There is lots of decent or even good metal out there. Why is this on the list? (So that was my first reaction. Then I read up on it, and apparently they were really pioneers of several sub-genres of metal in the late 70s-early 80s. And so like with the Brian Eno stuff, part of why they merit inclusion on this list is the influence they had on what came after? In that case, do I boost their rating based on the impact they had? Do I rate the music in a vacuum, based totally on what I hear? Or do I rate it based on its historical context?)

Here's Peter Tosh calling for the legalization of marijuana in 1976 (in Jamaica). Tosh also said "Herb will become like cigarettes," in an NME interview in 1978. Yet here we are, 46 years later, and cigarettes have become much less common and marijuana is still not culturally acceptable at the level Tosh was pleading for. Five years after this album was released, President Nixon called for a "War on Drugs" as part of the tough-on-crime platform of the Republican Party, and countless lives have been ruined by this war in the years since. In Jamaica, possession of up to 2 oz. of ganja was decriminalized in 2015, and in 2018 the first medical cannabis dispensary opened after medical marijuana was legalized. In the United States, marijuana is legalized in 18 states, 2 territories, and the District of Columbia – but illegal at federal level. Decriminalized in another 13 states and 1 territory. Despite these recent changes, 8.2 million Americans were arrested for marijuana between 2001 and 2010, and 80% of those were for simple possession. On top of that, blacks are 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than whites. The numbers improved only slightly from 2010-2020, mostly offset by increases in methamphetamine arrests. Over 40,000 Americans are in prison for marijuana offenses, and millions more have criminal records that impact their quality of life. The War on Drugs is a failure. Legalize It.

Acronyms are intended for abbreviating long phrases or names - they can be super-useful when used for their proper purpose. The acronym for Feeling Called Love would be F.C.L. But P.U.L.P. seems to misunderstand how acronyms work. Acronyms sung as part of a song also usually doesn't go well. Or spelling things out in general. "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" might be the exception, but "Y.M.C.A." and B-A-N-A-N-A-S certainly wore out their welcome. I wonder how long of a playlist we could get out of songs that spell out words or acronyms...? So Pulp misunderstands acronyms, but I think I must misunderstand Pulp. Because apparently "Different Class" is acclaimed and beloved, and people think Jarvis Cocker (surely a country singer and not a Brit-pop dandy) is an amazing lyricist. But my understanding is that the album is nearly unlistenable, and the lyrics are either lame or offensive. I don't need to hear multiple songs of Cocker bragging about his affairs with married women. I prefer low pulp. Or no pulp. The orange juice doesn't lose anything without the pulp, and neither would music.

The term oxymoron was first used in the 1657 apparently. Over 300 years later, John Martyn attempted to kill it softly with the bland and boring title track to "Solid Air." As the album opened, and "Solid Air" dragged on for over 5 minutes, I worried I wouldn't be able to make it through this album. My intense apathy towards the song nearly made me let out a silent scream, and it made me wish I'd started the album in a random order. But the only choice was to press on, hoping for a minor miracle to end the sweet misery (in my unbiased opinion). Luckily, "Over the Hill" quickly picked up the pace. And there was plenty more interesting to come after that. If I had skipped "Solid Air" and took a big toke when the second track started, I think it would have really hit me mid-way through the controlled chaos that is "I'd Rather Be the Devil." Folk, psychedelic rock, jazz, and blues, and more all come together with uneven results, making for what is perhaps undeniably an interesting listen. I went from * after the first track, then see-sawed back-and-forth repeatedly, briefly considering a ****. In the end, my only choice was to split the difference and stick with ***.

NPR ranked "Untitled (Black Is)" as it's #1 album of 2020, and while it's not my #1, SAULT certainly made an album of the moment that captured the zeitgeist and feels timely and cathartic. There is a lot of variety on the album, yet it still feels cohesive. It is pleading and desperate at times, and hopeful and uplifting at others.

"Sweet Dreams" is, of course, a classic. But I'm not feeling the rest of the album. Too synthy (its weird that I like Chvrches, that's way more synth than I usually like), but particularly a lot of weird sounds (the beginning of "I've Got An Angel"). I laughed out loud when I don't think I was supposed to at a lot of parts. There's a reason "Sweet Dreams" was the only hit off this record.

I didn't love the vocals, but the instrumentals were good background music. And that's way too many songs. How many double albums are on this 1001 list? I've also decided I wish the ratings scale was 10 point.

A legend for good reason. Lyrics and voice on this are one of a kind, and the live performance has so much charisma and personality. I’d go 9.3 or so out of 10, but 5/5 is like 10/10 right, so I’ve gotta be super judicious with the 5’s.

I was sorta familiar with this from the Ryan Adams cover version. His version is better. :) But Taylor’s is very good. It’s a very good pop album. It’s not a masterpiece. Her voice is good but not spectacular, the songwriting is occasionally spectacular but sometimes a bit cringy. Sorry Swifties, but let’s be honest - you’ve gotta be judicious with the 5 star reviews.

A solid proto-alternative album. But nothing really stood out. Was good in the background, but never demanded my attention. They made an impact on some though - apparently they are name-dropped in songs by Death Cab, Jimmy Eat World, and Shins, so it sounds like they were influential even though I had heard the name but didn’t know their music.

They didn’t live up to their potential, but their early stuff was quite good. Not revolutionary or ground-breaking, but I’ll take their early 2000s stuff over some of the pop-radio-friendly rock that came just before and just after them.

This album is amazing. I'm sure it's not gonna be everyone's jam, but I really dig it. I've always meant to listen to more Rush, because I like prog rock and like what I've heard from them, and their influence on those who came after is immense. "Tom Sawyer" is my least favorite song on the album - by a lot. In fact, that's gonna keep it from being a 5 I think. (The excessive synth from "Tom Sawyer" is confined to that song.) This is the first album from this experiment that I've listened to more than once.

This is music. But it's background music. It's not meant to be listened to. (By Eno's own admission. It was literally written with the thought of having looping background music in airports and other similar spaces.) So it's inclusion on 1001 albums you've gotta hear really frustrates me. Since Eno pioneered ambient music with this album, thousands of other similar pieces of music have been made to serve as background music or meditation soundtracks. What makes this example special other than it being the first? It's not that I have a problem with this music (though I wouldn't choose to listen to it), but I have a bone to pick with its inclusion on this list.

It was fine. Couple of good radio hits, but nothing to really elevate it to higher levels.

There is lots of decent or even good metal out there. Why is this on the list? (So that was my first reaction. Then I read up on it, and apparently they were really pioneers of several sub-genres of metal in the late 70s-early 80s. And so like with the Brian Eno stuff, part of why they merit inclusion on this list is the influence they had on what came after? In that case, do I boost their rating based on the impact they had? Do I rate the music in a vacuum, based totally on what I hear? Or do I rate it based on its historical context?)

"What's Love Got to Do With It" is, of course, a classic. The rest is too 80s for my taste.

Well, I'm not sure quite where to fall on this one. "Rio" is awful. I thought "Hungry Like a Wolf" was better for the first half, but by the end was quite sick of it. There are a few decent tracks though, mostly the ones that put more focus on the guitar and bass. (I'm beginning to think I'm really not a big fan of 80s music!)

I mean, with the album kicking off with the bassline from "Seven Nation Army," what more could you want? And a clear indication that what would follow would be masterful. An amazing blend of blues and garage rock, by the best 2-person rock group since Local H (and then the Black Keys would come along a few years later!). I could go on and on about every track on this album - its one of the absolute best. Easy 5 stars, no reservations.

So apparently this is a bit of a concept album, with a complex story that close listening would reveal in a rewarding way. I didn't listen to it closely. I thought part-way through that \"I should pay more attention to the lyrics.\" But I must confess I didn't. This album probably deserved better, even though its not really my style.

I mean, it's Aretha...

I have heard the name, but wouldn't have guessed that I would not recognize their most popular songs. I half-listened to a lot of pop-radio in the 80s (we couldn't just ask Alexa to play something different when our parents were listening to something!), but none of the Cocteau Twins' stuff sounds even remotely familiar. And probably because its quite unspectacular and wasn't that popular when it came out. But they have two albums on this list! So, some additional notes after listening to the full album. It is not radio-friendly pop, and that's likely why I never heard it. It's... "dream pop?" And yes, it has a lot of dream-like, ethereal elements. A lot of fluttering soprano and meandering tracks that feel a lot longer than their actual run-time. Not my jam, but more interesting than I expected.

Ok, so this is a tough one. It leaves a lot to unpack. Holding up to it's reputation, it an amazing slice of and glimpse at a dark America, a sadness filled with mistakes and loss and tragedy. It just has an overall sorrowful and somber mood, and the material combined with the harmonica (jeez that can really be a sad instrument huh?) left me pretty low by the end. That recognition of the dark side in the early Reagan years is remarkable. And that Springsteen makes such a constant focus on a blue-collar America that has for years been manipulated to turn against their best interests... "Open All Night" has a great energy... it's by far the shortest song on this brilliant but melancholy record.

Early punk, with added horns, but still feels more punk than ska. Very interesting. I was continuing to dig this, and then the R-word pops up prominently in track 3. Sigh. Still, a solid album overall. It took a couple of songs to get used to the vocals, but they grew on me somewhat. Second half wasn't as strong, but I actually really dug the horns and harmonica mixed with classic punk.

Well, when you start with "TV Set" you really get off on the wrong foot. "TV Set" is an awful mess. "Rock on the Moon" had a somewhat promising start, then devolved into a cacophonous mess. And hey, turns out "Rock on the Moon" is a cover. Because the start of that track shows the potentially of the "psychobilly" style, I guess. It takes the rockabilly sound and amps it up, distorts it, turns it on its head. Later in the album, there is some stuff that is an actually not-terrible mix of rockabilly, surf rock, and punk. However, it is plagued by some terrible production (intentionally terrible?). They don't seem to know how to restrain their excesses. The hissing distortion that just hangs in the background of multiple songs, the singer sounding like he's in a different room than the lead guitar... The lead singer's name is Luxe Interior. He met his wife, also a member of the band, when he picked her up hitchhiking. Also according to Wikipedia, his "specialty is the microphone blowjob." I agonized for a while on * vs. **, but in the end there's enough interesting stuff there to elevate it above Venom or the Cocteau Twins or Brian Eno for me.

Is it a concept album, telling the story of a broken relationship? Because there's almost no actual storytelling here. It's a lot of feelings, but I wanted to hear more details about the story of the relationship. She doesn't seem to share proof of his cheating? Apparently he has a drinking problem, and hangs out with his friends too much. The first four songs are boring and repetitive, but the pace and mood picks up with "Shoe Goes on the Other Foot Tonight." However, it turns back mopey again and falls doesn't seem to follow through on the story and character development hinted at in "Saint to Sinner." As for the music itself, its too twangy for my taste. So many country singers overdo the twang and accent (just like Scott Stapp and many others overdid it trying to copy the throaty thing early grunge singers popularized - that's right, 90% of country music is to it's genre as Creed is to alternative rock). (And yes, I realize Loretta Lynn probably was the forerunner here that inspired many singers that followed. At least(?) these songs are shorter than punk songs - is this normal for country?

Elvis has an incredible voice. I feel like its not what he is most remembered for, but it can be velvety smooth when used well. The trouble is, he overdoes it at times. If his velvety deep voice is like a warm blanket, sometimes Elvis throws an extra blanket on top and smothers you with it. The songs on this album that lean more into the blues are the standouts, but I'm not feeling the honky-tonk.

For an album declaring in the title that Cee-Lo Green is a soul machine, I wanted more soul! Sometimes Cee Lo's voice works for me, and sometimes it doesn't. He can sing, and he can rap, but sometimes the nasally high pitch isn't used well. Or its growly and yappy (I'm looking at you, "Scrap Metal"). But there were definitely some fun tracks on here. "I'll Be Around" was the first one that jumped out at me - it definitely had that Timbaland sound. What Timbaland sound, you ask!? Why don't you know Timbaland? More like, why do I know Timbaland? Its weird, Timbaland & Magoo's "Welcome to Our World" album has apparently stuck in my mind as a standout late 90's hip-hop album, though I hadn't thought about it in years. As soon as I heard "I'll Be Around" though, I immediately recalled "Clock Strikes," with its sample of the Knight Rider theme song. Seriously. It's amazing. And also "Up Jumps da Boogie" with Missy Elliot! But sorry, back to Cee Lo. "Childz Play" with Ludacris is fun, and the soul finally appears on "All Day Love Affair." Those, along with "Die Trying," are the best tracks, but overall this anointing of the soul machine would have benefitted from more soul. Also, I find it troubling that his name is hyphenated in the album title, but not anywhere else...

The Blue Who? I was dreading another very dated 80s album filled with synth. Turned out it was worse than that. "A Walk Across the Rooftops" did provide some brief glimpses of hope, with the incorporation of real piano and real strings, along with a funky baseline. But then came "Tinseltown in the Rain," which might be my least favorite song of this experiment so far. After tight 2 minute songs from Loretta Lynn the other day, the 5-6 minute songs here were agonizingly long. It's possible have good longer songs, that are dynamic and shift and change throughout. That's not what this was. They just droned on. And on.

I wrote a lot about TLC. And then forgot to save it. Doh! This album is "cool." But I think its coolness may have been heightened by the time period in which it came out. It was peak MTV, and the music videos from this album, especially "Waterfalls," are intrinsically tied to these songs. It was also a time when women in music were openly and boldly talking about their sexuality - we wouldn't have WAP today if it wasn't for TLC and Salt n Pepa. (Credit to Kate on that one.) This album is "sexy." And it's in the sultry songs where it excels the best, and those type of songs are also best suited for the voices of T-Boz and Chilli. I was a little worried at first on "Creep," where I was really underwhelmed by the vocals. They're not amazing singers, just good, and some of these songs that utilized their voices better than others. However, as good as this album might be for turning the lights down low, it probably killed the mood with the funniest bit on the album, the prank call of "Sexy-Interlude" that ends with a toilet flushing. This album is "crazy" too. Or at least, TLC's story is. From ditching their founding third member, to drama between group members, to Left Eye almost burning her house down setting fire to a bathtub full of her abusive boyfriend's shoes. Left Eye, by the way, is the real star and stand-out here. Her verses are the best part of every song. Overall, this is the first album that I've had to consider how much (if at all) I'll let the nostalgia factor influence my reviews. "Crazysexycool" is not as good as I remembered. It has a few very fondly remembered hit singles, and while I get why it was a big hit at the time, it doesn't hold up quite as well.

I was supposed to laugh out loud at the start of "Moon Raga," right? The horns at the start were unexpected, but after that this settled in quickly as a cohesive album that comfortable and snuggly and warm. “Draft Morning” devolves unexpectedly but interestly into noise and chaos briefly, clearly the mark of a band with a set style but also an yearning to experiment. (It was right before this album that their lead singer changed his first name, to Roger, as part of joining an Indonesian “spiritual movement.” The 60’s, man... What super-vanilla white dude name would you pick when you join some kind of zen cult?) I only really knew “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn, Turn, Turn” really well, but I found their harmonies and arrangements to be classic. Perhaps classic rock even?? But they were pioneers of folk rock, and were experimenting here with psychedelic rock... of course, everything before 1997 with a guitar is classic rock, right? ;) Finally, the Byrds are not brothers, so this album title is another case of false advertising. (This only missed **** because “Moon Raga” totally took me out of it.)

I had never heard of Suede. Or the London Suede. But you have to have heard of both to figure anything out? And which reissue or remaster to listen to? Do I have to listen to the bonus disc? The demos? The live versions? Ok, we figured it out. But why have I never heard of Suede? Why did they not get nearly the level of attention that other Britpop bands got (much to the chagrin of one pretentious-ass)? Because I actually liked this album quite a bit. I could definitely see myself listening to Suede again. I will agree that I don't dig the singer's voice at times, which is what is going to keep this album from earning ****. Sometimes - sometimes - I really like the way he uses his voice, with short sudden high notes and quick swings to the lower register. But too often he hits that sweet spot of saccharine Sussex accent that makes pretentious-ass sick to their stomach and disrupts their bowels. All the vocals needed to do was not fuck things up too bad, though, because the instrumentation was the real standout. Super interesting stuff, that I could try to remember how to ramble on in a doomed attempt to make it sound like I know how to talk about music. However, I left writing this until the last minute today and am out of Hershey squirts to give.

This album is "louder" and more aggressive than I was anticipating, especially after only knowing "Bittersweet Symphony" and listening to the first part of that album before realizing I was listening to the wrong Verve album. I like this one better than that one, but I don't like "On Your Own." Also, sometimes there's a bit too much screechy reverb, like on "A Northern Soul." The Verve do some sonically interesting, but doesn't always work for me. The repeated "I'm gonna die alone in bed" was a bit much, but later he's "too busy staying alive," "too busy living a lie," and "too busy living my life," so he seems a bit confused here. Apparently their earlier stuff is more psychedelic? But by their next one, with "Bittersweet Symphony," they get pretty poppy and use lots of strings. So what was up with this one? Well, it seems it was written and recorded on ecstacy. Not the drug I would have guessed from the first half, though I read this while listening to "Brainstorm Interlude" and it started to make sense. Still overall, though, I feel like a lot of the album was more aggressive than I would expect from a bunch of dudes on X. The second half of the album really loses steam, and loses my interest. Three stars kinda feels too generous, but a 5 or 6 out of 10 sounds right I guess. Other interesting Verve bits - a reviewer wrote that "Richard Ashcroft has a face that even a mother would say 'you’ve got mostly your father in ya;'” after they split up in 1999, Ashcroft said "You're more likely to get all four Beatles on stage" (they got back together in 2007); and finally, this is not The Verve Pipe. I hope they're not on the list, "Freshmen" is even more annoying and overplayed than "Bittersweet Symphony."

Nothing's shocking!? There are flame-headed naked Siamese twins on a cow background - how is that not shocking!? Why didn't I have this hidden under my mattress as a kid? What's that you say? It came out in 1988? Holy crap! I didn't really know what music (or breasts) were when I was 8. And that's a further indication that this was very ahead of its time. In that context, Jane's Addiction is more responsible for the coming decade of alternative rock than I had realized. Their sound, plus their role in starting Lollapalooza, helped to save us from the 80s. Perry Farrell's voice shouldn't work, but it does. This album is amazing. "Jane Says" is a top-tier, 11/10 song. Does anything more need to be said?

I've had very little exposure to Nick Drake. (And he to me.) I think the first time I heard him is actually on the Garden State Soundtrack (shoutout to an album that had a big influence on my musical journey - any soundtracks on this list?), and from the start of "Pink Moon" it was immediately familiar because it sounded so much like "One of These Things First" from that album. I enjoy Drake’s style, but I waited until after 9 pm to write this so don’t have much to say about it. Good chill/relaxing background music, though it does get repetitive.

So I have a memory of going to a Pearl Jam show with Kate in Baltimore, and Sleater-Kinney opened. Kate was not a fan. And this is what I have always remembered any time Sleater-Kinney has come on or come up in discussion, especially around Kate. Now I have learned that this never happened. We did go to the show in Baltimore, but Sleater-Kinney wasn't there. (We may have both seen Sleater-Kinney open for PJ in '03, but weren't there together.) Not sure how this Mandela Effect of a memory got into my brain, but I'm gonna default to blaming the marijuana. As for "Dig Me Out," and Sleater-Kinney in general... I've listened at least 3 times trying to figure out where to land on this. I like female-fronted rock bands. Really like. It's what I listen to more than anything else. Sleater-Kinney should be right up my alley. But I've never quite gotten into them. I've always tolerated them more than Kate, who despite that false memory really doesn't dig Carrie Brownstein's voice. I've only ever listened to them in small doses - I think this was the first time I listened to a full album. My first reaction was an agreement that I don't love the warbling thing that Brownstein does with her voice. But by the time I got to the end of the album, it was growing on me a bit. Sometimes the warble is used very effectively, other times less so. On repeated listens, I came around more. She's still not in my top 10 of female rock vocalists (been thinking about that a bit), but I can tolerate and oftentimes enjoy/appreciate it. However, Corin Tucker's backing vocals on "One More Time" - "and you, and you..." - are annoying. And "Little Babies" is by far the worst song on this record - I'm not sure what hell-yeah sees there. "Dance Song '97" is my favorite. Throughout the album, though, the energy is great, full of punk and riott ferver. I still wound up stuck between 3 and 4 stars. So I'll complain about the 5-star system again. Untappd has a 5-star system, but broken up into .25 increments. If I give 3/5, that's a 60%. This album isn't "barely passing," but I've also gotta keep a scale on this system somehow that differentiates between B+ and B- albums. I promise not to whine about the star system for another 10 albums...

For every bit of groovy funk or piercing electric guitar, there's something that is too cheesy, cringey, or just weird. Weird can be good, but "Sign 'O' The Times" is just all over the place. Much respect to Prince for his musical talent and boundary-pushing experimentation, but I wouldn't listen to this again. Hmm... just got to "The Cross" after writing all of the above. By far the most interesting song on the album for me. I feel like very few other songs on the album highlighted Prince's voice well. This one did. "The Cross" was also more stripped-down, without too much other stuff going on. Oddly, this doesn't boost my rating up - instead it confirms the ** level because I'm more frustrated with the rest of the album as a result. I think "The Cross" feels pretty timeless, whereas the rest of the album is dated and very much a sign of the times.

There is a lot of more recent rap that I can't stand. The beats and the production are all too similar, following in the trap style of fast hi-hats and AutoTune and droning repetitive lyrics about drugs and girls. Kendrick Lamar is not that. And he stands out all the more amidst his peers for it. He has a voice that I feel like shouldn't work, but does (a bit of a theme lately for me with some of the recent albums). He is an amazing lyricist, writer, and rapper, with a flow that is unique and at times mind-blowing. He tells stories, he exposes raw truths. And he does it all with a seamlessly interwoven background of beats and horns. There is more soul and funk I can dig on this album than there was on Prince's "Sign 'O' The Times." Kendrick Lamar has so much to say, and it deserves and warrants repeated close listens. As an aside, with the relatively low number of hip hop albums on this list, I would expect that they are more likely to be the cream of the crop, 4 or 5 star albums. This one certainly sets the tone for that.

If it wasn't all a little too muted, especially when it's too quiet for the quiet parts, it would be 5-star. Female rock vocalists are kind of my thing, and I should have listened to more PJ Harvey back in the day.

Did you have the guys at your high school that put the biggest subwoofers in their trunk that they could afford and fit? Some of them also made sure they made the appropriate modifications to the trunk to reduce rattle from the booming bass. Some didn't, and it sounded dumb because their vibrating trunk was louder than the rest of the music. There's something wrong with the speaker on my driver's side door, and it rattles with too much bass. (It's broken, or something is loose, and has needed deeper investigation for a year.) But most of the stuff I listen to in the car, at the volume at which I listen to it, doesn't cause rattling or vibration. "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" rattled the crap out of my speaker. There is a shocking amount of deeply reverberating bass on that album. As for the actual music, there are numerous 5-star songs on the album. It's also a double album, so there are so many songs that not all rise to that level. Interestingly, a couple of the hits - "Zero" and "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" - I felt did not hold up 25 years later. Meanwhile, "Thirty-Three," "1979," "Muzzle," and many more still blow me away. There is some deep 90s angst on here, but also some really timeless stuff. Good mix of experimentation, and pairing of quieter, softer songs with some real rage. A few of the raging songs just don't quite do it for me, keeping the album from hitting 5 stars. You could definitely make a 50-star single album from the tracks on this one. Billy Corgan's is another voice that I feel like shouldn't work, but usually does. And I think that on "Mellon Collie" he found some really great ways to use his vocal instrument. By the way, in addition to various recent Pumpkins reunions, for the last 10 years Corgan has spent a lot of his time and money in professional wrestling, working in ownership and backstage creative roles. He is currently the owner of one of the oldest promotions, the National Wrestling Alliance. Clearly, Corgan has gone in a lot of different directions since the 90s. I didn't like the Pumpkins as much as their sound evolved in a more electronic direction on later albums. But "Siamese Dream" and "Mellon Collie" remain absolute classics.

Wikipedia deep dives to learn more about the artists behind these albums have revealed lots of interesting facts and drama about the musicians, and now also about racist caricatures. CCR has become such an iconic name in classic rock, but would they have become as big if they were named Muddy Rabbit, Gossamer Wump, or the name foisted upon them by a record exec early in their career, the Golliwogs. Well that last one is an interesting name, where is that from? Sounds like some creature from a fantasy story. Nope... it's a book character-turned-doll in blackface minstrel style from the late 1800s. That wiki page is an interesting read, with connections to things Margaret Thatcher's daughter said this century! But I digress... classic rock! CCR certainly embodies classic rock. And swamp rock... or bayou rock... or Southern rock... or whatever. But they were actually posers from San Francisco! Working through whether to dock them a star for that. It also makes me think about how cultural appropriation is defined. It is usually focused on appropriating the cultural of an oppressed minority. But I bet these white guys from Cali got some opportunities that a black bluesman from Louisiana playing some of the same licks wouldn't have gotten. Oh, right, the music. The first few songs are incredible - 5 star stuff. But I was really thrown by "Good Golly Miss Molly" - I hadn't noticed it on the track list before I heard it. Jarring stylistic shift, and more appropriation? Or just covering a by an artist instrumental in the development of blues and rock and roll? Fogerty's voice is terrific. And yet, the fake Southern accent is sometimes a bit much. And why is "burning" pronounced "boynin" on "Proud Mary?" There is some great guitar, and some great harmonica, but it never gets back to the heights of "Born on the Bayou" and "Bootleg."

I really don’t have much to say about k.d. lang. (Any relation to Brian Lang?) She has a nice voice, but it’s all so subdued. I don’t even have the right language to talk about the style of this album, I think. I will echo, though, that the hit single “Constant Craving” sounds quite different from the rest of the record. Mostly I was bored by “Ingenue,” nothing here grabbed my attention. It was capably made, and inoffensive, but didn’t stand out. I feel like there are a thousand other albums out there that sound much like this one without the same level of attention.

Janis! Holy cow! This once again exposed the gaps in my music knowledge. I did not know the names of any of Joplin’s backing bands, and since this one doesn’t bear her name I didn’t realize it was her at first. Then as I listened, I thought that remarkable voice sounded familiar. And sure enough, this is the band that launched Joplin’s career. After plunging deep into her tragic story, which I really only knew the end of, I went back and listened to the first Big Brother and the Holding Company album, and the next one she made with a new band. You can definitely hear the progression in her style and confidence as a singer. Bluesy, awesome classic rock. They may have been dirty hippies in the height of Haight Ashbury, but damn can Janis Joplin sing.

The only disappointment it shame here is that the Fugees didn’t stay together. Wow, what could have been. Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was great, Carnival was very good… but the Score is next level. Unmatchable. Six stars if I could. The rhymes, the references, I could go on and on.

What a mess of styles. There’s a lot of interesting stuff here, but there is one point where consecutive songs switch from hip hop to instrumental jazz to drum and bass with Hindi vocals to piano pop. There is apparently some deep meaning according to the artist, but it’s lost in the telling. Also very surprised to see this on the list. Most things on the list have had some popularity in the US, with a focus on genres and artists popular in the US and UK. This seems an odd choice, though the artist has apparently won lots of awards in England and worked with lots of famous people.

Let’s make music that sounds like it’s… From the FUTURE! I wonder what Gary Numan thinks of the future of music being nothing like what he seemed to envision in the late 70s and early 80s. Thank goodness new wave didn’t make more of a long-term impact. I didn’t like this. At all. My least favorite lead singer voice of the 1001 so far.

I may not love Nitin Sawhney or Gary Numan, but I can’t deny how much I’m learning about music, history, and much more through this experiment. As for Fela Kuti, I can attest that jam not only goes great on toast, but also on stage. I’m glad to see a variety of genres, styles, and countries represented on the list, and Kuti’s a great example of that. He created Afrobeat - a fusion of funk, jazz, psychedelic rock, and traditional Nigerian music. On the other hand, Kuti also described polygamy as logical and convenient: "A man goes for many women in the first place. Like in Europe, when a man is married when the wife is sleeping, he goes out and sleeps around. He should bring the women in the house, man, to live with him, and stop running around the streets!" He also may or may not have died of AIDS, but he was an AIDD denialist so his family rejects that story. And I couldn’t find any info about the end result of murder charges brought by the Nigerian government late in his life. (The government had multiple times jailed or attacked him for political reasons.) An activist who had a transformative impact on music and his country, but a complicated story.

It’s apparently been more than a decade that I’ve been trying to figure out what I want from “Intro.” I love the sound. But I’ve never been able to figure out whether I want it to keep looping for at least twice as long, or do I want it to build and evolve into a more complete song. The songs on “xx” often build a bit only to retreat, consistently teasing the listener. I think edging is the technical music terminology for that, right? The tease works though. It’s a terrific chill out album, creating a laid back atmosphere with understated, crystal-clear guitar and just the right amount of electronica. “Crystalized” and “Stars” stand out, but the whole thing benefits from its consistency.

Well… That was weird… And also really interesting? But good? This was weirder and wilder than I knew 1979 was capable of. It feels very unrestrained and raw. Sometimes that can be a great thing, but here it’s a bit too much. This is apparently a much-lauded album, and inspired many later artists. I’m not surprised they were influential, but it just goes a bit too far for me. The incorporation of dub reggae and ska create a cool underlying punk sound, and the I like how the lyrics challenge norms. And I usually like singers who scream and let their voices crack. While this is a touch too unrestrained and raw for me, much credit to these ladies for saying “fuck it” with their attitude, style, ethos, and music.

I would be totally pleased with this album as background music at a nice restaurant, or in a hotel lobby. But casual jazz listening might just not be my thing. Apparently Stan Getz is a saxophone legend. I hadn't heard of him. He has two albums on the list. Some of his jazz influencers and contemporaries, who I had heard of, are not on the list... The musicianship on "Jazz Samba" seems incredibly tight and capable. It's easy to listen to. The guitar complements Getz's sax nicely. But here's the thing - I don't listen to enough jazz or know jazz well enough to judge how good of a jazz album this is. I felt the same way to some extent with Fela Kuti, and likely will with other non-rock albums on the list. Most of my musical knowledge and language comes from rock music (and some hip hop), so it's much harder to judge things from genres I'm not familiar with. Then there is the question of how much of the rating comes from the quality of the music, and how much comes from my enjoyment of it. I can know that something is a brilliant piece of music, but not really dig it. How many stars does that get?

We saw the Pixies perform this full album on it's 25th anniversary tour at DAR Constitution Hall. A seemingly unconventional venue for the Pixies. They must be true Daughters of the American Revolution. Kate asked if we heard this for the first time today, would we feel the same way about it that we do after discovering it at a much younger age and listening to it for more than two decades. This review nailed the dynamic of the Pixies, and what makes them so great - "The tension from straddling pop’s melodies with punk’s energy, Black Francis’ anguished lead vocals with bassist Kim Deal’s harmonies, and Deal’s own juxtaposition of flatly deadpan with perky and sweet make all of these tracks jump."

