Do I speak French? No.
Do I like this album? YES.
What I love about this album is that it opened my eyes to a faction of Punk Rock that I didn't think existed and isn't that the point of this list?
Congrats to OP for submitting this album, this is my first on the user submissions and its giving me good hopes.
4/5
I vaguely recall hearing Stars when it first came out but don't remember much else of this band. While sounding on par for the rest of 90s grunge sound this was a nice different listen.
3/5
I had to go back to my review of the TSAHB from the list and had an okay impression of it. This album I absolutely loved and easily think this one would be a better representative of the band and genre on the list.
Thanks OP for another new to me listen.
4/5
My first thought was wasn't there enough Danny Elfman on this list, I then realized there isn't any. This album is such a must listen, big L on the author(s) for leaving this out.
4/5
This really is an alt-The Wall. And I aint mad. An album like this really shows how much Roger Waters was involved with PF in the 80s. I grew up on this album and it's one of my PF favorites so a separate album with similar sounds and a different story is a good option.
3/5
I guess we can call the Cure post-punk too?
Not bad.
3/5
Coming from a big Punk / Thrash / Hardcore background, MLiW is a new band for me. Sadly they don't give me much to be excited about.
3/5
Such a sublime album, adding another album to my list of bands I never knew existed.
4/5
I never liked Blink-182, I always thought they were the pop version of Green Day - which is poppy punk.
After listening to this, I still don't like Blink-182.
2/5
Baseline Christmas album and key piece of influential music that introduces younger listeners to Jazz and Classical.
5/5
I've never heard the Tragically Hip but I'm familiar enough with their fandom to know they're big in Canada. This album was okay to me. Sounds very much like another Canadian band, which is okay as well.
3/5
Interesting new take on Hip Hop and how it evolves. Always heard of Danny Brown but never really listened to him. Enjoyed this one.
3/5
I'm reminded how angry I am that actual masterpieces like this album are not on the list and a metric shit-ton of BritPop is.
5/5
Never judge a book by its cover - unless its everything you expect it to be
3/5
Like TSO but less Christmasy
2/5
Indie noise rock that sounds exactly like the rest of the rest of the noisy indie rock. I'm just surprised this came out in 1997, it sounds more like 2007.
3/5
Average rock that probably needs more time to "cook" before I can really evaluate.
2/5
An album or band I never heard before. This was a fun listen and should easily replace a number of the bland UK post punk / britpop albums on this list.
3/5
1995 me would've loved this album. 2026 me thinks 1995 me needs to listen to more music, but still thinks this is pretty good.
3/5
Very rarely do I want an album to last longer, but this 25 minute whateverthefuckitis was pure joy to listen to.
4/5
Another Who album, great.
Wait… Quadrophenia ISN'T on the original list? Did the author(s) not think the Who aren't British enough???
4/5
Man, the 90s were great. No Doubt's Southern Cali-Ska-Punk-arama was everywhere.
3.5/5
Mac Miller isn't for me. As a user submitted album I have less issue with a recent album being on this list.
3/5
The album starts off with a great title and gets stuck in the weeds of a poppy album where each track sounds the same as the one before it.
3/3
The poppiest of 90s pop-punk.
3/5
Was looking forward to this album after hearing their collabs with Leon Bridges. This wasn't what I was expecting and the whole album felt dragged out.
3/5
While a fun listen and a good primer into classical guitar and Latin Jazz, Paco's technique is on full display yet the album feels slow and repetitive.
3.5/5
Good listening, picking up PiL influence.
3/5
Pretty standard shout rock.
2/5
Wait… this isn't on the list? Big oversight by the authors. It's not like there's not enough room with all of the extra redundant BritPop.
4/5
Not REMs best album, but the album that changed music. How is this not on the list?
5/5
Knowing this is a fan favorite, I'm still attached to Ænima. Lateralus feels too long for me for a TOOL album.
3/5
I don't know how I missed Mogwai coming up but hot damn this was great.
