Snooze. Folk with a drum machine, in the vein of every generic whiner on AOR today.

Well, I just spent all morning discovering the Kinks and their long history through decades and genres. I hope there are more of their albums on this list. A 5.

God awful noise

Absolute classic. Possibly my favorite modern rap album (though it's ten years old?!) I think what I love the most is the Outkast production and storytelling vibe.

A song I vaguely know followed by 40 minutes of what sounds like people tuning their instruments, concluded by the worst version of Happy Trails I've ever heard.

Enjoying most of this.

Interesting first exposure the genre but a bit redundant.

Off brand Radiohead doing ballads. Not for me.

Recognized two great songs...fun album!

I owned this album at one time. Perhaps selling it was an error.

Disappointed. The classic intro I know doesn't compare to the rest. Strange, low key vocals.

A keeper or two here. Not quite what I expected, only knowing her part from The Roots song. I think Andre3000 was influenced here.

Well. That was...music?

Some Ronnie B weirdness

Good background music, repetitive though.

Talent, but not for me. Songs just all sound the same.

More slow indie rock

This was all over the place. Classic songs in between terrible ones. How did I make it through life with no one ever pointing out the song Mother before? I can't believe it was real.

Hey, an album I know and like!

Fantastic, band had major talent, lots of humor, recognized songs. Several times, couldn't believe what I was hearing with the lyrics.

No. Unlistenable noises.

Why does every British indie group from this era have the guitar tone of Radiohead? A couple sparks here and there but didn't hold my interest.

I really enjoyed this. And it's actually pretty blues-based.

Enjoyed! Oldies with a rough edge. The one scream got a little redundant though.

Actually not as good as I was hoping it to be. Rated a classic, but...meh

It was blues, enjoyed the live aspect.

No idea why an album like this makes the list. Random 80s theatrical dreck. Almost was comical.

I'll never be q Floyd fan but I can definitely respect this. And it does have my favorite song in theirs.

Fun album, mostly instrumental samples, summery, some hip hop influence. Would listen to again.

I didn't like it, and won't listen again, but I will say I see a very, very clear line here between Pink Floyd and Smashing Pumpkins.

Snooze. Folk with a drum machine, in the vein of every generic whiner on AOR today.

Cool album. Seems more of a poet than a singer.

Light, funny old school.

Honestly, putting aside that the genre isn't for me, I don't think she had a great voice. I appreciated the humor where she messed up one tune, but then she completely ad-libbed a second one after admitting she didn't know the lyrics, so I'm not sure what's up with that.

I'm having a hard time taking some of these seriously. This felt like a parody album. I have no idea who would listen to this for enjoyment but that's not me. And I can't even describe the shock when I realized this was the Leonard Cohen of Hallelujah. With synth. Singing about sex.

Pretty good, holds up and something I'd always been meaning to seek out.

Just flat enjoyed a lot of this. Very early alternative...sounds like Local H 10 years earlier.

It's not a one-hit wonder. It's a very cohesive album, couple pics I'd prefer over the single.

I never got deep into Metallica, and I'm past the age where thrash would be casual listening, but this is a really good album. Really, really good.

2nd Elvis album on the list. Different vibe this time, lost the upbeat indie pop vibe for something more like crooning. Nothing terrible here, but not a repeater

Reading the story of how this album came to be was the most interesting part and really informed my listen. The album was all over the place with Beatles-esque tunes and then absolute bad nonsense.

Not sure why this made the list but it was alright. 90s alternative hippie genre-jumping.

What I thought this would be and what it actually was made for disappointment.

A Christmas album on Christmas. Some solid standards here, in spite of whose name in on it.

2nd time I've tried them. Recognize some samples but overall repetitive and depressing and almost lampoonish.

Not bad.

A lot of this didn't age well, but I enjoyed some of the grooves. I'd still rank this higher based on its influence to the genre.

I had heard of Goldfrapp before, and thought I enjoyed it more than this. This was some jazz-fusionesque slightly radioheadish scat nonsense.

Experimental instrumental, expected talking heads and it was not.

This was great.

I listened to it. I'm not sure what else to say. Is this a notable soundtrack for world music?

Interesting history here, first album of all samples. Good background stuff.

Didn't age well. A classic song + a lot of 80s new wave misses

Salsa, lots of salsa. Apparently the best selling salsa album ever. Ok.

Atonal, early 90s indie. Reminds me some of Nada Surf but not near the same melodic enjoyment level.

Absolute classic. Grabbed this recently on vinyl. May be still my favorite Radiohead album.

The hits are the hits, California Dreaming by far the best track. Everything else more mellow folk with Beach Boy harmony.

Some songs not available, what was there was not what I consider Prince's best.

Too experimental, repetitively syncopated melodies and percussion.

Mike Patton took inspiration here, and I can see it. Very old foreign pop. It was unique, mostly spoken word, then I read about the concept and felt less good about listening.

I can see why it's on the list. This is cohesive jazz that makes sense. Easy instrumental listen.

More Talking Heads. This one was much more what I had expected from the band, an extra star for that "paper" song, but I'm not sure why this one's on the list.

I enjoyed the guitar. Got slow in the middle but a solid entry.

3 for deserving to be on the list. Was never a fan of the heavy keyboards.

Well, I just spent all morning discovering the Kinks and their long history through decades and genres. I hope there are more of their albums on this list. A 5.

Doesn't hold up, and he was never comparable to Biggie. This is fine when it's 2Pac rapping, mostly, but the production isn't great, the chorus vocals aren't great, the guest features are nobodies, and some of the subject matter "oof."

Ugh. A star for guitar talent.

I combined the US and UK versions because the UK version somehow left off Paint It Black which was leaps and bounds ahead of their other writing at this point. The rest of the album, "meh."

