994
Albums Rated
3.34
Average Rating
91%
Complete
95 albums remaining
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1970s
Favorite Decade
Grunge
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Top Origin
Balanced
Rater Style
80
5-Star Albums
16
1-Star Albums
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You Love More Than Most
Albums you rated higher than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slipknot | 5 | 2.68 | +2.32 |
| KE*A*H** (Psalm 69) | 5 | 2.69 | +2.31 |
| Atomizer | 5 | 2.72 | +2.28 |
| Arise | 5 | 2.73 | +2.27 |
| Group Sex | 5 | 2.74 | +2.26 |
| Two Dancers | 5 | 2.75 | +2.25 |
| Roots | 5 | 2.78 | +2.22 |
| Ys | 5 | 2.8 | +2.2 |
| Kilimanjaro | 5 | 2.86 | +2.14 |
| The New Tango | 5 | 2.88 | +2.12 |
You Love Less Than Most
Albums you rated lower than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highway 61 Revisited | 1 | 3.77 | -2.77 |
| You've Come a Long Way Baby | 1 | 3.35 | -2.35 |
| Achtung Baby | 1 | 3.31 | -2.31 |
| The Slim Shady LP | 1 | 3.29 | -2.29 |
| Live 1966 (The Royal Albert Hall Concert) | 1 | 3.15 | -2.15 |
| This Is Hardcore | 1 | 3.14 | -2.14 |
| Smile | 1 | 3.06 | -2.06 |
| Cafe Bleu | 1 | 2.87 | -1.87 |
| (What's The Story) Morning Glory | 2 | 3.84 | -1.84 |
| Appetite For Destruction | 2 | 3.74 | -1.74 |
Artist Analysis
Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Pixies | 3 | 5 |
| Miles Davis | 4 | 4.5 |
| Sepultura | 2 | 5 |
| Johnny Cash | 2 | 5 |
| Radiohead | 6 | 4.17 |
| Tom Waits | 5 | 4.2 |
| Sonic Youth | 4 | 4.25 |
| PJ Harvey | 4 | 4.25 |
| Queen | 3 | 4.33 |
| Nirvana | 3 | 4.33 |
| David Bowie | 8 | 3.88 |
| Led Zeppelin | 5 | 4 |
Least Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Bob Dylan | 6 | 2 |
| U2 | 3 | 1.67 |
| Scott Walker | 2 | 1.5 |
| Fatboy Slim | 2 | 1.5 |
| Dexys Midnight Runners | 3 | 2 |
Controversial Artists
Artists you rate inconsistently
| Artist | Albums | Variance |
|---|---|---|
| Hole | 2 | 1.5 |
5-Star Albums (80)
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Popular Reviews
Big Black
5/5
Lol, this is incredible! The production is so noisy and raw. Steve Albini's band, so that makes sense. Sometimes gives me some Ministry vibes with the combination of drum machine and distorted vocals.
16 likes
Slipknot
5/5
A++ This record was ferocious when it came out and it has continued to kick ass over the decades. In my opinion they never achieved this level of intensity again, but good lord is this album a fucking monster.
8 likes
5/5
I don't like everything Muse has done, but I really like this album. There's such a cool mix of fun theatric songs mixed with more "serious" rock songs, often going back and forth in the same track. Just about every song has many nuanced layers; it's a real listener's album as Gina Gleason likes to say.
4 likes
Aerosmith
2/5
Not bad for this type of straight-forward rock, though it's just really not my style. Probably wouldn't ever choose to listen to it either.
3 likes
Ministry
5/5
Another formative record from my teens, this is an album that has not been tarnished by time in my ears. Ministry is what I imagined all metal music sounded like to people who didn't listen to a lot of it; fast, cheesy, repetitive, and blasphemous. NWO, Just One Fix, and Hero are still monster tracks to me. Jesus Built My Hotrod is such a stupid, awesome song, and Gibby Haynes' gibberish vocals are always great.
Wow; so in TV II, only now after 30 years have I realized Al is saying "connect the goddamn dots" and not "connect the goddamn darts"; lol, yeah, I dunno.
3 likes
4-Star Albums (356)
1-Star Albums (16)
All Ratings
Dire Straits
4/5
Dire Straits has such an easily-dated sound, but captures some of the best of what came out of 80's pop music. I love Mark Knoppfler's voice and guitar playing. The hook for "Money for Nothing" is maybe the most iconic guitar riff from my entire childhood; that song will never be played out for me. "Walk of Life" has an organ riff and boogie-woogie guitar combo that is near impossible to not bop my head to. "Ride of the River" has almost an Oingo Boingo-like lead in with the various synths, percussion and horns. Some of the slower songs are instantly forgettable, but the album ends pretty strong with "Brother in Arms".
1/5
I've never been a fan of Dylan, and this performance does nothing to change that. Dylan's "style" of singing always rubs me the wrong way, and takes away from what might otherwise be pretty decent songs.
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
Overall not bad. Has some of my least (Bridge Over Troubled Water) and most (Baby Driver) favorite S&G tunes.
The White Stripes
4/5
I love the variety of recorded sounds on this album. Everything sounds great, even though there's a ton of lo-fi quality types of recording technique. Highlights for me are the first half of the album; "Finding it Harder to be a Gentleman" has some great electric piano, "Fell in Love With a Girl" has a great guitar hook, and "Same Boy You've Always Known" has a really great classic rock sound. Songs like "Union Forever" are kind of clams in my mind; seems like pretentious psych-rock filler, but overall a pretty good album.
Norah Jones
3/5
First time listening to this record. Norah Jones has a great voice, but most of the songs in the top half of the album just don't do much to grab my attention. "I've Got to See You Again" is pretty good with it's slow syncopated beat, and I started to like this album a little more starting here. "Painter Song" was interesting, and "Nightingale" had some great instrumental lines in it. So a few decent tracks in an otherwise very bland album.
Pantera
5/5
Now we're talkin'! This is an album that takes me right back to high school when I would listen to it constantly. One of the bands that first drew me into listening to heavy music. I spent endless hours trying to learn all of these riffs on guitar, and "Mouth for War" was the first drum track I transposed into MIDI for my drum machine, so this album taught me tons as an amateur musician. Over the years, the tone of the guitars and drums on this album have taken on a "ridiculous" sound in my ears, in that it's an extremely polished and over the top but dated sound, one that I don't think I'd enjoy on anyone else's material, but I just love it on these songs.
Pink Floyd
5/5
This record got me into Pink Floyd, and is the first of the three albums that I consider the best of their discography; Dark Side, Wish You Were Here, and Animals. I love David Gilmour's style and tone. Lots of really great analog synth lines. The song writing is a good balance of Gilmour's and Waters' styles. An album I've listened to probably hundreds of times at this point, but still isn't played out in my mind.
Van Morrison
2/5
Album starts off decent. Noodling on flute, acoustic guitar and bass on Astral Weeks is interesting, maybe a little disjointed.
Love the vibrophone on Beside You.
Cyprus Avenue is a mess; each performer is doing their own thing and the harpsichord is just plain distracting
It sounds like Van Morrison recorded himself first then everything got overdubbed afterwards. I read the wiki article on the recording sessions after listening and it's close to what I guessed; Morrison recorded in a separate iso-booth while the rest of the session players recorded together in a room. The session players were all jazz musicians, which explains the constant noodling, and most tracks were done in a single take.
Overall a super-meh album. None of the songs beyond the first three stood out to me at all other than the constant distraction of trying to figure out why everything sounds so off. Could potentially be better on further listens.
Ministry
5/5
Another formative record from my teens, this is an album that has not been tarnished by time in my ears. Ministry is what I imagined all metal music sounded like to people who didn't listen to a lot of it; fast, cheesy, repetitive, and blasphemous. NWO, Just One Fix, and Hero are still monster tracks to me. Jesus Built My Hotrod is such a stupid, awesome song, and Gibby Haynes' gibberish vocals are always great.
Wow; so in TV II, only now after 30 years have I realized Al is saying "connect the goddamn dots" and not "connect the goddamn darts"; lol, yeah, I dunno.
Missy Elliott
3/5
Never listened to this before, other than hearing the singles when they were popular. Pretty good overall. I like Missy Elliott's voice and production skills, but a lot of this album isn't as memorable as tracks she released later in her career. Some good guests like Busta and Aaliyah, but Timbaland is an immediate detractor from any track he appears on.
Fiona Apple
4/5
Album starts great; cool drum-machine sample, great piano hook with lots of spicy dissonance added at the end along with ambient effects. Such a cool track. Pedal steel guitar, vibrophone, and mellotron instrumentation is great on Shadowboxer. I've never noticed all the great counter-melody in Criminal, though I think I've only ever heard it on the radio or on PAs; this is the first time listening on good headphones. Rest of the album continues to be interesting and dynamic. All in all pretty good.
Kanye West
2/5
I've never really seen the appeal of Kanye. His public persona aside, his music has always just been kind of "meh" for me. Opening track, Dark Fantasy, does nothing to improve this; sounds like it was written and recorded by a 12 year old. There are some decent guest appearances, and a couple of good hooks, but overall I didn't really enjoy this.
Beastie Boys
4/5
This is a fun album; lots of classic Beastie songs, lots of lyrics about being a stupid kid. Some good grade school nostalgia from listening to this.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Beautiful composition and instrumentation. Didn't impress me a ton at first, but after reading some background and listening a second time, the vocal performances and lyrics are pretty devastating. It's not something I'd put on for myself, but a solid record otherwise.
Blue Cheer
3/5
Very so-so for me; not much remarkable, but I probably wouldn't skip it if it came up on a random play. I generally like bluesy-rock like this, but the way Blue Cheer puts it together is just not my favorite.
Bob Dylan
2/5
Tangled up in Blue is decent. So is Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts, though it kind of reminds me of the awkward studio recording scene from the movie Inside Llewyn Davis. The rest is just fine, so overall the album is a solid meh/5.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
This album is rad. Lots of classic Hendrix hits. I know lots of modern players give Hendrix flack for not being the most precise guitar player, but I love his playing style on this record. There was a time when I was a bit burned out on most of these tracks, but listening now after having not listened in several years they don't seem played out and I really enjoyed the whole album.
Solomon Burke
4/5
This is a pretty good record. Cry To Me is a great classic tune. You Can't Love 'Em All is a little creepy in a Mambo Number 5 kind of way. Solomon has such a powerful voice and I like how subtly he goes from crooning to wailing. The album has a really great 60's R&B/Soul feel.
Carpenters
3/5
The opening track is one I've never really been a fan of, but many of these are just catchy as fuck. Reason to Believe has a great opening Rhodes riff and the rolling country feel after that is hard not to bop along to...until the violins at least. Their cover of Help makes me like this Beatles tune even less than I already did. I like the zaniness (jazz flute!) on the final track Another Song. All in all not too bad; not really my cup of tea, but I enjoyed much of the album.
Nina Simone
3/5
Nina Simone has such a great characteristic voice for jazz. I'm only familiar with a few of her songs, so this entire album was new to me. Most of these songs were decent, though not many of them really stuck with me. This slow, vocal jazz style is something I enjoy putting on in the background but not always actively listening to.
Arcade Fire
3/5
Just okay. Some of the tracks were good, Rebellion for example I found pretty interesting with some of the key modulations, but overall there wasn't much on here that I really liked. Maybe more listens are necessary, but this kind of just made me want to put on the Pixies or Modest Mouse instead.
Primal Scream
4/5
Never listened to Primal Scream before, although I recognize Movin' on Up? Slip Inside the House; this is a strange pivot, but I like it. Higher than the Sun is a bit of a relic; breaks between the lyrical verses is pretty dope though. Overall I liked this more than I would have expected; not my preferred style but great songs pretty much throughout.
Jeff Beck
3/5
This is a very ok late 60's rock album. Nothing bad about it, nothing really remarkable either. I've really never gotten the appeal of Jeff Beck; this album changes nothing.
Brian Eno
3/5
This album is decent. Some interesting early synth sounds, but not much that really held my attention overall.
Sade
4/5
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
4/5
Elbow
4/5
I really dug this. Not familiar with Elbow at all, but there was so much to listen to in these songs. Hard to pin just how many things I'm reminded of listening to this, but overall I really enjoyed it.
Alanis Morissette
4/5
Gene Clark
3/5
Life's Greatest Fool was a good song. I didn't like Silver Raven so much; Clark's voice isn't well suited to this style of singing. No Other is a great song; has enough cowbell to make Blue Oyster Cult jealous. Strength of Strings sounds a lot like Neil Young. From a Silver Phial sounds a lot like Pink Floyd. Album kind of lost my interest after this point until Lady of the North, which I kind of liked towards the end. 3 good songs, but then the rest I didn't particularly enjoy.
Elvis Presley
4/5
Afrika Bambaataa
4/5
Metallica
4/5
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
2/5
The Police
3/5
I like lots of Police songs, but this album is not my favorite. It seems like they're going for a kind of Residents vibe with some of these tunes. Some bands pull off that type of theatrical weirdness well, but I don't like how it's done on Synchronicity. The hit singles are decent: Synchronicity II is a banger, and Every Breath You Take has a great guitar hook, despite being the most famous stalker anthem of all time.
Coldplay
3/5
I was ready to hate this because I'm sick to death of their singles...but some of these songs I really enjoyed. So, pleasantly surprised.
U2
1/5
TIHI
Count Basie & His Orchestra
4/5
This had a nice mixture of kind of classic big band type jazz, but also some really great bebop and dixieland style. Some really sweet guitar and clarinet lines in places, and the piano playing of course is super rad. I like this quite a bit, works well as some upbeat background music, but also interesting stuff happening for active listening too.
Machito
4/5
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Gary Numan
4/5
The sound of this album captures this era of time so well for me. So many great obvious and subtle synth sounds. There's times when I can't tell if some of the backing tracks are stringed instruments with effects or synthesizers made to sound like stringed instruments.
Les Rythmes Digitales
4/5
Holy shit, this is really good. "Music makes you lose control", that bass hook is rad! Never heard of this before, but I kind of love it, makes you want to shake your ass.
Eric Clapton
2/5
R.E.M.
3/5
There's a bar I sometimes end up at named Mulligan's which has the slogan "The OK-est bar on Hawthorne"...this album is like that but for music. Nothing in here I either hated or loved, it was all ok.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
UB40
3/5
Gotan Project
3/5
The Strokes
4/5
T. Rex
3/5
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
Mekons
2/5
The Stranglers
4/5
Badly Drawn Boy
4/5
Sigur Rós
5/5
Liz Phair
5/5
Jean-Michel Jarre
3/5
John Prine
5/5
Dusty Springfield
4/5
James Taylor
4/5
The Sonics
3/5
Korn
2/5
Blast from the past; I tried so hard to get into this album when I was in high school, being a huge fan of the first two. But Follow the Leader never really clicked for me and still doesn't. Most of the songs seem to be trying to recapture the sound that made them big, but with a few exceptions it comes off as kind of flat.
Def Leppard
2/5
So bland. Something about the "huge" production of this record just saps it of all dynamics for me, so it loses my interest if I listen to more than a few songs in a row. Piecemeal it's alright, but the album as a whole is kind of tiresome to listen to.
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
The Black Crowes
3/5
Not exceptional, but still pretty good straight rock and roll.
Aerosmith
3/5
Pretty decent guitar rock. Nothing super special about, but I enjoyed the play through.
The Divine Comedy
3/5
Huh; this was very strange, but I kind of liked it. If Henry Mancini ever went through a post-punk phase it seems like it would sound like this.
Megadeth
3/5
Not bad, not great. I like a lot of the riffs, but there's also quite a few which just kind of sound like "insert generic thrash riff". That's kind of what you get with the big four, to be fair. Also not a fan of Mustaine's voice.
Big Brother & The Holding Company
2/5
God. Damn. Hippies.
Sepultura
5/5
I love this album, though a lot of that is for nostalgic reasons. They really jumped on the nu-metal bandwagon with this album, but 16 year old me didn't care about that in 1997, I just loved playing this and Chaos AD over and over. In addition to being a gateway metal album from my formative years, Sepultura was also one of those bands that kind of opened my eyes to a wider world beyond the small conservative community I grew up in. To this day, I just love Max Cavalera's voice, and Igor Cavalera varies up his drumming so much that even songs with the simplest riffs end up being some of the most dynamic.
Dire Straits
4/5
This has got some of the best Dire Straits songs on it. They don't all kick ass, but the ones that do have some of my favorite guitar playing of all time.
Jazmine Sullivan
4/5
I liked this album and it seems like one that will get even better on repeated listens. It reminds me of Dirty Computer in that the themes of the songs are just as striking as the music, and the more I listen the more I pick out.
Common
3/5
Depeche Mode
4/5
I never liked Depeche Mode growing up (always chuckled at KMFDM jokingly standing for Kill Mother Fucking Depeche Mode), but I actually enjoyed this album quite a bit.
Bobby Womack
4/5
Joan Armatrading
3/5
5/5
I don't like everything Muse has done, but I really like this album. There's such a cool mix of fun theatric songs mixed with more "serious" rock songs, often going back and forth in the same track. Just about every song has many nuanced layers; it's a real listener's album as Gina Gleason likes to say.
DJ Shadow
5/5
Amy Winehouse
4/5
This is such a solid album; Amy's voice is amazing and I love all of the old-school production and instrumentation/arrangement.
Willie Nelson
3/5
Eh, it's just ok. I like Willie Nelson as a cultural icon and for his activist endeavors, but his music is pretty meh for me, this album being a prime example.
Jacques Brel
2/5
I enjoyed the orchestra (more accordian and theremin, please!), but not much else. I can give Jacques credit for giving his all, his performance is clearly passionate, but I would not choose to listen to this again.
Spiritualized
2/5
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
Pretty good, makes for some good upbeat background music while doing other things. Don't think I'd put it on for much else, but I enjoyed it enough for the first playthrough.
The Velvet Underground
3/5
Johnny Cash
5/5
Kraftwerk
2/5
Green Day
3/5
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
Louis Prima
3/5
The Jam
5/5
I really liked this. Never heard of this group before, but I hear so many other groups that I enjoy in this album.
System Of A Down
5/5
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
This album really grew on me. I didn't like track 1 at all at first, but track 2 hooked me and the rest of the album clicked too. It always takes me awhile to get into some of these shoegaze bands (Medicine is still a group that I'm kind of bipolar on), but overall I liked this album a lot.
The Prodigy
3/5
This album gives me some high-precision nostalgia; makes me want to Hack the Planet. I kind of hate what they done to my beloved L7 with their Fuel My Fire cover.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Jeru The Damaja
4/5
Wow, I didn't think I was familiar with Jeru other than recognizing the name, but I actually know some of these tracks from 311 skate videos I used to watch in high school. Pretty good album; has that 90's hip hop sound and that east coast style of using dissonant samples.
The Young Rascals
4/5
This is a decent early rock album. I like how much soul influence there is in many of these songs.
Haircut 100
5/5
Van Halen
3/5
Lots of classic songs on here. Most are pretty played out from me; only FM rock station where I grew up played lots of Van Halen every day. I've grown to like most of these songs as I've gotten older. Hard not to appreciate Eddie as a guitar player. I still Like 4 Non Blondes version of I'm The One better, and 2 Minutes to Late Night mined this album hard for their Bedroom Covers series, so at the end of the day there are versions of most of these songs I'd rather listen to.
Ray Charles
3/5
Julian Cope
4/5
Wasn't familiar at all with Julian Cope before this. The first track didn't do much for me, but it took off after that. I love the sound of this album, and I dig the variety of styles. I read a little about Julian's background and there's definitely evidence of his post-punk roots, but there's so much cool exploration and weirdness. The song You... is fantastic. This is an album I would for sure spin again, way too much to hear in only one sitting.
Jeff Buckley
5/5
Not much to say; Jeff Buckley is pretty damn good. The songwriting and singing are great, and considering he was a session guitar player before recording this album the songs are pretty balanced instrumentation wise, not entirely guitar-centric.
Boston
4/5
Kraftwerk
4/5
2/5
The Doors
4/5
The Flaming Lips
3/5
I appreciate the songwriting and arrangement of these songs, but the Flaming Lips are not a band I really ever enjoy. Everything on this album sounds great, but nothing that has me wanting to play it again.
The Roots
5/5
Miles Davis
5/5
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
Marvin Gaye
5/5
Bob Dylan
3/5
This album surprised me a bit. I had low expectations but I think for the first time in a long time I really heard the appeal of Bob Dylan from many of these songs. I think a lot of it had to do with him staying in his vocal range more and keeping it real simple. I was able to appreciate the songs as a whole and not get distracted by his voice. Probably not something I'd spin again for myself, but would definitely consider it for a backyard gathering or group roadtrip.
Simple Minds
4/5
Muddy Waters
2/5
I'm not a big fan of straight blues, so this record didn't do much for me. I enjoyed the songs well enough while it played, but nothing really stuck out to me and overall it is kind of forgettable.
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
R.E.M.
2/5
Paul Weller
4/5
I'm liking this a lot. Very mellow, but some great composition and instrumentation. Occasionally some very uniquely dirty sounding synths used along with some big classic 70's sounding arrangements with flute and horns; I love it. He used to be in the Jam; I can sort of hear it knowing that, though wouldn't have connected those two dots without a wiki. This list is my first exposure to both Weller and the Jam, and I'm quite happy for both.
Hole
5/5
I have a very well loved copy of this on CD; happy to dust it off and give it a spin today.
Miles Davis
5/5
My dad played this record regularly all through my childhood. This type of jazz remains my favorite to this day (had to look it up, modal jazz; will seek out more); simple motifs stated and restated, with minor variations and improv that's not shy about hitting a phrase multiple times, whether it's harmonious or dissonant.
The Allman Brothers Band
3/5
Not bad. Bluesy jam bands aren't really my thing, but there were some interesting riffs. Not much that held my intention more than intermittently. Might try again some other time.
Rod Stewart
2/5
Pink Floyd
3/5
Love me some Floyd, but I'm not the biggest fan of the really early stuff. Meddle is kind of the furthest back in their catalog that I've done most of my listening. This album was just ok for me. Nothing that turned me off, but it's not the record I would put on by choice; give me Animals any day, every day.
