View Album
Thu May 06 2021
The Slim Shady LP
Eminem
3
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Fri May 07 2021
Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
Eurythmics
1
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Mon May 10 2021
Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
2
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Tue May 11 2021
At San Quentin
Johnny Cash
3
View Album
Wed May 12 2021
1989
Taylor Swift
4
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Thu May 13 2021
Darklands
The Jesus And Mary Chain
2
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Fri May 14 2021
A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Coldplay
4
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Mon May 17 2021
Moving Pictures
Rush
3
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Tue May 18 2021
Ambient 1/Music For Airports
Brian Eno
2
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Wed May 19 2021
Band On The Run
Paul McCartney and Wings
3
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Thu May 20 2021
Black Metal
Venom
Some of the industrial music on this list is worse but not by much.
1
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Fri May 21 2021
Private Dancer
Tina Turner
I forgot how much I like Tina’s voice. I wouldn’t skip any song on this album with the exception of 1984, which just made me laugh with how 80s it was (so maybe I wouldn’t skip that one either).
5
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Sun May 23 2021
Rio
Duran Duran
I can’t unhear the saxophone now...
2
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Mon May 24 2021
Elephant
The White Stripes
4
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Tue May 25 2021
Southern Rock Opera
Drive-By Truckers
2
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Wed May 26 2021
I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
Aretha Franklin
5
View Album
Fri May 28 2021
Nebraska
Bruce Springsteen
3
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Sun May 30 2021
Songs The Lord Taught Us
The Cramps
It sounds like a blend of a bad Elvis impersonator and bad punk music. The songs were mostly boring until they got unpleasant. I prefer bands that make sounds that sound good together rather than making sound for the sake of making noise.
1
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Mon May 31 2021
Don't Come Home A Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)
Loretta Lynn
2
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Tue Jun 01 2021
From Elvis In Memphis
Elvis Presley
3
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Wed Jun 02 2021
Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine
Cee Lo Green
False advertising, wanted more soul.
2
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Thu Jun 03 2021
A Walk Across The Rooftops
The Blue Nile
This could have benefited from some editing but it was fine for background music.
2
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Fri Jun 04 2021
Crazysexycool
TLC
False advertising, wanted more soul.
4
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Sat Jun 05 2021
The Notorious Byrd Brothers
The Byrds
2
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Sun Jun 06 2021
Suede
Suede
I’m stuck between and 3 and 4. I hear things I like and it reminds me of The Smiths. Ultimately, I could definitely listen to this but no song really grabbed me so I guess it gets the 3 rather than the 4.
3
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Tue Jun 08 2021
Nothing's Shocking
Jane's Addiction
This is the link that gets us from 80s metal to 90s alternative. I only knew Mountain Song and Jane Says but this album could easily be could be on regular rotation.
4
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Wed Jun 09 2021
Pink Moon
Nick Drake
I would listen to this on a rainy day, I like his voice but I get bored by the end of the album.
3
View Album
Thu Jun 10 2021
Dig Me Out
Sleater-Kinney
Lots of feelings and vulnerabilities exposed with this one. I first heard Sleater-Kinney when they opened for Pearl Jam in 2003. I was…not a fan. My ears felt assaulted. In the almost 20 years since I first heard them, I have tried several times to like them. I SHOULD like them because they have all the pieces of a band I should love. Women who rock and pull no punches. A sound that is unique and a message I can get behind. I can’t quite figure out what I turns me off so much and I have spent way too much time pondering this question. I thought at first that it was the way her voice sounds like reverb to me, but I think that could be really interesting used in the right way. I actually really dig the music so that isn’t it either. I think what it boils down to is that it feels like she is just shouting at me. Now stick with me here because this is the soul bearing part. It turns out that I have a huge double standard. I can listen to a man scream into a microphone and find it earnest and impassioned. I listen to a woman scream into the microphone and I find that I want her to tone it down, pretty it up, not be so emotional. Oh fuck, how did I get to be so sexist?! And now you know my deepest shame. It turns out that I want to smash the patriarchy but in a nice (and more melodic) way, which is really not smashing it at all but just succumbing to my programming. I’m giving this album 5 stars and I will keep listening to it because this album, more than any other, has made me think about myself and how I view the world and who taught me to view it the way that I do. It turns out I disliked Sleater-Kinney because it feels like an exposed nerve, which I think is kind of the point. And one that I want to keep exposing.
5
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Fri Jun 11 2021
Sign 'O' The Times
Prince
I appreciate the constant creative experimentation; however, I like other work from Prince more.
3
View Album
Sat Jun 12 2021
To Pimp A Butterfly
Kendrick Lamar
It was interesting to wait until after we got 50 Cent to go back and rate Kendrick Lamar. Both benefited from the guidance and executive production of Dr. Dre but they could not be more different. Where 50 Cent was very one note (just pure aggression), Kendrick Lamar was all over the place, exploring different themes and musical styles. Not all of it works for me but it was captivating.
4
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Sun Jun 13 2021
Dry
PJ Harvey
4
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Mon Jun 14 2021
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
The Smashing Pumpkins
4
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Tue Jun 15 2021
Bayou Country
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4
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Wed Jun 16 2021
Ingenue
k.d. lang
3
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Thu Jun 17 2021
Talking Book
Stevie Wonder
Love superstition, wish there was more of that funk groove on this album.
2
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Fri Jun 18 2021
Cheap Thrills
Big Brother & The Holding Company
I had never heard of Big Brother & the Holding Co, but this is the classic rock sound I love (plus no one sounds like Janis). Pass me the bowl, I can listen to this and chill all day.
3
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Sat Jun 19 2021
The Score
Fugees
Intelligent, a little angry, and with effortless cool. Perfection.
“So while you fuming, I’m consuming mango juice under Polaris
You’re just embarrassed 'cause it's your last tango in Paris
And even after all my logic and my theory
I add a ‘motherfucker’ so you ignant niggas hear me”
Mic drop
5
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Tue Jun 22 2021
Live!
Fela Kuti
2
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Wed Jun 23 2021
xx
The xx
Easy, chill background music.
3
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Thu Jun 24 2021
Cut
The Slits
I found that I was relieved when my phone unexpectedly lost connection and the music was paused, I preferred the sweet sweet silence to this.
1
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Fri Jun 25 2021
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
The Kinks
2
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Sat Jun 26 2021
Jazz Samba
Stan Getz
3
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Sun Jun 27 2021
Doolittle
Pixies
Love the variety and “Hey” is on just about every mixed tape I ever made.
5
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Tue Jun 29 2021
Rapture
Anita Baker
Great voice, the 80s easy listening is not my thing.
2
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Wed Jun 30 2021
The Coral
The Coral
I feel like someone took a bunch of music that I like, chopped it into jigsaw pieces, and then put it back together randomly. Too disjointed for me to really get into, the album was bookended by some songs with lyrics that were pretty terrible, but I enjoyed dreaming of you.
3
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Thu Jul 01 2021
Synchronicity
The Police
3
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Mon Jul 05 2021
Sticky Fingers
The Rolling Stones
Classic, love the bluesy influences.
4
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Tue Jul 06 2021
Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
Soft Cell
One star for my daughter repeatedly asking me what a sex store is because of this album.
1
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Wed Jul 07 2021
Wild Gift
X
Maybe it’s the pop-punk loving side of me, but I really enjoyed this album, especially the first and last tracks sung by the female vocalist. I liked the blend of 50s rock with the driving pace of punk. This is the more palatable version of what The Cramps were trying to achieve. I waffled between 3 and 4 stars and ended at 4 because I want to look up more music by X.
4
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Thu Jul 08 2021
Among The Living
Anthrax
I can handle the music for a couple songs, I can’t handle the “singing”. I just can’t get sit through more than a couple tracks, so it’s a hard pass from me.
1
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Fri Jul 09 2021
Melody A.M.
Röyksopp
2
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Mon Jul 12 2021
Rumours
Fleetwood Mac
Embarrassing truth, I have never listened to this album before, I have never even actively chosen to listen to Fleetwood Mac…and yet I knew all but 3 songs. A testament to the song writing that every song was such a big hit that I knew them anyway. This album is pervasive in our culture’s collective consciousness for a reason.
5
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Tue Jul 13 2021
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2
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Wed Jul 14 2021
L'Eau Rouge
The Young Gods
Parts of this reminded of the boat tunnel scene in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It got weird, dark, a little creepy, and altogether unpleasant.
1
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Fri Jul 16 2021
Exit Planet Dust
The Chemical Brothers
I had this album on in the background for many a homework session in high school because it’s not too slow but also not too distracting. Background music is all its good for though.
3
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Wed Jul 21 2021
Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches
Happy Mondays
3
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Fri Jul 23 2021
Buena Vista Social Club
Buena Vista Social Club
3
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Tue Jul 27 2021
Blue
Joni Mitchell
5
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Fri Jul 30 2021
Parachutes
Coldplay
4
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Tue Aug 03 2021
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Arctic Monkeys
4
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Thu Aug 05 2021
Horses
Patti Smith
3
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Thu Aug 12 2021
Kilimanjaro
The Teardrop Explodes
Meh, it’s fine. But is it just me or did all the songs have the same speed/drumbeat?
3
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Mon Aug 16 2021
The Queen Is Dead
The Smiths
4
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Tue Aug 17 2021
Siamese Dream
The Smashing Pumpkins
While, as others have pointed out, this album is less polished than melancholy, I find that to be a point in its favor. I like that’s it’s a little more raw, a little more rough around the edges. I love this album. I find Disarm to be hauntingly beautiful. All in all, this album is so quintessentially 90s and yet has so many levels it keeps me coming back.
5
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Wed Aug 18 2021
Mama's Gun
Erykah Badu
I varied between it fading into the background and actively wanting to switch it off. It was a mash-up of spoken word poetry, jazz, and soul that ultimately I just don’t get.
2
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Thu Aug 19 2021
Songs For Swingin' Lovers!
Frank Sinatra
3
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Wed Aug 25 2021
American Idiot
Green Day
Riley says 5 stars and I agree. I have a soft spot in my heart for pop punk and Green Day does it better than anyone. Jesus of Suburbia is like a microcosm of the whole album, a tiny pop punk rock opera all on its own. Even if you don’t love them, you have to appreciate the ambition here.
5
View Album
Mon Aug 30 2021
White Blood Cells
The White Stripes
Not as good as Elephant
3
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Tue Aug 31 2021
Deja Vu
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
The harmonies always blow me away. Sometimes the song writing veers too far into a country sound I don’t enjoy as much.
4
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Wed Sep 01 2021
The Bends
Radiohead
I first heard a song from this album, Fake Plastic Trees, in the movie Clueless staring Paul Rudd and some other people. This movie, and the Baz Luhrmann version of Romeo and Juliet (starring Paul Rudd!) which also featured a Radiohead song (Talk Show Host), introduced me to Radiohead and led me to an album that has become one of my top 5 favorite albums of all time.