This would have been a 4, easily. But the constant vibrato on the vocals killed me.

Solid instrumental rockish EDM

I have not listened to this album before, though I've listened to a lot of latter day RHCP. I see the core of what they'd become is there. It's not bad, but a lot of forgettable and repetitive tracks. They got much better as they aged.

Recognized *that* song from commercials. Otherwise not much stood out. Feels like a 3 is generous.

A bunch of boring AOR hits follower by more boring non-hits.

This had me moderately interested in the band. Not a bad pick, solid indie pop.

More 80s Curish/Smithsish stuff that felt fairly generic to me. Recognized The Killing Moon and I don't know why.

Wow this is a brand new album for the list. What's up with all the random British music being thrown on, though? I can't figure out why this would make an appearance. Actually enjoyed a good amount of it, but it's not especially notable.

That's weird. 2 days in a row of 2018 albums. Again, a weird choice for the list? French pop a la Tegan and Sara. It was fine.

Best album to come from this list in a long while. Great folk, vocals, and instrumentation. Will be returning to this.

Not incredibly memorable, outside the psychedelic influences and the harmonies.

Felt like a fever dream. It's going to be hard for me to see this from the right perspective I get, but I just didn't understand it. A mess of vignettes, random noises (work tools and barn animals?), layered harmonies and orchestration that's bizarre and jolting. I have loved Brian Wilson singers before, but 50 minutes was a dark trip overload. Which is weird because everything I take as dark is, I think, meant to be sunny.

Slightly repetitive but some good tunes on the front half.

For the nostalgia, for the fact that it holds up, for the fact that track after track it's absolutely brilliant ...and I bet I haven't heard this in 10+ years.

I just don't think I know how to quantify jazz albums.

I used to enjoy this more than I do now. Not bad folk singer/songwriter stuff, but not my style.

God awful noise

This of course defined G funk, launched Snoop, and was a landmark album, but for my money, not as many memorable songs as 2001.

Absolute classic. Possibly my favorite modern rap album (though it's ten years old?!) I think what I love the most is the Outkast production and storytelling vibe.

Interesting mix of folk, jazz, country? My wife enjoys this, I'll give it a few for staying engaging. This album would have been ahead of it's time.

It's not Boston's first album, but it's got hits. Short, enjoyable.

It is different from her first couple records and I'd not heard this all the way through. A bit of old school feel mixed in for sure. By the end though, a bit boring.

More noise that doesn't go anywhere.

Solid

From my perception Life After Death was always the primary Biggie album from my youth era. I can't say I have listened to this one straight through more than a small handful of times. Sadly, I've found it doesn't hold up for a few reasons, none of which is Biggie's talent, or the production. The content is repetitive, dated, misogynistic, and why does Puffy need to insert himself constantly? Let Biggie rap. That's all that's needed. The talent is undeniable though. Plus one star for that, back to 4.

Passable Neil Young/Tom Pettyish country folk. Just surprising it came this way and that, for such quality, I've never heard of it.

Sometimes I worry this list might make me hate music. This is the worst album I've suffered through so far.

This is definitely an improvement on the debut which was on the list not very long ago. I wondered why I would get multiple albums from them but this seems like a breakthrough of sorts, certainly unique, at times catchy, with a lot of talent.

Fun, lots of guitar.

Loved how the songs were so seamless into one another. 45 minutes of chill dance.

Faaaaaame. How was that the closer to the album? Huh.

Funk is a nice switch up.

I really, really hope this is the last Kraftwerk album. A 22 minute lead off of...I don't even know. I thought they were forbearers to electronic music but this wasn't even that.

Just felt like a really random entry until I did some research. Basically '70s TV show theme songs and covers with bongos, but there's a lot of talent in it, and it seems to be one of the most sampled albums ever, starting with Apache. This was a fun listen.

Oh, that voice. Good one!

Fun jazz funk keyboards. Written as a suite of four pieces.

I liked it more than I expected. Love Her Madly, probably my favorite Doors song.

80s, early 90s house techno. More British stuff pushed. It was fine, that's all.

Ok, I'll squeeze this up to five. This is probably a nostalgia thing because I discovered them after this record, but for as much as I am a fan of the Pumpkins, especially Mellon Collie, followed behind by Adore, this album never latched on with me. It should have though. Every time I listen, I like it more, and wonder why I don't play it more frequently. There is some truly great rock here. Amazing guitars, dynamics, songwriting. Many things that stand out in later Pumpkins songs feel like they really started here.

Maybe I didn't do the research on this one. I don't know who Nico is, I feel like there's a concept here but I don't know what it is. Is the Warhol tie just aesthetic? This is probably what I expected from Lou Reed? All I know is satellite of love, and there was nothing like that here.

I feel like their attitude outweighs their talent. Pub punk, I believe?

Solid half hour of rockabilly classics

That was...ambient. necessary? Nah.

This has my dad written all over it. 9 minute progressive suites and a random 3 minute acoustic guitar solo.

Technically I'm sure this is impressive, but thrash was never my thing. Boring and samey.

The more albums I listen to, the more I realize I like what I like already. Old grump I guess.

I don't think I'm the right audience for this album, but it sure is classic to me. I also mentally tie it a bit to Wildflowers, in the way the singer partnered with a producer to make a mid-90s emotionally resonant classic. Yeah, she oversings, but the rough takes make it even better. Hadn't pulled this out in a very long time. Oh, and that song with Navarro and Flea makes me think of an alternate history of Alanis over Chili Peppers compositions.

Very solid. May return to it.

So this is "honkeytonk." Solid voice, I agree.

Dated early 90s rock. Reminded me of that No Alternative album.

Better than Sheer Heart Attack. Really liked Father to Son. Didn't know Mercury didn't sing all their tunes.

