Expert witness account of this album incoming. It is easy to forget how big this album was, and Green Day were after this one hit. Going into it though in 2004, popular culture had passed them by. Dookie had hit 10 years earlier and while the following Green Day albums were hits, they were never going to reach the heights their breakthrough did. At the start of the 2000s, Blink 182, Good Charlotte, Sum 41 and Simple Plan had taken what Green Day were doing in the 90s and replicated it (to lesser artistic success) and dominated the charts, MuchMusic airtime (yes I’m Canadian) and magazine covers. At the same time, a narrative had been going on in music conversations that rock and roll was dying, the pendulum had swung to pop and hip hop (very short sited and mostly perpetuated by people who only get music through TV and top 40 radio, of which I was mostly too) which had contributed to the overall decline in relevancy of guitar-bass-drum acts. By time fall 2004 had come around there already were the next generation of popular rock acts coming up (The Killers and Frank Ferdinand had hit earlier in the summer, Arcade Fire would hit mainstream this fall). So here came Green Day with a new album, and it had been a few years since they had put out new music. I think there was some level of hype, and it was known this was going to be a concept album. People forget though, Green Day had changed their image in preparation of this album. For a band that had been at the height of their relevancy 10 years earlier, the refreshed look absolutely helped their appeal, as they somehow looked cooler and ahead of the curve than the other bands that had surpassed them. This was sort of a clean entry point for new fans too as they’re visually striking at this point, sound as good as they ever have and are riding this Anti-Bush wave that’s happening right before the 2014 US election. So when the American Idiot single came out, I remember the music video had gotten a lot more play than singles from previous Green Day had been. But this album just kept growing with each successive single. Holiday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Wake Me Up When September Ends we’re all massive hits and had endless radio play. This album landed like nothing else in rock had. They stayed in the public spotlight for at least 2 years off the strength of this record. I remember seeing them on the cover of Entertainment Weekly in 2016 still promoting American Idiot, and the band won the Grammy a few weeks later which kept them going. Now this album has been adapted into a Broadway show and Green Day is the only other band that got a Rock Band game besides the Beatles (AC/DC had a disc, but that was just songs, no band representation) So I say all of this because looking back at the 2000s decade because of when American Idiot hit, the case could be made Green Day was at the top of the rock pile, along with U2, RHCP, Coldplay and I suppose the Killers. So while people had this conversation that rock was dying in the 2000s we have to count ourselves pretty fucking lucky we had Green Day that rode the mainstream. You may hate this album but it’s better than most of the other slush pile the 2000s had to offer. The album itself though; it is still absolutely killer and it’s obvious why they became the biggest band in the world again because of this. There’s nothing challenging here about the music; it’s immediate, every song is catchy, lyrics are great (if dated criticism of America in the 2000s). So many of the songs have been ridden into the ground (anything released as a single) so the real winners here are the longer concept album saga songs (Jesus of Suburbia, Homecoming). What I have had to contend with doing this 1001 album project is putting into perspective when I would have been listening to this album before. American Idiot doesn’t seem like it’s that old. Im assuming this is because the songs in this have been played to death on the radio as well as movies and video games. I’ve also been thinking about Green Day lately as I listened to the excellent episode of the podcast Bandsplain did on Green Day a few months ago. But to place it, I would have been listening to this one when I started university. I would have listened to it on my 3rd Gen iPod (the one with the four red action buttons across the top and the first touch click wheel). I wouldn’t have even had a laptop yet, I would have still had my Compaq desktop PC. In terms of where this lands in Green Days legacy I have the unpopular opinion that this is their best album. Still incredible that this is a comeback on the level it was considering how they had fallen out of fashion, but listening to the album, it seems obvious. Could Green Day make another comeback? Sure. Apparently Green Day is hot with teenagers. They make music that sounds like what it’s like to be a teen. Among the best albums of this decade, deserved all of its sales and the success the band had from it.

Who would have made the decision to have this be the Foo Fighters album on this list? It’s the Colour and the Shape that’s their definitive one. The rest of the ‘Foo Fighters’ aren’t even on this album I listened to this record a few weeks ago when Taylor died (along with the other albums he played on). I think it’s really interesting as a fan of their work. It’s pretty scrappy compared the the relatively polished sound of what they do next. Foo Fighters are one of my bands. I have heard every album, especially One by One, There is Nothing Left To Lose, Colour and the Shape and Wasting Light. I was lucky enough to see them twice, including in 2015 when Dave had broken his leg, and played from his Iron Throne of guitars. I think Foo Fighters have been the most universally liked band over the past 30 years. Who else is there? U2 is one, but there’s enough people who actively hate them. Or Red Hot Chili Peppers but I don’t think they’ve been as consistent or have released music at enough of a clip. This band has Dave Grohl, one of the most most recognizable and affable front men of all time, Taylor an incredible drummer and occasionally Pat Smear from Nirvana. Along with their classic music videos this is just a band that has always seemed like they were having fun. They have always had respect for those that came before them, and all of the Foos have been involved with other legendary rock acts throughout the years. They are our generations North Star, you can always count on the Foo Fighters and they are a band that generally everyone likes. It’s their choice now if they continue on given Taylor’s passing. I have to expect they’ll take a few years off then come back with a new drummer. If they decide not to, that’s ok too. Rest In Peace Taylor

Can confirm he was alive

My wife while listening to this album: “ This sounds like the music that would play when a clown comes to murder you”

I watched Walk Hard:The Dewey Cox Story this week and would have loved for Johnny Cash to have covered Beautiful Ride or Let’s Duet on American V

Better than I remember

Ding ding ding

If I had to list out the most important albums of the 2000s I likely would not have thought of this one. Listening to it now it’s pretty undeniable how pervasive this music was during that decade. The bad take is this is the sound of car commercials. Realistically, this is the sound of cool for this era and everyone wanted to be associated with Moby. This album is so clean and so catchy it’s no wonder every song got put under any commercial or movie that would pay for it. 20 years later I think you have to call this the point when ‘selling out’ stopped being a thing.

I really dig this album!

Ah so this is very good I might have to listen to this a few more times because this is absolutely a masterpiece

Roundaboot

Johnny Cash is a lot funnier than I expected lol

The Jam (and Paul Weller) is a band I know about; but don’t really know their music aside from a few songs. I mostly know them from influencing most of the bands I grew up listening to. Hearing this now you definitely hear where every Oasis song is ripped off from, but also the stems of New Pornographers and Paraquet Courts. For good reason too. This album absolutely rips. A little over half an hour and doesn't overstay it’s welcome. Killer tracks David Watts English Rose

Pretty good, but most songs need to be 3-4 minutes shorter lol

Ugh do I like Rufus Wainwright?

Pretty good album! I’d like to use this time to ask ask the question; why is it that Spotify and Apple Music always put these remastered versions of albums up that double the songs of the original release? It’s always a bunch of B-sides or demos. Really kills the flow of an album or in the case of one like Bummed, I have no idea if this is a double album or just expanded. I have to assume because they're the latest version the studios have put out, so that’s what these services are able to license. I’ve noticed this trend more going through the list of albums and most LPs are usually only 30-45 minutes long, but the version that’s available is 2 hours long. It’s too much! It’s like if the only version of Lord of the Rings that was available was the extended editions. I would never watch them!

Honestly one of the best discoveries I’ve had going through these albums. This is absolutely my shit.

Candidate for lo fi hip hop radio-beats to study/relax to Not gonna say I didn’t enjoy it tho

Well not at all what I was expecting. As someone with a passing interest in Dropkick Murphies this was pretty good. I’ve definitely heard this album in bars in Peterborough.

