It’s pretty good but I feel like the intense popularity of this album has more to do with when it came out than it’s quality.

I feel like her music really only belongs in the time it was created. It sounds out of place now

I dig the music and the lyrics, but I really don’t like this guy’s voice

Honestly, they’re just kind of a mediocre Tears for Fears

This album shouldn’t work as well as it does. I feel like if you asked anyone if they want to listen to a half hour rendition of Who Do You Love they would say no. But if you just put this album on without any context they’d think it kicks ass

First half of the album was good, tapered off in the back half

Solid classic rock throughout

Interesting experiment but not something I would listen to regularly

Pleasant enough I guess but way too long

A little too experimental and long for my tastes

Can’t deny the quality of work that went into it and the influence it has had. But on a listening level I found the beginning of the album a little unenjoyable. I found the back half sounded better to my ear

Really good punk!

A nice chill listen, but while I love Sinatra I’m not sure he was suited to this style of music. It’s still good, but it’s no Getz/Gilberto

I’m sure this is a seminal album in the genre and pioneered new techniques, but if you don’t enjoy soundscapes you won’t enjoy this.

Classic Chili Peppers. I like the harder funk style of BSSM better, but this is a close second

It just doesn’t get more 80s!

I can see why it was exciting at the time, but it sounds pretty generic now.

Aww yeah pour that BritPop on me!

A true classic

It doesn’t get more classic soul than this.

Love these songs and this band in general, but they do NOT know how to end a song

True classic hip hop in the vein of Earth, Wind, and Fire or Grandmaster Flash

I’ve struggled with this album in the past, but I’m glad I gave it another try. It paints a consistent picture of Compton and has strong lyrics. Musically I don’t enjoy it as much as some other hip hop.

Not to my taste

Just some old-fashioned rock and roll. Love it

Nope

A fusion of a few genres, mostly hardcore punk and metal. Not bad

REM is obviously iconic. This album was really good, and interestingly it felt more understated and consistent than their other ones. There were no standout tracks like their big singles later on, but that kind of made the album as a whole more listenable.

I appreciate her place in music, but I just don’t like divas

Not the best of the 90s, but it’s still 90s so you can’t go too wrong.

So much more here than just Bohemian Rhapsody! What a great album.

Love those chill vibes

It’s not the incredible masterpiece that is Getz/Gilberto, but it’s still a great album

Not as incredible as Songs for the Deaf, but you can hear where they are headed on this one

Not very interested in instrumental music

I mean you can’t go wrong with Judas Priest, but why not listen to Screaming for Vengeance instead? It’s better pretty much throughout

Hardcore punk classic and fun to rage out with

Some weird shit

It’s fine. I enjoyed the first half more than I expected, but it began to drag after that. Would rather listen to 1984

It was fine

This deserves all the praise it gets

Really good album

Classic reggae. The back half of the album is where all the famous tracks are.

The melancholy, the rock sound infused with the tiniest bit of country, Young’s distinctive voice. It’s a solid album, but the guitar solos feel a bit indulgent.

It’s fine I guess. Was new at the time, now sounds a little generic.

Love that jangly guitar. These guys are right up there with th Beatles, the Hollies, the Zombies, etc. Love it!

I was initially excited for some jazzy pop, but unfortunately it’s not the good jazzy. It’s the bad 80s smooth jazzy. Pass

She made an instant classic with those soul sounds and sultry voice.

How did an album with this many bangers get made?!

Makes sense that this would be hugely influential, but I don’t know that I’d put it on to listen regularly.

Unusual to hear a concept R&B album. It was pretty good, but probably not something I’ll come back to.

I’ve just never been able to get into Morrissey’s smarmy voice and slow burn songs.

Can’t go wrong with Janis Joplin. I like her work with Big Brother and the Holding Company better, but this is solid

It’s not bad, but overall kind of meh

Way too long for some unremarkable 70s stoner rock

I’m just not interested in metal

I love that this probably made no sense when it was released. Got those distinctive 80s vocals with shoegaze-style distortion sounds. Pretty good, but I do kind of like the listenability of Darklands better.

A true classic

Bowie is one of those where I see the influence he has but just don’t particularly enjoy him

Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me

It’s okay, but not really what I’m looking for

This is one of the reasons I come to this site! An amazing band I’ve never heard of, becoming something I want to listen to repeatedly

This album was such a revelation

Chill vibes, pretty fun. But did it need to be a double album?

Chillhop before it was cool

Seemed just kind of generic in this day and age

I’ve never liked U2 and this album didn’t really change that situation

I can see how this influenced a lot of music, but it just wasn’t listenable enough for me to come back to in the future

This kind of early metal is the only good metal

This album is a lot of fun

Forgettable 80s pop

It’s pretty good but I feel like the intense popularity of this album has more to do with when it came out than it’s quality.

The least listenable Kanye album. It shows genius, but I won’t be listening to it again

An immense, powerful classic!

They don’t love you like I love you

Not bad, an eclectic mix that handles itself well but isn’t mind blowing

Meh

A classic. Trails off a little there at the end, but still a good album

Ah back when being young and angry was all you needed to have a band

Reggae is always pretty listenable, but it never really grabs me

Well that was awful

Just kind of annoying

Fun, but I see why they were one hit wonders in the States

Started strong with the title track, but they lost me in the back half with the 80s sax

Not bad!

It was ok I guess, not really my thing

Gorgeous Nina Simone-esque voice and it’s really cool to see how Africa pop was introduced to the US. I probably won’t listen if it regularly, but it was very interesting

Solid old school psychedelic and blues rock

The really well known songs do a lot of the heavy lifting on this album. It rates well overall, but mostly because of them

Verra pleasant

Boring af

Kind of weird, didn’t wow me

Since it’s their first album I get that it was groundbreaking, but this is far from the best Pink Floyd

Pretty solid Smiths album. Great if you like the Smiths, not if you don’t.

There’s a definite groove here, but it’s better background than it is sit and listen music

Not bad

Too experimental for me

Just a load of uninteresting blips and bloops

Some fun disco, I’m just not in the mood for disco often

You oughtta know

Really solid album

So good

Great!

Still just can’t get past lukewarm on Bowie.

A valuable, but pretty uneven listening experience

Very much in the tradition of Simon and Garfunkel or Bob Dylan. But unfortunately there isn’t a lot of variety in his sound on this album, so I like it less than those other artists

Enjoyed this more than I expected

I’ve tried with Elvis Costello a few times now but I just can’t get into his music. His melodies are just too jumpy and disjointed for me

They almost made some really good music

Not really a fan, feels like this style got played out in the 90s

I was close to loving this album but there’s something just not quite right about it

A little smarmy but ok

God damn that was dull

Solid indie rock album with some interesting use of unusual sounds

A classic, but not all of it holds up. The singles still carry the whole thing though

RHCP out- Fishbone’d Fishbone, but they’re still fun to listen to occasionally

Just straight boring

The epitome of 70s hard rock, so you already know if you love it or not

Metal 🤷

Beautiful voice and creative music, but it suffers from the same problem all concept albums have. You have to buy into the concept in order to reconcile the sometimes wild shifts in style and feel. I had to take a couple points off for that

An absolute classic that will always rock

A classic but not my favorite type of hip hop

Metal 🤷

Pretty decent space rock. Album starts off strong but gets a bit unremarkable about halfway through

There’s a reason these guys got as big as they did

First half is great, real funky. Second half doesn’t have quite the same charm

A new one to me. Nothing really grabbed me, but it was good overall

Solid ballads

Crazy good album, just unreal

Standard old school hip hop

A little experimental in the middle but less so than some other Radiohead albums. I’d rate it second best of their stuff.

