Heartbreaking: Another potentially amazing modern pop album held back by generic, soulless production. Still catchy and an unabashedly queer, decently fun listen though. Belongs on the original list, and I can honestly see it getting added in the newest edition (Brat is absolutely getting on, right?). "HOT TO GO!" was great. Just really hoping to one day get to hear a modern pop album that doesn't sound like a slab of processed ham.

Yeah, now that's the shit. An absolutely insane omission from the original list - both this, and Lateralus. I'd say this is their best album. Hits the perfect middle ground between the heavier Undertow and the proggier Lateralus. "Third Eye" is the best song they've ever done. That refrain will never not give me chills.

Not really the biggest fan. It's just kind of pointless noodling for an hour. I have nothing against jam bands (that Phish live album on this list was pretty good!), but I couldn't find anything here to latch onto. Very nondescript vocals, lyrics and guitar playing. It's like a jam band with default presets and no sauce. The most interesting moments were when they quoted some famous songs, like the Pink Panther or Ghostbusters themes. That was pretty cool. Also some meta bullshit: I think some users forget that nobody is forcing them to listen to these albums at gunpoint. There is literally zero reason to tell someone to rethink their life choices over an album choice, lmao

🫲😩🫲 Not bad. Kinda generic.

Thank you for the user album submission, Robert Dimery.

Hello, just arrived in this realm. This is my first user album. I probably won't do the entire thing, but I'm excited to see what interesting stuff got submitted! This was a very fun Latin album. I know next to nothing about this kind of music, but I fuck with it. Insane amount of variety for an hour long album. All that was missing was a random Grindcore song to tie it all nicely together.

Fuckers took a bite of my horse, can't have shit in Detroit. Very, very slow. Not my type of folk.

I really love how insane this album is. Some of it works better, some of it falls completely flat on its face, but the one thing that's consistent, is that you have no clue what the next song is going to be. Gotta be the only album in existence to have both the "Baroque Pop" and the "Hip Hop" tags in its Wikipedia infobox.

It's like a generic 80s synthpop album, but with the twist that the lyrics sound like something you'd find written in a public toilet stall. Just to be clear, that's not a bad thing. It is a bit of a jarring combination though.

I saw the genre name for this was "Neo-Prog". My mind went to stuff like Cardiacs and Black Midi, but all I got was U2. This is one sleigh bell away from being actual Christmas music. Not a fan.

Yeah, now that's the shit. An absolutely insane omission from the original list - both this, and Lateralus. I'd say this is their best album. Hits the perfect middle ground between the heavier Undertow and the proggier Lateralus. "Third Eye" is the best song they've ever done. That refrain will never not give me chills.

I like post-hardcore, but man, this guy is only capable of yelling in one specific tone and it makes everything blend together so much. Very repetitive and very depressing. Wasn't in the mood for something like this right now. Rarely am. Interesting choice though.

Great choice! Crazy how there are NO Emo/Emo-Pop albums on the original list. Just an entire subgenre (one of the most popular ones of all time) completely ignored because Robert Dimery said that "he doesn't like this kind of music". Weak. The children love it and the children crave more of it. I am the children. This shit rocks. 4/5.

"Me and Your Mama" and "Redbone" are great, but nothing else really stuck in my mind... Except for that one song with unfathomably dogshit autotune that completely ruins the vibe of the record and made me burst out laughing. It's alright though. A completely fine album, and a better and more worthy pick than like 90% of the 2010s albums on the actual list.

Family Guy cutaway music. Props to the guy who submitted this though.

"Picaresque" is one of my favorite albums, but I've never bothered to check out the rest of the Decemberists' catalogue, so this was a fun listen. Interesting rock opera, way more proggy than I expected. Very "Central European fairytale"-esque plot. Cool pick!

Factory settings country music.

To cite my almost 3 year old review of the EW&F album that was on the original list: "Listening to Earth, Wind & Fire gives me the same vibes as watching UFO sightings on Youtube." Still haven't figured out what that truly means, but it's true. Anyways, this is pretty alright.

Album cover goes hard as fuck. Screenshotted and shared with my 32-year-old grandson "Félipé" immediately. Unique vocal style for this kind of punk. Was there even any 90s pop-punk on the original list other than Green Day? Guess there wasn't any space for it, because god forbid somebody dies without hearing all three Dexys Midnight Runners albums. Whatever, this slaps. Great pick!

World music is always appreciated, but this was kinda annoying.

Thank you for the user album submission, Robert Dimery.

This is like submitting "Air Bud" to a 1001 Movies List, but I deeply respect that, and I'm all here for it. Actually way more fun and consistent than I expected. Sampling "Lullaby" by The Cure is a nutty choice.

Getting an album with the opening track "The New Year" on December 31st. Cute indie, nothing special though. I was also under the impression that this was an Emo band, so it was a bit of a surprise when Owl City Man 2.0 came in with the vocals.

For an album that seems to put so much effort into its sequencing, this felt like a completely incomprehensible disjointed mess. Too ambitious for its own good. Overlong, boring. Still has some standouts though, like "3005". I like the fart synths on that one.

