1001 Albums Summary

Unexpectedly hip. Gotta listen to more Elvis.

This is a little hit and miss. "Ted Just Admit It" is awfully self-indulgent and 7 plodding minutes that don't really go anywhere. Maybe I should just listen a few more times. Mountain Song and Jane Says are such perfect songs tho

This is an easy one. What's not to love? There's not a single song that couldn't have been a radio hit, not one. All the bonus tracks are a little useless, but that's not saying much. There's enough for 4 hit albums in the main tracks.

Coming to realize I get tired of people who belt all their vocals. If everything’s at 11, nothing’s interesting and the brain just gets bored. It’s a shame because the guitar work is amazing

Gosh, really surprisingly not my style at all. No momentum, nor enough emotional range. Just ennui. But the production is really pretty. Admirable and easy to appreciate despite not being my style.

Awesome. Front to back. Not very long either!

Fanstastic opener, kinda underwhelming and sleepy after. Pretty though.

Never heard the non-singles. Wow, Contusion is one of the best he's ever written. This deserves its reputation. Although.... most of the vamps go on like 2x too long, and it's a repeated problem so it gets kinda distracting. Ordinary Pain's vamp is great, the rest kinda go nowhere.

Never listened to this in the 90s, because I heard everyone thought it was vapid. What a bummer. It's perfectly nice, probably even groundbreaking for its time. Not "fascinating" or "challenging" perhaps, but very good for repeated listens, study music, etc and holds up very, very well against what we would now call "ambient." I bet the hate is mostly backlash against saturation.

Wow! I knew the first and last songs, but everything in between is great!

Really beautifully made. A few to keep on rotation for good.

Some good stuff, but pretty mixed; some tracks are kind of a chore to listen to. The cover art is great. Generation Landslide and Unfinished Sweet were my favorites.

Couplea good tracks. Just okay.

I don't understand how this was so influential. I love this style, raw and unpolished, and the drums sound so good. But most songs don't even seem like they have a plan (except for Where Is My Mind). This sounds like a rehearsal/brainstorm, not a finished record.

Now I have heard this often-cited album. And I don't hear what the fuss is about. Perhaps it's because the ground they broke is thoroughly trodden by now, but it's just okay.

Just OK. A lot of it way too indulgent. Must have been a fun live band though.

Ha. As though I'm going to add anything interesting to the history of reviews of this album.

Seems like the kind of thing you’d have to listen to a couple dozen times to “get.” Ain’t got time for that in this game. It’s… more than a little weird.

Like a greatest hits collection from an all-time group, PLUS some songs are much better with orchestra. (Some aren’t helped at all, but that’s hardly a liability.) Ktulu, Fuel, Bleeding Me are FANTASTIC

Sounds nice. Nothing for me. Reliance on n-bombs makes it hard for me to enjoy all but the most trancendant rap

Neat little time capsule of 70s vibe, but a bit much to listen to all at once... This kind of soul sound but with the bongos turned down to a reasonable level was done well on The Olympians' self-titled (2016).

Kinda kitschy, but the grooves, tunes and especially bass lines are worth almost every minute. I enjoyed it despite my dim expectations.

These guys need a cup of coffee before recording an influential album

Kinda Michael Jackson with not as much unique delivery? One or two fun songs but I had a hard time recognizing the genius he claimed, or at least the notability reviewers do.

Nothing I could really appreciate. Sleepy pop with no hooks.

Practically have this album memorized. 9 fantastic songs on a 10-track album. The composition, lyrics, diction are all off the charts and she was 18/19 when she recorded it. Blows my mind.

Rollicking good time. Surprised how much I like this band! I'm glad to discover so much beyond "The Boys Are Back in Town." Also, I always thought they were American. That voice sounds like a cross between Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen, and lyrics have a similar quality to many of their songs.. But it turns out they're Irish, which just interests me more.

There are some indispensable bangers, but a lot of space fillers too... "Listen" is three times too long

Meh. Same energy as Velvet Underground & Nico, which could be a good thing, but with the chaotic grating production of the Pixies.

This is pretty cool. Really interesting instrumentation, bright clear production, good lyrics & vocals.

Crazy to know it’s from 1973. Pretty enjoyable ambient-type sounds from very early in its origins.

I keep hearing Alison Krauss. But this is way before!

I listened to it five times in two days. What a revelation! Undeniably booty-shaking.

The rest of the album doesn’t stand up to the first track

So strange… I truly enjoyed it but it also put me to sleep.

What a pleasant surprise! H>A>K and The Architect are awesome. The whole thing is pretty good. Not my style but I still enjoyed it a lot.

Pretty but nothing engaging. Inoffensive. Acceptable at a cocktail party. Not really for this kind of list.

Every single track is too long. Not my jam.

I got two Public Enemy albums in a week. “Nation of Millions” earned my respect and this is even better.

Two hours of absolute pinnacles of talent. Kind of a lot all at once, but what a treat.

Totally seductive. Somehow he makes living on the wild side feel glamorous. I thought I’d get tired of his delivery which almost sounds bored, but it fits the music and lyrics well

Great humor. Jump into the Fire is a headbanger.

This could have been recorded by The 1975. Sounds great, really catchy end to end.

2 means “it wasn’t totally offensive, but I have no idea why it belongs in this list…”

Tunesome, classic. The loudness wars got to this one a little bit. Never listened to the non-singles, but almost every track could have been a single. That’s a rare thing!

Solid 3. Interesting interpretation, damn they're virtuosos, I'm glad I listened, and I'd put this on a 1001 list... but for this piece, one of the best ever, I'd rather just listen to Mussorgsky by a true symphony orchestra.

Kinda cool, respect the outlaw just kinda doing what he loves, but this was for him not me.

Absolutely belongs for for Nothing Compares 2 U. One of the best vocal takes ever cut to a record. The rest is... honestly interesting, but not highly repeatable for me.

Glad I listened. I can appreciate how influential it's all been. But nothing artistically useful to me.

I listened to this a week or two ago and I can't remember a damn thing to say. Must have been memorable....

A little too crunchy for some at times, but so great. They've never come close to this ever since. There are 28 full tracks, 2 hours and maybe 4-5 stinkers, so I'll give them a pass on those and call this the honor roll it is.

Better than the earlier one. Even downright pretty at times. And especially in Gypsy Woman, you can really hear his son's voice too. But I guess not "essential."

Interesting listen. Probably won't return to it much, but it sounded really good. Goth rock certainly had a big moment...

Got better and better over its brief run. There's nobody who ever played like Keith Moon.

Woodshedding music, not interest keeping. Sounds cool I guess

Proto dubstep, nice enough but not bucket list material. Might come back to this for woodshedding at work

One of the best albums the Stones ever put together was not actually by the Stones. Most excellent blues rock.

Technically difficult, but thrash is paradoxically boring if it has no intensity variation. RAWR RAH ARRHEHR RAH RAH RAH RAH RARARARARAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! for 38 minutes, becomes background noise after three minutes. The last track is ok. Metallica is much more consistent at recognizing this.

Way cool pop! Not sure I’ll return much, but I enjoyed the listen very much.

Pretty cool, but ran out of steam and interest very quickly. Probably belongs on this list but not one to return to much.

Some great ones, fun to listen to, but pretty inconsistent. Rainy Day Women is the best.

Ooh! Bit of a surprise. Beautifully mixed and nice vocal harmonies. The lead vocal is overproduced tho. Sounds very dated to the 90s, but can't help but enjoy it. Highlights: Lazy Days, South of the Border

Bunch of meh. That anemic 80s vocal just doesn't make me feel a damn thing

Unique vox, unique voice.