Oh this album is so of its time. And I’m (slightly) too young to have nostalgia for this one. I’m sure if I was in university in the 90s I would have loved this

Good vibes! Will likely listen to more

Um this album rips Empowers New Clothes is very good

Whamp ba de lu bow

In high school my friends and I poured over this encyclopedia of Beatles history. In it, there was a full page photo of Patti Boyd and we were obsessed. So I get it Eric Clapton. Shame this guy has some bad options on COVID and wrote a protest song about having to wear a mask. The 2020s has really done a number on older pop culture icons lol.

Good album

I really like the Kinks but this album wasn’t doing it for me. Waterloo Sunset tho still great

This album is very good. I feel like the only song that make it onto the radio or TV of Manic Street Preachers in the 90s was If You Tolerate This (very good song and terrifying music video). However I think I have heard most of these songs before. Australia and Design for Life are very good. I think last time I had checked in with Manic Street Preachers it much have been in the early 2000s as Richey was still an open missing person. I spent some time reading the Wikipedia on the band and found he was declared dead in 2008. Really tragic figure and it’s important he was discussing depression and mental health in the 90s when that wasn’t a subject discussed in pop culture. Likely would have been treated differently had they been around 20 years later.

Doesn’t respect your time

I wasn’t sure about this album but then they bought in the flute out Freedom Rider and then it’s like ‘blow on, brother’

I put this on while making dinner tonight and I have never felt more classy. Also I was making chicken fingers

I guess if you’re going to have a Blur album on this list it’s going to be the self titled one. I think The Great Escape and 13 both have better songs. I have once heard that One Week by Barenaked Ladies is the most recognizable first second of a modern pop song. Song 2 is a very close second.

Oh man the vibes this record is giving off. Most of this album was still in rotation in the early 90s when I was growing up and started hearing pop music. I have a lot of nostalgia for Shout, Everybody Wants to Rule the World and Head Over Heels

What an absolute classic. I got into Janes Addiction when they were gearing up for their comeback album in 2003. I remember I had purchased the Spin Magazine they were on the cover of, and the bands I love (RHCP, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden) all had stories about how Janes Addiction shaped their careers. I’ve been trying to figure out now how I was listening to Janes Addiction as I just had my MP3 CD player at that time so uneless I had purchased one of their albums, I likely would have been reading about Janes Addiction for a while before listening to them. It’s crazy to thing how now a band you hadn’t heard you could pull up on Spotify or Apple Music and listen to everything from them. This was still the age when there was some ceremony to having new music, whether you downloaded on your PC or got the CD from a store. But then again, I realize I’m talking nearly 20 years ago. It is wild how this album now sounds about 2 decades ahead of its time. Listening to some other 80s albums through this list they’re all so much of a time and place. Nothing’s Shocking is so different from everything else popular at the time, and it’s apparent why it doesn’t place in the 80s, as every alternative band writes songs like them and every album is produced like this one is. Ocean Size, Mountain Song and Standing in the Shower Thinking are all so massive. Summertime Rolls though is my favourite on this album. Probably because I discovered this band while on a family holiday I have so much nostalgia in this one. I’m listening to this one in February during the worst snowfall in like 10 years and this song sort of is giving the same vibe. I’m really going to have to put this one on again come June.

On the list of best closing song to an album ever.

Dads favourite album. Is great

I mean it’s good. I feel like a bad person for listening to it though. I can’t reconcile the violence against women, homophobia and I think racism. Even if he’s rapping about people who think like that, there’s not enough distinction in the text that’s what his intention is. The talent is undeniable. The message is terrible.

Someone else has said in here that they’ve already heard this album every time they’re on hold, which is accurate. Also you you what, it’s pretty good! What’s wild is this album came out in 2004 and had a remaster in 2005. I guess it’s because it didn’t come out in North America for a bit.

I always thought the Doors were being unnecessarily pretentious. This is pretty good tho!

This album gets 5 stars for Once In A Lifetime alone. The video also is completely a vibe I aspire to. The rest of this album is pretty good. Born Under Punches has real ‘just discovered my computers’ soundboard’ energy

Expert witness account of this album incoming. It is easy to forget how big this album was, and Green Day were after this one hit. Going into it though in 2004, popular culture had passed them by. Dookie had hit 10 years earlier and while the following Green Day albums were hits, they were never going to reach the heights their breakthrough did. At the start of the 2000s, Blink 182, Good Charlotte, Sum 41 and Simple Plan had taken what Green Day were doing in the 90s and replicated it (to lesser artistic success) and dominated the charts, MuchMusic airtime (yes I’m Canadian) and magazine covers. At the same time, a narrative had been going on in music conversations that rock and roll was dying, the pendulum had swung to pop and hip hop (very short sited and mostly perpetuated by people who only get music through TV and top 40 radio, of which I was mostly too) which had contributed to the overall decline in relevancy of guitar-bass-drum acts. By time fall 2004 had come around there already were the next generation of popular rock acts coming up (The Killers and Frank Ferdinand had hit earlier in the summer, Arcade Fire would hit mainstream this fall). So here came Green Day with a new album, and it had been a few years since they had put out new music. I think there was some level of hype, and it was known this was going to be a concept album. People forget though, Green Day had changed their image in preparation of this album. For a band that had been at the height of their relevancy 10 years earlier, the refreshed look absolutely helped their appeal, as they somehow looked cooler and ahead of the curve than the other bands that had surpassed them. This was sort of a clean entry point for new fans too as they’re visually striking at this point, sound as good as they ever have and are riding this Anti-Bush wave that’s happening right before the 2014 US election. So when the American Idiot single came out, I remember the music video had gotten a lot more play than singles from previous Green Day had been. But this album just kept growing with each successive single. Holiday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Wake Me Up When September Ends we’re all massive hits and had endless radio play. This album landed like nothing else in rock had. They stayed in the public spotlight for at least 2 years off the strength of this record. I remember seeing them on the cover of Entertainment Weekly in 2016 still promoting American Idiot, and the band won the Grammy a few weeks later which kept them going. Now this album has been adapted into a Broadway show and Green Day is the only other band that got a Rock Band game besides the Beatles (AC/DC had a disc, but that was just songs, no band representation) So I say all of this because looking back at the 2000s decade because of when American Idiot hit, the case could be made Green Day was at the top of the rock pile, along with U2, RHCP, Coldplay and I suppose the Killers. So while people had this conversation that rock was dying in the 2000s we have to count ourselves pretty fucking lucky we had Green Day that rode the mainstream. You may hate this album but it’s better than most of the other slush pile the 2000s had to offer. The album itself though; it is still absolutely killer and it’s obvious why they became the biggest band in the world again because of this. There’s nothing challenging here about the music; it’s immediate, every song is catchy, lyrics are great (if dated criticism of America in the 2000s). So many of the songs have been ridden into the ground (anything released as a single) so the real winners here are the longer concept album saga songs (Jesus of Suburbia, Homecoming). What I have had to contend with doing this 1001 album project is putting into perspective when I would have been listening to this album before. American Idiot doesn’t seem like it’s that old. Im assuming this is because the songs in this have been played to death on the radio as well as movies and video games. I’ve also been thinking about Green Day lately as I listened to the excellent episode of the podcast Bandsplain did on Green Day a few months ago. But to place it, I would have been listening to this one when I started university. I would have listened to it on my 3rd Gen iPod (the one with the four red action buttons across the top and the first touch click wheel). I wouldn’t have even had a laptop yet, I would have still had my Compaq desktop PC. In terms of where this lands in Green Days legacy I have the unpopular opinion that this is their best album. Still incredible that this is a comeback on the level it was considering how they had fallen out of fashion, but listening to the album, it seems obvious. Could Green Day make another comeback? Sure. Apparently Green Day is hot with teenagers. They make music that sounds like what it’s like to be a teen. Among the best albums of this decade, deserved all of its sales and the success the band had from it.

The only other Smiths album I had listened to was The Queen Is Dead because I think I had seen it on a list of best British albums. Besides the title track I really couldn’t connect with that album. This one, upon listening to today I have heard a few times before. I did end up digging this one more. Paint A Vulgar Picture is really good.