Late 80s sound in the early 90s

This is the female singer-songwriter album. If you like that you’ll love this

An incredible classic start to finish

First half was great jazz, second half was old school hip hop and new wave 80s pop. Both good, but the transition is very abrupt.

This was great

I’m sure it’s great if you like electronic music

Old school hip hop, gets pretty goofy at times

Fine enough I suppose

Surprised to see this album of theirs - maybe Who’s Next is in the list too. Anyway, at this point they were mostly straightforward blues rock. My Generation is where you can see flashes of the brilliance they would get to. Still a strong album though.

The Velvet Underground but not nearly so experimental. Some really nice ballads and classics on here

It’s so intensely 80s and the singles are so well known it’s hard to hear them as anything but your own preconceptions.

While Wildflowers is definitely the better album, this one really showed what you could do with sampled music and set the stage for the future. And it’s still very listenable

So classic, so good

Lacks the genius singles of some of his other albums, but is overall a decent Van Morrison listening experience

Not into this late stage jazz. Give me bebop or nothing at all

Too overwrought for my tastes

Absolutely classic, if you haven’t heard this you’ve been missing out

The Talking Heads as they started to get their trademark sound down. In general it’s a fine album but lacks standout tracks

I just consistently can’t stand metal

Heavily blues based, which is great. I could have done without some of the country touches, but I know most love that. Solid album all the way around

Solid R&B

What a great album! The organ gives it an extra R&B layer that works really well

Did not expect to like this as much as I did

An R&B classic

Better than I expected it to be. Maybe a little too experimental at times, but nothing ever really turned me off

Electronic garbage

More of an inspiration for better music than something I enjoyed for itself

Unbelievable

A lot of fun. Got a little out there on one track, but otherwise a solid retro vibe from a modern band. Love it

Excellent UK blues

Started out ok, got real tedious real fast

Can’t go wrong with classic 90s alt rock

Blast some punk!

Green Onions is an unstoppable banger. The rest of the album is less inspired and a little too same-y, but still fun to listen to. I’d say the next best song is the surf-rock-esque You Can’t Sit Down

A bonafide classic

Pretty mediocre

It’s fine, just not a fan of electronica

Oh yeah PUNK me up! That said, this album maybe didn’t need to be as long as it is

I tried all of their first three albums and while I agree this one is probably the most intense and artistic, I like their first album best

It’s still good because Lennon, but in parts it just sounds like less good Beatles

I had listened to some Nina Simone before and loved it, but a couple of the tracks on here were new to me. Particularly the opening blues number. She’s so amazing

The good kind of metal!

The best rock rap I’ve ever heard

Just incredible

I’m not going to sit down and listen through it, but I kind of dig it

Don’t much like the country influences or the singer’s voice. Lyrics are good though

Really nice album. Pink Moon stands out above the rest of the tracks, which do start to sound a little same-y

A classic of hair metal, fun but nothing something I’ll be coming back to a lot

Oh god it’s so good

Good sound, very British, a little too vulgar

Gimme that old time rock n roll

It’s interesting - the music is pretty good, nothing really bothered me. But at the same time, it doesn’t jump out with anything special. I can see why they were signed but I can also see why they weren’t huge

The only Metallica album I can stomach but still not very enjoyable

Better than I expected, still a bit weird

A great survey of their work, but I think I like the studio albums better

I guess shitty electronics cliches have to come from somewhere

I like this album a lot, but it does start to drag toward the end. Great jazzy pop sound though!

Alternative music flirting with country makes me uncomfortable

Love the singles, rest of the album is fine

This site has taught me that I just don’t like electronic music 🤷‍♂️

I was excited to see this album pop up because I’ve always considered Sweet Dreams to be a top tier song. But the rest of the album was a little disappointed. That one song basically carries the whole thing

Easy five star, doesn’t get more classic than this

Classic rock at its most classic

Big standard reggae. It’s not bad, it just doesn’t stand out

I love the stuff MBV influenced, but find them a little hard to get into

Honestly, they’re just kind of a mediocre Tears for Fears

Pretty solid classic rock!

I don’t really see the appeal

Interesting. I don’t think I’ll come back to listen to it again, but I’m not mad at what I heard

Party hard for now guys

I can see why Tainted Love was their only big song

Easy 5 star, this thing is a masterpiece

I think I’m just not avant-garde enough

Really liked this one!

Solid bluesy rock

Solid CCR. Cosmo’s Factory is better, but this is a good second place

Music that captures the UK working class. Pretty good!

Is this the ur-rock opera? If someone asked me what a rock opera is, I would tell them to listen to this. Best one I’ve ever heard too!

I had heard Simply Red before but never this album. It’s ok, but never really reaches greatness

Classic old school hip hop. It’s amazing how many other rappers have borrowed ideas from this album

The godfathers of punk, gotta love it

Surprised to see this instead of Parachutes, but it’s still a great album

While not as bad as most electronica, it still wasn’t that enjoyable

Same opinion I have of the other reggae albums in this list: it’s fine, but only the really famous tracks stand out

Stone cold classic

I went into this one expecting to hate it. But actually, the lyrics are compelling and incisive, and the music isn’t grating like most country. A welcome surprise! I think a lot of people need to hear that their flag decal won’t get them into heaven anymore

It’s Lorde, you’ve already heard what she has to offer. Nothing on this album reaches the peaks of her big singles though

Some seriously great grooves on this. I don’t know if it will be in my regular rotation, but I’m glad I listened to it!

It’s like if The Doors’ cover of Gloria were an album long. Fun, but not incredibly deep

It’s a strong album and hit SO big when it came out

It’s incredible this is from the 70s and I can see how it influenced a lot of great music. Too bad it isn’t actually good music itself

Love that angry chick rock

Really enjoyable

Great collection, better than the albums it came from

I mean you already know what it is

This actually wouldn’t be my first choice of a must listen Byrds album, but it was still great

Gentle but powerful, this was an excellent listen

There are definitely worse Christmas albums. True nostalgia for our parents here

Not bad at all

Worth it just for the big hits on the album, but the rest just don’t stand up to Somebody to Love and White Rabbit

I don’t generally enjoy folk music, even when mixed with rock. But this had a compelling aspect to it

While not my favorite Pink Floyd album, it’s a strong one

Country rap? Nahhh

Way too long

Extremely classic blues

You know what you’re going to get with Björk and it’s always at least interesting

A rockin good time

God damn this was terrible

Really liked the first half, but it felt weird listening to all the extra takes at the end

Alt-rock from before that was a thing

Very Morrissey

I see why this was included since this music had such a huge influence on popular bands in the 60s/70s, but it just couldn’t hold my interest

Good album, but I’ve never understood the intense praise Springsteen gets

Solid!

Glam rock isn’t generally my thing, but this was a pretty fun listen

Uh, this was amazing

Chill and definitely gets you thinking

Pleasant, but I don’t think I’ll come back to it

Yet another reggae album that is a fine example of the genre but nothing new

Just not getting this one

Just incredibly mediocre

Nothing Compares 2 U is absolutely the standout track, rest of it just kind of meanders along

Good album!

Just incredible, obviously

This was interesting. It wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t great and in fact really just reminded me of other songs that are great

Really excellent

Solid, and I definitely see the influence on other artists. Probably won’t listen regularly though

Excellent!

I’ll be honest, I just can’t get in to Stevie Wonder

Before this I had really only heard the singles. Whole album is pretty good, though those were the best songs

Great live album. Got a little indulgent at parts, but the kickass parts made it more than worth it

A legendary album

I just can’t get into 2Pac

Psychobilly is fun, but it’s not an every day listen

Good but a little slow and too long

I enjoyed this one

Very torn on this album. Parts are incredibly cool, and parts are just annoying and too long

I know these guys are hugely influential, but I’ve never really liked their stuff

This was great!

