User Albums Journey
Exploring beyond the book, one album at a time
397
Albums Rated
3.44
Average Rating
Rating Distribution
How you rate albums
Rating Timeline
Average rating over time
Ratings by Decade
Which era do you prefer?
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When do you listen?
Taste Profile
2020s
Favorite Decade
Post-punk
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Cheerleader
Rater Style ?
39
5-Star Albums
9
1-Star Albums
Taste Analysis
Genre Preferences
Ratings by genre
Origin Preferences
Ratings by country
Rating Style
You Love More Than Most
Albums you rated higher than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nail | 5 | 2.42 | +2.58 |
| Sing To God | 5 | 2.52 | +2.48 |
| Symbolic | 5 | 2.69 | +2.31 |
| Katamari Damacy | 5 | 2.7 | +2.3 |
| Goat | 5 | 2.77 | +2.23 |
| Geogaddi | 5 | 2.9 | +2.1 |
| Atrocity Exhibition | 5 | 2.95 | +2.05 |
| Silence Yourself | 5 | 3.02 | +1.98 |
| To Be Kind | 5 | 3.03 | +1.97 |
| The Lioness | 5 | 3.06 | +1.94 |
You Love Less Than Most
Albums you rated lower than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Images and Words | 1 | 3.03 | -2.03 |
| Once | 1 | 2.79 | -1.79 |
| Come And Get It | 1 | 2.64 | -1.64 |
| The Great Outdoors Jam | 1 | 2.54 | -1.54 |
| Stranger In Town | 2 | 3.53 | -1.53 |
| TEKKNO | 1 | 2.52 | -1.52 |
| A Live One | 1 | 2.5 | -1.5 |
| Millennium | 1 | 2.45 | -1.45 |
| Smell No Evil | 1 | 2.44 | -1.44 |
| Don't Say No | 2 | 3.33 | -1.33 |
Artist Analysis
Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Bon Iver | 3 | 4.67 |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor | 2 | 5 |
| Songs: Ohia | 2 | 5 |
5-Star Albums (39)
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Popular Reviews
The Upsetters
5/5
My own entry on this list. Of course it's one of the greatest (reggae/dub) albums ever made and of course it should have been on the original list.
13 likes
Cardiacs
5/5
Thanks for adding a Cardiacs album to this list, contributor! One of the most neglected bands of all time. I like “A Little Man… Window” and “On Land And In The Sea” more; this is a great album though. The music is very eclectic and overcomplicated, but full of ideas, beautiful melodies, humor and funny lyrics.
12 likes
Electric Callboy
1/5
This is one of the worst albums I ever listened to in my life. I surely hope the submission of this album was a bad joke. It is (thank God) very short and full of Scooter style metalcore rave tracks. The lyrics are stupid (special mention "Fuckboi") and uninteresting. It also has schlager style tracks (f.e. "Hurrikan"). Maybe this is "fun" on a summer festival, but even then I would be annoyed after a track or two. A one star rating does not do this album justice.
11 likes
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
5/5
Fantastic post rock album by the masters themself. No other act knows how to go from some subtle introvert spare notes in slow tempo to all-in disrupting noise and tension and go back again. Great soundscapes and sounds: "cinematic" and "breathtaking in its grandiose beauty".
9 likes
Backstreet Boys
1/5
This is a classic album in the boy band genre, but that does not make it a classic in general. The uptempo songs are ok, though generic and commercial. The ballads, there are a lot on this album, are an absolute horror to listen to.
8 likes
4-Star Albums (164)
1-Star Albums (9)
All Ratings
blink-182
4/5
Lots and lots of energy, fun and catchy tunes. I like it.
Haley Heynderickx
4/5
Great modern indie folk album. Sorry about the horse that died.
Gang of Youths
3/5
I would like to give this album 4 stars, but halfway the album gets band and unappealing. It could have been a great one.
INXS
3/5
New Sensation and Need You Tonight are good songs. , Never Tear Us Apart is fantastic. The rest of the album is not so great though.
Richard Dawson
4/5
Strange and very interesting folky album. Sometimes a bit too much experiment and too little song.
Madvillain
5/5
One of the rap albums that was missing on the original list. What's not to like about MF Doom music.
Phish
1/5
Lots and lots of solos and other musical muscle performance. It lacks soul, integrity, good songs and the attempts to be humorous are not appealing.
Louis Armstrong
5/5
Should have been on the original list. Fantastic performances of Armstrong and his band in their peak.
The Postal Service
4/5
Interesting project using the postal service to collaborate on the songs. Too bad they gave up after one album. Such Great Heights is a highlight.
Kaizers Orchestra
4/5
Interesting concept album about sanity with a great album cover and good songs.
My Chemical Romance
4/5
Never thought I'd really like an Emo album. This one is very good. Forgive me for my prejudices.
LaBelle
4/5
Of course I already knew Lady Marmalade. The rest of the album is not bad either with fantastic vocal performances.
Protomartyr
4/5
Very great post-punk album with great performance of the musicians.
Switchfoot
2/5
I'm not so into Christian Rock, though the main complaint is it's lacking any originality and is bland and middle of the road.
Koritni
2/5
Uninspiring and generic Hard Rock with mediocre songs.
100 gecs
4/5
How to get energetic and confused at once? Put on this record of 100 gecs. It is annoying as hell in a good way.
Amon Düül II
4/5
Interesting Krautrock that does not sound outdated at all.
Chromatics
4/5
Funny Italo Pop album by Chromatics. I knew only their previous music and this is something completely different.
Sufjan Stevens
5/5
Very fragile and lovely album by Sufjan Stevens about his parents in emotional songs.
Primus
4/5
Nice weird album of Primus with lots of humor, great songs and incredible bass guitar playing.
Weezer
4/5
Weezer debut album with lots of great catchy songs, fun and energy.
Earth, Wind & Fire
3/5
Nice funky album with Boogie Wonderland as a highlight, but also some forgettable songs.
blink-182
3/5
I like Enema Of The State a whole lot better. It's not a punishment to have to listen to this energetic and catchy album though.
Jellyfish
4/5
Sometimes the songs fall apart due to the complexity, most of the time all juggling with styles and tempo just works. Somewhere between Supertramp and Queen is not the worst place to be.
Nuyorican Soul
4/5
Nice Latin album music with a long list of guest appearances.
Mull Historical Society
3/5
An ok indie pop album. I must admit I like the album cover more than the music.
Steven Wilson
4/5
Good prog rock album by Steven Wilson. I like the album cover too. The music gets complex sometimes. Smart, but not too smart.
3/5
I really like the electronic madness, but the sugar laced ballads are not my cup of tea.
Oingo Boingo
4/5
Everybody know Weird Science. I was pleasantly surprised that the rest of the album also consists of funny, happy, catchy and weird songs.
Marillion
3/5
Marillion is not a favorite of mine. I find Misplaced Childhood an album to avoid, but Afraid Of Sunlight is not that bad. The songs are better, less theatrics and more consistency.
The Posies
4/5
Of course we all know Weird Science. I was surprised that the rest of the album was also full of funny, catchy and weird songs.
Garmarna
4/5
Nice dark folk album. (My Swedish is not good enough to confirm. Every song could be about daisies and honey). The up tempo songs (f.e. Gamen) are the most impressive.
4/5
A great collection of songs although Eels has created better albums.
Freddie Gibbs
4/5
An impressive rap album by MadGibbs reminding me of Wu-Tang Clan.
Neutral Milk Hotel
5/5
Maybe the best album of the 1990s and it was not on the original list. Mastery crafted folky, indie songs with sort of a concept album story about Anne Frank.
The Decemberists
4/5
Good album with nice indiepop songs. I like their earlier work (Castaways and Cutouts, Picaresque, The Crane Wife) better. Still this album also contains several impressive songs with well written lyrics.
Savages
5/5
I've always loved the sound of Savages especially live. Their combi concert with Bo Ningen in Utrecht was one of the best I ever witnessed. Silence Yourself is a terrific post-punk album.
Bran Van 3000
3/5
I completely forgot about Astounded which I a put on several playlists at the time. That is a fantastic song. Too bad the rest of the album is not of a similar quality.
Daniel Bélanger
4/5
Daniel Bélanger was new to me. Good pop songs and just that extra taste by using some electronics.
The Lumineers
3/5
Nice little folky album. Ophelia and Cleopatra are good songs, the other songs are just ok and a bit boring.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
5/5
Not the King Gizzard album I would chose, but then again there are so many to chose from. It is a sublime one with great guitar licks, microtonal tuning and an infinite loop. The tempo of the album breaks down every negative opinion about it.
Igorrr
4/5
Igorrr knows how to keep me awake. It's not an album that I will ever forget and not to bad either. Quatre points pour l'originalité.
Garbage
4/5
I like the debut album better. Nice thing about this one is you feel there is some more coherence between the music, lyrics and vocal melodies as Shirley Manson was involved from the beginning.
Susanne Sundfør
4/5
Great folk singer-songwriter album. I like this better than her electronic music.
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
2/5
I do not like this kind of Middle of the Road stadium rock from the 1970s. I find it boring and uninspiring.
Hikaru Utada
2/5
Bland music produced way too smooth and without interesting songs. Each song was forgotten within minutes after hearing it.
Extrechinato y Tu
4/5
Very interesting project putting poems by Manolo Chinato to music by Poesía Básica. I had not heard of the poet or the band(members) before. Great music and I assume also great lyrics. (Yeah, I admit I'm too lazy to google translate and read it).
Cluster
4/5
I'm impressed by the number of Krautrock albums on the original- and user list. Having listened to them, I must admit they all deserve to be on it. Zuckerzeit (great album cover) is a banger.
Josh Ritter
4/5
Nice intimate singer-songwriter album. My favorite tracks are Girl in the Water and Good Man.
The Weeknd
3/5
Blinding Lights is a classic song, the rest of the album shows The Weeknd as a second rate Michael Jackson.
Hombres G
2/5
When I saw the album cover I knew this would be either very good or very bad. It's the latter. The songs are mediocre, the singer sings off key a bit too often and the performance is uninspired. A third rate Manu Chao with incompetent singer.
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
3/5
The album cover is the only reason to put it on this list. If so, submitter you are forgiven. The music is easy listening that does not add anything to your life.
Men I Trust
3/5
Easy, lazy dream pop and jazz. This makes it a bit boring after a while.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Live albums should not be on this list (and certainly not very long ones). Then again this is an incredible album with a great Bruce Springsteen and an E Street Band on fire.
Snarky Puppy
2/5
Though Snarky Puppy seems to like it here, I don't really like them here. This music if much to bland and indifferent. It lacks soul, effort and inspiration. It must be awful to be a great musician, but a mediocre composer.
Maldita Vecindad Y Los Hijos Del 5to. Patio
4/5
What a pleasant surprise this album is. Great Mexican rock with several influences, styles and a fantastic opener in Pachuco.
The Burning Hell
4/5
Little folky indierock album with sweet songs.
The Jesus Lizard
5/5
Excellent noise rock album (another Steve Albini) that sounds like a steamroller between your ears. Then Comes Dudley makes me think it's better if he stays the hell away from me.
Bon Iver
4/5
The first a album of Bon Iver with more experimental electronica and voice modulation. I think I like the first two albums more, but there's nothing wrong with this one.
