In the early ’80’s, I was riding with the Hell’s Angels and selling PCP in Bakersfield. I listened to this record ALL. THE. TIME. Nowadays, I need a pint of virgin blood and a nap halfway thru to make it through the album once. There’s lots of noise here on this album and the devil lyrics are on high. As a matter of fact, the lyrics are where this Black Metal shines. Who can dismiss “do you believe in God, he’s chained up like a dog and every hour he screams 'SATAN RULES SUPREME!" ?? [whoa!] And, though there's nothing fancy about the drumming, the guitar is show-y, fast and intricate at times. As a matter of fact, this band makes me think a lot of TSO. Yep, TSO - The Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I’m quite certain these Venom guys could’ve been real competition to the TSO if the devil-worshiping thing ever caught on. There are plenty of similarities between the two. Both are rock’n’roll crusaders for a higher power and tolerable in small doses, played ONLY during special occasions. For example, TSO, is often heard during Christmas season, while Venom's Black Metal, I'm assuming, gets a lot of play during sacrificing your first-born or throwing a surprise birthday party for Lucifer. Two stars.

I bet Sinatra was a total prick asshole and a shitty driver, but I love those sweet pipes of his... mmmm.... Sinatra is no replacement for Astrud Gilberto, however. Sinatra is a classic in himself and I wish he wouldn't have tried rewriting some of these Bossa Nova classics. Stay in your own damn lane, Frank! This is borderline offensive, is what it is.

I've been doing these reviews for the past few months and it's been a decent experience. I've gotten to listen to albums that I haven't heard or learn about artists that I don't know much about. But the review process takes a lot. I always think about how I need more time. But, I've got my mind made up now. Funny in these reviews that nobody ever mentions the weather, but you gotta roll with it and when writing these, you gotta say what you say, don't let anybody get in your way. Like I said, writing reviews is arduous and often need more time. I think by now, I should've somehow realized they take a significant chunk of my day. Sure, the word is on the street that the fire in my heart is out. Enough said, I mean it's hard trying to start a revolution from my bed, but I really shouldn't put my life in the hands of a rock and roll band, and I feel no shame. Because there are people standing at the station in need of an education. Though it's hard, I can't help but feel that these reviews are taking my soul and stealing my pride. I just need a little time to wake up, need a little time to rest my mind. You know, the people who write these reviews, you and I, we live and die, I don't exactly know why. Regardless, not many special people change, especially in the rain... but I do remember where I was when I was getting high. ... I was in college and I was listening to this album.

Woke up, didn't choke up Saw my AK, it was broke up Put it together like a jigsaw Got my nine and my Rambo knife off the floor Went to the bathroom, and beat the rush Yo, who the fuck used my toothbrush? Went to my sister's room, yo bitch, wake up You stupid ass, dirty ass, nasty ass slut Shot her in the leg, shot her in the thigh Kicked her in the pussy and punched her in the eye Slapped her in the head, stepped on her corns Don't fuck with mine bitch, word is bond Went downstairs to eat wit' my folks Ma, you broke my fuckin' egg yolk! Punched her in the chest, cut on her cheek Then I did a sweep, knocked the bitch off her feet Knee to the pussy, kick to the skull AK y'all, shot that bitch in the temple Pop got mad 'cause mom got licked I didn't give a fuck so I shot him in the dick Hungry as fuck, said my grace Pop kept screamin' so I shot him in the face Ate my food, found my coat Mailman came so I cut his motherfuckin' throat Waitin' for the motherfuckin' school bus!! - Black Sheep / A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing (Intro) --------------------------- Within a week of The Chronic being released every kid I knew turned into a weed-smoking gangster. This, from the streets of Salisbury, a white-collar neighborhood in afflutent Virginia. The Chronic played well for plenty of awkward suburban teens looking to find confidence in themselves. There was an effortless gravitation toward an identity that used strong words and threats of conflict by rapping about AKs, UZIs, hollow-tips, dicks too big for your mouth etc. It all provided a great act to hide behind. Now, nearly 20 years removed from this, I assumed I would listen to it with new ears and find something that I enjoyed. And, I did --- the beats --- those dope beats behind tracks like Let Me Ride, Fuck Wit Dre Day, "G" Thang, etc. are amazing. I'm gettin' into it, bobbin' and weavin', thumpin' my chest and consuming those yummy hardcore lyrics signing "...I'm callin' 1-8-7 with my dick in ya mouth..." [record skips] Wait. What?! In addition to the beats, and possibly moreso, the popularity of this album is predicated on the attitude and strong persona it conveyed to those kids in Salisbury. And it's not such a far cry from recent tactics used by a former U.S. president. Both employ chest-thumping, direct FU conflict attitudes to up the ante. They both change the game, and normalize violence and confrontation to instill confidence in a people unsecure in the world around them. This album, for all of its regurgitated funk beats, deep bass and good grooves, does not outweigh its detriment on society and the mainstream acceptance of gangster rap. The Chronic killed hip-hop. Tribe / De La / Eric B. and Rakim / BDP / PE etc. groups with real messages and a good time dried up overnight for this shit. The Black Sheep track "Intro," cited at the top ends by waking up ... it was all a dream... he dreamed he was 'hard.' In reality, the popularity of this style rap lasted for years. So yeah, twenty years on, this album is worse than I remember. It has new meaning based on the times we live in and for that, I'm allocating a BIG FAT zero stars. Sorry, Dre and Co., the content of this shit sucks. You are better than this. But it's not all bad news, I'm doling out a bonus star for those dope funktastic beats that got me movin' and shakin'.

Though Cee-Lo might also wish to be a little bit taller and perhaps a baller, it’s important to note that Skee-Lo and Cee-Lo are two different people. I should know that. Their voices are completely different. Cee-Lo’s voice is very unique, though I would not consider it a soulful voice, as the title of this album would suggest. It’s more of a Sarah Silverman, Megan Mullaly cute voice that is best enjoyed in SMALL increments. Unfortunately, "Cee-Lo Green … Is the Soul Machine” has SIXTEEN songs on it and none of them are soul. After listening to this album, it is apparent the only link between Cee-Lo and soul is that he shares a last name with Al. A lot of the arrangements here seem dated and don’t hold up well over time. But it’s his voice that is really difficult to endure, especially on Scrap Metal. In this song, CL takes on a hard persona and sings about being strapped with a MAC-10 and threatening to box cutter your face while telling people he doesn’t give a f**k. Sorry, but that stuff coming out of your mouth in that cute voice is straight comedy, CL. Buuuuuut..., that got me thinking about Sarah Vowell from early episodes of This American Life. If you didn’t know, Sarah Vowell was born to play the voice of Violet Parr, the American teenager forced into a life of secret superpowers in The Incredibles. Vowell, however didn’t just begin here career there. She used her fun, thought-provoking essays and contributions to This American Life as a springboard. Voicing Violet probably wasn’t a career highlight for her personally, but it was appreciated and she was spot-on perfect. I imagine she’d rather be writing for the New Yorker just like CL would rather be singing. And so, I would like to present this album as a launchpad for Mr. Green and address him directly. Mr. Lo: Don’t worry, bud, your voice is fun and you’ve got a talent for singing, but that voice is best used elsewhere. I’m thinking Spongebob Squarepants or similar cartoons, maybe one of those greeting cards that makes funny noises when you open it up or even stand up comedy where it can truly be valued, admired and even imitated. Rest assured there are big things waiting for you. This isn't the end, it's only the beginning. Oh wait, this is the guy that does the 'Fuck You' song?! I Love that song. It's hilarious! _________________________________________________________ *Correction from the Elvis review (https://tinyurl.com/yhbfbm68). The reference to Curb can be found here: https://youtu.be/1-7W1sftcXw

"Slappin' the bass" - Oh Rush, you crazy Canadians. First off, I thought it was kinda lazy (or crazy) that a 'full length album' only contained 7 songs. Regardless, I was happy to begin with the album, Moving Pictures. I was lucky enough to see Rush at The Forum in '97 during the Test for Echo tour and I remember it being packed and enduring an incredibly long drum solo... like 20 mins., while maintaining a strong contact high. Anyway, the album. There are some great songs on this. Limelight, Red Barchetta and of course Tom Sawyer are timeless, but even the ones that didn't get a lot of radio play are still an easy listen... that is except for XYZ. This song, XYZ isn't fun, doesn't cook and is difficult to get in to. Rush needed it on this album, though. It's the only song that can absolutely labeled as 'prog rock' and allow the album as a whole to maintain some unique classification. XYZ, the last three letters of the alphabet almost seems like a well-calculated afterthought. Without XYZ, this album was intended for everyone. Including it seems like a ploy to gain new fans but keep a home with the old ones. Ironically, that's the only track that I couldn't listen to.

I'm only two days in and this 1001 Album exercise has served its purpose. First though, the real job of a douchey music critic is to write reviews and say everything except how you really feel about something. But I'm going to shatter that and just say one word three times: "LOVE, LOVE, LOVE." I feel like we all have been listening to this album in our hearts since we were born, or at least since we hit puberty and experienced a wealth of emotion for the first time. I was two years old when this was released and this album plays as if it could've been released today. It's evocative, emotional, raw and unspoiled by the inter-workings of what a traditional album should be. I've heard this a million times since 1976, but this is the first time I've listened to Ambient 1/Music for Airports. This one pays dividends, I truly enjoyed it and is inspiration for me to find / listen / experience more Eno. Five stars for this album. Five stars for this exercise.

Q: How do you diminish the illustrious reputation of former Beatle Paul McCartney? A: Put an album like Band on the Run on a top 1,001 ablumns list. "Yeah, I used to smoke grass and play this while living on the nudist commune. Everything was honkey-dory in those days.” This is the album you create when you’re three years out of high-school and still can’t figure out what to do with your life so you smoke weed and drink beer hoping that a future will materialize. I found this album without purpose or inspiration, just shitty jam-band garbage with a chorus. Thankfully, Ringo Starr went on to be the lowlight of post-Beatles success and we could instead remember Paul as an incredible songwriter and performer.

In the early ’80’s, I was riding with the Hell’s Angels and selling PCP in Bakersfield. I listened to this record ALL. THE. TIME. Nowadays, I need a pint of virgin blood and a nap halfway thru to make it through the album once. There’s lots of noise here on this album and the devil lyrics are on high. As a matter of fact, the lyrics are where this Black Metal shines. Who can dismiss “do you believe in God, he’s chained up like a dog and every hour he screams 'SATAN RULES SUPREME!" ?? [whoa!] And, though there's nothing fancy about the drumming, the guitar is show-y, fast and intricate at times. As a matter of fact, this band makes me think a lot of TSO. Yep, TSO - The Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I’m quite certain these Venom guys could’ve been real competition to the TSO if the devil-worshiping thing ever caught on. There are plenty of similarities between the two. Both are rock’n’roll crusaders for a higher power and tolerable in small doses, played ONLY during special occasions. For example, TSO, is often heard during Christmas season, while Venom's Black Metal, I'm assuming, gets a lot of play during sacrificing your first-born or throwing a surprise birthday party for Lucifer. Two stars.

"WHO RUNS BARTERTOWN!?" TINA FUCKIN' TURNER, that's who! –– | –– I was dreading this album when I saw it come in last night. The '80s have a special place in my trashcan. I was relieved, however that the saxophone didn't make an entrance until track five—'Private Dancer' which I immediately hated. However, I think that if you can remove that wretched instrument from this song, you can find the beauty in the juxtaposition of Tina's strong, survive-at-all-costs voice singing those lyrics. A quick note on the saxophone. Byrd, Coletrane and James Bond– theyr're all great ... In the late '90's and early 2000's there was this belief that any crappy movie could be made better if only Sean Connery was in it. Studios figured this out and it worked for a bit until audiences eventually realized that Sean Connery equals suckfest, making him redundant and leaving us with movies like LXG. In the '80's the same thing happened with the saxophone. Anyway, Tina - an empirical 'YES!' The music backing up Tina... that's a harder sell. The flat drum machines, the stiff-lo-tech-robot percussion and errant guitar strum sprinkled through tracks is pure Connery. Is it possible to remix this without all that 80's baggage? If so, I'm on board. Just do me one favor and keep 'I Can't Stand the Rain.' Somehow, in ways I can't explain, this song just works as-is.

As far as I remember sexy boy / Simon Le Bon WAS Duran Duran. There were others in the band but somehow he was the only one that mattered. But that was 40 years ago and my mind has turned to mush since then. These days, I spend time trying to mentally separate Tom LaBonge, from Tom Delonge and Simon Le Bon from Cinnabon. Mmmmm.... Cinnabon — yummy, indulgent, sweet and warm. Cinnabon's brother, Simon is everything Cinnabon is but likely a complete and total dick. He seems like the kind of guy that'll park in a handicapped spot, try to screw your girlfriend and your sister at the same time and probably begins sentences with the phrase "Do you know who I am...?' But that voice of his... OMG. Is it possible to extricate that voice from the music and put it in my trousers? On tracks like Save a Prayer and Hold Back the Rain, Lonely in your Nightmare, Le Bon's voice gently blends into the music underneath in absolute perfection. Whomever produced this earned their money. The Wolf song is sexy fun and the others, except for the title track, are good too. All said, Rio is a great album, a composition of strong, sharp baselines, synth-y etherials, some disco drums and that oh so sexy-boy voice. YUM! Be forewarned before listening. Try to control yourself and bring some napkins. Similar to Cinnabon, Simon and his voice could easily leave you feeling weightless with a mess of sugary goo on your hands after you've finished. Four stars.

If there's one thing that I learned by listening to this album it's that half-assing it works well for Jack and Meg. Highlights include Ball and a Biscuit, No Home for you Here, Black Math and Little Acorns. I feel like at a show when I listen to this. So good. So much more to say, but taking a page from their book and half-assing this review.

Are you getting ready for a lengthy stay at a nearby state or federal penitentiary and not sure how to prep? Southern Rock Opera has you covered. So, close your eyes, turn it up and get baptized. This is a straight-up southern-culture record and these are some of my takeaways in no particular order: Skynyrd | Grit | Racist Governors | Cheap Cocaine | Stale Beer | Ronnie Van Zant | Sweat-Stained Trucker Hats | Southern Pride | Shady Shit | Tanktops (No Bras) | Roscoe P. Coltrane | Rock and Roll | Humidity | Skynyrd | Whiskey | Bushy Beards | Skynyrd | Good Ole [fill-in-the-blank] | Skynyrd | Airplane Crash The more I listened to this, the less I liked it, but the more I appreciated it. Individually, each song is forgettable but as a package it forms a picture of southern life and rock and roll. The album is a collection of anecdotes, explanations and accounts centering around Lynyrd Skynyrd. Two songs stand out to connect the disparate parts: Three Great Alabama Icons and Angels and Fuselage. Through loose narratives, bass-y guitar riffs and southern drawl crooning, DBT has created a window into the soul of the unapologetic south. Southern Rock Opera is like required reading, Sunday school, cafeteria food or Cracker Barrel... if you have your way, and you've done it once, you'll never do it again. So, a big 'thank you' to Drive-By Truckers for making this. It's not for everyone. But, if you’re southern-culture-curious, love Skynyrd, Alabama or have family in prison, you're gonna love Southern Rock Opera.

Aretha and Urethra are very similar words, but there are vas deferens. — | — Listen to 'I’ve Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You' and agree with me — a standard UTI doesn't evoke as much pain as Aretha does on this album. There’s this incredible feeling of a heartbroken innocence that runs from beginning to end. The first track worth mentioning, “Drown in My Own Tears” wraps you in the warmth of a dark, desolate dive bar where Aretha’s voice is the only thing you can feel after hours of drinking alone. And that holds true for most of the songs. This album could’ve been the soundtrack to every B movie made in the 80’s. The title track, 'I Never Loved a Man…’ could easily be set to the scene of a lonely bride hiding her face at the altar in an empty church. Queue up the song, close your eyes and imagine the scene. The camera, focused on the bride, slowly backs away up the aisle, gently pulling out of a small Baptist church, out the doors, down the steps and then, just as slowly, points to the blue sky as a single black bird crosses the frame. The credits start to roll. Through all of this, the undercurrent of an organ and backup singers evoke possible redemption through faith. However, everyone knows only time will heal a broken heart, and antibiotics ease pain caused by gonorrhea and even the worst UTIs.

Remember that time you were huffing nitrous while being chased through the house of mirrors by those clowns playing the bagpipes and you couldn't find a way out? THIS IS THAT ALBUM!!! I bought my first and only CT album in 1993 because of Jeremy Klein's part in "Ravers." I liked that Iceblink Luck song, yet it wore on me after only a few plays and I never listened to it again. But that was 30 years ago ... on a different album, and we've all changed ...so why not start fresh, eh? No such luck, and if I changed, it's only to be less forgiving. Yes, this album is terribly-unique in that it's uniquely terrible. I had a visceral reaction to Treasure and though technically, it is music, I hated everything about it. The bajillion fasletto voice overlays, high-pitched keyboard overlays and more overlays of echo-y feedback overlays gave me the sickly-anxieties so bad that were tough to shake even after it ended. Somehow, I managed to find my way though without barfing and lose the clowns in the process. So, that's one good thing about this one. Truth be told, I'd rather be in this room, with these two guys just before being murdered than giving Treasure another listen. (https://youtu.be/7E_U1xyK7Gw?t=91).

Not sure if you know this about me, but I'm a massive procrastinator. It's pervasive, it's terrible and I hate it. I never listened to Springsteen but remember the Butt Album being promoted in stores when it came out. You know the one with the butt and the American flag on it? Anyway, I never listened to it and then people were oooh'ing and ahh'ing over him and started referring to the singer as 'The Boss' which only turned me off even more. FF to a couple of years ago when I started paying attention to the world and agreed with some of Mr. Butt Boss' politics. So, I picked some of his music and tried to listen and got bored. A friend, who I admired and had similar music tastes, pushed Nebraska as being the quintessential Springsteen album that would change my life. I procrastinated for years. I queued it up and half-assed a listen to the first song and turned it off. I wasn't in the right mindset, I couldn't do it. "What if I hated this album and it means nothing to me?" Butt Boss has been hailed as an important voice of a generation, of America even. Today, Nebraska sat in a browser tab until almost 3:00 p.m. until I finally turned it on and listened a couple times. I still don't know what to make of it. It's thematic, I understand the 'voice of generation' thing. Though it's not my generation and kinda hard to relate to. The album plays kinda like a book of short stories. Each one equally boring as it is interesting. I'm still kinda undecided about this one. The best thing about this review 1001 albums exercise is that I would've continued to put off listening to Nebraska if given the opportunity. In reality, I could listen to this a couple more times, however, I know myself and I have no plans to.

"That's not a knife, THAT's A KNOIFE" Never heard of these Australians but they've got great sounds and I totally dig them. Eternally Yours is dirty, lo-fi 70's punk rock plus. The album kicks off with 'Know Your Product' featuring a full horns section and a singer full of blast before slinking into the sounds you'd expect to find at venues like Al's Bar or CBGB's. However, the band doesn't stay within the confines of a late '70s four-piece punk band. The horns make another appearance on 'Ourstralia' and there's strong harmonica on 'Run Down'. There are subtle changes in their sound throughout the record. The 'Untitled' track and "Memories are Made of This, / The Ballad' are slower paced. 'A Minor Aversion' has a country western twang to it and 'No Your Product' would've made a perfect contribution to the Repo Man soundtrack. It's hard not to smile to the fun had while recording 'Do the Robot'. This track is complete with giggles, sloppy clapping and a chorus chanting 'dum-do-de-dum-dum' in the background. So good... This album is a great listen and these guys must've had some good times touring back in the day.

Pushead. The common denominator uniting, among others, Thrasher, Metalica, Zorlac and The Cramps in the 80's. In those days, Thrasher magazine had a full on music section featuring interviews with bands like The Cramps, TSOL, JFA, D.R.I. along with black and white photos of shows and general punk rock mayhem. Before I even heard them, I knew I'd like them because of Pushead's contribution to their album art.(https://tinyurl.com/4xedxr63). However, I really didn't listen. It was just music that everyone listened to while skating backyard ramps. I hadn't really thought much about their music until this album popped up. After spending the better part of the past day listening to The Cramps with a different ear several things emerged. First, my parents had no idea the shit I was exposed to. Second, this is great stuff, I hear Jack White, Makeup, Horton Heat and John Spencer in this. Visually though, I think of this as an alternate version of Sally Field's Gidget character, from the 60's TV program 'Gidget.' In this version Gidget is dead, roams the Malibu beaches as a powdery white zombie vampire, preys on goody-two-shoes surfers, worships satan and drinks blood around campfires. The Cramps provide the tracks for the opening / closing credits and a maybe a zombie dance montage on the beach. Songs The Lord Taught Us plays like a ghoulish take on Dick Dale, rockabilly punk with some Charles Manson thrown in. It's easy to get lost in the beach drums, surf guitar and acid tripping of this, but be careful. Every episode ends when Zombie Gidget sexxy dances toward you, bludgeons you to death and sinks her teeth into your neck for a midnight snack.