Janis Joplin
4/5
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
5/5
I love how raw and unpolished this recording sounds. Everything is kind of overly dynamic and noisy, but it fits the style of the music perfectly and sounds like you're listening to them live. S'good
The B-52's
5/5
I played the HELL out of side-A on this cassette on my Walkman as a kid. I still love this album so much. It honestly makes me wish I could renormalize the rest of my album scores because this 5/5 is so much more significant than some of my others. To this day I pretty much compare anything coined as "psychedelic" to Planet Claire; such a cool, weird and creepy track. The way Kate and Cindy sing together on 52 girls, oscillating between unison, harmony, and dissonance is one of my favorite things ever. The catty call-and-response on Dance This Mess Around. Rock Lobster is loved by everyone and for good reason; song is a fucking banger, and Fred Schneider's beach party is clearly an interspecies rager. B-side of the album loses a little steam. Lava is pretty good and laid back; I love that they included the line "Krakatoa, East of Java" after the '68 disaster movie which misses the tiny fact that Krakatoa is west of Java. The vocals on Hero Worship are great; very unironically loose-in-a-tight-way. Closing track Downtown seems like a great drunken karaoke version captured. 10/5
The Shamen
2/5
Bee Gees
2/5
Ugh, not a fan. Contemplated not even completing a single playthrough several times, but sallied forth in the spirit of the 1001. I guess it's impressive how un-mixed all of the instruments feel at times; everything sounds very compartmentalized. I also would not have placed any of these songs as Bee Gees songs if I'd heard them randomly in the wild; I really only know them for their disco singles.
Femi Kuti
4/5
This is dope. Really great sax playing and I like the arrangements. Electric piano all over the place dates it, but not always negatively. Femi's voice is really great, and I like all afrobeat call and response.
Black Sabbath
3/5
Gorillaz
4/5
Throbbing Gristle
3/5
Very strange. I like odd recordings like this, though I don't know this is one I would listen to often. I read that one of the band members went on to form Psychic TV, which makes a lot of sense. Knowing that, I really want to give a second listen in a much quieter environment; probably lots of hidden aural treats.
Moby
4/5
This is the only Moby album I'm familiar with, but I really like it. I love all of the sampled Lomax recordings and roots music. Some of these tracks are just down-right haunting.
Parliament
3/5
Pretty good. Didn't realize just how much of The Chronic was taken directly from this album. I want to play SNES NBA Jam all of a sudden...
Stevie Wonder
4/5
AC/DC
4/5
I wanted blood. I got it.
Flamin' Groovies
3/5
Not bad. Very garage band-y rock and roll. I liked most of it, though it started to get more blues-centric and generic towards the end of the album.
Nick Drake
3/5
Pretty good. Very laid back, nice instrumentation, interesting chord changes. Something I would put on for mixed company, but probably not listen to a lot on my own.
The Only Ones
3/5
Nice opening with saxophone and shimmering guitar...not a fan of this singer at first. As the album goes on, the rest of the band makes up for the singing, and I got accustomed to it. Overall not bad. Worth additional spins.
The Byrds
3/5
This album is pretty good. Folk rock is a style that's blended especially while by the Byrds. I love how jangly the guitar sounds on this record. Time Between has some great country finger pickin' guitar.
Elliott Smith
4/5
Pretty good. I was never a fan of Miss Misery when it got super popular, but this album surprised me. Looks like I need to chase down some more Elliott Smith.
Elis Regina
5/5
First impression: wow, this first song has me hooked right from the start! This album is super tight; really jazzy and funky, polished production, and just tons of great little musical moments and riffs. I'm pretty blown away; first song was a 5/5, and the rest of the record backed it up. Last track is such a banger!
Beatles
3/5
S'allright. Songs are pretty decent, definitely not as interesting as their later stuff.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Neil Young
4/5
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
R.E.M.
4/5
Elvis Presley
3/5
Ozomatli
4/5
Jimmy Smith
4/5
Pretty good. I like bebop and modal stuff much more than this type of soul jazz, but there were still lots of great moments in here. Loved the back and forth with the sax and Hammond organ, and overall just liked the very mellow vibe, even during some of the more complicated solos.
Van Morrison
4/5
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
4/5
This is pretty solid. Not my favorite Petty album; I think I like his second and third albums better, but still pretty good.
The Teardrop Explodes
5/5
Another new one to me, I pretty much immediately liked it. Sleeping Gas devolved into such a chaotic mess of organ and horns. Did a little research; Julian Cope got his start here, that's cool. Yeah, this album was pretty rad. Will definitely listen again.
The Beau Brummels
2/5
Never heard of this group before, but I really didn't enjoy this. It just seems to me like the worst of Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan combined.
The Smiths
4/5
The timing of today's album; lol. This was pretty great. I need to spend more time with The Smiths, and this album reminded me of that.
Jefferson Airplane
4/5
Adele
4/5
Pretty good. Doesn't really hold my attention, but great in the background. The singles I was familiar with and enjoy, but some of the other deep cuts were really good too. "I'll Be Waiting" is a stand out track, love the horns and multiple vocalists hitting the chorus.
Big Black
5/5
Lol, this is incredible! The production is so noisy and raw. Steve Albini's band, so that makes sense. Sometimes gives me some Ministry vibes with the combination of drum machine and distorted vocals.
Iron Maiden
3/5
Not familiar with this record. Pretty strange hearing Maiden without Bruce Dickinson's voice, but the galloping rhythms and frantic bass are pretty unmistakable. Not bad overall; not my favorite Maiden record though.
Pixies
5/5
First Pixies record I ever bought. Played the hell out of it, but as I started collecting the rest of their records this one became the least favorite of them all as a teenager. Listening to this now; I don't know why this ever fell to the bottom. The reverbed out guitar, the super clean vocal harmonies, Black Francis' range from velvety smooth to gnarly growls, experimenting with the spacey dissonant melodies that made Trompe Le Monde such a great album.
Easily a 5/5 album.
The Kinks
4/5
Culture Club
2/5
Sonic Youth
5/5
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
The Who
3/5
How can you not love an opening track with flugelhorn? Overall just OK.
Screaming Trees
4/5
This album kind of snuck up on me. I was initially not impressed, but by halfway through started really paying attention and immediately played it through a second time. Really good overall. There are hints of gospel in lots of the songs, and I love how smoothly its integrated with the rest of the alternative rock sound of the late 90's that's pretty unmistakable.
Jungle Brothers
4/5
It's pretty apparent from the sound of this album how it's a bridge from early hip hop to the golden age. Not my favorite from this era, but still pretty good overall.
4/5
Love that bass! Production on this album is crazy; so dense and massive. I don't know ABC, but I really like this record.
Nick Drake
3/5
The xx
4/5
Dolly Parton
4/5
Great album from a great era in country music. Dolly has such an unmistakable voice, with some crazy vibrato on some of these songs, and her song and lyric writing are great too.
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
Queen
4/5
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Stones, baby! There's some pretty great guitar sounds on this album. Richards is by no means the best player, but I do like many of his licks; it's really hard to beat Can't You Hear Me Knocking.
Steely Dan
4/5
Pretty great! Such a great blend of prog rock, jazz and mellow funk.
Sly & The Family Stone
2/5
Jane Weaver
3/5
This is decent, but not much really striking me or holding my attention. Pleasant to listen to but mostly forgettable for me. First and last tracks I found the most interesting and pretty good though; there's enough here in these two tracks that I might try the album as a whole again later.
Supergrass
5/5
Supergrass was one of those bands I was aware of but never listened to in the 90's. I'm now very much kicking myself for not having checked this out earlier. This album has so much great stuff in it; kind of seems like a precursor to proggy rock bands like Closure in Moscow. Instant fan.
The Fall
3/5
Hmm; not super impressed. Wiki says this album was their most acclaimed and at the peak of their accessibility, but I found it all pretty bland, with one or two exceptions. Just ok overall.
Travis
2/5
Just ok, but likely won't ever listen again to be honest.
Eagles
2/5
Love Take it Easy. Hate Witchy Woman. Rest of the album did nothing for me. Eagles remain high on my list of overrated 70's bands.
Q-Tip
4/5
Took a tiny bit of warming up to, but this album was great overall. Captures some of what I love about Tribe's sound without sounding totally like them, and there are some monster hooks on this record.
Talking Heads
4/5
Magazine
5/5
Jane's Addiction
3/5
Van Halen
4/5
Such a monster album. Not perfect, but pretty close.
KISS
3/5
David Bowie
4/5
Otis Redding
4/5
So many hits! Start to finish this album is solid and has some of my favorite versions of the covers done on it.
CHIC
4/5
Very cool. It usually into disco, but this album kind of ruled. Plus, the bass line and slapping ham-bone on My Feet Keep Dancing; hell yeah!
MGMT
5/5
The Boo Radleys
3/5
There were some songs that I really liked, but overall the album just kind of dragged on. Also, some of the noisier tracks were kind of grating and too wall-of-sound-y, so I found myself adjusting my listening volume constantly.
The Pharcyde
5/5
The Isley Brothers
4/5
Super fun album; cover versions of Listen to the Music and Summer Breeze are pretty fantastic. Love the gnarly fuzz guitar tone!
Cream
3/5
I like Cream's hit songs, so I had higher hopes for this. But the majority of the album kind of just sounded like standard 60's Brit rock. So overall, just ok.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
All around good album. I've always liked Neil Young and his elegant stripped down style. Crazy Horse makes a great backing band for him, so this whole record is just fun straight-forward rock and roll.
Paul Simon
4/5
Love this record. The production is all super polished and Paul Simon's voice, as well as the other backup vocalists and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, just shine through the whole album.
Tim Buckley
3/5
I mostly liked this. Some of the songs devolved a little too much into kind of weird hippy horniness, especially the back half of the album, but overall not bad.
Billy Joel
3/5
Billy Joel is an artist I always enjoy listening to and will never choose to listen to. Not sure why, his music is fine, but just never really tickles my fancy enough to want to come back I guess.
Bill Evans Trio
5/5
I liked this instantly. This recording sounds so great, so much space taken up by only three instruments. Bill Evans piano playing is simultaneously unpredictable, but at the same time phrases never seem surprising. Reminds me a bit of some of the Miles Davis records I like, no surprise they played together in the late 50's.
Violent Femmes
5/5
Love this album. I've always really dug just how up front in the mix the bass guitar is. And it's such a clean but also unpolished recording. If it weren't for the sound of the vocals, it's easy to think this was recorded in the 60's or 70's.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Yup, they're pretty good. I don't quite like this album as much as Fever to Tell. Blitz has a much cleaner and pop-ier production, which suits the songs on this album well.
Eminem
3/5
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
I remember being super into this album as a teenager. I still like most of the songs, but the album as a whole runs way too long. 3.5/4
Prince
4/5
This album is so good. It has so much of what people like to parody Prince for, but done so god damn well. I challenge anyone to listen to Baby I'm a Star and not shake their ass. 4/5
Crowded House
2/5
Hmm, well that was certainly an album. Very little that I liked about this. Maybe an occasional hook, but overall just kind of a snooze fest.
Super Furry Animals
3/5
I liked this album okay. Fun and playful, but not much really stuck with me.
The Human League
4/5
Human League is a group I've always had on my "need to check them out more" list. This album has highs and lows for me. I love all of the synths being used, but there are some tunes where the use of portamento is kind of exhausting. But songs like Do or Die and Don't You Want Me are undeniable bangers. Overall good, I would give this a spin again. 3.5/5
50 Cent
3/5
I'm not familiar with this album other than the singles. It's just okay for me. The lyrics made me chuckle at times, and some tracks had a sound I liked, but overall the lyrics and production didn't do much for me.
Lorde
3/5
Hmm, not bad for pop music I guess. Nothing that would make me want to choose to listen to it, but I didn't dislike it while it was playing. 2.5/5
4/5
Love me some PJ Harvey. I'm more familiar with To Bring You My Love, so I was only familiar with a handful of tracks off this album before today. This album is maybe a little more polished and less avant garde than TBYML, so I think I still prefer that album, but overall I enjoyed this whole record quite a bit.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
Another group that I've always had on my "should listen to someday" list, until now. This record dipped a little in energy for me in the middle for a few tracks, but I really liked the rest. Voodoo Dolly was a nice dark kind of psychedelic spin out at the end. I can hear this group's influence in lots of things I'm into by more recent artists.
Funkadelic
3/5
Helluva opening; this stereo, fuzzy wah guitar tone would make both Hendrix and Jerry Cantrell drool. The rest of the album was ok; fun to listen to, but didn't necessarily keep me engaged. Very nice as background music, just not a lot there for active listening.
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
Iggy Pop
4/5
4/5
Shack
3/5
Bob Dylan
1/5
Skipped Rolling Stone; I've heard it too many god damn times and I don't think it's a great song. Tombstone Blues surprised me initially, I liked it more than I thought I would, but then it just kept going on for almost 6 minutes with little change. The rest of the album was a chore; the harmonica in Queen Jane gave me a headache, even after I turned it down, and that fucking spin-whistle in HWY 61, what in the pretentious-folk-hero-hippy-square-scaring-mid-60's-edge-lord kind of fucking bullshit is that?!? Well, the album is almost over at least, this last song is only...11 minutes longWHATTHEFUCKBOB!!!!
The Beach Boys
3/5
Steely Dan
4/5
This album has some really great jazz-feeling guitar lines, and I love the variety in instrumentation (I'm a sucker for a track with vibraphone). Not every song is a banger, but the bookends of the record alone make me want to listen again.
The Notorious B.I.G.
3/5
The Incredible String Band
1/5
Lol, I can't take this band seriously, it just makes me think of Spinal Tap. This was just the first few songs; the album goes downhill after that for me. Very much not by bag, baby.
Cocteau Twins
4/5
Heaven 17
4/5
I dug this. Love all the frantic funky guitar and bass mixed with synth and drum machine. Some nice sax samples in there too. 3.5/4
Iggy Pop
5/5
Man, there's a lot to like in this record. I kept hearing things that reminded me of later groups like Oingo Boingo and Jesus and Mary Chain. I will for sure be playing this again.
Tom Waits
5/5
Love it. I could listen to this all the time. Never was there a greater combination than Tom Wait's voice and the quirky folk music he sings over.
Waylon Jennings
3/5
Very standard-issue-Waylon Jennings. Decent country music, if not my favorite, but also not super remarkable.
Billy Bragg
2/5
I like most alt country when I here it, even though it's not a style I often put on myself, but this album did very little for me.
Suede
2/5
Various Artists
3/5
I was prepared to not like this album, but in listening realized that the Spector Wall of Sound versions of these Christmas tunes are actually the ones I enjoy the most. So actually a pretty enjoyable listen.
Fiona Apple
4/5
The Afghan Whigs
2/5
King Crimson
4/5
Queen Latifah
4/5
I've only ever heard Queen Latifah's records from the 90's. This was pretty good, nice bridge between the 80's hip hop rap sound and the style that became popular in the 90's.
Burning Spear
3/5
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Lightning Bolt
4/5
This was pretty good. It has that characteristic manic Lightning Bolt sound, although seems maybe a little more tame than some of their later stuff.
Earth, Wind & Fire
4/5
Love me a tight horn section, and I was surprised how often the keyboard playing and melodic percussion on this album stood out as well. The big funk/soul groups don't always do it for me, but I liked this entire album.
Robbie Williams
2/5
I'm imagining a record producer in the 90's, totally gakked on cocaine, screaming at the top of his longs in a studio control room "MAKE IT MOOOOORE BRI' 'IISSHHHHHH!!!!" Seriously, this is hilarious in how just how Brit-pop it is. He literally sings "jolly good" in the first damn song. Too pop-y and polished for my liking.
Paul Simon
4/5
GZA
3/5
The Cardigans
4/5
First time I've listened to this full album. I like all of the Black Sabbath nods; intro to Heartbreaker using the opening riff from Black Sabbath was a cool surprise. The album is super pop-y, but luckily it's not all as disco inspired as Lovefool. I like that song, but I really enjoyed the variety of styles across the album.
Happy Mondays
3/5
Thundercat
4/5
I've been listening to a lot of Louis Cole recently and I've heard Thundercat is a similar style. This definitely has a similar vibe, and it's great! Inferno was a top track for me. It's got a great combination of laid back but also very nuanced playing, so I'll be listening again for sure.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
John Martyn
4/5
Took me awhile to get used to the singing style, but I really liked the variety of styles and instrumentation on this album. Some really great understated saxophone, electric piano and vibraphone runs on many of the songs. The more straight forward blues tracks were a bit forgettable, but overall a solid album.
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
I didn't like this at all. Very bland throughout, and Rotten's vocals seem all but phoned in.
The Cars
5/5
I’ve loved the Cars ever since I was 8, so this is an album that gets played in our house pretty regularly already.
Peter Frampton
3/5
Just ok. Really not my preferred style of rock and roll.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Bob Marley has always been about as neutral in my music likes as anything. With the exception of listening for this project, I don't think I've ever chosen to listen to Bob Marley, but any time someone else plays it or I hear it happenstance I've enjoyed it. It was fun listening to the Jamaican versions versus the US releases back to back. It's pretty clear that the US releases were made to sound closer to the contemporary rock music of the time.
Charles Mingus
4/5
This record is kind of wild. I didn't really like it the first playthrough until about halfway through Mode D, then something just clicked. I started it from the beginning immediately after the first playthrough and actively listened and was blown away at how much I had missed the first time through. Solid 4/5.
Yes
3/5
I was hoping to like this album more, but it never really clicked for me other than a few nice moments.
Anita Baker
3/5
George Michael
2/5
This album is kind of gross. The number of songs about sexual relationships that include references to patriarchal archetypes has really not aged well. It makes the attempt at social commentary towards the end of the album feel a little phoned in. At least the production is decent; lots of really great classic Roland patch sounds, and some super tight horns on the sex song that just completely does away with all lyrical nuance.
Tina Turner
3/5
What's Love Got to Do With It holds a firm place as beloved nostalgia for me and I had a huge childhood crush on Tina Turner, but I wasn't wowed by this album as a whole. I really wanted to like the cover of Al Green's Let's Stay Together, but it had too much 80's production on it for my liking. Steel Claw is pretty fun. Overall just an OK album for me.
Elliott Smith
3/5
This record was ok. Smith's song writing talent is unmistakable, but it's just a style that I am not super into, so I wouldn't likely listen to this again.
Richard Hawley
4/5
I like the moodiness to this, sometimes reminded me of Roy Orbison. Overall a very pretty record; love the sound of Richard's voice, I like the understated guitar playing, and I would likely come back to this record again for a more focused listen.
Elvis Costello
3/5
Pavement
3/5
Sex Pistols
4/5
First time I've listened to this in its entirety since high school. I enjoyed it a lot back then, and it's still a pretty decent record to these 42 year old ears.
The Pogues
3/5
This was pretty hot and cold for me. I enjoyed the more raucous tunes, but any time things mellowed down and got more folky, Shane MacGowan's voice and/or delivery just didn't do much for me. On average it's a decent record.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Hard to put my finger on what is so good about this era of popular folk music, but the Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon records on this list have been so damn good! Maybe it's not this era necessarily, and more Joni Mitchell's strength as a song writer, but there's something about this record sonically that just makes it so easy to place in pop music chronology. Great record, will definitely listen again, and most likely seek out a physical copy at some point.
Minor Threat
4/5
Can't ever go wrong with Minor Threat, in my opinion. Liked this record as a kid, still like it as I careen gleefully towards my old-fart years.
Tortoise
4/5
Good stuff. I got a bit into post-rock in my 20's, but this is a record I'd not heard of before today, and it's pretty great. The occasional, without being gimick-y, inclusion of non-western instruments almost sounds to me like it could be a precursor to Tuatara's Breaking the Ethers. Definitely worth additional listens.
Tito Puente
4/5
Nobody does a mambo like Tito! I love the sound of this album; it's such a classic sound that not only instantly registers the Latin style, but also the time it came from. The tracks Hong Kong Mambo and Estoy Siempre Junto a Ti are great with their marimba and vibraphone tracks, respectively. Overall pretty fun record; maybe not for everyday listening, but there's definitely times when I like putting on some of these older Latin styles like mambo or psychedlic cumbria.
Soundgarden
5/5
I've loved this record ever since it came out when I was still in junior high. I enjoy it no less today. I often go back and forth on whether I like Superunknown more or Badmotorfinger. Superunknown is definitely more tame, but some of the melodies are so much darker that it's a no-less entertaining album. Limo Wreck is still a song that gives me goosebumps every time; such a heavy verse, and Chris Cornell's vocals just absolutely soar in the chorus. Can't say enough good things.
Michael Jackson
3/5
Hmm, separating art from artist, this record is decent. The first half of the album is loaded with lots of the classic disco hits, and it's hard not to bop to them. The album kind of loses momentum for me after the first five tracks or so. By the end, I was kind of wishing that I was listening to one of the later artists clearly inspired by this album (say, Thundercat or Louis Cole, both of which I played immediately after), but it was pretty cool hearing this in comparison.
The Who
3/5
This is such a silly album. I remember my dad showing me this record growing up. I had just gotten way into Weird Al, and so we were going through all of this records that were either weird in art or concept, or just unique artists in general. There was The Who Sell Out, Frank Zappa, Jethro Tull, and Floyd's Ummagumma, to name a few. When my friends and I all turned 18 and wanted to get tattoos, "Tattoo" was the song we'd get cheesed and laugh with.
Nostalgia aside, the album as a whole is just okay. I'm usually pretty hot or cold with The Who, and this album is no exception. I did appreciate the Boris the Spider nod at the end of the weird psychedelic take on Hall of the Mountain King. Overall, yeah, pretty standard issue Who, which is just "meh".
Donovan
2/5
I'm glad I didn't listen to this driving home; I might have fallen asleep and killed somebody.
Linkin Park
2/5
After a decade plus of not hearing the singles from this album played out multiple times a day on the radio, I went into this record hoping to enjoy it. But everything just kind of fell flat. It's a nu metal record that doesn't really feel like it's adding anything to the genre. When it tries to go hard, it doesn't have the blistering ferocity of Slipknot. When Chester Bennington sings during quieter melodic parts, it doesn't have the ethereal beaty of the Deftones. And when Mike Shinoda raps over guitar and synth tracks, it doesn't have the Fred Dursity of Limp Bizkit. So it kind of just doesn't really push the envelope in any direction, good or bad.
Public Enemy
4/5
Whoa... I haven't listened to this in maybe 30 years, and I can honestly say that even then I never really paid much attention. This album slaps! Lots of groups sample Public Enemy, but the samples really don't do these songs justice. The composition and flow as a whole is really great.
The Byrds
3/5
I kind of always think of The Byrds as the band that made Bob Dylan songs actually sound good. I like their blend of folk rock and psychedelia, and this album has got great examples of that. Mr. Spaceman is a fantastic folk-rock song, and 8 Miles High has one of the most iconic guitar intro lines. The rest of the album was decent, though the two hits mentioned resonated the most with me.
Leftfield
3/5
Not a huge EDM listener, but the afro influence on this record made it much more interesting to me. Fun record to have on in the background. Will very likely listen again.
Cypress Hill
4/5
Heh, dope. Cypress Hill is dope, and Cypress Hill loves dope. Love the sound of both Sen's and B Real's voices, and even though the follow up to this album, Black Sunday, is the one I'll always prefer, I still really like this S/T as well.
Air
3/5
Not bad overall. I'm such a sucker for a good Rhodes track, so the first song had me hooked right away. They weren't all winners though. I hate the sound of vocoder with only a few exceptions, and track 6 is not one of those exceptions. However, it did win me back with all the theramin and haunting vocals in the back half of the song.