Salif Keita
4/5
Great Salif Keita album. Lots of fantastic rhythms and a pleasure for my ears and hips.
Rachel Stevens
1/5
Come on, sorry I don't get it. It's bland, slick, undistinctive and boring as hell.
Alex Cameron
3/5
After listening to this album twice I still do not understand it. In one way it's very generic and uninteresting rock, in another way it's quite ok. Great guest performers!
Bloc Party
4/5
Great indie rock debut with a lot of terrific songs (Helicopter, Banquet, The Pioneers)
Scraping Foetus off the Wheel
5/5
I understand why a lot of people dislike this album: the noises, bombastic sound and horrific lyrics. These things together make it a very special experience and an acquired taste. I adore it!
Angelo De Augustine
4/5
I did not know Angelo De Augustine as a kindred soul of Sufjan Stevens. While listening to this album I discovered a lot of the elements that I make me like Sufjan's songs so much.
Valerie June
4/5
I like the classical soul and roots music on this album. Not very original, but splendid performances by singer and band.
Graham Parker
4/5
Graham Parker is one of those artists that should have deserved some more appriciation from the public. Great songs and fantastic lyrics (You can't be too strong) that up to this day are open to debate.
Mustafa
4/5
Watching the album cover thought it was rap, but instead it's a good RnB album with even some folky elements. Very refreshing!
GAS
4/5
Inspiring ambient album. Never heard of it before, but it's now one of my favorites in the genre.
Procol Harum
2/5
Several musical styles are covered, but none of the songs stick. This album is not for me I guess.
Ani DiFranco
3/5
Fine album, not much melody and somewhat repetitive though.
Arthur Russell
4/5
Some freakish experiments with sounds, cello and electronics. Very amusing results.
The Mountain Goats
4/5
Good consistent Lo-Fi rock/Folk album by The Mountain Goats. The lyrics are great as allways.
Alexisonfire
2/5
There are so many great post-hardcore albums and this is not one of them. Songwriting is bland and performance mediocre.
Sparks
3/5
Nice change in style to synth-pop with producer Giorgio Moroder. The songs are not that spectacular though.
Joan As Police Woman
4/5
Nice pop/rock album an great guest performance by Anthony Hegarty.
Gurrumul
3/5
The album certainly has moments of something original and personal with the traditional Aboriginal songs and melodies, but much to often the production is too slick turning it into some middle of the road pastiche. Too bad!
Jimmy Buffett
3/5
After reading all the Wikipedia information about Jimmy Buffett, I effortlessly tried to like the album. I think I like the guy and his island escapism. The ablum is not bad, but just not that good either.
The Upsetters
5/5
My own entry on this list. Of course it's one of the greatest (reggae/dub) albums ever made and of course it should have been on the original list.
Sampha
4/5
Good and diverse RnB album with bouncy rhythms and great production.
Vampire Weekend
4/5
Various exotic musical styles are combined and still sound cohesive. The Talking Heads of the 2000s.
Roger Waters
3/5
Being part of Pink Floyd kept Roger Waters from some stupid decisions like this album cover, making over complex and pretentious music. Some of his solo material and half of this album is quite good.
Mogwai
4/5
Great post-rock debut album with fantastic soundscapes.
Wussy
3/5
Great vocals, but these indie rock songs lack real quality.
3/5
Ok rock album, nothing special.
Bad Religion
3/5
I'd like to love it more, but the songs are not that spectacular.
Debbie Gibson
2/5
The fact that Debbie (co)wrote most of these songs while only sixteen does not excuse her for putting the annoying Shake Your Love on repeat in my head for weeks.
Ian McDonald
4/5
Great prog rock album by two former King Crimson members.
Freestylers
2/5
At the time I was impressed, but not enough great songs (like "B-Boy Stance", "Ruffneck", "Here We Go")
Thee Oh Sees
3/5
Live albums should not be on this list. I've seen this band live as the OSEES a few years back. It was ok and this album confirms that opinion.
Arctic Monkeys
4/5
One of the albums after the Arctic Monkeys slowed the music down and Alex Turner became a smooth operator. I has a chique plastic mood making me almost feel guilty about loving it.
Chet Baker
4/5
Chet Baker is a fantastic jazz singer. This album is none of that. I's about an even better jazz trumpeter.
TOOL
4/5
Listening to TOOL is not a pleasure, not a burden but very intense and cathartic. Impressive album!
THE SPORTS
3/5
Wiki states that The Sports were a big thing in Australia. I didn't miss much by not knowing them before.
Sublime
3/5
What I Got" and "Santeria" are great ska punk songs. The rest of the album is ok.
Status Quo
2/5
Middle of the road daddy hard rock. Not my kind of music.
Tame Impala
3/5
I find Tame Impala quite boring. One slow song like Let It Happen is fine, thirteen in a row is not. Some variation in tempo would have been nice as the songs are not that bad on their own.
Courteeners
2/5
The songs are ok, but the vocal performance is poor. Just not that interesting.
Childish Gambino
4/5
Nice rap album by Donald Glover. Some of the weirder songs remind me of Danny Brown. Acting and music seems to be a good combination (compared to sports and music. Something about creativity, I guess).
The Hold Steady
4/5
Great rock album. Not the most original, but the performance is spot on.
Nik Kershaw
2/5
"Wouldn't It Be Good" if all of the album was of the same quality as that song and "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"...
Sunny Day Real Estate
2/5
An album with a lot of emo style music I dislike and it just drags one (unlike My Chemical Romance)
Tally Hall
3/5
Nice little album. While listening I enjoyed reading about Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum itself.
The Tragically Hip
4/5
I always tend to forget about The Hip and when I listen to their music I wonder why. Great guitar hooks, energy and sublime songs.
Frank Zappa
5/5
Watch out where the huskies go and don't you eat that yellow snow. The pleasure was all mine, Mr. Zappa!
King Tubby
5/5
One of my favorite reggae albums that certainly deserves a place on the original list. I've got a fever and the only prescription is more melodica!
John Mayer
3/5
An ok album with a few highlights. John Mayer is a fabulous guitar player and writes decent songs. If only he would not always stay within the lines.
Dave Matthews Band
4/5
This album sounds so "normal" and consistent while the arrangements and rhythms are really crazy and complex. Outstanding performance and songwriting.
Jai Paul
2/5
I understand these are sketches and demo's and that is how it sounds. It's more or less ok, but far from finished.
Fontaines D.C.
4/5
Fantastic post-punk album of Fontaines D.C. Best songs: Boys in the Better Land, Too Real.
Stromae
4/5
Great rap and electronic album by Stromae with personal lyrics and great tunes. Favorite Songs: "Papaoutai" and "Formidable".
Korn
3/5
I remembered it as a great album, but I guess it did not age that well. It's lyrics are personal, horrific, immature and honest at the same time.
Billy Squier
2/5
I'm afraid I have to say No to Billy Squier. I do not like this MOR stadium hardrock sound and the songs are mediocre.
Mary Chapin Carpenter
3/5
Normally I dislike this kind of smooth country music, but the songs are good and the performance is not bad either (apart from an awful duet).
The Marcus King Band
4/5
Nice southern rock album by The Marcus King Band. The voice and performance of the singer is truly outstanding.
Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera
2/5
Another forgettable album from the 1960s. I'm afraid it does not add anything to my musical palette.
Killswitch Engage
3/5
A fine metalcore album. Not that spectacular though.
Chucklehead
2/5
I never heard of Chucklehead and I understand why (they never became famous). I understand that it must have been a great live band.
Boy Azooga
3/5
I listened to the album twice three weeks ago and today I cannot remember a thing about it. It's a fine album nothing more.
5/5
Truly great indie rock album. All songs are beautiful and Sunflower is sublime.
They Might Be Giants
3/5
I prefer earlier albums of They Might Be Giants. This one is not a punishment to listen to. I think they must have been a big inspiration to the Magnetic Fields that deliver better songs and lyrics.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
5/5
Maybe the best album to listen to while driving on a dark, deserted highway at night.
The Alan Parsons Project
3/5
The idea of a concept album based on Edgar Allan Poe stories is great, several songs are not.
Stars
4/5
Very nice album with beautiful arrangements and melodies. Reminded me of Death Cab for Cutie.
MF DOOM
5/5
One of my favorite rap albums and a concept album about food. The title is an anagram. I like the flow of his raps and the usage of samples.
Anaïs Mitchell
4/5
I never heard of Anaïs Mitchell before this list. The album consists of great songs, inspiring lyrics and terrific guest singers.
The Beautiful South
3/5
The album consists of properly written songs and pleasant melodies. Don't Marry Her is fantastic (as a kid I thought it was Don't Marry Her, But Me)
Robyn Hitchcock
2/5
The album starts with some cool and weird song structures, but rather quickly it gets lost in the experiment.
Faith No More
4/5
What a banger this is: various musical genres are explored and still it does not lack any coherence.
Death Cab for Cutie
5/5
One of my favorite indie pop/rock albums. A concept album about long distance relations with beautiful melodies and even better lyrics.
Shania Twain
2/5
Come On Over is happy, smooth and catchy, though in the end the lack of any substance makes it a forgettable album.
Marillion
2/5
To my hears Marillion exists between crying cats and a cheater begging for forgiveness. It's not the best place to be.
Jimmy Eat World
3/5
This album is like a hotdog. At first it seems like a good idea, but in the end it was ok and nothing more.
First Aid Kit
3/5
It's an ok album. Nothing to get excided about.
The War On Drugs
4/5
It's like The War On Drugs has created only one song and is repeating itself over and over again. If it wasn't just such a banger...
Ty Segall
3/5
I like the sound of the guitars and the style of music. The songs are ok, but a bit interchangeable.
The B-52's
4/5
Another fantastic album of the B-52's. Every time I adore the guitar work by Ricky Wilson.
Amadou & Mariam
4/5
Great album with music from Mali with assistance from Manu Chao (who knew what he was doing)
Kano
3/5
Just a proper rap album, nothing less, nothing more.
Type O Negative
4/5
A classic in gothic metal with terrific songs like Christian Woman and Black No. 1.
The Avett Brothers
3/5
Folk and Americana album with quality production and performance.
Childish Gambino
4/5
And another good rap album by Childish Gambino. I like his flow and when things get a bit weird.
Calibro 35
4/5
Great groovy (and a bit funky) album. Some instrumentals, some songs with vocals.
Gotcha!
2/5
Mediocre Red Hot Chilly Peppers rip off.
Biffy Clyro
3/5
A really fine album with great performances. Too bad everything is just not that special and none of the songs lifts it to a higher level.
Screaming Females
4/5
Female singer with a great voice. Nice compact and (mostly) uptempo indie rock/post-punk songs with hooks and grungy guitar sound.
4/5
Great folk rock album of the best songwriter at the moment (Lenker). A bit long though...
Damien Rice
4/5
I know there is always some discussion about Damien Rice his integrity. The lyrics are often somewhat depressing and emotional like a Elliott Smith ripoff without the street credibility. Then again the first four songs of this album are of excellent quality and the rest is not that bad either.
