753
Albums Rated
2.71
Average Rating
69%
Complete
336 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1950
Favorite Decade
Blues
Favorite Genre
other
Top Origin
Critic
Rater Style ?
126
5-Star Albums
207
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lam Toro
Baaba Maal
|
5 | 2.72 | +2.28 |
|
Mask
Bauhaus
|
5 | 2.85 | +2.15 |
|
Shadowland
k.d. lang
|
5 | 2.87 | +2.13 |
|
Smokers Delight
Nightmares On Wax
|
5 | 2.91 | +2.09 |
|
Paris 1919
John Cale
|
5 | 2.95 | +2.05 |
|
Wild Gift
X
|
5 | 3 | +2 |
|
Eternally Yours
The Saints
|
5 | 3.06 | +1.94 |
|
The Trinity Session
Cowboy Junkies
|
5 | 3.07 | +1.93 |
|
The Colour Of Spring
Talk Talk
|
5 | 3.07 | +1.93 |
|
Immigrés
Youssou N'Dour
|
5 | 3.08 | +1.92 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Is This It
The Strokes
|
1 | 3.81 | -2.81 |
|
Kid A
Radiohead
|
1 | 3.71 | -2.71 |
|
Ill Communication
Beastie Boys
|
1 | 3.64 | -2.64 |
|
To Pimp A Butterfly
Kendrick Lamar
|
1 | 3.62 | -2.62 |
|
good kid, m.A.A.d city
Kendrick Lamar
|
1 | 3.62 | -2.62 |
|
Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Wu-Tang Clan
|
1 | 3.61 | -2.61 |
|
Heroes
David Bowie
|
1 | 3.61 | -2.61 |
|
In The Court Of The Crimson King
King Crimson
|
1 | 3.6 | -2.6 |
|
Illmatic
Nas
|
1 | 3.6 | -2.6 |
|
Licensed To Ill
Beastie Boys
|
1 | 3.55 | -2.55 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| The Who | 4 | 4.75 |
| Led Zeppelin | 3 | 5 |
| Deep Purple | 3 | 5 |
| The Stooges | 3 | 4.67 |
| Creedence Clearwater Revival | 3 | 4.67 |
| Simon & Garfunkel | 3 | 4.67 |
| Jimi Hendrix | 2 | 5 |
| Rush | 2 | 5 |
| Jane's Addiction | 2 | 5 |
| Muddy Waters | 2 | 5 |
| Queen | 2 | 5 |
| Aerosmith | 2 | 5 |
| The Smiths | 2 | 5 |
| The Doors | 2 | 5 |
| Fleetwood Mac | 2 | 5 |
| The White Stripes | 2 | 5 |
| The Police | 2 | 5 |
| Willie Nelson | 2 | 5 |
| Beatles | 3 | 4.33 |
| Van Morrison | 3 | 4.33 |
| U2 | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Joni Mitchell | 4 | 1 |
| Beastie Boys | 3 | 1 |
| Kendrick Lamar | 2 | 1 |
| The Prodigy | 2 | 1 |
| Missy Elliott | 2 | 1 |
| Can | 2 | 1 |
| Kanye West | 2 | 1 |
| Pavement | 2 | 1 |
| The xx | 2 | 1 |
| Slipknot | 2 | 1 |
| Public Enemy | 2 | 1 |
| The Specials | 2 | 1 |
| Robert Wyatt | 2 | 1 |
| LCD Soundsystem | 2 | 1 |
| M.I.A. | 2 | 1 |
| TV On The Radio | 2 | 1 |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 4 | 1.75 |
| Radiohead | 4 | 1.75 |
| Randy Newman | 2 | 1.5 |
| Eminem | 2 | 1.5 |
| Elvis Presley | 2 | 1.5 |
| Genesis | 2 | 1.5 |
| Run-D.M.C. | 2 | 1.5 |
| Mudhoney | 2 | 1.5 |
| Björk | 2 | 1.5 |
| The Pogues | 2 | 1.5 |
| Love | 2 | 1.5 |
| New Order | 2 | 1.5 |
| Barry Adamson | 2 | 1.5 |
| Kate Bush | 2 | 1.5 |
| Manic Street Preachers | 2 | 1.5 |
| T. Rex | 2 | 1.5 |
| Public Image Ltd. | 2 | 1.5 |
| The Byrds | 5 | 2.2 |
| Brian Eno | 3 | 2 |
| Echo And The Bunnymen | 3 | 2 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Grateful Dead | 5, 1 |
| Miles Davis | 4, 5, 1 |
| Leonard Cohen | 3, 1, 1, 5, 2 |
| The Rolling Stones | 5, 2 |
| Primal Scream | 4, 1 |
5-Star Albums (126)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Franz Ferdinand · 39 likes
5/5
I love that this band doesn't sound the same in every song.....but they always sound like themselves.
The Beau Brummels · 37 likes
1/5
If Joni Mitchell had three brothers who could produce nothing but dry, white toast.
Frank Ocean · 28 likes
1/5
This is the answer to the question, "What would Stevie Wonder sound like if he had no talent for singing or song writing?"
The War On Drugs · 22 likes
2/5
I really like the song "Red Eyes". The problem with these guys is that every song used the same template, chords, production values....everything. If you've heard one song, you've heard them all.
Sugar · 21 likes
1/5
This album tries so hard to sound like so many of the other great bands of the time. You then wonder why you are wasting time listening to this when you could just listen those other bands who know their own identity. This album was like a three-course meal of nothing but dry white toast.
1-Star Albums (207)
All Ratings
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
A Tribe Called Quest
2/5
There are some great bass lines, and hooks, in a few of the songs. (Excursions, Butter, Everything Is Fair). I can get into tracks like these in small doses.
Hugh Masekela
3/5
Some of these tracks are what I called "rainy day" jazz...which I really like. But even the tracks that aren't my cup of tea are brilliantly played and arranged.
Ghostface Killah
1/5
This didn't do anything at all for me.
The Isley Brothers
2/5
The covers they did of other artists didn't do much for me. You can hear some elements of funk creeping in some of the tracks....very indicative of what many bands were sounding like in the 70s. The vocals are top notch, but I prefer their earlier stuff.
Happy Mondays
4/5
This is a really fun listen. There are some really good hooks on some of the songs (Kinky Afro, Loose Fit). There are many moments of "that sort of sounds like ________", and use of familiar samples from other artists' songs. This is an album that I would listen to 2-3 tracks at a time, but not listen to all the way through.
Emmylou Harris
5/5
I'm not a big country fan. However, I do like what I consider to be REAL country: not the countrified-rock crap that is put out today. Emmylou's voice is amazing, and this album was a gem from start to finish.
Aretha Franklin
5/5
It's Aretha. Enough said.
Kendrick Lamar
1/5
Some of the tracks I enjoyed to background music. But the vocal style just isn't my thing.
Tim Buckley
4/5
A nice, easy listen. A little swing, a little soul, and other things that I can't quite name. If Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin had ever collaborated, I think that the result would have been something like this.
Wilco
3/5
I liked the slower, more laid-back, stuff more than when they try to "rock". I can see listening this on a lazy afternoon, although none of the songs had a hook that really spoke to me.
The Jam
3/5
Hints of The Police, Joe Jackson, and The Clash. This sound has a little bit for everyone. If you're hardcore punk, new wave, alternative, or mainstream, then this album won't do much for you. If you are, like me, somewhere in between, then you give it three stars for who they were influenced by and for who they influenced.
Q-Tip
1/5
Some of the music tracks were okay. Rap just doesn't do it for me, and this entire album was monochromatic.
Happy Mondays
3/5
A mixture of early U2, the Smiths, and some New Order thrown in just to round things out. I liked the songs well enough.....2 or 3 at a time. Anything beyond that and all the songs started to sound the same.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
1/5
I like the funky parts, but those parts didn't outshine, or even complement, the rapping.
Rush
5/5
A masterpiece.
The Mars Volta
2/5
Prog-rock on steroids. It meandered too much to keep my attention.
The Stooges
5/5
Absolutely raw and powerful. Punk at its best.
Shuggie Otis
2/5
A little soul, and R&B, with a nice '70s vibe. But there wasn't really anything about the song writing, or the singing that put this over the edge for me.
Van Halen
5/5
*Rock snob alert*. Not my favorite VH album. Not even close to their bast album with DLR. Panama and Hot For Teacher are rockers. I'll Wait is a great song, and one of the few VH songs where DLR actually sings. The rest of the album is "take it or leave it for me". My rating is for the three aforementioned songs, and for, musically and vocally, them being at the top of their game.
Dusty Springfield
5/5
Such a beautiful, soulful voice.
Stereolab
2/5
I'm not sure what the hell that was, but it certainly was not static, or boring.
Noise of Carpet- I enjoyed this one a lot.
Freestyle Dumpling was a trip.
If I ever had dropped acid, I would have loved this album.
Jane's Addiction
5/5
Ground-breaking. This album was a classic the moment is came out. It sounds as fresh today as it did when it came out in the 80's.
William Orbit
1/5
Low volume, as background noise, and I'd fall asleep to this.
Isaac Hayes
2/5
A lot of soul, but it didn't do much for me.
Gotan Project
1/5
I liked Epoca to some extent. The rest wasn't that great.
Franz Ferdinand
5/5
I love that this band doesn't sound the same in every song.....but they always sound like themselves.
Sade
2/5
I like her voice. Smooth Operator brings back good memories. This could have been a good R&B album if not for being over-produced; as was typical in the mid '80s. It was a great album at the time, but hasn't aged very well.
Gang Of Four
4/5
Echoes of The Clash, The Stranglers, Devo, and early Joe Jackson. A nice hard edge to some of the songs. Punk meets new wave meets alternative.
Terence Trent D'Arby
1/5
I didn't really care for him when Wishing Well was all over the airwaves, and I don't care for him much now. He's got a soulful voice that got ruined by '80s production. Most of what I heard here sounds like what would later go on to be the Dave Matthews Band. Do with that what you will.
Bon Jovi
4/5
The fourth star is purely for nostalgia. A pretty damn good album that has aged pretty well.
The Icarus Line
1/5
Pretty monotonous. Trying too hard to be the Stooges, so I'll just listen to the Stooges.
The Prodigy
1/5
I'm sure that in the right setting, that this album would work: just not sure what that setting would be.
This was like if Enigma and Mannheim Steamroller were dropped into a garbage disposal.
Tito Puente
3/5
Definitely not one to just put in an listen to. Great stuff in the right context....and if you know how to dance.
The Byrds
3/5
A good attempt, but it fell a little flat for me. Still, it's worth a listen.
The Charlatans
4/5
A fun listen. If not for these guys, there's no MGMT, Kasabian....
The Black Crowes
4/5
A good album. I like the stripped down, raw sound.
Machito
4/5
Great music......in the correct context.
David Bowie
2/5
Kudos to Bowie for never standing pat, and for going out, musically, on his own terms. But this whole thing was too "out there" for my tastes. This album sounded like it should have been the soundtrack for True Crime. (See Trance Figure by School of The Seven Bells).
Paul Simon
2/5
Not bad, but never really gets off the ground. I love his voice, but these tracks all sounded the same.....flat.
The La's
3/5
Non very imaginative song writing, but a fun little listen 1-2 songs at a time. I almost didn't even listen to this because of "There She Goes": one of the most annoying songs I've heard. Knock Me Down and Son of a Gun were standouts on this album. I'm glad that I gave it a chance.
Tori Amos
4/5
I really enjoyed Crucify, Precious Things, and Leather. Tori has a great voice. This album was a nice surprise and a pleasant listen.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5/5
Exodus, Natural Mystic, Jammin', One Love.... a great, mellow album.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
You want their "hits"? You want their radio-friendly songs? Then go buy their "Best of..." albums. This album is them showing their blues roots, and paying homage to all the blues greats, without whom there would be no Rolling Stones. If you don't recognize what makes this a watershed album for this band, then you don't deserve to understand this album. How's that for a bit of rock snobbery?
Led Zeppelin
5/5
This album has a little bit of everything. I find myself returning to this album more than any other Zep album. I'm not saying it's their best. I'm just saying what I'm saying. "That's the Way" and "Tangerine" always get played to the end.
Garbage
2/5
The opening song, Supervixen, is a good one to start the album off. The problem is that every other song sounds just like the first one. Too formulaic for my tastes. Too bad because the talent is there.
Muddy Waters
5/5
Without Muddy Waters, there is no British Invasion....or any rock music that's worth listening to.
Air
4/5
This was a nice discovery. A nice set of songs to just relax and let play in the background.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
It's Creedence. Enough said.
Randy Newman
2/5
I appreciate Randy Newman for what he is: the world's most successful singer in a piano bar. I like him well enough......one song at a time. Two songs or more, and it all just sounds the same. Two stars, instead of One, because of the song "I Love L.A.", which isn't even on this album.
Jacques Brel
1/5
This just didn't do it for me.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Missy Elliott
1/5
Bring the Pain has a nice musical hook to it: musical, no lyrical. That's all I've got...
Rod Stewart
4/5
I love his music. This is a really easy listen and gives a glimpse of how good is songwriting was, and would become. Good stuff.
The Cramps
4/5
Some rock-a-billy, some punk. It's listenable, in a good way. They get 4 stars because they are playing what they want to play rather than trying to conform to what punk "should" be.
Isaac Hayes
2/5
The main theme is a classic. The rest of it is as 70s as it gets. But without context, most soundtrack music doesn't really work as listening material. A soundtrack that consists of actual songs (Almost Famous, Saturday Night Fever) would have been a better suggestion from this site.
Ella Fitzgerald
5/5
Great voice. Great music.
2/5
I like the "Lay Lady Lay", "Tangled Up In Blue", "Nettie Moore" Dylan. But when his singing style is like is on this album....it just doesn't do much for me beyond one or two songs.
Suede
2/5
"Heroine" is the only song that I'll remember from this album. Everything else just sounded like variations of the same song.
Mylo
4/5
This one grew on me. The more I listened, the more I liked it.
Can
1/5
Next....
Blur
3/5
Country Sad Ballad Man and Song 2 are great. I like Blur....just not all the time.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
3/5
Fooled Again was a nice surprise. Other than Breakdown, and American Girl, the rest of this album is pretty meh. However, you can definitely hear a lot of what was to come from this band. The songs that they included the keyboards more prominently were definitely better than the others.
Michael Jackson
5/5
This album is a classic, and was the soundtrack for the entire early-to-mid 80s. Most younger people only remember the Michael Jackson who was a complete nut. But when this album came out, EVERYBODY listened to this album.
Miles Davis
4/5
Jazz, for me, is more dependent more on the setting in which I hear it, than the music itself. Could I sit and just listen to this? No. Would this be great to create a certain atmosphere or mood. Yes. Would it be great to listen to live. Definitely.
Eminem
2/5
Musically, his stuff is very interesting. Lyrically, he just sounds like Moby's pissed off alter ego.
Michael Kiwanuka
3/5
Not bad. I liked Hero, Final Days, and Solid Ground. The rest of it sounded like it should be the soundtrack to Jackie Brown.
Elvis Presley
1/5
I just never got into Elvis. He's the Don Corleone of rock music: he's the original, but his biggest fans have ended up making it so that Elvis became a parody of himself.
DJ Shadow
1/5
Incredibly unimaginative.
Sugar
1/5
This album tries so hard to sound like so many of the other great bands of the time. You then wonder why you are wasting time listening to this when you could just listen those other bands who know their own identity. This album was like a three-course meal of nothing but dry white toast.
Napalm Death
1/5
For reference: if I dropped silverware into my garbage disposal at the same time my dog started barking, I would give that 5 stars compared with these jokers. But on the bright side...they didn't have to actually write lyrics, and props to the vocalist for not bursting out laughing at the absurdity of it all.
Deerhunter
3/5
Don't Cry is a good tune. Chameleon by Blanc sounds like a infrigement lawsuit waiting to happen. Most of this album was a pretty easy listen.
Queen
5/5
10 Stars.
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
A 3-star album that gets a fourth star for the trip back to my senior year in high school. Just like the album, that year was hit or miss, but overall pretty damn good.
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
Maybe I just wasn't feeling this genre today. But I do enjoy this type of music.
Tom Waits
2/5
Weird stuff. It sounds like it should be the soundtrack to the show Carnivale or a really cheesy Disney ride. I didn't really care for the songs, but they're going to be stuck in my head for the next week. Props to TW for being original.
Iggy Pop
2/5
I love Iggy. I love Bowie. I don't care for Iggy simply sounding like Bowie.
Soundgarden
5/5
Hell yeah!
The Lemonheads
2/5
Early 90s cookie-cutter music. Not bad, but instantly forgettable.
The Mothers Of Invention
1/5
The problem with Zappa is that tried to be so avant garde that he became a cliche' of himself. He wanted you to:
like him so that he could smirk and bash you for being so bourgeoisie and "beneath" his brilliance.
-or-
hate him so that he could smirk and bash you for being so bourgeoisie and "beneath" his brilliance.
Whichever camp you were in, it doesn't matter because you just don't get why the joke is on you.
The Sonics
4/5
4 for originality. Nice use of distortion to give them an early punk sound. You can definitely hear their embracing of the early 60's songwriting, but very forward-thinking production, and attitude, that would spawn The Stooges and The Hives.
Joni Mitchell
1/5
I've just never understood the hype surrounding Joni's playing, or her singing. To me, she just comes off as a coffee house singer who is just trying too hard.
Fatboy Slim
3/5
"Right Here, Right Now", and "Praise You" I actually really liked. The rest would be great in a club, but not really anywhere else.
Brian Eno
2/5
Not unpleasant. But I don't see the point in listening to something that only makes me think of being on a moving walkway getting me from one set of airport gates to another.
Beatles
3/5
I LOVE the Beatles. But these songs all sounded the same to me. But what gives them a pass here is that you can listen to their later stuff and see how they used this stage of their career as the foundation for what would come later. THAT'S greatness.
Brian Eno
1/5
It's like putting spoons in a blender and hitting the "Puree" button.
Joni Mitchell
1/5
Enough already.
Genesis
2/5
Pretty good prog-rock. Early flashes of Marillion with a touch of ELP thrown in. I still say that the best thing that happened for Peter Gabriel and the three who remained as Genesis was their split from each other.
Ride
2/5
Not too bad.....for one or two songs. After that they all sound exactly the same.
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
5/5
I've seen other bands release their "Greatest Hits" that didn't have the number of hits that this album, which isn't a "Greatest Hits", has.
5/5
The great songs on this album are enough to buoy up the other stuff.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Dylan is hit or miss with me, but this was a very easy listen.
Can
1/5
Pretty progressive for a band from 1971. Nevertheless, it didn't do a damn thing for me.
Solange
1/5
Pleasant, but immediately forgettable.
Fishbone
3/5
King's X, Faith No More, RHCP, and ska. Definitely intriguing. I can take it or leave it.
