Three words will make my blood run cold now: 80s British pop. Getting that out of the way, I don’t really understand why I needed to hear this before I slip the mortal coil. I’m happy for Mr. Gartside’s success in the 80s, but this is just like Wham! without George Michael. It was fine at the time, but feels redundant in this small list of albums to hear before I hear no more.

Evidently my love for this album faded at some point because I was just underwhelmed this time around.

Evidently, this was removed (for good reason), but I persevered anyway... for over an hour.

I’m sure I’m being contrarian by giving this 5, but I don’t care.

I haven’t heard Sepultura since high school, and I forgot how great they sounded.

I still like Talking Heads and David Byrne. This is their weakest album by far. It’s really hard to fully experience the “punk rebellion” of certain albums when you’re too separated from what they were upending (70s pop, in this case). I realize that our kids won’t really see some of our music as revolutionary for the same reason.

I liked The Jam (Paul Weller's original band)... I'm not sure about British R&B, personally, but I understand it as a (possibly) important album.

I can't believe I hadn't heard this one, but it was obviously good.

I loved this album as a teenager. I still love it.

I was very surprised, but I ended up really loving the indie/country/whatever sound. Also, Apple Music started playing Pavement immediately following this, so that algorithm is pretty dead on.

This is why I didn't like pop.

Despite not knowing the name Serge Gainsbourg, I kind of knew what to expect. This was a perfectly chill way to start the day.

Not my favorite 80s hip-hop (and wouldn't have made my list), but still fun and thoughtful.

Evidently my love for this album faded at some point because I was just underwhelmed this time around.

This is why I like this project. I am sometimes reminded about a great album that I haven’t listened to in years.

It wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't an album I needed to hear before I die.

Not what I was expecting, but surprisingly good.

Still a classic for a reason.

Good, relaxing album. Every song is about a minute too long, but that’s The Eagle.

It’s okay.

I haven’t heard Sepultura since high school, and I forgot how great they sounded.

I’m not surprised how much I still like this.

Meh.

More punk than I remember, and just good fun.

Always one of my favorite albums, and I was pretty happy to see this on my list this morning.

I still love the Violent Femmes. This was never my favorite album, but it's still fun to listen to.

I remembered liking this more.

Better than I remember, but still not the breed of nihilism that I would listen to on a regular basis.

This projects is making me hate the 70s even more.

This didn't really change my opinion of early 90s alt/college rock. It's not really bad, it's just a time capsule; it may or may not have aged well, depending on your relationship with 90s alt and, basically, the Reality Bites soundtrack.

A welcome respite after weeks of "art rock" and easy listening.

I'm probably rating this higher because I'm so tired of New Wave, 70s, and seemingly random choices on here. Still, it's a great album to play in the background on any lazy weekend.

Parts of this were much better than I remembered, and others were very "Kanye 1.0" (which I found a little grating at the time, and more now).

Much better than I expected.

This was insane, and I loved it.

Not bad, but I agree with whoever said he loses a star for Imagine. Also, YouTube wands this worse, but I can’t fault Khaled for that.

The only album so far where I've intentionally listened to the "extended" version.

Made for a fun, funky time getting ready and cleaning up the house. I forgot how much I missed this kind of funk until I heard it again.

This was one-star for so much, but it redeemed a star over the runtime. Not sure how, but it did.

Reminded me why I love good jazz.

Still love this album after all these years.

I like parts of this album, but too much of it is really hard to listen to (then and now).

This reminded me of everything I hated about 80s pop. I delayed it all day until I was cleaning the house. I put it on all the speakers in the background, and it still managed to ruin housecleaning.

I'll be honest, some amazing production and the Dolby Atmos remastering really elevated this to add a couple stars to an album I didn't think I would enjoy.

It's not just that the music is bad (and it is), and it's not just that he can't rap (but he can't), it's that the lyrics and everything just highlight what a horrible, disgusting persona he built. It's just so awful, and actually pretty disturbing.

Fine. I'm giving this one all the stars just because it was fun, sounded amazing on Atmos, and it's Friday.

I didn’t realize how much I wanted to listen to reggae on my drive until this album started.

Again, I forgot how much I enjoyed Orbital. At over an hour, this album flew by perfectly.

Kind of weird to get this literally 12 hours after Queen Elizabeth died, but I liked this one more than I expected (presumably because Marr wrote most of, if not all, the music).

If it was over 36 minutes, I don’t think I could have made it.

It feels almost like cheating to listen to this again, as I have it basically memorized. Still, I can’t believe this was an hour; it goes by so quickly.

Having been a longtime hip-hop fan, this album is still so confusing to me from moment to moment.

I remembered the hits and Lauryn Hill’s voice, but I forgot how much Pras and Wyclef Jean demolished the mic. And the crate-digging samples and beats? Wow. Obviously, highlighted in Killing Me Softly, the depth and creativity of sampling on the whole album was some of the best of the time. Also, props for throwing out a line about Guantanamo Bay in 1996.