Really liked the first 3/4th or so, then it got a little out there

What a fantastic album

Tough intro, some good stuff in the middle though

Effortlessly cool, but maybe a bit too long

I continue to dislike electronica. I will say I liked this more than Mezzanine even though everybody says that’s somehow a perfect album

Fantastic album

Great album

Great album, a little long

Solid little post punk album

Fantastic album

A classic, but I’ve never been a Talking Heads fan

Not bad, but a bit repetitive

Like a less catchy The Cure

Such a good album, easy 5 star

Started out pretty good, but way too long with little of interest

Even better than I remembered

Surprisingly good!

Really nice! 80s but not too 80s, a little bit of a psychedelic feel in places, just overall fun

I really wanted to like this because I love Goo, but the abstract noises just weren’t doing it for me

Not bad, but suffers from the pacing and confusion issues all rock operas have

Hard no.

Man what a fantastic album. If you’ve only heard their cover of Mrs. Robinson you should really listen to the rest of the album

I liked this a lot, but it did go on a little long

Solid classic rock

PJ just knocks it out of the park every time

One of my very favorites, a set of incredible tracks

If you like prog rock you should be listening to this album

I feel like I missed something. It just seemed like easy listening soft rock crap

I really liked this!

The songs are well crafted and he is hugely influential, but I don’t see myself ever listening to this

Solid, and the contrast between Cohen and the 80s cliche instrumentation is kind of interesting, but ultimately it didn’t grab me

First Elvis Costello album I’ve really liked

Solid

Oh good another boring electronica album. Why does this list have so much electronica in it?

Fantastic funky soul

I enjoyed this more than I expected to!

A classic, but more chaotic than a lot of their later stuff so it loses a point. Also it’s hard to separate the music from what we’ve since learned about the band

I don’t see the appeal of Elton John

A classic album and hugely important, but not one I really enjoy listening to often

I’d never heard of this, but I really liked it!

This was excellent, I am fast becoming an Elliott Smith fan

A classic

I always thought of Belle and Sebastian as just light, fluffy, twee pop. And most of this album is that, but I was surprised to find a little more experimental sound in some of the middle tracks. Overall enjoyable and a little surprising, but I probably won’t be listening to this one often

What a weird, overwrought album. You can tell she does a lot of musicals

This album shouldn’t work as well as it does. I feel like if you asked anyone if they want to listen to a half hour rendition of Who Do You Love they would say no. But if you just put this album on without any context they’d think it kicks ass

Solid garage rock from back in the day

The best electronica on this list so far. That’s not saying much

Truly classic

School’s Out is definitely the best track, but I did not expect as much variety as I got from the rest of the album. Show tunes? Jazz? What?

Defining album for funk

I don’t usually like 70s jazz, but this was a good album

Tremendous

I don’t understand why people call this a perfect album. The music is slow and overwrought

Cool to get something so different. I probably won’t revisit it, but it was a pleasant listen

Decent but somewhat forgettable

Eh

Well that was freaking weird

Amazing album

Decent album, but I see why Once In A Lifetime is the only one that stuck around

It’s fine, but he’s done better stuff

Great album, on a level with Reasonable Doubt if you ask me

Started a little disco-y, but settled down into some excellent Latin music

Quality prog rock

Fun!

The Kinks are always fun but this lacked some of the attention-grabbing of Village Gree Preservation Society

What a weird album. Punk before there was punk, garage rock before there was garage rock. It’s rough around the edges but you can see how they’d be influential

I get it, but it’s not really something I’m going to come back and listen to again

That’s a lot of arena rock. Inoffensive, but it also didn’t grab me

The Beach Boys are great, but a lot of the lyrics describe unhealthy relationships

Liked this more than I expected, a lot of interesting influences

Man I have tried with this album so many times. And I love a ton of other shoegaze stuff. But this one, I just can’t get into it

They’re trying to recapture the magic of Missing but just don’t have it in them

First song or two were awesome, very funky. After that it became clear this was less about the music and more about the movie so it wasn’t as fun a listen

Just awesome all the way through

You’d expect me to enjoy the Grateful Dead, but it’s just a little blah to me

Oh Elvis Costello I always want to like you

That sure was a Springsteen

My ears hurt

On the one hand it’s nice to hear Springsteen get a little weirder. On the other hand I still didn’t like it

I dig the sound, but maybe just a little too long on the jams. Still great though!

Pretty fun, I had only ever heard Get It On before this. I like the album but it’s a little long

Short and sweet

This is the kind of metal I can get into, though the tracks did feel a little same-y toward the end of the album

Reminded me a lot of Leonard Cohen, who I don’t particularly like. And that last song, woof

Just sounded like more Bjork, seems the same as her other albums

Woof

Great album, but not one I listen to often

More Springsteen, really?

An enjoyable enough listen but nothing jumped out at me as amazing

I had high hopes when I read the album description. The story was interesting but I really didn’t like this guys flow and rhymes. Just grating and weak

I’m pretty over Bitter Sweet Symphony, but fortunately the rest of the album is great

Just not a dance music kind of person I guess

Fun at a first but it got too long

I used to listen to this kind of jazz all the time but never ran into Louis Prima. Great stuff!

I’m not usually a Steely Dan fan, but this album had too many bangers to deny. Really great album!

This album has a lot of the same problems Pharrell’s later stuff has: weird awkward sounding lyrics. Otherwise pretty good though

Like basically every ska album I’ve heard, it’s fun at first but grows a bit tiresome

No

Fantastic album, make sure to listen to the non-US release!

I just couldn’t do it, it just seemed like electronica to me

The whole reason anybody has even heard of bossa nova, and still blows every other record in the genre away

I like the Stones and know this is a huge album for them, but I expected bigger highs than I actually heard. It’s consistently really good, but I’m not hearing greatness

Powerful classic!

Good album, fun punky garage rock

Probably the most palatable electronica tinged music. I really like a handful of their songs so I wish more of it did something for me

Excellent indie

Some really great slightly country-inflected classic rock!

Fun album, a lot to like here

Good album with some real bangers, but I always have a tough time getting through the whole thing

This is one of the most intensely 80s albums ever

Electronica garbage. Why is there so much of this crap on this list?

Classic album. Devo is practically their own genre

Decent but didn’t grab me

The original songs were better than the covers, but I’m not sure why we needed yet another sitar album in this list

Some great big band here

The big hits were fun, the rest was a little country for me

It’s cool stuff that I’m glad exists. Works especially well for things like soundtracks. But listening to a whole album all the way through is a bit much

Really good album

Decent album, but Smooth Operator is the only song that really shines

Fantastic album

I like a good Bjork from time to time

Really good album!

2 80s 4 me

Powerful classic

A dream pop classic

I liked Goo better, but this wasn’t bad

This album deserves to be way better known, up there with his work with others

If you can set aside what we know about the band members now this is a very good album, but not quite up there with Houses of the Holy or IV

I had heard the tracks that get radio play before and really liked them, but it turns out the whole album is excellent

Great album. Loved Joe Williams dropping in at the end as well!