Primal Scream
4/5
Wasn't sure what to expect from a band named Primal Scream, but was very pleasantly surprised. Most of the tracks were very listenable. Slip Inside This House was reminiscent of The Only One I Know, by the Charlatains UK, that I've had it on a loop all afternoon.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Like everything else Springsteen, this is hit or miss. This is more a nostalgia album for me than something that I would actively listen to.
Steve Earle
2/5
Not bad, but too twangy for my tastes. And if you've heard one song from this album, then you've heard them all.
Saint Etienne
3/5
I love her cover of Neil Young. And some of the ambient tracks were okay....some weren't.
David Bowie
3/5
Station To Station, and Golden Years, are enough to earn 3 stars. The other tracks were meh.
Various Artists
4/5
Pretty good stuff. For some reason this reminded me of the soundtracks from all the mob movies by Martin Scorsese.
The Undertones
2/5
I can hear their influences in a lot of the later New Wave bands. The songs are easy enough to listen to, but nothing that will stay me.
My Bloody Valentine
1/5
Only Shallow was a great tune. The rest was a bunch of pretentious noise.
Run-D.M.C.
1/5
These guys have a couple of songs that are....okay. Other than that, however...
Ice Cube
1/5
"Music" for poc, who want to feel justified in blaming everybody else for problems of their own making, and for white people who want to feel "edgy". Rap is KKKrap.
Green Day
2/5
Bubble gum punk at best. A few tracks that are listenable. Don't compare this album to all the pretentious "we still think we're punk" crap that came after this album. And they lose points for trying to make everyone think that they are British.
Eminem
1/5
No thanks
Elliott Smith
3/5
An nice, easy listen. However, the tracks really all sound the same.
Janelle Monáe
2/5
57821 is a really good song. The rest is very creative, but doesn't do much for me. The two overtures were and unexpected turn.
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
2/5
Meh. When the best that you can say is "This sounds just like....", and then can't even remember who they sound like, that's not much of an impression.
PJ Harvey
1/5
So whose idea do you think it was to use the same vocal track on every single song? Seriously, how much effort can one woman put into not singing, and doing it on every track? Pretentious crap. One star for convincing somebody to actually record her.
The Pharcyde
1/5
Musically, I really liked this. But then they had to open their mouths and ruin it all. Using the N word just to sound edgy just makes you a poser.
Keith Jarrett
5/5
This was very nice music to have on in the background.
Slayer
1/5
Stupid from start to finish. ZERO stars if it were possible.
The Who
5/5
Kick ass maximum R&B.
Mike Ladd
2/5
The Animist was pretty good track. The rest of it was interesting. I would never set this as playlist material, but if it were on, I don't think I'd mind too much.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
Not bad, but not really memorable either.
Laura Nyro
1/5
This reminded me a lot of Joni Mitchell and Carole King: neither of whom I like at all. There was only one song where Laura wasn't forcing her singing to a level of intensity that didn't match the music. A meandering mess.
Hole
5/5
A damn good album. Courtney Love has a pretty damn good voice. I never wanted to listen to these guys because she's such a dumpster fire of a person, but I'm glad that this showed up on my list.
But this album should have been titled "Thank Heaven That Our Singer Is Married To That Guy From Nirvana".
Buena Vista Social Club
4/5
This may be due to the fact that I recently returned from a trip to Mexico.... I found this album to be a very pleasant listen. This is pretty good background music: even if it is more likely to be overheard in some cheesy restaurant.
Mudhoney
1/5
This album did nothing for me. No hooks, nothing catchy. They are the grunge version of Almost Famous. But at least they can look down on the successful Seattle bands under the guise of not having "sold out".
Björk
2/5
This wasn't bad....for a couple of songs. After that, her voice just grated on me and the music seemed to meander.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Say what you will about his singing, but Bob Dylan knows how to write songs. This is a very good listen.
The Roots
1/5
"The Seed" had a nice musical hook to it: the only thing that will get me to listen to crap like this.
The Crusaders
3/5
Great for the time when it was recorded. But its saxophone/keyboard sound has become cliche' because of every damn soundtrack from the 80's. Three stars because the title track is awesome.
The Young Rascals
4/5
"Find Somebody" is awesome. You can hear the many different sounds that influenced, and were influenced by, this band. The Beatles, Smokey Robinson, Otis Redding, Jefferson Airplane. This really is a crossover album for a lot of 60's music. And a shout out to Pat Benatar for taking "You Better Run" and turning it up to 11.
Miles Davis
5/5
Amazing music for a rainy day.
Orange Juice
1/5
That was 40 minutes of a band with a major identity crisis. They sounded so much like so many different bands that I found myself wondering why I was listening to these guys at all.
The Kinks
4/5
I either really like a Kinks' song.....or I don't care for it at all. 4 stars for always being true to themselves and being one of the most influential bands ever.
Green Day
3/5
I do like some of these songs....somewhat. I just can't ever get over the fact that these guys started as "punk", became mainstream (no judgment here), and then became an "edgy" boy band (Tiger Beat magazine awaits!). That's cringe for me.
Fiona Apple
1/5
Well... that sucked.
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
3/5
A nice bluesy album with a little country/folk twang thrown in for good measure. However, listening to this album straight through has it all sounding like the same song.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
1/5
"Madeleine-Mary" and "Song For the New Breed" were good tracks. Other than that.....meh.
Lorde
1/5
More "Radio Disney" music that will be forgotten within a year and have absolutely no lasting impact on music. Lorde may keep the public's attention for being an "influencer" or some other thing, but her music is instantly forgettable.
Aerosmith
5/5
A classic. Their first five albums rank up there with any of the other great bands. They should have stopped recording after Draw The Line. Everything after that fifth album was either passable or recorded just so they could cash the checks.
Taylor Swift
2/5
She has a great voice. If she would work with a real producer and some decent songwriters, she could have a real impact on music, not just on record sales. This is a perfect example of having a template for a song and being forced to copy it for an entire album.
Megadeth
3/5
I'm not a huge fan of thrash metal. But this is a damn good album for what it is. Great production values, their playing is TIGHT. They would be great to see live.
Beatles
5/5
A classic. Their, arguably, best song "Eleanor Rigby" is accompanied only by a string quartet. That's some feat to pull off.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
2/5
Not bad, but also not much in the way of variety. The lack of variation in their songs, and the fact that they sounded a lot like the free-form style of the GD, just had people deciding to just listen to the GD.
Wire
1/5
Every song sounded like a watered-down version of The Clash or X. I found myself wondering why I wasn't just listening to one of the other "real" bands.
The Smiths
5/5
The best "flat pitch" singing in the business. I love this band. This isn't my favorite album by them, but it contains their two best songs: That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore, and How Soon Is Now.
The Avalanches
1/5
The Avalanches.... Shit Tsunami is more like it. This is like if Moby had no talent for arrangement, or ear for music.
Hole
2/5
Bland, formulaic, cookie-cutter sound. This is what happened when the band no longer had Courtney's hubby as a safety net for their writing. They get an extra star for having the guts to keep going anyway.
David Bowie
3/5
Bowie never sounds the same, but he always sounds like Bowie. I don't like everything on this album, but I love that he was never willing to stand pat with his music.
Les Rythmes Digitales
1/5
"Music Make You Lose Control" has a nice bass line. If I were at a club, high, and looking to hook up, then this is probably really good stuff. But I'm not at a club, high, or looking to hook up.
2Pac
2/5
If rap did anything for me at all, it would be this kind of rap. Musically, this album has a lot to offer. But the vocal style indicative of rap just doesn't do it for me.
The Strokes
1/5
How incredibly bland of instantly forgettable.
The Velvet Underground
3/5
Not bad. Very avant garde for its time. And I can certainly see how it's loose, dgaf style was so influential on the New York CBGB types. Overall, it wasn't a bad listen. Some good tracks all produced by people who can't really sing.
Foo Fighters
1/5
This Is A Call is a good song. For All The Cows is the best thing that I've heard them do.....even if it is just a ripoff of Nirvana's "Polly": certainly just a coincidence.
I just have never seen anything about these guys to get excited about. Every song is either Dave Grohl shouting while they play the same power chord, or Dave is actually trying to sing and you realize that he doesn't have a great voice and has very little range.
Take Dave out of the equation and these guys are just another Nickelback.
1/5
This site needs an option for zero, or negative stars.
So somebody recorded my middle school band, while we were warming up, and decided to release it as an avant grade album of jazz fusion's version of speed metal.
This crap is the musical equivalent of a root canal being performed without any anesthetic.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
I'm so used to their greatest hits, that it was a bit startling to realize that some of their stuff.....sucked. And so it goes. These guys still created some of my favorite music. Soundtrack of my childhood....yada yada yada..
Bob Dylan
3/5
I'm hit or miss with Bob, but this was a nice, bluesy listen.
The Modern Lovers
1/5
Just go listen to The Stranglers if you want to hear what these guys wanted to sound like.
David Gray
1/5
A nice, albeit bland, listen. This Year's Love is the standout song.
Portishead
4/5
I actually really enjoyed this. It's like Amon Tobin, but with tolerable bits of techno music thrown in.
Eurythmics
4/5
A great 80's sound that didn't sound too "techno" or "alternative". Great singing and songwriting. This album has aged really well. "Love Is A Stranger" and "I Could Give You" are the standouts.
Elastica
3/5
Not bad. "Connection" and "Car Song" are pretty unique compared to the rest that all sound very much the same.
Ozomatli
3/5
This was a good listen. "Who Discovered America" was a really good track. A little Latin, a little hip hop. Reminded me of Santana.
Jeff Buckley
2/5
How sad that the original version of "Hallelujah" is probably my least favorite that I've heard. This didn't do anything for me at all. Two stars for "almost".
The War On Drugs
2/5
I really like the song "Red Eyes". The problem with these guys is that every song used the same template, chords, production values....everything. If you've heard one song, you've heard them all.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
5/5
A classic. What a way to debut your music.
The Pogues
2/5
If the Clash doing Irish jigs is your thing, then you are going to love these guys. If you are expecting anything that sounds like "Lorca's Novena", then you are feeling like I do right now.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
2/5
Not their best stuff. Pretty typical 80's fair, though.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
No explanation needed.
The Clash
4/5
This is what I call "listenable punk", although it really doesn't have that hard of an edge. This is punk by guys who can actually play their instruments and write music. I think that the Clash were/are the British equivalent of Bruce Springsteen: they spoke to a population that was blue collar and felt disenfranchised.
But as much as I love the Clash, I have to question any group that is beloved by Rolling Stone magazine. Just saying....
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
John Prine
2/5
Too much twang for my taste. The songs are pleasant enough, but also too monotonous to need to listen to more than 2 before you've effectively listened to the entire album.
Eric Clapton
5/5
Great songwriting magnified by understated performance. I'm not saying that his playing, singing, etc., isn't in top form. But there's nothing about this album that feels forced. This is Clapton being Clapton.
Jeff Beck
5/5
What a great playing style. If Jeff could sing at all, he'd have been as big as Clapton. But when Rod Stewart is doing all your vocals, and Rod isn't available to go on tour with you, then.....
Thelonious Monk
3/5
The kind of stuff that you hear in coffee shops and boutique stores. For me, this music is good in those contexts, but not much else.
Ray Charles
4/5
Awesome stuff. It loses one star because the blaring horns really started grating on me.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
That was better than I thought it would be, and longer than it should have been. 6-minute songs mean that these guys couldn't edit.
Supergrass
4/5
I'd never heard of these guys. This was a nice surprise. They reminded me, somewhat, of Burning Brides. "G Song", "Cheapskate", and "How Little Reign" were the standouts. "Sometimes I Make You Sad" is an earworm song.
Germs
3/5
Pretty good punk. Punk isn't always my thing, but these guys fit the bill pretty well.
Todd Rundgren
2/5
"International Star", among a few others, had a nice hook. But this is the kind of "f" it album that an artist puts out when they're pissed off at the record company.
Kanye West
1/5
Zero stars. And to think that I thought that he sounded like garbage when he wasn't trying to be musical.
The Waterboys
3/5
Nothing fancy, but an easy listen. "When Will We Be Married" and the title track were the standouts.
Jimmy Smith
5/5
Amazing, soulful, music. Those keyboards are awesome.
Pavement
1/5
Question: What do you get when the singer for the Violent Femmes tries to sound like Beck but instead ends up doing a piss-poor job of sounding like Lou Reed instead? Answer: This crap.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
A pretty nice listen. However, it seemed like he was singing the same tune every song, but with different music in the background.
Aimee Mann
3/5
Nothing really jumped out at me on this album. I like Aimee's music, and this was an easy listen.
Iron Butterfly
2/5
I love the title track because why not. The rest isn't bad, but loses points for have the exact same mix on every song.
Sonic Youth
2/5
Nothing special. They were a pretty good concert, however. There were a couple of songs that had a hook to them, but that's about it.
The Temptations
3/5
For as much soul as this music has, it's a very slow burn. There's some serious story telling and reflects a darker side of life.
SAULT
1/5
Pretty easy to listen to. But if you like this type of music, then go listen to Moby, whom they mimicked, and get your money's worth.
Van Morrison
5/5
I don't always love his singing, but I love his song writing.
Dusty Springfield
3/5
4 stars just for her amazing voice. However, she loses one star for singing too many covers. Her voice is so controlled even when she's belting out the song.
Depeche Mode
5/5
This was my first real introduction to DM. I love this album.
King Crimson
1/5
I understand why this album was so influential, but it didn't do a damn thing for me.
LL Cool J
3/5
I don't really care for rap, but I do like LL Cool J. And I love the hook of the title track.
Traffic
4/5
I like these guys. A couple of these songs were gems, a couple weren't. The rest was a good listen.
Love
1/5
Did the folksy side of this band kick off the psychedelic era of rock music? Yes. But if I wanted to listen to a Moody Blues album, I'd just go listen to a Moody Blues album.
Rod Stewart
5/5
I like Rod Stewart. This is really good songwriting and a very soulful performance.
Def Leppard
5/5
This gets 5 stars because of so many great memories associated with when this album came out. They released 7(!) singles: all of which got a ton of radio airplay. But I do have to say that the layered harmonies, and the heavy production, haven't aged very well.
Fats Domino
3/5
I love his voice. This isn't really my style preference, but there's no doubt the influence that he had on blues-style rockers that came after him.
The xx
1/5
Unintersting music by disinterested musicians. I pictured them all recording this while looking non-stop at their phones while pretending that none of the other musicians were actually there.
EVERY track sounded the same except for the first song, which was an obvious rip-off of David Bowie's "Heroes".
Pretty good stuff, but I can see why Rod branched off on his own. This band was holding him back.
Jethro Tull
5/5
Anybody who complains about the flute knows what they can do with said instrument. This is a classic from start to finish.
Sam Cooke
2/5
I'd have loved to have been there to see this live. But simply listening to it falls pretty flat.
Rufus Wainwright
1/5
This would have been pretty good if the producer had had the balls to tell this guy that he shouldn't be anywhere near a microphone.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
1/5
I'm glad that I already liked Neil before I heard this. I like that he is willing to experiment with his sound, but that doesn't mean that I am willing to automatically buy into his b.s. like to wonks at RS are prone to do.
Janet Jackson
1/5
The same drum, and keyboard, sound on every track? Check. The same vocals, and melody, on every track? Check. Typical 80's over-production? Check. The "Jackson" coattails to give this album the overhype that it received at the time. Check.
But give credit where credit is due: this was an original sound when it came out. Unfortunately, it is largely responsible for a whole lot of crap that has been trying to ride this album's wave for the last few decades.
The Byrds
3/5
I love the Byrds harmonies and guitar sound.....just not for more than 2 songs at a time. After 2 songs they just all sound exactly the same.
Butthole Surfers
1/5
It's difficult for me to give a f*** about a bunch of guys who go out of their way to not give a f***, but are trying too hard to accomplish not giving a f*** because they actually give a f*** about not giving a f***. 1 star for the ironic effort.
Primal Scream
1/5
They have a couple of songs, on other albums, that I absolutely love. Because of that I was very excited to listen to this. However, this album just plain sucked.
Sonic Youth
4/5
Listenable punk....not that that's a bad thing at all. The first time I ever heard these guys was when I saw them playing Bogarts in Cincinnati. This is a good album that sounds even better live.
5/5
One of the great American albums.....by an Irish band. Everything about this album is amazing. And the songs evoke images, and the hopes, of the frontier of the western U.S.: both modern and historical.
Jefferson Airplane
5/5
Somebody to Love is Grace at her best and has one of my favorite guitar solos/outros. White Rabbit is the psychedelic anthem of anthems. Today & Coming Back to Me are Marty Balin at his best. Helluva band and a great album from start to finish.
Jane's Addiction
5/5
If you weren't around when JA put out their albums, then you may not be aware about how ground-breaking and genre-defying this band was. This album was as powerful as Nothing Shocking, but JA didn't just copy themselves to please a fanbase.
The Blue Nile
1/5
Their songs are "okay", but lacking something that would make them memorable. Also, their sound/style is such that each song is indistinguishable from the others.
Deep Purple
5/5
If you don't like Deep Purple, then you should be deaf.
Bobby Womack
2/5
A little funk, a little soul, and way too much 80's canned-overproduction. An extra star for what could have been.
New Order
1/5
As a whole, the 80s really sucked.
The Beau Brummels
1/5
If Joni Mitchell had three brothers who could produce nothing but dry, white toast.
Tricky
3/5
I was pleasantly surprised by this. The music and rhythms were an easy listen, and even the vocal style was okay. Would I put this on my playlist? No. Did I enjoy the listen? Yes.
Jerry Lee Lewis
5/5
Now THAT's a live album. Even if you don't like his music, that's a concert that you would feel like you got your money's worth. Tons of energy, tight playing, and did I mention the energy? Way to blow the roof off the joint, Jerry.
System Of A Down
1/5
If this does it for you, then have at it.
Sister Sledge
4/5
I wasn't looking forward to this listen simply because I have never like the song "We Are Family": it sucks. But the rest of the album was pretty damn good. It was funk/r&b with the lasting touched of disco, but it is what it is. It has Nile Rodgers stamp ALL over it. As a matter of fact, if I didn't know it was Sister Sledge, I would have guessed that it was Chic that I was listening to.
3/5
All-around it's pretty good. The problem is that I just can't figure out what they were aiming for. I'm glad that guitar hero gave them their 15 minutes because otherwise I think they wouldn't have been on anybody's radar at all.
The Beach Boys
3/5
"Feel Flows" is one of my favorites by these guys. This was a very different album than I was expecting. I'm not sure if they were maturing with their music at this point, if they were just tired, or if they were trying to re-imagine themselves and keep up with changing musical tastes of the time. I'm glad that this wasn't a "Surfing Safari" type of album. As was the tag line for this album when it was released: It's safe to listen to the Beach Boys again.
Caetano Veloso
3/5
This isn't bad considering that this genre isn't really my thing. He gets an extra star for trying to look like a serial killer on the album cover. :-)
David Bowie
2/5
I love Bowie, but this did nothing for me.
Santana
5/5
Free-form-Latin-stoner music. Good stuff even if you're stone cold sober.