I was bored. Anita Baker has a great voice, nothing can be taken away on that account. But the keyboard-driven style of this kind of 80s stuff does nothing for me. That was a lot of generic songs about love too - I wish the writing could measure up to her voice.

“Dabble-do, woo ooh, dabble-do, woo ooh…” The Coral is all over the place, and not in a good way. Just when you think there’s something you like (and there’s definitely some strong potential), they pull a 180 and switch genres mid-song or bollocks it up with a lousy lyric. “Dreaming of You” and “Goodbye” were pretty decent, but “Shadows Fall” and the “yabble-dabble doing” of “Simon Diamond” really brought this down for me. And lest we forget: “Calendars Clocks and hickory docks (tick tock) Calendars Clocks and hickory docks (tick tock) Yeah Calendars Clocks and hickory docks (tick tock)” A 3… just barely. So close to a 2 because of some of its worse bits.

TIL that Sting is a serial killer. Seriously, wtf is “Murder by Numbers” if not a very blunt confession? Maybe your mum keeps ringing you on the telephone to check on whether all these girls you go out with make it back home. The Police have an awesome and unique sound when at their best. There are a few gems on here, but “Mother” was such weird shock it’s gonna bring it from a high-4 all the way down to a 3.

I kept wanting to get more into it than I could. There's a lot about punk and post-punk that I like, but the vocal style of a lot of punk singers doesn't quite work for me.

I haven't listened to a lot of Stones, but have always liked what I've heard. In larger doses, I'm even more impressed. I was already impressed by their longevity - for guys that go as hard as they do, to continue doing it through six decades is kind of ridiculous. And my goodness, the late 60s/early 70s were an incredibly prolific time for them, releasing an album every year. "Sticky Fingers" delivers with some bluesy brilliance throughout. With the number of songs the Stones were churning out, you'd think that there would be some clunkers best left for the eventual rarities collection. However, with the exception of "Dead Flowers" and it's weird accent, everything on "Sticky Fingers" is great. Why are your fingers so sticky, though, Mick?

I disliked this. Quite a bit. "Tainted Love" is of course fondly remembered, though I have to wonder, in the context of the rest of the album, how I would feel about "Tainted Love" if I heard it for the first time today with the rest of "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret." I can't decide if Soft Cell is authentically presenting themselves (or at least an exaggerated version of themselves), or if this is all for show. Marc Almond wrote this stuff when he was in his early 20s... so why does he present the mid-life crisis of a 40-year-old middle class worker bee, and also the late 20s crisis of a bedsitter? "I have life/ I have cage/ I'm going bald/ I want to tell the world/ I've done nothing/ I've achieved nothing/ I work for a firm/ But I want to burn it down, down" and also "I think it's time to cook a meal/ To fill the emptiness I feel/ Spend my money going out/ I've nothing in I'm left without" So much discontentedness! Give these guys something to help them feel better about their life/the world! (They apparently got heavily into ecstacy in the next few years.) And then there's the entirety of "Sex Dwarf." I just can't. It's probably not serious? I mean, if that's your fetish, more power to you, as long as everyone is consenting and there's no problematic power imbalance. But was a whole song about it really necessary? This was an apparently positive review - Melody Maker magazine said "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret... confronts clubland with its patchy past, rubs perspective in its pretty painted face and acts like it means nothing... Aggressively embarrassing, Cabaret is the brashest, most brilliant and least-caring indictment of pop music's bankruptcy I've ever heard. No compassion, no sorrow, no joy, it just faces facts and moves to the motions... Like traditional cabaret, the whole thing parodies true emotion and like the best subversive cabaret its shallowness makes those devalued emotions even more painful – the very real decadence of this album springs from its callous realisation of pop's impotency, and yet its bored resignation to the ritual." Brash and brilliant sound positive, but the rest? So it was just meant to be subversive? I guess it was, but lyrically and musically this did not do for me what other subversive music from psychedelic and punk rock have done.

Exhibit A on why not to look at the Wikipedia page before listening to the album. Apparently the female lead, Exene Cervenka, has gotten into conspiracy theories in recent years, including mass shooting hoaxes. But once I listened, I was pleasantly surprised and mostly didn't think about what I had learned about them. I had also read that their brand of early-80s punk was tinged with rockabilly, and I could definitely hear that in the songs. Sonically I thought they were pretty great - I liked the sped-up rockabilly/surf rock style, and usually enjoyed the paired lead vocals. I wasn't as big a fan of the lyrics, though.

I listened to a little bit of Metallica recently. These albums have led me to question whether I remember stuff I loved back in the day through rose-colored glasses, or however that metaphor goes. How much is nostalgia impacting how I review something I liked as a teenager? Well, listening to Metallica again, I realized I don't like it as much as I did in the late 90s (not a huge fan, but like them enough to own a few albums). Still some damn-impressive guitar playing and drumming, but the vocals and the whole package just doesn't do it for me anymore. Anthrax is worse Metallica. Much worse. The only question remaining is if Anthrax is worse than Venom... (If I had hair long enough to whip it around when headbanging, would I like this more?) Of the "big four" metal bands of the 80s (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax), Anthrax is the only one to never win a Grammy for Best Metal Performance. They even lost out to Tenacious D once, and Tenacious D is at least 1/2 loving parody. We'll see when the other metal bands come up on the list, but I think Anthrax just isn't that good.

I wanted this to be chill background music. And there were definitely hints of really good chill electronica. But there was too much... I'm just gonna say "weirdness." Just when they find a nice groove, there's a radical shift or a new jarring sound mixed in. Ah, finally got to "Remind Me" after 8+ minutes of "Royksopp's Night Out" - I recognize this one! And it totally sticks out on the album. It's good, not great, but the vocals are different from anything else on "Melody A.M." This is nowhere close to reaching the trip-hop heights of Portishead or Massive Attack. Those songs flow, whereas Royksopp just feels disjointed.

"Second Hand News" must feel terrible about itself. Everything else on this album was a massive hit. Like getting picked last for dodgeball teams. Or being the one sibling in a big family that doesn't get good grades. (Ok so I actually didn't know "I Don't Want to Know" or "Oh Daddy" either, but that's only 3 out of 11.) Really, it's ridiculous. I don't know what other album has had such a collection of incredibly well-known songs. I was curious, so I looked through the top 50 albums on Rolling Stone's greatest albums list, trying to find something that comes close. Only "Thriller" seems to be in contention. How much of this is due to my particular musical exposure? I'm pretty sure I've never listened to "Rumors" as an album before. Most of this has gotta be through rock, classic rock, and pop radio. A lot of crossover potential from the songs might've gotten them played across a wider range of stations? I would guess I heard them as a kid in the 80s and 90s on both the classic rock station and "Mix 101.5 - for the best mix of the 70s, 80s, and today!" But I'm pretty sure radio is my only experience with Fleetwood Mac. (Oh, and Hole's cover of "Gold Dust Woman" from the Crow 2 soundtrack! Maybe the best thing Hole did... but I digress...) Of course, much more could be said about the actual music here, or the drama behind the scenes during the recording of the album, but at its core "Rumors" is just an amazing collection of songs, without a dud or a misstep in the bunch.

Well, I can say that I successfully listened to this album before I died. A bit torn on whether I deeply regret it, or if it was an important step in a well-rounded musical education. So that was "industrial rock." After powering through some of the incredibly awful things in the first few tracks, I realized that there are some moments with some interesting music. There are tidbits of tolerable metal riffs, and occasionally some electronic or string sounds that don't make me cringe. But those are too rare, and ruined by, well, everything else. Not all experimentation should be recorded, sold, and replayed.

So who would've guessed that of all the highly decorated and well-known artists on the list, the first one we would see twice would be Billy Bragg?? When the first Billy Bragg album came up, it was one of our driving days on vacation and we tried it in the car. It wasn't our kind of driving music, so we stopped and never got a chance to come back to it. But with that first album, I thought that name sounded familiar. Why? A little searching revealed this album, and that rang a bell. "Billy Bragg and Wilco" sounded like something I had heard of before. I've only listened to a little Wilco, and never listed to this collaboration, but for some reason I had heard of it. What I didn't know until now was that this was a collection of unrecorded Woody Guthrie songs, and the interesting story of how this came to be. And it turned out to be a great folk rock record. I went back and listened to the Taxman album, and I've gotta say I liked Bragg's voice and the song arrangements on this album better. I thought I would prefer the songs where Wilco's Jeff Tweedy sings lead, but I actually like both. "Way Over Yonder in a Minor Key" was a standout, but only "Hoodoo Voodoo" didn't really do it for me. Good stuff, and I'm glad to have returned to Billy Bragg.

Reflections of a reformed raver... Yes, in college, I was a raver, and yes, I wore big doofy JNCOs. I was not a candy raver (no rainbow jewelry), but definitely hung out with some. I am so sorry to report that I have pretty much no pictures of that time. Such a shame... But the point - I listened to a lot of techno and electronic music from 98-02. And it was stuff like the Chemical Brothers that primed me for that in the mid-90s. It was their second album that I had more exposure to, not this one, but it's fingerprints are definitely on my musical journey in my late teens. So looking back, through significantly less bloodshot eyes, how does it hold up? Pretty well I think. I think there are more/better breaks on "Dig Your Own Hole," and just an overall positive evolution of their sound, but "Exit Planet Dust" is still good. The first half dragged at times, with sections going to long before a break or a new sample, but the second half was better. Apparently "Song to the Siren" was what got them their break, but it was my least favorite on the album. If you need to get in the right mood for this album, just imagine 20-year-old me (looking 16) in my enormous pants trying to do the liquid hands thing.

I run a bit hot and cold on ska music. Horns make a lot of things better, but like most things, too much of a good thing... well, you know. In the 90s I loved No Doubt, but didn't really dig the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. I didn't dig much deeper than that, so I needed a little ska education for context on The Specials. Third wave ska, largely ska punk from the US, is what I had the most familiarity with. The Specials are the forebears of the second wave, in the UK in the late 70s and early 80s, and build on the roots of Jamaican ska. So knowing that, what about "The Specials?" This is the hotter side of ska for me. Lots of great horns, but the guitar playing also stood out. Less punk influence, but I can hear hints of connection to rockabilly and surf rock in places. (Which got me thinking about the evolution of rock subgenres, much as The Chemical Brothers did yesterday for electronic music. Definitely one of the most interesting things for me about hearing all these albums.) "Concrete Jungle" was my favorite track - the only one written by and with lead vocals from lead guitarist Roddy Radiation (born Roddy Byers, but how great is "Roddy Radiation?"). This track connected the most to what seems to be the genesis of The Specials and second wave/two-tone ska - capturing "the disaffection and anger felt by the youth of the UK's 'concrete jungle'—a phrase borrowed from Bob Marley's 1973 album Catch a Fire—used to describe the grim, violent inner cities of 1970s Britain." There was a clear difference between the original Specials tracks and the covers of Jamaican ska classics, but I enjoyed both. I might have to check out more ska...

I thought I had listened to this whole thing before. And still think I probably have. But I don't think I'd ever listened to it really carefully before and tried to figure out what it's all about. Concept albums are funny things. Trying to tell a complex and coherent story using only music, and only rock music at that, is a difficult thing to do. A lot of concept albums or rock operas have a lot going on between the lines, in the minds of the artist, and this is very true of "The Wall." I've never seen the film before, and I don't know how much of the understood story of "The Wall" comes from the music, how much comes from the film, and how much comes from interviews with Pink Floyd over the years. The lyrics themselves were not enough for me to really get a full understanding of what was going on, so I read about the plot on Wikipedia. And it all made sense, but also there was just so much more depth and cohesion than you could gleam by just listening to the songs. Putting together a piece of art that attempts to do what "The Wall" attempts to do is amazing, and there are many amazing deserved classics on the album. But as a concept, as a story, it doesn't quite come together for me. I like the echoes about building the wall in multiple songs, but too much of the story is left out. The dirge style of "The Trial" at the end also felt out-of-place. So I can't quite give it 5, despite several 5-star songs and a 5-star worthy attempt at making a really interesting piece of art.

Meh... served ok as a palette cleanser from The Wall.

It's fine. But why is it on this list? I had never heard of it, so I wanted to see if it was a big deal in 2017 (big enough to include in 1001 albums you must listen to). I looked at 5 top 50 of 2017 lists (NPR, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and to include the British perspective that seems heavily weighted on the list, The Guardian and NME). Jane Weaver's "Modern Kosmology" was on none of them.

If the whole album was like the first few songs, it would be 4 or 5 stars. Love the guitar-driven Cubano style on those tracks. The jazzier and piano-focused stuff I like less.

Don't love it. Don't hate it. I actually thought I would like Declan Macmanus' voice even less, but sometimes it was ok. Also, I think he should have stuck with the name Declan. He'd be the only famous rock'n'roller named Declan. But I think there's another Elvis.

I'm sure there is a through line from Brian Eno, to Orbital, to the techno I listened to college and beyond. There was a moment while listening to this that I kind of wanted to go back and listen to Brian Eno again to see how it compared to this. But I quickly thought better of it. Unlike Eno, Orbital builds and layers in a way that feels rewarding. (I think, again I'm kind of blocking Eno out and I'm not ready to undo that.) Yes, sometimes certain segments drag on too long, but overall I liked Orbital. It was vaguely familiar at times, but I couldn't figure out if I'd heard this or just similar early house/electronica. Happy to have this on as background music.

Zzzzzz.... Huh? What's that? What time is it? Shit, I slept through... well, nothing - I'm a teacher on summer break. But good grief, this was dull. A good representation of its style, I suppose, and a style that I like more than some kinds of country music, but too... droning? Monotonous? Dull? I dunno, in my groggy post-nap stupor I'm having trouble coming up with the right words. Willie Nelson, early in his career, played on this album. Willie's a cool dude.

A little too slow at times, and I got sick of "Yellow" a long time ago, but I like "Don't Panic," "Shiver," "Spies," and "Everything's Not Lost."

I still think would best, for most of these albums, to go into listening to new music with an open mind and not reading details and reviews in advance. (Not that I'm following that guidance very well.) "Murder Ballads" is not one of those occasions. It's good to know what you're getting into with this one. Are you in the mood to hear ten dark and haunting (both in lyrics and instrumentation) stories of murder? Halfway through the first song I realized - "oh, murder ballads!" I've heard the term before but didn't connect it at first. The dark and twisted cousin of sea shanties? I've never listened to a whole album of murder ballads. And I won't again. Felt a bit like wandering lost in cobblestoned back-alleys of a late 1800s city with poor sanitation, not knowing what horror will await you around the next corner. It's interesting and different, but it's a no from me, dawg. (And that was before "O'Malley's Bar" kept going, and going, and going, with weird grunts and moans...)

It's too bad Arctic Monkey's follow-up, "Favourite Worst Nightmare," isn't on the list. It opens with "Brianstorm" - not a typo -- "Brian Top marks for not tryin' So kind of you to bless us with your effortlessness We're grateful and so strangely comforted" Which reminds me so much of these reviews. I don't think they're "not tryin'," but they do make it seem effortless. As for Arctic Monkeys and "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not," more top marks are deserved. This was their debut, and they made a huge impact. I listened to their first two albums a lot, but didn't keep up with them. I don't know anything from their 3rd or 4th albums, which I think weren't as commercially successful. (The debut was actually a really huge hit, but I don't recognize any songs from 3 and 4 - no US radio play?) Their 5th, "AM," was also pretty big and I know some of those songs, but I don't know their most recent record. But "Whatever" absolutely holds up. (So does "Favourite.") So much great energy and brilliant lyrics from Alex Turner. He has a refreshingly different English accent and style of singing after too much Brit-pop on the list. I also enjoy the thematic nature of "Whatever," without it being a full concept or story album. I was thinking about going with a 4, because I think "Favourite" is a little bit better (the rare improvement on the sophomore album). However, the more I listen and think about it, the more I realize that they are both 5-star albums for me, with infinite replayability.

Thank you, 1001 Albums Generator! Patti Smith is an artist I've constantly heard of, but never explored beyond "G-L-O-R-I-A." After finally listening to "Horses," I totally get the hype. Sometimes raw and punk, sometimes like an open mic or poetry slam (a good one, not the cringey emo ones). Another thing I've been thinking about with this experiment is the evolution of musical styles. With Patti I thought about the evolution of female rock singers - the 70s took us from Janis Joplin to Patti Smith to Heart to the Slits, and so much of the 80s and 90s was built from those foundations. Without Janis, would any of these women have found their style? I feel like she really opened the door for dynamic rock frontwomen. Patti Smith absolutely takes that opening and runs with it. Between "Birdland," "Land," and "American Pie," it certainly is the week of long songs. Kind of didn't mind the length though - they keep it interesting.

Was this one of the weirdest things to gain popularity in the early 00s? That was a pretty vanilla, mainstream era in American culture I think - boy bands, rap/rock, etc - those were lame, but not weird. Flaming Lips were/are a little bit weird. "She Don't Use Jelly" was almost a decade before this, I think? So they'd been around, but I think it's interesting that this album got as much attention as it did in 2002. Apparently it's not a concept album, according to Wayne Coyne. Could have fooled me. I guess it just is a very thematic album. Kinda like the Arctic Monkeys album earlier this week, replacing all the themes of urban nightlife in Northern England with the existential angst of fighting for survival against pink robots? Further confusing the concept album question is the fact that this was apparently turned into a musical... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbujal3IcZM... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ As for the music... I really have no idea how to talk about the music. I kinda like it, kinda don't. That's all I got.

Ohhhh! It's the sample from "Jump on it!" And the history of sampling "Apache" and that beat's influence on early hip-hop, is pretty deep and interesting. It was cool to check out the doc "Sample This" on Netflix, not least because of the revelation that Gene Simmons has an amazing voice for documentary narration, but also to find out the fascinating connections the Incredible Bongo Band has to the RFK campaign and Charles Manson. So, neat, that gives it a kind of legacy and importance in music history. Other than that, this album is a lot of covers (including "Apache" - not originally theirs) and a lot of drums. Some good/interesting guitar work, a lot of sometimes good sometimes meh organ. But between the "Apache" sample, hearing a familiar tune and going "that sounds like... oh, yeah it's...," and looking down at the name of track 3 as it came on and laughing out loud that they named a song "Bongolia," this was enjoyable enough, if not something I'd seek out again.

I... didn't hate the music? As long as you don't listen to close. Because the closer you listen the worse it gets. I'm lookin' at you, "Rock Against Ass," "Don't Say Motherfucker, Motherfucker," and "Good Head." A lot of it is cringe-i-ly juvenile upon closer inspection. I don't get these dudes. The album cover looks like something from a metal band. They describe themselves as "deathpunk." They are neither of these things. Maybe on other albums? Then I looked up pictures. Hahahahahahaahahahahahaha... whew let me catch my breath... hahahahahahaaha. Happy-Tom's (cause that's his name) sailor schtick! But it's unfair to just target Happy-Tom, because the whole band's look is... somethin'. And the denim phase! I was feeling like giving them a generous 2 before finding out more about them and their aesthetic.

Today I learned that Sepultura is Brazilian, and that it means "grave" in Portuguese. Unfortunately, this did not make me like their music any more. I wonder if there is a thrash metal band out there somewhere that I would like. Metallica is kind of on the edge of that genre, and as I think I discussed previously, when going back to Metallica now I don't like it as much as I did 20 years ago. There is a lot of potential in the soaring guitars and rapid-fire drumming, but it rarely comes together in an appealing way for more than a minute at a time. Then there is the growling singing style that seems a hallmark of the genre. Are there thrash metal bands with higher, more melodious vocals? I'd be interested to try that. Oooh, or a thrash metal band with a female vocalist? Gonna go search for that, because Sepultura isn't doing it for me.

The cover of "Vincebus Eruptum" couldn't be more late-60s psychedelic rock if it tried. While I had never heard of Blue Cheer, I knew before hitting play what was coming. The album was apparently successful at the time, but seems to have been mostly lost in the annals of classic rock history. It's nice to see more of the musical depth of the late 60s than what we've gleamed from classic rock radio, but I think I can see why Blue Cheer hasn't made as much of a lasting impact. They take psychedelic rock to a bit of a heavier place, with a little less focus and tightness that made the genre work in spite of its drug-induced, free-wheelin' inspirations.

I gave Morrissey a chance. And in doing so, at times during this record, I thought his voice worked - it fits the music and creates something cohesive, if not quite my bag. Other times I felt like it was just too much, not really fitting with the track, and sometimes just overwhelming the instrumentation. Where it works - "Cemetry Gates," "The Boy With the Thorn in His Side," "There is a Light That Never Goes Out." Where it doesn't - "Frankly, Mr. Shankly" and "Vicar With a Tutu" to great extent, and everywhere else a bit? After three tracks I liked the Smiths less than I had before listening to this album. (Only had heard some singles.) After the full album I liked them a little bit more than before beginning. So I don't know where I'm at. I would really like to look up some covers of some of these songs, to hear what they are like without Morrissey's vocal indulgences. Sometimes voices "work" in interesting places/arrangements. Morrissey's voice fits very well with the vibe and instrumentation of "There is a Light That Never Goes Out," though I don't really like the song. As I write this while listening to "Siamese Dream," I can only think about how Billy Corgan has a unique voice that probably wouldn't work in a lot of arrangements? Yet I think it weirdly fits amazingly well with the Smashing Pumpkins' sound. Morrissey's voice just doesn't always meld in that same magical way with the Smith's sound so that vocals and instrumentals elevate each other.

"Siamese Dream" is pretty tortured. I'm not tortured now, and don't think I was in the 90s (although most teens feel tortured to some extent?), certainly not like Corgan (with abuse during his childhood and recent relationship issues framing much of early Pumpkins), but damned if this album doesn't just do it for me anyway. I really like this album, maybe even more than I did in the 90s. It is intense and filled with agonized passion - it's raw and exposed and vulnerable and electric - both in subject matter and musical vibe. Like a lot of 90s alt-rock and grunge, the lyrics are poetic and often indecipherable, but it doesn't matter (to me). Breathy when it needs to be breathy, screaming earnestly at just the right peaks. James Iha's guitar (though apparently Corgan was super controlling in the studio and recorded everyone's parts himself) is alternatingly crunchy, soaring, soft - for some tracks they apparently layered and overdubbed the guitar parts dozens of times. Whatever that means, they get an amazing rich sound out of it. Pretty sure back in the day I put on my headphones and zoned out to this album like Mitch at the end of "Dazed and Confused." (This is not the album on this list that I would have expected to be the first to make me think of that top 5 of all-time movie, but I am sure it won't be the last.) The first half of the album is filled with gems, hitting a crescendo with "Disarm," brilliant and haunting with its orchestral build hinting at the softer direction for parts of "Mellon Collie." But they interweave hard-edged rage with soft emotional rawness seamlessly in numerous places, even better on "Siamese Dream" than on "Mellon Collie." Smashing Pumpkins stands out sonically from other early 90s alt-rock - it doesn't really fit with the Northwest grunge sound, doesn't fit with punk rock, doesn't fit with lo-fi shoegaze, Smashing Pumpkins really carved their own unique space.

Like most soul, "Mama's Gun" is incredibly smooth. However, I was expecting Erykah Badu to do more to really stand out, as I remembered her emergence in the 90s being a big deal for the genre. But I'm not really getting that here. Seems like pretty straightforward soul, though I say that without much knowledge of soul music, though there were a couple of bits of funk that made for a nice shift. Overall this is just fine, but mostly for background listening.

Did The Byrds have short attention spans? A classic rock album where the longest song is 3:28? Even with the shorter song lengths, multiple songs devolve into weird sounds or tangents. "Time Between" is nice - "through love and trust it's gonna work out fine" - but it's cut so short at under 2 minutes. That works great sometimes for a fast-paced punk sprint, but feels odd with a ballad like this. There was also too much experimenting with weird or unorthodox sounds or instruments; it seemed random and often didn't fit the song. (Ah... "the album captured the band and record producer Gary Usher experimenting with new musical textures, including brass instruments, reverse tape effects and an electronic oscillator.") "Mind Gardens" could be a nice, interesting song, but instead it's not. And sometimes they sound like they are trying to sing in British accents? Overall, I preferred "The Notorious Byrd Brothers" and felt like there was a lot of unrealized potential marred by experimentation on "Younger Than Yesterday." That one got a high 3, this one gets a low 3.

I was at first surprised to see a live album, but then remembered Johnny Cash. (Oh, and Fela Kuti!) Still, I feel like if you are going to include live albums on the list, there have gotta be better options than this? What makes this so special? It's not even one show! It's a compilation of live songs from several different shows. I prefer to hear one live show straight through, but perhaps there is also merit to culling the best songs from a tour? It kicks off with "Ace of Spades," and I give it a chance. It's the Motörhead song I'm most familiar with. Look - Lemmy doesn't have a great voice. But it kinda works with their sound. "Ace of Spades" also has some terrific guitar work. "Stay Clean"... not so much. It's a little more uneven after "Ace of Spades," but there is still some decent stuff worth noting. The soloing on "Metropolis" sounds like it probably inspired Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard - sounds a lot like the guitar vibe of "Ten" (which PJ never quite repeated). The start of "Iron Horse" also sounds pretty grunge-y. Motörhead is credited with inspiring the trash metal of the 80s, but their sound seems to have influenced a lot of grunge and alt rock as well. The riff in "No Class" reminds me of Queens of the Stone Age, but either the composition of the song is a bit rough, or the performance was. Parts of "No Sleep 'til Hammersmith" made me wonder where the line between metal and punk or grunge lies, and I like hearing stuff that walks the line between genres rather than playing things too safe and familiar. With early summer's hope of hearing live music again soon now fading, if you are looking for more classic live albums, check out Rolling Stones' 50 best live albums of all time - https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/50-greatest-live-albums-of-all-time-173246/

Look, we all loved some "Dookie." It was dumb punk fun. But we're not gonna pretend that Green Day didn't go gradually downhill from there in their next several albums. There were some hits in there, but nothing that hinted that they had "American Idiot" in them. I don't think Green Day was taken very seriously before "American Idiot." They were a raucous punk band, but mainstream enough to be MTV darlings and probably the band most responsible for the unfortunate wave of pop-punk of the late 90s and early 00s. (Take a star off for that if you want.) But holy crap was "American Idiot" ambitious. And I think it's the best they've ever sounded. (Who knows, maybe I would eat my words if I went back and listened to all of "Insomniac" or "Nimrod.") They cleaned up and polished their sound, and while that may sound bad for a punk band, they pulled it off so well. Regardless of any concept in the story or lyrics, Green Day really matured sonically. The punk is still there, but the songs are varied, well-structured, with great build and rise-and-fall throughout. You may not love Billy Joe's voice - it's nasally and a bit whiny - but I think you can tell here that he is becoming a better singer. It's really a great album, start to finish. It may not be the Great American Novel of the 21st century, but it's a solid concept with good lyrics for a vaguely political punk album. And it became a musical! Are Green Day sell-outs? Or did they just perfect what they do and be accepted for it?

Man, does this take me back. Most of the 90s music that has come up so far have been things I have heard at least a bit of in the intervening decades. I didn't listen to Goldie or drum and bass until 98/99, then listened to it a lot for 4-5 years, and then haven't touched it since then. But it sure is familiar - took me back to that time about as much as it could without drugs and JNCOs. My good friend, who used the unfortunate moniker DJ Goon, used the first track in one of his mixtapes. "Inner city life/inner city pressure" immediately felt familiar - and missed! "Timeless" works great as background, but it rewards closer listening. Just as it settles in too much and gets too repetitive, it hits you with a break that just washes over you. Drum and bass presented an incredible leveling up of ambient music. Brian Eno walked so Goldie could run.

No screams, let alone primal. I wanted something raw, guttural, from the soul. Instead, it was... I don't know, what was it? One moment it was Brit-pop, the next it was NIN-lite, the next it was trance-y/trip-hop, then it sounded like Radiohead... I'm convinced this album was made by four different bands, not one. The only connecting tissue I found was that I think multiple songs had weird background moaning about "original sin?" There is definitely some decent and listenable stuff in "Vanishing Point," but it is too disjointed and scattered to rate highly as an album. I liked "Trainspotting." But I didn't keep track of which song was which style to comment further, and Primal Scream didn't do enough to move me to go back through it for a re-listen to figure it out.

There are elements of the more unique bluesy garage rock that would come to define the White Stripes in this debut, but Jack and Meg White hadn't quite shaped their sound on "White Blood Cells." There's a lot to like here. "Hotel Yorba" is such a fun little romp, "We're Going to be Friends" is adorable, and "Fell in Love with a Girl" is just flat-out amazing. But revisiting this album I was surprised to notice what felt like hints of late-stage grunge. I've always liked "Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground," but realized that until Jack starts singing, it is fairly uninspired grunge crunch. It actually weirdly reminded me of Silverchair... I don't know why, but that's the band I thought of. Don't get me wrong, Silverchair is actually vastly underrated. But it's not the eye-opening opening-track punch of "Seven Nation Army."

I don't actually know that much about CSNY, other than they're status as a classic rock supergroup. But there was a lot of familiarity in these songs. So much so that I had to look up whether this was an album of cover songs. Seriously, Wikipedia? Are you sure that "Our House" isn't a cover of a British Invasion song? Is there no chance "Helpless" was originally a gospel song? Adding to that feeling is the supergroup-y nature of the tracks - each of the four members writing songs that feel very different. "Almost Cut My Hair" is completely forgettable. But "Teach Your Children" is timeless, and the harmonies on that song and a few others stand out head-and-shoulders above those prominently featuring one member. I'm gonna wait to weigh in on Neil Young's voice until we listen to a full album of just him. For now, let's just say his is not my favorite voice in CSNY. The songs that feel more like collaborations between the four band members are the best (even if the actual recording process wasn't so united).

It's kind of hard to put into words how amazing "The Bends" is. Radiohead, particularly the later stuff post-"OK Computer," can be pretty polarizing. Many are put off by Thom Yorke's wailing or the samples and computer blips or whatever. (I am not in this group.) But on "The Bends" what you get is peak Radiohead. A band that moved past a really solid but not groundbreaking debut to deliver a sophomore album that was a mature and unique example of a band finding their sound. (And then they continued to play with and tweak that sound relentlessly for the next decade. To subvert expectations? Who knows what's in the mind of these guys.) While Yorke's moaning and wailing are more exaggerated on later albums (while still working for me most of the time), on this album the vocals are a perfect instrument to complement the guitars (which do some wailing themselves, in a good way) and percussion. There are some songs where you can actually understand a bunch of the words(!), and Yorke writes some powerful lyrics. There are too many stellar songs to single them all out. It is a complete package, without a dud, from start to finish. I was curious for another perspective on the 1000 greatest albums one day when I was frustrated by another middling English band that never made it big across the pond, and found a list created by Colin Larkin in the late 90s, last updated in 2000. Unlike "1001 Albums You Must Listen to Before You Die," Larkin's list allowed fan voting from around the world. The top 10 is heavy with Beatles, as expected, but #2 is "The Bends." That's how good and influential this album is. While "Pablo Honey" feels fairly 90s, "The Bends" feels timeless. I think I like it even more every time I listen.