I’ve tried with Prodigy but damn this all just sounds like the same crap

I’ve always been a bit iffy on Eminem, and this aged even worse than his other stuff

Decent, but I wish some of the melodies were less random and jumpy

Interesting. They definitely put their best stuff at the front of the album. The rest sounded more like it would be a good base for sampling on other songs. I did like the use of Hindi in some songs, particularly the cover of Norwegian Wood

Interesting choice. I liked it, but I don’t know that I’ll ever come back to it

Huge mix of sounds here, which is really cool. I wish the vocals were a little less stereotypically indie, but otherwise a very good listen

I made it as far as Zombie Eaters before dropping out, which is maybe a personal record with nu metal? I credit the fact that this shows some other influences instead of being just straight trash

Hell yeah Dinosaur Jr. Fantastic indie shit

The first half or 2/3rds of the album was great, but it kind of lost the magic toward the end. Overall solid though

Fun album, enjoyable the whole way through

This was great! Familiar but also very different, with a fantastic groove

I wanted to like this, but all the pitchy tones and excessive jangle just wore on me

Great album that includes some fantastic songs. Going to take away a star though because I don’t think it needed to be a double album

Pretty ok, very 80s

A classic, though like a lot of rap from this era not all of it has aged well. Personally I prefer 2001 as well

We wouldn’t be where we are now without it

Like every Kings of Leon song I’ve listened, it’s fine but something about them just doesn’t grab me. They sound empty, like they’re all surface with little substance

Listenable and all, but didn’t grab me

Fantastic album, just great throughout

While I prefer his hard bop stuff, this was surprisingly engaging and interesting throughout

So I liked the vocals pretty well, but god dammit there are other ways to evoke an atmosphere than just bouncing on quarter notes every song. It started out pleasant and ended up just boring into my brain

This album was a little odd, but there were some great grooves in it. I feel like repeated listens would actually improve this one

This album is definitely one that grows on you. I’d listened to it a couple times already thanks to a friend’s recommendation. First time it was too much noise rock for my tastes. Second time I started to see past that to how fired up it made me feel. Now I think it’s great!

Classic sound, still works today

I was excited to actually listen to one of her albums after hearing some stuff I liked on the radio. Unfortunately I think she’s just going to be a listen to the singles artist for me. She’s at her best when she’s alternative and a little unexpected. This was mostly just plodding singer/songwriter ballads with no real spark. The exception is Dark But Just a Game, that was a good song

Weird ambient electronica bullshit. I was on board for the first couple tracks, but then The Color of the Fire killed all the momentum and I was done.

This was the first Leonard Cohen album I really liked. The stripped down sound works well, and the lyrics are genuine and affecting

Just not interesting

I generally like alternative stuff, but this was just so self indulgent!

Initially I thought this was just some ok folk rock, but then I got to Train Song and it blew me away. The rest from there on was fantastic as well. Great album!

I listened to about half the album and was all in, great stuff. Thought this might be a 5 star. Then I saw how many more songs were left. Fuck me this album is long. Why do people do double albums? I finished it out and there was good stuff in the back half, but this would have been better as two separate albums

I knew the single and am a big fan of their later work, but never listened to this album. It’s fantastic, but maybe avoid the mono version; it sounds like it was recorded in a tin can

Fun samba, great representation of the genre

Sour Times is an undeniable banger. The album in general is stronger on the front half than the back half. The last track does make up for that some, though. Overall really good!

Great album!

A little self indulgent, but mostly fun

Fun and good samba, but better as background music than something to focus on

I feel like her music really only belongs in the time it was created. It sounds out of place now

Hmmm, this is an interesting one. I love some of his other stuff but hadn’t heard this album. It’s good, but nothing really grabbed me

Too country for my tastes

I don’t generally go in much for soundtracks, especially ones for something I haven’t seen. But I do like Air, so I went into it with an open mind. This album is pretty good, but I think I’d rather just listen to an actual Air album

Oooh the classic GOAT

I started out a little unsure, but when I got to Spoilt Victorian Child and Guts of The Quantifier I was all in

This was inoffensive, but nothing grabbed me. I can think of other similar albums I like more

Whew, just finished listening to this whole thing. It’s interesting, I’m glad it exists because I know some people really love it. And it’s a neat idea. But personally I find his singing and lyrics overwrought, and most of the songs just sort of blend together.

I just don’t understand why people like this stuff

Decent, but it lacks any really killer tracks

It’s a little annoying how good this album is

Classic

This actually worked for me, nice one!

I did not need a Prodigy-styled rock opera

This is now the third Elvis Costello album I’ve on this list (I think). He generally is hot and cold for me. This one though I didn’t love but I also don’t hate

Overall sound is OK, lyrics are not great

I really don’t know what to think of this album. It’s pleasant and I love all the songs I knew, but I knew them from other artists.

I had no idea Ray Charles started out doing big band standards. Wild

Another Steely Dan album I just couldn’t get into. I don’t know why they don’t grab me, I guess they just sound kind of empty?

Hell yeah, now we’ve got a surprise on the list. Great album, especially Hero and Hard to Say Goodbye

So Wu-Tang is great, nobody’s arguing that. But I do feel like they get a bit overhyped and this album could maybe have been a bit shorter

This is one where I don’t understand why it’s on the list. The music is fine but not terribly notable, and it’s way too late for it to have been influential on its style which is from at least a decade earlier. Weird pick

For a hard rock band this was less hard than I expected. Pretty good!

It’s a really good album. I also see why none of these tracks hit big, none of them really stand out.

I didn’t know Bjork did anything besides her solo work. It’s pretty good, but not amazing

Classic album

I continue to not really enjoy Bowie

I love The Police and Message in a Bottle is a banger, but the rest of the album is a little weak

Setting aside The Rolling Stones of it all, remarkably consistent album

I liked this a lot

It’s exactly what I expected. Doesn’t make it bad though!

More Bowie? At least this one was decent

Gotta say this made me want to dance

Considering this is basically a Faces album I was always going to love it

I always liked this album pretty well, though there are just a couple standout tracks

Funny how what was once so incendiary now sounds pretty normal. Good album still though

Good beats, but the skits were kind of weird and the album was way too long

Solid Beck album. I like Odelay more, but this is probably number 2

I love old school Brit pop, but this was pretty dull

Solid album with great head nodding beats and incisive lyrics. Could probably have been a bit shorter though

Wow I loved this. Sad I haven’t been listening to it since 1995

This is maybe the prototypical 80s album. It’s be high on the list of albums to recommend when someone asks what 80s music is like

This or Blonde on Blonde, which is better? The world may never know

Probably my third favorite Zeppelin album, but that’s mostly on the strength of Tangerine. There’s a lot better Zeppelin out there

I’m just not a fan

You know that episode of Friends with Ross’ “music”? Yeah

A powerful classic

What can you even say about Ten? It has some incredible songs, some incredibly over played songs, and a couple forgettable ones. Great album though

This was probably my first time listening to an entire ska album. It’s a bit much

Much punk

I’m really just here for Common People, the rest was fine but nothing stood out as different

Decent album, though Mama Said Knock You Out was definitely the highlight

I thought I knew Willie Nelson so this caught me by surprise. What a great album and interesting story about its making!

You always know what you’re going to get with CCR and that’s a good time. Not as strong as Cosmo’s Factory, but how could it be really

As usual with concept albums I didn’t really like it much, though it wasn’t terrible

I kind of hate this but I kind of love it too. There’s some magic here, but a lot to sift through as well

This is a tough one to rate. I know a lot of people absolutely adore this album. To me it doesn’t quite hit. I like it and have listened to it quite a few times, but nothing sticks hard enough for me to say I love it

Maybe my second favorite Beck album?

I liked this quite a bit at first, but it started to drag about halfway through. Ultimately I think it’s a bit too long and the songs aren’t distinct enough. I was also surprised to find it reminded me of Seal in some places, particularly during Disappearing

This is not what I expected from the album title. Decent art rock but not to my taste

Some stone-cold classics on here, I’m sorry I never actually listened to the album before

Well I didn’t expect semi-psychedelic 70s tunes from Joni Mitchell. Ultimately I ended up being lukewarm on it

It’s wild to me that anyone considered this heavy metal at any point. That means such a different thing now, and this is very much in the mainstream blues/rock sound now. Good album though, very fun

Pretty fun punk

Fantastic album with so many killer singles

I like garage rock so I was totally on board with this until We Will Fall. Way too long and indulgent. They bounced back to some degree with the rest of the album but still

Despite loving the song Mr. Tambourine Man I actually never listened to the whole album before. Really great!