Adam Green
4/5
Adam Green must be on Santa's naughty list... such a dirty boy. Did I miss some parental advisory, explicit content sticker? For a few minutes I was humming along, but suddenly I choke on a... Just kidding, funny lyrics and happy music, a pleasant surprise!
Tori Amos
3/5
Nice album with (over)emotional pop songs. I like Little Earthquakes better. On this album the voice acrobatics tend to irritate me slightly.
Crash Test Dummies
2/5
Ok indie rock album with one great song (4xmmm) and a lot of mediocre ones. The singers voice is great, but starts to annoy me after a while.
Chappell Roan
3/5
Great fun catchy pop album. Diverse songs and amusing lyrics. The production is sometimes a bit too flat and the songs do not always stand out.
Cardiacs
5/5
Thanks for adding a Cardiacs album to this list, contributor! One of the most neglected bands of all time. I like “A Little Man… Window” and “On Land And In The Sea” more; this is a great album though. The music is very eclectic and overcomplicated, but full of ideas, beautiful melodies, humor and funny lyrics.
Jeff Rosenstock
4/5
Good punky rock album. The artist writes catchy powerpop/rock songs with a lot of energy and great hooks. I like the distorted, lo-fi sound of the album and the singers voice when it’s a bit screaming. Nice photo on the album cover (of his wedding), though I don’t understand how it’s related to the album title.
Pink Floyd
4/5
I consider Animals the fourth or fifth best album of Pink Floyd. Then again it is a damn good piece of rock music with a nice lyrical concept. None of the songs really stand out, but if you listen to it as a whole, you will not be disappointed.
Pedro The Lion
3/5
This is a nice Indie Rock album. Smart lyrics and nice grunge sound. I must admit I like contemporaries like Death Cab for Cutie and The Weakerthans better. Their lyrics are smarter, melodies better and the voice of David Bazan gets a bit boring after a while. But I learned something: "If it isn't penetration. Then it isn't worth the kiss". I wonder if that is a good advice though...
The Amazing Devil
3/5
Ruin of The Amazing Devil is a nice album with folk and rock songs. The songs vary between ballads, folk songs and accoustic hard/prog rock (a bit like Tenacious D). Sometimes the performance is a slighty too much dramatic and it gets annoying.
The Chats
4/5
Great punk/garage rock album. No nonsense uptempo and energetic. Especially “6L GTR” is a fantastic start of the album.
The National
5/5
My favorite The National album. Great indie rock with fantastic songs (Slow Show, Gospel, Mistaken For Strangers, Brainy). I really like the witty and decadent lyrics.
The Dear Hunter
3/5
This is a nice prog rock/pop concept album. Theatrical and a little too often over the top. Good musicians and interesting lyrics.
Vulfpeck
2/5
Great musicians (especially the bass guitar player) playing decent funk and soul music influenced by Stevie Wonder, The Meters and Booker T). Must be fun to attend a performance. Minus points for being a live double album and including the band introduction as a separate song.
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong
1/5
Like Vulfpeck and Phish another extreme long live album of a groovy rock band with excellent musicians with bland and pointless songs missing any urgence or drive. This album consists of 90% guitar solo and is boring as hell.
Khruangbin
3/5
Nice groovy (mostly) instrumental lounge album. A bit repetitive and the lesser songs sound like elevator music.
Streetlight Manifesto
3/5
Highly listenable ska punk album. The voice of the singer is a weaker point of the band. A lot of fun, but not groundbreaking in any way.
Harmonium
3/5
Prog Rock is a hit or miss for me. I did read the wiki: prog rock, french canadian, over 80 minutes and pretentious. Listening to it took most of the fears away. The album consists of very varied music, from ballads, folk, orchestral, chansons to rock fit in a prog format. With great theremin, horns and good vocals. Some songs are too long (Come un Sage) or unnecessary elevator music (le corridor, epilogue). All in all a pleasant surprise!
Porter Robinson
3/5
Nurture is a nice and varied pop, edm and electronic music album. Personally i perfer the electronic music tracks. When the songs tend to be more pop or edm i'm missing some substance and believe contemporaries like Caroline Palochek, Charlie XCX and Olivia Rodrigo better.
Avicii
3/5
Solid EDM album by Avicii on which some other genres are touched (fusion, reggae, blue grass). There’s a thin line between being catchy and generic/inoffensive. That line is sometimes crossed and the bland lyrics do not help. Overall an ok effort.
That Handsome Devil
3/5
Amusing rock album with some Tom Waits and Fun Lovin' Criminals vibes. Very varied musical context (blues, hip hop, hard rock, surf) and dr. John like vocal delivery. An entertaining eclectic and dynamic trip it is!
The Sound
3/5
Nice post punk album by the Sound. Musically somewhere between Joy Division and early U2.
Shudder To Think
4/5
Great post-hardcore album showing the "poppy" side of Shudder To Think. Performance of band, vocalist and production are excellent.
Transvision Vamp
3/5
The songs with a punky attitude (Trash City, I Want Your Love, Psychosonic Cindy, Tell That Girl to Shut Up, Sex Kick) are nice, but the slower and 1980s songs (Sister Moon, Wild Star, Hanging Out With Halo Jones, Andy Warhole’s Dead) are a drag.
John Martyn
4/5
It's never a punishment to listen to a John Martyn album. This album is less diverse and eclectic than his famous albums Solid Air and One World. Most of the songs are jazz rock, soft rock or blue eyed soul. I personaly prefer the other albums (the Phil Collins assistence has made it very smooth and conventional 1980s music), but I cannot deny its quality.
Jóhann Jóhannsson
3/5
This debut album of Jóhann Jóhannsson contains modern classical music mixed with electronic elements. He has also a history of creating soundtracks for films. I get why that works as his music is slow and inoffensive. It's taking a step back, creating an atmosphere and does not demand attention. That is a quality, but also a weak spot.
Café Tacvba
4/5
Great mexican rock album mixing various latin and western musical styles. The band delivers a lot of energy. All changes make the music a bit restless and eclectic, but in a good way.
Kayo Dot
4/5
55 minutes of metal, post-rock, jazz and noise madness. The usage of horns and strings distinguishes them from other bands in this area of music. A large contrast exists between the subtle parts and the all out destructive parts of the songs.
Death
5/5
One of the true metal classics by the band that defined the death metal genre. It's not repetitive distorted drone the way death metal bands bands like Mayhem produce, but more technical with a lot of great guitar riffs and solo's. Very varied music too. The classical guitar notes in Crystal Mountain combine beautifully with the real distorted dual guitars and bass I'm not a fan of grunting unless it's so clear that I can still follow the lyrics (as on this album).
Touché Amoré
3/5
It is a good album, but I did not like the vocals. I don't have issues with screaming, but the music has subtilities that the vocal delivery diminishes. I guess (for me) the guitars should be more distorted than the vocals. The other way around does not work. So grunting with death metal is ok, screaming with rather elegant guitar rock does not. The songs with partly "normal" vocals sound a lot more appealing (Benediction, Water Damage).
Joe Cocker
2/5
This is a live album with cover versions of already famous songs. Most of these covers do not have added value. Joe Cocker has a great voice. I do not like the way Claudia Lennear sings (on Let It Be) and the album sounds very dated.
The Cure
4/5
Beautiful goth rock album by The Cure. This is the first album featuring Reeves Gabriels, the former David Bowie guitarist. It has 8 long and slow tracks sounding similar to the slower tracks on Disintegration.
Teenage Fanclub
4/5
This is maybe the most consistent Teenage Fanclub album. Thirteen great power pop/rock songs. Bandwagonesque has the best tracks (The Concept, Star Sign), but also some weaker ones.
Operation Ivy
2/5
This is a best of album of a punk rock and ska band that is the direct antecedent of Rancid and I'm not a real fan of the latter. The songs on this album sound a bit interchangeable and the vocals are not so great. It's ok, I guess, but no need to add best off albums to this list.
Charli xcx
5/5
This is a fantastic album full of EDM club bangers (360, Club classics, Talk Talk, B2b, Mean Girls, 365), but also beautiful slower tracks (So I, I Might Say Something Stupid). I'm not a fan of autotune, Charli xcx knows knows how to use it in an inventive way though (like Bon Iver does). The instrumentation is full of sophisticated bleeps and sounds. The production is very impressive. The remix/collaboration album "Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat" is also great.
Roky Erickson
4/5
Great horror rock album by Roky Erickson. Quite diverse songs with funny b-movie horror lyrics. Good performances and vocals. Best album by the best artist of this genre (are there any other? Maybe Alice Cooper, but he’s more metal/hardrock than rock). Lots and lots of fun.
Karnivool
3/5
Nice metal album. Sometimes sounding a bit too much like tool. I do not really like the ballads (f.e. New Day), but that probably is a matter of personal taste as they are favorites of a lot of listeners.
Les sheriff
2/5
I like to have more non-english albums on the user list, but I was not wanting for another punk rock, double and live album. I think the best tracks of this album could be a great 45 minute album with a lot of catchy, melodic punk pop/rock and energy, but in this form it is just too long and with too many mediocre songs.
Björk
4/5
One of the many beautiful albums of Bjork. Full of weird electronic pop songs. Highlights are Joga and Bachelorette.
TOOL
4/5
This third album of Tool contains a lot of fantastic alternative metal songs with many (rhythm) twists and turns. A bit long though.
The Stooges
2/5
Metallic K.O. Is a live registration of Iggy & The Stooges with a hostile audience and Iggy is feeding the bad fibe. You can feel the tension which is interesting in a way. Musically the performance is not that good and the recording quality is poor.
Nightwish
1/5
Nightwish makes metal music for toddlers. It is very simple melodic rock with cliché melodies and dumb lyrics. Symphonic/ Gothic metal is not a musical style I like, but even in this genre there are many better bands (Evanescence, Within Temptation, Epica).
Margot & The Nuclear So And So's
4/5
Nice indie rock/pop album. I like the (more rock) second half a bit better. Good vocals and overall performance.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
5/5
Fantastic post rock album by the masters themself. No other act knows how to go from some subtle introvert spare notes in slow tempo to all-in disrupting noise and tension and go back again. Great soundscapes and sounds: "cinematic" and "breathtaking in its grandiose beauty".
Bob Mould
3/5
This third album of Bob Mould is a nice alternative rock album. He played all instruments and provided all vocals. This makes the album sometimes a bit dull. Bob does not have the most dynamic voice and arragements of the instruments are not all that spectacular. It's not a punishment to listen to it though.
Titus Andronicus
3/5
These rock songs are quite good and the lyrics and concept of the album is interesting. Also a lot of other instruments (even bagpipes) and several old melodies of the civil war. I like the lo-fi sound, the guitar skills of the many guitar players on the album are not very impressive though. That's not a problem. The problem is that the vocals of the lead singer get on my nerves. If it works, he sounds a bit like Shane MacGowan of The Pogues: lazy and a somewhat off-key. Much too often his limited skills get annoying and diminish the quality of the songs and overall performance.
The Angelic Process
3/5
Interesting wall of noise somewhere between shoegaze and industrial. Several good songs, some are a bit too long and interchangeable.
HELLYEAH
2/5
Simple and over the top groove metal. The slower southern rock songs (Alcohaulin' Ass) are boring and emphasize the poor lyrics. Not my cup of tea.
