kind of person who likes analyzing chord progressions in every bit of music you listen to. As it is, Iโve always been a โthree chords and the truthโ kind of girl, so this just sounds actually kind of bland. Not for me, except for . . . favourite track: โSuperstitionโ (which is a banger)
Really? See, thereโs this thing I donโt like in Canadian culture where thoroughly mediocre things become culture touchstones and are celebrated far more than they deserve just because theyโre Canadian. This list is that, but British. And I like Supertramp. Not bad, not something you need to hear before you die. Favourite track: โBloody Well Rightโ
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 isnโt one of the Bowie โcanonโ albums, but I like it. Itโs 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: โSubterraneansโ
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 Iโm really not into on my own time. Thereโs a different energy that I donโt think a live album really captures. I miss live music. Anyways, this is good. I actually really like Neilโs voice. Itโs authentic. Favourite track: โThrasherโ
Wait a minute, this sounds suspiciously like rock and/or roll. I love psychedelic rock, but Iโm still willing to admit that the sound of the Hammond organ is one of the worst sounds in music. It doesnโt 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: โMy Mirageโ
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"
โItโs about the notes heโs not playing, man.โ I wasnโt aware there were any left. No, Iโm sorry. No. Iโm sure itโs great. Iโm sure itโs mind-blowing. Iโm sure itโs 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. Itโs a really weird contradiction for me that I canโt quite explain other than the live experience hits very different. Favourite track: โSpanish Keyโ
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 itโs mixing in doo-wop influences? It's so very, very 50โs and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I donโt hate it. I canโt hear โEl Pasoโ without thinking of advertisements for taco kits. Favourite track: โThe Master's Callโ
I canโt help but compare his voice to his sonโs, and itโs 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 60โs folk sounds like to people who hate 60โs folk music. Favourite track: โPhantasmagoria in Twoโ
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 theyโll 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: โBuilding Steam with a Grain of Saltโ
This is the first album Iโve listened to in this project that I have just flat out hated. There have been ones not for me, ones Iโve 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: โTears of Rageโ (the one he didn't write). Least favourite track: The bonus re-issue (which is all Spotify has) has the single worst version of โStand by Meโ Iโve ever heard.
Oh thank God, what a palette cleanser after the last album. This is great. I donโt have a lot of thoughts about it other than itโs great. Soulful, fun. Favourite track: โDonโt Let Him Take Your Love from Meโ
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, thereโs a ton to find and hear in every second. Favourite track: โGay Messiahโ
For only having 7 tracks, this album still feels satisfying. One I would call a dudโโThe Losing Endโ because I donโt like that country shuffle beat and any song that uses itโbut everything else is A+. Favourite track: โRunning Dry (Requiem for the Rockets)โ
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 Iโd rather be listening to the blues that inspired it. Favourite track: โNot Dark Yetโ
Who could dislike ELO? Who is not happy listening to this music? Well, probably many people for some valid reasons, but Iโm 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: Cโmon. โMr. Blue Skyโ
I keep getting repeat artists who donโt 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: โMother Natureโ
The stereotype of country used to be sad songs about your girl leaving you, rather than songs about beer and trucks. Hereโs some of that original flavour. Some of these songs are good, some are meh. Thatโs all I can say. Favourite track: โMary Donโt Go โRoundโ
At first I thought this was an album called Flaminโ Groovies by Teenage Head, which I was looking forward to. This is great. One of my new โI can listen to every track without skippingโ 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: โWhiskey Womanโ
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 donโt really like this. I donโt dislike it; Iโm just neutral. Something about it sounds like itโs not as important as it wants to be. Favourite track: โToo Afraid to Love Youโ
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 Sinatraโs voice. The sliding into every note thing. Other than that, this is basically bubblegum pop. I actually like it; thatโs not a dig. Unless youโre the kind of person for whom all music has to be super serious, in which case I donโt think that this is it, just โcause itโs old. Fun, but thatโs it. Favourite track: โOld Devil Moonโ
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 โI liked it before it was cool!โ (see also: Butthole Surfers, Mudhoney, Meat Puppets, etc.) But I really like this sound. Favourite track: โVictoryโ
Iโm sure someone likes this, but that someone isnโt me. Some of the tracks approached funny, but didnโt quite get there. I get the Indian influences, but thatโs not a sound Iโm able to appreciate yet. Imagine someone wasnโt accustomed to whisky and you gave them the smokiest Islay Scotch; thatโs what this is like. Favourite track: โJimmyโ
The pedantic complaining about โIronicโ is *literally* the most annoying thing in the universe. You know what she meant. Everyone talks about this album being really bitter, but itโs actually the upbeat songs that are standout for me. Favourite track: โHead over Feetโ 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 thatโs not why I listen to music. This would be great at a party or in the background of a modern JRPG. Favourite track: โAngelโ
Big band jazz makes me think of Hanna Barbara cartoons. Iโm listening to this expecting the Jetsons or something. I could take it or leave it. I can tell thereโs something more to it than usual big-band jazz, but I donโt have the jazz knowledge to identify it; I donโt know what to listen for. Favourite track: โFantailโ
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 isnโt needed to sound good, and often gets in the way. These songs sound basic, but in a good way. Favourite track: โGirl, You Have No Faith in Medicineโ
Hooooly shit. Iโm really happy to see them on the list because Silent Shout by the Knife is one of my biggest โwtf why isnโt this on the listโ albums, but at least I get this solo project. This is amazing. When Iโm powering through the dregs of the list, the endless British mediocrity and cock rock, I need to remind myself that Iโll occasionally hear an album like this. The way they use their voice. This is so, so good. Favourite track: โKeep the Streets Empty for Meโ
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, Iโm realizing thereโs something really cold and distant about it, not as intimate as his other stuff, and the fact that itโs 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: โCanโt Make a Soundโ
Thereโs this trend of saying โpop music today is so formulaic; itโs all written by algorithm.โ Listen to this and just realize how paint-by-numbers this all is. The cover of โTutti-Fruttiโ is just as bad as Pat Booneโs. Elvis said he hated his โchicken squawkโ voice pre-army, but I really prefer it. This is only on the list for its history of being one of the first โalbums.โ Favourite track: โBlue Suede Shoesโ
This does not deserve to be on the list for any reason. What the f***?