Reminded me of when I had XM and they'd do a reggae/dance channel in the summers. Or dance lessons in college. Fine as a novelty, but very same-y over an hour.

This was fine but I didn't give it a fair shake. Maybe I'll return to it. I anticipated enough quirkiness in the vocals to be enjoyable and initially felt that wasn't the case.

It's his voice. I just don't like it. I feel like if be a huge MV fan if it weren't for his voice.

Hey, this was fun. Good tunes, not totally dated, cross between 70s punk and pop with a disco tune (which is the most dated song).

More guitars than I'd have assumed. Fun album, especially the last track.

Ok, it's African world music now.

Well, this was interesting. 2 25-minute suites that stopped being good 5 minutes in. Then they added growls at the 45 minute mark. Why? Also, was this where the Halloween theme came from?

It happened. I liked a Bruce album. Granted, his vocals are muddled and I still am not a fan, and he lacks the hooks of Petty. That said, there's a mood and a concept to this album that's wholely enjoyable. Very surprised.

Ok, I've tolerated a whole lot from this list, and haven't skipped a single thing. But I cannot - cannot - deal with a single more Kraftwerk album after this. Three now? For what?

I probably enjoyed this Talking Heads album most, especially the final two tracks.

Whole lot to mine here. Starting with, this is not the Bee Gees of disco, this is from a decade earlier. And not only that but it's their 9th album. So apparently I knew very little of the Bee Gees, which started as a child group and went from pop to folk to rock to disco and back. Then there's the fact that this album is 100% ballads. Some are good, some are very, very bad. Hot take: Robin Gibbs has the most bizarre, worst vocal approach I have ever heard. Maybe it's technically great, who knows, but to my ear it's laughably terrible on these songs. What a mixed bag overall, with a few highlights worth discovering, and a history now learned.

I have this on vinyl. Was considered a must-own. Listened to bits here and there, didn't catch on. Reviews here again raved. 5s across the board. I must be missing something. So...I was, somewhat. My first listen start to finish unearthed a lot of well-known songs and sampled-songs. But it's very, very long. And many songs feel much longer than they need to be. I will be generous with a 4.

Too obscure for me. A couple interesting songs, but I prefer a more standard arrangement, always did.

Not one of his better ones.

Maybe this is Mike Patton's only appearance in this list, but I can't. Technically, probably an amazing album. Plus one for the cover, Patton, and Rahzel. I haaaaaaaaated it. It probably ruined my day. It ruined my mood, left me depressed and irritable and haunted.

Clearly influenced by Bowie, recognized more than a couple tunes.

A couple more classics, but this one less good than Songs in the Key

Another album of random noise, this time punctuated by a couple short instrumental interludes with actual instruments and no dead cat crying.

The album seemingly every band made in the late 60s. Folky, psychedelic harmonies and a song about a "triad." Not as good as the first Byrd's album I heard.

I enjoyed it and the melodies were great, just boring. I probably wouldn't revisit.

Pretty solid EDM, better than the other.

He's got some country lyrics here, and the style has totally changed up to ballads from his older rockabilly. S'ok.

I'm going to come back to this one. It's a case study.

Not Nevermind, which is exactly what they were going for. More noise, less pop, but still a lot of classics here. One of my favorites, Sappy, was a b-side.

Hey! I knew a song or two from St Patrick's day playlists. And that's what this sounded like. Other than one tune where it sounded like the vocals simply couldn't keep up, this was pretty solid for the genre.

Well, this was unique. "Go round the outside." We've got world music, reggae, merangue, rap, DJ skits...was it all meant to be serious? Not a tough listen, but wouldn't revisit.

So I finally have now heard a Slayer album. And they are thrash without the talent. Boring riffs, terrible vocals. Even Raining Blood sucked. Granted, I'm not huge on thrash, but there's a notable difference and enjoyment level between this, and say, Metallica or Megadeth.

Enjoyable, fun, but more repetitive than I expected. In 29 minutes, I was tired of it.

This wasn't as tone difficult as other jazz albums, but for as long as it was over 90 minutes, you never felt like it went anywhere. Not a single melody or follow through just random threads everywhere.

Not bad - long though. 97% instrumental, and that vibe is so specific.

Excellent rock influenced EDM. May save some tracks.

This album took some turns. Only 7 tracks more than one of them is not old school rap at all. There's electro in here there's a lot of r&B singing old school... I respect the innovation on here.

'70s punk plus Pat Benatar vocals plus a saxophone. Also you can't understand a single word on the album, so that was unique. I understand the vibe but it bordered on annoying.

I dig this. 60s sound for sure, great vocals, lot of talent.

Ok but slow. All pop covers, which is a weird pick for my 1st Willie Nelson, but ok.

Really more like 4.5 stars. This is like a greatest hits record plus a few lesser songs. Of those, you got a highly entertaining number using every random percussive instrument known to man, plus kazoos, and the last track is tremendous.

Never heard of this group. They have every trapping of late 60s hippie rock, and we'll done production. But sheesh the lyrics are trite.

More unique than what I heard before regarding arrangements, but very bizarre in different ways.

Third Waits album, first outside his experimental series, this is prior to that. There are actual, real songs here. His voice is still intolerable, but these are standard, tuneful arrangements. That's worth a star.

Industrial early 90s rock. There's artists in this category I love. I doubt this group will ever be one of them. They commit the worst offense possible for the genre - it's just boring.

Garage rock/Rolling Stones-ish blues/proto punk. Very solid, will make a return.

This album bored me when I was younger. I remember it sticking out as my least favorite known REM album. I got to say listening again that feeling changed. Been there ignore land is one of my favorites. It definitely doesn't touch my top two which ironically aren't on the list at all but much better than I remember.