Does this boy really need therapy?

Pretty good! I’ll likely listen to it more

I saw this band when they had just reunited in 2009 when I was in Scotland. This was at T in the Park (which I’m has now been reworked into a different festival apparently). First time I had seen someone skanking.

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Peak dad rock

I’m just gonna say these boys in prison prob don’t want to hear a song about waiting to be hanged. Just play Boy Named Sue, John. Also the last Cash album I got on my list I listened to on the way to get my third COVID shot. So that’s still working well!

Good 90s vibes

I heard the ‘rock that shit homie’ sample then got sucked into listening to JSRF soundtrack. This was really good tho! Better than I expected

Bow down before your queen

Everyday People is a song that never fails to make me feel better. Pure pop perfection

Kanye I know a lot about and not much about his music. The only one I’ve ever got into is Dark Twisted Fantasy, which would be among my most played albums of the 2010s. I remember when this album came out and a lot of popular rap was pretty materialistic. Kanye (while I know was around for a while before this and had success as a producer) shows up with the rugby sweaters on is going to stand out. This is an album I’ve heard pretty well all of through osmosis. This one is really good, and really funny at times. Killer tracks Jesus Walks The New Workout Plan Slow Jamz

Son of a Preacher Man. Good song!

Goes down smooth

Appreciate that this man starts the record with getting it on, then has a mid-album check in to make sure you’re still getting it on. Thank you Marvin

A dirtbag masterpiece The Offspring being one of the only groups to come out clean after that Woodstock 99 documentary

I mean we all look like the guy on the cover after the last 2 years

This is the first album I thought of as ‘cool’. I remember when it came out none of my friends had it (we were 8) but their older siblings were huge into it. What a masterpiece. This is the ideal for pop punk and so many bands have been chasing this high since.

Such a good album. If only for Animal which is a masterpiece. Most if my knowledge of Def Leppard (and this album) comes from the Classic Album episode about it where they walk through the making, Rick Allen and his drumming, and how they thought they messed up the order they put out the singles on this one. Really fascinating stuff and I’m definitely going to be watching that again after hearing the album through (Classic Albums I have found is free on TubiTV)

So good

Break On Through To The Other Side. Jammed out to that one on the piano in Rock Band 3 Everything else, goes on for way too long. Not that I didn’t enjoy it.

This is as good as it gets right? I got into Nirvana when I was 16, when the Greatest Hits album came out in 2002 (I think I got it for Christmas, and proceeded to drink deep of their back catalogue). That fall there was also a new Foo Fighters album out, Muchmusic was rerunning their Nirvana documentaries and Kurt’s diaries were wrongly published. Nirvana were in a revival period and despite Kurt having died 8 years earlier, it felt a generation ago at that time. Listening to this one now, it’s amazing that I had ever thought of this as gritty or non mainstream music. It’s pure pop perfection, I think it’s basically The Beatles in its specificity and catchiness. Part of this has been every popular rock band of the last 30 (!) years ripped this off, from Oasis to Arctic Monkeys, and Linkin Park to Royal Blood. This one is also short enough that it absolutely does not waste a single note. There’s nothing difficult to understand here, guitar solos are pretty much the chorus’ repeated again and Grohls drumming makes the music exciting even if you’re listening on iPod headphones. While a lot of the albums on this list I’ve played I love, this is one of the very few I would play again after it finishes. It’s so focused and still so raw. Probably about the most powerful album I’ve ever heard. Nirvana were a gateway for me to the rest of alternative and indie rock. At this time my nascent CD collection would have been Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers and maybe Barenaked Ladies. I went into so much material on Nirvana I started learning about Pixies, Janes Addiction, Bay City Rollers and Mudhoney. I also started listening to Pearl Jam and Soundgarden at the same time. To this day I still have flannel button down shirts as part of my uniform. Likely the most influential album to my musical tastes and pop culture leanings. I also have no misgivings or embarrassment about my allegiance to it. I think this album is an essential part of growing up. I suppose I will go into my thoughts about Kurt Cobain next time I get a Nirvana album. Maybe on Dave Grohl if there’s a Foo Fighters coming up.

I appreciate this man’s love of Tony Stark.

My wife while listening to this album: “ This sounds like the music that would play when a clown comes to murder you”

Drum fills with some diffferent record samples playing.

In and out in 37 minutes. You love to see it

I had heard most of this album on the radio in the early 2000s. Likely as it was deemed safe to play while a lot of songs that had anything to do with death, flight or not loving America were deprioritized. Lonesome Day and The Rising are pretty good. But this album as a whole has aged pretty bad. I guess this is considered a return to form for Springsteen, but I don’t think anything he’s done since Born in the USA has really grabbed me.

So I got this album around 2003 and it may have been during my class trip to Ottawa in grade 12. I had for sure got Everything to Everyone by Barenaked Ladies and Live Between Us by Tragically Hip (two bands who's absence on this 1001 list invalidates the whole endeavour). I started getting into Rush around the time they were having a resurgence during the Rock In Rio DVD and album (with the amazing dragon drinking from a coconut cover). During this time I’m pretty sure the Toronto Star had an article calling 2112 the greatest Canadian album. For me, I cannot agree with that as we have Funeral, Day For Night or even Gordon. I guess what is the greatest around this album is the mythology. That it’s dominated by a 25 minute anthology about some far flung sci-fi saga. Then you have the musicianship of these three guys completely on display here and it’s pretty unarguable this is their masterpiece. I am also listening to this album on the day Taylor Hawkins died. The version I listened to on Spotify has the cover by Taylor and Dave Grohl. I saw Foo Fighters in 2015 and they played Tom Sawyer. My brother had years earlier seen Rush in Toronto and Foo Fighters came out for a song on that one too. Really appreciated having this one today on a day when we lost a legend. Likely one of his favourite albums.

Had tried years ago to get into this one when this was cited as one of the main influences on punk into grunge era bands. Liked the vibes and energy more than I liked most of the songs. Do appreciate what it did for popular rock over the next 50 years tho.

I really like Run to the Hills and Number of the Beast. The rest I can appreciate but overall Iron Maiden is not my thing.

This is music that a band would play in a cutaway gag from 30 Rock. Gotta respect that man’s hair tho.

What can I say here. Sam Cooke is the greatest singer of all time. Bring It On Home to Me is the greatest song of all time.

Bob Dylan’s fit on this cover still works in 2022

I really like Elton John. I first came to him in the early 90s when they used the song I’m Still Standing for a show on City TV (I had thought it was Fashion TV but that was Obsession by Animotion). Really good music video and I’m disappointed they didn’t fully recreate it for the Rocketman movie, instead just green screening Edgerton into it. I also grew up on the Lion King soundtrack he collaborated on. I think his versions of those songs were the superior ones, but the ones in movie are obviously more appropriate. Really good few songs. I mean Tiny Dancer is an all timer. Levon is pretty good. I think a lot of the other songs kind of lack any hook or go on for too long.

I like The Weight. But could get into the rest of this album. Kind of sad boy folk music. The Band is one I always thought I should be into but could never crack. I say this as a Canadian and from Peterborough, where Ronnie Hawkins who was a previous leader of the band is from. I even remember him doing radio commercials in the early 90s for local businesses. Their other album has some songs I like but this I could not get in the same wavelength.

I was almost going to skip this album today. Had a super stressful day and was burned by the last few folks albums I had got on this list. This though? It’s an album that a bunch of hipsters could put out now and Pitchfork would go crazy for. This is really good. I’m amazed that it seemly is one of the freshest sounds I think I’ve got from this. Yes, it does start going into some songs about medieval-age battles (?) but the driving force behind escpecially the first few songs it’s so modern. I put this on while walking around downtown Toronto for the first time in 2 years. Felt like a king.