"We'll see when the other metal bands come up on the list, but I think Anthrax just isn't that good." Which takes us to the first of the "Big 4" metal bands to come up since that disappointing day we received Anthrax in late July. And what's the verdict? Megadeth's "Peace Sells..." is better than Anthrax. Though of course, that's not saying much. I don't like Dave Mustaine's vocals. I also don't completely hate them? Some of the guitar playing stands out as different than what I expect from 80s thrash metal, such as on "I Ain't Superstitious." There were also a few tracks with some segments that sounded a bit proggy. None of this saves it. **, and only to distinguish it from Anthrax and Sepultura.

It's fine. Al Green is smooth. But nothing makes a lasting impression past "Let's Stay Together."

This week brought us CSNY, Radiohead, Megadeth, Al Green, and now the Allman Brothers. While I love when favorites come up on the list, it's also been great getting exposed to variety. But this isn't the Allman Brothers I was expecting. I was expecting "Ramblin' Man" - twangier Southern rock. But "At Fillmore East" is blues! Slide guitar, string bending, harmonicas a-plenty... Unfortunately the style shifts later in the album, with the incorporation of the organ on "Hot 'Lanta" and "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed." There is still a lot to like on those tracks (continued great guitar playing), but it doesn't rise to the levels of the blues covers early on. They bring it back around though with "Whipping Post" at the end. After following this up by listening to some of their most popular songs, I can say that I enjoy this much more. The other stuff would be ***, but "At Fillmore East" nearly makes *****.

Is this Brazilian lounge music? I don't really know what lounge music is, but it might be this? This list has a well-observed bias for American and UK rock music. There is occasional token representation from the rest of the world - sometimes the selections fit as an influential example of the evolution of musical styles and fusions. But why is this relatively boring Brazilian album from 1968 such a must listen in music history? The finale, "Eles," was the only song that was interesting. And then it was thankfully over.

"White Light" did nothing for me. It's not offensive or objectionable, but it is boring. Apparently Gene Clark was in the Byrds. Whatever.

This is not the Drake of Degrassi fame. I'm sure he gets that alot. Or maybe it goes the other way. Maybe Aubrey Graham wishes he didn't use his middle name as his stage name, because people keep thinking he's a British folk singer. But now he's stuck with it. It fits though. Nick Drake looks like a Nick Drake. Drake doesn't look like an Aubrey. I went back to find my review for "Pink Moon" to find out if I commented on Nick Drake's voice. I didn't. So that's a thing to focus on here. It's not an accent thing. I don't think. It's just the way Drake enunciates in his singing. Now I want to go find an interview with him to see if he talks at all like that. I like his voice. I just don't like the way he sings. Not all of the time, but enough to matter. In general, "Five Leaves Left" is also too slow and muted/quiet - at least for the mood I was in when I listened. A few tracks had a bit of a faster pace, but slow strings and even a flute somewhere killed it for me.

"Rocks" is one of three Aerosmith albums on the list. There is one other from their very productive 70s, and "Pump" from 1989. In that, they stand out from other classic rock bands in the career revitalization they experienced in the 1990s. And that's without even including "Get a Grip" (1993) on the list, and it is their best-selling album. In fact, why is "Get a Grip" left out? Half the album were hits, and their Liv Tyler/Alicia Silverstone-fueled videos created a whole new generation of Aerosmith fans. "Rocks" opens with the track I knew best - "Back in the Saddle" - with great arena-ready classic rock energy. "Last Child" sounds familiar, and delivers some blues stylings before a break to a great Joe Perry guitar solo. The rest was unfamiliar, and mostly just ok. Not great. No hidden gems really stand out from the pack. "Nobody's Fault" was kinda bad. Overall "Rocks" was a surprise, and not in a good way - I expected more.

Screaming Trees were at the forefront of the grunge wave in the late 80s... and then kinda got left behind as the genre exploded in the early 90s. They never reached the heights that their compatriots achieved commercially, though apparently "Dust" was critically acclaimed. I'm not really sure why though. I know "All I Know," but I'm not familiar with the rest of the album. The Screaming Trees song I know best is "Nearly Lost You," off 1992's "Sweet Oblivion," mostly because it was on the soundtrack to the movie "Singles" alongside Pearl Jam, Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, and Alice in Chains. What does Screaming Trees not have in common with those bands? I'm kind of at a loss to explain why this was a well-received album. It was voted best album of 1996 by Kerrang! magazine!? Tool's "Ænima" came out that year, among others much better than "Dust." Because "Dust" is pretty unspectacular. It's fairly run-of-the-mill grunge. I don't get much of the folk and blues influence the Wikipedia article claims it has. At the end of the day, I've still got "Nearly Lost You" stuck in my head, even though I didn't actually listen to it today.

Well! I was not expecting that, and was pleasantly surprised. The guitar playing and arrangements are what make this album stand out. I've never heard Television before (I mean, I've heard a television, but I've never heard Television), and I'm now surprised that they aren't more well-known. They broke up after only 2 albums, and maybe this isn't easy to place in a radio format? But other punk rock and post-punk bands of the late 70s have found their way to me somehow. Definitely wish I had heard Television sooner. The guitars that start "See No Evil" immediately piqued my interest, but then Tom Verlaine's vocals just as quickly gave me cause for concern. In the end, Verlaine's singing grew on me a bit, but his voice is the one thing keeping "Marquee Moon" from *****. Ok, so I wrote most this after the title track, the 10+ minute "Marquee Moon." Even at that length, I was with it the whole way. And so naturally, I wrote my review too soon. Then I finished the album, and then listened again. After “Elevation” it never really gets back to those heights. However, those first five tracks are an easy ****. So is the rest bad enough to drag down the star rating? "Guiding Light" and "Prove It" are ok, but "Torn Curtain" almost did it. The more psychedelic sound was not as good, and for some strange reason the vocals kept reminding me of the scene in "Dumb and Dumber" where they are in the car singing "Mock-ing, bird, yeah." I'm torn... (get it?)...

I am not at all familiar with Suzanne Vega, but I could instantly tell how much she paved the way for the singer-songwriters and alt folk of the 90s. I'm amazed that this came out in 1985. Vega won me over with her sometimes slightly off-kilter style paired with interesting guitar picking and arrangements. Lyrically interesting as well. Again, her influence on the entire Lilith generation is very clear. On her self-titled debut, "Cracking," "Small Blue Thing," and "Undertow" stand out. I wanted to know why I didn't know any Suzanne Vega, so I looked deeper and found that "Tom's Diner" was her most famous song. So I listened to that from her second album. I said "I know this song! But not this way??" The remixed version with DNA, which I discovered was the version I knew well, is so much better. The second song from her sophomore effort, "Luka," also sounded super familiar, but I don't know that song? It must really remind me of some similar song? @hell-yeah - No idea how this puts a person to sleep any more than "Five Leaves Left."

George Michael, what is/was wrong with you, dude? There is so much to unpack in the transition from "Father Figure" to "I Want Your Sex." Come again, George? You talkin' to me? You can't have my sex. Especially with those awful lyrics. For 9 minutes and 17 seconds!? "I will be your father figure... I will be your preacher teacher," into "I'm not your father/ I'm not your brother." And who or what is "One More Try" about? Hoping the teacher referenced there is an older partner, and not an actual school teacher. Though considering the preceding songs, all bets are off. "Faith" stands the test of time, and holds up very well, but I feel bad for it. Even after you get through the weird stuff, there's a string of less offensive songs that really wear out their welcome with 4-5 minute lengths. "Faith" was completely forgotten about after what followed, unfortunately.

"The Earth Died Screaming" - yeah, it did, Tom. Because you started singing. "Bone Machine" is at its best when the vibe is spooky, and the restrained percussion surrounds you subtly. It still doesn't make it my cup of tea, or what I would listen to for funsies, but to each their own? My college roommate, Frank, loved Tom Waits. And heavy metal. I never understood it. Still don't. Personally. But it totally fit Frank, a big guy who can be equally cuddly teddy bear and slightly frightening brooding darkness. Waits' voice is cool for specific purposes. I can see it being used to set the tone in some kind of dark, macabre show or movie. In fact, his songs have apparently been used in 29 movies or TV shows. "Peaky Blinders" and "12 Monkeys" make sense. Multiple times in "Gilmore Girls" was a surprise though.

This is your fault, Brian Eno!! I saw it was Aphex Twin, and thought “oh didn’t they have that one really weird music video? I’ve heard of them.” Then I saw the title. More ambient music 😖 A lot of these ambient works sound like great background music for haunted houses and video games where you are figuring out creepy puzzles (Myst!) or getting lost in dungeons with who-knows-what lurking around the corner. And for those purposes, this would be really fitting. But to just sit and listen, for 2 hours and 36 minutes!? No thanks. There is definitely instrumental stuff that is good for background while you work or whatever. This isn't it. (The music video was for "Come to Daddy." It was messed up. That song sounds way more like Prodigy-type late 90s semi-popular drum and bass. But it's not good.) ------------------------- Ok, so all of the above nonsense was written while I was mistakenly listening to the wrong album. Some of it still applies. But not the haunted house/dungeon thing. This album of selected ambient works sounds totally different than Aphex Twin's other selected ambient works. This one has a beat. This is closer to dance music, while the other one is background music. There's some decent stuff here, but a couple that I didn't like. But it's really amazing how different this is from their other ambient album.

The cardigan was named after James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, a British Army major general who led the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. A cardigan is supposed to be cozy and soft. But the Cardigans are like that sweater that you wished you like more, but there’s just something… scratchy? Musty? It’s just not right. It’s Nina Persson’s voice mostly. I just don’t like it. It’s not just that it’s too high and babyish or twee or something. I like Diet Cig, who’s singer has the same kinda thing going on. I mean, it’s really just “Lovefool” though - I can’t stand that song. The rest isn’t so objectionable. The flute solo on “Your New Cuckoo” deserves mention. "Been It" has a weirdly deep and crunchy guitar riff that stands in interesting contrast to their style. And the percussion on “Heartbreaker” is almost special. But the highlight was seeing the song title “Iron Man” pop up and pre-writing in my head about how much I wished it would kick in with “I… AM… IRON MAN!” knowing that it wouldn’t happen. And then it happened! These silly Swedes actually covered Sabbath two songs after “Lovefool!”

When I think of Sinead O'Connor, I think of "Nothing Compares 2 U." So the tracks on this album that are faster-paced rockers were surprising. There was a nice mix of the slower, more haunting songs with faster songs that wouldn't be out of place coming from the Cranberries. I was actually surprised (pleasantly) how much similarity I heard between the two. "I Am Stretched on Your Grave" fit that more haunting mold, and I loved when the Irish violin/fiddle kicked in. "Black Boys on Mopeds" was a highlight, getting political in calling out the hypocrisy of the British government and society and previewing the stand O'Connor took two years later when she called out the Pope on SNL.

Love that drumroll intro and the beat kicks in and then... "uh huh, uh huh, wooo!" The uhs and woos are my least favorite Jay-Z thing. But "The Ruler's Back" was quickly redeemed with smart lyrics, good flow, and the horns! This week, the high school girls soccer team I coach sent a playlist to me that they wanted played on the PA before their game. It took them three attempts to send me a list that wasn't completely inappropriate. The themes of too many of the songs were either drugs, being misogynistic, or both. The lyrics were uninspired, uncreative, and overfilled with curse words and the n-word seemingly just because they could. And that's before we even start talking about the generic beats. Sure, they were inappropriate for a soccer game crowd that included their younger siblings. But they were also just trashy songs. Jay-Z's might be the last great crossover megastar of good mainstream rap music. He carried the legacy of 90s rap into the 21st century, and those attempting to reach those heights in the last decade (Kanye, Kendrick, Chance, all making great music) are more polarizing in both style and personality. There is still good rap and hip hop today, but it doesn't get the attention that far inferior tracks and styles get. (I'm lookin' at you, trap music. This is mostly your fault.) As for "The Blueprint" - just as I was getting tired of it, finding it a bit repetitive, in comes the funk, then some soul, then the "ain't no love in the heart of the city" sample. The Eminem verse in "Renegade" was the biggest departure for the album - I like Eminem (though certainly not as much as I used to) but it was kind of a jarring shift from the style of the rest of the album. It's not in my top 10 or probably even 20 rap albums (Jay's just not my favorite - see the opening comment about the "uhs," though I didn't notice them as much as I thought I would at first), but it is very listenable and consistently high-quality. I started with what I like least about Jay-Z, so I'll end with what I like best. Well, it's really more Jay-Z adjacent. Danger Mouse made a mash-up album of Jay-Z's "Black Album" and the Beatles' "White Album," called "The Grey Album." It's fascinating. If you've never heard it - https://soundcloud.com/blainepwilson/sets/danger-mouse-the-grey-album

The power of positivity! Jurassic 5 has long been a hip hop favorite of mine. "Power in Numbers" and their debut, "Quality Control," are both standouts for their message, creativity, and collaborative effort. J5 features 4 rappers (and 2 DJs - which does not equal 5), all with unique voices that come together for choruses and harmonies. Chali 2na's deep flow is my favorite, but there isn't a weak voice in the group, and all deliver with incredibly creative writing and rhyming. With rap music generally way too caught up in objectification of women, violence, and drugs, the comparative positivity of Jurassic 5 is refreshing. They were not the only group cultivating their style and skill rather than trying to be edgy and hard - and they deserve acclaim alongside Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, De La Soul, and others. "Power in Numbers" is a throwback to the 80s with breaks, scratches, (lots of credit to DJ Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist for shaping that sound), but it still feels (or felt?) fresh.

TIL that Carlos Santana was not the lead singer of Santana. "Mother's Daughter" was when it occurred to me - it was not the voice I was expecting. I only previously knew "Black Magic Woman" and "Oye Como Vas" from this album, and always assumed it was Santana singing. Speaking of that singing, when the album transitions from more Latin-influenced or traditional songs back to more typical classic rock, the singers powerful voice coming back has a bit of a jarring effect. While I enjoy bands with the ability to interweave multiple styles into a cohesive whole, I don't think it feels cohesive with "Abraxas." It feels like two completely different bands. Both decent-to-good, but neither really stand out.

Do you remember that time earlier this year when everyone made a really big deal about the 30th anniversary of this album? No? That's because nobody remembers Teenage Fanclub, and any acclaim this album received back in '91 has been lost to time. ]"Bandwagonesque was voted 'album of the year' for 1991 by American music magazine Spin, famously beating Nirvana's landmark album Nevermind." Hahahahahaha.... hahahahaha! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Do you know who likes astrological signs? Teenage girls. They’ve got apps that give them daily horoscopes and other jazz. But astrology thinks I’m a Virgo. My 8th grade science teacher looked up the orientation of the night sky when I was born and said that I’m actually a Leo. Do you know who's thoughts on astrology are vague and confusing? Teenage Fanclub. I don’t know what “Star Sign” is trying to say. Apparently it was their biggest hit though. Probably with teenage girls in their teenage fanclub who love that stuff. The rest of the songs made little-to-no impact. "Satan" and "What You Do to Me" and "Pet Rock" were wastes. They weren't interesting enough as near-instrumentals or interludes to be worth it. And the rest of the songs were rather generic. I don't know how Spin got this one so wrong. Their other album of the year picks seem pretty standard and acceptable. Oh well. The music itself is a 3. Harmless, only one or two songs I would actively run away from. I'm trying real hard not to dock it an extra star for Spin's overhype.

Irish singers > British singers (too many meh British singers so far in the 1001) Also, traditional Irish music > traditional British music And Irish pub music is the peak embodiment. I prefer a little more traditional/folkier than the Pogues, or a little punkier than the Pogues. They are just in a bit of a vague space in between that, while I enjoyed the album, keeps it from being one of my favorite Irish pub rock albums.

I'm glad didn’t write down my initial thoughts on Haircut One Hundred after reading that it was yet another British new wave band, or I would be digesting that piece of paper right now. The idiom eat my words dates back to at least the 1570s, but no one knows the origins of the phrase. I'm envisioning some 1300s pre-printing press monk writing something blasphemous and being ordered to chew that vellum up. Kind of like jerky? Except they didn't have any good flavor or spice in Europe in the 1300s... But I was wrong. Haircut One Hundred is not your average new wave band. In fact, I think new wave is a bit of a mischaracterization of their sound. The singer's voice does fit in that genre, but that is where it stops for most of the tracks. The tight collaboration of saxophones, trumpets, drums (even bongos!), and rhythm guitar set their sound apart, and create a fun dance vibe. The horns sometimes veer too far into poppy island/yacht rock territory, but when it’s funky and jazzy, it’s quite good. It's almost good enough to make up for vocals that very much fit into British new wave. But this was way more interesting to me than most new wave, largely thanks to the aforementioned jazz and funk influences.

I'm surprised to find a Q-Tip solo album on the list. I've heard Q-Tip's work with the incomparable Tribe Called Quest, but had never heard his solo stuff. Following on the heels of the Haircut One Hundred this week, here's another album where jazz stylings elevate the work above others in its genre. "The Renaissance" is a little less hip-hop focused than Tribe albums - it's still there, but there is also plenty of soul and funk. (I don't know, on repeated listens maybe this isn't so true... I'll have to go back and listen to Tribe.) Q-Tip has this should-be-too-high-but-somehow-works kind of voice. His super smooth flow probably helps it work. The style is great - great flow, great lyricism. But I feel like there aren't great hooks or choruses that would make it really memorable for the most part. A great collection of chill alternative hip-hop songs, but as a result it fades into the background a bit too easily.

"Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" was an unexpectedly rockin' opener. I think of Elton John's music as very piano-centric. However, even "Candle in the Wind" had more guitar than the version in my head does. Following "Love Lies Bleeding" there are a short run of big hits that hold up very well, but it is still a slow but steady downward progression until the album hits the low point of "Jamaica Jerk-Off." Then rebounds a bit. "I’ve Seen That Movie Too" has a slow start, but picks up too little too late at the end, and then there is a decent little run that ends with "All the Girls Love Alice." Overall, the right songs were the hit singles with the exception of the opener. A 4/5 star album needs more consistency. This doesn’t have it.

We previously reviewed "Sticky Fingers." It was great. "Beggars Banquet" is not as great. Not even close. It starts out with one of the best openings ever. The drums and primal screams, followed by "Please allow me to introduce myself," sets a hopeful tone for "Beggars Banquet." This is gonna be so cool and have so much attitude! But that doesn't last. It doesn't even last the full six minutes of "Sympathy for the Devil," because that song is great for 4-5 minutes, but the fifth minute of "woo woos" is just a bit too much. Six minutes of "Jigsaw Puzzle" was too much too. And in between those two tracks were three boring songs that were hard to recover from. "Street Fighting Man" is great, and "Factory Girl" is ok, but there's just not a lot here that stands out in a good way. The Stones were incredibly prolific in the late 60s. Were there even any B-sides or tracks left on the cutting room floor? Because some of these should have been.

I never knew there was a pre-disco version of the Bee Gees. Turns out I didn't really need to know either. I'm not a disco fan. But I accept the iconic role the Bee Gees had in shaping that era in music and culture. However, "Odessa" feels like an also-ran in a late-60s era of much better, similar music.

An argot is not "Argo." "Argo" was a movie about the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis starring Ben Affleck. Pretty decent flick. Argo was the ship that Jason and the Argonauts built with help from the gods. Argot is neither of those things. It's a slang language used to prevent outsiders from understanding conversations. Y'know, like pig Latin. And actually, the argot from which the name "Gotan Project" derives - Lunfardo, an argot of Rioplatense Spanish (the dialect spoken in Argentina) - is a lot like pig Latin. Tango, with beats and breaks and jazz elements, from a Paris trio with Argentine, French, and Swiss members? Well that sounds interesting. And the style is interesting... for a little while. Then it all blends into the background and feels little same-y. When the Argentinian tango sound is most prevalent is when Gotan Project are at their best. Otherwise it's usually just pretty generic late 90s/early 00s electronica. Reminds me of Portishead, just not nearly as good. But of course, is anyone? Again, when the tango is the driving force in songs, it's better. Iyay ivegay ityay eethray arsstay. Ecentday inyay ethay ackgroundbay.

I'm just left wondering what The Smiths would sound like with another singer. Keep all of Johnny Marr's arrangements and guitar playing, but trade Morrissey for... I don't know who. Got any ideas? Because I have never been able to get into Morrissey's voice. I do like "Strangeways" better than "The Queen is Dead." Marr's aforementioned arrangements are great. But my focus kept drifting away, likely as a way not to notice Morrissey so much. That's as far as I can go and as detailed as I can get after 2 1/2 listens. So if you've got an idea for a who's voice would fit better with The Smith's music, let me know. (I tried listening to some covers - Jeff Buckley's "I Know It's Over" was great, because... Jeff Buckley - but it's not the same.)

With a name like Herbie Hancock, who could go wrong!? And it's his real name, not a stage name! Born Herbert Hancock, and who wouldn't shorten that to Herbie because Herbies are famous. Like Herbie the Love Bug, that charming(?) automobile, maybe Herbie Hancock is more known for his name than his music? Because I don't know this album. Though I did watch Herbie the Love Bug. Not sure I could tell you what it's about other than a talking(?) car though. Oh! It's because I know Herbie Hancock for a song that sounds nothing like any of this! "Rockit" from "Future Shock," a decade after this, is the first "jazz hip-hop song," an anthem for breakdancers, and won 5 awards at the inaugural MTV Music Video Awards. That song I know! Both in it's original and in many samples I'm sure. It's filled with synth, scratches, samples, and is nothing like "Head Hunters." "Head Hunters" was mostly smooth and cool jazz funk that faded into the background until "Sly" came in with it's frantic, all-over-the-place self. Took me too out of it. But "Rockit" would get 4 stars. It's not on the 1001 though. Too bad.

"A weema weh" in "Mbube!?" Or almost? Was it? If it wasn't, is that, let's just say culturally insensitive of me to think it was? I wasn't listening super closely, because I was just enjoying Makeba's lovely voice, not being able to understand most of the lyrics. "House of the Rising Sun" cover was very cool. But again, a lot of it became background as most of it was not in English. No fault of the music, but rather a fault in my listening. Great voice, deserved better.

I don't know what's more interesting - the cultural history of the Ga-Dangbe ethnic group of Ghana, from which Quaye's father is from; or the fact that Quaye once headbutted a terminally ill friend in an argument over Game of Thrones. I'll tell you what is not most interesting. This album. I mean, I think he probably thought he was making interesting music, but I didn't find it interesting.

Just ok. Nothing special. "Song 2" holds up well, though it has been overplayed and overused over the years. But nothing else really stood out. Several songs were standard, perhaps even boring Britpop. What was most interesting about the album was how many hints of the Gorillaz's sound that could be found here. That got me thinking about Gorillaz, and how Damon Albarn's music evolved from early Blur, to this album, to the Gorillaz. So then I looked to see what Gorillaz album or albums were on the 1001 list. There are no Gorillaz albums on the list!!! What!? Their debut used to be on the list, but was removed in more recent editions. Gorillaz were refreshing and interesting and even groundbreaking. Every other British album ever made is on the list, so why not Gorillaz? I can't decide whether to dock this album a star (from a baseline of 3) due to my anger at the list, or to give at extra star because that first Gorillaz album is a 4 or 5 start album and I have nowhere to rate it.

There is a lot to like about Public Enemy. But unfortunately there is too much not to like to ignore. Amidst some great social commentary and lyrics, "Fear of a Black Planet" gets bogged down with frantic changes and hyperactive and random insertions of sound. Chuck D's deep voice delivers some great lines. Flava Flav, on the other hand, is more often annoying than interesting. (Though Flava Flav does have his moments. Those moments are not from his post-Public Enemy reality show roles, where he seems to be playing an exaggerated character of his reputation. Or maybe that's just really him. There were a few times on this album when I thought he lyrical style and voice were interesting. But what stood out was yelling randomly in places where it didn't enrich the song.) A lot to like, but there were just too many times when an out-of-place sample or sound effect ruined an otherwise good thing.

The Wailin Jennys are terrific. Amazing harmonies driving some good bluegrass music. And all-star pun makers. (None of them are named Jenny.) In the spirit of the Wailin Jennys, here are some other groan-tastic country music puns and jokes: When I play country music for my chickens they start to sway and circle the coup to the music... It's poultry in motion! Technically, national anthems are just country music. Which Country Music Singer's name do you say when you're moving furniture past someone? Dolly Pardon. I asked what my sister was listening to, she says "LeAnn Rimes" and I says "with what?" If Keith Urban loves country music so much ... Why doesn't he change his name to Keith Rural?

I rolled my eyes and groaned when I saw Bon Jovi pop up. I lumped it in with Ratt and Poison and any other number of 80s hair bands that you would love to forget but their enduring cultural legacy will not allow it. But maybe I should give Ratt and Poison another chance? Because I enjoyed Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" more than I expected to. It was definitely carried by the strength of the hit singles. I still can't tell though if I really enjoy them, or if they are just so ingrained into the collective consciousness of my generation that they seem like they feel just right. Trying to dig deeper into these feelings, I noticed Richie Sambora's guitar playing more than I had in previous listens. It got me thinking about the evolution of rock styles that led to bands like Bon Jovi. Interestingly, I feel like rock got progressively heavier through the 60s and 70s until it gave birth to heavy metal and thrash metal. Then the 80s took that heavy sound and dialed it back for pop radio and consumerism, and thus came hair bands. Some of the edge remains, and it is most noticeable in the sometimes impressive shredding of Sambora. Past the singles, the album is a bit more uneven. Still, there was enough to like to surprise me. Not enough to go back digging for Ratt and Poison though.

I'm gonna try to recreate my train of thought while listening to this yesterday, because it was all over the place... -This is kinda boring -This seems like a very, very long time. It says 4:02, but it's clearly been 20 minutes of repeating that line. -It's trending more towards blues and bluegrass? That's kind of unexpected. -I don't remember "Maggie May" starting like that? Have I never heard the whole song before? -This came out in 1971!? Never would have guessed that. Rod's been around a long time. The folk elements make more sense in that context. Would have guessed early 80s if you asked me about the two singles on this record. -A lot of bluegrass/folk vibes, but in a boring way... how is he making bluegrass that boring? -These last two songs do not fit on this album. Much more electric guitar and piano. Overall uninspiring. A lot of classic songs have a nostalgia factor that makes me like them more now than I would if I heard them today for the first time. But I actually liked "Maggie May" less than the version stuck in my deep memory circuits.

This album cover, which I couldn't leave on my screen at work while listening to this, caused quite the reaction from prude Americans in 1974. We weren't alone - Spain and the Netherlands censored the cover too. America is a country of violence, while doing all we can to shield innocent eyes from nipples and other things that are far more shocking than murders on the evening news. We gotta keep the kids from thinking about sex. That's why we have the lowest teen pregnancy rate in the developed world. What's that you say? That's not true? So it would've been ok to let people see these models' nipples without going on some kind of sexual assault bender? Oh... we have unusually high rates of assault anyway. Ah, f*$% it. I should listen to this album again so I can effectively review the songs I listened to yesterday, but I don't want to.

Boo! Not, like "Boo! It's almost Halloween!" This is not an attempt to spook or scare. It is an indictment of The Only Ones. Peter Perrett's voice might be my least favorite so far, encapsulating everything that I find grating and annoying about a certain type of British singer. This thing was all over the place, and rarely in any kind of good way. Boo.

What is indie rock? Someone not signed to a major label? (I'm not signed to a major label, Greg. Am I indie rock?) Today the term indie rock seems to have no meaning. It isn't exclusively used for independent label bands, and it doesn't refer to a specific musical style. I could tell you I like indie rock, but really that doesn't tell you much, and while I like many bands that would be classified as indie rock, I also dislike plenty of indie rock. But Pavement is (was?) indie rock. When bands maintained that anti-major label thing for their whole career. (Tangent to the tangent - I heard a story on the radio yesterday about a new book called "Sellout" by Dan Ozzi - "A raucous history of punk, emo, and hardcore’s growing pains during the commercial boom of the early 90s and mid-aughts, following eleven bands as they “sell out” and find mainstream fame, or break beneath the weight of it all." Sounds super interesting.) So, anyways, Pavement stayed indie. And in the 90s I wasn't cool enough to be indie. (All mainstream grunge, flannel, and undercuts.) I've always meant to go back and listen to more Pavement. They're a band I thought I would enjoy, but never sought out. I know "Cut Your Hair" pretty well, and still think it's great. But the rest of this album was enjoyable too. I hear Built to Spill a lot in Pavement's sound - they came in at the tail end of Pavement's run, and I got into Built to Spill as I was trying to figure out indie rock in the mid-aughts. I think I prefer Built to Spill, but I enjoyed "Crooked Rain Crooked Rain." (Built to Spill is not on the list. They're not British enough. Well, not that Pavement is at all British, but... whatever.)

Well, the 1001 educates again. Thin Lizzy is not what I thought they were. I knew the name, but would never have been able to identify one of their songs. I was expecting an 80s hair band. Instead, they somehow bridge both early metal and the 80s hair bands. Last week I posited that it seemed Bon Jovi and hair bands were a softening of heavy metal. And that still seems somewhat true, but the work of Thin Lizzy and other 70s hard rock and early metal are an important piece of the puzzle too. There is some pretty terrific guitar playing on the album. "Emerald" shreds, and at one point seemed to have guitar, bass, and drum solos all coexisting. Not sure why they are represented on the list by a live album though. If none of their studio albums are good enough, should they make the list for a concert? It's not even one concert - it's two stitched together! And a lot of it's not even live! They re-recorded huge chunks in the studio (75% according to their producer). This is not the first live album we've been dealt that did that. I'm not a fan of that whole concept. And then there was the shift from "Massacre" to "Still in Love With You" - who planned this set list? Were those even back-to-back at a single show? "Still in Love With You" felt like three different songs mashed together though, and the guitar solo in the middle part wouldn't have been too out of place after "Massacre," which was the most metal song in the set. These guys are from Ireland. Not that you can tell most of the time. And certainly not by "Cowboy Song." And their background is interesting, with the lead singer formerly from Skid Row (another band I had pegged in the wrong era/genre), and both Protestant and Catholic members. Favorite part of the research on this though was the discovery of the original version of "Whiskey in the Jar," of which I only knew the Metallica cover. I had no idea it was taken from a traditional Irish ballad! "Jailbreak," "Emerald," and "Massacre" are the most pleasant surprises. Overall uneven, but I enjoyed it more than I was expecting to.

A lot of this feels improvised, but apparently it is actually very deliberately arranged. This big observation probably belies my general ignorance about jazz music. As with other jazz we've encountered on the list so far, I enjoyed it but don't feel equipped to properly evaluate it. (This is somewhat true of a lot of non-rock related genres. And there is a relatively small amount of jazz on the list to compare and get acquainted with. Also none of it is recent jazz, which I find interesting. And then that got me thinking about the complete absence of classical music on the list, and I wondered what Mrs. hell-yeah thought about that.)