That whole Beatles vs. Rolling Stones thing makes a lot more sense when you look at early albums like this where they’re both doing a lot of covers. Team Beatles all the way, but this was a decent listen

I like Village Green better, but this was a fun album

It’s fine I guess. You know what Aerosmith is about

This album is just middling. The music is dated, especially the lyrics, but generally pleasant. No big hits or anything though

This was even better than I remembered

I didn’t realize all of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s really big hits were off the same album, that’s impressive.

I have to take a point off because of the legacy of whitewashing, but I don’t think anybody can deny the impact this album had

This was better than I expected

I dig the music and the lyrics, but I really don’t like this guy’s voice

It’s classic metal, you pretty much know what you’re in for

This feels like something more influential than something I’d want to sit down and listen to anymore

I’d never listened to a full Pretenders album before. I really liked this one!

I knew and loved Game of Pricks going into this, but never heard the rest of the album. Overall I really liked it. They’re at their best when they lean into their British Invasion interests, and the album does suffer the same way other ones with many very short songs do where they kind of bleed together

I love Radiohead but this album is a little too electronic influenced for my tastes in general. There are some fantastic songs on it like Pyramid Song and Knives Out, but if I want to listen to Radiohead I’m probably not going to put this album on

I guarantee the ratings on this are all either 1 or 5. I like the album a lot even though I don’t like much of Swift’s other stuff

Turns out Tom Waits does jazz and blues way better than pop

I felt the album kind of sagged in the middle, but overall liked it quite a bit

I liked this album a lot. I wish I knew why it was included in the list because it didn’t seem to have a lot of influence or broader significance. But it was good music

I liked this one

This is a White Stripes album on this list??? Why? White Blood Cells and De Stij better be on here too or I’m going to flip a table. I mean this one’s fine, but the other two are masterpieces

Hey, something interesting and unique. This was a pretty fun groove

I’m not impressed unfortunately

What can I even add about this album? It’s fantastic, everyone should listen to it

A slightly mixed bag, has some unbelievably good songs and some that are good not great. Overall probably not where I’d start with Simon and Garfunkel but worth listening to anyway

I don’t know, seemed weird and indulgent to me

I really liked about 80% of this album. Got a little too country for me at the end, but the rest was great

I think some of their experiments were a big miss, but there’s still a core of solid rock and roll there so it’s pretty good

Interminable

I liked the music quite a bit, but the album was way too long

I know Prince is a beloved institution at this point, but he’s just never clicked for me. All his songs feel like they’re missing something

What an incredible story and incredible piano work. Am I likely to listen to this regularly? No. But am I glad it exists and was recorded? Absolutely!

Honestly I like this more than Surfa Rosa

A good album and hugely influential, but there weren’t any standout tracks

This was very unique and I liked it but didn’t love it

More folk country than folk rock, and while I liked the two bigger songs, the rest of it wasn’t very memorable

Nice combination of folk with other genres. Not incredible, but pleasant throughout

I was interested from the description, but this ended up just being a lot of chirpy nonsense

I thought this was enjoyable post bop jazz but nothing incredible until I got to Tuang Guru, that song was fantastic

This seemed like pretty standard 2000s R&B. Fine, but not sure why it made this list

Every time I listen to Sonic Youth I think I should really listen to more Sonic Youth

This was a decent listen but nothing really jumped out as special to me

I really don’t know what to make of this album. It’s weird and goofy but also serious?

Hell of a groove!

Truly lovely

I neither hated nor loved this until I looked at the length. Why is this an hour? I could have done with less

I don’t hate this album like a lot of the reviewers do, but man is it a wildly uneven album. Some of these songs are fantastic, notably Kelly’s Blues, Hometown Farewell Kiss, and Bad News Always Reminds Me of You. But around those you have mediocre to weak tracks. It’s a rough listen as a whole

Reading about the what seem like hellish recording sessions make this even more impressive. I do think it could have been shorter though

While the story behind the album is moving, I didn’t enjoy the songs quite as much as some of his other albums. Still good though!

One of Simon and Garfunkel’s strongest albums

Wow what a fantastic album. I wish I had known about Supergrass years ago

It’s fine, but there are better 90s alt records out there. There She Goes will always be a banger though. And I will say Looking Glass caught me by surprise. Those two pull this up to 3 stars

Decent, but the early 70s is packed with incredible soul like Marvin Gaye, Sly and the Family Stone, or Stevie Wonder. I don’t think this quite stacks up against that

Eh, pretty generic and uninteresting

There’s something almost… quaint? About old punk like this. It was so rebellious at the time but now feels passe

I want to like Fleet Foxes more, especially since they have a couple really beautiful songs like Sun It Rises. Unfortunately I always get tired of their schtick partway through

One of my very favorite albums

I’m very distracted by the Richard Ayoade lookalike on the left, but the music itself was good. More rock influenced than I expected

I’ve never really liked Depeche Mode much. I’ve tried with this album before and didn’t dig it, but we can try again. And unfortunately it’s just as overwrought as I remember. Fine, just not my taste

This freaking album. I remember when Drive came out I loved it, thought it was amazing. Checked out the rest of the album and hated every second that wasn’t Drive. Talk about a misleading single

Such generic, forgettable 80s pop. No thanks

I think there’s probably an interesting debate about if this is even music out there, but I don’t want to hear it or this

It’s fine, it doesn’t offend (except for Dance, which has some terrible lyrics). But it’s also pretty unremarkable. I’ll give it 2 stars for Back to Life

While I didn’t hate this, I can’t imagine who is listening to this unironically or not as part of like a soundtrack to something

You know what, I enjoyed this. There were some obvious 80s-isms, and I don’t know that any one song jumped out and grabbed me. But it was pleasant the whole way through and I would put it on again

Metal just isn’t my genre but this seems like good metal for those who like it

A classic. Not my favorite of the Police, but we got some solid bangers

I had listened to Kuti’s Gentleman before so I knew I’d be in for something good. Those rhythms with the soul horns, too good!

I know some people who love this kind of thing but it’s just not to my taste

Great album, love that old jangle pop

Classic

I know I’m supposed to love this album. I dig other Flaming Lips stuff! Clouds Taste Metallic? Fantastic! But this one has never worked for me. It always feels too gimmicky and uneven. Maybe it’s my general distaste for concept albums, I don’t know. Anyway I recognize this is a massively popular album, it’s just not for me.