Yeasayer
3/5
The debut album of Yeasayer consists of nice art-rock/pop songs. Their second album (Odd Blood) has more highlights, but on this album the overall quality is better. I like the way Yeasayer always finds a way to write and present a song in a way it stands out from the “normal” pop/rock format.
Modest Mouse
3/5
Nice indie rock album by Modest Mouse. Some of the songs are a bit too long and a 45 minute selection would have created a better album.
Joe Jackson
4/5
Classic album with pointy pop songs. Great diverse songs like "Is She Really Going Out With Him" (marvelous melody and bass), "Sunday Papers" (reggae), "Fools In Love" (reggae again) and "Got the time" (up-tempo as hell; the cover version by Anthrax is also fantastic).
Polvo
3/5
This is a nice noisy indie rock album. It hovers somewhere between contemporaries like Fugazi, Therapy! and Pavements. The vocals are a bit weak, but great guitar sound.
Courtney Barnett
4/5
Smashing indie rock from Australia on the debut album of Courtney Barnett. A lot of talk-singing in a nice and original way with great songwriting.
Slowdive
5/5
Fabulous shoegaze album by Slowdive. Majestic soundscapes with slow melodic changes provide a perfect sunday morning feeling.
Jimmy Eat World
3/5
Another ok album by Jimmy Eat World. Fine uptempo rock songs that are nice, but not remarkable. (I'll never get the necessity to make albums like these that long).
Avenged Sevenfold
3/5
This is an ok heavy (prog) metal album. For me the artist wants to do too much: ideas, melody changes, instruments, vocals and choirs. It gets on my nerves (while I can take a lot).
CAKE
4/5
This alternative rock album by Cake contains the successful singles "The Distance" and "I Will Survive". The rest of the album is not bad either. Funny lyrics and good guitar (and horn) performances. The songs that are covers really add something to the original versions.
Mylène Farmer
3/5
It was a big frustration to get hold of this album anywhere. On the streaming services I can only find an instrumental version (no idea why that exists).
In the end I succeeded. I'm not sure if it was the worth the effort. The music is commercial French pop. Not bad, but it does not make me very happy either. I was surprised that I recognized the hit single Désenchantée. I'll give it three (instead of two) stars for the fact it is not from the UK or USA.
Amyl and The Sniffers
4/5
Great punk/garage rock album, I like the Australian accent of singer Amy Taylor. Sounds a bit like Sprints; lots of energy. In retrospect it was a bad decision by me to skip their performance at Best Kept Secret Festival in 2024.
Carly Rae Jepsen
3/5
Easy listening album with retro 1980s pop. Reminds me of early Cindy Lauper and Madonna music.
Jack Johnson
3/5
Nice relaxed folky singer-songwriter album. Starts strong, but in the end it’s just a lot of simular songs (instrumentation, tempo, melody).
Great Big Sea
2/5
Album full of folky songs. The performance is technically ok, but not very inspired. The album misses the raw edge that this kind of music needs. It’s sort of a nerdy schoolboy version of The Dubliners.
Chloe x Halle
3/5
An album full of generic commercial sounding R&B. It’s not too bad, but somewhat overproduced and the songs are not noteworthy to remember.
Boards of Canada
5/5
One of the best Boards of Canada albums and one of my favorite electronic albums. During the albums the sounds get stranger and the compositions weirder (The Devil Is in the Detail). An absolute must listen!
The Tragically Hip
4/5
Great album by the Hip. On this record the band is a guitar rock powerhouse. A little more consistent, but also a bit less raw than Road Apples. Nearly every song is good, highlights are Courage and Eldorado.
Chris de Burgh
2/5
This is a pop/rock album that sounds dated. "Spanish Train", "Patricia the Stripper" and "A Spaceman Came Travelling" are ok. The ballads ("Lonely Sky", "This Song For You", "The Tower") are over the top and not to my liking. The other songs are boring. I never knew Chris de Burgh apart from "Lady in Red", but don't think I've missed much.
Ornette Coleman
5/5
Great free jazz album. It was included in the Rolling Stone list of the 500 greatest albums of all time and National Recording Registry. "Lonely Woman" is one of my all time favorite jazz compositions.
TOOL
4/5
This fourth album of TOOL is not their best, but still great progressive rock music. Some slower songs and the closer are not that interesting.
Daft Punk
4/5
Great disco/electronic/house album by Daft Punk. A lot of auto-tune on the vocals used in an innovative way.
Fontaines D.C.
5/5
Fantastic and diverse album by Fontaines D.C. After the 2023 solo album of lead singer, the band also leaves the path of straight post-punk. The music is more approachable and polished. All kinds of rock styles, slow songs and electronics and it all fits. An instant classic!
The Caretaker
4/5
Intriguing ambient album consisting of samples and loops of early ballroom music. The abudant presence of cracks and hiss is sometimes somwhat over the top.
Bon Iver
5/5
What an absolute beauty this debut album is. I am convinced the subsequent albums are more impressive from an innovation standpoint, but this is sheer pleasure. Great laidback folk songs with fantastic melodies, tantalising vocals and impressive instrumentation.
Martha
4/5
Great indie rock album with a lot of energy and fun in uptempo songs. My favorites are “Beat, Perpetual”, “Every Day the Hope Gets Harder” and “Baby, Does Your Heart Sink?”
Wishbone Ash
3/5
Early prog rock album. I like the dual lead guitars, but the music and lyrics have not aged very well: it’s all a bit boring. “The King Will Come” and “Throw Down the Sword” are the best songs.
Backstreet Boys
1/5
This is a classic album in the boy band genre, but that does not make it a classic in general. The uptempo songs are ok, though generic and commercial. The ballads, there are a lot on this album, are an absolute horror to listen to.
Arca
3/5
An interesting electronic album with strange sounds and modulated voices and raps. Too disruptive to be compared to EDM, more a mixture between industrial, electronic and rap. A grandchild of Love's Secret Domain by Coil.
The 1975
3/5
This pop/rock album was well received by the critics, but it's not my cup of tea. There is not a lot of difference between the songs in tempo, they all lack any urgence and everything is much too soft and slick in my opinion.
Daft Punk
4/5
First I thought there is more than enough Daft Punk on the original list and by user added regular albums. Certainly for electronic acts a live album is more or less a best of album. In this case I must admit that the live versions add a lot musically and are a lot of fun to listen to. The album is a bit long, but keeps being interesting.
Songs: Ohia
5/5
This is the best album of Jason Molina. It's full of tragedy and overwhelming sadness, but also brings a bit of cheerfulness and relief. The title song is one of my favorite songs of all time.
The Vaccines
4/5
Great garage rock album by The Vaccines. A lot of energy and attitude in direct songs. Reminds of the Jesus and Mary Chain (reverb) and Arctic Monkeys (debut album).
Great indie rock album. I’m stunned I never heared of Mew. I listened to the whole album thinking it was a female singer. So I’m impressed by the vocal range of the frontman. I do not think all material is strong, but I was captured by the second half of the album (She Came Home for Christmas, Eight Flew Over, One Was Destroyed and Comforting Sounds). Certainly the last two are amazing.
Alexisonfire
3/5
On repeat: There are so many really great post-hardcore and emo albums and this is not one of them.
I like this one better than "Watch Out!", but still I do not like it that much. The spoken words parts are interesting though, they should do this more often (I get a Slint feeling). I'm in a happy state, so I'll give it 3 stars.
David Baerwald
4/5
Great pop/rock album by a artist I thought I never heard of. After reading his wiki page I now know he is one of the Tuesday Music Club (Sheryl Crow) members and co-wrote the songs on that album and played guitar on it. The album cover and lyrics are more depressing and confronting than the music. I get a bit of "Somewhere Down the Crazy River” (Robbie Robertson) vibes, because of spoken word parts and the underlying unease. I like the strange political atmosphere and the tension you can feel in a lot of the lyrics. And as other reviewers also state: it keeps getting better if you listen to it multiple times.
Sports Team
4/5
Good rock album with a lot of energy and funny lyrics. Especially "Here's the Thing" is very very very catchy.
Talking Heads
4/5
This album was originally recorded for the movie. I have it on DVD and watched it many times as it is one of the greatest live registrations and an easy five star choice. But having only the audio, you are missing so much of the fun. The strange large suits of David Byrne, his absurd dancing and deliverance. That’s why live albums are not the best option (and these are also “kind of best of”-abums, so cheating). Speaking in Tongues or Little Ceatures would gave been a better choice.
Times New Viking
3/5
Nice Lo-Fi album with an extreme amount of distortion. Something for people that like Guided by Voices. Songs vary between a good and ok quality (3-3.5 stars).
System Of A Down
4/5
This is a very good rock/metal album . To be honest the first tracks are more of less ok, but certainly after the fantastic "Chop Suey" each song is a banger till the end of the album
Sufjan Stevens
4/5
Good collaboration album of Sufjan Stevens with Angelo De Augustine with beautiful songs. The result is more a Sufjan album (compositions), but it certainly has a Angelo vibe also. It fits and the guys give each other the space they need. It seems like they've had a good time creating it. And no.. it won't mention the album cover.
Olivia Rodrigo
4/5
Great poppy rock album of Olivia Rodrigo. It was one of the highlights of 2023. Normally I would say it is too mainstream for me, but the vocals, production and very catchy songs cannot amount to less than four stars
Screeching Weasel
3/5
Amusing punkrock album. Not too special, but entertaining. Nice cover version of “I Can See Clearly”.
Refused
4/5
If you read on the Wikipedia page that an album was a commercial and critical failure at the time, you know it must be good. This is a great (post)hardcore album with a lot of dynamic songs. The subtitle "A chimerical bombination in 12 bursts" could not have been more to the point.
Unwound
4/5
Fantastic post-hardcore album by Unwound. I like Leaves Turn Inside You a bit better, though this one is a great listen too. Compared to the latter album it still has more up-tempo and edgy songs. I really like the baselines and the shaky vocals.
Manchester Orchestra
4/5
Good indierock album with sometimes a bit over the top dramatic songs. Great production and I absolutely love the album cover.
Talk Talk
4/5
Nice early post-rock. Never knew Talk Talk produced anything besides their well known (and certainly not bad synth-pop).The nasal singing voice of Hollis still annoys me after a while.
Emicida
4/5
Great Brazilian hip hop album with very cheerful and happy songs. I don't understand a bit of the lyrics, but to me it sounds like a party is going on here and I wanna join.
Guy Clark
3/5
This country album is a good listen. It's not groundbreaking, but excellent musicians, nice lyrics and decent songs. Just a bit little middle of the road and never urgent or surprising.
Crystal Castles
3/5
This album is a great albums when it comes to classic electronic beeps. Too bad it has these noise tracks that are ok, but not that great with a production that makes these sound a bit hollow.
Noname
3/5
Nice hip hop album. Smooth and relaxed with a great vibe.
Portishead
4/5
A solid album by Portishead. Not as great as the other two studio albums or the live recording, but still a pleasure.
TOOL
3/5
This is my least favorite TOOL album. It sounds much too overthought due to the many years it took to create. The album lacks the urgence and spontaneity their other albums have. It is too long and just drags on.
The Breeders
4/5
Nice indie rock album by The Breeders. Some weakers songs (Mad Lucas, Roi, Hag), some absolute bangers (Cannonball, Divine Hammer).