12 songs in 27 minutes. This date with the Everly Brothers gets straight to the point and doesn't mess around with any foreplay. "Girls were made to love" within the first 30 seconds. 50s and early 60s objectification of women may have been a different flavor, but it's still there. Did they date one woman simultaneously? Or is this a double date? Either way, I don't think this date went very well. Things get pretty sad a few songs in. Gosh, Everly Brothers, who hurt you? They both sound equally sad. Either both ladies from the double date double ditched, or Phil or Don are dragging their brother down into a pity hole with them. I got excited by the pace of "Lucille" at the start, hoping they found a new lady to love. But nope, they're begging her to return. These guys are getting a little desperate. Should we be concerned? (Retroactively?) Ugh, then Donna ditches you for Johnny!? You can't catch a break! Although, the common element here seems to be the Everlys. Maybe they're the problem in these relationships. Don eventually found fleeting happiness, married twice in the 60s and 70s, but single from 1970-1997. Phil was also married three times, and single for most of the 80s and 90s. It must've been hard being a dreamy-voiced country rock superstar.

Ever had acid reflux hit you just before digging in to a highly anticipated meal? A little taste of vomit hitting already primed taste buds? Quick, gimme something to wash that down. "Flowers and Beads" was that acid reflux. I was kind of looking forward to "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," but nothing before it excited me and "Flowers and Beads" actively turned me off. Iron Butterfly replaced their most of the band for this album (their second). One new guy, Erik Brann, was a 17-year-old guitar prodigy. (A 17-year-old who couldn't even decide how to spell his stage name.) And for a band that had a big role in inspiring heavy metal music, the guitars are completely unspectacular and take a back seat to organs too much of the time. Brann left the band soon after this, disappointed they didn't want to move their sound in a heavier direction. Can't say that I blame him. And then, if you can slog through those first five tracks, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" kicks in with a great crunchy guitar intro before singer Doug Ingle's voice comes in and messes things up. It didn't use to bother me as much on this song, but that was before I had to sit through five far inferior songs. At least this listen gave me an excuse to finally look up what this song means. Only to be left disappointed again. It was supposed to be "in the Garden of Eden," but organist-vocalist Ingle wrote and sang it for the band after drinking a gallon wine, and that's what they thought they heard. Hard to say what I cared for less - Ingle's put-on deep bellowing, or our dog's incessant whining for who-knows-what through the whole album. Maybe she just doesn't like Iron Butterfly either.

Acronyms are intended for abbreviating long phrases or names - they can be super-useful when used for their proper purpose. The acronym for Feeling Called Love would be F.C.L. But P.U.L.P. seems to misunderstand how acronyms work. Acronyms sung as part of a song also usually doesn't go well. Or spelling things out in general. "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" might be the exception, but "Y.M.C.A." and B-A-N-A-N-A-S certainly wore out their welcome. I wonder how long of a playlist we could get out of songs that spell out words or acronyms...? So Pulp misunderstands acronyms, but I think I must misunderstand Pulp. Because apparently "Different Class" is acclaimed and beloved, and people think Jarvis Cocker (surely a country singer and not a Brit-pop dandy) is an amazing lyricist. But my understanding is that the album is nearly unlistenable, and the lyrics are either lame or offensive. I don't need to hear multiple songs of Cocker bragging about his affairs with married women. I prefer low pulp. Or no pulp. The orange juice doesn't lose anything without the pulp, and neither would music.

Thom Yorke said "anyone can play guitar." And that's totally true. If you have a guitar, I guess. But not just anyone can play the guitar like Jimi Hendrix. Most songs are just a bit too short - I wanted them to keep going! And then "If 6 Was 9" showed why keeping things short was a good thing. Leave them wanting more, don't wear out your welcome. And certainly not with a weird flute solo. Was that a flute? It was weird. The song with Noel Redding vocals was also weird, and yanked me right out of the album's flow. Aside from those two minor issues, "Axis: Bold as Love" is a great glimpse at the brilliance of Hendrix. And if it was just the guitar work, that would be enough. But Jimi proves his voice works so well in his style, and that he can blend seamlessly with the Experience to create a full sound that isn't overwhelmed by one of the greatest guitarists of all time.

The 1001 albums generator has embraced the updated edition, and after a long streak of albums that never got more recent than the early 90s, here comes "Heaux Tales" from 2021. I think the process of updating a list like this is tricky. It's hard to properly judge the place in music history for an album less than a year old. But to be one of only 2 albums added from this year, this must be a revolutionary, stand out album, right? Well, yes and no. But mostly no. "Heaux Tales" bounces back and forth from fine but not special R&B to short vignettes of women presenting their "tale." The tales offer glimpses of modern sexuality, from the too often overlooked perspective of ordinary women. They are real and raw, but in their rawness and prevalence they dominate the album. They make up 5 of the 14 tracks, and made more of an impression than most of the songs did. One exception from the songs was "Put it Down," which clearly stood out from the rest. While most of the tracks are fairly average R&B, "Put it Down" features a trap beat and a mix of rapping and singing. I generally find trap beats to be super similar and very repetitive, but it was actually put to good use here, and the blending with R&B provided something fresh.

Since listening, I've discovered that there are two versions of this album, with different track orders and even some added songs. That's annoying. Did they at least wait a while? Kanye West released "Donda" earlier this fall, clocking in at almost 2 hours long, then released a "deluxe" edition with five additional songs and topping the 2 hour mark. Calm down, Kanye, you've gotta space this out and spend years milking this with special and deluxe and international and live and remastered and anniversary and whatever else editions. Oh, and the "Kanye's Version" re-recording. Anyway, I only listened to one version of "90." Maybe the worse one? Definitely some decent songs, but also some that made me glad the genre developed past these guys."

"Blue Rondo A La Turk" and "Take Five" are absolute classics, and very special. Even as a jazz neophyte I know that. Or at least I think I know that. There are few jazz songs that I instantly recognize. These are two of them. They feel exciting and special. The rest of the album doesn't quite meet that bar though. They'd be good in a bar - a fancy one with martinis and a dress code and such. Or at a dinner party where you are trying to impress friends with more money than you. Or, keeping things fancy, at a nice restaurant. But beyond the two groundbreaking, trendsetting, genre-defining hits, "Time Out" mostly faded into the background and failed to hold my attention. Again, I am sure my lack of music knowledge (I can't explain why any of Brubeck's work is special or acclaimed) has me missing a lot here.

The term oxymoron was first used in the 1657 apparently. Over 300 years later, John Martyn attempted to kill it softly with the bland and boring title track to "Solid Air." As the album opened, and "Solid Air" dragged on for over 5 minutes, I worried I wouldn't be able to make it through this album. My intense apathy towards the song nearly made me let out a silent scream, and it made me wish I'd started the album in a random order. But the only choice was to press on, hoping for a minor miracle to end the sweet misery (in my unbiased opinion). Luckily, "Over the Hill" quickly picked up the pace. And there was plenty more interesting to come after that. If I had skipped "Solid Air" and took a big toke when the second track started, I think it would have really hit me mid-way through the controlled chaos that is "I'd Rather Be the Devil." Folk, psychedelic rock, jazz, and blues, and more all come together with uneven results, making for what is perhaps undeniably an interesting listen. I went from * after the first track, then see-sawed back-and-forth repeatedly, briefly considering a ****. In the end, my only choice was to split the difference and stick with ***.

Cargo cults may seem strange to us modern first-worlders, but in understanding their culture we can understand much of our obsession with advancement and progression. A cargo cult is "an indigenist millenarian belief system in which adherents perform rituals which they believe will cause a more technologically advanced society to deliver goods." Such groups have been found in Pacific island nations that had fleeting contact with Allied soldiers and air drops of supplies during WWII. After the war ended, the cults arose to try to mimic the behavior and culture they encountered and lure back these peoples and their advanced technology. The indigenous people encountered strange cargo from a civilization they didn't understand, and then longed to replicate it or bring it back. Maybe William Orbit brought us strange cargo of his own, at the leading edge of the electronic music revolution in the 80s and 90s. He never left, but we've been trying to copy and mimic his seemingly futuristic and advanced aural aesthetic ever since. Unlike the cargo cults, who's benefactors and inspirations seemingly disappeared for a time, Orbit continued to be an active part of the cultural exchange, evolving with those he influenced. And at some point during that journey, he air dropped a third load of "Strange Cargo." However, I found myself not mythologizing, venerating, or deifying Orbit, but rather being thankful that his influence fueled a continuous evolution through artists whose work I find better.

As I listened to the Kinks, I wondered which came first, the Beatle or the Kink? Well, bugs and sexual fetishes have probably always existed, maybe since before life crawled out of the ocean. But as for British Invasion bands, which came first and which followed? Apparently the Beatles came first, and their quick success may have caused them to look down on or be dismissive of the Kinks, which may have left a chip on Ray Davies' shoulder. But four years after the Kinks first opened for the Beatles, "The Village Green..." comes out and proves that the Kinks were still just a Beatles wanna-be. Poppy, hooky riffs create a few memorable songs and earworms, but there's not enough here to make a lasting impact. There's some of the same weirdness typical of late-stage Beatles too - they just don't seem to stand out or develop their own sound enough. Months ago, the list delivered the Kinks' "Arthur...," and I listened through it once and then never remembered to go back and write a review. Now memory of that album has faded somewhat, and "Village Green..." didn't do enough to make me go back for one more try. In researching the Beatles/Kinks timeline, I discovered that some consider the Kinks pioneers or influencers of punk or proto-punk. At least from "Village Green...," I'm not really seeing it. "Wicked Annabella" was the only song on the album that provided any kinds of hints of punk. Maybe on another album? But as with "Arthur...," I'm just not feeling it quite enough to go digging for more. Another research find was an article titled "Between The Beatles and The Stones, I'll Take The Kinks." Not for me, thanks.

"The Pretenders" starts with terrific punk energy on "Precious," but the next two tracks don't quite keep up the same raw gusto and the album ends up being promising yet uneven. Things seemed like they were picking back up with "The Wait," but then "Stop Your Sobbing" was far too poppy and jangly. It was their first single, and their first producer dropped them after releasing it, as he thought the band was "not going anywhere." And I've gotta admit, if that was the first impression I'm not sure I'd have stuck around. "Sobbing" is fine, but it doesn't grab the listener and offers to hints of the edge found in the band's better work. (edit: It's because it's a cover of a Kinks song! Doubly interesting because we drew the Kinks for the previous album. And covering this song led Chrissie Hynde to meet, date, and have a kid with Ray Davies!) "Private Life" shows yet another side of the Pretenders, restrained and rambling and quirky They return to pop with "Brass in Pocket," and I want to be frustrated again, but it's just such a terrific song that it's hard to be mad. I had no idea what this song was called, so I totally wasn't anticipating it popping up on this album. There was a strong finish with "Mystery Achievement," but listening to some of the Pretenders' other most popular songs, I couldn't help but be struck by what could have been. Their debut showed a lot of different influences and different possible directions for the band. If only they had embraced the side that wrote "Precious" a little more.

NPR ranked "Untitled (Black Is)" as it's #1 album of 2020, and while it's not my #1, SAULT certainly made an album of the moment that captured the zeitgeist and feels timely and cathartic. There is a lot of variety on the album, yet it still feels cohesive. It is pleading and desperate at times, and hopeful and uplifting at others.

My wife had a friend in college who was a huge Van Morrison fan, and hated that all anyone ever knew of Morrison was "Brown-Eyed Girl." Well, that would've been me. For as iconic as Morrison is in his era and genre, I'm surprised I don't know his other work. Or don't know that I know it, at least. I was going to follow this up with some kind of poorly introspective mumbo-jumbo about his songs and lyrics, but in the middle of struggling to write it I Googled Van Morrison and now I am forced to write about Janet Planet! Janet Rigsbee was Morrison's first wife, who he married to avoid deportation. At least, according to an article from ecelebrityspy.com. I'm going with ecelebrityspy, in spite of it's horrible writing, because there is no Wikipedia article about Janet. Even though Morrison re-christened her Janet Planet. Even though she went on to have a career in music after they divorced. But ecelebrityspy devotes as much time to her music career as the items in her Etsy shop. She doesn't go by Janet Planet anymore. Finally, the visual I had of Morrison in my head was him in the 60s. Turns out I also knew what he looked like later in life, but had no idea it was the same guy. Some in the public eye cultivate a look and style and then hang on to it until long after it stops working for them. At least Morrison didn't do that.

"Let's Go Crazy" is an awesome way to start an album. And "Purple Rain" (the album) mostly delivers on that promise. But it is buoyed by the hits. "Let's Go Crazy," "When Doves Cry," "I Would Die 4 U," and "Purple Rain" are terrific songs. The other half of the album is less remarkable, but they're still much better than most of "Sign 'O' The Times."

I think maybe Blur needed someone to tell them that they didn't have to record every song that they wrote. The Beatles were an incredibly prolific band, churning out hit after hit on an at-least-yearly basis in the 60s. But Blur is not the Beatles. So when they released 4 albums in 5 years from '93-'97, the result was a lot of songs, a few of which are great, a bunch of which are kind of ok, and too many of which are intolerable. It's also a sign of a band that didn't quite have their musical identity nailed down. "Modern Life is Rubbish" got off on the wrong foot with "For Tomorrow," jumping right in with exactly the type of vocals that turns me off of Blur and many other Britpop and new wave bands. But personally being distinctly non-British, maybe I just don't get it. Because England loved Blur, and also loved this song. "In this period the band had gone on a tour of the US which they greatly detested, especially as the country was the home of grunge and audiences were not receptive to their music," according to Wikipedia. "After that tour lead singer Damon Albarn started to write songs with a very British feel." But see, I hate this song. A clear one star. And the stuff that sounds grungier on the album is much preferred. "Advert" is a little better, once you get past the annoying intro. "Colin Zeal" has a great sound and arrangement, but the lyrics feel more suited to synthy early 80s new wave. "Star Shaped" is another low point. I could go on, but it would be too depressing. And the thing is, almost every song has some little bit of brilliance in it. Either a great lick from Graham Coxon, or Damon Albarn actually using his voice in an interesting way. But they don't sustain the brilliance. It's always just barely, painfully, fleeting.

It just feels loud and brash for the sake of being loud and brash. It lacks spirit or soul, or an intelligent spark, behind the chaos. The internet tells me they are post-hardcore. Though it seems that genre is pretty broad. And filled with bands I like better. (And some I don't.) Naming themselves The Icarus Line feels like it wound up being ironic. Maybe they were worried about flying too close to the sun, but in truth they never really approached that line, stalling out on their journey to rock fame and the bright lights. (https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/the-icarus-line-must-die-shows-the-dark-purgatory-of-a-cult-rock-band-that-never-gave-up/)

Tribe Called Quest is great. Hip hop hall of famers. And "Low End Theory" is a seminal work in hip hop history. But it's strengths are also it's weaknesses. It's so chill and smooth and laid back, but sort of to its detriment. Much of this album sounds the same, without much to differentiate one song from another. Until you reach the last two tracks. "What?" feels very fresh, packed with tons of references and the wittiest lyrics on the album. The album then ends with "Scenario," one of Tribe's biggest hits. It should have opened the album instead of concluding it, but either way it's inclusion hurts everything else by comparison. Nothing else had the energy that "Scenario" had. When it comes to alternative, more mindful hip-hop, Tribe Called Quest might be legendary, but the other album we've rated from this subgenre - Jurassic 5's "Power in Numbers" - is much better in my view. I'm giving this a 3.75, and rounding up because 3 stars doesn't capture the skill and artistry at play here, even if it doesn't reach its potential.

Is ZZ Top peak rock and roll? Anything more quintessentially rock and roll than ZZ Top and Billy Gibbons' whole aesthetic? And is there anything more peak of the peak than "TV Dinners?" They wrote and recorded and, I assume, repeatedly played, a bluesy rocker of a tune about the necessity of a microwaved meal. "TV dinners, I'm feelin' kinda rough TV dinners, this one's kinda tough I like the enchiladas and the teriyaki too I even like the chicken if the sauce is not too blue" Amen, Billy, amen. I've never understood the early 80s so well. Of course, they do follow it up with a rather creepy song about wanting to catcall a pretty girl in a nice car. Again, the 80s... "Gimme All Your Lovin,'" "Legs," and "Sharp Dressed Man" were probably Billy Gibbons' greatest achievements... until his recurring role as Angela's dad on "Bones," at least.

Jerry Lee Lewis was a hell of a piano player and performer, helped to transform early rock and roll, and is a total piece of crap. Some of the musicians that actually wrote these songs are probably better people and deserve more of the credit.

So many artists on the 1001 that lack a cohesive identity. Does 10cc know who they are or what their style is? I don’t after one listen. “The Worst Band in the World” was annoying, “Hotel” was weird, and “Clockwork Creep” was, well not creepy, just crappy. “Silly Love” featured a metal riff behind silly singing of the word silly, then becomes a totally different song before veering back to the metal riff. More weirdness ensued for the rest of the album. They were contemporaries of Pink Floyd and Queen, and occasionally sound like either of them, occasionally hints of the Beatles, sometimes blues-rock... it's just too all over the place. And too many moments where the sound or arrangement made me laugh out loud with a wtf. I prefer artists who have more of a definable/recognizable style. They avoid the single-star review and get bumped up slightly by being an unnecessary British band on the list without having a singer with an annoying post-punk/new wave/Britpop grating British singing affectation.

This is our third and final Prince album from the generator, generated before the first hit of several groups with more albums on the list. That's random for you, I guess. "Sign O The Times" was very uneven, then "Purple Rain" was a masterpiece, so what about "1999?" After the deservedly popular "1999" (even if it predicted joyful end-of-century partying and not existential Y2K panic), "Little Red Corvette" reached peak 80s, and then "Delirious" followed immediately after with what can only be called trough 80s. That was annoying and made me concerned we were in for another uneven album. Then I spent most of "D.S.M.R." coming up with ASMR jokes, only to be shocked by the cries for help at the end. Prince sings that the R stands for Romance, but that doesn't sound like romance to me. If there's some deeper meaning here I can't find mention of it, but at the very least it served to scramble my plans for ASMR jokes. Luckily there was some very listenable, enjoyable, but unmemorable, funk and soul in the second half of the album. (As long as you let it go in the background and don't pay too much attention to song lengths. There were two moments when I thought "it must be on to the next song now? I didn't notice the transition. Nope, nevermind, this one still has two more minutes.")

It took me 1:30 to decide that I was likely to hate this. The first track actually wound up being better than I thought it was going to be. But... wait... that does not at all mean that I liked it. Not viscerally hating is a pretty low bar to clear. Parts were pretentious, but parts were surprisingly listenable. The jamming second half of "Uncertain Smile" had me going for a couple minutes, but "The Twilight Hour" features an interesting arrangement ruined by the singing. But it "Soul Mining" concludes with the 9-minute "Giant," finally annoying me enough to succeed in their assumed mission of ripping my soul from my body, leaving me dispirited and defeated. (That's what happens when you mine souls, right?)

In 1993, it was a different world. We didn't have cell phones or the internet (well, most of us). We didn't have Google, and we didn't have Genius for looking up song lyrics and meanings. We had the liner notes, pulled out of the jewel case and poured over for hours, trying to make some sense of the mystery. I can't decide if we were better off trying to decipher Kurt Cobain's obtuse lyrics, or better off now having so much information at our fingertips. Every magazine story about Nirvana, each video interview with Cobain, even Courtney Love's tweets to Lana Del Rey in 2012 about her vagina's role in Cobain's songwriting. And here we are judging this content 30 years later, 30 years filled with more life experiences and cultural changes that Cobain never experienced. How would he reflect on this music decades later? How would Nirvana's music have evolved? We'll never know, but we do have this amazing time capsule of an amazing band at their creative peak, raw and angry and vulnerable and passionate, screaming until their voices and instruments broke. It's pretty awesome.

Aaaah! I'm so conflicted! It sounds so fresh and so clean, but it leaves you feeling dirty! At least on a few tracks. If you took out "Gasoline Dreams," "Snappin' & Trappin,'" and "Gangsta Sh*t," this would be a top-tier album. With them, "Stankonia" is going to fall a star short. "Stankonia" includes all the OutKast hallmarks - incredible lyricism, flows, and funk aplenty. They were so unique and groundbreaking, but I wish that their style had influenced more of the musical style of Southern rap music. The stuff that I have heard coming out of Atlanta and the South in the last decade have been much less inspired. "Stankonia" wasn't my favorite OutKast album, though. It is apparently their most acclaimed, but "ATLiens" and especially "Aquemini" were better for me. But neither of those made the list! I went back to start "Aquemini," but will have to spend more time digging back into the OutKast catalogue. "Speakerboxx/Love Below" is on the list, but I don't remember that one beyond the overhyped singles. It's too bad OutKast is best known for "B.O.B." and "Hey Yaaaaaa(how many a's?)," because those are not their best (for me).

According to Wikipedia, this album was a "complete departure" from their earlier work, which was more punk and alternative whereas "Post Orgasmic Chill" had "a new harder sound with elements of hard rock and alternative metal." Someone forgot to tell half of this album about this radical shift. The harder stuff is interesting. The more alternative stuff however doesn't stand out from their contemporaries. Songs that melded the two sounds showed the promise of the new direction, but overall there are too many forgettable tracks. Their lead singer, Skin (because Deborah doesn't sound cool enough for a rock singer?), has definite vocal talent, but is kind of all over the place in her approach. Also interesting was the drum-and-bass intro on the first track and outro on "Good Things Don't Always Come to You." Creating more of a mash-up of alternative metal and drum-and-bass would have been really interesting, but unfortunately they did not explore it beyond these very tacked-on segments. Naming your band after the trickster spider-god Anasi is pretty cool, but adding on skunk to ""make the name nastier" draws a pretty big eye roll and almost loses them a star. And as long as we are looking at their questionable naming conventions, a lot of this album seems distinctly unsuited for "Post Orgasmic" chilling.

Not to be confused with 2003 album "The Killing Joke," also by The Killing Joke. (Although Killing Joke fan Dave Grohl played drums on that album, interestingly enough.) Also not to be confused with the 1988 graphic novel "Batman: the Killing Joke," by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland, widely regarded as one of the best Joker stories ever told. Also not to be confused with American band The Killing Joke, which seems to have released three singles in 2021. Rather, this The Killing Joke are led by frontman Professor Severus Snape. Ok, not really. Jaz Coleman looked nothing like Snape when this album came out. But he really bears a striking resemblance now. If he actually believed himself to be a wizard, that wouldn't even be so surprising. Consider this from the Seattle Weekly: "The long-standing “mystic,” who lives on a small New Zealand island these days (perhaps to avoid having to wear a tinfoil hat every day), believes, among other things, that China has built microwave towers to control the population with microchips, which are secretly implanted via vaccines, and this will eventually happen elsewhere around the world; that people are being mind-controlled by chemtrails in the sky and fluoride in the water; that nutrients are being purposefully removed from foods to kill us and keep the world population down; that swine flu is a bioweapon; and that due to changes in the earth’s magnetic field, time is actually speeding up (actually, this one’s sort of believable—is it already the holidays again?!)." But as for the actual music? The opener "Requiem" was kind of cool, but "Wardance" almost lost me. By the time it got to "The Wait," I was back on board, and I really enjoyed "Complications."

I really like the guitar on "Natural Mystic." The next few tracks felt didn't deliver anything particularly special, and it turns out "Exodus" is a bit repetitive. But "Jamming," "Three Little Birds," and "One Love" do plenty to carry this album. To follow up on hellyeah, not only is it crazy that Marley died of melanoma, but that the kind of melanoma he got has an average age of onset between 60 and 70 years, and an 67% 10-year survival rate. Too many musical tragedies where we can only wonder how the artist would have evolved over a longer career. What would the 80s and 90s have been like if Marley, Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin, Lennon, and others had been alive? What would the 00s have been like if Cobain, Biggie, 2Pac, and so many others had still be around? For an even further tangent, because I started thinking more about the alternate world where Cobain lived to grow old... if Kurt stuck around, would there never have been the Foo Fighters. If Andrew Wood lived, would Pearl Jam have never existed?

This album is unbelievably brilliant. It's mature and soulful and witty and snarky and just really, really impressive. And... yeah, what's that, Kate? She was 19 when she made this!? I just don't know what to even compare that to. I'm more used to 18-19 year olds singing someone else's lyrics in the poppiest most button-pushing way possible. How was Britney Spears' debut just 2 1/2 years after this? The only thing I can think of that comes anywhere close to what Fiona Apple pulled off would be maybe Lorde, who was a couple years younger when "Pure Heroine" came out, but while it was impressive and refreshing it is nowhere near the level of "Tidal." If you're not blown away by Fiona Apple, you might not like music.

In a recurring theme with bands from the 60s and 70s, what I found out about Queen while looking into this album is how incredibly prolific they were. And I realized that I really have only heard their hits. "Killer Queen" is the only song on this album that I was familiar with, but most of the album is strong. (Aside from that weird Broadway number.) But "Sheer Heart Attack" seems no different from other Queen albums throughout the 70s. Between one and three hits on each album, with a new album almost every year. So why is it that modern rock bands don't put out albums as frequently? Lazy Gen Xers and Millenials? Record label interference? A quest for perfection leaving all those non-hit singles on the studio floor? Whatever the reason, it must have been cool in the 60s and 70s to constantly get new music from your favorite band. Fans of "Killer Queen" wouldn't have to wait long for "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Who is that on the cover of this album!? That's Iggy Pop?? It's not just the hair... I'm not sure I've ever seen a picture of Iggy that wasn't bare-chested. Once I got over that shock, I wanted to know where this fit into Iggy's career. We were previously randomly generated the Stooges "Raw Power," so where does this solo album fit in? And on that journey I discovered a deep musical connection I had no idea of - that of Iggy Pop and David Bowie. After Bowie produced "Raw Power," their lives and careers became intertwined, making music together, moving to Europe together, and trying to get clean together. I haven't listened to a whole lot of Bowie (no randomly generated albums yet, so mostly just familiar with the hits), so I'm not well-equipped to recognize his influence on "The Idiot." But apparently it was vast, with the album often referred to as more of a Bowie album than an Iggy album. But whoever it sounds like, I’m not a fan.

I rarely seek out or choose R&B, though I don't really know why. R&B can be so smooth, so filled with groove, and Frank Ocean is certainly no exception. I don't listen to enough R&B to understand what makes Frank Ocean stand out and deserve the accolades he has earned over the last decade. And this is my first exposure to his music, despite having been aware of his impact. But regardless, I really enjoyed this, and maybe should seek out Frank Ocean and other similar R&B more often.

I came to the 1001 Generator on this Christmas Eve seeking an escape from Christmas music. And what do I find? Christmas music!? This is not a randomly generated album! Sure, there are some classics here. And sure, there is the undoubtedly influential “Wall of Sound,” though I couldn’t tell you what it actually sounds like. But the spirit of the random generator has been violated! Bah humbug!

I'm not sure why I can explain why I like System of a Down. Or why I still like them? I had this album back in '98. But I have only listened to SoaD in scattered bits in the last decade. Would I still feel the same way at 41 as I did at 18? Turns out the answer is yes. And there are definitely things I listened to in the late 90s that I no longer feel the same affinity for. But surprisingly SoaD is not one of them. I still really like the wild and weird variety with which Serj Tankian uses his voice. Sometimes it's lovely, sometimes it's guttural and gritty and ugly. And he shifts so effortlessly between those extremes. I think I'm gonna be the outlier in the group here, hellyeah. No spread of every score 1-5 here, I may be the only one with a positive review. But I can't quite give it a 5. A few more on the level of "Spiders" might've gotten it there. I liked "Toxicity" even more than this one back in the day. I'll have to revisit that and see if it can earn a 5.

I figured the opener, "Krautrock," would help me figure out what krautrock (the genre) is. So I hit play. And I waited. And waited... and waited... through too many minutes of weird feedback to be bothered to remember anymore. And I still don't know what krautrock is.

Too much of "Surrealistic Pillow" doesn't stand out. Or rather, stands in the vast shadow of "White Rabbit" and "Someone to Love." The surrealism is a bit lacking beyond those two hits as well. The pillow is not lacking. They are pleasant enough songs to lay your head down to. "White Rabbit" is psychedelic rock. Too much of this sounds like vaguely psychedelic folk. There was some good blues influence in the tracks after "White Rabbit," but ultimately it wasn't enough to fully salvage the first half of the album. There's really just not enough Grace Slick lead vocals. When she pops in on "Go to Her," it was very much an "Oh! Where's she been?" moment. I continuously tuned out on this album only to be drawn back in by Slick's voice. I can't understate how much I wish there was more of "White Rabbit's" vibe on this album. Or the rest of Jefferson Airplane's work. I didn't realize that the two hits on this album were the band's only smash successes.

Sometimes it's hard to sum up a song with just a word or two, so song titles can be hard to nail down. (And sometimes the song title doesn't even actually hint at the song's actual content to anyone except the writer.) So some artists use whole sentences for song titles (see Sufjan Stevens). Other artists are forced to coin a new compound word to express the vastly complicated themes and feelings the song evokes, like a German komposita. (See Outkast's "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik" or Funkadelic's "promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad.") It is that spirit that brings us Isaac Hayes' "Hyperbolicsyllablecsesquedalymistic," which at 9:34 of course it's a complicated song that defies easy nomenclature. And yet, somehow the 12 minute "Walk on By" gets a simple name? I knew Isaac Hayes was a soul icon, but didn't know his music. As I should have expected, it's soulful and groovy and easy to listen to if you don't get antsy about it needing more structure. I expected it to be filled with short implorations of a sexual nature. Instead it's a few extended jams with a bit of romance and sex. I would say that it needed more chocolate salty balls or fudge, but Hayes' might not want his entire musical career viewed through a Chef-lens. (Though it has just dawned on me that "Hot Buttered Soul" (or rolls) is totally something Chef would croon.)

The day before we were dealt this album, I read a review of their new album in Rolling Stone. They gave it ****, for their first album in 40 years, writing that they totally recaptured their 70s glory. But I'm thinking their 70s glory is a bit overstated. Their hits were huge, don't get me wrong. I mean, their music was turned into a movie musical. You don't get that treatment without some classic songs. But beyond the "Mamma Mia" songs there seems to be a big drop-off in quality, with the rest just mediocre. On "The Visitors," the title track is ok. Maybe not fantasmagoric, but ok. But it's downhill from there. "I Let the Music Speak" was particularly painful. I couldn't let that music speak.

I was just gonna say that this was a delightfully funky and whimsical surprise. And then I went and looked up Thundercat anyway. He's building up quite the list of accolades and guest appearances in the last decade (I seem to recall seeing this and other albums reviewed or on year-end lists), but it was what he did in the prior decade that was more surprising. From 2002-2011, Thundercat was the bassist for the hardcore punk band Suicidal Tendencies. Yep. Stephen "Thundercat" Bruner is clearly an interesting dude with varied interests and influences. On "Drunk," that did shine through. But mostly, "Drunk" was just fun. I might not seek out funk, but when it's done this well I'm happy to listen and bop along.

Apparently it's a pretty funky week. But in the surprise of the week, Thundercat's funk blows Little Stevie out of the water. "Higher Ground" is amazing, and "Living For the City" and "Golden Lady" (Betty White?) are pretty good too, and I was pleasantly surprised that "Too High" was actually about getting high. But the rest was just way too boring.

