Journey Complete!
Finisher #473 to complete the list
1089
Albums Rated
2.95
Average Rating
100%
Complete
...And Justice For All
Metallica
Favorite Album
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1950s
Favorite Decade
Rock-and-roll
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Curator
Rater Style ?
60
5-Star Albums
48
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
KE*A*H** (Psalm 69)
Ministry
|
5 | 2.69 | +2.31 |
|
Scum
Napalm Death
|
4 | 2.07 | +1.93 |
|
Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1
George Michael
|
5 | 3.17 | +1.83 |
|
The Real Thing
Faith No More
|
5 | 3.2 | +1.8 |
|
John Prine
John Prine
|
5 | 3.22 | +1.78 |
|
Rust In Peace
Megadeth
|
5 | 3.24 | +1.76 |
|
1989
Taylor Swift
|
5 | 3.27 | +1.73 |
|
Homework
Daft Punk
|
5 | 3.29 | +1.71 |
|
The Specials
The Specials
|
5 | 3.3 | +1.7 |
|
The Man Machine
Kraftwerk
|
5 | 3.32 | +1.68 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
|
1 | 3.55 | -2.55 |
|
Heaven Or Las Vegas
Cocteau Twins
|
1 | 3.37 | -2.37 |
|
I Should Coco
Supergrass
|
1 | 3.34 | -2.34 |
|
S&M
Metallica
|
1 | 3.26 | -2.26 |
|
High Violet
The National
|
1 | 3.24 | -2.24 |
|
Lady In Satin
Billie Holiday
|
1 | 3.23 | -2.23 |
|
Tonight's The Night
Neil Young
|
1 | 3.23 | -2.23 |
|
Mr. Tambourine Man
The Byrds
|
1 | 3.22 | -2.22 |
|
The Poet
Bobby Womack
|
1 | 3.21 | -2.21 |
|
If You're Feeling Sinister
Belle & Sebastian
|
1 | 3.18 | -2.18 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Led Zeppelin | 5 | 4.6 |
| Beastie Boys | 3 | 4.67 |
| Beatles | 7 | 4.14 |
| Bob Dylan | 7 | 4.14 |
| Aretha Franklin | 2 | 5 |
| The Clash | 2 | 5 |
| Nick Drake | 3 | 4.33 |
| Black Sabbath | 3 | 4.33 |
| Paul Simon | 3 | 4.33 |
| Jimi Hendrix | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Tim Buckley | 3 | 1.33 |
| Everything But The Girl | 2 | 1 |
| The Byrds | 5 | 1.8 |
| Elvis Costello & The Attractions | 4 | 1.75 |
| Dexys Midnight Runners | 3 | 1.67 |
| Roxy Music | 3 | 1.67 |
| Madonna | 3 | 1.67 |
| Pet Shop Boys | 3 | 1.67 |
| The Chemical Brothers | 2 | 1.5 |
| Belle & Sebastian | 2 | 1.5 |
| Manic Street Preachers | 2 | 1.5 |
| Cocteau Twins | 2 | 1.5 |
| Yes | 3 | 2 |
| The Stooges | 3 | 2 |
| Morrissey | 4 | 2.25 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Metallica | 1, 4, 5, 5 |
| Ice Cube | 4, 1 |
| The Mothers Of Invention | 1, 4 |
| Kanye West | 4, 1, 3 |
| Prince | 5, 3, 2 |
5-Star Albums (60)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Tim Buckley
1/5
In high school, I had a crush on a girl. She had long since decided we should only be friends. I had my head buried deep in the self-absorbed teenage sands and I was unfoundedly convinced that the time for our true relationship was imminent. You would've thought I'd have known better, given she already had a boyfriend.
One day, she asked me to drive her to boyfriend's house, to which I agreed because ... of course I wanted to hang out with her! We got there and the plan somehow turned into the three of us hanging out in my car, in the dude's driveway. They chatted and cuddled while I strummed my guitar. In hindsight, I'm sure there were numerous clear signals that I should have gone for a walk or something, but as I said I was oblivious.
In fact, as the plan went on, I became progressively convinced that I had been invited along because somewhere deep down inside she wanted to leave this guy and be with me. The masterstroke of my subterfuge, most certainly, would be my musical prowess.
In reality, I was shit at playing the guitar and the main reason I was there is primarily because I had a car.
I feel like Tim Buckley and young me, were on a similar wavelength.
41 likes
Koffi Olomide
1/5
My opinion about the music is irrelevant.
From the wikipedia page - 'In 2019, He was found guilty by a French court of statutory rape of one of his former dancers when she was 15 years old.[8] He was handed a two-year suspended jail sentence in absentia, as he did not attend court in France.'
22 likes
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
1/5
Meh - A bunch of privileged white dudes signing about how they want to get over on girls while they misappropriate blues music. Hows about putting some actual blues artists in the list.
21 likes
Louis Prima
5/5
Any album containing a song played by Marvin Berry and the Starlighters for the Enchantment Under the Sea dance is good enough for me!
In a word though, this album is "joyous", end-to-end.
It lands like a band of musicians who really are have a great time playing together and a band leader that is both putting on the act for the crowd and having fun goofing for the band itself. Even songs with titles like "(I'll Be Glad When You're Dead) You Rascal You" lands like playful teasing between friends.
I'll definitely be coming back to this album again and again. Worth every star.
Interesting aside, this is the first album where I noticed the wikipedia page pointed to the book that appears to be the source material for this site's list. Spoiler alert.
20 likes
Black Sabbath
5/5
70's Black Sabbath is unbelieveably good. Sludge/stoner metal is a genre I can't get enough of, so this recommendation fell on happy ears!
The album starts off with the +7m30s musical journey of "Wheels of Confusion / The Straightener", which shows those pretentious prog-rockers exactly how this sort of thing is supposed to work. Following that is the far more straight forward verse/chorus/verse growl of "Tomorrow's Dream".
And then a ... piano and synthesized strings!? "Changes" is a beautiful departure from the general feel of the album, which is mirrored on the other end of the album by "Laguna Sunrise". Both offer a moment of calm, to catch your breath from all of the rock in between.
And then the album ushers you out, the same way it welcomed you in, which the medley of subtracks brought together in "Under the Sun / Every Day Comes and Goes"
For those that have never looked into Sabbath, or that might've been turned off to the band by tracks like "Crazy Train", I think "Vol. 4" is a much better album to form your opinion on.
Regardless, I appreciate the album both for what it is and for what it represents in the evolution of rock and metal. Super glad to see it on the list!
18 likes
1-Star Albums (48)
All Ratings
Alanis Morissette
4/5
Took me back in time and I forgot just how many catchy hooks were on there. Also some irritating vocalization, but definitely a good bit of nostalgia and good to hear a strong female voice!
The Chemical Brothers
2/5
I forgot just how tired I had become with this extremely repetitive genre of music. After the first 30 seconds, you've heard everything the song has to offer. After the first 3 songs, you know the shape of every song on the album. It had it's time an place for me, but I'm over it!
ABBA
3/5
I tried to get into it. I like the title track and Soliders. Beyond that it just wasn’t my taste. It struck me that they had a lot of big ideas and they worked hard to get them all in there. I’m sure if I enjoyed the band in general it would work for me, but I just couldn’t connect with the music enough to find my place in it.
Funkadelic
4/5
Leonard Cohen
4/5
I guess I knew of Leonard Cohen, but I never knew anything about him. This album was an enjoyable introduction, but boy did it feel like a lot to deal with. The lyrics are dense and left me with a sense that I barely had a grasp on how to handle the english language. I was impressed with the elaborate storytelling of every song and I defintely couldn't just passively listen. Rather each song pulled me in and nearly forced me to delve into it's narrative. What I felt the music lacked was an emotional connection that existed on an involuntary level. The connection required work.
ZZ Top
3/5
Every song is simple and too the point. I can hear echos of this album's influence on countless other artists that I listen to.
Patti Smith
4/5
With the exception of 'Gloria: In Excelsis Deo', each song felt (to me anyhow) like it was recorded right on the edge of creation and destruction. The underlying music ebbed and flowed with a casual fludity, while the lyrics and vocalizations alternated between settled and urgent. It felt intimate and meaningful and I'm left with a sense of loss for not having had the opportunity to appreciate the album it in it's context, in it's time.
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
1/5
Meh - A bunch of privileged white dudes signing about how they want to get over on girls while they misappropriate blues music. Hows about putting some actual blues artists in the list.
The Young Rascals
3/5
I'm not sure that the entire album merits being on this list, but there were defintely some enjoyable tracks. Groovin' was certainly the star of the album for a reason, but what stuck with me the most was the diversity of sounds and styles on the album overall. If I were to listen to tracks like "A Girl Like You" and "I Don't Love You Anymore" alongside "You Better Run" or "A Place in the Sun", I'd have sworn they were entirely different bands. In the end, I'm glad to be introduced to the album.
Bad Company
4/5
Listening to this album made me feel like I should be three pints deep on a pitcher of lager and playing pool in a smoke filled dive-bar. I enjoyed the album from start to finish and plan on putting some Bad Company on in the background at my next backyard BBQ.
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
808 State
2/5
Kanye West
4/5
How does one appreciate the art without considering the artist? If you're going to marry the two opinions together, do you consider who the artist was at the time of the creation of the art, or what you know about their whole life? This album made me struggle with this idea, because it is a great album but I'm not much of a Kanye fan nowadays.
Every song on the album is a winner. So many great collaborators and the tracks themselves are as enjoyable to listen to (in some cases moreso) than the rap itself. Holding it all together is the clear narrative of the impact poverty on a generation. And yet some of the songs still convey hope and celebration. It's an album that hits on so many levels and I really enjoyed revisiting it.
Who knows. Maybe I'll see what Kanye has been up to since then. Maybe.
Kanye West
1/5
That was garbage. The music itself was mediocre, the rhymes and techniques were only occasionally engaging (I mean seriously, ending multiple back-to-back verses with the same word is like kindergarten-level prose) and the content of the lyrics was completely pointless.
I honestly thought the album was meant to be self-satirizing, like some sort of commentary on how ludacris celebrity life has become, but alas I was just grasping for ways to give the album more credit than it really merits.
Nick Drake
5/5
I had heard songs from this album before, but I had always assumed they were from this decade. This album is phenominally timeless and filled with rich arrangements. I've honestly listened to the album 5 times already and each listening is revealing more and more to enjoy.
This is exactly the type of experience I had hoped to have with this site!
The Triffids
1/5
Was there a typo that resulted in this album getting on the list? I fail to see any aspect of this one that merits it being in a list of 1001 albums I must hear.
The whole thing feels over thought and way over produced. Given the pay counts (or lack thereof) on Spotify, I get the feeling that I'm not the only one this hasn't connected with. I wonder how many of those plays are purely generated from this site recommending the album.
The worst part was that track had so much reverb and chorus on it that I was effectively forced to listen to every song multiple times at once. It was like each track was actually multiple instances of the song being played; each instance's timing slightly offset from the next. I could only get through track 6 (Open for You) before I had to call it.
The Stranglers
3/5
Another good album I'd never heard of. Apparantly I need to pay more attention to bands from the 70s. I heard clear parallels to bands like Franz Ferdinand and the Strokes, but I also appreciated the differences. The band didn't hold strictly to 2 minute verse-chorus-verse and they allowed themselves to jam and explore.
By and large I enjoyed the album and I'd point to Sometimes, London Lady, Peaches and (Get A) Grip [on Yourself] as good tracks to check out to get a feel for it.
I could have done without the track Choosey Susie, to behonest, give the overt depictions of sexual violence.
This album was right up my alley. The blues-rock genre is already something I really enjoy, so this fit right in.
The production of the album overall felt very genuine and laid back. I'd point specifically to the track Too Bad as a good example of this. Every instrument has it's place and each stands out so clearly that I feel like I'm hanging out in the room with the band playing around me.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the clarity and grit of Rod's vocals.
Overall a fun listen and a band that I'm curious to hear more of.
and I was pleasantly surprised by the grit of Rob Stewart's vocals.
Michael Jackson
3/5
Man! Looking back on this album, there is so much cringe-worthy content. After listening to the track "Bad" and then "Speed Demon", I couldn't help but feel like this whole album was going to be like scrolling through r/IAmVeryBadAss.
Seriously, all I could think about while I was listening to "Liberian Girl" was the scene in "40 year old virgin" where the main character was (falsely) talking about all the experience he had with girls. "Just like in the movies" - ha!
Jokes aside though, the album is still undeniably good. My personal favorite is "Leave Me Alone", and there are many other that are great listening and chalk full of nostalgia for me.
I guess what makes the album hard for me, hence the lower rating, is it's a bit much to take in one sitting. A ton of great singles, but I need a break between most songs to wash the synthesized taste of my mouth.
Guns N' Roses
4/5
Its funny to me how much this album now sounds like electrified honky-tonk to me. In any case, it was still thoroughly enjoyable to listen to. The radio anthems that are nearly impossible to not sing along with, still hold strong, but the rest of the album is a solidly stable collection of tracks as well, that doesn't really leave much room for complaint - assuming you can get into the style at all.
The production of the album is vocals and guitars forward and it's pretty obvious why (Axle, Slash and Duff - I mean, come on!). In contrast, the rhythm section could basically be any studio artists out there and I'm not sure it would feel any different.
All around, a good one to revisit.
Willie Nelson
4/5
Well, I'm a sucker for a concept album, so the stage was already set for a favorable reception.
The understated composition of every song belies the relentless and tragic story that unfolds across the entire album. I was honetly startled when the second voice came in for harmony on 'Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain', because it was almost like someone snuck in the room and interrupted while Willie was confiding a dark secret to me.
And so it went through the entire album, until 'Remember Me'. It's an enjoyable song on its own, but it was jarring in it's place and in it's contrast with the mood of the album.
All told though, it was a riveting bit of story-telling folded into musical form, which further enhanced the emotions of the tale and of the telling.
Gang Of Four
4/5
The 70's deliver again.
Good old fashioned anti-establishment punk. The composition of the songs themselves show a complete disregard for established pop norms, instead preferring to forge their own path. The instruments float in and out of the song and even in and out of alignment with eachother. But they all work together to create a truly distinct and enjoyable album.
I was pleasantly surprised to find tracks that appear to be direct forefathers for groups like LCD Soundsystem (Not Great Men) and Blur (Ether).
I'd never heard the album before, but it will defintely be on my list and it defintely belongs here as well.
Bill Evans Trio
3/5
A very subtle and relaxed album.
The song structures seem, to my untrained ear at least, to be completely linear and unrepeating lines throughout. There aren't verses and choruses, just a start, an exploration and an end. I'm so accustomed to hearing repetition in music, that I'm unsure of what to make of it. It must take an immense knowledge and comfort with your instrument, with your bandmates and with the foundations of music theory to make music like this.
What I can't say for the album, is that any one track stood out to me. This is probably again due to my lack of understanding the format of Jazz and the challenge of what they are doing as musicians, but I feel like I could be dropped into the middle of any of these songs and I would have no idea which one is which. Again, I don't really know what to make of it.
All told, I wouldn't likely go out of my way to put this album on again, but I do feel opened to something new and I'm curious to learn more from others that do have a deeper appreciation/fascination with the genre.
2/5
It's certainly a compositional and recording feat. I just didn't find it very interesting.
Michael Jackson
4/5
Well, the album started off strong, but then it all started to sound the same. I can absolutely understand songs like "Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough' and 'Rock With You' being on lists of 1001 songs you must hear, but as an entire album, it's hard to see. In fact, I noticed this first with when listening to Bad and I'm picking up on it again here, but this album also feels more consumable in pieces as opposed to trying to listen to the whole thing in one sitting. I do think that 'I can't Help It' redeems the latter half of the album, from being mostly forgettable.
My tastes aside, it's undeniable that this album was massively influential on countless artists, so for that alone, I can't really bring myself to rate it below a four. In this case I think the album is great, less for what I hear in the music, then for what most people hear in the album.
Sarah Vaughan
4/5
First off, the improvised humor during the second song (Willow Weep For Me) and throughout the last song (How High The Moon) put a smile on my face. It was enjoyable to hear an artist just rolling with it in a live performance. And honestly, if you weren't paying close attention, I think it would just roll by you as a listener as well. It's a testament to how clean, tight and yet how fluid Sarah Vaughan and the Trio are across this album.
Everything about this album felt in perfect balance, which I find especially remarkable given it's a recording of a live performance.
Sarah's vocals are an enchanting blend of smooth, pitch perfect and with a touch of smokey rasp. She carries every tune perfectly and doesn't overly-adorn, preferring instead to be straight to the point.
And sitting just below the canopy of the vocals is the remarkably stout trunk that is the backing trio. Their performance was equaly clear, concise and beautiful.
All told, it's a lovely album, made more special by the candor and simplicity that comes from the stripped down production of recording a live performance.
Louis Prima
5/5
Any album containing a song played by Marvin Berry and the Starlighters for the Enchantment Under the Sea dance is good enough for me!
In a word though, this album is "joyous", end-to-end.
It lands like a band of musicians who really are have a great time playing together and a band leader that is both putting on the act for the crowd and having fun goofing for the band itself. Even songs with titles like "(I'll Be Glad When You're Dead) You Rascal You" lands like playful teasing between friends.
I'll definitely be coming back to this album again and again. Worth every star.
Interesting aside, this is the first album where I noticed the wikipedia page pointed to the book that appears to be the source material for this site's list. Spoiler alert.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
If one of my kids asked me what classic rock was, I would sit them down and play them this album. It is quintissential. If it weren't for a couple of Plant's questionable performance (I'm looking at you "Bring it on Home"), I'd say the album was flawless.
Classic riffs like the openning bars of "Whole Lotta Love", "Heartbreaker" and "Moby Dick" are all you need to hear to know exactly how impactful this album was on every record that came after it. But it didn't just come down to catchy bars. Almost every song is dynamic, leaving room for exploration of the spaces in between the muscial themes.
I've listened to this album countless times before, and it continues to be worth every star I can give it.
Supergrass
1/5
Meh. I couldn't get through a single playthrough. I have got to believe that there are at least 1001 albums in the world better than this one. Sure, I recognized 'Alright', but it sounded nothing like the rest of the album. If that was the only song that got this album on the list, then I'm really lost.
I did appreciate that the related wikipedia page taught me about cockney rhyming slang, so at least I've got that going for me.
fIREHOSE
2/5
I'm not so sure about this one. It's a wild and only partially folded amalgam of genres. The musicians (singer aside) clearly have a mastery of their instruments, but at the same time they seem unconcerned about anything sounding cohesive or finished. Like, literally, some of the songs just sort of stop.
As for the engergy of the music, I bet they had a good time putting the music together and playing it. I suspect they'd also be a good band to hear live.
Alas this isn't "1001 bands you should hear live" so it all comes down to the album. For that, this one didn't really do it for me and I'm not really clear on why its included in this list.
Green Day
4/5
A punk rock musical? Nine minunte long medleys? What am I listening to?
Well, shame on me for writting these guys off after Dookie. This is an album that was made at a serious inflection point for the band, and what they came up with is a real coming of age for the group. It took courage for the group to step out of the mold they'd been cast in and what they came up with is something that I really enjoyed.
The album started off on an almost 50's pop production, amped through heavy distortion, but then I hit the 1:50 mark on "Jesus of Suburbia" and the vibe started changing. From that point on the story telling took over and the album gave way to an unfolding narrative. I was struck with the realization that I had heard a fair amount of this album in radio hits, but I had no idea how they fit together (i.e. "Holiday" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" are conjoined!). Since I hadn't heard the entire album, I didn't fully appreciate the songs in context and I was missing out on the goodness that didn't make the radio.
The album includes plenty of flexes from the band's punk core ("St. Jimmy"), but they don't stay contrained by it, rebelling against their constraints. And maybe it's that spirit that really makes this album so good. After all - isn't that what punk is about?
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
I remember spotify annoucing this album to me and being happy when I figured the news out, that LCD Soundsystem had reunited. It took a while for this one to grow on me, but grow on me it has.
The more linear songs, like "other voices" and "i used to", are good enough. The real gems in my opinion are the tracks that grow and unfold, such as "oh baby", "how do you sleep?"
As far as the whole album goes, it is good, but I'm surprised to see it on the list. If anything, I would've expected to see "Sound of Silver" or "This is Happening". "American Dream" is (in a good way) a derivative or a continuation of those albums.
Cat Stevens
3/5
The album is just catchy enough to keep you listening and just deep enough to keep you thinking. I personally think "Miles From Nowhere" is the standout track, but I complete understand why the stand-out hits ('Where Do The Children Play?', 'Hard Headed Woman;, 'Wild World' and 'Father An Son') are what they are as well.
I honestly have no idea how the Flaming Lips could claim that 'Fight Test' was not directly *ehm* "influenced" *ehm* by 'Father And Son'.
Uncanny similarities aside, the album was a good listen on it's own two feet.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
2/5
I enjoy the general sound of the band and I the vibe they are going for. But the songs are SO BORING and mind-numbingly repetitive. With the exception of 'Proud Mary', you can hear everything that each song has to offer within 20 seconds of the song starting.
Kraftwerk
4/5
Kraftwerk are pioneers of the electronic music scene and any of their albums merits a spot on this list, without a doubt!
The core of the album is the openning track (Europe Endless), and then tracks 4 through 8 ('Trans-Europe Express' through 'Endless Endless'). If you consider those 6 tracks alone and played in order, it's really two musical movements. When I listen to those 6 songs together, I hear it like a musical interpretation of a trans-european train ride. The themes slowly ebb and flow, much like the scenary would out the window of the train. Where you end is much like where you started, but there is just enough variation to make it feel all its own.
The other two tracks ('The Hall of Mirrors' and 'Showroom Dummies') are more like single b-sides that were tossed into the album. The seriousness of 'The Hall of Mirrors' stands in sharp contrast to the nearly humourous 'Showroom Dummies'. Both are enjoyable tracks, but they seem a bit out of place.
This album provides a great trip through the state of the art for early days electronic music.
Laura Nyro
3/5
I'd never heard 'Eli And The Thirteenth Confession' and I'd never heard of Laura Nyro, so this was a complete surprise to me. In a word, the album struck me as ambitious.
Laura's vocals are powerful and each song's arrangement feels packed full, to the point of bursting with purpose and intent.