Four stars for That’s Entertainment, but I just can’t do Brit pop.

Despite my sordid past in the scene, I had fears of hearing “ska” again after all these years, but of course this was different. It was more punk than ska, and everything I loved about the scene back then.

This one was tough. I really was not a fan, but it grew on me over the course of the hour.

Evidently, this was removed (for good reason), but I persevered anyway... for over an hour.

I had somehow forgotten that Curtis Mayfield did the soundtrack for Super Fly. The movie was okay, but this soundtrack is way more heartfelt and charged than it deserved.

I avoid prog-rock, in general, and I wasn’t looking forward to anything that gets listed as both “rock” and “new age.” Still, this was interesting, and it gets an extra star just for the dwarves growling vocals at one point.

I love this album from my younger days, but I will admit that listening to it made me follow up with Mutations (which I enjoy more for nostalgia or quality reasons).

I turned this on to try drive my 5yo son out of the room, so I could take a shower in peace. Moments later, he was dancing with his ukulele as a guitar and singing along. I knew I had made a terrible mistake.

Late 60s were an… interesting… time for rock.

I keep trying, but I just don’t get it. It feels like lesser The Roots, and the blend of spirituality and misogyny are too much.

This is the background music of a gallery opening for a friend of a friend. You're attending to support your original friend, but you're desperately hanging out near the open bar and waiting for it to be over. Thankfully, you only have to be there for 45 minutes, and your alarm is set. Also, they have canapés.

This is such classic blues, and the only surprise to realize it came out as late as 1977. This is truly one of the best representations of the blues sound (okay, there are a lot of other great albums I can now think of, but you know what I mean).

It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s not country. There might be one or two standards, but no. I don’t know how the album as a whole could be considered country… I mean, slow guitars do not equal country. Still, it’s fine. I guess that’s my problem: this is a perfectly fine album that many people have heard, and many others haven’t, but how did it end up on this list? It seems like every major publication gave it a solid B (or 4/5 stars), and that’s what it seems like. It’s fine. It’s fine. I’m just confused.

Okay, this isn’t universal, but it’s a classic to me (even if you never heard it, you heard Nirvana and Pearl Jam after Mudhoney’s influence).

I was excited when I saw I had Queen. Then, I realized it was this album. The album of no hits. Better than a bad album, but that’s about it.

Much more of the blues sound (that the Brit bands were allowed to appropriate) and stuff I love from The Who. It was a long album, but I was never bored.

This was my exercise in being open-minded, since I remembered really not liking Hole in in the 90s (too many thoughts tied up with Nirvana and my punk leanings). It was better than I remembered, and I enjoyed listening to the whole album no longer as a teenager.

I'm still not sure I "get" King Crimson, but it went really well with the epic thunderstorms sweeping through the area.

This is the opposite of all my music, but I have to admit that Taylor Swift can write a song.

I didn't expect so much bebop saxophone in a punk album, but I was not disappointed.

Evidently, the stereo version was secondary, and George Martin mixed the whole thing to stereo in under three hours. The albums about 30 minutes, so I'm not sure where he spent the other 2.5 hours after just splitting the vocals and lead instruments and going out for a smoke. The only good mix is for "Money (That's What I Want)," and that was evidently done the next day (after a good break). The mix is so bad, but it's at least a mix of The Beatles, so it's technically still winning.

Okay, this actually had better blues and rock moments than I remember, and is overall much preferable to the Aerosmith I remember from the 80s.

“Take on Me” is five stars.

Okay, this was way more fun than I was expecting.

I love Elliott Smith, but I was kind of dreading this one and had to get it out of the way before it could make me melancholy for the rest of the day. He had a true gift for changing the mood of everything else happening with a few simple lines.

I remember seeing them live with my dad (I didn’t know who they were), and they didn’t disappoint. Even today, I listen to this and remember why there even was a “post-punk” sound, how powerful it could be, and I wish it had been less-defined by not being something else than it’s own honest grit.

Really the best of Iggy, and it happened to be remastered for Atmos.

Three words will make my blood run cold now: 80s British pop. Getting that out of the way, I don’t really understand why I needed to hear this before I slip the mortal coil. I’m happy for Mr. Gartside’s success in the 80s, but this is just like Wham! without George Michael. It was fine at the time, but feels redundant in this small list of albums to hear before I hear no more.

Okay. I’m surprised I haven’t listened to more War on Drugs, and I plan to remedy that.

I just… “kissing your sassafrass”… that’s a real lyric.

Not my favorite Gorillaz album, but still easily five stars.

I'm struggling with this. I don't remember hating Joni Mitchell, but this entire album felt like the soundtrack to the most boring scenes in 70s cinemas (and I love 70s cinema, but I also remember the boring scenes). I'm rarely surprised by this project, but it's normally a delightful surprise with a great funk album I hadn't heard for some reason. This surprised me because I thought it would be good, and it just wasn't.