This album is downright SCANDALOUS! If I have to guess, she's gotta live someplace in Texas 'cause she sounds miserable and all the dudes she sings about are cheatin' drunk assholes. I think Loretta needs to get out of whatever this situation is that she's got happening. Perhaps there's a small mountain town of coal miners she might be happier in...? I love the brevity of these songs and there are some really great verses dripping with animosity. Here are two of my favorites: "You better wash that sneaky smile right off of your face For I just might to knock it off and put you in your place Just like the wild wild wind all you do is blow You say I'm holdin' you back but baby I'll help you pack So get what'cha got and go." And the second, from The Devil Gets His Dues, which may have served as inspiration for a girl named Left Eye Lopes, in 1994: "Well, your little play house is sittin' on sticks of dynamite And I get mad tonight and light the fuze If you come in and find out that my dog bites You'll know the devil's here collectin' dues." I think the point of this is that Loretta is a strong woman, has put up with a lot of shit, and she's realizing that Texans are assholes so she's gonna pack up her things and go. All I can say is 'Amen.'

"Elvis, was a hero to most, Elvis was a hero to most, Elvis was a hero to most, But he never meant shit to me straight up racist, the sucker was simple and plain —Fuck him AND John Wayne!" The above taken from Public Enemy's Fight the Power from Fear of a Black Planet's 1990 release. Recently, I read an interview with Quincy Jones and he alluded to Elvis as a racist and even stumbled on an unsubstantiated quote from Elvis that he remarked "The only thing a Black woman can do for me is buy my records and shine my shoes." [whaaa...?] My first instinct is to say that haven't had any exposure to Elvis... except that I have. Elvis is pop culture Americana and there are references to him everywhere. I've heard the song, Suspicious Minds countless times, never attributed it to Elvis and (surprise) It's a great song, wonderful even, the horns, choir and the evocative feeling of it. Also, when people used to watch TV together, this Southpark episode (https://youtu.be/5SYwLZ-riqg) elicited laughs from others, but I didn’t fully get the reference until (surprise) I listened to this album. This is a decent album and I liked it just fine. But reviewing an Elvis album and knowing the things that have been said about him compounded by it being the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, which I NEVER learned about, and is NOT in any pop culture, gives me hesitation. Is it okay to like something and separate it from the artist? Is the artist the art? And if so, is it okay to enjoy something that it prevents you from enjoying the art? It’s an important question to consider and perhaps there is no correct answer. I'll finish with this... I often think about a scene from a Curb Your Enthusiasm that illustrates this perfectly. Larry, who has, over the course of the previous 11 episodes, enjoyed the company and fallen for a woman he’s been working with. Then this happens...(https://youtu.be/5SYwLZ-riqg). Did you catch Jeff's (NSFW) reaction at the end? –––– Yes. ^This may be a BS review, but since you’ve made it this far. You should know the song 'Suspicious Minds' now has another home on one of my ‘favorites’ playlist.

Though Cee-Lo might also wish to be a little bit taller and perhaps a baller, it’s important to note that Skee-Lo and Cee-Lo are two different people. I should know that. Their voices are completely different. Cee-Lo’s voice is very unique, though I would not consider it a soulful voice, as the title of this album would suggest. It’s more of a Sarah Silverman, Megan Mullaly cute voice that is best enjoyed in SMALL increments. Unfortunately, "Cee-Lo Green … Is the Soul Machine” has SIXTEEN songs on it and none of them are soul. After listening to this album, it is apparent the only link between Cee-Lo and soul is that he shares a last name with Al. A lot of the arrangements here seem dated and don’t hold up well over time. But it’s his voice that is really difficult to endure, especially on Scrap Metal. In this song, CL takes on a hard persona and sings about being strapped with a MAC-10 and threatening to box cutter your face while telling people he doesn’t give a f**k. Sorry, but that stuff coming out of your mouth in that cute voice is straight comedy, CL. Buuuuuut..., that got me thinking about Sarah Vowell from early episodes of This American Life. If you didn’t know, Sarah Vowell was born to play the voice of Violet Parr, the American teenager forced into a life of secret superpowers in The Incredibles. Vowell, however didn’t just begin here career there. She used her fun, thought-provoking essays and contributions to This American Life as a springboard. Voicing Violet probably wasn’t a career highlight for her personally, but it was appreciated and she was spot-on perfect. I imagine she’d rather be writing for the New Yorker just like CL would rather be singing. And so, I would like to present this album as a launchpad for Mr. Green and address him directly. Mr. Lo: Don’t worry, bud, your voice is fun and you’ve got a talent for singing, but that voice is best used elsewhere. I’m thinking Spongebob Squarepants or similar cartoons, maybe one of those greeting cards that makes funny noises when you open it up or even stand up comedy where it can truly be valued, admired and even imitated. Rest assured there are big things waiting for you. This isn't the end, it's only the beginning. Oh wait, this is the guy that does the 'Fuck You' song?! I Love that song. It's hilarious! _________________________________________________________ *Correction from the Elvis review (https://tinyurl.com/yhbfbm68). The reference to Curb can be found here: https://youtu.be/1-7W1sftcXw

There's something about this album that makes me think of one of the best, if not THE best 80's movie, Brazil. s. I imagine that this must be one of those albums that was right for it's time, but out of place in any other. Released in 1984, Communism was on high, the Berlin wall was still a thing, Gordon Gekko / Michael Milken was selling junk bonds on Wall Street and we were in the middle of the Reagan years. Perhaps it's the Reagan connection, but the word 'bureaucracy' is a good descriptor word for A Walk Across the Rooftops. There's a lot of busy work here, but you never get anywhere with this album. It's like you keep jumping through hoops because you're programed to think 'if I just listen a little more I'm sure I'll find something interesting.' This album I'm sure was considered intellectual and avant garde when it was released. It's just oozing with the 'you're not smart enough to understand this music' vibe, but I don't think there's much here to consider. The underlying music is incredibly repetitive, I found myself wondering if maybe some of this was repurposed for use in Roblox games, and the singing doesn't contribute much. Sometimes his voice sounds like he's either yawning while singing or taking their last breath before dying and neither are dramatic. I haven't seen Brazil in probably 30+ years, but I suddenly want to rewatch in hopes that it hasn't aged as much as this album.

Soooo... which one is favorite? You like Chili, don't you? I'm a Left Eye fan. Why doesn't T-Boz get any love... I think I'm the only one that didn't buy this album when it came out. And, why would I? All the ladies I knew were playing this nonstop and the Waterfalls video (great video BTW) was played ever 15 mins. on MTV. Though this is the first time I've listened to it all the way thru, it's apparent that the album was intended to be a hit in itself and not just an album that had some hit songs. I enjoyed the 'interludes' and respites between tracks. Maybe I overlooked it in the '90s but it seems like a different approach to making music, perhaps novel for the times. In the 90's you threw in a CD and were basically a captive audience. No Spotify to immediately toggle between bands/albums and because it plays so well, it's easy enough to play it again. I enjoyed it today. It's very well put together, but too much a throwback to the 90's to get more love from me...

Peace, love and group sex! Expectations were low and I considered it’d be variations of Turn, Turn, etc. and Tamborine guy songs. This is the music my mom would’ve listened to in college. I was generally underwhelmed until Space Odyssey played and I began seeing trails, but then Moog Raga kicked in and I was tripping balls. Moving forward to the threesome sex song Triad, was unexpected but oddly enjoyable. Take another hit, there’s a great riff on Bound to Fail. Finally, Universal Mind Decoder was another trippy song to get lost in and the banter on the alternate version in the studio provided some interesting insight into the recording process. I was pleasantly surprised at how dynamic and full this album is. In the end, how much do we really know about our parents anyway? Maybe mom was a freak who liked dropping acid and frolicking naked in the mud at Woodstock with everyone else. (yuck).

Ears hurt and Hershey squirts. Britpop ruined my Saturday. I'm going to throw this back in a closet and hope it doesn't come out again. I know there's more Britpop-y bands on this list and eventually, I'll lose. Some day, I'll have to unpack all the reasons why bands like Travis, Verve, Lush and yes- even The Smiths, Morrissey and The Clash make me unwell. It's going to be messy and today isn't the day.

Ugh. Do I really have to review this. Richard Linkletter / Richard Marx / Richard whatever his name is ruins songs with his oh- so-dramatic voice. Honestly, it's not that terrible. But it is very much on the tortured artist side. Somehow it works for Tom ... oops, sorry, I meant "Thom" You're trying too hard, def doesn't rise to the level of imaginative, creative and head-bopping. But I can't hate this too much, it's 90s. "You get an 'E' for Effort, T for nice Try"

Five. I'm done. Honestly, this is the gold standard. I wish everything could be so perfect. Dave Navarro, Perry Ferrell and heroin*. This played constantly when I was a sophomore in high school and have great memories listening to this cassette and being a teenager. Top to bottom each song kills, but "Ted, Just Admit It" kills hardest ;) I still listen to this album in 2021 and there's not a bad song on it. Ocean Size, Summertime Rolls, etc., they're all great. Even the little interlude Thank You Boys is awesome. Up the Beach is an album intro with no words! The intro to Summertime Rolls is so remedial and relaxing and then moves right into Mountain Song. It's is a shot of adrenaline. I appreciate the way the songs open up. Each one begins differently but kind of eases you in and then clobbers you with bass guitar and Navarro with PF and his illustrious screechy wails in the background. It's just and amazing mess of sound that consumes you. Love all of it. Five Stars. ___ *Actually, that's not true. From what I understand the heroin didn't start until the early 90's.

Pink Moon made me and a bunch of other people want a Volkswagen. Nick Drake made me want to explore folk music. His soft spoken voice and the fret buzz of his acoustic guitar conveys an understated sense of being and its perfect. This album taps into something beneath the surface and it all comes out. If Gustavo Sataolalla, Alexi Murdoch are are able paint pictures with their music, Nick Drake is able to make you feel it. I hear Gustavo in Horn and Alexi in Which Will and so many other songs. There can't be any musicians who've heard Pink Moon and been unaffected. This album and the whole Nick Drake story gets me emotional. An artist that kills himself after releasing two albums to lackluster reviews and thirty years its discovered by the world because of advertising. Unattainable desire. To become famous, to own and possess things you don't need. It’s difficult to point to anything good that’s come out of marketing since it’s inception. Pink Moon and Nick Drake may be the one thing.

Remember that episode of Portlandia where they're at a 'cool' wedding and... No? Well all my friends tell me that I should watch and it's sooo funny... Sleater-Kinney was one of those bands that I should've spent time listening to but I never made time for them until now. Some of the tracks are familiar but most of it I'd never heard. I dig the repetition and the syncopated rhythms and raw energy. I bet they put together a great show. (They're at Merriweather in August). Some of the stand out tracks are 'Buy Her Candy', 'Heart Factory' and 'Jenny' but I really like 'One More Hour.' Such an interesting riff and the layered guitar produces a song to experience. I'm not tied to Carrie's voice, but it plays really well on this track. Perhaps in another 20 years I'll get around to watching some Portlandia. I understand it's something that I'd dig.

Yes! This album is a sign o' the times and it needs to stay there. I was sorely disappointed by this album. This is like that movie Cleopatra, big star, big budget has some fans, but really not worth spending hours of your life in the hopes of enjoying something that isn't relevant. Also, sign of the times is the pushy- rape-y- coercion one-sided dialogue in 'If I Was Your Girlfriend'. Maybe I've been married too long, but I can't imagine that would be okay in 2021. With all this sexxy talk, this album just sounds impotent. Treble is not the friend you think it is. I wanted to get into some of the funk, but it seemed lame and tame by today's standards. Didn't they have a bass dial in the studio? I want to feel the thump of those bass lines and the excitement of the crowd. Unfortunately, time has moved on and left this album behind.

"Shit don't change until you get up and wash your ass..." I've taken the past few days off and listened to this album during most of it however I could still listen to this for the next week before I was really ready to write a review of this. I think this is an important album and not one I would've found on my own. There is so much going on here with KL. It should be noted that KL is the real hero of this album, not the production or the instrumentation or guest appearances. This is all KL and he is a powerful force. His lyrical style is fast and his words are incredibly deep, insightful and full of meaning. Standout tracks, probably my favorite is the 'i' track. Toward the end of it, KL engages with the audience just prior to doing some a capella and starts off amongst audience chitter chatter and during the course, the audience calms and begins to listen. It's difficult to tell if this is produced or this is live, but the effect is moving. Other notables are "For Free? interlude", 'King Kunte', and worth mentioning is the sister track to 'i', 'u'. There is so much to unpack here, and I could stand another week to really feel comfortable enough to write a proper review. Really a great album on its own that everyone, yes everyone, should listen to at least twice if not more.

Dirty fuckin' hippies. CCR, will always occupy that space on the other side of the peace, happiness and 'love -will-save-us-all' flower power movement for me. Just over that line resides the stinky, up-all-night, bloated excesses with a dirty harmonica in a shirt pocket, otherwise known as Creedence Clearwater Revival. Though listening to this album did not change my, albeit narrow view of the band, it was nice to listen to some of the underplayed songs from this album. I appreciated the late night, drunken Graveyard Train blues-y tune and to a lesser extent, the harmonica-laden Keep on Chooglin' song at the end. However, there are three things going on here that prevents me from ranking this album higher: 1. FOGERTY SINGING - (not sure which one 'cause I don't care) and his fake-ass southern drawl. These guys are from Cali. 2. That twang-y, shit-guitar sound. 3. The dirty fuckin' hippies.

Which cruise line is right for you? Princess Cruises is supposed to be nice. I've gone on Norwegian when my rich grandmother paid for all of us to take a cruise for Christmas, and it is top-notch - that I can say that from personal experience. Carnival? - meh, I don't do keg stands or have little kids anymore but there was a time in my life that would've fit. I think your best chances of running in to K.D. Lang would be on Norwegian cruise lines. It's the cruise line for old people with lotsa money and a taste for vanilla. I bet she's the house music on all Norwegian cruises and probably performs for the young gray hairs at least once a week. I wonder how they get her from ship to ship. Or if she has to disembark, embark the way that normal passengers do. I would expect that from Wilson-Phillips, but not sure about the KDL. I found Ingenue perfect for the early '90s., KDL had some serious fashion style back then, yes she did. Her music right on par with a Norwegian cruise, very adequate on Gram's dime, but nothing you'd pay extra for. Regardless, after a long year quarrantining things are looking up and I'm sure there are a lot of excited people ready to be confined to a boat in hopes of running into the KDL. For me though, it's more likely you'd find me on a Carnival cruise binge drinking, avoiding my kids and constantly craving for solid ground than listening to this album again.

I'm a sucker for old Stevie Wonder albums. Talking Book is like a key to an era that I wasn't able to experience but would've loved it. This album just makes me smile. The key characteristic of this album is the Wah guitar, on and it's just a really cool sound like a 'brown-chicken-brown-cow' without the porn. It's a wonder this sound didn't dominate more albums back in the day. I think if it had, it'd be one of those minor annoyances like saxophones are. Anyway, the album... You are the Sunshine of My life opens the album and it's one of those perfect sappy guilty pleasure songs that I just can't get enough of (and makes me want to drink orange juice). The keyboard and congas on this are just lovely. Superstition is the break out hit, but there are some really good ones that are overlooked. Big Brother has got some understated grit with political undertones. Evidently SW played all the instruments on the recording. The song 'I Believe' is a great outro striking a hopeful reflective note that leads me back to the beginning of the album and hoping for an excellent follow up ... 'Songs in the Key of Life', I'm talking to you...

An album is only as strong as its weakest link. If that held true, this would be a TWO STARS package. Alternatively, if this album was to be judged as 'best ball' it'd receive a solid FIVE STARS based solely on 'Summertime' because Summertime cooks. The sound of the guitar on this album is absolutely incredible, deep, bossy, full of lazy rough distortion that you can sink your teeth into. The opening to Ball and Chain is soooo gooood. Oh Sweet Mary has a great start, but then syrup-voice starts the singing and just ruins it... I want Janis. Ohhh, Janis, you are the wings to my angel. Your voice and that guitar are such a sweet combination ...or so I'd think. The songs that are good, are REALLY good. The guitarless Turtle Blues, old time piano and Janis... beautiful. Piece of My Heart ... classic power, and, have I mentioned 'Summertime...?' But then there are these mediocre and less than adequate songs like the opening track, Combination of the Two, Flower in the Sun and Roadblock that don't belong and drag the rest of the album down. But the ones that cook... Summertime, (have I mentioned Summertime) I could listen to on repeat for hours...

Is it coincidence that two great communication artists named Fela / Fella were born in 1938 and only one is still living? Ed Fella, the designer of 'Fella Parts' and Fela Kuti, the musician, both pretty amazing guys, but only one is still living. Graphic designers live forever, they are notoriously boring people that think they know everything. Generally, they sit high atop a velvet throne and pass judgement from a distance without getting their hands dirty. Real musicians, like Fela are in the mix, they ARE the dirt that makes the world spin, that evoke and create change from within. I enjoyed this album and felt like I was in the room, at the rally in the protest. I got lost in Fela with Ginger Baker Live! while toiling away on the PeTA poster I've been working on, meat is murder by the way. The jamming of this album had me bobbin' my head back-and-forth for hours and when Adobe crashed I started lookin' for a joint and a dashiki while my machine restarted. Fela, also an activist against corruption and inequality in Nigeria was a force for change. Through his music he brought people together and was arrested, jailed and beaten. Speaking of eaten, please don't eat my friends, by the way. Ed Fella will celebrate his 83rd birthday while Fela Kuti didn't live to see 60. Musicians cause real change and die young. Beets not meats, by the way.

This album is pornographic! Though not as obscene as the woeful TRIPLE X, this album is twice as profane as X. X started in Los Angeles in 1977, then 28 years later in 2005, XX was formed. By the same progression XXX will make its debut in 2033. Chalk it up to decaying moral standards, but the reality is that XX wasn't as lewd as you might think. As a reviewer it is my job to tell you that most, if not all songs are super-mellow and there's no fucking. The album is relatively short, weighing in at 38 mins. and an easy listen. I suppose this album represents somewhat of a turning point in music in the late 2000's. It's a delicate fuse of real and electronic instrumentation that exists effortlessly. Intro is the simple, dark beauty used to sell AT&T and Hugo Boss that you've heard many times before. It's the recognizable instrumental and an easy listen that subtly builds amongst single-note plucking. The balance of the album includes more complex songs but maintain the overall feel of the first. There's an effortless fun vibe about this album as such if it had existed before 2009, it would be might be called The Moldy Peaches. Also, it's worth noting that the dude singing sometimes sounds like Kurt Vile, it's subtle and distant, but once you hear it you can't unhear him. So, if you don't care for Kurt, I probably just killed this album for you. Finally, for the freaks out there looking for music to get the joyknob turning, this album isn't for you. I would suggest checking into Big Black's famous album from 1987.

I got this album from Ed, a guy at work, and pulled one song off after listening once - Typical Girls. The Slits. Perfect name for a punk girl band and that cover art is perfectly outrageous. Ed and I worked in an open space, most of us were pretty artsy but I still felt funny about having six boobs covered in mud on my desk for everyone to see. After listening to this again, I've fallen pretty much just about where I was in 2002 on this album. Despite the reggae guitar, there's some interesting repetitive patterns that deserve another listen... but then only one more. To quote Billy Waldman "I hate reggae music. I hate it." Two tracks that stood out on this recent listen. The first, Instant Hit makes me feel like I'm passing time with a smile. The second was absolutely wretched, the cover of Heard it Through the Grapevine, made me feel like I need to clean my ears with a wire brush. Musically, this is probably a dos-star album, but these three girls made their mark on the punk scene in the late 70's and I'm pretty sure they didn't get a group hug welcoming them. It must've been a difficult go even with the help of Johnny Rotten. So, they score massive punk points for pushing thru and releasing more music after this.

YES! YES! YES! Va, va, va, va.. FIVE! You know when your husband is gonna try and put the moves on you when he throws this on the record player. I think this is Pepe Le Pew's go to. I'm sure Stan Getz a lotta action with that love horn of his.... mmhmmm. I dig this album and will listen to it before and after sex.

Hmmm... Don't know what to say about this one except it seemed like the background noise when you go to a pub for a pint. I'm sure there's some cultural significance to this and may be stronger if I were aware of British politics of the '80s (I couldn't listen to Morrissey cover this stuff either). This isn't terrible and I did enjoy some of the rich Gibson, but I'm not gonna brag about Billy's album on my weekend readout.

What'd the overworked pastry chef say to the restaurant owner? Anita Baker! In the late 80's this was the best album to play when hoping to seduce your young Wall Street assistant while doing lines of coke on your mirrored coffee table. Fortunately, unfortunately Spotify only provided access to five of the songs, probably due to licensing issues. So, my rating may have been higher if somehow the rest of the album sounded nothing like those first few...