I can see why this would be an infuential album and I can also see how a number of these songs would go on to be hits for other bands as well.
Hüsker Dü
2/5
I can't really say that this album did anything for me. It all kind of sounded the same and I didn't feel much of a connection to any of it. I guess I can see why the band opted to call it quits after this.
Shuggie Otis
3/5
The version that I found on Spotify was the 2013 re-release, which included a bunch of extra tracks, but I will keep this vote limited to the origional first nine tracks ("Inspiration Information" through "Not Available").
Overall, I really liked the album, for what it was. It actually felt more like two sub-albums put together into one.
The first four tracks are completely constructed compositions with vocals on top. The title track is the stand-out of them all, but I didn't think "Aht Uh Mi Hed" (read "That hurt me head" in a cockney lilt, I think) was far off.
Then, starting with "Happy House", the album gives way to more experimental and funky tracks, which are entirely instrumental. Of that set, I particularly enjoyed "Happy House", "XL-30" and (to a lesser extent "Pling!". These tracks felt more like musical streams of conciousness, and I felt a connection of influence all the way to more current tracks by artist like Knxwledge.
And then the (original) album wraps up with "Not Available", which I think is short for, "We had a song ready to record but the singer was Not Available". The song sounded ready to go, and it's just missing someone to sing along.
That sort of sums up the album in general, I think, and the fact that there were two more releases with two sets of additional tracks added seems to support this. When it was released, despite 3 years of production, the album was still sitting as a work in progress. It has some gems, shows a lot of promising ideas, and who knows... maybe a couple more re-releases and it will feel complete.
James Taylor
4/5
I've never really sat down and listened to James Taylor, and to be honest I had the guy mixed up in my head with Jimmy Buffet. Ha!
Once I realized (happily) I wouldn't be hearing Margaritaville, I settled into the album and was pleasantly surprised. James' vocals are so rich and clear, I couldn't help but be immediately drawn in.
The album had it's share of folky ballads, which I expected, but the blend of country, folk, blues and even the touch of gospel provided far more musical diversity and depth than I expected. I think the tracks "Lo and Behold", "Steamroller Blues", "Oh Baby, Don't You Loose your Lip on Me" and the latter half of "Suite for 20 G" show this well.
Given James' music remains ubiquitous to this day, it's undeniable that his music deserves it's place in this list.
I've been remiss for dismissing it on account of having heard the "big hits" umpteen-million times, so next time I'm relaxing on a lazy day, I know where to go digging.
Dexys Midnight Runners
1/5
I feel like the lead vocalist's sound is an inside joke that I'm just not in on. I mean listen to "Tell Me When My Light Turns Green" or "I'm Just Looking" and help me understand what is going on. It's like the first time I heard "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" from "The Darkness" and I struggled to understand if it was authentic or satire.
Looking over my difference in taste for the vocalist, tracks like "The Teams That Meet in Caffs" gave me a chance to consider the band on it's own. As a unit, they sound good. Not necessarily great, but good. I think they would probably sound great as a part of the background din of a pub, but the vibe didn't translate to recording in my opinion.
In the end, I couldn't bring myself to finish the album. My only assumption as to why this is on the list would be because of the impact the album had in it's historical context. Given this is the 2nd album by this band that I've come across in the list, I'm a bit concerned. Especially given I've yet to see entire genres (i.e. classical, world music) represented. I can't really fathom how this one is on the list at all.
PJ Harvey
4/5
Its a fantastic album, crammed full of the energy and innovative novelty of a debut of an artist who will go on to greatness. I think the comparisons that others have made to Patti Smith's album "Horses" are apt in a lot of ways.
The song "Dress" perfectly exemplifies the simultaneously approachable and yet rough nature of the album. The song is compelled forward by the persistent beat, and everything feels like it is charging and driving forward to an unheard point of explosion. Another track with a similar energy, which I loved is "Joe".
But there are other faces to the album such as the somewhat swanky "Hair" or "Plants And Rags", which starts out as a girl and a guitar and slowly grows into an ensembled piece of at least 4 different stringed instruments that roll around eachother in near dissonance.
It was super fun to listen to, and I'm stoked to hear another phenominal female artist on this list.
Lambchop
2/5
I don't get it.
The arrangements are elaborate enough and the band (backed by a small orchestra it would seem) played them them perfectly. The production is slick and polished. The vocals are full of nicotine soaked rasp. The lyrics are dense and feel like short stories or letters read outloud.
But the music just lacks anything to connect to. Each song just sort of lilts into the next. The emotional register of each song is perfectly uniform, bordering on monotone.
Funny enough, "What Else Could It Be?" is like the one song I felt something with, and it's the one where the vocalist is singing in a screeching falsetto that seems two modulations higher than the vocalist dares belong. Yet, it kinda worked for me.
So, what am I missing? Why is this album on the list?
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
Each time I listen to this album, I turn it on thinking I'll just play it in the background. And each time I listen to this album, I find myself progressing from unconciously tapping me feet to cranking it up and signing along. I just love how nearly every song grows and builds. "All My Friends" and "New York, I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down" both exemplify what I'm talking about.
Overall, this is one of my favorite albums and it's already on my list of heavy rotation, so it's easy for me to give this 4 stars.
Yes
2/5
I guess my take on Yes hasn't changed much from what I listended to "Close to the Edge". The band is clearly talented, the production is over the top good, and there is no doubt that the band has a huge following and has influenced countless other bands and artists.
For whatever reason, I personally just can't connect with the music. It feels showboaty and a bit sterile. There were moments in the latter half of "Yours is No Disgrace" and "Starship Trooper", where I picked up on something, but the whole vibe still feels like it's at an arm's length.
Another review wrote that it was like rush, but boring, and I think that sums it up perfectly.
Aretha Franklin
5/5
This album is good for the soul. I can't help but feel the music and want to join in.
Aretha's powerful and adept vocals are first and foremost the glorious centerpiece of every track. But when I listen to songs like "A Change is Gonna Come" I also realize that her performances enhance the movement and the emotions of the underlying music as well. Every pause and flourish beautifully embelishes the solid framing that the band provides.
The songs don't just reference the range of human emotion, they evoke them, and that is one of the truest measures of art that I can think of.
The Clash
5/5
The brilliant simplicity of the entire album, belies the complexity of it's appeal. The sound is visceral, the lyrics have depth and a purpose, and it is all exactly what it needs to be without any fluff or pretense.
Lucinda Williams
3/5
Great storytelling makes great country music. Each and every song on this album feels like prose pulled from a hard-worn diary.
Lucinda’s syrup drawl and lilting vocals bound between hints of whispers, laments and growls.
The arrangements are simple, and well executed, but a touch simple for my taste.
I can clearly see the appeal of the album. I didn’t personally connect with it, but I can appreciate it.
The Flaming Lips
5/5
This album is a masterwork of an end-to-end experience. Every song is meticuously layered and arranged, creating an expansive and enveloping sound. I think "Fight Test", "Are You a Hypnotist??" and "In the Morning of the Magicians" are good examples of this.
But breaking up the album and considering it song by song, undermines the value of the ablum, which is at it's highest as a whole. Although the creators have insisted this is not a concept album, there is a unifying feel and an arch to that I continuously enjoy experiencing end-to-end.
Green Day
4/5
I remember this album being super divisive with my friends that were into punk. They kept calling these guys sellouts, which I just couldn't wrap my brain around. How could a band be sellouts on their debut album, when they'd only just begun. Wouldn't that just mean that they are what they are? And why give a shit anyhow - the album was great!
The album is extremely tight. Billie and Mike's guitars are locked in an intricate and electrified swing dance, each locked to the same beat, but each with their own lightning fast and elaborate roles to play. Tre's drums are pounding, precise and raucously joyous. I think these descriptions stand out the most in the songs "Burnout", "Welcome to Paradise" and "In the End". Beyond the intrumentals though, the lyrics are actually about something, many speaking to the disillusioned and angst-filled vibe of the times. That and masturbation.
For me, this album ushered in my punk-rock awakening. It intrigued me and got me interested enough to want to delve into the genre further. And it's that bridging role that this album played for so many, that I think drew ridicule and acclaim alike. Some wanted to keep their punk secret safe and unsullied, whereas others wanted to see what they'd been missing.
I for one, was glad for it.
Nirvana
3/5
I'm conflicted by this album, but underpinning and riding above all musical opinions, is the feeling of loss. What could this band have done if Kurt had been able to get well and stay healthy?
I see the album as a conflicted stream of conciousness. You only need to hear the first two tracks back-to-back to get a sense of what I mean.
Tracks like "Heart-Shaped Box", "Dumb", "Pennyroyal Tea" and "All Apologies" playoff as near ballads. Others like "Scentless Apprentie", "Milk It" and "Tourette's" explode and writhe.
Throughout it all though, I just can't shake the sense that this album is primarily a band that is working through its understanding of itself. We, the listeners, are left with unresolved emotions and lingering questions.
Jefferson Airplane
3/5
A bit of folk, a bit of rock, a bit of blues and all the reverb you can possibly muster. I dig the sound of the band in general, but the songs where Grace Slick took control are undeniably the best.
I appreciate what this band did in creating a new sound, one which plays through clearly in bands like "The Black Angles" and tons of similar dark folk bands out there today.
Out of context, I'm not sure the majority of the album does much for me, but I appreciate why it's on the list.
Eagles
3/5
Sheesh - Way more ballads on this one that I know what to do with. It's interesting to see what's classified as rock n' roll over the years.
A few of the songs piqued my interest, and you can't help but love the title track. Beyond that though, it felt a little flat and dreary.
I guess I had to be there to appreciate it.
Lou Reed
4/5
Its an eclectic bunch of songs, that's hard not to enjoy.
A couple songs strike me as a bit unsettled thanks to how emotionally disconnected Lou's vocals sounds from the rest of the performance. It works well for narrative songs like "Walk On the wild Side" and "New York Telephone Conversation", but feels flat on other songs like "Make Up".
Where the album really connects though are songs like "Perfect Day", "Vicious" and the final third of "Satellite of Love" (made even richer by Bowie's backup vocals).
Overall it's an enthralling album that crosses boundaries and sounds amazingly modern for an album that's has been our for nearly half a centry.
Solange
3/5
I think the cover of this album is just about the most perfect depiction of what I felt listening to this album.
The vibe of the album is intentional, pure, sparsely adorned, and holds your attention. The beats and arrangements are generally mellow and ride somewhere between jazz, hip-hop, funk and R+B. The instrumentals themselves are subtle and provide the solid foundation for the vocals, which always take center stage.
Stand out tracks for me include \"Weary\", \"Mad\" (where Lil Wayne contributed some genuinely heartfelt lines) and \"F.U.B.U\".
My sense of engagement with the album was disrupted by the occasional track where Solange's vocals sounded thin or strained. \"Where Do We Go\" is one such example, where I almost felt myself needing a warm cup of water and to take some extra breaths. Not sure what that was about, because it seemed really uncharacteristic when considered against the rest of the album.
That aside, I found the whole album to be really engaging and a welcomed introduction to an artist I'd never heard of before.
Carole King
4/5
Relentless soulful positivity. I'm shoked that so many songs that I've heard numerous times all come from one album, which I've never heard of.
I mean seriously... "I Feel the Earth Move", "Its Too Late", "You've Got a Friend", "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman)"!
It took me a couple run throughs to get a clear sense of what made the album great, but chalk that up to my crappy headphones.
If you only have the energy for one track, I found "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman)" to be the most emotionally dynamic track.
Bobby Womack
1/5
Huh. I didn't really connect with the album. It's just shy of 40 minutes and I still couldn't resist the urge to keep skipping ahead, looking for something that evoked a sense of how this is one of the 1001 greatest albums.
By the time I got to "It You Think You're Lonely Now", I felt like I'd already heard what the album had to offer and my interest was entirely lost.
Leonard Cohen
2/5
I think, I might actually get it... well a bit more than I used to anyhow. What I'm connecting with on this listening is that Cohen's work is great, for being a phenominal template.
Interestingly enough, I was listening to some of the backup vocalists on tracks such as "Ain't No Cure for Love", "Everybody Knows" and "Take This Waltz" when it dawned on me.
I still don't care much for Cohen's vocals or his drone delivery, but I can think of plenty of other artists that I would love to hear perform these songs.
And that's ok, right? This is the 1001 best _albums_, not 1001 best performers.
BTW - What is the world was going on with "Jazz Police"?!
Nirvana
4/5
I recorded this show on VHS and rewatched it so often, the magnetic media started to wear down. It is entirely impossible for me to disconnect this album from the experience of finally having access to my favorite band, for an entire show. The memory is made all the more poigniant by it's proximity to Kurt's suicide, where this entire show took on an entirely different palor and tone.
Attempting to detach myself from my deep connection to the moment in time, the album itself is still legitimately great music. The pop relatability of the band's music, including their covers, is made plain in every track. Kurts vocals are remarkably stable and smooth, save for when he's growling out a chorus. Throughout it all, there is a tenderness and an intimacy that is common through the early days of the unplugged performances, and for which this album established the watermark.
Really, the only reason I don't listen to this album much at this point, is because it hurts a little too much to listen to. Then again, it is better to have loved and lost, than it is to have never loved at all.
The Strokes
5/5
I love the sound of this album. It is ohrwurms from start to finish.
There is a driving punk persistence to every song, thanks to the near metronomic accuracy of the rhythm section. Check out "When It Started" or "The Modern Age" to see what I mean.
Riding on top, is the collection of guitars and vocals, all wrapped in a warm distortion that provides a cunning disguise for just how precise and polished the performances really are.
Tying it all together are the production details that create a sense of depth as you listen to them. Put on some headphones and the track "Roma" and listen to the guitars play tug-of-war with your attention and dance around on the aural stage.
Coldplay
3/5
Black Sabbath
5/5
70's Black Sabbath is unbelieveably good. Sludge/stoner metal is a genre I can't get enough of, so this recommendation fell on happy ears!
The album starts off with the +7m30s musical journey of "Wheels of Confusion / The Straightener", which shows those pretentious prog-rockers exactly how this sort of thing is supposed to work. Following that is the far more straight forward verse/chorus/verse growl of "Tomorrow's Dream".
And then a ... piano and synthesized strings!? "Changes" is a beautiful departure from the general feel of the album, which is mirrored on the other end of the album by "Laguna Sunrise". Both offer a moment of calm, to catch your breath from all of the rock in between.
And then the album ushers you out, the same way it welcomed you in, which the medley of subtracks brought together in "Under the Sun / Every Day Comes and Goes"
For those that have never looked into Sabbath, or that might've been turned off to the band by tracks like "Crazy Train", I think "Vol. 4" is a much better album to form your opinion on.
Regardless, I appreciate the album both for what it is and for what it represents in the evolution of rock and metal. Super glad to see it on the list!
Van Morrison
3/5
It's a lovely sort of ramble that sounds to me like a Sunday afternoon. I'm guessing it takes a certain frame of mind to fully appreciate.
Sonic Youth
3/5
A raging and raw album that floats between calm focus and chaos bursting at the seams (check out the tracks "Shoot", "Wish Fulfillment" and "JC" to see what I'm talking about). The parallel lyrical themes of mourning and female harassment/exploitation ground the album with a weight of meaning that either puts you off or pulls you in.
For me, I appreciate their willingness to be honest and I think the album endures because of it.
Moby
2/5
I contiuously get Moby and the Chemical Brothers mixed up, even to this day, and that's not saying much in my book.
The soundscapes are richer and not as entirely monotonous, but I still feel like I can see the repetitive layering and unlayering in every single track. The formula is laid out bare within a few songs, and then every track thereafter just feels like a reskin of the same thing.
What ultimately kills it for me though, is Moby's voice. There was a time when the guy would get on any microphone within his greater radius and he would rant on and on about whatever political topic he felt compelled by at the moment. That's entirely within his right to do. Ultimately though his voice, in my head, became inseperable with the sense of impending agenda bombardment, and now I can't unhear it.
I wonder what I would think of this album, if it was new to me again?
As an aside, I swear the chorus and mid-song bridge on "South Side" is the musical and spiritual ancestor to "Friday" by Rebecca Black. That flasetto is horendous.
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
It's like the deliberate surrealism of Salvador Dali , with Van Gogh's fuzzed and enriched palette. The album is at once a hazy blur of sound and a precise vision of production.
I think it's the sort of album that a student or a music industry professional could study endlessly, in search of just how they manged to so completely fill every possible inch of the soundscape.
I'm not sure that I really connect with the album all that much. It feels like more of a work of Dali, and I'm more of a Van Gogh fan (to reuse my earlier anologies), but I can fully appreciate the artistry involved.
Boston
3/5
Paul Simon
4/5
Gang Starr
3/5
Bee Gees
3/5
I expected disco, so I was glad when that assumption didn't hold up. What I didn't expect is just how all over the place this album would be. The album sounds like it was pulled together from many directions, including psychedelic folk, light rock, country and the symphony.
Some songs sound like David Bowie tracks ("You'll Never See My Face Again"). Others sound almost like CCR ("Marley Purt Drive"). Others still have a Beatles vibe ("Melody Fair", "Never Say Never Again", and my favorite track "Whisper Whisper").
I don't really get what pulls it all together to make it work, but somehow, the album manages to work. I think the comparison mentioned in the Wikipedia article to Sgt. Pepper is apt.
U2
3/5
Various Artists
4/5
An energetic and playful contrast to the prim and tidy arrangements of the 50s and before. Nearly 60 years on, this album is packed with back-to-back holiday standards.
Talking Heads
4/5
This group is an enigmatic blend that defies explanation but somehow manages to find a endearing niche amongst the North American pop greats!
The band is extremely tight and the production of the music is crystal clear. You can hear everyone doing their part and all parts and transitions are exactly in their places and precisely on their marks. Byrnes’ lyrics and vocals are both equally complex and precise, but not altogether too serious either.
In all, the band was and remains quite unique. Their vision feels so precise that it’s easy to take for granted as just a given while it rolls by on the radio. But listening closer will reveal something really special that always has me scratching my head wondering, where in the world did they come up with this!
Motörhead
3/5
This break-neck sprint of an album is a striped down and pure cut rock gem! The sound of the group lives right at the intersection of punk and metal and there is absolutely no pretense about the fact that they came to party. Each track has an almost bootleg quality, which is a testament to the skill and sensibility of their producer.
On the whole the album is fairly uniform and a bit of a one-trick pony, but I happen to really like that one-trick, so it suits me fine.
Milton Nascimento
3/5
FKA twigs
3/5
How does one approach an established genre,rip away all conventions, and interpret it entirely anew?
This album is a veritable master class in doing just that. FKA twigs' vision of R&B is wholly her own and it creates an infinitely large space for creativity, where it seemed (to my uninitiated ear) there was wasn't much left to work with.
Aimee Mann
1/5
The lyrics may well be clever, but I can't get over the music and the vocals to appreciate them. Albums like this make me wonder what it is that I can't hear, because I really can't understand why this would be on the list.
James Brown
5/5
The quality of this recording of a live performance puts a massive swath of studio albums to shame. Sure, we lose Mr. Brown a bit while he's working the crowd, but that's the price you pay to work the instrument that is the audience; and it's worth it in the long run, as the crowd swells and swoons along with the tracks.
Literally every song is winner. I couldn't help but move my feet and wiggle in my seat as I listened along to tracks like "Think", "Night Train" and even the various instrumental brides. When things slowed down on "Try Me" and "I Don't Mind" I was still swaying along and hanging on every verse.
This album provides a glimpse into the undeniable fact that James Brown (and his band) had mastered the art of the stage show, and that's even without being able to see his expressions and footwork.
I wish I had had the chance to see them myself. That chance has passed. But I'm glad to have albums like this, so I can at least glimpse into the experience and carry the energy on in my heart.
The Who
2/5
Clearly talented musicians, but I've never really connected with their work. This album didn't change that for me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
Turbonegro
3/5
Contrary to what the WIKI article suggests, I wouldn't say Turbonegro shed their punk sensibilities, for an all-out glam rock style. The opening track "The Age of Pamparius" defintely gives you the impression you're in for a glam-rock adventure, flying on the back of a flaming guitar, but that gives way to well worn punk standards, just a song later. Moreover, track titles like "Don't Say Motherfucker, Motherfucker", "Redezvous With Anus" and "Good Head" make it pretty clean the group isn't taking themselves too seriously.
In general, the album is fairly middle of the road punk, but with a longer format (more songs are longer than 3m, than aren't). I think they would've been better served by keeping each song tight and fast (giggity). I enjoyed the straight forward energy of the album, but the sophmoric lyrical subject matter was a detractor for me. I can get behind an appropriately depraved song (I'm thinking GWAR of Tenacious D), but this just felt pointless/aimless.
I am still intrigued to hear more from the band. A quick glance at their top tracks on Spotify gives me the impression they've remained pretty superficial. We'll see if they grow on me over time.
Prince
5/5
I remeber being kid in the video store and seeing the wall sized poster for this album/movie. I had no real idea of who Prince was and my parents seemed pretty eager to keep it that way, but I remeber being frozen in awe of just how damned cool Prince must be.
So, the elephant in the room - Darling Nikki. What a singularly fascinating song. I'm sure the sexual subject matter and the outro with lyric played in reverse is a big part of why this whole album was the focus of so much conservative and censorship ire. It's probably also part of the reason why my parents weren't stoked to see me gawking at the poster, all those years back. If you can look past that though, it is a relentlessly catchy track, merging funk, rock and healthy portion of musical theater.
Outside of that one salacious track, the rest of the album is focused on common funk and R&B lyrical themes. The arrangements, the live band vibe, Prince's vocal diversity and improvisation all come together with fluid perfection. Nearly every track is a stand alone hit, and played back to back they sound cohesive and congruent.
An all out great album!
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
This album has the feel of a high energy anti-establishment punk album of the 70's, heard through the haze of heavy sedatives. The tempo is slower, the gritty effects are traded for rich and mellow reverbs, but the bite is everywhere and just beneath the surface. Check out the track "All That Jazz" to hear what I mean.
This is a great album and pair perfectly with works from groups like the Clash. I'm surprised that I never really listened to this group, but I know I will be now!
The Specials
5/5
Fantastic from start to finish. I think SKA ran a bit off the rails in the 90's revival, resulting in the genre getting a bad wrap. Therefore, it's incredibly refreshing to go back to the roots with this album; to be reminded of just how fun the blend of influences are.