This was better Joni Mitchell than The Hissing of Summer Lawns. Still not my style, but much better.

Evidently, I just love Jazz because I just let Apple Music keep playing a smart playlist after this, and time disappeared.

I don't know. I really like VU, and I love Lou Reed. I also love the title track. As an album, though? It's a little tougher to swallow. I'm going to give this one star more than it probably deserves because of the things I just said I love.

My only regret was that I didn’t get this album on a Friday.

This is a tough one. I do not like Def Leppard. The best Def Leppard album is still Def Leppard. However, I could see what they were doing, and it was successful. Adding a star for the last few songs. Removing a star because it’s still Def Leppard.

Okay, based on the description as "psychedelic folk" I had very low expectations, but this was a great Friday album. It's actually the exact flavor of "folk" that I can get into; reminds me a little of Sondre Lerche or even Damian Rice. I was pleasantly surprised.

Nothing I would just sit down and listen to regularly, but great to work or concentrate to.

It’s so crunchy and filthy. I feel like a need a shower after this album. It’s perfectly 90s. It’s five stars.

It's live prog, and the encore is "Nut Rocker." That's the totality of what you need to know.

I was worried about another electronic album, but this was surprisingly good. More trip-hop and other influences.

Billie freaking Holliday.

This is tough. I would easily say that Beastie Boys are five stars all around… but… even they would say later that this was probably a three star album among their discography. So, I’ll split the difference this time.

It's just... 2 hours is a bit much.

When I was a teenager and first heard this album all the way through (almost twenty years after it's release), I actually thought it was a "best of" compilation. Every song was perfect. I still love it.

I’m sure I’m being contrarian by giving this 5, but I don’t care.

I’m trying, but I dislike this as much now as I did in the 90s.

The Duke all day, and this was a great recording.

Still better than Fred Durst or Kid Rock.

Damn. I'm pretty sure I still don't really like Cheap Trick (wrong generation), but I have to say that the live version of them is pretty good.

Better than I expected. I still wouldn't listen to this over AC/DC or something, around the same time, but not bad.

This was not what I expected. Some parts were better than expected, and others were actually exactly what I was afraid of.

Not my normal fare, but really enjoyable for what it is.

It's great for what it is, but I still can't handle over an hour of jamming.

I was not expecting to like this as much as I did, but I loved it. A win for this project.

Wasn’t bad at all, but “There She Goes” is the only memorable song (as much as I love it).

I feel like the nine Brit pop albums before this might have artificially boosted the score, but I'm going with it.

I always forget how tight this album is. All bangers, as weird as that is to say.

Objectively, I’m not sure why this is on the list (as much as I love The Pixies). Subjectively, it was a fun album and exactly what I want to listen to. I’ll split the difference with my rating, I guess.

I know it’s supposed to be good, but I just can’t. Her voice was good, but it all sounded the same and so tied to a time when I think the state of R&B was at a low.

It was that one song that sounded like it was definitely in a Guardians of the Galaxy movie or deserved to be, then 84 more minutes… it wasn’t bad, but there was a lot.

Just fun.

Still an all-time favorite after all these years.

Better than I remembered, but also worse in some ways (the heady days of singing in the middle of metal).

Okay, this has renewed my faith that all "pop" from the 80s wasn't trash. I still enjoyed this.

American GIs forming a proto-punk band in Germany on their free time. Nice. It’s rough, but I liked it more than I expected.

I wish the list had included an album that didn’t have to be cobbled together on YT, but that’s nobody’s fault. Overall, I didn’t hate it. I won’t listen to it again, I’m sure, but I will forever know what it sounds like if it’s referenced. I guess that’s a win.

It's fine. The british bias of the book is starting to slowly kill me, as this was not especially required listening, but it was fine.

I remember liking this when I was young. I was also idealistic and actually believed the random crap spouted when I was young. Now this entire album just rings of the worst impulses of John Lennon without the balance of the rest of his former bandmates.

This was my Sonic Youth. This weaned me (but not completely) off hardcore punk with its crunchy guitar and throwaway lyrics. I might be rating this higher out of nostalgia, but at the very least I believe it to be one of the best Sonic Youth albums.

I remember liking Elbow, but I didn’t remember this album. Evidently, I didn’t remember this one because I didn’t really like it. It was fine.

This is a tough one. I actually thought it was great background music, but not an album I would care to give my full attention to. Trying to judge it fairly means thinking of it in the foreground, and I'm just not that into Norwegian electronic music, I guess.

When asked what he thought his legacy was, Iggy Pop said he wasn't sure, but he thinks he helped wipe out the 60s. That along would give this five stars, but I also happen to love this album. It’s not even my favorite Iggy Pop, but it’s still worth all the stars.

I enjoyed this much more than I expected.

This wasn’t my usual, but it was good enough that I just let it keep going. Not bad.

Getting this right after a solo Gene Clark felt weird (literally the day after). This The Byrds without Gene Clark and without Bob Dylan's songs. It's... experimental. Okay.