The album starts with a woosh like something is blowing in, then hits you with the guitars, and honestly this might be my second favorite opening to an album (behind the base line for Seven Nation Army). I get excited every time I hear that woosh because I know what is coming next. The layers of sound! The guitars get loud like an arena rock show, then soft again, always layered in a way that is indicative of how experimental they are/will continue to be. At times you get flavors of U2, Oasis, REM, and yet they have a sound that is uniquely their own.
The music is always vulnerable, eerie at times, angry at times, and broken in the most hauntingly amazing way. I am a lyric person but despite the fact that I can't tell what Thom Yorke is saying 80% of the time, the combination of his voice and the music transcend the often unintelligible lyrics. The snippets of what come through can be devastating. The rejection of the fame/attention, the futility of life, and the intense longing to belong. The optimism and positivity is cut with cynicism (Nice Dream) but you are quickly brought back up from the nihilism of Fake Plastic Trees by the reverb-y guitars of Bones. They achieve a balance in this album that I can't find in many other works. Case in point is the fade out of Street Spirit which is a perfect contrast to the way the album wooshed in with Planet Telex
The Bends would be in my desert island 5-disc CD changer. It perfectly encapsulated my 90s angst while managing, like Paul Rudd himself, to never age.
5
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Fri Sep 03 2021
Let's Stay Together
Al Green
3
View Album
Wed Sep 08 2021
White Light
Gene Clark
3
View Album
Thu Sep 09 2021
Five Leaves Left
Nick Drake
4
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Fri Sep 10 2021
Rocks
Aerosmith
3
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Mon Sep 13 2021
Dust
Screaming Trees
3
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Wed Sep 15 2021
Suzanne Vega
Suzanne Vega
First of all, this album does not sound or feel like it was made in 1985. Second of all, the mid-90s success of female singer/songwriters owe a TON to this woman. Shawn Colvin, Natalie Merchant, Indigo Girls, Aimee Mann, Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, and even Sinead O'Connor. I hear Suzanne Vega in all of them. I like the songs where the acoustic guitar takes the lead more than some of the other synthesizer sounds. I love cracking, small blue thing, and undertow in particular for the guitar parts and for how intimate the lyrics feel. It might not be in my list of favorite female singer/songwriter albums of all time but it’s certainly responsible for them so 4 stars seems appropriate.
4
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Fri Sep 17 2021
Bone Machine
Tom Waits
I can’t take Tom Waits in any more that very small doses, a whole album is too much.
2
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Wed Sep 22 2021
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
Sinead O'Connor
3
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Thu Sep 23 2021
The Blueprint
JAY Z
2
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Fri Sep 24 2021
Power In Numbers
Jurassic 5
I can’t believe I have never heard Jurassic 5 before! Lyrics that play on grammar (“pass” participles), reference DDT, and Herman Munster? What’s not to love. They also have that almost jazz-like groove that I love in digable planets and de la soul. Thanks 1001 albums, this is one I will be coming back to.
4
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Mon Sep 27 2021
Abraxas
Santana
4
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Tue Sep 28 2021
Bandwagonesque
Teenage Fanclub
3
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Wed Sep 29 2021
Either Or
Elliott Smith
I had to wait until an appropriately gray day to listen to this because Elliott Smith is not sunny day music. I only ever had Figure 8, but thank goodness this album is on the list because it reminded me how much I enjoy wallowing in his music. He is like the male Aimee Mann to me, not quite folk but folk adjacent, not the biggest voice/range but super emotive, distressed in the best way like soft jeans.
5
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Thu Sep 30 2021
Rum Sodomy & The Lash
The Pogues
3
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Tue Oct 05 2021
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Elton John
So Bennie and the Jets is far and away the best song on this album. Side note: thanks to Diana’s “cute boots” story, I only hear electric boobs rather than electric boots and it makes me laugh every time. I hated the candle in the wind song that got popular following the death of Princess Diana (so many Diana references today!) and I had no idea at the time that it was a rewrite. The lyrics about Marilyn Monroe were way less sappy and more interesting. Not interesting enough for 5 stars but listening to this did make me want to go watch Rocketman so I will bump this up to 4 stars based the fact that my interest has been piqued.
4
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Wed Oct 06 2021
Beggars Banquet
The Rolling Stones
I didn’t know there would be stones songs I actively disliked. I disliked dear doctor. Jigsaw puzzle went on way too long. Factory girl was out of place. The intro to sympathy for the devil is iconic and got me all pumped but the rest of the album was a let down.
2
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Mon Oct 11 2021
Strangeways, Here We Come
The Smiths
3
View Album
Thu Oct 14 2021
Supa Dupa Fly
Missy Elliott
I don’t know if it’s the slower pace, the beats, or the samples used, but this is undeniably 90s and that it comfortingly familiar even when I have never heard any track beyond The Rain. Is this the best hip hop album? No. Would I put this on while I get shit done. Absolutely. I hover between 3 and 4 but I think pure nostalgia bumps this up to 4.
4
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Mon Oct 18 2021
Blur
Blur
Oh Blur, there are some moments where I like the music and then you go and ruin it with something I actively dislike. You could be so much better.
2
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Tue Oct 19 2021
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme
Simon & Garfunkel
I realized that A) I have this album on tape that a friend in high school made for me but I had no idea the tape he made was a straight album; and B) he must have run out of room on that one side because I have never heard the last 3 tracks before.
4
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Thu Oct 21 2021
Honky Tonk Heroes
Waylon Jennings
2
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Mon Oct 25 2021
Slippery When Wet
Bon Jovi
I think I might like Bon Jovi?! At least for walking the dog. It kept me moving and I didn’t get bored. I could do without the intro to Social Disease though.
3
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Tue Oct 26 2021
Every Picture Tells A Story
Rod Stewart
Meh. The only song I really liked was Maggie May. I do like a lot of the guitar, but his voice really doesn’t do it for me.
3
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Fri Oct 29 2021
Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
Pavement
4
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Tue Nov 02 2021
Live And Dangerous
Thin Lizzy
3
View Album
Mon Nov 08 2021
Different Class
Pulp
I don't hate the music the whole time, but I really HATE the lyrics. Every song is about revenge or sex or sex for revenge. And then there is the rape fantasy. "Oh I really love it when you tell me to stop, Oh it's turning me on." All the lyrics do for me is turn me off.
1
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Thu Nov 11 2021
Raw Power
The Stooges
4
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Fri Nov 12 2021
90
808 State
I don’t know a ton about electronic music but this was somehow both strange AND boring.
2
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Tue Nov 16 2021
Time Out
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
So it’s hard for me to rate jazz. It’s not my thing, I don’t seek it out, but as jazz goes, this was pleasant. Riley proclaimed it repetitive but I liked the variations on a theme rather than a bunch of experimental sounds that don’t tie together. Riley’s criticism was hilarious though considering she listens to the same damn song or album on repeat for weeks or months at a time.
3
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Wed Nov 17 2021
Solid Air
John Martyn
Remember when I said jazz wasn’t my thing? This feels like guitar jazz. Is he saying words? Is he skatting? Who can tell.
2
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Thu Nov 18 2021
Strange Cargo III
William Orbit
Come on 1001 album random generator, give me something GOOD! This album suffers a little bit from being the latest in a line of albums that range from terrible to just meh. There is just nothing to get excited about here.
2
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Fri Nov 19 2021
When I Was Born For The 7th Time
Cornershop
2
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Mon Nov 22 2021
The Village Green Preservation Society
The Kinks
3
View Album
Tue Nov 23 2021
Pretenders
Pretenders
4
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Wed Nov 24 2021
Untitled (Black Is)
SAULT
I appreciate the concept, but ultimately the music is too repetitive to hold up well to repeat listening.
3
View Album
Thu Nov 25 2021
Astral Weeks
Van Morrison
3
View Album
Fri Nov 26 2021
Purple Rain
Prince
4
View Album
Tue Nov 30 2021
Modern Life Is Rubbish
Blur
I would have told you before we embarked on this journey that I liked Blur. Somehow I owned a Blur album that I liked (neither one we have had so far have been it) but it turns out that growing up has meant moving on from Blue. While this album was better than the last one, it is still very hit or miss. The hits aren't good enough and the misses are too big for it to break even.
2
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Thu Dec 02 2021
The Low End Theory
A Tribe Called Quest
Great vibe but suffers from being too one note. Scenario is the only song that stands out as being different on this album.
3
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Fri Dec 03 2021
Eliminator
ZZ Top
3
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Mon Dec 06 2021
Live At The Star Club, Hamburg
Jerry Lee Lewis
Good energy but super short! I feel like the fans at this live show got shafted.
3
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Wed Dec 08 2021
1999
Prince
This one is hard for me. I like it more than Sign O the Times because it is less all over the place which made Sign O the times probably very exciting for people who were not me. I don't like it quite as much as Purple Rain; however, which means I should be giving this a 3.5 but our stupid rating system doesn't allow it. Fun fact, being in the class of 1999 meant that this song was requested and played at every high school game/function my senior year. However, it was NOT our official class song because the administration thought the line "I've got a lion in my pocket, and baby he's ready to roar" was too inappropriate. Of all the Prince lyrics about sex to get huffy about....
3
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Thu Dec 09 2021
Soul Mining
The The
2
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Fri Dec 10 2021
Whatever
Aimee Mann
3
View Album
Mon Dec 13 2021
In Utero
Nirvana
Ok, I am about to get my 90s kid credentials revoked. Let me preface this by saying that I like grunge. I like the mix of rock and punk and all the grit and distortion that comes with it. But for whatever reason, I just could never get totally behind Nirvana. There are lots of songs I like (All Apologies, Dumb), some I love (Heart-Shaped Box), and some I don't really get but I'm willing to go on that ride (PennyRoyal Tea). But I actively dislike Scentless Apprentice and especially Tourette's (why is that possessive??). They are just noise for the sake of noise. Rape Me has always bothered me because it is supposed to be an anti-rape song like "go ahead and rape me but I will survive this" but you can't really get that unless you read that Kurt intended it that way.
Ultimately I feel like Nirvana is Ethan Hawke's character, Troy, in Reality Bites. Trying to be counter culture, anti-everything artists on the outside with a soft, sensitive center...but in reality Troy (and Nirvana) just aren't as good as people want to believe them to be.
3
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Tue Dec 14 2021
Stankonia
OutKast
I love Outkast. I love their sound. Do I wish they bent their considerable talents towards worthier lyrical topics than their many conquests? Yes. However, contemplating the aftermath of those conquests as in "Ms. Jackson" makes it clear to me they have something more to say than just rapping about "Gangsta Shit" (but they can do that too).