"Weel set sail ageeen" WTF is that...? Musically, I dig The Coral but the accents kill the rest of it for me. British bands that embellish or feign American accents are like putting on deodorant when you should just take a shower... we can still smell you and it's not good. Chances are that even if you're 100% authentic I still won't dig you. Case in point, Arctic Monkeys, great music, but then Alex Turner and his syrupy British voice ruins it. Anyhow, The Coral is a band I totally missed, there's some decent stuff on this album and after that first track, it sails. Sure there are some errant tambourines but some great hooks. Dreaming of You sounds familiar and judging by the number of plays on Spotify it's included in some soundtrack, rightfully so. The song cooks with a great bass line intro and organ. Other successful experimentation can be found on Wildfire with the xylophone and maracas. After two solid listens, I'm interested to check out some of their other work, but this album's gotta find a home somewhere else.

Is it true that in 1983 Sting was busted for smuggling the Kentucky Waterfall into London? [shake magic 8-ball] ... Syncronicity has got to be their weakest album, but still ranks high as a solid album without any duds. Tea in the Sahara song is probably the only one that's a waste of time, it makes me think of the Ten Summoner's Tales release after the Police broke up. Listenable, but not something worth searching for. Sure, "Mother" is a strange song, but there's an odd pleasure to it. And it probably served Sting better to answer the phone and write "Mother" than reject the calls and listen to his brother and sister ask "why don't you answer the phone when mom calls...?" every time he sees them. The Police was a super-accessible band. There's a ton of radio on this album, Every Breath, Synchronicity II, Murder by Numbers, I think this whole album was played on the FM growing up. Even Miss. Gradenko, which is probably the best track, got airplay. Finally, some 80's without Saxophone and suckage. The pace of some of these like King of Pain and Wrapped Around Your Finger are sleepy, but this whole album makes me think of growing up on Top 40. So perhaps I'm the wrong person to review this but Synchronicity is like a gateway drug to the good stuff. Earlier Police stuff is less refined, less acceptable and a whole lot more fun.

There are very few bands that I have allegiance to, but the five dollar shows, DIY ethos, messages of equality, politically minded rage against capitalism, an outlet for anger and angst are all things that resonated when I was 14. Fugazi (and Ian MacKaye in particular) helped shape my view of the world during high school and beyond. I’ve got nothing but love for this one.

Is that a banana in your pocket or is that Keith Richard's guitar? This album stands erect over many flaccid albums of the day. Super-bluesy and tons of great guitar riffs. Everyone talks about Jagger, but KR is the real engine behind this band. There's no doubt it's his schlong on the cover.

It's cold and I'm outside all alone on this one. But if coming inside means I'll have to listen to this, I'd gladly die of the shivers.

FIRST LISTEN: "Based on this meat, I don't think I want any pudding." SECOND LISTEN: (At the behest of 'Hell Yeah' I decided I should listen to this album again... and again... ) I was able to dodge the music of PF for most of my life until today. And then, I found myself lost in a rabbit hole and along the way came to an epiphany. Did you know that Randal's character in Dazed and Confused is called 'Randal' by his coach, but his 'buds' call him 'PINK' because his last name is FLOYD!!! [OMG!] and there's more... PINK FLOYD is a person, NOT A COLOR!!! WHOA!! [takes another bong hit] Also, there's a movie called 'The Wall' which is a film adaptation of the album which is based on PINK FLOYD (aka Roger Waters), where Pink Floyd is played by Bob Geldof!! Well, the second+ listen of this made me realize that I really need to see this movie, if for nothing else, to have an excuse to get baked after the kids go to bed. Unfortunately, the Himalayan Blackberry sent me right to zonksville before the movie even started. Anyway, the album must be taken as a whole, you can't listen to one or two tracks, you've got to EXPERIENCE this album, man. Evidently, this guy Roger Waters, is a genius and had a big falling out with the band and sued to retain rights to several PF albums, including The Wall, and won. But he's the character in the album and the movie. So, to break it down for you, The Wall is Communism and the album is based on the struggle for democracy between east and west, and Pink is a Communist (Pink Floyd=Pink=Pinko=Commie).... all makes total sense, right...? Well, RW isn't as concerned as much with freedom as much as he is with himself. The Wall is really about him and the fascism he's encountered through much of his life. Pink's wall is what he constructs and it evolves as he grows older until he's old, lonely and depressed. Musically, this album didn't do much for me, but as I listened to it, I began to care more about the story and Pink's survival. All of those years I spent hearing 'Comfortably Numb' on the radio began to make sense once I had the background and context of the album. After spending some time with this I came to this conclusion: appreciation for this is going to take time, but a foundation for it is there. Big thanks to Hell Yeah for urging me to take another listen and dig a little deeper. Perhaps one day I can finish the movie and enjoy some pudding too.

At Hawkins elementary I ate lunch in the cafeteria. We all had assigned seats and once you sat down, you weren't allowed to move until the lunch bell rang 35 mins. later. Kids, myself included, would eat the Little Debbie's first and then make our way through the PB&J's only to leave the less desirable food untouched. Others bought lunch which was stuff like pizza or mac'n cheese with fries, and limp veggies. Like limp and discolored, rubbery carrots and lima beans-type veggies. What kid eats lima beans ... like ever? Eating took roughly 20 mins. to complete. The remaining time was often spent pulverizing the leftovers and adding some ketchup and milk to create some disgusting concoction and then daring each other to drink it until the bell rang. Michael Gunter was the only kid I remember who actually followed through on the dare. I'd never heard of The Happy Monday's until today and after hearing it, I would've thought this would've been placed a little further into the '90s based on their sound. There's a lot of layers within the music, people talking, bong-ripps, white people rap, makeshift instrumentation, sampled loops and other superfluous noise that, when combined makes me think of Michael Gunter and cafeteria-time at Hawkins elementary. The result of this mish-mash is a deep, full-bodied experience that's messy and convoluted but not as terrible as you'd think. It almost makes me wonder if Michael Gunter actually enjoyed drinking that sludge. After all, he was awarded with a legendary status for that. But then I remembered he earned that for spewing chewed-up ketchup, lima-bean disaster milk all over Paul Pyle who was lucky enough to be in direct line of fire from Michael's pie hole. Paul Pyle, for his part, had to stay seated until the bell rang, was forced wear his stinky sweater for the remainder of the day and earned the nickname 'puke pile' for the rest of fifth grade.

I've never heard of Jane Weaver and frankly, sounds like she'd be a dental hygienist. Though a little slow in places, this album brings us into the 20th century. It's nice to listen to something more contemporary than discovering old classics that I missed. The album starts off strong. Jane sounds like Stereolab or School of Seven Bells with a hint of Daft Punk, Postal Service and even some Cocteau Twins thrown in. But tapers off toward the end with songs like Valley, which is a slow and whiny or Ravenspoint which includes traditional instrumentation and dabbles in Psychedelia. The first listen was good, but the second grew on me. Despite the tail end of the album, there's enough of a foundation to expect good things from this hygienist in the future. I even found myself meandering off the reservation and exploring her new release 'Flock' which I immediately enjoyed.

Wow, sometimes I hate this platform. YOU, however, should smile in relief that you don't have to read my 10,000+ word review. After spending too much time I care to admit, I navigated away and closed my the page. But here's the condensed version: --- | --- WOULD PRETENTIOUS-ASS LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM? Yes, this album would be played in the background for the swanky dinner parties I host as a way to prove I'm multidimensional, culturally astute, worldly and very, very deep. Otherwise, no.

Climate change is real. This album does nothing for me, but I did find it interesting that Elvis Costello used a time machine to go 18 years in the future to watch Jon Heder’s breakout movie and include Napoleon Dynamite on this 1986 album cover. I did however deduct a star for failing to warn the world about global warming.

I really liked A Mighty Wind but never listened to JM. Much to my disappointment there wasn't a single strong character she reminded me of. Perhaps Mitch and Micky, the duo played by Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara. Anyhow, this album was fine, and the dulcimer skills are strong, but this album isn't very silly or even funny. :(

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was one of my favorite shows. The original one. I've been writing reviews so I don't have much time to watch the new one, but I hear it's good. Though I never listed to Orbital in the 90's this is a huge throwback for me. My pacifier and glowsticks, oversized pants, pigtails, pumas and DANCING! Oh, how I loved Special K and dancing. Anyway, this is a huge throwback and I did enjoy listening to this. There's a lot of repetition and beats as you'd expect from 90's rave music and There's a lot of repetition and beats as you'd expect from 90's rave music andThere's a lot of repetition and beats as you'd expect from 90's rave music andThere's a lot of repetition and beats as you'd expect from 90's rave music andThere's a lot of repetition and beats as you'd expect from 90's rave music andThere's a lot of repetition and beats as you'd expect from 90's rave music and I liked this but probably won't listen to it again unless I get nostalgic or eat more Special K.

This was a welcomed listen and I was into it until about the third song when I realized that they all sound roughly the same and rely heavily on his voice. However, this album opened up a door that I didn't know existed. RP is prolific and has recorded a TON and even had Willie Nelson in his band. Anyway, this may not have been the best album to start with, but he's been added to my list of musicians to explore a little further.

The best thing about Chris Martin is that he named his kid Apple and apples are the natural toothbrush. British people are famous for their teeth. I’ve heard many times, but don’t know if it’s true or not that the toothbrush was invented in West Virginia because if it was invented anywhere else it would’ve been called the TEETHbrush. (I bet the same myth persists in the EU too but they replace West VA with Britain when they tell it.) Anyhow, the only thing I like more than Parachutes is a Rush of Blood to the Head which probably happens when you ‘chute doesn’t open or when you forget to pay rent, bounce a check or get your car towed for having too many parking tickets, which was my life until I listened to ‘chutes. I’m a huge fan of this album, classified as "adult contemporary" music. After the first listen I was hooked and discovered I was now an ‘adult'. :( Big bummer. This meant that I’d have to stop eating fast food and sleeping late and start opening the mail and start paying bills on time. But there was a huge upside… all this new music that I could explore and immerse myself in. I’m talking Matchbox 20, Dildo, Rob Thomas and Josh Groban to name a few. Soon after the first listen I became one of those people that drives to work singing in their cars, tucking t-shirts into my jeans and checking food nutrition labels at the grocery. It was a long road, but now, 20 years later, I still like the subtle distortion and that sexxy voice of Chris Martin. After Rush of Blood, my affinity for the band waned, and I found myself relapsing occasionally to listen to Fugazi. However, this album made an impact and I’m proud to say that I haven’t gotten a parking ticket since. Thank you Coldplay.

I didn't try to listen to this too hard. Maybe there's something there, but I couldn't find it on one pass... and frankly spent a lot of time listening to my favorite dental hygienist, Jane Weaver this weekend.

Really good, except I have a visceral reaction to Alex Turner, aka British Fred Durst.

Tricia Restivo gave me a ride to school every day and she always blared this from her Suzuki Samurai. It was better than taking the bus, but I swore I'd never listen to this again. I prefer pie over cake, but always abstain from Don McLean.

The polish, I hate the polish. Gimme the real stuff. Patti Smith is a total badass and her passion and intense desire to create something regardless of natural talent and poise is infectious. There's a gravitational pull toward her I don't quite understand, it's certainly not her voice which I can understand puts some people off. I think it stems more from just doing whatever the fuck she wants to do and be completely unapologetic about it. I've seen this emulated for years in music, but it appears I've found the source of truth in this album. I love the builds in her songs, the way she slowly dips into song and by the end of it has erupted and is totally killing it with chaos like in Free Money and especially Birdland. I enjoyed her cover of Gloria and the Horses song is hella fun. To boil it down to the bare minimum, it's Patti Smith, and the quality of this music that I really love. It's refreshing not to sense an overt drive toward fame, generating sales and digging in to create a brand or perfect album. This just seems real, like it was MADE, not focus-tested, manufactured and built.

Wow. I so enjoyed listening to this album from the time that I turned it on. Love the horns, bongos, guitar riffs and the feeling that I'm either hanging out with The Sugarhill Gang making music or reviewing the Rockford Files with Starsky, Hutch, TJ Hooker, Barney Miller, Thomas Magnum, The Six Million Dollar Man / Bionic woman and planning my next vacation on the Love Boat. ... Incredible. https://www.whosampled.com/Incredible-Bongo-Band

Turbonegro... Am I allowed to say that...? According to the band, it's not at all racially based and instead meant to be like their music; FAST and DARK. Still, with that interpretation, it is not the Norsk death-music that I was expecting, though still less Cardigan and more Hives. Some of it was good... err MOST of it was good... a bit poppy with some surface-deep grit and grime. However, there are some tracks that seem as if they were written for performances on Eurovision. The vocals and mixing was just overproduced enough to ponder the identity they were carrying at the time of recording (... Gothy NSYNC anyone?) Eurovision, may not've been much a stretch, perhaps "Eurovision After Dark" as Turbonegro had stage performances outshined their music and evidently include antics like shooting roman candles out of their asses and playing in blackface in the early 90's. "Get It On" was great as is "Age of Pamparius", but tracks like "Are You Ready" which I suppose is meant to be frightening just plays like the Halloween lawn section at Home Depot. Maybe a little too refined for repeated listening, but there's definitely some stuff here worth saving and even looking forward to in the future.

The perfect album for a fancy dinner party with your boss or coworkers. Highly recommended if you want to make a lasting impression.

Gish was about to takeoff and was eclipsed by Nevermind and then Siamese Dream was released. The Pumpkins really took off with Infinite Sadness which was their most polished and seemed to give everything to everyone. The relevance of the Pumpkins lies in Gish and Siamese Dream, even Pisces Iscariot to an extent (Landslide cover rivals the original). Soft and suspenseful song opens turn to raucous distortion and loose chaos. Similar to Infinite Sadness, there is range and it's not all gnarled mayhem and anarchy on SD. While Billy Corgan seems like a monster, Sweet Sweet is beautiful; the intro to Mayonaise; beautiful, Soma; lovely even Rocket's song open calms with a wonderful distorted repeater riff. Musically, every song is evocative despite the lyrics. From the first track... the slow peppy build to furious excitement is incredible. However, if there's one thing that I dislike about this album it's the song Disarm. What a blugh downer song. It sounds like Eeyore wrote it. And then there's the lyric... I always thought the lyric was "cut that little child, SODOMY is such a part of you" uhhhh BUZZKILL - you can't put that word and 'child' in a song!! WTF? (... though today the lyrics read "...cut that little child, INSIDE OF ME and such a part of you"). I dunno, Billy Corgan has always seemed to be a tortured artist with a bullhorn that's never big enough. Regardless, I've got a lot of great memories tied to this album. It was on repeat for months when I moved out and was living downtown Richmond. I may have evolved some (not much) but to me, this album will always be relevant.

This album is very adequate.

The Notorious Byrd Brothers album was a real surprise. When I listened to that I was shocked at how progressive and different it was for 1968. I enjoyed the NBB album as a whole, however Moog Raga, Triad, Space Oddessy and Universal Mind Decoder stood out. The album continues to get airtime here. Younger Than Yesterday is closer the Byrds album I was expecting, the signature chiming soft guitar, tambourines and voice harmonies that evoke the 60's is sticky syrup and it's all over this. I did find interest in a few tracks. C.T.A.-102 evades the norm somewhat and introduces some errant electronic whizzing which is interesting. The opening guitar to Have You Seen her Face is badass, but then the steady tambourine kinda ruins it. Why includes some backwards, (I'm assuming devil worshiping) talk, But the most surprising track is the opening "So You Want to Be a Rock N Roll Star" is original. I'm used to Tom Petty's version and I discovered Patty Smith also covers it. In the time before 1001 albums I'd been dismissing The Byrds as Byrd shit and neglected to realize the cool guitar chord progressions, riffs and bluesy breaks that really are unique. However I wasn't too far off. I just found out that most of the great songs on NBB were not commercially released in 1968, and only made an appearance in the remasters and rereleased versions in the 90s.

Ace of Spades is a classic. Musically, this is straight thrash, get up and go, but it's Lemmy's gravelly voice that really catapults this into badass territory. The live album is absolutely amazing and brings all the feelings of being in a dirty, sweat filled stinky crowd totally engulfed in the moment and it's what really makes this album an exhilarating, rowdy bender. Lemmy, famous for his love of amphetamines is making a good show of it here.

Woke up, didn't choke up Saw my AK, it was broke up Put it together like a jigsaw Got my nine and my Rambo knife off the floor Went to the bathroom, and beat the rush Yo, who the fuck used my toothbrush? Went to my sister's room, yo bitch, wake up You stupid ass, dirty ass, nasty ass slut Shot her in the leg, shot her in the thigh Kicked her in the pussy and punched her in the eye Slapped her in the head, stepped on her corns Don't fuck with mine bitch, word is bond Went downstairs to eat wit' my folks Ma, you broke my fuckin' egg yolk! Punched her in the chest, cut on her cheek Then I did a sweep, knocked the bitch off her feet Knee to the pussy, kick to the skull AK y'all, shot that bitch in the temple Pop got mad 'cause mom got licked I didn't give a fuck so I shot him in the dick Hungry as fuck, said my grace Pop kept screamin' so I shot him in the face Ate my food, found my coat Mailman came so I cut his motherfuckin' throat Waitin' for the motherfuckin' school bus!! - Black Sheep / A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing (Intro) --------------------------- Within a week of The Chronic being released every kid I knew turned into a weed-smoking gangster. This, from the streets of Salisbury, a white-collar neighborhood in afflutent Virginia. The Chronic played well for plenty of awkward suburban teens looking to find confidence in themselves. There was an effortless gravitation toward an identity that used strong words and threats of conflict by rapping about AKs, UZIs, hollow-tips, dicks too big for your mouth etc. It all provided a great act to hide behind. Now, nearly 20 years removed from this, I assumed I would listen to it with new ears and find something that I enjoyed. And, I did --- the beats --- those dope beats behind tracks like Let Me Ride, Fuck Wit Dre Day, "G" Thang, etc. are amazing. I'm gettin' into it, bobbin' and weavin', thumpin' my chest and consuming those yummy hardcore lyrics signing "...I'm callin' 1-8-7 with my dick in ya mouth..." [record skips] Wait. What?! In addition to the beats, and possibly moreso, the popularity of this album is predicated on the attitude and strong persona it conveyed to those kids in Salisbury. And it's not such a far cry from recent tactics used by a former U.S. president. Both employ chest-thumping, direct FU conflict attitudes to up the ante. They both change the game, and normalize violence and confrontation to instill confidence in a people unsecure in the world around them. This album, for all of its regurgitated funk beats, deep bass and good grooves, does not outweigh its detriment on society and the mainstream acceptance of gangster rap. The Chronic killed hip-hop. Tribe / De La / Eric B. and Rakim / BDP / PE etc. groups with real messages and a good time dried up overnight for this shit. The Black Sheep track "Intro," cited at the top ends by waking up ... it was all a dream... he dreamed he was 'hard.' In reality, the popularity of this style rap lasted for years. So yeah, twenty years on, this album is worse than I remember. It has new meaning based on the times we live in and for that, I'm allocating a BIG FAT zero stars. Sorry, Dre and Co., the content of this shit sucks. You are better than this. But it's not all bad news, I'm doling out a bonus star for those dope funktastic beats that got me movin' and shakin'.

Yes. I enjoyed very much. A little stale THIRTY years after it was released, but a great respite from the traditional sounds on this list. What happened to this guy?

Five stars. Mic drop.