Dr. Dre
4/5
This one takes me back. I love the production on this album. I don't think any of the other 90's gangster rap artists ever pulled off the musicality that Dre did. It was such a polished sound. I can't get behind a lot of the homophobia and misogynist lyrics, but I still enjoy the album as a whole.
Mercury Rev
2/5
Sounds an awful lot like Flaming Lips to me. Not sure which one came first, but I'm not a huge fan of either.
TV On The Radio
4/5
Whoa. This is really good! This is a band I've always heard reference to and just never listened to. Kicking myself for that now, this record had me immediately hooked. Will have to listen to again, but I have a feeling it will be repeated listens.
Brian Wilson
1/5
I remember when this came out and not getting why it was so popular. I still don't get it. In fact, I hate it. The whole Beach Boys sound is so strange, but it at least fits with other genres of the 60's. Listening to this now, it just seems like the musical version of boomer nostalgia. If the opening statement "back in my day..." could be captured in a long-play format, this would be it. It's nearly as hateworthy as the acapella scene from Trading Places where the four Wall Street frat bros sing barbershop quartet style about their shared sexual conquests. At least that scene is satire; Brian Wilson is just up his own ass. The only time this sound has ever been good in my opinion is when Mr. Bungle used it behind the lyrics "...rots your brain just like a catchy tune, yeah. You will hate life more than life hates you. Happiness is your illness in an air-conditioned nightmare". The sentiment of Mr. Bungle's Air Conditioned Nightmare matches my experience of Brian Wilson Presents Smile perfectly; kill me now.
New Order
2/5
Billie Holiday
4/5
I love Billie Holiday's voice. Nobody else can can hit and hover around notes like she can. I don't know enough of her work to draw comparisons between this record and others of hers, but I really enjoyed this one and will likely be playing it again to get more familiar.
Love
4/5
Track 1: Unhinged version of \"What's up, pussycat\" by Tom Jones.
Track 2: Sick flute, vocal verse is very odd
Track 4: I kind of like this one; manic psyche punk rock?
Overall, pretty interesting. It devolved a little too much into psychedelic rock in the second half of the album, so kind of started to lose my interest.
Radiohead
4/5
I found my copy of this CD only about a week before it popped up on this list. Even though it's not my favorite Radiohead album, it's still so, so good. It's got elements of the more experimental things they leaned into harder on OK Computer and Kid A, but still has quite a few more "straight forward" rock songs, which are still brilliant.
Nick Drake
3/5
Another solid Nick Drake album. Similar to his others, this is an album that has a style I usually don't go for but it's done so well that I actually really enjoyed much of it.
The Yardbirds
3/5
I was prepared to not really like this, but it was more interesting than I expected. It being super early Jeff Beck, there wasn't any of the usual self-indulgent atonal wankery that turns me off of his later solo stuff. A decent classic rock and roll record.
Milton Nascimento
4/5
Really good, I loved the instrumentation and style of this. Probably need more listens to truly appreciate, so I imagine it will get even better on subsequent listens.
Michael Jackson
4/5
Pure nostalgia. I played the hell out of this on my Walkman when I was like 7 or 8. Still a really great record.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
I love this album. It has lots of Page's fun recording tricks on it and the strings and horns in Kashmir crush it.
The 13th Floor Elevators
2/5
Lol, wut? I've heard other groups from later eras messing with sounds and frequencies like this to try and enhance psychedelic experiences, but that fact that if you just removed the electric jug it would just be standard issue garage rock was very strange. Not bad per se, but I don't think I'd listen to this again, on drugs or not.
Hole
2/5
I've never listened to this full album before. For as much as I love Live Through This, Celebrity Skin is surprisingly disappointing. Seems like they leaned hard into what a lot of other post-Grunge era bands were doing, and it just doesn't suite them, IMO.
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
2/5
Not really into this. It's fine for background music, but not really something I'd choose to listen to again start to finish.
Meat Loaf
3/5
This is so over the top melodramatic, I kind of can't help but like it. I was surprised to hear what sounded like influences for Hedwig and the Angry Inch in this record. Apparently this is adapted from a rock-and-roll musical interpretation of Peter Pan; well now I'm going to have to go back and listen again and pay more attention to the lyrics.
Depeche Mode
4/5
Can't believe I've been missing out on Depeche Mode all these years.
Aretha Franklin
3/5
Pretty good! It took me awhile to recognize Change is Gonna Come, and I really like this version that's kind of in between Sam Cooke and the Gits. Not much else to say; classic Aretha!
Sonic Youth
4/5
Supertramp
4/5
David Holmes
4/5
Another new album to me. Closest thing I listen to regularly that's similar is DJ Shadow. I liked all the spoken sound bytes, it gave the album overall a very "scenes from NY" kind of feel.
Slipknot
5/5
A++ This record was ferocious when it came out and it has continued to kick ass over the decades. In my opinion they never achieved this level of intensity again, but good lord is this album a fucking monster.
Mylo
4/5
Really good; not familiar with Mylo at all, but another artist that sounds to me to be DJ Shadow adjacent. Loved the track with beats put over a religious coalition listing what I have to assume are "unwholesome" artists, and it's just a list of everyone...including Cyndi "Looper", lol.
Alice Cooper
3/5
The Doors
3/5
I don't like all of the Doors albums, but this one I enjoyed most of the way through.
Scott Walker
1/5
Not a fan of this at all. Seems like super self-indulgent pretentious 60's horny music. I feel like I really didn't need to listen to this before I died, but here we are.
Snoop Dogg
3/5
I had a friend who played this non-stop in high school, so I think my enjoyment of this album comes at least as much from nostalgia as the music itself. The posturing of this album is pretty funny in light of how Snoop's image as a pop icon has changed in the intervening decades. But the production is super great, like everything that Dr. Dre was putting his hands on in this era, even if the lyrics are just absolutely dripping with misogyny.
Dead Kennedys
5/5
Fuck yeah! I loved this record as a kid. I love this record as an adult. The combination of old-school punk, surf rock, and Jello Biafra's unhinged vocals is one of the most iconic sounds, and the occasional throw in of schizophrenic xylophone or Rhodes piano just puts the icing on the cake. Too bad the shit they were satirizing 43 years ago hasn't changed much...I'll just have to steal some mail to feel better about that I guess.
The Byrds
3/5
Another good Byrds album. Not much new to say; it's another example of folk-rock done right, in my ears at least.
Nine Inch Nails
5/5
Still listen to this album regularly to this day. My read on much of the lyrical content has changed over the decades, some for better, some for worse, but overall I still love this album and all the great audio tricks used in its production.
ABBA
3/5
Catchy, poppy, and over the top. I actually kind of dug it! I wouldn't say no to a second spin of this further down the road.
Gram Parsons
4/5
Pretty decent old school country. I'm a sucker for a lap steel guitar, so that bumps it up for me too.
David Bowie
4/5
N.W.A.
2/5
This was just ok for me. This era of rap isn’t one I listen to much except for the occasional nostalgic spin of The Chronic. It’s kind of novel listening to all these artists together before they started feuding later in their careers, but the music itself didn’t do much for me
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
I've never been a huge fan of Springsteen's style, but his songs undeniably have a ton of heart and he's a great song writer and band leader. I've listened to Born In The USA off and on since I was a kid, and it always kind of hits the same: I really like listening to it but I will rarely ever choose to listen to it.
Belle & Sebastian
3/5
CHVRCHES
3/5
Well, not my cup of tea really, but undeniably catchy. There were enough interesting things going on that I gave it a second spin even.
Shivkumar Sharma
3/5
Metallica
5/5
Hell yeah. Hard to beat old school thrashy Metallica.
Simon & Garfunkel
2/5
Not my favorite of theirs, but it does seem to consolidate all of the S&G songs that I've kind of always found the least interesting.
k.d. lang
3/5
I have a memory of k.d lang from when I was a kid and she first became popular. For some reason that memory did not include that fact that she's a country singer, and a crooner at that. So I was pleasantly surprised. The album is decent overall, and again, that lap steel guitar always gets me.
The Blue Nile
2/5
This was ok, but overall kind of forgettable to me. Might give it a try again later, but there just wasn't too much, aside from the occasional use of unique instruments or Oingo Boingo-like chord changes, to grab my attention.
Ash
4/5
This album was hot or cold for me. A lot of really great songs with some absolutely killer guitar and bass tones. Then just lots of songs I found very uninteresting. But the album was fun all around, so it registers as higher than average for that. Wouldn't be opposed to playing again and see how it grows on me.
Michael Jackson
4/5
Damn, I still really like most of this album. The duet with McCartney always seemed weird to me, but the rest of the record is great. I love how Thriller is basically a pop song with death metal lyrics, and I love the mix of live horn sections and synth horns; this album has a lot of potential cheese, but the production is so tight that it all works.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
4/5
Lot of range on here. Our House has always been a forgettable track to me, but Deja Vu is a prog-folk banger. I need to listen to more of this (more Neil Young in general), but the first two listens were quite enjoyable.
The Cure
4/5
I'm always surprised at how much I enjoy listening to The Cure, but I still will rarely ever choose to put it on. The song writing is so good, but there's just something about the vibe overall I don't seek out, but enjoy once I'm there.
4/5
This album rules. Super fun, very unique, lots to love about it. I sometimes like how subtle the electronic instrument use is, other times I feel like it could be a little more emphasized, but overall a solid record.
Alice In Chains
5/5
One of my all time favorite records. Alice in Chains was one of the gateway bands for me into much heavier music, but I learned so much about music in general, song structure, and guitar playing by listening to this album over and over as a teenager. I still love how it sounds to this day. I think this is their best LP, and tied with the Jar of Flies and SAP EPs in my mind for best AIC record.
The Kinks
2/5
This was just ok. I kind of lost interest in it a few times over the course of my listen. Sounds like lots of other stuff from that era. Probably wouldn't choose to listen to again.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
4/5
CSN with no Y is not quite the same, but still pretty darn good. I love me some high harmony "doo doo"s. I'd jam this again for sure.
Ian Dury
4/5
Man, what a silly record. But I liked it quite a bit. I was only familiar with "Sex and Drugs and Rock 'n Roll" before, so I liked hearing the rest of the horny songs and clever limericks Ian Dury had to offer.
5/5
Man, hard to say anything about Bowie that hasn't been said before, but this is such a great record. I haven't listened to it in it's entirety before I don't think, but I played this multiple times today and loved every second.
4/5
Fela Kuti
4/5
I liked this album. Ginger Baker's drumming blended in pretty seamlessly with the rest of the percussion, and Fela's voice is just great. I liked all of the energy this has from being a live album, but it's till super tight performance wise.
The War On Drugs
3/5
Hmm, kind of like Springsteen mashed up with U2. Not my favorite, but it was pleasant enough for a single playthrough. Will have to play again some time.
Morrissey
2/5
The Mamas & The Papas
2/5
Never really been able to get into the Mamas & Papas. I know most of these songs already and they are ok individually I guess, but hearing them all together was mostly a chore. I wouldn't choose to listen to this again.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Pretty ok soul album. It never wanders far from Let's Get it On, and so it feels kind of samey throughout because of that. But there's some decent arrangements on some of the tunes and I wouldn't complain at listening again.
David Bowie
3/5
Stan Getz
3/5
This was decent. I liked it even though it didn't really hold my attention. Probably the combination of my enjoyment of the playing but not being a huge fan of samba.
Stephen Stills
3/5
A lot of range on this album. I liked some of the bluegrass inspired tunes and songs that were a little more proggy, but there was some other stuff that kind of fell flat. Not bad overall.
The Youngbloods
3/5
Not bad. I liked how super chill this was, but also had lots of variety. A nice album to kick back to, for sure.
Isaac Hayes
3/5
I'm surprised at how little singing there is on this record. I've always thought of Isaac Hayes as primarily a vocalist, but he composed all the tracks on this record. It's pretty obviously a soundtrack meant to sit back in a movie's audio mix, but I kind of liked it. Works great as background music for going about my day.
The Stooges
4/5
Another good Stooges album. Songs are a little more hit or miss on this one, but I love how raw it sounds, and I never realized some of these songs were from the late 60's; crazy!
David Bowie
4/5
This is such a great album. It's got such a good blend of sounds on it that it doesn't fit neatly into any genre, or really match anything that he's done in the past.
The Monks
2/5
The Who
3/5
A little different for a Who album. Seems like some more experimentation and guest artists. It was all kind of middle of the road for me though.
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
2/5
Duran Duran
4/5
This album is pretty great. Duran Duran kind of encapsulates a lot of the 80's in a lot of ways for me: musically, album art wise, and other aspects of their catalog aside from Rio. Super fun, super cheese, and this won't be the last time I listen to it.
Nas
3/5
Decent 90's era hip hop. Nothing stuck out much in my mind, other than I could imagine most of these tracks playing in a 411 skate video.
Green Day
4/5
I don't think I've listened to this in full in about 25 years, but it's just as I remembered it. Solid song writing, and very much captures the polished SoCal Punk sound of the 90's.
Brian Eno
2/5
I really wanted to like this, but it just did not hold my attention and was pretty forgettable. Maybe a future listen will change that, but for now it's a 2/5.
Muddy Waters
4/5
I thought this would be kind of meh, but I actually really liked it. It had a lot going on even though it's pretty straightforward, old school R&B. Would definitely listen again.
Aerosmith
2/5
Not bad for this type of straight-forward rock, though it's just really not my style. Probably wouldn't ever choose to listen to it either.
Beatles
3/5
I was expecting to like this more as it has a lot of the Beatles songs I grew up loving, but as a whole the album was just ok. Still love Eleanor Rigby.
10cc
4/5
I really liked most of this, and would love it if it weren't for the very dated and problematic lyrics in some of the songs. But overall it's a really fun album with lots of musical twists and turns.
Teenage Fanclub
2/5
Don't remember hearing about this group in the 90's, but I don't think I would have been into them then. Definitely not into it now. Just not much going on to hold my interest.
Garbage
2/5
This record hits about the same as it did in the 90's, which is just a solid "s'alright". I appreciate a lot of what's going on on this album, but it's not music that really wows me and I don't think I've ever really chosen to listen to a Garbage album.
Jethro Tull
4/5
Buena Vista Social Club
3/5
Haven't listened to this album since it came out, but it's much like I remember it. Nice to put on in the background and pleasant to listen to, but not really something I'm going to choose often.
Portishead
5/5
Such a great record. It's always had a timeless feel to me; the mix of synthesizers both modern and classic, and the soulful jazz singing make it seem very anachronistic. I've played this album to death in the last 29 years, but I don't see myself getting tired of it anytime soon.
Tim Buckley
2/5
Yeah, I didn't really like this. Nothing ever grabbed me or held my attention, not even enough to merit a relisten.
Meat Puppets
4/5
This was pretty great, wish I had given it some attention when it was contemporary. I remember hearing the Meat Puppets for the first time, as many did, when they appeared on Nirvana Unplugged. Their subsequent album didn't do much for me, but I never went back and listened to their older stuff. I love the mix of country and psychedelic and punk. It's funny they are credited with being an early "cow punk" band as some of their tracks remind me of The Cows.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Lot of ups and downs on this album. I love Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You and Dazed and Confused (though listening to Robert Plant jizz in my headphones has never not been awkward), and Communication Breakdown. Rest of the album is decent. I'm rarely in an entire album of Led Zeppelin mood anymore, but would probably give this another whirl some day.
Rush
3/5
This was decent, I listened all the way through a few times and was hoping to like it more. Rush is one of those early prog bands that I really only know the hits and have wanted to get more into their catalog. I'll probably still do that, but I don't know how often I'll come back to this.
The Chemical Brothers
3/5
Not much remarkable, but nothing I didn't like either. Chemical Brothers were on my radar from when they first became popular, and this is much like what I remember hearing in the 90's.
Television
4/5
I really liked this. Good overall vibe, and I loved the guitar playing. Would play this regularly.
Moby Grape
3/5
This was ok, but kind of forgettable and from an era of rock I just usually don't choose to listen to much.
Fugees
3/5
This is an album that gets played regularly in our house. While I wasn't a Fugees fan in the 90's, The Score has grown on me over time as my wife is a huge fan. I'm to the point where I enjoy it while it's on, but rarely do I ever choose to put it on.
Nirvana
5/5
I've probably listened to this record 100's of times, but haven't sat down and played all of the way through in decades. My tastes in music have shifted quite a bit in those years, but I still love it. It's always struck me as funny that this is considered by many to be the quintessential grunge album, but the recording production is so pristine and polished. I think this is my least favorite Nirvana album, partially because of that polish, but that still puts it at a 4.5/5.
Slade
3/5
This is pretty fun, and it grew on me over the course of listening. It had lots of familiar sounds and styles in it; at times I felt like I was listening to AC/DC + the Beatles + Twisted Sister. The Janis Joplin cover was great, better than the original in my opinion. These guys did the original version of Cum on Feel the Noise, which explains why I'm hearing some Sister/Quiet Riot in here. Not every song was great, but overall it's a decent record.
The Killers
3/5
Not super into it, but it wasn't bad either. The Killers are good at writing tunes that are catchy at first but don't have a lot of real substance. But there's nothing in their music I actively dislike, so I guess it's a solid "average" record for me.
Richard Thompson
3/5
Not bad overall. The final track on the album was my favorite, though it was quite different from the rest. It felt like it could be more at home on an Opeth album than on a collection of folk rock tunes.
Hugh Masekela
4/5
I liked this quite a bit. It had a different sound to it than the bebop and modal jazz that I'm more familiar with, which I imagine is the South African influence. He can flugelhorn with the best!
Stephen Stills
3/5
A bit of hit or miss. I like Love the One You're With and Cherokee, but many of the other songs didn't leave a strong impression.
Steely Dan
3/5
Seems like I should listen to more Steely Dan. They pull off a lot of the proggy elements that lots of their contemporary and modern prog bands do. In reading their wiki, looks like session musicians from this album and its follow-up went on to form Toto; that makes sense.
Marilyn Manson
4/5
Hard to separate how I feel about this album now with how I felt about it in high school (loved it, played it all the time). Almost every song is peak edge-lord energy, but it's all still delivered in a polished and powerful recording, and Manson excels at delivering over the top cheesy melodies and themes with really good composition that comes off as legitimately spooky. Most of this playthrough was waxing nostalgia, but because of that I enjoyed it and will almost certainly listen again in the distant future.
New York Dolls
3/5
This was decent. I liked the sound of the album overall, though there were no single tracks that really stuck out or wowed me. I
Radiohead
4/5
Judas Priest
3/5
S'alright. There's some classic Priest hits on here, and it has the early sounds of what will become Screaming For Vengeance. It's rooted quite a bit in hard rock, so it doesn't always hit for me, but I still liked this.
Incubus
4/5
I had mixed feelings about this album when it came out. On the one hand, it sounds great and the song writing is pretty great. Also, lots of great guitar and bass sounds, which Incubus has always been great at. On the other hand, the thing I kind of loved about Incubus' two previous albums is that they sounded like a band still madly searching for their sound. Are they funk-rock, nu-metal, jazz-fusion, Faith No More born again? The answer was "all of it". I loved that, and Make Yourself seems like a zero-ing in on a more polished sound that incorporates lots of their old tricks but turned down on some of the experimentation and mania. Listening now having not listened to any Incubus in a decade or so, I was able to enjoy this album quite a bit. However, I immediately listened to S.C.I.E.N.C.E. after and still much prefer the pre-Make Yourself Incubus.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Neither loved nor hated this. I like later Stones albums better, but this was still pretty good for mid 60's rock.
Django Django
4/5
This was good. Never heard of Django Django before, but I really liked all of the experimentation, even though every song still sounded very clean and pop-y.
Justice
3/5
I don't listen to lots of electronic music, but this album is one I will likely come back to. Sounds great sonically without being overly dense.
Arctic Monkeys
2/5
Hmm, this is at times OK, but mostly is a type of energetic and upbeat that I'm not really a fan of.
Neil Young
3/5
Napalm Death
3/5
This seems like a time-and-place kind of album. I'm sure when it was released it was revolutionary, but it doesn't really hold up with how much Napalm Death have evolved over the years, let alone grind core as a genre in general. There were a couple of songs that were bangers for sure, and You'll Suffer cracks me up every time, but as a whole it's not a grind album I'm going to choose to go back to often.
3/5
Pretty good, this is an album that definitely held my interest the whole time, even though it never really went the places I wanted it to.
Björk
4/5
I distinctly remember when the singles from this album came out in the early 90's. Bjork's singing style has always been super captivating in how she holds onto, and sometimes chews on, notes in a way nobody else does. Still love listening to this today.
The Clash
3/5
The variety of styles on this album is pretty fun, although some of the more rockabilly and straight forward rock style songs weren't my favorite. Never been super into the Clash, but still enjoyed this overall.
Coldplay
2/5
When "Yellow" first started playing on the radio, I remember thinking "wow, this new Radiohead single is really shitty". Coldplay has forever been remembered to me as shitty Radiohead. There are a few times where some interesting things happen musically here, like the first parts of Shiver and the Pink Floyd-esque chorus of Trouble. But there's also just tons of stuff I can't stand; Shiver takes a turn for the boring, and the main hook of Yellow sounds like someone who just figured out how to do a string bend on guitar. Overall, the interesting stuff doesn't save the rest of the album.
Deep Purple
4/5
This is fun. I like all the crazy falsetto vocal moments, the crazily overdriven organ sounds, and just the playfulness of this album. The studio version of Highway Star is already a tune I love, but this live version kicks in fucking hard! I need to listen to this again in a live room instead of headphones, but it was still rad.
Nirvana
5/5
Haven't listened to this in a long time, but I loved it as a teenager and it holds up really well. I love the tonal feel of this album; I know Steve Albini caught lots of shit for the mix when this came out, but it makes the album fit better with Bleach and Incesticide, as does the songwriting itself. I think the sound of this album was a nice gateway to listening to more experimental artists. It's not perfect, but definitely deserves a 4.5/5.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
4/5
I was surprised with how familiar I was with several of these tunes. Probably a combination of hearing them as a kid, having some friends in my mid 20's that were huge jazz buffs, and their appearance in various other forms of pop media over the decades. Some of these tunes remind me of some of the modal jazz artists on this list that I have liked; apparently modal comes from this style (cool jazz), so that makes sense. Gonna have to find more Brubek now.
Cat Stevens
3/5
Pretty good. Cat Stevens has a helluva voice, so even on songs where overall it wasn't my favorite, his performance always struck me as great.
Joan Baez
3/5
I mostly enjoyed this. Some nice arrangements and I really like folk music that does interesting modal things like the song Henry Martin. There were a few songs I really didn't care for; the end of Fare Thee Well for example made me think "now I know who Nadja is trying to sing like in What We Do in the Shadows." House of the Rising Sun is a song I don't ever need to hear played by anybody, ever again; it's not a bad song, just played to f-ing death (admittedly mostly post 1960, but still).