I watched Walk Hard:The Dewey Cox Story this week and would have loved for Johnny Cash to have covered Beautiful Ride or Let’s Duet on American V

Back with another one of those Block Rockin Beats

As everyone says, probably should have been Veni Vidi Vicious on this list. I first heard The Hives from the Spider-Man soundtrack-which is some early 2000s ass music. I listened to some of it tonight after this, but most of the songs are not avalaible on Apple Music (incl. the Chad Kroger song Hero. What a crime) I think the Hives are very good for a 2-3 song stint at a time. After that they seemingly start losing melody in their songs. Why don’t they try a slower or more downbeat song to mix things up? Also did some Wikipedia research on the Hives. Apparently they formed under a different name in 1989? They would have been like 9 years old! Even when the band was started in earnest in 1993 they would have only been 14!

This one really took me off guard. I had never heard of this band and honestly thought they were electronic vs alt rock Apparently now broken up after this one came out from accusations against their lead singer which is unfortunate.

You got Relax which is more of a vibe than a song. The rest of this is barely an album

I have love for this album. When I was getting into Janes Addiction in the mid 2000s I feel like the consensus was that this is their best album. I think it’s obviously Nothings Shocking. This one is weirdly more of its time than Nothings Shocking wave. Stop, Been Caught Stealing and Three Days are my favourites

Bank robbing music

Has some of their best songs, not quite their overall best album tho.

Who would have made the decision to have this be the Foo Fighters album on this list? It’s the Colour and the Shape that’s their definitive one. The rest of the ‘Foo Fighters’ aren’t even on this album I listened to this record a few weeks ago when Taylor died (along with the other albums he played on). I think it’s really interesting as a fan of their work. It’s pretty scrappy compared the the relatively polished sound of what they do next. Foo Fighters are one of my bands. I have heard every album, especially One by One, There is Nothing Left To Lose, Colour and the Shape and Wasting Light. I was lucky enough to see them twice, including in 2015 when Dave had broken his leg, and played from his Iron Throne of guitars. I think Foo Fighters have been the most universally liked band over the past 30 years. Who else is there? U2 is one, but there’s enough people who actively hate them. Or Red Hot Chili Peppers but I don’t think they’ve been as consistent or have released music at enough of a clip. This band has Dave Grohl, one of the most most recognizable and affable front men of all time, Taylor an incredible drummer and occasionally Pat Smear from Nirvana. Along with their classic music videos this is just a band that has always seemed like they were having fun. They have always had respect for those that came before them, and all of the Foos have been involved with other legendary rock acts throughout the years. They are our generations North Star, you can always count on the Foo Fighters and they are a band that generally everyone likes. It’s their choice now if they continue on given Taylor’s passing. I have to expect they’ll take a few years off then come back with a new drummer. If they decide not to, that’s ok too. Rest In Peace Taylor

This album stressed me out

Should probably like Tommy more than I do. Like Pinball Wizard, Go to the Mirror and Tommy can you hear me. Feel like I should watch the movie to get it.

This was fun!

What a masterpiece. I have mostly heard The Wall growing up and have otherwise not really gotten into Pink Floyd. That one is one of the most bloated, indulgent albums of all time and is fantastic for it. Dark Side of the Moon while still pretty out there is pretty much stripped down compared to Wall. This is really 4-5 songs with interludes in between. Doesn’t overstay it’s welcome, gets to the point and leaves stronger because of it. Time the ultimate mid-life crisis song hahaha

This is probably my most played album of all time. My brother had got this CD in 1999 when Scar Tissue hit. This album had TV commercials that aired to hype its release. The next summer in 2000 we basically had this on repeat on our portable Panasonic CD player. I personally can’t rate this album lower than 5 stars. It has so many songs that I’ve heard thousands of times and I still put on playlists to this day. Otherside is among my favourite songs of all time. I knew in the 2000s this album lost it towards the end. Listening how this one way too long. They could have cut out most of the songs after Easily could have been cut out.

Power Music Electric Revival

Of the albums I’m listening to for the first time on this list, this might be the best so far. I had only really known Goldfrapp from ‘Ooh La La’ being in commercials in the 2000s. This was fairly different from what I would have expected given what I knew of her (and upon listening to some of their other top songs, this was a different direction for them). I was so surprised though on this that every song hit. I was expecting eventually there was one that didn’t work but right up until the end it was still working. This album is going to stay in the rotation.

When I was started to comprehend pop music and rock music in the mid 90s, my recollection is that Smashing Pumpkins were a bigger deal than Pearl Jam or Soundgarden. However now they aren’t really mentioned in the same breath as them or other rock bands as the best of the 90s. I’m guilty of this too, if I had to list the top rock acts of the 90s off the top of my head, I don’t think I would have thought of Pumpkins. It’s crazy too that given how good this album is that I can’t really point to any band that ripped them off. Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness is a record I’ve always meant to listen to, maybe I hadn’t because it’s a double album and over 2 hours long; it’s a big time commitment. I now wish I had jumped into it earlier, this thing is a masterpiece and I would have worn this out. I know most of the songs on its, from Zero to Bullet With Butterfly Wings. But the other songs in between really kill it. Like Jellybelly which is going into my current rotation. Amazing work Corgan and company.

Can confirm he was alive

I can appreciate Iggy Pop for his stage presence and how many acts he influenced. This didn’t do it for me, mostly seemed like the same song over and over again

Some good disco songs

I hate to say it, but I enjoyed the Documentary Now! sendup if Chicago- Blue Jean Comitee-than I liked this.

Eli is Costello is my guy

Guero is his album that I really got into. Didnt think I had heard Odelay the whole way through but I knew pretty much all of it. This has some really good tunes; Devils Haircut, Derelict and Where It’s At are my faves

Man this was a ride listening to today. This album came out when I was finishing university and had no idea what to do next with my life. I was in that period where I was working full time and moving up at work, but still had so much free time and was still hanging around my hometown. I picked it up again in 2011 after they won the Grammy, and I was travelling around the country for work. My interpretation of The Suburbs is all about nostalgia trying to get back home. I think this was my most played album of theirs and I could likely recite every word from it. Now more than 10 years later I come to this album happily married, with a mortgage living in the suburbs with a cat and a job I’ve been at for 6 years. Then I had shaggy hair, now I’m contemplating shaving off what hair I have left. The nostalgia is so potent for that period in my life right before I became a real adult but more importantly before I had any real responsibilities. The Suburbs is looking back even further than the era I’m nostalgic for; before cell phones and the internet. When communication mead weight even when it’s inane. When we went on adventures and explored our surroundings. Had stupid conversations and acted smarter than we were. Is this their best album? Funeral I can’t get through without tearing up. Reflector is real messy but has I think their strongest songs. The Suburbs though does the best job of creating a mood and tapping into a feeling. I think with the benefit of hindsight I think the argument could be made this is the definitive Millennial rock album. Like Nevermind for Gen X or Sour by Olivia Rodrigo will be for Gen Z. It’s so of it’s time and has only grown in power in the decade since.

Only really knew this guy from Bellbottoms. This was pretty fun

Listen, there’s already several studio Dylan albums on this list. This was put out in 1998, we couldn’t have picked another album from that year (Mezzanine from Massive Attack isn’t on this list, I though critics loved that one?) I know why this is on the list too. This would have got a high rating from one of the boomer writers they had on staff at Rolling Stone, then every main stream publication from Entertainment Weekly to People magazine would have followed suit and reviewed it the same.

What a ride. This is probably the best album that’s going to be on this list. And to think this was leftovers from their previous record. Absolute legends.