Johnny Winter
3/5
I really admire Johnny Winter as a guitar player. Too bad that his songwriting skills are not of the same level. This is a decent, but predictable and not adventurous blues rock album with great guitar play and solo’s.
Bon Iver
5/5
I personally like this Bon Iver album the most. The songs are mature and have an original sound. The first album was folk and singer-songwriter stuff, this album is all about nature in epic soundscapes. Listening to it feels like sitting on a porch at a cabin at the edge of the forest looking to the clouds passing by. Almost too bad that Vernon started experimenting even further on the following albums.
Enter Shikari
3/5
Enter Shikari combines metalcore with trance. When I first listened to them live at the Eurosonic Festival in 2007, I was impressed. Now I think it sounds a bit dated and the synth/dance is too rare to make it differentiate from other post-hardcore albums.
Al Stewart
3/5
Nice and happy pop/rock album from the 70s. Of course Year of the Cat and On the Border are great songs. The other songs are also not that bad. All in all a pleasant listen, but not something I would put on again (apart from the two classic tracks).
3/5
I like this album better than their other music. The individual songs are ok, but the varied collection of styles makes the album less cohesive.
R.E.M.
4/5
Good album of R.E.M., but certtaintly not their best. Still great songs Losing My Religion, Near Wild Heaven, Country Feedback and some forgettable ones Belong, Radio Song, Low, Endgame.
Os Mundi
3/5
Os Mundi delivers a strange combination of krautrock and latin lyrics. Too bad the songs just are not as good as I would like. It's a decent effort anyway.
Lo Fidelity Allstars
3/5
This is a nice Big Beat album. It sounds somewhat outdated, but it's still groovy. Lo Fidelity Allstars was a good live band too.
Spose
2/5
The music on this album is ok, but it's way too long. The first half "Get Rich" an alternative rock album, the second half "Die Ryan" a rap album. The performance and songs are nice, but the lyrics fail. Even considering they are supposed to be funny a lot of the time, they are shallow and all about frustration and blaming others.
Sam Fender
3/5
An entertaining album of Sam Fender. His most recent at the moment. I don't really understand this selection as his previous two albums are much better (and not on the 1001 or user list). It's a pleasant listen, but it won't blow your head off as it's never daring or getting wild.
Dead Boys
4/5
Good american punk and garage rock album from 1977. An album with song titles like "Ain't Nothin' to Do" and "Caught With the Meat In Your Mouth." You know what you'll get and won't be disappointed.
New Model Army
3/5
New Model Army has never been one of my favorite bands and this album did not change it. But opinions differ and it contains solid rock songs (Green and Grey, Inheritance, I Love the World ) with a folky flavor. With all bonus tracks the streaming services are offering it's much too long and these tracks (apart from White Coats) are not very strong. So you should skip these.
Ween
5/5
Chocolate & Cheese is the best and most accessible album by Ween. The production is very good (not lo-fi) and the songs are clearly finished. Apart from some adolescent fun most songs show the great craftmanship of these two guys resulting in classics like "Freedom of '76", "Baby Bitch", "Buenas Tardes Amigo", "What Deaner Was Talkin' About", "A Tear for Eddie" and "Don't Shit Where You Eat"
The Chameleons
2/5
Though I understand this is a gothic rock classic, I do not like this album. It has a specific 80's vibe that makes all my alarm bells ring. It sounds like a band that takes itself much and much too serious and the production is overdramatic.
Jason Isbell
4/5
This is a good southern rock album by Jason Isbell. I think his previous two solo albums (Southeastern and Something More Than Free) are better. His albums (solo or with Drive-By Truckers) certainly deserve a place on the user and/or 1001 list. Great songwriting (lyrics and music) and live he is one of the best artists at the moment.
Ex-Easter Island Head
4/5
I never heard of Ex-Easter Island Head before, but this is a nice addition to the user list. Minimal electronica with a lot of songs with sounds that are slightly off-tone and/or off-beat. Songs like Easter make you irritated and interested at the same time.
Tosca
4/5
Really nice and relaxed electronica album with a bit of triphop. It uses also vocal samples as musical instruments and that sounds great.
Yo La Tengo
5/5
I'm glad someone decided to grant this album it's rightful place on the user list. The band's best work and one of the best albums of the 1990's. The music varies between rock, pop, noise going fast and slow. The Neil Young like, slightly off key, vocals of Ira Kaplan are a delight.
Beyoncé
4/5
This is the magnum opus of Beyoncé. I don't know why the eponymous album of her is on the 1001 list as that is a decent album, but this one is much, much better. Great vocals, fantastic songs like "Daddy Lessons", "Don't Hurt Yourself" (featuring Jack White), "Freedom" (featuring Kendrick Lamar) and a lot of variation in styles and tempo.
John Coltrane
4/5
Beautiful collaboration album of saxophone player John Coltrane and singer Johnny Hartman with definitive versions of "Lush Life" and "My One and Only Love". If you're into jazz ballads, this is the way.
Psyche Origami
3/5
This album did not make me very happy. It's sort of old-school, but also very outdated hip hop. The breaks on this long album are similar on the tracks and the production sounds late 1990s. The constantly returning Psyche Origami phrase got on my nerves. It's not bad, but in the end quite boring.
Neil Cicierega
2/5
Mouth Sounds is a mashup mixtape from 2014. As far as I can remember mashups were a popular thing around 2000-2005. I cannot find a thing this album adds to the tracks released a decade earlier by dj's (f.e. Soulwax's Dewaele brothers) and mainstream artists like Kylie Minogue. Bills Like Jean Spirit sounds annoying and clumsy with the voices of Cobain and Jackson fighting for the spotlight. Mashups are a nice trick, but most of the time they just sound gimmicky and outdated.
Final Fantasy
3/5
Experiencing an Owen Pallett live show around 2010 was great from a technical standpoint. All the usage of loop pedals building up a song structure is interesting. The problem is that on an album it is not a impressive as at a live performance, having multiple takes. Apart from that it's a method used by a lot of artists (f.e. Andrew Bird). Anyway, the album is ok. The songs are nice, but not outstanding. The violin parts are great, but a more diverse collection of instruments would be better and not all vocals are on the spot. Still it contains a lot of funny and interesting ideas.
Vangelis
3/5
Nice electronic soundtrack of Vangelis. The movie with the classic Tears in the Rain lines of Rutger Hauer is of course fantastic. This score is supporting the movie as a score is supposed to be, but musically sounding like a 1980s album from 1994.
Medeski, Martin & Wood
3/5
I guess this is an OK album. Jazz fusion is often an annoying collection of too long solos in too long songs without structure. This album is not. Too bad the songs are just not that outstanding in quality and performance. When choosing essential jazz fusion lots of other albums should come to mind.
Lady Gaga
3/5
This debut album of popstar Lady Gaga is heavy loaded with hits at the beginning (Just Dance, LoveGame, Paparazzi, Eh Eh and Poker Face), but it goes downhill after these tracks.
Frightened Rabbit
4/5
Good indie rock album with folky influences. Lots of songs with urgency and a drive. You can find this in the music and also in the quite direct lyircs ("It takes more than fucking someone (you don't know) to keep warm").
Duncan Dhu
2/5
Album with a some rock songs and many, many ballads, soft rock and pop tracks. I like the fact that it's a non-English album, but I'm afraid that's one of the few positive things about this album I can mention: it's too long, too soft and boring.
Magdalena Bay
3/5
A dream pop style electronic album. Some tracks are interesting, but after a few the soft baby faced style of singing starts to annoy me. It could have been good if it just wasn't as boring as it is.
Electric Callboy
1/5
This is one of the worst albums I ever listened to in my life. I surely hope the submission of this album was a bad joke. It is (thank God) very short and full of Scooter style metalcore rave tracks. The lyrics are stupid (special mention "Fuckboi") and uninteresting. It also has schlager style tracks (f.e. "Hurrikan"). Maybe this is "fun" on a summer festival, but even then I would be annoyed after a track or two. A one star rating does not do this album justice.
Deltron 3030
4/5
Good early 2000s rap album with lyrics themed around a dystopian future. The interludes sound a bit dated, the music and production are not.
Jon Batiste
3/5
This is a nice RnB/soul album. The songs and performance are ok, but not extraordinary.
Rita Ora
2/5
This dance-pop album is of the "in one ear and out the other" kind. It's mostly harmless, but also quite forgettable. The fact that the best song by far, "Praising You", is a reworked version of a far better original hit by Fatboy Slim says it all.
I like punky folk-rock bands with well written lyrics. I think this niche in musical history started with bands like Violent Femmes and proceeded with Mountain Goats and Cat Power. They produce songs with a certain urgence that it only limited by the acoustic instruments. A feeling that can not be reproduced by a distorted electric guitar, because that sounds all too easy.
This particular folk-rock album is also a great one with interesting lyrics. Best songs are "Rejoice", "Bad Bad Things" and "People". The only mistake is the unnecessary "Mrs. Robinson" part in "People II: The Reckoning" (while the rest of that song is not too bad).
Cat System Corp.
2/5
I never heard of this Dutch musician, but I'm afraid I did not miss very much. He has produced a lot of albums during the last 13 years (more than an album a year). I now know how to achieve this: sample complete songs by other artists, slow the songs down and drop some radio conversation samples in between. I compared these versions to some originals (Torcuato Mariano and Rippingtons) and was struck by the lack of difference apart from speed.
I like the usages of samples in general and do not know vaporwave as a genre, but just using complete songs with hardly any changes seems copying to me, not sampling. I really not impressed by this album.
Pearl Jam
4/5
Nice rock album by Pearl Jam. It is certainly not their best, but songs like "Daughter", "Dissident" and "Rearviewmirror" make it 4 star worthy.
The Groundhogs
3/5
An 1970 concept album about the great war. The blues rock music with some psychedelic accents sounds nice with some good guitar licks. The songs are fine, but not great and the lead vocals are weak.
Yellowcard
3/5
A nice punk pop album with very catchy tunes. Sometimes it is just too poppy and commercial sounding ("Miles Apart") and the songs are fine, but not great. Several tracks with violin and even country ("View from Heaven") are incorporated and seem to fit seamless with the more common sounding tunes.
The Who
3/5
Another concept album by The Who. Maybe the idea behind the album is better than on Tommy, the songs are not. It misses the hit singles and is much and much too long. It's not a bad album though, just not one of their best.
ISIS
4/5
I love this post metal album. It sounds like shoegaze with a metal vibe and it hits all the right spots.
Kashmir
4/5
I know Kashmir from way back (The Good Life (1999), Zitilites (2003)) and saw them live multiple times in the early 2000s. Later in 2010 I saw them again with a singer who lost his long hair and looked a lot like actor Christopher Nash Elliott (Get A Life, How I Met Your Mother). That was a bit distracting and not a compliment, but that concert was (musically) good. This album was already out at that time, but I missed it. Too bad as it is a solid album with great songs and support from two of my heroes (Bowie & Reed). Nice entry, thanks!
Reincidentes
3/5
Nice punkrock album from Sevilla. Not that special to me, but it’s a pleasure to listen to nonetheless.