The album is named "Scott 2," which felt like a bad sign. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this was so big and overblown that I just started laughing when they went ahead and doubled up his voice so he could echo himself (badly).

I mean, it’s Frampton. It’s probably the best version of Frampton, for what that’s worth. It was fine, but I did want to argue with my speakers every time he referenced “rocking,” because I just can’t understand how this was ever considered rock.

I don’t have much to say. The good songs are actually really good. The bad ones are awful. This is possibly the actual definition of a 3-star album.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t even remember this album, and I had already given it at least four stars just based on GZA alone. In addition, it has plenty of Inspectah Deck, my personal favorite flow artist in the Clan. The flows are great. RZA produces with the standard sound. The lyrics are sharp even when they verge on making this a concept album based on the movie, Shogun Assassin. Yep, I just talked myself into five stars.

These days, I do appreciate the number of people who just misinterpret Randy Newman so much (no concept of satire). I want to like more of his songs, but his older stuff (this album) makes him sound nasty to the point of misanthropy. Then, when he tries to sound sincere, it’s impossible to believe it.

It’s Prince, so it’s great. I am deducting one star because 80 minutes is just too much.

I don't normally do this, but I just can't today. This is literally so three-star and mid in every way that it actually became a one-star.

I’ve always loved this album. I do think some songs are definitely standouts, so it’s not a straight 5 stars, but I still love it.

This is probably not my favorite Dylan album, as far as straight relistening goes, but even then it’s still a five star album.

I am not the market for 00’s glam. I hated the original glam. For glam, this was fine. I didn’t hate it.

Honestly, this was good. I've always liked (most) Zappa in a "he's doing something different, and I support that" way, but this had some good blues riffs apart from the novelty.

Outlaw Country is basically the only kind of country I will support, and this is the OG.

I liked Tainted Love more than I remember, and the rest of the album was not as bad as I feared. Still, its synth pop.

It’s not bad, but I just don’t see it as exceptional.

No. Not well-received by charts or critics? Fantastic. This is a great experiment if you wondered what Talking Heads would be like without any actual talent. Every once in a while, I’d think a certain riff was decent… and then they’d repeat it for five minutes until I hated them even more. Why?

I thought I loved Sam Cooke as much as I could before, but I had never heard him live. His voice is so perfectly raw, and this really feels like the definition of soul. He put his soul into this. I am amazed that I hadn’t heard this earlier, but I’m glad I finally did.

This was much better than I expected.

Why is there a 90 minute Peter Gabriel rock opera on this list?!?

This wasn't bad, but I do feel like this kind of album (and also The Byrds) are overrepresented on this (relatively) short list.

I forgot how fun and offbeat this whole album was.

Not much to say except I love the title.

I had no idea what to expect, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I love the Sex Pistols and punk. I liked Johnny Rotten. I just couldn’t with this.

The full range from You're My Best Friend to Bohemian Rhapsody, and all in under 45 minutes. It's big and epic, and still tight.

This was so much better than I remembered, and then my Apple Music just went off playing Nirvana, NIN, and my 90s favorites...

This was pretty top-notch Brit punk. I'll save the extra star for Clash or Sex Pistols, but it was an enjoyable time.

The album as a whole didn't blow me away, but there were some bangers mixed in there. Glad I heard it before death, at least.

I’ll be in the minority and say I loved this. It was way better than Scott Walker, IMO. The lyrics weren’t dumb, they were purposefully ridiculous at times. I liked it.

Why her and why this album? This isn’t even her popular album.

I mean, it does what it says on the can. I listened to it in the background while I worked. Effective.

It's real blues. It's live. I don't quite understand those who'd rather hear a studio blues album than a live one with the energy, but I'll let them have that opinion. For me, this was a perfect snapshot of live blues, taken basically at the end.

It wasn't that bad. I could go a lifetime without ever hearing the band name again (just wanting to be hated out of the gate), but the actual "music" was definitely not the worst "noise album" I've heard.

Not sure what to say about this. It’s definitely Jerry Lee Lewis being his most Jerry Lee Lewis. It’s not my style, and I can’t complain.

I feel like I grew out of my Björk phase (which overlapped with most of my Radiohead phase), but this album is still good. It’s not so artsy as to not be enjoyable. It’s artistic, but it’s also just a good listen.

This is just good, classic CCR.

The songs that clicked were so perfect (obviously Son of a Preacher Man), but some of the songs gave away a disconnect between her vocals and the instrumentation (probably due to the dubbing). A mix of 5 and 3 star songs.

Over two hours, and I was not looking forward to that. However, I quickly realized that most of the songs were legit good, and the time flew by. Surprisingly good.

I like the Beta Band enough. Not as good as The Three EPs, but enjoyable.

Some of this was pretty good. However, it’s still two hours of jamming, and some of it was ridiculous. I understand the appeal of jam bands, but there’s also a real art to editing and cutting down to the best parts of a song. This reminded me why I like editing.