I love the Who but the discussion about a A Quick One While He’s Asay is not only really long but SUPER creepy

I listened to Come On Eileen several times today. Didn’t vibe with the rest of this

I bought this album in 2008 from iTunes without hearing any song before from TV on the Radio. Crazy to think of in 2022, but such was the power of being promoted on the iTunes front page. Helps this is one of the best albums of the 2000s. Sounds so incredible. First half is all killer. The second half when it slows down a bit I check out a little, but it does keep the quality all the way through. *upon further research I think it may have been the glowing review in Pitchfork that drove me buy this. I actually thought they didn’t like TV on the Radio. Must have been someone else, I remeber reading in an article the author was talking about things that are garbage and they mentioned ‘TV on the Radio songs that aren’t about wolves’. What a weird dig lol

Real good

This is a perfect album for cruising around in the summer

Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore are divorced, and you're just the orphans left behind.

Did not jive with

Couldn’t vibe with this

Put me to sleep

Sultans of Swing do slap. The rest of the album sounds like the noodling you’d do to eventually reach writing that song.

R E S P E C T

Jeez have not got an interesting album in weeks

Seen all good people turn their heads each day

There was drum and there was bass

This is an album I have been dragging my heels on for nearly 10 years. I have no reason to have done so. I love Loveless. I knew MBV hadn’t made an album in a lifetime. I knew this album was getting rave reviews and appearing on year-end best of lists. What was I listening to instead in 2013? Mostly Foster the People, Naked and Famous and Two Door Cinema Club. I should have been listening to this, just vibe out to it in my old basement apartment. My Bloody Valentine I started listening to in my early 20s. I was in my third, maybe fourth year of university and while already a scholar of Britpop, I started digging deeper into some of the other bands that preceded the 90s boom. I loved those Ride albums. I love only Just Like Honey by the Jesus and Mary Chain(I cannot with the rest of their catalogue. I’m likely going to have to face Psychocandy at some point on this list). Even the revivalists Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. But the top is My Bloody Valentine and that album Loveless. I got into MBV most of all because their music weirdly sounded like music from Final Fantasy 7 (also had references with in game billboards) which I had been obsessed with 10 years earlier. I had also seen Lost in Translation during this period of my life and after that how could you not live shoegaze music. MBV (the album) sounds like a companion piece to Loveless. It still has that beautiful noise-pop sound going on and still manages to have catchy songs even though there is nearly always a wall of sound coming at you at all times. The winners here are she found out and only tomorrow. Truly wild that this group makes one of the best albums of all time, make everyone of their contemporaries look like musical morons, their record label drops them because they spent too much money, then come back nearly 20 years later and pitch a perfect game. I listened to this today while I mowed my lawn. I now have to schedule time when I can just lay on the floor, put this on an iPod, completely vibe out and become 24 again

Clapton is cancelled. I’m going to use this space to bemoan the lack of Shania Twain on this list. Best selling country artist ever, radio staples that have somehow got better with age and a career arc for the ages. Show some god damn respect.

When I started reading music magazines and criticism in the early 2000s, Revolver would be usually listed as the best Beatles album, and usually best album overall of all time. I think I still consider this my favourite Beatles album, but I’ll be listening to the rest of them during the list so I’ll follow up. Really interesting now with the changing tastes in popular music criticism that I don’t think Revolver would be in the top 20 albums list in Rolling Stone. Further, that they would likely list something like Help! or Hard Days Night as their best. I think the notion was in the early 2000s that music that was difficult, non-populist was automatically graded better as the more straightforward, crowd pleasing fare. Revolver is by no means a difficult album. It has Yellow Submarine on it for Gods sake. The deal is though that this is really when the Beatles started exploring what they could do beyond the confines of a record that would translate to being played live on tour. I also realized listening to this today for the first time in like 10 years that this record was so much more influential during the Britpop and post Britpop UK rock music. Oasis obviously, but as well as Kasabian, Coldplay and Keane. Now if younger artists are ribbing anything from the Beatles it’s likely from their first few albums. Crazy how the circle of influence from one band continues going. In another 20 years Revolver will once again sit in the highest esteem of the Beatles output and likely at the top of the Rolling Stone album list. For now though we can enjoy this for what it is, a amazing constructed collection of songs from a band that is going in different directions and succeeding because of it.

I am very pleased this album is a part of the list. I listened to the excellent episode of Bandsplained they did on Sheryl and I really came to appreciate her music and career arc. But I had assumed that this would be a situation of one of the best selling albums of the decade with inescapable radio play and music videos on all the time but not critically appreciated. Much like the situation in this book of Shania Twain. Really like All I Wanna Do, Strong Enough and Can’t Cry Anymore. While it’s not on this record, If It Makes You Happy is top 10 (maybe 5) of the 90s.

Had never heard of this band. Put this on during my drive home today and was enjoying it, but was trying to put my finger on why I recognized the sound. When the first second of ‘Weather With You’ came on it all clicked into place. Enjoyable music. Don’t know that I’ll go back to it

Based on the album art art, title and first song I was not interested in this. Really good album afterwards though. Going to be listening to this more.

Gran Turismo menu music

Cant You Hear Me Knocking, while being on the best songs ever, is easy shorthanded in movies to communicate sleazy business goings-on.

Hell yea

Thank you to the person who wrote the review about 28 star for this album-one for every wife. Sent me on a very enjoyable Wikipedia rabbit hole.

I have it a shot but Van Morrison is still not for me

REM is another band I know enough about, and like we’ll enough, but haven’t owned any of their albums. Probably should given how much I like Tragically Hip and the comparisons people make about these bands. This album is really good. Every song on the run from the start is so solid, up until The One I Love. Then. It looses steam a little bit and peters out to finish. But overall still really fun. Looking forward to listening to more of their albums now

This album is great and lead to influencing some of my favourite acts. The observation I have is well I think Connection is the song that has endured in pop culture longer, Stutter has been seriously underserved. I still hear Connection used in movies and commercials. I was of the opinion that the Captain Marvel trailer should have you Stutter in it instead of Connection. I realize why it wasn’t chosen, as being a song about male impotence. I would also probably would have made the movie seem more exciting than I actually was. My question remains, though, why isn’t Stutter having a resurgence at this moment? Absolutely seems like a song that Olivia Rodrigo would cover on tour right now.

You know there’s a bunch of albums on this list I’ve had where there’s one iconic song and the rest is pretty forgettable. The first 5 songs on this one are now all timers. Crystallized is about as perfect as a pop song can be. The rest of this record I feel looses steam in the second half. I can’t imagine eating this anything less than 5 stars. It’s an essential part of the 2000s alternative canon. (I might have only heard it first in 2011 but who cares) I’m not going to find who to attribute it to, but I once read with The XX it’s more important the notes they don’t play (truly terrible take, up there with calling music life affirming). I’ve also heard this music called really simple. What it is is very precise, accurately built. Have not given the other XX (or Jamie XX) albums a chance after this one. I suspect I’m going to be listening to them at some point either in this list or otherwise.

Did not realize that this was Björk’s old band. Easy to see why she popped out of this, which sounds like Birthday.

I said a few weeks ago on this list that The Suburbs by Arcade Fire was the definitive millennial rock album. After listening to Sound of Silver today maybe 3 times I don’t think I was wrong, but I really had to give my statement some thought. I had known most of the big LCD Soundsystem songs but had never listened to any of their albums all the way through. I think I had also maybe seriously started listening to them in 2010 when they were wrapping up the band for the first time. This was such a triumph to listen to. Starts strong, doesn’t ever lose steam and is the rare album that saves its strongest song for the end. I’m not into dance or electronic music (although have dug some of the records on this list) but this just transcends a bunch of genres into its own thing. It has the elements of scrappy garage rock that make it so exciting and immediate, and the the repetition of rave and dance that just puts you in a higher state of being. This is the music of being a young dirtbag in the city, living away from home for the first time and feeling invincible before your back starts hurting. Amazing supplemental material to this album: the Franz Ferdinand cover of All My Friends is so good. Amazing song for Franz. In addition: the video on YouTube of New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down with Kermit singing. Seemingly the official video? I would give 6 stars if I could.