A song I vaguely know followed by 40 minutes of what sounds like people tuning their instruments, concluded by the worst version of Happy Trails I've ever heard.

This was better than the other VU album with Nico. Quieter, more melodic, slightly poppy. Then there was the Murder Mystery track where there were two people talking over each other out of each mono side for 6 minutes.

This was whelming. Apparently it's a radical change from their old folk sound (though multiple track still sound like folk...to give credit though, many do NOT), and it's the first "glam rock" album. Those portions were entertaining from a historical standpoint. Interesting band history, not much more to say but I especially enjoyed the last song.

This didn't age well. Although I can't say I ever listened all the way through. This is way more old school than I thought it would be. Like, corny old school. But with cussing and misogyny. Did this start gangster rap? I've vague on the history but it seems right. Something 2 Dance 2 was cool though.

This list is just endless random British bands. I liked a couple of songs, I already forget who they reminded me of (some 90s band) but this was not a "must hear" by any stretch.

First one that couldn't be found on Spotify. The list of collaborators on here is crazy - SNY, Santana, lots more; maybe that's what made it significant? Good guitar here, not much else.

Ok pop. Less random than the other on the list.

I imagine this this is probably pretty classic for the genre. For what it's worth it was enjoyable.

The more I listened the more interested I got. I can't say this won me over totally, but it certainly engaged me enough that I think I'd like to go back and also begin exploring his discography. The story and the persona behind this are pretty interesting.

Love the vibe and many songs, but not fully consistent for how short it is.

Easy, enjoyable. Interesting that she's British singing very southern r n b. Kind of like CCR playing swamp rock from San Fran.

Jazz. Sure.

There were beats that I enjoy, but his over-affected accent was a turn-off. And at first I was like - ah, a predecessor to ska, like the horns on every track. But then the further into the album, the more I found the horns distracting and taking away from the songs.

Started off incredibly strong. Does not sound dated whatsoever. The jazz/hip-hop combo is awesome, my issue is the lack of variety as the album goes on.

Ugh. Unbearable corny hippie BS

The word of the day is : energy. Atomic may be about right for the time. Wow. Respect.

So at first I was excited to see this album, because I knew it and because it was possibly the most recent album I've seen on this list. I didn't really know to expect the album either, because as far as I was aware the 1,001 stopped around 2015 and I had no idea that they added anything else. Guess there's some other things to look forward to. Then I realized that this was evermore a not folklore. Folklore was an album that came out at the perfect time in 2020 during the pandemic. It really turn me into a Taylor Swift then, and it made me go back through her catalog, not because of the pop and country but because of the solid songwriting. Folklore was an absolute home run, amazing, quiet, intimate, powerhouse showcase. And then I realized that this was evermore. I have no idea why evermore is on the list. It's possibly proof that folklore was lightning in a bottle, or that it was possible leftovers coming 6 months later. It's boring. I worked my way through this again after only having listened to it once, which is also interesting because it was an album I looked forward to for a long time. There's a few tracks on here that hold up, and the back half of the album finishes strong, but it's too long and too samey.

British (again) pop album with an interesting background. The performers are unknown/unconfirmed, and the concept is akin to the BLM movement; this album being especially timely. That said, most of it didn't feel fully formed.

Wow. A classic I didn't even know existed. A track list of hits I never realized were written by the same artist. This is amazing...shopping for it on vinyl.

Solid, better than the first album that was referred. A couple saved songs off this, this is a defined, classic sound.

It was fine, energetic, and British, so of course it made the list. Seriously though, kind of fun and quick.

Meh. Live album which reminded me of Van Halen but a decade prior.

This was hit and miss. Some quick, short punky songs, some obvious grunge defining tracks, some solid instrumentals, but overall nothing that stuck with me.

Enjoyable from the start, with a few falters. Falls into some hippie cliches but at other times defies expectations and really engaging. Great vocalist. Found out after the fact that this group is a one-hit wonder - a song not on the album but that I definitely know, famously quoted/sampled by Kurt Cobain.

The instrumentation, was great. The parody, was overrated. The voice, not my style. And wow was that first song jarring from the "You've Got a Friend in Me" guy.

I don't know what it was in 2010, but I passed on this when it came out after 1/2 a listen. And I really enjoyed Kanye's earlier albums. Putting aside his modern day antics and terrible output, this album missed me and it shouldn't have. Production is incredible, lyrics are interesting, guests are incredible, only 1 track wears out its welcome even though many are very lengthy. I've got a couple saved new classic tracks out of it.

Meh

I used to be a huge Green Day fan. I got burnt out on them when they started sampling themselves over and over and over again. My favorite albums from them still remain the first several. With that said, I hadn't gone back to this album in a very long time. Very good, the concept doesn't fully hold up, but I respect what they were trying and I understand the arc they're going for. This may have been where I dropped off with Green Day, and I still feel that way. But a solid classic album.

Ugh Insufferable. Droning space gaze something.

Another solid REM album, way better than my expectations.

This put me on a marathon of the next 3 albums. Absolute classic.

Elevator music. Pleasant. There.

The hits were the hits for a reason.

It was like bizarre Beatles. Dark and psychedelic, but the sound quality was incredibly poor so I couldn't get into it.

I enjoyed the time of this album and the production. Very crisp, good vocal, warm instrumentals. That bass was a stand out. The only thing that lacked (and I get it was on purpose) were hooks, choruses. It made the tracks blur together.

Slow, grimey, great tunes. Although that first track is a rough one once I figured out the lyrical content. Also the end of Can You Hear Me Knocking goes on a bit too long.

Was alright.

Musicianship solid, great guitar riffs. Lost in translation though. From Mali - French?

This is not the classic I expected. Random throwaways paired with well-recognized tunes extended for a very long time.

I expected much different, more piano New Orleans jazz, but this was entertaining.