4
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Wed Dec 15 2021
Post Orgasmic Chill
Skunk Anansie
For the first 30 seconds, I thought this was going to be a very different album than it turned out to be. I dig the harder rock sometimes veering into punk sounds. Lead vocals are powerful and I like the strings on Secretly. Actually, the parts of the album (Secretly in particular) reminded me of Evanescence. They are similarly melodramatic, they both incorporate hard rock with orchestral elements, and they have powerful lead vocalists....too bad I can't understand any of Skunk Anansie's lyrics. Even reading them, they are gibberish ("skinny kack para, para dutty dykie nigga") so even if I want to scream along, I wouldn't know what to say. The lyrics leave this one at 3 stars but there were some pleasant surprises with this one.
3
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Mon Dec 20 2021
Tidal
Fiona Apple
I think I knew at the time (but I had since forgotten) that Fiona Apple was still a teenager when Tidal came out but this album has never sounded like a teenager wrote it. It is emotional, raw, and definitely more musically complex than the standard radio fare of the mid to late 90s. To teenage me, these songs were permission from an older, wiser, much cooler girl to be whatever I wanted to be, whether that was sultry, angry whatever. It's a message I still need to revisit sometimes and this album will forever be in rotation for me.
5
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Tue Dec 21 2021
Sheer Heart Attack
Queen
Huh, turns out I enjoy Queen even when I only recognize one of the songs.
4
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Wed Dec 29 2021
The Band
The Band
Almost a 2 because of any song with lead vocals by Richard Manuel. I much prefer Helm’s voice.
3
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Fri Dec 31 2021
Surrealistic Pillow
Jefferson Airplane
3
View Album
Wed Jan 05 2022
Drunk
Thundercat
2
View Album
Thu Jan 06 2022
Innervisions
Stevie Wonder
3
View Album
Mon Jan 10 2022
OK Computer
Radiohead
OK Computer is only slightly, ever so slightly, below The Bends for me as it skews more experimental and electronic than it's predecessor. But it still contains a lot of the guitar that I love about the Bends with a more dystopian feel. I was reading old reviews of OK Computer and someone called it “body music that circumvents the head to reach the spirit.” That's a pretty apt description of what both The Bends and OK Computer mean to me. Radiohead is one of a handful of bands for which the lyrics are only very distantly important. For me, OK Computer is almost entirely about the feeling evoked rather than the poetry expressed.
5
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Tue Jan 11 2022
There's A Riot Goin' On
Sly & The Family Stone
2
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Fri Jan 14 2022
The Man Who
Travis
3
View Album
Tue Jan 18 2022
Me Against The World
2Pac
This is the most emo rap album I have ever heard. So much self-loathing, anger, and hopelessness. The bleakness was actually kind of refreshing in a way. He definitely has an opinion on the nature vs. nurture debate.
4
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Thu Jan 20 2022
Fred Neil
Fred Neil
2
View Album
Fri Jan 21 2022
It's A Shame About Ray
The Lemonheads
4
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Tue Jan 25 2022
Wild Wood
Paul Weller
3
View Album
Wed Jan 26 2022
Toys In The Attic
Aerosmith
Stylistically "Big Ten Inch Record" was jarring both for the lyrics and the sound. It's like someone plunked a Jive song down in the middle of a rock/blues album. Turns out there is a reason it doesn't sound like the rest of the album, it was a cover.
4
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Thu Jan 27 2022
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Simon & Garfunkel
Bridge Over Troubled Water is one of my favorite songs (the way it builds!), The Boxer is one of only songs I could remember all the words to when I was sleep-deprived and blearily rocking my infants to sleep in the middle of night, and Cecilia just always makes me happy.
5
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Mon Jan 31 2022
Hard Again
Muddy Waters
3
View Album
Tue Feb 01 2022
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
My family listened to this album on repeat. Nothing beats her delivery, she made me feel her pain even when I was too young to understand why she was in pain. Unfortunately, this album remains relevant.
5
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Mon Feb 07 2022
Shake Your Money Maker
The Black Crowes
3
View Album
Tue Feb 08 2022
Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago
This album feels like the score to a show that I can't see. Despite the diversity of sound, I ultimately have no idea what is happening on stage or how the story is progressing so I lose interest.
2
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Wed Feb 09 2022
(What's The Story) Morning Glory
Oasis
First of all, the beginning of the song Morning Glory sounds like The One I Love by REM. How did I never notice that before? Secondly, how did his voice not annoy me in the 90s? Don't get me wrong, I still like some of these songs. Hello is underrated and is an excellent start to an album. Roll With It sounds like they want to be the Beatles while Don't Look Back in Anger actually sounds like it could be the Beatles. And of course there is the aforementioned influence of REM. It was a nice walk down memory lane, even if it's one I am not likely to repeat any time soon.
4
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Tue Feb 15 2022
The Velvet Underground & Nico
The Velvet Underground
I am having a tough time with this one. There were moments of listening to this that were not entirely pleasant. But somehow they were unpleasant in an interesting way that made me want to listen to more. I can't figure out why that is, but due to the fact that I want to hear more, I am giving this 4 stars.
4
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Mon Feb 21 2022
Crime Of The Century
Supertramp
Like a cross between Elton John and Pink Floyd. I enjoyed this and will listen to more.
4
View Album
Tue Feb 22 2022
Music From Big Pink
The Band
3
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Wed Feb 23 2022
Shaft
Isaac Hayes
I feel bad giving this a 2 considering the cultural significance and the fact that the sound is perfectly pleasant. The problem for me lies in the fact that it was designed to be background to what was happening on screen. It is not designed or intended to be digested on it's own.
2
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Thu Feb 24 2022
I'm Your Man
Leonard Cohen
This album feels like the musical equivalent of walking into a modern art exhibition and being told that a wadded up gum wrapper is the hottest new art piece. I don’t get it, which makes me angry because I feel like I have been conned. How is this the same man that wrote Hallelujah?! This album is a con job, it has to be. I was sold a bill of goods when I saw the name pop up and what I got was a saxophone laden eighties dumpster fire in which Cohen doesn’t sing so much as recite bad spoken word poetry.
1
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Tue Mar 01 2022
No Other
Gene Clark
3
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Wed Mar 02 2022
Grace
Jeff Buckley
1994 was one of the best years in music, maybe ever, and this album was part of the reason why. In contrast to the distortion and discontent coming from Seattle, Jeff Buckley made an album that was just as emotional and raw but beautiful. His vocal control is amazing as are his musical choices about when and how to use it.
Lover, You Should Have Come Over is one of my top 10 favorite songs and was on just about every mixed tape I ever made. I even wrote a psychology paper on that song in undergrad, got an A :). That sigh before the first note of Hallelujah gets me every time. He may not have written it, but it's most definitely his song now. The opening of Last Goodbye sounds a little like it was ripped off by Oasis for Champagne Supernova (the "how many special people" part). And I actually love the way that So Real falls apart in the middle and then puts itself back together.
This album is different and classic at the same time. Unlike some of the other music from '94, my love for this album has only grown and that speaks to the wide array of musical styles from which it draws inspiration. That range is apparent in who has claimed to be influenced and inspired by Buckley. Everyone from Adele to PJ Harvey, Radiohead to Lana Del Rey. Hell, Jimmy Page said this album was close to being his favorite of the decade and David Bowie said it was one of the 10 albums he would bring to a desert island. I gotta agree with the greats on this one.
5
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Thu Mar 03 2022
Broken English
Marianne Faithfull
The voice is a huge turnoff and I could not hate that broken English song any more than I do.
1
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Mon Mar 07 2022
Homework
Daft Punk
Background music
3
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Tue Mar 08 2022
Lady In Satin
Billie Holiday
I will always love the texture and unique quality of her voice.
4
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Wed Mar 09 2022
High Violet
The National
4
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Fri Mar 11 2022
Vespertine
Björk
3
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Mon Mar 14 2022
Blue Lines
Massive Attack
The parts I like, I like better than Tricky's Maxinquaye. Blue Lines is a stand-out but then Thankful for What You've Got doesn't sound at all like it belongs on a trip-hop album. Ultimately, I think both this and Maxinquaye deserve 2.5 so I will split the difference and give this a 3 and Tricky a 2.
3
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Tue Mar 15 2022
Illmatic
Nas
3
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Wed Mar 16 2022
Diamond Life
Sade
Remember how pretentious-ass couldn't get past the saxophones to appreciate Tina's voice? I feel the same about Sade. I can't appreciate the voice and the general groove because all I hear is the sax.
2
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Thu Mar 17 2022
Maxinquaye
Tricky
2
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Mon Mar 21 2022
Low-Life
New Order
2
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Tue Mar 22 2022
Garbage
Garbage
This is a 3.5 star album. I am going 4 because I was so pumped to see them last year with Liz Phair and Alanis. Stupid pandemic.
4
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Fri Apr 01 2022
Kala
M.I.A.
I appreciate the unique sound.
3
View Album
Wed Apr 06 2022
Heartbreaker
Ryan Adams
I used to love this album. It was my perfect rainy day music. Then came #metoo and a slew of allegations that he was a manipulative, abusive, lecherous fuck. Sigh. I can’t separate my feelings about the man from my feelings about the music. If I could, this would be a higher rating.
3
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Thu Apr 07 2022
Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin
One of the greatest rock albums of all time. There is both an edge and a sultriness to Led Zepplin. Maybe it’s the way they slide between notes, maybe it’s the blues influence, or maybe I have just seen dazed and confused too many times, but this album makes me want to do drugs and get laid. I guess I now better understand the phrase “sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll”.
5
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Tue Apr 19 2022
Achtung Baby
U2
4
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Thu Apr 21 2022
Kings Of The Wild Frontier
Adam & The Ants
2
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Fri Apr 22 2022
The Genius Of Ray Charles
Ray Charles
I love his voice but found myself getting bored
2
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Mon Apr 25 2022
Deloused in the Comatorium
The Mars Volta
It’s not boring…
3
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Wed Apr 27 2022
1984
Van Halen
2
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Thu Apr 28 2022
Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes
5
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Tue May 03 2022
Phrenology
The Roots
3
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Wed May 04 2022
Second Toughest In The Infants
Underworld
Some of these tracks remind me of the background music that you would play in a scene where life around the main protagonist is sped up and blurry to denote the passage of time. Similarly, these tracks blurred together and nothing stood out for me. It was fine as background music.
2
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Thu May 05 2022
The Sensual World
Kate Bush
2
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Tue May 10 2022
Made In Japan
Deep Purple
3
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Wed May 11 2022
Juju
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4
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Mon May 16 2022
Low
David Bowie
2
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Tue May 17 2022
Californication
Red Hot Chili Peppers
I kinda love the RHCP but I know other people hate them (or at least feel very ambivalent about them). I have always enjoyed their more bass driven sound. 1 star off for anytime Anthony Kiedis tries to do that rap-rock thing.