Sure, must hear. Maggot Brain is great. But the album all-in is a mess. Sounds like a lot of fun live tho.

Like this more than most 90s rap. N-bombs at an efficient minimum and the flow is pretty smooth.

WOW. Can’t believe I actually hated one. This was nearly insufferably boring.

So damn good. S-t Damn Motherf-ker and Higher are the highlights. But several more great ones. The bass sound on Lady is dreamy. I dismissed this guy as some basic R&B crooner in the 90s. First, the music is better. Second, he wrote it. Third, he plays not just sings. I'm sorry D'Angelo, I did not give you a chance until now.

Great way to nudge punk a little to the radio. It gets a little samey all at once, but that's the only knock. All trax are pretty good!

Ok, so grindcore. Either you hate it, or you're at least a little damaged yourself. But there's a lot to appreciate here. I hate the vocals of this style, but otherwise it's clearly so influential. Musicians very skilled and precise. Anyway, glad I listened but I will not return to anything longer than the track "You Suffer."

I think to appreciate this one I have to put it in 1966 context. It came out a couple months after Revolver. Nice inoffensive pop rock. But little to grab you, tweak your expectations, or surprise you.

Invaders, title track, Run to the Hills, Hallowed Be Thy Name. good shit! Another one I've heard of for decades but never put on.

So… guess I like shoegaze?? I don’t care for the anemic vox (this is becoming a theme…). I hate how it seems like he’d rather be doing anything else. Especially when every other aspect of this is actually brilliant. Driving rhythm section. Good use of dynamics and harmonic tension. Creative macro and micro songwriting. Put Thom Yorke or PJ Harvey or Phoebe Bridgers in charge of vocals and you’ve got an all-timer.

I just don’t get it. It didn’t bore me much. That’s the best I can say. Better than Screamadelica.

Yeah. I know this one. Red Barchetta is the okayest track, and that’s saying it all.

I figured I’d never listened to this beyond Beautiful People, but I got flashbacks to a LAN party in 1998 when Jared was playing this and Mechanical Animals on repeat ALL NIGHT. Jared, you’re a weird one. Anyway, there’s a lot of anger and no subtlety in the writing, and lots of interesting things in the engineering. Important arguments made about hegemony, commercialism, celebrity, but Altogether, it’s about as redeeming as a Nuremberg Rally speech, but still “notable” in a similar sort of way. Glad I listened. Influential artifact of a specific time, and good for a bucket list, not a “best” list.

Love the jazz and trip hop influences. I find her music incredibly interesting but not always pleasing. Don’t miss Play Dead, a single “from this album,” but not released until the bonus track version. That and Anchor Song are my favorites.

Needed to take a couple listens, which was easy because it's pretty short. The title track is obviously a classic, and it's the slow stuff like Behave Yourself that really shows off creativity and talent. The others are just covers, and a cover has to be really special, or else I'd rather just listen to the original.

So much fun. I'm not cool enough to like this album. Harmonica is too high in the mix if he's going to wail on that one E/G trill for most of the whole album, but otherwise I could listen to this 10x. 100x if in person. Muddy Waters has the best voice for blues.

Amazed. Perhaps not every single track was perfect, but the first one hits so hard and there are lots of good ones scattered throughout the album. Not just the singles. So much so that I went looking for bonus tracks and other albums as soon as this was done and I never have energy for that. This is a keeper for life now.

Kinda disappointing, TBH. Take On Me is obviously a classic, and I always like the rich orchestration, jazz harmonies, and thought that goes into 80s pop; this is no exception. But none of the rest of the album grabs me. On the very last track I thought they had something, then they got weird and boring. "And You Tell Me" is pretty funny, but at 1:51..... that's not enough to carry the album.

I wonder sometimes why they're associated so closely with grunge. They're not nearly so muddy and dark. Their music is emotional and definitely coherent but almost impressionistic, not least because you sometimes have no idea what he's mumbling. Anyway, this is nearly an hour of great riffs and strong writing. The production's a little dated, but there's a remaster from a few years back that just about fixes everything. 4.5 rounded up.

They could have called this Goosebumps. As wonderful from beginning to end as any album ever. Beautiful, a little weird, evocative, poignant. I have loved it most of my life, to the point that I don't put it on much any more for fear of getting tired of it. But I think I listened to it for the first time on a very good system, and it's even better than I remember. The drums in America. The french horns in Old Friends. The rattle in the voice of the guy who doesn't think it's an ordinary cold in Voices of Old People. The entirety of Hazy Shade of Winter. So beautiful it literally brought me to tears.

Lovely jazz bass. I got pretty excited for the first thirty seconds, but the rest of the album was too sleepy and schmaltzy. Wouldn't be on my version of this list = 2.

I mostly don't get Bob Dylan. It seems like he writes a libretto 4x the length of other writers, but the badly un-economic tactics almost never seem to cohere for me. It's like he's just stringing together as many semi-poetic phrases as he can. Definitely belongs on this list, but I don't dig it.

Note to self, try this one again. It was nasty and interesting. A little on the fence about its artistic merit, but it's definitely appropriate for this kind of list.

This is bunches better than the self-titled one also on this list. Tears of Rage is very, very good. I looked it up and am reminded of a recurring observation: Bob Dylan should write songs and other people should record them. Recipe for greatness.

Great blues. House-filling presence even on a small system. Graveyard Train and Chooglin are twice as long as they should be, Proud Mary is perfect, and the rest are very good. But you can put this on over and over. That's worth a lot!

Oh yeah. I know this one already. He was already dead before I discovered him, so I didn't get the "loss" part of this firsthand, but listening to this makes me feel for him, a little sad for what he must have wrestled with. The production is so intimate and unique. Multitracking vocals, the mic is practically in his mouth. The snare drum feels like a millimeter from your eardrum, the guitar's next to you on the couch, but the cymbals are out in the backyard. You can hear how he's influenced Beck, PortugalThaMan, of course Ásgeir Trausti, even Olivia Rodrigo. If you dig this guy but hadn't heard of him before... keep listening to XO and self-titled. And don't miss Mic City Sons from his previous band, Heatmiser.

This kind of discovery is exactly why I was excited about the prospect of this project. I would never have given it a chance. Wikipedia says "Art Pop?" Gag. But I listened once and felt a spark. Then again and started digging it. Now a third time in four days and it keeps growing on me. I love the theme (of most tracks) of yearning for human connection in various types. It's human and earnest and totally disarmed my assumptions about being pretentious. It's a little weird, but just a little, so it seems like it's in a sweet spot for me. So like, Tori Amos and Robyn and Portishead in a stew, not Bjork salad.

I got this just a few days after another CCR, so I can't help but compare them. This doesn't have the barnstorming power of Bayou Country. The long jams like Ramble Tamble or Grapevine don't quite amaze, or keep the booty shaking. And while all the parts sound nice and tight, it also sounds like it was recorded in a antiseptic studio, not a dank basement. That's not well-suited to the jams. But these things which hurt the jams do all kinds of favors for the shorter, disciplined tracks. Great for making dinner and singing along, whereas Bayou Country might be more for a party or a stoner's night in.

I've been hearing that this is almost universally beloved for a long time. Nice to finally make the time to listen. Considering how totally disappointing was Surfer Rosa, this is WAY better. A decent producer seems to make a big difference, and it sounds like someone made them rehearse everything at least a couple times. The sound of every instrument is vastly better. The subjects are weird and wonderful and make me think. It's still quite rough and grating, it's not love at first sight, but I'll definitely be able to give this a few more tries and I think it'll grow on me.