Early indie, like a Nada Surf predecessor

Fantastically produced, warm tones, expert instrumentals, and soo soo smooth.

Passable 90s alt. Frontloaded with a couple solid tunes I may return to.

There are times I have listened to this and thought it was the perfect album. LZ were problematic for a lot of their stealing and sampling, but the talent is incredible.

Entertaining, and wow - the diversity of language.

Wtf is this? Lyrics are awful, musically meandering...ugh

Total background

The whole album wasn't available but I do pull some other later songs of his. Solid late 90s pop/brit-rock.

Another case of an album and artist I've never heard of...only to realize I know multiple songs very well. Enjoyed the listen.

It was fine but I am not sure of the significance and the language barrier didn't help.

I need to listen to Black Sabbath. I missed out. Both albums so far have been fantastic, and not at all what I assumed.

Literally my first time listening to the Dead. A band I always had low on my list to check out, but never got around to. Well, now I have. Don't have much great things to say. Passable, jammy country tunes with a steel guitar or acoustic. Harmonies that don't always sound great. Tunes that just aren't for me.

Repeating myself...thrash is not my thing so maybe there's something to this that I don't see. But I do enjoy Megadeth's 90s output and so this felt like an odd pick over their other albums. The later 3 tracks finished strong though.

When this was described as British pub punk, I assumed it would be similar to Irish pub punk. No, it's a very distinct genre of its own. Interesting listen.

Another fine classic country album, short, melodic, good vocals. The last track was a pretty solid skewering of how fans treat famous people.

I like Dusty.

Fantastic vibes.

Well this got old quick. More tuneful than others I've reviewed, even the spoken word bits) but the conceit (studio recording pretending to be a live club show) grates. The hero here is the bassist. A star for him.

Kind of a revelation. They are much more than rap rock and I had no idea. Live instruments, multiple instrumentals, genre-hopping, very diverse.

Wow - this is great early punk. Tuneful, solid 2 attack vocals, decent melody, great instrumentation.

So overbearing. At least it wasn't his "sexy" album. This list loves singers who can't sing.

First half of this album is stellar, from her hits to the very solid new wave covers. Don't know why she didn't have a career more resembling Madonna's.

Well, this was unexpected. I like some Coldpay songs, mostly the more uptempo mid-career singles, and I turned this on counting on a slog with only one recognizable song, "Yellow", which...ugh. To my surprise, "Yellow" held up way better than I gave it credit for, plus there was "Trouble" which is superior and which I'd totally forgotten existed. Beyond that, well-crafted songs, and gorgeous production. I'd probably need to be in the right mood, but I'd return to it.

More percussive than I'd imagined. Also the vocals seemed totally disconnected from the music, which is a weird production choice. Overall, this one wasn't for me and I can't imagine there's enough historical context around it to even make the list anyway.

Very diverse prog, including classical interpretations. About on par with my expectation. Missing melody, but the technical skill is there.

This sounds like classic territory, but her voice didn't sustain me throughout.

Wow. River was incredible, the whole last section of the album was excellent.

Thrash tires so easily. Just loud fast aggression over and over. Fine in spurts, hard for an hour. Especially when the vocals are mid.

Exactly as I'd expect. Strings, keyboards, pop vocals. Solid double.

Excellent. I'm a convert.

Not bad, 90s punk/ska/rockabilly prototypes. Adam Willard is the drummer ..

My first failure. I may return to be a completionist but I can't suffer through 2 hours of the same house beat in one sitting. So redundant.

Every single track completely indistinguishable from the next. And her voice is, to be kind, not for me.

I never know how to review these foreign language world albums. Guitar work was solid.

A different side of the band, they put their hearts into reconstructing these songs in an interesting way and highlighting the music they wanted to, rather than just their hits.

More Byrds. This gets an extra star just for being the source of "Feel a Whole Lot Better." Good 60s tunes.

Challenging, sad, expansive. Lot of jazz, great drum tracks.

Random British folk.

Credit where due. Simple tunes, quick album, lots of talent. Why do they fade out on guitar solos?

Almost lived up to the hype

As described by the group, this is like eating vegetables. Solid concept, but beats you over the head with politics. Great for a listen, terrifying that it's still relevant, but not repeatable for enjoyment.

I felt sure this would be a 5 based on personal history with this record; an actual listen left me feeling it was a 4 but I will maintain my rating based on nostalgia (which is probably wildly inconsistent with other scoring decisions). There were many THE ALBUMS during my college tenure, but this one might have been the most played of all of them. Wore this album out with friends, it was perfect background music for a party, a card game, or a quieter Sunday morning. The Vegas synth vibes are so unique and defining. Every song such a turn from the last, but still cohesive. My recollection was that this was a non-stop 12 tracks of greatness; my revisit made me realize I don't remember the last 3 tracks on it very well at all, and there is a fall off. Strange how memory is. Regardless, there is a 7 song tear here that's unparalleled.

Noises

Felt familiar. Couple clever songs.

Modern easy listening? A bit beatlesesque as well. Vocals were unique.

Sold. Quirky modern folk

Boring ass dance.

2 days in a row now of stretched out awful EDM tunes. This thing was almost an hour and a half long. Ugh.

I may not be up to date on the definition of heavy metal or perhaps it's progressed over 30 years. But the pop influence on this album was so undeniable that it felt like glam. Regardless I was just happy to not have another 90 minute trance EDM slog.

Really? Two albums by this guy? Feels like an extension of the last one.

Enjoyed the energy for sure.

Good soft rock, early Winwood without the hits though. Why this album over others?

Rod, this was all over the place, and honestly, a bit boring. That 2nd to last hard rock track really felt out of place up against the folk-based tunes preceding it.