Gen Z masterpiece. Can’t argue with this being on the top 10 of the 2010s. So sick of music snobs who over the past few years discount anything Jack Antonoff has been involved with. This is her album, get over yourselves assholes.

I was probably not going to listen to this album today. I have been jazzed about the last few albums. I got on this list, and I had a bunch of other stuff that I was going to spend my time listening to today. Also, this album was longer than an hour, which usually reduces my excitement to listen to it. I still give thid Hey a shot later in the afternoon at holy shit. This was one of the biggest prizes on this list for me. Had never heard of this guy, he never seen this album. And I can’t find a lot on the history of this album, there’s a Wikipedia article, but it’s more about the political content that made its way into his songs. I’m finding it adjacent to Primal Scream. It’s an album like this that makes me heat bands the call them self psychedelic rock. Because most the time they’re just fooling around on instruments and playing music that is intentionally obtuse. This kind of stuff though on Peggy Suicide is the real psychedelic as it has amazing, musical complexity, and structure, but while you’re listening to it, just transports your mind somewhere different. I also thought that I was probably gonna drop this down star because it was going on for so long, and I thought it was going to overstay as welcome. But this thing keeps its flow, the entire way through, and wins a big finish, which I love to see on an album. It’s a strategy that basically dead tnow in 2022. Amazing album and if anyone was thinking of skipping over it, I would advise against it

Smooth operator

Masterpiece Meg White you are a master. Good for you for taking care of yourself. This album contains some of my favourite musical moments; -Seven Nation Army opening -the sustained feedback on There’s No Home For You Here -The solos on Ball and Biscuit -I got a backyard with nothing in it, except a stick, a dog and a box with something in it. We are poorer for not having the White Stripes in our lives anymore. The bands that followed in their wake never really reached their heights. Jack Whites fine on his own, but there’s something about the raw, deliberate energy the Stripes had. I listened to this album twice today. Does not seem like it’s going to be 20 years old next year; most stuff on alternative radio hasn’t evolved since what these two put out. Incredible lineup of music videos that went with this album too. Seven Nation Army is still incredible to look at.

Sorry wasn’t feeling this. Kraft week is a band I feel like I should be in and just have not cracked.

Young Americans is an all timer

Smooth Criminal is so good

Jamiroquai has some amazing singles (Virtual Insanity, Canned Heat, Deeper Underground) but then I listen to their albums and forget they’re a jazz-funk outfit. And the rest of the albums are digressions into that. Not for me

What can I say that has been said about the absolute piece of art? I legitimately think this is the best British rock album ever. And I say this as a fan of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. I hadn’t heard this album in full in a few years. I think I had listened to it in passing at the start of the pandemic. The thing that I forgot about it is how pretty much every song has some sort of change in direction that elevates them from pretty good to just amazing. Like in Shoot You Down the pause and then key change for the ‘I never wanted …the live that you gave me’ part. It’s such and amazing surprise after thinking I knew how this whole album goes and then realizing they still have more to show. You can say the Stone Roses legacy is tarnished because they never reached this height again, but neither has anyone else.

Remember Duffy? The Welsh singer who popped up the mid 2000s? She has those songs Warwick Avenue and Mercy which got pretty big radio play and I’m pretty sure she was a musical guest at one point on SNL. I had stock in her as I was sure she was going to blow up. She seemed an obvious choice to do a Bond theme too. Well she got market-corrected by Adele a couple years later and had this massive album and put out what many now consider the best Bond theme song. This album is undeniable. Nearly every song became a radio staple, it plays like a greatest hits record.

The title track is the music from the excellent trailer to GTA 5. Everything else I really didn’t connect to.

Man I really like so much of Sly and the Family Stone. This really didn’t grab me.

Weird detail but here it is. Rock and Roll Band is my favourite song to play in Rock Band

In 2005(?) I saw Pearl Jam in Toronto. The whole night Eddie Vedder was making jokes thanking U2 for opening for them, as they had done concerts the previous 2 nights. At the end of the concert, they started playing Keep On Rocking in the Free World and a guy in a cowboy hat came out on stage and was dancing along. We at first thought it was Neil Young (we were sitting at the farthest seat at ACC, now Scotiabank Arena). Neil Young though had just had brain surgery so no doctor would have cleared him. We then realized it was Bono. To my recollection, Eddie sang the first verse and corus alongside Bono, then Eddie passed the mic to Bono to sing the next verse. I don’t think Bono knew the lyrics to the song because he just started rambling sort of in time to the music? Then continued dancing. Great night overall. This album is amazing. Not their best but an amazing and worthy follow up to one of the greatest records of all time.

Really good stuff. I remember when this came out and it was a complete surprise as he hadn’t hade an album for 10 years. Bangs out 2 albums with 0 warning they were coming, then exits this mortal coil. Legend.

That’s the way it is

Yacht rock

Watch the movie Singles this week, so I was definitely in the mood for some Grunge

POV: You installed Windows XP on your Compaq Presario

I mean I wasn’t in to it but at least it was short

I’ve complained that albums on this list have one song that is essential and the rest are pretty forgettable. This is on where the first track is undeniable and gives the whole album enough power to be called essential, even if the rest of it is not great. I can appreciate Psychocandy for the sound they pioneered, mostly for the other bands such as My Bloody Valentine and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club who went on to make better music.

Really did not think I was going to like this but you know what, I was actually in to it. I see people reviewing this saying they’re getting Barenaked Ladies vibes to this. I think we’re all picking up an early BNL vibe that may not have actually existed. I can see where they’re coming from though.

Early entry into best of the decade. I definitely listened to this one around the time it came out as the province was going into another lockdown. Related so hard to these emotions, but also felt like it was so disconnected from our reality at the time; as in we didn’t have real experiences with each other anymore during covid.

If these two boys are calling you from a pay phone, hang up and call the police

Truly a formative album for me so it’s getting 5 stars. By the time that I started getting into rock and alternative music, Blair, we’re on the self titled album add Song 2 was all over the place. As a Canadian millennial, blur his first and foremost, known for their inclusion on Big Shiny Tunes 2-a truly formative text for us. I was unaware at the time that the direction Blur were heading in musically at that point was a departure from the previous sound. I started getting into this album Parklife when I started to do a real deep dive on Oasis and then by extension their Britpop peers. I listen to this album today and felt like I needed to immediately follow it up with the first two Oasis albums. I hadn’t heard any of these in 10 years and wanted to see how time had affected my perception of them. The Oasis albums are undeniable and have an amazing energy that even that band could not replicate. They are both masterpieces. Parklife though is so interesting. Lyrically it is so much more complex and actually dives into real subjects in songs instead of feelings, you can tell that these are very much more accomplished musicians working at the height of their powers. I believe I talked about this during my review of the self titled blur album, but I was at what was at the time meant to be the last blur show during their late 2000s reunion at T in the Park in Scotland in 2009. They nearly had to cancel the show, because Graham Coxon had food poisoning, and apparently had come right from the hospital to the venue amazing euphoric experience, though, as that crowd was primed to see blur, I had brought a bunch of signs for them, including someone with one of the milk carton guys on a stick that he was holding up in the crowd. The band did go on hiatus but then returned about five years later with a new album. But I was so proud that I had managed to see Blur before they had broken up. A few weeks earlier to the show, I had also seen oasis in Edinburgh. It was to be one of their last concerts before they broke up that fall. This is going to seem inconsequential to most people, but I was given advice on concerts from a coworker, Jason I have never forgot. He had gotten tickets to go see Pearl Jam, and wanted to know if I wanted to buy one of the tickets. The day of the concert, I had class the next day and was not doing great in school that year. Jason told me that whenever I had an opportunity to see a band, I should always take it. He said you would never know if they were going to break up before you got a chance to see them again. Thanks to him, I got to see the two Titans of Brit Pop in the UK, something I would likely never gonna get to do again. This is turned out to be the best advice in my life. Thanks, Jason.