I love love love their arrangements. Living, organic percussion that reminds me of Blue Man Group or Gotye (or the Knife, naturally). Confident and conservative songwriting that isn't trying to blow you away but get you slow like honey. But their whiny vocals tire me out so damn fast. When they're not whiny they're in this weird compressed autotune that's equally annoying. Probably real good just one song at a time.

Very "nice" conventional 80s/90s jazz. Pretty, and not to say boring, but not terribly attention-grabbing. Interchangeable with 101 other very good, but not very unique jazz albums, so... not what I'd hope for from this list.

I listened to it once and was unimpressed. But something made me hold off on reviewing and listen to it another day. It got better, and I can see how it must have been an interesting crossroads between punk and 80s popular music, but I don't think there's really anything to return to after Track 1.

For the first time, I think, I listened to this while trying to separate it from the contrast with their studio records and take it as itself. The performance itself is just okay, pretty ragged at times (and I'm not just talking about the IDGAF of grunge in general; the guy's in bad shape). I suspect the knowledge of Cobain's fate shortly after this colors all interpretation and I'm no different. There are some brilliant ones in here. (All Apologies, Lake of Fire, WDYSLN). But I disagree with the "greatest live albums of all time" designation.

This is the third Dylan album in 170 records for me, but it's the best one. Great melodies, much more focus to his lyrics, good arrangements, more structure to his songs and most of them are a poetic adventure. I can't even pick the best, they're all different and all pretty damn effective. Even the long ones (115th Dream; It's Alright Ma) don't feel long when you're interested, which was not the case on the other albums for me.

Strange ride. The first couple songs were pretty fun. Then it settled into a bunch of songs that made me think he was trying to be Lou Reed -- but not very successfully. Then he was trying to be Lou Reed -- rather successfully! Finally he settled into some more poppy punk from 18-21 that was fun. Ultimately, I can't shake the impression that this is a too-long album made by a guy who's convinced everything he writes is great stuff. And he's right only part of the time.

I have now spent 42 minutes with Brian Eno, and I have learned nothing. I've heard the name a lot over the years, and I always got the sense that his was a name you dropped if you were about to say, "you probably don't GET it." Well, I don't.

Another one I've heard of but probably never listened to. The first few tracks and the last one were a lot of fun. I'll return to those for sure. It reminds me of Sponge and Morphine.

Who gave these cats a record contract?? That's what I want to know. It is THOROUGHLY weird, but thankfully vibes with my specific brand of attention- and hyperactivity-related deficits. I will be returning to this a few times. I feel like they took Sgt Pepper's a few steps into another dimension. Also sounds GREAT for being recorded and mixed 50 years ago. The bass, drums and voice are clear and deep. Could really do without the pipe organ cameos tho. Circus music doesn't belong anywhere.

Boy oh boy are love songs creepy in the 50s. "Made to Love" got me off on a real bad foot. Interesting to hear, I guess.

I read that this got Hooker the recognition he deserved his whole life, got him a Grammy, and the royalties allowed him to live his late life in relative comfort. Those are great things, but for the little I know of his other music, this doesn't show why he was great. The Bonnie Raitt song and the tracks near the end after he dropped the collabs were the best, and getting there.

"I think drugs have done some good things for us, I really do. And if you don't believe drugs have done good things for us, do me a favor. Go home tonight and take all your albums, all your tapes and all your CD's and burn them. Because, you know what? The musicians who made all that great music that's enhanced your lives throughout the years... rrrrrrrreal fucking high on drugs. Man, the Beatles were so high, they let Ringo sing a couple of tunes. Tell me they weren't partying. (singing) "We all live in a yellow submarine, yellow submarine." We all live in a-do you know how fucking high they were when they wrote that? They had to pull Ringo off the ceiling with a rake to sing that fucking song. (Beatle voices) John, get Ringo, he's in the corner. Ooh, look at him scoot, grab him! Hook his bellbottom, hook his bellbottom! He's got a song he wants to sing us. Something about living in a yellow tambourine or something. Ringo, Yoko's gone, come down, we can party again! They were real high, they wrote great music, drugs did have a positive effect." -- Bill Hicks

Never thought I’d like more thrash metal than Metallica, but this is great. The vocals get a little annoying but so much fun to listen to and even more fun to notice their technical skill.

People who spend 45 minutes rhyming about how much money they have and how much tail they pull make me roll my eyes. I find it nearly impossible to look past that to any artistic interest or cultural significance.

Just brilliant. Never sat down to listen to his albums, just the ones still in common rotation today. This is brilliant all the way through.

This is fun, but the other one is way better cover to cover. Glad I listened but I won’t return to more than a couple tracks.

This is very disorienting. Nothing like what I know of the Beach Boys, and I respect that they just kinda did what they wanted and flipped a bird to their expectations. It's a strange mix of songs: socially conscious (DGNTW and Student Demonstration Time), nostalgic and tropey but lush (Disney Girls), whimsical (TALOYF). Another one of those "glad i listened," but what mood do you need to be in to return to it as a whole? Solid 3.

First of all, let it be known that "Fell in Love With a Girl" takes its hook from Fun Lovin' Criminals' "Smoke 'Em" and nobody else noticed. But I did. I see you Jack White. Anyway, a few tracks in, I realized the sheer simplicity of every instrument and every song. And the drummer's... uh, not good. I realize the story goes that Meg unlocked something in Jack that let to their very fruitful collaboration. I can't argue at all with their success; I know also that Jack has gone on to impress me in many groups and many songs, so I know there's talent there, hiding somewhere. But this album has very little on display. And yet... I kinda dig it. They undoubtedly got lucky in some ways to make it big with this, but I shouldn't underestimate the musical power and charisma that comes across in putting 150% into your work. There's one absolute highlight. "I Can Tell That" is one of those songs that's a perfect combination of all elements: form, harmony, instrumentation, production, and the emotional content of the thing. Instant and powerful nostalgia bomb to your best friendships growing up.

It's very pretty but this kind of music rarely grabs me. The imposition of quotes for the upcoming nuclear apocalypse and the juxtaposition against beauty and slick production are jarring, however, and it certainly had an effect. I found myself morose for most of the day after listening. So four stars for really meaning something, and for getting a rise out of me, and for several songs I get to add to the rotation.

Proto-psychedelic. Precocious!

Dense as heck with cool samples and references. But you can’t listen to BB for long before it all seems so samey. Hey Ladies is basically She’s Crafty down to all the rhymes and phrasing.

Stones cover is much better than the original. The rest is just ok. There’s so much better in his catalog!

Roots of ska and dub madly evident. But someone in this band thought too much of himself and the rest of the band didn’t push back… or I guess they did, because they quit shortly after. But they are what makes this good.

This is sneaky. I spent the first half doing something while listening and thought it was just ok. Unemotional, smoove jaz. But this kind of music rewards attention. Way better if you focus on it.

Probably need to come back to this one. It should be up my alley but it just seemed one-note and on the nose. Maybe that's the point. Teenage me would have loved this.

Dreamy. Pretty... but kinda boring. Reminds me of the XX, but this one's a little more interesting. There's a few tracks I liked more than the rest, when they managed to do something really weird with polymodality like Norway.

The lovely thing about this list is that while I knew about the Pogues (and I have previously been assigned Rum Sodomy & The Lash), I would never have put this on without this exercise. This is better than the other one and their sound, which seems to me truly unique, is this amazing mishmash of cultural styles that keeps entertaining. And their skills are much better since the other album as well. I even made it through the "extended version" of the album before I realized it was coming over.

I don’t have the words, other than that it was damn perfect for this tea-on-the-couch Thursday evening.

Oh my god. I don’t know how I’m supposed to get into music that sounds like the musicians are bored out of their minds even while making it. There are two tracks that DON’T do this and they’re nothing special.