This was fine. Very specifically Cuban, and mostly interesting for background music.

May return to this, had some solid stuff. There were some killer bass lines as well.

I respected this, but didn't like it. I could tell why it's on the list.

Okay, this band is growing on me. This was a pretty fun album.

After reading about how this record got made, it's a pretty interesting story, and the novel approach, and also pretty brave. The thing is, it didn't translate to the songs. This was a bust.

Songs are a bit samey, but this was solid, especially for the beach and a puzzle afternoon.

2 for 2 on beach weekend albums. Arguments that this album hasn't aged well are largely out of proportion.

I think this guy would be weirdly unsettling even if I didn't know his background. I am not a fan of this style either, but I will give credit for pure energy.

P this felt beyond it to years. A lot of talent and humor.

What's with the multiple fonts on the cover? What's with the echoey, poor vocal production? What's with the terrible beat poetry spoken over random guitar? Best review I saw: Enya meets Bobo Dylan. I'd only add "in a Soho coffee house." I will admit it got more cohesive toward the end. This is one star.

You know what? I was into this. Solid rock, very entertaining.

Currently unavailable but I've got it covered in CD and vinyl. Absolute classic if the genre.

Solid but dated.

This must be when they started to get weirder. This feels built out of random pieces. Some are straight forward, some are very odd, and Eleanor Rigby, which I'm finally hearing in context, and enjoy, is very out of place in the track order.

Nas is a great rapper but this is dated and boring.

I don't think I really like Metallica, and their older content shows skill and style way more. But this is still a classic, and a huge crossover.

This was the most boring thing I've ever subjected myself to. A star because it was ambient?

Very solid old school. Where Premier came from before PRhyme. Understated beats and conscious lyrics.

Hit and miss 90s rock

This was hard to follow along with. Kazoos and mouth noises, very weird story, and the end of Gabriel in Genesis. Not for me.

This was enjoyable in parts. Like a '90s version of Billy Talent or Against Me.

The other creators of heavy metal. The sound on the guitars on this album is awesome and authentic. It's not something you hear currently. Excellent stuff.

Corey has a fantastic singing voice and there is some melody to this album, also the drums are fantastic. But it does feel pretty overall edgelord.

An odd album for it's time. Great vocal talent and nice for a rainy morning with coffee but the tracks blend together.

This was fine.

Jazz with lots of drum solos

This was just absolutely terrible. It is remarkable to me I how a band with seemingly no talent at all just kept making albums over and over and over. Ooof, that first song.

Just fine blues-based 60s rock. Very entertaining.

Way better than I'd ever given it credit for.

I don't know why this was worthy of the list. 80s punk/ska/pop with risque lyrics.

Solid traditional folk.

This was a violent assault of unending frantic insane noise. 2 drummers and 2 saxophones competing to be heard over each other. Making it through this was a miracle, though there was a slight tuneful reprieve around 24 minutes.

This had an interesting backstory as well. Of course the Leonard Cohen cover was amazing. Through the rest his talent shown even if it's not my kind of thing. Interestingly, more than anything it reminded me of Ours. Until I did a deep dive into that discography.

I have no idea what this was until I came to "There She Goes" which also didn't happen to sound like any of the other songs. With that said though it was a fun album.

Not their best, but a classic debut of talent. Lyrics lack, energy does not.

Well, when I think early '90s movies, this pretty much could have been the soundtrack to any of them. Straightforward alt jangle Pop/rock.

Bowdy, swinging, unique vocals. I'll take it.

So torn in this. While I really dislike Love and her style, this has Cobain's fingerprints al over it.

Bargain bin Sheryl Crow. Early 90s alt-country-AOR....why?

Cannot believe there are two albums by this band on the list. This is not on the level of the other.

Just fine, easy listen, although I was never previously into this band. Pure 80s.

Not bad

Not for me.

Not bad for a Sunday. Exactly what you'd think.

Ok fine. 2 stars, "Light that Never Goes Out" is fine. F Morrissey.

Some classics here. Other songs go on too long.

energetic electronic music. Certainly doesn't sound it's age.

This was fine, the opening track pretty killer. More jangle alt rock from a Brit band, similar to the Smiths. So why is it on the list when this territory is so well covered?

Taylor Swift-style pop-country. Not bad, except for some of the most banal lyrics ever.

This is an inferior led Zeppelin album. In my mind it doesn't come anywhere close to I, II, or IV. I don't know how many led Zeppelin albums are going to be on this list, but it surprises me that this one is.

For a little bit, I was convinced this wasn't the classic it was made out to be. But by the end, I understood. I only wish the instrumentation was a little bit better on a couple of the tracks.

What do I say about this? It's not metal, but did it claim to be? Kind of? This is pop glam. And it's pretty damn good for what it is. I have no problems with this being a fantastic example of it's genre and time.

Production was interesting, perhaps the vocals would have caught me 25 years ago, but it did nothing today. Randomness.

I think three is fair. The opener and the clothes are on this are absolute classics. Everything in between is probably the most honky tonk blues I've seen the Stones go. It was an interesting listen but not repeatable.

Standard '70s concept album affair. Do I recognize this is perhaps one of the most quintessential. Still though, for my first time listening to it, I prefer their older simpler work. This had a lot of ideas, and the narrative thread was incredibly strong.

I didn't look into the details of this album yet, but I'm making general guesses about the era. This is less good honky tonk, some of the songs were outright annoying.

This was almost perfect but fell off for me at the end. Classic one-two to open. What a leap from their earlier albums.

I wanted to give this more but it had huge stretches that bored...which is tough considering how short most songs were. The talent and musicianship is there, and it belongs on the list. The guests were shocking and entertaining. Overall, this wasn't memorable though.

Stone classic.

The kind of easy-listening, desert highway bar, car shop garage rock that's incredibly cliched and boring.