Slipknot
1/5
"All Hope is Gone" Yeah, no shit. There are bands that are hardcore/badass. Then there are bands, such as Slipknot, that could have more moments (Child of Burning Time, Vermillion, Pt. 2) if only they weren't so busy trying so hard to be badass.
I can't believe it takes nine people to produce this crap.
Jurassic 5
4/5
I was very pleasantly surprised by this album. It was very listenable, and very even-keeled for this genre of music. "I Am Somebody", and "What's Golden" were the standouts. I will listen to "What's Golden" often.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
1/5
There is a fine line between sounding like you are trying too hard, and sounding like you just don't give a shit. I honestly don't know where the hell these guys landed with this one.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
2/5
I like this band. I like their sound. This was a good listen, but there wasn't anything that jumped out at me.
John Lee Hooker
4/5
Typical 80's overproduction. The songs were good, but too polished for Hooker's style of blues. Thank heaven for the last 5 tracks, from "Sally Mae" to the end. THAT was John Lee blues.
Barry Adamson
1/5
They never made the movie to go with this soundtrack just in case the movie sucked as badly as this garbage.
The Clash
5/5
Nice and raw.
Television
2/5
Not bad, but just not quite.....
Stevie Wonder
5/5
It's Stevie. Living For the City and Higher Ground are enough to earn the five stars.
Talking Heads
3/5
A very fresh, innovative sound for 1979. They were never afraid to try different sounds: all while sounding like the Talking Heads. (Franz Ferdinand is cut from the same cloth). This was a nice listen.
Little Simz
3/5
I'm not a huge fan of this genre, but this was a nice surprise. The music was good and the vocal style was...tolerable.
The Yardbirds
4/5
Bluesy and not overproduced. This was a great listen. I love Beck's guitar sound.
Public Enemy
1/5
Zero Stars. Fear of a Crap Planet.
Patti Smith
2/5
I can see why this sounded fresh at the time, so I'll give it an extra star for that. But this album was a nothing-burger-with-cheese.
Manu Chao
4/5
I really like "Bongo Bong" and "La Vie à 2". This genre of music, for me, depends largely on context. In a cantina eating Mexican food? Yes. Cleaning out the garage? Not so much. But I enjoyed listening to this album.
Burning Spear
3/5
If reggae is on in the background, then....fine. But that's about as much as I can say for the genre. An easy listen, but nothing to get excited about.
The Who
5/5
Without the context of the story, this album doesn't make much sense. And some of the songs haven't aged that well. But this is a very important album for me. I heard it and the music, certainly not the story, really resonated with me. "Amazing Journey" and "Acid Queen" are two of my favorite deep cuts.
Talking Heads
4/5
The songs that I will listen to a lot are "With Our Love", "Warning Sign", "Found a Job".
I really like the Talking Heads: always have, always will. And this was a good album. However, their repeated song structure wears a little thin when you are listening to them an entire album at a time.
Frank Ocean
1/5
This is the answer to the question, "What would Stevie Wonder sound like if he had no talent for singing or song writing?"
Milton Nascimento
2/5
This was a pretty good listen. The biggest knock against it is that nothing really stood out for me or was anything that I would give another listen to. It was really pleasant background noise and not much else.
Beck
4/5
I love Beck. I don't always love what Beck produces, but I love that he always sounds like himself even when every track is so different and genre-distorting.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
I've always been "take it or leave it" with Bruce. I love his song writing, and the passion in his singing (even if his voice isn't worth shite). It turns out that most of the songs by Bruce that I enjoy the most are the ones that don't get radio play. And if it wasn't for the piano player, these songs would fall apart. However, this album kept my interest more than I thought that it would.
The Black Keys
5/5
It isn't just that this music is bluesy. It's that most of their songs have a really hook that is unique and keeps you wanting to listen to the song repeatedly. The only thing that grates on me is the distortion value of the vocals on EVERY song.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
I love Zep, but this is not my favorite album. It's basically a cover album of their favorite blues songs. But the raw energy they bring to every track was a hell of a signal as to what was to come.
Leonard Cohen
1/5
The album where every song sounds exactly the same and only one of them, "Everybody Knows", is even listenable. Subtract one star for the cover photo where he's eating a damn banana.
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
What this lacks in funk it more than makes up for in soul. Would I put this on repeat? No. Would I listen to it again. Definitely. "Poet" and "You Caught Me Smilin'" are the standouts.
The Smiths
5/5
The album was my first real immersion into The Smiths. In terms of the soundtrack of my life, this is an extremely important album for me. I love every track even though it reminds me of one of the most difficult periods of my life. But, hey, sometimes you have to take your demons out and exercise them from time to time, don't you?
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
1/5
If salsa music does it for you, then I imagine that this album will really do it for you. For me? If you listen to any 5-second segment of any of the tracks, then you've basically heard the entire album.
Genesis
1/5
I love Peter Gabriel. I love post-Gabriel Genesis. I like prog-rock. This album, to me, just sounded like outtakes and what would be the inspiration for early Spinal Tap. Thank heaven that Peter Gabriel split from Banks, Rutherford, and Collins, and they all stopped getting in each other's way.
Suicide
1/5
This was very innovative for 1977. And I can certainly see how this would have influenced many different genres going into the 80's. But innovative and influential doesn't mean, in and of itself, that it's any good.
Beatles
5/5
I once heard this album referred to as proof of John's misogyny. I wonder if the context of some of these songs would have allowed John to survive today's cancel culture in the wake of the #metoo movement. I don't know, but it could make for an interesting conversation. Lots of great songs here to showcase the transition from their earlier work to what would come next. 5 stars because even their meh songs are better than most bands' best efforts.
The Band
5/5
Great band, great album. A little folk, a little touch of southern "rock". A nice, easy listen.
Lou Reed
2/5
"How Do You Think It Feels" was my favorite, but "Berlin" was good as well.
Lou Reed, like Springsteen, is hit-or-miss with me. I recognize the great songwriting, but the delivery doesn't always hit the mark for me. Regardless of my personal opinions on him, I think that most people who say they like Lou Reed do so because they think it makes them appear "deep". Just a thought...
Blue Cheer
2/5
This is one of those albums/bands that fell in the cracks between other blues/rock bands of the time. They would have made more of an impact if they had been able to write some songs that sounded a little different from each other. They also shouldn't have relied solely on distorted guitars and screaming vocals.
Hookworms
2/5
"Shortcomings" is the only track that was remotely memorable. I didn't dislike this album, but there wasn't really anything unique about it.
David Bowie
4/5
This is classic Bowie. I love that he never just stands pat on his song writing.
Radiohead
1/5
I once visited an art museum with a group from a class that I was taking. We stopped in front of this 10'x10' canvas that was painted black: no texture, no variants in shading.....just black. Our guide, as well as many in the group, waxed poetic about this important piece of art and blah blah blah. The truth is that they saw it for what it was but didn't have the guts to say so because they didn't want to appear to others as "not getting it". Anybody who gives this album more than zero stars is just like the group of sheep who don't want to call out a black square as being nothing more than a black square. This album was 45 minutes of hipster wet dream.
Miles Davis
1/5
I kept wondering what method they used to come up with names for each of these tracks.
There is music of his that does it for me. This album missed the mark by a wide swath of bitches.
The Undertones
2/5
The underwhelming Undertones. They fell into the gap between soft punk and new wave. This isn't a bad album, but it's just very.....forgettable. And whoever came up with the idea for the video for "There Goes Norman" should be flogged.
Pere Ubu
3/5
It's weird. It's original. It's sometimes catchy and sometimes it's just dizzy. I liked it musically, and the vocals weren't so annoying that it grated on me. They get the third star for keeping my interest for an entire album.
UB40
2/5
Middle of the road reggae. I'm pretty ambivalent about them as a whole. "Madam Medusa" had a nice bass line to it. That's as exciting as it got for me.
Queen
5/5
"Brighton Rock"......THAT'S how you start off an album. God save Queen.
Muddy Waters
5/5
I love blues music. However, I do have to admit that most blues songs, from any blues musician, all use the same three chords, key, and chord progression. It does tend to make it all blend together into one long song.
Nightmares On Wax
5/5
This was a great, mellow, listen. I was a bit surprised that this came out before Moby came along (unless there's a connection between the two). This album is going to get listened to a lot.
Beck
5/5
I love Beck. Of all of his albums, this one probably doesn't have as wide a range of musical styles. The songwriting was amazing. I didn't pay attention to the lyrics, but my guess is that this is Beck's version of a break up album.
Pretenders
4/5
I like the Pretenders. And this is a great album. But I blame their brand of "punk" for the Green Days of the world.
Duran Duran
4/5
A very 80's-defining album. I've always liked "Hungry Like the Wolf", but the rest of the album is better than the 80's version of me remembers. Le Bon tends to whine too much in his singing, but I digress.
Fleet Foxes
5/5
And now I know who Lord Huron's favorite band is. "White Winter Hymnal" is one that I've heard before and quite like.
When I first heard that this was a folk album, I was a bit skeptical, but his album was a home run.
Underworld
1/5
"Banstyle" was listenable enough. That's all.
Eels
2/5
It's not bad. It's not great. It just is.
3/5
Listening to The Kinks is like taking a really pleasant Sunday drive. It doesn't really matter where you are going, or even if you "arrive" at any destination. The road just meanders and you enjoy the ride.
Wilco
1/5
Mumbling hipsters producing the musical equivalent of a plate of saltine crackers. This album was a boring, monotonous waste of an hour.
4/5
I really enjoyed "The Mess We're In". This album was a very nice surprise due to the first PJ Harvey album suggested by this site....sucked rocks. The songwriting, and delivery was great throughout. The last 6 songs were the strongest parts of this album.
I'm glad that I gave it a chance instead of skipping it.
Mudhoney
2/5
A little pre-grunge-wannabe-punk. It wasn't a bad listen, but nothing that I'll remember or revisit.
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
"The Yo Yo Man" had a nice hook. But the best that can be said for the rest of the album is that it is doesn't suck.
The Go-Go's
4/5
Catchy, upbeat songs that are pretty well written. This album came out at the perfect time for an all-women group to fill a niche that didn't really exist since The Runaways (Heart, Pat Benetar, and Tina Turner notwithstanding). However, it should be noted that the primary reason these songs worked at all is because of outstanding bass lines and strong playing by the bassist.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2/5
Not too bad. However, I'd like to slap whoever the idiot was that decided that forcing the distortion on everything would make them sound "harder" and "edgy". Overall, I'm not impressed.
Kacey Musgraves
3/5
Other than a few moments here and there, I wouldn't have figured this for country music. This was a nice listen. Hints of Allison Kraus and Mindy Smith (not that I'm hugely familiar with them).
Kid Rock
1/5
Musically? Yes. Lyrically? No thanks. I think that most people rated this so low because they just don't like him or his persona. I think that he's just trying too hard. It all sounds forced.
Charles Mingus
1/5
This is great music for people who readily relate to emperors who love new clothes that only they can see. This was what my high school jazz band sounded like when they were warming up to play actual music.
Save yourself 40 minutes by listening to the first 10 seconds and then shutting it off.
Lana Del Rey
3/5
I like her voice and her sound. But this was not anything memorable. And once you've listened to 2-3 songs in a row, you realize that she's a one-trick pony. This was a nice listen, but very middle of the road.
Ray Charles
3/5
I do like the big band sound. And I do love Ray. This is what I consider a "context" album: the setting that you hear it determines whether you think it's a great album or, as is my case today, it's just okay.
Fela Kuti
3/5
I was expecting a pretty decent smooth jazz album. Nothing really jumped out at me that would warrant a second listen, but this was a nice album.
Blondie
4/5
When they're good, they are very very good. This album was a harbinger of what was to come during the 80's. It had little hints of punk, some new wave, the synth sound of progressive music.
Anybody hearing this album for the first time may think, "meh", but in 1978 this was a bridge between 70's album rock and synth-heavy 80's music. At the time nobody knew that it was anything more than just a different sound.
Michael Jackson
3/5
The guy certainly had a very distinctive sound and style. This is a pretty good album on it's own merit. But you can certainly hear how much he had matured, and taken more creative control, when you listen to Thriller. Too bad the guy ended up being such a colossal loon.
Ryan Adams
3/5
This was a really good album to have playing in the background this morning. Not having heard this guy before, I had no expectations. Very nice voice and good music.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
There's nothing flashy about this album. This is the recording of a guy who sat down and played songs that he wanted to play and wasn't worried about topping the charts or pressure from the record company. A nice listen, but nothing really stood out to me.
Louis Prima
4/5
A really good listen. This isn't an album that you put on to just listen to. You put it on and let the music enhance the mood of the room.....if that makes sense.
SZA
1/5
Anybody who relies solely on auto-tune for their vocals shouldn't be allowed to record, much less be on a "must listen" list.
This should be on a website "1001 Albums You'll Wish That You Had Died Before Hearing".
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
2/5
I like the blues. I like blues-based rock. I like Eric Clapton. But this album was the same progression of blues chords on, and throughout, every track. This bored me very quickly.
The Magnetic Fields
1/5
These guys found 69 pretentious, self-indulgent ways to suck. This guy sounded like a moody Ian Curtis (THAT'S saying something, isn't it?), who occasionally let's his girlfriend, whom the rest of the band hates, sing.
Tina Turner
2/5
Tina is great. The issue I have is that this album was a couple of good songs that were buried in a pile of way overproduced 80's sound. The production values just haven't aged well and I, personally, just can't get over that.
3/5
I like Yes a lot. I don't mind weird time signatures or key changes. But the parts where it didn't even sound like they were playing a song, or the same song, just didn't do it for me. The saving grace is that when this album in good, it's very very good.
New York Dolls
3/5
I'm certain that the makeup and stage presence may have been very off-putting for a lot of people. That's the only reason I can think of for why they weren't as commercially successful as other bands of the time.
Pretty good mix of punk and "rock" music. This is take it or leave it music for me, but I do recognize how fresh this must have sounded when it was released.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
"Overground", "Metal Postcard", and "Suburban Relapse" were the standouts on this very good album. Very cutting edge music from a band that doesn't get the credit that it deserves for all the 80's new wave/punk bands that it influenced. This sounds like a perfect mix of The Smiths and X.
The Stooges
4/5
I love these guys. The only minus is that if you've heard the first 20 seconds of the song, then you've heard the entire song. However, these songs were written to be performed live more than to be listened to on a stereo.
OutKast
3/5
"I'll Call..." and "So Fresh, So Clean" are really good tracks. I like Andre's vocal sound even if I don't care much for this genre's vocal style. But if there is a good musical hook to a track, then I'm good.
Gang Starr
3/5
For this genre not really being my thing I have to give them props for being ahead of the pack in terms of their overall sound. They get an extra star for that.
Kendrick Lamar
1/5
c.r.A.A.p city
John Martyn
3/5
Not a bad listen. The first track was pretty interesting, but nothing else really stood out as memorable.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
This is an important part of the soundtrack of my childhood.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Reggae is always a pretty easy listen; and this was no exception. But, for me, reggae has been like sushi: I never crave it, but will, occasionally, try some if it's there. This gets an extra star for being really good for what it is.
Ute Lemper
2/5
Music written for the stage (theatric, not concert) really only works for me if there is a context for it; like an actual stage production. Other than that, it doesn't do much for me.
Sleater-Kinney
1/5
What happens when you are too late to the grunge party, but decide to go for it, but throw in a little punk so that you don't get accused of being posers who missed the grunge party boat? One star: that's what.
Pearl Jam
4/5
Pearl Jam are really hit-or-miss with me, with very little in-between. The irony is that the songs of theirs that I really like never get any airplay (I'm not sure if that makes me the hipster d-bag among their hipster d-bag fan base or not). I will, however give them their props for being original, never being formulaic, and for using the same into/outro to open, and close, the album.
Arrested Development
1/5
I don't know about arrested, but I could get behind "cease and desist". The best part of this album was imagining somebody being able to record this with a straight face. This should be on the list "1001 Albums That You'd Rather Die Than Listen To Again".
Zero stars.
That's all I've got energy for today, folks.
Joy Division
1/5
"A Means to an End" and "Heart and Soul" were okay. The rest of this album just didn't do anything for me.
Judas Priest
5/5
I absolutely love Priest and this album was what started it for me. When the first song you ever hear from a band is "Living After Midnight".....yeah....game OVER. I can't believe that "United" never became an anthem played at sports stadiums everywhere.
Roxy Music
4/5
A really interesting, eclectic, listen. I like that Bryan Ferry isn't formulaic in the songwriting. This is an album that I could probably listen to many times and hear something different every single time.
Barry Adamson
2/5
Very interesting, very diverse, and very pointless. And for an album recorded in the mid-90s, somebody should have told Barry that the "sax" sound of the 80s sounded dated even when it was popular in the 80s.
Coldplay
4/5
I really like Coldplay. But I don't think I could listen to them for this many songs in a row again. I like what's-his-face's voice until four songs in and realize that without the music, just his vocals, I wouldn't know what song he was singing.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Anyone who gives less than 5 stars deserves to be deaf. Anyone who gives less than 5 stars because Animals, or WYWH, is their favorite PF album, should be slapped. Judge it on its own merits or gtfo. That's my rock snobbery for the day. Happy holidays, everyone.
The Cardigans
3/5
A couple of these songs sound like watered-down versions of Stereolab. That's not a bad thing, but just an observation. "Been It" was the track that stuck out to me the most. "Lovefool" I have heard without knowing who sang it. It was meh.
This was like IKEA meatballs: pretty good, but nothing that I'm every going to crave.
Elis Regina
2/5
This one just didn't do anything at all for me. It's not bad, in any regard.
Björk
1/5
I guess that swan was wrapped too tightly around her neck.
I'm sure that she was trying for ethereal in these songs, but it ended up just sounding monotonous and like a drunken voicemail from an ex.
George Michael
3/5
Hats off for George successfully completely revamping his image with this album. This album didn't do much for me at the time, but it has aged pretty well. The songs are well written and performed.
Teenage Fanclub
2/5
A nice, easy, middle-of-the-road listen. It's good, but nothing of note to remember.
The Incredible String Band
1/5
Shite. Zero stars. Damn the idiot who put this on the list.
Elvis Costello
2/5
I know that Costello has always been a hipster's wet dream, but I find him to be tolerable at best. Two stars for not exactly sucking, but, come on, there's nothing to this album.
Tortoise
2/5
Not bad for background noise. Nothing of note, musically.
OutKast
2/5
I prefer Andre 3000's The Love Below, by far, to Big Boi's contribution. But 40 damn songs? Come on guys, learn to edit, ffs.
The Doors
5/5
I love the Doors. I don't harbor illusions about Jim Morrison being the great poet that he obviously thought that he was, but I do like his singing style and voice.
"Maggie M'Gill" sounds so much like "Back Door Man" that I would bet that Maggie was quite a lady.
5/5
Innovative and ahead of their time. They weren't afraid to just be themselves, and it shows. At the time nobody knew what the hell to make of them. Now, it's pretty obvious the impact that they had on a vast majority of 80s new wave and alternative music.