Caster Oil, four raw eggs and a blueberry pie eating contest. Listening to this, I feel like the blueberry pie after being scooped up by Lardass and dropped into his mouth. All I want to do is GTFO. The harmonization grates on after the chorus of Our House and it doesn't stop. This is only a 36 minute album but the urge to vomit came on quick. A few mins. later, after Neil Young starts singing in his ladyvoice, Lardass becomes a vomit machine and just starts spewing egg yolks, castor oil and blueberry pie. The end is near, and when it comes, I'm going to take a shower, rinse my mouth and brush my teeth. I feel awful. Raw eggs, castor oil and blueberry pie produce the same results as the bluesy guitar, Neil Young's voice and harmonizations. Be careful, it could get messy. https://youtu.be/zK0JaEde4VI?t=55

I've been friends with lots of people with lazy eyes in my life. For example Steph and I spent a whole summer together being Floyds and watching MTV. The summer of '95 was right before I moved to LA. The 'Just' music video played at least twice every hour, but it seemed like more. That was a clever video, it was great. Fake Plastic Trees, notsomuch. In the FPT video, Thom (pronounced 'Tom') turns the drama up to 11 while imitating a baby in a shopping cart. It was disastrous and didn't do the band any favors. Anyone that watched that immediately hated them, him, Thom (Tom). The album Pablo Honey, was good and an easy listen. The Bends, followed PH and was a logical extension of the first with more angsty, artsy-fartsy undertones thrown in. I liked it. Revisiting this album, it's not groundbreaking, but it's held up okay. This is more like a warm wool sweater that smells like home and you put it on when the leaves turn brown at the end of summer. The Bends is one of the quintessential albums of the 90's, and by those terms it's relatively traditional. There's heavy guitar reverb, song builds, and self-consumed lyrics with a tinge of despair. It is also the last album before the band becomes Radiohead. Before Ok Computer. Perhaps all of that self-introspection is authentic, Thom (Tom) isn't as insufferable as we thought. Maybe he was somehow able to see a future with machine learning, crappy politics, overconsumption, etc. and identify change is coming. Ok Computer, the album after The Bends was truly groundbreaking and set the band off in a new direction with intricate arrangements, new instruments, computers, electronica, etc. It's incredible that this is the same band. All good things come to an end. This album The Bends, marks the closing of an era, the end of summer, the end of Floyd and for me at least, the end of the 90's. It is the closing door that goes unnoticed and time moves on. REFERENCES Floyds = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIA-5l4tRyY Just = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIFLtNYI3Ls Fake Plastic Trees = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5h0qHwNrHk

You can call me Al. If Cee-Lo Green is the Soul Machine then who is Al? Compared to Al, Cee-Lo Green is the Tim Meadow's character from The Lady's Man. Oh-- not familiar with The Lady's Man? Search up Netflix if you want, but the real deal is on this album right here. I'm not sure of their connection, but if they are related it must be distant. Cee-Lo isn't even in the same ballpark as Al Green. Even so, Cee-Lo Green would be the guy cooking Oscar Mayer weiners at the concession stand while Al is putting the moves on his girl. Why don't they make music like Let's Stay Together anymore? This album exists in a different era. Turn it on and be transported to a different place in time. Go ahead, dim the lights, this is the stuff of late Saturday nights. Lo-fi recordings on the slow pace are great for indulgent relaxation. Simple songs, basic riffs, some backup singers, Al's high notes and songs that fade out. Oh yeah.. let's get deep, balls deep... Cee-Lo and the ladies man can Netflix and Chill. I'll keep it simple and stick with Al. ----------- REFERENCES ----------- Cee-Lo Green as the Ladies Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4fTcRViu_Y Cee-Lo Green ... Is the Soul Machine: https://1001albumsgenerator.com/albums/0wdleLMeNmGUHChsmx9svt/cee-lo-green-is-the-soul-machine

The same guy that named the Tesla’s S, 3, X and Y must’ve named this album. I get it, Aerosmith Rocks, you are so clever. Unlike the Tesla models, the album name is accurate. Say what you want about Stephen Tyler’s lips, but they breath some great sound into this album that’s otherwise filled to the rim with smash-it-all, balls-to-the-wall rock and roll guitar. It’s hard to identify another mid 70’s alblum filled with so much losely tied cacophony in one spot. In fact, I think this was the last great rock album before the music industry fell in love with glam rock, poodle-heads and power ballads. Though this isn’t a daily listen album, I truly enjoyed the truth in advertising.

Hair farmers singing opera.

Really sorry about your brother, Suzanne. Honestly, I love pop-tarts and everyone knows that they're only good if you heat them up. I'm pretty sure that Vincent chose the cinnamon and brown sugar Pop-Tarts. Not all Pop-Tarts are created equal. It would've sucked to die waiting for a strawberry Pop-Tart to exit the toaster before being shot by Butch. Anyhow, I really like your voice, but the music is pretty boring.

Ahhh, George Michael.... I've heard that there's no such thing as bad publicity, however with songs titled 'Look at Your Hands', 'Hand to Mouth' and 'Hard Day', it's difficult to listen to this album without thinking about GM getting arrested for jerking off in that Beverly Hills park. Regardless, this is a great album and I think it's one of those that has only gotten better with time... and a little exposure. ;)

I feel like my favorite team just got bageled at the Superbowl. Tom Waits is better experienced in person in a small venue preferably a dark dive bar in east Los Angeles in the 90s... It's really hard to translate the persona of Tom Waits anywhere else. Hopefully things will come full circle, but the digital age has no use for a lounge-y spoken word performer.

Is it true that Richard, the Aphex Twin guy is the spawn of productivity lovers David Allen and Stephen Covey? ----- The main goal of ambient music is to fade into the background and be forgotten. This album does a fine job of that. The only memorable things about Aphex Twin are the album covers which give me NIGHTMARES. The thought of being stoned out of my mind and floating through some warehouse rave with this guy spinning is really attractive (is that still a thing?), though these days, crossing things off my to-do list is just as fulfilling. Richard Marx -er Richard James, the freaky guy in the blue bikini, was ahead of his time, there are literally loads of playlists and channels on Spotify, XM, Soundcloud, etc. with titles like "deep meditation" to get shit done. Go ahead, turn this on and start powering through all the albums you still have yet to rate.

I love Volvos! Volvos, aka the 'Socialist Containers' have always held my attention in a way that I cannot fully articulate. They're weird, but cool looking, especially the wagons. I bought one and it's kind of crap, it's got issues that nobody can figure out, once you solve one issue something else fails, kind of like this band. Nina Persson's voice is so soft, sexxy and warming, like my 50's pinup posters started singing to me ... mmmm Nina. However, the Playboy mansion submissive-bimbo-act got kinda gross after a couple of listens. The voice, ultimately becomes a liability and eventually a detractor. I really liked a song until I saw the title... "Happy Meal II" ummm, Nina not sure what happens in Sweden, but you can't sing about kinky thoughts and title it after a meal geared toward toddlers. Also, Iron Man is complete disaster bordering on blasphemy. Love Fool was overplayed and grated when this was released (though coming back, it is a really good song). Musically, there's a some uniquely good stuff. The percussion on Losers is wonderful, refrains on Great Divide, great and all songs really, have some secret sauce I can't quite figure out but really enjoy. There is enough to keep this album going. However, each time it's on, the liklihood of encountering irritation and disgust is high and trading it in for something that works is a real possiblity. Kind of like my Volvo. ---------------- Liner Note: Gran Turismo, the follow up to First Band on the Moon, shows a band that has evolved and is redeeming, that would be a five.

I love black cherry iice cream but it’s pretty easy to hate Sinéad if you're a fan of the Pope / Catholic church or were watching SNL in 1992. There are also some difficult-to-unsee dancing in her MTV videos that also may give you pause. But if you were lucky enough to listen to her before the aforementioned, you’ll probably agree 'I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got' is the best album of 1990. In an age of maximalism, this album shows that maximum impact is achievable with basic tools and simple beats. There are no gimmicky production tricks, flimsy bass or wild synth-y sounds to date this album by. It holds up well, unlike ice cream on the beach or Prince’s Sign of the Times. From an a capella title track to the steady power chords of Jump in the River, the beauty in the album is its simplicity. Wikipedia says that this album was almost entirely devoted to the family of Colin Roach and presumably he is the subject of Black Boys on Mopeds. That song itself resonates stronger today than it did when it was released. This fact catapults it into the another realm. Nothing Compares 2 the use of James Brown's Funky Drummer backup on Stretched Out On Your Grave, or the gentle strum and steady build of Last Day of Our Acquaintance. I love how the tenor of that song creates liberation from a stifled existence. The entire album is great, but The Emperor's New Clothes keeps me coming back to listen to the rest. Emotionally, this album rides the line of somber relaxation and unrealized power on the brink of erruption. Without being too heavy, I could listen to this on my way to a protest rally or any Sunday morning. This is a Five for sure, but to put the five into context, I’ll offer this. If I was stranded on a desert island forever and had one album to take, this might be it, this and an everlasting supply of black cherry ice cream with a cooler.

Is it me or are sample-heavy albums like this difficult to produce and release? Perhaps I'm out of touch but they do seem unique. 3 Feet High and Rising, the '89 De La Soul album, is virtually unattainable today due to all the rules and hight costs of licensing the samples it contained. Power In Numbers likely wasn't cheap, but they really make the album special. Great licks, snappy beats and great sample grabs from artists like Minnie Ripperton and David Axelrod. This album really wouldn't exist without them. Regardless, this albums roots are in the old skool and there's plenty of range in the ummm six(?) voices. Each is unique and brings a special flavor to the album, which leads me to this... I've always wondered what the Verbal Herman Munster looks like. I get the Munsters and The Adams Family mixed up, is he the dad that resembles Frankenstein or the kid with the super tall widows peak? The dad, right? Doesn't matter, I didn't listen to this album much when it was released, and was happy to have been able to spend some good time with it here.

Heatmiser's 'Half Right' was on a mix CD a friend made for me titled "Music to Slit Your Wrists To". It was track number three. I was fortunate enough to see ES at the Henry Fonda theatre just before he died. It wasn't a great show, even sad watching him stand up on stage and forget the lyrics to his own songs. A couple of months later, on the way to work, driving up Topanga Canyon, KCRW played continuous ES one-after-another and another for most of the drive until there was a break. Nic Hartcourt came on and said Elliott Smith was found dead in his Silverlake apartment, just on the other side of town a few hours earlier. I pulled over. Until receiving "Music to Slit Your Wrists To" I hadn't considered how truly sad Elliot Smith and his music was. That stuff is kinda just glossed over, or was... Everyone was sad in the 90's early 2000's but just accepted as normal life where depression hid in plain sight and nobody recognized it as something to pay attention to. For a lot of people, myself included, the music of ES provided a place to go and hide and be enveloped by unobjectionable solitude. Kind of like a place of rest, stagnation and complacency. Either / Or got a huge boost from Good Will Hunting and rightfully so, Elliott Smith's music complemented Will Hunting's loneliness perfectly. I listened constantly and bought most anything he released without hesitation, my favorite song, No Name No. 5 is on this album. I still love it though I hadn't listened all the way though in probably 15 years. I have a reluctance for change which may be why I liked ES so much. Three years after the new millennium closed the death of Elliot Smith ended the 90's for me. No Name No. 5, the heavy drop-d tuned song still sparkles dimly in my imagination as an artifact of a life with an errant existence and no place to be.

Great stuff! I was way into this yesterday when I was listening, but this morning woke up and couldn't remember what it sounded like ... except there was a melodeon... and it was festive...(?) But to put this in perspective, the morning after a great night with the mates and some pints is often accompanied by memory loss and an underlying feeling that a good time was had. This is that kind of album.

Prehistoric eurotrash from the 80s. Saxaphone, funk, reggae and preppy white kids in sweaters. There's a reason this never made it stateside.

Great album. Huge fan of old TCQ and most Native Tongues stuff from back in the day and I didn't think an album like this was possible anymore. Love the samples, scratch, beats and old skool vibe of The Renaissance. Below are some great highlights that have occupied my ears for the past couple days: Gettin Up WeFight/WeLove ManWomanBoogie Move If this was a solo album it makes me wonder what the other four members of Tribe Called Quest were doing in the studio.

This album spins just fine, most of the songs I've heard on the radio, the others I have not. Very adequate.

There are two sets of songs on this album. The songs that you've heard before because they're good songs and played on the radio (or used in Martin Scorsese films), and the foundational songs that give those others meaning. The foundational songs are innate, born from dark empty dive bars with makeshift stages and played differently each time. They are barely commercial and exist as authentic extensions of some guys that just like to play music. Sure, Jagger's buxom lips are alluring, drool-worthy even, and his androgynous stage prancing has unmatched sexx appeal, but it's really Keith Richards and his schlong that keep the band honest.

This evening I found a cold wet washcloth behind the toilet in my kids' bathroom and found it more interesting than this album. I was actually looking forward to this, but the Bee Gees Odessa is terrible, has zero personality and was a huge disappointment.

It's hard to describe what it is that makes me love and hate this music in equal parts. I loved two songs on this... but it really doesn't matter which ones they were because they all sound roughly the same. Dramatic. Spain. Paris. Cafés. Theatre. That accordion-thing and some strings. The music is interesting, there's a lot going on here but this album fills me with anxiety after about 10 mins. of listening. I'm not sure what it is, but the first two mins. were very enjoyable. The balance of the album had me looking for a bridge to jump off of. In summary, I would rather listen to "Closing Time" by Semisonic on a loop than turn on this album one more time.

I just finished watching White Lotus and I'm pretty sure that they used parts of Watermelon Man to build eerie tension and impending doom in some of the episodes. I'm glad that I was introduced to this, Chameleon went on forever, and it was good, but could've ended about 12 minutes sooner. All of this was good to experience and provides a basic foundation of electrofunk. I'd be open to hearing more and exploring this genre a little further.

Absolutely beautiful, I loved this voice, though I don't know what she's saying most of the time. Must be in the right mood to listen to this, I chose late in the evening and it was perfect. Highlight of this album is Lakutshon' Ilanga, so relaxing. The album artwork and lo-fi production only added to the listening experience. She seems to have been an important figure in fighting apartheid and had an exceptional career from Johannesburg to New York to Italy. Super happy to have been turned on to this album and Miriam Makeba.

This album was heavily promoted and toured so it's no wonder why they chose to place this Blur album on the list. However, there are other, read BETTER, albums by this band and I'm not even a big fan. Song 2 is most notoriously used pretty much whenever your favorite team scores a goal or cuts to a commercial break, but even then it's only about a three second blip. Some may not know that this was originally used in the blockbuster (I use that term loosely) epic Starship Troopers. Listening to this more than twenty years later, the album is a chore to get through, even Look Inside America, the song that IMO was underutilized on the airwaves lacks luster today. To make matters worse, the 'special edition' which is hard to avoid on Spotify includes more than two hours of material. It burns a little to say, but even with some background on the band, it's difficult to get into this album. The long drawn out repetitions and the lyrics delivered with phone-it-in laziness is a huge turn off. The success of this album relies too heavily on the fans of previous work. I can't imagine what it's like listening to this for the first time. Hugely disappointing.

Beep! Beep! There's a band named Cracker that was big in the 90's. Also, in the 90's I was once called honky - "What's up honky?!" ... and again, in the 90's... Archers of Loaf had an album called "White Trash Heroes," (the last song on that album by the same name is great). This album, "Honky Tonk Heroes" came out in the 70s. Evidently things had changed in the 20 years since Waylon Jennings had released this so I had to get to the bottom of what Honky Tonk was and I did a Wikipedia search. Evidently, there's a difference between country music and another similar style of music called Honky Tonk, whereas Country music was mostly from the rural south and had a religious slant to it whereas Honky Tonk was the style of music played by rural southerners who've moved to the city and discovered all of it's ills, which makes sense since WJ and Johnny Cash were known to do some pretty awesome drugs together. Oh! The album. As soon as I found out that this eschews any religious slant, it freed me up to listen to this with an open mind and guess what... ? I liked this way more than I thought I would. I especially liked that it was only 32 mins. I liked the pace of it. I liked the slide guitar and I liked his voice.

Golf is a slow sport, filled with muted excitement and plaid pants from Rod Stewart's wardrobe. Someone must be listening to this album tho. The play-count on Spotify is through the roof. ...It's gotta be those golfers. The first song out of the gate is great, and by song number three, I'm searching for something that could give me the motivation to keep listening. This isn't a new phenomenon, all of his music seems to be like this. Similarly with Faces, another RS group, I thought "man, I should listen to this stuff more often" until I do and realize my time would be better spent screaming at my kids or watching golf. I'd like to think that RS is a rocker at heart, on par with Mick Jagger and Keith Moon but the energy he has just isn't sustainable and it slows down. Some people may refer to this as 'range'. I say, if you want range, go hit a bucket of balls with your plaid pants. This album barely registers as par.

That cover is scandalous! The music is pretty bland. This is another one of those bands that everyone seems to like except me. I have neither positive or negative feelings about this band, it is straight vanilla. Roxy Music always gets lumped into music that I somehow missed and should spend some decent time getting to know. But, even after two listens, it is entirely forgettable. I hear some Beck in there, and some Talking Heads and some Rocky Horror Picture Show. It's kind of all over the place... The music backing up the sing-song-y delivery of the lyrics is decent, specifically Out of The Blue has some great sounds grounding it, but the style of singing is filled with fiber and makes me want to poop. Another album that leaves me asking "Why is this on the list?"

Oh wow! Who turned up the drama to eleven?! That first track is terrible with those operetta voice and lovesick lyrics. Fortunately the balance of the album doesn't follow that first one "The Whole of the Law". I love the diversity of instruments used on the record, and the raw guitar with short breakouts like the one that opens City of Fun. However, please save us the 'my voice is awesome lemme show you my vibrao skills' crap. I don't care about any of that and I can't imagine any of your fans do either. I'm kind of a sucker for this era of intelligent lo-fi polished punk from the late 70s. I'd never heard of The Only Ones and happy to have been turned on to them.

I bet Sinatra was a total prick asshole and a shitty driver, but I love those sweet pipes of his... mmmm.... Sinatra is no replacement for Astrud Gilberto, however. Sinatra is a classic in himself and I wish he wouldn't have tried rewriting some of these Bossa Nova classics. Stay in your own damn lane, Frank! This is borderline offensive, is what it is.

I always wanted a pair of leather pants. Did they steal those from Jim Morrison? I would've thought I'd have a harder time getting into those pants than I would getting into this album. But alas, it'll be easier to squeeze my 240 pounds of self into those sausage tubes than listen to this again. Great guitar work, leather pants (and balls-out presentation) isn't enough for me to enjoy this album. It's a shame, Thin Lizzy is one of those bands that I think I should like but never quite do.

Historically important, check. Listenable, check. Enjoyable, check. Sought after, nil. Commercially viable in the late 50s / early 60s does not translate sixty years into the future. This is much more about recreating a time period similar to the HS dance scene in Back to the Future.

Lot's of nuanced sex in this album. I doubt that I'm the ideal demographic of this album, but I appreciated Jazmine Sullivan's attempt at pulling back the curtain to expose realities and thoughts of her audience. That was enough for me to engage with this album. Different self-reflection interstitials connect themes of sexuality and feminism and provide short glimpses into the headspace of the artist. These are the highlights of this album. The 'tales' are short (each one less than two mins.) and convey candid, and I assume genuine, thoughts from different women about the pussy, the money and the self-worth. The tales are relatable (even for those without vaginas) and the effect on the listener is a stronger connection to her music. In an age where artists are defined more by their carefully choreographed social media splashes than their music, it's a welcome change that JS has opted for. The inclusion of some authenticity seems to be counterintuitive for aspiring singer / songwriters but that's what I love about this one.

This is the music that sits in a corner by itself at a party waiting to be discovered. This album makes me relive, uhhh revile, high school and this album was played perpetually from the sidelines amongst my group of friends. Robert Smith, the personality, overshadowed the music within. When Disintegration came out it was difficult to enjoy this album without dressing up like Robert Smith or Edward Scissorhands. But today, separating the Robert Smith-goth fans from this music is pretty easy. Time has moved on. There are some great takeaways from this that even today I'll listen to. That intro to Fascination Street is incredible, Pictures of You, Lullaby and Last Dance all are on some playlist of mine somewhere. Disintegration is a late-80's early 90's piece of nostalgia that, no matter how terrible high school was, I'll always want to remember.

I've heard people refer to this as the jazz album for people that hate jazz. My dad bought me this "white guys play jazz" album when I was in high school and I wore this thing out. For the record, I'm white, and I'd like to think I like jazz, but in reality... notsomuch. Anyway, Time Out has been a guilty pleasure of mine in the past. Though, I feel less guilty about it as time has moved on. (To put this in perspective, It's not like Counting Crows-guilty pleasure which is now just an embarrassment). Evidently, this is a quintessential 'Cool Jazz' album. [side note] One of my favorite t-shirts I had when I was a kid had an illustration of a Saxophone with music notes flying out of it and a headline that read "Smooth Jazz Blows" DB is pretty amazing, when I hear this album, I imagine the guys at Doyle Dane Bernbach and George Nelson sitting around smoking and drinking Martinis joking around laughing and getting ready to watch Playboy's Penthouse, which at that time was pretty cool, but by today's standards, almost cringeworthy. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel did a great job of recreating a similar scene in an episode, "Comedy vs. Cabbage," I think. Regardless of the associations, the music is still great.

If the word vanilla is used to connote absolutely plain, basic and uninteresting, what would be one notch under that? I'm trying to rectify how something can be totally unlistenable but not terrible. This is music, yes. And, I imagine that there are some people that enjoy this, but I couldn't find any music worthy of discussing here. I suppose, since I have to pick something, Easy Blues is a positive that I'll extract from this. It is the one song that doesn't belong here. I'm going to take a stab at how the term 'vanilla' would fit into the 5-star breakdown. 1 - Shit / offensive 2 - ? 3 - Vanilla / meh 4 - Doughnuts and Cronuts 5 - ? Well, that didn't work... to be continued...

If you google 'Strange Cargo' it takes you pages of results for a movie staring Clark Gable from 1940. This alone may give you some insight into how awesome this album is. Despite that, this was far better than I thought it would be, and much better than the album art is. It's important to note that there are at least three Strange Cargo albums, the second I started listening to by mistake and it was a mistake. I should've eaten a sprig of Parsley after listening to SC2, or at least dusted my ears with it. I honestly didn't mind spending time with this. Though since 1993, the robots have taken over the world and today, this music is ubiquitous. It's absolutely something my daughter would splice into her YouTube videos. I blame the machines. At one point SC3 was avant garde and exciting, but time moves on...