4
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Wed May 25 2022
Back In Black
AC/DC
AC/DC only has one level, 11.
3
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Thu May 26 2022
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Dead Kennedys
2
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Fri May 27 2022
Golden Hour
Kacey Musgraves
3
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Mon May 30 2022
Brothers In Arms
Dire Straits
2
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Tue May 31 2022
Graceland
Paul Simon
My first boyfriend was convinced that Paul Simon sold his soul to the devil after his failed relationships (with both writing partner Art Garfunkel and wife Carrie Fisher) to come away from those failures with Graceland. The album is a blend of such unique styles and sounds and it is amazing to me how joyous the album sounds despite the preceding failures of Simon's personal and professional life. My first boyfriend was not the brightest but he may have been correct in this case.
5
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Mon Jun 06 2022
Your New Favourite Band
The Hives
It takes balls to declare yourself everyone's new favourite band. The first and last songs were the best on the album but even though they have a sound I like, I started getting tired of it.
3
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Thu Jun 23 2022
Nevermind
Nirvana
4
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Fri Jun 24 2022
Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Fiona Apple
3
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Mon Jun 27 2022
Something Else By The Kinks
The Kinks
2
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Tue Jun 28 2022
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
3
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Wed Jun 29 2022
Rubber Soul
Beatles
4
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Fri Jul 01 2022
Forever Changes
Love
3
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Mon Jul 04 2022
Roxy Music
Roxy Music
2
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Tue Jul 05 2022
A Love Supreme
John Coltrane
3
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Thu Jul 14 2022
Fever To Tell
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
It's loud, high-energy, punk flavored rock that set the stage for all the female fronted rock bands I love today.
5
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Mon Jul 18 2022
The Hour Of Bewilderbeast
Badly Drawn Boy
4
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Mon Jul 25 2022
Countdown To Ecstasy
Steely Dan
2
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Wed Jul 27 2022
British Steel
Judas Priest
My least hated metal band yet? I guess that’s good enough for a 3.
3
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Fri Jul 29 2022
Survivor
Destiny's Child
2
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Mon Aug 01 2022
Rage Against The Machine
Rage Against The Machine
4
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Tue Aug 02 2022
Figure 8
Elliott Smith
5
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Wed Aug 03 2022
Violator
Depeche Mode
The lyrics of this album are awful. The music is meh but the beats are repetitive enough that I found myself unconsciously tapping my toe so I guess that is something.
2
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Mon Aug 08 2022
Bryter Layter
Nick Drake
A jazzy Nick Drake is different but maybe not better than a sad Nick Drake.
3
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Tue Aug 09 2022
Disraeli Gears
Cream
2 really excellent classic rock standards (Sunshine of your Love and Tales of Brave Ulysses), 4 really good bluesy tracks (Strange Brew, SWLABR, Outside Women Blues, Take it Back), 3 really meh tracks that were too psychedelic for me (World of Pain, Dance the Night Away, We're Going Wrong), and 2 real stinkers (Blue Condition, Mother's Lament) leave me squarely in 3.5 territory. Sadly, I expected more.
3
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Wed Aug 10 2022
Your Arsenal
Morrissey
4
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Thu Aug 11 2022
Document
R.E.M.
4
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Mon Aug 15 2022
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
5
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Wed Aug 17 2022
The Suburbs
Arcade Fire
4
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Thu Aug 18 2022
BEYONCÉ
Beyoncé
3
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Fri Aug 19 2022
Physical Graffiti
Led Zeppelin
I am less familiar with this Led Zeppelin album compared to their earlier albums but that is an oversight I plan to rectify. The four song progression from the bluesy slide guitar of In My Time of Dying, to the rock of Houses of the Holy, to the more funky sound of Trampled Under Foot, to the classic opening of Kashmir (even my 4 year old can’t help but bob her head along to this guitar riff) shows all that Led Zeppelin has to offer. Y’all know how I feel about Led Zeppelin 😉 and this album is no different.
5
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Mon Aug 22 2022
On The Beach
Neil Young
3
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Tue Aug 23 2022
More Songs About Buildings And Food
Talking Heads
I guess I expected the Talking Heads to sound more synth-y (a la Burning down the House). The music was more rock than I expected but I guess this album was part of their transition. Too bad the only good song isn't even their song.
2
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Wed Aug 24 2022
Bubble And Scrape
Sebadoh
I had a couple Sebadoh albums (Bakesale and Harmacy) and I have literally never met anyone else who has even heard of them, let alone liked them, so I was surprised as hell to see them pop up on 1001 albums. I also was surprised as hell with some of the sonic chaos on the album. I get that they were all “look at us we are so lo-fi and cool” but why make so many sounds that don’t sound good? Turns out there is a good reason why this album sounds like two different bands, all the songs I like are written by Lou Barlow and all the songs I don’t were by Eric Gaffney who left the band after this album and didn’t appear on Bakesale of Harmacy (if you like the first couple songs, give those other albums a listen). I wish I could give this album a higher rating because the songs I like, I really like, but overall it’s a mess.
3
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Thu Aug 25 2022
Psychocandy
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3
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Fri Aug 26 2022
Cosmo's Factory
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4
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Mon Aug 29 2022
Beauty And The Beat
The Go-Go's
4
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Tue Aug 30 2022
Sound of Silver
LCD Soundsystem
First listen I did not like this album. 2nd listen was better and I got a lot of work done thanks in part to the driving beat of most of the songs but it still faded into the background for me. Split the difference, 2 stars.
2
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Thu Sep 01 2022
Blonde On Blonde
Bob Dylan
Sorry guys, I like the music (why don’t people use a harmonica anymore!), but I just can’t with his voice.
2
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Fri Sep 02 2022
I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight
Richard Thompson
3
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Mon Sep 05 2022
Born To Run
Bruce Springsteen
4
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Tue Sep 06 2022
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Beatles
5
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Wed Sep 07 2022
Walking Wounded
Everything But The Girl
4
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Fri Sep 09 2022
Double Nickels On The Dime
Minutemen
3
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Mon Sep 12 2022
Bitches Brew
Miles Davis
I didn’t finish the album. I feel bad rating it on a (very) incomplete listen, but I feel like the fact that couldn't finish speaks for itself.
1
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Tue Sep 13 2022
Winter In America
Gil Scott-Heron
3
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Wed Sep 14 2022
I Against I
Bad Brains
I dunno, maybe this benefited from being short and fast after a couple very long and slow albums. At least this wasn’t boring.
3
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Thu Sep 15 2022
I’m a Lonesome Fugitive
Merle Haggard
So I like bluegrass, I like some country, I have even been to MerleFest…and yet Merle Haggard is not my thing. The slow songs kill any joy I get from the faster paced songs. I also prefer the music when he is not singing. I would go back to MerleFest though.
2
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Fri Sep 16 2022
Machine Gun Etiquette
The Damned
Never heard of The Damned before but damn if I am not a fan.
4
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Mon Sep 19 2022
The ArchAndroid
Janelle Monáe
Janelle Monae strikes me as someone exceedingly creative and the album is eclectic and interesting as a result.
4
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Tue Sep 20 2022
Heartattack And Vine
Tom Waits
Huh, so I CAN like Tom Waits. I was convinced after we got Bone Machine that I did not like Tom Waits, not no way, not no how. But somehow his voice works better on this slower album? Based on Jersey Girl, where he seems to slip in and out of his growl, it appears the gravel is a CHOICE. My throat hurts just from listening but this is an album that I may come back to when I need a good wallow.
3
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Fri Sep 23 2022
Make Yourself
Incubus
Lang said "I can see why late 90s, coming-of-age, angsty teens, who rejected the culture of the cools, would be in to this." His review was basically describing me. Incubus was my bridge between my 90s alternative roots and the emo of the early 2000s. I first got into Incubus with their preceding album, S.C.I.E.N.C.E, an often schizophrenic combination of heavy metal guitars, bass-driven funk, electronic/scratching, and Brandon Boyd's intense but also melodic voice was so interesting to me. Make Yourself is definitely more refined but still incorporates all those different styles. I take issue with the idea that at some point the angst should lift, I will never grow out of my enjoyment of screaming/singing along with Brandon Boyd.
5
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Mon Sep 26 2022
Sound Affects
The Jam
3
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Tue Sep 27 2022
School's Out
Alice Cooper
2
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Wed Sep 28 2022
Moondance
Van Morrison
My roommate in undergrad swore that Van Morrison was the best get-it-on music. I never understood. I still don't. Don't get me wrong, the music is perfectly pleasant. But this album is more likely to put me to sleep than put me in the mood.
3
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Thu Sep 29 2022
Virgin Suicides
Air
I am glad I waited a few days to rate this. I am flummoxed by the high reviews. Very few of these songs feel like stand-alone tracks, it feels like a collection of sounds that accompany and play a supporting role to a visual medium I can't see. I don't hate the general feel or sound but something is definitely missing (it doesn't even feel that emotional to me, perhaps because the visuals are adding that piece of the puzzle). It's funny we got Nine Inch Nails two days after this because I am no NIN fan but that album feels MUCH more cinematic to me. Instead of missing a piece of the puzzle, I can almost see a movie playing in my head during large chunks of the NIN album. Not so with Air. Ambient music is weird to me. How am I supposed to get invested in something that is purposefully so chill and designed not to grab your attention?
2
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Fri Sep 30 2022
evermore
Taylor Swift
Hands down my favorite Taylor Swift album. Stripped of most of the big pop production, you are left with writing that is poignant and an album that feels much more intimate. Folk-y Taylor Swift is my favorite of her reinventions so far.
5
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Mon Oct 03 2022
The Downward Spiral
Nine Inch Nails
Everything about this album, even the chaos, feels like a purposeful choice with a specific point of view. It's emotional and demands attention. That being said, a lot of this album makes me feel a little ill. The opening lyrics of Closer make me deeply uncomfortable. The whole album is about self-destruction but that song and Big Man with a Gun very explicitly detail how that self-destruction violently drag others down too and the glorification of those darker thoughts have always left me on edge.
2
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Tue Oct 04 2022
(Pronounced 'Leh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd)
Lynyrd Skynyrd
3
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Wed Oct 05 2022
C'est Chic
CHIC
If you like a song on this album you better like it a LOT because each song is repetitive af.
2
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Thu Oct 06 2022
Time (The Revelator)
Gillian Welch
I listened to this album a fair amount in the early 2000s. It occupies the same sad hole in my heart where Aimee Mann and Elliott Smith also reside. I can only listen to them when it's a little gloomy out and when I am in a certain mood. Gillian Welch's voice and harmonies are beautiful. I love the way the music highlights traditional bluegrass instruments like the banjo but with a dark twist. If I had one critique it would be that sometimes the music is so slow and soft it sometimes takes on a droning/dirge-like feel that can put me to sleep. Like I said, gotta be in the right mood.