Kate Bush
1/5
I do like Kate's voice.....in 1-2 song increments. But the songs themselves were not that good. It's almost like they just slapped together some music and figured that nobody would notice because of her voice. Honestly, except for "This Woman's Work", it sounded like she was singing the same tune just with different backing tracks.
Animal Collective
2/5
This was a pretty easy listen. Other than the ethereal aspects of the production, there really isn't anything that stuck out enough for me to want to listen to again.
2/5
I love that Blur is willing to go with whatever sound they feel like performing. This album just didn't do it for me.
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
Nothing was going to live up to Rumours. And I think that a double-album is just begging to be seen as mediocre. It lacks the tension and angst of Rumours, but is still a damn good album. The Ledge is a fun stomp. Tusk is a great drum beat. Sara is a home run. This is an album by a band that had grown quite a bit from the coke-fueled middle school drama of previous albums.
Adele
4/5
She has a great, soulful, voice with a little southern vibe to it. The songs, while not incredibly original, are well written. This was a nice listen.
Sex Pistols
5/5
Crude, rude, and brash. These guys definitely did not just talk the talk. Their sound and attitude has been the benchmark for every punk/hard rock/metal band that has come since. Some bands have come close, but never duplicated all of this.
Oh yeah, the music is pretty damn good too.
The Hives
3/5
The weird thing is that I like these guys, then I realize that they always sound like Search & Destroy by The Stooges. Maybe if they had a little more variety to their songs.
Metallica
3/5
I'm a very casual Metallica fan. They're a fun concert, I like their sound, and their playing is tight. Overall, I like this album even though I'm not a speed metal fan and, after a few songs, I can't distinguish this album's songs from one another.
Common
1/5
Another album that has interesting music tracks being overshadowed by gibberish pretending to be edgy and/or poetic.
The White Stripes
5/5
Home run.
Lenny Kravitz
3/5
I like Lenny. His music will, as a whole, always 3-stars music.
Christine and the Queens
1/5
Formulaic and unoriginal. It doesn't even come off as being a "retro" sound.
Savage Garden called from 1993. They want their album back.
Gary Numan
2/5
An extra star because of Cars. But every song is exactly the same: and that's not a good thing.
Talking Heads
3/5
Pretty strong effort for a debut album. Not a bad listen at all.
New Order
2/5
"The Perfect Kiss" was the best song. The rest was pretty formulaic new wave stuff. Nothing spectacular, but it didn't grate on me.
Rage Against The Machine
3/5
Musically, this is amazing. But I just get into a vocal style that is just yelling with no choral intonation whatsoever. They lose an extra star for that.
Screaming Trees
2/5
"Make My Mind" was easily the best song on what was a pretty boring album. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything memorable either. This band seems to be one of those that the verse is better than the chorus, and that's not saying much.
The Cure
4/5
"In Your House" and "M" are great songs, as is "A Forest". I'm not a huge Cure fan, but this was a really good album.
Neil Young
3/5
"On the Beach" was the best song. The rest was a very easy listen, but nothing to get excited about.
The 13th Floor Elevators
4/5
Great album. There are refrains of The Dead, Jefferson Airplane, The Seeds, Love, etc. This is some great music.
Suzanne Vega
1/5
The music isn't bad. But her voice is flat and if she has any range to her singing, she never shows it. She is the inspiration for every lame-ass coffee shop singer that I've heard since 1990. No thanks. One star solely for the music and for not having to listen to "Luka".
Beastie Boys
1/5
How nice for them.
The Allman Brothers Band
4/5
Great band, great music, tight playing, and extraordinary musicianship. My problem with performances that are just extended, wandering jams is that after bit my mind just wanders and then the music just fades into the background. I get to a point where I don't even notice anything about the music that is being played. So then, imho, what's the point? Keep the songs to where you still keep my attention throughout and that's a better live performance for me.
But that little opinion isn't enough for me to knock them down much.
Manic Street Preachers
1/5
Well, that was boring as hell.
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
3/5
Interesting, and not a bad listen. It was nice to have on in the background, but I'm not sure that it would ever be something that I'd listen to again.
This sounded a bit like more recent string quartets, who recorded covers of classic rock songs.
The Saints
5/5
"Memories Are Made of This" and "Orstralia" were the two that really stood out to me.
This whole album was great. The songs didn't drag on forever, the singer actually sang, and it wasn't the same chord over and over throughout all of the songs.
Nirvana
5/5
I like Nirvana. I like this album. But Kurt was not the musical genius that many paint him out to be. Their best song, "Come As You Are", they completely ripped off from the band Killing Joke. The rest of their songs are basically just using the template laid out by the Meat Puppets. Kudos to Kurt Cobain for cashing in on other people's work.
Fela Kuti
5/5
This was a good album to have on in the background today. Lots of percussion, but arranged in a manner that it didn't overtake the music. Paul Simon would use very similar styles on his Rhythm of the Saints album in the early 90s. You have to enjoy anything that sounds like a drum circle.
Röyksopp
2/5
This wasn't unpleasant at all. It would be a great album to use for falling asleep. However, other than "So Easy" being a take on Bobby Vinton's "Blue On Blue", there wasn't much to remember this album by.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
5/5
I love these guys even when I don't love everything that they play. I love how the will play all different styles, and then mix styles together. Their avoidance of being formulaic works for me in how they go about writing their music.
The Louvin Brothers
2/5
One song at a time is enough for me. The harmonies, while good, are all the same on every sang. But they do get an extra star for the obvious influence that they had on future artists such as the Everly Brothers.
Gram Parsons
3/5
I confused this guy with Alan Parsons. Oops. So I was a bit surprised to hear country when I was expecting something in the prog-rock genre.
Emmylou Harris certainly added a welcome voice to the songs. I like this kind of country music. However, if not for Emmylou's vocals, this wouldn't be anything of note. The songwriting is okay, but his voice and singing style is pretty meh.
Meat Puppets
3/5
This album should dispel the myth about what a musical genius Kurt Cobain was. He was a damn poser who ripped off others' music even more than Jimmy Page did on the first few Zeppelin albums.
Cobain wasn't just influenced by these guys. He didn't have an original idea in his head.
As for the Meat Puppets? I like them. This album was pretty good. I wonder if their singer was trying to sound like the guy from the Violent Femmes, or vice versa? Just curious.
Nine Inch Nails
1/5
This is five-star music if you're in a club or are just some poser who thinks that listening to this makes you "edgy". Thank heaven I'm neither of those things.
PJ Harvey
4/5
Interesting. I enjoyed the hell out of this album: I definitely didn't see that coming. I liked the chord progression, and the production sounded very fresh.
Queens of the Stone Age
2/5
It wasn't bad, it just wasn't anything memorable. They were like a really watered-down version of Soundgarden, but with the same annoying guitar distortion on every song.
The Who
4/5
A good first album even in light of what would come later from this band. There were a lot of bands that had similar music at the time that this album came out. The difference is that those other bands didn't have a powerhouse rhythm section as did The Who. The songwriting is good, the playing is tight, and the bass and drums helped give this album the punch that would lead to The Who's moniker: Maximum R&B.
The United States Of America
1/5
This is what happens when try to sound like Strawberry Alarm Clock and Jefferson Airplane, but don't have the chops to pull it off.
When you see people on the news chanting "Death to America": this album is part of the reason why.
Culture Club
2/5
As an aside: this was America's first real glimpse of gender identity. There was quite a debate about what sex "Boy" was.
This is pretty standard 80's fare. Boy has a great voice and the music, for the time, was pretty good. But I hate "Karma Chameleon" with a passion and the rest of the album is just meh.
Soul II Soul
1/5
This was lame even when it came out in the late 80's.
Tears For Fears
3/5
There are some real gems on this album. This brings back such strong memories of high school that I'm not sure if I should add, or subtract, a star from my rating. This gets three stars on the strength of the 4 songs that got regular radio play. The rest aren't that great, but the album has aged pretty well for a mid-80's album.
Black Sabbath
5/5
53 years later and this classic still holds up. Who would have imagined that one of the best things to happen to rock music, and created an entire genre, all came about because the Tony Iommi lost the tips of two of his fingers. He down-tuned to allow him to play the guitar. And the rest is history.
Richard Hawley
3/5
"Tonight" was the standout song that I've been listening to on repeat. The rest was a good listen. It reminded me a bit of Andy Williams and others of that time/genre. That's not necessarily a bad thing.
The Cure
4/5
A damn good album. I'm not going to lie: I never gave this album a chance because all I ever heard on the radio was Love Song. The rest of this album is worth the time.
Nick Drake
1/5
Some people just like plain vanilla ice cream with no toppings. That's fine...you do you. But it's nothing to get excited about in the least. This album was the equivalent.
Depeche Mode
4/5
More "techno" than alternative, but still a very good album. For me this is a more mature, sometimes darker, album. Certainly it's more introspective than previous albums. And you have to love a line like, "reach out and touch faith".
The Who
5/5
I remember when I found out that this album wasn't a "greatest hits" compilation. That's how damn good The Who are. Maximum R&B.
ABBA
4/5
My favorite album cover that shows every person in the band looking like they think the photo concept is the dumbest thing they've ever heard.
When they are good, they are very, very good. Other times they are still pretty damn good.
I like U2. I like this album well enough. It brings back good memories and the songs are okay. But most of this is just a great bang going through the motions.
Hüsker Dü
3/5
I can't believe that these guys were considered "edgy" when I was in high school. It's obvious that they were trying to sound like the Ramones. Instead, they come off as sounding like Tom Petty. That's not a bad thing, but it's nothing to get excited about. Still, it wasn't a bad listen even if it was rather unexciting.
CHIC
4/5
Classic disco with a little soul and funk thrown in. Good stuff that has aged better than a lot of music of that era.
Pixies
5/5
Some hints of The Saints, but a very fresh, original sound. "Is She Weird" is the earworm song of the day. The rest of this album was terrific from start to finish. Definitely one that I'm happy made this list.
The Specials
1/5
"International Jet Set" was, at the very least, an interesting listen. "Enjoy Yourself", along with its reprise, are like the song "It's a Small World After All": songs that will drive one to insanity if played on a loop.
This album could go on the list of albums that I could have gone a lifetime without hearing. Ladies and gentlemen: The Mundanes!
The Darkness
2/5
"Get Your Hands Off My Woman" was a rocker even though the falsetto felt a bit too much. "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" is also a really good song.
The rest of the album was pretty bland. And the singer's range is impressive....at first. But after a couple of songs it's just annoying. And he hasn't got that great of a voice to begin with.
The Human League
1/5
Meh. One good song and the rest is either them trying to sound like Devo, or them trying to sound the like The Cure trying to sound like Devo. It's like that period of the 80's new wave all had the same producer who couldn't get out of their own way.
Leonard Cohen
1/5
I can't believe this f****ing guy is smiling on the album cover. "Songs to Shoot Heroin By", "I Watched My Entire Family Drown", "I've Been Buried Alive".... These would all be more appropriate titles for this depressing as f*** album.
Adele
2/5
Nice songs, and she has a nice voice. However.....she sings the exact same on every single song and her voice inflections wears thin pretty quickly. "River Lea" was the best song. The rest all sort of melded together. I couldn't tell where one song ended and the next had begun.
Paul Simon
4/5
Great songwriting and a very smooth voice. I like Paul Simon and really enjoyed this album.
Magazine
4/5
Pretty innovative for 1978. "My Tulpa", "Motorcade", and "The Great Beautician...." were the standouts. This was a pretty damn good album that has aged very well.
Goldie
1/5
"Timeless" was aimless and pointless.
Elvis Presley
2/5
Good music. But at this point his singing, to me, is just a parody of himself. I don't get Elvis: never have, never will. I can understand early Elvis, but not the overdone-Vegas sound of his voice. An extra star because the music has aged better than the vocal style.
Crowded House
2/5
It's good music and pleasant to listen to. But most of it is very generic and sounds pretty listless. I guess the context of when you listen to this matters.
The Byrds
2/5
Nothing spectacular. It sounds more like a Jefferson Airplane album than the Byrds.
Parliament
3/5
When it's good, it's very good. Some of the tracks are just a meandering mess. "Give Up the Funk" is good enough for it's own star.
Carpenters
1/5
This has not aged well at all. She has a nice voice, but her singing is so sappy that it's hard to listen to. When you add in the backing vocals.....no thanks.
Lupe Fiasco
1/5
My problem with this album isn't that it's rap, which I generally don't care for. But this was the EXACT same vocal track with different music backing. If the music were interesting, then I can live with that (Tupac's "California Love", The Coup, Jurassic 5). However, this was just another album that I could have died happy never having heard.
Doves
2/5
"M62" and "N.Y." were interesting and sounded less like Coldplay than other songs. But this was, overall, a pretty forgettable album.
The Boo Radleys
1/5
Well, somebody was trying to sound like Stereolab, weren't they? This album just meandered aimlessly. Sometimes that works for me, sometimes it doesn't. There were some interesting, but fleeting, moments here. This definitely wasn't a boring listen: that's not necessarily a compliment.
Suede
3/5
"So Young", "The Drowners", and "Metal Mickey" I like very much. The rest of the album is good, but doesn't live up to the hype that the British music press heaped on the album.
Kraftwerk
3/5
This album was WAY ahead of its time. Wow. This would go on to influence alternative as well as what the 80's would call "new age" music. "Hall of Mirrors" was probably the most interesting track. The rest was okay for background noise, but 9 minute tracks of the same 15 seconds over and over was a bit much. An extra star for being so ground-breaking.
Sufjan Stevens
4/5
"UFO" and "The Seer's Tower" I loved. Others like "Jacksonville" and "Casimir Pulaski Day" were really good. This was a very interesting listen: even the one about John Wayne Gacy. Albums like this make up for all the clinkers that are on this site's list.
Beastie Boys
1/5
There is some rap/hip-hop that I can enjoy if there is a musical hook to it. But every time the Beastie Boys find a musical aspect that I can get into, they open their mouths and..... I tried.
Al Green
4/5
I love Al Green. Not every song on here was great, but still pretty damn good.
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
1/5
Just another poser trying to sound edgy and be contemporary while being "outraged". Yawn.
Everything But The Girl
1/5
Bland 80s schmaltz at its finest. I will say this for this album: I didn't care for it, but it I was in a pissy mood when I started listening, and it's hard to feel anything while listening to this.
Norah Jones
2/5
It's nice. It's relaxing. It's some of the best elevator music I've ever heard.
The Slits
1/5
The Slits? Get it? "Cut". Get it?? Topless women on the cover. Got it yet? All are cheap marketing gimmicks that they had to use because they couldn't pull off punk or ska.
George Michael
4/5
"They Won't Go When I Go" and "Cowboys and Angels" are terrific songs. His singing style can seem a bit embellished and overly dramatic, but when it works, it works. This was a really nice surprise.
Radiohead
3/5
Other than a couple of songs, I'm not very familiar with Radiohead at all. This was a nice surprise. Now I get what I've been hearing about them.
Spiritualized
3/5
"Take Your Time" was mesmerizing. This is a good album to zone out with. "Shine a Light" started strong and then went off the rails. This wasn't a bad way to pass some time.
The Police
5/5
Great band. Great album. This gets the fifth star simply because my brother played this cassette non-stop during the summer of '83. I hear these songs and it brings back memories so vivid that even the mundane remembrances can invoke nostalgia.
Talvin Singh
2/5
Sometimes interesting, sometimes melodic/hypnotic, sometimes a meandering, rat-crap crazy mess. But, for the most part, it wasn't bad as background noise. Would I listen to it again? Probably not. Does that mean anything? Not really.
Lightning Bolt
1/5
What's less than zero?
Scritti Politti
2/5
Pretty good mid-80's fare. It's not bad to listen to, but every track is just the same template. They had the one hit, but didn't do anything to standout from all the other similar bands of the time.
Everything But The Girl
3/5
Pretty good stuff. It's nice to have on in the background, even if there's nothing memorable about it.
Hawkwind
1/5
"Down Through the Night" had a catchy riff that repeated endlessly. However, this album should have been titled, "Wish We Were King Crimson".
U2
5/5
Raw and powerful. This was U2 before Bono got a little too preachy and full of himself. This is an important chapter in the soundtrack of my life.
Coldplay
3/5
Overall, I like a lot of their songs. However, their songs don't have a tremendous amount of range or variety to them. When they're good, they're very good. The rest of the time they are very generic.
Youssou N'Dour
5/5
This was a great listen. This was perfect to have on while I'm doing what needs to be done. Lots of very subtle percussion in the background gave the tracks some extra depth.
Marianne Faithfull
4/5
This is pretty ahead of its time for 1979. It has also aged pretty well. This was a good listen from start to finish.
10cc
2/5
Some catchy tunes within a lot of meandering tracks. These guys would focus and have some good songs later, but this was meh.
Jean-Michel Jarre
2/5
New Age before that was even a thing. Kudos to him for that. Trippy and pointless, but not bad to zone out to.
Ramones
3/5
Simple and raw. And the good thing is that if you don't like a song, no worries, it will be over in less than two minutes.
"...Basement", and "Loudmouth", surprisingly, actually have some structure and chord progression.
The rest of the tracks are indistinguishable from each other. However....see my two minute observation.
Venom
2/5
I'm not going to lie....I was very surprised by this. These guys can play and actually wrote songs with structure. It sounded, to me, like a cross between Motorhead and Metallica. The problem is that they reminded me of that guy in high school/college who, regardless of how cool he actually may have been, tried SO hard to be edgy/scary/stand out from the crowd, that he lost all credibility and left everybody rolling their eyes as they walked past him. That's these guys to a "T". Enough of the "satanic imagery.....oooohhh....scary!", boy. It's always been lame and ages really poorly.
Guided By Voices
3/5
"Watch Me Jumpstart" and "Always Crush Me" were the standouts. Overall, this was a very good album. For having never heard of these guys, I'd listen to this album again.
The Youngbloods
2/5
This was the equivalent of vanilla ice cream: good, but nothing that I'm going to crave or simply want on its own. I really liked the first half of "On Sir Francis Drake". The rest was highlighting some uninspiring keyboard playing. This was The Youngbloods transitioning into Pablo Cruise. Meh
Amy Winehouse
2/5
There's a big difference between somebody who knows what notes to sing, and can hit the correct notes, and somebody who can SING the music. There's no passion in her voice, there's no rich quality to her singing, she's just singing what is put in front of her. I can't believe that everybody hypes her the way they do. She gets an extra star because her voice isn't terrible and because the music is not bad.
Dexys Midnight Runners
1/5
Too heavy on the horns. This didn't do a damn thing for me.
Kings of Leon
2/5
Good music. I'm just not sure what exactly it is supposed to be. There's not much to remember about these guys.
Travis
2/5
Not a bad listen despite them trying to sound like a cross between Radiohead and John Lennon on "Across the Universe". 10 identical tracks; none of which stood out at all.
Joan Baez
2/5
She has a great voice.....except her vibrato sounds too much like she's grabbing the skin on her Adam's apple and shaking it back and forth; that gets old fast. And all of these songs are the exact same song.