The album starts out with the seminal \"A Message to You Rudy\", which introduces not only their fusion of reggae, punk, brass, funk and R&B, but also the bands socially minded lyrical leanings. And the whole album carries on as it starts, each track iterating on the same core spirit of house-party meets social commentary.
And with that said, you'll need to excuse me. I'm going to immerse myself in The Specials' discography. Cheers!
Public Enemy
3/5
Raising social consciousness and making tracks people can move to.
Slayer
4/5
Can you imagine the discussions between the band members, when they were putting these songs together?
"Oh yeah, that sounds great, but let's try it like 5 times faster."
"Totally, and while you guys do that, I'm going to scream at the top of my lungs about BLUHHHHHHHHHHHHD!"
Whatever state of mind they were in, the result is a blistering fever dream of thrash metal that set the bar for everything else to come.
For my tastes, I'd love to hear the album sans vocals. At times Tom had a hard time keeping up with the track, which was distracting. More important to me though is that the lyrics feel cringy and pointlessly scandalous. I think they turn a lot of listeners off from appreciating the album on the whole.
Norah Jones
3/5
A debut album with a force of clarity that doesn't need much wind in the lungs or adornment in the arrangements to be heard over the din of popular music and appreciated. Norah's vocals delicately blend aspects of Jazz and Country with the touch of a smoke ring and are irrefutably alluring and playful. Tracks like the cover of Hank Williams' "Cold Cold Heart" show the playfulness, while tracks like "Turn Me On" show the allure.
Upon first listening, I'd say I'm most fond of the track 'Nightingale'. It layers and unfurls like silk sheets. What I enjoyed about it the most though is that the whole band had more of an opportunity to stretch their legs on this track, than on other tracks.
Overall, the album is smooth and comforting like the hum of a loved one's voice while they hug you, and every distinct part is beautiful in its tone and simplicity.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2/5
Much like some people think cilantro (corriander) tastes like soap, and others don't have an internal voice, I think I was born with something that prevents me from enjoying bands like this, Tom Waits and most of Leonard Cohen's work.
The tracks were sleepy and the lyrics felt so packed that their density shrouded their meaning.
I'm sure there are millions of people, for whom this is exactly what they are looking for, but I just couldn't connect with it. I couldn't even power through the whole album.
I don't know why, but I feel like I'm letting someone down.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Get this man a throat lozenge and a cup of lemon tea!
Jokes aside, this is a beautifully intimate album. The backing band is a tight and dynamic collection of instruments, that is varied from track to track but cut down to just the essential pieces within any given track. Leonard's vocals whisper, growl, rumble and occasionally claw their way up into the lower musical register. The lyrics are quintessentially Cohen; poetic, built on a frame of relatable narrative and decorated to the hilt with evocative imagery and metaphors.
I entered into the album thinking I wasn't in the mood for it. Turns out I was wrong.
Otis Redding
4/5
The "O" in soul stands for Otis.
Joy Division
3/5
The sound of this album is like waking up in the middle of the night, in a sleepy haze, and hearing the echos of a jam session reverberating through the alley and up into your loft window.
The album's entire vibe is fitting of the title emo. It is seemingly purpose built to evoke somber emotions wedged somewhere between tears, rage and resignation.
Tom Waits
2/5
The tracks are fantastically soulful blues, played raw and straight. I think ‘Mr. Seigal’ and ‘In Shades’ show what I’m talking about perfectly. Of those two songs, I greatly prefer the latter and here’s why.
The voice. I just couldn’t get over or get into was Tom’s vocalization on this album. If it’s his natural singing voice then I guess I just can’t relate to the appeal. To me though, it sounds like a chosen and overt stage persona.
I honestly had to fight the impulse to rip my headphones off of my head to escape the gurgling wails of "Sha-lala-lala-lala" in 'Jersey Girl'.
Thin Lizzy
4/5
The album listens end-to-end like a classic rock narrative about tough kids living rough lives. Almost like a coming-of-age rock opera following the lives of the youth of a town in the mid 20th century.
For me, the absolute bright spot of this album is the explosive intensity of 'Massacre' segued into the lamentation of 'Still in Love With You'. Both songs and performances are phenomenal, but something about them being back-to-back heightens the poignance of both.
Overall, the quality of the album (overdubbed or not) did well to maintain the air of a live performance and showcased exactly why Thin Lizzy deserves their place on this list.
R.E.M.
2/5
For what it is and what it aims to be, it is good. The band's sound and overall production quality is clearly a template for countless bands to follow and songs like 'Its the End Of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)' and 'The One I Love' are anthems for that time period.
I just don't care for it all that much. I don't connect with the lyrics, everything sounds uniform, and I find it all a bit bland.
Steely Dan
3/5
Mellow rock with elements of jazz, latin, and psychedelic mixed in. Despite the light-hearted sound of the tracks, the lyrics all tell fairly sad stories. You can check out 'Dirty Work', 'Midnite Cruiser' and even 'Reelin' In The Years' to hear what I'm talking about.
In and amongst the well-known classic rock hits on this album, I think I enjoyed the track "Change of the Guard" the most.
The Waterboys
3/5
If the Waterboys were playing a live show in a pub and I was walking by, I'd pay the cover, grab a pint and take in the ambience. A Celtic-rock jam band. Seems a bit obscure to me, but it's a fine thing to have on in the background.
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
We need more funk in the world!
Everything But The Girl
1/5
The album has the feel of a lounge act playing the early-bird happy hour at the Holiday Inn. I have no idea why this album would be something that anyone would have to hear before they die.
Pulp
4/5
I admire Pulp's ability to juxtapose the highly consumable fuzzed brit-pop sound with novelesque narratives of tortured characters in a broken world.
You can hear this in the first 4 tracks, which are kind of like couplets of alternating themes.
The title track 'Mis-Shapes' is a perfect summary of the struggle of a younger generation coming up against the adversely challenging realities that their elder generations set before them. The story carries on in 'Common People', where two people explore (and ultimately become disillusioned with) just what it would mean to be common. Both tracks have this bubbly pop beat, which make it easy to overlook just how downtrodden these stories really are.
Sandwiched between those two tracks is 'Pencil Skirt', which tells the story of a depraved would-be suitor who is stalking someone, persisting past all objections, and content only in the acquisition or torment of the object of their obsession. If you don't like that, then you'll want to steer clear of this character's escalating fantasies in the track "I Spy".
And it carries on from there. Each song, something you can easily bop along with as it plays along in the background. Then a lyric grabs your attention, and you find that the stories are increasingly demanding your attention. Somewhere along the way, the pop tunes fall away entirely and you're struggling with the dilemmas of these characters.
The Band
3/5
Root-rock jam band with a bit of a honky-tonk feel. It's easy listening with a good vibe and some rich storytelling.
Sabu
4/5
98 albums into 1001 and this is only the 3rd non-english album, and that's being generous in considering Kraftwerk's Trans Europe Express as being non-english. Is this list really that myopically focused on english language albums?
This album is a perfect example of why the voices of the whole world need to be included in this list. With just some congas (I'm not even sure it isn't just one) and vocals the track 'Billumba-Palo Congo' shows the purity of Sabu's energy. While other tracks bring in one or two more instruments, the album continues on in much the same way. Each track is bare bones in its arrangement, but in no way does that compromise or undermine their ability to get your feet tapping and your hips moving.
The album is vivd and proof to me that I don't need to speak the same language to appreciate the impact of good music. Perhaps more "Top X" lists need to take that into consideration.
Leftfield
4/5
Chemical Brothers, take note! Finally, someone that can do house/trance/EDM without just looping the same refrain over and over and over and over.
I really appreciate seeing an album on this list that isn't vocal-centric. There are vocal tracks that come and go, but beats, instruments, sounds and samples are what takes center stage. Each track has a solid foundation that carries throughout, but there is a diverse cast of musical characters that roams into, out of and through each. Likewise there is a flow and continuity to the entire album that makes the whole thing feel like a complete work of art.
On the whole the album is equally enjoyable playing in the background or occupying your entire attention span. I'm really glad to have been introduced!
Dennis Wilson
4/5
This is a hidden gem of an album. Sure, there are some corny parts, but I just kept getting caught in the hooks. This whole album just sounds like someone who is genuinely having a great time making music, and that makes me happy.
Judas Priest
3/5
If you're looking for 11 back-to-back tracks of good old-fashioned metal, you've come to the right place. Feathered hair tossing windmill power chords, finger-tip shredding solos, a chest pounding rhythm section, and Rob Halford's expansive vocal range growling and wailing. What's not to love?
Side note, I was really intrigued by how 'The Rage' started. It had a Clash feel to it and I was hoping they'd continue on in that direction.
Dusty Springfield
2/5
1001 songs you have to hear before you die, sure, I'll give you that for "Son Of A Preacher Man". If the albums was "Dusty Springfield and a ton of songwriters and a bunch of studio musicians In Memphis", then I might be more inclined to appreciate the album on the whole. But the album is "Dusty In Memphis", and if all we're talking about is what Dusty brings to these tracks, I don't see it as something that merits being in this top 1001.
The Who
3/5
This album coined the term Rock Opera. Regardless of what I think about the music, I have to at least appreciate it for the courageous step out of the norm that it is.
The Specials
3/5
It's a good album, by a great band, but I don't see how this is above or beyond their first album, which is already on the list. While I won't complain about listening to The Specials, I think this spot on the list would be better filled by something new.
PS: Anyone else mistake 'International Jet Set' for a Gorillaz track?
Soft Cell
3/5
Imagine the pitch here. "Yeah, it's two dudes with a couple synthesizers, a drum machine, and expansive amorous interests. I think they'll fit in great here at 'Some Bizarre Records'!"
The synth-pop sound that these guys brought into being with this album, is surprisingly rich and diverse. While I do think the album could stand to be a handful of tracks lighter, there are quite a few highlights. Obviously, 'Tainted Love'. Secondly, lyrical subject matter aside, 'Sex Dwarf' is a far better track than the name suggest. And lastly, I really enjoyed 'Memorabilia', which I swear LCD Soundsystem's sound is directly descended from.
Neil Young
4/5
It's a tough thing to have a world view and to weave that into music in a way that doesn't feel heavy handed or is off putting. I think Neil Young does that well. I can't say I'm a big fan of his music, or this album, but I appreciate his willingness to take a stand, given it can easily up-end his career.
Even to this day, with his most recent stance to pull his music from Spotify in response to their support of podcasts that give a platform to disseminating misinformation, Neil is demonstrating that there is value in, and values around, his artform that he is willing to defend.
That principle of integrity and willingness to take a stand, is something we all need to hear. For that, I think this album is worthy of being on the list, if for nothing else than the reminder it provides. Music is far more than just audio decoration, filling in the background of our lives.
Arctic Monkeys
4/5
A great album tied to a horrible time in my life. The scenes, personalities, and dilemmas described in each song are the stuff of younger year legend and the backing tracks are pumped full with the same vim and ornery playfulness. Each song is impossibly better than the one before. I miss the memories, but I’m glad I’m past them!
Foo Fighters
3/5
I forgot how raw this album sounds. Hindsight being what it is, the album's eclectic feel (especially beyond 'Alone + Easy Target'), is foreshadowing of Dave Grohl's nascent potential at this point in his career.
The album's sound is one of overtly forward and fuzzed up electric guitars, although tracks like 'Big Me' and 'For All the Cows' offer moments that stand-out from that crowd. I tend to think that contrast and variation from the well-worn grunge/rock formulas is directly correlated to why those two tracks have higher play counts on Spotify for the front and back end of the album, respectively.
Along similar lines, Dave's vocals are varied across this debut album, sometimes almost hidden behind the blaring leads and other times right out in front. In all though, I remember being amazed at how well he held the front-man role, and that perception holds up over time.
As you would expect from any project that Dave is involved in, the drum tracks are steady solid throughout. They are the heart that sends the blood coursing through the veins of the album, delivering beats of energy and life to every track.
With all of that said, I don't feel like this is the right Foo Fighter's album to be on the list. I view 'The Colour And The Shape' as being their real debut. This album did much to put distance between Dave and his past rolls in other bands; taking the step stone his past fame provided and vaulting from it. Where it's really at though, is where the band's feet fell next and where they journeyed from there!
Rocket From The Crypt
2/5
Koffi Olomide
1/5
My opinion about the music is irrelevant.
From the wikipedia page - 'In 2019, He was found guilty by a French court of statutory rape of one of his former dancers when she was 15 years old.[8] He was handed a two-year suspended jail sentence in absentia, as he did not attend court in France.'
Little Richard
4/5
A bit of bop music, a bit of blues, and enough energy to bring even the most introverted wall flower onto the dance floor. The already infectious tunes are brought to life by raucous wails, punched up fills, and smooth rasp of Little Richard's vocals. In fact, you can hear in tracks like 'Jenny Jenny' that Little Richard is nearly overcome himself by the music trying to explode out of him.
This man's performances transferred the rock-n-roll energy into legions of artists to come. They heard something special in the full-throated expressiveness and they couldn't resist taking that idea and running with it.
Aretha Franklin
5/5
This is a powerful album, crammed to the brim with classic originals and covers. Each track shows Aretha's ability to connect the listener to the emotion and the meaning buried deep down in the soul of every song. The tracks 'Good to Me as I Am to You' and 'Ain't No Way' are so incredibly good.
King Crimson
4/5
Wild! The opening track (21st Centrury Schizoid Man) is like a prog-rock riff on themes from Black Sabbath's album Paranoid, nihilistic lyrics, echoed drum rolls down the set, and screeching horns and guitars. What's interesting through is this album came about a year before Paranoid did. Then, next up is 'I Talk To The Wind'; (my fav) a somber duet backed with clarinets, flutes, harmonics and a playful drum trilling and filling along in the background. Following that is 'Epitaph', which is an expansive and spatial lament reminiscent of tracks from Radiohead's 'OK Computer'. The next song 'Moonchild', just kind of slowly disintegrates into an ambient jam session, that almost sounds like they just forgot to stop recording and figured, "Eh, why not," when it came time to put it on the album. Then 'The Court of The Crimson King' ties all the themes together in an on-again-off-again crescendo.
This is such a singularly unique album, and I love it!
Neu!
3/5
Lately I've been hung up on stoner/sludge rock and bands like Elder, If These Trees Could Talk, and Russian Circles. I really enjoy how their albums fuse together the movements and diversity of sound that you would find in classical music, with the instrumentation and overall sensibility of prog-rock/metal.
This album scratches similar itch for me. Between that and tracks like 'Isi', 'Hero' and 'After Eight' sounding like direct influences for LCD Soundsystem, this is definitely an album I can enjoy.
Tim Buckley
1/5
I have to give it to Tim; He's really into what he's doing. Unfortunately, that energy doesn't translate into a connection for me. The band is tight, and they do well with the music they've been given. They even get to stretch their legs a few times, in tracks like 'Devil Eyes'. But that isn't enough to offset the fact that Tim's vocals and lyrical delivery are just too awkward for me to hear past. Moreover, the characters he trying to convey and/or the stories he's trying to tell in each song, just don't seem believable as he depicts them.
Nowhere is this more apparent than 'Get on Top' and 'Sweet Surrender'. I was literally cringing and tensed listening to 'Sweet Surrender', which was basically a 2-minute song followed by 4m44s of Tim's warbling and nasally improvisations. You figure that they would've learned from the previous track 'Get on Top', where there is a very apparent and abrupt cut around the 5m50s mark in and amongst a similar 4+ minute long outro. I will say that I was almost into 'Nighthawkin''... almost.
All told, it feels like an attempt was made to make a gritty album that told the stories of hard worn lives in a big city, but what came through was more like a kid telling tall tales.
The Youngbloods
3/5
The album starts out with a touch of country, rock and psychedelic. Then after the jam session double track 'On Sir Francis Drake' the band moves on to a considerably more mellow mix of songs and instrumental tracks. Stand out tracks for me are 'Smug', 'On Sir Francis Drake', 'Trillium', and 'Sham'.
Wire
4/5
If there is one thing this whole exercise has taught me, it's that I am a fool for having ignored punk music from the 70's for this long. Shame on me!
This album, with its 21 songs in 37 minutes, is a whirlwind of musical thoughts. Don't conflate that for a lack of quality though. In contrast to my equal appreciation of prog-rock, I also appreciate that Wire didn't feel the need to draw anything out. If they could get the idea across with a single verse and 40 seconds, then sobeit.
Each track, be it an entire song or a segment, is complete and stands on its own. If you're only glancing across the album, you would be forgiven for thinking much of it is all the same, but a closer listening reveals the contours of something unique in every song. Some of the brightest spots for me, which also show the diversity of sound across the album, are 'Three Girl Rhumba', 'Lowdown', 'Mr Suit' and 'Champs'.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
Ah! Back when I was not embarrassed to admit I enjoyed RHCP. I could not get enough of this album when it first came out. The union of rock and funk was something my musical ear had apparently been craving.
Flea, Frusciante and Smith (and arguably Rick Rubin) put together a masterpiece, that has easily endured the decades since. Smith's jazz drumming is relentlessly precise and uncharacteristically diverse for that era of popular music. Flea elevated the bass guitar to a main instrument and also brought explosive personality to the stage and to recordings. And yet, they together never compromised on remaining the tight-knit rhythm section. In and amongst all of that, Frusciante steers clear of the need for a rhythm guitar part at all by magically weaving a sonic fabric of riffs, solos and powerful chord explosions.
What is on a bit shakier ground are Kiedis' contributions. While some of the sincere songs like 'I Could Have Lied' and 'Under the Bridge' are quite powerful, much of the lyrical content across the rest of the songs range from fractional thoughts, to gibberish, to outright celebrations of misogyny. I remember gleefully singing along to all of these songs, so this is definitely also a lot about my sensibilities changing over time, but it's sad how much it takes away from my fond memories of the album.
Stereo MC's
2/5
Lower key dance beats, loops upon loops and rap/sing/rap stanzas. A simple formula for a decent album.
Kendrick Lamar
4/5
Delving even deeper into the vein that 'M.A.A.D City' opened, this album is a genuine and vulnerable telling of one man's struggle in a violent and oppressive world. What stands out on the surface may sound like bravado and avarice, but lying just underneath that facade is fear, self-doubt, and despair. In sharing that story, Kendrick has lent his voice to the telling of many people's stories. The list of examples is nearly as long as the entire album, but I'd point to 'Institutionalized', 'These Walls', 'Alright', and 'How Much A Dollar Cost' as prime examples of what I'm talking about.
The tracks themselves are filled with the life and a diversity of numerous artists and musical elements from a wide array of genres. Check out 'For Free?' (spoken word), 'These Walls (R&B), 'u' (jazz), and 'Alright' (hip-hop) to get a sense of just how dynamic this album is. I think the statement from the Wikipedia article which says the album is, 'supremely "cinematic" production qualities but [with] "the freedom of a mixtape",' summarizes it perfectly.
The rhymes and rap techniques are simply on another level. The internet has covered this thoroughly, so check that out if you don't hear it for yourself. My absolute favorite flow is on the tail end of the track 'i' and I only wish that it could carry on, instead of being broken up by the fight in the crowd.
Please. Take the time to listen past the language and the talk about pussy and bitches! This album has so much to offer on every level, and it would be a shame to misjudge this book by it's cover.
Pixies
3/5
Try as I might, I struggle to wrap my head around the appeal of this album.
There are moments and fragments, but it seems like the band didn't really know what to do with what they had. I give the album 3 stars overall for being fine enough to listen to, and clearly the album has influenced many other artists, but it falls well short of greatness or being something, I absolutely have to hear.
Belle & Sebastian
1/5
It's like prog-rock, but instead of the musical parts being complicated, you just strum three chords and say every single word that comes to your mind. Bleh.
Beatles
3/5
A handful of classics and the clear show of the promise yet to come from this band.
Ian Dury
2/5
I'll give'm this. They knew the sound they were aiming for and they nailed it. Not sure I'm very into it though.
Ryan Adams
2/5
A fine enough blend of county and rock with a touch of folks, played in a way that kind of sounds like a bunch of songs that you've heard a million times on the radio. It's ok, but I wouldn't call it gold.
Janelle Monáe
4/5
Janelle shows boundless creativity and talent across these 18 tracks and takes ample time to tip her hat to numerous inspirations. The album is a variable periodic table of musical elements; Funk, Rab, R&B, Classical, Latin, Swing, Pop, Samba, Jazz, Psychedelic, Rock, Folk, Ballads and maybe even some Broadway.
Stand out tracks for me are 'Neon Valley Street', 'Dance or Die', 'Come Alive', '57821' and 'Tightrope'.
The Shamen
2/5
Faust
2/5
There are moments in and amongst the eclectic variety of jams, but it's a bit too scatter shot for me to really get into. It's too bad because the first track ('Krautrock') really worked for me, so I was stoked to see where it was heading. By the time I got to 'Lauft', I was lost.
Todd Rundgren
1/5
Not my speed at all.
Funkadelic
3/5
I know I'm supposed to view this group through a funk lens, but there is so much rock and jam in this album, I don't think it's right to limit my view. That idea is perfect captured both lyrically and musically in the track 'Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?!"
Building from that idea, I think that spirit is a major part of why this album leaves such an indelible impression. Each track forces you to open your mind further and further, both on what you think the band is, and on various serious and nonsensical topics. But none of it comes across as heavy handed. They just want to help bring one nation together under a groove!
Highlight tracks for me would be 'One Nation Under a Groove', 'Cholly', and especially 'Maggot Brain / Chant'.
Rod Stewart
4/5
Songs that speak fondly of loves past and yet to come, played out over a mostly American roots rock stage, with occasional forays into bluegrass, gospel, country, and rock. Its sweet, refreshing, and well-rounded.
Cheap Trick
4/5
A tight rock and roll set played in front of a jubilant Japanese audience. The break between each track reveals an almost beatlemania-esqe fervor amongst the crowd, which had to have been a thrill for the band as well!
I feel like the energy just exploded on 'Come On, Come On', relented a bit during 'Need Your Love', and then just hard charged all the way through to the 'Clock Strikes Ten' encore. Also, the 'Hello There' and 'Goodnight' bookend tracks on the performance were a nice touch of showmanship.