4
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Fri Oct 07 2022
At Newport 1960
Muddy Waters
2
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Mon Oct 10 2022
Protection
Massive Attack
3
View Album
Tue Oct 11 2022
Meat Is Murder
The Smiths
3
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Wed Oct 12 2022
If You're Feeling Sinister
Belle & Sebastian
4
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Thu Oct 13 2022
69 Love Songs
The Magnetic Fields
Maybe I was already pissed because I saw the length of this album. Maybe I was already annoyed because choosing to do 69 love songs is a terribly immature joke. Maybe I could have overcome those annoyances if it was good, but it wasn't.
1
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Fri Oct 14 2022
Run-D.M.C.
Run-D.M.C.
It feels so basic now, but points for paving the way.
3
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Mon Oct 17 2022
21
Adele
Adele clearly went through some shit but damn I am glad we got this album as a result. This album is a pop masterpiece with infusions of R&B, gospel, and soul. Her voice has a very unique texture and tone that makes every note ooze with her heartbreak, anger, and depression. By the time Set Fire to the Rain is done, I am emotionally exhausted, and it's only halfway through the album! This album will be in my regular rotation forever, it was a classic the moment it was released.
5
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Tue Oct 18 2022
Emergency On Planet Earth
Jamiroquai
my first thought was "is that a didgeridoo?", my second thought was "is this jazz? funk? disco? lounge?". The answers are yes and I don't know. I don't know how to categorize this but it's fun to listen to, a huge juxtaposition to the apocalyptic warnings of many of the lyrics. Some of the tracks ("Music of the Mind") veer too close to improvisational jazz for my taste but the album is nothing if not unique.
3
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Wed Oct 19 2022
Group Sex
Circle Jerks
Most of the songs just repeat one line over and over. I don't hate the energy, I hate the lazy writing.
2
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Thu Oct 20 2022
The Boatman's Call
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2
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Fri Oct 21 2022
Bad
Michael Jackson
4-star album (too much unremarkable filler like Speed Demon, Liberian Girl, Another Part of Me and MJs ballads like I Just Can't Stop Loving You are really not my thing), but the real question is do I give it 4 stars when I can't hear a Michael Jackson song without thinking about the allegations of abuse? My ability to listen to his music is tainted. Lose a star.
3
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Mon Oct 24 2022
Pornography
The Cure
When I first start listening to a Cure album I think "Oh, I really like the Cure!" but I tire of it around 2/3 of the way through the album.
3
View Album
Tue Oct 25 2022
Chemtrails Over The Country Club
Lana Del Rey
I dislike when she sings in her high register with that breathy whisper (most heavily featured on White Dress but in other songs too), it is unlistenable. Overall I am not sure what the fuss is about with Lana.
2
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Wed Oct 26 2022
Funeral
Arcade Fire
This album benefits from the context in which it was discovered. I had grown very weary of what passed for early 2000s "alternative" rock and this album comes along and it was love at first listen. I had also just started dating someone really great so the time in my life when this album was on heavy rotation was rose colored for sure.
5
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Thu Oct 27 2022
Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin
I feel like I should give this only 4 stars just to differentiate it from the Zeppelin albums we have had on this list so far...but I can't. Their whole sound is just so iconic and while often imitated, it has never been duplicated. It is to be expected that the third album they put out in the span of less than 2 years will have some weaker material, and it doesn't matter because they are at such a high level that those differences are meaningless.
5
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Fri Oct 28 2022
E.V.O.L.
Sonic Youth
Oh and you know what? I bought another Sonic Youth album and it sucked... it's just noise. - Juno MacGuff
Maybe she bought this one?
1
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Mon Oct 31 2022
Mr. Tambourine Man
The Byrds
2
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Tue Nov 01 2022
That's The Way Of The World
Earth, Wind & Fire
3
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Wed Nov 02 2022
Punishing Kiss
Ute Lemper
1
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Thu Nov 03 2022
Steve McQueen
Prefab Sprout
I like the first song. The rest of the album didn't quite live up to it for me but it was fine.
3
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Fri Nov 04 2022
Nowhere
Ride
I generally liked it, it needed something more special to really get it over the hump to a 4. Nothing to complain about but nothing to get excited about either.
3
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Fri Nov 11 2022
Music From The Penguin Cafe
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
1
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Tue Nov 15 2022
Are You Experienced
Jimi Hendrix
5
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Thu Nov 17 2022
Ritual De Lo Habitual
Jane's Addiction
3
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Fri Nov 18 2022
Neon Bible
Arcade Fire
3
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Mon Nov 21 2022
Odelay
Beck
I put Jack-Ass on a bunch of mixed tapes I made for people. I always enjoyed that that it was so different from the omnipresent Where It's At. The main draw of Beck is that he is not boring.
4
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Tue Nov 22 2022
Dire Straits
Dire Straits
3
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Thu Nov 24 2022
Abbey Road
Beatles
4
View Album
Mon Nov 28 2022
If I Should Fall From Grace With God
The Pogues
4
View Album
Tue Nov 29 2022
Let It Bleed
The Rolling Stones
4
View Album
Wed Nov 30 2022
Songs From A Room
Leonard Cohen
2
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Thu Dec 01 2022
I Should Coco
Supergrass
Mostly solid album. Loved "Alright", brings me straight back to the 90s. Hated "We're Not Supposed To", why do they sound like chipmunks? Averages out.
3
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Fri Dec 02 2022
Connected
Stereo MC's
2
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Mon Dec 05 2022
We Are Family
Sister Sledge
I wish every song wasn't so repetitive. Cut 1-2 minutes from each track and this would have been 4 stars.
3
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Tue Dec 06 2022
You've Come a Long Way Baby
Fatboy Slim
This album spans the generations. It managed to annoy me AND a carpool full of middle schoolers.
2
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Thu Dec 08 2022
Like A Prayer
Madonna
Oof, this album has aged about as gracefully as Madonna herself. Super dated sound, weird artistic choices (looking at you Act of Contrition). The title track is still solid.
2
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Tue Dec 13 2022
Dummy
Portishead
The whole album is a vibe best enjoyed after dark. It’s lonely and yet makes me feel like I am not alone. It’s hauntingly, achingly ethereal but also tinged with a sour regret you can’t quite stop thinking about. Glory Box is a standout for me but the whole album is perfection.
5
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Wed Dec 14 2022
All Mod Cons
The Jam
3
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Thu Dec 15 2022
Fuzzy Logic
Super Furry Animals
2
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Mon Dec 19 2022
Van Halen
Van Halen
3
View Album
Wed Dec 21 2022
Tapestry
Carole King
4
View Album
Tue Dec 27 2022
Green River
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3
View Album
Thu Dec 29 2022
Teen Dream
Beach House
3
View Album
Mon Jan 02 2023
The Age Of The Understatement
The Last Shadow Puppets
Sounded like the soundtrack to a 60s Bond movie...which I guess is what they were going for?
3
View Album
Tue Jan 03 2023
Frank
Amy Winehouse
This is jazz where the main featured instrument is Amy's voice. I love the unique texture of her voice but the style of these songs is not really my thing.
3
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Tue Jan 10 2023
Odessey And Oracle
The Zombies
Was it an artistic choice to have this album sound muffled? Or a limitation of the recording equipment?
2
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Wed Jan 11 2023
L.A. Woman
The Doors
4
View Album
Fri Jan 13 2023
Foxbase Alpha
Saint Etienne
2
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Wed Jan 18 2023
Let It Be
The Replacements
Probably would have been a 3 but damn if Androgynous wasn't super ahead of its time.
4
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Thu Jan 19 2023
Red Headed Stranger
Willie Nelson
3
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Mon Jan 23 2023
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Can't Take My Eyes Off You is maybe my favorite cover ever, Everything Is Everything had an amazing video, and Forgive Them Father might low key be the best track on the record. It has everything that makes Lauryn Hill unique, the hip hop paired with her incredibly soulful voice and tinged with reggae. Her lyrics that are often about being authentic and her deep disappointment with other people/systems that are not genuine. Her confidence and vulnerability were all on display in this album and that resonated deeply with me as high school senior trying to find her footing and place in the world.
5
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Wed Jan 25 2023
Gorillaz
Gorillaz
Gorillaz kind of defies musical categorization and seems to pull samples and influences from lots of genres which keeps it interesting. Ultimately, that inclusion of different influences results in a sound that is much more sonically pleasing compared to Blur. But I do feel like I am missing something by not seeing the accompanying visual art that is part of the "virtual band" experience.
4
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Thu Jan 26 2023
Black Monk Time
The Monks
This album made me laugh, not sure that was what they were going for…
3
View Album
Mon Jan 30 2023
Veckatimest
Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear is at times very reminiscent of Fleet Foxes (Ready, Able in particular). It's good dreary day music but it took a couple listens because it tends to fade into the background.
4
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Tue Jan 31 2023
Parklife
Blur
The best of the crappy Blur albums on this list.
3
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Wed Feb 01 2023
The Rise & Fall
Madness
3
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Thu Feb 02 2023
Parallel Lines
Blondie
4
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Fri Feb 03 2023
2112
Rush
Well turns out I like 70s Rush way better than 80s Rush. This has a classic rock sound...like what Jack Black sounds like when he tries to be super rock n' roll.
4
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Mon Feb 06 2023
Metallica
Metallica
If Enter Sandman is your entrance music, you better back that shit up because you are declaring yourself to be bad ass. As the best closer in baseball, Mariano Rivera backed that shit up. Virginia Tech uses Enter Sandman as the team takes the football field and the whole stadium is jumping up and down like the writhing snake that graces the album cover (spoiler, they do not always back that shit up but its still the most bad ass entry into a sports arena). Metallica, for the most part, also backs that shit up by delivering what has become kind of a standard against which all other heavy metal is judged.
4
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Tue Feb 07 2023
Face to Face
The Kinks
3
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Wed Feb 08 2023
Follow The Leader
Korn
Whatever you want to call this, nu metal, rap-rock, aggro-metal, alternative metal...it sucks. Look, I like to scream along as much as the next kid, but stop growling your lyrics at me. Wikipedia tells me people liked this album with Entertainment Weekly reviewer Jim Farber calling it "a big load of dumb fun" and said that "going to almost laughable lengths to mess with metal cliché". They got the laughable and clichéd part right.
1
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Thu Feb 09 2023
Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes
I feel like the album cover really reflects the album. From far away, the picture is calm and serene. Up close, there are so many intricacies. This album is really beautiful but ultimately I prefer my serene music to be a little more depressing so that I can really get a good wallow.