Aesop Rock
4/5
Aesop Rock is a rapper with a “wickedly extensive vocabulary”. This results in rap virtuosity with fabulous rhythm, flow and visualization. Musically the monumental songwriting and production are also to the point. Great (s)tuff!
Baroness
3/5
A fine hard rock / metal album. The songs are good, but the production and vocals weak. I like the mosquito sound in Twinkler. And the "I can't forget the taste of my own tongue" part in Eula is great. Too bad it's much too long and the second half has a lot of weaker songs.
Ozzy Osbourne
3/5
Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath was fantastic. Ozzy Osbourne solo is meh. As Ozzy does not write the music or even the lyrics. His albums depend on the musicians that write songs for him; in this case Randy Rhoads and Bob Daisley. The songs are ok, somewhere in between the styles of Rainbow and Whitesnake, but not outstanding and it sounds very 1980. As I like Ozzy, it gets three stars. (I dislike Sharon even more after reading this Wiki page).
Agalloch
4/5
Great post metal album. It has a lot of variation with also impressive acoustic bits. You can hear the influence of Godspeed You! Black Emperor in the atmospheric guitar layers. Not similar to Godspeed, but a inspiring reuse of a layering method in another music genre.
Bruce Hornsby
3/5
The only remarkable part of this album is the cover by Edward Hopper. The music and performance on this jazzy pop rock album is harmless in every way. Quality elevator music I guess.
of Montreal
4/5
Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? is the best album of of Montreal aka Kevin Barnes. Indie rock with disruptive melodies that twirl, but in the end land on their feet. Songs with very personal lyrics. "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal" is a modern classic.
Harry Styles
3/5
It is a fine pop album. The singles are the better songs, the sound of the album is fresh and entertaining. Many of the songs are a bit forgetable, but pleasant during listening.
Dream Theater
1/5
Dream Theater makes a kind of music that is a horror to me. Certainly the ballads like Another Day irritate me to the core of my listening experience. It's a collection of bombastic and pointless sounds that feel like eating like cheap prefab noodles. It sort of fills the room with sounds that are familiar, but add nothing to your life.
BABYMETAL
3/5
Metal Forth is the Fifth album of Babymetal. Like the debut album it's a combination of melodic metal and j-pop. Within this style the album has quite some variation in the songs with many guest appearances.
Fall Out Boy
2/5
Fall Out Boy makes very catchy rock songs with lot of bombastic arrangements. The songs individually are ok (but not great) and listening to an album as a whole the repeated trick that is used makes it boring and inoffensive. This album will not Save Rock And Roll.
Boredoms
2/5
Normally you can always count me in for Noise and garage rock from Japan. But this is not normally: this is an album full of abnormal music with an abundance of humor that gets lost in (cultural?) translation. I don't get it and after over one hour of madness, I think I don't want to get it.
Turnpike Troubadours
3/5
I like this country, honky-tonk and blue grass album. It is well produced, but does not sound like a modern commercial country album.
BABYMETAL
3/5
I like this album when the tempo goes up and the cheerleader background vocals fit like a glove on the melodic metal riffs. The album is a bit too long.
Living Colour
5/5
One of my absolute favourite albums of the 1990s. Fantastic rock, metal and funk played by a fabulous band. Vernon Reid is an all-time guitar legend. Live they were great at the time, but I also saw them this year and it was a lot of fun. Glover has lost his energetic movement and the drum- and bass solo's were unnecessary, but hearing all the great songs of the first three albums was a delight.
Amália Rodrigues
3/5
This is a best of album, so it's cheating a bit to add it to this user album list. Nevertheless I'm glad I had the pleasure to be introduced to the fado singer Amalia Rodrigues. She has a beautiful voice and the songs are great. Too bad the lyrics (in original language) are lost on me as I understand many of these are written by great poets.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
4/5
Polygondwanaland is one of the many many and more albums of the prog rock band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. This album is full of good psychedelic prog rock. "Crumbling Castle" is one of my favorites of their songs.
David Allan Coe
2/5
This is the kind of mainstream country that I don't particularly enjoy. The songs and lyrics are ok, but never very interesting. It's a collection of sentimental songs that sound outdated and predictable in every way. It's background music in this genre.
Various Artists
3/5
The Rocky Horror Picture Show as a live musical (or with a good crowd at the movies) is a five star experience. Watching the movie is a four star event, especially with friends. The album alone with mostly mediocre songs is barely three stars. It's not Jesus Christ Superstar or any other musical with mostly great songs. It's a lot of fun, but not the music specifically.
The Church
4/5
This album of The Church came to me as a surprise in 2023 as I only really knew Starfish from 1988. It does not add as much to their discography as confirm the sound and songwriting skills of a more matured band.
Yoko Ono
1/5
Fly is the second album of Yoko One. I only heard some solo songs and the Plastic Ono Band before. I knew ahead Fly was experimental, but I was not prepared for such a long album with outdated material. I aged like milk. The length of the individual songs does not help either. Each track has one basic idea and after 30 seconds you get it, but the tracks drag on for another 5 (up to 23) minutes.
Deafheaven
4/5
Great metalgaze album with dark atmospheric soundscapes. Sounds like Sigur Rós, Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, but more in a metal format.
The Heads
2/5
This album of the remaining members of Talking Heads (after David Byrne left) is a collection of leftover songs with the other band members or guests on lead vocals. It is mediocre and never even reaches the quality of subpar Talking Heads of Tom Tom Club albums. "Don't Take My Kindness for Weakness" is a low point with awful vocals by Shaun Ryder.
Michael Hurley
3/5
Laid back folk album by Michael Hurley. Some of the songs (“Hog Of The Forsaken", "The Time Is Right") are re-recordings of own material from way back. With age his voice is getting weaker and the songs sound more fragile, but that is rather a charm than a problem.
Charly García
4/5
I think this is the worst album cover of all original and user albums on the list. That does not mean the music is bad. I understand it's one of the essential albums of Argentina. It's ambitious and unpolished. Sometimes the ideas go in all directions and result in something that does not work. Still there is a lot to like. I would say 3,5 stars that get rounded up for not being British/American origin and English Language.
The Tragically Hip
4/5
Up To Here is the debut album of The Tragically Hip. It is not as good as what is to follow (Fully Completely, Road Apples and Phantom Power), but still a fine piece of music on it's own. It has all the elements (energy, drive and good guitar licks) that can be found on the albums that will follow.
Depeche Mode
3/5
The debut album of Depeche Mode is a nice synth-pop album. It has three good songs: "New Life", "Puppets" and "Just Can't Get Enough". Other songs vary between instantly disposable pop ("What's Your Name?"), subpar produced songs ("I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead") or forgettable tracks (sorry, I can't remember which). All in all it's ok, but you can better listen to their later work.
Shihad
3/5
The General Electric is the fourth studio album by Shihad. Nice rock songs sometimes reminding me of Faith No More in the heavier and bombastic parts. Good to have another New Zealand entry (as far as I can remember Crowded House is the only other one).
Powderfinger
3/5
Odyssey Number Five by Powderfinger is an ok rock album with lots of slower songs. Not bad or awful, but also not outstanding in any way.
Ornatos Violeta
4/5
This is a quite versatile rock album by Portuguese band Ornatos Violeta. Many of the songs have impressive arrangements (f.e. "Dia Mau") with the help of Corvos (a string quartet that plays mostly rock songs). The songs have lots of ideas and are complex, but most of the time it works great.
Quicksand
3/5
Post-hardcore album with nice catchy, pointy and edgy rock songs. Intense, a lot of energy and dynamics. Reminds me of Helmet and Fugazi.
Jaco Pastorius
4/5
Jaco Pastorius is the debut solo album of "one of the greatest and most influential bassists of all time". Most of the songs are great jazz rock tracks with of course fantastic bass guitar licks. "Come On, Come Over" is the odd one out as a funky tracks with vocals.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
3/5
It must have been great fun and an honor for Kenny Wayne Shepherd to work with all these blues legends. Too bad it's just an album with subpar versions of well known blues classics you can find on an abundance of compilations in better shape. It's nice to hear B.B. King, but as most of the contributors, he is var from his magnificent shape years ago. In the end it is ok as an album and nothing more.
Modern Life Is War
4/5
Witness is a good hardcore album. Outstanding tracks are "The Outsiders (AKA Hell Is for Heroes Part I)" and "D.E.A.D.R.A.M.O.N.E.S.". I sometimes find the vocals a bit bleak and unconvincing, but the great instrumental part surely makes up for it.
Descendents
4/5
A classic early punk pop (and rock) album from California. The album title (Milo Goes to College) is due to the fact the singer (Milo Aukerman) was leaving the band and going to become a molecular biologist. He did, but kept on returning to the band in the following decades. The classic album cover is a great cartoon version of the man and the band's mascot. The song lyrics are sometimes a bit too stupid, but the songs are catchy as hell.
Denzel Curry
4/5
Melt My Eyez See Your Future is one of my favorite albums of 2022. "Melt Session #1" and "Walkin" are highlights, but the rest of the album is great too. A lot of variation in styles and tempo, but everything sounds like it is created with one live band in a studio (what is not the case). His raps are more controlled compared to his earlier album and right on the spot.
Future Islands
3/5
Future Islands makes 1980s synth pop with an very expressive singer. When you listen to an individual song, it sounds pleasing ,not impressive or very distinctive from other synth pop. When listening to a full album each song is similar and it gets a bit boring.
Spinvis
4/5
For the second Dutch entry on the user list we get the debut album of Spinvis. It is an collection of strange indie pop songs with introvert lyrics. For listeners not understanding the lyrics it is probably a mediocre album and a bit boring full of inadequate vocal performances. If you understand te lyrics most of these are quite touching. For example "Ronnie gaat naar huis" about someone leaving an institution going back to the outside world. The only lacking this quality is "Handige Tante - Jonge Met Geld".
Alabama 3
3/5
Exile on Coldharbour Lane is an interesting album. It is more or less half filled with bluesy songs combined with electronic baselines and drums that are great ("Converted", "Woke Up This Morning" and "Hypo Full of Love (The 12-Step Plan)"). It also contains ballads that are very, very, very weak and blasé ("Speed of the Sound of Loneliness", "The Old Purple Tin (9% of Pure Heaven)"). The third category are songs that differ not that much from "Cotton Eye Joe" ("U Don't Dans 2 Tekno Anymore", "Mao Tse Tung Said") and are utterly annoying.
"Weird Al" Yankovic
2/5
Frank Zappa asked: Does humor belong into music? I would say certainly, as I'm a big fan of acts like Zappa and Ween. Too bad this album aged like milk and Weird Al is a great guy, but it at its current status this album is a collection of daddy joke and daddy rock songs. With pretty mediocre instrumentation, especially the accordion parts in My Bologna and Another One Rides the Bus. I still like "Fat" and "Like a Surgeon", but not this one.
Robyn
4/5
Good pop and dance album with several great tracks "Fembot", "Dancing on My Own" and "Call Your Girlfriend". Overall the quality is ok, even on the "weaker" tracks and the stuff is catchy and you know it.