Six stars. A band evolving. Experimenting. Probing. Pushing the envelope. But still accessible. Emotional. Raw. Powerful. Nonsense, and also thought-provoking depth. At least when you can understand Thom Yorke. A voice that shouldn't work, but just does. And Jonny Greenwood's guitar work is amazing and stands out for not just it's skill but also how well it fits in with the experimentation around it.

They say "There's A Riot Goin' On," but I'm not sure where it is? This came out in 1971, after several very tumultuous years. So I figured "Riot" would be filled with anger, turmoil, intensity, at least passion? But that was missing throughout. "Brave & Strong" gave me a little bit of a feeling of the times, but most of the rest felt dull and low-energy, with much of it feeling like unfinished experiments in songwriting. This time I waited until I was mostly finished listening to look up the history of the album. And now it makes more sense. I knew Sly and the Family Stone were well-regarded and influential. But it's not for this album, which had too little family and too much Sly and too many drugs involved in the production.

Las Vegas is a city in Nevada, USA, at 36.1699° N, 115.1398° W. It has an average July high temperature of 104°F. The city also is known as a destination for those seeking legalized gambling, prostitution, and marijuana, and has been nicknamed "Sin City." So apparently these Scottish lasses got understandably confused. Heaven, being a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as gods, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside, is often paired with its antithesis, hell. As in "heaven or hell." I'm not sure if the Cocteau Twins had been to Las Vegas when they wrote this album. The city, and I guess much of Nevada, can appear a bit hellish, but I don't believe the "Entertainment Capital of the World" the actual underworld. But anyway, the Cocteau Twins' "Treasure" was the 17th album we received. Now 153 albums later, I get to wonder why they have two albums on the list. Though actually, I don't totally hate this one. Except I do hate the way it sounds. Which is weird. I think a lot of the song structures have potential. But I don't like their singing, and don't like some of the instrumentation within the arrangements (this probably makes no actual music sense). I think what would be really interesting is to have another band cover these songs. A better band.

I realized before listening that it was a British band I had vaguely heard of from the late 70s/early 80s, and it did not fill me with hope based on my previous experience with the 1001. But I was pleasantly surprised by Gang of Four. I mean, it's not exactly pleasant music. It is challenging and different, but that was good - it stood out. I should clarify that it was different from their contemporaries, but I do hear a lot of reflections of Gang of Four in 00s indie bands (Bloc Party came to mind a few times). A lot of times I don't understand the classifications that make for some rock sub-genres. Post-punk is one of them. But Gang of Four definitely felt post-punk. There were elements of 70s punk, but mixed with something new. I like what Gang of Four brought to the genre, and like how they seem to have influenced future bands. But... "Entertainment" was still a bit uneven for me. There was some four-star content, but it wasn't consistent enough. Its somewhere between 3.75-3.9, but can quite break through.

Coldplay is a more boring Radiohead. Travis is a more boring Coldplay.

For how much time I spent around hippies living in Boone, NC for 5 years, I really don't know the Dead. This album was totally unrecognizable. None of the songs were familiar. The sound, on the other hand, was familiar. It sounded like pretty typical southern rock. There was some other Cali band we listened to that also did the southern rock sound... ah, it was CCR! Anyway, the CCR album stood out in that genre more than "American Beauty" did. I didn't get any sense of what made the Grateful Dead special from this album. I then checked out some of the Dead's most popular songs, and I recognized most of them (though not the ones from this album). But I didn't really recognize them as Grateful Dead songs usually. It was more of an "I know this one... this is the Grateful Dead!?" kind of thing. So I'm surprised how little I really knew the Grateful Dead. And also surprised how little I cared for this album, though the other popular songs were a bit better.

I have clear memories of "Insane in the Brain." However, all other recollection is as hazy as a Cypress Hill concert. Now getting reacquainted with them, I have discovered that it wasn't all wacky songs about getting high. It was songs about getting high, or songs about killing people. Sometimes in the same song. What kind of weed were they smoking!? These dudes really needed to chill out on the couch, eat some snacks, and laugh at something dumb on television. Or anything else that would keep them off the streets. Cause damn they sound violent. Cypress Hill is perhaps an important link in the chain that gets us from early hip hop, to early 90s gangsta rap, to rap rock, rage rock, and rage rap. Or whatever all that ultra-angry crap in the late 90s was. I bet Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst really liked Cypress Hill, only he wasn't anywhere near as hard in real life as B Real. I think Cypress Hill also likely influenced Insane Clown Posse. This album stood in stark contrast to 2Pac, which we listened to last week. 2Pac's lyrics absolutely delve a lot into gangbanging and the violence that comes with it. But the difference is that 2Pac had a depression resignation about the life, while Cypress Hill is glorifying it. That was a big turn off for me.

For once the 1001's overamplification of British music paid off. I didn't know anything about Paul Weller, or the Jam. And knew very little about the Mod revival of the 70s and 80s. I still don't know what the Jam's music was like, but I can at least say that what the "Modfather" (yes, really) evolved into as a solo artist is pleasant enough. Nothing on "Wild Wood" is groundbreaking, but Weller has a good voice (much more so than many of his contemporaries from other British rock subgenres in that era), and the blues and soul elements are nice. But overall, it's just good and nice - I wouldn't seek it out, but also wouldn't change the station.

"Toys in the Attic" is very much carried by "Walk This Way" and "Sweet Emotion." I am so used to the Run DMC version that the original "Walk This Way" sounds a little weird, but "Sweet Emotion" is a six-star absolute classic. However, these two hits are not enough to carry the album to a more re-listenable level. "Big Ten Inch Record" is funny, in a "should I be bothered by this" kind of way, but the one pleasant standout was "Round and Round," with a grunge metal edge that could have been a Soundgarden inspiration... it was bizarre to follow that up with the Elton John-ish lead-in of "You See Me Crying." (Well... it turns out "Big Ten Inch Record" is a cover of a Bull Moose Jackson song from 1952. Jackson's other songs include "I Want a Bowlegged Woman." I am now half-way between appreciating it more for its full context and appreciating it less for another case of white rockers appropriating a black musicians song.)

Fantastic all the way through. An absolute classic. Though the randomly inserted live cover of "Bye Bye Love" was weird and out-of-place. The title track gets much attention, but it actually might be my least favorite on the album. For me, "The Boxer" and "Only Living Boy in New York" are far more interesting.

What's the superior jazz arrangement? The trio, or the "classic quartet?" Since I don't know diddly about jazz music, other than it generally sounds chill, maybe the answer lies in an exploration of other trios and quartets. Groups of three can be great. The triple play-turning trio of Tinkers to Evers to Chance. The Musketeers were great as a three-piece, but weren't too bad as a quartet either. I've heard some enjoy a ménage à trois, but can't verify. Trios professional wrestling. The Three Amigos. Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Three's Company (oops, already covered that one). Luke, Han, and Leia (sorry Chewie). The Three Stooges. The Powderpuff Girls. And the list goes on. Wow, that's a lot of high quality trios. On the other hand you've got the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Beatles, the Fantastic Four/Incredibles, the Ghostbusters, the South Park boys, the Four Horsemen (either of the apocalypse or of professional wrestling), the Golden Girls. This experiment has proven inconclusive. As has my attempt to review this jazz album.

I don't know blues much more than I know jazz. But this album stood out much more than the jazz album we got a few days earlier. I still don't really know how Muddy Waters compares to other blues artists. But I can say that I really enjoyed this album, and would gladly listen to it again.

Rock genres can be hard to pin down. DLJ is described as post-hardcore, math rock, post-punk, and emo. While they don't sound like what I think of as emo, apparently they were on the leading edge of the genre's evolution before it reached its heights in the early 00s. And I had to get further into the album before it crystallized for me where they belonged. Because I hated the first track and it was really hard to get through. I thought I was going to have to tell pretentious-ass how much I disliked one of his favorites. Things got better though, as the screaming and noise began to take shape rather than just existing for its own sake. pretentious-ass also recommended giving it multiple listens - that did not help the first track (still awful), but it did help the rest. I'm glad I powered through the first song because I do like the rest of the album. Exploring deeper into the references on the Wikipedia page, I found an article that helped understand DLJ's place in the bigger rock picture, placing them firmly among post-hardcore contemporaries like Glassjaw and At the Drive-In. I really liked ATDI, but never explored the genre much further. The article also included Fugazi as an early highlight of the genre, as well as Brand New, who I am familiar with and a band that does make sense as fitting on the border between emo and post-hardcore. I listened to a bit of Glassjaw, and revisited ATDI. I still really love ATDI, even though their songs are either completely nonsensical or at a higher level of poetry than I can understand. But the sound is so great. DLJ just can't match that, but I'm still happy they pushed me to revisit more of the genre. I think "Yank Crime" probably deserves a 3, but there were enough moments I really dug in between less-stellar stuff to allow for a slightly generous 4. Maybe I'm just in the mood for screaming?

I knew the name Steely Dan, but couldn't have told you any of their songs. I knew "Do It Again," "Dirty Work," and "Reelin' in the Years," but didn't know who sang them (or that they were all the same band). I'm happy to have the connection made. But an even stronger connection to the name Steely Dan has now been made, as I have discovered that there was no band member named Dan who was made of steel. Instead, Steely Dan named themselves after a steam-powered dildo in the novel "Naked Lunch." It's too bad I will now associate these songs with industrial-era sex toys, because the first few tracks on "Can't Buy a Thrill" provide some jammin' classic 70s rock. However, by the time "Only a Fool Would Say That" rolled around the softer side came out and certainly once I got to "Brooklyn" I was sure of it - this was one of the first entries in the yacht rock genre. (If any doubt remained, at the end of the album Amazon auto-played Captain & Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together.") Yacht rock is not necessarily a bad thing - there is some very listenable yacht rock. But much of the album doesn't have the same appeal for me as those classic singles. At least "Can't Buy a Thrill" came before Steely Dan worked in more jazz and synthesizer. Maybe I'm just not a yacht kind of guy at heart? Or I prefer my dildos battery-powered?

For the second time, I think I just don't get Sly and the Family Stone. It seems like a lot of wasted potential to me. "Stand!" was ok, but I stayed in my seat. "Don't Call Me..." sounded too silly for a song that feels like it should be serious, and the use of the talk box didn't help. "Sex Machine" is not sexy, and just goes on and on and on. "Everyday People" is still a classic, and a couple other tracks have a good energy, but too much of this album sounds like a mess. Apparently this was before Sly became addicted to cocaine and his behavior became "erratic," but I can't really tell much of a difference from "There's a Riot Goin' On."

The Black Crowes have a logo with a couple of cartoon crows on it. They remind me of the crows from Dumbo, except these look stoned or drunk or something. The Dumbo crows were racist caricatures. But I don't have any evidence that the Black Crowes crows are racist. Or that the Black Crowes themselves are racist. But it's an unfortunate connection I can't help but draw. I do have evidence that they are a pretty decent band. On this rollicking bluesy album at least. Then what happened to them? "Shake Your Money Maker" was a pretty big hit. But they never found that level of success again. "Remedy" is the only other Black Crowes song I recognize. I think I want to give this album a 4, but that kind of implies that I'd be interested in seeking out more from their catalog. And while I like it, I'm not quite moved to that level.

Chicago is another of those bands that I know very well by name, but couldn't have told you one of their songs. Looking through their catalog, I was surprised to find that actually "Saturday in the Park" was the only title I instantly recognized. But two minutes into "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" it suddenly became a song I knew! It seems Chicago is sometimes straight up jazz, sometimes a precursor to 80s easy listening, sometimes organ and electric guitar more fitting of the late 60s, sometimes a preview of 70s soul. Sometimes all at once, sometimes shifting in and out. And then... outta nowhere... the cacophonous experimental noise rock of "Free Form Guitar!?" What is going on here?? I don't think I would have guessed that this album was from 1969. I would have placed it in the late 70s or early 80s? Until "Someday," which is awesomely about the 1968 DNC protests. Overall, there is some really great surprising stuff on "Chicago Transit Authority." And also some stuff I really don't care for. This album leaves me with more questions than answers though. I still don't know what time it is, and I really want to know what questions 66 and 69 are, as well as poems 1-57. Or what genre this is.

The biggest problem with "(What's the Story) Morning Glory" is that I filled my quota for "Wonderwall" years ago. Every subsequent time I listen to that song now overflows the container that I reserve for music that tries to deftly navigate the demilitarized zone between the Fab Four and Brit Shit. Speaking of the Fab Four, "Don't Look Back in Anger" is both the most Beatles-esque and best song on the album, and boy did the world want Oasis to be the second coming of the lads from Liverpool. Which is a totally unfair and unreachable expectation to place on any band, let alone a band that featured two brothers that hated each other too much to get anywhere near the prolific success of the Beatles early years. That said, you don't have to be the Beatles to make a good record. And this is pretty good. Except for "Wonderwall."

I love that Charles Thompson IV took his initial stage name of Black Francis and flipped it to Frank Black as he set off on his solo career. But as a big Pixies fan who never listened to Black's solo work, I started "Teenager of the Year" with unreasonable expectations. I liked a few songs on the first half of this double album, but somehow I got to track 10, "Two Reelers," before I got the Pixies feel I was hoping for. Then I really liked most of the rest of the album. And I kept thinking, what was going on with the first half - were there just too many songs that should have been cut from an overstuffed album? So I had to give it another listen. And not only is the first half better than I initially gave it credit for, but the whole album is fantastic. You're gonna have some misses among 22 tracks, but the overall quality and variety while still maintaining much more Black Francis-ness than I first gave it credit for is a joy. The Pixies were never a big commercial hit, and Black's solo stuff even less so. But this album definitely deserved to be held among the best of its time. Though I'm sure part of the problem was that this came out in 1994, a year with an absolute glut of completely amazing rock music. It's probably generational, but for me it might be rock's greatest year.

This was enjoyable.

I've been sleeping on Gang Starr, despite the fact that they seem to be the originators of my favorite subgenre of hip hop, alongside groups like the Roots, De La Soul, Jurassic 5, and others. While overall I don't think Gang Starr is quite on the level of the best of the genre, I really enjoyed "Step in the Arena." The only song I knew was "Check the Technique," and either because of familiarity or the great strings it was my favorite on the album. Guru's rapping is occasionally a bit too slow in a cornier 80s hip-hop type way, and while he’s got some good lyrics overall his flow is solid but the he’s the weak link here. DJ Premier does a fantastic job of mixing classic beats and scratching with jazz and rock elements. He’s the highlight of the album. While I loved hearing Gang Starr's music, my favorite thing I learned about them today is that each episode title of the first season of the Netflix series Luke Cage, based on the Marvel Comics character, was named after a Gang Starr song. Gang Starr was surpassed by those they inspired, but they’ll get an extra star for their influence.

Have you ever been in an elevator, being steadily and pleasantly elevated one floor after another, only to have the cables break and you suddenly plummet towards the bottom of the shaft? And then the cables are magically repaired and you go up a couple more floors before plunging down again? You've probably never been in that situation, but I have an idea of what it might feel like after having "The Velvet Underground & Nico" repeatedly cable-cut by the Nico songs. I was having a good time, and then Nico's voice intruded upon the flow. Nico is out-of-place here and I don't dig her voice. The rest of the album is good-to-great. Some songs feel like they imitate the Beatles or the Stones without enough to stand out or differentiate themselves, but in other places The Velvet Underground and Lou Reed unleash a punk aesthetic that would inspire the future as much as they were inspired by the past. -1 star for Nico though.

I didn't know it was possible to take the type of voice I dislike most about a certain vein of UK post-punk and pair it with music that makes it even worse. But Orange Juice has managed to do that. This orange juice is definitely not freshly squeezed - probably that weird from concentrate stuff. Annoying disco horns, completely ill-fitting reggaeton drums... OJ just kept impressing me with the horrid depths they dredged. The African-influenced songs where Zeke Manyika took the lead were strange departures as well as the most tolerable/interesting things on the album, but those were also poisoned by the concentrate. I thought orange juice was good as long as there was no Pulp, but it turns out all OJ-inspired bands suck. According to what some random Wikipedia-empowered internet marauder wrote, Orange Juice "became perhaps the most important band in the Scottish independent music scene that emerged in the post-punk era." I had no idea the Scottish independent music scene in the early 80s sucked so much. But it turns out their competition was the Cocteau Twins and The Blue Nile, so things are making a lot more sense now. In some other web rando's blog post were the 20 best Scottish bands of the 80s, but I hadn't heard of any of them before embarking on the 1001. (Side note: post-punk is a ridiculous genre that is overly broad and contains an absurdly wide variety of sounds and styles.) I don't know what it was about Hadrian's Wall that acted as a impenetrable force field for good music. Fortunately, the barrier seems to have been broken, with much better stuff coming out of Scotland these days. Thank you Chvrches (and others), for saving the musical reputation of your nation. I would encourage Orange Juice to take their own advice and "rip it up and start again." Or maybe stop at just ripping it up.

When we went to Greece they served us the fish bone-in, with the head still on and the eyes looking at you and everything. Americans in the 21st century really are spoiled when it comes to how we acquire and eat our food. Kind of amazing how our consumption habits have evolved so quickly over the last century. Get your frozen chicken* nuggets and never have to think about where they came from, how that chicken lost its head and then its bones and got processed into something that... oh, why is that breading and pureed meat mush so yummy!? Get me a 10-piece! Hey, actually, Fishbone is kind of meat mush too. Bits of whatever genres they could find. The first few tracks had me thinking that it was pretty fun, but the middle of the album was more boring and tasteless than any chicken nugget. They recovered a bit at the end with weirdness and some nice social commentary.

On first listen I thought there was more electronica and this was an impressive fusion bringing a more modern approach to R&B. I went back through the first half again and most actually felt more like typical R&B than I first thought. Maybe I wasn't paying close attention the first time and just believed what Wikipedia said about the style? Overall Kelala's "Take Me Apart" is both chill and passionate, and even the less adventurous tracks are enjoyable. The title track, however, is awesome, and is the best example of the electronic fusion.

Neither Rick Davies nor Roger Hodgson were tramps, let alone some kind of super-tramps escaped from a dying world or bitten by radioactive spiders, only to wander the English countryside aimlessly homeless. Despite this distinct lack of actual trampiness, these young lads from comfortable families named their fledgling band after the autobiography of Welsh writer W.H. Davies (no relation?). Of course, to a modern audience the tramp reference is even odder, as for some reason a term around for centuries to refer to homeless vagrants is now, at least in the states, more often used to refer to a woman who has "many casual sexual encounters." A word that saw its peak usage in the late 1800s is now coming back again with a different meaning in the 21st century. And Supertramp a blip in between that made no discernible impact on language usage. Regardless of linguistic history, if you put Elton John, Pink Floyd, and Queen in a blender and spit out something that has elements of all three but none of the star power or hit-making ability of any of them, you'd get Supertramp. "Crime of the Century" was fine, enjoyable even, but it seemed to pale in comparison to its contemporaries. A little too much jazziness sometimes. Apparently their earlier stuff had more of a prog-rock feel, with a shift to a poppier sound with this album. I'd be interested to hear the earlier stuff.

More lies in the titles of albums and the names of bands. Well, not the names of bands in this one. The Band is actually a band. And, I hadn't known before, not just any band, but Bob Dylan's backing band, striking out on their own. But to the lies - this album was not recorded in the house nicknamed "Big Pink." Which makes me question everything. Did he really even pull into Nazareth, let alone do so feeling half past dead? "The Weight" remains an absolute classic, and there are some other pretty good songs on "Big Pink," but nothing else truly stands out. Some decent folk rock, but it doesn't have me clamoring for more.

Shaft was a bad mother (shut your mouth), but you wouldn't know if just from listening to Isaac Hayes' soundtrack. This album felt like chillin' in the jazz club, not chasing down some mobsters or risking his neck for his brother man. There were some cool guitar elements on "Cafe Regio's," but overall I was surprised by the lack of excitement, pace, and action implied in most of these instrumentals, you dig? Does most of the movie "Shaft" involve scenes of Shaft lying in bed relaxing with a good book or a post-coital cigarette? Or walking through the park on a sunny day? The energy finally picks up at the end of "No Name Bar," and "Do Your Thing" does a lot of different things, some of which are pretty great.

This is bad music. This guy is a revered singer-songwriter!? How do I go back to only knowing about "Hallelujah?" There were a couple of mildly tolerable songs in the middle, but the rest was so objectionable that it should be stricken from musical existence, not celebrated as one of the 1001 albums you must listen to. Maybe you don't know brilliance unless you see/hear its opposite?

This album is like a perfect encapsulation of what an unfortunate mess of an artist and person Kanye is. I listened to "College Dropout" and "Late Registration" back in the day, but I don't think I listened to any Kanye after that except for the hits and singles. And now its been so long that I wonder if those early albums are as deeply flawed or if his mental health brought both his personal life and his professional work down dramatically. Because unlike hellyeah, I do think there are flashes of brilliance on "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy." But the brilliance is absent from some songs, and when it is most brilliant it manages to squander said genius on the same track. "POWER" and "All of the Lights" have great foundations and hooks with the makings of all-time greats, but the execution just isn't there all the way through, with Kanye getting in his own way and messing up a good thing. Some of the other songs are just obnoxious from the outset, or overly long, or combination of the two. The album really seems just as bipolar as the man himself. And then I wondered if maybe that was the concept and it was all very intentional? But it turns out Kanye said "Dark Fantasy was my long, backhanded apology. You know how people give a backhanded compliment? It was a backhanded apology. It was like, all these raps, all these sonic acrobatics. I was like: 'Let me show you guys what I can do, and please accept me back. You want to have me on your shelves.'" An apology for being a jerk? An apology for veering away from his earlier sound on "808s?" Doesn't matter. I definitely didn't feel apologized to while listening. And an apology should maybe tone down the ego a bit? I know rap music is almost always going to have ego as an integral element, but the egomania was running wild from Kanye here. And as the "Yeezy taught me" segment with Chris Rock droned on and on, I was done. I wanted to give it 3 stars for a while to honor the brilliance that kept being squandered, but in the end I just can't.

I've only been exposed to a little Malian and Tuareg "desert blues," but I've enjoyed the style every time and "Music in Exile" is more of the same great mixture of guitar and African rhythms and percussion. The story behind this group and album is powerful too, fleeing extremists in northern Mali who banned music and keeping their traditional sounds alive first in Bamako and later in the US and the UK, working with Julian Casablancas of the Strokes, Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz, and opening for Alabama Shakes and performing at Austin City Limits. I might have to go check out the documentary they are featured in, "They Will Have to Kill Us First."

2…3…1?…3?…1?…2?…1…3… I do have the energy to be petty here. Gene Clark was boring and inoffensive, no real reason to bash him. But he's no Jeff Buckley. Clark's average in our group shall be docked in revenge for Buckley's average score. This is the way.

I'm not sure that back-to-back songs can get much better than "Hallelujah" and "Lover You Should Have Come Over." Those were the two Jeff Buckley songs I was most familiar with, but I'm happy to say that I was nearly as blown away by the rest of the album. I likely heard it all the way through a few times, but again, 1994 produced such a prolific abundance of great albums that I probably wasn't ready to fully appreciate it in the mid-90s anyway. Buckley possessed one of the greatest voices in rock history, which was sadly constrained at both ends - first by spending the first decade of his career as a session musician and band member rather than as a lead singer, and then by his tragic death. That history exploring different collaborators and genres certainly benefited him though, and "Grace" wouldn't be the album of diverse and gorgeous sound it is without those experiences. The way these songs build, ebb and flow, rise and fall, is consistently beautiful and powerful. At times Buckley is the stripped-down mellow singer-songwriter, at times the pop rock lead man that reached musical heights that Chris Martin, Travis' Fran Healy, and many others could never match. At times Buckley embraces a very 90s sound, at times it feels like powerfully explosive classic rock of the early 70s, at times you can feel the influence of the wide variety of artists he had worked with early in his career. An incredible singer, but the voice only reaches the heights that it does because of the arrangements and musical vision.

This came out in November of 1979, and I'm pretty sure the intro to the first track created the 80s. Then Faithfull started singing, and let's just say it doesn't improve things. Some questions and observations: What the hell is "Broken English" even trying to say?? The thought of new wave witches is funny. The synthy new-waviness fades away after "Broken English," but I don't exactly care for what replaces it. "Guilt" is a bunch of lies, right? I thought we were veering back into the tolerable music zone there, and then the sax comes in at the end, again heralding the 80s. "What's the Hurry?" The hurry is to get this album over with. Yes, I am running for cover. I didn't think a song about a "Working Class Hero" fit here, and apparently that's because it's a cover of a John Lennon song. And then it finally ends, with the bizarrely crude reggae punk "Why'd Ya Do It." Musically, it almost got interesting there. Lyrically... I don't know but finally it's over.

I don't know what to make of this mix of two very different styles of hip hop. Musically, it is a great example of alternative hip hop/jazz rap, and stands out with some of the better examples of the subgenre. But lyrically, it is not from that world. Too often eschewing the positivity of alternative hip hop for language and themes that are cruder, "Like Water for Chocolate" disappointed for failing to live up to it's potential.

When we listened to Pavement, I wrote "What is indie rock? Someone not signed to a major label? Today the term indie rock seems to have no meaning. It isn't exclusively used for independent label bands, and it doesn't refer to a specific musical style. I could tell you I like indie rock, but really that doesn't tell you much, and while I like many bands that would be classified as indie rock, I also dislike plenty of indie rock." I declared that Pavement was indie rock. In the 90s. But that indie rock today doesn't have much meaning in referring to a specific genre or musical style. That said, The National is probably as close to an indie style as you can find in the 2000s. It's not their labels (but those are independent), it's something about their sound. They're not alternative, or hard rock. They're actually indie. And they have been much buzzed about for nearly two decades now, with "Alligator" and "Boxer" and "High Violet" being a particularly strong run of critically acclaimed hits. And yet, I've never quite gotten into The National. I've never quite been able to put my finger on why, but I think most of it comes down to Matt Berninger's voice. It works ok on some songs, but I never love it, and more often I think it's too droning or something. It probably doesn't help that I generally have no idea what he's singing about. Most of the time I don't mind not understanding lyrics (whether because they're mumbled or just too obtusely poetic to bother with), but I think in those cases the voice has to be more pleasant or fitting with the music or akin to another instrument. But I rarely feel that with Berninger. The National definitely has their own very recognizable sound, consistent on all of their albums I've heard songs from. It just isn't quite my thing, despite being my thing-adjacent.

The message: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The music: ⭐️⭐️ The social commentary is biting and on point, but the rapping and beats are hit and miss. There are a few three or four star songs, and less random yelling from Flava Flav (see my “Fear of a Black Planet” review), but this still falls short of its potential. But, damn, they pulled no punches, especially at the end of “Shut Em Down.”

When you are a pioneer, trying to blaze new trails, you don't always find the ideal route the first time. "Blue Lines" has been credited as the first trip-hop album, and knowing Massive Attack's trip-hop reputation I was excited to listen. However, these are clearly the early experiments of the genre, not its later heights. Some of the beats and structure were what I expected, but the soul vocals were not what I was looking for. And though I remember liking Tricky's solo stuff, the tracks that featured him were not much better. "Blue Lines" is somewhere in the 2-3 range, minus a star for the disappointment, plus a star for pioneering a genre that would later produce some amazing material... (Interestingly, after listening to this I stumbled upon Massive Attack's "Teardrop" on Sirius XMU. Definitely the Massive Attack song I'm most familiar with. So much better than "Blue Lines." Then a few songs later they played The National's "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness." (We also listened to The National last week.) Fantastic song. Probably my favorite I've heard from them. Better than anything on "High Violet." I thought both of those popping up today was pretty serendipitous.)

I was surprised by a more alternative hip hop sound (though with a harder edge to the lyrics). In 1991 Nas really sounded like a bridge between 80s hip hop and 90s gangsta rap. You can hear a shift in his style by 1996's "It Was Written." I've always liked Nas, and this added exposure doesn't change that. However, nothing really stands out on "Illmatic" as a can't miss track. It's very even, without extreme highs or lows.

Take soul, jazz, and pop and put it in a blender and what do you get? Yes, you get Sade, but more importantly you get "sophisti-pop." "The term has been applied retrospectively to music that emerged during the mid-1980s in the UK which incorporated elements of new wave, jazz, soul, and pop. Music so classified often made extensive use of electronic keyboards, synthesizers and polished arrangements." It's a bit of a silly name for a genre, but regardless of the name it's not really a genre for me. A lot of sax and smoothness, but not what I'm looking for.

The trick to Tricky seems to be chaos and some kind of mad musical genius. Which is not to say that "Maxinquaye" is genius, but rather that the way Tricky makes music can apparently not be understood by, well, anyone but Tricky. And then again, crediting Tricky with making this music is kind of complicated. It seems much of the credit should go to Mark Saunders, the producer that was somehow able to wade through Tricky's bizarre creative methods to craft something listenable. https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-tricky-black-steel This account of the making of "Maxinquaye" was dizzying. I don't know how Saunders massaged all of that into a successful album. I gave Massive Attack's debut a 2, and the first half of this is much better than that (thanks in large part due to Saunders and Martina Topley-Bird's vocals), so I want to score this higher. On the other hand, Tricky ripped off Portishead's "Glory Box" (and did it worse than them - I kept wanting "Hell is Round the Corner" to magically morph into "Glory Box"), "Ponderosa" ruins the chill vibe established by the opening track, and the back half of the album is very uneven, to put it kindly. So there is some stuff on here that's better than "Blue Lines," though you wouldn't know it from my score.

Upon discovering, prior to listening, that this was classified as world music by a guy named Jah Wobble, let's just say I didn't picture John Joseph Wardle from Stepney, East London. Then start listening, and try to imagine that this guy was inches away from being in the Sex Pistols. But since Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious are such better noms de plume than Jah Wobble, maybe it was for the best. I guess if 1973 Sid Vicious drunkenly gave me a nickname I would run with it too? Not 1978 Sid Vicious though. But Jah Wobble was too crazy for the Sex Pistols!? "Rising Above Bedlam" is not crazy. But going by the nickname your drunk and slurring 16-year-old friend gave you for the rest of your career and life. That's crazy.

There is some strong nostalgia here, and a few mostly deserved 90s hits. But there are also some pretty cringey lyrics, and some forgettable songs in between the hits. While Shirley Manson was probably what got Garbage the attention, Butch Vig is probably the most interesting in terms of the evolution of rock and grunge in the 90s. His role as a producer for Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins leads me to view Garbage in a slightly different light. However, in the end the works he produced for other bands rise above the efforts here.