4
View Album
Fri Feb 10 2023
The Stooges
The Stooges
There is so much potential here and a lot to like. Ultimately, I bumped this down from 4 to 3 because it just didn't feel like a cohesive album. More like a starting point that could go lots of different directions.
3
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Mon Feb 13 2023
My Generation
The Who
I like that kept hearing reprises of the song My Generation throughout the album, it made it feel cohesive.
4
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Wed Feb 15 2023
Amnesiac
Radiohead
3
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Thu Feb 16 2023
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
David Bowie
3
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Fri Feb 17 2023
Music Has The Right To Children
Boards of Canada
2
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Mon Feb 20 2023
Dookie
Green Day
This is the album that kickstarted my little pop-punk loving heart.
5
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Tue Feb 21 2023
Tres Hombres
ZZ Top
4
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Wed Feb 22 2023
Deserter's Songs
Mercury Rev
I am rarely (never?) tempted to go track by track in a review. But this album has so many different reasons to hate it, it's impressive so let's take this journey shall we?
Holes - The beginning screams Coldplay but like a crappier version of Coldplay...oh wait, is that a saw? wtf?
Tonite It Shows - It sounds like a song from a musical for a character who is like walking alone but then comes to some big realization. It feels very theatrical...but sung by someone who can't quite hit the notes.
Endlessly - Is that the saw again? Is that a chorus of people trying to sound like the saw?
I Collect Coins - Like an old timey jukebox running out of power and going slowing out of tune
Opus 40 - oh! this song doesn't suck...wait, why are they dragging out the end so much? stop ruining this!
Hudson Line - dear god the 80s saxophone and just 10 extra seconds of a single high pitch at the end. Why?!
The Happy End (The Drunk Room) - Is the drunk room in a creepy funhouse? What is with the weird stop in the middle where I was blissfully relieved it was over, but no!
Goddess on a Highway - oh! a second song that doesn't suck, let's try not to ruin this one at the end.
The Funny Bird - NOW you are self-conscious about your voice and singing through some voice distortion box? why now? Oh good, let's end this song with a bunch of random noise.
Pick Up If You're There - I didn't hate this one even though it was a little like a funeral dirge...until that effing saw sound again, and then for some reason an unintelligible answering machine message. Seriously, now you guys are just fucking with people, laughing at what they will listen to and call it music.
Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp - I don't have a huge problem with this song. But it's way too little, way too late....oh wait, 3:50 seconds in it ends and becomes a hidden terrible track that again sounds like the backing to a bad musical that happens in a creepy funhouse.
2.5 not crappy songs are not enough to pull this out of 1 star territory. Also they made me spend all this time listening to the songs again so I could write this review and I am spiteful about that.
1
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Thu Feb 23 2023
Superfly
Curtis Mayfield
2
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Fri Feb 24 2023
The Contino Sessions
Death In Vegas
2
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Mon Feb 27 2023
Songs From The Big Chair
Tears For Fears
3
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Tue Feb 28 2023
A Night At The Opera
Queen
3
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Wed Mar 01 2023
Let's Get Killed
David Holmes
2
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Thu Mar 02 2023
Brothers
The Black Keys
5
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Fri Mar 03 2023
Selling England By The Pound
Genesis
3
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Mon Mar 06 2023
Chirping Crickets
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
3
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Tue Mar 07 2023
Rattus Norvegicus
The Stranglers
Started strong, but I was expecting a little harder sound with a name like The Stranglers. Ended up getting a very Doors vibe on some songs with that electric organ. Ended up being more silly than subversive.
2
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Wed Mar 08 2023
Midnight Ride
Paul Revere & The Raiders
3
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Tue Mar 14 2023
Dirt
Alice In Chains
Its funny to me that on the list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums" in Rolling Stone, #24 is Rage Against the Machine, #25 is Metallica's Black Album, and #26 is Dirt. I agree with this order, but there is little daylight between these and I enjoy each of them immensely for different reasons.
4
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Wed Mar 15 2023
Another Music In A Different Kitchen
Buzzcocks
Really dig the guitars in this, nice find!
4
View Album
Tue Mar 21 2023
Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
The Pharcyde
3
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Wed Mar 22 2023
Yeezus
Kanye West
It's hard to listen to this now and not see the mental health problems. It's like a sonic manifestation of his bipolar disorder. Couple that with his recent anti-semitic comments and listening to this album 10 years after it dropped feels more like listening to a cautionary tale rather than experiencing ground-breaking art.
1
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Mon Mar 27 2023
Live At The Harlem Square Club
Sam Cooke
Sounds like a party.
3
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Tue Mar 28 2023
3 + 3
The Isley Brothers
3
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Wed Mar 29 2023
Idlewild
Everything But The Girl
I love Tracey Thorn's voice but I very much dislike the smooth jazz vibe. Her voice is the only reason this is getting two stars instead of 1.
2
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Thu Mar 30 2023
Fear and Whiskey
Mekons
The spoken word of Trouble Down South and Psycho Cupid was off-putting. Darkness and Doubt had some twang that was completely out of place. At least on Abernant the twang verged towards irish drinking song. This album is a big No.
1
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Fri Mar 31 2023
Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
2
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Mon Apr 03 2023
Close To The Edge
Yes
2
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Tue Apr 04 2023
Endtroducing.....
DJ Shadow
I like the vibe but it never grabbed my attention to rise above background music.
3
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Thu Apr 06 2023
Chris
Christine and the Queens
3
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Fri Apr 07 2023
Illinois
Sufjan Stevens
4
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Mon Apr 10 2023
The Healer
John Lee Hooker
4
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Tue Apr 11 2023
Rust Never Sleeps
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3
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Wed Apr 12 2023
Colour By Numbers
Culture Club
3
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Thu Apr 13 2023
Goo
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth tried their best to ruin a great album with last 30 sec of Mildred Pierce and the end of Scooter + Jinx. Despite them trying to ruin their rating, there is a lot to like and appreciate about this album compared to some other Sonic Youth on this list.
4
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Fri Apr 14 2023
Since I Left You
The Avalanches
2
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Mon Apr 17 2023
Little Earthquakes
Tori Amos
I didn't discover Tori Amos until Under the Pink (1994) and then I went back and listened to Little Earthquakes relentlessly. Tori was basically a different, less distortion driven way to express my teenage angst at a time when grunge music was dominating airwaves. Grunge and Tori Amos were two sides of the same coin for teenage me.
5
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Tue Apr 18 2023
Master Of Puppets
Metallica
3
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Wed Apr 19 2023
Palo Congo
Sabu
2
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Thu Apr 20 2023
One World
John Martyn
This one is hard to nail down, is it blues? jazz? pop? Sometimes his voice really worked for me (Couldn't Love You More) and sometimes it really didn't. Overall, I am more intrigued than turned off.
3
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Fri Apr 21 2023
Paris 1919
John Cale
His voice reminded me of Belle and Sebastian, but without the jangliness that makes Belle and Sebastian pleasant.
2
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Mon Apr 24 2023
What's Going On
Marvin Gaye
3
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Tue Apr 25 2023
Imperial Bedroom
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2
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Fri Apr 28 2023
Nighthawks At The Diner
Tom Waits
I can see how his voice works better for fronting a more pure jazz album like this than it does for Bone Machine. I just can't handle that this album is more like a live reading of a collection of short stories.
2
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Tue May 02 2023
Chelsea Girl
Nico
2
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Wed May 03 2023
You Want It Darker
Leonard Cohen
My 4 year old said "He sounds like a bad guy" and she is right. The title track gives me major Scar vibes from The Lion King. In a way, the music actually fits his voice better than some of the other albums we have had to listen to. That is the only reason that I am giving this an extra star and should in no way be misinterpreted as a softening of my dislike for this artist.
2
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Fri May 05 2023
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
This album sounded like the backing track to an awesome training montage in an 80s action movie. I'm pumped, point me toward the bad guys.
3
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Mon May 08 2023
Penthouse And Pavement
Heaven 17
1
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Wed May 10 2023
Ramones
Ramones
3
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Fri May 12 2023
Live At The Witch Trials
The Fall
1
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Mon May 15 2023
Daydream Nation
Sonic Youth
Best Sonic Youth album on this list.
4
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Tue May 16 2023
Cloud Nine
The Temptations
3
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Wed May 17 2023
Eagles
Eagles
3
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Fri May 19 2023
The Last Of The True Believers
Nanci Griffith
My family took a lot of road trips when I was a kid. We lived in NC But we drove to TX, Yellowstone National Park, and Rocky Mountain National Park at different points. Nanci Griffith was the soundtrack to these drives across the country and honestly I can't think of a better soundtrack to driving through the mountains and across the heartland of this country. This probably veers too far into country music for my taste these days but the nostalgia of it is strong, her voice is beautiful, and her music helped shape my love of blue grass even though I don't love country.
4
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Mon May 22 2023
Boston
Boston
4
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Tue May 23 2023
Permission to Land
The Darkness
3
View Album
Wed May 24 2023
The Beach Boys Today!
The Beach Boys
I can respect the musicality, but The Beach Boys is not my jam.
2
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Thu May 25 2023
Aqualung
Jethro Tull
2
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Tue Jun 06 2023
Ray Of Light
Madonna
2
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Wed Jun 14 2023
Superunknown
Soundgarden
My review of Grace by Jeff Buckley referenced how 1994 was the most incredible year for music (Portishead, Weezer, Beck, Jeff Buckley, Beastie Boys, Green Day, Live, Tori Amos, Cranberries, the list goes on) and Superunknown is part of what made 1994 incredible. Chris Cornell is one of the best male rock vocalists of all time, his range is ridiculous, and his voice is just raw power. Soundgarden may not be my favorite of the projects of Chris Cornell since I prefer Audioslave to the more heavy metal sound of Soundgarden, but his voice is nothing short of 5 stars every time.
5
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Thu Jun 15 2023
Underwater Moonlight
The Soft Boys
Juxtaposing harmonies with lyrics about insects laying eggs under the skin or the stream of consciousness lyrics of I Got the Hots, The Soft Boys are not pleasant to listen to but at least they are not boring.
2
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Fri Jun 16 2023
Bluesbreakers
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
4
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Wed Jun 21 2023
Now I Got Worry
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
I know it’s a lot of noise, but somehow, and I can’t put my finger on why, it’s not JUST noise and I dig it.
3
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Thu Jun 22 2023
Heavy Weather
Weather Report
2
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Fri Jun 23 2023
Butterfly
Mariah Carey
I respect her range but I hate how she uses her voice to sing in that breathy way.
2
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Mon Jun 26 2023
Music for the Masses
Depeche Mode
3
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Tue Jun 27 2023
Grievous Angel
Gram Parsons
2
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Tue Jul 04 2023
Raw Like Sushi
Neneh Cherry
1
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Thu Jul 27 2023
Pearl
Janis Joplin
A singular voice.