Synth pop in general and CHVRCHES in particular are fine, but nothing here grabbed me. I don’t regret listening but I also don’t see me putting this album on any time soon. I wonder if their popularity says more about when it came out than anything else

I’m not the biggest Rolling Stones fan, but this is a very fine album

Good album. It never reaches the genius levels of A Night At the Opera, but you can see them heading that direction

Okay, so I recommend sticking with this past the first few songs. All the best stuff is in the middle of the album, starting with Hanging Out and Hung Up On the Line through Head. And that little run of songs is quite good. It’s an interesting choice putting your best work in the middle

This is a fine album, but that’s about it. Their big hit, Le Freak, is really the only one that stands out. The rest is unobjectionable, and even had me bobbing my head at times. But ultimately I won’t be coming back

Most of this was decent proto-new wave. Cool to see some of the beginnings of that movement. But man Thriller! sucked

Great album, especially Kick Push. Love this era of sample heavy melodic hip hop

I’ve never been a fan of Tina Turner, and this album is too 80s for my taste

I always forget what a lovely voice k.d. lang has. Constant Craving is of course the highlight of the album, but it’s pleasant throughout

I feel towards U2 the way a lot of people feel about Coldplay. They’re so middle of the road inoffensive pop rock. Nothing here to get excited or passionate about, but nothing to really dislike either. Which I kind of dislike

I still don’t really understand the fanaticism. Blow in particular was a bop, but overall just fine

What a weird album. I don’t usually have a taste for anything this strange, but this one is strangely compelling. I doubt I’ll revisit it, but I really am glad I listened

Lacks the appeal of her work on Getz/Gilberto. That was genius, this is just meh

Dinosaur Jr. always kicks so much ass. They were so far ahead of the curve. Don’t was the only rough patch on the album and the reason for 4 stars. Everything else was great

It’s wild how so much of what they do has become just standard rock now. It almost doesn’t read as metal today

Great blues rock here, just top notch

I don’t have a ton of nostalgia for Eminem, he’s never been my favorite rapper. There are some standout tracks here though, the ones everyone knows. Those are worth the 4 stars, but this album definitely didn’t need to be this long

Fantastic, legendary album. I feel like the combo of Joplin’s voice and those guitars rewire my brain every time I hear them

Cohen tends to be hit or miss for me, but this one was a hit. His voice is peak deep and gravelly, and the instrumentation is beautiful without being intrusive. Knowing this was his last album before passing adds a lot of weight to the lyrics as well.

I dearly loved this album (along with the rest of theirs) back in high school. Nowadays it’s not as captivating, but I still like it

Pleasant world music

There are some decent grooves on here, but it really didn’t need to be so long

I don’t know why exactly, but I find Nick Cave’s music to be kind of empty and pointless

While this isn’t unpleasant, I can think of multiple bands (Air, The Acalanches, Brock Berrigan) who do it better

Just sounded like country to me

I’ll be honest, I pretty much always have time for some psychedelic music

I started off not thrilled at the idea of listening to Kraftwerk because I don’t generally like electronica. I was pleasantly surprised by the first track, Europe Endless. It was highly listenable and really raised my hopes. Then the next two songs ripped that away with boring nonsense

Unfortunately I struggle to jive with Davis’ later, free jazz style

This album is fine, but you see why they’re a one hit wonder

I continue to really like Nick Drake’s music. I’m glad this site turned me on to his albums

Nice find, liked this more than I expected. The punkier stuff was more fun than the glammier stuff, but it was all good

It’s fine, but not the best UB40 and not something you need to revisit

I 100% believe this album should be on this list. New Wave was an important genre and has a huge impact on music to this day. That said, do you get anything more from listening to the album vs. listening to Cars on repeat 17 times? No. And that’s the flaw in New Wave. Still, glad I listened but don’t see a reason to return to it.

Great grooves

God what a great album. Just exceptional song after exceptional song

What a great album. I feel like he should have been an enduring household name

I like the more emblematic P-Funk sound, but a psychedelic rock album isn’t going to get a bad score from me. There is one standout track on this album, Can You Get To That. The rest of it is good too, but doesn’t really rise to the same level

Simple, straightforward good-time rock. Nothing that blew my mind, but nothing I didn’t enjoy too

I don’t know how anyone would dislike this album, and I don’t want to know

I mean I get why they’re on this list, but I just don’t have a lot of interest in hard rock

Dookie is better, but there are some bangers here for sure

I tried but I hate it so much

I’m not a big Duran Duran fan, but this is definitely peak if you do. I see why the big hits are so big. Also Save A Prayer is low key one of the best tracks on the album

This is my 4th Tom Waits album on this list. Two I really didn’t like, one I really did. This one kind of falls in the middle. There are some great songs on here, particularly Clap Hands and Time. But there are also some definite misses, and it probably didn’t need to be this long

Pretty fun album!

I liked this pretty well, but nothing really stood out as exceptional

Pretty good album. I didn’t realize I had heard any of it until Sign Your Name. I also liked Dance Little Sister a lot, but overall I’m not sure why you wouldn’t listen to Michael Jackson instead

I love shoegaze but have never really enjoyed My Bloody Valentine. I don’t get it either 🤷‍♂️. Anyway, there’s some decent stuff here, particularly “if i am”, but not enough to say I liked it

It’s wild just how intensely 80s this album is. It’s so deep into it that it comes out the other side to be kind of awesome

On the one hand, I don’t much like U2’s music. On the other, it’s kind of incredible how many songs off one album penetrated the cultural zeitgeist

Such a great album, and so far ahead of its time!

Wow, this blew me away! Especially the back half of the album, Faster, This Is Yesterday, and P.C.P. are all killer songs. I’m sad I didn’t discover this sooner

I like CSN in general. This was a pleasant listen, but only Teach Your Children stood out. It also could have been shorter. CSNY was the better group

I’m not a Madonna fan but I can’t deny the cultural impact she, and this album, had.

New Wave at its finest

What an album

I had heard this album once or twice before. I like it, it’s a nice blend of indie rock and experimental sounds

Fine but pretty forgettable

While not as iconic as Are You Experienced, this is a great album. Beginning is a little weird, but once they get going they drop some bangers

That’s funny, I happened to listen to this just yesterday. What a fantastic album. Even the weird stuff doesn’t bother me because it adds to the other all atmosphere, and all the other banger songs carry you through

I’m a huge Beatles fan, but I’ve never really liked the solo stuff from any of them. It’s all fine, it just lacks the magic they had together

Just the hardest no

Fuckin Morrissey. I like a lot of the musical elements here, but the lyrics are pretentious and the guy himself is a tool. If this album were by someone else I’d think it’s great. But it wasn’t 😩

I had actually heard this one before thanks to some music nerd friends of mine. It’s just a shade too country for my tastes

Why is there so much Tom Waits on this list? This is the 5th album I’ve run into! And Nighthawks was pretty good, but the rest of them (including this one) have definitely not been. Let’s trim this shit down already

It’s fine but gets a little tedious after a while

Honestly I’m a little disappointed. I should love this album. Blur guy is great, Danger Mouse is great, drummer from Fela Kuti is great. But this just felt like a bunch of anemic Gorillaz b-sides to me. I really thought there would be some magic here

This started out pretty decent, but then slid into unremarkable and repetitive dance junk

I was initially unimpressed with this album. The first 3 songs didn’t grab me. But then Summertime Clothes came in and I started feeling it. The rest of the album flowed by and while not something I love, was enjoyable enough. Pretty good!

The White Album, one of their many masterpieces!