This is NOT ambient music. But what are you getting with "Warm Jets?" Warm, not hot. We're not going full hot tub here. This is just a bathtub with jacuzzi nozzles. You get in, and turn the jets on, and they "Needle" you with their propulsive power. But then you shift a bit and now the jets are hitting you right in the "Paw Paws" and you can't stop giggling. You don't mean to giggle, but it's just so damn ridiculous sitting there in the warm jets. And then it just gets weirder from there. You start to think about this tub full of warm jets. Who else has been in this tub? What strange diseases have been passed around to make the unnatural sounds you are hearing gurgling up from below? For a moment there's hope. Cindy gets in the tub. "Oh, here's a cute, normal lady," you say. But then it turns out she's actually a cicada, I think? Well there's no place for that in the warm tub. Cicada Cindy gets out of the tub, but she must have broken something, because all of a sudden the jets have no juice and everything is sluggish and not-so-warm, as if the jets are firing backwards. You try to ignore it and relax and pretend you're on a faraway beach, but then some crazy loud plumber named Frank barges in and breaks the tub, possibly for good. Can't see it working after this. This is NOT ambient music. Though I almost kinda sorta wish it was.

They were sober when they came up with the disharmonies, cacophonies, and looseness and lack of precision that likely guided many a psychedelic experience among listeners for decades afterwards!? My big concern is that there is some old hippie out there somewhere who still thinks he's a rock. He dosed at the start of "Freak Out!" and was getting into a decent groove as the fuzzed out weirdness progressed, and was just on the edge of keeping his s#!t together when "Help, I'm a Rock" came on. Halfway through, he considered the possibility that he was actually a cop, but couldn't find his uniform and thus concluded that he was some kind of conscious aggregation of minerals. Ever since, unable to find his way back to reality, he was wandered the Haight asking confounded passersby for help. Don't let your kids listen to rock music!

The middle of this album is so terrific, but it just takes too long to get there, and equally too long to get out of it. "Have a Cigar" and "Wish You Were Here" deserve a tighter album. Even "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" has a fantastic core, but it gets lost in the additional meandering parts that don't even come across as a long evolving jam, but rather separate pieces that start and stop, fade in and out. But when Pink Floyd is good, they're really great.

It took some searching, with "One Nation Under a Groove" unavailable on Amazon Music, to get into the groove. But YouTube saved the day, and my frustration was washed away by the funk. My toes were tapping, my day was brightened. Funk is not necessarily my thing, but I won't say no to this. Well, maybe I would say no to the "musical bowel movement" of "Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The Doo Doo Chasers)" - those are some absolutely hilarious lyrics to read, but it's a bit agonizing to listen to. Though I do appreciate that it helped to rid me of moral diarrhea, social bullshit, crazy doo doo, and mental poots.

Disclaimer: Adolf Hitler was a horrible, genocidal maniac. When the Autobahn was created in the 1920s and 30s, it became the first modern national highway system. And it happened largely thanks to the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party, who invested considerable economic and human capital into its construction. It allowed, among other things, the easier mobilization of the Nazi war machine. And after the war, it inspired the creation of Eisenhower's Interstate Highway System, which in turn solidified the dominance of post-war car culture, lack of mass transit infrastructure, and gas-guzzling and fast food addictions. Were they setting us up for future conquest all along? Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" begins with the title track that feels like you are cruising down the highway with no speed limit, even literally singing "We drive, drive, drive on the Autobahn." Then you take the next exit, and the roads get stranger and more experimental. One song/road was built around a leaky faucet, I think. Both the Autobahn and Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" were ahead of their time, and paved the way for things both great and awful. Only one of them was built by an evil dictator, though.

I flow three ways on Sunday and when the sun is shining I can't seem to find the phone or dial the right number. Then things shift and they continue moving in that direction, buzzing and clacking and who knows what else. For the twelfth time the underside is revealed and special things fall out. Better that way than if you payed attention. But for some, this is the way of the world. Improvisation! Play without thinking. Write without thinking. Live without thinking! But I have no artistic talent, so writing or playing without thinking just results in mush. Not so with Miles.

Oh, Ryan Adams, I wish you weren't such a terrible person. A fantastic songwriter. And a terrible person. The only thing he loves as much as his harmonica is being an abusive prick. This is as country as I can tolerate. It hits just right for me, in a sweet spot that I used to love. But Ryan Adams has spoiled all that. I'm gonna keep tapping my foot, because I can't help it, but he can shove his harmonica where the sun don't shine. This is a four-star album. But -1 because I just can't enjoy it in the same way anymore.

“I sort of don’t trust anybody who doesn’t like Led Zeppelin,” Jack White said in the documentary "It Might Get Loud."

Apparently I didn't like Iggy Pop's "The Idiot" very much a few months ago. But "Lust for Life" was better. The first five songs were great - I don't think I ever realized "The Passenger" was Iggy. "Success" was the least successful song on the album for me, but the rest was strong, and definitely makes me much more likely to revisit Iggy than "The Idiot."

I didn't know a Stones album could be this boring. Seemed more like imitations of late 50s and early 60s rock, and not the bold attempts at pushing the genre of blues rock that makes up the Stones' best stuff.

Well that was a surprise stealth supergroup! Not just a solo outing for Jeff Beck (a name I knew but not his history as Eric Clapton's replacement in the Yardbirds), the Jeff Beck Group also included Stones drummer Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart. And I can now never look at Rod Stewart the same way again. This was the music his voice was meant for!

It was fine, I guess? I'm not equipped with the musical or cultural knowledge to properly judge this.

The first half of the album wasn't really what I expected from the band I knew from "I Want You To Want Me" and "Surrender." It was heavier, but nothing really stood out. The two hits, on the other hand, have great catchy hooks. This live album was Cheap Trick's most popular, feeding off their apparent Japanese fandom, but the recording is a bit underwhelming.

As an educator, I just don't know what to do with "When I Kissed the Teacher." They may have tried to get back on course with "Dancing Queen," but it was too late. "Arrival" was poisoned on arrival by the creepy opener. But wait, the "Dancing Queen" in question is only 17? Is she the one who kissed the teacher? Oh, also, I just don't like this music.

I wonder how many pairs of the Fly sunglasses Bono had. Dude wore them non-stop rain or shine for a couple years, it seems. And I think that was my real first exposure to Bono and U2. I may have heard some "Joshua Tree" on the radio, but I was too young to appreciate it. The Fly Bono was U2 to me for a while. Looking back now, I can see why they wanted to reinvent themselves, and respect artists who work hard to not just pump out the same record over and over. But "the sound of four men chopping down The Joshua Tree," as Bono called "The Fly," is kind of sad. Listening back to "Achtung Baby" now though, it seems less of a departure than it probably felt like in 1991. I listen to it now knowing the full scope of U2's career, and the progression of alternative rock and stadium rock in the three decades since. And it's pretty decent. It's not my favorite U2, but it's also not my least favorite - I like most of it (especially "Mysterious Ways"). Despite not liking Bono as The Fly. Or liking any other incarnation of Bono really. Quite unusual how their music somehow transcends their gregarious and oxygen-sucking lead singer for the most part in my mind.

A reviewer described Bryan Ferry's voice as an "elegant, seductive croon." Umm... agree to disagree on that one.

I've heard of Adam Ant. But not Adam & The Ants. I wondered, was I wrong the whole time and there is no Adam Ant? Just some guy named Adam with some ants? No, it turns out he really is named Adam Ant. But none of the other members of Adam & The Ants are ants. Why not Andy Ant or Lester Ant? Maybe they weren't as committed to the gimmick. Because Adam Ant was certainly committed to the gimmick. Which was a pirate gimmick? But what do pirates have to do with ants? A legit pirate named Adam Ant would not inspire much terror on the high seas. The makeup and silly facial hair is ok - see Jack Sparrow and De Niro's Captain Shakespeare. I just don't think ants wouldn't make for good pirates. I wanted to hate "Kings of the Wild Frontier." But they sounded like they were just having so much fun. Extra star for embracing it, even if it sucked.

It takes a pair to call your album "The Genius Of"... yourself. But for Ray Charles it is well deserved. His voice is wonderful, and the songs are timeless.

I kinda figured I'd be the only one in the group with a positive view of this one. I really dug this album when it first came out, and still mostly do. While I think I prefer At the Drive-In, the previous band from The Mars Volta's driving creative forces, I like "Deloused in the Comatorium" and "Frances the Mute." I totally get why they can be too much though. To many, the vocals are probably polarizing, or just straight-up off-putting. But I don't mind the frantic, high-energy shrieking. The pace shifts are also off-putting to many I believe. Something about time signatures? I kinda know what that means musically, but will probably sound ignorant trying to describe it. The songs quickly accelerate or decelerate, and sometimes devolve into chaotic noise or meandering background sounds. I don't know, but I dig it. And I listened to ATDI's "Relationship of Command" again, and like it even more than "Deloused."

Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, "1984" is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. It offers a nightmarish vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality. The brilliance is in the prescience of modern life—the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language—and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell. Required reading for students since it was published, it ranks among the most terrifying novels ever written. Hold on, wrong "1984"... I loved the first Wonder Woman movie. So how did the same people create such unwatchable trash in "1984?" Hold on, that's not right either... 1984 was a year of disappointments. I stopped being an only child. Reagan was overwhelmingly re-elected. The Olympic Games were held without the US getting a chance to beat communists. The Tigers and the Raiders and Italian soccer were world champs. I give the year one star. Wait, I'm gonna get this right... Ah, I'm supposed to be reviewing "Panama." Great country. With a plethora of deserted islands, chilled Caribbean vibes on one side and monster Pacific swells on the other, Panama sits poised to deliver the best of beach life. And a whole other world begins at the water's edge. Seize it by scuba diving with whale sharks in the Pacific, snorkeling the rainbow reefs of Bocas del Toro or setting sail in the indigenous territory of Guna Yala, where virgin isles sport nary a footprint. Meanwhile, surfers will be psyched to have world-class breaks all to themselves. Hello, paradise. And finally... Listening to Van Halen's "1984," I recalled my Bon Jovi review from a while back. "I feel like rock got progressively heavier through the 60s and 70s until it gave birth to heavy metal and thrash metal. Then the 80s took that heavy sound and dialed it back for pop radio and consumerism, and thus came hair bands." Yep, that fits Van Halen, even if they aren't quite in the hair band grouping. There are some classics on here, but I can't help hearing their guitar riffs and thinking about how they took heavy metal riffs and made them a bit too palatable and frankly kind of boring. And as a somewhat attractive educator, I can't get down with the whole vibe of "Hot For Teacher." That song, by the way, starts with one of those aforementioned diluted metal riffs before trying to save it by segueing into a nice little blues bit, but then ruins it with weird horniness. Also, I am not in agreement on the synths. Particularly the weird fake organ stuff on "I'll Wait." I think that song would be so much better if they stuck to guitars. Anyway... tldr... lousy year, great book, middling album.

Somehow ahead of its time and one-of-a-kind and timeless all at the same time. 1983!? A year before the previously mentioned abomination of 1984? I first heard "Blister in the Sun" in the early 90s, having no idea that it was nearly a decade old. It's one of the songs that got me into music. I mean, I'd always listened to music, but it was just whatever radio station or cassettes my parents put on. A bunch of pop radio and Madonna and Paula Abdul. So Violent Femmes was a revelation. It's a sound that somehow combines punk, surf rock, folk and country rock, alternative, 90s and 00s indie, and more all into something that is all of those and none of those and more. It is cohesive and consistent for the duration. Violent Femmes does not boast the best vocals or the cleanest playing, but it is more than the sum of its parts. Much more.

https://timeline.com/the-cocaine-fueled-fascist-who-almost-destroyed-david-bowie-46bf936e3035 https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rock-star-david-bowie/ "Station to Station" declares “the return of the Thin White Duke." But also, thankfully, the end of the Thin White Duke. My music education has many gaps, with the 70s being the biggest void. With the 1001, I am slowly filling in those gaps, and connecting the dots. The intertwined history of David Bowie and Iggy Pop, in particular, has been illuminating. And what I've learned about this period in Bowie's life and career has been... well... I'm glad he moved past the Thin White Duke. Inventing a character just as outlandish as Ziggy Stardust, albeit in a much more controversial direction, was certainly a choice. It's not a gimmick anyone could get away with in 2022. As far of the music goes, I like it only barely more than I like the Thin White Duke persona. Not saying much. Each song has a little bit of something that I dig, but it's drowned out by too much that's not for me. Bowie's impending return to Europe apparently also came with an interest in krautrock, and early signs of it show in the opener's extended intro which brought back unfortunate memories of Kraftwerk's "Autobahn." "Discussing his flirtations with fascism in a 1980 interview with NME, Bowie explained that Los Angeles was 'where it had all happened. The fucking place should be wiped off the face of the Earth. To be anything to do with rock and roll and go and live in Los Angeles is, I think, just heading for disaster. It really is.'" Well, I'm glad he got out, I guess? And glad he eventually shook the demons he took with him when he left.

I was excited for some classic rock, but wound up underwhelmed and mostly unimpressed. "Smoke on the Water" is a fondly remembered classic, but this version is a bit too much. In fact, every track is a bit too much. A bit too much extended jamming. A bit too much trying desperately to be cool and for some reason coolness stays just out of reach no matter how many minutes the song drones on for. Deep Purple is held up as members of the "unholy trinity of British hard rock and heavy metal in the early to mid- seventies" along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, according to rock journalist Joel McIver's book about Black Sabbath. But Deep Purple does not have nearly as deep a catalog of hits as either of those other bands. Sabbath certainly influenced heavy metal. Led Zeppelin influenced everyone but could never be duplicated. But maybe Deep Purple were influential on hair metal? Thanks Deep Purple.

I think the punk and post-punk of the late 70s and early 80s has been my favorite part of exploring the 1001, because I've discovered some great stuff I didn't know before. And some less than great stuff, but even those were certainly interesting. With still more to come as we continue the journey. Of that period and genre, I think I like Siouxsie and the Banshees the best. It feels very unique, but not too odd or alienating. It sounds like they may have gone through some stylistic evolutions during their career, but "Juju" is terrific. I love the sharp, piercing guitar work and the understated percussion, and while it took me a few songs to get into Siouxsie's voice, I wound up liking it on most songs. It's too bad they left the punk behind and seem to have become a pretty typical 80s band, with a few decent songs and maybe more than a few annoying ones. I'll put some tracks from "Juju" in regular rotation though.

Here's Peter Tosh calling for the legalization of marijuana in 1976 (in Jamaica). Tosh also said "Herb will become like cigarettes," in an NME interview in 1978. Yet here we are, 46 years later, and cigarettes have become much less common and marijuana is still not culturally acceptable at the level Tosh was pleading for. Five years after this album was released, President Nixon called for a "War on Drugs" as part of the tough-on-crime platform of the Republican Party, and countless lives have been ruined by this war in the years since. In Jamaica, possession of up to 2 oz. of ganja was decriminalized in 2015, and in 2018 the first medical cannabis dispensary opened after medical marijuana was legalized. In the United States, marijuana is legalized in 18 states, 2 territories, and the District of Columbia – but illegal at federal level. Decriminalized in another 13 states and 1 territory. Despite these recent changes, 8.2 million Americans were arrested for marijuana between 2001 and 2010, and 80% of those were for simple possession. On top of that, blacks are 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than whites. The numbers improved only slightly from 2010-2020, mostly offset by increases in methamphetamine arrests. Over 40,000 Americans are in prison for marijuana offenses, and millions more have criminal records that impact their quality of life. The War on Drugs is a failure. Legalize It.

That's a very impressive ability to alternate so dynamically between too boring and too weird.

Bowie certainly seems to have captured some sort of zeitgeist here. I'm not sure if it's the zeitgeist of 1977, or some Blade Runner-esque 2177 dystopia, but it's got a vibe. Not my vibe, granted, but a vibe. Some of the songs could make for some interesting sci-fi or fantasy movie soundtrack material, but I wasn't feeling it as an album to listen to in 2022.

This outdated raver stuff from the 90s brought back memories and put me on a carousel of nostalgia that I didn't want to get off of.

The first song had me a little concerned about the direction of the album, but I wound up pleasantly surprised. It wasn't all a not-quite-successful attempt to follow in the footsteps of Radiohead (who likely can't be replicated). In fact, "Halcyon Digest" is the rare album that consistently gets better as it goes along. By the end, I realized I had solidly enjoyed it, and will check out more Deerhunter in the future.

When we listened to "Exit Planet Dust," my addled memory said that "Dig Your Own Hole" would be the better of the two Chemical Brothers albums on the list. It was the one I had heard more back in the day, but it turned out to be not all I remembered it to be. "Block Rockin' Beats," once past the iconic intro, gets pretty repetitive and annoying, and the repetitive nature sticks around with many songs looping sounds for way too long. The breaks and transitions did not nearly hit the highs I was expecting. "Setting Sun" and "It Doesn't Matter" almost saved things, but it was too little too late.

Through most of them title track, Alexis sat in the back seat screaming “I wanna different snack!” over and over and over. After about two minutes she briefly switched to “I wanna chewy bar!” for a bit. Her incessant screaming fit right in with AC/DC. (And the excessive repetition of an abrasive sound would have fit with yesterday’s Chemical Brothers.) But how did Brian Johnson (and Bon Scott before him) deal with the effects of that much yelling and screaming? Alexis wore herself out and eventually stopped. But the AC/DC singers must have spent a lot of time caring for their voices after performing. Honey? Salt water gargle? Marshmallow root? Maybe it was just the wrong time for me to listen to AC/DC. It's great in small doses, but this was too much. There's no levels to it. If they need a new lead singer though, Alexis could give them a run for their shouting money.

I find myself quite conflicted. "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables" is political, fast, and urgent, with much brilliant pointed commentary and erudite references. It is also satirical almost to a fault, and trying to parse the attempted wit from the caricature that is Jello Biafra may be futile. The spirit behind the album is passionate and infectious and quite commendable, but listen too closely and it may fall apart a bit. Biafra is apparently not an anarchist, though you could understandably mistake him for one on some tracks. It's the overboard satire that seems designed to push all of the buttons that leads to confusion. But not an actual anarchist, which is good, because while an interesting thought experiment, anarchy is idiotic. "California Uber Alles" was the most notable shark-jumper for me. Comparing Jerry Brown to Nazis is a bit much. And here I thought comparing anyone slightly more fascist than yourself to actual Nazis was more of a 21st century thing. And through no fault of this 1980-released album, today may have been the wrong day to listen to "I Kill Children," regardless of the intended meaning and effect of the song. There is a lot to like here, though, and Dead Kennedys' influence cannot be mistaken. Political punk this angry rose to the surface again in the 1990s with Rage Against the Machine and System of a Down, the latter of which I definitely hear developing out of DK's surf-rock spaz. I think both of those bands do it better though, toning down the satire a little in exchange for more bite.

As someone who doesn't generally dig mainstream country music, the general lack of it on the 1001 has been appreciated. However, as someone who doesn't generally dig mainstream country music, I was very interested to listen to Kacey Musgraves' "Golden Hour" in the hope that her reputation for defying genre norms and boundaries was well-earned. And I guess that reputation is somewhat well-earned. But not in a way that made me enjoy the album. "Golden Hour" features some pretty typical country songs, some indie singer-songwriter-ish songs with a bit of a country twang, and some pop songs with a country twang. Some of the indie ballads were fine, but not good enough to overshadow the pop and country songs, which did nothing for me. It's like trying to contain all of Taylor Swift's career phases within one album, and while I'm not a Swift fan her songs are still generally catchier and stick with you more. Overall, this was a pretty forgettable album.

The first three songs are justified classics, but it sure does fall off after that, getting trapped in some kind of lounge jazz (or yacht jazz?) slumber until "The Man's Too Strong" attempts to save things. Side notes: -Dire Straits is a terrific band name, though not sure the band is quite worthy of it -Didn't recall that the original "Money for Nothing" included... those... lyrics. -Lead Mark Knopfler apparently did the score for "The Princess Bride" -Those middle tracks were really awful. That's not a side note, that's the main point here, and they are more responsible for this album's score than the good stuff.

You could ask questions about Paul Simon appropriating African music to revitalize his career. You could ask questions about Simon's choice to feature South African artists during apartheid against the recommendations of peers such as Harry Belafonte. You could ask questions about Simon and Garfunkel's on again, off again relationship. But none of that seems to matter when you are tapping your foot to "Graceland."

The careers of Pat Smear, Belinda Carlisle, and Joan Jett are three fascinating threads to pull on, and their intersection in the brief but significant history of the Germs is kind of cool. As for "GI," Smear is the best thing on it. Everything else is muddy, but the guitar sometimes shines. While hardcore punk may thrive in that muddiness, eschewing the need to play proficiently or clearly with singing not intended to be good or even pleasant, the muddiness on "GI" made it so that none of the songs was able to rise out of the muck.

"Not Available" was, in fact, available. "Pling!" was a bit of an inaccurate onomatopoeia for that song. And "Aht Uh Mi Hed" makes it clear that spelling wasn't really Shuggie Otis' thing. But chill funk music was his thing, and he did it well. Nothing blew me away, but it was even and consistent.

I recognized the name Dizzie Rascal from his 15 minutes of fame in 2003. I vaguely recalled finding him interesting, and thus looked forward to listening to “Boy in Da Corner” nearly 20 years later. And it was, no doubt, interesting. It felt fresh and different, for either 2003 or 2022. The grime style is one I want to like. But uniqueness aside, I just couldn’t get into it. “Fix Up, Look Sharp” is the track I remember, and I do think that refrain is the coolest thing on the album. But while I’m glad grime exists, I think it’s just not for me.

The first two tracks are well-recognized hits, but I immediately worried that I wouldn’t like a whole album that sounded like them. Luckily, the rest of the album was faster, more urgent, more raucous, and I wound up liking it more than “Hate to Say I Told You So.”

The War on Drugs has been a massive failure. I mean, it’s kind of dumb anyway to declare war on something that can’t surrender or sign a treaty anyway (the US hasn’t actually declared a military war since WWII), but the War on Drugs is worse than that. It has caused prison populations to explode, created a school to prison pipeline, and shattered communities. And people still use drugs! So thanks tough-on-crime Republicans, and the Democrats that went along with them (and sometimes even made it worse), for 45 years of cruel, insensitive, and just plain stupid policy. War on Drugs the band is a very different story, and a massive success. I’ve loved “Under the Pressure,” “Red Eyes,” and a few other War on Drugs songs from other albums, but never sought out a full album. While I really enjoyed “Lost in the Dream” overall, I found it to the the opposite of The Hives’ “Your New Favorite Band” - two singles to start the record, but while The Hives got better, War on Drugs never quite reached those highs again. While neither are my new favorite band, they are both bands I’ll be listening to more of.

This is the sound of a band in crisis. Not a break up crisis. Or a substance abuse crisis. Rather an identity crisis. It was simultaneously the last radio-friendly blue-eyed soul album from the Young Rascals and also the first psychedelic rock album from the evolving and maturing Rascals. And on both ends, it’s fine. Nothing great or standout. Relatively listenable. But it also swings back and forth between the two styles in an occasionally jarring way.

I’m the opposite of hellyeah on this one. Most of “Snivilisation” is pretty boring techno, better as background than dance music. It probably was influential in its time, but now there are hundreds of lo-fi YouTube channels that are not far off from this. It’s “Are We Here?” that I liked best, so don’t listen to hellyeah. The drum and bass finally got me moving, and it consistently built to great breaks throughout its 15 minutes. +1 to a 2-star album.

“Fame” is great. “Fame” has funk. “Fame” has soul. Y’know what “Fame” doesn’t have? Annoying horns. Excessive backup singing. Obnoxiously sung Beatles covers. The rest of the album has those things. And it’s awful. No iteration of Bowie has been a hit with me. But this one is my least favorite.

The previous day brought us Bowie's "Young Americans," and I found the horns on that album tremendously annoying. Not so with "Home is Where the Music Is," which is filled with warm and exuberant horns. I was not at all familiar with Hugh Masekela, the "father of South African jazz," but I love his style.

Pretentious-ass is correct that barleycorn is alcohol-related, but it's also a unit of measurement (1/3 of an inch). The relation to barley and hence alcohol is what leads us to the traditional British character and folk song and also to the Jack London autobiography, both named "John Barleycorn." But if London came to embody the alcoholic first referenced in the song 400 years earlier, why does Traffic insist he must die? I still don't know why "John Barleycorn Must Die," but I do now understand why the label for Delirium Tremens features a pink elephant, as London's novel included the first use of pink elephants as a stereotypical hallucination for the very drunk. Is it a teetotaler thing!? Even if you don't like his drinking and associate it with all the ills of society, killing him hardly seems like an appropriate solution. We've discussed prohibition of substances here before. It doesn't work, people. As for the music, the aforementioned "Barleycorn" was a very weird folk detour on a... what genre was the rest of that? The front half was very horn and woodwind heavy (it's been a pretty horny series of albums lately), and man those woodwind solos are something... I thought we had listened to Traffic before, but we hadn't. Then I thought again, and was sure we'd had some progressive jazz smooth rock type thing. Ah, but that was Chicago, about which I'd said similar things about the jazzy instruments and vague genre. And originally they were the Chicago Transit Authority, which probably does something to regulate Traffic. So let's call this gridrock. Get it?

I was excited by the prospect of this, but wound up disappointed. It may have been influential, but what it influenced far surpassed it.

A brilliant start, but it never comes close to returning to the heights of “Paint it Black.” Too much misogyny and not enough blues or passion.

I... actually didn't hate this. Tracks 2-5 were kind of decent. I wouldn't listen to it again, but I didn't find it objectionable. The definition of a 3-star album.

Fiona Apple is brilliant. But there is just a bit too much spoken word on “Fetch the Bolt Cutters,” and too many songs that Apple is determined to add an overly weird segment just for the sake of being quirky.

We listened to this on the first leg of our road trip two weeks ago. I did not like it. I can’t remember why specifically, but I know I don’t want to go back and listen again to find out why.

Love is not a British band, but this album was far more popular across the pond than it was in the states, so it still fits into the 1001’s bias towards Brit rock. I’m not sure why it was better-received in the UK, but I can tell you why it wasn’t a hit here. Because it’s ok, but it’s not great. And because band leader Arthur Lee refused to tour to support it. Lee’s story and career is very interesting though. There’s also a reference to Love being overshadowed stateside by label mates the Doors. Well yeah, because they’re not as good as the Doors. And you’re not going to change that dynamic through band in-fighting and not touring. According to Wikipedia, “the album saw the group embrace a subtler folk-oriented sound and orchestration.” On some songs that’s evident, but there’s also some harder psychedelic rock and even a Latin-influenced track. It’s not bad in total, but it’s certainly not the Doors.

I’m not a jazz connoisseur, can’t generally differentiate between styles of jazz, and can’t really tell what I think the difference is between good jazz and great jazz. That said, John Coltrane is a legend, and seemingly for good reason. As it’s not my thing, I don’t think I’ll ever give a jazz album a 5, but this was as good as it gets I suppose.

So many missed joke opportunities for this review, due to the album being a "yes" from me and not a "no." I know Yes, but only from their hit singles, of which there are fewer than I'd realized. "Owner of a Lonely Heart" in fact comes 12 years after this album, and after numerous lineup changes and even a dissolution and reforming. In between it seems was an excessive amount of prog rock and Eastern spiritual experimentation? But "The Yes Album" is, for the most part, what I like about prog rock. "I've Seen All Good People" is deserving of its place in their limited greatest hits. A couple tracks lost their way in their meanderings, but overall I enjoyed the album. I have to say "no" to "The Clap" though. In all its forms. But this particular form, that being a bluegrass instrumental, might be ok in another setting. However, it just doesn't fit here.

Is "Seventeen Seconds" the amount of vocals on this album? It was sparse. And I'm torn on how I feel about that. Because on the one hand, Robert Smith's vocals are what I like least about The Cure. But on the other hand, I liked the atmosphere and vibe created here. Those seem like parts of the same hand, so on the third hand, why in the world was I left wanting more Robert Smith?? I've never felt that way before. And I can't explain the paradox of liking the sparse ephemeral atmosphere of "Seventeen Seconds" and the simultaneous desire for more vocals. I'm at a loss.

For possibly being the album that helped launch or break through rock and roll, there's a lot of slow and sappy country and western on "Elvis Presley." If only it all could have been as exciting as "Blue Suede Shoes." But instead, "I'm Counting on You" and "I Love You Because" are boring, "One-Sided Love Affair" and "Just Because" are a bit annoying, and Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" is much better. Elvis is electric and dynamic and charismatic, but it's a bit unfortunate that it took this white pretty-boy to popularize a sound that was largely being created by black artists like Little Richard and others. That said, while this album does have an indelible place in rock and roll history, it has some tracks that really pull down the vibe and the score.

I want to like Badly Drawn Boy more than I actually do. He is a talented musician working in a singer-songwriter style that I enjoy, but I found "The Hour of Bewilderbeast" to be largely forgettable. After this Mercury Prize-winning debut and his "About a Boy" soundtrack, I think his visibility in America pretty much disappeared. Through it all, though, I think he kept the beanie on. I can't find any pictures of him without one. And if that speaks to one thing about Badly Drawn Boy, its consistency. Gotta give that to him at least.

The 13th Floor Elevators were truly on the leading edge of psychedelic rock, but those who followed and likely took inspiration from them just did it better. I would have been interested to hear Big Brother and the Holding Company perform these songs, with tighter instrumentation (even in the context of psychedelic rock's loose style) and Janis Joplin's vocals. As it was, I give them credit for pioneers of the sound but can't really recommend it or want to go back to it.

This was truly "Buffalo Springfield Again" for me, because I didn't see the "Again" at first and instead listened to "Buffalo Springfield," the band's debut album. That first eponymous album opened with "For What It's Worth," and for what it's worth I never knew the name of that song, and for what it's worth it's Buffalo Springfield's best song. But I had to sit through two albums of failing to reach those heights again. They almost get there near the end of "Again" with "Rock & Roll Woman." Everything in between isn't bad. There are some pretty decent songs. But nothing that really grabs you. There are also too many constant stylistic shifts due to the different band members taking writing and singing leads back-and-forth. Clearly a lot of talent involved; but it doesn't quite do it for me.

Two artistic Brits have been prime targets for cancel culture of late. Cancel culture has its excesses, without a doubt. But it also represents a noble trend in attempting to hold our celebrities and icons to account for their words and actions, and their place in perpetuating bigotry and privilege. "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling has been in the thick of it, due to her comments on trans issues. The International Quidditch Association has even changed the sport's name to Quadball in protest of the writer who created the magical game. (If you weren't aware, college students actually play a non-magical version of this game, with sticks-that-do-not-fly tucked between their legs.) Rowling's behavior has certainly changed my opinion of her as a person. However, it has only impacted my enjoyment of her literature slightly. Why is that? Eric Clapton, on the other hand, has perhaps been a racist and a bigot for a long time, but it is his recent anti-vaccine stance that has led to everyone dredging up all his cancellable ills. He is one of the greatest blues guitarists of all time, but in 2022 how much does that matter? It's pretty rich that the guy who once told a concert audience that he wanted to "stop Britain from becoming a black colony" has now said that he would "not perform on any stage where there is a discriminated audience present," in response to Boris Johnson requiring vaccination for concerts. Maybe he's grown and would no longer say "I used to be into dope, now I'm into racism." But he's still a dumb@$$. Anyway, I can more easily separate authors from their art than musicians. I'm not sure why? Something about the level of immersion when reading? The fact that Clapton and other artists have written songs that express their idiocy (not on this album)? Its something I have considered for a long time, as Orson Scott Card has been my favorite author for a long time, despite his personal political beliefs. And it seems I'm no closer to an answer.