Why is this on the list?

Exactly middle.

Just a good album.

I almost fell asleep during the first track.

Enough with the Scott albums.

Some really good songs. Some okay songs.

This was honestly so much better than I expected.

I was so happy to get this on a Friday

It’s definitely not in the top albums for the genre, but it was fine.

It was, indeed, black metal (ish).

This has always, and will always be a 5 star for me. This and The Bends were peak Radiohead (along with the accompanying EPs).

Eminem is legitimately talented, but this was a tough listen. It’s just so dark (and gets even darker than you’d expect).

Overstayed its welcome before the end of the first 20 minute track

Meh. Even for British post-punk (which I may now hate), it was just middle-of-the-road.

Okay. This might be the Neil Young that I actually like. This is mostly leaning into the blues side of him, and I kinda liked it. I'm shocked, too.

This had some real highs and lows. Kool Keith can flow with the best and the worst of them.

I felt like this was the closest I could come to liking prog (and why some people do). It also proved that I don’t really like prog (but understand those who do).

It’s not bad, but it was also unremarkable.

Not my style, but well executed.

His flows are so smooth. There’s some 5 star moments, but I can’t say it’s all there.

Always good.

Listen, I can’t give a British glam rock band from the 00s five stars, but this was really fun. They knew the assignment, and they committed to the bit. They even did it with good musicianship.

Nah

I guess, technically, it’s good to have heard Joan Baez once, if just for reference. I already had. I’m good.

It's fine, but I didn't need to hear it.

Not my usual genre, but I enjoyed it.

Not even my favorite Madonna, and I really don’t like Madonna.

I don’t know if I could defend it, but I enjoyed the album plenty.

I won’t give it one-star only because those one-stars need to stay special. This isn’t one star.

Finally. A great album all the way through.

Came for the bongos, but stayed for the deep hip-hop roots that I found.

Oh yeah, there’s a reason this was a classic. I remember now.

It was better than I expected (which was two stars).

I actually really liked this. I can’t justify five stars, but I did enjoy it.

Not my style, but I did love this album at the time. It reminds me when I had subs in the can of a Ford Ranger.

Still one of my favorite Coltranes and favorite jazz albums of all time.

I’m probably contrarian here, but this is the DJ style I prefer (over most EDM). I’ve been into David Holmes since Pi, and his stuff works for me (as annoying as it may be for others).

This feels like an album that would have been gifted around my family in 1970 or maybe something I would have heard later on NPR. It wasn’t bad, but I have no idea why it’s on the list.

It’s hard for me to be objective because I did not enjoy this, but I can imagine people have enjoyed it.

I don’t know. I liked the punk roots. It didn’t help that Apple Music immediately recommended Fugazi (who I prefer).

Yep. This was the mid-90s.

Decent. Not great for me, but not bad at all.

This one trip into British New Wave was actually not bad. It kinda enjoyed a lot of it. May have just been in the mood, but I’ll give it to the album for now.

I feel this has a specific time and place, so I’ll respect its placement on the list except… G. Love and Special Sauce is the actual name… not like a one-off mock project, but the actual name he chose…

This is the Monk era that I prefer and will share as representative of good Thelonious Monk.

Already one of my favorite albums of all time, and I’m glad to hear it on the list. The depth and feeling that Cash gives to songs I’ve heard a million times before is amazing. It’s also just a great listen, and I could have it on repeat any day of the week.

I will agree with most of the other (good) reviews and say that this was extremely influential and important, and also sounds very dated these days.

No. I don't want to be harsh, but it felt like a parody of vibrato after a while. I just couldn't. I had to distract myself with work to finish the album.

Better than I expected, but not memorable.

Way too much DMR on here.

Man, these riffs hold up. I skipped Iron Maiden as a teenager because they were before my time and I was immediately into harder, less cheesy, metal. This was eye-opening, though.

Wow. That was forgettable.

Okay. Yeah. This was fine.

I actually enjoyed this album for what it was, but it's pretty brutal given the state of Syd Barrett at the time.

Okay. Much better than I expected, but still not great metal. For this list, though, it’s good metal.

I liked Jane's Addiction okay back in the day. They're still fine. It's also more pop than rock, in my head, and I don't understand any descriptions of "metal" I've heard. It's very, very of that time, though.

No idea why this is on the list. Even for club music, it was repetitive.

Honestly, it was fun. It can in no way compete with Sgt Pepper (released the next year), but it doesn’t have to. They aren’t The Beatles, and that’s okay.

Ghostface's flow is still great. I love the references to old school (pre-MCU) Iron Man and general nerdery.

Okay, I think this is my favorite The Who album. I’ll even give it all five stars. I did not need the extended version, but the original was perfect.

I thought (assumed) I would be getting some French electronica — which would be barely tolerable — until it started and I checked the notes. More British dance music.

Not bad. DJ Shadow is my style of “electronic,” and this is nice. Missing a star because DJ Shadow was doing this slightly better at the same time.