Talent and complexity but nothing of interest to me.

Interesting split what the electric and the acoustic folk. A lot of influence came from here, I'm sure.

I have to say I'm unironically a Def Leppard fan now. This album wasn't as good as Pyromania, I thought it was a little too long, and honestly, "pour some sugar on me" felt like an odd duck in the middle of the album. Overall though, I really appreciate what they're going for. They were the top of their genre.

Good sound ...one sound. It's the same song, repeated. And why the live album, and with such poor sound quality?

I need to always stop and think about genre definitions when there's a UK "punk" band on the list. Another ok album though I'm sure influential.

I expected this to be passibly entertaining. It was absolutely awful and grating.

I can see why this made the list. Interesting Middle-Eastern trip hop concept.

I almost went with 4 stars but felt it overly generous. Great voice and talent, interesting production and it feels very modern. Not to my tastes and a bit dark and unmemorable though.

It's aged to some extent, but you can feel and understand the power and the importance at the time that does stretch a bit into the present.

Well I can see where they got their name. This album went on forever, 45 tracks. But when I got to the jackass theme song, for the first time realizing that it wasn't original, I was all in.

This is really mood dependent. I've heard this before and been so into it; this time I could take it or leave it. It's a bit boring. Technical ability, for sure. Understand why it's on the list as well. A generous 4.

I can firmly say I am no Devo fan. At least it was short. Not so much new wave as surf rock with programming.

Not bad for 90s brit Pop rock.

Absolute classic. Top to bottom inspired, politically biting, aggressive, scream-along, and funny too.

Well that was a great weekend, back to back 90s classics for totally different reasons. Still my favorite? Radiohead album (The Bends closely ties).

Never listened to this before. That was solid.

Similar to Teddy, but slower and more same-y. Concept was interesting,

Sure - a 5. This felt like a timeless classic, like these songs have somehow always existed. Incredible soul and production put into these tunes.

Fine, but instantly forgettable. His son's album left a much larger impression.

Shocker, Brit Pop. My brother had this album when I was younger, there's more than the one hit wonder on here, but not enough to justify 75 minutes.

The least likely Beach Boy to have a solo career puts out a mid-70s album that sounds nothing like what you would think. And his songwriting skills shine.

Tough one to rate because it was a tough one to listen to. This didn't age well. His lyrical genius is on display, and all his creativity, and unique approach, and the production was great. But the content which seemed jokey and fictitious 20 years ago was really hard to get through.

Well, it had "Maps" on it, which was not representative of the sound. Very garagy.

This album started to hit me halfway through. Great one for the season; I only regret that my only knowledge of them comes from their Taylor Swift songwriting collaborations.

This sounded like the unpublished 2nd soundtrack to Rocky Horror. An interesting addition for the era.

It had moments but was often tuneless.

Had me dancing with my daughter. Excellent cuban jazz

If Jack Black respects it, it's worth a spin.

I'm so very tired of being subjected to this man. And the songs are really starting to all sound the same.

This must have influenced a ton of bands, for some reason the one that jumped to mind was Nada Surf. It was hugely long, and a bit noisy, but mostly worth a listen.

Absolute Brit Pop dreck.

This was a surprisingly good album, minus the 15 minutes of constant "I want your sex" repetition. Recognized almost every song, couldn't believe it. Solid pop that is a bit dates but still very good.

The song you know is the one you know for a reason.

This was a bit classic, but a bit trying.

This lagged at the end but I'm not mad at it

Point off for Clapton being Clapton, but this is a classic.

Worked for me way less so than the last Public Enemy album. Production veered toward annoying, Flavor Flav veered toward annoying, and it went on too long.

They made this...on purpose? "Avant garde" will always sound like a cover for making noise that's indistinguishable from someone with no talent discovering an instrument. And why must these albums be so long? Scary that I can see where some other albums got inspiration from this like Tom Waits and the Minutemen. So a star because I'm learning and piecing together some music history. Otherwise, yikes.

This is not what I thought going in. Again, the term "alternative" meant something totally different in the 80s. I am not getting a feel for why this made the list of "must hear."

I suppose I'm not surprised to find the full Berlin trilogy on the list.

Surprisingly excellent, especially production.

Every song literally sounded the same but that sound is classic. Therefore, 3.

I have to imagine this is a gold standard for the genre.

Interesting and not what I expected. Mostly instrumental. Apparently he was inspired by Kraftwerk. Much better than Kraftwerk.

Truly psychedelic. Wow. What a wall of noise. Like a bad trip.

Never listened to an AIC album all the way through. Impressive sound, harmonies. Songwriting is unique in the grunge mold. And a lot of hits on this one.

I don't know if this formally could be called go go but it's adjacent and I have gotten a lot of exposure and respect for that genre in the last few years.

Avante garde satire done in an enjoyable way. I wouldn't listen again, first time wasn't bad.

Interesting narratives and theme, assuming many of these were covers, and the collaborations were surprising. Overall not my thing though.

This is probably a watershed album, taking all that came before with 70s metal and glam and combining it with amazing technical skill, yet focusing on a "front man" rather than a singer. Stunned at how many of their classics came from this album, and it's all over in 30 minutes too.

Shame this wasn't on Spotify. Ran a little long, but seemed inventive and fun for it's time. I only know if them randomly from their 2000s output but I'd venture to say this is the better version of them.

Solid folk, listenable and melodic.

I'm going to be generous with three stars because the instrumentation was fantastic as was the production. This started out as an interesting experiment and really showed Beck's versatility, but it ended up just being boring.

They discovered synthesizers. Honestly out of the nine tracks six of them were really solid.

Very good album, in the vein of Tom Petty with a bit more new wave.