The Who
4/5
I was pleasantly surprised by this album. Expected to not be impressed, but the live performance added a lot to most of the songs on here, so I enjoyed it for the most part.
Grateful Dead
3/5
I grew up surrounded by the Grateful Dead records and have never really been a fan. But it's been decades since I gave this an honest listen and it was honestly better than I recall. I love how neatly carved out the bass sounds on this record, and Phil Lesh is unquestionably a hell of a bass player. Overall not bad.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
This album is pretty damn good. I love the energy of the opening track, and most everything that follows keeps matches or flows naturally from that. 11 minutes of Through the Grapevine is a little much, and Long As I Can See the Light is a bit of a lackluster album closer (except for that sweet, sexy 70's sax solo...mmm, mmm, good). Top tier 70's rock, and some of my favorite from CCR.
David Bowie
3/5
Decent, playful record. Can't say any one song stuck out as impressive, but it was good enough to want to come back to.
Frank Ocean
3/5
I really liked the ambience and feel of this album. Lots to listen to besides just the singing, and Frank Ocean has a great voice too. Not my usual cup of tea, but I would listen to this again for sure.
The The
2/5
Not really a fan. This Is the Day is ok and I recognize, but some of the other songs I just had to keep turning down cause they were kind of exhausting, and the rest just didn't do much for me. Don't think I'll listen to this again.
Sugar
4/5
I remember hearing about Bob Mould's new band back in the 90's but never really sought them out and promptly kind of forgot about them. But I like this a lot; it's kind of living in the space between a post-grunge sound and pop SoCal punk sound. Similar to Dinosaur Jr., it's a guitar player's album with lots of great hooks, noodles, and cool pedal tones. Pretty apparent that it's fun music to play, and it's fun to listen to as well.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
This might be my favorite Zeppelin record. That's a tough call with the size of their catalog, but Out On the Tiles has long been one of my favorite Zeppelin songs, as has Friends with its haunting dissonant strings. Tangerine was one of the first songs I learned to play on guitar and is one of the songs responsible for my love of lap steel playing. I think the only song I'm not in love with is Gallows Pole, and that's mostly just from memories of how much the video of the Zeppeling Unledded version of this was overplayed in the 90's. 4.5/5
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
I neither love nor hate this. I always find Bob Marley to be quite soothing and pleasant to listen to, but I never choose to put it on.
Buck Owens
3/5
Clearly a Buster Scruggs inspiration, but I dig these old Buck Owens albums. Something about the dual tracked vocal harmonies and the silliness of the baritone voice that sometimes just comes booming in for dramatic effect.
Amy Winehouse
3/5
While I don't like this nearly as much as Back to Black, I found this album super intriguing even though I wasn't super into it musically. It sounds like an artist trying to find the best fit for their talents by experimenting with several styles. Sometimes the soul sound Amy's most known for come through, but there's also some decent R&B, jazz and even hip-hop here.
Laura Nyro
3/5
I liked parts of this, but the whole thing kind of suffered from a late 60's era production sound. Later half of the album I found to be more interesting and unique.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Solid Zeppelin album, neither the best nor the worst. I don't know if I'll ever get sick of Ramble On. Moby Dick is, despite all I keep hearing and many attempts to be into it, still just ok. Yeah; overall, s'good.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
3/5
Pretty good. First few tracks were really interesting, though the rest of the album kind of started to sound samey to me. Enjoyed it overall though.
Motörhead
3/5
Hard to go wrong with Motorhead. I regret not listening to this in an environment where I could have turned the volume up to the appropriate level, but it still made for a decent listen.
Fela Kuti
4/5
Another good Fela Kuti album. Not music I seek out, but I love listening to it when his records pop up on the list. 4/5
This was ok. Mostly very straight forward rock, with only a few interesting deviations from what seems like a very standard formula. I liked the variety of having Stewart and Lane trading off lead vocals. I might listen to this again; 2.5/5.
Neil Young
3/5
Pretty good album. Especially impactful if you read the background for the song lyric context. I don't think it's my favorite of the Neil Young albums we've heard, but it definitely merits more listens and seems like a grower.
Paul McCartney and Wings
4/5
I've hated many of the songs on this album for a long time, mostly due to them being played multiple times a day on the muzak player of an awful retail job I had in my 20's. So I was hoping that with decades of not hearing Wings, that dislike would be tempered. I'm just okay with Band on the Run and Jet now. However, the last two tracks on the album got my attention; got to love a track when you know shit's getting real when the synth and clarinet drop! The end of the album alone makes me really want to listen to this again, so I'm giving this a 3.5/5 much to my surprise.
Dinosaur Jr.
4/5
I liked this a lot. Haven't heard this album before, but I like it more than other Dinosaur Jr. stuff that I've heard before.
Belle & Sebastian
3/5
This is alright. I don't have strong feelings one way or the either about this album, it's perfectly average.
Wild Beasts
5/5
I loved this. I've heard many vocalists attempt to pull off the vocal ranges and operatic falsettos performed on this album, but something about how Wild Beasts put it together totally works for me. Kind of reminds me a bit of Agent Fresco at times. Super into it, totally adding this to the list of "must return to" albums!
Justin Timberlake
3/5
This album is super over-produced empty-calorie pop, but I can't help but like it. It probably comes from listening to Michael Jackson basically non stop when I was in the second and third grade. I can't say that I ever go out of my way to listen to JT, but I'm never sorry for hearing it in the wild, so this gets a 3/5 for that.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
Real good! Hard to say if I like this one better than Ragged Glory or not, but it was solid from start to finish.
Love
4/5
This was really good for late 60's rock. They seem to take musical ideas that I know I've heard other groups from that era do and put it together in a way that seemed unique to my ears.
Adele
3/5
I love Adele's voice, but this album sounds like it's leaning a little too much on some of its influences. But I did like how many styles were covered. Overall I liked it okay.
Neu!
2/5
This album I found kind of boring. It seemed like it was going to get better about halfway through with the song Hero, but kind of petered out after that.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Maybe my favorite artists from hip hop's golden era, I still love most of the tracks on this album. Something about the production and the samples used on these early Tribe albums just makes them timeless classics to me. There's unfortunately several songs with some peak-90's "nice guy" misogyny which I hadn't really clocked until this listen. Those songs aside, I'll never get tired of Low End Theory.
The Stooges
4/5
Loving how much Iggy Pop is on this list. Not much else to say, this album rules!
N.E.R.D
2/5
I could not get into this at all. Something about it seems so superficial; it was just kind of lifeless from start to finish. Even the song that was supposedly about being high felt like it was written by someone who's only ever seen drug use in late 90's sitcoms.
Japan
3/5
This was okay. Didn't really stand out to me from other new wave bands from this era; not my go-to style, but I enjoyed the listen.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
3/5
Good album. I like this style of traditional Indian folk music and Khan's voice is so great and distinctive. I don't know how often I would come back to this honestly, but very much enjoyed this play through.
Taylor Swift
2/5
This sounds exactly how I imagined Taylor Swift would sound. It's not my thing; production is the best money can by, and I like her voice, but I wouldn't choose to listen to this again.
Little Richard
4/5
I like a lot of the old R&B and Rock and Rollers from the 50's, but I love Little Richard. Lot of great hits on this record. Also, I can't hear Long Tall Sally and not think of Jesse Ventura in a helicopter talking about being a sexual tyrannosaur.
Emmylou Harris
3/5
This was good. I like this style of country/folk, and even though it's not something I would put on often, this is certainly a record I wouldn't mind listening to again.
The Flaming Lips
3/5
I have nothing against this album, but something about it has never connected for me. I've listened to it many times to try and see what I'm missing, but every time I've come away with a feeling of "yeah, s'alright I guess".
The Bees
4/5
This band is completely new to me, but I'm an instant fan. I loved all the great keys and organ parts, the raw-sounding vocals gave it a kind of timeless quality, and the variety in style over the album all made it great for me.
Black Sabbath
4/5
This album is pretty great, and is the first Sabbath album I became super familiar with. It's pretty dynamic throughout, though loses some steam in the last few songs for me. 3.5/5
Kate Bush
4/5
Man, this album was basically ear candy. So many great synth sounds and recording gimmicks; pretty sure one track had backing vocals dubbed to a mellotron to give it an uncanny valley sounding vibrato. I liked all the occasional creepy voices or synth sounds that got snuck in, gave the album a haunted kind of feel. Will definitely be listening again to hear more.
George Jones
2/5
This album really didn't do much for me. There were 1 or 2 tracks that had some nice pedal steel playing, and some with some decent chicken pickin', but overall I wouldn't choose to listen to this again.
Franz Ferdinand
4/5
I like this album a lot, though I haven't heard any of these songs in several years. But they still sound good to these ears!
Pretenders
4/5
I love me some Pretenders. This album is really great in the first half, but then loses a little of bit of steam in the middle. Overall though it's a solid rock album.
The Damned
5/5
Super dope album! I love how playful it is instead of being just straight forward old school punk the whole way through. It's not perfect, but it does hit like a 4.5/5 for me.
Guns N' Roses
2/5
Yeah, it's alright. I was never super into GNR growing up, but everyone around me seemed to be so I know most of these songs by heart. Listening to this again this week did nothing to endear them to me more.
Can't really diss the guitar playing too much, it's about as good as this big rock style of playing gets, though it has a super dated tone, but man did I find the drums boring. So, I have nothing against it necessarily, but since I would never choose to listen to this again, it's getting a 2 from me.
Bert Jansch
5/5
I put off listening to this one for a while, not being familiar with Bert Jansch and assuming he wouldn't be the type of folk singer/songwriter I would be into. Totally wrong; I really liked this record and it's something I definitely plan on coming back to. So many of these guitar licks would sit right at home on an Opeth album.
Dirty Projectors
4/5
Whoa, this was super cool! I loved all of the unique combos of tempo and phrasing, the vocal harmonies were amazing, and even the guitar parts that had tones which kind of pierced my ears found a way to sit in the mix as a whole in a way that I enjoyed. New to me, but great stuff!
The Mothers Of Invention
4/5
This album is fantastic; has all of the Zappa kookiness and is just dripping with satire, taking shots at hippies, the police, 60's rock culture and 60's consumerism all at once.
fIREHOSE
4/5
Good stuff. I was a big Mike Watt fan in high school when I was first learning to play the bass, though I haven't listened to either Firehose or the Minutemen in a long time. I still love how effective he is at making simple bass lines ground a tune.
Bob Dylan
2/5
I really, really tried to like this. I did not succeed. Some of the backing tracks I kind of dug, but overall this was another Dylan slog to get through.
Ravi Shankar
3/5
Good album, though not having an ear that's familiar with the different raags and taals, all the songs kind of end up sounding the same on a single playthrough, especially when it's just sitar, tabla and drone. But still, it was enjoyable and I'd listen to it again. 3.4/5
Eurythmics
3/5
Not bad. Only a few songs stuck out to me though. Sweet Dreams has always been great, the cover of Wrap it Up was pretty good (I'm more familiar with the Fabulous Thunderbirds version, didn't even know it was written by Isaac Hayes), and Jennifer and This is the House were fun.
R.E.M.
3/5
Meh. I liked some of the songs that changed up the instrumentation with mandolin or lap steel a little more than the rest, but overall this album kind of fell flat. I remember liking the song "Stand" as a kid, but hearing it for the first time in maybe decades it's just the blandest song ever. Nothing on here I actively disliked necessarily, so I guess it's a 2.5/5.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
I almost really liked this. When it was wasn’t sounding like most other 60’s psychedelic singer/songwriters, it had some really interesting moments. Crazy to hear his voice as a young man too, since I mostly only know of his work from the 90’s on. 3.4/5
M.I.A.
4/5
Never listened to a full MIA album before, but I dug it. It was a little weird that Timbaland got the last verse of the record I thought, but whatever.
Couldn't get into this at all. Didn't hate it necessarily, but it did nothing for me and I wouldn't ever choose to listen it again.
Fugazi
4/5
This album rules. That is all.
The Birthday Party
3/5
Decent; didn't love it but I enjoyed it well enough. I heard some very Daughters reminiscent guitar sounds on at least one track of this album, that's pretty cool.
Massive Attack
3/5
I know the opening track of this album well, but as a whole this album was just so-so. Some of the songs just sound like noodling over backing tracks; not bad necessarily, but it just didn't do much to hold my attention. This would be good music to put on in the background if I'm looking to do focused work though.
Nirvana
3/5
I played this album all of the time as a teenager. Having not listened to it in decades, it has not held up as well as other Nirvana albums for me. The lack of skill in Cobain's playing and singing, which works just fine for stuff that's noisy and sludgy, just doesn't work for me as an acoustic set any more. That said, the covers in this set I actually do still enjoy somewhat. I love the Bowie song, even if the performance is not the best, and the Meat Puppets section is also still a fun little set of 3 songs.
G. Love & Special Sauce
2/5
Mixed feelings about this album. The backing tracks are mostly good, especially the bass, and would fit in with any of the Golden Age hip-hop albums. But I'm really not a fan of G. Love's voice or rapping technique. I think I pieced it together by the end; it's like if Anthony Kiedis had a hip-hop career, the vocabulary of a kindergartener, and was also really into Sublime. I don't think I ever need to hear this again.
Dexys Midnight Runners
2/5
Didn't like this. Seemed like an entire album of Come On Eileen B-Sides.
Scissor Sisters
3/5
I haven't listened to this since it first came out. It's still pretty good, not something I'd listen to all the time, but lots of the songs are catchy, and I like their version of Comfortably Numb.
William Orbit
3/5
This wasn't bad, though it often kind of just faded into the background of whatever I was doing. Nothing wrong with that, just not enough to keep me actively engaged when listening.
Kate Bush
3/5
I liked this album, though I think I liked Hounds of Love much better. The wild vocal affectations on this album were sometimes cool, other times just not hitting for me.
Cyndi Lauper
5/5
This album is like concentrated 80's nostalgia and fun. I remember rocking out to these as a kid and I enjoyed them just as much listening to them today.
Robert Wyatt
4/5
Pretty interesting, though I'd never heard of Robert Wyatt before. Kind of reminds me of some of Pink Floyd's experimental stuff from the early 70's. Makes sense; this album was produced by Nick Mason. It didn't always work for me, but overall I enjoyed the varied moments of cacophony.
Raekwon
3/5
This is kind of exactly what I was expecting, a very 90's sounding East Coast/Wutang style hip hop record. Didn't really make much of an impression other than that; neither hated nor loved it.
a-ha
3/5
I was hoping to like this more, but I found that only a handful of tracks really grabbed me. That said, I still liked this overall. I don't think I've ever listened to much a-ha aside from Take on Me.
Derek & The Dominos
3/5
Highs and lows for me on this album. It started out pretty good, with more of an Allman Brothers and Grateful Dead sound to it than I was expecting. It lost lots of steam once it started just kind of repeating 12-bar blues/rock songs though, even though it kind of picks up again near the end. 2.5/5
Soft Machine
4/5
Hey cool, more Robert Wyatt! I liked this a lot, as far out as it got at times. Reminded me at times of an album's worth of Mr. Bungle interludes. Kind of crazy this is considered jazz rock, as it seemed like 95% jazz with only occasional rock elements.
Taylor Swift
3/5
This wasn't half bad. Kind of somewhere between pop and folk/country, but not in the same way as a lot of modern country music, and much less pop-y than what I expected from Taylor Swift. I wouldn't be mad about listening to this again.
Kid Rock
2/5
I wasn't looking forward to listening to this, and it was exactly as bad as I expected it to be. It's not as bad as the alt-right drivel he's putting out today, but still not something I would ever choose to listen to again.
Doves
4/5
I really liked this. Not every song caught me, but for the most part I really liked the sound and vibe of this.
CHIC
3/5
This was okay. Not a huge disco fan, but the bass playing was interesting enough to keep me listening. It's fine as background music.
Frank Zappa
4/5
Good stuff. This album made me want to shut up and play my guitar.
Butthole Surfers
4/5
Happy to see some Butthole Surfers on this list. Locust Abortion Technician is such a bonkers album, though it's not one I've listened to a ton. It's fun to hear less constrained versions of sounds that they continue to play with on later albums. Album description describes that they had their own house to record in with long sessions broken up by heavy drug use...yeah, that tracks, lol!
Manu Chao
3/5
This was a pretty fun album. With the exception of Bongo Bong, I pretty much enjoyed the whole thing. Not something I'd choose to listen to regularly though.
PJ Harvey
5/5
This album kicks so much ass. I love how raw and live some of the songs sound; Steve Albini produced, so no shock there, and I've read he caught a lot of shit for it, again no surprise. Even the Bob Dylan song on this record is good!
Erykah Badu
4/5
Great record! I love the sound of Erykah Badu’s voice, it fits her style of jazz/hip-hop so well. I’m mostly familiar with her first album and her many guest vocal appearances, but I liked this even more than I thought I would.
Fairport Convention
3/5
Hmm, I kind of liked how this album went back and forth from folk-heavy to rock-heavy, and there was even some psychedelic jam band stuff in the middle. But overall, it was just ok. Not the worst of the folk-rock groups by any stretch, but nothing wowing either.
Mj Cole
3/5
This is not a style I'm into, but the production on this record actually kept me pretty engaged. Some of the sonic quality of the samples used just really tickled my fancy, even if it was constantly peppered with the same house beats. 3.4/5
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
I've never been a huge Fleetwood Mac fan, but I get all of the hype around Rumours. This album is solid all of the way through and has all of the Fleetweed Mac songs that I do like on it.
Tangerine Dream
2/5
This album sounded to me like a synthesizer in store demo mode. I realize that's likely ignoring the historical significance, and that in 1974 these sounds and style may have been groundbreaking, but it just came off as very vanilla electronic music.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
I started out kind of bored by this album, but ended up liking it a lot by the end. I'm more familiar with the Hank III cover of Atlantic City and the Johnny Cash cover of Highway Patrolman, so it was cool hearing the originals here. Johnny 99 had a super cool vibe. I think this is an album that I'll keep enjoying more on subsequent listens.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
4/5
This album is great! It's like a concentration of many of the weird things I like about Mr. Bungle, Primus and Tom Waits, who likely all drew direct inspiration from this record.
The Dandy Warhols
3/5
This was pretty good. I really liked the overall sound of it, but the songs didn't always keep my attention. Probably something I would go back to, because I feel like it's an album that's a grower.
Steve Earle
2/5
Not really a fan of this. There's occasionally some interesting guitar work, but overall it was just very bland 80's country rock.
The Divine Comedy
1/5
I hated many things about this record. The music was whatever, but the pretentious singing style was grating, and the lyrics were super rapey. Not a single thing I liked about this, and I would never want to listen to it again.
John Martyn
3/5
This was ok. Real easy to listen to but nothing super interesting. I was hoping for something much more guitar centric from a song called Big Muff; oh well.
Maxwell
2/5
This didn't really do too much for me. Sometimes there were some moments that piqued my interest, but for the most part I found this too slow and repetitive.
Ramones
4/5
I know and like most of these songs already, but I don't think I've ever listened to this album as a whole. Real good start to finish. The Ramones are super fun; they've never been one of my favorites, but this is still a solid 4/5.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3/5
I didn't like this as much as Darklands. I can appreciate a lot of the experimentation on this album though, they are clearly just trying things out and taking them to the extreme. Sometimes the distortion is just a wash of noise, which reminds me of an unhinged version of what Medicine would be doing in the 90's, and at least one of the songs doesn't have a guitar part other than just controlled feedback. All in all it made for an interesting listen.
AC/DC
4/5
Solid AC/DC album. I've heard all of these many times before and still enjoy them to this day.
Youssou N'Dour
3/5
Short but decent album. Nothing stood out much, but it made for an enjoyable listen.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
3/5
Just ok. I recognize lots of songs from this album, but I've never been a huge Skynyrd fan.
Prince
4/5
While I don't like this album as much as Purple Rain, it's still super fun. Some of the songs were overly long, but overall I dug it.
Tricky
4/5
This album started out strong for me and then kind of waned as it went on. First three songs were super intriguing, then they kind of fell into a Portishead-sounding style for a few songs, then the rest was ok but not super interesting. 3.5/4.
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
I didn't really enjoy this. I can see this being inspirational in a world that is pre post punk, but on its own it was very clunky and boring.
John Lennon
2/5
Not into it at all. I agree with the idea that Lennon and McCartney really worked best together as song writers. I found this whole album to be very boring and uninspired.
Tom Waits
3/5
This was pretty good. Maybe not my favorite collection of Tom Waits songs, but still easy and fun to listen to with only a few tunes I didn't really care for.
D'Angelo
4/5
I had a roommate almost 25 years ago who was very much into this album. Back then it was not something that was on my radar or of a style I listened to at all, but over time I grew to enjoy it quite a bit. I haven't listened to much D'Angelo at all in the years in between, but I have widened my interests substantially in that time and I really enjoyed listening to this album now. The musical accompaniment is the main draw for me. Songs like Smooth and Cruisin' have my favorite style of jazz keyboard playing; sparse but no notes wasted, almost like acting as punctuation for each musical phrase. So close to a 5 score for me; 4.4/5.
Suzanne Vega
4/5
I don't think I've listened to Suzanna Vega, but I liked this album. The guitar playing and songwriting was pretty unique, definitely something I want to listen to again.
3/5
This was pretty good for being early 70's rock. It was more proggy than psychedelic, so kind of the opposite of what I was expecting. Wouldn't be opposed to listening to this again.
Beastie Boys
4/5
I've heard most of these songs either individually or on other albums (compilations, soundtracks), but never this album on its own in its entirety, I don't think. I like it as a whole; I think the era of Check Your Head and Ill Communication was when the Beastie's were the most on my radar, and I kind of lost interest around Hello Nasty. This album has a rougher production feel than any of those, even rougher than License to Ill. I liked most of the songs and the overall production (I can tell my headphones are not doing the ridiculous amount of bass justice, lol).
Eagles
2/5
I gave this a fair shot, but it didn't do much for me. Hotel California is a decent song, though pretty played out. Life in the Fast Lane is tiresome to listen to. The rest of the album just kind of reminded me of bad CSN&Y songs, the best of which is maybe The Last Resort...best in that it sounds to me the least like the Eagles.
Aerosmith
3/5
This is the Aerosmith album that was hot when I was in grade school, and I still really like Love in an Elevator and Janie's Got a Gun, but this album is almost comical listening now. So many Korg and Roland samples, it's like the felt compelled to put down MIDI patches on every track just because. Also some bizarrely sloppy guitar solos on a few tracks. Overall I didn't hate it, but not in love with it either.
Black Sabbath
5/5
This album is fucking tight! The production is a little different from their previous albums; in some ways rougher, but it also seems to work better on most of the tracks, especially for Supernaut, Cornucopia, St. Vitus Dance and Under the Sun. So easy to hear this albums influence on tons of modern stoner metal and doom bands. Maybe it's because this album's coming after the Eagles and Aerosmith, but it's getting a 4.5/5.