Got a soft spot for this, even though I can't stand the genre in general. Every track is pretty engaging for its variety in sounds, beats and/or tempos. Narayana is the best.

This one's got a couple keepers. And the vocals are deceptive, delivering lyrics that are more interesting than they appeared to me at first. And not one but two Black Sabbath references in a Swedish pop package. Ultimately, though, nothing close to a completely invaluable package, end to end.

I'm almost sure he's had better; this is a little formulaic. Quite singable. I feel like this is also especially important for its context as a 9/11 catharsis album.

About 8 of these 10 songs could have carried an entire career. So much swagger, absolutely unique sound.

I was excited to see this, as I’ve heard often about it. But I’m pretty underwhelmed. Maybe a victim of expectations. Glad to hear the origins of later talented stuff though, so there’s that.

Solid “should be on this list.” But so very strange. There’s so much more that’s this weird and borderline offensive, but actually better (e.g. Fantomas)

The first five tracks or so were so bland. Kicked up a bit later and I actually saved Seven Seas for permanent rotation. Must be influential or something, because standing alone it’s not terribly worth the time.

Very impressive. You can hear glam rock finding a voice track by track. Cosmic Dancer is so hypnotizing, I had to listen a couple more times after the album was done.

The music is fantastic. Hard, of course, but surprisingly nuanced for metal. Slow bits and quiet bits make the hard bits harder. But I still can’t stand screamo vocals. I need to tune it out to get through the thing, which is not fair to the musicians present. Too bad.

What is there to write that hasn’t been written? The apex of its style and time and place.

Nope. Few redeeming qualities and track 4 or 5 lost me for good.

Brave to make this, brave to publish it, and wonderfully strange that such raw unpolished girl power was wildly successful. It’s rather inconsistent, but the good tracks are just phenomenal. 6’1”, Dance of the 7 Veils, Explain it to Me, Divorce Song, Flower, and Gunshy for me.

Endlessly repeatable. Great great afrobeat album.

Nobody sounds good for an entire album in head voice. Anyway, this music still has this crazy tendency to make me feel nostalgic even though the lyrics are of a life and a memory relatively foreign to mine. Spooky. Extra points for covering Joni, even though no one could ever outdo the original.

Meh. If your music has only one intensity setting, it may as well be Muzak.

Weird and lovely but I think it’d take more listens to really sink my teeth in. I think Bowie must have been in an off period for this. He seems a little unsatisfied with it himself.

A little Dresden Dolls-esque, crossed with Kurt Weill. Rich orchestrating and a very strong German vocal. Too theatrical for me, but it was nice to listen to once.

Very cool experiment. Can never go wrong collaborating with Rahzel and Patton. But hardly repeatable.

Five absolutely classic tracks in a 90s time capsule. But also, maybe just take those tracks and drop the rest. N bombs still constantly distracting; I wish they weren’t necessary to make the point.

Less interesting than Seventeen Seconds. Kinda a chore to get through, but good to hear once.

Useful to listen to, if only to see what is hip for modern music. The first 45 seconds or so are catchy as heck. It sounds really good, but nothing really grabbed me except the first bit.

This got better and better as I got a handle on the style of this record. Sounds extremely well-rehearsed, creatively composed and recorded. Mostly conventionally “pretty,” but there are more weird and brave steps everywhere that pretty much land well. This one will need to get repeats when I come back around to the greatest hits of this list.

Early punk. Nothing stupendous but still fun throughout.

Wow! This is what CSNY aspires to and sometimes reaches. Guess we know who is the heartbeat of that outfit. Bunch of really good musicians having a great time.

I’ve never gotten into Springsteen. Still haven’t, yet, but I think you probably have to pay attention to the stories in the lyrics to really appreciate what half the USA loves about it. Gonna be tough to do that with the next album coming at me every day, but at least this made me believe in that proposition. Another one to return to at a leisurely pace.

One of those that grows on you as you get used to it. Touching, organic, and full of soul. Sailor’s Life is the best; Cajun Woman’s a bit of a mess but still fun.

Needs no comment. Flawless from composition to lyrics to delivery to production.

Who knew all these canonical versions came from a single compilation?

White boy tries funk, mostly gets the gist. Story at 8.

All tracks great. All tracks have inspired at least one inventive and interesting cover--that I know of. Shows that this all-time band was making excellent music even before they started going really weird. Now they’re making excellent music AND it’s really weird.

This singer has a hell of a lot of charisma. I hate screaming vocals but this is just short of that and I liked it despite my prejudices. The guitarist is hella good and the bass/drums are incredibly tight. If not for them I think the music would be a hot mess.

At least to a beginner, all the dance tunes sound alike. It’s a good formula, but it gets boring. The slow songs all have character of their own. Not sure I’d return to much here though.

One or two of these at a time are awesome. Not a surprise that his voice gets grating all at once though. By the middle of My Michelle I had to take a break. 3 stars for good headbangin’ rock straight through, and an extra star for the 45 seconds of Sweet Child alone.

A couple of gimmicky throwaway tracks… Hats Off should have been an instrumental. But the great Immigrant Song is only like the fifth-best one, and that’s really saying something. I saved several of these for permanent rotation, and I’m so glad I finally heard the drums on Out On The Tiles.

As a fan of Nine Inch Nails, this kept my interest well enough. Longue Route is a pretty good one. I can hear the echoes of this influence in NIN, Mike Patton’s various groups, Trans Am, Rammstein, Meat Beat Manifesto. Inventive use of samples, and pads, I think.

Never took ABBA seriously. That was a mistake. All tracks have a lot of inventiveness to entertain the music geek. And a couple to keep for good. Just a couple of throwaways.

Never took Kanye West seriously either. All I really know about him is he’s a batshit crazy cringe lord. Maybe so, and yet. Still can’t stand boast songs and there are a couple that would be better if there were no vox, but damn if it doesn’t sound really, really good end to end.

The music beneath the vocals sounds amazing. Really cool drum stuff. But the extreme vibrato is not helping anything; it's extremely distracting. All the King's Men sounds like the band "Battles." Kinda makes me want to listen to them instead, since they don't have any singers as such.

God, what a chore to get through. These guys don't give a damn about anything, even their music, and why should I? I'll admit that the end of Hamlet (Pow Pow Pow), which repeats the same line about fifty times, achieved a sort of kaleidoscopic beauty in its repetition... but that's all I got. Mike Patton does this schtick 20x better. I was going to write that this sounds uncannily like Nick Cave without any skill whatsoever, and then I looked it up... That's EXACTLY what it is! Good thing he got better with age and practice.

Thoroughly enjoyable, nothing much that's eye-opening or inventive. Early 90s radio. Mrs. Robinson cover is pretty good. If you're wondering what other song sounds like "My Drug Buddy"... took me a while, but I think it's Dirty Work by Steely Dan.

Music media darling. Awfully catchy front to back, and DLZ is now inseparable from the "stay out of my territory" scene in Breaking Bad. But it didn't, like, blow my mind right out, and unfortunately I've been conditioned to expect that from all the times I've seen allusions to this album.

Pretty standard blues/rock. It might have been groundbreaking in its release year, but it hasn't aged too badly and remains a fun listen. "The Nazz are Blue" is a highlight.

Awfully dated sound. Expensive production in the 80s that sounds like factory effects for karaoke on a 90s boom box. The low end has lovely punch, but the rest is just meh.

When I read that they played one song on repeat for several hours--and that the released the whole thing on vinyl--I prejudged that this would be pretentious as heck. Pleasantly surprised to be wrong, or at least it's also pretty darn good. Sounds great, stays interesting and varied. The singer seems effortlessly pretty. I had to work while listening, but this'll be an important candidate to return to.