I kept counting down, but ecstasy never arrived.

When I think of Joy Division, the lyric and music that pop into my head is "Let's Dance to Joy Division," by the Wombats, not by Joy Division. That's because before today, I couldn't name a Joy Division song. I had a vague idea of what I thought they sounded like, but that's about it. So I entered into "Closer" hoping to dance to Joy Division. But alas, I don't know how one dances to Joy Division. It's harsh and sharp and dark and... not what I want to dance to. Any moment where I started to get into it (the intro to "Twenty Four Hours" is rad), I get taken right back out by Ian Curtis' vocals. Joy Division was apparently very influential, and I can hear in their music how they impacted not just the 80s, but also 21st century post-punk. But I can't dance to Joy Division, and in fact just want to turn it off when Curtis starts singing (though I empathize with his tragic story).

How heavy does metal have to be to be heavy metal? There are much heavier metals than steel, though it remains undetermined whether British steel is heavier than other steel. Now an album called "British Tungsten," that would probably shred. But this is "British Steel" - not a particularly heavy metal in the greater scheme of things. Judas Priest may have a reputation as helping to build the foundation of heavy metal, but it only makes scant appearances on "British Steel." The first four tracks were heavy. But not all that good. There was a definite shift though, starting with the corny arena-rock anthem "United." "You Don't Have to Be Old to Be Wise" and "Living After Midnight" are also more of a blend of 70s arena rock and 80s hair metal. The album ends with "Red, White, & Blue," which might not have been on the original release? Who knew these lads wielding their British somewhat heavy metal were such American patriots? What's that you say? There are 43 countries with red, white, and blue in their flag? Ok, I stand corrected. Still kind of odd for some semi-heavy metal chaps to wax poetic in a goofy anthem about a flag. Anyway, that's all for this edition of "Fun With Flags." While Judas Priest may have failed to deliver sufficiently heavy metal during this sellout period of their career, at least they reminded me of this gem that I hadn't thought of in a while... https://c.tenor.com/FxcYgqxzmgMAAAAC/beavis-and-butthead-head-bang.gif

I'm glad I gave "Loveless" a second listen. The first time through, I was overwhelmed by the weakly orchestral whale murder on "Touched" and the subsequent instrument malfunction and moaning of "To Here Knows When." Those tracks stuck with me, and it wasn't until the album was almost finished that I realized I enjoyed the second half more than I'd thought. The second listen solidified what I had realized by the end of the first go-round - "Loveless" (and mbv) aren't quite it for me, but I can respect their experimentation and path-forging efforts. This album is apparently the defining release of the shoegaze subgenre, though shoegaze seems very small and niche, whereas mbv seems equally influential in alternative and indie rock in the 90s and even 2000s. I thought shoegaze was named for the generally mopey and muffled vibe of the songs, but I've learned that it was that the guitar sound was so driven by pedal effects that the musicians spent much of their time staring at the pedals, and thus, their shoes. But while "Loveless" surely inspired much shoegaze that I've never heard, and Wikipedia claims that shoegaze was pushed aside by grunge and Britpop, a lot of grunge adjacent alternative rock in the 90s feels a lot like my bloody valentine. (As an aside, my instinct to proofread is very annoyed by the lack of capital letters in my bloody valentine.) The band that came to mind most while listening to "Loveless" was not a shoegaze band, but rather Smashing Pumpkins. After the album finished, Amazon Music's attempt to create a like-minded radio station was also heavy in 90s alternative and grunge.

Why did Charlie have three angels? Why not four, or even five? Is three the magic number, both in girl-powered detective agencies with mysterious benefactors as well as in R&B girl groups? Maybe more than three leads to instability or competition or something? But with every iteration of Charlie's Angels and most girl group trios, it seems they eventually go their separate ways and one member goes on to more success than the other two. Hopefully they always remember the role their two former partners had in their future success. With "Survivor" that even extends to Beyonce re-using "Dangerously in Love" in her solo career. Destiny's Child may have launched Beyonce into mega-stardom, but "Survivor" is a fairly unexceptional album. "Independent Women Part I" and "Survivor" get things off to a strong start, but the body positivity of "Bootylicious" is squandered by the super-judgey "Nasty Girl." So the messaging is a bit all over the place, but that's probably to be expected with over 20 credited songwriters. Alas, music made by committee is probably always going to be simultaneously formulaic and all-over-the-place. And when the committee churns out duds like "Apple Pie la Mode" and "Sexy Daddy," you imagine that Beyonce must be pretty glad she escaped the machine and got big enough to do what she wants, not what the Charlie-like voice on the other side of the speaker is telling her to.

First, I would like to thank jkavlock for the opportunity to write this guest review. I've been a huge fan of Rage Against The Machine for a long time. They've been an incredibly important band in the formation of my worldview, and even inspired my career. Musically, RATM gets me pumped. I love to lift and work out, and nothing gets me psyched for a good burn like RATM. I turn on Rage, turn it up loud, grab the barbell, and the sweat starts trickling down like tax cuts for the rich. It's thanks to RATM that every time the sun's out, my guns are out. You know what they say - "curls get the girls." Lyrically, RATM helps me understand the world we live in. They sing about all the things I love - Manifest Destiny, landlords, burning things, corporations, the system, and a nice game of bridge ("For all the diamonds/They'll use a pair of clubs to beat the spades"). They give proper respect to the thin blue line ("Those who died are justified, for wearing the badge") and the stars and stripes ("Ya bowin' down to the flag"). RATM told us to rest assured that "Departments of police, the judges, the feds/Networks at work, keepin' people calm." They helped me understand that if I did what those in positions of power and authority told me to, I could control myself - "And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control." And they described how the education system works best - "The complacent students sit and listen." RATM also recognized conformity, assimilation, and submission as important parts of the American Dream. When Obama was elected president, I knew we had to "take the power back!" and I listened to that track on repeat leading up to the 2010 midterms. I do have to admit - sometimes I just get so pumped listening to Rage and curling big dumbbells that I lose track of the lyrics. But I get the message. These guys SPEAK to me! Rage guitarist Tom Morello even wrote an article about me. He called me "the embodiment of the machine," and that recognition is one of the proudest moments of my career. I wouldn't be who I am today if not for the influence of Rage Against The Machine and Tom Morello. Your Truly, Paul Ryan Former Speaker of the House Former Republican Nominee for Vice President Former Spokesperson for P90X Former and Current Advocate for Privatizing and Ruining Medicare and Social Security President of the Misunderstood Lyrics and Messages Club

I never knew the name of "Enjoy the Silence," or knew to connect it to Depeche Mode. This is probably a line I keep repeating about 80's synth-pop and new wave. But I continue to learn that there are some songs from that era that I really enjoy, and many others that don't work the same for me. The first four minutes of "Enjoy the Silence" are terrific. Then they nearly blow it by stopping the song to ask me to "enjoy the silence" and then not actually deliver silence. It should have just flowed into "Policy of Truth," which is the album's second best song. "Personal Jesus" was a hit, but it's just ok. Beyond those three tracks, the rest is all downhill. "Sweetest Perfection" is groan-worthy, and "Blue Dress" ruins the momentum of "Enjoy the Silence" and "Policy of Truth" before the last three tracks eventually wander off into tangentially related electronica.

Knowing nothing about The Sonics, I was immediately excited by "The Witch" and eager for what would follow. Unfortunately, what followed were two covers of classic but much less inspiring early rock'n'roll. The Sonics' original work is incredibly revealing, unveiling connections between blues, rock, and punk that are always apparent but never as explicit as on "Here Are the Sonics." The covers are a bit hit or miss, with the early appearances of "Do You Love Me" and "Roll Over Beethoven" probably hurt most by the fact that they weren't "The Witch." Later in the album, it dawned on me that I couldn't recall another singer as influenced by Little Richard, with Gerry Roslie channeling the icon and originator with shouts and hollers and yelps. And maybe a little too influenced? Nevertheless, I actually thought The Sonics somehow improved on "Good Golly, Miss Molly." But again, it's their original tracks that really stand out. "Psycho" and "Strychnine" are revelations. I'll definitely check out their follow-up, "Boom," to see if they can recapture the magic. Unfortunately, it sounds like it ends there, with the next album heading in a different direction before the original lineup broke up. But they had a pretty amazingly outsized influence on the future of multiple rock genres despite having less than 10 original songs.

There are a lot of instruments that work with Nick Drake's sound. Melodic and minimalist guitars are great. Piano works wonderfully. Violin too. But not horns! The horns ruined multiple songs on this album. Listening to the first three songs, I was trying to figure out why this didn't sound like the Nick Drake I was familiar with. Something was off... Then came "One of These Things First," a sublime song and the Drake song I know best. So what did it have that the others didn't? Nothing! It's what it didn't have - horns. Get rid of the horns and the two flute-strumentals, and you've got 5-star work.

The rest of "Disraeli Gears" unfortunately stands squarely in the shadow of "Sunshine of Your Love." That song is so epic and iconic that living up to it would be hard, but nothing else here really comes close. It's also the song where Jack Bruce's voice sounds best, and avoids overdoing the higher register. "SWLABR" is the next best song with Bruce's vocals, and it's decent enough but they must have been on some stuff when they wrote that. The Clapton-led "Strange Brew" and "Outside Woman Blues" are good, and more of his blues influence might have improved the album (Cream was apparently moving away from blues and towards more psychedelia.) And that's about all that's worthwhile. Ginger Baker may be a terrific drummer, but he should've stayed away from songwriting and singing - "Blue Condition" was awful. And the less said about the closing "Mother's Lament" the better.

I don't like Morrissey's voice. So kudos to "Your Arsenal" for getting at least a few songs in before the vocals started to grate on me. Maybe it's not his voice itself, but how he uses it, often in a whine that exaggerates his accent (like when he pronounces last "laaahssst"). Some songs had pretty good guitar that I enjoyed until the vocals and lyrics got in the way. Don't remember which ones... it was a week ago. Maybe I should stop listening to 80% an album and then forgetting to finish and review it.

The story of Rick Allen losing his arm and continuing to be a drum legend is the main thing I knew about Def Leppard before listening to this album. (That, and that they must be lousy spellers. Though, as it turns out, not as bad at spelling as an increasing number of modern bands I've encountered recently and had to really roll my eyes at the hip, edgy, alternative spelling of things.) Anyway, UK and Irish country roads are terrifying, and I don't know why anyone would drive their Corvette really fast on those nightmares. Glad Allen survived and adapted though. But like many other hair metal bands, I couldn't have told you which band sang which song. Maybe if pressed I could have correctly guessed "Photograph." That song, along with the other singles ("Rock of Ages," "Foolin'," and "Too Late for Love") really carry the album. That's a pretty high percentage of stellar hard rock songs from that era/style. In the end though, that era/style isn't my favorite. I enjoy the hits, but it isn't really something I seek out and come back to. Pretty much that whole genre is the definition of 3-star music for me.

I think Arcade Fire's "Funeral" is one of the best debut albums of the 2000s. And of course, it is notoriously hard for bands to deliver lauded follow-ups to much-buzzed-about debuts. Arcade Fire came close to dispelling the curse of the sophomore slump with "Neon Bible." In fact, in terms of sales and acclaim, there was no dip. But "Funeral" was almost impossible to follow. "Neon Bible" still has an amazing start with "Black Mirror" and "Keep the Car Running," and "No Cars Go" is also terrific, but nothing in between really stands out in the way that "Funeral" was consistently terrific throughout. Their third album, "The Suburbs," solidified Arcade Fire as one of the best of their era. Like "Neon Bible" and to some extent "Funeral," "The Suburbs" is not quite a concept album - maybe a thematic album? I'm not sure I know of any band that built three straight albums around interesting conceptual themes the way Arcade Fire did. I don't really know how to describe Arcade Fire's music or what I like about it so much. It's evocative? Lyrically beautiful? Passionate and intense without being loud and brash? They weave together many different instruments without anything ever seeming out of place. They use a secondary lead singer with a very different voice and style sparingly and almost always in ways and places that fit the progression of the album. They seem to deeply mean and feel their music. Does any of this make sense? As a full album, I think I've listened to "Funeral" and "The Suburbs" more than any other album released this century? "Reflektor" (#4) and "Everything Now" (#5) didn't quite hit the same for me, and I've only listened to the whole thing a couple times each. But maybe I should give them another chance as I listen to "Funeral" and "The Suburbs" and recall how wonderful they are? Their newest, "WE," I have not listened to in full yet. From what I've heard, it may be more uneven, with highs ("Unconditional (Lookout Kid)" is fantastic) and lows ("Age of Anxiety II (Rabbit Hole)" is kind of insufferable). Has Arcade Fire's output faded over time? Is it impossible to maintain the kind of consistency they had early in their career? Regardless, with three standout albums and great songs sprinkled through three more, they earned a place as one of the best bands of the 21st century.

There has never been another Led Zeppelin. I mean, obviously. Anyone trying to name their new band Led Zeppelin would be faced with copyright issues. And be laughed at. Though there have been two bands with the same name before. Apparently there was a British psychedelic group in the 60s named Nirvana. But words can't really explain how distinctive and unrepeatable Led Zeppelin were. They are the best rock band in history (you could disagree or dispute this, but you'd be wrong), and even on "Physical Graffiti," one of their lesser albums, they are beyond 5 stars.

I wouldn't say I have a love/hate relationship with Neil Young's music. I guess it's more of a like/dislike relationship relationship. Doesn't really send me to emotional highs or lows. Because I like a lot of Young's work. Just sticking with the solo work, and ignoring all of the group drama that preceded it, Young has been very influential, written some terrific songs, and built an amazingly solid career around a distinctly worse-than-average voice. Despite Young's deserved accolades of songwriting, I didn't quite know what to make of some of these. A dune buggy revolution? Vampires? Radio interviews?

I first heard Sebadoh through "On Fire," probably around 2005. At the time, I didn't know that the song was nearly 10 years old. At the time, I didn't seek out more Sebadoh. But I don't know why. Because "On Fire" is an outstanding song. But I never would have guessed that they had been around since 1986. I never knew about their connection to Dinosaur Jr. or their place in the late 80s lo-fi scene. I also never would have expected them to make the 1001 list, and I never would have expected said album to be so disappointing. Nothing on "Bubble and Scrape" rises to the heights of "On Fire." After two solid songs to start the album, "Telecosmic Alchemy" was excessively dissonant and obnoxious. Was that the point? If it wasn't the point, the point was lost on me. If it was the point, the point was lost on me. The alchemical disaster that was tracks 3 and 4 luckily didn't last, and they got back to some fuzzed out excellence. But the album continued to be way too uneven. Did they just record everything they came up with? And always go with the first take? Maybe that raw DIY sound is a hallmark of lo-fi, but there was just too much mess on "Bubble and Scrape" for me. After I finished the album, and went back for second tries on a few parts, I sought out "On Fire," and it was every bit as good as I remembered. And this album's follow-ups "Bakesale" and "Harmacy" are both pretty terrific. I think they still maintain their core sound, but it's cleaner and more polished and feels like there was someone there helping edit their include-everything impulses. They both still have a crazy number of tracks and include some short weirder ones, but they're not as jarring as on "Bubble and Scrape." Apparently "B & S" started a shift for Sebadoh away from their original acoustic, home-recorded sound. Maybe they were just figuring out a new style. What came later was much better. I'll have to check out their early acoustic work. But I won't be coming back to "Bubble and Scrape."

Just looked back to see that "Psychocandy" was 38 minutes long. Only 38 minutes!? That seemed to drone on and on forever! We last listened to The Jesus and Mary Chain 346 albums ago, and I remarked then that nothing stood out on "Darklands." And the same is so true here. There are no real standout tracks for me. One or two memorable or attention-grabbing songs could possibly elevate this, but instead I just kept dwelling on the fact that the excessive distortion and feedback just went on and on. On "In My Hole," they lamented that there was "something dead inside my hole." First of all, clean out your hole. And second of all, maybe stop recording all your music inside a hole filled with dead things. Maybe you'll get a better sound.

Just an incredible collection of hit songs. "Ramble Tamble" was just ok, and "Ooby Dooby" was kind of corny and weird, but everything else is top notch. I can't even complain about "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," because even though these white guys from California were far removed from Motown (or the swamp), it's a terrific version of the song.

I was really, really pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this. "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "We Got The Beat" have been beaten to death, but fortunately and shockingly they were my least favorite songs on "Beauty and the Beat." The drums and bass really drove most of the songs, in spite of the bubbly and jangly guitars, so maybe they really do have the beat. A little bit more intensity and this would be an excellent album. It's just a tad bit too bouncy and cheerful to reach its full sound potential. But I still really enjoyed it. A couple months ago I came across the term bubblegrunge, at the time being used to refer to (as it was described on r/indiehead) "indie rock bands bringing out modern takes on power pop and pop punk... that tend to mix massive pop melodies with big energy and crunchy and/or fuzzy guitars, with the attitude and angst but rarely outright depressing lyrical content that makes up a lot of the two aforementioned genres." Beach Bunny, The Beths, Charly Bliss, and PUP were used as examples. This album kind of made me think of bubblegrunge, though, and it came with a realization that The Go-Go's likely inspired a lot of bands I like more than I realized. They don't get crunchy or fuzzy enough, and get the attitude part but not much angst. But I think they are still a bit of an inspiration for evolving sounds. According to Spotify, however, bubblegrunge isn't new. "In the mid-1990s, rock critics labeled a type of music 'bubblegrunge' because it was a poppier ("bubblegum") version of grunge, which had dominated the alternative music scene in the early 1990s. Bands like Collective Soul, Bush, Third Eye Blind, and Matchbox Twenty were all part of this genre." Ok, that makes the name fit more than the new stuff I mentioned earlier, but Bush is not that poppy, and Third Eye Blind and Matchbox Twenty kind of suck. You know what, they probably don't suck. As a 90s grunge kid, I looked down on them, but their hits were actually guilty pleasures, and only guilty in some misguided attempt to be a hard rock/grunge purist. But regardless, they are very different bands than modern bubblegrunge. Oh right, The Go-Go's. Not quite bubblegrunge (and not least because it preceded grunge), but certainly instrumental in driving punk in poppier directions. A very pleasant surprise that I will definitely revisit.

I really can't decide how I feel about LCD Soundsystem. None of their stuff has ever really grabbed me before. And that's mostly how I felt listening to "Sound of Silver." I also think that a lot of these songs are too repetitive and go on to long, needing the beat to break when it instead goes on and on. The first track, was like this, and it did nothing for me. The acclaimed "All My Friends" is also guilty - that track could be great if the main synth part wasn't quite so sharp, or quite so insistent, or just didn't go on non-stop for over 7 minutes. On second listen, a few tracks got me tapping my foot, and I warmed up to it a bit. But even those better tracks sometimes wore out their welcome by going too long or being too repetitive. I think I liked "Watch The Tapes" best, in part because it avoids those pitfalls. Some of this is very electronica, and some of it is more akin to the dance rock that has been popular in the 00s and 10s (which was probably in large part inspired by acts like LCD Soundsystem). I enjoyed those parts of "Sound of Silver" more, but I also feel like the modern bands that followed them have done it better.

Captain Beefheart as a stage name is certainly a bold choice. And it's bold music. It's just not good music. The bluesy bits were decent, but the rest was mostly off-putting. Milk is not always safe. It can spoil. Make sure you check the date, and give it the ol' sniff test. Beefy failed the test.

It seems I gave "Nebraska" a 3-star review 340 albums ago, though the impression I took away from it was that it was too slow and sad and depressing. I was hoping that "Born To Run" would be more energetic, more of the vibrant Bruce I've heard bounces around the stage even into his 70s. On that note, I got what I wanted. It is definitely more energetic and vibrant. And yet I still didn't enjoy it much more than "Nebraska." The title track is absolutely the stand out, but it stands too far above the rest. Nothing quite captures what "Born To Run" does. A 5-star song squandered on an album that doesn't do much else for me.

Apparently I never put in my review of "Rubber Soul" 50 albums ago. I'll have to revisit that one, but one thing I remembered standing out was its fallibility. Ok, maybe fallibility is too strong a word. But I came away from "Rubber Soul" realizing that some Beatles' songs are just quite good. As in, they aren't all the transcendent epitome of rock n roll. "Sgt. Pepper" is transcendent though, from start to finish. The Beatles (like Led Zeppelin), may have many imitators and have influenced untold numbers, but I'm not sure anyone since or yet to come will ever quite reach their level. They break all charts, scales, and molds.

This This album album was was special special. Because Because somehow somehow, each each individual individual song song practically practically begged begged me me to to turn turn it it off off. In In trying trying to to define define the the level level and and meaning meaning of of the the five five star star scale scale, I've I've determined determined that that two two stars stars is is a a channel channel changer changer. I I actively actively disliked disliked every every song song on on "Infected" "Infected." But But the the hatred hatred didn't didn't quite quite reach reach one one star star level level. Also, how do you say The The? Thuh Thuh? Thee Thuh? Thee Thee? Thuh Thee?

I have a hard time explaining why "Double Nickels On The Dime" works. But it does work. Despite being 45 tracks long. Despite some serious genre-bending. Despite sounding like a lot of studio takes that should have been left on the cutting room floor. And even a live track randomly in the middle? It might be raw and unpolished, but it works. It might be two distinct songwriting voices, but it feels like one band. It all somehow fits in a cohesive vibe.

This was so slow an excruciating. "The Bottle" was decent, almost the only saving grace, until "H20Gate." If the whole album had been intense, passionate, and intelligent spoken word poetry with a jazzy/bluesy backing, "Winter in America" would have been so much more interesting. Then again, anything is more interesting than most of this album.

Thank you, album generator, for forcing me to finally fix a gaping hole in my musical education. I've been meaning to check out Bad Brains for ages, especially since I moved to the DC area 14 years ago, but somehow have never to my knowledge heard a single song. And either I waited way too long to check out something so terrific, or the wait helped me to appreciate it all the more. "I Against I" is their third album, and apparently marked a bit of a shift and evolving of their sound, away from their hardcore punk roots. In trying to digest this album, and figure out what I think of Bad Brains, I listened to it 3+ times. (The second because a raucous carpool of 6th graders made the first hard to hear, and the third and other snippets because I increasingly realized that I loved it and wanted more.) At first I wasn't sure what to think of H.R.'s vocals. They were all over the place. And while there were some times where it seemed like he needed to reign it in a bit or stick to one style, the more I listened the more I realized there were multiple voices(?) I liked and most made up for the bits I didn't like. The guitars and the drums, though, I loved from the start. I was initially surprised, as I was expecting more of a punk sound from what I knew of the band. So the heavy metal and other influences took me on a ride that kept me on my toes. It certainly wasn't all perfect, but it grew and grew on me. I checked out their self-titled debut, and there was the hardcore punk I had been expecting. I liked it, but not as much as "I Against I." I waffled back and forth between 4 and 5 stars for quite a while. When it comes down to it, I think its a 4-star album. But a combination of the pleasant surprise, the missing piece, the breadth of influence, the passion and the joy, and finally, the comparison to other new-to-me 4s finally sealed the deal.

It was ok, I guess. Nothing really stood out or was particularly memorable.

Very enjoyable. I never knew what was coming next, but "The ArchAndroid" excelled in every genre it touched.

Proto-punk is a spot-on genre description for New York Dolls. There is still enough pop, rock, and blues to be recognizable and not too revolutionary for the time, but the parts that inspired the evolution of punk music are clear and insistent.

I thought I would like having more songs in the vein of "Tutti Frutti," but a lot of "Here's Little Richard" blended together and didn't particularly stand out.

I enjoyed Incubus when they first broke through with "Pardon Me" in 1999. As they followed that single with "Drive" and "Stellar," it was a refreshing light in a dark time. Yes, it was a dark time. The heydey of grunge was fading and Total Request Live was reshaping the music industry, resulting in a late 90s/early 00s hard rock landscape that was filled with Limp Bizkits and Kid Rocks. You think Incubus was angsty?? Incubus was mellow and tame for the times. For additional reference as to why Incubus stood far above their contemporaries, putting interesting spins on early 90s hard rock rather than learning all the wrong lessons like Limp Bizkit, Korn, and Creed did, look no further than the events of Woodstock '99 or the 2001 PBS Frontline documentary "Merchants of Cool." But does Incubus hold up today? For me, absolutely. While I prefer their calmer, more musically adept songs like those "Make Yourself" singles, their loud, crunchy, angrier stuff is great too. Brandon Boyd has a terrific range and is one of my favorite rock singers of the past 30 years, whether screaming or singing. Their post-fame follow-up to "Make Yourself," "Morning View," is even better, more mature, less screamy, less overdone crunchy guitars. They really refined their unique take on DJ-accented hard rock (and in a way that for me works far better than their rap-rock contemporaries). While "Morning View" is an easy 5, and "Make Yourself" takes longer to find its footing and then majorly stumbles with the misplaced "Battlestar Scratchalactica," we'll give this one a 5 too, on account of 3 great singles, a string of really good albums of which only this one made the 1001, improving the group's review average, and for being the anti-Limp Bizkit.

Things did not start out great with "Pretty Green." I initially thought it was the lamest song about weed I'd ever heard, then I actually listened closely to realize it was one of the lamest songs about money I've ever heard. However, by the time it got to track 3 things started picking up, and by the end I was enjoying it.

Listening to "School's Out" while driving to teach high school at 7:15 on a September morning was probably a mistake. I felt taunted by the album generator. But then I was curious as to how Cooper would follow up on that classic track. Weirdly, it turns out. Particularly when "West Side Story" suddenly interjects itself. I don't think I get Alice Cooper. Don't judge a book by it's cover? Who knew that under that cover was a hard rocker with a passion for Sondheim and jazz. "Blue Turk" was interesting, maybe even enjoyable, but most of this album just left me scratching my head.

Van Morrison was once an amazing songwriter, penning iconic and timeless songs that may not seem to be my flavor at first but just work. He was once iconic and timeless. Now he's just an old curmudgeonly buffoon and anti-Semite who doesn't believe in science.

There is some really cool atmospheric music on Air's "Virgin Suicides" soundtrack. But its too much. And it lacks context. In the film, these tracks are backing to scenes that benefit from that musical vibe. And, I'm assuming, the tracks are not played in their entirety as they are on this album. If you really love the music, then I guess you might enjoy hearing the full songs. But I was just left feeling like I was only getting part of the experience, missing the piece that was the images on screen. The 1001 features other soundtracks, but sticking with soundtracks by a single artist and avoiding compilations. But Air's contribution is more of an original score, whereas those other soundtracks are not. If we are including movie scores on the list, why is this the only one?

I'm not a Swiftie. And the obsession of Swifties can be a bit much at times. But I do have to hand it to Taylor Swift - her knack for reinvention has kept her remarkably fresh throughout her career, and has led her to her best period with the folk pop of "folklore" and "evermore."

The shocking and attention-grabbing "Closer" video certainly was a memorable part of my early teens musical taste expansion, but I was never quite sucked into becoming a Nine Inch Nails fan. I just wasn't ready for that much abrasive industrial chaos. And I'm still not. I think Trent Reznor is a creative, impressive, and fascinating musician, but most of NiN isn't for me. "Closer" is amazing though. And Reznor's film and TV scores are great. It looks like "The Downward Spiral" is the only NiN on the list, which is interesting, as I think "Pretty Hate Machine" is probably at least as good and is more impressively influential coming out in 1989.

Ready for an exciting night at the club, I got out of bed, ran my toes through my shag carpet, and picked out a slammin' outfit. My yellow bell bottoms had me already shaking my leg and tappin' my feet. I paired it with a bright orange puffy pirate shirt, undid the top three buttons, and combed some mousse into my glorious chest hair. Before heading out to the dance floor, I picked up my lady and then there was one last stop at Big Jim's to score an 8-ball and do some lines in the bathroom. Then, all jazzed up, we hit the club. We were excited - Chic would be playing live, and we couldn't wait to dance to "Le Freak." When Chic came on, the place went wild. They opened with "Savoir Faire," and it was a little slow, so we sat down on a lush velvet sofa. They followed it up with "At Last I Am Free," and by the end of the song we were fast asleep. Who knew you could go from so high to so low!? I thought disco and funk were supposed to be more exciting than this. I woke up a couple hours later as the lights were coming on and the floor was being swept. Apparently we missed "Le Freak." Now I'm freaking out, because I missed the new dance craze! This is like that time I tried to go see Marcia Griffiths and Bunny Wailer, and I had the runs and never got to boogie woogie woogie. Serves me right for giving another one-hit wonder a chance.

Some enjoyable bluegrass, some less enjoyable bluegrass (too slow), and some even less enjoyable country. Gillian is a great songwriter, and I like her voice, but most of this didn't do it for me. Enjoyed the title track though.

When I first saw the cover of this album I wondered why the Muddy Waters album had a picture of Mahershala Ali on it. Was this the soundtrack to a Muddy Waters biopic? Apparently not, but I'm also not the first person online to see the resemblance and fancast Ali to play Waters. This is a good blues album.

"The Headmaster Ritual" isn't too bad... maybe this one will turn around my opinion on The Smiths. Oh, no wait, there it is. "Rusholme Ruffians" undid it all. I just don't like Morrissey. Sorry. Was just about to write about how I enjoy a lot of Johnny Marr's guitar work, and then that thought felt familiar, and sure enough that's what I wrote about "Strangeways, Here We Come." Three Smiths albums in. Are we done yet?

I struggle to describe how I feel about Belle & Sebastian. Some of it works for me, and some of it doesn't, and it's kind of hard to explain why. The title track on "If You're Feeling Sinister" is darling and lovely. A few other songs on here, and most of their top hits from other albums, hit that same vibe. I think it's something about being jaunty and jangly? I can't bring myself to go back through the whole album right now for a deeper analysis of the songs I didn't care for, but I do remember thinking on some of them that I sometimes dislike Stuart Murdoch's voice even more than Morrissey's (The Smiths was the day before). But how is that possible from the same guy I enjoy on "Another Sunny Day" and "The Boy With the Arab Strap?"

I'm never going to go back and listen to the 41 songs from this album that I didn't get to a week ago, let's be honest. So I'll make an exception and review an album I didn't listen to all of. Because trust me, I'm confident I heard enough in the 20-something tracks I heard to judge this album. And what I heard I didn't care for. I don't care for the ridiculous and juvenile number of songs or album title. I don't care for the lead singer's voice. Or the other singers that pop up. And the songs just aren't very good. Many are bad. A lot of 1s and 2s, with a zero-star concept.