In the early 2000s, you'd hear the term 'Eurotrash' a lot. I kinda liked that term, kind of like a badge of honor because most of the people using it had bad taste. It was similar to being called a Texan. Which, depending on your social circles was either an extreme insult, or badge of honor. [Though, Texans are the only people that would consider this a badge of honor]. Anyhow, after listening to this album, I'd like to introduce another term. 'Brit shit'. I don't use this term like, 'Yeah! That's the shit!,' but more of a 'Oh man, you stepped in shit ... and it's got bad teeth.' The music coming out of Cornershop is what happens when you create by committee. This music has no backbone, it's absolutely flaccid and that tambourine isn't helping. There's no coherence here. There are seven members in this band and the music presents like everyone is leading it. The abundance of samples and inclusion of unique noises gives me anxiety. Candyman, for example has some guy rapping against a sampled ukele, some gospel chorus and a muffled man talking gibberish in the background with some errant clapping. This cluttered instrumentation is all over this album. To come full circle I would categorize this album as Brit shit, and for reference here's what that means: Texans Cornershop Eurotrash

There are some great sounds coming out of this one. There are timeless hooks and builds that have influenced countless bands. Not to mention consumers. Some songs, or portions of them are ubiquitous in film scores (Darjeeling Limited) and commercials. 'Picture Book' was played in an HP Commercial that played incessantly in the early 2000's. Also the intro from 'Steam-Powered Trains' is used in either some Dick Pills, or Valtrex / STD-type commercials. And why not? With lines like "I'm the last of the good old renegades, all my friends are middle-class and gray" and "last of the good choo-choo trains" big pharma was obviously looking to connect with old dudes looking to plow twenty year-olds. The selection only makes sense. Anyhow, I really love the sound of this album. It's ragged, garage-y and crusty, yet loosely unified in all the right spots... perfect for old dudes. This is The Kinks that I know and love.

I'm a sucker for vintage punk rock girls and Debbie Harry and Chrissy Hynde are on the top of that list. The Pretenders somehow are able to thread the needle between raw and refined perfectly. Good enough for the airwaves, but grimy enough to want to go see them live. This is a great reminder that 80's radio wasn't all saxophones and blow suck. Really enjoyed listening to this album in its entirety.

Kim Basinger has aged and so has Purple Rain. But the classic album endures partly because of the personality and all the stories tied to it. The Charlie Murphy skits on Chapelle's Show were the best. My favorite is when Prince challenges the Murphy crew to a game of hoops, destroys them and then serves pancakes afterward. Sure, Let's Go Crazy has got to be one of the best 'pick me up' songs there is known to man and despite the inclusion of Computer Blue, this album still scores high. But it's the basketball and pancakes story, the fancy roller skates and afterhours rollerskating with Questlove story, the personal ads story (where in 1993 to spend the holidays someone) give PR longevity that Kim Basinger will never have... even after being immortalized by releasing recordings of the two having sex. https://www.vulture.com/2014/09/24-outrageous-prince-stories.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff8LEx9Mw54

I reviewed music for Buddyhead just before they signed The Icarus Line. (None of my online write-ups survived over the past 20 years, I looked). Travis was an intense dude and poured everything he had into Buddyhead. He rejected substantial offers to maintain legitimacy and be able to write whatever the hell he wanted to. He carved out and occupied a special space in the LA / Hollywood music scene. I listened to this Penance Soiree back when it was new. On a fleeting superficial level, I thought there was something to like contained in the album. For example, the way that the first song starts (Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers) is great, the distortion and long pauses open to heavy bass-y basics against a subdued tempo and decent vocals. Spike Island retains a little bit of this but as the album progresses, it sounds kind of like a self-absorbed Soundgarden / Chris Cornell revival. I hated Soundgarden and the album was forgettable. Reading up on TIL, I found out that Mark Trombino, of Drive Live Jehu (and a bunch of other productions) was set to produce an album, but dropped out for some reason. DLJs Yank Crime still stands as one of my favorite albums of all time and I listened to it again with new ears. And today, some of makes me think of The Dirty Nil, who I really like. They've got great energy and power, but even still, there's just not enough that is interesting to continue listening. Great memories, meh music.

Do you know the importance of a Skypa-jah? Love, love, love. Saw TCQ tour this album at the Flood Zone with Busta Rhymes. They went out with Scenario and the whole place was going wild! The Low End Theory is contaminated with all the good post-high school memories, there's no way that I could provide an unbiased review today. ----- Equally as good is the TCQ doc. Highly recommend. https://www.amazon.com/Beats-Rhymes-Life-Travels-Called/dp/B005LM7KP0

I'm not sure why these guys have such a devoted following. I was trying to figure out what 'Legs' would've sounded like if it was written by women. "She's got legs, and she knows how to use them" ...would be changed to... "He's got money, and he knows how to save it?" And what would they look like? A trio of hairy women in trench coats and sunglasses, perhaps? And it was with that exercise that made me realize that it was more fun than listening to this music.

I feel like I'm watching all of the Godfather movies in one sitting. Not super excited about listening to more Prince since we just reviewed Purple Rain, which was decent. This too is decent but I'm just so tired of looking at Don Corleone. Some decent radio music from my childhood but nothing I'd ever buy or listen to willfully especially after being served so much in such a short span.

I am biased. Aimee Mann went to my high school. I wasn't aware of this fact until I was 24 and working on the film Magnolia. One of the sound guys brought his nephew to the set who was visiting from out of town. He was wearing a brown and orange Monican t-shirt. Aimee Mann happened to be on set that day and noticed the shirt. She said something along the lines to him, "Midlothian and Monican are high school rivals, and I attended Midlothian." A couple hours later she was gone and I approached him to comment on his shirt, saying basically the same thing. "You're the second person to tell me that today," he said. Crazy. What are the chances? I kept hoping she'd come back to the set before the end of filming, but she never did. A couple months later I worked on a Fiona Apple video with PTA and he was signing Magnolia soundtracks and giving them out to the crew. For the foreseeable future, I bought all of Aimee Mann's music and saw her perform a few times at Café Largo on Fairfax. She was great. All of this happened AFTER Whatever was released and until now, I wasn't super-familiar with this album. Jon Brion was heavily involved in the Magnolia soundtrack and he's here too. Though not as fully formed as her later work, the album has all the hallmarks of the work I know. Reaching vocals against basic distortion, slower acoustic songs with a smattering of samples with a heavy emphasis on her soothing voice. This album was best played in the 1990s in middle-suburbia. Ideally listened to on CD, but definitely in the bedrooms of late-teen-anxty girls who yearn for a life far from Midlothian and closer to Melrose Place.

"So fresh and so clean, clean!" If I lived in a show like the Truman Show, I'd make sure this song played every time I brushed my teeth or got out of the shower. However, I didn't find much to love about remainder of the song... or the album for that matter.

It seems Skunk Anansie is REALLY big across the pond but I'd never heard of them. Though not terrible, the album is largely forgettable today. The doom-laden sound juxtaposed with Skin's undeniably strong voice surely worked well in the mid-to-late '90s. And though I appreciate the unique tempos, thick bass and boundless energy, this isn't something that I'd willfully turn on today. If I had discovered this at the turn of the century, I probably would have listened and enjoyed this on more than one occasion. And, if I were to do the 90's all over again, Post Orgasmic Chill would be right next to Ednaswap's Wonderland Park in my Sony 6-disc CD changer.

The sound coming out of this album is before its time. I really liked this album more than I thought I would. Instead of being some relic of the late London punk scene, Killing Joke provided some good sounds to last and inspire the next generation of musicians. Of the bands that have cited them as profound influences, Metallica and Soundgarden are not my favorite, thought I did find it interesting to know both LCD Soundsystem and Jane's Addition cited them as inspiration. Never listened to them before, but will definitely listen to them in the future.

Ahh, another BM. I feel a kinship to this guy simply because of his unfortunate name used to indicate Bowel Movement. On my way to work I was listening to 'Jamming' on the radio. The station cut to a commercial break for Charmin toilet tissue. Did you know that Chamin's slogan happens to be 'Enjoy the Go'? I giggled a little when I heard that. Not sure about you, but I always enjoy a good BM. But reggae music is a different story. I hate reggae music, but this is somehow redeemable simply because of the unique mood it sets up. Like, let's all get high and relaxate, and who doesn't want to do that? All things can be facilitated with a little relaxation. Next time I go BM, I'm gonna take some BM with me.

Though this isn't the first time listening to Tidal, I missed this when it was first released. Though I did become a fan of her later work. I was assuming that Jon Brion had something to do with this album. I find his influence here and know they'd collaborated before, but he's nowhere to be found on the credits. Highlights on this album are the ones that you'd expect because they were played on MTV / radio endlessly. But the one that stands out for me is the opening track, Sleep to Dream. It's just so badass, and unique. I love the sound of the strength coming through in her voice.

UGH. Nope. Not for me. This music is for douchy faux rugby players and /or unemployed recent college grads who hang out at coffee bars and recite Noam Chomsky.

Christopher Cross with some Patti LaBelle should've done an album together. A duet of sorts. I imagine that if Patti and Christopher's album had materialized, it would sound a lot like this SoaD album. The deep soft vocals of are soothing and relaxing especially when they hit those low thud-y notes. And the chorus' rwwrawwhhh, rwawrahhhh is incredibly inspiring. This is something you'd put on for an enjoyable Sunday morning with the family or right before you marched into Taliban territory outside of Kabul.

This album is unoffensive and fine. A relic of the past. When I listen to this album, I can't help but feel like I should be driving an old Studebaker toward the west coast with a green frog in the front seat singing "Moving Right Along" https://youtu.be/Q6NQcO9KTBY

I feel like a dancing queen whenever I put on some ABBA. ... for the first few mins. The enjoyment from the theatrics of ABBA isn't sustainable (for me at least). The title track at the front of the album is phenomenal, the balance of the album is a slow roll down hill. As this listen wore on I felt like I was trapped at my niece's ballet performance, tired of smiling and sneaking peaks at my watch. "This is nice, this is very nice. Can we take a picture so we've got proof that I was here...?"

I always thought Lion-O was kinda douchey, but this really made me laugh (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHml_J1PN9Y). For the record, Panthro was my favorite Thundercat, though this guy might be my second favorite. Anyone that can work with Pharrell, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins and Kendrick Lamar deserves respect. The album was on the longer side clocking in at 53 mins., but Drunk kept moving. I'm not much of an R&B fan, but this is far less traditional than what I had expected. Unique repetitions, loops, beats, sounds it was wholly refreshing and was glad to have been turned on to this. Will listen more... Thundercat, hooooooo!

I could 'sing, sing, sing' about how much I don't like this Travis, but the truth is that I've never listened to much of them until now. That being said, this album met my expectations. The singer is flagrantly dramatic and can't help but feel like he's the male version Gweneth Paltrow. Vagina candle, anyone?

It's a shame about Evan Dando.. pretty boy Evan was the rage and the scorn of 90's music. Unfortunately, I was a consumer of the later feelings and didn't really appreciate him until after the Lemmonheads heyday. My girlfriend "Beefdog" had this CD and I remember listening to it a lot when we first moved in together. It grew on me and so did the Lemonheads. I know Paul Simon HATED the Mrs. Robinson cover but I think it's the best and most fun track on this album. Great album. It is quintessential early 90's granola rock when Evan Dando was a smoldering Adonis and the ire of Seattle grunge.

Ugh. I hate this shit. I considered giving this another star since it was a huge part of my late "high" school years, but giving it another go thirty years later reveals it's total disappointing garbage with little substance. Also, B-Real's whiny girl-voice makes this even less tolerable. Cypress Hill, along with Chronic set the stage for all the shitty gangster spliff crap to come for years afterward. I hate it.

It says that Paul Weller was part of a punk / new wave band called The Jam. I am a bit mystified by the term 'Punk'. If I hadn't looked him up I would've thought he was part of the New Orleans / Nashville tourist scene. And I've tried listening to The Jam but couldn't get in to it. The Jam fits into the 80's Yuppie Thrash category. I do like PWs voice. As far as Wildwood goes, this is the perfect album to listen to while you go 37mph in a 35 zone.

It's only as good as its weakest link. I could've listened to this a couple times more but then I heard ST talking about his "big" 10-inch... I'm no penis expert but I think Long Dong Silver and John Holmes were bigger than ten inches. I had enjoyed it up to that point, but if I'm going to listen to a dick song, it'd be this stellar piece of art: https://youtu.be/bbJDjNLzv8U Thankfully, Sweet Emotion followed that which has got to be one of the best tracks in classic rock. All in all, I liked most of this album, but had to deduct a star for the cockiness.

Don't know much about this genre / style of music. I'd hold my snarky criticism if I had any, but this is super-good stuff. Lovely, coffee-and-pajamas Sunday morning listening. Hi-fives.

This is important work, but it's also incredibly boring. I had to break this up into three 'shifts' of listening to this album because it kept putting me in a funk. TC has some important tales to tell, but they only matter if someone is listening.

Sometimes an album just clicks, it defies time and preferences. Though I was not an immediate fan of Yank Crime, it did grow on me over the course of a few weeks in the summer of 1994. I fell in love with the way the songs built from a strange whirring feedback like in Super Unison to punching you in the face when you're least expecting it like a full blast of cold air. But then there's melodic single-notes over a foreboding bass line that builds and fizzles like in the instrumental New Intro. The range of emotion contained in this album is undeniable. There are a ton of surprises buried within these tracks. Luau is absolutely incredible as is Super Union. These long songs (7+ mins.) encapsulate a wealth of ups-and-downs and create tension, release, and melancholic beauty by using powerfully scripted chaos along the way. A lot has changed since '94. Back then the music scene was completely different, CD's reigned, music diversity was hard to come by and the digital revolution had barely begun. Cell phones weren't a thing and even pagers were a novelty. Today, nearly 30 years later, I still find myself searching out this album to listen to. I was fortunate enough to see DLJ reunited for a few shows in 2016. Part of me wishes they'd get back together and release new music, but the other part of me knows this album was perfect for the time it was released, and that time will never be replicated.

Just so you know, Donald Faison and Donald Fagen are two different people. This is a silly album and I can't help but think that these guys were always smirking about inside jokes when performing. 'Steely Dan,' the name of a dildo in Naked Lunch is even a joke. Steely Dan, the band, not the plastic penis, fit into that 70's, Dirk Diggler, Boogie Nights category along with ELO, Jackson Browne Supertramp and others. Each of those bands have some excellent stuff, but most is not immediately apparent and substantial time needs to be spent wading through some serious garbage to get to it. Dirty Work perfect example... the silly falsetto singing is overshadowed by the tender organ and soft horns but the product is pure-gold kitsch. That track was worth the work, I cold listen to that 10 times a day. The rest of the album is good and I'm sure with a few additional listens, I'd grow to like it more, but right now, my time is being consumed with reruns of SCRUBS. and... well... I'm no Superman.

Does this album come with BBQ and Budweiser? Back in the 90's I wasn't a big fan of this band, now thirty years later I'm still not a fan. Sure there's some good rock n' roll and I appreciated the first track, but the dude's voice is out-of-this-world annoying. And, after the third track, I was tired of listening... and suffered through the remainder. These guys are polished rockers. The style is in the same vein as Aerosmith but (this album at least) lacks the charisma and diversity of Aerosmith albums on this list. Instead, the strategy seemed to be to focus on this guys voice, which isn't for everyone.

Something about this music makes me think of San Francisco. I'm not sure why because I love(d) SF and I hate this album. The horns were a novelty and I really liked them for the first track and-a-half. As the album progressed and we go to the Poem 58 and Free Form Guitar, this album had burned all my excitement for it. I'm all for experimentation, but these two tracks were terrible and proved nothing. The Byrds did some experimentation with Moog Raga that was far superior to this garbage. I was kind of excited to listen to pre-Cetera Chicago because I knew they had changed a lot and really weren't the same band that I knew in the 80's. However, by the end of this album my disappointment had turned to anger coming to the realization this was just shitty jam band music with horns.

I've been doing these reviews for the past few months and it's been a decent experience. I've gotten to listen to albums that I haven't heard or learn about artists that I don't know much about. But the review process takes a lot. I always think about how I need more time. But, I've got my mind made up now. Funny in these reviews that nobody ever mentions the weather, but you gotta roll with it and when writing these, you gotta say what you say, don't let anybody get in your way. Like I said, writing reviews is arduous and often need more time. I think by now, I should've somehow realized they take a significant chunk of my day. Sure, the word is on the street that the fire in my heart is out. Enough said, I mean it's hard trying to start a revolution from my bed, but I really shouldn't put my life in the hands of a rock and roll band, and I feel no shame. Because there are people standing at the station in need of an education. Though it's hard, I can't help but feel that these reviews are taking my soul and stealing my pride. I just need a little time to wake up, need a little time to rest my mind. You know, the people who write these reviews, you and I, we live and die, I don't exactly know why. Regardless, not many special people change, especially in the rain... but I do remember where I was when I was getting high. ... I was in college and I was listening to this album.

As a kid of the early 90's, I grew up listening to The Pixies and I liked them, but didn't love them. What I did love about them was Kim Deal, I could listen to her voice all day and it wouldn't matter what she said. Alternatively, Frank Black / Black Frank put a lot of meanings into what he said and what he sang about and for me it was easy to gravitate to KD's work and neglect FB/BF's solo career. And that's the difference, music vs. lyrics. I do remember listening to this in the store when they were promoting it on one of those 'CD listening stations' - where you could try before you buy... and I remember it not being exciting by it ... because again, I wasn't listening to the poetry, only the music. Nothing much has changed since then, I was still hearing the music, not the lyrics. I wasn't impressed. However, after hearing this album, Spotify launched me into his self-titled album which was more enjoyable than Teenager of the Year. For me, TOTY isn't musically balanced. Yes, there is something here, but just seems like too much work for me to fully appreciate.

Great album to break up the monotony. Had some good times listening to this even though I have no idea what they're saying and tracks at first listen are nearly indistinguishable. This has potential and I could listen to this over and over in a setting that doesn't require me to pay attention to it.

Gifted. Unlimited. Rhymes. Universal. I listened to this a little in the 90's after getting into the Hard to Earn album (which was released after this) and GURU's Jazzmatazz which was great. Though it was good to go back in time and listen, I didn't think much about the album. Though I have respect for GURU, this album is forgettable and sounds dated, so does HTE.

Great album. Lou Reed / Velvets, classic. Basically every band worth mentioning has shamelessly ripped this style and sound since they were in high school diapers practicing in the garage. Nico is super-strange, but I dig her, there's some movie about her imploding after her time at the Factory. Love her pronunciation of 'clown' aka "KLON" in Femme Fatale. Sunday Morning is beautiful, Heroin brings back memories, Lou Reed, RIP.

I'm not claustrophobic and don't mind confined spaces, but if I was stuck on an elevator for 42 minutes and 31 seconds with Rick Astley, Gloria Estefan, David Byrne and smooth jazz, I wouldn't be happy. If that elevator sounds like you're kind of party, you're going to love this. You can begin with the song "Flesh of My Flesh." I'll take the steps.

Lot's going on here. There's a fusion of a bunch of different styles on this like funk, soul, maybe some rock and reggae. Generally, these are styles that encourage loose, free form playing. However, this is a tight album with boatloads of discipline and measurement in this music. Boatloads of discipline is good, but boatloads of weed is better. And that's what it'll take to get these guys to relax a little. Actually, listening to this makes me need a boatload of weed to relax a little. In any case, it's evident these guys like playing music together and have put in a lot of time. The sound, even if it were less constrained, isn't my jam, but some people (like government employees and tax collectors) might enjoy this album's strict recipe for creating music.

Gaiter Burger in the House! Great voice, but didn't stick with me. Was completely forgettable. Maybe this grows after a couple listens, but I could barely make it though one without the desire to go mow my lawn.

The film Easy Rider is 1 hour 35 mins and it's great. It captures the late 60's and the Dirty Fuckin' Hippies in a way no other film could. Easy Rider is about two DFH's on motorcycles 'out to find America' after a big score. The tales about Hopper and Fonda gettin' all fucked-up, just rolling film to capture time are legend. A majority of the film was improv and edited together. It's a must-see, even for today. 'The Weight', a song from this album, was used in the film. The album, 'Music from Big Pink' fails to convey the same feeling of relaxed freedom. It does seem improved, but the result seems haphazard, directionless and foggy. If Easy Rider is like the acid trip, then this album is like the following morning. Listening to this, I'm filled with feelings of constraint, dread, sadness and fear... Fear that it'll stay with me longer than 1hr 35mins.

Leonard Cohen is a poet, not a musician. This really needs to be a spoken word album and strip out all that shitty 80's broken synthesizer crap. Love his voice, and 'hate' is not strong enough a word to describe how I fell about the music that's underneath.

You ever feed your dog meatloaf and afterwards wonder if perhaps that wasn't your best idea? My dog ate two pounds of Manwich and spent the next two days shitting. Her stomach could be heard across the room churning and gurgling. The first song on this album reminds me of those two days. The album isn't terrible, some of it reminds me of a remedial Cindi Lauper or some polished Slits. The 80's vibe, though it's outdated, brings some enviable and unique nostalgia. What's the Hurry? and The Ballad of Lucy Jordan along with Why'd Ya Do It are good. The Working Class Heroes cover is terribly awful. I'm convinced the person who made the decision to include it is the same one that suggested the flatulating synthesizer be used on the title track. RIP Juno

This is a lengthy album clocking in at 1 hour and 17 mins. Regardless, there's enough variation in the tracks to keep listening. Some resonated stronger than others and some, (like Funky For You at 5:50) completely change direction for the worse. This album is mostly relaxed vibes, simple beats and easy listening. Never spent any time with Common but enjoyed this more than I thought.