Not up to snuff. Big ok’ meh.

Kinda like a pop rock opiate dream. Not sure what I was supposed to take from it.

Never loved this. Too inconsistent, especially knowing what they were capable of.

Not my style AT ALL. Charmed anyway.

Nice soul. But just ok. The bassist is too showy and distracting for most of the album and only they and Bobby have much soul. “Games” is really good. If this is on this list but I don’t see any Tower of Power anytime soonish, I’m going to send a strongly worded letter to the editor.

4 for impact and nascent talent. Not my style, perhaps, but his talent for rhyming is undeniable. 2 for artistic merit.

Really great, but not their most enduring. This blurb from Apple Music is perfect: "the first glimpse of our modern idea of the Beatles: safe but a little strange; warm but with shades of bleakness; a band that experimented tirelessly without ever leaving the mainstream."

Really polished, but it doesn't make me feel much. It almost sounds too nice? No tension, no conflict, no suspension. He's got so much talent but I think this doesn't show much of it off.

Sigh. It's really hard to impress with dreamy weird stuff. Not everyone can be radiohead. Lots of props for the winds--I was just reading someone say it's revolutionary to take winds into rock, that only Ben Folds, Paul Simon, and Bon Iver are that cool. Well the person saying that (Bon Iver's trumpeter) obviously never heard this stuff. Shine a Light is insufferable. But the rest..... I think I'll try to return to this later. I think it might grow on me.

Love this, but I can’t go to 5. It’s a hell of a first record and set a standard for 15 years of metal, but not quite as complete as Toxicity or Mezmerize/Hypnotize.

Safe from Harm and Unfinished Sympathy are absolutely perfect. Several more are great. But there’s a lot of throwaway too. All the things this is good at— Mezzanine and Dummy are much better overall.

Raw and charismatic. I can see the obvious influence on punk. Important to hear but not much I'll come back to.

Me parece que more jam band than psychedelic or prof. An impressive feat of recording technique and player’s endurance but everything goes on way too long.

I notice the social commentary much more than on albums I’m slightly more familiar with. This was nice and pleasant, but hardly any of the catchiness of other stuff by them.

Maybe this is some of the best of 60s pretty pop, but it’s still something I find hard to find things to latch on to. A Girl like You is a cool arrangement. You Better Run, too. But overall pretty meh. A pop band trying to bite soul.

Very well done for a debut, and kinda seems like it's ahead of its time? Or at least comfortably independent from what was hot at the time. But also nothing really amazing or eye-opening.

I keep thinking I can't stand Neil Young's voice, and he keeps making things that transcend that voice and make it so I really don't care. It's some kind of sorcery. This whole thing threatened to break my heart, and that was even before I read up on the background/inspirations for the album. Borrowed Tune is one of the most poignant songs I've ever heard.

A perfect case for this list. I had no idea he was like all disco for this debut album. The man had endless talent for arrangement and melody. Lots of booty shakers and lovely ballads. And those bass lines…

Holy crap. Although I like her, I never put this one on because I’d never heard of any of its tracks. I figured it was one of those dud albums that even good artists have. Nope. Maybe my new favorite, might be better than Hejira. The strings, winds and horns in Down to You are jaw-droppingly good. I listened to it three times over.

A few really great tracks, especially on the first half. Tunic and Kool Thing are keepers. Vibes of Velvet Underground in a 90s setting. It’s very distracting, however, that they seem to be fascinated and self-impressed by the noise and sound they can make with abused electronics without having any intentions of meaning in it. And “it’s just ennui and nihilism man,” wouldn’t convince me at all. What they’re singing, particularly the lady vocalist, is very important and deeply felt.

Another band I never gave a chance to. This is awesome.

I listened to this totally sober. For me that means I was not nearly high enough to get it. And already too high to enjoy it.

Can't help but notice it's just common Indian compositions (and not very profound) on common EDM stuff (and not very exceptional structure). It got a lot better for the final few tracks. Still there's a great recipe here, so it gets some credit assuming it led that principle a bit. (I think the Prodigy may have played with this a bit earlier, tho.) It was explored more, and better, by Tabla Beat Science's "Tala Matrix" so check that out if you liked this.

Man that’s a good rhythm section.

Thing about geniuses like Jimi Hendrix who thrive on improvisation… sometimes it’s lightning in a bottle and sometimes it just sounds like noodling. There’s a lot of this that could have used a better plan, tighter writing, or maybe a few more takes or something. But man, when it works it’s so damn good. Voodoo Child, Voodoo Chile, and 1983 could be an album on their own, almost. And then it would be a really tight, great one!

Not my favorite but there’s an intimacy and a confidence that are really nice. Feels like this is making music especially for themselves, what they had inside wanting out. And it took until this listen to realize I’ve been playing Blackbird wrong.

Perfect to me.

Considering I hated the Mothers of Invention, this was a huge surprise. Virtuistic, clever, groovy, complex.

Constantly groovy and totally forgettable. I’m just waiting patiently every four bars for the next entrance or drum break. Times 50 minutes.

Undeniable confidence and charisma. I have no idea why it's so good, when other similarly unpolished things strike me as pretentious and annoying. Denied a perfect rating by that *actually* pretentious and annoying closer...

Ok, I'm still kinda wondering why two other Cure albums are taking up spots on this list (17 Seconds and Porn) but at least they can contrast with this, several years later and much better. The songs are sometimes still a little meandering and overlong, but the whole thing is certainly a vibe. There's now a point and it's *resonant* with ennui in the listener, not just *inspiring* some like those others. The production is much better, or at least less dated. Especially on the drums and vox. Lot of respect when a song makes me go get an instrument and pick it out to figure out what's going on, like the bass on Fascination Street.

All I really know about him is that he’s a celebrity-enabled psych case study. It seems to me that before he was so huge he really had some interesting things to say. I didn’t expect to save anything, but Spaceship did it for me. All Falls Down was excellent too. Even so, I guess even in this debut album he ran out of complexity a few tracks in. “Always said if I rapped, I’d say something significant. But now I’m rapping about money, hoes, and rims again.” Ok bud, very self aware but are you going to do anything about it? Jay-Z almost never has anything to say except how spiffy we ought to think he is, and that track seems to start the downturn. Workout, Slow Jamz, Breathe etc. sound nice but amount to nothing interesting. Through the Wire is a classic. Very mixed bag.

Pretty meh. Nothing that caught my attention or made me want to return to it.

How many times have I seen this album cover and wondered if I'd like the music? I love that the project gave me cause to do so. Unfortunately the cover, while great, is way more enduring than the contents. Some of it, like United, and Wise, is so damn corny. It's a fun time but hardly fills the heart or head. The Rage was the song I enjoyed most.

Meh. Guess I just don't like shoegaze.

This is a little hit and miss. "Ted Just Admit It" is awfully self-indulgent and 7 plodding minutes that don't really go anywhere. Maybe I should just listen a few more times. Mountain Song and Jane Says are such perfect songs tho {prior rated}

more than the front lady! A lot more. I had to go through twice to try to appreciate more things than I could at the first.