Everything Everything
4/5
Get to Heaven of Everything Everything is great art rock album with an eclectic sound. I got a bit annoyed with the length of the album combined with the falsetto vocals that got on my nerves. That was my fault, I was listening to the deluxe version that is a bit too much. While listening I discovered I already knew "Distant Past" and "Regret". These are fabulous songs. The complexity of the songs is somewhat overdone. Nevertheless I had a The Voice experience with the start of the album. "To the Blade" starts with an a capella part that almost made me turn my carseat around when the song fully blasted into existence.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
3/5
Tomorrow Belongs to Me is the fourth studio album of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. While their second album, on the original list, was more glam rock, this album moves towards a hard rock sound. It is a likeable album and certainly not weak or bad, but also not very remarkable. I know a lot of 1970s rock and would not choose this one over a lot of the other ones.
Black Devil Disco Club
4/5
Black Devil Disco Club is a fine example of early electronic / disco music. It reminds me of Giorgio Moroder (and his Donna Summer hit singles). There is a lot to like.
The Notwist
5/5
Neon Golden one of the best alternative rock albums of the 2000s. It was the first album of The Notwist incorporating electronic elements and that works fantastic. When choosing a highlight track over half of the album would be a right selection ("One Step Inside Doesn't Mean You Understand", "Pilot", "Pick Up the Phone", "Trashing Days", "Consequence").
Lift To Experience
3/5
I didn't know this and it was certainly not what I expected after seeing the album art and reading the wiki page. It's a nice mess of post-rock, shoe gaze and indie rock. I like the concept of the album. Too bad not all the tracks are of the same high quality and the album is too long and a bit incohesive.
Paul McCartney
3/5
Ram is the second album of Paul McCartney after The Beatles. It was poorly received at the time and very good in retrospect. I think the truth is in the middle. At the time it was compared to the excellent work of The Beatles, now it is compared to the extended catalogue of solo McCartney. If you look at it the latter way, it is not that bad. "Too Many People", "Dear Boy" and "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" are good songs and the rest is nothing special.
Paramore
3/5
It all sounds formulaic and even the better songs ("Ignorance", "Brick by Boring Brick", "The Only Exception") sound a bit bleak and not very remarkable. I knew Paramore before and was never impressed. Reading their wiki page I understand that at the time of this album the band members were really young. That is why I will not be too harsh. Maybe that's also why they remind me of the first hit singles of Avril Lavigne. I hope they will improve and rise with age, but at this moment/album, it's just not that good.
Metric
2/5
Generic sounding indie pop/rock album with a singer with childish sounding vocal delivery. After a few songs it got on my nerves. It has a formulaic 1990s sound. Music and lyrics are mediocre.
3/5
Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is a nice French electronic / dream pop album. "Reunion" is a fantastic song. The first 6 tracks are great, but after these the quality drops and the songs get indistinguishable and boring.
Mac Miller
4/5
Though I like rap, I never knew Mac Miller, besides an nice Tiny Desk concert. In retrospect I should have paid attention. Circles is a great hip hop album and his other albums are also worth listening to. Several songs are Mac singing and he is certainly not that great at it, but in a way this imperfection makes the songs intimate and personal. The music is laid back and jazzy/funky. A bit of an Anderson .Paak vibe.
Barenaked Ladies
2/5
Gordon is the debut album of Barenaked Ladies. It is full of pop rock music with great vocal harmonies. The problem is that it is absolutely boring. The music is harmless soft daddy rock and the daddy joke funny lyrics do not help.
Floating Points
4/5
Great minimalistic collaboration album of Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and London Symphony Orchestra. It delivers beautiful soundscapes with dreamy jazzy atmospheres.
Mr. Bungle
4/5
California is often a mess, but a beautiful mess. Full of ideas, urgence, innovation and fun. It results in an album that you would not expect at a major label. With great songs like "Sweet Charity", "None of Them Knew They Were Robots", "Ars Moriendi" and "Pink Cigarette". The problem is that after a while the silliness is abundant and weakens the result. I like Mike Patton as a person, but when reading Wikipedia about his RHCP parodies, I can't blame the RHCP for being annoyed. You can prove a point by pressing a cigarette butt in someone's arm, but is that an effective method...
The same for this album: it could have been great (even fantastic), less is often more though. Still 3.5 stars rounded to 4 for the effort.
Nujabes
3/5
Modal Soul is a nice laid back hip hop album by Nujabes. I do not like the production/mixing of the album though. For example on "Feather" the piano is way too loud pushing the rap to the far distant background. "Ordinary Joe" has a similar issue with too dominant drums. The songs are good in the beginning, but the quality (or my interest) starts to decrease halfway.
Chico Science
4/5
Afrociberdelia is a nice album by Chico Science. the songs are energetic rock with hip hop vocal delivery. The quality of the songs varies. Some are rather generic rock and sometimes the song and performance work great. I understand that the front man (Chico Science) died in a car crash after the this album was created, giving it some legendary status. Having non-English contributions is always refreshing, so it will get 4 stars to support our Brazilian friends.
Daft Punk
2/5
I was very disappointed by this album. I'm a big fan of Daft Punk and like a good and original soundtrack album. I expected a Daft Punk electronic and bleepy variation on a soundtrack album, but most of the tracks are the default Hans Zimmer way of making a soundtrack: big orchestral pieces with a log of big gestures and cheap emotions and lots of bombast. The occasional electronic tracks (especially "Derezzed" and "Troy Legacy (End Titles)") are great and really stand out. Of course these few songs can't save this album from mediocracy.
Stray From The Path
3/5
Only Death is Real is not a bad metal core album. It is just too much a copy of Rage Against The Machine in all aspects. And if I want to hear Rage Against The Machine, I can listen to their debut album. This does not add that much as a weaker imitation.
DARKSIDE
4/5
Psychic is the debut album of Darkside (the duo Nicolas Jaar, who I already knew, and Dave Harrington). It's a good dark and atmospheric album in some songs are ambient soundscapes, other a bit more uptempo with vocals. Highlights are "Golden Arrow", "Freaks Go Home" and "Paper Trails".
Vampire Weekend
5/5
Only God Was Above Us came as a surprise to me. I completely forgot Vampire Weekend after their first two good albums. I still have to listen to album three and four, but this album is a fabulous comeback. Musically the variation in genres and styles is immense. It's a collection of great songwriting and the tunes are very catchy. For example "Classical" immediately makes you hum along.
Weezer
4/5
Pinkerton is a nice alternative rock album. It was not well received by critics and fans at the time, but it aged well. It misses songs that really stand out, though as a whole it works fine. This album (and Weezer as a band) are a bit too soft and intellectual for my taste, I'm missing some guts and urgence. Good album nonetheless.
Charles Aznavour
3/5
Charles Aznavour is one of the legends of the chason. Too bad my French is not good enough to fully appreciate the lyrics. He was often compared to Frank Sinatra. That is not fair as Aznavour also wrote the songs he sang. He was not only a singer, but also a songwriter and actor. Sinatra was the better actor though. Que c'est triste Venise contains the eponymous song which is a classic. It is a nice album, but not really my style to be honest.
Glass Animals
4/5
The music of Glass Animals has a distinctive own sound. If a song works, that's a plus, but if not, it takes the surrounding tracks with it. Most of the material is at least ok, so no complaints from me. It results a good indie pop album with a concept that can be ignored if you are not into concepts (11 songs about 11 people as portraited on the cover).
WHY?
4/5
Alopecia by WHY? is an interesting indie rock album. It varies tracks with the frontman singing with songs that having hip hop influences in the instrumentals and rap. Still the albums sounds pretty cohesive.
Tom Petty
4/5
Wildflowers is a great solo album of Tom Petty. As on all of his better albums (solo or with The Heartbreakers) it is full of solid rock songs. The reason to make a solo album with Rick Rubin was to have more creative freedom. I can't say I can notice that. To me each Tom Petty album sounds the same (only song quality differs) and in his case that is a good thing.
4/5
Joy as an Act of Resistance is a great punk rock album by IDLES. All tracks are full of passion, power and vulnerability. "Colossus" and "Danny Nedelko" are two of their best tracks.
Matthew Good Band
3/5
Beautiful Midnight is the third album released by the Matthew Good Band. It sounds a lot like the various post-grunge indie rock bands like Live and Bush. It is a concept, that's why I don't really understand why there are versions of the album with different track order. Anyway the concept in the lyrics doesn't stand out and the music is rather generic indie rock of the late 1990s.
Bright Eyes
5/5
"I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning" is the best album of Bright Eyes. Full of amazing singer-songwriter songs with interesting (but often depressing) lyrics. The vocal contributions of Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch and Maria Taylor are quite lovely .
Malibu
3/5
One Life is the debut EP of Malibu. It is only 4 tracks long. The songs are atmospheric sound shapes sound pleasant, but can also disappear in the background if you don't pay close attention. It's ok, but does not add anything and is quite forgettable.
Hamilton Leithauser
4/5
I Had a Dream That You Were Mine is a good indie rock album. The songs sound a bit messy and organic as if it's a live recording or a demo. Also a lot of early rock styles (1950s) are used, which results in a late Tom Waits album without the avant-garde, but also with great songs that are a bit more accessible. Nice entry!
Comus
4/5
There was a hole in my 1970s rock/folk knowledge and that was Comus. First Utterance is maybe not one of the best albums I ever heard, but it is an experience never to forget. I cannot remember an album that intrigued me this much in years. It is full of organic, black and disrupting folk songs that sound like desperate cries from the depths of a deep abyss. Progressive folk from 1971 that is so dirty that Lankum sounds like a bunch of choir kids.
No Doubt
3/5
Tragic Kingdom is the breakthrough album of No Doubt with the international hits "Don't Speak" and "Just a Girl". "Spiderwebs" is also a nice song, but the quality of the songs and performance (especially the singing of Stefani) varies widely. There are songs in all styles and genres resulting in an eclectic collection of tracks.
Various Artists
5/5
As a soundtrack of a video game I did not expect this. I know a lot of soundtracks of video games and anime, but never heard of this. Katamari Damacy is f*****g fantastic, absurd and diverse at the same time. I did not like every song and certainly not it's length as an album. But oh my god what a beautiful mess this is. I never played the game, that is quite crazy too and will be put at the top of my backlog. Thanks a lot submitter! I'll keep it on my playlists until I get it (indefinitely).
Nic Jones
4/5
True quality cannot be denied. Penguin Eggs is such quality. It was voted various times as one of the best folk albums of all time. Sublime tunes performed in a classical way. It sometimes sounds like you are transported centuries back in time (in a good way). If even the great master is a fan (Dylan covered "Canadee-I-O"), who is someone else to question it.
Ookla The Mok
1/5
Smell No Evil of Ookla The Mok is a filk album. I never heard of this music genre, but I did not miss much. It is an album that is supposed to be funny and is centred around a monkey theme. The humour is of daddy joke kind. Boring, unremarkable, tongue-in-cheek and always harmless. Like Beavis in Butthead and then translate all the dirt to ape synonyms. "heh heh monkey, bananas, heh heh". The result is devastating to my mood and irritates as hell. Compared to this Weird Al and Barenaked Ladies are the sharpest tools in the shed. I don't know what the expected audience is, not children, but probably people that do not want something complicated or unpredictable and certainly not anything offensive. The music is also very mediocre.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
2/5
I already knew "Methodrone (1995)" and "...And This Is Our Music (2003)" from this band and I was not surprised that this album was also not my cup of tea. Most of the songs are in an early Rolling Stones style (psychedelic and garage rock). This would not be a problem if the songs were really outstanding or if the band was from the same period. Now they are just an echo fading out of another band that once was great.