Has the excitement of listening to your drippy faucet go "doink, doink, doink" gotten old over time? Why not switch it up with an album by Daft Punk? Daft Punk's 'Homework' has that incessant drone-on IRRITATING BEAT MAGIC you crave. This album provides nearly TWO FULL HOURS of DULL-DOINKING paired with CRINGEWORTHY ANNOYINGNESS guaranteed to drive you nuts.

Fear of a Black Planet was peak for PE. A91 lacks the excitement of the previous album the loops and beats are hard loops that grate on you, they're stale and the album lacks a musical focus. I believe this was recorded after Professor Griff was kicked out of PE for his stand on Jews and gays. And could've been hastily put together to capitalize on their successes of FoaBP. I bought this when it came out and really tried liking it, but the two standout songs (Bring tha Noise, Shut 'em Down) didn't hold a candle to the magic that FoaBP provided.

I don't think this album is poo, but I do think Massive Attack was right to simplify their approach to Mezzanine and remove some of the overreaching vocals that plagued this album. For example, the music beneath the voice on One Love is simple with some unique artifacts to keep it interesting, but it's the operatic voice on top that kills the vibe. Some of the beats are outdated and but for the most part I enjoy them, don't particularly care for most of the singing.

My roommate played this (and the Siamese Dream-LOL) nonstop for a year straight. Lotta nostalgia tied up in this... that was a trying year.

Love. Love. Love.

Middle eastern jam band electronica with a 90's vibe. Nothing bleeds faster than the cutting edge. Listen at your own risk.

Love Vigilantes sounds like a cover that I'm more familiar with. Maybe they did a harder version of this(?) I listened to the remastered version, so I suppose there's some alt versions out there. I'm not a fan of the electric piano and synthesizer doinks on songs like The Perfect Kiss and Face Up, but I really love the low flung guitar that eases in on Sunrise. Elegia is really Cure-ish instrumental, it's ethereal yet impending that builds over time. New Order fits into the category of Pet Shop Boys (not a fan), Depeche Mode (really not a fan) and the Cure (sometimes a fan). To describe the genre in 90's terms, this would be indy college rock. Definitely not mainstream but really cool and new music if you appreciated an alternative scene. In today's standards, it's decent, not Depeche Mode and not The Cure.

Leonard Cohen is a poet, not a musician. It's interesting to pair this against his later work. This album is like the naive, dough-eyed kid who's finally set foot outside his boyhood home alone for the first time. Whereas, The Future (1992), sounds closer to a Bukowski book, reflecting a jaded folk singer with crushed dreams and regret. This album, SoLC is a wholesome coming-of-age listen on par with a Simon / Garfunkel album. I especially enjoyed So Long, Marrianne, which carries the S&G feel all the way through.

Brian Eno is absolutely incredible. The music he creates is just so unique and memorable. Even more unbelievable is that he was creating this stuff almost 50 years ago. BE is an underlying influence in a lot of contemporary music. I was obsessed with Lotus Plaza's Spooky Action album for a good year or so and he's all over that. Of Montreal also takes a lot from Eno. Every time I listen to BE, I realize that I've barely even scratched the surface of his work. It's not all sunshine and unicorn rainbows tho. While listening to Negro Blowtorch, I kept thinking Tim Curry was going to pop out of Spotify and start singing to me in drag. That would've been scary. The more I listened to this the more I liked it. Top tracks are Needles in the Camel's Eyes, Baby's On Fire, Here Come the Warm Jets.

This is music, so I have to allot one star for that but ... really, "I hate reggae music, I hate it..."

Forced to listen to this, I really liked it more than I thought I would. Been an ardent opponent of any Pink Floyd, but really connected with that album artwork. Would listen to this again for sure. Wish you were here...

Some good stuff here. I'd imagine this album was big with the college-bound suburban white girls. There's enough diversity in this music that it doesn't all suck. I really like the intro to Straight Shooter, reminds me of the Last Train to Clarksville track by the Monkees (both albums were released the same year). California Dreaming is a classic, but was surprised to learn it wasn't the Beach Boys. Do You Wanna Dance seems like a relic from the '50s. I would listen to this more but worry that it'd reveal my true identity...

M.I.A. is like the poor man's Razzlekhan.

Swoon. ... then vomit. Ugh, not in the mood for this drippy whiny-achiness. I suppose there's a time and a place, but not on my watch!

Was super-excited to get a Zep album on this because... they were a really good band ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1t7sV7Ol1E

Well, Sixteen is a little disturbing... LFL is decent, I feel like this album was IPs shot at going pseudo-mainstream and facilitated by Bowie who saw some good stuff in IP. The Turn Blue track, written by Bowie, is terrible and doesn't fit with the album. Also, the lyric "Shot myself down" comes out as 'Shat myself down'... hehehe "Shat" ... Anyhow, there are a couple good tracks on this that everyone has heard before in their favorite coming-of-age drama (The Passenger, I'm talking to you), this doesn't perform as well as I thought it might, but still deserves high marks. ... where are the Stooges albums on this list... ?

"I'm old enough to know when someone's acting like a total A-hole. And You know what? I bought another [Suicide] album and it SUCKS, it's just noise..." I credit Diablo Cody for this review.

I want you to want to listen to this album because it kicks ass. Love the live vibe of At Budokan, screaming fans and loud music. This album seems to bridge the gap between classic rock and 80's hair bands. Some great stuff on this that often gets overlooked. For everyone that doesn't think there's anything worth listening to between Zeppelin and Halen, please check out this album.

ACHTUNG BABY! Alles Lookenspeepers Das Albummaschine ist nicht fuer gefingerpoken und mittengrabben, its feur gute listenphonen. Bono croonerferken, das easy lovenmaking mit offensbergers. Nine! Carefulen, das accidenten schnappen der springewerk, blowenfusen, und poppencorcken mit spitzensparken. Ist night fuer gewerken by das dummkopfen. Das rubbernecken sightseeren keepen hands in das pockets--relaxen und hearingphonen whilen watch das blinkenlights. Vergessen Sie nicht, Schutz zu verwenden.

Who would Marsha be without Greg? Or better question, who would Alice work for if Mike and Carol never met? Some may consider that Alice would be busy processing Sam's meat. (Sam, of course was the Brady's favorite butcher and had a thing for Alice). And finally, consider that we'll never know the great architect that Mike Brady would've been because he's a schmaltzy, average excuse for a man. And, because of him we are left with Brady Bunch, a campy, mediocre show from the 70's. Another Bunch we need to consider here is The Funky Bunch. What happened to the Funky Bunch? Well, Marky Mark quit, and now there's no more good vibrations. Now, we only have bad vibrations. Now, consider this album, For Your Pleasure by Roxy Music and how terrible it is. After leaving Roxy Music Brian Eno became the great architect that the world was missing. Eno created Ambient 1: Music for Airports and Here Come the Warm Jets, two incredible albums that are off-the-charts influential and groundbreaking. Absolute 5's! Can you imagine how dreadful For Your Pleasure would've been without BE's influence? It would've been like trying to enjoy vibrations by The Funky Bunch. It is apparent that this album is B-A-D, bad. However, it's difficult to fathom how awful it would've been without Eno's involvement, I'm thinking wretched. So, a big thank you to Brian Eno for making something salvageable for us to hate and for that, I've dedicated the second star to you.

Adam Ant seems to be taking the New Wave 'Revolution' theme a little too seriously with that dumb jacket, but there some authentic new in this album. The trick of starting a song with percussion and drums works the first time, but gets stale and is over used. The drums intro to 'Ant Music,' sounds almost identical to 'Goody Two Shoes' (which reminds me of Jump, Jive & Wail for some reason). Even Kings of the Wild Frontier has the same percussion intro if you get thru the first five seconds of voice. This album is a product of its time and an embodiment of all that was popular. It's a new world that will only exist as a moment in time. The strangeness of the early 80's, synth-y crap, distorted guitars with vocal overlay harmonizing. This is hardcore New Wave, but if I'm gonna listen to the genre, I'd much rather it be the wacky stuff by the guys in yellow suits from Ohio. https://youtu.be/XTNGg0Tj5Aw

One of my all time favorite albums is Ella and Basie which was released about four years after this album. The 'Deed I Do' track on E&B is far superior to the Ray Charles original on this album. The tempo is slow but enjoy the southern draw and soft rasp of Charles' voice. However, my advice is to listen to the Ella and Basie album first before you embark on this one.

Is it a bad thing to have too much polish and poise? The thing that I like about Daft Punk is it's two white French guys pretending to be robots, with the Mars Volta, it's six robots pretending to be aggressive music artists. This music is devoid of heart and feeling and any humanistic quality except for maybe ambition. Even the cold blast of air to the face on Inertiatic Esp, the opening track, goes directly into a quick drum wrap and operatic vocals. Which, I might add, the operatic-infused vocals throughout this album were likely pulled directly from American Idol. The Mars Vota and this album in particular embodies everything wrong with early 2000s major label music. It's this overproduced, spot-on perfection of prescripted anger and carefully placed melodies. Just because it's loud and quick doesn't mean it's real. I'm calling bullshit on the band's artistry and 'passion' for creating music. You can't be an artist if you're a robot.

Great album that I never fully appreciated until I got old.

I hope you know this will go down on your permanent record... Predating the slacker movement, this album laid ground for the fuck-you complacency that kicked into high gear 10 years later. I don't think there's an album like this that's ever followed. Monumental, important and oh-sooo good... --- A personal cringy note here. When I was 12, I'd often belt out the lyrics while listening to this on my knockoff Walkman screaming "... there's nothing I can say when I'm in your thighs..." I'm pretty sure my parents loved this album too.

Disappointing.

I could lower my house on this album. Great energy most all the way through.

This reminds me of hanging out at truck stops and buying a bunch of ephedrine in the 90's then going to raves in Austin. Also, about that same time I thought Trainspotting was just about the best movie ever made. Though the music is dated and the tempo slides to the elevated mondo-ephedra side of the scale, there is still some good stuff in this. Though I'm sad to say that too much raving in the 90's has taken a toll and my heart only take this in 20 min. increments.

Not sure exactly what it is that makes me hate Pete Townsend so much. Maybe it's because his stage antics are so deliberate and scripted and ripped off from the Stones or the Kinks, maybe it's because he's an insufferable schmuck who' stated he's happy his deceased bandmates are dead or, maybe its because he has a thing for kids. Oh, and Roger Daltrey's voice is awful. Regardless, there really isn't redeeming in the music on this album, or anywhere for that matter, that stands out, is unique except for maybe Keith Moon's facial expressions while drumming ... hrmmm, or maybe the use of synth repeaters. Buuuut, for the most part this band is Townsend and Daltrey, both of whom I have zero love for.

Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On, but Motown isn't all platinum and diamonds. This album illustrates that pretty clearly. Not sure if it's just me being fickle or this is really a subpar listen, but I wasn't entertained until I read the credits. It showed that Chef 'I'm gonna make love to you, woman" from Southpark (Isaac Hayes) has writing credits on this album. Freaky!

Dirty fuckin' hippies on the cusp of some great shit. The 10 minute drum solo that felt like two hours really sucked, but there is some great riffs here that is true hardcore shit. I really liked this album as a historical artifact, but could taste the PCP through my earbuds and was hungover before the album ended.

Fun fact that S&TB included Sid Vicious, Robert Smith and Slits drummer Budgie in their lineup over the years. Never listened to Siouxsie and the Banshees and now I know why. I didn't have the patience for Siouxsie's voice. The self-aggrandizing dramatic crooning always bugs me... Today however, I was able to push through it, mainly because I couldn't reach the 'skip' button on my phone. I'm glad I did. The first listen was okay, but over the course of the second I was able to appreciate and even enjoy her voice. Let me be clear, the music underneath is wiry, uniquely drone-y and catchy at the same time. Love the less-than-perfect and dirty production of this album. Will def. listen to this more.

You smoke weed. I get it.

This sounded like the peaceful still of snow quietly falling on compost. Outside, it was beautiful, pure and serene, while beneath the surface was decaying leaves and discarded egg shells. Together it provided an interesting mix, one that I was happy to listen to.

Flea was the headliner at a local bookshop called Skylight Books in Los Feliz circa 1997. He was part of a reading by several local writers and poets. Flea, being the badass muscle-bound bass player for the CPs also played expendable tough guys in movies. The audience at Skylight was under strict instructions that they would not be able to leave the bookstore once in and they locked the doors right before it started. Flea, for some reason entered from the back of the store and arrived with a bodyguard who stood just offstage, crossed his arms and stared at the audience while Flea read. There couldn't have been more than 40 people there. It was the most ridiculous (and pretentious) thing I'd ever witnessed from a celeb. Especially being that Flea was a resident of Los Feliz, a small relatively friendly community just east of Hollywood where you'd bump into neighbors and familiar faces on Vermont ave or at House of Pies. I could give / take Anthony Kiedis. I always thought he and his hairless nipples were ridiculous. And, that end shot of him running at the end of Under the Bridge was even more reason to hate him. Anyhow, I think this album came after the band had already been replaced by other crappy bands like Incubus, Dashboard Confessional and others. In many ways RHCP had jumped the shark and then they put out this album, which was .... as much as I hate to say, catchy and enjoyable. Even now, more than 10 years later this album is still fun. There's nothing new here, it's the same RHCP, this album doesn't break any boundaries or explore the far reaches of late 90's rock and maybe that's what I like about it. It's less pretentious, almost like an admission by the band ... "Yep, we're old and your parents probably listened to us when they were young, but we can still put together a song with some melodies and entertain you." Since then, Anthony Kiedis put on a shirt, and grew a little caterpillar on his top lip. And, tho I don't know for sure, I'm hoping that Flea ditched the bodyguard and decided to either get his ass beat or fight his own battles when reading poetry. https://youtu.be/GLvohMXgcBo?t=202 but with a little less fanfare and was ridiculous wThis album is similar in that it believes it's very deserving of all kinds of airplay and praise, to be held in high regard it's much better than it is and deserves airplay and praise

Outdated raver stuff from the 90's. This was hard to get into, the tempo was too fast and the samples outlived their usefulness and were way more repetitive than necessary. Was bothersome to listen to, I felt like I was on the It's a Small World ride at Disneyland or inside a microwave on a carousel that wouldn't stop.

Cumbaya, falsetto vocals and acoustic guitars. This is British folk music from the 60's and sounds about the way you'd expect.

Super refreshing and unique. A great listen.

FUCK YEAH! (more like this, please)

Context is everything. Holiday in Cambodia and California, Kill the Poor and Über Alles are classic. But, if listening to this album for the first time and knowing nothing about Jello Biafra or the time of this album, I'd hate it. Eric Speichert had acquired the infamous Frankenchrist 12" (the album after FFfRV) with original fold-out insert and brought it to school. He was avid vinyl collector and super proud of that album. For me, my fourteen-year-old self was super-excited (pun intended) to see the penis / vagina insert (pun intended). But super-let-down when he showed it to everyone... LAAAME... "This is why everyone was pissed off...? There's no context... you can't even see anything..." Looking back on this, Biafra was the perfect loudmouth, antagonizer punk rock advocate for free speech. He (and ICE-T) helped build resistance against Tipper Gore's drive to censor musicians and scale back first amendment rights. But today, that's all forgotten, glossed over. We all understand and expect those rights. The 'free speech vs. censorship' fight no longer exists. That fight has evolved into who can out free speech each other? Who can be the most nasty, vile, personal, incendiary and provocative. Oh, and bonus points are scored if it inflicts in anxiety, mental anguish, or suicide. The genie is out of the box and looking back at some of Biafra's sarcasm, double-talk and weasely antics in today's world, It's hard not to discard him for being a troll who likes to hear himself instigate and watch shit burn. It's even harder to look back at your once punk rock icons like Biafra (and even Excene Cervenka) and think to yourself, "I know they weren't perfect, but is it possible they could've been terrible people all along...?" As for the music on this album, it's loud, obtrusive, maniacal and chaotic. Great for what it was and in the context for which it existed... but time moves on, and and this album hasn't time traveled well.

I was much more of a Golden Grahams kind of kid. But my little brother, Steve loved Chex, Wheat Chex, Rice Chex, Raisin and Wheat Chex. Steve ate Chex cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. My parents must've spent a fortune on Chex cereal in those days. One time I was invited to go roller skating at the local roller rink and but my parents didn't have enough money for me to go ... because mom spent it all on groceries ... including 12 boxes of Chex cereal!! Then I heard this Money for Nothing song and decided I'd play my guitar on MTV, because if I did that, I'd get money for nothing and get my Chex for free. The rest of the album sucked.

Never listened to Germs and only one song on Spotify due to licensing. Found some more on YouTube and the rest of the album was fine. Reminded me of the NYC Hardcore compilations of the late 80s. Was surprised that Pat Smear was part of this band and also Belinda Carlisle.

Superb album. Totally dig this vibe, definitely something that I'll spend more time listening to. Just really enjoy how loose and mellow this is all the way through. Also, if I have another kid, I'm naming it Shuggie.

I am a huge fan of simplicity, and that's what I love about this band. Just the basics... three chords and high energy. However, despite the high energy and stylish uniforms, this band is flimsy and ephemeral. The Hives could be summed up in three words: Punk Rock Metronome. Sure, there's the contagious power of Hate to Say I Told You So and less-so some other tracks, but there's also a lot of filler. For example, 'The Hives are Law, and You are Crime' is suitable to burn time between bands or setups at shows. Also, it seems that some songs were released on other albums and then placed on this one maybe as a domestic release(?). Whatevvs. These songs are not expertly crafted and that's fine. My biggest gripe with this album is the lack of deviation. They've studied their influences. They dress like Kraftwerk and sing like The Ramones but what do they contribute to the sound? Roboticism? What happened to irrationality, incoherence of punk rock? And most importantly, the artistry in self-expression? Can you be a punk rock if you're a metronome? I don't think so. The Hives are a tribute band, and this albume is the music of 'enthusiasts'. But that is okay.

For all you horny folks, this album here has some great horn action. Really enjoyed listening to this album. Though I was a little horned out by the time I got to that 10 minute track. Felt like I needed some Gatorade and Cialis to complete the rest of it. Regardless, this was probably the best horn I've received in quite some time. Four stars!

Who names their band Traffic? Everyone hates Traffic. Maybe Traffic in 1970 existed in some existential academic journal as something that might happen if too many people got cars and tried to go someplace all at once, but today Traffic is real and it's miserable. Green Day, now there's a band who has a name that is nearly future proof. In another 10 years, people will think to themselves, "remember photosynthesis?" Or, "remember when there were these green things called trees and plants that grew food on them?" Ten years may be too far into the future, but you get my point, someday soon, we'll all be wishing there was more Green Day. My parents used to listen to Traffic while smoking a joint after dinner. But whatever, that's beside the point. These guys smell like a bunch of dirty hippies and the name of this album is weird. Isn't Barleycorn a euphemism for alcohol? Anyhow, I guess it's a good thing that they broke up, because the world can only handle one band that sound like Chicago. Though I do have a secret crush on Steve Winwood, and more specifically j his song 'Valerie,' this album didn't didn't make much of an impression on me and I was thankful it was only 34 mins.

Native Tongues was like a brand back in the day. If you like TCQ, then you'll like Black Sheep and Chi-Ali, both of whom I loved. Didn't get too far into the JayBees tho. Listening to it today it makes me feel a little bit of warm comfort in the simplicity.... but that wears off pretty quickly as it becomes simple and borderline boring. Good to go back in time with this one, but not something I'm going to dig out except for that Doin' Our Own Dang track. That's def going on a forgotten favorites playlist.

It's hard to separate Dylan from all the douchebags I went to high school with. All those dudes would throw down if you insulted their godhero Bob Dylan. Which, if I might say, was a lot of fun watching them get animated after slinging the three words 'Bob Dylan sucks' their way. Oh! And...! And! ...and they used to pull all the ladies too! Evidently, my pickup lines such as 'let's go find a dark room and listen to The Cure' didn't hold a candle to Dylan aficionado poetry and Birkenstocks. Who's still living in high school ... ? Me? Whaaah? Nah. Sure, there's some good stuff on this and perhaps I would've uncovered with multiple listens. Shelter from the Storm and Tangled are familiar and great, but not enough to catapult this into three territory for me.

Total sellouts. Blame Courtney Love.