Kinda The Smiths without hating Morissey. I'm not sure if I had to hear it, but I'm not upset about it at least.

Great funk. I hate that this is unavailable (due to label disputes) on any streaming but YT, but it's a classic.

It's Iggy Pop. It's great. It's always great. It's even short and to the point.

This felt like a throwback even in 1992. I had to keep checking that this _really_ came out four years after "Straight Outta Compton." It feels like an 80s hip-hop, and that's not a bad thing. It's definitely from the preachier school of Afrika Bambaataa, but it was a good listen. There’s a direct line from this to OutKast, btw, so that’s an extra star.

This might be my highest rated Neil Young. It was totally listenable.

It was what I expected. Not better or worse.

For German “electronic,” this was surprisingly up there with my taste. Great background music while I was coding.

It’s honestly pretty great. I’m not a huge Courtney Love fan, but this was a decent album.

This is closer to the country that I will kinda enjoy, and that’s mainly just because I recognize its significance in history. I didn’t actually know Price’s name, but I’ve heard his influence in country. It was nice to put a name to the sound.

This isn't really my favorite, but they get an extra star for sounding like this in 1972. They definitely sound late-70s in a decent way.

He's trying to sound like Oasis and The Verve and others who did this so much better. It literally sounded like a cover album except most cover albums still try to make it sound like their own songs. I'm chalking this one up to "big in the UK when the reviewers were active."

I used to love Björk. I don’t anymore, but I can still respect some of her albums for what they were.

Despite being name-dropped in High Fidelity (with praise and accompanying needle drop), I feel The Beta Band is still not as known as they should be. It warmed my heart to see this was on the list this morning, and it did not disappoint. Not as good as The Three E.P.’s, but a solid album.

Honestly, I didn’t even need to hear this again before rating, but I did because I love this album so much.

I had lower expectations of a band I barely knew from this era, but it was a great Friday morning jam.

So much cocaine went into this that it had to be one of the more expensive albums of all time. Is this prog metal? I can’t tell, but it’s a great listen.

It’s like a full album demo tape to get a Bond theme deal… less interesting than most trip-hop to me, I was just bored.

I had a very low bar going into this, so it probably sounded decent by comparison to my initial thoughts on latter Rod Stewart. It’s not completely backhanded to say it sounded like an enjoyable CCR cover band with a raspy vocalist that I would expect at the state fair.

Better than expected.

Holy... I thought I didn't like Morrissey before, but he just doubled down on every annoying aspect of his persona. It's like a parody of himself with absolutely no self-awareness. I just can't. I'm literally writing this review halfway through because I'm so annoyed.

So, I guess I don’t like Nico without Lou Reed and Velvet Underground. This just felt pretentious and well longer than its 40 minutes.

I’m not sure what I just listened to, so it’s hard for me to rate. For prog, it was better than average. As an essential album, less than that. It’s just odd, but not in a great way.

There were good moments. It was… interesting.

I didn't even think I liked The Cars (and I still might not), but this album was wall-to-wall bangers. It also may be the highest percentage of covered songs on one album. I grew up on the punk version of most of these songs, while rarely diving back into the originals. This might almost be five stars just based on that alone.

I liked this. This indie style got done to death, but that was after this FF, so I’ll give them credit for making it popular.

I had not heard about Moby Grape, but this was definitely better than average. Some solid 60s rock with obvious other (psychedelic) influences. Not a favorite album, but a decent testament to the purpose of me doing this project.

Such a great album. I didn’t even need to listen to it this time to know it would be five stars, but I did because I love this album so much.

I forgot how crazy SoD was. They were so popular with the Slipknot listeners that I kind of wrote them off back when this came out, but this really was next level musicianship and artistry. I’m still not going to add them to my regular rotation (I prefer non-nu-metal), but I will definitely give them more respect.

Not my favorite style, but a reason that I appreciate this project. I hadn’t heard of the album or artist, but it was thoroughly enjoyable.

There were decent moments where she sounded like a decent jazz singer. Then, there was a whole bunch of show choir singing that ruined it. It was mostly the latter.

This really was a classic. I'm not sure I'm in the mood to give it 5 stars, but I did thoroughly love some decent Brit-pop.

A nice side project or experiment from some accomplished musicians. It was a good listen, and I'm here for more of these kinds of albums I haven't heard before in this project.

I'll be honest, hearing a voice over in the first two seconds repeatedly saying "the world is sound" is not a great start and puts me a little on edge. It didn’t get better from there.

So very prog, but I do appreciate a runtime significantly under an hour. It was too prog for me, but still more enjoyable than I expected.

Why? Why? WHY?!?

I actually like Tom Waits quite a bit, but this is not my favorite. It’s all over the place, but has a few winners like Johnsburg, Illinois

This is better than I was expecting, but still not exceptional.

I guess there's detractors of this album that it's incomplete or half-done, but these songs are great as they are. Solid songs with some great musicianship.