I was really intrigued by the bits I read ahead. Maybe a victim of my expectations, but this was a bit disappointing. I get the poetic elements, but the vamps (lyrical and musical) just peter out all the momentum of the art, several times. The two tracks with a bit more structure, instrumentation, and a hell of a lot better economy, are Sweet Thing and Young Lovers. And an album more like that would have been four stars. Can an artsy, jazzy, indulgent and pensive rock album ever be amazing? (YES! and speaking of which, Joni Mitchell’s Hejira had better be on this list somewhere…)

Really polished, but it doesn't make me feel much. It almost sounds too nice? No tension, no conflict, no suspension. He's got so much talent but I think this doesn't show much of it off. {Prior rated}

A great example of how making good music makes no sense. Besides his... unique... vocal delivery, there's so many nonconventional choices. Why is there a choir in the Good Thing?! Why is the chorus just the same melodic line repeated like 6x? It seems amateurish, if bold. But there's obviously a plan. And usually it doesn't work (The Mothers of Invention, IMO) and sometimes it works. The bassist is so tasteful. Never a star, and she could show off a bit more, but not at all boring.

I got this just a few days after another CCR, so I can't help but compare them. This doesn't have the barnstorming power of Bayou Country. The long jams like Ramble Tamble or Grapevine don't quite amaze, or keep the booty shaking. And while all the parts sound nice and tight, it also sounds like it was recorded in a antiseptic studio, not a dank basement. That's not well-suited to the jams. But these things which hurt the jams do all kinds of favors for the shorter, disciplined tracks. Great for making dinner and singing along, whereas Bayou Country might be more for a party or a stoner's night in. {Prior rated}

Really can’t figure out why this is supposed to be any good. Most songs are two chords with no direction, followed by two semi-related chords with no direction. Nearly zero variety in sound, instrumentation, or drumming approach. “Reward” is actually pretty good, if you can make it that far. Honestly enjoyed it and added it to my rotation. But it’s not enough to save the album a spot here.

I know this well. I put it on trying to Hear it with new ears, and first- well, that’s impossible. But to the extent I succeeded at all, it’s still brilliant, unique, gloomy, sorrowful, and beautiful. IMHO. Worst I can say about it is that the transition from Have a Cigar to the title track is really awkward. Second-worst thing I can say is that it’s not even one of this band’s top three…

Surprisingly entertaining from end to end. I'm not usually one for doom and gloom; I didn't expect to like it so much. I guess I can see why Ozzy is famous now! (at least at first)

Not as disappointing as Surfer Rosa. Still a chore to allow to proceed through all 14 tracks and 44 minutes. Best track: the Happening

I expected to LOVE it, but I can't say that end to end. Two songs in particular are all-time favorites for me (Natural Mystic and 3 Little Birds). And it's great for listening while working. But turn the microscope on it and it gets a pretty long. God, I bet they'd have been fun live tho.

I’ve never gotten into Springsteen. Still haven’t, yet, but I think you probably have to pay attention to the stories in the lyrics to really appreciate what half the USA loves about it. Gonna be tough to do that with the next album coming at me every day, but at least this made me believe in that proposition. Another one to return to at a leisurely pace. {Prior rated}

This band recorded "Golden Brown"??? I kinda dig the marriage of punk and keyboards. Aggro and New Wave. Decent chops, especially for the bassist. And chord progressions longer than 3. Whimsical modulations and lyrics in Peaches. It's giving me a Cheap Trick feeling. And one of the vocalists sounds a lot like Nick Cave. Ugly should have been kicked off this island. The rest were a pleasant surprise. But seriously... six years later, "Golden Brown"??????

NOPE. Few redeeming qualities and the lyrics of track 4 or 5 lost me for good.

Sounds like Bowie-Patton-radiohead to me. Five stars.

The absolute swagger. Nine minutes of storytime followed by 11 minutes of groove for "Phoenix." At this point in the timeline we have better makeout music than Isaac Hayes, but only by hair's widths. Also I love 2Wicky by Hooverphonic and the whole reason is that it's basically a dub remix of Walk On. That's all on Hayes, not Hooverphonic.

All I really know about him is that he’s a celebrity-enabled psych case study. It seems to me that before he was so huge he really had some interesting things to say. I didn’t expect to save anything, but Spaceship did it for me. All Falls Down was excellent too. Even so, I guess even in this debut album he ran out of complexity a few tracks in. “Always said if I rapped, I’d say something significant. But now I’m rapping about money, hoes, and rims again.” Ok bud, very self aware but are you going to do anything about it? Jay-Z almost never has anything to say except how spiffy we ought to think he is, and that track seems to start the downturn. Workout, Slow Jamz, Breathe etc. sound nice but amount to nothing interesting. Through the Wire is a classic. Very mixed bag.

So strange… I truly enjoyed it but it also put me to sleep.

Holy crap. Although I like her, I never put this one on because I’d never heard of any of its tracks. I figured it was one of those dud albums that even good artists have. Nope. Maybe my new favorite, might be better than Hejira. The strings, winds and horns in Down to You are jaw-droppingly good. I listened to it three times over.

White boy tries funk, ...mostly gets the gist. Story at 8.

I liked the production and grooves. The really unique delivery of the singer often sounds like singsong narration rather than melody. Sometimes that's cool, but it's a little much for a long listen, even on this short-ish album. The lyrics are also really literal and expository rather than esoteric and poetical. It's strange feeling: to be surprised, by the thought, that this is unusual!

Lots of excellent grooves and rhymes. A Day at the Races is AWESOME. The rest is nice but not terribly challenging. Once you start to notice the consistent monotonous swing that characterizes most of their lyrics in the other songs, it's hard to hear anything else including the semantic meanings!

One of those things (like more famously, Semi-Charmed Life) where the whole color of the room changes depending whether you're paying attention to the lyrics. I listened once about halfway through before I realized this and decided to try it again once I had time to focus a little more on it. I appreciated it a lot more then, it's deceptively dark. Though I can't imagine when I'd want to return to it. One song is enough, and Novocaine for the Soul plays that role just fine!

Safe from Harm and Unfinished Sympathy are absolutely perfect. Several more are great. But there’s a lot of throwaway too. All the things this is good at— Mezzanine and Dummy are much better overall. {prior rated}

So dated. Nothing that sounds great these years later besides her nice voice. Not a total waste, still interesting to peruse through it, so it's saved from the dreaded 1...

Nothing I could really get into. It had a sort of David Bowie vibe to it, but not as catchy as most of what he's done. Not offensive, though.

Fun enough. You basically get the whole point of the songs by reading the titles :) Doesn't seem to break new ground or do anything unique, but it's very solid blues rock I'd be proud to have on any party playlist. Definitely deserves a spot on this list for the supergroup aspect. The fun they have doing this stuff with other vets definitely comes through.

I don't often care for this style, and it has to be something really special to catch my notice. This did that, at least. Playing with expectations a bit in song structure. Their subjects are a little more interesting than "it feels good to dance," or "I got dumped and it's no fun." (There's a place for those too, but I need more from disco I guess.) It's a Sin is a banger, but one great track doesn't make a whole album in this game.

Ok, I enjoyed this top to bottom. Despite the obvious flaws like thin voice, dated production and cheesyness, it makes up for a lot with lots of hooks, earnest effort, compositional creativity, and some je ne sais quoi I can only call charisma. Sam Smith is awesome, but I hope it’s safe to say it helps to have blue-eyed soul like this to stand on and move ever forward.

I was vaguely familiar with Le Freak, and on that basis (and Wikipedia) I assumed I was in for a disco album. But not a minute into the first track, it occurred me this is more like a jam band. And the next hour was so much fun! It earned a repeat play before the day was over and several tracks are staying on rotation. I Want Your Love is stupendous. Pleasant surprise.

I had this earlier last summer and I couldn’t muster any commentary, and gave it a “meh, 2”. But I’m wondering if I was in a nasty mood, or listened to the wrong album. Because this is so good. Earnest useful lyrics, creative and skilled instruments, economical writing. This could go on anytime.