Love her or hate her, it's impossible not to admire the stunning talent of Fiona Apple. She's an incredible songwriter and musically, there's no one quite like her, but the fact that she recorded Fetch the Bolt Cutters by herself at her home pushes her into another realm. How do you even classify Fiona Apple... ? I just think she is so unique, so strong and also delicate, raw and also innovative. I've been a big fan of hers since the rage of Tidal subsided. Even so, this album seems to be somewhat of a departure of the Fiona Apple that I've loved. Like this is the culmination of all of her previous albums and she has finally broken. Almost as if her previous albums were pleas for awareness. Up until FTBC she's danced around mental issues, made allusions, suggested troubles but now she's screaming, fuming with anger and lifting the thin veil that's covered it for so long. From For Her: "Good mornin' good mornin' You raped me in the same bed your daughter was born in" The beauty of Cosmonauts, only to shift into screaming the chorus at the end. And From the title track: "Fetch the Bold Cutters I've been in here too long ... I grew up in the shoes they told me I could fill and I need to run up that hill, I need to run up that hill" This is not a pleasant album to listen to. It's unhappy with broken frustration, learned helplessness and internal voices. Regardless, it's open and raw. It's hard not to imagine her pain while listening to this and it's hard to deny this a position on the 1001 albums list. Great album, hard to listen to.

The thing I like about jazz is that it changes every time you listen to it. No two performances are alike. Each one is a moment in time never to be duplicated but is it possible that jazz doesn't exist outside of live performances? Obviously this isn't jazz but I think FTT best exists as an experience. It's a stream of consciousness and difficult to anticipate what's going to happen next. No track illustrates this better than Tick Tick where KO's breath ends in a frenzied display of self-dysregulation. I'd like to be swept up in the mayhem of the moment if I was watching this live, but this is a hard transition thru Spotify.

Badly Drawn on Sloppily Drawn? It's kinda funny how older artists dance around modesty in comparison to today. "Are you a great artist...?" "Who? Me? Oh, no not me? I'm 'BADLY DRAWN'" Now we listen to people who call themselves "Perfume Genius." Anyhow, Nic Harcourt used to spend tons of KCRW airtime on this album. At the time I wasn't too excited about it, after all he introduced me to the Gotan Project and Cornershop, two total shit albums that diminished my trust in his music pics. Happily enough, listening to it now with fresh ears is relatively pleasant. I enjoyed the first song, The Shining. I enjoyed the second track, Everybody's Talking and ready to give this a respectable review... But then, as we proceed down an excessively long track listing we hit some bumps, some errors and by the time we get to track 14, Pissing in the Wind we fall apart. The rest of the album is in freefall. Editing is a valuable skill, Mr. Sloppy Pants. Track 16, Disillusion, sounds like a Barry Manilow song performed on Loveboat. Sorry, but you can't be respectable if you're trying to imitate Barry Manilow. Top few tracks are strong, but have to deduct some serious points for not knowing when to stop.

I realized I was old when Linkin Park became a band that everyone loved. Spare me another venture of white suburban rap over heavy bass-y guitar metal riffs. I realize that Chester Copperpot was a big influence over a generation that followed mine and it seems he had a terrible childhood and wrote some amazing poetry. Sure there are some neat effects, and unique sounds in the production of this album. But I witnessed, and even enjoyed RUN DMC / Aerosmith, Public Enemy / Anthrax and the Beasties, but when the popularity of 311 hit, I knew I wasn't the intended audience of the garbage that would follow. Chalk that up to age I suppose, but aside from reggae, this has to be my least favorite genre.

Must've been a huge influence on The Brian Jonestown Massacre, they sound just like the 13FEs. This preformed really well as a break from the other stuff I've been listening to. Though I wouldn't be able to sit through this again without dropping acid and frolicking naked in a wheat field at sunrise.

Fred Flintstone used to eat Brontosaurus Burgers and I often wondered if the taste resembled the Buffalo Burgers one might eat at a county fair. County fairs are an oddity themselves. Maybe 'Buffalo Burgers' is code for porcupine / raccoon / roadkill burgers and thus as mythological as Brontosaurs Burgers. Not sure about that tho since I've never eaten one. Not many buffalos left in wild America today. At one time there were an estimated 30-50 million of those things roaming... 'where the buffalo roam,' ya know? Us Europeans took all of that dusty buffalo-roaming area and turned them into Springfields. That's right, today 34 states have communities called 'Springfield'. Hmmm... that brings me to a thought. I've never researched it, but I'm thinking Dusty and Buffalo must be related , right? Anyhow, I'm betting that this band was assembled to commemorate the death of the Buffalo and Neil Young's voice was brought in to play the part of a poor buffalo breathing its last breath. Nice job, Neil. Like a dying buffalo, I was a little disappointed by this album, but maybe that's the point. Unlike Buffalos, the musicians in the band went on to make more music. This may have just been a launching point. I enjoyed the beginning and ending on Expecting to Fly. Mr. Soul wasn't bad, Hung Upside Down wasn't too bad either but there's too much jamming and the harmonizing on Rock & Roll Women was a turn off. Individually, there are some great elements to this album, but when added together it comes up short.

Who's Derek? "Dominos, motherf**ker! See about that!" ––––––– I really liked the bluesy songs on this album. Like REALLY liked those. "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" and "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" are the real winners on this album. The Little Wing cover was an absolute travesty. That should've never happened! Jimi would've hated this (just guessing, he probably wouldn't have been able to hear it, so that's a good thing). The others were straight up 'meh'. Even the title track 'Layla' should've started about 3+ minutes into it and existed without lyrics. Clapton's guitar is great, voice and singing seems to be more of an acquired taste. Derek must've been stuck in the bathroom, this is all about the backup ...

Do you think Donald Fagan has a sexxy throat...? Not sure about his throat but whatever that thing is that makes his voice sound so sublime certainly is. I think Steely Dan is the Cinemax of Adult contemporary music. Just one step away from the 'brown chicken, brown cow' sounds of 70's, John Holmes and hairy soft porn. Stay classy, Steely.

Staple of college art in the early '90s. Best listened to on your back, in a pitch black room staring at the ceiling with a favorite teenage crush.

"Yes! I'm George, George McFly. You're my density..." Did you know this group's name came from the Lorraine and George (Leah Thompson and Crispin Glover) characters from in Back to the Future? The group, and Beyonce in particular, were big fans of the original Back to the Future film. The three original members (Beyoncé, Gina and Kelly) had intended to call themselves "Density's Child" but management decided against it. Infighting and disagreements with management eventually led to the group's breakup to get out of their contract. Efforts for the three to reform under the name 'The Flux Capacitors' faltered when it was discovered the name was already taken by a band in Sheboygan. This album was fine, best song by far is Beyonce's 'My Heard Still Beats' the thinly veiled ode the brief, but passionate love affair she had with Thomas F. Wilson, better known to some as Biff Tannen in the BTF trilogy.

Great album. Either/Or is his best, then maybe XO but they're all fives to me.

The only thing special about these guys is that in 1982 they were somehow able to chart the most vile and disgusting song in pop music (Cum on Eileen). This album was absolutely wretched. The album title indicates there'd be soul on this one. I didn't hear any soul, but I did hear calamitous horns. Lot's of brass, actually. Saxophones(?), trombones(?), trumpets(?)... I'm not sure, all I know is that horns blow and so did this album.

Obviously, this band influenced the creating of the Seattle basketball. Only a year after this album was released, the Seattle Sonics were created. Coincidence? I think no. Regardless, it's hard to imagine the impact these guys had more than 50 years ago with clean cut looks and song titles like Witch, Psycho and Strychnine they probably wouldn't have appealed to the masses without some cover songs. It took me a little bit to realize the significance (basketball and whatnot) but I did enjoy this album and feeling the energy of them beating on their instruments. Will probably listen to these guys again.

My dad had this record in his collection and I spent some serious time working this cream into a foamy lather when I was growing up. From the album art to the primitive distorted riffs that go on and on, to the trippy lyrics (bearded rainbow, anyone?) this transitional album embodies what I had always thought the late 60's to be. Iron Butterfly's album sputtered after In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, but Disraeli Gears continues to crank out great tracks SWLBR, Strange Brew, Sunshine etc., (I can do without Mother's Lament and Dance the Night Away). It's hard to discount this album as it marks the beginning of the most important period of rock ... the early 70's.

I spent most of my high school years trying to avoid R.E.M. because that's what all the yuppie kids listened to. However, there's really no hiding from their jingles. It wasn't until college that I actually started appreciating Stipe's vocals and the music of R.E.M. Though less refined and poppy than their later releases like Green, OoT, and AFTP, it's good and perhaps underappreciated. You can't deny the Finest Work Song and certainly End of the World which is really the album of the 20th century. Document seems like one of those transitionary albums that introduces college rock into the mainstream leading the way for more artsy bands of the late 80's and early 90's.

Foo Fighters are like the Aerosmith of our generation. They just keep coming back when they're no longer needed. The band literally contradicts the era we live in but somehow still has a place. I suppose it doesn't hurt to be an all around nice guy that everyone seems to love. Looking back on this release, it was barely a year after Cobain's death when this album was all over the airwaves. I remember thinking that it would be crap capitalizing on Nirvana successes. KROQ played the shit outta this album. I tried hard not to like it, but then I saw the Mentos video. It was so strangely absurd and fun and basically the antithesis of what Nirvana's sad and angst-y music was. Still on, nearly 30 years later, there are some great tracks on this album that still rock. Highlights include Good Grief, Alone ... and Exhausted. All Looking forward to seeing these guys someday ... RIP TH.

British hair farmers, let me ask you a question... "Do your amps go up to eleven...?" Listening to this album is like watching the Hallmark Channel in surroundsound for 24-straight hours. There's so much drama and you really don't care about any of it.

Funeral was a great album, that is a five for sure. This album... well let's just say that Win Butler didn't really 'win' me over with his voice. I just could not unhear it even after it ended. Going back and listening to Funeral, I was shocked at how much his voice didn't bother me. I think that the choruses on some of the songs overshadowed his vocals. Also of note, Funeral had some great raw power and great riffs. Neighborhood #3, for example or on Wake Me Up.. on and the bass line from Rebellion gave all of those tracks more depth. The Suburbs attempts to capitalize on the singer and it was just a complete turn off. I was lucky enough to see AF at the Hollywood Bowl in 2005 when they opened up for David Byrne. Though David Byrne had teenage boys dancing around in tiny silver lamé shorts which was kinda weird, the show was great. There were probably like 30 people in the band and they all did their part. You know what the best song of this album was... ? Sprawl II because I didn't have to listen to Win whine. The Suburbs relies too much on one person perched on top of flimsy music. No thank you.

I've been to more than a couple of weddings that have played Bron-Yr-Aur in advance of the ceremony which translates to 'Breasts of Gold.' I always wonder if the groom that chose that song becuase he thought it'd be cool to play a Led Zep his wedding or if the bride did because she thinks her boobs are seriously golden...? On a similiar subject 'Whole Lotta Love' is the worst song that LZ ever recorded. "Shake for me girl, I wanna be your backdoor man... way down inside you need ... gonna give you every inch of my love...' Sure, not as bad as 'Come on Eileen' but still icky. But whatevvs, Led Zeppelin is pretty fuckin' rad and this Physical Graffiti is proof. With the exception of three consecutive songs (In the Light, Bron-Yr-Aur and Down by the Seaside) this album kicks ass all the way thru. Some fans might describe this album with two words: 'Pidyn Aur' while others might say it's 'quite lovely' with a wink and a smile. What I wanna know is why don't they make music like this anymore?

One day my wife asked me if I knew who Lou Barlow was. She said she works with a woman who's his sister. Of course I knew who he was. I grew up a huge fan of Dinosaur Jr. and J. Mascis. But, it was a long time after Sebadoh formed before I started listening to them. And when I did this album had already come and gone. Harmacy was the first Sebadoh album I ever purchased, but it never grew on me and I'm pretty sure I sold it to Amoeba. Listening to this now, it still doesn't grow on me but it's way better than Harmacy. This is quintessential 90's alt-art-crap, hard to listen to today but cutting edge in the world it existed. This and other albums like it, proved anyone with something to say could be a musician, grow a following and build an album in their basement. "Corporate Rock Sucks!" was the rally cry This is the stuff at the other end. I suppose Indy Art Rock showed Corporate rock, but what it really did is prove that there's a market for lo-fi songs expressive songs like 'Fantastic Disaster' because what else are people going to do? Surf Insta and create Tik Toks? I'll never completely understand whatever happened between J. Mascis and Lou Barlow. Someone said JM threw a cymball at LBs head during a performance and walked out. I couldn't find any of that online, but I didn't search much 'cause I'm consumed with infinite Tik Tok scrolling.

The Jesus and Mary and Alice in Chains.... All of the Jesus bands run together. Am I the only one that has this problem? I think there was an article in an old Interview Magazine that tried capturing all of the bands that used the word 'Jesus' in their band name. The Jesus Lizard MC 900 Foot Jesus Jesus Jones Jesus and Mary Chain which I sometimes get mixed up with Alice in Chains. I can tolerate their music only in small doses, but I'm not a fan of Alice in Chains and have somehow always equated the two. Alice in Chains is super dated and doesn't translate to any era except for the Soundgarden-Seattle-garbage of the '90s. Though Jesus and Mary Chain blossomed during that same time they transcend different eras of music and time. Though this album is dated, it's still interesting to listen to. I'm a big fan of BRMC and I hear that a lot in this album and specifically on The Living End. The drone-y shoegaze-y vibes bleed from this album and the fuzzy reverb / feedback effects create an interesting feeling. It's almost as if they've figured out how to get time to just stand still. Just Like Honey is great, Some Candy Talking is too. There's a lot of distortion and feedback over some mellow singing / talking that creates an interesting juxtaposition. I can understand how some people would absolutely hate this and complain that all songs sound alike, but if you've got something good the last thing you'd do is change to something different.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but two negatives equal a positive ... (?) This is one of those albums that I should absolutely hate and for some reason I cannot explain, I absolutely love. The repetition, the fake-ass drum machines the doink! doink! doinks... should drive me crazy but I keep coming back to this album and all of LCDS work. The only thing I have to explain this is the underlying bitter tone and sarcasm of James Murphy. That paired along the mostly no frills pseudo-80's electronica acts a double negative. Best tracks, North American Scum, New York, I Love You, Get Innocuous!, Someone Great. Actually this whole album is great and should be required for anyone doing multiplication with two negatives.

This is a little folky for me but the title track is killer. Great, great, great tune. Love Linda's voice on it. Her voice is slow, light and tangy while Richard's is reminiscent of Gordon Fitzgerald (yawn). Linda's voice grew on me over the course of listening to this album, but wasn't enough to elevate this into a four star rating. However, I'll add the Bright Lights track to a favorites playlist.

I think I've come to realize that I'm not a Springsteen fan. I think what he's come to embody, the working class hero, the common blue-collar guy has preceded his music. At least for my generation. I enjoyed Nebraska only to say that I listened with an open ear and an open heart, but this was kinda more of the same. I don't hate it, but I really don't like it and it's not something that I'd gravitate toward.

I love Revolver, but Sgt. Pepper's is flawless. The album is so rich with content. I love the lore behind it, the album art, the music ... absolutely everything. Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band is probably my favorite album of all time.

This album makes me think I'm shopping at The Gap. I've missed that feeling ... like the desert's missed the rain.

Man, Debbie Szyskowski was the coolest. She was the older sister of a friend. Debbie turned us on to so many different things in the 80's. Only a few years older than us she had the inside scoop on underground style and music. Sadly, she died of cancer in 2003 but she left an indelible mark on us younger kids by turning us on to bands like The The, Men Without Hats, Til Tuesday, Depeche Mode, and Yazoo. She was such a positive person and role model. She eventually left our small town for the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC and we / I lost touch with her. I've got love for this album because of Debbie. Out of the Blue is great. This album capitalizes on white space, the lack of 'singing' the stripped down songs are a welcome change from tons of in-your-face lyrics and sounds. Less is more on this. . It's important to note the album Soul Mining, which emerged a few years before Infected. That has 'This is the Day, which for me, is timeless 80's nostalgia and possibly a better album.

Mid-80's skateboarding turned me on to a lot of music and of course, SST records. You could reliably point to any band signed to SST and know they were pretty embedded in punk scene of 80s SoCal. The omnipresence of the music we enjoy is deafening. It's hard to look back and imagine life without the music that we love. Music back then was not the solitary experience that is has become today. Music was hanging out at record stores, or was passed on through mix tapes. I missed the Minutemen but was a big fan of fIREHOSE which had a similar sound to Minutemen thanks to Mike Watt's bass. Fortunately, in the time of Spotify and most notably the theme song to Jackass, I've been able to spend some time with Minutemen and learn a little about D. Boone. But not like I have with Double Nickels on the Dime. Double Nickels on the Dime is great. I hear so much of the music that I like today. Most notably Parquet Courts, but also the dive bar scene with Johnny Rad in The Search for Animal Chin. fIREHOSE was great, but after listening to this album, they pale in comparison to the diversity and depth of Minutemen which, you'd have to admit was D. Boone, RIP. Great listen and happy to have discovered. I'll be listening to this album much more in the future.

Spotify couldn't find this album. I blame Joe Rogan and Neil Young. In light of this, I've listed to Johannesburg which is a live album by GSH featuring the song "Winter In America". This reminded me of some live poetry performance on stage in some bowery bar and getting stoned in the alley before going in for a beer. Super lounge-y, relaxing and all around mellow. The rest of the album he comes off like a true a performer, working the room with lots of positivity and good energy. I really liked his interaction with the audience and introductions between tracks.

Ugh. Growing up two hours south of DC I heard about BB all the time and specifically the antics of the lead singer H.R. But I could never listen to them all the way through. Maybe I didn't try hard enough, or maybe this just isn't as hard as it once was because I made it all the way through and to my surprise, it's listenable. I suppose Bad Brains broke the stereotype of black musicians being permanently tied to soul, jazz, reggae or rap and probably influenced one of my favorite bands of the late 80's / early 90's Living Colour and Ice-T's Body Count among others. Happy to have rediscovered this with fresh ears. https://www.presspop.toys/products/4560247870461

Man, I really hate Country Music, But this album is just great. You know how fast food chains use bright oranges and yellows in their dining areas to subconsciously push you out of the restaurant when you're done eating? I think the two words 'Merle' and 'Haggard' do something to my subconscious and make me rank this album higher than I normally would. Here is how my brain interprets those two words: MERLE = super old, wrinkly, rural, complacent and full of hard-earned life lessons. HAGGARD = downtrodden and full of despair. I think the description of those two words fit this album. I mean, if his name was '(The)Getup Kids' I would hate this album. Well, anything named 'Get Up Kids' I would hate. I think it's just the simplicity, tempo and sweet pipes of ole Merle that gets to me and makes it work. Lonesome Fugitive makes me feel like I lifted a rock and found something interesting that I'll forget about in an hour.

For a band named The Damned, this band sounds more like a bunch of wussie angels flying high above in some celestial rainbow cloud where it never rains. I was really disappointed in this album. I'd heard a few of the Damned songs, over the years but wasn't really impressed with listening to an entire album. The Damned(?), more like a bait and switch. I call shenanigans!

I don't want to work, I want to bang on the drum all day! Waking up early enough to catch the bus in high school was terrible, thankfully, the 'Q Morning Zoo' used to play the 'drum song' to get me outta bed. Hilariously, I learned that Mr. Drum Banger himself, Todd Rungren, was the first to sign the New York Dolls in '73. Everyone talks about this band being the ones to start off the whole scene in NYC. Perhaps their live shows were amazeballs, but the music I just listened to was just, kind of, meh. Placing all the Dolls in order it would go as follows: • Dresden Dolls (tie) • New York Dolls (tie) • Goo Goo Dolls

I hate this band.

I enjoyed this album more than I thought I would've. This album already had two strikes against it for being British and 80s. So I wasn't expecting much. But there's enough here to enjoy. Good baselines like on Start! and layers on Pretty Green. That's Entertainment, is a song I've heard before, I always thought it was Paul McCartney singing because all British people sound the same, but I really liked that one. I think I'd listen to this again for fun.

Super chill, with a slant toward the depressive side. This album is as depressing as the movie, but I'm a child of the '90s and pathetic grunge kid at heart.

Crazy that so much good music can come from so much noise. Closer was the hands down MTV favorite, and I think it won best video award of the year- and rightfully so, but the real winner on this album is the original emo classic, March of the Pigs. Oh yeah, I said it... March of the Pigs is emo... deal with that, people. Regardless, the range of emotion on this album is incredible. NIN is often thought of as a goth industrial band, but this album illustrates some of the far reaching talents of Trent Reznor. This album is so different from the music then or even now. Absolutely brilliant.

"Dead as Disco" I think is a line that came from Reservoir Dogs. But I still enjoy me some good disco music from time-to-time. I really don't think it needed to die such an abrupt death. C'est Chic has some great tracks on it that I recognize, but also some complete duds like At Last I Am Free and Savior Faire. Bth pretty lame. But this album evokes some of the glamour of the early glamour of the cocaine era and high pile carpeting. I appreciated reading the Wikipedia entry on them really filled in some dead space on this era and this band which noted that CHIC was one of the true bands of the era not relying on producers to create a sound. Would I listen to this again...? Yes, absolutely. I'd put this on while hanging out nude on my tiger skin rug with my concubines or on the way to a costume party.