All told, this had to have been an epic show and is translated fantastically to recording, which is saying a lot for a live performance.
Bonus points for 'Surrender' starting off with a sound bite that was sampled by the Beastie Boys.
Liz Phair
3/5
The album is straight forward, raw in parts and laser focused on telling the story of a woman afloat in a setting that is as ill-fitting as hand-me-down clothes.
The emotional baseline of the album isn't explosive or outraged like some of Liz's female-lead contemporaries (i.e. Alanis), but much more dry-witted and ambivalent akin to Courtney Barnett (who I really hope is on this list!)
For exemplary paired down tracks, I'd point to 'Girls! Girls! Girls!' and 'Shatter'. For songs that include the band, I enjoyed 'Never Said' and 'Divorce Song'. Floating somewhere in between the two vibes are great tracks like 'Soap Star Joe'.
Billie Holiday
1/5
Normally, I'm in for this sort of album; Especially with one of the greats, such as Billie Holiday! But this album just felt like a complete production miss. The orchestral arrangements strike me as overly glossy and schmaltzy. On the other hand, Billie's vocals sound strained, especially during the line punctuating vibratos (of which there is one on nearly every single line).
Honestly, I expected something great, but after 3 attempts, I just couldn't sit through the full length album.
2/5
Still walking the fine line between calm and chaotic, although maybe a bit more refined in places than prior PJ Harvey albums.
As I've said with other artists that have multiple albums on this list, I don't understand what makes this one substantially different from PJ Harvey's debut album, such that she merits double billing. It would make more sense to me to just have a shorter list, then continuing to fill it with multiple albums from the same artist that basically represent the same thing.
Van Halen
3/5
Bad boy glam rock packed full of bluesy riffs, furious drumming, and synth fills. I can practically hear the sweat rolling off their chest hair and onto their skin tight vinyl pants!
I honestly never fully appreciated just how great a track 'Hot For Teacher' is. Each part played and sung is remarkable on it's own, and they fold and flow together so perfectly. 'Girl Gone Bad' is another impressive showing by the band, showing just how tight the band is with or without David Lee Roth.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
2/5
The tracks are spatial and moody and strike me as a group doing their level best to take the harsh edges off of their nascent electronic instruments.
The vocals mostly blend into the crowded early 80's emo/electro scene, but there are moments where the singer's snaps out of the act, which I found far more sincere and engaging.
Honestly, my impressions on the album are all over the place. Tracks like 'Motion And Heart' show how bad things can get, whereas 'Extended Souvenir' and 'Of All The Things We've Made' work way better. Then there are tracks somewhere in the middle, like 'Sacred Heart', where I think the synthwave backtrack is great, but the vocal track just kills it for me.
I am curious to see where the group went from here, but I probably won't end up coming back to this album in particular.
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
"I've lost my harmonica Albert" - haha, ded!
Massive Attack
3/5
The Doors
3/5
Psychedelic blues rock. Yum!
The band sounds effortlessly clean and tight-knit across the entire album. They show they can still deliver some crazed energy on tracks like 'Been down so Long' and 'L'America', but where they really shine are on the cool and casual tracks like 'Cars Hiss by My Window', 'Crawling King Snake', and 'Riders on the Storm'.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
So, this is the first time I have ever listened to a Rolling Stones album. I know this band is legendary but due to some indelible marks made during my formative years from being bombarded with the song 'Start Me Up', I had put a mental block on them. Now that my time had come, I was glad to find out that I had the wrong impression.
What struck me the most throughout the album, is how varied and diverse the song arrangements were. This is made loud and clear with the opening track. 'Sympathy For The Devil' is slow-to-boil perception bending tale, with a catchy piano progression, a bass guitar, a collection of utility percussionists, some people saying "woo-woo" over and over again, a couple of guitar cameos, and Mic giving it his all on top. Just brilliant.
Songs like 'No Expectations' layer and build and are constructed as they play out. Others tracks, while straight forward in their structure, flourish in that they are built on non-pop roots like delta-blues ('Dear Doctor', 'Prodigal Son') and bluegrass ('Factory Girl').
This is definitely much more than just another classic rock album, and with the one exception of 'Stray Cat Blues', doesn't align (in a great way) with what I was expecting.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
5/5
Four profoundly talented, creative, and meticulous musicians, each making it sound effortless. I appreciate that this album is extremely accessible, but that it's does that without compromising richness and complexity. You could listen to each track 10 times in a row and still discover new fills and trills with every playthrough.
David Bowie
3/5
Elvis Presley
4/5
Smoldering, sultry, raucous, and swaying back and forth between soulful and playful. The album covers a ton of ground (Rock - 'Dirty, Dirty Feeling', Do-Wop - 'Solider Boy', Soul - 'It Feels So Right', and even Blues - 'Reconsider Baby') and every single track is firmly footed in a pop sensibility.
The one track I just can't shake though is 'Fever'. Elvis' performance is breathless and breathtaking. The solitary upright bass, surrounded by the ghosts of reverbed vocals and snaps, keep this barely tethered song from flying off. Bursts of bongo fills accentuate the creeping ambiance. It's haunting and seductive.
All-up the album was considerably more enjoyable than I was expecting, made great by exemplary performances by Elvis, the Blue Moon Boys, and all of the supporting vocalists and artists. Shout out to the bass vocalist especially.
Alice In Chains
3/5
OutKast
3/5
Oh, the days when every single hip-hop album had skits. What was that about?
I kind of struggled with this album, since it feels to me more like two albums blended together. One is socially minded, has a purpose, and is focused. This album includes tracks like 'B.O.B. - Bombs Over Baghdad', 'Humble Mumble', 'Spaghetti Junction', 'Xplosion', and '?'. The tracks are musically and lyrically dense and each is full of enough dimension and depth to keep them fresh for years.
The other album is sophomoric, goofy, and full of "get my stank on" innuendo (or worse). I'm thinking of tracks like 'Snappin' & Trappin'', 'We Luv Deez Hoez', and all the skits.
On the whole, it is a great hip-hop/rap album that pushes the boundaries and challenges pre-conceived notions. I do think it would've benefitted from being 8-10 tracks lighter, but I can also appreciate that the group was probably having a great time being in full control of their recording process.
Adam & The Ants
2/5
It must've been the historical context that made this album important, because I'm just not getting it out of context. British art-house post punk with an overtop smack of zeal that borders on being campy and self-satirizing but could also just be a leadman who can't help from being over the top.
Blur
3/5
It's remarkable how deftly the band flirts with and yet ultimately rejects a purely pop quality. Each song teeters on the edge of falling into the catchy pop tune chasm, threatening to fall in, if it weren't for the chaotic and dissonant anchors, holding it back.
While not a terrible song, 'Look Inside America' shows what I'm talking about. Compared to every other song on this album, it's quite straight forward. It's nice, but it feels a little flat amongst the crowd.
All told though, the album is a better listen than I recall, and with the benefit of hindsight, a noteworthy standout from the "alternative" crowd of the time.
The Stooges
2/5
I dig the vibe, but the energy is pretty flat. It's kind of like psychedelic punk, which I don't feel meshes all that well.
Miles Davis
4/5
A dense and energetic album, that has added to my snowballing desire to delve more deeply into the world of Jazz. Two things stand out to my extremely untrained jazz-listening ears.
The musical agility of each performer is incredible. My hands and lungs ache just thinking about the endurance and precision of movement and breath involved to play these parts. This stands out clearly in the tracks 'Move', 'Budo' and more subtly in 'Israel'.
The band is cohesive and perfectly aligned with one another. Their level of collective coordination, even amongst the most frenetic parts of the songs, reveals their dedication to the craft. I can't really point to anyone track as showcasing this more than any other, as I feel like it's evident at all points, in all tracks.
Bob Dylan
5/5
The reason I love Dylan is the same reason I love Willie Nelson. Enchantingly simple arrangements and enthrallingly detailed narratives.
Frank Sinatra
2/5
I get why people would enjoy this. I do not.
Aerosmith
4/5
Just how exactly a rock band that got their start in the 70s, manages to come back decade over decade and be relevant and fresh, is beyond me! Pump, is packed with hits which have remained in constant rotation on both Pop and Rock radio stations ever since. It's a testament to how when a group finds just the right blended musical sensibility, they can transcend audiences and cultural phases, and tap into a vein with music that people can't kick, like a bad habit.
The riffs and melodies are undeniably catchy, even if you're like me and you're not into the band all that much. With that in mind, I've got to give credit where credit is due.
For my tastes, I'd say 'The Other Side' is the real gem on this album. The layered vocal tracks on the hook are unshakable, the brass/wind section is jubilant, and the core of the band is just pounding along with a blues-rock vibe that even the staunchest prude can't help but tap their foot to.
Ray Price
2/5
This album lines up with the stereotypes of country music that I was indoctrinated to dislike as a youth. The album has the feel of a honky-tonk meets crooner longue act, which could potentially be enjoyable, if wasn't for the fact that the whole thing is so monotonous and monotoned. For kicks, listen to the first 10 seconds of the tracks 'A Girl in the Night', 'Pride' and 'If She Could See Me Now' respectively, and see if you can figure out which is which.
And that's kind of my problem with the whole thing. It's basically the same song, over and over and over again. Heck, the first distinguishing moment I heard in any of these songs didn't come until 1m15s into the 11th track (out of 13). It's like the whole album is just one big song, or that each song is just a shortened version of the whole album. In effect I listened to the whole album 13 times, and that's about 12.5 times more than I ever wish I had.
Sufjan Stevens
3/5
Radiohead
4/5
On the whole, In Rainbows is a spatial and casually meandering album that feels at once both intricately detailed and yet effortlessly crafted. From reading the related Wikipedia article, it sounds like creative process that brought the band to this end was chaotic, but I would never have guessed from listening.
Overall, the mood of the album is very cohesive and gives off an air of genre-bending high-art rock. While the majority of the album flirts back and forth between the upper boundaries of melancholy and the lower boundaries of explosion, the one track that bursts through with non-stop energy is 'Bodysnatchers'. I love this track and would be interested to hear a mix of the album that builds up to this as the conclusion, since it feels like such a perfect culminating track.
Tim Buckley
1/5
In high school, I had a crush on a girl. She had long since decided we should only be friends. I had my head buried deep in the self-absorbed teenage sands and I was unfoundedly convinced that the time for our true relationship was imminent. You would've thought I'd have known better, given she already had a boyfriend.
One day, she asked me to drive her to boyfriend's house, to which I agreed because ... of course I wanted to hang out with her! We got there and the plan somehow turned into the three of us hanging out in my car, in the dude's driveway. They chatted and cuddled while I strummed my guitar. In hindsight, I'm sure there were numerous clear signals that I should have gone for a walk or something, but as I said I was oblivious.
In fact, as the plan went on, I became progressively convinced that I had been invited along because somewhere deep down inside she wanted to leave this guy and be with me. The masterstroke of my subterfuge, most certainly, would be my musical prowess.
In reality, I was shit at playing the guitar and the main reason I was there is primarily because I had a car.
I feel like Tim Buckley and young me, were on a similar wavelength.
Pantera
4/5
This is an unapologetically straightforward album with a name that lays plain, what you're getting into.
I remember hearing this album for the first time. It compelled me! I couldn't resist the urge to bang my head, clench my fists, furrow my brow, twist my face and gnash my teeth as each track pounded and growled along. I wasn't generally a rage filled person, but the visceral force of this album was infectious. It gave me a means for realizing emotions I had packed away and provided me with some harmless catharsis.
This album isn't really in my rotation list anymore, but it was great to hear it again. I can only point to a few albums that have taken me out of the blue like that, and I appreciate them each for what they helped me to learn about myself.
As far as the music itself goes, its quintessential hardcore metal. There is no glam. The big hair is traded for shaved heads and sweaty mops. The skin tight pants are traded for ripped denim. These bands look more like the roadies, than the main attraction.
That plainspoken affect of the artists carries through to the sound. The guitars grunts, growl, screech and wail, trading blues rock riffs for prog-esque atypical time signatures. The drums, instead of rolling along in the background with the occasional flourish or solo, are right at the forefront, pounding out the path and playing equal parts with all other instruments. The vocals are a gravel throated fist to the face, evoking all of the emotions folded up into each track. All of this is prepared with a simple production quality, much like how the perfect Texas Brisket only needs salt, pepper, and time (prove me wrong).
Caetano Veloso
2/5
Elton John
3/5
I can't figure out what, but something prevents me from connecting with this album. To be fair, it is full of good music, energetic performances, and emotional storytelling. Normally that would be the perfect mixture for me.
For some reason though, it just feels a bit too "put on" or stuck somewhere in the uncanny valley, just shy of the qualities that would resonate with my senses. I guess I would point to 'Indian Sunset' as an example of what I'm talking about. I should be into it, but it just feels a bit awkward.
Looking beyond the well-known tracks like 'Tiny Dancer', I personally think 'Holiday Inn' is the stand-out here, but even that could do without the sitars and swelling strings.
A good album, but something's just off for my taste.
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
As much as I want to complain about these songs being "played out" on the radio or complain about my perceptions of Billy Corgan steadily degrading over time ... I just don't care, because this album is way too good. I also openly acknowledge my fondness for this album is likely unduly swayed by nostalgia.
What really drew me into this album, and still endears me to it today, is that it is founded in the grunge/alt musical sensibility, but it goes way beyond the simplistic structures of that genre. The songs are full of contours. They have intros, transitions, swings in guitar effects, phrases that build and climb, pauses of calm punctuated with eruptions of fuzz blaring guitars. I think the tracks 'Soma', 'Mayonaise', and 'Silverfuck' demonstrates what I'm talking about perfectly.
Some of the greatest tracks/moments on this album, that come to my mind are, the first 57 seconds of 'Cherub Rock', 'Hummer', 'Rocket', 'Soma', 'Silverf*ck', and 'Rhinoceros' - oops, wrong album.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
I didn't realize that DJ Shadow sampled from this album. Now I gotta go back and listen to some of his earlier stuff! I digress.
These guys had an uncanny creative sensibility because this album is back-to-back earworms. The album doesn't seem to follow any particular theme as it bounces between subdue (i.e. 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', 'So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright', and 'The Boxer') or bubbly and bright (i.e. 'Cecilia', 'Keep the Customer Satisfied', and 'Baby Driver') tracks, but they ultimately blend together nicely into a well rounded collection.
It's a solid album from start to finish that has endured for 50 years, and I'm sure it will hold it's beloved status for another 50, and then some.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
3/5
A British prog-rock super group's adaptation of a late 19th century classical suite... this could really only go one of two ways.
I enjoyed this album more than I anticipated I would. The calm chill of 'The Sage' and the raging ramble of the BabaYaga series of tracks culminating into 'The Great Gates of Kiev' were the real standouts for me.
Bob Dylan
3/5
A bit of blues, a bit of roots rock, a bit of soul, and maybe even a bit of country. All of it is touched with the dust of a road worn band, and the fuzz of distortion and reverb. I really enjoy the overall sound of the album.
It's a mostly subdue and introspective album that maintains the lyrical poignance that you would expect from Dylan. Standing way out from the crowd on this album is the track 'Make you Feel My Love'. It's a gem of a love song that I'm surprised I've never heard come across before (either original or covered). Whoa is me, and my musically sheltered life.
Beastie Boys
5/5
Keith Jarrett
4/5
Michael Jackson
4/5
The Modern Lovers
3/5
Traffic
3/5
Lorde
3/5
I don't know what the thing is called when singers kinda twist, roll and truncate the words at the end of their lyrical phrases - but I can't stand it!
"I do my makeup in, somebody else's cahw
We order different drinks at the same bahws
etc..."
It's this sort of exaggerated baby talk that you see all over tik tok videos. It took me a while to get past that "technique" enough to consider what I really thought about the album.
Contrary to what the pop-forward veneer might suggest, the lyrical content tackles some pretty series subject matter. The songs look past the buzz to the hangover, and past the honeymoon to when the infatuation has worn off. I appreciate that a musician that is getting hundreds of millions of plays on Spotify is willing to go there. Hopefully people who hear these lyrics and they create some awareness and emotional space for those whom their own introspections are missing or repressed.
As for the music, it's alright, but not really great (for my tastes anyhow). Nothing about it really gives me goose bumps or intrigues me all that much. It a generally subdue backtrack that stays mostly hidden below and beneath Lorde's performance.
Blondie
4/5
This is a great album that brings together numerous elements of popular genres and makes something entirely unique and special, from parts and pieces of things we've all heard before. Topping it all off is Debby Harry, a powerful and charismatic front woman, which even 40+ years later are still far too few and far between due primarily to the endemically flawed nature of both the music industry and how popularity works in our society.
And yet, fortunately for all of us, all of these unlikely pieces fell into place.
This album has a couple of new wave classics in "One Way Or Another" and "Heart Of Glass". I also enjoyed the tracks that veered from the formula of those hit tracks, specifically the darker vibe on the track "Fade Away And Radiate" and the ensemble rock sound of "I Know But I Don't Know".
Syd Barrett
1/5
If this guy hadn't previously been a part of Pink Floyd, there is no way this album would have been made. I can appreciate a touched mind's deranged performances (RIP Wesley Willis), but this is just nonsense.
Kanye West
3/5
Let me start this off by saying that the 'Blame Game' backing track is a straight ripoff from Aphex Twin's 'Avril 14th'. Aphex deserves all of the recognition he can get, so shame on Kanye for not doing right by him.
There is a lot to enjoy about this album, and I agree that it is the pinnacle of Kanye's career. There are some great rhymes and techniques at play, Kayne's production skills are on full display, and the collaborations are fantastic (especially Nicki Minaj and JAY-Z on 'Monster').
There are also stark contrasts between and even within tracks that seem to mirror Kanye's continuously tortured state. You've got a track like 'POWER' throwing bravado every direction it can but then culminating in contemplations of suicide. You've also got loads of lines about how they're "f'in B's" and then a seemingly apologetic track like 'Runaway'.
It's been sad to see the steady decline of Kayne (at least in the public eye) and this album seems to do a decent job of encapsulating the conflicts that were at play within the man at the time. It is simultaneously resplendent, self-congratulating, chaotic and introspective.
I still struggle to separate the artist from the art, so I'm sure that is pulling my rating down here, but the album was much better that I figured it would be, and certainly far superior to anything that Kayne has made since.
Amy Winehouse
3/5
Such a tragic loss of a profoundly talented musician.
The Black Crowes
3/5
It took me a while to place it, but the things I like about this album are very similar to what I liked about 'A Nod Is as Good as a Wink... to a Blind Horse' by Faces, which is also on this list.
Every track is exuberant, and each part is played to perfection with a casual blue-rock affect. Chris Robinson in particular sounds like he's put everything he has into every single track, and that energy is infectious.
Johnny Cash
3/5
As far as Cash's albums go, it's not nearly as great for the music, as it is for chaotic fun of the performance itself. The whole show is resplendently defiant and yet Johnny remains endearingly charismatic to everyone involved. What I appreciate very specifically is how Johnny shows deference for the humanity of the inmates, especially in the stage banter between the songs.
Thelonious Monk
3/5
Björk
3/5
Don McLean
2/5
I appreciate the lyricism and storytelling and there isn't anything particularly off putting about the songs. Don's voice is crystal clear, and the tunes are catchy.
But it's all sort of eye-glossingly boring to me. I say that, then I feel like I'm an ingrate who is overlooking gorgeous nuance of the music, and I'm haunted by visions of my furrowed browed Dad shaking his head as he says, "Pearls before swine."
Parliament
3/5
Tear the roof off this motherfunker!
Chicago
3/5
It is quite an intriguing union of styles and sounds. The album has the heart of a rock album, which stands out on tracks like 'Listen', 'South California Purples' and 'Liberation', but there is a depth and a soulfulness there (i.e. 'Poem 58'), as well as an occasional pop-anthem vibe to some of the songs (i.e. 'Beginnings'), that make it feel a bit like a musical square peg.
All told, the album is an enjoyable debut from a group of people that seem like they are really enjoying making music together, regardless of what genre people want to try and pack them into. Who would have thought at the time that these dudes would still be rocking and touring together half a century later!
The Yardbirds
2/5
The albums plays like an out of focus image rough cut into a puzzle of poorly fitting pieces. There is something there, you're sure of it, but it's hard to make out and you can't tell whether the focus required to put it together is worth it or not.
Generally speaking, this sort of low-fi rock/punk/psychedelic thing would be right up my alley, so I'm a bit surprised to find that I can't quite settle into enjoying the album too much. I will probably come to appreciate what this album is, or the place it had in the context of musical history, but for the time being, it's just a bit too scattershot for me.
Heaven 17
2/5
They had a vision for what they wanted, and they went for it; I'll give them that. When I think synth-pop, I definitely don't think about socially conscious bands that are looking to make commentaries with their music.
The lyrical content makes the focus of this album plain, but the conspicuously artificial sound of the synthesized drum tracks and keyboards add an additional dystopian and ominous air to most of the tracks.
The result is an album that isn't necessarily entertaining, or rather that feels less casual and more forceful with it's desire to be heard. I appreciate a group that is willing to do that, but I also have to admit that in this case, it kind of undermines my ability to enjoy it too much.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
2/5
The album makes me think of laidback summer weekend afternoons. I appreciate the craftsmanship that they put into the harmonies and it's remarkable how they come across as one voice.
All that said though, it's not really my cup of tea and I doubt I'll be revisiting the album for my personal enjoyment.
Joan Armatrading
3/5
I get the impression that this album was an important milestone in the glacial evolution of the culture of the music industry. Regardless of how accurate that assumption is, I am sure that this had a positive effect on the "If you can see it, you can be it" scales over the years since this album's release.
Pixies
3/5
To me, the Pixies fall into a similar category of esoteric or contentious brilliance and I think 'Bossanova' is perfectly curated collection of songs that illustrate what I mean. Each track is captivating in its own way, but it's hard to tell whether you're still listening because of the harmony or the dissonance. The band manages to flirt right at the boundaries of both ends of that spectrum simultaneously, turning it into more of a closed loop than a continuum.
Overall, the album is built on the foundation of an electrified and blurred out beach-rock sound. The moods of the album are varied, ranging from mellow (i.e. 'Havalina') to manic (i.e. 'Rock Music') and many unsettled points in between (i.e. 'Is She Weird'), 'Hang Wire'). The vocals are all over the place and seem to be deliberately imperfect, and there is a quirk there that makes it all work.