Brand New
4/5
The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me is a good emo album. Normally not my genre, but Brand New nails it. The album has a great production and the arrangements of the songs are impressive. If the lyrics would have been a bit better, the album would have been really great.
Billy Strings
2/5
Highway Prayers is an country album by Billy Strings with great musicians and enthusiastic performances. Too bad the style of music is very generic and traditional. You would expect some innovation by such a young artist. Too bad it is just too predictable in a world with many artists doing exactly the same.
Chuck Berry
4/5
St. Louis to Liverpool is the Chuck Berry album that the original list was missing. This is his "comeback" album after being a legend in the 1950s and one of the biggest inspirations for the Beatles and Stones. This explains the fitting album title. Full of classics starting with "Little Marie" with one of his best lyrics. You are in for a treat as "No Particular Place to Go, "Promised Land" and "You Never Can Tell" are also on it.
Porcupine Tree
3/5
Fear of a Blank Planet is a prog rock album by Porcupine Tree. It's sometimes over- dramatic and complex. An album on which every note is scripted and the gut feelings are tucked away.
Espers
4/5
II is the third album of the psychedelic folk band Espers. It is a dark kind of folk that is more subtle in its darkness than a band like Lankum. To quote the Pitchfork review: "intricate, vaguely menacing folk songs are smarter, sharper, and more relentlessly compelling than their trappings might suggest". For me personally it just sounds a bit too perfect and lovely and it misses some rawness and fragility. Still a good album though.
Bohren & Der Club Of Gore
3/5
Sunset Mission is a noir jazz album. Also ambient is stated everywhere, but that is the tempo and atmosphere, not the style. It is a nice album with soundscapes that fit perfectly to a film noir movie. That is also a bit my problem with this album as it sounds like background music. It doesn't really grab your attention. Still very entertaining and southing music.
Rodríguez
3/5
The story of Rodriguez as portrayed in the documentary “Searching for Sugar Man” is of course amazing. Too bad this album is not. “Sugar Man” is a great song, “Crucify Your Mind” is good and the rest is mediocre.
Blackalicious
4/5
Nia is the debut album of hiphop duo Blackalicious. It contains songs with great vocal flow, combining two excellent and smooth rappers combined with great singing. The interaction between both rappers works fantastic and gives the tracks a dynamic that is often missing on album with a single rapping frontman. The production on these groovy songs is sometimes somewhat sparse to open space to an individual bass line or rhythm. One minus is the length of this album, it keeps a high song quality till the end though.
Warren Zevon
4/5
Excitable Boy is the third studio album by American musician Warren Zevon and his most successful one. It contains his most famous song: "Werewolves of London". The other songs are great pop rock tracks, reminding me of Harry Nilsson. Warren Zevon has never been a real popular artist, mostly praised by critics and other musicians. That could be a reason this album was not on the original list as it should be. Maybe we can make some room? Could you offer a seat for Zevon, Elvis Costello? I guess he would as Costello is great guy and most aware of music history.
Soul Coughing
4/5
Ruby Vroom is the debut album of Soul Coughing. As a whole this is a better album than Irresistible Bliss, but this one doesn't have a classic like "Super Bon Bon" and it's a bit too long. Still it is full of jazzy and blues rock music that is very pleasing to the ears.
Gerry Cinnamon
3/5
Erratic Cinematic is the debut album of Gerry Cinnamon. It sounds as if it is an Scottish singer-songwriter album of the late 1960s. That is also the problem as it sounds like the past 55 years have not happened. If the songs were very great this could be forgiven. The songs "Sometimes", "What Have You Done", "Keysies" and "War Tv" are the best ones, but several are mediocre. Now it's just a fake time capsule with reasonable songs, but nothing more.
Pink Floyd
2/5
I do not know what a live album of a band that is far away from their peak performance adds to this list. And certainly not if the album is over 150 minutes long and boring. Is this a joke of some sort? Ummagumma and Delicate Sound of Thunder are far better Pink Floyd (semi) live albums. These two also have better album covers. A blinking pulsating led in the cd case, what a boomer kind of design.
65daysofstatic
4/5
One Time for All Time is the second album of 65daysofstatic. It is a solid post-rock album with layered guitar sounds that compose a atmosphere filled with distortion and slow changes of pace and melody.
Wet Leg
4/5
The debut album of Wet Leg is a good indie rock album. The lyrics are funny, eloquent and to the point. The hooks in the songs are great and the contrast between the innocent girlie vocals and the outspoken and ofte explicit lyrics and distorted guitars work very well. "Chaise Longue" and "Wet Dream" are modern classics.
STARSET
3/5
Transmissions is a rather generic sounding prog/hard rock album by Starset. What to write about it? It sounds ok, but just not interesting in anyway. It reminds me of 30 Seconds To Mars, a bands that makes 30 seconds a very long time to experience.
Q65
3/5
As a Dutch native, of course I know of the existence Q65. I never tried their music, apart from the (parts of) songs I listened to by accident. Now experiencing a full album, I feel no regret. Too me this still sounds like a subpar contemporary blues rock band (internationally speaking). Maybe they were great at live shows at the time, but on record it is something many artists at the time produced and not noteworthy.
Cindy Lee
5/5
Diamond Jubilee is a strange indie rock album by Cindy Lee. Strange in the sense that it is so long, so lo-fi, so hard to find on streaming media and still so intriguing. The tracks are sometimes more unfinished shapes of music, but it all works great. All combined it is a banger of an album and the best of 2024, though I understand it's not for everybody.
Built To Spill
4/5
Keep It Like a Secret is another great indie rock album by Built to Spill. Amazing songs and impressive guitars (technically simple, but mesmerising melodies). "Carry the Zero" and "Broken Chairs" are epic.
Pop Will Eat Itself
3/5
"This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This!" is a cross-over rock and electronics album. It is from 1989 and sounds very like the music from that time. Like contemporaries like Happy Mondays, The Charlatans, 808 State and Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine it has a certain production and feeling that is very dated. The late 1980s are my teenage years, so I have some positive sentiment, though I can understand that many people would agree this has not aged well.
Eric B. & Rakim
4/5
Paid in Full is an early hip hop classic by Eric B. & Rakim. The instrumentation is sparse and the drum rhythms sometimes childishly simple. Some of the songs are too long. Still this album provided a solid ground for later hip hop acts to follow.
Danny Brown
5/5
Every Danny Brown record is top notch. He is just a extreme bit too off to be main stream accepted. Atrocity Exhibition is one of his many albums showing his genius. He is sometimes just rapping on a slow or medium tempo and all is well, or the devil comes out and the mad scientist of Mr Brown full tempo crazy mf shows his skills. Any way, this is utterly great and if you don't get it, it's your loss. Al, you could wish for on a modern rap album and one of the few artists still innovating music as it is.
Beyoncé
3/5
RENAISSANCE is an album of Beyoncé, someone who needs no introduction: a great singer, performer and personality on stage. Also an artist that does not really write her own music or lyrics, but makes very small adjustments in music, arrangements and lyrics to justify co-writing credits. This way of acting does not affect the quality of the songs of course.
The usage of various different writers has it's limitations though as getting a incoherent album is a serious risk. That is the problem for me on this one. Earlier albums as Beyoncé and Lemonade sounded as a collection of songs of one artist with one artistic direction. This is a messy combination of lots of different styles and ideas and that does not make a good (but still decent) album despite having several good songs.
Auri
2/5
Auri is sort of an acoustic/no-distortion version of symphonic metal. A folk version of Within Temptation, but with generic songs of far lesser quality. Should we call it symphonic folk or just over-produced bland Disney folk? I don't know, but what I do know is that I don't like it. The music of a song like "Aphrodite Rising" could be on the Frozen soundtrack and that is not a compliment. The lyrics I don't know and I don't care.
Ween
4/5
Quebec is a good album, but by Ween standards just a decent one. I personally like most of their other studio albums better. "Transdermal Celebration", "I Don't Want It" and "If You Could Save Yourself (You'd Save Us All)" are fantastic songs, the others are ok.
Shpongle
4/5
Are You Shpongled? is a psychedelic trance and ambient album by Shpongle. It combines traditional music from all over the world with dance and electronic music. The style and tempo of the tracks is diverse and lead to an album that goes in all directions, but still manages to get to its destination.
Savatage
2/5
Hall of the Mountain King is not my cup of tea. It is the kind of over the top heavy metal that sounds like a parody. Certainly "Prelude to Madness" is a joke I don't really get (or are we serious?). After listening to the full album it's like throwing things to a wall and nothing sticks.
Songs: Ohia
5/5
"Magnolia Electric Co." by Songs: Ohia is one of my favorite americana/indie albums ever. These alt-country folky indie singer songwriter songs are beautifully instrumented and the overall mood is a bit depressing, but there is so much beauty to be found in fantastic compositions. Several tracks start quietly and then slowly erupt into guitar heavy indie rock. Another album produced by Steve Albini, so you know it must be something special.
Getatchew Mekurya
5/5
This is an album full of steamy urgent jazz-punk-afro-funk and an absolute delight in every way. The Ex is the Dutch punkrock band that from early eighties has evolved from punk to postpunk to noise & avantgarde to all sorts of world music. First European folk and later African music. Getatchew Mekuria was an Ethiopian jazz sax player full of Jazz and African Funk and open to a new perspective on his musical views. This collaboration resulted in a combination of distorted postpunk guitars and punky aggressive vocals combined with seventies sounding African brass funk. A combination that works in every way. It sounds strange, but the rhythms and sheer pleasure fit like a glove and produce something that is more than the individual parts.
Swans
5/5
Finally some Swans on the list. If it was up to me there were multiple albums (also Cop, Children of God and The Seer). It's the kind of droning rock that beats you to pulp and takes your breath away until nothing remains apart from some asthmatic gasps for air in the rhythm of the music. It sounds evil, built tension and discharges. The often long songs are monuments of repetitive hypnotizing hits and screams. Still there is also some tenderness and embracement to be found. "Just a Little Boy (For Chester Burnett)" and "A Little God in My Hands" are my favorite tracks.
Foxing
4/5
Nearer My God is the third studio album by American rock band Foxing. It starts fantastic with the first four tracks and especially the album opener "Grand Paradise". The songs are beautifully arranged and orchestrated by the large team of musicians. Sometime things get a bit over-complex and overthought.
Yello
3/5
Stella is the album on which Yello turns into a more traditional synthpop direction. A bad decision according to my music taste, but it brought the guys a lot of success. Nevertheless Desire, Vicious Games and especially Oh Yeah are great songs. Too bad the extra special Yello flavor is gone.
Tom Misch
2/5
Geography is the debut album of Tom Misch. It's filled with easy jazz rock with hip hop influences and contributions of great guest musicians. It starts of pretty good with "Lost in Paris" and "South of the River". "It Runs Through Me" is also nice. "Water Baby" is sort of ok, but even Loyle Carner (still none of his albums on the user list) cannot make it more than that. The other songs are utterly boring, even as background music.