I knew thirty seconds into this album that it would be completely forgettable, and it was. Still, it was a decent listen, and I did enjoy parts of it. Then, I couldn't remember any of it.

There’s some good flows, but I can honestly say that people weren’t wrong in objecting to this. The misogyny is at an unnecessary level, even in the world of rap at that time. Cube’s own NWA handled it better (not without any misogyny, of course). It’s just distractingly annoying in this album.

This is an album that I knew and wished more people knew about, so I was happy to see this on the list. It’s a touchstone and influence on some of my favorite artists, and I’m happy to give it five stars.

Not my style, but definitely a classic.

I was nervous going into this album because I was afraid it would fail to live up to the legend and even my memory of listening to it with my dad. I should not have feared. It’s brilliant. It was brilliant, and it still is. It’s raw, but precise. It sounds perfectly done without feeling overproduced. It is rock and psychedelic and real blues. I loved every minute.

So much meh.

I wanted to like this, but it just sounded like a copy cat of garage bands I really like.

A great debut, and a pretty classic part of hip-hop history.

I was not at all sure what I was about to listen to (went in blind) and had to figure out the whole "soundtrack for an imaginary movie" angle after the fact. Probably because I didn't have that information beforehand (which, I admit, makes it sounds very pretentious), I was perfectly happy listening to this soundtrack for a movie I had never seen. I did actually enjoy this album quite a bit considering it's low rating on here. I guess I'll be an outlier on this one.

I know one of my best friends hated this album, and yet I persist. This is not my favorite Waits album (none of my faves are on this list, actually), but I do love Tom Waits. So, even though this loses a star in my ranking of Tom Waits albums, it's still highly-ranked (and I, again, wish that Closing Time and Mule Variations were here to get five stars).

This was a great album, plus the Dust Brothers. I love this album, but it's not my favorite Beck (still Mutations). This is more edited and straightforward, but I love it all the same.

This is a great Stevie Wonder album and a great reference for the new soul music of the time.

This is very much in my range and one I would defend with, “Yes, this is still music.” Reminded me of And You Will Know… or Hella (who I used to love). Might be giving this is a defensive five star against the average low.

It’s not the worst Pet Shop Boys album, but I still honestly don’t get why any of them are on this list. In the words of my teens, it’s “very mid.”

This is a hard one. I like it more than pop country, for sure. It feels outlaw-adjacent, but doesn’t rise to the level of the others.

This was good trip-hop. I’m not in a critical position to compare them to the Portishead and Massive Attack I was listening to around this time, but I enjoyed the album.

I still can’t equate this with “metal” in my head, but this was a decent Groove album for a hard day.

I was so happy to get this album. I needed it today. Classic.

Bookended by two of the best songs to begin or end any album, I have to admit it goes from four to five stars based only on those two songs (but it’s a short album, so that’s a good ratio).

A bit all over the place, but a good listen overall.

Never heard of them before. It was enjoyable, but nothing that new or unique (in 2018) that I would have had to hear before taking the final slumber.

Judging the album, and not the person, I did really enjoy this.

Still one of my favorite albums of all time. All classics. All bangers. All done in only 35 minutes.

I don’t know. This is literally split between ones and fives. Some moments were like Björk-lite, and some were how I wish Björk sounded.

Not the best, but enjoyable.

Very Devo

Would not naturally be a favorite of mine, but albums like this are why I’m doing this project. I had never heard this album before, but I loved it. It was authentic, unique (in the context of most of these albums), and she had legit chops when she needed them.

It was fine, but completely unremarkable. I’m guessing this is on the list for Anglophilic reasons.

I approached this warily, but it had its good moments.

I’m a sucker for early Zappa, and I still can’t believe they were doing this in ‘65.

Props to this list for having the US alternative to the Sex Pistols. I like both bands (as I would have back then).

Yeah, I remember Supergrass. They were fine. They still are. Fine. I read the justifications for being on the list from NME and Q, but I still don’t get it. This is fine, but not something I needed to hear before I could hear nought but the angels’ singing.

So much shoegazing. My neck is sore at this point. I liked 1-2 specific shoegaze bands (mainly Starflyer 59), but I could never get into My Bloody Valentine. I think I like my shoegaze to have former punk musicians instead of Brit pop, I guess. This is just too.... gazey.

Not something I would listen to often, but I will have to give her props for doing her style very well (and much better than some of her contemporaries). It's experimental, but it's still identifiable as music. I respect that.

This was not nearly as bad as I feared. Still British and shoegaze-y, but some decent riffs.

The first half was better than I was hoping. The back half was interesting, but a lot of narration for a rock album.

Not one of my favorite GBV albums, but I do still have a soft spot for GBV. No song outlasts it's welcome (28 songs in 40 minutes). It's catchy. It influenced punk in odd ways. I'm here for it.

Okay, this is the Duran Duran that I do actually love. Most 80s pop did not age well, but this is the exception (back in '82)!