And I think that's the thing about the Pixies. They are easy to dismiss or dislike on the surface. I've personally resisted getting into their music and really understanding its appeal. You have to spend time with it and grow a personal connection. That's not what everyone is looking for when it comes to music, certainly not of this genre, but it's there if you've got time to give.
Can
3/5
The play counts on spotify tell the story clearly enough. The album is like a wild trip, equal parts euphoric and terrifying, and definitely not for everyone.
The first four tracks of this album are a collection of meandering jam sessions, that bring together rock instrumentation with a touch of funk and an overall psychedelic air. It's a great set of tracks to have playing in the background or bopping in your headphones while you're focusing. I especially enjoy how the track 'Halleluhwah' ebbs and flows through it's permutations, the rhythm section holding to a core while the rest of the band dances all around it.
And then you come to tracks 5 and 6, and the wheels just fall off... for 29 minutes! I can't really understand why anyone would bother to commit these sorts of noise jams to a recording, and in the case of this album it really spoils what was a fantastic start.
The album sort of crawls back to where it started, with 'Bring Me Coffee or Tea', but I suspect that most listeners don't know that because they threw in the towel somewhere in the middle of 'Peking O'.
X-Ray Spex
3/5
An extremely precise punk backing band fronted by explosive, raw and untamed vocals. It makes for a solid album that I'm sure was influential to countless artists over the years. This sounds like a group that would've been really fun to see live. I appreciate the break from the norm that the track 'Plastic Bag' provided, and it makes me curious for what could've been if they explored outside of their punk structure a bit more.
Ray Charles
4/5
As I was listening through this album, I developed a boatload of flawed assumptions about how this album (a country album by a soul singer) came to be. I figured that a bunch of studio bigwigs forced Ray into this path in order to line their pockets. Reading through the Wikipedia article for this album though, I found out I was dead wrong, and my appreciation for what this album is has appreciated all the more for it. The truth is that Ray was the mastermind behind this cross-over and through this work the popularity of country music on the whole was significantly improved. An enjoyable twist on many levels.
The music and the performances are fantastic, and Ray brings his characteristic charisma and soulful touch to each track. Perhaps 24 tracks does feel a touch long, but it can be forgiven.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
Everything is there to make a great album, but yet I still can't manage to get to the point of connecting with the tracks and immersing in the album.
Johnny Cash
5/5
This album was already in my heavy rotation list, but I'd never really taken the time to think about the end-to-end album (and the event itself) all that much. It's really quite remarkable that a well-established artist from any musical genre would opt to setup inside of a prison and perform a whole show for the prisoners. I very seriously doubt there is any modern musician with an established career and the courage to do the same (especially any country musician). I could be wrong, but I doubt I am.
So, then the show gets started, and instead of rolling off a series of radio-worn popular tunes, the band plays a setlist of songs that tell the tales of criminals. Each song honestly, and often sympathetically, portrays the personhood and humanity of the criminal, without romanticizing or pitying. And in an amongst all of it, Johnny is chatting up the crowd and making jokes just like it's nothing.
It's an enjoyable and voyeuristic musical experience, with a very subtle underlying tragedy that, when explored enough, challenges the listener to think of the humanity of the people that have been locked away from society.
Neil Young
1/5
I remember the first time I ever heard Neil Young was when he showed up at the 1993 MTV Music Awards to perform "Keep on Rockin' In The Free World' with Pearl Jam. My poor little teenage fanboy mind was confused, because one of my favorite bands had sidelined their lead vocalist in favor of some dude I'd only vaguely heard of. I could have recovered from that but to add insult to injury, in and amongst some very awkward movements and fits across the stage, this Neil Young dude was struggling to carry the tune at all.
I'm sure that has flavored my perception of Neil Young's work to this day, but I just can't distance myself enough from his voice to even kind of engage in the music or the lyrics at all.
This album followed along those similar lines. When the whimpering trio of vocalists started to carry in the first 30 seconds of the first track (Tonight's the Night) I thought, "Welp, here we go again!". By the time I got to nearly breathless screech of "Railroad traaaaaaaaack" around the 2:15 mark in 'Mellow My Mind', I gave up.
I'm glad that so many other folks get so much out of this artist's work, but it just isn't for me.
John Coltrane
5/5
Its enchanting, mesmerizing and yet cognitively exhausting to listen to, somewhat akin to the sirens' call from The Odyssey.
I can't even begin to comprehend the complexity of the performance and the skill required to pull it off with this much elegance and emotion, let alone the genius and intimate musical intuition required to absolutely nail it in a single take.
I will need to come back to this album many more times before I can fully appreciate it, and I'll be glad to do it.
Stereolab
3/5
What an entirely unique confluence of musical and production elements. I can't say I'll be coming back to this album over and over again, but it was fun to be introduced to.
Mariah Carey
3/5
Geez - I totally forgot how tiresome R&B tracks had become by the late 90s. Slow jam after slow jam with synthesized everything accompanied by little more than a fretless bass guitar. FKA Twigs this is not!
While still largely constrained to the formula above, I would point to the track 'Breakdown' as a pleasant break out (at least in meter) from the well-worn guardrails that the rest of the album feels tied down by.
Above the tracks Mariah's vocals are flawless and float back and forth between smokey seduction and belting power. I'd point to 'My All' and 'Close My Eyes' as being the stars of the album in particular.
Steely Dan
2/5
I guess if I'm evaluating an album on the technical marvel of its production and the elaborate nature of the performances, then I would be lauding the genius of this album.
If I am being honest though, it's just feels too full of itself to be enjoyable.
A Tribe Called Quest
5/5
I'm hard pressed to think of a more perfect hip-hop album. The flows and wordplays are sublime. The subject matter of the tracks covers a range of substantial topics with a perfect balance of seriousness and humor. The backing tracks are a genius fusion of jazz, break loops and samples and an art form unto themselves, which have influenced countless artists and genres since.
An absolute gem!
The Doors
3/5
An iconic cornerstone of the psychedelic musical genre. I'm rating this a bit lower than what I suspect the norm is, only because I'm not a big fan of the group, but that is mostly just a matter of personal taste.
The Verve
2/5
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
3/5
A succinct and unoffensive rock'n'roll album with plenty of earworm tracks that have now become foundations and pillars for countless artists to follow.
Nearly every song adheres to a strict verse-chorus-verse structure, with the sole exception of 'Luna', which musters up the courage to diverge to a verse-chorus-bridge routine - scandal! Jokes aside though, I really enjoyed that track for all of the diversity it brought, relative to the rest of the rather formulaic album.
Those nit-picks as they are though, the whole album is fast enough and enjoyable enough to not really get caught up by any of them. The impression that endures is of a bright and tight production with just enough soul and energy to get your butt wiggling in your chair.
Lauryn Hill
5/5
This album is a masterpiece, unifying elements of R&B, hip-hop, rap, and soul/gospel masterfully. The opening pairing of 'Lost Ones' and 'Ex-Factor' are stripped down tracks that put Lauryn's rap bone fides and vocal power front and center, setting the tone for the whole album to come. Ms. Hill's performance on each track is impeccable, even the chorus parts that she recorded for the background hypes and harmony.
The lyrical content of this album is clearly very personal and speaks to experience that everyone can connect with at a similar level. It must have been hard to put all of that honesty and emotion into this work, have it become a worldwide success, and then compelled to tour the world singing it over and over again. I can't imagine how artists doing it and maintain authenticity and their own connection to the work.
And ultimately, that is what makes this a bittersweet album for me too. Ultimately, something went awry for Ms. Lauryn Hill, and she has suffered for it. It highlights the parasitic aspect of fandom in an uncomfortable way. Artists are who they are, and their work is what it is, and we need to be careful to not lose sight of them as people, especially when things get difficult.
Alice Cooper
3/5
The album is rock at its core but it sure can't help from bursting into musical theatre grandeur along the way. Each track has a boisterous pop affect that contrasts against the ghoulish nature of the performances and the scandalous nature of the lyrics.
And speaking of the lyrical content, now I know why Alice Cooper's work was coined as shock rock. The lyrics blast right through taboos such as sexual assault ("Raped and Freezin'"), blow-up dolls ("Billion Dollar Babies"), and necrophilia ("I Love the Dead"), like they're just small talk. I can see the roots of groups like Gwar in these songs, for sure.
The Cars
4/5
Classics from start to finish. Just enough rock'n'roll grit to be relatable and just enough new-wave polish and studio production to feel crisp and novel.
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
It doesn't get much closer to the roots of rap than this album. This crew was taking all of the tools of the trade (i.e. scratching, sampling, synthesizers, drum machines, a live DJ doing the mix, and multiple emcees) and putting it to full effect. All of this is something we take for granted at this point, but these guys were quite literally figuring it all out as they went.
What really sets Run-D.M.C apart from rappers of that time and since is their collaborative style, of passing the lines back and forth, and chorusing each other. The coordination and memorization involved to do this without breaking the flow is truly mind-boggling to me.
Santana
4/5
This album is a beautiful melting pot of musical influences, merging together the rhythms and dance inducing energy of latin music, with the expressiveness guitar of classic rock, the cleverness and organic flow of jazz, and the fuzzy blur of psychedelic. Beyond the classics that this album has become known for, 'Incident at Neshabur' and 'Mother's Daughter' are perfect examples of how all of these genres come together into perfect harmony together.
Youssou N'Dour
3/5
There are far too few non-western artists on this list, so I was already feeling good about this album, just to see it here. But this is absolutely not just a token of diversity meant to appease. Rather, this is a testament to the universal language of music, which I hope will open the eyes and ears of listeners touring this list.
I personally enjoyed the vibrant vocals and horns, the hypnotic drum chorus, and the iterative verse-over-verse permutations of the opening track 'Immigres/Bitim Rew' and the closing track 'Badou'. The central two tracks are much more mellow, but similarly rich in their musical texture.
This is a wonderful introduction to the music of Senegal and I look forward to exploring the artists and albums of that country and region further; with or without this list's recommendations.
Gene Clark
2/5
I don't think it should have been completely panned when it came out in the 70s, but I can't really see how the whole album is hailed as a lost masterpiece either. The title track 'No Other' is definitely great, and the album on the whole has the hallmarks of a well-executed labor of love. Overall, I got tired with the album by the track 'From a Silver Phial' and found my attention span trailing off over the remaining 3 tracks.
The Prodigy
3/5
Any album that can get tens of thousands of Pacific Northwestern Washingtonians to dance en masse with complete abandon, then there is something special happening.
While other countries and many major US cities were already rave crazed, the greater Puget Sound was still clueless about EDM. I remember hearing these guys for the first time on the radio station KNDD (aka \"107.7 the End\"), which was the mainstream \"alternative\" radio station, squeezed in between the otherwise endless sets of grunge rock. I was hooked. And so was the region.
Nearly overnight, clubs started appearing (all I could go to DV8 since I wasn't 21 yet) and more and more EDM shows started touring into town. Pretty soon, festivals and raves were popping up everywhere, house parties were blasting \"electronica\" and people could not stop dancing!
It was a really good time, and this album takes me right back to it.
Rush
4/5
It's really extraordinary how this trio managed to make such a huge sound for themselves with Moving Pictures. The ability and precisions that each of these artists brings to their performances is on another level of greatness, most notably on the tracks 'YYZ' and 'The Camera Eye'.
And yet the album still feels totally accessible and easy to connect with, which is quite the achievement for a prog-rock album.
Gil Scott-Heron
2/5
I was just about to give up when 'H2O Gate' came on and I realized I had heard this artist before and that I liked his other spoken word pieces (namely 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised'). His spoken tracks have popped up on the radio from time to time, but I never heard them attributed to an artist's name. I'm glad to now have a name and to be able to make the connection back to LCD Soundsystem's 'Losing My Edge' track.
But, back to 'H2O Gate'... I didn't really enjoy the majority of this album.
While the tracks did have a nice chill vibe and the keyboardist (I'm assuming Gil) has got some great chops, the flow and tonality and lyrical content all felt off. 'H2O Gate', on the other hand, felt perfect. It cleverly and deftly pulled me into focus and then set my mind sprinting to keep up. The message was urgent, eloquent, thought provoking and enduring. The pacing was exciting, and I am sure that I only scratched the surface of understanding all that was said.
I will need to revisit this album somewhere down the road and see if it lands differently with me then. For now though, outside of one brilliant track, I just couldn't connect with what was happening enough to enjoy it much.
Deee-Lite
4/5
When I loaded up the 1001 page for the day, I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't seeing things. It's Deee-Lite! This is an album that my family and I used to jam to together and it's always been a guilty pleasure of mine to go back to from time to time.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
1/5
Do I really have to write another review on what I think about Neil Young's music?
The Pogues
2/5
What started out as charming and novel, grated on my nerves by the end. Apparently, I can only handle so much piccolo, fiddle and slurred folk tales.
Goldie
3/5
I have always enjoyed the jungle EDM subgenre. It's blend of drum-n-bass, trance and house plays right around the edges of something you can dance to and something you can chill to. Unfortunately, as time has gone on the monotony of the compositions have stood out more and more to the point where I think I'm almost over it.
While this album had similar moments (i.e. I definitely didn't need to hear the same dolphin chirps looped for 9 minutes on 'Sea of Tears'), it also did well to keep tracks varied enough to keep songs from feeling too stuck in a rut. I could see digging this album back out for workday focus, or for playing in the background.
Duran Duran
4/5
Ok, first off... The bassist, John Taylor, plays the hell out of every track on this album. I never realized how much funk he brings to the group. I think his performances on this album are a subtle, but significant factor in just how catchy Rio is. In fact, kudos to the John and Roger for putting together a great rhythm section, to counterbalance the otherwise light synth and guitar parts. The other person whose contribution can hardly be overstated is Simon Le Bon, who is singing his heart on every track.
I'd point to "Last Chance On The Stairway" as being the standout overall performance on the album, although there are admittedly much greater pop songs there. For my tastes though, I've got to cast my 'best track' vote for "The Chauffeur". It's got a peculiar allure that is unsettling enough to sound novel and really lingers in your memory.
But honestly, it's all great. Every last track on the album is good (at a minimum) and most are extraordinary. It's definitely an album that everyone should hear at least once.
3/5
For some reason I've struggled to describe the album or what I think about it. It's excitingly novel in a lot of ways but also chaotic and seemingly unconcerned with its moderately shabby presentation.
What's clear is this is an album where the lyrics and the topics they cover are meant to take front stage. The album is lyrically sharp and poignant at points ('Some Mother's Son') and tongue-in-cheek at others ('Yes sir, No Sir', 'Platic Man'), which makes it hard to figure out how to take other tracks ('Drivin').
For their part, the arrangements are floating along merrily, but they feel so far in the background that it's hard to focus on them long enough (over the singers) to gather a clear impression. Tracks like 'Mindless Child of Motherhood' and 'The Man He Weeps Tonight', give some of the clearest pictures of the groups' cohesion and power.
It is a powerful and ironically complex and it's one that I'm definitely going to be coming back to again and again.
New Order
2/5
I just can't connect with it. I don't like the pace of the tracks, I don't enjoy the blend of synthesized and real instruments, and I don't like the claustrophobic effect of reverb on everything.
Frank Zappa
3/5
This album is technically marvelous and musically vibrant. Any given track features only a handful of performers, and yet each sound like a group the scale of an orchestra was involved. I really appreciate that the instrumentals were left to stand on their own.
Blue Cheer
2/5
I suspect this album is here mostly because of 'Summertime Blues', so I'm not so sure this was an album that I had to hear, as much as a song.
In general, I dig the distorted blues rock vibe with gravelly vocals. Unfortunately, it's really hard to get over the poor audio quality; it's like they just put a mic in the middle of their garage and hit the record button. As such, I can't really get into the album all that much.
Roxy Music
1/5
Nope.
Ramones
4/5
Unlike the other punk bands of the mid-seventies, whose stripped-down aesthetic was born as a counter-expression to the self-indulgent trappings of prog-rock, the Ramones strike me as a group that just wanted to make the simplest and most straight forward musical expression they could. Whatever their motives, the album is beautifully concise in every way possible, and I think that gives it an appeal and an authenticity that has made it as influential as it has become. You can hear this album, feel this album when it's cranked, and then you can hop on your instrument of choice and start cranking out the same straight forward sounds. And if these four goofy looking dudes could make it happen, then so can you!
SAULT
4/5
There is an urgency, a conscience, a soulfulness, and a solemnity to this album that I find enthralling and encouraging.
Black Lives Matter!
... and the fact that there has to be a movement and a slogan and marches and lives lost to get people to understand that fact is absurd. And yet, despite the struggle and the forces at play against this foundational truth, there are those that find beautiful ways to make that phrase ring in the ears and minds of many. That hopefulness and creativity in the face of struggle, is an inspiration and a reminder to others that we can all be the good we want to see in the world.
The Pogues
2/5
While I appreciate it for what it is, I don't much care for it myself, and by the time I get about 5 songs in, I'm itching to turn it off.
What I can appreciate is the format they popularized and cleared a space (however niche) for. To the extent that groups like the Decemberists have space for their rich storytelling, and bands like Titus Andronicus (on 'The Monitor' specifically) drunkenly slur over their roiling tunes, I can appreciate the place that the Pogues occupy on this list.
Metallica
1/5
I could only get about halfway into 'Master of Puppets' before I literally could not handle it anymore. My physical reaction to the cognitive dissonance was just too intense. I can see how this idea would've piqued music executive interests enough to back it, but the end result is as awkward as an arranged marriage. I really wish I had never heard this album.
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
3/5
The very thing that makes this album compelling is also what makes this album one that I'll likely never put on heavy rotation. Its unapologetic intensity is both captivating and exhausting. The elements of hip-hop appeal to your rhythm and soul, while the precisely selected and timed lyrics charge your mind, and the industrial musical palette grind across all of the grains refusing to let your senses relax. That is, until the track 'Music And Politics', which is a jazzy and vibrant guitar jam paired with a self-effacing analysis spoken over the top. The album remains intense, but on a different level, for that one track. Then back to the program.
The album overall is as avant-garde as it is gritty and real. Comparisons to Gil Scott-Heron, Public Enemy, Arrested Development, and industrial aspects of groups Nine Inch Nails, Ministry and White Zombie are all apt, but also only represent pieces of the picture.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
3/5
This is an especially wild album to listen through, with the hindsight of 40 years of hip-hop and rap progression in mind.
It goes without saying that this album was revolutionary for its role in popularizing a sound and bringing at least a couple different genres into the mainstream. What I find especially interesting is how refined this album is compared to so much of the hip-hop and rap music since.
I dig that many of the samples are supplemented with live instrumental accompaniments. When I see other hip-hop/rap performances on Tiny Desk, or I hear tracks produced by folks like Pharrel, I hear the influences of this album running through.
The performances are tight and playful. I can appreciate tracks that are hard to keep up with because the artist is performing at a blistering speed, but I have no patience for all of the slurring and mumbling that has become especially popular in genres like trap.
What really stands out is that the whole group, throughout the entire album refers to women as "ladies" and "girls" instead of derogatory terms. One of the members of the crew even has verses in 'It's Nasty' about how content he is in a monogamous relationship. I'm not trying to say that all music needs to be clean and pristine, but I do think there is a value to finding a better middle ground and I appreciate artists like Tribe Called Quest and Tobe Nwigwe that are deliberate about it.
The album maintains this standard even while telling the story of a darker and harder reality in tracks like 'It's a Shame', 'The Message' and 'Message II'.
Tracy Chapman
3/5
Tracy Chapman is a powerful voice, both melodically and lyrically. This album vividly depicts a desperate slice of life with a passion and a clarity that you can't easily ignore or shake.
The Hives
3/5
How a band can sustain playing and performing full tilt like this, is beyond me. I call the genre coke punk because I always assumed they were working under the influence of one coke or the other.
The explosive energy of the group is heightened by the album's brilliant production, which makes the guitars sound like their being played with razor blades and that the drums are sitting in the room right next to me. The constant force of the songs makes the already pithy 12 songs in 28 minutes, breeze right by.
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
2/5
Note to self - add this band to my "venture capital presentation backtrax" playlist. While engaging at times, and definitely a sound that has been revisited by many bands since, it all just falls into the background until you barely realize you're listening to music at all.
Manic Street Preachers
1/5
I'll stick with Radiohead, thanks.
Rahul Dev Burman
3/5
The title track, 'Title Music (Shalimar)', is great! When I heard that I was stoked for the album to come. From there, it was a pretty even split though. Tracks like 'Countess' Caper', 'Naag Devta', and 'Baby Let's Dance Together' kept the same vibe going, while the rest either made me want to rip my headphones off or just kind of bored me. Perhaps if most of the tracks didn't sound like a one-track dub off of an old television speaker, there would've been more to enjoy.
In any case, I'm really happy to see more international representation on the list and I'll definitely be adding 'Title Music' to my playlist.
Donovan
2/5
This feels like an artist in transition, whose footing in both folk and psychedelia is somewhat unsure as they find their new place. I feel like 'Ferris Wheel' shows what a really good balance would sound like, which also carries with it aspects of what I enjoyed from Nick Drake's work. On the whole though, I wasn't all that into 'Sunshine Superman'.
The Slits
4/5
I can't help but think of Ludwig Wittgenstain's quote that "the limits of my language means the limits of my world", when I hear an album like this. It's an amazing thing, when something entirely new enters into the world, because before it there were just some unstructured inklings waiting to be connected. Then after it, there is a blueprint and a new path for anyone that wants to follow and build on it.
This album is elegantly simple and spectacularly raw. The fusion of reggae/dub and punk, with an Avant Garde and art-house affect is sublime. I'd point to 'Newtown', with its punchy guitars, high-hat and tom laden drums, matchbox and dropped silverware utility percussion, and the moaning and vibrato vocals, as a perfect example of what I'm talking about.
While it is uncomfortable for me to point out the importance of this also being an all-female band, because I wish we lived in a world where that wasn't something extraordinary at all, I am glad that these women were who they were, had the environments they had, and gave this music to the world. In turn, they gave the language for many in the world to move past the limits they didn't fully comprehend a way past yet.
a-ha
2/5
OK, so you have to appreciate this album, because it contains 'Take on Me', which you either enjoy ironically or you loved because of the music video.