My problem with folk, as with most Christian music, is that the artists get too preachy and heavy-handed in the delivery. Believe what you believe, but be subtle about it and stop shoving it down our throats.
Massive Attack
4/5
It took a couple of tracks for me to settle in, but this was a really good listen. It has aged very well.
Anthrax
2/5
Metal is hit or miss with me. Overall, I liked the guitar riffs and the vocals were okay. The thrash part just does not do it for me at all.
Elton John
5/5
A home run. I wonder if more of these songs would have been hits if the few that had already been released weren't dominating the airwaves.
Dire Straits
5/5
Other than the saxophone on "Your Latest Trick" not aging very well (way too 80's schmaltz), these tracks are all incredibly performed and produced.
Trivia: this album was released in the cassette era, but just as CDs and digital audio was just coming of age. This album was touted as "you must own the CD version".
Joy Division
4/5
Pretty damn good. "Insight" was my favorite, but I liked the overall sound and mood of these tracks.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
1/5
As soon as I saw that this was produced by Frank Zappa I knew that this was going to be a shit show. I'm sorry to have hit the nail right on the head with that assessment. 28 tracks? Seriously??
It's garbage like this that actually makes me look forward to reviewing an album by Britney F***ing Spears tomorrow.
Britney Spears
1/5
And thus is the Radio Disney era begun. Bad songwriting, average voice, crappy production.
This site's credibility is again brought into question simply because some wonk decided that selling 25 million albums must make it one of the all-time greats.
Pulp
1/5
There wasn't a single track on this album that wasn't bland and unimaginative. I'm surprised that these guys didn't die of boredom while playing these songs.
Merle Haggard
3/5
I'm not a big fan of country music, and there isn't anything spectacular about this album. However, when I think of country music, this is generally what I'm hoping to hear. Pretty good stuff.
R.E.M.
5/5
I'm a hit-or-miss, take 'em or leave 'em, R.E.M. fan. And I've always thought of Michael Stipe as a self-righteous, grumpy "old man" type. But this was a fantastic album from start to finish. I've always resisted calling myself a fan primarily because the few people that I've personally known, who were huge fans, were all pretentious a**holes. That has nothing to do with their music, but I just like having a forum to say it out loud. Kylie, Ed, Emily, Tall Ed, the jerk who sat behind me in geometry, and Liz Walker's d-bag brother: get over yourselves, you dicks.
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
This was pretty bland considering that they have a lot of other great material. One great song and the rest all sort of sounded the same with a low energy output.
Don McLean
3/5
After 30 years of not listening to the song because of American Pie "fatigue", I have to admit that it really is one hell of a good song. I know that the song is specifically about Buddy Holly's death, but some of the other references, including "birds" and "eight miles", also have me believing that the "day the music died" was also referring to Altamont and how that weekend brought the whole Woodstock/Summer of Love era to a crashing halt. American Pie then stands as bookends to two major rock music eras.
The rest of the songs are pretty good folk tunes, but aren't very varied or imaginative. It's obvious that Don was breaking his neck trying to sound like Paul Simon, but coming up a bit short. Still, this entire album was a very strong effort, but didn't quite deliver.
Arcade Fire
3/5
They have a couple of songs that I really like quite a bit. But they also have a lot of songs that are a meandering, muddy mess. They need to sharpen their production values and figure hone their songwriting. They get the third star because it is listenable.....in small chunks.
XTC
1/5
I like XTC's sound and when they find a hook for their songs. But too often their songwriting just meanders until it gets back to the catchy hook. That's fine unless the song doesn't have that hook. "Mermaid Smiled" is a perfect example of a hookless, meandering mess.
"Earn Enough For Us", "Season Cycle" were decent songs. "Dear God" is just whining that seeks to blame somebody else for humans being assholes to one another due to our own folly and hubris. It became a hit simply because it gave d-bag, hipster college students the illusion that they were rebelling against their upbringing. Not so edgy.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
CCR is some of the best road trip music ever made. People might be surprised to realize that this isn't a greatest hits compilation. Just a stellar album from start to finish. I can't believe the three who aren't John Fogerty threw such fit about not being recognized for John's work. Talk about killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.
The Teardrop Explodes
2/5
It's pretty listenable for as monotonous as it is. This is pretty ahead of its time for 1980, but was too bland to have any real staying power.
Love
2/5
"Seven and Seven" is a great song. "The Castle" was catchy and "Stephanie Knows Who" is pretty good as well. This album sounds like they got caught between psychedelic and what would become "classic" rock. Good when they're good, forgettable when they're not.
Dirty Projectors
1/5
"The Bride" was a pretty decent song. The rest was just a big mess.
Cocteau Twins
2/5
"Fotzepolitic" was the most notable track on a listenable, but altogether forgettable, album. It's obvious that these guys listened to nothing but ABBA and just didn't have the chops to pull off the same level of execution.
T. Rex
2/5
So they changed directions from folk-rock to whatever the hell this is: glam rock, because they put on makeup? Whatever. "The Motivator" rips off "Bang a Gong", but is the better song. "Planet Queen" was also a good song. An extra star for those efforts, but that's it.
I don't get why everyone goes apeshit for these guys. Every song is the same level of everything: middle of the road on every count. And it's not possible for the singer to mumble any more than he did. Sheesh. Were these guys trying to be so quiet that you weren't sure if they wanted to actually be heard or not?
These guys are a nothing burger with cheese: the cheese is good, the bun is good. But without the meat, then what's the damn point?
Peter Gabriel
5/5
When you consider how all over the place Gabriel was with Genesis, and his earlier solo efforts, I can see why some would be skeptical about this commercially appealing album. And yes, the 80's production doesn't always age well. However, this is just a great album from start to finish.
The Verve
3/5
Not a bad listen, albeit pretty forgettable. However, I would put this on again as some background noise.
John Cale
5/5
I loved everything about this album. It just hit the right note for what I was in the mood for today.
"Hanky Panky Nohow" and "Paris 1919" really stood out for me.
His voice is a bit of Ray Davies and Ringo Starr. The songwriting had a touch of Harry Nilsson (or vice versa). This was a great album
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Three standouts (I Believe, Superstition, Maybe Your Baby), one cliche' (You Are the Sunshine of My Life), and a lot of middling, syrupy songs. I love Stevie's songwriting, but sometimes the delivery is too much schmaltz for my taste.
Slint
4/5
Shades of Radiohead and Tool. "Breadcrumb Trail" was a great opener. I liked this album quite a bit.
ZZ Top
5/5
"Waitin' For the Bus", "Jesus Just Left Chicago", and "La Grange" are enough for this album to get 5-stars. But that the rest of the album is DAMN good is just icing on the cake.
The Cars
5/5
All of the naysayers need to consider this: 45 years later and most of the songs on this album still get regular airplay. There aren't a lot of albums by any band that can make that claim (that aren't "greatest hits" or " best of" compilations). This is a home run.
Pixies
3/5
Not bad for a first effort. Good energy and decent riffs. Is there anything that really jumped out at me? No. Would I sit through it if it came up in the playlist? Yes.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
4/5
I really liked "The Fun Lovin' Criminal", and "Bombin' the L" plus 2-3 other standouts. Overall, I found this a pretty good listen. For a genre that I generally avoid, I prefer this to any of the crap put out by the Beastie Boys.
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
Another reviewer, celebrating their 365th review, lambasted the rest of us for our minimalist reviews and descriptions. My response is that if they want loquacious treatises on the merits of an album, or lack thereof, then subscribe to RS or one of the other wastes of musical publishing. My reviews are primarily for me.
The best I can say for this album is that is was boring but, overall, didn't suck.
Earth, Wind & Fire
5/5
A great mix of soul, funk, and R&B. These guys are amazing. And the production values, for the time, were unmatched. This is a great album.
Baaba Maal
5/5
I love when I'm exposed to an artist/genre like this and it just clicks with me. I loved listening to this and will play this in the future. I'm always wary when anything international makes this list, but this was a wonderful listen for me.
Beach House
4/5
I liked it. It was catchy and mellow enough to chill out with. "Love of Mine" was a great track. I'd give this a listen again in a heartbeat.
Neneh Cherry
1/5
Zero stars. Why listen to a Swedish knock-off of Madonna, Janet Jackson, etc., when you can just listen to the aforementioned artists? Instead we have what would eventually spawn all of the synthesizer-based, auto-tune Radio Disney garbage. What a crap sandwich.
Cornershop
2/5
So the hit, "Brimful of Asha", was just flat out annoying to listen to. "Sleep On the Left Side" was a good start to the album. The rest of the songs were pleasant to listen to, but nothing memorable.
Supertramp
2/5
I'm sorry, but being a "break through" album shouldn't be enough to warrant a spot on this list. When you compare this to their album "Breakfast In America", this album is a bargain bin submission. A couple of good songs in "Bloody Well Right", and "Dreamer" aren't enough to overcome the fact that this album is this band's award teenage phase.
Soft Cell
4/5
I'm surprised at how much I liked this album. I was in high school when "Tainted Love" was a hit. This was a nostalgia trip for me. "Sex Dwarf", "Seedy Films" and "Youth" were damn catchy. The rest was pretty good 80's-synth fare.
A problem for these guys is that "Tainted Love" was such a huge hit, that nothing else they did was going to live up to that song. The other problem is that they sound a lot like what Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Pet Shop Boys were putting out at the same time, but the other guys just did it better.
The Pogues
1/5
18 tracks of sound-alike music that shouldn't be played outside of a pub or a wake. Do people actually listen to this stuff when they're driving, doing homework, etc? For what it is, it's good. But they have two (so far) albums of Irish jigs on a list of 1001 must-hear albums. What the hell?
Randy Newman
1/5
America's favorite lounge singer. His music is okay, but his voice is....not great. I listen to his music and I wonder if he was just biding his time until Disney made him the soundtrack for all of their Pixar movies.
Beyoncé
1/5
So my understanding is that she has a team of 13 song writers helping her with this crap. What a joke. What a waste of time.
Astor Piazzolla
1/5
Some of the tracks were okay....those that featured the vibraphone. The free-form tracks with what sounded like a damn accordion? Give me a break.
Ash
2/5
"Goldfinger" was a good song. These guys want to sound like Nirvana/Smashing Pumpkins, but were a little too watered-down and late to the party. "I'd Give You Anything" is ripped off from Black Sabbath's N.I.B. Other than that, there wasn't anything memorable about any of these tracks.
The Only Ones
3/5
I wonder what it's like to be 15 seconds into your first track, and you realize that you need to fire your singer. The good news is the singing gets better, sort of, after the first track.
Musically, this is all pretty good stuff. "The Beast" is a good track. This is another album that if it's on, I'll listen to it, but I doubt I would add this my playlist.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
I enjoyed "Uncomplicated" and "I Want You" very much. Let's establish something here: he can't sing and the tunes he sings sound the same on every single song. The songwriting isn't bad. However, I just never "got" this guy, which is probably just fine with all the hipsters who swoon whenever Costello's name gets mentioned.
Nitin Sawhney
1/5
"Tides" was a nice, chill tune. The rest of it, however, was a rambling mess of musical styles, and cultures, that never should have been combined. I'm not sure how this made it onto this list.
Sarah Vaughan
5/5
I love this type of jazz. I love her voice. This album is a home run.
Goldfrapp
2/5
I quite liked "Lovely Head" and "Paper Bag". They were a little bluesy/jazzy ethereal. "Oompah Rider" was carousel music on acid. The rest of it was a little too meh for my tastes. A lot of the tracks sounded like the soundtrack to some 90's arthouse film that was going for a "deep" feel.
It wasn't a bad album, but it wasn't much to begin with.
Japan
2/5
Very progressive and ahead of its time for 1979. That still wasn't enough to keep me interested. I kept wanting it to be more than talented guys just going through the motions. Come on, guys, put some passion into it.
These guys must have felt really screwed when Duran Duran completely copied them and then went on to be massive superstars. But this is a case of "if the songwriting were a little better and the sound a little bigger". Should of, would of, could of....
The Fall
3/5
Very listenable, quasi-Clash album. There were some very nice musical hooks to several of the songs. My biggest gripe is that they never really built on the original riff of any one song. It was just wash, rinse, repeat. That made most of the songs get old fast. But they get an extra start for being good when they needed to be good.
Neil Young
5/5
I didn't always get Neil Young. However, I love that he does what he is feeling at the moment and if you get it, then great. If you don't, then sucks for you. In this case, I really like almost everything about this album. The songwriting, his singing, the lyrics, the mood (for lack of a better word), all resonated with me. The only exception is "There's a World". That song should have been reworked, or redone altogether. Neil needs to just focus on being Neil.
The Beach Boys
4/5
I get why this album is so highly praised. Great harmonies, amazing production values, great song writing. And I love how they manage to cram so much sound, in so many layers, into each song without it sounding muddy or overdone.
I can totally see how ahead of its time this must have sounded when it came out. However, most of the songs were indistinguishable from each other.
Extra stars for "God Only Knows" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice".
Bad Brains
2/5
Some hard rock mixed with thrash metal mixed with punk. An original concept that managed to sound very unoriginal. This album didn't do a damn thing for me despite being well written and performed: an extra star for that.
Bruce Springsteen
1/5
You can't dispute Bruce's songwriting ability. And his lyrics tell stories and really are meant to speak to the listener rather than just be vocal filler. But this is over-produced and lacking in passion. They all sound like they are all just going through the motions. This album should have been titled "Cruise Control". It's flat as hell.
It's really telling that, except for Bruce's distinct voice, there isn't any difference between this album and most of John Mellencamp's cookie-cutter albums from later in his career. The violin "Waitin' On a Sunny Day" is a perfect example of this.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
4/5
That was a fun, bluesy ride. That's definitely a nice surprise from a band with a really dumb name. "Yellow Brick Road" had a nice plot twist in the middle. I will definitely give this album another listen.
Gil Scott-Heron
3/5
Musically, I loved this album. It was a nice mix of blues, R&B, and soul. Vocally, it wasn't so great and the lyrics were to heavy-handed for me to consider them impassioned or powerful. "Song for Bobby Smith" was the only track that really hit on all fronts for me. It was a very soulful, bluesy song.
Nanci Griffith
4/5
I liked this album quite a bit. I'm not a huge country fan, but I liked this much better than the crap that is soft-rock with a country twang; no thank you. Her voice reminds me a nice mix of Dolly and Loretta. This was a nice album to have on today.
The Triffids
1/5
Whatever this was, it was NOT alternative. It wasn't bad, it was just completely uncreative and boring. It would have fit in well as the lousy soundtrack to one of the many lousy movies that were prevalent that year.
Sisters Of Mercy
2/5
It took them 1 minute into the first song to rip themselves off. It sounds a lot like "Deliverance" by The Mission UK. "Lucretia" had a nice base line.
I liked this mostly because this was part of my high school years. I wasn't goth, and we all were pretty disdainful of those pretentious d-bags, but the music was pretty damn good, overall, despite being pretty repetitive.
The big knock against these guys is that they were caught between trying to sound like The Cure, and figuring out their own identity: which is as goth as it gets. And it was also eye-rolling to hear the guy keep trying to sound like Bela Lugosi when he sings.
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
4/5
I liked it. The songs had variety and managed to keep my interest throughout. There's not much more to say about it than that.
Richard Thompson
2/5
It was......fine. The music was okay, but nothing memorable. The singing was so middle of the road that I kind of forgot that it was there as I was listening to this album. This is the musical equivalent of Minute Rice: it has its place, but I'll never be hungry for it alone.
Kings of Leon
3/5
This was a pretty good album. "Use Somebody" was one that I didn't know was them. "Closer" was a really good track. The rest is good enough to play the entire album again. However, I can see why these guys never became huge.
The Prodigy
1/5
If getting stoned and going to clubs is your thing, then this is the album for you. I don't enjoy either, so that's it for that.
Morrissey
2/5
Vocally and musically this was all fine and good. But Morrissey's solo stuff will never sound like anything more than really watered-down Smiths songs. This loses one star simply because every single song made me want to just go listen to The Smiths: so off I go.
Traffic
3/5
It's a pretty nice listen, but nothing too exciting. "You Can All Join In", "Pearly Queen", and "Feelin' Alright" were the best tracks. Middle-of-the-road music gets a middle-of-the-scale rating.
Morrissey
3/5
"You're Going To Need Somebody On Your Side" and "Glamorous Glue" were real surprises. I really enjoyed those songs a lot. "Tomorrow" was the closest that he came to capturing the Smiths magic. The rest of the album was very unexciting.
Curtis Mayfield
5/5
This made me nostalgic for areas of the city that I wouldn't, and shouldn't, go into for any amount of money. This was a very chill album.
The Psychedelic Furs
4/5
"Dumb Waiters" was the best track on the album. I liked "Pretty In Pink" before the remastered version; oh well. "I Wanna Sleep With You" and "All of This and Nothing" were the standout tracks for me. The rest of the tracks all sort of morphed into one another and didn't jump out at me all that much.
The Furs were big when I was in high school. I'd probably have liked them better if 2 of the 3 songs (Love My Way and Heartbreak Beat) that got regular airplay, had done more for me.
The Temptations
3/5
For what it is, and on its own, it's great. But when you consider how much similar music was being produced at this time, this gets lost in the shuffle.
That there isn't anything to really make this album stand out from all of the other music of this time/genre caused it to lose a lot of luster for me.
Lambchop
2/5
"Grumpus" was a pretty decent song. "Up With People" was catchy. but vanilla. "The Butcher Boy" was the most uptempo song, but even that fell pretty flat. This was, overall, a very low energy album that had a lot of songs that were just lifeless.
Nas
1/5
Every track was exactly the same, with so little variation that I had to concentrate to see even the slightest of variations. 10 tracks of (c)rap.
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
I liked the bass line to "Theme" very much, and also enjoyed "Religion II". The rest of it was just Lydon trying to remind everybody that he was, at one time, Johnny Rotten and they should all be afraid. Whatever.
If you want a really excellent post-punk album that doesn't try too hard, then go listen to The Scream by Siouxsie & the Banshees.
Van Morrison
5/5
A masterpiece.
Beastie Boys
1/5
My biggest problem with these guys is that everything is the same level of screaming into the microphone: there's no subtlety whatsoever. Many artists of this genre have the sense to have a good musical hook and then have their vocal style match. These guys see their music backing as a challenge and just take to shouting over it/shout it down. What a waste. This is the musical equivalent of screaming "Deez Nuts!" over and over.
"Looking Down the Barrell of a Gun" is the closest to them finding that balance of vocals and music that work together rather than against each other.
Jeru The Damaja
1/5
This is the style of hip-hop that I tend to tolerate the best: musical hooks and non-screaming vocals. However, there really wasn't anything about this album that stood out to me; musically or otherwise.
The Auteurs
4/5
Catchy melodies, decent vocals, and overall is a pretty good listen. Nothing really jumped out as "play on repeat", but it's still good for what it is. I'd definitely listen to this again, but I can see why it didn't do better than it did upon release.