Undeniable confidence and charisma. I have no idea why it's so good, when other similarly unpolished things strike me as pretentious and annoying. Denied a perfect rating by that *actually* pretentious and annoying closer...

As a piece of art, the movie & album are just perfect. But as an album, standing alone, I have to admit it gets just a little long after Comfortably Numb without a story to drive it. There's nothing else I could write about this that hasn't been done better!

Thing about geniuses like Jimi Hendrix who thrive on improvisation… sometimes it’s lightning in a bottle and sometimes it just sounds like noodling. There’s a lot of this that could have used a better plan, tighter writing, or maybe a few more takes or something. But man, when it works it’s so damn good. Voodoo Child, Voodoo Chile, and 1983 could be an album on their own, almost. And then it would be a really tight, great one!

Kinda like a pop rock opiate dream. Not sure what I was supposed to take from it. {Prior rating}

I’m sure much is to be made of his voice, but the real takeaway for me is the really great preparation of his band. They keep the party moving like a skilled DJ might! Without the crutch of easy cues and a tempo fader. I don’t think I’d listened to much of him at all before, if any, but it’s cool to take in the raw crowd pleasing power and charisma even if he doesn’t make me, personally, swoon.

This is sneaky. I spent the first half doing something while listening and thought it was just ok. Unemotional, smoove jaz. But this kind of music rewards attention. Way better if you focus on it. Also worth noting: this sounds like normal 70s-2010s jazz mostly because this comes before all those biters.

I can’t believe I never noticed that the title track is 8 minutes long. Just goes to show how DAMN smooth it is. Passes like a river, and it could go longer and I wouldn’t mind. This is even better than Blue Lines- better choices, more mature. I love it so. Still not perfect, end to end, though… if Mezzanine doesn’t come up on this list at some point, I’m going to freak out!

I’m scoring this an incomplete. It really defies an opinion on first listen. I was just sort of meh at first, but then i started to write this note and flipped through the beginning of So in Love and Love to the People. And then listened to the whole thing again. So I have to just say I have to score it with an asterisk and come back at some point. I don’t love his constant whiny falsetto, but everything else is so funky, peaceful, pessimistic… all at once? Really brilliant songwriting.

Who puts this on by choice?!?!? Can't Stop is ok, if you can make it that far. But I want my 45 minutes back, so you get the dreaded 1. Kinda makes me want to find some actually good southern swagger. Better Than Ezra's Paper Empire coming up next.

For the first time, I think, I listened to this while trying to separate it from the context, the contrast with their studio records, and take it standing alone. The performance itself is just okay, pretty ragged at times (and I'm not just talking about the IDGAF of grunge in general; the guy's in bad shape). I suspect the knowledge of Cobain's fate, coming shortly after this show and before it was released, colors all interpretation and I'm no different. There are some brilliant ones in here. (All Apologies, Lake of Fire, WDYSLN). It’s mostly great. But I disagree with the "greatest live albums of all time" designation. {prior rate}

So this is their debut? Incredible. Even the ones I’d never heard are awesome. I have to say I’ve always found Simple Man to be too long, too slow, too repetitive. But that’s faint criticism for an otherwise timeless work.

Nice soul. But just ok. The bassist is too showy and distracting for most of the album and only they and Bobby have much soul. “Games” is really good. If this is on this list but I don’t see any Tower of Power anytime soonish, I’m going to send a strongly worded letter to the editor. {prior rated}

Another one I know "of" but never put on end to end. What fire in their bellies. And I'm sure I never really listened to the drums on this record. They hit HARD. I guess in my own ruleset I can't give this a 5 because I don't think every last track is a keeper or at least serves the whole, but it's damn close. Surprises: Scentless Apprentice, Frances Farmer Not surprises: Rape Me, All Apologies, Dumb

I was really intrigued by the bits I read ahead. Maybe a victim of my expectations, but this was a bit disappointing. I get the poetic elements, but the vamps (lyrical and musical) just peter out all the momentum of the art, several times. The two tracks with a bit more structure, instrumentation, and a hell of a lot better economy, are Sweet Thing and Young Lovers. And an album more like that would have been four stars. Can an artsy, jazzy, indulgent and pensive rock album ever be amazing? (YES! and speaking of which, Joni Mitchell’s Hejira had better be on this list somewhere…)

When I rotated through this before, I gave it a 4 but had nothing to say. Dunno where that came from! There's a lot to love here, and a lot of variety. Tracks 5-6-7-8 are a tour de force.

Let’s suppose this is an important and representative example of “post-punk.” In that case although I liked listening to this once through, I don’t think I will be looking for more. Another case of nearly all songs being 2-3x longer than they should be. Probably they were fun live, tho.

“She’s Bought a Hat” is like Sgt Peppers remixed for a Monty Python fanfic. I started just humoring this, but by golly, by the end I loved it. Not everyone can reinvent pop music like the Beatles; this takes a lot of inspiration from that group and shines with its own voice and whimsy.

String arrangements are boss. I feel old to say this/think this, but pop songs used to be really complicated! I love that. Some still go to the trouble--like I've noticed on Silk Sonic's music-- but most do not. It's such a lovely pleasure to sit down with stuff like this. I can't say I prefer Charles' versions of anything over others, but they're all lovely and this gets plenty of bonus for breaking barriers.

Getting this so soon after Velvet Underground and Nico... it's so much like those cats with extra sneer. I really dig it. People were really into dirges in the 60s. If that track were like 6 minutes, this album is less than a half hour long. That's a little weak... but what remains is really good.

Thoroughly belongs on this list. I love his lyrics and never would have made it through an album without this list. But it's all so morose all at once! I think it's really only morose at a certain depth. It makes me aspire to sit down and pay attention to something for more than 140 characters at a time so I can appreciate it at that deeper level. Aspire, but not succeed today.

First track was boss. I find that i do love glam.

I went for a long drive and listened to the Doors from a cliff overlooking the Bay and San Francisco. It was just the right music. This is pretty tunesome blues throughout and has a great allegory for the title track. I didn't even notice how long it was. Not a perfect album but a great vibe, soup to nuts, and several permanent takeaways.

Vocals, beautiful. Delivery, dreamy. ARRANGEMENT, folk and jazz and classical perfectly merged. Haunting melodies and a totally unique "voice." This is a quiet masterpiece of an album and it's not even his best. It's not even his second-best! I'll admit a couple songs could have been cut down or cut. That, and because he needs somewhere higher to go for other albums, are the only reasons this gets a 4.

My reaction to this is a testament to my own prejudices. I enjoyed this greatly, and it's definitely going into rotation for repeated listens, study music, etc. And yet I have some kind of bias against taking it seriously as art. What's up with that? It is not immediately "challenging" or "riveting," but I don't think it's trying to be and it doesn't have to be. In 1998 it must have been way ahead of its peers and for the trails it's blazed for Royksopp, Tycho, etc I am thoroughly grateful.

Sure, must hear. The title track is great. But the album all-in is a mess. Sounds like a lot of fun live tho. [prior rate]

I listened to this a week or two ago and I can't remember a damn thing to say. Must have been memorable....

Another band I never gave a chance to. This is awesome. {prior rating} Also rocks a lot better than the later album on this list!

I WANTED to like this a lot. It's some really groovy bottled napalm. But it's just a little too edgy for me. Several times I thought a track was going to be a big highlight, but by the time it reached its full crescendo it just wasn't enjoyable any more. I actually suspect this is a problem exacerbated on the first-impression. If I knew where each song was going I think I wouldn't find it as annoying..... but Oh well! on to the next day!

Lovely little time capsule. Other than her (brilliant) singles on this, the rest shows an unexpected diversity of styles. I really dig it.