Britney Spears
1/5
This was a chore to get through. There's really nothing about this I liked.
Coldcut
3/5
This was a fun listen, though it kind of just faded into background music. Maybe not something I would put on often, but I would listen to this again for sure.
Happy Mondays
2/5
Not doing much for me. Some of it reminds me of that Soup Dragons song “I’m Free” which is more of an earworm than a song I actually like. Don't think I would choose to listen to this again.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
2/5
At the start of the album it sounded like this might be a unique 60's rock sound, but eventually it kind of just veered into jam band territory and I quickly lost interest.
Roxy Music
4/5
I liked this enough to listen twice before reviewing. I love how the instrumentation is used on this record. Sax everywhere it's needed, but not on every track, synthesizers that sound like barely tamed chaos, and lots of cool noodely modal riffs mixed in with some very classic rock riffs. I've never heard of Roxy Music before but I'm now a fan.
Fairport Convention
3/5
This wasn't bad, kind of middle of the road in terms of what I like in 60's/70's folk rock. Some of the tracks leaned way more into the folk and didn't do much for me. Overall not bad.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
The first two tracks on this album were real good, then it hit kind of a lull until Bad Moon Rising and Lodi. Last few tracks weren't anything special to my ears either. Overall not my favorite CCR album, but not bad either.
The Undertones
4/5
This album is fun. I didn't know the Undertones before this, but it's pretty good early 80's pop punk. Definitely something I'd listen to again.
Tori Amos
4/5
This album is pretty great. I didn't love every song on it, but for the most part all of the quirky vocal melodies, key modulations and sprinkled in discordance that I love about Tori Amos is here.
Tom Waits
4/5
This album rules! I didn't realize both Les Claypool and Brain play on it! But what's better than recordings of Tom Waits multi-tracking himself with friends playing instruments and beating things in a big cement room while he sings everything from gravely growls to gravely falsettos over the top? Not much, that's what!
Turbonegro
3/5
What silly collection of songs. It kind of reminds me of Infectious Grooves if they played less funk-metal and more punk and rock. It was a bit exhausting to listen to an entire album of what is essentially party rock (more Andrew WK, less LMFAO).
Def Leppard
3/5
This album is like the definitive 80's butt rock album for me. It's not totally for me, but I see the appeal; the blend of gated reverb, square-wave synth and 80's high gain power chords with multi-tracked vocals is a powerful sound. And the beginning yell of Stagefright sounds 100% like Dr. Rockso! All fun enough to get a medium score from a genre that might otherwise rate poorly.
Ali Farka Touré
3/5
I liked this. Not something I would put on all the time, but would for sure listen again.
The Auteurs
2/5
I was really not into this at all. Each song was a bit of a struggle. Nothing that I hated about it necessarily, but I was very glad when it was over.
Robert Wyatt
4/5
This album is fantastic! The way that the key of some songs just seems to perpetually modulate and Robert's whimsical vocals really sell the concept of the album being a dream. High points for me are Duchess, Alien and Blues in Bob Minor.
Kate Bush
4/5
The title track of this record pops up on my random play quite a bit, and I really like it. The rest of the album is really good too now listening to it for the first time. This one is right up there with Hounds of Love.
The Gun Club
3/5
This is pretty good. I like that it has elements of punk and southern Americana music without going full psychobilly, which is not a style I am usually a fan of. I'd gladly listen to this again in the future.
Barry Adamson
3/5
This was decent. I wasn't super interested in every track, but it had a few good moments. Not something I'd be against listening to again, though I don't think I would seek it out.
k.d. lang
4/5
Dreamy pedal steel in track 1 reminds me of things I've heard in some of Sturgill Simpson's songs. Beyond that, the album seems to steer away from country towards more of a smooth jazz style. I know Constant Craving from this album, but not really any of the others. This album ranged from medium to really good for me: 3.5/4
Röyksopp
3/5
There's some fun stuff on here. I recognize Remind Me from a Geico commercial of all things, but wasn't familiar with anything else on this album. Wouldn't mind listening to it again. 3/5
The Streets
3/5
This was decent. The through-narrative of the album was neat, and sometimes tracks really came together for me, but some of them also just did not click at all, partly due to the vocal style.
1/5
This album was about as bad as I remember it being. I remember liking Three Dollar Bill when it came out, but everything after that has done nothing to keep my attention.
The Temptations
4/5
Real good album. I like how big each song sounds, lots of space even though there's a lot going on with a lot of different instruments. Some really simple but great guitar lines. Definitely something I’d play again.
Lupe Fiasco
3/5
This was pretty good. It has a very early 2000's sound to it, so no surprise that producer and writer credits include Kanye, Jay-Z, Pharrell Williams, and the Neptunes. A 12 minute shout-out outro seems, like, really excessive. Don’t know if I’d listen to the whole album again, maybe just a few of the better tracks.
Pere Ubu
4/5
What a wild record. Never heard of this group before, but I liked this. It's characterized as a post-punk record, which I can hear in lots of parts, but they also swing wildly to other styles, like in Caligari's Mirror where they go into an almost Buffalo Springfield style 60's rock sound.
The The
2/5
This didn't do a whole lot for me. I occasionally heard some Oingo Boingo or Haircut 100 adjacent phrases, but over all it just seemed kind of bland. Probably won't listen to it again. 2/5
Jerry Lee Lewis
3/5
Not bad. I love the energy the live set brings to these songs. The mix is pretty wonky, but it emphasizes Lewis’ playing so it works. Wouldn’t mind playing this again at some point.
Morrissey
3/5
I liked this more than I thought I would. I didn't think I was a huge fan of Morrisey's solo work, but I'm either not as familiar with it as I thought or I just haven't heard this whole album before, because it was pretty good.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
I never go out of my way to listen to any of the "crooner" singers, but I thought this was decent enough. Despite not really being into the style, I did really enjoy the orchestral arrangements and Sinatra's talent as a singer is undeniable. I typically lump this style of music together with everything that ever appeared on the Lawrence Welk show; a previous generation's lowest common denominator entertainment, but I wouldn't be opposed to listening to this record again.
Radiohead
4/5
Another super solid Radiohead album. I liked this one already, and it still rules.
Simply Red
2/5
I didn't really like this. Songs either didn't hold my attention at all, or reminded me of poorer versions of other bands from the era that I'd rather listen to instead. I don't think I would choose to listen to this again.
Jurassic 5
4/5
This is the only J5 album I know, but I remember listening to it a lot when it first came out. I still like it and enjoyed playing it start to finish this week.
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
This album really fell flat for me, didn’t like it nearly as much as Rumours. Nothing I disliked, it just didn’t keep my attention.
Digital Underground
3/5
Hell yeah, who doesn’t love The Humpty Dance? This album gets a little tiresome towards the end, could have benefited from shorter and/or fewer tracks, but I had fun listening to it.
Circle Jerks
5/5
Circle Jerks might be the first punk band I was ever into, though I got into them starting with the last album Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities, and worked my way back. This album is great; short and to the point. I love Keith Morris' voice and the drumming is super tight for how fast it is; never knew their drummer was jazz trained, so that makes sense. At only 15 minutes long, I played through this multiple times and loved it more with each listen; 4.5/5 for me.
The Black Keys
3/5
I feel about this the way I feel about most Black Keys music; not bad, but not great either. The guitar playing is good, the production is great and unique, but I just can't shake the feeling that I'm listening to the audio track of like a beer or clothing commercial. I wouldn't turn it off, but it's not something I would ever seek out either. 2.5/5
Joy Division
3/5
This didn't do much for me at first but grew on me when I listened a second time. I don't know how often I'd come back to it, but I would listen to this again.
Morrissey
3/5
This was ok, but not super memorable. Nothing about it that I disliked necessarily, so it's like a 2.5/5.
Pulp
3/5
For Britpop, this album was decent. Mostly songs that weren't terrific but a few that stood out a little more. Wouldn't turn it off if it were playing, but also not something I'm going to reach for either. 2.5/5
Wilco
3/5
Opening track was very cool and interesting. The rest of the album was decent. I could see this album growing on me, so I'll probably give it more listens down the road. 3/5
Big Star
3/5
This record is pretty fun. I didn't think I was going to like it based off of the opening track, but over the course of the album I actually enjoyed it. Cool to hear the original version of That 70's Show's theme song. 3/5
Prince
3/5
This album isn’t bad, but not the best we’ve heard from Prince on this list. Nothing on here I dislike, but it’s not one I’m going to revisit as a while often.
Donald Fagen
3/5
This was alright. I recognized the singer's voice from Steely Dan, and many of the songs were certainly Steely Dan adjacent, with a hint of something that also kind of reminded me of Randy Newman for some reason.
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
Not much to say about this; it sounded like Pet Shop Boys but also like other artists relevant at the same time like Depeche Mode. Looks like they drew inspiration from Violator, which makes a lot of sense. I don't think I'd come back to this album too often.
LL Cool J
2/5
There were some funny lines on this, but as a whole it didn't do much for me. I may be one of the few that enjoys LL's movies more than his music; I couldn't stop thinking about Deep Blue Sea and Mindhunters listening to this.
Jorge Ben Jor
3/5
This was pretty good. Not someone I'm familiar with, though I did recognize the opening track from the Soulfly cover of it. But there's some pretty good tracks on here, I enjoyed the playthrough quite a bit.
Sleater-Kinney
5/5
Hell yeah, I love this record! We play this at our house pretty regularly, so already a 5/5 without having to listen, but I did anyways!
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
This album is pretty good and has my favorite Hendrix song, All Along the Watchtower. Not all of the tracks on here are great, but no bad tracks either.
Pixies
5/5
Another instant 5! This and Surfer Rosa are probably tied for my favorite Pixies albums and I never get tired of listening to either of them.
The Offspring
4/5
I never kept up with the Offspring after this album, but this one I listened to all of the time at home and at one of my first jobs. I haven't listened to this since much, or maybe even at all, since then and I forgot just how fun it is!
Dwight Yoakam
2/5
This was okay, but didn’t really do a whole lot for me. I don’t think I would come back to it.
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
I liked this. Echo ATBM are a band that’s always been on my list to get more familiar with. I would definitely come back to listen to this again.
4/5
I'm not a huge Beatles-stan, but there are some songs of theirs I really do like and this album has a lot of them. Day in the Life has always been one of my favorites, and I love the Dixeland-but-British sound of When I'm 64.
Grant Lee Buffalo
3/5
This is a name I have heard before, but never listened to their music. It was alright; seemed like pretty straight forward alt-rock/alt-country. Nothing I would poo poo, but also not something I'm going to reach for often. 3/5
Bebel Gilberto
4/5
I liked this better than some of the other bossa nova albums that have showed up on this list. This is something I would actually play at home on a regular basis.
Tom Waits
5/5
This has got everything I love about Tom Waits on it. Enjoyed every second of it.
Missy Elliott
3/5
Missy Elliott cracks me up. Her lyrics and style are always so playful and she's really the only artist from this era of hip hop I look forward to listening to. I don't really know any of her albums well other than the singles, but I liked this one and would play it again.
Suicide
3/5
Interesting record. I don’t think I would replay this often, but it was interesting hearing all of the things in it that other groups in coming decades took and expanded on. Didn’t realize that Ghost Rider from the Crow was a cover.
Hanoi Rocks
3/5
This was a fun album. I’ve always meant to check out Hanoi Rocks, and I’m glad I finally did. Kind of reminds me of Cheap Trick. Would listen to again.
Boards of Canada
3/5
This made a for nice mellow listen. It wasn’t super engaging, but had enough to keep me interested in what was coming next.
Everything But The Girl
2/5
This doesn't do a whole lot for me. I like Tracy Thorn's voice, and the music is alright, but nothing that really wows me or holds my interest much.
Slint
4/5
Glad to see Slint on this list. I haven't listened to this album in probably a decade or more, but I've always liked just how good it is at keeping you guessing melodically. Something about how the guitar and bass play intervals off of each other, don't change lines at exactly the same time, and do their best to avoid resolving tension. Kind of wish there were more songs, and some of the ones here could be a little shorter, but it's still a banger of an album.
Prefab Sprout
4/5
This album was really good. Not usually into things quite this pop-y, but something about the compositions and instrumentation gave it a more of an art rock feel despite it's squeaky-clean pop production. Definitely something I want to listen to again.
3/5
Not bad, pretty straight forward 70's hard rock. I really only know the song Kick Out the Jams, but the other songs here were similar and just as good. I don't know how often I would come back to this, but I enjoyed the playthrough.
Genesis
3/5
Crazy how different these old Genesis albums sound compared to their 80's stuff with Phil Collins singing. This album was decent; some cool musical ideas at times, other times it kind of lost me. I might try it again sometime.
Todd Rundgren
3/5
Pretty good. I knew a few tracks from this one, but otherwise am not really familiar with Rundgren. I would probably need to listen a few more times to warm up to it.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
This Year's Model has some of my favorite Elvis Costello songs on it, but I don't think I've ever listened to it all on its own. Pretty good overall, would definitely play again.
The Specials
4/5
This album gets played regularly at our house; I've never been a huge ska fan but The Specials are undeniably great!
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Love me some Born to Run! First Springsteen song I ever knew, been a fan since I was a little kid. The album as a whole is great too. I'm not a fan of all of Springsteen's catalog, but it's hard to deny that this one is peak Americana rock.
Roxy Music
2/5
I was hoping this album would be as good as their first one, but it really didn't catch me in the same way. I don't think I would seek this one out again, honestly.
Lambchop
3/5
This album slowly grew on me over the course of my listen. Something about the instrumentation and composition I found really pleasing even though this not usually a style I would enjoy.
Bob Dylan
3/5
I was prepared to not like this, it being Bob Dylan, but it wasn't so bad. Dylan seemed to stay in his lane in terms of vocal competence, and some of the upbeat songs were pretty fun.
Ride
3/5
Like most shoegaze, there were a couple of songs on here that caught my attention and I kind of liked, but for the most part it was kind of easily forgettable.
Pavement
3/5
I never really got into Pavement, but this album was decent. Not something I would choose to listen to frequently.
PJ Harvey
4/5
Never heard this album before; I kind of lost track of all things PJ Harvey after the 90's. This is great though!
The Dictators
3/5
This album was pretty fun; had a very proto-punk sound to it. Would need to listen to again to fully appreciate, I think.
Kanye West
2/5
This album is ok. I don't think I'll ever be a Kanye fan, but there were a few decent tracks on here. Not sure I'd choose to listen to it again though, so that puts it in the 2/5 territory.
Bad Brains
5/5
This album rules. I love when they veer from style to style, and when HR just goes unhinged with his vocals. So many things on this album I hear replicated by other, later artists, but I have a hard time not hearing bits from
GWAR's America Must Be Destroyed in I Against I.
Stereolab
3/5
Wasn't super into this at first, but over the course of the album I actually started to dig it. I would probably rate this higher after more listens, but for now it's a solid 3.
George Harrison
3/5
This album is pretty good, but dang was it long! Has some Harrison songs I know, lots I don't. I'm a sucker for lap steel, so happy to see that used in places, and overall I liked most of the songs on here. I would listen to sections or single songs from this again, but maybe not the whole thing. Still, solid album overall.
Lou Reed
4/5
Great album! I know a lot of these songs already, but have honestly never listened to an entire Lou Reed album. Glad I did, and I will for sure listen to this again as well as seek out more.
Dr. John
3/5
This is fun. It has I think just the right amount of psychedelic cheese for my taste. All of the different styles in this are kind of just stewed together, and Dr. John's style very much reminds me of Tom Waits.
Ghostface Killah
2/5
Not my favorite Wu Tang solo album, but it was ok. While nothing really rubbed me wrong, it just didn’t hold my interest, so I probably wouldn’t listen again.
Bill Callahan
4/5
I really liked this. Never heard of Bill Callahan before, and thought at the beginning it was going to be another mid alt-country recording, but had so much more going for it than that. Definitely something I'll be coming back to.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
4/5
I was initially not at all into this, but there was a big turn around after the first song. By the end I was really digging it. The song Next was on the Scott Walker album we listened to on this list. I didn't like Walker's version, but Alex Harvey's was campy AF and it worked for me. Vambo Marble Eye was just a straight up banger. I would for sure listen to this again.
Khaled
3/5
This is good stuff. I wish it was easier to actually find and play this album, though there's tons of other stuff by Khaled out there.
Madonna
2/5
I did not enjoy this at all. Some songs I absolutely hated, and there were 1 or 2 that were just ok, but overall I would not want to listen to this again.
Faust
3/5
This was fine while I was listening to it, but I can’t say that any of the songs really stuck with me. Wouldn’t mind listening again in the future though.
Janelle Monáe
5/5
This album is already a 5 in my book. ArchAndroid was the first Janelle Monae album to fall on my radar, but I was an instant fan. I love just how much you can hear the influences of George Clinton, Prince and other Atlanta hip-hop artists on this record. It's not perfect, and I think as a whole Dirty Computer might be a better album, but ArchAndroid has my favorite songs of Janelle's and they're good enough to carry the whole album to a 5 for me.
The Doors
4/5
Good album start to finish. I'm not a huge Doors fan, but I'd say most of their songs I do like are on this record.
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
This was good. I liked this about as much as the other Curtis Mayfield record we heard on the list. It's not something I would choose often I don't think, but definitely digging it while it's playing.
Aphex Twin
3/5
I'm mostly familiar with Drukqs and a few other Aphex Twin singles, so I was kind of surprised by how relatively tame this early album sounded by comparison. It was good though; not sure how often I would come back to it.
Frank Sinatra
2/5
This really didn't keep my attention at all. Sinatra is just someone I'll never be a huge fan of, as much as I respect his talent and style, and this album didn't have anything that caught my ear like some of the tracks on Wee Small Hours. Not something I'll ever choose to listen to again I'm afraid.
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
4/5
I really liked this record. It not only sounds like some of the good experimental groups that also came from the 70's, but even reminded me a bit of some more modern acts like Sleepytime Gorilla Museum at times.
Radiohead
5/5
First Radiohead album I ever really paid attention to. I was way more into Kid A when it came out, but OK Computer just continues to get better and better in my ears.
The Style Council
1/5
This album was interesting up until the song A Gospel. That song and everything after was awful. Won’t ever listen to this one again.
The Charlatans
2/5
Standard issue Britpop, nothing exciting or new here.
Ray Price
2/5
I wasn't really into this, it's a bit of a snooze fest. A few songs had some nice pedal steel playing, but it wasn't enough to hold my interest.
Kings of Leon
3/5
This was decent. Didn't really sound like any of the radio singles which I know Kings of Leon for, which is good as I've never really been a fan of what I've heard on the radio. I would give this another listen in the future; seems like one that will grow on me.
Eels
3/5
I like Eels songs individually usually, but I always lose interest trying to listen to a whole album. Same thing here; first few tracks hold my attention but I was quickly wanting to move on to something else. So I don't think I'd revisit this as a whole often, but in bits and pieces it's pretty good.
The Beach Boys
3/5
I can appreciate why this album is so respected. The song writing is good, and the production, while not a style I really like, is unique and immediately identifiable as the Beach Boys. But most of these songs I've just heard to death, so it's not an album I'm ever going to choose to put on. 2.5/5
Sisters Of Mercy
4/5
This album was pretty fun. I didn't love every track, and as great as This Corrosion is, it doesn't really need to go on for 9+ minutes. But overall, I'd jam this again.
The Louvin Brothers
3/5
Pretty good old timey stuff. I can only take bluegrass in bits and pieces usually, but I enjoyed this the entire playthrough.
The Band
3/5
Pretty alright all around. The type of album that's good to just put on in the background.
John Coltrane
4/5
Good stuff. I pretty much only know Giant Steps by Coltrane, but I like this just as much as Giant Steps.
Beck
4/5
I don't listen to a lot of Beck, but I do know this album pretty well and already like it a lot. I've always liked how broadly ranging in styles Beck's music is, and this album is a great example of that. Favorite song is easily Que Onda Guero. The interspersed samples give it a super whimsical quality I really like. 4.25/5
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
This was good, but I think I liked This Year's Model better. I don't know that this is one I would seek out to re-listen to often, but it made for a nice upbeat drive in to work. 3.25/5
The Slits
4/5
The Slits is a name I've known forever, but never listened to until today. But I listened to this album twice, it was really good. They are super effective at blending Jamaican/reggae influences into their style, better than I think I've heard most other punk bands pull off. New household favorite, for sure.
T. Rex
3/5
This was decent. Nice variety of styles on here, and Bang a Gong is a, well, a banger.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
2/5
Hmm, I don't think I've ever listened to all of Scooby Snacks before, as I would not have been able to recall that it's a hip hop song. This album comes on the tail end hip hop's Golden Age but really doesn't capture that feeling, and is more like an attempt at rap-rock, or whatever it is that G. Love and Special Sauce do. Not for me, but I didn't hate it. 1.75/5.
Randy Newman
3/5
Sure sounds like Randy Newman, which isn't a bad thing. I've always like Randy Newman even if he's not someone I'm going to go out of my way to listen to. The lyrics of Rednecks though; was not prepared to hear that many hard "R" n-words that early in the morning. Reading up on the context for the song was interesting. Made me think quite a bit about how conversations about race and politics have changed in 50 years, and sadly how much has not changed as well. Provocative lyrics aside, I don't really see me putting this on again, but it deserves better than a 2, so 2.5/5.
Beck
3/5
Pretty good compositions on this album, but overall it comes off as a bit of a snooze-fest. Probably an album I would enjoy on subsequent playthroughs though, so I'll be listening again some time in the future.
Peter Tosh
3/5
Not bad, but not really my thing. Probably wouldn't put this back on very often, even though nothing about it really rubbed me the wrong way. 2.5/5
Can
3/5
This was pretty interesting. The songs had a real slow build which I liked. Something I would want to listen to again to catch more of what's going on. 3/5
Nightmares On Wax
3/5
This was alright. Recognized some samples from other DJs and hip hop albums from around the same time, like Far Ride to the Pharcyde. Not something I would listen to often in general, but it did make for a soothing drive home after a stressful day, so that ain't nothin'.
The Magnetic Fields
4/5
This was good, but took me several days to work through. I get the concept Stephen Merrit had it mind for this, but still, 69 songs is a lot for a single release, at least in the age of streaming where a 3 disc collection just appears as a 3 hour playlist. But that all said, there were plenty of songs in this that I would for sure want to come back to.
Ella Fitzgerald
3/5
I like this album for the collection of vocal jazz classics that it is, but it's really not music I'll ever be super excited about. And 3 hours of Ella Fitzgerald is way more than I ever want to listen to at once. Nothing on it that I disliked though, so it's a pretty even 3/5 for me.