Man, turns out that Dave Grohl guy? Pretty good. Who knew? 😂

Well it’s definitely art rock. I respect it, but I don’t have to like it

Okay I see why this is here, it represents a genre well. I just don’t really enjoy it

Listen, Chicago is classic rock at some of its finest and I’m here for it

Inoffensive, but nothing grabbed me either

Great album, you can see how she got so big

I never listened to much ZZ Top, so this was my first full album of theirs. I can see why it’s so iconic. It’s a strong album with some real high points. A couple less than great songs though

Billie does a Sinatra In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning here by making the focus how her voice has changed over the years. It’s a beautiful album, but not quite as effective because her voice is in worse condition

This was better than I expected. I thought it was going to be one more unremarkable new wave album in a list already a little heavy with those. But this one has a lot more groove to it than most new wave, which kept me listening and enjoying

This is a baseline good album that is really elevated by I Shot the Sheriff, and to a lesser extent Let It Grow

I found this a little tiresome. Jackie was a good song though

I really liked this. It’s one of just a couple new to me albums that wowed me. They’re at their best when they’re basically trying to be Radiohead, and at their worst when trying to do some blues rock stylings. But overall strong album with Mirrorball as the standout track

A classic. Nobody else plays quite like Hendrix

Not my favorite Radiohead album, but still a good one

Extremely breezy listen. It’s nice to revisit these oldies on occasion

Fun album. Really sounds like they’re having a good time, and the music kicks ass in a chill kind of way

Not really my favorite thing, but this was some competent hard rock

I mean it’s The Smiths. You know what you’re getting: Morrissey is annoying, the rest of it is fine, whatever

Public Image was the best track. The rest was fine. Except actually the bass is really good, I’ll bump it up a star just for that guy putting in work

I like a little Beastie Boys on occasion

I don’t know, pretty unremarkable and obviously never made a big impact. A Woman of the World was good though

Not bad, but I can see why Our House is the only enduring song they had

You know what, this was a lot of fun. I liked the rockabilly influence. Sometimes you want some radio friendly rocking

A little too repetitive, and some of it was basically chiptune before that was cool. I did like a couple tracks though

Overall I really liked this. Nice blend of folk rock and psychedelia, and his voice really stands out. Unfortunately it lost a little steam toward the end, particularly with the title track which just kills the momentum entirely

Decent, but not as solid as What’s Going On or some of Mayfield’s other albums that aren’t as social issue focused

A little too experimental for my tastes, trying to sound unpleasant for a lot of it. Paper Planes is the only one that’s listenable, but it’s more suited for background on commercials or TikToks than actual listening

I absolutely loved this album when it came out and for years afterward. Lately I’ve begun to feel like maybe I’ve moved past it, but I still think it’s great and deserves to be on this list. That said, I think De Stijl is better, so it’s a 4 star for this

I came in here ready to make jokes about goth clubs, but actually there’s a lot to like on this album. Pleasant surprise!

It’s fine but all kind of blends together

Actually good music from the 80s? It’s more likely than you’d think

I had only heard We Got The Beat before this. Good song, but a bit cheesy. I was pleasantly surprised by the rest of the album though. Very listenable, and I could hear a direct line from The Go-Go’s to bands I love like Veruca Salt, Le Tigre, The Donna’s, and Sleater-Kinney. Especially on Fading Fast and Automatic.

I guess krautrock isn’t what I expected. This turned out to be mostly inoffensive ambient music with a little bit of rock flavor

Wikipedia says this is post hardcore, but it just sounds like nu metal garbage to me

She’s great for that early style of hip hop

Kind of lost me in the middle when it gets more industrial tinged. They brought it back toward the end though

Absolutely not, instant 0

I had heard a little Beefheart before this. I like this, the blues foundation makes it all very listenable

You know when you see Talking Heads come up you’re getting something pretty solid. Life During Wartime is definitely the highlight, and Drugs is the low point. But overall a strong album with a lot to like

You know what, I don’t seek Jamiroquai out, and I don’t think that’s likely to change, but I do always enjoy him when he shows up

Okay so it’s Coldplay and that’s going to stir up a lot of opinions. Personally I think their first two albums are fantastic, and everything else can be forgotten

I dug this, real smooth

This is what you save your 5 star ratings for.

I… had no idea Genesis did straight up prog rock. I thought it was all like That’s All. I have a lot of respect for this, it’s a good album!

I liked this right off the bat, great sound and a lot of cool influences. It dips a bit in the middle/toward the end, but still overall a fun album

Quality album. A little on the nose in its messaging, but great musicianship throughout.

You can hear how he became such a cultural touchstone in this one, as long as you can let go of how it sounds to modern ears and try to imagine what it was like at the time

Interesting album to see that very early start to shift from hard rock to grunge. That said, I like EGBDF a lot more

I love blues rock, so this was a good album to listen to. That said, I don’t know that it really belongs on this list. There wasn’t anything terribly distinctive, and the style is well represented by other albums from bands with a much more lasting impact on the industry. I say cut this for something underrepresented

I enjoyed that way more than I expected. Very chill listen, pleasant throughout but no big standout tracks either

Karma Chameleon pretty good, the rest of this was very forgettable

Really good!

I did not enjoy her wailing tone and interminable same-sounding instrumentation. I could see this being an acquired taste, but I don’t think I’ll put the effort in to acquiring it

Fantastic album, a real journey to listen to

This kind of shit is fun occasionally as a gimmick, but an entire album? No thank you

This ended up being a decent little listen. Didn’t blow my socks off, but I’m not mad at it

Oh Travis. I remember when I found this album, I really hoped I had stumbled across something special. Unfortunately it just doesn’t hold up all the way through. Writing to Reach You is great, and then it’s just a series of missteps

Ah, it’s fine. Nothing really set me on fire though

Full disclosure I love Sleater-Kinney. I get why this album was picked, it’s a good one and brought in the excellent Janet Weiss. But I think All Hands On the Bad One is the better album so I would have picked that if I could have only one

Fun, but nothing jumped out at me

This is a tough one. Hugely popular, extremely influential. But it has not aged well, both because of the slurs in Money For Nothing and the sound in general. If feels very of its time rather than timeless

I’m kind of amazed that this was good, with someone who didn’t know what they were doing an experimental album like this would fall apart. It was at its best when it skewed closer to prog rock, but overall enjoyable

I don’t know, this is a tough one.

Great and powerful album, though it does start to drag a little at the end. The front 3/4ths more than makes up for it though

I’ll say it, Seven Nation Army is overhyped. It’s a good song, but not better than the best of White Blood Cells or Destijl. The rest of this album, fortunately, is really good too. It’s perhaps their most consistent album, which makes it rank highly for me

This was a surprise and a lot of fun. I don’t know that I’ll revisit it a lot, but I’m glad I listened

Pretty classic album

Good but unremarkable Arabic music with an odd cover of Imagine stuck in the middle

Why is there so much bad electronica on this list? This is the kind of shit that gets bad parodies made of it

So there are a couple iconic songs on here, namely Surf’s Up and Good Vibrations. But outside that, it’s pretty self indulgent

Too random and repetitive for my taste

Connected is a banger, but the rest just kind of blurs together

Hmm, this is an odd one. Some songs have a lot of groove, but the concept of it as a soundtrack to a nonexistent movie shows through very clearly with a lot of it too. I don’t think it’s something I’ll listen to again, but I don’t hate it

Moody and spacey and atmospheric. But am I going to listen to an entire album of this? No

I honestly never expected to like a Bowie album, but this worked for me.

This walked the line of not quite too country for me to listen to for a while, but fell off about halfway through. I’m sure it’s influential but it’s not for me

I knew of this group from Graceland but never listened to a full album. It’s pleasant, but all relatively similar

I knew Buffalo Springfield before this but this was my first time listening to this album. I really liked it, though there weren’t any big hits on here. Expecting to Fly was the closest thing imo

Great album overall with several breakout hits

Don’t You Want Me is the only good song on here. The rest is extremely generic 80s pop. I could see how you’d need to listen to this if you’d never heard this kind of music before, but for the rest of us it’s nothing special

Take Me On is a classic, but the rest of this album is just fine rather than amazing

A strange thing happens when I listen to Arcade Fire. Starting out I’m always like this is really good, I should listen to more of them! Then about halfway through the album I get really tired of hearing them. It’s the strangest thing, because I like their music

This is music that would be parodied on Portlandia

There’s some decent prog rock in here when Gabriel shuts the hell up. When he is singing I feel like if I wanted to listen to Pinball Wizard I’d listen to Pinball Wizard. Ultimately I don’t know why I’d listen to this over Selling England by the Pound or basically anything by Yes

I love the rawness of her other albums like Dry, but turns out I also love her being a little more polished like this. And Thom Yorke is always welcome. Great album!