Heartbreaking: Another potentially amazing modern pop album held back by generic, soulless production. Still catchy and an unabashedly queer, decently fun listen though. Belongs on the original list, and I can honestly see it getting added in the newest edition (Brat is absolutely getting on, right?). "HOT TO GO!" was great. Just really hoping to one day get to hear a modern pop album that doesn't sound like a slab of processed ham.

Very chill jazz. Would have personally gone for "Chet Baker Sings" for a Chet album. Guy was both a great trumpeter and a singer. Don't do three trillion kilograms of heroin, kids.

Not much of anything. Forgettable alt-country.

I was going to say that this sounds suspiciously similar to Les Rallizes Dénudés, and as it turns out, the lead singer was in a LRD cover band (and like 30 other bands, holy shit). "Sticky Hulks" especially, with its screeching psychedelic guitars, the vocal effects, the intonation. The inspiration is extremely clear. Amazing, loved it. Definitely not what I was expecting from the album cover. Strong 4/5!

His second best album, love the guy's work. Amazing, beautiful, heart wrenching. Five outta five.

I thought The Posies were a really generic pop rock band for some reason, but this was not that. Surprisingly very solid. Some darker alt rock is always a good time. Cool shit. 4/5.

Dob Bylan. These guys had an album on the original list as well, but I can't remember anything about it. This sounds vaguely like The Postal Service sung by a Bob Dylan homunculus. It's alright. Not anything I'd ever revisit though.

Inexplicably unavailable on streaming in Europe (same thing for their debut). Less post-punk and catchy hits, but way more cheese. I think the original list's B-52's was enough.

I sadly couldn't get any enjoyment out of this, because I'm still lost on the fact whether MF DOOM is a dangerous evil villain feared by many and if Spider-Man is after him. I think one more 3 minute long skit of 50s cartoon characters talking could have really brought this one together. Also, obligatory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THOUT3vZnSY

"This sounds like Elvis Costello" is the scariest possible sentence to see when you first open the reviews before listening to this. Slightly better than Elvis Costello, but maybe that's only because this one doesn't carry the "Oh god, I still have to listen to 5 more of these" weight that getting an Elvis Costello album album meant on the original list.

This sure was a bunch of very quiet 10-minute long French songs.

More painfully average 80s music with one big hit and a whole bunch of nothing. Sorry, not a fan in the slightest.

Cool stuff! -50 points, because now I'm going to have "Lady Marmalade" stuck in my head for a week.

Inferior version of the Persona 3 soundtrack.

A fine addition to my "What the fuck is this and why does it slap so hard" collection that I am slowly accumulating by going through these user submitted albums. Also a worthy addition to the "Albums that sound the least like their album covers" list. Extremely unexpected but welcome Ska Punk jumpscare.

This was sort of like listening to dust and cobwebs.

Donkey Kong Country music. Pretty interesting, despite the fact that I don't exactly dig this sort of electronic music. The Kate Bush cover was surprisingly really well made. "Tick of the Clock" was the standout though. Despite being 15 minutes of roughly the same thing, it's strangely hypnotizing.

Damn, and I thought I was kind of crossing the treshold for submitting that 80-minute Cardiacs album. Can't stand this dude. I could hardly sit through "Born to Run". Listening to an over 2 hours long Bruce Springsteen live album is an actual Tartarus punishment for my wicked soul.

Wasn't expecting to be listening to Australian Aboriginal music today, but what a great surprise. The guy who submitted this understood the assignment. A hidden gem. Thank you for sharing this.

Not something for me, but I see the appeal. Personally found the singer's voice kind of grating and everything too samey. I'm probably not American enough for this.

I think I prefer his debut "We Cool?" a bit more, but there's no denying that this guy's probably the best and most consistent modern pop-punk artist. Four outta five. I'm a sucker for this kind of thing.

Mr. President, a second two-hour long live album has hit the user-submitted albums. Okay, you know what, fuck it. I AM in the mood for this today. Bring it on. (2 hours later) That was not so bad. Wish more of this was as psychedelic as "Stash" and spent less time on pointless noodling like the entirety of "You Enjoy Myself" and "Tweezer" (the two longest songs, ugh). Still, I'm really surprised it kept my attention all the way through.

Other reviews mention this not being on Spotify, but I personally found it in one search, so I think it's just a region-locking issue? This is awesome. Very interesting backstory as well. More African albums are always appreciated.

Pretty good hip hop. Very Tupac-esque. I've heard of this before, but never listened to it. From the praise I've seen this get, I was expecting something more envelope-pushing, I think. Still an interesting listen though.

Primus was totally robbed a spot from the original list, same with Ween. I demand more bullshit music like this. Not as good as "Frizzle Fry", probably even "Pork Soda", but a worthy inclusion and a great time. Strong 4/5.

Listening to this album reminded me of how it feels to not be listening to an album.