Germs
4/5
Thought I hadn’t heard this before, but I actually knew and already liked a few songs off here. Good stuff, nice little old school punk record, too bad their run was stopped tragically short.
Calexico
4/5
This was really good! I've tried listening to Calexico a few times in the past and they've never really hooked me, but I liked this album a lot. Good mix of Americana, Latin, and jazz; an album with lap steel guitar AND vibraphone is one after my heart.
Brian Eno
3/5
Intriguing album. It definitely accomplishes Eno's goal of ambient music being as forgettable as it is listenable. That's not to say it's necessarily boring, there was definitely neat stuff to listen to in here, but it's also easy to just kind of tune out and feel more than hear. Not sure how often I would listen to this again, but it piqued my interest enough that it's worth more than a 2, so 2.75/5.
George Michael
3/5
I liked this album much more than Faith. Less horny and just the right amount of 80's production. Freedom is a real banger of a tune, I've always loved when the gospel choir comes in for the chorus. Not a record I would choose to replay often, but from time to time, sure!
Christina Aguilera
3/5
So apparently I like Christina Aguilera. Not super surprising since her sounds can sometimes sound a little JT, sometimes a little Janelle Monae, but I never listened to this album when it came out. Not every song is great, and it being a double album there ended up being a lot of fluff to get through, there are definitely a few songs on here I would listen to again one-off. 3.4/5
Skunk Anansie
2/5
Skunk Anansie has a great track called Selling Jesus that is the first song I ever heard from them back in the late 90's. But every other song of theirs I've heard is always far inferior by comparison. Post Orgasmic Chill definitely fit this pattern. It seems like it's trying to go so many directions; nu-metal, post-grunge, trip-hop, all of the 90's hyphenated styles apparently. But none of it really works for me, so it was a pretty dull and once again disappointing listen.
The Lemonheads
4/5
I liked this alright. I never gave the Lemonheads much attention in the 90's, but had heard some stuff here and there like their cover of Mrs. Robinson. I never realized Juliana Hatfield was in the Lemonheads; someone else I haven't thought of in decades, but should go revisit. 3.5/5
Traffic
3/5
For some reason, Steve Winwood keeps popping up on my radar recently. I haven't heard Give Me a Higher Love in decades, yet it came up in a conversation the other day, was in a random TV show that was on in the background a few days ago, and now Traffic is the 1001 album. That all said, this album was ok. I've always liked Winwood's voice, it's as much a token sound of 90's pop as voices like Sting or Huey Lewis. Lots of up-front guitar with great tone and decent playing. Style-wise it's only OK; sounds a lot like other late-60's rock bands to me, though there's some fun experimentation at times.
Blur
3/5
Blur is a band I always think I enjoy more than I actually do. Maybe I just misremember Gorillaz songs as Blur songs, I don't know. But this album was fine. It's not something I'm really ever going to want to reach for, but I didn't mind it for this play through. 2.5/5
Public Enemy
3/5
Another good Public Enemy record. I liked Fear of a Black Planet better, but this still had some great lines and samples in it.
Air
2/5
There were a couple of moments where I started to like this album, but it kept kind of going back to just sounding like an extended Dark Side of the Moon interlude. It makes sense for a film score, but not being super familiar with the movie the album doesn't really stand on its own for me.
The Zutons
4/5
This album was pretty great. Never heard of the Zutons before, but they're someone I'll probably look for more of after this.
Kanye West
3/5
Ok, I finally found a Kanye album that I can kind of get into. This wasn't bad at all. The last track of rambling anecdotes I could have done without; seems to be a late 2000s type thing to close an album with, Lupe Fiasco did something similar on Food & Liquor.
Arcade Fire
4/5
This was decent, definitely better for me than Funeral. I think this is one I would likely want to listen to again. 3.5/5
Deep Purple
4/5
This feels a little like double-dipping since half of these songs were also on Made in Japan. That said, Deep Purple kicks ass so whatever! 4/5
Living Colour
3/5
This album had lots of highs and lows for me. Cult of Personality has been a favorite since I was a kid, but it’s unfortunately the peak of the album, and only a few tunes were similarly good. I wouldn’t listen to this often as an album, but bits and pieces of it I would for sure spin often. 2.5/5
Wu-Tang Clan
4/5
Love this album, been listening to it off and on since high school. It is one that has definitely grown on me over the decades, as has most hip hop in general. I remember it sounding so much different from other groups in the late 90's, but listening now I'm surprised how similar they sound to some of their west coast contemporaries compared to styles of today.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
2/5
This album makes sense for club music, but would make for possibly the most boring live show I can imagine. I've never heard Relax in its full form, and I don't think it needs one; the hook is really all there is, even if it makes you want to kill the prime minister of Malaysia. Definitely wouldn't choose to listen to this again.
Skepta
3/5
Never heard of Skepta before, but apparently he's kind of a big deal, according to this album. I did enjoy most of the songs on here, maybe more for the production than Skepta's lyrics or flow though. The little excerpt that started out sounding like a 90's gangsta rap street-beef skit but ended up being just video game trash talk was pretty funny. Might not choose to put this on again, but wouldn't turn it off either. 3/5
Primal Scream
2/5
I didn't really care for this. The song Medication was pretty good, but the rest just did nothing for me.
Radiohead
3/5
This album is pretty good, but is not one of my favorites of Radiohead's. It has some really good tracks, but also enough of what kind of feels like filler that I prefer to listen to this one in pieces as opposed to as a whole. 3.4/5
Rocket From The Crypt
4/5
This record is real fun. Sounds like stuff I was into back in high school, though I somehow just missed Rocket from the Crypt completely.
Björk
4/5
Great Bjork record. Can't say much more than that! 4/5
David Gray
2/5
Very pretty, but very boring. This type of music really doesn't do anything for me other than keep my anxieties in check in medical office waiting rooms. 2/5
David Bowie
4/5
This is a great album that I don't know very well at all. I liked the mixture of Bowie's glammy boogie-woogie style and some more experimental sounds as well, like the wild piano playing on the title track. Definitely a record I'll be putting on again soon. 4/5
LTJ Bukem
3/5
I'm not really into lots of drum and bass, but this album was good and I enjoyed it pretty much all of the way through. Each song had a great vibe, though each song was about twice as long as I would have preferred. Makes sense for a club I guess, but I was ready for most songs to move on only a few minutes in.
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
This was really good, though some of the tracks near the end started to drag a bit. I think I liked this better as an album than Sound of Silver, even though Someone Great is still my all time favorite song of theirs. 4/5
The xx
3/5
I didn't care for this album as a whole, but individual songs I think I might enjoy as part of a mix. Production and instrumentation was good, it's just not a style I was really digging, at least not for an entire album. 2.5/5
The Undertones
5/5
This album is dope! I've heard Family Entertainment on random play a bunch, but this is the first time hearing a full Undertones album and it was great pretty much the whole way through. 4.5/5
Gillian Welch
4/5
I like some good, haunting alt country. I didn't love every song on this record, but most of it is great and I would for sure play this again often. 4/5.
Megadeth
4/5
Rad! I love Dave Mustaine and his little ego-gremlin voice and guitar playing. I was a little surprised to be reminded a little of some Facelift era Alice in Chains on a few songs on here. I'm not re-spinning this one often, honestly, but it will be a good time when I do. 3.5/5
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
4/5
The raw production on this album is just on the verge of chaos, but it mostly works great! The first song was okay, and after that I thought the rest of the album was really good. So many good dirty guitar tones. I would need to be in a certain mood to play this, but it will for sure get spun again. 4/5
Public Enemy
4/5
Man, Public Enemy definitely had a sound all of their own, Apocalypse is another great example of that. This album is consistently good from start to finish, and the remix/Anthrax-collab of Bring Tha Noize is an awesome left turn style-wise to close the album with! 3.75/5
Fats Domino
3/5
Fats Domino is kind of the mean metric for old school rock and roll. I'll almost never choose to put his music on, but I really dig it when I hear it.
Massive Attack
2/5
Pretty "meh" in my opinion, even more so than Protection was. I likely won't listen to this one again. 2.4/5
The Kinks
4/5
I seem to be hot or cold on the Kinks, but this album was a hot one for me. As dated sounding as it is, I thought a lot of the songs were pretty unique, and it was pretty consistently good all of the way through. 3.5/5
Isaac Hayes
2/5
Not wild about this album. Might work better live, or as a soundtrack, but the songs were way too long and didn't have enough going on. Would not listen to again.
John Lennon
3/5
Some times John Lennon hits me right, but his songs are often just so repetitive that I just wish he'd move on to the next song. I was impressed with how dirty he got with his vocals on some of these tracks. A few songs had some real nice dirty guitar parts too, but overall I'm not sure this is a record I would ever choose to listen to again. 2.75/5
Gene Clark
3/5
Not a bad little album. Sometimes reminds me of how I imagine Bob Dylan sounds to people who don't hate Bob Dylan. Nothing on here that particularly wow'd me, but I enjoyed it alright pretty much all the way through. 3.25/5
King Crimson
3/5
I know the opening and closing tracks on this album pretty well, but wasn't familiar with the rest. I had higher hopes for it, honestly, and it's alright, but nothing that really blew me away.
Booker T. & The MG's
4/5
I remember learning about Booker T. and The MG's long ago and loving the idea of the session musicians from all of these great R&B albums just releasing their own instrumental material. Green Onions is such a bop, and the rest of the tracks on here are great too.
Björk
4/5
Bjork'n Bjork is Bjork! 4/5
Destiny's Child
2/5
Not into this at all. This is from an era of pop music that I kind of purposefully missed when I was younger, and even though there are some pop artists that are similar that I really do like now, this isn't one that's going to stick. 2/5
Talking Heads
4/5
This is a great album. Super fun, pretty clear inspiration for lots of other bands that followed in the 80's that I also enjoy. 4/5
Wire
4/5
The song Champs has been showing up on my random play quite a bit recently, and I really like that song, so very stoked to be able to hear this whole album. I liked it a lot; adding it to the growing list of 1001 bands that have been mostly off my radar but are now go-tos. 4/5
Devendra Banhart
3/5
This was decent; I'm not familiar with Banhard at all, but I could see putting this on again if I'm in a folksy mood.
Brian Eno
4/5
The A side of this is really great. I love the energy and there's some really great instrumentation and playing. The B side really slows things down though and I didn't like it quite as much. If A is a 4.5 and B is a 3, then it's like a 3.75 overall.
Fatboy Slim
1/5
I've occasionally heard clips from this album in short bits, either in passing or as background in something on TV, and they seemed fine. But I never realized how long and monotonous these songs are on the album. I will never put this on again; songs range from tiresomely annoying to outright maddening.
The Clash
4/5
Real good; I think I like this the most out of the Clash albums we've heard so far. 4/5
Bee Gees
2/5
Really wasn't a fan of this. Similar to Odessa, I would not have guessed this was the Bee Gees, but it's also just not a style that really does anything for me. No interest in trying it again, either. 2/5
Os Mutantes
3/5
This was pretty interesting. Never heard of the tropicalia movement before, and I'm not really sure if I would say I'm a fan, but it made for an intriguing listen for sure. I probably wouldn't play this again often, but I would be curious to try it at least once more in the near future.
The Stooges
4/5
Another great Stooges album. Loved it!
The Modern Lovers
3/5
I've been familiar with the song Roadrunner forever, but I've never actually listened to anything else by the Modern Lovers. There's a cool energy they capture in that opening track that the rest of the album doesn't quite ever rise to again. It made for a decent listen though, and I'd probably put this on again occasionally.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
2/5
I like when BS&T get jazzy, but their more soulful songs I just really can't stand. I prefer the album Child is the Father to the Man to this S/T album because of that; this album overall just really seems tedious. I've heard Spinning Wheel and You Make Me So Very Happy enough times in my life that it's not one I'm ever going to choose to listen to.
Joy Division
4/5
Good album. With how much post-punk I've started to enjoy the last several years, I feel like I haven't spent nearly enough time with Joy Division. Closer is a decent album too, but I think I like this one a bit more.
Supergrass
4/5
This album was really good, though not as good as In It For The Money for me. Still, Supergrass will always be welcome in my ears. 3.5/5
The Saints
5/5
Hell yeah, this album rules! I've never heard it before, but the onslaught of guitars, horns and organ was a hell of a way to start my day today. 4.5/5
Anthrax
4/5
Anthrax vocals always turn me off initially, but I stuck around for the awesome riffage and this album totally grew on me over the course of the listen. 3.5/5
Talvin Singh
3/5
This isn't something I would put on often, but it was very pleasant as background music for work and driving.
Fatboy Slim
2/5
There were 2 things I liked about this album: One, the last song Next To Nothing actually kind of slaps (though this wasn't on the original US release, so only half counts I guess?), and second, there was a synth/arpeggiator patch that clipping. uses in their song The Deep, so that was a fun sort of easter egg. All that said, I didn't really like this album much more than You've Come a Long Way Baby, and probably won't listen to it again.
Syd Barrett
3/5
I liked some of these songs quite a bit, and others didn't really do much for me. The history of the album is interesting. Barrett seems like the type of artist who just was never well adapted for performing his art on anyone else's terms. I might occasionally come back to this.
Kings of Leon
3/5
This is the Kings of Leon I'm more familiar with, and not really a huge fan of. The singles Sex on Fire and Use Somebody were very overplayed on the radio when this album came out; listening now after at least a decade of not hearing them, they aren't bad songs, just not ones I'm every going to seek out. I like a lot of the bass playing on this, but overall I don't think it's as interesting as previous albums. 2.5/5
Bon Jovi
4/5
I used to rock this on cassette when I was a kid, but haven't listened to it in decades. It holds up pretty well. The hit singles are always great, but hearing Raise Your Hands after all these years was awesome; that song still slaps. Not a fan of the monster ballads on here, but the I think the high points of this album more than carry the lows.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Pretty good Stones record. Sounds very much like a "gateway to the 70's" album; the songs Gimme Shelter, Live With Me and Midnight Rambler all have such a cool sound that's easy to place in time. The title track is great; super dirty! 3.5/5
Jamiroquai
5/5
This album is so damn good. I don't know a ton of Jamiroquai, and I think most of what I am familiar with is from a later album that is somewhat more pop and less funk focused. But this record has so many great melodies, cool key changes, and bass lines for DAYS! 4.5/5
Ananda Shankar
3/5
Kind of split on this one. The cover songs I found to be kind of cheesy and much less than the sum of their parts in terms of combining Indian instrumentation and western pop music. But I did enjoy the B side of the album; Sagar was probably the high point, good even if very long. 2.5/5
JAY Z
3/5
This was decent. I liked a lot of the production, and Jay Z has a cool voice and flow. I probably wouldn't choose to put this on often, but that's just mostly my taste in style; most of the hip-hop I enjoy is from a decade earlier.
XTC
4/5
I liked this album a lot. XTC is always a band that I imagine sounding completely different than they actually do; means I should listen more often. But this has some cool twists and turns and some theatricality that make it similar to Oingo Boingo. 4.25/5
The Sugarcubes
3/5
I wasn't super into this. It was cool hearing more of young Bjork, but overall the Sugarcubes don't do much for me. I could see this growing on me on more listens maybe, but it's not one I'm going to replay soon. 2.5/5
The Beta Band
2/5
Not much on this album that I really liked. Falls very squarely into the "not bad but quickly forgettable" bin for me. 2.4/5
The Rolling Stones
3/5
I didn't like this one quite as much as Let it Bleed, but still a decent Stones album. 3.4/5
The Chemical Brothers
3/5
I liked this more than I thought I would. As repetitive as it is, Chemical Brothers have a certain edge to their sound that keeps me interested. This is something I wouldn't mind listening to again. 3.25/5
Underworld
3/5
This album makes some decent background music for going about my work day. Nothing exceptional, but I still dug it.
Radiohead
5/5
The first Radiohead album that I really fell in love with. Still a near-perfect album to this day.
Ute Lemper
2/5
This album may certainly be for someone, but it ain't me. Makes sense there was so much collaboration with Divine Comedy as this album kind of annoyed me in the same way that they do. It also seemed to try to pull off the sultry jazz singer schtick that I associate with Jessica Rabbit, but failed miserably. 1.5/5
Finley Quaye
3/5
This was pretty decent. Nothing here really blew me away, but I enjoyed the playthrough and wouldn't turn it off if it popped up again. 3/5
Beck
3/5
This Beck album is decent, but it kind of suffers from having a very late 90's sound in a way that I also didn't like in the late 90's. So even though it has some songs I love, as an album it's kind of just average for me. 3/5
The Cult
2/5
I was hoping to like this album as I like older stuff by The Cult, but this album was kind of a mess. Seemed like they were trying to go all-in on the hard rock sound, but did not pull it off well at all. Peace Dog sounded like they learned to play the same day as the recording, and Born to be Wild was just a trainwreck. Sometimes they got into a decent groove, but it doesn't sound anything like the Cult from previous albums, and it's really not anything I'd want to listen to again.
Caetano Veloso
3/5
This was decent. This album seems a little more of an accessible Tropicalia album than the Os Mutantes record we had a few months back. It's still not a style I would seek out, but it was good enough that I enjoyed the entire album. 3/5
The Fall
3/5
This album was ok. I can think of some modern post-punk groups that do some of what the Fall is doing slightly better IMO (TV Priest comes to mind), but I can appreciate this album as an early version of that, even if I didn't dig every song.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Good stuff. I've been a fan of Peter Gabriel since I was a kid, though I don't now his whole catalog super well. But I think I will continue on listening to his older albums and catch up to the late 80's stuff I'm more familiar with. 3.4/5
Deee-Lite
2/5
I was hoping to like this more, as Groove Is In The Heart is such a great 90's bop, but overall I kind of found this album pretty bland and boring.
Tracy Chapman
3/5
Pretty good. Not super into a lot of folk or roots rock, but I enjoyed this album enough that I might come back to it again some time.
The Zombies
4/5
I really liked this. I've only recently realized how many great tunes from the 60's that I like are from the Zombies. I don't often want to listen to too much from this era, but this is a record I can definitely see putting on again soon.
Metallica
4/5
It's crazy how many tracks from this album went on to be radio singles. This has never been my go to Metallica album, but it was certainly a big eye opening introduction to them and heavy music in general as an 11 year old. It still sounds pretty good, even if my tastes have gravitated more towards their earlier work.
The Vines
2/5
Not a fan. I've grown to like and appreciate a lot of their contemporaries from this era (the Hives, the Strokes as examples), but the Vines still just sound a little too much like they're reaching for an aggressive style that seems phony to me.
Weather Report
3/5
Overall this album is not my thing, I've never been a fan of much smooth jazz. My favorite two tracks were the ones Jaco Pastorius wrote, Teen Town and Havona, and Havona on its own brought this album from a 2 to a 3 for me. I've always loved Jaco's bass playing, but the keyboards on Havona were what really got me.
Spacemen 3
2/5
This album was a lot like traveling through space: sparkly, lots of emptiness, and ultimately quite boring.
Roni Size
3/5
This album was ok as background music. Not super engaging, and not something I'd choose to listen to again necessarily, but I didn't mind it on while I was going about my workday. 2.5/5
Neil Young
4/5
This is a pretty good album; nice blend of styles ranging from older CSNY to leaning into more of his later rock style.
Kings of Leon
3/5
Turns out I like older Kings of Leon like this album and Aha Shake Heartbreak. Maybe not something I'll listen to often. The singer's drawl sometimes is distracting, but it fits the style well.
The Smiths
4/5
This is a pretty good Smiths album. I liked this one just as much as The Queen is Dead.
Hookworms
4/5
Never heard of these guys before, but this was a decent little album.
Soft Cell
4/5
This album started out ok and got better and better towards the end. I was afraid the whole album would be like Tainted Love, but I was pleasantly surprised; Sex Dwarf had me hooked even before I saw the song title!
Tom Waits
4/5
I loved this. Even though it's a staged live show, and spoken-work jazz can come off as super cheesy or cliche, there's just something about Tom's delivery that totally clicks for me. And the backing musicians are fantastic!
Scott Walker
2/5
Well, this is an improvement over Scott 2, but it's still very much not something I'm super into. This seemed closer to someone like Neil Diamond. Probably won't ever choose to listen to it again. 2.4/5
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
I was into Blood Sugar Sex Magic for a bit as a teenager, but overall the Chili Peppers don't do much for me. I recognize all of the singles from Californication, they're just ok, and the rest of the album is kind of the same. 2.5/3
Alice Cooper
4/5
This album is pretty fun. I like the range of styles and the playfulness overall. It's also nice and short, good for us short attention spanned folks, and on theme for being an album with a disaffected youth concept. 3.5/5
Einstürzende Neubauten
3/5
I give this album credit more for the concept of the band than the actual recording. It's fun to try and figure out what types of mechanisms are making the noises that go into this, but it's not necessarily great to listen to. EN strikes me as more of a performance art band than one dedicated purely to making music, so it makes sense that a recording of them falls short.
3/5
I like this for the good, old fashioned country music that it is. Lots great lap steel playing, and Lynn has got one of those classic country voices. 3.4/5
The La's
3/5
There were a few good tracks on here. I really liked the opener Son of a Gun, and There She Goes is a great tune. But it really started to drag for me in the second half of the album. Overall, I'd say good-not-great, but worth listening to again.
Mudhoney
4/5
I didn't listen to this album in the 80's/90's, but I really wish I had, because it would have been right up my alley. I dug this a lot, will definitely be playing again soon.
David Ackles
1/5
Not a fan. It's like the parts of Blood, Sweat and Tears I like the least, but distilled and even more obnoxious, with the occasional Dixieland accompaniment. Never again.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
This album is super long, but it has some really great songs on it. Isn't She Lovely and As are both singles I'm super familiar with, and Contusion kind of blew me away. Overall, the album was great. It's long enough that I didn't pay close attention to every song, but it's also one I'm looking forward to playing again, and maybe just picking an LP side at a time. 4.4/5
Aretha Franklin
3/5
Pretty good Aretha record. I already like Chain of Fools and Natural Woman, but I've never heard her version of Groovin' before. I don't really reach for soul records often, but it's for sure one I wouldn't turn down if it came on. 3.25/5
Joanna Newsom
5/5
Wow. Had never heard of Joanna Newsom before this, but I loved it instantly. I love how the songs just kind of meander through different melodies, the tempo ebbs and flows, and accompaniment varies from just punctuation and countermelody from her harp to a full Elfman-inspired orchestra and the occasional jaw harp or guitar, all vibrato'd out. It's like a fey fever-dream, and even though the songs are 11 minutes long on average, I never got tired of listening.
Elvis Presley
3/5
Pretty good. I like a lot of the singles that came out of this album and Elvis' later career. They have a lot more production behind them, for better (Suspicious Minds) or worse (In the Ghetto). 3/5
M.I.A.