5
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Fri Jul 28 2023
Medúlla
Björk
3
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Tue Aug 01 2023
Surfer Rosa
Pixies
The middle third of the album was great. I have a special place in my heart for Gigantic since my roommate in college originally thought the lyrics sounded like "amphibian love" instead of "a big, big love". I still like to sing it that way. Ultimately, this album is not my favorite Pixies album, it doesn't feel as intentional as Doolittle, but I still love the Pixies sound.
4
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Wed Aug 02 2023
Live At Leeds
The Who
3
View Album
Fri Aug 04 2023
Seventh Tree
Goldfrapp
4
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Mon Aug 07 2023
Real Life
Magazine
2
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Tue Aug 08 2023
Wonderful Rainbow
Lightning Bolt
Noisy noise a la Sonic Youth
1
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Wed Aug 09 2023
In The Court Of The Crimson King
King Crimson
This reminds me of Jethro Tull, so it gets the same rating.
2
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Fri Aug 11 2023
Want Two
Rufus Wainwright
3
View Album
Mon Aug 14 2023
Street Signs
Ozomatli
4
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Wed Aug 16 2023
The Joshua Tree
U2
4
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Mon Aug 21 2023
Blunderbuss
Jack White
4
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Mon Aug 28 2023
Let England Shake
PJ Harvey
3
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Tue Aug 29 2023
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Strange to think this is the album that kicked off heavy metal and resulted in much pearl clutching, I expected it to be more intense. Mostly it just sounds like a bluesy rock album with some kick ass guitar solos.
3
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Wed Aug 30 2023
Bug
Dinosaur Jr.
Man, "Don't" kill my vibe! I was digging this fossil of the early grunge/indie rock era...until they went and blew it with the song "Don't". One star deduction for that monstrosity of a song and making it the longest song on the album was just adding insult to injury.
3
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Fri Sep 01 2023
Green Onions
Booker T. & The MG's
Apart from the first track, I felt like I was at the enchantment under the sea dance before Marty McFly spices things up.
3
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Mon Sep 04 2023
Destroy Rock & Roll
Mylo
Semantic satiation is a phenomenon whereby the uninterrupted repetition of a word eventually leads to a sense that the word has lost its meaning. Halfway through drop the pressure Mylo says morherfucker’s so many times it loses all meaning. Not only are the lyrics repetitive, the repetition of the same sounds renders this album nothing more than background music.
3
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Tue Sep 05 2023
Movies
Holger Czukay
I am not a fan of krautrock. I am a fan of my pre-K daughter's song about being cool in the pool (to the tune of "do your ears hang low"):
I will stay real cool in my little swimming pool
On a sunny summer day, I will splash around and play
When I wear my bathing suit, I will be cool and cute
In my swimming pooooool!
1
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Wed Sep 06 2023
Electric
The Cult
3
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Thu Sep 07 2023
We're Only In It For The Money
The Mothers Of Invention
1
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Fri Sep 08 2023
Pet Sounds
The Beach Boys
God Only Knows is a masterpiece. However, I mostly dislike vocals sung entirely in falsetto so some of the slow songs I find to be grating. They are at their best when the tempo is a little faster.
3
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Thu Sep 14 2023
Lam Toro
Baaba Maal
3
View Album
Wed Sep 20 2023
Gold
Ryan Adams
This album screams America to me maybe more than almost any other on this list (sorry Bruce). It has a classic sound, a fusion of rock, country, and folk. I guess a man abusing his privilege/influence/power to prey on young women is not uniquely American though. Sigh.
3
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Tue Sep 26 2023
Off The Wall
Michael Jackson
3
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Wed Sep 27 2023
Quiet Life
Japan
3
View Album
Thu Sep 28 2023
The Doors
The Doors
4
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Fri Sep 29 2023
Hot Shots II
The Beta Band
3
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Mon Oct 02 2023
The Trinity Session
Cowboy Junkies
I am actually surprised I never heard this album before. It is squarely in my family's wheelhouse of country adjacent folk music like Nanci Griffith. I love the mix of an original song and a cover on Blue Moon Revisited. Ultimately, this band is probably too country for me to pick up much these days, but perfect for a passing time on a rainy day and a pleasant surprise.
4
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Tue Oct 03 2023
Paul's Boutique
Beastie Boys
3
View Album
Thu Oct 05 2023
Kind Of Blue
Miles Davis
The best selling jazz album ever and with good reason. Even though I think this album is timeless, it's interesting to me that later in life Miles Davis refused to play anything from Kind of Blue because remaining static stylistically was the wrong option. But then why even make a jazz album? Albums are inherently static. Jazz is inherently improvisational and dynamic. It's a distinction that makes it hard sometimes for people to enjoy recorded jazz. Maybe jazz is always meant to be enjoyed live where the music can follow or lead the vibe of the whole room at a particular time and in a particular place but I do enjoy this album quite a bit. It is soothing and subtle and moody in all the right ways. It makes jazz accessible to everyone.
5
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Fri Oct 06 2023
The Wildest!
Louis Prima
4
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Mon Oct 09 2023
Paul Simon
Paul Simon
3
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Tue Oct 10 2023
Savane
Ali Farka Touré
3
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Wed Oct 11 2023
Happy Sad
Tim Buckley
Clearly Tim Buckley has a great voice, but man could he benefit from some editing.
2
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Thu Oct 12 2023
En-Tact
The Shamen
2
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Fri Oct 13 2023
Floodland
Sisters Of Mercy
Apparently I like new wave if its all dark and gothic. Who knew?!
4
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Mon Oct 16 2023
461 Ocean Boulevard
Eric Clapton
3
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Tue Oct 17 2023
Out Of The Blue
Electric Light Orchestra
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this album, it just made me happy. I knew Mr. Blue Sky but not much else and I loved the emphasis on the orchestra and the combination with the pop hooks and falsetto harmonies that reminded me of the Beach Boys. The album felt grand and dramatic like Queen, but lighter.
4
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Wed Oct 18 2023
Surf's Up
The Beach Boys
I definitely found this album more interesting than Pet Sounds. The attempt to address heavier topics in the lyrics was laudable but felt jarring as it didn't mesh with the overall vibe. 3.5 because I am glad I was exposed to a different side of The Beach Boys but ultimately, I probably wont be revisiting.
3
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Thu Oct 19 2023
The White Room
The KLF
2
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Fri Oct 20 2023
Justified
Justin Timberlake
I think the album is supposed to make me feel like sexy time, but it just makes me feels old. The album sounds dated and some of the lyrics are just terrible. JT can sing but what’s the point if words and music are mostly meh.
2
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Mon Oct 23 2023
The Clash
The Clash
4
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Tue Oct 24 2023
Fromohio
fIREHOSE
3
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Wed Oct 25 2023
Scum
Napalm Death
1
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Fri Oct 27 2023
Who Killed...... The Zutons?
The Zutons
3
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Mon Oct 30 2023
São Paulo Confessions
Suba
3
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Tue Oct 31 2023
Crosby, Stills & Nash
Crosby, Stills & Nash
I like the songs fronted by Crosby best, more bluesy guitars like on Long Time Gone and Wooden Ships please!
4
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Wed Nov 01 2023
Highway to Hell
AC/DC
My review of Back in Black was that AC/DC only has one level. That is an apt review of Highway to Hell as well. It's all just a Touch Too Much.
3
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Thu Nov 02 2023
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Wilco
Wilco occupies that early 2000s indie rock space where Conor Oberst and Ben Gibbard also reside. None of them have traditionally "good" voices but they are emotive and distinct and somehow just work with their song writing. YHF gets better the more I listen to it and thanks to the 1001 albums project, this will be back in my rotation more frequently.
4
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Fri Nov 03 2023
NEU! 75
Neu!
I saw this was described as krautrock and was dreading it. I saw this got not 1 star reviews and I was curious. Was it just me or did the first track feel like it could have been written by Mannheim Steamroller?! Is Mannheim Steamroller krautrock?! Anyway, not what I was expecting, but still not my favorite.
2
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Tue Nov 07 2023
The Libertines
The Libertines
3
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Thu Nov 09 2023
m b v
My Bloody Valentine
2
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Tue Nov 14 2023
Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
50 Cent
Ultimately, this album is fine but there is little that makes 50 Cent innovative. He certainly wasn't breaking any new ground with his lyrics which don't have any of the vulnerability, humor, or introspection of some of the other hip hop artists on the 1001 album list and his delivery is nothing special. My favorite part of this album was Patiently Waiting which featured Eminem.
3
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Fri Nov 17 2023
The Dreaming
Kate Bush
There are times that the way she uses her voice reminds me of Tori Amos. I prefer those moments but most of this is just too experimental and not cohesive enough for me.
2
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Wed Nov 22 2023
...And Justice For All
Metallica
3
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Mon Nov 27 2023
Fear Of Music
Talking Heads
2
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Tue Nov 28 2023
Highly Evolved
The Vines
I forgot I like the Vines. They were a welcome return to a more grungy sound amidst the rock played on the radio in 2002 (3 doors down, Nickleback, etc.). Does anyone else think the intro to In the Jungle is screaming out for more cowbell?
4
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Wed Nov 29 2023
World Clique
Deee-Lite
3
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Thu Nov 30 2023
Don't Stand Me Down
Dexys Midnight Runners
1
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Fri Dec 01 2023
Red Dirt Girl
Emmylou Harris
4
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Mon Dec 04 2023
Tusk
Fleetwood Mac
Amazing that while I have never actively sought out listening to a Fleetwood Mac album, I knew almost every song on Rumors. Interesting that only one song on the follow-up, Tusk, even sounded vaguely familiar. More Stevie Nicks would have bumped this up, love her voice.
3
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Tue Dec 05 2023
Traffic
Traffic
Other than "Feelin' Alright?" this was just fine. There are lots of other 60s rock albums I would pick up before this album.
3
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Wed Dec 06 2023
Third/Sister Lovers
Big Star
Terrible lyrics, discordant sounds, rhythms that were all over the place...it's hard to see what was redeeming/interesting enough about this album to warrant a place on this list.
1
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Thu Dec 07 2023
Bossanova
Pixies
5
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Fri Dec 08 2023
Kollaps
Einstürzende Neubauten
I was worried when I saw this was 80s and German. I was even more anxious after reading the blurb about industrial noises from self-made music machines. All my fears were well founded. If I could give this negativ nein stars, I would.
1
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Mon Dec 11 2023
Lost Souls
Doves
There are moments that remind me of the trip hop coming out of the UK in the early-mid 90s. And then there are times (Here it Comes) where he straight up sounds like Chris Martin from Coldplay. I like the niche they have carved out and this is one that I will be revisiting.
4
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Tue Dec 12 2023
Come Away With Me
Norah Jones
Very pretty, but also pretty low energy.