This is why I need to reserver five star ratings on this list. This album deserves it like few others (but I definitely still have a few higher favorites). It's technical, clean, and never stops pushing forward for the entire thing. "One" is still one of my favorite song intros of all time, but there are so many bangers on this album. Five stars. That's all I can say.

Two five-star albums in a row on this project. What have I done to be so blessed to have Metallica and U2 back-to-back, and no Brit-pop or disco anywhere in sight (for two days)? Anyway, I loved this album when I first really listened to it about a decade after it's release (even though I kind of grew up on it because I was born in '80 and my parents loved this one). I still love it the more I know about the state of Ireland in 1980. Great lyrics, amazing hooks, and great drums. It's a great album.

I just can't with all the ABBA. This was the best ABBA, but it was still too much ABBA.

Wow. So many reviews point out how empty and boring this album is, and yet it is here. It is here as an album to hear during this too short time on earth. I don't know. It is an album. I listened. I couldn't tell you anything about it.

There is so much here. It was the culmination of a lot of things and the beginning of a new era. On top of that, it’s a great listen. I’m giving it 4 stars for the album itself, and an additional star for influence.

It was fine. It was just... fine.

This may have gotten an extra star for just not being more Britpop, but it still earned it. I always loved Portishead, and this was a good listen after the long gap.

Apple Music recommended Kate Bush after finishing this album. Yeah. That says a lot to me.

This is tough. I really loved listening to this album, and I'm surprised I didn't know it better because it does overlap so much with other things that are high in my playlists (obviously like Public Enemy and Chuck D). When the beat, samples, and lyrics were working they were really working. Then, there were repeated lines like "Medical racist social statistics / Has everyday life become a health risk?" that seemed to mean something, but actually didn't at all. That really brought this closer to a four, but overall I'm still giving it a 5 just for this list and it's importance. Not the album's fault, but I saw people noting that Apple Music was missing four tracks, and now Spotify was also missing the tracks but didn't even show them on mobile. It just showed as 9 tracks and 44 minutes, and it gave no indication that anything was missing. So, I guess double-check when possible.

I'm from Texas, but I still don't like most country. This didn't change my mind, unfortunately. Outlaw country or nothing for me, I guess.

It’s a formula, but it really does work. As a musician, Moby does more than just find and sample old blues clips. He seemed to actually make something new with his samples. It worked.

This still bangs. I was worried it wouldn’t hold up (and I still like Clash better), but it was still raw and great.

I liked this more than expected. I can appreciate Brel’s role in French pop, and it was overall a great listen.

This was the perfect album for a chill Friday morning. I very much appreciated The Lemonheads when I was a teen, and I can still listen to this whole album so easily. This was one of only a few albums on this list where I’ve voluntarily picked the extended version.

I was just thinking about Sly and the Family Stone because of Woodstock and the Soul Festival. They were both in 1969, and Sly played at both. They killed at both. This album slays.

I do love the music. The lyrics are a bit… Church of Satan… for me, but they did understand the assignment.

Of all the Morrissey albums, this is the least annoying.

I like Frank Zappa, but I don’t get this. I tried. There were decent moments that raised it up, but not enough of those.

It’s Queen. It’s a really good Queen album. No notes.

This was fine. I see how they influenced The Pixies and others. It was fine.

It’s a good live album, but it’s also just a live album of songs already on this list.

This one is really divisive. While understanding (and almost agreeing with) some of the 1- and 2-star reviews, I could almost give it five stars. I could really groove with it, and I could understand the message, even if it was not meant for me.

This was fine, but not necessary. I guess, as time marches on and generations continue, it will be possible to get to a mature age without hearing this version of “In the Ghetto” or “Suspicious Minds,” and they should be listened to before you die. The rest is basic Elvis filler, and I’m not a huge fan of peak Elvis.

A have a soft spot for this album (and “My Girls”) because of how I discovered them (a fave podcast at the time) and that time of my life. I still love the album, though, and I think it actually is a good representation of indie pop in the almost 2010s.

Still a great album.

It’s a concept album about being really, really horny. I still like The Humpty Dance, but the rest of the whole album does not age well (even compared to only 90s hip-hop).

Alright. A total slam dunk for five stars. Amazing voice. Great recording. Soulful songs. Done.

This is hard. I wanted to love his magnum opus more than I actually did. It pains me to say that the actual, finished Beach Boys albums that Brian Wilson did were the best versions, in my opinion.

I don't know, man. I'm honestly surprised at the number of five (not even four) star reviews for this, and the number of people who say it's top 5 Britpop. Granted, my bar for Britpop is now very low, but this just seemed so ordinary. It was supposed to be big and sprawling and almost prog, but it just seemed like an album of fine, but forgettable, songs of medium length. I'm not sure how this album actually became divisive, but it's at least not among my one-star albums.

This was a lot better than expected. I see a lot of references to the Flaming Lips, and a little REM, and I’m okay with that. This is hard because I’m not sure how much I needed to hear this, but it wasn’t an unwelcome album.