4/5
This album is pretty fun. I like how well all of the Roland low-fi synth pads are used; gives it the whole thing a well-polished demo tape feel. 3.5/5
Basement Jaxx
3/5
Not a fan of house music in general, so this was hit or miss for me. Red Alert is a certified banger, couldn't help but like the funky bass stabs, but nothing else on the album really stood out for me. Don't know if I would choose to put this on again, but it's ok as background music I guess. 2.5/5
Goldfrapp
4/5
This was good. Another early 2000's album I've never heard of but liked right off the bat. Something about it reminded me of MGMT at times, but much more mellow. 3.5/5
Tears For Fears
4/5
Great album! Head Over Heels is one of my favorite songs of the 80's; the bass line is just so damn good. Rest of the album is good-to-great. 4.4/5
Adam & The Ants
3/5
Pretty interesting. I almost really liked this, but something just didn't quite click for me. Would be interested to listen to other albums, as I really don't know much about this group, and have only heard their songs covered by others.
OutKast
4/5
Because of how much I love the album Aquemini (10/5 album for me), I have tried many times to enjoy Stankonia to the same degree, but it always loses me. It has some fantastic tracks on it for sure, but as a whole it doesn't stay as consistent, and it's just too damn long. 3.5/5
David Bowie
4/5
This album is going to be a grower for me. All of the ambient electronic tracks on Side B didn't do much for me at first, until Subterraneans. That song really got my attention with the dreamy combination of synths and saxophone. I basically started it right over again and picked up on some things I didn't hear the first time.
Keith Jarrett
4/5
I liked this. For being nothing but solo piano, it was pretty consistent in holding my interest. Reading about the technical issues of the live performance, it's amazing how well his playing comes through even though the tonal quality of the piano itself isn't the best.
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
3/5
Interesting record. I wasn't totally into it, though I love Skip's voice. Background of this album is nuts, and the recording very much captures how tortured of a soul he was. Might be something I come back to someday, but not often.
Dolly Parton
3/5
Not bad. The mix of the 3 vocal talents made for some pretty great harmonies. I like how much of an old-timey and folk-music feel this has. Probably won't listen again often.
Dinosaur Jr.
4/5
I dig this. Hard to believe this is from 1987. Pretty good all of the way through; funny how it goes full Event Horizon partway through Poledo. The bonus track Cure cover was a treat to, it did not go how I thought it would, lol. Yeah, all in all, real good, I already want to listen to it again.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
I really like Killing Moon, but the rest of this album was very meh. Not even sure I'd be able to have recognized most of these as Echo and the Bunnymen. I probably wouldn't choose to listen to this whole album again start to finish. 2.5/5
Frank Black
4/5
This album ranged from good to great to for me. My favorite moments were admittedly the ones which most reminded me of the Pixies. Lots of Trompe Le Monde adjacent dissonance scattered around the album, and the occasional twanged out not-country-but-not-rock-either guitar solos. 4/5
TLC
4/5
In the 90's the singles from this album were played to death, and I haven't purposefully listened to any TLC since then. Listening now though, I liked this album quite a bit, even the old popular singles. The singing and songwriting are just great, so I'm glad I had the time away to appreciate it now.
The Verve
2/5
Booooooorrriiiiiinnng...
Joe Ely
2/5
Didn't really like this. It had a lot of elements that I might usually enjoy, but they were not put together in way I enjoyed. 2/5
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Overall this album is just ok for me. Not my favorite by Stevie, but still not bad.
The Sabres Of Paradise
1/5
Not a fan of this. Really simple and boring, and a lot of the patches sounded annoying with the amount of comb filtering or resonance added. I can't even imagine people really dancing to this.
Cowboy Junkies
3/5
I liked this album, but it was very slow and plodding, so not something I would always be in the mood for. I've loved this version of Sweet Jane ever since hearing it on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack, I think it was the highpoint of the album for me.
Grizzly Bear
4/5
This album kind of hooked me from the beginning. I really loved the huge sounding percussion and song writing. It lost a little steam for me towards the middle, but overall I really liked it and will want to listen to it again soon. 3.75/5
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
4/5
As all over the place as this album was, from Herbie Hancock adjacent synth weirdness to Stevie worship, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Love all of the great bass lines. 3.5/5
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
This album had a lot of highs and lows for me. Overall I dug it, just wish it was a little more consistent. I'd probably pick and choose which tracks to listen to again as opposed to the whole thing. 3.4/5
The Associates
3/5
I liked parts of this, but as a whole it didn't do a lot for me. Might give it another chance down the road.
Janet Jackson
2/5
This was fine but I wasn't super into it. As much as I listened to Michael Jackson as a kid, I didn't get into much other similar sounding pop and R&B.
Sabu
4/5
Pretty good. Not a genre I'm familiar with or drawn to, but it's hard to go wrong with percussion forward music in my ears.
The Flying Burrito Brothers
4/5
This was pretty good, reminded me of Grateful Dead with some occasional fuzz tones. Really liked the use of lap steel throughout. 3.5/5
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
Good album! It's funny, I recently was shown the Jane's Addiction + Body Count cover of "Don't Call Me Whitey...", which is a performance that hasn't really aged well. Didn't realize it was a Sly cover until this album popped up on the list.
The Thrills
2/5
Didn't do much for me. Kind of reminded me of a much less interesting version of Grandaddy. Nothing on here I'd really want to revisit.
Beatles
4/5
This album has some of my favorite Beatles songs on it; I'll never get sick of Norwegian Wood, Michelle, Nowhere Man and I'm Looking Through You.
Sheryl Crow
4/5
Sheryl Crow has always occupied a "better-than-average" place in pop-rock for me. I like the blend of pop, rock and country that she does, even if it's not something I'm always choosing to listen to. 3.5/5
The Residents
2/5
I've tried getting into the Residents before and they are a little too much out there for me, at least for regular listening. However, I do recognize Sinister Exaggerator from Primus's cover of it, and I can hear a lot of the Resident's influence on them throughout this album, which is pretty cool.
4/5
What a bonkers album. So many times when these guys get rolling it sounds like a jazz quartet falling down the echo-y stairwell of a tall building, but in a really good way! Considering free jazz can so often just be an unlistenable mess, this album manages to be extremely entertaining, so I kind of loved it. 4.4/5
Madonna
3/5
Pretty good album. I love the the two opening singles, wasn't much familiar with the rest.
Klaxons
4/5
Not familiar with the Klaxons, but this album was a lot of fun. Not every song was amazing, but there were plenty of rad bass and guitar lines throughout to make this a 4/5.
Rufus Wainwright
3/5
This was good but not great. Kind of reminded me of Thom Yorke's singing but without the rest of what makes Radiohead great. I liked this enough to give it another listen, or listen to Wainwright's other albums, down the road.
Al Green
4/5
I always love me some Al Green. Such a great voice, and the tracks on this album are all great.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Good CCR album. Graveyard Train and Chooglin' are a little bit long in runtime and slow the album down a bit, but otherwise it's great!
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
This album slapped in middle school, and it still slaps. This is kind of peak Smashing Pumpkins for me, I never really got into any of their stuff that came after this.
Rush
5/5
So many bangers on this album. I don't know the B-side of this well, but I'll likely give this a few more spins to remedy that soon. 4.5/5
Le Tigre
3/5
I was hoping to like this more, based on what I've heard of Le Tigre before and being a Kathleen Hannah/Bikini Kill fan. It was still alright, but just felt a little disjoint. I wonder if their later albums are more cohesive. 3/5
The Replacements
4/5
Real good album. I'm not super familiar with the Replacements, although I did recognize Unsatisfied from somewhere. 3.5/5
Stereo MC's
2/5
I associate music of this style from this era as with the game Gran Turismo. It's ok for background music when doing other tasks you need to focus on, but it doesn't make for the most interesting listen other than that. I can remember almost nothing of note after listening to the entire hour of this album, aside from the hook from the song Connected.
Orbital
3/5
Not my genre, but I enjoyed quite a bit of this album. I recognize Halcyon + On + On from the Hackers soundtrack.
Sonic Youth
4/5
This album is pretty good, and not really what I was expecting, being more familiar with late 90's Sonic Youth. Definitely something I'll come back to later. 3.5/5
Astrud Gilberto
3/5
Nice little samba album. I think 27 minutes is the perfect amount of Samba to listen to for me, and I pretty much liked this all of the way through. 3/5
Thin Lizzy
4/5
Pretty damn good live rock album here. Thin Lizzy is super fun and I've learned to appreciate them more and more only in recent years. 4/5
Soul II Soul
2/5
Not into this. Also, what kind of club is this album for? The songs seemed to not be able to make up their minds between soul, R&B and dance (albeit very slow tempo dance) music. 2/5
Frank Sinatra
2/5
Sinatra and Samba is not a well matched pair in my ears, so I didn't like this so much. Glad it was short at least. 2/5
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
This Marley album isn't bad. I like the instrumentation and arrangements on this one a bit better than some of the other albums of his we've had on the list. 3.4/5
Neneh Cherry
3/5
This has that very distinctive 90's pop sound (New Jack Swing?) but some of the songs I actually kind of like. Probably not something I'd put on again, but wouldn't be mad at it either if it came on. 2.5/5
Mott The Hoople
4/5
Not much to say other than I liked most of this and wouldn't think twice about playing it again. 3.5/4
Ryan Adams
3/5
This album had a few songs on it that I dug, but for the most part it was a little too low energy for me. I don't see myself choosing this to listen to again, but it wouldn't bother me if it came on. 2.5/5
The Libertines
4/5
This album rules. I don't know The Libertines at all; kind of reminded me a bit of the Buzzcocks at times. Looks like they came and went in the early 2000's with that era's "rock revival". I wasn't dialed into bands from that era until much later, so I'm glad I was able to finally hear them as I think I enjoy this more than some of those more polished acts like the Strokes and the Vines.
Hüsker Dü
3/5
Not bad, though I didn't really love anything on this record. I think I'm more familiar with their older stuff, this album seemed more folk-punk and alternative than I was really expecting.
Rufus Wainwright
3/5
This was a little more playful and varied than Want One, but nothing that really wowed me. It was decent for a single listen, but not something I'll be revisiting most likely.
Holger Czukay
4/5
A lot going on here. I really liked the first 3 tracks, they had a great combination of samples, whimsy, and little interesting call and response riffs, all being kind of chaotic but still cohesive. The 4th track didn't do as much for me and seemed a little too meandering, but overall this was a pretty fun record. 3.5/5
Mike Oldfield
4/5
Pretty crazy that Oldfield basically recorded this whole thing, playing every instrument, at only 19. It's a fun listen, I like all of the prog noodling, and I got a kick out of the slowed down, drunken yelling in Pt. 2. 3.5/4
SAULT
4/5
I liked most of this album. There were a few forgettable songs, but for the most part I really dug the vibe. The track Monsters was a highlight for me.
Metallica
3/5
This is a cool idea, but I found I grew kind of tired of this album around the half-way mark. There's some interesting moments here and there, but these are definitely not my favorite versions of any of these songs.
MC Solaar
3/5
I like the beats and production on this album a lot, but not being able to understand French is a real hindrance for me, so the songs end up sounding too repetitive. Probably a fun album to read translations of and listen again though. 2.5/5
Cocteau Twins
3/5
Ok for working background music, and very pretty at that, but not one I'd likely actively seek out in the future. 3/5
Suede
3/5
Not bad. I liked a lot of the guitar work on this album. It's not really my style, but it made for a decent play though. 3/5
Miles Davis
4/5
Pretty good Miles album. This isn't a go-to one for me, but I still enjoy it with all of its musical meandering and spacious moments. 3.5/5
OutKast
3/5
I played the hell out of these albums when they came out, so much hoping that Outkast would once again rise to the heights they had with Aquemini, and wanting to like them more than I did. I do like it for how much it highlights the differences in Big Boi's and Andre's production styles, but I think ultimately they are better as a duo. Speakerboxxx (3/5) is a little too maximalist to enjoyably listen to the whole thing in one sitting, so I tend to replay Love Below (3.5/5) more often. 3.25/5
Cornershop
2/5
I could not stand the single Brimful of Asha back when it came out, so I was prepared to not like this album at all. The album as a whole isn't bad though; was surprised at the variety of styles on it. Even Brimful didn't sound as bad as I remembered, it just reminds me of an overly polished and boring CCR tune. Probably still not one I'm going to return to, but it's off of my "can't stand it" list. 2.4/5
Talk Talk
3/5
Very neutral on this. At times it reminded me of a more boring Peter Gabriel, so nothing really hooked me. Not something I'd turn off if it showed up on a random play, but no going to seek it out either. 3/5
Bad Company
3/5
Not much to say about this one. I know the singles well, and they're decent, but nothing on here really gets me excited. 3/5
Tim Buckley
2/5
I didn't like this. It reminded me of people taking parody shots at folk music, like "Lesbian Seagull" or "I Gave My Love a Cherry". 2/5
John Lee Hooker
3/5
Not my style, but not a bad little blues album. There's some clear signs of this being produced in the late 80's that are a little distracting, but overall it's not something I'd be against listening to again.
Rod Stewart
3/5
Pretty good little album. I only know the song Maggie May, but it's one I like. Rod Stewart's not really a go-to artist for me, so not sure how often I would play this again. 3.4/5
3/5
Not bad, but kind of faded into the background. Probably worth a re-listen at some point. 2.5/5
Shuggie Otis
3/5
This was okay. Pretty mellow and varied, but not always varied enough to really hold my attention.
The Darkness
3/5
Kind of split in my opinion on this one. I like it for it's no nonsense guitar rock style, but Justin Hawkins voice doesn't always do it for me. Sometimes his falsetto just kind of seems gimicky, while other times he absolutely sends it. This kind of just made me want to put on Cheap Trick instead. 2.5/3
The Cramps
4/5
Fun album, I like this proto-psychobilly sound. The Cramps is a band I've for a long time been aware of and have just never really listened much, but I would for sure want to listen to this more.
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
3/5
This album had some highs and lows for me. It mostly didn't do much for me, but there was the occasional track that really caught my attention, so overall it's one I'd like to revisit later. I didn't realize it was a bit of a British super group until after listening either; makes sense why I kept thinking the singer sounded like the guy from Blur, lol. 3.2/5
Elton John
4/5
This album is pretty dang good. I've never been a huge Elton fan, but there's some great tracks on here and it's hard not to love Saturday's Alright for Fighting. 4/5
Everything But The Girl
2/5
Couldn't get into this; it was pretty but just not very interesting overall. 2/5
Guided By Voices
3/5
There were a few decent tracks, but overall this didn't really hold my interest. 2.5/3
Mike Ladd
3/5
Not bad. I think I could see this one growing on me with further playthroughs, but it was just average for this first time. 2.5/5
The Police
4/5
This album was way more hit and miss than I remember. The hits are good enough to carry this to a 4 though; I never get tired of Stewart Copeland's drumming. 3.5/4
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
I remember listening to this record growing up. It's a lot of bluegrass to listen to all at once, so it's not something I'm every going to want to listen to in its entirety often, if ever, but it's also one of my favorite examples of bluegrass and there's some really good songs and crazy good playing on here. 3.4/5
Cheap Trick
4/5
Alright, some Cheap Trick finally! This concert rules; they're not the best rock band in the world but they certainly sound like they're having the most fun. 4/5
Dexys Midnight Runners
2/5
I liked this album better than Don't Stand Me Down. I don't think there's anything on here that would make me want to put this on again, though. 2.4/5
Yes
5/5
This album is great. The bass lines and sounds of the bass on this album are some of my favorite, but everybody basically kills it on this album. 4.5/5
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Another good Marvin Gaye album. I think I like this one a bit better than Let's Get It On. 3.25/5
Spiritualized
2/5
I really can't get into this band, despite multiple attempts. Their style of britpop meets psychedelia just doesn't do anything for me. 2/5
Red Snapper
3/5
Not bad for trip hop. It's doing the "simple riff repeated to death" style of most trip hop from this ear, but I happen to like most of the riffs and bass lines, so I enjoyed this a decent amount. 2.8/5
Lauryn Hill
3/5
Pretty good album. I've never followed Lauryn Hill or the Fugees, but I like them well enough to enjoy them when they are on. This is a long album so probably not going to be replaying in whole often, but it was consistently good all of the way through.
Dexys Midnight Runners
2/5
I liked this better than the other Dexys albums we've listened to so far, but it still just didn't really do much for me.
Common
2/5
I wasn't super into this. I'm not very familiar with Common, but I don't think I'd revisit this record.
James Brown
4/5
This albums was really good. I've always admired James Brown for his energy and it very much comes through in this live recording.
Billy Bragg
4/5
I liked this a lot. Mermaid Avenue didn't do much for me, but this album was great; seemed more folk punk and less alt-country.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Another great album from Tribe. Not sure if I like this one more or less than Low End Theory. This one has a runtime longer than I'd like, but even with that it's pretty great start to finish.
Solange
3/5
Not bad. I haven't ever listened to Solange before, but I enjoyed this album.
The Velvet Underground
3/5
Pretty good album. I kind of dig the lo-fi sound and strange vocal punch ins; they give a very authentic and "not by-the-book" sound to the recording. 3.25/5
Peter Gabriel
4/5
This album rules. I've liked the song Intruder ever since I heard Primus' version on Miscellaneous Debris, but I think I like the original even better. Biko was a bit forgettable and reminds me of some of his more ho-hum stuff from the 90's, but I really like the rest of the album. After reading that Gabriel banned the use of cymbals on the recording to challenge his session drummers, I had to listen again from the beginning. 4.25/5
X-Ray Spex
4/5
Pretty fun album. Probably not a frequent go-to, but definitely something I would play again around the house when I need something bright and high-energy. 3.5
John Grant
4/5
I really liked this. There's a dark, haunting quality to the music, and the lyrics through most of the album were cracking me up. 4.25/5
Lou Reed
3/5
I wasn't super into this, but some of the songs were decent. Maybe something I'd need to give another try down the road.
B.B. King
3/5
An artist and genre that mostly kind of passes me by. I didn't dislike anything BB's doing here, but it's just not a record I'd ever be excited to listen to again. 2.5/3
David Crosby
3/5
I think I much prefer Crosby's work in CSN&Y. This was okay, but nothing on this record really piqued my interest more than very occasionally. 3/5
Bauhaus
4/5
Yeah, good shit; I want to play it some more as I feel like it's one that will get better with time as well. 4/5
Girls Against Boys
4/5
Another band that I've heard about for decades and finally heard for the first time. I liked it quite a bit, glad I finally broke the seal on GaB. 4/5
The Temptations
4/5
The Temptations have such a cool unique sound. I really dug this and I'd play it again for sure. 4/5
Miles Davis
4/5
I don't like this album as much as I like his modal stuff, but it's still a pretty decent one. 3.5/5
Dizzee Rascal
1/5
Very bad, did not like at all. Would prefer to never hear again.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
There's a lot of variety on this album, you can tell that as a band the Velvet Underground hasn't fully captured their sound yet. Some of the songs on hear would sound right at home on a Stones album. Good stuff; would play again. 3.5/5
Madonna
3/5
This was okay, but also mostly forgettable. Wouldn't turn it off if it came on, but not an album I'd ever seek out again. 2.75/5
Marty Robbins
3/5
I like these old western cowboy songs, but an entire album of them is a bit much. There's also a lot of similarity between some of the songs. But pretty much any of these songs I wouldn't mind playing onesy-twosy, just not the entire collection again. 3/5
Ice T
4/5
I have fond memories of this album from high school. It still holds up for the most part. I liked the sneak-peak of Body Count; this song seemed like a prototype version of Killing in the Name Of which was released a year later. It's a pretty long album but it's for sure something I'll want to revisit from time to time. 3.5/5
The Hives
4/5
This album is pretty great. I wasn't into The Hives when this was out, but they've grown on me over the decades, so it was cool hearing this whole album start to finish. It's got a lot of raw energy and playfulness, so I'm sure it will continue to grow on me on future listens too. 4/5
Bonnie Raitt
3/5
This seems like such a unique type of country-rock. It's not at all a go-to style for me, but I remember so many of these songs from my mom having this album on around the house all the time when I was young. I hate some of the bass lines, catchy as they are, but aside from that this album isn't one I'm opposed to playing again. 3/5
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
Yikes. The songs on here ranged from mostly forgettable to downright cringe. I've enjoyed the other albums by the Boss on this list, but I really feel like this one should have stayed off of it. Will not seek out again. 2/5
The Monkees
3/5
Ok album. Nothing on it really stood out, so I don't know that it's one I'll play again often. 2.75/5
Michael Kiwanuka
5/5
This album is really great. It hits the same notes for me as artists like Janelle Monae and Childish Gambino. I've never heard this record before but it's already one I know I'm going to want to return to often; an instant favorite. 4.5/5 based on the first listen only, but I can easily see this growing into a solid 5 after repeat listens.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Another good Nick Cave album. Compositions and production on this one I really liked. 3.8/5
Ryan Adams
3/5
This was OK. A few songs stuck out as being much better than the others for me, but for the most part it was decent americana rock that only resonated so much. Not something I'd be mad at listening to again, however. 3/5
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
This album feels a little less consistent than This Year's Model, but still a pretty good album overall. 3/5
Sparks
4/5
This is a pretty fun and playful album. Lives somewhere between Cheap Trick and The Dickies. 3.5/4
The Byrds
3/5
Interesting departure for the Byrds. I don't think I've heard anything from this era of their catalog before. Not a bad album even though it didn't do much for me, but reading some of the history surrounding it was really interesting. 2.75/5
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
This was just ok for me. Not very memorable. I might give it another try down the road. 2.5/5
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Not my favorite Nick Cave. A little too maudlin and spiritual, even though it does have quite a few interesting things going on melodically. 3/5
John Cale
3/5
Okay album. Macbeth was a pretty fun track, but writing this a few days after having listened I don't recall being really wow'd by much else.
Blondie
4/5
This album rules; starts out strong with my favorite track of theirs (shit; didn't realize it was a cover?!) and keeps it going pretty much the whole time. Drums on this album are deceptively good! 4.2/5
Deep Purple
3/5
Sounds like Deep Purple; nothing wrong with that, but sometimes I think their style gets a little monotonous. I've lost track of how many times they do a "kooky little chromatic riff". Not mad at it, just not in love with it. 3.4/5
Mariah Carey
2/5
Mariah Carey's vocal range is inhuman; that said, there's not much else on this album that does much for me. 2/5
Hot Chip
4/5
Not my usual genre, but I really dug this album. It occasionally reminded me of Tame Impala or McBaise, but it was way more poppy and upbeat than either of those. 3.5/5
Laibach
4/5
Rad album, sounded exactly like what I expected from the cover art. Dude's voice reminds me of Till Lindemann. This is a bit of a novelty, but one I would like to come back to often! 3.75/5
2Pac
2/5
I didn't like this much. It seemed like there was a lot of production borrowed from The Chronic, but it wasn't put together nearly as well. Likely not an album I'll come back to. 2.4/5
Goldfrapp
2/5
There were times where I though this album was going to be good. The combination of the singer's Billie Holiday style singing and the unhinged theremin sometimes worked for me, but there was also just a lot of times where it was trying too hard to be a "creepy jazz" album. I think if I ever want music to set this type of mood I'll just listen to Portishead. 2.4/5
ABBA
2/5
ABBA is about as neutral of a band as I can imagine, so this album fit that in it neither excited nor disappointed, and the only song I can recall from this is Dancing Queen which was played multiple times a day, every day, at the Value Village where I worked in my early 20's. That all said, I guess by my metrics I have to give this a 2 because I would never choose to listen to this album.