4
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Wed Dec 13 2023
Gasoline Alley
Rod Stewart
Not a crooner, best when faster, more upbeat.
3
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Thu Dec 14 2023
Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
Well that was a lot more intense than I was expecting. It was like a hip hop version of rage against the machine. The beats felt old but the lyrics were still relevant. I have never heard of this group but they made me sit up and pay attention.
3
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Fri Dec 15 2023
Get Behind Me Satan
The White Stripes
4
View Album
Mon Dec 18 2023
New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84)
Simple Minds
3
View Album
Tue Dec 19 2023
Pacific Ocean Blue
Dennis Wilson
3
View Album
Wed Dec 20 2023
Rhythm Nation 1814
Janet Jackson
3
View Album
Thu Dec 21 2023
Ill Communication
Beastie Boys
4
View Album
Fri Dec 22 2023
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Bruce Springsteen
4
View Album
Thu Dec 28 2023
Nick Of Time
Bonnie Raitt
4
View Album
Tue Jan 02 2024
Tubular Bells
Mike Oldfield
There was plenty of this that was perfectly pleasant, but the naming of the instruments in track 1 and especially the growling in midst of track 2 ruined this for me.
2
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Wed Jan 03 2024
Tea for the Tillerman
Cat Stevens
4
View Album
Thu Jan 04 2024
Armed Forces
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2
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Fri Jan 05 2024
Back To Black
Amy Winehouse
4
View Album
Mon Jan 08 2024
Bad Company
Bad Company
4
View Album
Tue Jan 09 2024
Henry's Dream
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Used in the right way (i.e., used as a backing track to scenes in everything from Peaky Blinders, to a Harry Potter movie, to Ted Lasso) Nick Cave songs can be effective and even enjoyable. However, after listening to 4 albums of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds I am convinced that albums are not the "right way" to appreciate Nick Cave, which is best in small doses.
2
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Wed Jan 10 2024
New Wave
The Auteurs
3
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Thu Jan 11 2024
Manassas
Stephen Stills
3
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Fri Jan 12 2024
Fisherman's Blues
The Waterboys
I was pleasantly surprised by this album, an album by a British/Irish band from the 80s that I had never heard of (dammit1001 albums, just when I was starting to give up on your over representation of British bands that never made it across the pond, now I can't quit you)! The mix of traditional Irish music with rock made this album sound like it could have been plucked from the late 2000s/early 2010s indie folk revival and I am here for it. From the Wikipedia article, this album may have represented a departure from a bigger 80s rock sound but I will be checking out more of their catalogue to see if I can find more like this.
4
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Tue Jan 16 2024
Myths Of The Near Future
Klaxons
3
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Wed Jan 17 2024
Liege And Lief
Fairport Convention
Interesting blend of traditional folk and some psychedelic rock.
3
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Fri Jan 19 2024
All That You Can't Leave Behind
U2
3
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Mon Jan 22 2024
The Seldom Seen Kid
Elbow
If Sting and Coldplay had a baby band, it would be Elbow. They briefly get divorced in "Grounds for Divorce" but then get back together (for the child). Grounds for Divorce is by far my favorite song, probably because it doesn't sound like the rest of the album and it sounds like it could be on a Black Keys album or something.
3
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Tue Jan 23 2024
The Last Broadcast
Doves
I think I prefer Lost Souls but Caught by the River was a bright spot for me.
3
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Wed Jan 24 2024
Opus Dei
Laibach
1
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Thu Jan 25 2024
Jagged Little Pill
Alanis Morissette
It's a little shocking that I never owned this album. It was squarely in my wheelhouse as a teenage girl in the mid-90s. Maybe I never felt the need to own it because I heard it everywhere. Upon my first real listening of this album, a few decades removed from being a teenager, I am transported to the feelings of angst rooted in contradiction, and the euphoric relief that someone finally said all the things. My favorite line from a review of Jagged, the documentary based on Jagged Little Pill, is that Alanis wasn't just giving concerts — she was a herald, bringing the news about all the things women were not going to be quiet about anymore. This album feels more confessional than angry but I think that makes it even more compelling. Two of my favorite tracks are ones that weren't singles and are therefore new to me, Perfect and Right Through You, and I wonder if part of the reason these cut so deep is that I have gone from being a teenage girl to raising one.
I think this album falls off a bit towards the end, but this album still deserves 5 stars for how influential it was. Alanis was a herald in more ways than one. The documentary Jagged makes note of the fact that there was basically a very small quota for the number of female artists getting airtime and they weren't allowed to play female artists back-to-back. Alanis helped open the doors for more female artists to break into the mainstream and my female-artist dominated playlists thank her for that.
5
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Fri Jan 26 2024
Imagine
John Lennon
I was underwhelmed upon first listen. But if I skip Imagine, which suffers from being one of the most overplayed songs and feels contrived as a result, there is a lot of like here. Surprisingly, Oh Yoko! might be my favorite track, the jangly piano is a harbinger of the brit-pop of the mid-2000s.
4
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Mon Jan 29 2024
Leftism
Leftfield
There is a lot to like about this album but ultimately it never rose above background music for me unless it was for a negative reason that took me out of the flow (looking at you incessant beeping in Original). Solid 3.5 but probably wont be revisiting since there are other triphop albums I would pull up first when in that mood.
3
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Tue Jan 30 2024
After The Gold Rush
Neil Young
Sometimes Neil Youngs voice works (harmonies) but a lot of the time it sounds like he is straining and its not pleasant. Southern Man was the highlight of this album for me.
3
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Wed Jan 31 2024
KE*A*H** (Psalm 69)
Ministry
Definitely not the worst metal album on this list. Some of the guitar parts were even enjoyable. Not enjoyable enough to make me ever choose to listen to this again.
2
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Thu Feb 01 2024
Kid A
Radiohead
This album makes me want to sit in dark room and feel all the feelings. Not my favorite Radiohead album but even a lesser Radiohead album is 4 stars.
4
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Fri Feb 02 2024
Is This It
The Strokes
I remember this album cutting through the noise that was rock radio in early 2000s and being so refreshing.
4
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Mon Feb 05 2024
Rattlesnakes
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3
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Tue Feb 06 2024
Life Thru A Lens
Robbie Williams
Blah Blah Blah, wait...did he just say "cover me in your golden shower"? what am I listening to?! Some strange lyrical choices but mostly this album is just very meh.
3
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Wed Feb 07 2024
Smile
Brian Wilson
2
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Thu Feb 08 2024
Risque
CHIC
2
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Mon Feb 12 2024
Dare!
The Human League
3
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Tue Feb 13 2024
Throwing Muses
Throwing Muses
1001 albums for the win! I greatly enjoyed this album by a band I was only peripherally aware of as they related to Belly and Kim Deal/The Breeders/The Pixies. The album is all over the place but in the best way, like one of those brightly colored rubber bouncy balls. Energy that can't be contained. I hear elements of Sleater-Kinney and even Liz Phair (even more apparent on later albums). Great find, I have already listened to two other Throwing Muses albums as a result.
5
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Wed Feb 14 2024
Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Wu-Tang Clan
Listening to the little skits and intros makes me laugh, partly because these guys are having fun together, and partly because I remember all the middle-class white boys in the 90s listening to Wu-Tang and trying to pretend they were badass. But after laughter comes tears. Behind the bravado are lyrics which detail a pretty bleak existence "But as the world turned, I learned life is hell, Livin' in the world no different from a cell". I will probably always prefer the more jazz influenced hip hop like Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, and De La Soul but I can't deny or overstate the influence this album had on the popularity and direction of the genre.
4
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Fri Feb 16 2024
Under Construction
Missy Elliott
4
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Mon Feb 19 2024
Want One
Rufus Wainwright
3
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Tue Feb 20 2024
Rid Of Me
PJ Harvey
It is the moments of quiet that explode and the rawness of her voice that keeps me hooked. It is jarring at first but sucks me in and I can't stop listening.
4
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Thu Feb 22 2024
Time Out Of Mind
Bob Dylan
3
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Mon Feb 26 2024
The Rising
Bruce Springsteen
4
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Tue Feb 27 2024
Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo
MC Solaar
3
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Wed Feb 28 2024
Vulnicura
Björk
First half is a 4, Black Lake is by far my favorite track but after Black Lake is a 3. I guess I will stick with first impressions.
4
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Mon Mar 04 2024
Play
Moby
4
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Tue Mar 05 2024
Coles Corner
Richard Hawley
3
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Wed Mar 06 2024
Haunted Dancehall
The Sabres Of Paradise
This sounds like someone got an electric keyboard for their birthday and spent the day trying out all the sounds. “Look mom, I can make beats!”
2
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Fri Mar 08 2024
You Are The Quarry
Morrissey
I can't with these lyrics. I actually enjoy Morrissey's voice, I just wish he used it to say something that didn't make roll my eyes.
2
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Mon Mar 11 2024
Ananda Shankar
Ananda Shankar
3
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Tue Mar 12 2024
Debut
Björk
3
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Tue Mar 19 2024
The Stranger
Billy Joel
4
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Tue Mar 26 2024
Gentlemen
The Afghan Whigs
3
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Wed Mar 27 2024
It's Too Late to Stop Now
Van Morrison
This is the best Van Morrison album on the list. There is an energy to this live album that is missing from the studio recordings.
4
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Thu Mar 28 2024
Ghosteen
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
It was a grey and rainy day and I enjoyed this melancholy backing track. I can't tell if my enjoyment means this is the best Nick Cave album on the list or if I just needed the right setting for the other albums....
3
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Fri Mar 29 2024
The Infotainment Scan
The Fall
2
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Mon Apr 01 2024
Live At The Regal
B.B. King
4
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Tue Apr 02 2024
A Nod Is As Good As A Wink To A Blind Horse
Faces
3
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Thu Apr 04 2024
Only By The Night
Kings of Leon
4
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Fri Apr 05 2024
She's So Unusual
Cyndi Lauper
I have been so disappointed by the Madonna albums on this list since I only knew the hits, but even only knowing the hits from this Cyndi Lauper album, this album is everything I want and expect from an 80s pop icon. Cyndi should have been bigger and Madonna doesn't deserve her rep, at least not based on the albums on this list.
4
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Tue Apr 09 2024
LP1
FKA twigs
Great find, reminds me a little of the song Roads on Portishead's Dummy. A modernized 90s trip hop vibe, I dig it.
4
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Wed Apr 10 2024
Copper Blue
Sugar
Immediately identifiable as a 90's power pop, post-grunge band, which should be in my wheel house but leaves me feeling kind of meh. I just read that the Gin Blossoms have announced a co-headlining tour with Toad the Wet Sprocket. Sugar would fit right in on this tour.
3
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Fri Apr 12 2024
Ellington at Newport
Duke Ellington
4