Rev Ya Later! I wasn't ready for this album on the first go. GW's voice is great, I feel like she's carrying the weight of everyone on her shoulders. This is the new generation of folk music, I can't think of another way to describe it. Revelator hits those feelies that you bury away. It's raw, slow, plain, reflective and heartfelt. It's like a doorway to and old-time-y musical dimension that I've never experienced. I can't think of a time that I'd pick this up to listen to, but I'm happy to have the pleasure of turning this on.

This was mediocre, but I liked it more than Blue Lines, still not as much as Mezzanine. Perhaps because I listened to that constantly for awile. Title track was the best but even still I wasn't a huge fan of Tracey Thorn's voice. This album was a mediocre late 70's album that was brought into the 90's with an updated synthesizer, some industrial percussion and looping samples. Why isn't Mezzanine on this list?

The music is fine, but can we please replace Morrissey's vocals with with William Hung's. "She bang!"

This album is very adequate. Folk music for people who like cats. The vocal intonations make me think of Stereolab, but in less a good way. I expect there is a big audience for this, but I'm not part of it.

Though I couldn't find any hood ornaments to wear around my neck, I still I put on my Shells and dug up my Kangol to listen to this album. ... and wow. I mean, uhhhh wow... Yeah, I was super excited to listen to this but then I realized that this is the one BEFORE the good one. Regardless, it provided a good reference point from how far they evolved from this album to Raising Hell in the span of 2 years. Hard Times and It's Like That are familiar jams, but this is almost comical to listen to now. One important observation to note about this... that It's rare to find someone in your life who'll finish your sentences for you. So glad these three found each other.

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. 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. 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. 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.

"I just want some skank!" Hell yeah, who can say no to that? "I don't want to live 'til I'm 34, I don't want to die in a nuclear war..." True-dat! "I've got the world up my ass!..." umm yeah, sad story. "Beverly Hills, Century City, all the people look the same, don't they know they're so damn lame...?" - I couldn't agree more. At nearly 50, I'm definitely not the target audience for this. But there's some great unfocused anarchist energy on this. Love the song lengths and that I could hear the lyrics. But I think it falls short of being substantial or consequential. Would've loved to be at one of these shows tho.

I've been looking for a Halloween costume. Do you think I can go as Nick Cave? Three-piece suit with tie. Unbuttoned collared shirt and slicked back long-dark hair. Heh, it would never work, 'm not that cool. NC seems like such a badass cool-guy that I WANT to like him. However, my listening experience similar to a 'bleak and fish-less sea'. So I listened again. Manly vocals, piano and gentle drumming. This is stripped down music. No frills. Nick Cave seems like he lives in a dirty dive bar and chain smokes Winstons with his band. He is stressed and oppressed by the world above him. Down here, he owns his domain. He's thoughtful and means every word he breathes. The first listen was joyless and settled me down in a chair of disappointment. The second time I listened was right after the first and it became the only bright spot of my day ... BECAUSE I HAD SPENT THE MORNING LISTENING TO IT. What a depressing and honest mess. Nick, go outside and spend some time in the sun, buddy, that bar is killing you.

Dirty Diana! Can I get a high-pitched 'He! He!'? Wondering if Librarian Girl and Dirty Diana are the same person. You know, librarian by day, moonlighting as dirty Diana when the lights are turned out? Dirty Diana is Bad, and is probably also the Smooth Criminal. Oh, wait. Hold on, That's Liberian Girl, so I guess she's a staunch devotee of Rand Paul, then? Not sure what politics has to do with this album, but whatevvs. This album Bad, is uhh, badly showing its age. Thankfully there's some songs on this that have been immortalized by youth and still makes for an interesting drive down memory lane. "He! He!"

Shocked to see a relatively contemporary musician in my feed. I'd heard a lot about LDR, but never got a chance to listen to her. I wouldn't call this album extraordinary, but more like extra ordinary or perhaps extra normal. I suppose if I were to delve into the lyrics there might be something there, but after one listen this wasn't the album for me.

Who knew I needed this? One of the only albums that I can remember being embraced by everyone that listened to it. Amazing and awesome.

Immigrant song is so overplayed. It's good, but really, the best song on this album is "Since I've Been Loving You." Led Zeppelin III has a lot of the lesser played songs, but it still cooks. Fifty years later, Plant and Page just cannot be paralleled. Not their best, but still an amazing album. Tons of energy and great guitar riffs.

Love Sonic Youth, don't love this album. Experimentation isn't what it used to be.

This album is fucking hilarious. Ute Lempter is the female German version of John Mulaney. I feel like this is a in a 57 minute SNL skit of cabaret absurdity. For example... "your head is a big red balloon" "my pretty breasts are piled high with stones ... and tiny little fishes enter me" "if sex were an Olympic sport, we would've won the gold..." and from the whorehouse song... "I got the brain, and she supplied the breast ... " It's all so terrible. If this is supposed to be serious, then it's really sad and ... terrible. But if this is a huge joke (which it seems to be), then it's great. It did get tiresome after the first 30+ mins., but this album was a welcome bit of levity on 1001.

For British 80's music, this was almost tolerable. I didn't mind the vocals as much as the extreme 80's synth. Regardless, if you miss the 80's and enjoy randomly buying vintage / quirky things from the thrift store, this album is for you.

Throwback to an era that didn't have color TVs, electricity, or the modern wheel. I felt like I was in the high school gymnasium from Back To The Future just before Marty McFly plugs in his guitar. Though it's fun to listen for a chuckle, this sound belongs in a museum not in my library.

Uhh. Yeah, hate the topics and personality of most all of these songs, but totally dig the beats behind a couple of them. 9 Milli Bros, for one, is great. Also, dig the 1970s vibes that run behind a lot of these songs. However, the underworld thug-y garbage themes rest above the beats is super-disappointing and difficult to listen to.

Great voice. Could barely get thru the first hour so I’m assuming the second hour was like the first.

Johnny Greenwood came to mind while listening to this. I love it when I'm surprised. I really enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. Great discovery.

Most people agree, the 1001 ratings scale should top out at 11. This survey says it all. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/92Y86QN

If God exists they probably sound like Perry Farrell. Best album of the early 90's.

Was this before or after Edwin started the rape? I'm too lazy to jump in to the minutiae of the headlines. I mean, if someone yells 'rapist', then they are cancelled. Easy-peasy. I like things simple. I'm a headline guy and just can't be bothered. But, I'm also an optimist so I'm going to assume this was before the assaults, because it's the music that matters, right...?

Listening to this I feel like Beck took $100 to the thrift and bought a bunch of 'junk' including vintage hi-fi reel-to-reels, a broken 80's camcorder, some garden tools, a bed frame, and a didgeridoo, then paired them with a guitar, two-turntables and a microphone and turned it into something great. This album is super catch-y, it's fun and I always find something that I'd never heard before. Love this album. It is perhaps the last great analog album prior to the absolute dominance of today's digital production techniques.

Evidently Men at Work and Dire Straits are two different bands. Somehow I put this album on and ended up listening to Colin Hay thinking "this is a really good album." Then, I realized that I had to listen to a different one. One that was less enjoyable called Dire Straits. Dire Straits is like a ham sandwich. Yes, this is music. This has vocals, this has a beat. But, nobody ever says to themselves at 9:00 a.m. "mmmm, I cant' wait to eat that ham sandwich I brought for lunch today." However, if it's 7:00 p.m and you haven't eaten since Thanksgiving, that ham sandwich sounds really good. I just finished scrambled eggs, oatmeal and a sky-high stack of pancakes for breakfast. I'm good.

I've never realized it until listening to this album just now that four individual tracks, starting with Sun King are not all just one. Until now I thought all four were one continuous track. [Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard / Polythene Pam / She Came in Through the Bathroom Window] Not the best Beatles album in my opinion, side one and side two have different vibes. Regardless, this good enough to make this list. Hard to imagine ever scoring the Beats at a less than five. But this rides just above the cusp of a four.

Great stoner rock stuff. Can just disappear in the repetition and get lost until you get to the other side, man. Ya dig?

This makes me want to go fast, drink beer and hangout at the pub with the wee ones who guard pots of gold at the end of the rainbow.

I feel a little guilty giving the RS another 5, but damn, I really like love this one too...

blah, blah, blah, poetry, poetry, poetry... This is just more suck from the voice of LC. Is it true that Leonard Cohen has risen from beyond the grave to create 1001 as a way of promoting ALL of his albums? In other words, 'why do these albums keep showing up?'

Lively, good fun from the 90's. Nothing wrong with this one.

Gotta get yourself connected, writing's on the wall, blah, blah, blah bedected, stumble you might fall (stumble you might fall). Never heard anything except that song and there's a reason for it. Though, the rest of the album is decent, it's nothing to worry yourself over. Being disconnected from this album doesn't matter much in 2022.

Is Sister Sledge the long lost sister to Zero 7? Okay, but maybe great grandmother. Regardless, I loved this way more than I thought I would. Specifically, the track You're a Friend to Me... sooo good.

I used to think that Fatboy Slim was a joke. Like a prank on orchestrated by Spike Jonze. It wasn't hard to imagine him moonlighting as a half-assed DJ / Producer. The Director has broad endeavors. He was behind Jackass, is silent partner for Girl skateboards, had a major part in the Three Kings film, and was plugged in in to the 90's music scene while making super-creative, award winning music videos. Yeah, I was under the impression that FBS was Spike Jonze who was made terrible music to pair with creative visions for MTV. It seemed totally plausible. I don't think I was the only person to believe this or consider the possibility that our celebrities have alter egos. Andy Kaufman and Tony Clifton comes to mind, and later, Andrew WK who was accused of doing something similar. Anyhow, I really dismissed that this was real music created with earnest effort. I think SJ had some great videos, was super talented and very creative. Somehow, it never occurred to me that if SJ had created music, it would've sounded a lot better than this.

From the time this album starts, I think I'm gonna watch some 90's sitcom. Then the vocals begins and it's apparent that I"m about to watch a Pixar short about a raspberry that fell off the vine and is about to get eaten by a worm, but manages to escape. Then I read his Wikipedia page and noticed that he was accused and found guilty of statutory rape. And I thought ... you know the music I've heard so far is enough to make a judgement on this album...

Wow! Was really looking forward to this album and then I listened to it. Ugh, I'm not sure why. Still, Cherish and Express Yourself are straight up guilty pleasures.

Listening to this album is like raking leaves and doing yard work I don't mind doing.

Went down a rabbit hole exploring James Brown's Funky Drummer while listening to this album (it was sampled on Waiting for That Day). That's never a good sign, but I enjoyed some great James Brown, (Thank you George Michael). The album was fine. I do have some respect for the great George Michael (RIP), but after this album, couldn't exactly remember why.

The title and cover art on this is just haunting, isn't it? I get a perfect illustration of what the music will sound like visually. Dummy is tied to the times. If I had heard this for the first time today, I don't think I'd understand it as well. However, I spent the better part of six months listening to this CD on repeat in the early 90's and it is amazing.

I gave it some time, it's growing on me.

This is a hard listen on a morning with a hangover. If I'd known about this last night, I'd be worse off today. I spent yesterday drinking alone, stalking Facebook for old girlfriends, thinking of all the tail I slayed and all the acid I ate. This would've been the perfect soundtrack.

I like the simplicity of this album, also hate the simplicity of the album. Also, I'm tiring of the guitar. Good quality effort and appreciate the Gary Gilmore track which pokes fun at whomever got the infamous murderer's corneas after he was executed. This music elicits a yes, but it also elicits a 'no' because there really aren't many bands that I like with British singers. I like my bands to speak American.

Hell yeah! Halen is and has always been DLR, not Hagar. This album kicked ass and was way more fun than I remember. I should be listening to this way more often.

I used to think that Femi Kuti was Kid's dad. But then I realized that there was no relation. I think I should get my ears checked. Speaking of getting my ears checked, I don't think listening to this album helped much. Lotsa cacophonous calamities on this album. It's upbeat, fun and rides the line between something that I might listen to and that I won't ever listen to again.

You learn something new every day. Today I learned that the person singing on this album does not play Latka's wife, Simka Dahblitz-Gravas on Taxi. The album is decent and brought back a lot of memories. Most of them included listening to the AM radio while standing up in the front seat of my parents' Caprice Classic as it cruised down the freeway to pickup my dad from work. Child safety, meh. Great trip down memory lane. I feel like James Taylor is somehow tied to this album too. I don't care for JT, but I did like Taxi, Latka & Simka and that behemoth of a car, the Caprice Classic.

Remember when you thought that Breakin' was the best movie ever until Electric Boogaloo came out and then you couldn't decide? Well, this album takes you baaack in time and proves that you are better off where you are now. Though I did enjoy doing a deep dive into the rabbit hole of Renegades of Funk, I didn't feel like this was something that I'd listen to again. I get it, Afrikka Bambaataa was an innovator, a godfather of early hip-hop and a super important figure we should have some knowledge of and respect for ... (Poppin', sockin', rockin' puttin' a side of hip-hop ... 'Cause where we're goin', there ain't no stoppin') If I listen to this album again, it'd probably be on my way to an 80's-themed breakdance party.

Joe Rogan ruined my Neil Young experience. No Soup For You!

My sister named her Doberman Pinscher bitch Asia, but she spells it Aja. They're American. She, my sister, not the dog, has a full mouth of fillings. Aja, the album, not the dog, is her favorite music to play when getting her teeth drilled. Dr. Goldman agrees.

I love the sound of the guitar. So old and gritty, just gettin' it done, but I really hate the dude's voice and all I can picture in my head is a crazed Dennis Hopper full of stink and LSD from Easy Rider. ...and that's what ruins pretty much any CCR album.

"The 'core is gettin' soft..." Wish there was more like this ... So good.

My dad saw The Doors when he was younger. Said JM was totally drunk and fucked up. It was a terrible show and evidently near the end of his life. Nothing did more to form my opinion of The Doors than the Oliver Stone film. JM was a god when that came out. The film ignited an huge interest in poetry, booze, dope, leather pants and kinky sex in my babyfaced 10th grade circle. "Hippy drug culture lovers unite!" Spending some deeper time with this album proved there was more to The Doors thank Jim Morrison and Peace Frog, but not much more. I really enjoyed the bluesy Cars Hiss by my Window and, the trippy L'America. It is apparent that JM really was the power behind the band. I can't imagine the Doors being successful with any other frontman or enjoying the Riders on the Storm without a cool buzz.

Off-the-beaten-path and hokey and spastic in places, but these guys took a risk. Though they fizzled, easy to find the influences in other music that I enjoy.

It's easier to fall in love with Debbie Harry than the Blondie, but they're a package deal, so...

Ahh, another one from the Holy Triumvirate. This is a good one to slap the bass to, especially the A side, because it's the same track for 20+ mins.

Up until this one, the only people that listened to Metallica were the sport-os, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads, they all thought these guys were righteous dudes. But then this album was released and the radio stations around the country wore this out and everyone listens to them. Now the original fans see Lars Ulrich as a total ass and James Hetfield, a lil bitch.

I feel out-of-sorts, like I"m part of an offbeat British family living in an abstract era straddling the 60's and 80s. Listening to Kinks albums are like experiencing Wes Anderson films. I like Wes Anderson films.

I feel like my ears have been scrolling through awkwardfamilyphotos.com for the past 67 mins. After the entertainment subsides and the WTF settles in, you begin wondering why you're even listening to this. Once that happens, the embarrassment takes hold. Especially after finding out that Ice Cube decided to be a part of this album. I would note the Fred Durst appearance, but that's like kicking this album when it's already down. Terrible, but there's worse stuff on this list... Linkin Park, I'm lookin' at you.

Damn, this is some depressing shit. Bon Iver's For Emma coincided with My FIL's death, it also coincided with the release of this album. Both played continuously on my ipod for about six months. This FF album was what I put on when I was tired of feeling miserable. Anyhow, it's hard to extricate that from this listen. RIP Dick.

Dirty garage rock and psychodelia of the 70's. Somehow the Stooges evade all of the dirty hippie shit that I associate with 1969. Michigan is a long way from NorCal and the west coast, I guess. While everyone was busy being anti-war the Stooges were just enjoying getting fucked up and smearing hamburger meat on their chests. I appreciate the wry unrefined sound and loose play. We Will Fall goes a little too deep for me, but the 'don't care / fuck all, ethos is exciting and fun.

General Zod, aka Pete Townsend will never do anything that surprises me. The talentless ass continues to ignite frustration whenever I'm forced to listed to his band The Who. I'd gladly put Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli in the ring with Pete Townsend and root for Pharma Bro to win provided it means kicking the shit outta PT. Is it ironic that PT sings about the kids being alright when we all know this is not the case when he's around them. One star fucktard.

We're all just a bunch of Meat Puppets controlled by the evil corporate government and secret societies. They all tell me that I should give this five stars... "Thank you, sir. May I have another...

I'm a reasonable man, but you've gotta admit this isn't as good as their other stuff, either before or after. Still a five, tho.

I was listening to a lot of Blonde Redhead when this was released. This album opened up a new era in music for me, expanded my mind toward more electronic-laden chill music. I discovered Arovane around this time and started listening to other stuff that I had previously shied away from. Super chill, get shit done - or get nothing done music.

Good stuff, replicated relentlessly throughout the album.

Great guitar licks. I feel like I need to be in the middle of a Texas field party drinking Miller High Life with a 100 of my closest friends around a big bonfire to appreciate this properly. I hate Texas, but we all need to get out our comfort zones from time-to-time. This is a great album.

Is that a saw... oh, I see. Listening to this was like being forced into one of those Christmas stores that are open year round. It sounds like the soundtrack to a fake animated German Disney movie that was translated back into English. I imagine they play Deserter's Songs at those Christmas stores right before the animatronic Mrs. Clause and elves attack you and smother you with fake cotton snow in some far corner of the store. Opus 40, tho.... That sounded really familiar and listened to it a few different times swearing that Flaming Lips or someone must've covered it somewhere. Maybe I'm hallucinating, maybe I've been spending too much time in those Christmas stores. Maybe I've developed Stockholm syndrome 'cause I kinda liked it.

This album is Superfly. Do I really need to see the movie to understand this album? With songs like "Give me your love (Love Song)" and "No Thing on Me (Cocaine Song)" what could I be missing? A whole helluva lotta good action, that's what. There are a lotta duds but Pusherman and Superfly carry some of the weight.

"Vegas, baby. Vegas." I hate Las Vegas, also I don't remember this album being interesting. Perhaps, it was ahead of its time, now we need to schedule a trip to Vegas. For research.

Shout, shout. Let a fart out. Though this album doesn't smell like grandma's bathroom, it does sound like she's saying gentle goodbye to brown after her Metamucil supplement. The power of the saxophone is wide ranging, and it affects people differently. Generally when I hear it, I have the urge to punch it in the face, but hey, this is the music of the 80's and people did things differently back then. We have to accept it and learn from mistakes of the past. Aside from the tender ooze of that wretched instrument, I found the album to be out of place, not fitting in any singular world. I hated the bulk of it, but I really loved the smaller bits which more than made up for the forgettable stuff. You just can't throw the baby out with the bathwater anymore... ask grandma.

Sounds like early / unrefined DJ Shadow. DH went way overboard on the dialog samples. A little goes a long way, man.

Great album, but the best thing to come outta the Black Keys is this... "Jack White. A 40-year-old bully tried to fight the 35-year-old nerd. It might get loud, but it might also get really really sad and pathetic. Jack white is basically billy corgan’s dumb ass zero t-shirt in human form.”

Ugh. Genesis, you disappoint me.

From a different era. Not sure if this would be as memorable if he hadn't died on the same flight as Lou Diamond Phillips.

Never heard of these guys, but with a name like The Strangles, I was extied to listen to this one. However, the combination of the Clash-iness, loose snare, electric organ, repetition and general Britishness killed the vibe. Finishing this album was a chore.

Haters rejoice, something everyone can agree is terrible and out of place. If this guy and Ute Lemper got together and had a baby the world would explode.

I maintain that Sgt. Pepper's is the best Beatles album, but I enjoy Revolver the most. Best track... Tomorrow Never Knows...

Is it me, or is it nearly impossible not to be happy when you listen to this woman sing...? Except then if you think about how she's dead now and all of that.. that's kinda a buzz kill.

blugh. This album is fraught with all of the things I hate about the 90's. Long hair, long underwear under shorts, heroin, combat boots, depression, dramatic depression, tortured artist syndrome, broke-assness, 1-800-Collect and Carrot Top. Yeah, this one brings back memories, but not good ones.

Vie, vie, vie vie ... VIE!!

Not something I thought I would enjoy. I didn't enjoy it but it was tolerable simply because it was different.

Ya Mama got a peg leg with a kickstand! So good, so fun, so enjoyable. Music from a bygone era, so long, long, long ago. Damn, we old.

This album is terrifying. It's been a long while since we had an album so shocking, disturbing and well... surprising. This album was a mystery, I'd never heard of it before, and after it was finished, I wasn't sure what I had listened to. Some of it I really liked, no questions asked. But, other tracks sounded as if they were hanging on the precipice of madness and horror... and were inviting me in. Taken as a whole, it gave me goosebumps, it was a moving and a wholly unsettling experience. Highly recommend.

So much promise... so much disappointment. GDMF, when will this band deliver? Will it ever deliver?