I get that this album was mythical for decades, but I dunno if it was worth the wait... I like the really diverse instruments and structures. But I think Brian Wilson's melodies are usually just too smart for me. The through-composed nature of most of these songs gives you nothing to latch on to. Those with at least a little bit of motif (e.g. Vege-Tables, Wind Chimes, and obviously Good Vibrations) are therefore the highlights.

Who gave these cats a record contract?? That's what I want to know. It is THOROUGHLY weird, but thankfully vibes with my specific brand of attention- and hyperactivity-related deficits. I will be returning to this a few times. I feel like they took Sgt Pepper's a few steps into another dimension. Also sounds GREAT for being recorded and mixed 50 years ago. The bass, drums and voice are clear and deep. Could really do without the pipe organ cameos tho. Circus music doesn't belong anywhere.

Imagine a rainy day off work. It’s coming down decently hard but it’s early morning. So the rain is coming from above and the sun is streaming in the windows on your eastern side. Your cup of coffee is just at your elbow and you had a good night’s sleep. You can just kinda space out and watch the old dog dog at your feet breathe. Or you can read poetry from Lenore Kandel that fuddy-duddies were trying to ban for obscenity during the Summer of Love. Or you can try to figure some personal stuff out. Or you can rehearse your next argument with your politically awful relatives. And all the while, you can use the rain and the dog and the sunlight as anchors to the real world, or springboard for more abstract thought. This is kinda that.

I bet she played a role in bringing this music to more cultures and countries, and that's lovely. But there wasn't much that really impressed me more than other singers' versions of most of this. Good for history and context.

When he starts rambling and vamping for what seems like minutes at a time he loses all interest for me. (e.g. A Hard Rain). I feel like at LEAST once an album he has a song which is just a list of things and it's great the first time but gets old fast. But when he's a lot more focused and seems to have more ideas for melody, he's so good. Even a longish song like I Shall Be Free carries none of the boredom of his less-focused songs.

Pop? New wave? What I hear is ska. And I love it! I saved a bunch of tracks from this and I listened -- really listened -- to Come on Eileen for the first time in forever. There's a lot of filler and overly fussy tweaks evident in the production, but lots of fun front to back.

So much life on this album. She has such a unique voice and delivery, and lyrics. Besides the all-time great Green Eyes, the first track Penitentiary Philosophy never fails to bang the head. And Cleva's lyrics are so heartfelt and convincing. Damn solid album. 4.4444444 repeating.

Good for history. Huge for its time, I'm sure, but it doesn't really engage me in 2022 (for example the way Sam Cooke's live album did)

I liked the production and grooves. The really unique delivery of the singer often sounds like singsong narration rather than melody. Sometimes that's cool, but it's a little much for a long listen, even on this short-ish album. The lyrics are also really literal and expository rather than esoteric and poetical. It's strange feeling: to be surprised, by the thought, that this is unusual!

I have now listened to a full album by the famous Rod Stewart. And for that cost of admission? I no longer have to report that I don’t know his music at all. Instead, I can now report that I just don’t care for him!

Pretty disappointing, considering I've been hearing this band's name for years. The recipe is: make a groove with interesting and varied instruments, repeat it for six minutes, yelp over the top, and for god's sake don't change the groove or develop your lyrics. This was a chore to get through; I kept hoping they would turn a corner. But the last track was a major redemption! That one, at least, is really great and succeeds in many of the ways that the rest of the album fails.

Especially satisfying to bookend this album with two absolute classics. Definitely an album with lots of replay power. There are a couple puzzling tracks here but that's mild criticism.

Even as the first impression, i'm convinced that this will keep interest and keep rewarding over many, many listens. Lovely variety and instrumentation, brave/weird choices, singalong writing and interesting lyrics. Definitely one to return to.

Really great, but not their most enduring. This blurb from Apple Music is perfect: "the first glimpse of our modern idea of the Beatles: safe but a little strange; warm but with shades of bleakness; a band that experimented tirelessly without ever leaving the mainstream." [prior rate]

Yeah, like I’ll have anything clever to say about this.

Four of these tracks are on constant rotation (BOB, Humble Mumble, So Fresh So Clean, Ms Jackson). I had forgotten why I don't listen to the whole thing anymore, but it all came back. The rest is a VERY mixed bag, sometimes veering into terrible (We Love Deez Hoez). Still a deserving entry for this list.

This takes itself so damn serious, it's more a lecture than an album. It was sometimes jawdropping how relevant it all is 30 years later. All these fears from 1992 are still a big problem or have come to fruition. Hong Kong troubles (Satanic Reverses), code-switching and black minstrelism (Amos and Andy), TV propaganda (TV the Drug), war as theater (Winter), racial health disparities in San Francisco (Everyday Life), upside-down public spending (Financial Leprosy), smarmy gov wants to be prez (CA Uber Alles).... on one hand, it makes me think it's not so bad now if it was always this bad. On the other hand that's damn depressing. I can't give it a 5 in my arbitrary rating system because it's not a lot of replay value. But damn this is a good one. I had no idea about Michael Franti's prior incarnation as a worthy peer of Public Enemy.

Stupendous. I had no idea such a thing existed. And to this big Sublime fan, hearing so much on one album that obviously influenced Sublime is an extra treat. I can honestly say that every track of this very long album was appreciated. (Good thing that a couple "meh" tracks got cut for the digital release. I sought them out too, but I didn't love them). Every track with its own character and unique rhythmic backbone. The drums are stupendous, and the lyrics are especially consistently good too. What a lovely surprise.

A lovely consequence of this project is the reason to listen to even familiar music with renewed attention, especially if I take the trouble to listen with higher volume on a good setup. For some reason I always heard the synth bassline of "The Way You Make Me Feel" was a pedal tone, but it moves! I hear stuff in the mix for "Bad" that I never realized was there. The chord changes in the bridge of "Speed Demon." And so on. Liberian Girl and Dirty Diana are a little dud-y. And it's not as good as Thriller. So I guess it's only a 4.

I expected to like this a lot more. I guess the proto-screamo gets old if it's a whole album at once. Can't deny the hits, but the rest of the album was ... fine.

So sleepy. There must be something deep I'm missing-- all I heard was inoffensive soft rock.

Bass lines out the wazoo. Every track could be someone else's career-defining single.

Pretty meh. Nothing that caught my attention or made me want to return to it.

Seemed pretty generic to me, I had a hard time figuring out what's "important" about this album. Last couple tracks are heartfelt and quite serious. And I see what commenters have said about the ode to England being earnest without cringey patriotism.

Less interesting than Seventeen Seconds. Kinda a chore to get through, but good to hear once. (Prior rate)

Nice to hear that the rest of this debut is up to the standard of their singles even though it doesn’t grab me personally. Very singable throughout

Drummer is superb, and their infectious energy and evident polish, especially for teenagers, brings a lot of charisma

Electronic tastes are so finicky. I've heard a bunch of times that this group should be up my alley. And it's not too far off from Thievery or Tycho, who I really like. But this whole thing gets a meh from me. And Eple, the supposed breakout hit, was the most annoying part.

Seems like I really like Chicago, especially their early works with Terry Kath. Lots of great musicians, earnest (slightly cheezy) lyrics, and dense arrangements. "DARKWTII" is a puzzling track. Apparently it was a radio hit, but the first half is a bit of a chore. After that, though, it's the perfect kind of tunesome sardonicism that is right up my alley. The whole album is pretty good with the energy of (what was surely) a rollicking live show with the polish of a studio. Some tracks are a little indulgent, but that's ok. It's a good one and deserves to go on the ol' hi-fi end-to-end.

The rest of the album doesn’t stand up at all to the first track. (prior rate)