It's hard when you have to sit a group member down for a difficult intervention. To have a talk about a review so absurd it makes the whole group look bad. But we are sadly at that point with pretentious-ass. A hard reviewer to agree with, as the data attests, but someone who often makes a good point and shares a reasonable opinion even if I don't always share it. Alas, not today. "Every couple of years a singer like Adele comes through with a breakout album that's been promoted, marketed and consequently adored by all the early/mid-30's, recently married (mostly) women." Adele is totally not my typical kind of music. Pop heavily influenced by soul and R&B, with an emphasis on a generational vocal talent, isn't something I listen to much of. Then again, there really isn't much else like Adele, despite some of the nonsense below. I am married. But not a woman. And no longer in my 30s. But I'm pretty confident Adele transcends the bubble pretentious-ass tries to shove her into. "There were the Celines, the Didos, the McLachlans, the Tunstalls and countless others. Now, it may not be fair for me to lop them all in together, because they're not all the same, but they all serve the I Heart Radio enthusiasts that gobble up this homogenized stuff." Um, please. Celine Dion is the only one that can come close to touching Adele's popularity and superstardom. I'm sorry that I Heart Radio is having such a tough time figuring out what to put on your Adele station, but that's because there is pretty much no one else that fills that same niche. But KT Tunstall? Never even had a top 10 hit song. Dido? Once. Sarah McLachlan? Just two, though "Angel" far outlived it's time as a hit thanks to the ASPCA. Dion is the only one who comes close. Though she had contemporaries in the 90s that were just as big, whereas no one in the 2000s can touch Adele. Dion had four #1s and 10 top 10s. Adele has had five #1s, eight top 10s, and 25 total songs on the Hot 100 to Dion's 21. But "Rolling in the Deep" was on the chart for 65 weeks, twice as long as the biggest Dion hit. It's not just 30-something soccer moms that kept Adele that hot. "There's nothing wrong with 21, but there's nothing amazing about it either. It's plain vanilla. I can say that. I'm a dabbler in the I Heart Radio world and I've even got a special place for the tunes that I find there. That place is called my 'guilty pleasures' playlist. You'll find artists like Vanessa Carlton, Counting Crows, Jane Weaver and Cracker there. If you're an artist tho, there's no clear path to gaining acceptance to this coveted and enviable playlist." You can love it, like it, or loathe it, but Adele's music isn't vanilla. There is all kinds of vanilla pop being cranked out, but Adele is at the very least Neapolitan. Then we're bringing Vanessa Carlton into it, which seems to follow in the seriously overrated department after Dido and KT Tunstall, but then we take a major detour. Counting Crows were not vanilla. But you finally got one right. Acceptable guilty pleasure. Jane Weaver I'll pass on as I barely know her from the 1001, and Cracker... the less said about that barely a one-hit wonder the better. This guilty pleasures playlist is weird. "Yes, Adele has a great voice, amazing even. All of the women above do. But unfortunately, this is just like so many others and doesn't resonate as anything special." Not amazing, even. Just flat out amazing. One of a kind. The only one that could have given her any kind of run for her money as the iconic voice of her generation would have been Amy Winehouse. "21" is absolutely top-notch from start to finish. Five singles hit the top 100. It sold 31 million copies, more than 10% more than the next highest album of the 21st century (weirdly 2nd place is a three-way tie between Linkin Park, Eminem, and Norah Jones). It is likely that no album will ever sell that many copies again. No one since Adele has come through with a break-out like she did at 19, or followed up with an even bigger hit at 21. The only artists making those kind of sales, pop chart, spins, and streams impact at that age are manufactured boy bands. She is a legit singer-songwriter with a dynamic voice (both in her writing and her singing). There is almost no one who is comparable, despite pretentious-ass' misguided efforts. I rarely listen to music like this. But when I do, it's Adele. I'm pretty sure that even if I really didn't care for the music I'd have to give it at least 4 stars on iconic impact alone. But there are so many songs on this album that break the scale that I don't even have to consider it.

My panties are unbunched. Not only can I not listen to this album without visualizing that stupid fuzzy hat, I can't even think of the name Jamiroquai without seeing that bizarre choice of headgear. That said, I was able to carry on through the album despite fuzzy-chapeau distractions dancing through my head. And it turned out "Virtual Insanity" was nowhere to be found here. Unless that applies to the crazy dancing behatted man in my daydreams. The fusion of jazz and funk often worked for me, the more disco-y bits not as much. Overall I liked "Emergency On Planet Earth" more than I thought I would.

After the 2:52 "69 Love Songs" and the 2:01 "Emergency on Planet Earth," Circle Jerks knocking out 14 song in 15 minutes was actually refreshing. With the breakneck speed at which they hit each of these half-developed song ideas, there is no time to even catch your breath, let alone wonder how much longer a song goes on past it's welcome or how many tracks there are left. So "Group Sex" benefits a bit from the context in which it was listened to. I mean, group sex is probably always going to depend on context.

"West Country Girl" and one of the other songs after that almost saved "The Boatman's Call" from the 1-star cellar, but "Green Eyes" sealed the deal.

Is there an echo in here? (No, not Echo & The Bunnymen, who are not as good as The Cure.) (And also not the echo of Robert Smith's vocals.) What echoes oddly is the shared conclusion among much of the group that a little bit of The Cure is frequently better than we expect, and too much of The Cure threatens to ruin it all. As with the various Covid vaccines and boosters for different age groups, The Cure is all about finding the right dosage.

I also don't get the hubbub over LDR. Although, maybe the hubbub was brief and fleeting, as it's been 10 years since her breakthrough with "Born to Die" and I had no idea she had come out with 7 more albums over that time. Most of her work in that decade seems to have come out with much less fanfare, though maybe I just don't pay enough attention to pop music. Sorry, "alt-pop." LDR's sultriness just always seemed like an overdone act to me from my limited exposure, and nothing on "Chemtrails" dissuades that take. Case in point, all the breathy whispers on this album are the worst parts. The best parts are just Taylor Swift-lite, and as they've both used Jack Antonoff as producer lately the similarity comes as no surprise. However, Antonoff's reputation for hooks and hits is let down by "Chemtrails."

"Funeral" was a revelation of early 2000s indie rock. I listened to this album over and over and over, and it inspired a shift in my musical tastes and interests. This is one of my favorite albums of all time, and even though it turns out Win Butler is a total piece of crap, as a piece of art "Funeral" still stands the test of time. I'll dock it one star, maybe even a couple, because listening to and thinking about Arcade Fire now feels me with regret and confusion. But it still comes out a 5, because it's that scale-breaking kind of album.

It may be the weakest Led Zeppelin album of the three we have listened to. But it is still an easy 5. Because it's still Led Zeppelin.

Upon first glance, I was surprised this was on the list. I certainly know some Sonic Youth, but this is not among the Sonic Youth with which I am familiar. I know their late 80s and early 90s stuff best, but Sonic Youth was a band I had to go back and discover years later because it was too under-the-radar indie for me at the time. Slightly wrong generation. But not to worry, on two accounts. First, there are 5 Sonic Youth albums on the list! And second, an amazing album well-deserving of the 1001 list. I know some Sonic Youth, but clearly not enough, and after listening to "E.V.O.L." I'll certainly be going on a little Sonic Youth bender. Likely their most famous song, "Bull in the Heather," off "Experimental Jet Set," doesn't even make the list. A fantastic band well ahead of their time. But while they have such talent and potential, "E.V.O.L." wanders off and gets lost in the abyss a bit too often. When it's focused its phenomenal, but it can't maintain those highs. It doesn't need to be focused all the time, but there were too many extended segments of bizarre background noise or weird feedback. The best parts of both the focused and unfocused stuff reminded me of Priests, a DC band that put out two terrific albums in the late 2010s. They must have been heavily influenced by Sonic Youth, but I had never been able to place it before.

"Shining Star" is still great, but nothing else comes anywhere close to that level.

"Nowhere" continuously sounds like Ride was trying to make music of a kind that I would really dig. But try as they might, it was never quite right. It's hard to place exactly what was missing, but let's begin with the totally unspectacular vocals. So unspectacular, that as they droned on and on, never grabbing me or making me pay extra attention to a song, I would have never been able to guess that Ride utilized two lead singers. It took two guys to bore me that much? The bland singing was accompanied by guitar and drum work that never quite broke free and soared the way it needed to. They just kept chugging along, flat and even, which showed off some skill but hardly inspired any emotion. Maybe those are all just hallmarks of shoegaze, a hard-to-pin-down genre that apparently this album was emblematic of.

Sorry, Solomon, but I found this to be neither very rocking or very soulful. The endcap to a pretty unspectacular week of albums in which nothing reached above a very low 3. After EW&F's "Shining Star" started us off Monday, nothing after that song has really felt worthy of something I had to listen to before my time on this earthly plane expires.

Ric Ocasek and The Cars clearly helped create the 1980s. The lingering legacy of the 70s flows into the 80s directly through this album. There are a few superb pop song classics here, so superb that they almost sound like foundational pieces of early rock and roll covered in a slightly new style. Unfortunately, the songs from "The Cars" that were not hits fall pretty flat.

A group of penguins on land is called a colony, a rookery, or a waddle. A group of penguins floating in the water is called a raft. As far as I can tell, there is nowhere in which a group of penguins is called an orchestra. Even ones whose anthropomorphized depiction includes pubic hair. For superior penguin music, check out the soundtracks of classic films "Happy Feet" and "Surf's Up." The penguins in those pieces of cinema history also haunt my dreams less than the ones on the cover of this album.

In 1978, Willie Colón and Rubén Blades collaborated on the best selling salsa and Latin music album of all time. Unfortunately, it's not a style I know much about and thus can't tell you what makes it stand out from other salsa music. In 1994, Colón and Blades each ran for political office. I also can't tell you what made either stand out there, since Blades lost the Panamanian presidential election badly, and Colón lost in a primary for Democratic Representative in NY's 17th Congressional district. I also can't tell you what the outcome was of the May 2007 lawsuit that Colón filed against Blades for breach of contract. I can tell you that siembra means "sowing," though that doesn't really help us to judge this album.

I'd like to think I am experienced. And at over 400 albums in on the 1001 list, one thing I am experienced at is wading through a lot of mediocre "must-listen" albums in order to find the gems that break the ratings scale. "Are You Experienced?" is one of those gems. I could do without "Third Stone From the Sun," and "Stone Free" could actually use a little less cowbell, but aside from those two minor foibles this is an absolutely incredible album. Hendrix was so much more than just an amazing guitarist, and this album really put all of his experiences and talents together to show us all that not matter how experienced we might be, no one else will ever be Jimi. I would turn it up to 12, but the most I'm allowed to give is 5.

Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro must have a thing about nipples. Nipples feature on several Jane's Addiction album covers, and are ever-present when they are on stage. I used to think that Jane's Addiction was trying a little to hard to be shocking, right up there with Red Hot Chili Peppers. In spite of that, both RHCP and Jane's Addiction make awesome music. (And if you had to admit this into your rotation, Bethany, maybe there is room for RHCP too!) I do have to rank this album slightly below "Nothing's Shocking," though. I never wanted "Three Days" and "Then She Said..." to end, and "Been Caught Stealing" is a classic even if not technically their best work. But "Ain't No Right," "Obvious," and "Of Course" don't quite work for me. The first two have a bit too much going on at times, like the concurrent guitar and piano solos on "Obvious."

"Dire Straits" sure takes its time getting going. Were they trying to get listeners to check to see if their 8-track was messed up? Once "Down By the Waterline" finally kicks in, though, the brisk pace established by the crisp guitars carries you away. "Water of Love" doesn't maintain the pace, however, and while the song isn't bad, it was too soon to shift gears. In fact, they only found that higher gear one more time, with “Sultans of Swing.” As with “Brothers in Arms,” their hits show their potential, but most of their work falls far short of it.

The fact that Stars Hollow had a town troubadour was just one of the many fun quirks of "Gilmore Girls," but the troubadour and his songs were ultimately quite forgettable. And just as forgettable as town troubadour Grant Lee Phillips was, his previous incarnation as 90s rocker Grant Lee Buffalo was just as forgettable.

For a minute, I thought "He's a Great Dancer" was a wholesome appreciation of a guy's good moves. Then it turned out they were just objectifying him from the dancefloor to the bedroom. "We Are Family" is a terrific disco classic, but there's not much else of note here. Disco can be kinda dull and repetitive sometimes, seemingly working counter to the dance-fueled aims of the genre.

I’ve come a long long way since the time in my early college days when I found Fatboy Slim tolerable, or even enjoyable. And yet, I kind of dug this. Parts of it at least. Not just some songs but not others. Rather parts of songs. And not other parts of those same songs. To some extent, “Right Here, Right Now,” “Rockefeller Skank,” and “Praise You” all deserve the hype and airplay they got. But each is also a little too repetitive, wait a bit too long for the break, or promptly return right back to the repetition. I heard DJs use these songs, though, and they’re better when remixed and mixed quickly with other things. And I didn’t know why I knew “Gangster Trippin” until dmo pointed out that it was in the movie “Go,” and that took me back. But really, that says it all about Fatboy Slim - perfect for weird white wanna-be raver kids in search of drugs. Also, “In Heaven” is neither a good song nor something I want to listen to with a car full of middle schoolers.

Madonna in the 80s was iconic and era-defining. And then she reinvented herself with 98's "Ray of Light," becoming a techno diva. She's now reinvented herself again in her 60s, but don't look. It's kind of scary. And we should instead focus on "Like a Prayer," which along with "Ray of Light" are the only Madonna albums on the list. "Till Death Do Us Part" is the only non-hit that captures the magic of "Like a Virgin" and "Cherish," which both hold up as delightful pop gems. "Promise To Try" is awful, though now that I read it's about the death of her mother I feel bad. But it's also a big no-thank-you to "Love Song," and "Dear Jessie." "Pray for Spanish Eyes" is the only slower tempo song that works for me. Madonna was a pretty frequent presence in my house when I was kid (I think my parents only owned Madonna and Paula Abdul CDs), and looking back on those albums and songs, I think her self-titled debut and "True Blue" are stronger albums that are more deserving of the list.

See "If You're Feeling Sinister" review (#386).

One of my favorite albums of all time. I think it's pretty perfect. Somehow I left this off my VP essential album recommendations list, an error I will now rectify. I used to think I liked trip-hop. Then, over the course of 430 albums, we've listened to Röyksopp, Massive Attack, Tricky, and a handful of things that dabbled into the genre briefly but without consistency. It turns out maybe I don't like trip-hop, I just like Portishead. Or maybe Portishead, and "Dummy" in particular, just nailed the genre so well that everything else pales in comparison. The album flows sublimely from one track to the next, creating one of the most enveloping, haunting, sultry, and mesmerizing musical experiences I've had.

This was pretty great. I liked it a little better than "Sound Affects" or the Paul Weller solo album we listened to. Would definitely go back to The Jam after this.

A writer for NME, in reviewing Super Furry Animals' 7th album in 2005, wrote that "There’s a case to be argued that SFA are the most important band of the past 15 years." And compared them to the Beatles. Maybe they're way more popular and influential in Wales? Their debut, "Fuzzy Logic," was fine, but it didn't exactly set the world on fire or launch a Welsh Invasion of anywhere. But I must thank SFA for their most important decision in the lead-up to "Fuzzy Logic." An early version of the band featured actor Rhys Ifans on lead vocals, and while I'm not sure what caused him to split from the band, all were better for it. Well, at least Ifans was better for it. He's gone on to a terrific career, with performances ranging from Mycroft Holmes to the Lizard to Xenophilius Lovegood to his best and most recent, Ser Otto Hightower. Meanwhile, Super Furry Animals have... I'm guessing had lasting popularity in Wales?

I'm totally fine with donating my organs, or whatever is useful, after my death. I would also be totally fine with receiving the donated organs of someone else, if I had the need. But donated eyes is a bit weird. Eyes are organs, but they are a bit unique as far as organs go, what with being partially on the outside, and being instrumental in a sense that allows us to perceive the world. Plus, watching someone else's eyes get poked or touched or injured or anything affects me in a way that manipulating internal organs never does. But Gary Gilmore wanted to donate only his eyes. In fairness, he thought that would be the only part of his body that remained useful, after his execution by firing squad. He chose firing squad over other options, and also asked not to have his execution stayed, following his conviction of double murder in 1977. He was the first person executed in America in 10 years, after the Supreme Court decided in Furman v. Georgia that the death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment. Most of The Adverts' debut album was fun and irreverent punk, but "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" certainly has a different edge to it. Regardless, it was a raucous and enjoyable album.

Van Halen is synonymous with the hard rock sound of the 1980s. But their self-titled debut preceded that decade by two years, I have now discovered, and thus listening to and learning about this album has helped me to realize just how instrumental Van Halen was at shaping that aforementioned sound. The hard rock/heavy metal-lite/hair metal of the 80s is a guilty pleasure for many, myself included. But for early DLR Van Halen, it has come to my attention that it should be moved to the pleasure (guilt-free) category.

I knew “Tapestry” was famous and renowned, and we even have it on vinyl (as a boomer parent hand-me-down). But I’d never listened to it. Just a look at the song titles immediately sounded familiar though. And for many who grew up with boomer parents in the 80s, I’m sure it does feel very familiar. Listening to it, the album was filled with familiarity. So many hits! But they weren’t all as I remembered them…? Though I at first worried there were a lot of covers on “Tapestry,” the truth was close but far more interesting. Many have performed these songs both before and after Carole King, but they are King’s songs. And what she and her co-writer(s) accomplished over the years as pretty special. Her versions might not necessarily be my favorites, but the songs still sound great in her hands (and voice).

Yet another album I looked forward to due to legacy and influence, only to be sorely disappointed. There was such a huge leap from the early hip hop of the 80s to both the gangsta and indie/underground rap of the 90s.

Neil Young is a great songwriter and a terrific musician. He is a notable influence on many artists, and a man of principles and integrity. And he's a terrible singer. Occasionally I think Young uses his voice well, masking its limitations and accentuating its uniqueness. But "Tonight's the Night" had too much bad Neil Young singing. I made it through, enjoying some parts and cringing at others, and then had the realization that Built to Spill's Doug Martsch's voice kind of reminds me of a better Neil Young in a weird way. So I listened to some Built to Spill. Thanks, Neil.

I'm sorry, hellyeah, that after giving you so much grief about Jeff Buckley that I now must do this to your beloved Steely Dan. But I just couldn't with "Aja." I kept continuously laughing out loud at the cheesiness of so many parts. Steely Dan definitely has a signature sound that I now recognize as Steely Dan. But it only works for me on a couple of their biggest hits, and those were not to be found here (I did recognize "Peg"). Apologies, but this one is even below the JBZ for me.

Our third from CCR delivers more of that signature southern swamp rock by way of California, just with fewer hits. I don’t think I knew any of these. “Green River” brings more of the same quality, as it was apparently part of an unprecedented two year blitz of stunning musical productivity. Maybe not quite as catchy, and unfortunately John Fogerty’s exaggerated southern accent is still too much at times, but otherwise very solid.

Beach House is a name I feel like I have heard a lot in the last 10 years, and not just from planning vacations. I'm sure I've heard them on Sirius XMU, and know that they are a much buzzed about indie band. But I couldn't have named or successfully Heardled any of their songs. I listened to "Teen Dream" in two parts, both in the car, but those two rides a mere hour apart found me in quite different moods. I was quite unimpressed by the first half of the album, but when I got back in the car I was a little bit agitated, and Beach House soothed me and calmed me down. By the end of the album I was really enjoying it. I went back to figure out why I had heard the name so much, and found that "Teen Dream" was one of the most acclaimed albums of 2010. Pitchfork even named this the third best dream pop album of all time, right behind Mazzy Star, which I enjoy, and the #1 ranked "Heaven or Las Vegas" from the Cocteau Twins, which the record will show I really don't like. Mood and emotion are deeply impacted by music (and vice versa). Is dream pop a very varied genre, with some stuff I like and some I don't? Or is it partly that how we respond to music is sometimes so dependent on mood that it's hard to fairly judge or compare things listened to at different times/moments in our lives?

I skim a lot of year-end music lists from all the publications looking for best-of clicks. I usually think about how I should make playlists of the songs and artists of the year to go check them out later. But then I don't usually take that step, and repeat the mistake a year later. Thankfully, the 1001 is filling in some of the gaps. Michael Kiwanuka is definitely a name I've seen on those lists, and always meant to check out his music. Now that I have, I'm not sure I get the hype. "KIWANUKA" is a solid album, but I wouldn't call it the instant classic that I have seen it referred to in the music media. Maybe I'll give it another spin or check out his other albums to see if I can figure out what I'm missing.

Alex Turner has such a recognizable voice, and it doesn't matter if its early Arctic Monkeys, the recent lounge-y dramatic Arctic Monkeys, or the Last Shadow Puppets' cinematic 60s coolness. Maybe it's just nostalgia from when I first heard "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" in 2005, but I miss that vibe and energy from Turner's singing. I'm all for bands and artists growing and maturing and evolving, but sometimes we just pine for the sound we first fell in love with. The Last Shadow Puppets is a cool side-project experiment, and the rapid rise from the Arctic Monkeys debut to Turner and company putting this together with the London Metropolitan Orchestra must have been pretty cool. They seem to have accomplished just what they set out to do, creating a sound that would seem completely at home as a 60s movie score, and it made for an enjoyable listen. However, in hearing this and the singles from Arctic Monkeys' new album I can't help but long for Turner's early work.

The album title, "Frank," allegedly is partially in tribute to Frank Sinatra, who was among Amy Winehouse's many anachronistic influences. But it could just as easily refer to her frank manner - unreserved, unedited, direct, candid, and open. The result of that frankness in her music was a breath of fresh air, taking so many classic soul, R&B, and jazz sounds and melding them with hip hop and something just uniquely Amy. I'm not sure I ever listened to "Frank" before, though I feel like I know the more popular follow-up "Back to Black" well. It is immediately evident what Simon Fuller saw in her, though nothing on "Frank" soars to the heights reached later by "Rehab" and "Back to Black." That said, there is still a lot to like on "Frank," including Winehouse's talents as a songwriter in addition to her notable pipes. It's a voice that quickly became iconic, but I can't help but be left thinking that she doesn't always use it to its potential. I love that in addition to her 1960s influences she also loves Nas (enough to sample him on "In My Bed" and write a whole song about him on "Back to Black"). I love that she pushed boundaries and recoiled at the idea of doing things by the numbers. I hate that such an open and candid person had to turn to alcohol and drugs to feel comfortable performing on stage. And I hate that her brilliance, like Cobain and Hendrix and Joplin and Morrison and so many others, left us too soon to find out where their journey would take them next.

There has been much talk in recent weeks of the privilege of so-called "nepo babies" in Hollywood, building careers off the connections of their actor and director parents. While nepotism usually is cross-generational, Solange's famous older sister surely had an impact on her record deal and collaborators. But if someone is deserving, there is no shame in leaning on your connections to benefit your talent. And Solange clearly is not lacking for talent. R&B is not my genre. But "A Seat at the Table" is wonderful. Even a brief Lil Wayne appearance didn't deter my head nodding while I enjoyed the chill vibe. "F.U.B.U." almost lost me, but overall it was consistent and enjoyable, and fresh and different from a lot of churchy bombastic R&B I'm used to. In the end, whether or not her familial connections helped launch Solange's career, she is now boosting others around her with an album regarded by numerous industry publications as one of the top albums of the year.

I listened to "Out of Step" nearly four times, repeatedly going back to it not because I loved it and couldn't get enough, but because I was having trouble deciding just what I thought of it. My first reaction to seeing the album pop up was excitement to explore a foundational D.C. hardcore punk band that I had long meant to delve into. But my second reaction at the start of the album was disappointment, with the first song representing much of what keeps me from embracing hardcore more. All lyrics screamed in one unvarying burst at the same level and intonation, no nuance there or in the music. I fixated on that take and I think unfairly applied it to later songs, which upon further listens actually often break from that mold. Still, after multiple listens I can only come around part way. pretentious-ass suggested their "Salad Days" EP, and I enjoyed that more. And the band certainly deserves credit for their pioneering role in D.C. punk, the hardcore scene, and the coining of the term "straight edge." But "Out of Step" isn't enough to stay in my rotation.

"Time of the Season" was a surprise hit? It is far and away the best song on "Odessey(sic) And Oracle," with the rest being mostly cringey overly saccharine flower child wanderings. But perhaps most troubling is that the choice of the name The Zombies doesn't fit at all with the music. Except when the music just moves too slow and you want to chop their heads off to put an end to it. Apparently their original short-lived bassist came up with the name, and the other members barely knew what zombies were. While zombies were introduced into popular culture along with other monster movies in the 1930s with "White Zombie," it wasn't until 1968's "Night of the Living Dead" that they became a pop culture mainstay. So why name your group of Beatles wanna-bes The Zombies in 1961? Regardless, by the time 1968 rolled around, these young Brits did indeed become akin to a reawakened corpse with an insatiable appetite for some of the most boring pyschedelic rock ever produced. Only "Time of the Season," an absolutely terrific song, saves the rest of the decaying dreck from the dreaded single star.

Two tragic 27 Club members just over a week apart, and yet again we are left wondering what else these artists' lives would have brought if not for their awful early ends. Amazingly, this was the 6th studio album released by The Doors in their five years as a full group before Jim Morrison's death, and maybe most surprisingly it doesn't feel like an album filled with too many B-sides that should have been cut. Some of the prolific bands of the 60s should have combined their best work into fewer albums, but "L.A. Woman" is strong throughout. The only misstep was "Cars Hiss by My Window," which didn't feature much hissing as it sounded like the band was about to fall asleep midway through. "L.A. Woman" (the song) and the epic "Riders on the Storm" carry the album, but there is plenty more goodness to be found. Morrison and the Doors might have produced more music than Amy Winehouse before they turned 27, but there could have been so much more.

Absolutely bizarre chance to draw this album on the same day Jeff Beck passed away. I had never heard Beck play until we listened to his "solo" album "Truth" several months ago. I was really impressed with him then, and thought his guitar worked well with Rod Stewart's vocals. On the Yardbirds I don't think Beck pairs as well with lead singer Keith Relf, and most of these songs don't quite hit right for me. "Lost Woman" was probably my favorite, though to get to that supposed opening track I had to get through two other later Yardbirds tracks that started the strange expanded version I stumbled upon unknowingly.

YES WILLIE WOULD LIKE SOME SWEETS! HE TOLD YOU WHICH ONES HE WANTS! YOU’RE GOING TO MISS THE BUS JUST GIVE HIM THE SWEETS!

I think that I have somehow never heard a Replacements song before. I recognized nothing on this album, or any of their other top hits. But I know the name, and even know a bit of singer Paul Westerberg's solo work from his songs on the soundtrack of the movie "Singles." So who are the Replacements? And who were they replacing? Oh, it was Westerberg who did the replacing, by convincing the bands' original singer he was going to be fired, goading him into quitting, then taking the reins and renaming the band!? Well, damn. And I see that the band name itself was a replacement, a definite upgrade from Dogbreath and apparently a necessary rebranding after being banned from a venue they played for disorderly behavior. I'm glad to now know Paul Westerberg and The Replacements better. But I feel like they are constantly replacing and reinventing their sound, sticking to punk and hardcore in their early years. Their attempt on "Let It Be" to move away from that sound led them in lots of different directions, as you can hear on the albums. There's a lot of variation in genre here, which makes the band hard to get comfortable with. Who needs to be comfortable, though? The Replacements also challenged people to be uncomfortable in 1984 with the song "Androgynous," which stood out the most on "Let It Be." After a 2022 filled with debates about transgender rights and drag shows, this song's tolerance reminds us that there have been allies as long as there have been non-conforming people. It also served as a reminder that 1970s and 80s rock music was filled with challenges to gender conformity. While Westerberg sang "Tomorrow who's gonna fuss," we are still waiting for the day the last vestiges of that fussing fades away. As I read about "Androgynous," I realized I had heard a Replacements song before. A couple years ago I heard a cover of "Androgynous" (not realizing who wrote it) in a live backyard session by Joan Jett, Miley Cyrus, and Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! Check it out, and while you're at it, dive even deeper with Against Me!'s "Transgender Dysphoria Blues."

It took me a while to process "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" and decide how to review it, just like it takes a while for Lauryn Hill to show up for her concerts. But regardless of the many meandering journeys Hill's career has taken since the release of this album, it remains a masterpiece. There are a few duds scattered among the 16 tracks, but there are so many standout classics that a boring track or two can be excused. The most interesting thing about "Miseducation," though, is Hill's ability to reach such a peak only to never find it again. There have been plenty of one-hit wonders, but Hill's output with the Fugees and in her solo debut go well beyond one-hit status, but the twists and turns of her career and life have prevented audiences and fans from ever really seeing if she could sustain the success through a second album and beyond. It's fairly common for a musician to have a hit and then fade away, but it feels much less common for a singer to create such a masterpiece and then have no meaningful follow-up.

While "Pour Some Sugar On Me" was a huge hit, possibly bigger than anything on "Pyromania," I give the slight edge to "Pyromania" overall. There are a few hits on "Hysteria," but everything else is pretty unspectacular when spectacular is kind of what the genre is all about. "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and a few others have some pretty cringey lyrics too. If "Pyromania was a high 3, this one is barely a low 3.

After thoroughly enjoying "Gorillaz," I stalled on writing the review until the prodding came four days later in the form of Blur's "Parklife." Because Blur and Gorillaz are opposite ends of the Damon Albarn spectrum - the Blur end of gross Britpop (why couldn't anything else they did sound like "Song 2") and the Gorillaz end of genre-defying cartoon brilliance. "Gorillaz" was such a refreshing and much-needed debut when it came out in 2001. "Tank Girl" creator Jamie Hewlett's art and the musical assistance and influence of Dan the Automator and many other collaborators made Gorillaz something that had never been seen or heard before. I listened to this album a lot when it came out, and was happy it held up to my musical taste (aided by nostalgia) more than 20 years later. I've listened to Gorillaz in bits and pieces since then, and know most of their most popular songs from later albums, but I don't know any the way I know their debut. Listening to "Gorillaz" again made me want to delve back in, and the more I consider the concept, the more I adore it. The cartoon characters and their world allow us to hold up a twisted mirror to our own in a way other music can never quite manage, and now that I know there is a detailed fictional history of the band members I'm intrigued to seek out the scattered source material in addition to the albums.

It's not all bad, but "The Rise & Fall" loses a star just for never being released in the US, rendering it impossible to even listen to the whole thing. I found some bits and pieces of it out of order on the "Madness" compilation, but it's just ok. Even "Our House," while fondly remembered, isn't my jam.

"Heart of Glass" and "One Way or Another" was pretty much all I knew of Blondie, along with a vague sense of Debbie Harry as a frontwoman. Unfortunately, though "Heart of Glass" is iconic, I kind of hate it. "One Way or Another," and the rest of the first half of "Parallel Lines," are much better. But it seems like most of the time there is just a little something missing. Sometimes the guitars are great, sometimes they are forgettable. Sometimes Harry's voice finds the edge and the attitude, but too often it's missing. Things start to go downhill a bit starting with "Pretty Baby," and by the time the aforementioned "Heart of Glass" arrived I had nearly given up. The cover of Buddy Holly's "I'm Gonna Love You Too" almost brought things back, but overall I'm left curious about whether Blondie's earlier albums delivered more bite.

In a rare break from katek, I like 80s Rush a lot. But it turns out I also like 70s Rush. The 20 minute song feels unnecessarily chunked together, but aside from that quibble “2112” is another progtastic delight.