I don't know what this album is supposed to be. An odd collection of short, all over the place acoustic genre songs.

Ok, three stars for the status the album has. But I hate the Eagles.

Nothing really special that would point to being on this list. Especially so new.

Killer.

Why even is this? I hate and have always hated the title track, and the rest is literally nothing.

Spy movie sad ambience. It was cool for one song, and it dragged for an album.

So unique. Joe brought me back to the high school talent show.

A strong start that really took a turn. I wondered what happened and then I remembered heroin is a thing. Influential for sure.

Very Radioheadish. Literally never heard of this band.

Speed round. This isn't for me.

Speed round. This was pretty solid.

Pretty good, many classics.

Decent 80s new wave protopunk.

Like a goth Bowie. A lot better than the durges album.

Very organ-inclusive jazz, enjoyable.

Well, I recognized the one from covers. Some of these appealed. Others not.

Very solid salsa

Trash felt more modern than it was. Tony Hawk music. 4 stars.

The songs skewed a little long but wow, was this good.

70s glam, dragged.

I must have gotten this at the wrong time of the year given the weather outside felt a total mismatch for the syncopated, light island music. Then again, the themes and lyrics also run totally counter to that lightness.

Well produced, warm and beautiful folk.

This reminded me of the Sid Barrett solo album. Just terrible, random, pieces of mental illness.

This hit something for me, somewhere between Chevelle and Nada Surf and Smashing Pumpkins. Although extremely low-fi, it had a really endearing quality to me.

I can take or leave this. The 2nd to last track was enjoyable. Overall, sparse, dark folk.

Ok, it sold me. Fun thrash.

Okay, so now I've heard emmylou Harris. She sounds to me much like any other female country singer of the era.

I don't know how this band can deny they are a "jam band" with a straight face after 3 15 minute+ songs on this album. Talented, though not my genre.

Every once in awhile there's an Oasis song that I really like. And everything in between is garbage. This album represents that.

I was so ready to judge this as more boring EDM but then North American Scum came on, and I just can't fault Ronnie B. Plus a star.

I can't put a genre or a label on this, but he sings well.

I hear a lot of what influenced Petty here.

This was one of my favorites on this list in a long time. Excellent alternate hip hop.

Albums like these are what I expected this list to be.

Found it to be more entertaining than expected. Solid bass.

Once again it really strikes me as odd that of all the offerings in this genre this list goes with the British pick. Also I would argue that her cadence is a little too similar in many songs. That said this was pretty enjoyable.

This one was pretty far out there. Technically an early iteration of Glam Rock I suppose. And there seem to be a lot of possibly French singing. Either way many of the songs were catchy.

I feel like it took me into the second song to even figure out what genre this was. Which is saying a lot because most songs were over 10 minutes. Apparently this is in the vein of kraftwerk. A lot more grooves though and atmosphere.

It was fine, but why live?

This had all kinds of random stuff in it. Some danceable grooves. Vocals not much to speak of. I didn't look these guys up but I'd guess...British?

This must be the basis for that classic 90s r&b sound. Wow.

Much of this sounds dated, but Fight For your Right still hits hard.

This gets four stars in its genre. It was long but it was really good. Recognized a few of the tunes

As long as this album was, nothing stuck. A second album from a one hit wonder. Why?

Much of this was just annoying. Other parts seemed representative instrumentation for the time, with limited vocals.

Respect. This was a great r&b album and really surprising.

Just short of their absolute best for me but it has one of my favorite songs in "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You."

Aside from his personal issues, this is mostly just boring. Stunned to recognize the first song though. I had only known him by Mandy and by his 1989 cover, which admittedly was solid.

One out of three songs here was really, really good. Interesting adaptation of their style to the 80s. The rest was standard 80s pop.

Unlike Jane says and Been caught stealing, the majority of this leads far toward very old school Soundgarden. Which is surprising. They don't typically follow a verse chorus verse format, and there's some psychedelia involved with Navarro, but overall this didn't hit like I expected it to.

A couple absolute classics here, filled in by other folk psychedelia.

Bringing me straight back to high school with my first car and the mixtape I loaded up for it. This album is non-stop classics. Five, no question.

This was beautiful piano solo background music. No complaints.

The production on this elevated it over other Beastie boys albums, but eventually the vocals dragged this down.

This is cocktail jazz. I can do cocktail jazz. There's nothing that I retained, but I can respect all the talent that goes into it.

One more artist ruined in legacy by their revealing themselves as awful people. Good album though, lots of sax and piano.

Somehow a classic. In spite of the monotone speak-singing, knowing where he was at that point in his life, this is absolute dark, somber excellence. Cover songs somehow made his own when he uses them as a personal reflection.

So this band borrowed from the Beatles, influenced the Who, basically created the idea of a concept album, and no one knows who they are? Music was fine, production was surprising given it is from the 60s. The lyrics though...I have never heard such utter nonsense.

Too much. No cohesion, nothing to grab but noise and repetition.

This never would have appealed to me, and there's definitely only one "constant craving" on this album. But I'll give credit for talent where it's due.

Afrobeats

This is revelatory. It's like a very early Pop punk album, including the childish humor.

The leadoff track made me believe my preconceptions, that this was a standard 70s Bad Company/"Life in the Fast Lane" type rock. That fell apart immediately as the album turned more and more into very unique art pop. Very good listen.

Giving this the benefit of the doubt; maybe I'm not in a reggae mood today but this grated a bit. Was still fine and short.

Elvis did "fever"?

I don't understand this, in terms of the vocal quality.

More accessible for sure.

A lot of 60s pop with a piano. Some was pretty good.

This didn't hold up. She's a weaker singer than I recalled, the songs are overly long, and the best bright spots are the singles while the rest is throwaway.

What an appropriately titled album. "Layla and some other stuff."