Beyond that, it's a boy and his synthesizer, and if that's all it is then I'd rather be listening to Wesley Willis.
Iggy Pop
3/5
A vibrant and at times jubilant sounding album, with subject matter that is almost entirely anything but. The production and the energy of the album lives right on the outer edge of the uncanny valley of pop, that draws you in with its quirk and curiosity.
Jacques Brel
2/5
If I had this on vinyl and I listened to it with a cigarette and a bottle of wine, I'm sure I would be giving this at least one additional star.
Sober as I am, it felt like I was listening to French diction instruction on cassette, which is unfortunate as I think something more balanced would be far more enjoyable to listen to.
Kraftwerk
5/5
It's a tough call, but if I were forced to decide, I think this is the pinnacle of Kraftwerk's discography. Despite the digital precision of their instruments, the sounds across these tracks flow smoothly, like a masterfully hewn marble sculpture.
And with that work done, the groundwork was laid for numerous groups and genres to come. Groups like Daft Punk and The Orb and genres like ambient, house, and synthwave built upon that ground bringing EDM on the whole solidly into the mainstream. Now the use of computers are ubiquitous in all aspects of making music, so much so that working without them is the exception as opposed to the norm. In that sense, groups like Kraftwerk were pioneering multiple levels and their influence can hardly be overstated.
Mike Ladd
3/5
Exploring, pushing, and in some places blasting past the established boundaries and assumptions of hip-hop at that time. How this guy and his collaborators were able to capture the sound of 20 years of hip-hop music to come, is really amazing.
Dire Straits
2/5
A couple of radio hits and a bunch of super slow synth rock. Meh.
John Martyn
3/5
The Byrds
2/5
As an album on its own, it's not all that bad but I can't say I enjoyed it all that much. I do think there are a couple tracks like 'You Got A Reputation' and 'Pretty Polly' that sit in the middle of where the band was and where they were aiming to go, which I found a lot more interesting than the majority of the album.
I get the impression that the album is less on the list for how individually great it is and more for the fact that it was a complete revamp of a widely popular band's sound/genre. There are other examples of bands doing this (Ministry's early albums, Garth Brooks' grunge album under the name Chris Gaines, Eddie Vedders ukulele album to a lesser extent). I can't recall a band that has navigated this transition well and certainly not in the span of a single album. If there was a group that did that, I could see why that transitional album would be here.
Soul II Soul
3/5
A grand fusion of house/dance beats, hip-hop breaks, and jazz/R&B instrumentation, all with an undertone and influence of African roots. When it all comes together, as in the hit songs like 'Keep On Movin'' and 'Back To Life (However Do You Want Me)' as well as lesser-known songs like 'Happiness Dub' and 'Jazzie's Groove - Piano Version', it really hits.
Finley Quaye
3/5
The Stooges
2/5
I guess I'm not into the Stooges. What I really can't understand is why this group would be on this list more than once, given all of their work pretty much sounds the same.
ZZ Top
3/5
Black Flag
3/5
Acerbic, visceral, seemingly chaotic and yet very intentional. If you aren't listening close, you may not catch that nearly the entire album is a tongue-in-cheek cautionary plea to not waste your life away.
Brian Eno
2/5
Perhaps it was influential, or perhaps it was derivative. I don't really have the desire to figure out which. What I can say is that the album, while not particularly bad in any way, doesn't really interest me all that much. The production is impressive throughout, and I definitely catch glimpses and connections to musical themes that I enjoy, in songs like 'King's Lead Hat', 'Here He Comes', and 'By This River'. Not sure I'll be coming back to this one though.
Jeff Beck
3/5
Blues infused rock with the distortion amped up and a vocalist that sounds like Rob Stewart. What's not to like? It's funny to think how novel this was when it was released, because nowadays it's almost forgettable. I'd say 'Beck's Bolero' is probably my favorite of the bunch, mainly because I'm a sucker for instru-metal.
Tears For Fears
3/5
The opening track 'Shout' sets the ethos of album perfectly. The musical space created across 'Songs From the Big Chair' is voluminous and enveloping, thanks to ambient keyboard pads and reverb-a-plenty. The result is a sense that each song feels like there is enough space in it to shout your lungs out and still barely be heard. And from within that space, the group laments, longs, reflects, and rejoices. The track 'Working Hour' shows how enchanting the effect can be.
It really is a beautifully enduring album, in addition to being a powerhouse hit of its time.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
The first time I heard the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, I thought it was a new PJ Harvey album. The amalgamation of synth/electronic, punk, with a touch of eccentricity, is perfectly topped with Karen O's haunting vocal character.
Pink Floyd
5/5
The progressive rock opera magnus opum! I'm not a raging fan of everything that Floyd does, but it's hard to not be in awe of something this grand and ambitious coming together so perfectly.
If, like me, you are one of the few people in the world who have never heard this album all the way through, consider giving it two listens. Start with a full playthrough without reading the Wikipedia page. What was the story about? Then go read the Wikipedia page (specifically the plot) and then listen to the album again. How did that effect what you heard?
2/5
Rapcore has its place on this list, but this is not the banner carrier that I would have picked. The Judgement Night soundtrack was the groundbreaker for me. Otherwise, you could point to some Run DMC, Beastie Boys, or Linkin Park. Even Limp Bizkit's prior album ('Significant Other') would've been more logical in my opinion.
Now, with that out of my system...
This is a better album that I had always assumed it was. I was completely exhausted by the celebrity drama surrounding Fred Durst at the time this album came out. Once I heard the infantile album title, I wrote the whole shebang off.
The band is true to what brought them into success.
Fluid energy that ebbs from chill to explosive and swaggered lyrical delivery. The tracks that show this off well (with minimal lime-light grabbing tough guy posturing from Fred) are 'The One', 'Take A Look Around', and 'Boiler'.
The absolute highlights of the album 'Rollin' (Urban Assault Vehicle)' and 'Outro' are buried way at the end. Granted the first sounds more like a DMX track than a Limp track, and the latter is made by Ben Stiller, so maybe neither should count.
Eminem
4/5
Genius obscured and nearly completely undermined by scandal and controversy. Eminem's ability to craft rhymes and flows within, across and all over bars is mind-boggling. But it's hard to hear it (or show it off to people) when so much of the lyrical content is explosively offensive.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
"Here is my music. It is all I have to tell you how I feel. Know that your love keeps my love strong."
I find it hard to believe that it took 15 studio albums for Motown Records to start giving Stevie leeway enough to make an album like this. Granted I know nothing of what that process was like, but I get the impression that these songs were just dying to come out. Fortunately for all of us Stevie Wonder was patient enough, and still full of love enough, to create this and so much more to come.
'You Are The Sunshine Of My Life' is a beautiful track and 'Superstition' (and most of it's subsequent covers) is one of the greatest tracks of all time, but the real highlight for me is 'I Believe'!
3/5
A delightfully polymorphic punk album that leans more towards the cerebral/art-house vibe.
Pixies
3/5
Why are there three Pixies albums on this list? Honestly, all you need is this one and folks get the point.
The Pixies are the consummate artist's artist for the whole grunge era of musicians and this album was the inspirational darling of the bunch. It also represents their greatest commercial success. So, you've got to give them credit for that.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
I find it funny that the album is lauded as an everyman down-to-earth rock'n'roll performance, when it's loaded so full of grandeur and production. It's like countrypolitan, but for rock.
Anyhow, my pretentious opinions of genres and musical taxonomy aside, this is a powerful album. The band's performances are impeccable and the whole group is operating seamlessly. It's great to hear each person playing off of the other, adding to the energy and flow. Nearly every track has a building swell, especially the central trio of 'Backstreets', into 'Born to Run' into 'She's the One', where it seems the band is about to boil over into musical explosions. And somehow, the recording equipment just barely takes it all in and keeps it together.
In the end, Bruce's contributions tie it all together. His lyrics are specific enough to fell real, while open enough for almost anyone to find their place in them. His voice and delivery imbue each track with a genuine depth and range of emotion. You can tell his heart is in everything and that comes through in the durable goodness of this album.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
2/5
Still not really my cup of tea.
The Sonics
3/5
Just a bunch of clean-cut looking kids exploring the limits of their combined energy and influences. If their generous use of exclamation marks is any indication, they came to rock.
Roxy Music
1/5
Still, nope. It's as if Dracula wanted to try his hand at a rock'n'roll album.
The Adverts
2/5
All of the late 70's brit-punk hallmarks are there, but it's the blend chaos-to-polish-ratio and their more expansive lyrical focus, that sets the Adverts apart. It's like that noteworthy, albeit significantly lesser known, ancestor that gets a sentence or two in the genealogy.
Nanci Griffith
2/5
A smooth county folk vibe that has echos of future acts like The Chicks. The stories are sweet, and the harmonies are warm.
Nick Drake
5/5
In hindsight, I should have rated 'Five Leaves Left' as 4 stars, because 'Pink Moon' is the real 5-star performance in my opinion. The album has an air of intimacy akin to Nelson's 'Red Headed Stranger'. Hearing the strings rattle, fingers sliding on the strings, the slight imperfections of the chords and the inhales between the phrases, all combine to create a musical atmosphere that is warm and enveloping.
The songs themselves are fascinatingly engaging given it's mainly just a man and his guitar. I'm re-listening to 'Harvest Breed' right now and it's a perfect example of what I'm talking about.
Overall, the album is a true gem and it set the standard for acts like Jose Gonzalez, Iron and Wine and many other 'an artist and their guitar' groups that came to follow.
Nick Drake
3/5
A classic sophomore over extension. The music is still moving and beautiful, but the increased production value of the whole thing really detracts from the essential nature of Nick Drake's brilliance. You just don't need things like a backing strings section, horns and backup vocalists to punch up the tracks. Without much surprise, the noteworthy tracks (i.e. 'One Of These Things First' and 'Northern Sky') from this album are constructed much more closely to tracks from 'Five Leaves Left'.
Beastie Boys
5/5
And this was when it all came together again, at least in a commercial sense, but I'd suggest that went hand-in-hand with the group's realization of what it aimed to be in the world.
'License to Ill' was the raucous debut that put the boys on the map. Then they did some existential roaming and soul searching through the wildernesses of 'Check Your Head' and 'Paul's Boutique'. What they found out there was a significantly evolved sense of self and identity and that came through in a way that nearly everyone could connect with.
Sure, they still had the rough edges ('Tough Guy', 'Sabotage'), and moderately childish demeanor ('Heart Attack Man') that people first knew them by, but their expanded influences ('Sabrosa', 'Flute Loop', 'Bodhisattva Vow', really almost the rest of the album) and their resulting applications and translations proved that they had come into something well beyond where they started.
That growth, that change, that evolution is exactly the kind of metamorphosis that I think merits a band having multiple albums on this list.
Jean-Michel Jarre
3/5
It is wild to think about just how far out into the future it would be before an album like this was taken for granted in the musical mainstream. Kudos to Jean-Michel for setting those wheels into motion!
Miles Davis
3/5
A chill soundscape that apparently pioneered the genre of Jazz fusion. Not much music or material there to really hang your "this is genius" hat on, in my opinion, but I can appreciate that this represents a milestone in modern jazz.
Jeff Buckley
4/5
The albums complete lack of pretense is disarming and enchanting. The songs are seemingly plain but there is a richness that steadily reveals itself in the re-listening.
'Mojo Pin' alone shows it all. The song flows and sprawls and climbs and falls, showing how perfectly harmonious the band and the performances are. Of course, there is also the album's pinnacle that is 'Hallelujah', which plays out as a lovers' embrace between Buckley's voice and his guitar.
It is beautiful and fleeting vision of what could have been, being Jeff's one and only.
Dead Kennedys
3/5
So, that's the thing about shock rock. It's trying to satirically shake people loose from their complacency long enough to get them thinking. Problem is the other, more likely, reaction is for a knee jerk reaction because they think it's literal. Offended and now further entrenched, they remain complacent and bolsters in smug judgement.
But yeah, this is punk through and through!
Sade
2/5
How am I supposed to go from Dead Kennedys to this, huh 1001 albums!?
Sade is good, but this is the wrong album. 'Love Deluxe' better be on the list, if anything from Sade is. All the pieces are there, but it's a bit one-note out of the gate.
Everything But The Girl
1/5
I could've sworn I stopped the Sade album. *checks Spotify* Oh, it's not Sade. I think I'd rather this one be 'Becoming X' by Sneaker Pimps. It scratches the same itch, which I don't need scratched that often, without sounding as derivative.
Laibach
1/5
This is a joke, right? It sounds like a homemade backtrack, in the style of the Princess Bride soundtrack, for a recruitment VHS for the secret society of neckbearded katana enthusiasts. It evokes mental images of quick cuts between scenes of swords slicing halfway through 2-liter bottles of mountain dew, and dudes with fedoras bowing.
Honestly, the music itself doesn't have much to offer and I can't really think of what impact this band had on the history of music that would merit suggesting this is something that anyone has to hear in their lifetime. If anything, I'd suggest it's quite the opposite.
Cocteau Twins
1/5
"The album was voted 18th of Scotland’s 100 Best Rock and Pop Albums in 2003"
My heart breaks for Scotland.
4/5
A marvel of musical production that perfectly captures the spirit of both the performances and the underlying emotions and spirit of a group. The impact of this album on the band's trajectory, and that of pop music, really can't be overstated.
The Smiths
3/5
I think the person on the cover of the album laying on their back, staring despondently to some far-off place, mouth ajar seemingly sighing does well to capture how I felt when I first saw 'The Smiths' was on deck.
Pleasantly though was my surprise, as the album was much more energetic and enjoyable than I had vaguely recalled. Songs like 'Frankly, Mr. Shankly', 'Vicar in a Tutu' and 'Bigmouth Strikes Again' land as nearly bubbly, especially with the vivid lyrical storytelling. Yes, there are some ballad-esque tracks that are more akin to what I was dreading, but they provide a diverse texture to the album, when the album is taken on the whole.
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
The songs on this album are like miniature templates for countless albums made thereafter.
Most of the group is on a great vibe and it's a shame (to me anyhow) that Johnny couldn't resist the urge to stand out from it all. 'Annalisa' and 'Public Image' are the two tracks where it sounds like everyone is working together in the same direction, and they show just how good it can be.
MGMT
2/5
There was a time where it felt like I couldn't turn on the radio without a track from this album coming on. 'Time to Pretend', 'Electric Feel', 'Kids', over and over. It makes it kind of hard to listen to the album objectively now.
What I like about this album, and others from that era like the self-titled debut from 'Vampire Weekend' and M.I.A.'s works around that time. It felt like popular music was becoming more expressive, freer from imposed conventions, and drawing from a fuller spectrum of influences, sounds, instruments, techniques and all of that it. I don't know that I can really pin any of that on this album, though.
Considering this album on its own, it feels more like two mini-albums. The cohesion and compellingly novel sound of the former, far greater (on both counts) than the latter. Going back to where I started though, I've heard the interesting parts of this album ad nauseum at this point, and the novelty has worn off. There are numerous albums that can stand that test and make it to infinite replay-ability. Not this one; not for me at least.
Hugh Masekela
4/5
A lovely meander through the creative pathways of some talented musical minds. Each song unfolds dynamically, themes flowing one into the other, at once both cohesive and distinct.
For me, it was like each song was a short story depicting the sights, sounds and energy of a person in movement through one setting or another. A couple of songs that evoked this sort of imagery most vividly for me were 'The Big Apple' and 'Maesha'. The latter of those two, being my personal favorite of the album.
The Lemonheads
2/5
I do not care for this. I understand the appeal of it. I just don't find it all that engaging, novel, or profound. Really not sure why it's here, beyond the Mrs. Robinson single, which wasn't even part of the album originally.
Franz Ferdinand
3/5
I loved this era in rock, when groups like The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, Jet, Wolfmother, and the Arctic Monkeys were aggressively blasting fuzzed-out, syncopated songs that you could barely resist the urge to get up and dance to. I mean, how many rock songs have you heard that are as danceable as 'Take Me Out' or 'This Fire'!?
Ice T
2/5
I almost entirely forgot that Ice-T was a "hardcore gangsta" rap artist, before becoming a type-casted investigator in every single crime drama television show on TV made in the last decade.
Honestly, this isn't all that special. The lyrics are largely sophomoric posturing (i.e. 'Ziploc'). The rhymes are mostly pretty obvious ends, slants, and identical. The verse timing is mostly repetitive and don't do much to play off of or enhance the tracks, with the notable exception of 'Lifestyles of the Rick and Infamous'. Some of the tracks are fun (i.e. 'Bitches 2'), with a ton of samples and layers, but in general they don't stand out from the crowd all that much.
It's unfortunate because Ice-T seems like a pretty thoughtful guy who would have something important to say. There are glimpses of that in 9 tracks after 'M.V.P.s', for sure.
Anyhow, if you want high quality early 90's rap, there is plenty of it. Let's put Jurassic 5's 'Quality Control' in here, instead!
Ash
2/5
Pretty much one in a sea of a thousand bands that sounded just like this in the 90's. If it had been made in 1977, that at least would be noteworthy. I really don't understand how this album represents anything that I haven't heard already.
Elton John
5/5
Iggy Pop
2/5
Madonna
1/5
Method Man
3/5
The Stone Roses
2/5
The Kinks
3/5
The album depicts a slice of life perspective on England, at times in a reminiscent rear-view (i.e. 'Picture Book', 'Village Green') and other times in the first-person (i.e. 'Big Sky', 'Sitting By the Riverside'). It felt like a follow-up album to David Bowie's debut self-titled album, in a way.
Be that as it may, the album is singularly true to its vision which I found intriguing when listened to from start to finish. It was like each song transported me into different consciousnesses, each sharing a moment in time and vibin on a similar sentiment of thought, and yet each being entirely its own. I had a personal connection to the song 'Village Green' in particular, based on my own visit to one such green, in township outside of Lytham St Annes once.
So, yeah. Once I took my mind out of musical consumer mode, and kicked it into art reflection mode, my perception of the album changed. Perhaps the timeline of the album's popularity tells a similar story. In any case, credit where credit is due.
Super Furry Animals
3/5
With elements of Blur, The Flaming Lips, Radiohead, and even a bit of Fleet Foxes tossed in, this savory stew of alt-brit-pop hit all the right notes for this frozen winter day. Wild, I’ve never heard of this group!
R.E.M.
2/5
I want to like it, really I do, but there just isn’t something there I connect with. By the time ‘Sitting Still’ came on, I found myself ready for the album to end.
Curtis Mayfield
5/5
Miriam Makeba
3/5
Linkin Park
3/5
Machito
4/5
Stan Getz
3/5
Morrissey
3/5
DJ Shadow
4/5
1/5
Talking Heads
4/5
Tito Puente
4/5
The The
2/5
It's lauded as a grand work of someone with a vision for what they wanted to achieve with their art. It doesn't really resonate with me. I'm sure this is right up someone's alley, but I'll pass. The stories around his music videos sound hilariously terrifying though.
Bert Jansch
2/5
The album's production value is intimate, simple, and unpolished which compliments the artist-and-their-guitar format well. The tender musical delivery belies how serious the lyrics are. While the album fits in somewhere on the folk spectrum between Nick Drake and Dylan's earlier work, it doesn't really rise to the greatness of either of those comparisons in my armchair music critic mind.
Tom Waits
3/5
It's magical when someone is able to create something novel. We all have access to the same raw materials, techniques, and tools after all. But somehow, sometimes, someone is able to combine them in a way that creates something so entirely new that it changes how people approach their own creative process from that point forward.
I'm not going to claim I'm a huge Tom Waits fan after listening to this album. I still struggle to relate to the allure. But I do think this album delivers as novel of a musical vision as any of the greats. The whole album evokes imagery of a gritty world filled with hard lived lives, viewed through the blurred lenses of hungover eyes.
Hole
4/5
The bookend tracks of 'Violet' and 'Rock Star' show the immense capacity that Hole had to absolutely rock! The album is powerful, dynamic, and genuine. That combination made it a standout from the crowded 90's grunge era and I'd go so far as to say that it was a better album than Nirvana's 'In Utero'.
The Undertones
2/5
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
2/5
This is bizarre.
Manu Chao
3/5
Black Sabbath
5/5
I honestly can't think of a metal album that can top Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid'. It is perfection from start to finish.
The intro of 'War Pigs' sets the stage. The distortion growls ominously as feedback lurks on the edges, threatening to collapse in at any moment. The bassline dances into the song, muffled but solid, and sort of bounces and lurches around as the guitars snarl on. Then the feedback fuses into growing sirens, all three parts now building to a crescendo. And with two synchronized strums, it all crashes to a silent stop.
And that is how the entire album continues. The songs are crafted and molded and shaped into movements that tell a story on multiple levels. Everything working in unison and in harmony, even if the parts are distorted (always) and dissonant (at times).
This album honestly changed my understanding of what music was capable of and I completely agree that it is an album that everyone should here at least once in their life!
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
Dizzee Rascal
3/5
It's an impressive debut, and it's ok, but if you really want to give due credit to Brit-Hop let's talk about Kae Tempest or The Streets.
3/5
The only hotter than this album's critical reception at the time, would be the intensity of this band's flash in the pan.
k.d. lang
2/5
k.d. has a lovely voice, for whatever my opinion on that is worth. If I had to listen to a bunch of slow songs back-to-back (as I just did), I think I'd prefer they follow the stripped-down simplicity of 'Wash Me Clean'. There are so many non-essential parts and finishes on the other tracks!
Wu-Tang Clan
5/5
David Bowie
3/5
Sebadoh
2/5
Sugar
2/5
Points for an artist that reinvents themself, but I can't get over how every song is laid out in the first 15-30 seconds, and then it's just a loop thereafter. The album made for fine alt-pop airtime filler when radio stations were clamoring to fill their dockets with "grunge", but I don't think this one really stood the test of time as being something I had to hear.
Brian Eno
3/5
I mean, if you're going to do a musical thought experiment, I can't think of too many artists that would be better to do with than David Byrne.