While personally I like Wee Small Hours more, this is the next best Sinatra album. Pure classic

Yeah classic stuff

Punk-y vibe-y goodness

PJ tries Bjork but it doesn’t grab me

Bring the Pain and All I Need are great, and the rest is pretty solid

I didn’t except to like this much, but it actually really worked. A mix of genres that flow really well

Couple classic bangers, couple that haven’t aged well, and some solid stuff in between. That’s pretty much the Stones in a nutshell

A fun but ultimately sort of plain mishmash of genres

I liked the instructional parts, that was really cool. The rest was enjoyable too

Like a shitty, badly sung musical. Why is this here?

Nice chill vibes, nothing magical but nothing bad either

They reminded me a lot of White Denim. And much like them it’s interesting stuff but not something I’ll listen to often

I liked this, and with it coming out in 99 they were just slightly ahead of their time. But it reminds me very much of Starsailor or Travis, where it’s good but nothing is great or special enough to endure

If you only listened to the first half you might think this is pretty basic Dylan stuff. But the back half is where things get exciting. I’m not a big Dylan fan, but I had some vague idea that he had some big controversial concert - this is that concert. He changes up his sound pretty distinctly, including probably the best version of Like. A Rolling Stone out there

An incredible classic

Ah to be young. Good stuff

Initially I thought this was fine but nothing special. But somewhere around Can’t Stop the Prophet I got into it. This album isn’t a masterpiece, but it’s really good

I was very excited about this album because one of my favorite artists frequently references Serge Gainsbourg. I came away a little disappointed. It’s basically French Leonard Cohen, talking over some repetitive but admittedly pretty kickass backing instrumentals

Interesting because they completely subvert tropes of both classic and psychedelic rock, but as an album to just listen to and enjoy it kind of falls flat

I was hoping for magic and got a very mediocre card trick

I liked this album a lot. It was like a more normal Everything Everything? Nothing quite brought it to a 5 star level, but it got close

Obvious 5 star, I mean come on

Fun punk sounds. I couldn’t point to any one particular song that stood out, but it worked really well as effectively one long track

I prefer Are You Experienced, but this has some real bangers on it too

Good blues throughout, with a couple enduring bangers to open and close the album. It’s great!

It’s just SO saccharine. It’s hard to imagine anyone in this era wanting that. Even the covers are like that. Close To You retains some of its power to cut through the clicheness it has now, but only if you are close listening. It’s hard to recommend this as a listen

While not as awful as other nu metal I’ve heard, I still don’t like this

Punk fun, and a nice forerunner to the later riot grrl era

Okay, here’s my controversial opinion: Man In the Moon isn’t very good. Other than that, great album with some enduring classics

You can really hear the Pharrell all over this, it’s kind of wild how distinct that sound is. Anyway, I don’t now that I needed to hear this before I died. Cry Me A River was the only song that stood out and even that was ehhh

Turns out electronica drags jazz down hard

As usual with Prince, I just don’t understand the fanaticism

There are a couple bangers on here. Gigantic, Where Is My Mind, hell I’ll even give them Tony’s Theme. But the rest just shows why the Pixies are overrated

I could see this being a big influence on other bands, but it’s not something I’ll listen to again because I’ve heard it done better elsewhere

Decent, a bit self indulgent especially at the start, but it ends up in a solid place

Pretty classic, and sad that things haven’t changed all these decades later

Wow, too bad about the second disc of this album. First disc is probably 4 stars, but it gets so bad after that

Impactful, and a lot of people hardcore love this album, but I’ve always felt it was overrated. Bits and pieces are catchy, but I’m just not into the concept

The title track is a stone cold classic, but the rest kind of flails around. It makes sense being the cutting edge of hip hip

This was constantly right on the verge of loving it. There just wasn’t a single stand out, capture my attention track

She may be a mess, but she was one hell of a rock star

I like the Yardbirds, but this album doesn’t include any of their really great songs. It’s just solid psych rock through with no standouts

This feels a little like prog rock lite. I’ve heard more edge from the other prog rock albums on this list

I didn’t know this existed and it was pretty fun. I call that a win

Fine, not amazing

I never really liked what I had heard of Billy Joel. The first couple tracks really pulled me in, I started thinking maybe I’d been wrong about him. Then we hit the overwrought middle part of the album and he lost me again. The album rallies a bit at the end, but ultimately there were only 2 or 3 songs I really enjoyed

Just not into it

More dull electronica, why is there so much of it on this list?

A solid example of its genre, though not the most famous. I had already heard How Can I Be Sure and Groovin, so I was glad to hear the rest. You Better Run was the biggest surprise, some welcome hard rockin

Kind of a hard rock/punk mixture. Not bad and probably influential, but I didn’t love it

I love shoegaze and listen to a lot of it, but I will say I tend to like where it, and its twin sister dreampop, went more than where it started. This album’s good, but I’d rather listen to Hum, or Blankenberge, or Ovlov, or Stove.

Decently fun multilingual world music, but nothing really grabbed me

A classic of early Beatles. Yeah it’s not as amazing as their later stuff, but it’s nostalgic and fun

Just say no to nu-metal

What’s that? I’ve said there’s too much electronica on this list too many times? Well maybe that should make you think about how much electronica is on this list

Solid psychedelia. I enjoyed Lazy Sunday the most

I liked this album. It’s amazing for a trans artist to get this level of attention and songs like For Today I Am A Boy and Bird Guhl are amazing. Personally I thought her signature vibrato can be amazing, but it can also be a little much at times. Wainwright’s song was also one of my favorites. Overall a strong album!

As time has gone on I’ve found the Stones less appealing. There were a couple interesting songs on here, Paint It Black and Out of Time come to mind. But that’s about it

I expected to hate this, and it’s better than that. But it is just so repetitive I can’t say I liked it either. New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down is good though, might get to 3 stars for that

Pretty chill, pretty smooth. I thought Time was the standout track

A friend turned me on to Doves like a year ago. Great album, experimental without being indulgent, big full sound, I dig it. Also listen to The Last Broadcast if you liked this

While Monk has never been my favorite jazz pianist, this was a solid album with some fantastic horn work from Rollins

Even the not so great Paul Simon albums have a couple bangers, namely Train in the Distance and Rene and Georgette Magritte in this case

They’re not incredible lyricists, but if you want an album that makes you feel like a badass this will definitely do it. Ace of Spades is the best song, but there aren’t really any clunkers either

It’s good, but it’s no Heaven or Las Vegas

So many iconic songs from just one album. Even the clunker (Dirty Diana) has some good stuff to it

One thing I have gotten out of doing this 1001 albums generator is a little more respect for U2. I still don’t love them, but at least I see they have some decent records

I’m not a big fan of folk music, but I recognize this as very well executed folk music

Not my favorite, but it has a ton of infectious energy that really carries it through

Way too Bowie. I’m glad he got to do his own thing more with Lust for Life

The march of time is crazy; it’s hard to imagine this being terribly inflammatory now. Still rocks real hard though!

Argh, this was really annoying to listen to

Great album. Not as good as The Big Come Up in my opinion, but still absolutely worth listening to

Easy 5 star are you kidding

Album gets 4 just on the strength of Son of a Preacher Man, and not blowing it with the rest of the album. But I also didn’t hear anything that would elevate it to a 5 star

Solid album but it goes too long

While not as mind blowing as some of the stuff Crosby, Stills, and Nash (and Young) did together, it’s a solid album. The closing of Go Back Home in particular great

Why is there so much Morrissey on this list? He’s just so overwrought and sludgy