4/5
I don't know how to describe this band I never hear of, but I like it.
4/5
Thought I was listening to a Scissor Sister cover band.
Not my thing, too artificial.
3/5
Sounds like a generic riff on a popularized version of the Blues. King is a talented guitar player but his orchestrations fall flat here.
3/5
Good sounding record but not my style, got a little repetitive.
3/5
Electronic early 00s music is not for me. This is okay, it gets very repetitive.
3/5
…and I thought there was too much BritPop on the list, the early 00s didn't produce much great music either. This was okay, but overhyped IMO.
3/5
Having survived the 80s and 90s hair sound I'm experienced enough to know that stone has been squeezed and it shouldn't come back. This album from 2009 confirms that take.
2/5
Reminds me of Cake (the band). I like Cake (the band). I like Cake (the food) too.
3/5
Suprisingly good, better than most of the drum and bass on the list.
3/5
TELL ME WHY?? 🎶🎵
Good on this submitter for putting this up. This album is an important slice of what this era of bubblegum boy band pop is. Yes it's saccharine. Yes it's poppy. But the significance of it surprises me that this wasn't on the original list.
This is a solid 3 for me personally but to help this album get what it probably deserves I'm throwing a sacrificial 5 to it.
The whole faux Americana rock with meaning thing gets pushed real hard with groups like the Mountain Goats and Mumford and Sons.
3/5
Man, Vernon Reid and Cory Glover put out some solid music. I've forgotten about this album and this listen was like sitting back with an old friend and jamming.
4/5
This is a good album that represents a weird time in popular music. At the time it was a good trend, that trend just hasn't aged well. Not NMH's issue though.
3.5/5
Not my thing. Indie music from this time period is very cliche at this point, this album doesn't differ.
3/5
okay album indicative of the genre and time, but easily forgettable compared to the rest of the music that came out of that era.
3/5
Good background music album
3/5
My first time hearing this band. Sounds like previous user submission Khruangbin. My review of that album is the same as this: This wasn't what I was expecting and the whole album felt dragged out
3/5
Sounds like a tribute to all of the heavy metal instrumentals from the 90s. It's okay but fairly repetitive.
3/5
The 90s were full of Ska Punk bands. Operation Ivy was one of the earlier ones which gets them full credit, but man the whole ska movement degraded to the point it is cliché.
3/5
Meh. I think one album from the Shins should be here. But since this is user submitted I did my due diligence and am not wowed. The Shins come from an era that produced bland pop-infused music that felt edgy enough to be "Indie". That indie label can only be stretched so far and this album would snap it.
3/5
Pop punk is my least favorite genre next to Shoegaze and Emo and FOB strike all the reasons here.
Not my thing but I'm noticing a lot of late 00-teens albums filling the user submissions. Albums like this need to grow and even with this one being 13 years old, it's a forgettable album.
2/5
Like there wasn’t enough 80s BritPop on this list, but yet OP found an actual album from that genre that should be here. I never heard of this band and like their fresher sound over the mimicry of most of the list.
4/5
Poppy emo punk is a genre that does not reflect well for the early 00s.
2/5
I enjoyed this album but always felt Garbage's first album was their best. It's good but the original belongs on the list.
3/5
Very much a modern throwback to earlier 60s folk. I don't know if it's needed today, but this would work well in an incense shop.
3/5
understanding that this album is years ahead of others you can understand the impact Chet Baker brings. Comparing this to his 'Sings' album you see two different people achieving and reinventing the genre.
5/5
Frank Zappa is a genius whose value has yet to be fully realized. This is one of my favorite albums of his.
4/5
Finally an album from the 21st Century I am convinced should be on the main list. This covers so much ground.
4/5
My first thought was "Oh geat, another Modest Mouse album". As I listened, I wanted to see what my review of the other MM album was and was floored to see that album is not there. So much of the early 00s indie rock is generic and repetitive that MM has a high mountain to climb. This album is so different from what I take them to be. This is a nice modern, raw, garage rock album.
3/5