The xx
3/5
Eric Clapton
3/5
Mudhoney
4/5
There is something to be said for a band revered amongst the Seattle grunge scene, opting to stick with 8-track mixes and holding firm to their sub pop label. In an amongst the grunge power-chord tropes like 'Shoot The Moon', there are tracks like 'Something So Clear', 'Thorn', and 'Fuzz Gun '91' that show this group had a lot more to say and do. Kudos to them for going after that vision and kudos to this list for recognizing the value of it.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
4/5
The United States Of America
3/5
Muddy Waters
4/5
TV On The Radio
3/5
The Afghan Whigs
2/5
I keep wanting to get into the music, but the lyrics and the vocalist break the immersion each time. The prose lands as sophomoric and the lead singer's performance comes off as over the top. It's not a horrible album, I just can't see what makes it all that great.
The Mars Volta
4/5
Ice Cube
4/5
I never really appreciated how strong of a narrative Ice Cube's tracks provide. They may not be stories you are interested in hearing, but they are well composed and executed. The standout example here being 'It Was A Good Day' but you see it throughout with tracks like 'When Will They Shoot?', the title track 'The Predator' and 'Who Got The Camera?'
Underpinning these stories are beautifully crafted tracks blending jazz, funk, soul, and sound bites ranging from playful responses to Cube's lyrics to monologues that support the message of the rap itself. This is one of the clearest examples of a DJ/producer that is working in perfect harmony with the rapper, to create an album that is truly a synergy of the two's contributions.
It is unfortunate that many people can't get past the dichotomy of a social justice-oriented artist that is also vulgar and openly bellicose. I appreciate that tracks like 'Fuck 'Em (Insert)' are included to attempt to bridge that divide.
The Pharcyde
3/5
The White Stripes
4/5
In the same way that I am enthralled by the intricacy of a great prog-rock album, I absolutely love stripped down this album is.
The Kinks
2/5
The Only Ones
3/5
50 Cent
2/5
There are some club/radio hits with catchy hooks (i.e. 'In Da Club' and 'P.I.M.P') so credit where credit is due. And where that credit is due is with the people/teams that made the backing tracks and the hooks. If that was Fifty, then kudos to him! If not, then, again, credit where credit is due.
As an album, I don't see why this is something that people should put on a pedestal. The subject matter is repetitive and paints an exaggerated caricature of a lifestyle, that really isn't appropriate to romanticize. The rhymes and rhyming techniques are basic; made all the plainer by Eminem's collaboration on 'Patiently Waiting', where he completely runs circles around Fifty's contrastingly lethargic contribution. By the 7th track I just got bored and it felt like a task to push through anymore.
Let's trade this one out for MF Doom's 'Madvillainy'. People need to hear that!
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Five British kids showing R&B some respect and ushering in multiple pop music movements in general. Whodathunkit!? I wish I didn't have to overlook Phil Spector's involvement to appreciate it.
Elbow
4/5
I went from sighing, "oh no, not another brit pop band" in my head to bopping my head along with 'the Bones of You'. Once the deep baseline dropped in and the vocals climbed, I was hooked and disappointed in myself for having judged 'The Seldom Seen Kid' by its cover. I enjoyed every single track. The sound across the album is spatial and rich, and yet the arrangements and production are intimate. By the time I got to 'One Day Like This' my enjoyment had escalated all the way to frisson, and I was already eager to explore the rest of their musical catalog.
If all my waxing on doesn't help, if you're interested in a blend of original-Coldplay-meets-Radiohead, then this one will be worth the while.
Beatles
5/5
I never really thought about the impact it would have had to make an album that was never intended to be performed live. Removing that constraint from the creative process must've unlocked creativity in all directions, leading to Revolver being as innovative and intricate as it is. This is an absolute work of art from start to finish.
Ananda Shankar
3/5
Soundgarden
4/5
The Mamas & The Papas
2/5
Highly produced folk for the masses, showing the musicality of the movement without all of that thought provoking lyrical burden. Listen to Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie if you really want to hear the folk music you need to hear before you die.
The Sabres Of Paradise
2/5
Richard Thompson
2/5
Sepultura
3/5
A relatively enjoyable nu metal album, notable for the Brazilian band's exploration of and inspiration from their native peoples. If nu metal made the list, I sure hope we see the Deftones on here!
The Byrds
1/5
Outside of the drum and bass tracks switching channels from song to song, I can hardly tell one track from the next. I got so bored with the album that by 'The Bells of Rhymney' I was yawning, and my eyelids were getting heavy. The only think that prevented me from fading off into sleep, was how annoyingly imbalanced the levels were on the guitar tracks. It was like I was stuck between two street performers that were competing for my donation by trying to drown each other out.
Then 'I Knew I'd Want You' started, and I heard the keys and thought things could get interesting. But, my hopes were dashed by about 20s in. From there I started scanning the remaining tracks and I didn't find anything to merit digging in much further. I really don't want to hear this album again.
The Temptations
2/5
David Gray
3/5
Oh wow. There was a time that this album was on regular rotation in my MP3 library. I think that hard drive failed, or something, and the collection was lost. In that instant it's as if this album completely disappeared from the face of the earth. That is until 1001 brought it back into existence.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Elliott Smith
2/5
The Chemical Brothers
1/5
I can't say that my feelings have changed much from week 2, when 'Dig your Own Hole' came up. Honorable mention for 'One Too Many Mornings' dub/ambient vibe that manages to at least mask the repetition in an airy and moody soundscape that feels like floating on a musical cloud. Dishonorable mentions for the tracks 'Alive Alone' and 'Life Is Sweet', which both manage to combine a series of disinteresting loops and rubbish vocals to make something that is synergistically bad.
Paul McCartney and Wings
3/5
Isaac Hayes
4/5
Cocteau Twins
2/5
Killing Joke
3/5
Sam Cooke
3/5
A passionate and energetic performance, with the comfortable feel of a hometown show, sing alongs and all.
The Human League
3/5
Fun Lovin' Criminals
3/5
A bit of funk/R&B, a dash of hip-hop, and a dose of machismo in places. It's a musical cocktail that promises to intoxicate but falls a bit flat after the first few sips. Highlights for me were the slower jams, that had the whole band working out a funk vibe together while the lyrics just sort of slid across the track. Tracks like 'The Grave And The Constant', 'Smoke 'Em', 'Come Find Yourself' and 'Methadonia'.
I'm on the balance of 2 and 3 starts, but I'll err on the side of 3 since I wouldn't be opposed to hearing the album again. If I was looking for something along the lines of this vibe, I'd probably look for Citizen Cope or Everlast's Whitey Ford material.
Happy Mondays
2/5
Well, they got the bellyaches part right.
Faith No More
5/5
The Damned
3/5
Justice
3/5
Beatles
3/5
Buck Owens
2/5
A couple of nifty honky-tonk ditties, which gives way to the sense that it's all really just one song performed in a few different ways.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Supertramp
3/5
Sigur Rós
4/5
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Nina Simone
5/5
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
The Byrds
2/5
Supergrass
3/5
Steely Dan
2/5
The Stooges
2/5
Gary Numan
3/5
Pere Ubu
2/5
ummm, Whatnow?
The Velvet Underground
3/5
George Harrison
3/5
For some reason, I've never allowed myself to explore the solo catalogs of the Beatles. I'm glad that this has prompted me to break from that pointless self-imposed rule.
GZA
4/5
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Dirty Projectors
2/5
The Streets
3/5
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Stevie Wonder
5/5
The Undertones
3/5
Underworld
3/5
Randy Newman
3/5
Whoa, wait! Made in 1974!? It is still an uncomfortably relevant musical homage to an US subculture that people are either way too proud of, or much too critical of. Both views are merited and yet both are equally flawed. I definitely didn't see this coming.
PS: Man, that first track is hard to listen to.
Public Enemy
4/5
In a time where disenfranchised black kids were turning to gangs for a sense of pride, identity and camaraderie, albums like 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back\" provided an alternative sense of belonging to a nation. The group's image was relatable from the perspective of gang culture, but the message and methods being advocated were far more constructive, empowering and positive. The icing on the cake? It also made a bunch of tight-assed old white people uneasy.
This album is remarkable on its own for its hip-hop and rap caliber. The fact that it takes aim (and succeeds) at making a positive difference in the world, puts it over the top in my book.
The Who
3/5
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
Grant Lee Buffalo
2/5
According to the WIKIpedia article, 'R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe praised Fuzzy as "the best album of the year hands down".' It would appear Michael Stipe and I have wildly differed musical tastes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_in_music -- Decide for yourself.
Beck
3/5
Screaming Trees
3/5
Al Green
3/5
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
First listening fell short for me, to be honest. The album sounded two-dimensional, which is super odd given the arrangements seemed pretty elaborate, and the lyrics landed as either rambling or senselessly disjointed (I'm looking at you 'Thorn of Crowns').
And yet, while I listened to the album, I couldn't hear it and not think of Frightened Rabbit; I had to give it another chance.
Yeah, nope. Still not into it. At least I'm listening to 'The Midnight Organ Fight' now, so I've got that going for me.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
All of the pieces of Stevie's wonder (see what I did there) are in place, and it all falls perfectly into place on the track 'Higher Ground'. The infectious energy, spatial mixing, and lip biting funk is just about as near perfection as a song gets. The subdued tone of the remainder of the album, is a stark contrast. The closing tracks of 'Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing' and (to a lesser extent) 'He's Misstra Know-It-All', work to reprieve that energy with their steadily building structures.
A good album to be sure, but more one I'd pick songs from, then appreciate for its entirety.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
A beautiful amalgam of musical styles and influences that converge together naturally, and yet create something entirely novel. I personally also can't think of this album without thinking of the music videos that came out on MTV, specifically for the track 'Sledgehammer'. The culminating and synergizing effect of the musical and artistic directions was sublime.
Harry Nilsson
4/5
A fascinatingly eclectic collection of songs. The Spanish language ballad 'Si No Estas Tu', the new-age punk rock of 'Jump into the Fire', the reggae-inspired 'Coconut', the blues/R&B/rock vibes 'Down', and whatever 'Lamaze' would be considered. It's a regular Golden Corral of musical tastes, all prepared with a surprising level of excellence.
David Bowie
4/5
Every song is an elaborate composition of brilliant artistry. Bowie's lyrics are dense narratives, performed in manic sways between haunted and explosive, and loosely collected around a vaguely alluded to central character (the Thin White Duke perhaps). The arrangements are fantastically detailed, meticulously performed, and merit multiple close listening to fully hear and appreciate.
Although it may be the most well-known track from the album, I found 'Golden Years' to be the least interesting of the bunch. I found myself coming back to 'Word on a Wing' and 'TVC15' repeatedly before I could really collect my thoughts.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
First off, if this album is ever remastered, please for the love of God, show some respect to the band and drop the vocals further back into the tracks.
The album was mediocre but interesting at points, but completely fell off a cliff around 'The Loved Ones' and never really came back. Clearly there is a broader positive sentiment that I'm not connecting with, but I really can't get into Costello's country-rock-cosmopolitan discography.
The Mothers Of Invention
1/5
Interesting and satirically relevant to its time as it may be, it's not something I can casually experience, so it's difficult to truly enjoy. I've heard it, so it met its purpose on the list. Don't think I'd ever chose to go back to it.
Arcade Fire
3/5
The Cure
3/5
Stan Getz
2/5
As albums go, it's fairly one-note. It's more like one song played 10 times. I guess if you like 'The Girl From Ipanema', then you're really going to enjoy this.
Kid Rock
1/5
I think Kid Rock puts it well when he says, "I'm a contradiction, I'm a twist of fate" in 'Roving Gangster (Rollin').' This three-way mash-up of rock, country and rap was bound to happen. There were a lot of ways this could have happened, but as luck would have it, Kid managed to find the most 'I don't give a fuck' characteristics of all three and slammed them together into one electrified redneck gangster vibe. It is unapologetic and unfortunately popular.
I'll give it one bonus star for being novel, but honestly I think this album, and the whole "damn right, I'm proud of being a shithead" narrative that continues to swell in the US is not worth giving a platform. Even if it is wrapped up in an interesting musical combination that was a commercial success.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Lightning Bolt
3/5
When you see the phrase, "considered to be their most accessible album", you know you're in for a wild ride.
The first seconds of 'Assassins' reeled me in and there I remained, riveted, as the distorted explosions pulsed over me for the remainder of the album. Each song is chaos, with moments of clarity, stretched thin over the scaffolds of familiar song structures and lots of repetition.
Despite the fact that there isn't anything especially high-minded going on here, this connects with and satisfies a cognitive itch for me. Not sure why, but this is what I needed to hear today.
Tori Amos
3/5
Roxy Music
3/5
Antony and the Johnsons
2/5
The songs are lovely, but I can't handle the throaty vibrato inflicted on every single lyric that hangs for more than a moment.
Marianne Faithfull
3/5
I got a nicotine buzz just listening to Marianne's vocals. Turns out the qualities of her voice were the bi-product of turbulent life circumstances, this album marking the artist's reemergence from a downward spiral, and marking a stark transition from her past musical persona. Kudos to her for pulling it together for this album (and beyond).
Sonic Youth
3/5
N.W.A.
3/5
While I appreciate what these guys did to represent an unseen subculture, what they did to popularize rap music, and the musical ingenuity that went into this album, I can only get so excited about the content of gansta-rap.
Slint
3/5
5/5
The album opens up with a track about "five years", jumping right into the middle of a narrative story that climbs and climbs to an explosive crecendo. I doubt it is a coincidence that this is the opening song and this is Bowie's 5th album, each of which was released 1 year apart. The overall sound of the album is "big". The tracks are layered, and spatial thanks to various chorus effects and their use of the left/right/center channels. 'Star' and 'Suffragette City' are good example of what I mean. It will take a few more albums to be sure, but I think this might mark the point where Bowie fully realizes his initial musical vision and where he is really comfortable in his form.
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
I get it, but still... I don't get it.
Tangerine Dream
2/5
A technological breakthrough in musical history, but kind of boring to listen to.
Aphex Twin
3/5
Calexico
2/5
One radio hit does not a profound album maketh. I'd swap in the Decemberists if we're looking for a bohemian rock ensemble vibe.
The Beach Boys
2/5
Of course, I'd heard of the Beach Boys, and yeah, I'd also heard some of their songs, but I guess I never sat down and listened to one of their albums. Well, I sort of regret having done that, because I really did not enjoy it. The tracks are repetitive, the production quality is all over the map, and the lyrics sound like they were written by a 70s TV sitcom writer attempting to channel the ethos of a 1950's teenager. Only in radio-hit sized doses I guess...
Nightmares On Wax
3/5
Richard Hawley
2/5
The bits I skimmed through sounded flawless. I just don't find it very interesting.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Weather Report
4/5
Bad Brains
3/5
The Jesus And Mary Chain
2/5
Donald Fagen
2/5
Super Furry Animals
2/5
Sparks
2/5
The Smiths
3/5
Little Simz
4/5
Beth Orton
2/5
Justin Timberlake
3/5
Rush
4/5
Christine and the Queens
3/5
Brian Wilson
2/5
Deerhunter
3/5
Pearl Jam
5/5
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Waylon Jennings
2/5
Snoop Dogg
4/5
Barry Adamson
2/5
PJ Harvey
3/5
Death In Vegas
2/5
Scott Walker
2/5
While there are moments and glimpses of something special, the album ultimately fell flat for me. The track "Get Behind Me" is exactly what I'm talking about.
This easy-listening crooner album, packed with its dense lyrics and layered arrangements feels like it's trying really hard to be something. Ultimately though the authenticity just doesn't carry through.
Frank Ocean
4/5
A trust in an idea and a collection of brilliant collaborators. A fascinating juxtaposition and combination of youthful spirit with old R&B soul. Truely novel.
Elis Regina
2/5
The vision of the album is clear and well executed. The genre just seems limited.
Rage Against The Machine
5/5
The production value of this album alone is worth all of the stars you have to give. Seriously, production studios soundcheck their equipment with this album. Look it up.
Then the musical trio come in with the performances that are as precise as they are powerful, fronted by Tom Morello's boundary defying guitar tracks. The soundscapes that he creates honestly redefine what most thought was possible with a guitar. I mean honestly, how in the world did they come up with "Settle for Nothing"!?
And then Zack comes in with his punch-to-the-gut lyrical tour de force that harkens to Gil Scott-Heron's pleas to wake people up from their entranced complacency.
The mainstream honestly had no idea what was coming when these guys showed up on the musical scene in the grunge era. Their fight-the-system sensibility was simultaneously anachronistic and rife for rediscovery.
The song that sums it all up perfectly is "Wake Up". It is a plea to awareness. A song as evocative as a hymn, a ballad, screaming to be heard and to be headed.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Charles Mingus
3/5
Blur
3/5
Well, it's better than Oasis, but the album is still like the Cheesecake Factory of 90's brit pop. They do a reasonable job of most everything, but everyone is really only there for one thing.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Guided By Voices
3/5
Megadeth
5/5
Songhoy Blues
3/5
Kate Bush
3/5
Kings of Leon
4/5
Who would have thought that a bunch of country boys that had been the backing band for their holy-rolling Dad's revival tent tours, would one day break out and make a dixie punk band!? Their sound has matured and evolved over the years, but what an exciting debut this must've been for them.
The Go-Go's
4/5
Shack
2/5
That right there was some fairly "dime a dozen" 90's brit alt-rock, that I would've been just fine with not hearing before I died. I mean, seriously, why did the British music producers of that day think they could simply stick a string quartet behind any mediocre band off the streets and start printing gold records!?
Pulp
2/5
Leonard Cohen
3/5
As simple and intricate and delicate and lovely as a spider's web. A bit terse and rough at points as well, but overall enchanting. Definitely much more accessible than most of Cohen's albums.
The Charlatans
3/5
Well, if you're into the Stone Roses, you're going to dig 'Tellin' Stories'. Who did it better?
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
3/5
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
3/5
Jack White
3/5
Hot Chip
2/5
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
1/5
If I wanted to hear three dudes jacking each other off, I'd have gone to pornhub.
Neil Young
3/5
Living Colour
3/5
Paul Revere & The Raiders
3/5
Duke Ellington
3/5
Björk
3/5
Fugazi
3/5
Billy Bragg
3/5
David Ackles
3/5
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
4/5
Taylor Swift
3/5
The The
3/5
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
The xx
2/5
3/5
Some of these songs seem practically purpose built for driving listeners away. The album has the affect of a schizophrenic's notebook.
Dr. Dre
2/5
I'm a fan of rap, I really am. I just can't get over how pointless the lyrics are.
Arrested Development
4/5
Hilarious that this recommendation comes up immediately following Dre's 'The Chronic'. Two break-out hits for hip-hop in 1992. The contrast between the crotch-and-gun-clutching nonsense of the former versus the social justice and love focus of the latter, is the perfect example of the spectrum that hip-hop occupies. Respect to Arrested Development for going after the higher ground!
The Zombies
2/5
I was struggling to understand why this was on the list, then I finally got to 'Time of the Season' and I realized this was another one of those albums that is put on the list because of a popular single. I don't personally find the album all that interesting.
Throwing Muses
3/5
Jurassic 5
3/5
American Music Club
3/5
Silver Jews
2/5
What!?
Madonna
2/5
There is plenty of Madonna's music that merits being on this list, but this isn't it in my opinion. As a professional musician, she's obviously welcome to try anything she wants, but just because her name is on it doesn't mean it's worth listening to.
Crowded House
2/5
Badly Drawn Boy
2/5
The Residents
1/5
No thanks.
Scissor Sisters
3/5
Sister Sledge
3/5
Arcade Fire
3/5
Mercury Rev
2/5
I get the feeling that people thought this was a Flaming Lips album until they got a couple tracks in.
John Lee Hooker
3/5
The Jam
3/5
Fairport Convention
3/5
Marilyn Manson
1/5
I get why it's here, but I really wish it wasn't.
The Gun Club
3/5
Want to guarantee that your album will be relegated to near obscurity, regardless of its musical merits or cultural relevance? Drop some hard-r'd N words. I do not condone the use of the word and it drives me nuts to hear it here, as the album is otherwise super impressive.
The Who
3/5
The Associates
2/5
The Roots
3/5
Beck
4/5
Goldfrapp
3/5
Small Faces
2/5
"I know. Let's make a rock band, that walks in the stylistic footsteps of Wily Wonka's Oompa Loompa's" - Small Faces
The Mothers Of Invention
4/5
10 songs in, there was no mistaking what the group had set out to do. Satirically emulating pop music, and by extension the industry and the cultural mindset that makes it possible, is a risky bit for a debut album. Diogenes would have been proud!
Then the track 'Trouble Every Day', drops the pretense and the Mothers show you a bit of what they truly are. An adept psych-blues band with a penchant for laser focused social commentary.
The remainder of the album slips and descends slowly into chaos, culminating in a true freak out of a track with 'The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet.' I guess they needed to fill the 2nd record with something.
A wild ride, indeed.
Was this the album that was forced onto peoples' iPhones? I didn't listen to it back then and I didn't find anything overwhelmingly important about it now. It's a fine album that sounds like it was crafted with a "spare no expense" mindset. What I can't shake though is how formulaic it feels.
Miles Davis
3/5
The music is fine, but this style of jazz is not really all that engaging to me. I've always wondered why, and I think I finally realized it's because of the group dynamic (or lack thereof). This album is primarily a collection of very talented soloists performing in immediate succession under the pretense of a collection of songs. Each songs starts as an ensemble piece, that gives way around the 1m mark to a medley of spotlight swapping solo showcases. I'm amazed at the patience of the rhythm section, as they play along while everyone else gets to do whatever they want.
David Bowie
4/5
Up until this album it struck me that Bowie stuck mostly to portraying characters.
The album starts off with a song about “me” and it's like an actor breaking the fourth wall. That vibe continues for the first 3 songs and I wonder whether the narrative has turned to a 1st person perspective, or if Bowie is actually talking about himself at this point. The characters are definitely still there, but it’s nice to have some variety.
Bowie is over the brief proto-metal kick (The Man Who Sold the World) and back to his Avant-rock ways. Pianos, saxophones, keyboards, pianos, strings, unconventional time signatures, multiple transitions and movements in a single song – I still can’t fathom how an artist comes up with stuff like this.
Standout tracks to me (mostly cliche) are 'Changes', 'The BewlayBrothers', 'Oh! You Pretty Things', and 'Life on Mars?'
Blood, Sweat & Tears
3/5
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
Björk
3/5
Robert Wyatt
3/5
Neil Young
2/5
3 albums already from Neil and not one Townes Van Zandt album, yet? I don't get the appeal at all.