B.B. King
4/5
A great album. An incredible live recording. Personally, I prefer slower blues with less of a horn section, but that's splitting hairs.
Radiohead
2/5
It wasn't bad. The problem is that it wasn't really anything at all. "My Iron Lung" was the standout, but that's not saying much. I just don't get the hype surrounding these guys and the fact that the guy cannot sing.
The Notorious B.I.G.
1/5
Undeniably C.R.A.P.
The Kinks
4/5
Two albums ago was my review of a Radiohead album. I realized that there are similarities between them and The Kinks. Radiohead's music meandered and Thom Yorke's singing sounded like he is clinically depressed. But The Kinks seems lighter, doesn't meander, and their singer, who can't really sing either (let's be honest), pulls it off because he doesn't come off as trying to convince everybody how depressed he is that nobody "gets" him.
This was a really good listen.
Erykah Badu
5/5
"In Love With You" was a really amazing song. All of these were terrific. I loved her voice, style, and the bluesy/R&B/soul vibe to this entire album. This was a really wonderful surprise.
Slade
2/5
I never realized how much this guy sounds like Janis Joplin (or how much the guy from Quiet Riot sounds like this guy). However, I prefer when he just sings rather than the yelling that he spends most of his time doing. Musically, they sound similar to Sweet, imho. That's not a bad thing, but doesn't really help them stand out from the pack.
The songs were okay, but nothing spectacular. "Gudbye Gudbye" was a really good tune. "I Don't Mind" had a bluesy swing to it that I liked.
I prefer these guys to T. Rex, but I can see why they weren't as big as the T. Rex.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2/5
"Bright Horses" was very enjoyable. "Ghosteen Speaks" was haunting and heartbreaking, but also one that I liked.
The rest of it was an ethereal fever dream that would fit in well with some sappy montage from an arthouse film. It meandered. And I didn't really vibe with his vocals not really matching what was going on musically. I'll give it an extra star for simply not sucking.
Steely Dan
5/5
"Bodhisattva" is the only track that didn't really do anything for me. "Razor Boy" and "King of the World" were new listens that I really liked. I've always loved "Showbiz" and "School". The rest was just a nice listen.
The Chemical Brothers
1/5
There's a line somewhere that allows me to like Moby, but not care at all about this type of electronic music. This did nothing for me at all. There wan't any hook that pulled me into any particular track.
Public Enemy
1/5
An entire album of blaming others for their own broken culture: what a novel concept. Musically, there were no hooks to this. Lyrically....blah blah blah.
Grizzly Bear
1/5
"Southern Point" was okay and had me thinking that this album good be a nice discovery. "Two Weeks" was also promising. But then the rest of the album was a meandering, pointless, hipster mess. At some point I realized that there was sound coming out of my speakers, and saw that five tracks had played and I hadn't registered a single note from any of them.
Bland.
Dr. Dre
1/5
Garbage that helped legitimize thug culture. This album should have been titled "De-evolution: 13-90". IYKYK...
Portishead
1/5
This was the musical equivalent of prepping for a colonoscopy.
Arctic Monkeys
3/5
I quite liked "Riot Van" and "Red Light Indicates...." The rest were good, but all sounded the same to me: intense, but pushing just a bit too hard. Still, it's a valiant first effort and sounds better than a lot of other crap that came out around that time.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
3/5
"Relax" has aged very well. I remember what a huge hit it was when it first came out. It took me longer than it should have to realize what the song was about.
I've always loved the title track along with "Two Tribes", although I don't like the remix that I heard here. And I didn't care much for the cover songs. "Ballad of 32" was good, but too porn-like towards the end. The rest just was... Still, I liked that they didn't try and make everything a catchy Relax knock-off.
Metallica
4/5
I know that a lot of people bash this album for being too "commercial", but I liked it. I have a lot of really good memories associated with this album. Do with that what you will.
Dinosaur Jr.
1/5
Pre-grunge grunge. That would make them pretty significant if they could have pulled it off.....which they didn't.
Hipster logic: this sucks, but I'll say that I love it so that I can claim to have liked it first. If it becomes popular, then I was the first to like it for what it is, and not as a bandwagon fan. If it never catches on, then I can bask in my superiority complex of recognizing genius that the peasantry just isn't sophisticated enough to understand.
Sigur Rós
4/5
Very ethereal. I really liked this. "Olsen Olsen" was the standout for me. The rest of the tracks were great to have on in the background and get things done. I can see putting this on and completely zoning out.
Stephen Stills
2/5
It wasn't a bad listen, but it wasn't really memorable either. I liked the different styles of music that all managed to sound like Stephen Stills throughout. I'm sure that this was a lot of fun to play and record, but was a so-so listen. And a double album was way too much. This was the equivalent of casually asking someone about their weekend and getting every damn detail of every damn minute.
Circle Jerks
1/5
Punk rockers were just an earlier form of hipster douchebags: just "edgier". The irony is that in order to properly rebel and not conform, one had to totally conform to what it meant to be punk. Ironic, isn't it?
Kanye West
1/5
The exact same vocal style/intonation/inflection in every track is extremely boring and unimaginative. There were no musical hooks here either. This guy is the equivalent of a bowel movement with an ego and a clothing line. How many stars is less than zero? Yeezus wept.
CHVRCHES
2/5
This album perfectly encapsulates most of the albums on this list: it's not bad for what it is, but that doesn't make it worth ones time. "Science/Visions" was the only standout and there isn't anything really memorable about it.
There a saying that is something along the lines of, "That meeting would have been better as an email". That's a good descriptor of these 12 tracks.
Femi Kuti
3/5
Pretty good stuff. Great pace, great horns, and lots of energy. But I don't think that the songs needed to be as longs as they were. I'm guessing that these songs were meant to be danced to and not simply listened to.
R.E.M.
3/5
When they're good, they're very good. The rest of the time they sound as flat as Stipe's voice. I like them better now that I did when they were all over the airwaves. "Stand" and "Pop Song" are the standouts. "Get Up" had a nice hook to it. I never liked "Orange Crush", and never will. And so it goes....
Paul Simon
5/5
So many styles, and layers, of music. Every track is so unique in its construction and style. Amazing.
Miriam Makeba
3/5
Not as many African harmonies as I was expecting, but this was still a very nice listen. She has a great, soulful, voice that would have fit in very well in many American nightclubs. This brought about hints of Sarah Vaughn's recording "At Mr. Kelly's". Despite all that, there wasn't much that really reached out and grabbed me.
Devendra Banhart
3/5
Some shades of Elliott Smith with a more folksy feel. His voice was okay, but not great, although it did fit well with the music. Musically, it was pretty mellow and melodic without having anything really stand out from the rest.
A lot of it is if Simon & Garfunkel had ADHD and had written all of their stuff while tripping on acid. Or it is a mellow, acoustic Radiohead. I don't know.....something like that.
"A Sight to Behold" "Insect Eyes" "Autumn's Child" and "Fall" were the best for me. "Tit Smoking...." was a nice instrumental.
Would I listen to it again? Yes. Would I add it to a playlist? No.
Thundercat
2/5
Some soul, r&b, and jazz fusion-influenced music. I liked the overall tone and mood of it. However.....it was all over the place and I couldn't really feel anything cohesive from most of the tracks. There was very little direction to whatever the aim of this was supposed to be.
The Police
5/5
Innovative for its time, this album is awesome. Does every track hit it out of the park? No. Are those tracks better than half the albums on this 1001 list? Yes. This album has aged well, but should be judged on the merits of when it was released.
Aerosmith
5/5
A classic. This is their best album. This album's detractors are mostly by people who can't stand it that these guys wrote their own music, actually played their own instruments, and didn't use backing tracks when playing live. It's called "classic" rock for a reason. If you can't rock out to "Sweet Emotion", then you don't deserve to have functioning eardrums.
Drive-By Truckers
1/5
I like Southern Rock. This isn't Southern Rock. This is watered-down versions of a Kid Rock/Outlaws/Kenny Wayne Shepherd/Skynyrd cover band. Even their attempts at blues-based music fell flat. This is such a tired genre.
The more that I listened to it the more I wondered if they were parodying the genre. Spinal Skynyrd?
Robert Wyatt
1/5
If the word "pretentious" were an anagram for "a bunch of crap", then we'd have a winner. "Heaps of Sheeps" was at least interesting to listen to, and also was an attempt at an actual song. The rest of it was a pointless cacophony. What a waste of a spot on this list.
Eagles
3/5
Of all the albums by these guys, I'm not sure why this one made the list. Three major hits, sure, but still....
The rest of the songs have the Eagles sound, but aren't really worth much.
The Thrills
2/5
It's not a bad listen. But it's also not that memorable. They sound like a watered-down, hokey version of Arcade Fire.
"Santa Cruz" and "Big Sur" were the best of the bunch. I just couldn't get past the singer sounding like a baritone version of Elmo from Sesame Street.
If you listen to the first 15 seconds of any song, then you have heard the entire song.
Bebel Gilberto
2/5
Good voice and production. But I can only listen to this stuff for so long before it just sounds like a lounge act to me. It all just melded together as far as I could discern. There's a time and place for this, and this list isn't it.
White Denim
4/5
There are some nice Allman Brothers/Grateful Dead/Santana vibes to these guys. Some bluesy free-form music that varied from track to track. Several tracks had a very loose-structure feel to them, but the playing was so tight that it's obvious that the opposite is true.
"Burnished", "Street Joy" were really good songs. The middle section of "Is and Is and Is" pushed an okay track to a new level. This was a good listen. I would like to see how these guys do as a live act.
Prefab Sprout
1/5
This was boring as hell.
Moby
5/5
Either this does it for you or it doesn't: there doesn't seem to be any in-between. It does it for me. I like the sampling; both vocally and musically.
I listened to this a lot during a very good time of my life. This is a keeper.
The Monks
4/5
Pretty good stuff. It's wanna-be punk, but more melodic. It's like the Zombies with a harder edge to it. Definitely has that mid-60s, mop-top sound about it. I'd listen to this again.
LTJ Bukem
2/5
For being on the computer and taking care of some light work, this album was okay to have on as background noise. That really is meant as an endorsement of this album, however. I can't really figure out why I really like Moby "Play", but I see this is a meandering mess; but I do. Maybe it's this album's lack of structure or anything cohesive in the tracks: who really knows?
Choosing a drum beat, a bass line, and throwing in some vocal/sound effect samples, and then repeating it all for 6-8 minutes isn't really a good formula for anything.
If I were the type to drop acid or do Molly, then this album would be amazing. But I'm not, and it isn't.
Wu-Tang Clan
1/5
This is what you listen to when you aren't deaf but deserve to be.
Booker T. & The MG's
2/5
For 1962 this is smooth as hell. "Green Onions" is probably the best groove ever recorded. The rest of the album was meh; it hasn't aged that well. The biggest issue is the same warble sound from the keyboard on every track. It sounds like something that you would hear over the P.A. at a minor-league baseball game.
Van Morrison
3/5
I like Van Morrison. I don't like everything of his, but I recognize great songwriting when I hear it. And I also have to judge this based on the fact that it's a live recording. The sound mix is outstanding and the musicians' playing it TIGHT. This is one of the better live recordings I've ever heard, regardless of how I feel about the music.
My biggest issue with these songs is that they all sound very similar in their style and structure. But then I've always been a "in small doses" fan of his; so there's that.
Arcade Fire
2/5
It's not that the music isn't good or listenable. It's that it all sounds the exact same. The singer knows exactly three notes and one tone. They use the same bass line and keyboard sound on every track. And the mix is the same on every single song. It's monotonous as hell.
Syd Barrett
2/5
Musically, it sounds like a Kinks rip-off. Other than sounding very much like a lot of other music of the time, there's not a lite of substance to any of this. I'm giving this an extra star because I know what he was going through in his life at this time. It breaks my heart to think of the effort that it must have been for him.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
1/5
So Nick was angry, got drunk, went to a karaoke bar, and somebody recorded it. Got it.
Enough with the Nick Cave albums already, ffs.
Marilyn Manson
1/5
Two chords, the same level of distortion and yelling into the microphone. People may still talk about his appearance and his publicity stunts (along with his felonies), but his "music" had zero staying power.
This guy managed to be an even bigger loser than the losers who thought listening to him made them scary and edgy.
Rush
5/5
It's Rush. Was this the beginning of a really dark, synthesizer-heavy sound for them? Yes. Was it still better than 99% of the crap that would be 80s music? Hell yes.
If you don't get it, then fine. If you don't like it, then that's okay too. You can be a little b**** and listen to your Yaz, Madonna, and Fresh Prince all that you want. And don't forget to push up the sleeves of your Miami Vice suits while flipping up the collar of your hot pink Izod shirts.
Brian Eno
3/5
"The Jezebel Spirit" was the standout. This was a pretty forward-thinking project for 1981. Lots of techno and sampling. It was Moby before Moby was Moby. It wasn't a bad listen, but nothing that I'd really listen to just to listen to. An extra star for being so ahead of its time.
Cowboy Junkies
5/5
A very bluesy, atmosphere-setting album. I really enjoyed the from start to finish.
The Stranglers
5/5
I love these guys. They have a fresh, different sound on every track. I love that they have a punk edge to them without it all being bleating into the microphone to the same chords played over and over. Give them their due for having the guts highlight the keyboards.
"Sometimes", "Peaches", and "Get a Grip" are great tracks.
Peter Frampton
4/5
It's a great recording of music that translates well live. There's a really good energy about this entire album, even when certain tracks aren't that great. There aren't many live albums that have multiple tracks that still get regular radio airplay. That's pretty impressive.
Bauhaus
5/5
"In Fear of Fear" was my favorite. This is a little Joy Division and a little Siouxsie Sioux. It was raw, simple, and a great, dark listen. Good stuff.
Fatboy Slim
1/5
Sometimes this type of electro/sampling works for me. Most of the time it doesn't. Moby, and Mylo, are good examples of this. "Going Out of My Head" was the only track on this album that did anything for me at all.
I think that this album will appeal to people who like to get high and look at flashing lights as well as people with short attention spans who have no concept for chord progressions or song development. Yes, that was me calling the 4 and 5-star voters a bunch of simpletons.
Rocket From The Crypt
2/5
"On a Rope" was catchy and sounded like these guys actually tried to write a song rather than focus on two chords for the entire track.
They sound like a heavier mix of Green Day, Elvis Costello, and the Ramones. It also sounds like they are trying too hard and they just can't pull it off. Even the tracks that sounded like they had a good hook to them never really went anywhere.
Alice In Chains
5/5
A classic. Dark, raw, powerful, autobiographical.
LCD Soundsystem
1/5
The first track was okay. Then the rest of it was a bunch of unoriginal, boring crap. If this does it for you, then great. There are some of this ilk that I like. This one isn't any of those.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
I like Stevie, but this album didn't live up to the hype for me. This should have been a single album and should have punched up a lot of the tracks that should have left off. When it was good, it was good.
Pink Floyd
2/5
THIS is Spinal Tap. Psychedelic aspects aside... Did nobody in the band figure that something about Syd was way the f*** off when all this was going down? I'm sorry about what happened with Syd: nobody deserves that. But from a musical perspective: thank heaven he went off on his own trip.
Songs like "Astronomy Domine" and "Matilda Mother", which start off strong, end up taking weird left turns that diminish the strong elements.
Just say, "no", kiddies.
Astrud Gilberto
2/5
It's pleasant enough to listen to, but hasn't aged that well. It now sounds like a cross between waiting room music, and the kind of background music used for a montage in the middle of a boring movie.
M.I.A.
1/5
The exact same sound and production values on every second of every song. Boring, unoriginal, monochromatic, no variation.....you get it.
The Sugarcubes
3/5
A watered-down Siouxsie & the Banshees. I also agree with the reviewer who likened them to the B-52s. That's not a bad thing for music that came out in the late 80s. My problem is that I just can't take Bjork seriously after the infamous, or notorious, swan dress. Still....it wasn't a bad listen, even if it wasn't necessarily my thing.
2/5
The first few songs had me thinking that this was going to be a good listen. But the truth is that the entire album was vanilla: the same four chords, same arrangement, same production/mix, the same four notes sung over and over. I don't know why these guys got any hype at all. Even "Wonderwall" is a sugar cookie of a song.
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
1/5
"Down On Mission Street" was a damn good song. Everything else was very boring. Were these guys even aware of what was going on with music in 1984? Michael Jackson, Depeche Mode, Def Leppard, REM, Van Halen, X.... Maybe these guys thought that compared to everything else at the time, that their sound was really fresh and innovative. Good Lord was this album boring as hell.
The Beta Band
3/5
I couldn't tell you exactly why this reminded, at times, of old Moody Blues; but it did. I'm not really sure how to describe what the hell I just listened to, or why I found it oddly pleasing. It was good to have on in the background today.
Joan Armatrading
4/5
I liked this quite a bit. Her voice isn't the greatest, but it works well with her music, and she is very heartfelt in her delivery. It's was bluesy and soulful, but with a modern feel (for 1976). I'm surprised that I've not heard of her before.
The Flaming Lips
2/5
Careful that you don't click on the "deluxe" version that has 100 f***ing tracks.
It wasn't a bad sound, but it was very monochromatic and quite dull.
Liz Phair
3/5
Great music. Shit singing. Lyrics that have me confused about whether she is filled more with misandry or self-loathing. She needs therapy and to stop blaming all men for her shitty life choices.
Holger Czukay
1/5
Weird? Check. Interesting? Check.
But why the hell is this on a list of albums that I must listen to before I die? It loses a star on behalf of the moron that put this on the list.
Madness
4/5
I never realized that these guys flirted with being ska until I read another comment. Interesting.
I've always liked these guys and their minor chords. Many of their songs have a calliope feel to them and their chords are reminiscent of when a record player is playing slightly slower than it should. I'm not sure why it works for me, but it does.
Pantera
2/5
Musically, it was fine. I don't mind really heavy three-chord music. But the least the guy could do was attempt to sing instead of posturing as a quasi-dark, wannabe drama queen. Even Lemmy made an attempt at singing. Why couldn't this guy?
Leonard Cohen
5/5
A very soulful, spiritual journey. His voice is hit-or-miss for me, but this really resonated with me on every track. I loved the soothing, catchy music. What a great listen.
Grateful Dead
5/5
If you don't get why this album is so damn good, then that sucks for you. The Dead were never known as a studio band. They developed a huge following because of their freeform concerts that never repeated themselves from show to show.
If that's not good enough for you, then go back listening to Bieber and Swift, and "f" right the hell off. Peace and love to you all anyway.
Sonic Youth
2/5
"Dirty Boots" was a really good song with a catchy opening hook. I liked "Kool Thing" and "Titanium Expose" as well. All three were well-crafted songs that held my interest.
The rest of the album I couldn't decide it they were trying a little too hard, or weren't trying hard enough. It was just a lot of noise. Two stars for three good songs.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
Other than a handful of songs, I'm not really a Springsteen fan. However, the older I get the more I appreciate his songwriting and the passion that he puts into his singing (you can debate his ability there all that you want to).
This is a great, heart-felt album that reflects the hopes/lost dreams of angst-ridden teenagers and the American working class.