An album I like but don’t love. I remember in the mid 2000s feeling like I should love this album and was listening to it on repeat. Eventually it sort of clicked for me and I understood what they were trying to do. But The Bends, OK Computer and In Rainbows are still my top Radiohead albums. If you have a PS5, that KIDAMNESIAC app which is basically a virtual art exhibit is essential.

Knew the name Badly Dawn Boy but didn’t even know what type of music they played. Started out not liking this then eventually clicked with it. Apparently they had members of the band Doves play on this so I can see the lineage.

Listened to this at work on a rainy Thursday morning. Such a vibe.

Go off, Bongo King 👑

Essential cooking music.

Masterpiece. Likely in my top 10 of all time.

I have a lot to say about Maps although this album as a whole is absolutely essential. Maps is the best song of the 2000s. Represents so much about the time with garage rock revival. The amount of power it outputs is incredible. All done by drums and guitar which (with all due respect) are not using too many notes and vocals which are sparse. The economy and precision are unmatched. The music video is an essential part of this equation too. Bringing in my own baggage and knowing the story of the filming of the video and the emotional place Karen O was in, I have never been able to hold it together once she starts tearing up. Just incredible myth making stuff. This is what we come to music for. Speaking of the video, it warms my heart to see so many of the YouTube comments talking about playing this song in Rock Band. Maps is really the essential song to the Rock Band experience. It’s simple enough that anyone can play along with it. Anyone who does though is just going to wail away on the instruments or vocals and unload all their angst and heartbreak into hitting those 5 notes. Stroke of genius putting it into the first game. Maps. They don’t love you like I love you

Amazing stuff. Meant to listen to this when it hit and was getting widespread critical acclaim. This doesn’t sound like anything else. Has the charm of a homemade album (done in GarageBand) but has the precision and intent most studio albums can’t match.

An album I’ve meant to listen to for years. I’ve seen this album cover in music stores for decades, seen it listed in music magazines but never gave it a chance. What a record though, so happy I have heard it in its entirety. But I would have been so in to this when I was in my 90s renaissance phase in my teens/early 20s. I love Last Goodbye so much.

Can’t be random I got this album this week lol. I was not into Kanye in 2010. I knew him from the songs that would be on the radio or MuchMusic but had never listened to any of his albums. I picked this one after hearing Ryan Davis (RIP) talk about this on the GiantBombcast podcast. His pitch was this album was justifying his craziness over the last year. This is also one of the last albums I’ve purchased on CD (I think I had later a Black Crows greatest hits once when I rented a car with no auxiliary port) This is a massive accomplishment. It’s so aggressive and angry, and while the man might not seem it now, it’s all directed inward. So many standouts but the one that has stuck with me over the last 12 years is Hell Of A Life. That bass hook and piano(?) run are just incredible. I really got into the album in February 2011 when I was in Vancouver, where it should be completely snowed in but it was mostly just foggy. I am always immediately transported back to that time and place whenever I put this song on. I’m going to have to come to terms with these landmark records by problematic people as I get deeper into this list. I have Funeral by Arcade Fire I know will be coming up I’m going to have to tackle. Can we separate art from the artist? I don’t know if we can. I listen to Michael Jackson now and I feel guilty for liking it. In spite of this, I would still be putting this one on my top 10 albums of all time. It is what it is.

Hotel lobby music

When you don’t really have a good hook for a song but you’re just gonna put more backup singers and different instruments on top, and you just shove it across the finish line. And I like a lot of other Rod Stewart

Sorry Bob wasn’t into this one

Bodhisattva good but I could leave the rest

I had this one on a few weeks ago and completely forgot Street Spirit was the cap to the record. I get people like OK Computer, but how do they not rank this just as high? This is likely my favourite Radiohead album. Definitely my most played. I think about this album cover image all the time.

I want Homeward Bound played at my funeral

One if favourite albums of the 2000s. On any given day I would change the order of my ranking this, The Bends or OK Computer. I remember when this was announced with the pay what you want scheme. I was a piece of shit and paid $0 for this for the download. Quickly became one of my most played albums, and I eventually bought the physical special edition CD. Bodysnatchers is the standout here for me and I always forget how hard it goes whenever I put on In Rainbows The Reckoner cover by Gnarls Barkley is essential listening.

I get it. The Beatles are slaves to the system at this point and have to crank out several records a year. So this is a pretty slight record. All My Loving is really good though. This is also top tier Beatles album covers though

Pet Shop Boys don’t do it for me

I like Metallica but the symphony was just doing too much

This is actually the last album I have purchased on CD. I had a rental car through work in 2011 and it didn’t have a auxiliary port and this was before Bluetooth was standard. I needed some music so found this at Best Buy.

The first Undertones records was one of my first big discoveries in this list. This one is really good too.

Nope.

Not for me

Liked it a lot. I think I had this one built up too much from years of seeing it listed on top of greatest albums lists and such. Doesn’t quiet reach those heights for me. Pastime Paradise, Feel It All Over and Isn’t She Lovely are all timers.

Pour your misery down on me

Alice is Chains is one of the bands I expected to fully appreciate from this list as I hadn’t really dove into them before. I liked some some songs on this but mostly just couldn’t vibe with the singer.

Pretty sure I’ve heard this one played at my barber shop

Never heard the whole thing but it’s apparent that pretty much all rock after this was just trying to recreate this album

I’m going to be rating this one 5 by default. I’m from central Ontario and I’ve worked at a lumber yard when I was younger. What do you want from me. Has some all time classics and some truly bizarre diversions. A Man Needs A Maid is so such a weird song with the orchestra and him singing about needing a cleaner for his house?

This just rolled right off me. Forgot I had it playing in the background. And I love Unknown Pleasures

Top 10 essentials of the 2000s First heard of White Stripes from the Fell In Love With a Girl video. While I think I do like Elephant a bit better than this, this one is incredible for the energy and arrangements. I watched a couple of videos breaking down Meg Whites drumming style and had a greater appreciation for her contributions to White Stripes sound. And I think it’s why I just haven’t connected with any other of Jack Whites projects.

Holding on to What’s Golden

I knew this group had more in them than Lovefool but there are some real bangers on this one.

I have kept trying to get into Metallica, and while Enter Sandman rips, the rest is just so plodding and repetitive. Can’t do it.

This was a big surprise. I thought they were a one hit wonder with There She Goes. But this sounds more at home on 2022 Indie Rock radio than 1990

The announcer really did Sarah dirty by announcing at the stop she would be using lyric sheets. Otherwise all I’m hearing is Mya Rudolph doing scat improv here.

Likely my most listened to and I’m pretty sure favourite album. I started listening to Oasis seriously at the end of high school, but really in university. This was also in 2004, once they had gone through several lineup changes and pop culture had more or less moved past them. I think it’s because I was so into the Beatles in high school that I eventually migrated to Oasis. I had a ton of memories come back today while listening, mostly playing this on my iPod on the city bus back and forth from university. In 2009 before graduating university I went on a month long trip to England and Scotland, mostly on a self administered Britpop tour. I actually had never seen Oasis live up to that point, so my first day landing in Scotland I had a ticket to see them in Edinburgh, with The Enemy, Reverend and the Makers and Kasabian opening for them. That solo trip now seems impossible I did without a smartphone, but I landed in Edinburg, I think walked to my hostel (some student dorms in the summer) and then took a bus not knowing where it was even going and I guess just expecting I would end up at the stadium? Maybe I just followed the crowds of drunk hooligans singing Oasis songs. After the show, I walked back to the hostel, again not knowing where the hell I was going and not recognizing any landmarks. How did I do that?! I had also been up for 36 hours between flight time. I remember trying to use my calling card to dial back to Canada to tell my parent I had arrived, and crying that I couldn’t figure out the card. To be in your 20s in a pre smartphone age. Anyways the show was amazing and they tore the place apart. Later when I was in London I took an afternoon to find the street this album shot was taken. Surprisingly not a lot of fanfare-there was one record store that had the Morning Glory record in their window. But compared to the current Abbey Road there’s nothing. Some Might Say is just perpetually underrated.

