Alright here we go with the user submitted albums. Having looked at the list, I know we're in for some real treats. I've decided for this section to review albums based on personal taste (removing all context of the list), whether they should be included in the list, and rating relative to the list (which I will use as the final rating). I won't be consistent but that's what I'll try and aim for. So for this we start off with a nice punk album. Very pop punk? Not great with punk genres. Reading through the other reviews, they mention Tony Hawk and I looked it up and I heard the song You by Bad Religion a lot since I played that game a TON. Did the original list cover that pop-punk well? I remember Green Day being on there but can't remember much else? Although to my ear this was pretty straight down the line. Reading wikipedia I realise I was familiar with the lead singer since he has a PhD and that shows up on lists of musicians with PhDs I read from time to time. Always a fan of that. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the original list: 4/5 Should that has been included in the original list? Yes I think so. Reading wikipedia, they've had a big influence on punk music in the 90s and think that's worthy.

One thing I'll like about the user submitted albums (from having looked at the albums submitted) is that many are from the last 10 years and still out there putting out music so I'll have likely listened to it prior to getting it. I've seen both Big Thief and Adrianne Lenker (doing a solo show for her album Bright Future which I highly recommend) live this year of 2024 so I already like them and enjoy their music. I think Lenker is one of the best songwriters out there right now. Some other artists I love did her songwriting class which shows how influential she is in that regard. Saying that, one big complaint I have about this album is that it is long. I found so many albums on the original list to be way too long and I stand by it. I love many songs but at 80 minutes, considering their other albums have to date been all half that length... yeah could have cut it up. I know how damn prolific Lenker is, but even I think this was a bit excessive. My personal rating: 5/5 My rating relative to the original list: 4/5 (too long!!) Should this have been included on the original list? Tough one for me... I think they should have some representation on the list for their impact on the indie music scene in the last few years but that's more of a personal preference. I'm like 45-55 yes / no at this point.

Surprised I haven't heard of this group before, but they seem to be quite big in Australia but haven't quite broken through elsewhere. Looking at where they've played here they played quite a small venue two years ago so they clearly haven't broken through. I enjoyed it but still, it falls into the trap that so many albums do which is being too damn long. Like yesterday's Big Thief album, you could cut a lot and make it tighter. It just felt like it dragged on and with some good snips would be a nice and tight 45-50 minutes. Otherwise I enjoyed it. My personal rating: 4/5 My rating relative to the original list: 4/5 (too long!!) Should this has been included on the original list: Another tough one. I think it's a similar to yesterday where I'm leaning more towards no, but I wouldn't be disappointed if it were.

It does surprise me that someone would submit this... didn't you get enough 80s new wave from the original list? Like maybe if this was doing something really interesting or unique I could see but this just sounds like every other new wave album that exists. Nothing interesting or unique. Just that boring 80s sound that has aged so poorly. I wish the user submitted albums would also have a blurb submitted by the user to explain their thought process behind submitting their album. I just struggle to see why this was done. My personal rating 2.5/5 My rating relative to the original list: 2.5/5 Should this have been included on the original list? Absolutely not. There was more than enough generic bland 80s new wave / pop and this is just another one to add to the pile.

One of my complaints about the original list is that I found the country selections to be pretty lacking so when I saw this was country I was excited. Was this country? I guess so but it felt more like adult contemporary or something. Just very bland. I like the Dire Straits cover but otherwise I found this very tepid and uninspired and generic. Nothing sharp. I guess easy listening but I was expecting something with a little more grit. My personal rating: 2.5/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this has been included on the original list? Nope. Didn't feel like this was bringing something new to the table that the original list didn't already contain.

An interesting submission. I've never heard of the band and they seem not to have had much impact on music as a whole so curious to see the thoughts of the one who submitted it. The album itself sounded very typical to that 60s era psych sound and while I found it had some interesting moments never really got there. I do wish more bands would introduce themselves though, that's always a fun time. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3.5/5 Should this have been included in the original list? No. I think there was enough 60s-era music that was adjacent to this on the original list and this doesn't really bring something new to the table.

Live albums are a really tough one. When I hear a live album I want to hear something that I couldn't hear in a studio. So many of the live albums on the og list were just mediocre studio albums that happened to have a live audience in front of them. A perfect example, in my view, of what live albums should aspire to is Alchemy: Dire Straits live, in particular Sultans of Swing. Knopfler took a 5 minute song and extended it into a 11 minute masterpiece. That's what I love about live albums! This doesn't have that. It felt like a studio album that just happened to be recorded in front of people. Also looking into the band, they sure are prolific. In the end, this didn't do much for me and I never felt they were doing anything creative or unique. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this have been included on the original list? Nope. Nothing about this really felt special and doubly so with a live album. Maybe something from their catalogue would have been a better choice.

Another band I've never heard of. Turns out there is a reason since they barely sold any records so no one has. They immediately gave Queen vibes (which others note) and since Queen is my favourite band of all time, I should be primed to like them. It started off strong but for me it never really gets to that next level. I read on wikipedia that a critic said this band was 15 years too late or too far ahead others haven't caught up. I'm leaning to the former, but I think here in 2024 such a band would find a niche. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3.5/5 Should this have been included in the original list? My gut reaction says no, but I wouldn't lose sleep if they were. There is already enough 80s/90s mediocrity so this replacing something on there wouldn't be a loss.