Bee Gees
1/5
Of all the Bee Gees albums to choose from, author chose this one? Thanks for nothing, stupid-head.
Frank Zappa
1/5
Every now and then he managed to put out something that I found listenable and a good listen. "Willie The Pimp" is one of those. But for every one of those songs, there are at least 10 garbage tracks like "Peaches En Regalia".
I'm very content to be one of those people who just doesn't get Frank.
Herbie Hancock
3/5
It was a very interesting listen. Some jazz, R&B, fusion, blues, techno..... And for 1973 this was way ahead of its time. A lot of it sounded like a Beck album without the vocals: 20 years before Beck put out Mellow Gold.
This isn't really my thing. But if this were on in the background, it wouldn't bother me.
The Electric Prunes
1/5
"Train For Tomorrow" had a nice hook. It was the only track that sounded like they really put their hearts into the writing rather than just being caught up in copying the "sound" of the time.
Very unoriginal and unremarkable.
Doves
2/5
"Firesuite" was the best track. The rest of the songs were pleasant enough to listen to without having anything really jump out from the others. This has some flashes of Coldplay (not sure which group came first). That's not a bad thing, but this album felt just a little too safe for me.
Jorge Ben Jor
4/5
I love the multiple musical layers of this music and how it all blends together. You can tell there's a lot going on, but it doesn't sound muddy at all. I don't know how I'd describe this type of music, but it is definitely what I envision when I think of Brazilian music. I really enjoyed this little discovery.
Ponte De Lança Africano had a nice hook to it with the minor chords.
Meaus Filhos, Meu Tesouro was a fun, catchy romp.
Calexico
5/5
Zydeco, bluesy, folksy, with a dash of Ennio Morricone thrown in for good measure. I loved the hell out of this album.
The Stooges
5/5
Yes, there are a couple of instances where they mimic the Doors' sound. The difference is that they don't stay there too long. The rest of it is great stuff.
To "sort of" quote Lester Bangs: Jim Morrison was a drunken buffoon who thought he was a poet. Iggy Pop had the courage to be a drunken buffoon, and that's what made him poetic."
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
"Going Up" and "Do It Clean" were the standouts here. The rest all sounded exactly the same. That got old rather quickly. The two songs that I really liked were the first two on the album. I wonder if the song order had been different, if I would have liked whichever songs had been 1-2.
The Mamas & The Papas
2/5
3 really good, recognizable, timeless songs. The rest sound okay, but haven't really aged as well as the hits.
TV On The Radio
1/5
"Stork & Owl" was probably the most interesting track on this album. The rest didn't do a damn thing for me at all.
Guns N' Roses
5/5
A pretty damn good album with a lot of raw, visceral energy. The biggest drawback for me, that could influence my rating, is that there has been such an over-saturation of these songs (as well as Axl Rose-fatigue) on the radio for the last 35+ years. While that may attest to the songs' staying power, I just am tired of hearing them and all the drama that Axl brings to everything all the time.
With fresh ears, however, this album is raw, crude, and has aged pretty well for the genre.
Motörhead
5/5
It is what it is, but it's awesome for what it is. Because sometimes, a cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke is the perfect meal: even if the guy making the burger can't cook to save his life.
Willie Nelson
5/5
I know of Willie Nelson, and have heard a handful of his songs over the years. Overall, I have a "meh" attitude towards his music: take it or leave it.
But this album was a home run. It was stripped-down country, which is better than today's country-twanged rock sound. This was a calming, gentle album that was just good song writing and delivery. What a nice listen.
Queen Latifah
1/5
If I wanted to listen to the Beastie Boys, I'd just listen to the Beastie Boys. Just saying....
Destiny's Child
1/5
Auto-tune? Check. All songs sound exactly like each other? Check. This album has no place on a list like this? Checkmate.
2/5
I get why these guys get the hype that they do.....sort of. Loud, aggressive punk that was ahead of its time. Sometimes the same three chords played over and over while the singer does their thing, does it for me. This did not. Having said that, it would be a fun concert to be at for all that energy.
Super Furry Animals
3/5
Tracks 1 and 3 were very solid. I wonder if I had listened to this album in reverse order if these tracks would have sounded as good as they did.
I liked it...pretty much. The songwriting and production wasn't anything outstanding, but it was a nice listen. They sound a lot like Blur, but without the variety. After a few tracks, they all sounded too similar to each other, but if you listen to this album 3-4 songs at a time, then you'll be okay.
Thin Lizzy
3/5
Thin Lizzy is one of those bands that was better live than in the studio. There is a lot of energy in their performance and their music translates really well into a live performance.
I know that a lot people talk about the overdubs, but every live album is cleaned up as much as possible regardless of the band: that's a fact.
How you feel about a live album depends largely about how you feel about the band in general. I'm a 2-star Lizzy fan, but I give an extra for the energy that I've seen these guys put into a concert: something that doesn't fully come through on an audio recording.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
2/5
I'm a moderate Neil Young fan. I enjoy him in small doses. Listening to this album, I enjoyed the production, performances, and the music. However, I get tired of his whiny voice and self-righteous musings. Not his best stuff.
Mekons
1/5
"Trouble Down South" was an okay song. "Country" had a nice hook to it, but the vocals were pointless. Punk doesn't work well in 3/4 time. This album shows why punk bands should never get clean and sober.
These guys are trying way too hard to be the Clash, which left me wondering why don't' I just go listen to the Clash?
Dolly Parton
2/5
These are not my words. They are a review from another person from 2021. However, they perfectly describe how I feel about this album, and Dolly's music overall.
"Full disclosure: I've never much cared for Dolly Parton's voice. I don't care for the way she uses vibrato and her voice is so sharp it could cut through steel. Which is not to say that she's a bad singer--her interpretative skills and phrasing are better than most and her pitch is dead on. It's really just a matter of personal preference, purely subjective. On Coat of Many Colors, while there is a fair amount of variety within the rubric of mainstream country (ballads, country-rock, etc.) it's all very generic, if well played but what I would guess are a bunch of Nashville studio cats. The melodies are nothing special either. The one area that Parton excels in is narrative songwriting. The opening two tracks, Coat of Many Colors and Traveling Man, are superb--I'd stack them up against the best of the giants of country music, like Hank Williams Sr., Lefty Frizzell, etc. Seemingly without effort, Dolly manages to cram in character writing, narrative, local color, comedy, and earned sentiment into three minutes or less! That's a rare talent and a golden ticket in popular music. Unfortunately, not all of the other songs she pens on the album are as magnificent. There's a nice ode to meeting God in the wonders of nature (Early Morning Breeze), but the rest of her lyrics could have come from a dozen other artists. To sum up, the terrific lyrics of the opening two songs overcome the bland music (although admittedly it might have sounded fresher back in 1971) and Dolly's voice (YMMV), but the rest of the album pretty much goes in one ear and out the other, not leaving much of a trace. Pleasant enough, but really slight."
Robert Wyatt
1/5
The opening track should have been titled "Sea Sick". That pretty much sums up the entire album: appropriately titled "Rock Bottom".
This album is equivalent of going to someone's home for a dinner party and having the host's child be a massive, loud, pain in the ass. Everyone at the party wants to kill the little monster, all while the host beams in pride and brags about their spirited child.
I hope there's a special place in hell for the moron who put this on a "must hear" list.
ZERO stars.
The Sabres Of Paradise
1/5
This was less "Haunted Dancehall", and more "My Car Broke Down" or "Bad Night at Taco Bell".
ZERO stars.
Paul Weller
3/5
The entire album was an easy listen, if altogether unremarkable. There were quite a few flashes of Traffic in the music and vocals. That's not a bad thing...unless there's nothing else to really make you distinguishable.
5/5
I love X. That is all.
The Zutons
1/5
That was bland and pointless. Whoever killed the Zutons should have done it before this album was made.
Talk Talk
5/5
This wasn't what I was expecting from this band at all. I thought that "It's My Life" would be on this album as it was, by far, their biggest hit.
I loved everything about these songs. This is one of those albums that was a very nice surprise.
Kelela
1/5
"LMK" was a really good song. The rest of the album was middle-of-the-road singing backed by what sounded like an overproduced Enigma album.
I wouldn't put this album on the list of "must hear" from the year 2017 alone.
Grateful Dead
1/5
If this was my first foray into the world of The Dead, then I wouldn't like them at all either. The truth is that at this point they were still trying to figure out their live presence. And I don't care how legendary the Fillmore West venue is, the production quality of this album sucks.
There wasn't anything like a Grateful Dead concert. While true, in this case, that assertion isn't a good thing. Go listen to Europe '72 and see if that doesn't make you want to join the party.
Donovan
4/5
I enjoyed listening to this album. He's got a decent voice, the songs are catchy, but not exceptional, and have a nice mellow vibe to them without putting you to sleep.
Kate Bush
2/5
I like her, but there were only a couple of songs that didn't sound just like all the others. "Running Up That Hill" and "Cloudbusting" were those two.
An entire album of her just didn't do it for me.
Wild Beasts
1/5
"The Fun Powder Plot" was the most listenable song on the entire album.....despite really annoying falsetto. Other than that, this album was a pointless mess. Another addition to this list that was based more on critical acclaim and less on actually being worth listening to.
Serge Gainsbourg
4/5
"En Melody" was pretty good musically. The big problem with it was the Fran Drescher laugh in the middle. "Melody" was a really good song. The rest of the tracks, except for "Cargo culte" were worth the listen.
I don't speak French, and couldn't give a rat's-a** the suave vocal style. However, musically, I really enjoyed this more than I thought I would.
Black Flag
2/5
Sometimes punk works for me. Mostly it doesn't. This is great for what it is. And I'm always grateful that bands like this can never sustain a song for more than 2 1/2 minutes.
I can deal with the songs where they actually tried to craft a song. But the ones that are just let using their instruments to jerk off? Not so much. An extra star for being ahead of the punk curve for the 80s.
The Shamen
1/5
If really lame clubs and raves are your thing....
Funkadelic
4/5
"Maggot Brain" was a great track. Very ethereal and a bit Hendrix-like. "Hit It And Quit It" had a really nice hook to it.
This album was a fun romp. It wasn't as funky as I was expecting, but was a bluesy-soulful album. Definitely worth a listen.
Paul Revere & The Raiders
2/5
I have to admit that these guys are a better band than I was giving them credit. (Probably had something to do with those stupid, gimmick outfits)
If you like generic mid-60s music that was made from the same template as every other band of that era, then you'll like this album. Was it a good listen? Yes. Was there anything that made it stand out and made it memorable? No.
The Rolling Stones
2/5
It's more blues than rock and roll. Obviously a ton of cover songs. I'm not really sure how they got someone to record a first album knowing that it was all covers.
If this was the only album that they had put out, would this album be on anybody's "must hear" list? No chance. This list should represent an artist's best work, not just a list of random choices of albums.
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
It's a good break-through album for them. They definitely have their own sound: especially because of Billy's voice. But there were only 1-2 songs that didn't sound like they came from the same template of tempo and chord progression. This is a good album....3 tracks at a time.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
Awesome. Great voice, good R&B vibe, clear production. Not every track was a winner, but most of them were.
Country Joe & The Fish
3/5
It's definitely the sound of the Bay Area during the late 60s. It's not a bad album, and the songs have a variety to them. The problem is that the so many of the other bands of the time.....did the same psychedelic sound so much better than these guys.
Iron Maiden
4/5
This is better than a vast majority of metal music at the time. D'Anno has a good voice, but it's very generic. The playing is tight and this is a solid groundwork for what Maiden would become.
Up the Irons!
Shack
3/5
Not a bad listen, but a very generic one. There wasn't much to distinguish between all of the tracks. Daniella was a nice change of pace but, again, wasn't anything really memorable. "Pull Together" was the catchiest of the bunch and is the one I'm most likely to listen to again.
Faust
3/5
I really liked "The Sad Skinhead", and "Jennifer". The rest was a wandering, dissonant mess. I'm actually giving it an extra star for at least being interesting and each track going in a different direction.
808 State
1/5
More pointless music meant for stoners who like to hang out in abandoned warehouses and marvel at glow sticks.
Sepultura
1/5
I don't find anything in the world as unbendingly humorous as bands like this. I really am amazed at the ability for bands like this not to burst out laughing at how f'ing stupid they sound. This deserves zero stars, but gets one just for giving me the good laugh that I needed today.
John Lennon
1/5
Talk about a guy resting on his laurels. If he had put this out under another name, and had somebody else sing, this album wouldn't have sold 50 copies. And I really can't stand 99% of the things that Yoko gets anywhere near.
I love the Beatles, but I never realized how much John was held up by the other three. He is the third most talented guy in the Beatles: and after listening to this album, that's being generous. This album was a pointless mess.
Little Richard
4/5
This is a copy/paste from another reviewer because I couldn't state it any better than they did:
"The 'patient-zero' for 99% of this list. Modern music owes everything to Little Richard's innovation. Sure, he was riding a wave of change in the 1950's, but the bands that influence the bands that are listened to now were influenced by Little Richard."
The only thing that bugged me is that you can only do so much with the basic blues chords/key progression before it sounds repetitive.
Einstürzende Neubauten
1/5
Jesus wept.
ZERO Stars.
Motörhead
3/5
The playing is tight. If I didn't know better, I would say that this was just the studio versions with crowd noise added in the background (Yes, I'm looking at you, KISS). I do like Motorhead, but I don't think that I can listen for more than 3 songs at a time.
Still, it's a hell of a live album even if every song sounds the same as all the others.
k.d. lang
5/5
This was a wonderful surprise. It was as much blues/R&B as it was country. Avery nice mix of all styles that integrated very well with each other.
She has a really nice voice. This album was a good introduction to K.D.
Grant Lee Buffalo
3/5
Some shades of Kurt Vile, Mazzy Star, Cowboy Junkies, etc. (or vice versa....I'm not sure). This is a pleasant enough album: even if his vocal style and the acoustic strumming gets a bit monotonous after a bit. The songs are longer than they need to be, but that's nitpicking.
I really enjoyed this music, albeit only 2 tracks at a time. "The Shining Hour" and "Jupiter and the Teardrop" were the two standouts, and ironically, the first two tracks on the album. The other nine were just variation on the same theme.
This may be the most negative 3-star review I've ever written.
The Coral
1/5
Some wannabe psychedelic/folk/Oingo Boingo/CSNY/Doors/The Specials.....
The tried to come up with a unique sound while trying to sound like a ton of other groups at the same time in every song. They failed on a sound that is worth listening to while also failing to honor whoever the hell their influences are.
Maybe the author of this list should have capped it at 101 albums.
David Bowie
2/5
I never liked the song "Young Americans". "Fame" is the only real standout on this album. I also like "Win" quite a bit. While the other songs weren't bad, they were pretty bland and forgettable. I'm really not sure why, of all his albums, this one made the list.
Massive Attack
2/5
"Better Things" and "Sly" were really good, and I enjoyed them very much. The rest of the album didn't do anything for me.
Simple Minds
4/5
This has aged better than a lot of 80s music. I really like these guys and most of the tracks on this album have aged pretty well and sounded really good when they were new. "New Gold Dream" is one of my personal favorites, and brings back great memories. "Glittering Prize" and "Somebody Up There Likes You" were the favorites for this listen.
Waylon Jennings
5/5
I love Waylon and his brand of country. Apart from that, the songwriting here is really good and was a good listen from start to finish.
John Coltrane
3/5
Context is everything. If I'm chilling in a coffee shop or a bookstore, then this is great stuff to have on the overhead speakers. But other than that, I can take it or leave it.
Also, I prefer the trumpet to the saxophone. The sax has become a bit of a cliche.
Tom Waits
2/5
Musically and lyrically, this is quite good. The problem is when he opens his mouth and sings. WTF?? Sorry folks, but that voice killed this for me.
The Beach Boys
2/5
What The Beach Boys did, they did very well. But they repeated it so often that it isn't really necessary to put more than one of their albums on a list like this.
They lose stars for being so frigging monotonous. Moving on......
Joni Mitchell
1/5
I just don't get the hype surrounding her. She's just a wannabe hippie who, in my opinion, didn't do enough drugs.
Have you ever eaten a plain, untoasted English muffin? That's Joni Mitchell's music. La de da de doo....
The Doors
5/5
I love the Doors because their sound is so unique. The fact that their debut album could be construed as a 'greatest hits' is a testament to how good this album is.
Deee-Lite
2/5
This was actually pretty retro/innovative for 1990. A little funk, disco, techno.... The biggest problem is that the "fresh" sound only lasts for 1-2 tracks and then it's just monotonous.
Ice T
1/5
At least the guy is a half-decent actor.
T. Rex
1/5
T. Rex is one of those bands that I just don't get what the hype is about. They have a couple of songs that I like, moderately, but other than that they are just a damn mess. This album did absolutely nothing for me.
Christina Aguilera
1/5
To whomever put this "artist" and this album on this list: damn you to hell.
Beth Orton
1/5
I'm not sure who she was trying to channel: Carol King, The Cranberries, Joni Mitchell, or some other coffee house half-talent. This was a bland, monotone album.
This is what you play when you want to encourage your houseguests to leave and not come back.
The Replacements
3/5
"I Will Dare" and "Androgynous" were the best tracks on here. I like that these guys actually wrote songs rather than just put out an album of two chords and unnecessarily aggressive "singing" ("We're Coming Out").
Not a bad listen.
Paul McCartney
2/5
There's not much to this album except for "Maybe I'm Amazed." It's not a bad album to listen to, but there really isn't anything spectacular about it. Of all his solo works to choose from, I don't know if this is the one to make a "must listen" list.
Sabu
2/5
If you like the first 10 seconds of these songs, then you are going to like the entire track because it's SO repetitive. Musically, I enjoyed this (minus the repetitiveness). But the vocals drove me up the frigging wall. Take those away and I would have given this another star.
The Stone Roses
4/5
This has an ethereal sound to it. Each track is different while still sounding cohesive to the others. I absolutely love "Fools Gold" and "I Wanna Be Adored". The rest was a really good listen. A great first album.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
I wish that I had heard this back in 1986. This was really out of the ordinary for that year. There's a lot of reverb and distortion. Those don't always work, but for the most part they do. "Taste the Floor" and "Cut Dead" were the real standouts for me. There were a couple of tracks that just sounded like feedback, but the rest were pretty decent.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
There's the amazing "Solsbury Hill" and then there is a very ambitious album that is all over the place. A little Randy Newman sound in "Waiting for the Big One". "Down the Dolce Vita" was the prog-rock version of "Eye of the Tiger".
I'll give him props for doing whatever the hell he wanted but, damn, what a weird ride. He gets an extra star for that. I'm glad that he found the voice that he would go with for the latter part of his career.
G. Love & Special Sauce
1/5
Some of the songs had an interesting hook, musically. The problem is that each song is the same four bars repeated over and over with no variation. And then comes the vocals: repetitive in sound, sloppy, and uninteresting.
This album was boring.