A bit too overly-dramatic for me to file this under the best music genre of all time - "goofy medieval music". Also, this is going to be extremely specific, but it reminded me too much of music you'd find in Youtube compilations titled something like "Royalty Free Viking Music For Your D&D Campaign 10 Hours (No Ads)". 2/5, but a weird kind of 2/5, because I can tell that I would have absolutely loved it with some production tweaks.

Dollar store Eddie Vedder. Genuinely can't tell if this is supposed to be a parody album.

Some of that goofy shit, love to see it. I've only heard "Only a Lad" by Oingo Boingo before and while I think I prefer that one, this was absolutely groovy as hell. Knows how to stand out, which is a super important thing when it comes to New Wave.

🫲😩🫲 Not bad. Kinda generic.

Gizzing so hard right now. Not only do King Gizzard deserve a spot on the list, they feel like a band that should have at least 3 albums on there with their insanely diverse discography. This is 42 minutes of raw energy. It's one of the most pure fun albums ever recorded and one of the best of the 2010s by one of the most hard-working bands of all time. Easy 5/5. Also recommend "I'm In Your Mind Fuzz" to anyone who liked this and would like to hear more.

Fartstep. Pretty minimalistic krautrock. Very gloopy, very bloopy.

Every second, this album throws a coin to decide whether it wants to be indie rock like Interpol, or hard rock like Pearl Jam. Would this count as Emo? No idea. Anyways, interesting record, thanks for sharing. Kinda depressing, but I was sort of in a mood for that. I don't think I'd ever listen to this over the aforementioned Interpol though.

Not really the biggest fan. It's just kind of pointless noodling for an hour. I have nothing against jam bands (that Phish live album on this list was pretty good!), but I couldn't find anything here to latch onto. Very nondescript vocals, lyrics and guitar playing. It's like a jam band with default presets and no sauce. The most interesting moments were when they quoted some famous songs, like the Pink Panther or Ghostbusters themes. That was pretty cool. Also some meta bullshit: I think some users forget that nobody is forcing them to listen to these albums at gunpoint. There is literally zero reason to tell someone to rethink their life choices over an album choice, lmao

Smooth electronic R&B. Probably too smooth, even. It's good background music, but not something I ever look for personally.

Somebody beat me to the Sega video game music comparison.

I didn't notice the release date and listened to the whole thing thinking that this was a 1970s band. So if their goal was to record "more of the same old, played out country", I'd call it a success. Not for me though.

80s new wave albums try to be anything more than "Two pretty good singles and ten more of the most boring songs you've ever heard in your life" challenge (IMPOSSIBLE)

Pretty cool Avant-Folk. A bit too samey though. "Ogre" was great. Above all else, I am very fond of the funny red creature on the album cover.

Switches between "generic pop" and "ethereal forest music" like a metronome. I think I liked it?

Scientifically proven, you can't get more Australian than this before imploding into a black hole. 4/5

Reminds me a bit of drowning in mud.

Listening to this is feels like inhaling tonnes of microplastics and preservatives. All the songs are either the guy singing like he's getting chased by a Scooby Doo monster over FL Studio preset trap beats, or the obligatory "obvious radio hit bait". Not a fan.

A brave cross between Swedish folk music and the Hampster Dance.

"Chamberlain came crawling from Munich, with one piece of paper..." Feels weird listening to this today. Feels weird acknowledging how weird it is. ...And that's about all the emotions I got from this. Rest's the usual jangle pop dross. Singer sounds like all the Beatles at once, but with the cadence of Bob Dylan.

Some amazing lyricism, also has the sound quality of a 1900s telephone broadcast from across the Atlantic - which is actually a positive thing. Heard some stuff about this album and band before, but never listened to it. As it turns out, it's really good. 4/5.

Not as good as "How It Feels to Be Something On", but still a milestone Emo record that should definitely have been on the list. Also one of the rare albums where some of the best songs are the bonus tracks. Very much worth it to stick around for "8" and "9". Strong 4/5.

Actually mindblowingly incredible, holy shit. So far my winner for the best new album I've discovered through the user submissions by several orders of magnitude. Now I have to go on a Dub binge.

Weakest of the three big modern psych acts (King Gizz, Oh Sees, this), but still enjoyable. Vocals all over the place, shit travels into the nightmare dimension in the last couple of songs. Weird. 3/5?

+50 points right off the bat for the gall to submit an avant-garde metal album. Never heard of this, but I'm super intrigued. Wow, incredible. An insane blend of metal, post-rock, jazz and a whole bunch of other stuff that the album cycles between before any of them can get stale. Probably a really unusual comparison to make, but the band that this reminded the most of would be Talk Talk. Spirit of Eden/Laughing Stock, Metal edition? I hope everybody gives this the fair shot it deserves and doesn't immediately get scared away by the Wikipedia tags or song lengths, since it's not even all that inaccessible all things considered. Fantastic pick, 5/5.

I really can't take Steven Wilson's lyrics seriously in Porcupine Tree or his solo work, but the guy can compose a fine ass tune. Somebody should tell him to finally bite the bullet and become a full-time "JRPG final boss battle theme" writer.