The Monks
3/5
Tina Turner
3/5
Sheryl Crow
4/5
The Flaming Lips
3/5
Beach House
2/5
David Bowie
3/5
As iconic as the album cover may be, the album itself was almost entirely unknown to me. I guess my main hang-up is that many tracks feel like they tried to shove a few more ideas in, than were really necessary. The gems that are 'Time', 'Cracked Actor', and 'The Jean Genie' strike the balance of glam and rock perfectly, though.
2/5
It is precisely, unapologetically, and quintessentially synth-pop. I don't care for it myself, but it can't be under-appreciated for the influence it had on an entire decade's worth of music. The rating reflects my own personal tastes, but I completely get why this album is on this list.
Talking Heads
3/5
Digital Underground
2/5
George Michael
5/5
I genuinely believe this is one of the most perfect albums ever made. At a minimum, the opening trio of 'Praying for Time', 'Freedom! '90', and the haunting cover of 'They Won't Go When I Go', have to be heard to be believed. It is also tied for me to childhood memories of all-out voice-belting family sing alongs, which is saying a lot given how dysfunctional we were.
While I'm no George Michael biographer, I always felt like this album was a response to dysfunction. The man had been repressing his sexual identity while his musical career and international fame continuously grew, built (at least in part) on him being a hetero sex symbol. He is then outed in the most humiliating way possible and forced to confront it all, all at once, on CNN for Christ's sake. The album's name, it seems to me at least, is practically a plea to give him a chance.
While the dysfunction in my own life was of a different sort, this perception has given me a personal connection to this album that has only grown and deepened over the years. I can hear echos of truths I don't want to live with in these songs, and the hopes of the possibilities that come with living life after I begin to put them behind me.
Can
3/5
Public Enemy
4/5
Nico
3/5
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
2/5
T. Rex
2/5
Ozomatli
3/5
A veritable Jack In the Box of music. Sure, it's a bit confusing to follow-up a burger, with a taco and an egg roll, but it's tasty.
Bebel Gilberto
3/5
N.E.R.D
2/5
Raekwon
3/5
The Jam
3/5
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Try as I might, I just can't quite seem to discern what the overarching theme of this album is.
Does anyone else find it as hilarious as I do that the first 7 tracks are a passionate full court press advocating for getting it on, and then the last track is like, "Well, it's too late..."? It's like the campaign from the first 7 songs was successful, things wrapped up, and reality set in.
Stephen Stills
4/5
Lenny Kravitz
3/5
Arcade Fire
3/5
Culture Club
2/5
Grateful Dead
4/5
Deep Purple
3/5
Kings of Leon
3/5
Beyoncé
3/5
Wild Beasts
2/5
The Monkees
2/5
The Blue Nile
3/5
Incubus
4/5
Robert Wyatt
3/5
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
2/5
Can we trade this one out for 'Safe As Milk'?
Sinead O'Connor
3/5
Lupe Fiasco
3/5
Meat Puppets
3/5
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
Solomon Burke
3/5
Portishead
4/5
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
The Go-Betweens
2/5
Common
3/5
Suede
2/5
I understand why the Cranberries outshone these guys on tour.
David Holmes
3/5
Dr. Octagon
3/5
I stand behind my beliefs that Kool Keith is clinically insane. I'd put this into the same musically interesting category as Wesley Willis' albums. Bizarre, profane, nonsensical, but unrefutably creative and expressive.
The Psychedelic Furs
3/5
Beck
4/5
Cowboy Junkies
3/5
Mj Cole
3/5
Jimmy Smith
4/5
Ice Cube
1/5
Yeah, hard stop at the song that casually talks about violent involuntary abortions.
The Flying Burrito Brothers
4/5
Eminem
4/5
Daft Punk
5/5
New Order
2/5
If you are into Joy Division, then I'm sure you'd be into New Order. I am not into Joy Division.
Girls Against Boys
3/5
Steve Earle
2/5
The Cramps
3/5
Throbbing Gristle
1/5
I honestly can't get over the entirely unnecessary imagery of the young sleeping girl on the album cover. Add to that the deliberate inaccessibility of the music, and I'm not conflicted at all with giving this 1 star.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
5/5
Beatles
5/5
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
The Byrds
2/5
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3/5
Haircut 100
4/5
I'll be damned, if I couldn't stop tapping my toe while I listened along. The blend of jazz and pop, spiced up with hints of latin, funk, and ska are an act of musical alchemical genius. The instrumental performances are flawless and the production is polished to a yacht deck sheen. While the lyrics aren't anything that will compete for a Pulitzer, their light and delivered the brightly and chorused with harmonies. An all-around feel-good album that would pair up nicely with a dance hall as easily it would segue into The Clash or The Specials.
Portishead
3/5
Fatboy Slim
3/5
A stand-out from the crowded 'electronica' scene of the 90s, which stands the test of time impressively well.
Iron Butterfly
3/5
I appreciate this for the root influence, the musical primitive, that it is. I can't say that it's all that enjoyable to listen to anymore, which makes the initial success of the album all that much more interesting, I suppose.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2/5
I prefer the Decemberists.
Tom Waits
4/5
The rich and immersive sound production, the excellence of the backing band, the hilarity of the banter with the audience (along with their responses), and the clever wordplay and vibrant lyrical imagery, make this album a diamond in the rough that is Tom Waits' discography.
Beatles
4/5
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
Van Morrison
3/5
Dion
3/5
Bill Callahan
2/5
Kudos for the Nick Drake facsimile circa Bryter Layter. It has a stilted awkwardness to it thought, which prevents me from resting in it.
The Avalanches
4/5
I believe my kids would like me to say, "Slappin bops, all bangers."
Me, I'm enveloped by the craftsmanship of the album. The fusion of electronic sequencing, cuts, breaks, samples, and melodies are a real work of devotion to an artform. You can get up and dance to it, or you can vibe with it while you're focusing. I'd heard 'Frontier Psychiatrist' and I'm glad this list brought me to the album and the album that it came from.
Nine Inch Nails
4/5
Billy Bragg
3/5
Moby Grape
2/5
Hawkwind
3/5
Jungle Brothers
3/5
Big Star
3/5
Radiohead
3/5
This album marks the point where Radiohead completely jumped off the pop rails and flew into a musical realm almost entirely of their own.
It's like talking to someone who is operating on a much higher order of thought. You can't help but smirk because you know what they are saying is profound, but it's just inaccessible enough to where you feel a bit left out.
Metallica
4/5
I honestly don't care about all of the critiques about when and if Metallica sold out. This was a profound influence on my musical tastes when I was young, so it gets a bonus start for that!
Elvis Costello
3/5
Ravi Shankar
3/5
Teenage Fanclub
2/5
A simple enough formula that reminded me of Japandroids, who I hadn't heard in a long time, so I went back to the 2012 release of Celebration Rock ... that's a great album; one that I think everyone should hear before they die.
New York Dolls
4/5
On its own and out of context, this album could blend in with numerous others at this point. Thing is, nothing like this existed at that point. That's wild to think about, given how many mirror image and derivate albums came after it.
TV On The Radio
2/5
An interesting project that ultimately sounds incomplete.
The Police
3/5
The Offspring
3/5
Eels
2/5
Sex Pistols
2/5
The Soft Boys
3/5
Ryan Adams
3/5
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
3/5
It makes me wonder what the world would be like if we could opt out of our normal minds from time to time. What would we see? How would we feel differently? Would we consider ourselves or others differently?
I'm glad to see some music here from someone who is not in a neurotypical frame of mind.
Queens of the Stone Age
4/5
John Prine
5/5
Erykah Badu
4/5
Grizzly Bear
4/5
Dexys Midnight Runners
1/5
Terrible
Hanoi Rocks
4/5
Radiohead
3/5
Pretenders
3/5
4/5
Elastica
2/5
Dinosaur Jr.
2/5
The Velvet Underground
2/5
Fiona Apple
5/5
Queen Latifah
3/5
Ute Lemper
1/5
The Saints
3/5
Queen
3/5
The War On Drugs
3/5
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
Khaled
3/5
Ella Fitzgerald
3/5
The Smiths
3/5
David Bowie
2/5
3/5
White Denim
3/5
George Michael
3/5
Morrissey
3/5
The Libertines
2/5
ABBA
3/5
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
MC Solaar
3/5
Black Sabbath
3/5
Deep Purple
3/5
Prince
3/5
Terence Trent D'Arby
3/5
Cyndi Lauper
4/5
Drive Like Jehu
3/5
Devendra Banhart
2/5
Minor Threat
3/5
George Jones
4/5
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Elvis Costello
2/5
Elvis Presley
3/5
Buffalo Springfield
3/5
The Cult
3/5
Rufus Wainwright
3/5
Earth, Wind & Fire
2/5
Love
2/5
Anthrax
2/5
The Byrds
2/5
LL Cool J
4/5
The Beta Band
2/5
An album with spacious production and eclectic arrangements that ultimately falls flat due to being highly repetitive.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
2/5
Good music with utter lyrical nonsense.
The Police
3/5
Sonic Youth
3/5
Quicksilver Messenger Service
3/5
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Nirvana
5/5
Basement Jaxx
3/5
Joni Mitchell
2/5
Sonic Youth
3/5
Wilco
3/5
Mike Oldfield
2/5
I think this sort of thing is why punk was made, so I can't dislike it entirely.
Kraftwerk
3/5
Klaxons
3/5
Adele
4/5
The Isley Brothers
3/5
Merle Haggard
3/5
3/5
B.B. King
4/5
Massive Attack
3/5
Django Django
3/5
The Beta Band
2/5
Bauhaus
3/5
Tricky
3/5
Malcolm McLaren
3/5
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
4/5
Jethro Tull
4/5
Metallica
5/5
The gold standard of thrash metal.
King Crimson
3/5
Jamiroquai
3/5
3/5
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
Dinosaur Jr.
2/5
Talking Heads
3/5
Buena Vista Social Club
3/5
David Bowie
3/5
The Incredible String Band
3/5
Cream
3/5
Dr. John
3/5
The Darkness
2/5
Elliott Smith
2/5
Television
3/5
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
Fairport Convention
3/5
U2
3/5
Pink Floyd
4/5
The White Stripes
3/5
SZA
4/5
If this is the future of R&B, I'm here for it.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Jeru The Damaja
3/5
Jane's Addiction
3/5
Amy Winehouse
3/5
It remains hard for me to listen to this album and not just feel like its talent abused and ultimately wasted.
Britney Spears
1/5
I just can't do it. The album looks and sounds purpose built to sexualize her and given what we know now about her entrapment, I just can't get passed it.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Gene Clark
3/5
Cornershop
2/5
Emmylou Harris
3/5
Radiohead
5/5
Cypress Hill
2/5
John Grant
3/5
Travis
2/5
Christina Aguilera
3/5
D'Angelo
2/5
Jane's Addiction
3/5
Missy Elliott
4/5
Missy Elliott
3/5
Fever Ray
3/5
Frank Sinatra
4/5
For my own tastes, it's a two-star album. It wins back one star for being damn near flawless. It wins back another star for being undeniably influential.
The Velvet Underground
2/5
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Ride
2/5
Les Rythmes Digitales
3/5
The Temptations
2/5
XTC
2/5
Frank Black
2/5
Afrika Bambaataa
4/5
Bob Dylan
5/5
The Cardigans
3/5
Gram Parsons
3/5
The KLF
2/5
R.E.M.
3/5
OutKast
3/5
Big Star
2/5
Drive-By Truckers
3/5
Neneh Cherry
2/5
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
M.I.A.
3/5
Mudhoney
3/5
Miles Davis
3/5
The Icarus Line
3/5
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
3/5
Suzanne Vega
2/5
Scritti Politti
3/5
Meat Loaf
3/5
Sonic Youth
3/5
Marvin Gaye
3/5
The Rolling Stones
3/5
The Dictators
3/5
Todd Rundgren
3/5
Jazmine Sullivan
3/5
Orbital
4/5
Bee Gees
1/5
I couldn't tolerate the nasally warbling much past the half-way point of 'Somebody Stop the Music'; a song whose name I only now realize is perfectly suited for my review.
Joe Ely
2/5
The Louvin Brothers
1/5
I could do without the song about bludgeoning a Knoxville Girl to death. How in the world did that seem like something they needed to commit to a record, let alone write a song about.
The Crusaders
2/5
Suede
3/5
Fugees
4/5
John Lennon
2/5
The Everly Brothers
4/5
Venom
3/5
Talk Talk
2/5
Morrissey
1/5
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Dwight Yoakam
3/5
Simply Red
3/5
Carpenters
3/5
It is with begrudging hesitation that I give this one 3 stars. I really, really, don't like it ... but ... it is flawlessly produced and the album and the duo has clearly been influential.
It is an album that I had only known through ironic mockery, and I think that is where it will remain for me.
Dolly Parton
4/5
Skepta
3/5
Aerosmith
3/5
Ali Farka Touré
3/5
Simple Minds
2/5
CHIC
3/5
Burning Spear
3/5
Saint Etienne
2/5
Pet Shop Boys
1/5
Pretty much the same song played 10 times.
The Boo Radleys
1/5
The Band
3/5
Oh, The Band. Every time I start the album I'm like, "Oooh yeah. Nice vibe!" Every time I get to the last few tracks, I'm like, "GAHHH! Make the muppetian falsetto STAHP!"
Overall, I definitely dig it, but it's pretty clear to me that their strengths lie in their abilities as a backing band, not backing vocalists, up to that point for a reason.
Muddy Waters
4/5
Roni Size
4/5
Boards of Canada
3/5
Pavement
3/5
The Prodigy
3/5
Big Black
2/5
Marty Robbins
3/5
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
Beastie Boys
4/5
T. Rex
3/5
Sepultura
3/5
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Ray Charles
3/5
The Last Shadow Puppets
3/5
Derek & The Dominos
3/5
Femi Kuti
3/5
Primal Scream
2/5
3/5
Take a jazz song and give it to five musicians; two playing sax, one playing upright bass, and to more playing drums. Tell them to simultaneously improvise that song, but do it as blisteringly fast as their musical ability allows. Then do that over and over again for 40 minutes, or so.
It's hard to listen to but also oddly enthralling. Not sure I'd like to hear it more than once though.
Stephen Stills
3/5
The Who
3/5
Kate Bush
2/5
Aerosmith
3/5
3/5
Fela Kuti
4/5
Coldplay
3/5
Baaba Maal
3/5
The Magnetic Fields
2/5
Pere Ubu
2/5
Beatles
5/5
Bob Dylan
5/5
The La's
3/5
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
Slipknot
3/5
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
Air
2/5
Joan Baez
2/5
Dolly Parton
3/5
William Orbit
3/5
Joni Mitchell
2/5
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Pavement
2/5
Julian Cope
1/5
Rufus Wainwright
3/5
The National
1/5
Just because Starbucks corporate, the Apple store, and the umbrella company that owns the GAP, choose to blare this album over their storefront speakers -- in an attempt to woo an indie demographic and mask their true capitalism-driven wallet-felching nature -- doesn't mean I (or anyone else) has to hear this garbage before death.
It is neither novel nor exemplary.
The Killers
4/5
Spacemen 3
3/5
This happens to be in my musical wheelhouse, but I suspect there won't be too many fans.
LTJ Bukem
3/5
Paul Simon
5/5
3/5
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2/5
Motörhead
4/5
Public Image Ltd.
3/5
Thundercat
3/5
Gillian Welch
3/5
Q-Tip
3/5
Iron Maiden
4/5
Paul McCartney
3/5
Nas
3/5
Radiohead
3/5
Johnny Cash
3/5
Oasis
3/5
The Black Keys
3/5
Isaac Hayes
3/5
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
2/5
Orbital
3/5
Gorillaz
4/5
2Pac
4/5
Soft Machine
2/5
Steve Winwood
2/5
Simon & Garfunkel
2/5
The Jesus And Mary Chain
2/5
Paul Simon
4/5
Lou Reed
3/5
Jerry Lee Lewis
3/5
10cc
2/5
Le Tigre
3/5
CHIC
2/5
Eagles
3/5
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
Mekons
2/5
Depeche Mode
2/5
Jane Weaver
2/5
Holger Czukay
3/5
The Dandy Warhols
3/5
Joy Division
2/5
Garbage
3/5
Tim Buckley
2/5
Björk
3/5
Billy Joel
5/5
Scott Walker
3/5
The Clash
5/5
4/5
Brian Eno
2/5
The Cure
3/5
Astor Piazzolla
2/5
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
2/5
Dagmar Krause
2/5
The Teardrop Explodes
3/5
Fatboy Slim
3/5
Astrud Gilberto
2/5
Iron Maiden
2/5
The Fall
3/5
Hookworms
3/5
Fela Kuti
4/5
The Fall
3/5
De La Soul
2/5
Queen
4/5
Slipknot
3/5
Ministry
5/5
Peter Frampton
3/5
Fleet Foxes
3/5
Def Leppard
3/5
Mott The Hoople
2/5
AC/DC
3/5
UB40
2/5
Christina Aguilera
3/5
The Electric Prunes
2/5
The 13th Floor Elevators
2/5
The Verve
2/5
and legend has it that he is still walking down that road...
Buzzcocks
4/5
Tom Waits
2/5
Shivkumar Sharma
3/5
Prince
2/5
I'm not sure that we needed three Prince albums.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
Air
3/5
The White Stripes
3/5
The Notorious B.I.G.
3/5
His flow is incredible. The subject matter is mind-numbly redundant. I look forward to the next remastered edition, where P Diddy's moaning hype man routine has been edited out of the back track.
Def Leppard
3/5
Big Brother & The Holding Company
3/5
Tortoise
2/5
Rod Stewart
3/5
Doves
3/5
Coldcut
4/5
Prefab Sprout
2/5
The Beach Boys
2/5
Pink Floyd
2/5
Grateful Dead
3/5
Skunk Anansie
2/5
Animal Collective
3/5
Taylor Swift
5/5
This album will never be anything less than a five to me because of the countless number of times that my daughter and I have belted these tracks out together over the years.
David Bowie
3/5
4/5
The Divine Comedy
2/5
Ghostface Killah
3/5
Spiritualized
3/5
Maxwell
2/5
k.d. lang
3/5
Fred Neil
3/5
Joanna Newsom
4/5
Happy Mondays
2/5
Fishbone
3/5
Circle Jerks
3/5
Serge Gainsbourg
2/5
Baaba Maal
2/5
Yes
2/5
The Thrills
2/5
Traffic
3/5
The B-52's
4/5
Count Basie & His Orchestra
4/5
Magazine
3/5
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
The Allman Brothers Band
4/5
Bon Jovi
4/5
Talvin Singh
2/5
John Cale
2/5
Bonnie Raitt
3/5
Bob Dylan
4/5
Dire Straits
3/5
Genesis
3/5
Primal Scream
3/5
Hole
2/5
Red Snapper
3/5
Wilco
2/5
Morrissey
2/5
Adele
4/5
The Young Gods
2/5
Madonna
2/5
Nitin Sawhney
3/5
Depeche Mode
2/5
Robbie Williams
2/5
Genesis
2/5
Kate Bush
3/5
AC/DC
3/5
Van Morrison
3/5
Suicide
2/5
Doves
3/5
The Doors
3/5
Korn
2/5
The Replacements
3/5
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
G. Love & Special Sauce
4/5
The Auteurs
1/5
I couldn't get past 25 seconds into 'Junk Shop Clothes'.
Brian Eno
3/5
David Crosby
3/5
Paul Weller
3/5
Janet Jackson
3/5
Tom Tom Club
3/5
Os Mutantes
3/5
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Queen
4/5
Emmylou Harris
2/5
Alice Cooper
3/5
KISS
3/5
Pentangle
3/5
Gotan Project
3/5
Common
3/5
The Fall
3/5
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
4/5
Herbie Hancock
4/5
Violent Femmes
4/5
Kacey Musgraves
3/5
Minutemen
4/5
Peter Tosh
3/5
The Style Council
2/5
Madness
2/5
Flamin' Groovies
3/5
Einstürzende Neubauten
2/5
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
3/5
The Cure
4/5
The Pretty Things
3/5
Deep Purple
2/5
Incredible Bongo Band
4/5
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
Marvin Gaye
2/5
Eurythmics
3/5
M.I.A.
4/5
Brian Eno
3/5
The Zutons
3/5
The Beach Boys
4/5
Love
3/5
Fiona Apple
3/5
Spiritualized
3/5
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
1/5
Dear, Robert Dimery, No one -- I repeat NO ONE -- must hear this many Elvis Costello albums before they die. They all sound like each other. Narrow it down to one or two and make room for other artists who deserve the attention.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
The Sugarcubes
3/5
Jorge Ben Jor
4/5
Tom Waits
1/5
Pink Floyd
3/5
The Birthday Party
2/5
Cee Lo Green
3/5
Giant Sand
3/5
Destiny's Child
3/5
Metallica
5/5
Randy Newman
3/5
John Lennon
2/5
Germs
2/5
System Of A Down
3/5
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
Elvis Presley
3/5
Leonard Cohen
3/5
4/5
The Kinks
2/5
Anita Baker
3/5
Radiohead
4/5
Belle & Sebastian
2/5
Slade
3/5
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
Goldfrapp
3/5
TLC
3/5
The Vines
3/5
CHVRCHES
3/5
Sleater-Kinney
3/5
Orange Juice
2/5
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Röyksopp
3/5
Japan
3/5
Barry Adamson
2/5
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Kelela
3/5
Manic Street Preachers
2/5
The Divine Comedy
2/5
The Beau Brummels
2/5
John Martyn
3/5
JAY Z
3/5
Bob Dylan
3/5
Mylo
3/5
Napalm Death
4/5
Fats Domino
3/5
3/5
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Janis Joplin
5/5
Steely Dan
3/5
Kings of Leon
3/5
The Coral
3/5
R.E.M.
4/5
Van Halen
3/5
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
The Bees
3/5
Lana Del Rey
3/5
Abdullah Ibrahim
3/5
Willie Nelson
3/5
Butthole Surfers
3/5
Megadeth
3/5
Ali Farka Touré
3/5
Country Joe & The Fish
2/5
Ms. Dynamite
3/5
Sisters Of Mercy
3/5
PJ Harvey
3/5