The Byrds
1/5
"Eight Miles High" is an all-time classic for me. The rest of this was a mess. This would get 3 or 4 more stars if I had listened to this while stoned out of my gourd. But I'm not, so it didn't.
Missy Elliott
1/5
You can't convince me that every boring track wasn't the exact same as the boring track before it. Supa Dupa Sucked.
Maxwell
1/5
This makes two albums in a row of music that shouldn't make this list, and that is a chunk of my life that I'll never get back.
Talking Heads
2/5
Lots of interesting rhythms, a little funk, and a very international feel on most of the tracks. "Overload" had a very Doors feel to it.
Unfortunately, none of this did anything for me today. It just sounded like a mess to me.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
The guy can't sing, but that hasn't stopped me from liking the stuff of his that I like. That he, personally, is such a whiny little b**** doesn't take away from how I feel about his music. Was this a home run? No. Was it a strong effort with some great tracks? Yes.
Hot Chip
1/5
Sounds great in the club. Well....this isn't even that great for a club. Sounds like shite on my home speaker.
LCD Soundsystem
1/5
Payola. I'm convinced that whoever compiles this list got paid to put some of these albums on the list. This album is one of them.
Joni Mitchell
1/5
When it comes to Joni Mitchell's music, the emperor isn't wearing any clothes. She can't sing, and even her songwriting is a meandering mess. Just because she used to shack up with Graham Nash doesn't warrant all of the butt-kissing that she receives at the mouths of the music press and hipster d-bag aficionados. Zero stars
Joanna Newsom
1/5
If a whiny Alvin the chipmunk had tried to record an arthouse album. Zero stars.
This is just bad luck that this album came a day after I had to sit through a Joni Mitchell crap-fest.
Ray Price
2/5
Sometimes, this style of music does it for me. This time it didn't. Too much whiny guitar, and his voice wasn't that great. It's too bad because I usually appreciate this older style of country music.
Spiritualized
1/5
The first 2-3 tracks were.....okay. But giving it a second listen, there wasn't anything worth remembering about those same tracks. This entire album is what happens when hubris (or chutzpah: Happy Hanukkah, everybody!) meets ADHD.
M.I.A.
1/5
A hodgepodge of noise as heard through one end of pvc pipe.
Once I've heard all 1001 of these "must hear" albums, I'm going to go back and see how many were actually worth my time. Zero stars
Django Django
3/5
This was cerebral and not a bad listen. However, the first half of the album meandered a bit to much for my liking. The second half of the album, beginning with "Wor" was more cohesive and I really enjoyed those tracks. An extra star for those tracks.
X-Ray Spex
2/5
Musically, this was pretty good......except for the damn saxophone. They tried too hard to sound like a cross between The Sex Pistols and Blondie, but ended up sounding like Cyndi Lauper after a long night of doing speed.
The Go-Betweens
1/5
Pleasant enough at first glance. But really it's an album that sounds like it was recorded by people struggling to stay awake.
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
5+ stars. A classic whose music is only surpassed by what was going on behind the scenes.
Super Furry Animals
1/5
Another suck-fest.
Pavement
1/5
When you want everyone to think that you're Blur, but you really suck at songwriting and sounding like Blur.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
A really good listen. Several of the tracks I was able to hear his development as a songwriter. There were some real standouts. I really like Peter Gabriel. This was a good addition to the list.
Willie Nelson
5/5
I feel like a bit of a fool having dismissed Willie's songwriting and singing for so long. While there are a couple of tracks here that feel a bit cliche', his understated performance still makes them a really good listen. This was a really good album.
Todd Rundgren
2/5
A lot of this was actually "pleasant" to listen to. It's not quite easy-listening, but it's also not really rock music either. His voice isn't that great, and the songs don't really have a catchy hook to them. Weird, huh?
I guess that this is the musical equivalent of Jell-O: somewhere between liquid and solid. It's not a main course, but works okay as filler.
Khaled
3/5
Upbeat and interesting in its own way. I'm sure there's a setting where this would be really good for more than 1-2 songs. I just don't know what that setting might be. I'm giving it 3 stars for the benefit of the doubt.
JAY Z
1/5
The musical part of this is really pretty good. Unfortunately, he has to open his mouth and screw everything up.
Silver Jews
1/5
Well, that sucked.
Neil Young
2/5
For the most part, I really like Neil Young's music. However, this performance is the equivalent of the uncle who comes over for dinner, drinks too much, and then cries about all the wasted years, etc. It's a listless mess.
On a personal level, I have a hard time taking someone seriously who is worth $200M on the back of the same companies and corporations that he is constantly bitching about. And it's all about the music, but he hates the fame that comes with putting out a million albums and then touring non-stop. What a phony.
Michael Jackson
3/5
The beginning of him becoming a parody of himself. There's more gasping than actual singing. That said, when he's good, he's very good, and he has the most distinctive voice and style. My biggest problem with this album is that he is trying SO hard to gain the same rep as the emerging gangsta rappers of the time. It just made him look ridiculous.
The songs that were released for radio play are actually pretty good songs on their own. The fillers aren't anything of note. Is it a good album? Yes. Is there any of the tracks that, for nostalgia's sake, I'd listen to all the way through? Nope.
Public Image Ltd.
1/5
Great bass lines. The rest is a bunch of free-from crap. If you've heard the first ten seconds of each song, then you've heard the entire song. And Lydon is the male equivalent of Yoko Ono's vocal range.
The Cure
2/5
Sometimes the Cure really does it for me, sometimes not so much. This was very interesting if not a bit monotonous. This was a very passive listen for me and not much else.
Goldfrapp
2/5
Pleasant enough of a listen albeit a bit too ethereal for me. But I couldn't really tell the tracks apart and they were forgotten as soon as they were finished.
The Kinks
3/5
I like the Kinks quite a bit. The funny thing about it is that their music, bass lines, and harmonies all work well together all while the vocal style sounds like they are just half-passing it. There's an irony there. Good stuff.
The xx
1/5
It wasn't unpleasant, but that's about as positive a review as I can give this album. The music components were almost something, but only almost. The real issue is when the most boring voices on earth started singing. That killed any possible vibe that the music might have been trying for.
Justice
1/5
"Valentine" had a catchy groove to it that reminded me some of "Jet Set" by The Specials. However, the rest of the tracks, and electronic music like this in general, just doesn't do it for me.
Heaven 17
1/5
"Temptation" is their only real decent song and it's not even on this album. Do yourself a favor and go listen to Thomas Dolby or Howard Jones instead of these guys.
Hanoi Rocks
2/5
You can hear their many influences and musical style in every unoriginal, boring track. An extra star for effort.
Alice Cooper
3/5
Lots of variety in sounds on this album. Alice was never afraid to go where his creative mind led him. Good stuff, but isn't something that I would cite as a classic.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
1/5
Heavily distorted crap.
The Byrds
2/5
Great harmonies, mediocre songs. Next....
Fugazi
3/5
"Turnover" and "Blueprint" were the real standouts for me. I was surprised how listenable this album was for me. Punk is hit-or-miss with me. I like that they actually wrote songs rather just the same two chords over and over. I preferred the tracks where there was actual singing rather than the "typical" yelling.
Boards of Canada
1/5
The Boreds of Canada board me to death.
Neil Young
5/5
Weird voice, but great songs nonetheless. I like Neil Young for reasons that I can't quite figure out. I disagree with a lot of his views on everything, and I can't stand his self-righteous "my crap doesn't stink" preaching. Still, this is a great album.
Gene Clark
1/5
Pleasant sound, but as exciting as a slab of concrete. And there should have been a law passed that NOBODY could do a remake of "Stand By Me".
TV On The Radio
1/5
Total radomness with a side of unnecessary distortion. This was uninteresting and there wasn't a single hook to anything that I listened to.
Johnny Cash
5/5
Johnny F'ing Cash. Hell yeah.
David Bowie
1/5
I've always hated the title track, and always will. "Beauty and the Beast" has a passably catchy hook if you listen to it long enough: and by long enough, I mean that it took too long. The working title for this album was likely, "Bowie sh*ts out another 10 tracks.
Sorry, but this emperor isn't buying these new clothes.
Weather Report
1/5
I'm tempted to give this an extra star simply for being far ahead enough to be the inspiration for every crappy 80s movie soundtrack in existence. But I'm going to turn away from temptation, and this mess of an album, today.
The Gun Club
3/5
"Sex Beat", "Preaching the Blues", "For the Love of Ivy", were great examples of how bluesy this album is for being punk. These tracks worked while most of the others couldn't decide which side of the fence they wanted to be on.
This was an interesting listen. An extra star for having the guts to pay homage to the blues.
Bob Dylan
5/5
I don't always like him, but when I do, I really do. "Tangled Up In Blue", "You're a Big Girl Now", "Meet Me in the Morning" (very bluesy!), "Shelter From the Storm", and "Buckets of Rain" were amazing. I know that half the album, but there you go.
The Specials
1/5
The least angry of any "angry" album I've listened to. This is what happens when you aren't tough enough to be The Clash, and not talented enough to be The Police.
Manic Street Preachers
2/5
"Die In the Summertime" was the best song on the album. This was a rocker, to be sure. However, as good a listen that this was, there wasn't anything memorable about it.
Slipknot
1/5
Were they called RatFart before they settled on SlipKnot? They suck in every way that it's possible for a band to suck: so they have that going for them.
a-ha
2/5
"Take On Me", and "The Sun Always Shines On TV" are the only two tracks worth listening to. They are also the only two tracks that aren't killing themselves trying to sound like Erasure. Go figure.
Iron Maiden
3/5
For an album with a new vocalist, it's a strong effort. When it works, it really works. This album was the springboard for the rest of the Bruce Dickinson era. A good album, but not great.
1/5
Odd. I couldn't decide if they were trying to sound like Sid Barrett era Pink Floyd, or The Moody Blues: or both. But then I realized that if you changed the lyrics a bit, then you end up with a "Best of Spinal Tap" album. Weird listen.
Dolly Parton
5/5
I love all three of these amazing voices. And I really appreciate this type of country music. But this album had me unsure about if I should buy roses for my wife as an apology, or go to a bar and cry into my beer.
Roxy Music
2/5
I'm listening to this weird album on Halloween. Enough said.
Bonnie Raitt
2/5
"Cry On My Shoulder" and "Real Man" were the two standouts on this album. The rest is pleasant but not memorable. Most of it sounds like background music for some late 80s coming of age movie. It is what it is.
Malcolm McLaren
1/5
Duck Rock? More like Duck Sh**. "Obatala" is pleasant listen. The rest of the album is as already stated.
Roni Size
1/5
Ugh....
Cream
3/5
Amazing musicians. A few good songs among a lot of mediocre song writing. I got a little tired of hearing Jack Bruce try to sing like a woman.
Ali Farka Touré
4/5
I really enjoyed most of this album. Having the same production sound of the guitar gets old for me rather quickly, but that nitpicking. This is a good choice to have on in the background.
"Lasidan", "Ai Du", and "Gomni" were the standouts for me.
And, when Ry Cooder decides to throw his brand of blues into the fray, you can REALLY feel it.
Afrika Bambaataa
1/5
"They Made a Mistake" should have been the opening track as that would have been very apt to describe this album. I hope they didn't quit their day jobs.
Digital Underground
1/5
The only redeeming thing about this album was that it ended.
Justin Timberlake
2/5
It wasn't a bad album. However.....that's about all that I can say for it. It all sounded the same to me and nothing made it memorable for me. "Dick in a Box" might be the best thing that he's done.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Why is that some of the best songwriters can't sing worth a damn? I enjoyed this as much as I could. "Pump It Up" and "Chelsea" were the standouts for me. The rest would have been better served by somebody who sang with Elvis' edge, but who could actually sing.
Girls Against Boys
1/5
"Go Be Delighted" was a decent track. Distortion and two chords over and over doesn't equate to heavy. What is does equate to is pretty damn boring.
Roxy Music
1/5
I gotta tell you, this album was a hot mess from the beginning. I'm so glad that this isn't the first music by Roxy Music that I listened to.
Dr. John
4/5
This is like Beck meets Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem (from the Muppet Show). The entire album was fascinating. An international flavor with a touch of Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun". Not all of the tracks did it for me, but they certainly kept my interest. "Gris Gris Gumbo Ya Ya", "I Walk On Guilded Splinters", and "Danse Kalinda Ba Boom" were the standouts.
The Style Council
1/5
"The Paris Match" and "My Ever Changing Moods" were really good tracks. The rest of the album was just a meandering mess. As much as I appreciated them going for variety of sounds and styles, there wasn't any point to it. No cohesion, no direction.
Cafe Blow.
Deep Purple
5/5
I can understand those who say that you have to be a Deep Purple fan to enjoy this. But what makes this album such an outstanding recording is these guys are the world's greatest garage band. They are all top of their class musicians. They play tight, but sound loose (hence the garage band moniker). The extended solos are what make them a great live band.
If you want to hear the album cuts, then why the hell are you listening to a live album in the first place?
Megadeth
4/5
What's a good way to say that this was a really good, fun album to listen to, all while saying that it really didn't do much for me?
Flamin' Groovies
3/5
Bluesy and......upbeat? The blues part was intriguing, but the other part was just not enough to make me feel anything. Close, but no sticky fingers.
CHIC
2/5
CHIC, and. disco music in general is kind of like Mr. Rogers: lame as hell at the time, but the older you get, the cooler it becomes.
This album isn't the CHIC album that should have been on this list, but that's just my opinion. The songs are long because they were meant to be danced to or to have energetic sex to. In either case, you didn't really want the tracks to be over in 2-3 minutes. :-D
The Band
3/5
A great band: no pun intended. This is what happens when terrific musicians get together and nobody has to outshine the others. Not every song works well, but it is still a pleasure to listen to the musicianship and arrangement. I'm giving this an extra star simply because of "The Weight".
Deep Purple
5/5
Damn!!
James Taylor
3/5
I like his sound, but after about two songs it all starts to sound the same. "Fire and Rain" is one hell of a song.
1/5
The entire "band" had to agree to this, somebody agreed that this should be recorded, and they hired a producer/engineer to make it sound their best. Once recorded, this mess was given the green light, artwork was created, and then this was mass produced, and shipped.
Think about that. The Emperor isn't wearing any clothes.....and now he's stabbed kebab skewers through his ear drums as well. Zero stars.
James Brown
4/5
I can't imagine how over-the-top this must have sounded in 1962. Great energy to match that amazing horn section. The songs are much to brief, but the energy and sound are amazing.
The Afghan Whigs
3/5
"Be Sweet" is a pretty good song. The rest were okay to listen to....one at a time. But this is not an album to listen straight through. There wasn't anything that really made these songs memorable. 3 stars for not sucking.
Metallica
2/5
Metallica is a great live band; and a not-so-great studio band. Their songs sound too compressed and, honestly, the same chords and choral sounds on every track. The music translates great live, but I can't deal with most of their studio recordings.
GZA
1/5
I like it when rappers actually consider the musical aspect of their songs. The problem is that I just didn't like this attempt at it. The title track was a good track, however.
Harry Nilsson
5/5
Like it or not, this album was ballsy and very diverse. "Gotta Get Up" sounds like a Billy Joel song. "Without You" is a schmaltzy melodrama. "Coconut" is just bat-shit crazy. "Jump Into the Fire" sounds like a Roxy Music track.
Nirvana
3/5
I like them; I really do. But this album, apart from 2-3 songs, sounds very formulaic and predictable.
The The
3/5
On first listen "Out of the Blue" and "Heartland" stood out as really good songs. Upon second listen, however, I couldn't remember what the original appeal had been. "Sweet Bird of Truth" was orignal and catchy. However, it sounded like it was trying really hard to fit in with the soundtrack to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Overall, this wasn't really a bad listen. But it was either really bizarre or really banal. For 1986, this wouldn't have really registered anywhere except late night MTV.
Run-D.M.C.
2/5
There was a time that you couldn't go anywhere without hearing "It's Tricky", "You Be Illin'", or "Walk This Way". Fine....okay. I understand why it was so, but even today I don't get why it was so.
On another note, the collaboration with Aerosmith (one of my favorite bands) on "Walk This Way", basically ressurected Aerosmith's career. I was excited about that until I realized that subsequent music by Aerosmith was going to mostly be a bunch of Top 40 crap.
Minor Threat
4/5
That was a banger! "Betray" was a great opening salvo. Not every track did it for me, but I do like when these bands actually try to write a cohesive melody rather than just one chord over and over. I also like short songs from this type of music. Better a couple of tracks at a time than start to finish.
Pentangle
4/5
This was a nice surprise. I was expecting a bunch of hippie "If I Had a Hammer" crap. This sounded more medieval than what I would normally think of as folk. The songs were a little longer than necessary, but I did like the variety of the tracks. But they never should have let that guy do any of the singing.
D'Angelo
3/5
Very smooth R&B and a pretty good listen. There isn't a ton of variety, and the vocals are pretty basic, but this was much better than I thought that it was going to be.
Jamiroquai
2/5
This album demonstrates the very wide gap between Stevie Wonder and those who are killing themselves trying to sound like Stevie Wonder.
Lucinda Williams
1/5
This is like a really boring version of Sheryl Crowe.....or vice versa. Boring, generic country-pop.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
I have "Proud Mary" burnout. But there is a reason that it gets played so much that I burned out on it: it's a great song. "Graveyard Train" was a nice, slow burn for me as is the title track. Even the other songs are worth listening to because I freaking love Creedence.
Scott Walker
1/5
Music to drive your car off of a cliff to. Every track sounded like they should be played during the opening credits of a spaghetti western or some schmaltzy late 60s arthouse movie.
Tracy Chapman
2/5
I came into this listen with a bias due to the fact that I absolutely detest the song "Fast Car". I always thought that the main tune was a rip-off of John Cougar's "Jack & Diane."
The album wasn't bad any more than dry white toast is bad. However......her voice, to me, is annoying. The songwriting is monotonous to where every song and vocal performance sounds the same on every single track.
Radiohead
1/5
He can't sing. It doesn't matter what the lyrics are because he also can't enunciate. The music could be good if it wasn't a meandering mess. I don't get it, and I'm really ok with that.
Ms. Dynamite
2/5
There are a thousand other artists that sound exactly like her: or vice versa. There's nothing original about out these tracks even though they are musically listenable. If something is going to be on this list, it should be for innovation of influence. This isn't either one.
Stan Getz
5/5
Bossa nova is so cool that it makes the listener feel just as cool. After a lot of crap that has recently appeared on my list, this was like breathing really fresh air. THIS music is how you properly chill while still forgetting about how f'ing cold it is outside.
Yes
5/5
For those of you who don't get this album or refer to it as "dad rock"..... Well, you can listen to the tone-deaf musings of Radiohead while sipping bong water through a non-plastic straw.
The White Stripes
5/5
I like them. So be it.
The Damned
3/5
The title track was a banger. The first half of the album was much better than side B, but it was a pretty good listen.
Leonard Cohen
2/5
Well, somebody was trying to sound like Bob Dylan, wasn't he? His songs aren't the same without that deep, deep voice. I walked out of this room.