Barely registered this was playing.

Price was just feeling himself on this and the grooves kept going.

So I was not going to listen to this today. I’ve been getting burnt out on pre-80s albums I have no context for and I misread and thought this album came out in 1977. I know Ash because they’ve had a song or two in Gran Turismo. But that’s it. This music I am such a sucker for; the noisey pop-rock. Adding this album to my regular rotation.

Just hands down the best thing produced between the 4 Beatles post breakup. What Is Life in particular is such an incredible triumph. I realize its widespread usage in romantic comedy trailers, but somehow it’s only gained power over the years. I write this the week that the trailer came out for Are You There God It’s Me Margaret came out, which uses this song to amazing effect.

Sound of Silver was my number 1 discovery from going through this list last year. Jumped to my most played album of 2022. I had known LCD Soundsystem enough before, could likely name 5 of their songs and at least the name of their albums. I would always tune in whenever they were the musical guest on SNL. 2022 I really made LCD Sound System one of my bands though. I suspect part of it was that my favourite band (Arcade Fire) had some bad press this year and I haven’t sorted my feelings about following them. American Dream is incredible. It sounds so much wider and deeper than their previous albums. Call The Police and other voices I think are my favourites. This one still has that LCD thing where a song is just grooving and pounding along for a while and the second they have a key change your head just explodes. Love it. Really hope they put out a new album. New Body Rhumba they did for White Noise is incredible and deserves the Oscar.

I was calm afterwards I’m old enough to remember when this swept the Grammys seemingly out of know where. Thus I think I’ve heard most of this album in the ensuing 20 years from how much it was played specifically at Chapters.

One of the first CDs I owned was the Armageddon soundtrack my parents got me for Christmas. I hadn’t even seen the movie. The album was mostly Aerosmith or Aerosmith adjacent bands. Honestly didn’t expect this album to come up but it makes sense. This has all their second wave big hits. I will say though listening to this album in the head of January winter makes no sense. This is made for June driving.

More Than A Whisper just knocked me on my ass

Had never heard of this band or album. Looked them up later and realized this is Steve Albini’s band so makes sense it’s on this list. Pretty good noise punk

I was here for the vibes…not much else

It could be ten, but then again I can't remember half an hour since a quarter to four Throw on your clothes, the second side of Surfer Rosa and you leave me with my jaw on the floor

Ayayayayay

Remember how the surviving members of Queen made a movie about the band and made themselves look loyal to their families and threw Freddie under the bus.

2004. What a time. I listened to this album a bunch when it came out. Being Canadian there wasn’t much exposure on the Streets or Mike Skinner but I remember they played the video for Fit But You Know It on Muchmusic once and I had to find out who this was. This thing is about being a cringy 20-something in the 21st century. I have to rate it 5 stars as I was one of these people!

This is one of the rare records that feels like it’s been in my life forever and also is older than I think it is. I remember this coming out and the first time I heard Rehab. I already knew about Amy Winehouse, and had heard one or two songs but mostly knew her from the tabloids already being obsessed with her. Classic example of an artist making a splash with their first record, but then tightening everything up and just laying down a masterpiece to build on their previous LP. The production is so on point here and her vocals are just soaring.

Remember, the first time at heard about Suede I was watching a documentary on Brit Pop and Noel Gallagher said that when the song animal nitrate came out, he was pissed because he thought that he was about two weeks away from writing that song. I think about that all the time what a wild thing to say

So horny

Going to rate this 4 stars purely for Zero (a song I still have on running playlists 14 years going). The rest of this though is really trying to reach that height and just not making it. What else can I say.

So I know why this is included on the list. But I was thinking; say I had to come up with a list of the 100 greatest Canadian albums, I likely would not put the last Tragically Hip album in there. Made under similar circumstances where they have a person involved who knows their time is up. Anyways I really didn’t connect with any of these songs.

Good jams but I had my fill pretty quickly

This album was a mainstay during my original iPod (technically 3rd Gen, blue screen, black text unit) in the late 2000s. Haven’t heard it all the way through since then. I read some of the other reviews before listening again and was surprised so many people were rating it pretty low. Came to the realization that Urban Hymns falls in the same category that I’ve read a bunch of different albums on this list as far as well too. Mostly songs go on way way way too long. I think it’s definitely I was grooving to it during that time because I would be listening with nothing else really going on. Maybe riding the bus home or something. Bittersweet Symphony is obviously the centrepiece and main draw on this one. The lyrics, although pretty simple, are just purely elemental at this point. I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me. I remember in the late 2000s when the Verge reunited and people were in awe of how good Bittersweet Symphony sounded after it, not really being in his eye guys for the past 10 years. I’ve always thought that that is the songs legacy, when you hear it for the first time in a while you’re bowled over by how big it is. I think the only song that’s come close in the past 25 years is The Mother We Share by Chvrches. Equally of a time and already nostalgia triggering. Otherwise, Lucky Man is a song made for walking around during golden hour. And the drugs don’t work is an incredibly depressing song that still works. The Verve are definitely a band You have to listen to more passively, in the background to truly vibe with I don’t know if this is a truly great album, but I am going to give it five stars. It’s firmly in the canon of my musical upbringing.

This is peak stereo-shelf system with 5 disc changer, AM/FM and dual cassette era music. If you know you know. Definitely Coldplays best. I did actually listen to X&Y afterwards thinking that was the inferior album. It’s just more of it’s time. Still pretty good though actually.

This one was a surprised I really had fun with this!

An album I like but don’t love. Connected more to Becks next two albums

Really enjoyed this. Currently listening to the episode of Bandsplain about Pavement and it’s giving me some good context.

Great album with a bunch of hits on it. I had given this one a listen nearly 20 years ago because I was reading that Kurt Cobain biography Heavier Than Heaven and this album was listed as one of Kurt’s favourite growing up.

Basic restaurant music

Sounds like those throat singers from Dune

What if I got really into Lraftwerk. Their fans seem really cool

I recognize this is a landmark album. But I did not really even register this album. Don’t know enough about Nas or rap at the time.

Not my favourite Police album but still good.

I listened to this on my HomePod today and it’s in Dolby Atmos on Apple Music. The quality of it made me regret I started buying vinyl records. Truly reference level shit.

I guess the vibes were good. This is the most recommended album from all the music services algorithms I’ve had. Really had no idea what to expect on this one. I expect I should have just laid on my floor and listened to this instead. Maybe I’ll still do that.

No shame in saying my first exposure to this album was from SSX Tricky.

I was actually in a store deciding wether to buy this on vinyl or not. This is one of those albums I’ve heard so much I barely process it as music anymore, more just a series of sounds. Especially with a bunch of tracks being used for Rock Band I’m more thinking about the individual notes and structure. I hadn’t heard this whole thing through in at least 10 years. There really isn’t a lull, it’s maxed out all the way through.

I got super into this album in high school with my friend Alex let this be his copy on CD, and the DVD of the Classic Albums episode on this. Haven’t heard this in probably 15 years. Every track still rips. I forgot how John Lydon just tries to stuff as much extra lyrical content in as a song is wrapping up.

I hate doing this but it’s not a good listen. These skits. I don’t know what they were thinking.

I mean Life on Mars is on this.

Wow what a record. I had known really only of Living Colour from Guitar Hero but this vibe of rock was just what I needed. Driving around in the first sunlight we’ve seen in Ontario for the last 6 months was 😘👌

First two tracks are all timers. Father Figure is an incredible song. The rest: ah I didn’t dig. 4 stars tho still