The White Stripes
3/5
While I've grown to appreciate some earlier White Stripes albums only recently, I still can't get into a lot of their catalog. This album has some moments that get my attention, but overall it didn't do much for me. I might try it again at some point, but it's not an album I'll be rushing to replay. 2.75/5
White Denim
4/5
Never heard of White Denim, but this album was pretty fantastic. It sounded how I imagine bands like Phish and The Grateful Dead sound to their fans, but I found it way more interesting than either of those bands. 4.4/5
Nitin Sawhney
3/5
This album had some highs and lows for me. I liked many of the individual tracks that featured vocals, tabla and other percussion, and one of the piano tracks was really good. As a whole it was a little all over the place though, and it was just ok for me. 3/5
Super Furry Animals
4/5
Really good album. This is a pretty solid 4 now, but it's also one I could see maybe growing to a 5 with more listens. 4/5
Fever Ray
4/5
Sometimes life gives you weirdos, and I love it when those weirdos are weird like Fever Ray. I didn't find out about Fever Ray or The Knife until very recently, but I love all of their stuff that I've heard so far. 4.25/5
The National
3/5
Decent little album. I think I was expecting something a little more Americana from the artist name, and was surprised how post-punky this was. 3.2/5
Jane's Addiction
3/5
I've never been a huge Jane's Addiction fan, but this album is undeniably good. It has a very big sound to it that places it firmly in the late 80's/early 90's alternative rock sound, and recordings of Perry Farrell barely do the raw power of his voice justice, but it all works together. 3.4/5
New Order
2/5
I wasn't really into this. Even when New Order is more post-punk they don't do a whole lot for me, but this album was more of a dance album and just wasn't for me. 2.4/5
Baaba Maal
3/5
Good album. I don't have much to compare it to, but I enjoyed the whole thing. 3.3/5
Beatles
3/5
Not my favorite Beatles album, but a good one nonetheless. 3.2/5
The Electric Prunes
4/5
I liked this album a lot. They get pretty raucous on a couple of tunes, which made me like it more than a lot of psychedelic rock. There were a few snoozer tracks, but overall I thought it was pretty great. 3.7/5
Santana
4/5
This whole album is pretty great. I like how laid back it is for being such recognized guitar rock album; the Latin feel just cools everything down without making it at all less interesting. 3.7/5
Method Man
3/5
I like lots of stuff that comes from the Wu-Tang clan, but I found this album to not do a whole lot for me. Maybe something I need to spend more time with, but it was just OK this playthrough. 3/5
Ray Charles
2/5
I like Ray Charles, and I like the original versions of many of these songs, but something about this album rubbed me the wrong way. I think it was all of the angelic choral voices that just kind of seemed out of place. Reminded me of the Laurence Welk show. There's better Ray Charles albums out there, so I don't think I'd come back to this one.
Stan Getz
4/5
Good album; the blend of jazz and samba on this album is kind of perfect for me. Girl From Ipanema has been done by so many artists, but I think I like this rendition the best.
Orange Juice
3/5
I thought I was going to hate this album when it first started, but actually ended up kind of digging it. Not a ton, but there was plenty of catchy and fun things going on that I ended up enjoying the playthrough. Not something I'd put on often, but maybe occasionally just out of curiosity. 2.5/5
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
Another good Siouxsie and the Banshees record. I really need to listen to this group more.
Johnny Cash
5/5
I've loved this album for years. I haven't it played it in a long time, but it hasn't lost any of its appeal. The live versions of these songs are my favorite versions; something about how and when the crowd decides to respond to passages adds so much contextual storytelling to the record. I also just love the simplicity of the songs themselves. 5/5
Lenny Kravitz
2/5
Big ol' snoozfest. I'm not a huge Kravitz fan in general, but I found pretty much every song on this album to be just very superficial and boring. Not something I'd listen to or recommend. 1.5/5
The Beach Boys
3/5
Pretty good for a Beach Boys record, better than I was expecting. It's definitely not something I'd race to put on again, but the songs are fun enough that I'd enjoy it on occasion I think. 3/5
Terence Trent D'Arby
2/5
I haven't heard anything from this album since I was a kid (I remember my mom played this album a lot). I was hoping it was going to be good in a nostalgic way, but aside from the single Wishing Well, there wasn't any nostalgia and it really didn't do anything for me. Not a style I'm into, so not going to be listening to this again anytime soon. 2/5
Iron Butterfly
2/5
Wasn't high enough to enjoy this album. This isn't a great example of good psychedelic rock IMO; kind of generic and none of the songs, aside from the hook in In a Gadda Da Vida, really have anything memorable about them. 2.4/5
Country Joe & The Fish
3/5
I liked this better than yesterday's psych-rock pick (Iron Butterfly), and the album overall was decent-to-good for me.
Pentangle
4/5
This album was great. Was pleased to learn that Bert Jansch is the guitar player of this band. I really liked his solo album for the same interesting melodies and polyrhythms in Basket of Light. I definitely see myself returning to this record often. 4.25/5
Queen
5/5
This album kicks ass. Brian May is such a monster of a guitar player, and the only thing better than Freddie Mercury singing is multitracked harmony of Freddie Mercury singing. 5/5
Barry Adamson
3/5
This album started out kind of strong with some nice creepy vibes, but that feeling didn't last more than a song or two. Apparently he wrote this album as an attempt to try to get gigs scoring movies; the album does come across as music that is meant to be in the background, so it's not super engaging and didn't really do much to keep my interest. I didn't hate it, but it's not something I'm likely to want to put on again any time soon. 2.5/5
Venom
4/5
Real good proto-speed/thrash album. I love all of the riffing, and there's some flamboyance and theatricality to the singing that kind of reminds me of old-school GWAR. Guitars on this record sound super gnarly, I imagine these guys were amazing to hear live. 4/5
Sufjan Stevens
4/5
Lots of good tunes on this album, even though it took forever to get through. Probably an album I'll come back to and listen to in bits and pieces. 3.5/5
Portishead
4/5
I'm not super familiar with this Portishead record. It started out strong for me, then kind of fell a little flat with the Rip and Plastic, and then the album picked back up again. I liked it overall, it's an interesting evolution of their previous sound, and I'll definitely be coming back to it to get more familiar. 3.9/5
Paul McCartney
3/5
I'm still not a hug McCartney fan, but I like Junk/Singalong Junk and Maybe I'm Amazed enough that that I liked this record overall. 3.25/5
Antony and the Johnsons
3/5
Pretty neutral on this record. I might need to listen to it again sometime, but nothing on it really stuck out this first listen. 3/5
Ali Farka Touré
3/5
Fun record. I think I've heard other records that feature Ry Cooder as a collaborator where it isn't obvious that he's on every song; I like how he blends into different styles like that. This isn't a go-to genre for me, but definitely something I would enjoy listening to again. 3.4/5
Kraftwerk
3/5
This album is a little too minimalist for me. It has some fun sound bytes, but isn't one I would really want to actively listen to again. 2.5/5
Doves
3/5
The early 2000's radio friendly "indie rock" bands really kind of all blur together for me; this album has that exact sound. Apparently it's "post Britpop". Late in the album, starting with Friday's Dust, there are a few songs that did manage to get my attention by breaking from the Coldplay/Snow Patrol/Keane sound and doing some more interesting things, so I wouldn't turn those tracks off, but I don't think this is an album I'll be seeking out anytime soon. 2.5/5
Astor Piazzolla
5/5
As someone with a soft spot for vibraphone and tango, this album is a double-whammy of awesome. I have not listened to much of Astor Piazzolla's own work, even though I'm a huge fan of many works that are clear derivatives (ex. Astor in Paris by 3 Leg Torso or Violenza Domestica by Mr. Bungle). I listened to this multiple times and it's something I'll be coming back to often. I need to look for more Gary Burton stuff too now. 4.5/5
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3/5
Not much here that I liked. The title track Rattlesnakes wasn't bad, but overall it was pretty forgettable. 2.5/5
Sebadoh
4/5
This first half of this album was ok, but really got interesting for me starting about halfway through with Elixer is Zog. This seems like one that will grow on me, so I'll likely be putting it on again soon. 3.5/5
The Last Shadow Puppets
5/5
This was an unexpected new favorite. This album has so much energy and great melodic twists and turns. Definitely something I'll be replaying many times in the near future. 4.5/5
Rage Against The Machine
5/5
I've been listening to this album on and off since junior high. Rage has never been my favorite band, but I've gone through cycles of listening to lots of them and I still enjoy their first two albums quite a bit. This is an album that I'm never mad about hearing. 4.5/5
Willie Nelson
2/5
Strange Willie Nelson album. It was pretty lackluster overall, so not something I think I would ever choose to listen to again. 2.4/5
Cee Lo Green
3/5
Not bad. I love Cee Lo's voice, but I really much prefer hearing him paired up with Danger Mouse in Gnarls Barkley. 3/5
The Smiths
4/5
This album ranges from good to great for me. I think I like The Queen is Dead a little more than this, but they're pretty close. 3.5/5
Fishbone
4/5
Fishbone; the band always in the proximity of acts that went on to be huge but never really got huge themselves. This album is pretty great; I love how many different styles they tear through. It was super fun and put me in a good mood, so I definitely need to listen to it more. 4/5
Sepultura
5/5
I'm glad we got some old-school Sepultura on this album in addition to Roots (holding out hope we'll get Beneath the Remains or Chaos AD on here too...nope, just looked it up and I'm SoL). When it comes to thrash bands, Sepultura is definitely my number one. Arise is considered their best album, though it's oddly one that I have maybe listened to the least. After listening to it for the list, it basically kicked off a listening marathon starting with Under a Pale Grey Sky which is still maybe my favorite live recording ever. Easy 5/5!
The Mothers Of Invention
4/5
I'm loving the collision of sounds between 60's rock and Frank Zappa experimentation on this album. There's no better way to start the day than with Zappa's satire, weird chromatic melodies, and kazoos. 4/5
Can
2/5
The first 3 tracks were very mid and forgettable for me. Track 4 was similar, but also 20 minutes long so a bit tiresome. Tracks 5 and 6 were actively obnoxious. This isn't an album I'll every willingly listen to again. 1.5/5
Abdullah Ibrahim
4/5
Not a bad little jazz album. Some of the melodies and chord progressions were a little bland, but then occasionally there would be some really interesting things happening (intro to Water from an Ancient Well for example), and there were lots of great solos. I liked the combination in some tracks of an older, big band kind of feel combined with some more modern soloing and riffing. Not at all familiar with Abdullah Ibrahim, but based on this album I would try to listen to some of his other records. 3.5/5
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
I like the story behind this record; basically getting an album recorded when the band was newly formed and had only been playing together for a week, still feeling each other out. Some of this comes through during some of the improvisational parts. Also fun reading how Cinnamon Girl, Down by the River and Cowgirl in the Sand were all written in a waking fever dream. All in all a solid Neil Young record. 3.5/5
The Pretty Things
3/5
This album was a mixed bag for me. Most of it wasn't bad. The song Balloon Burning might have been my favorite song except for the mixing; aside from the wild asymmetry in the stereo mix, the lead guitar was mixed so hot during the majority of the song that I had to turn it down. The next song Death was also very good. All in all I liked it and might come back to it again some time in the future. 3.4/5
Beatles
5/5
This is the first Beatles album I really fell in love with as a kid. I liked the Breeders' cover of Happiness is a Warm Gun and went through my dad's records to find the original, and pretty much the entire album resonated with me. It's not perfect, there's definitely several tracks that I will skip through, but aside from those few this album just kicks ass. 4.5/5
Blur
3/5
I've always been on the fence about Blur. I like some of their singles, and I like other things that Damon Albarn has done, but I don't really enjoy listening to Blur albums in their entirety. I've tried Parklife severale times in the decades since it came out, and it still doesn't do much for me. Not mad at it, just not an album I'm probably ever going to reach for. 2.5/5
Lana Del Rey
2/5
I wasn't really into this. There were maybe a few moments where a song caught my ear, but overall it's a style that I just didn't care for. It's interesting that it's considered a folk/Americana album. Lyrically I think that makes a kind of sense, but it mostly just sounded like a pop album to me, though maybe a bit more on the gloomier side. Many songs struck me very much as "I can hear this as background music for a contemporary dance piece on So You Think You Can Dance." 2.4/5
Fred Neil
3/5
Decent little folk rock album. It didn't really blow me away, but I enjoyed most of the songs on it and would listen again some time. 3/5
Kelela
3/5
This was a pretty good little R&B album, said as someone who doesn't listen to this genre very much at all. 3.2/5
Brian Eno
4/5
This album was fun and quite a bit different from what I expected as I guess I'm mostly familiar with Eno's later work. Fun blend of glam, pop, and early electronica going on here. 3.5/5
Dennis Wilson
3/5
Interesting album. Can definitely tell that it's from one of the Beach Boys, but much like the Beach Boys it didn't do a whole lot for me. 2.5/5
ZZ Top
4/5
I have a soft spot for ZZ Top. I think I like them most when they got all cheeseball in the 80's, but this album is also pretty good, and has plenty of the Billy Gibbons guitar playing that I love. 3.7/5
Fleet Foxes
4/5
I've never really given Fleet Foxes much of a chance; I liked this quite a bit. It was reminiscent of CSNY at times, but with a songwriting style that's entirely unique. Would definitely listen to again. 3.5/5
Leonard Cohen
3/5
It's a very cool thing to see how different this album is from his debut album. I liked this one a lot more. Not every song did something for me, but there were enough interesting tunes and, at times, unhinged moments that it's an album I would be curious to come back to. 3.4/5
2/5
In general I can't really stand U2. This album mostly follows that rule, though I do like the song In God's Country quite a bit for some reason. But it's not quite enough to get me to want to listen to the whole album again. 2.25/5
Faith No More
5/5
Man, even though this is nowhere near my favorite Faith No More album, this album overall still really kicks ass. I'd take Angel Dust, King for a Day, or Album of the Year over this given the choice, but I still enjoy the hell out of Real Thing. 4.5/5
Iron Maiden
4/5
There's a lot of cheese on this album, but it's also pretty fun, especially the second half. I'm not a huge Maiden fan, but it's great every once in a while, which is probably how often I would revisit this record. 3.5/5
Orbital
3/5
There were a few tracks on this I really liked, but overall the Orbital doesn't do too much for me. They're a group I enjoy listening to single songs occasionally, but rarely ever a full album at once. 3.4/5
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Pretty good Elvis Costello album; I especially liked the opening track. Costello & the Attractions always fall into the "great to listen to circumstantially, but I'll likely not ever choose to listen to them on my own" bin for me. 3.25/5
Led Zeppelin
5/5
This album is pretty much all bangers. Doesn't matter that I've heard all of them hundreds of times, I still love them all. 4.75/5
Genesis
3/5
A lot of things to like on this album, though they kind of came in bits and pieces. I liked it overall, but I think it lacked some consistency that makes it closer to a 3 than a 4 to me. 3.25/5
Drive-By Truckers
3/5
This album wasn't bad. Lynyrd Skynyrd worship is kind of an odd concept for an album, but I did like the recurring themes of trying to separate Alabama from a stereotype of the American south while also acknowledging much about its ugly past that falls into said stereotype. The music for me ranged from meh to decent; lots of good guitar playing and tones, but nothing that's got me super excited for a second listen. 3/5
Giant Sand
4/5
This record has a very cool vibe that I'm very much into. It sometimes feels like a Mr. Bungle album that's been turned down from an 11 to a 6. I wish the wiki article had more than 4 curt sentences to say about the album, but overall I kind of dug it and would interested in revisiting again down the road. 3.75/5
Pink Floyd
4/5
The Wall has never been my favorite Floyd album. I typically put on Animals, Wish You Were Here, Dark Side of the Moon or Meddle when I'm in a Pink Floyd mood. But listening to it in its entirety for the first time in probably decades, I was surprised by how much I still do like it. The thing that used to turn me off was the pretty clear shift to hearing more of Waters or Gilmours writing styles, where previous records things sounded more collaborative. But my tastes have shifted a lot over the years and Waters songs that I used to not enjoy I actually really liked on this listen through. So it's climbed from a 3 to a 4+, and I could see it eventually becoming a 5 for me on subsequent listens. 4.4/5
American Music Club
2/5
This doesn't really do anything for me. There's some nice pedal steel guitar in places, but even that's not enough to really hold my interest through this album. The last song was really good, I'll give it that at least. 2.3/5
Merle Haggard
3/5
Nice little country album here. I like other Merle Haggard songs that I've heard and are more popular, so it was nice listening to an entire album. 3.4/5
De La Soul
4/5
Of the golden age hip hop groups I think I've known about De La Soul the longest but listened to them intentionally the least, though not for any particular reason. I know and like 3 Is the Magic Number and Me, Myself and I pretty well, and I enjoyed the rest of the album just as much. 3.5/5
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Decent Rolling Stones album. I don't think I knew any of the songs on here before listening to this, and they all kind of registered as ok to good for me. 3/5
Silver Jews
2/5
I liked the instrumental part of this album, but the vocals just killed me. The singer makes Bob Dylan sound like he has perfect pitch. Transylvania Blues was good because it was all instrumental, but this album is not something I'd listen to again. 2.3
The Cure
2/5
I thought there was something wrong with the recording I was listening to when the vocals for Secrets and Three were barely audible. Apparently that's on purpose, and I hate it. Aside from that, there were a couple of decent tunes on here, but likely not an album I'm going to come back to often. 2.4/5
The United States Of America
3/5
Never heard of this group before, but this is pretty good for psychedelic rock. Sometimes there's a little too much going on for my tastes, but some of the songs really clicked for me, like Garden of Earthly Delights and Love Song for the Dead Che. 3/5
4/5
I don't know this record at all. It was pretty good, though I think I would need to listen again with more focus to really appreciate it. 3.5/5
The Verve
2/5
I wasn't into this at all. Soundscape-y guitars with no strong melody and a singer who hits notes like a mid-horseshoe player hits pins. Not something I'd necessarily turn off if it came on because it's not much different than nothing for background noise, but also nothing here I'd seek out again. 2/5
Tom Tom Club
4/5
I really liked this. I've known the song Genius of Love forever, and recognized it sampled in other songs, but never realized where it originated or that it was from 1981. 4/5
Madness
3/5
Not a huge fan of this, but there were some tracks on here that I liked, like Our House and New Delhi. 2.75/5
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
4/5
This was pretty good. I didn't realize Michael Franti was in a hiphop group before Spearhead and I never noticed how similar his voice is to Chuck D. Love me a good Pisschrist reference, lol. 3.5/5
The Icarus Line
3/5
I liked this album for the most part. I can hear lots of different influences in it and even though it's not the most original it's got some good energy. I don't know how often I would come back to it though. 3.4/5
Buffalo Springfield
3/5
Nice mix of 60's rock and country. Nothing really blew me away but I enjoyed the quick playthrough. 3.4/5
Ice Cube
3/5
I think I remember hearing this once or twice in high school; but aside from that it was about what I expected from old school Ice Cube. Didn't love it or hate it. 3/5
Pere Ubu
4/5
Another great Pere Ubu album. This one seemed a little more dialed back than Dub Housing, which I guess makes sense as this is their debut album. Real good stuff! 3.8/5
The Prodigy
4/5
Haven't heard this in a few decades, but it's about as good as I remember it. Didn't realize how much of this record made it onto the Hackers soundtrack. For a style that I rarely choose to listen to on my own, this is a record that I never mind listening to. 3.5/5
Eminem
1/5
Big fucking yikes! I remember the lyrics of this album being edgy and funny when it first came out and I was 18, but they are dripping with so much misogyny that I really don't enjoy them now. And I don't care how edgy you think you are, joking about justifying the raping of a child makes you a fucking piece of shit. 1/5
Grateful Dead
2/5
I don't think I'll ever "get" the Grateful Dead. This album is supposed to represent the live Grateful Dead experience, but the improvising just doesn't seem that great. That said, songs like Dark Star and St. Stephen are ones that are kind of drilled into my existence from how much these Dead records were played around the house when I was little. But I will still never choose to put this on for anything other than nostalgia reasonse. 2/5
Leonard Cohen
3/5
I was ready to like this but I found that it was just ok. Cohen's voice in his old age is fantastic, but only a few songs really stuck out on this record and the rest kind of flew past me. Will probably give it another listen later. 3/5
Pearl Jam
4/5
This is the only Pearl Jam record that I know very well and I listen to it occasionally. Most of these songs are still great, though I don't think I need to ever hear the song Alive again. 3.5/4
Serge Gainsbourg
2/5
This was not something I thought I would like, but I was pleasantly surprised. At 38 minutes it was short and sweet. I just read the concept for the album...a middle aged dude pursuing a 14 year old girl; yikes. That changes things a bit for me; too bad. 2/5
Slipknot
3/5
I always end up comparing any Slipknot release to their debut album, and they always fall flat by comparison. All Hope is Gone has some decent tracks on it, but it also seems like a lot of deliberate attempts at radio-friendliness. 3/5
Pixies
5/5
An album I don't even hesitate to give a 5, I've listened to it so many times. Still can't pick a favorite between this and Doolittle, they both reign supreme in my ears. 5/5
Buzzcocks
4/5
Real good album. I love me some Buzzcocks, though I don't think I've ever listened to an album of theirs start to finish. But now I want more. 4/5
Steve Winwood
3/5
Kind of neutral on this one. At times it reminds me of a less-fun Peter Gabriel. I think Winwood fits into the blue-eyed soul category, but I've liked his singles and much of this album better than most of that genre. 3.2/5
Motörhead
4/5
I like that Motorhead falls into that genre of rock bands where if you've heard one song you pretty much know already if you like the rest of their songs; small standard deviation. I really like the energy on this record, I'll bet it sounded amazing to be there in the crowd. 4/5
Kacey Musgraves
3/5
Listening to the first song I expected this to be a straight forward modern country album, not knowing anything about Kacey Musgraves. I was surprised by just how pop-y the following tracks were, though despite a heap of production I still ended up liking most of the tracks. I don't know how often I would come back to this, but I would be curious to try out more of Kacey's albums. 3.4/5
The Mars Volta
5/5
I've been a huge fan of this record from the very first time I heard it. There are few albums that I can hear the introductory few minutes of in my head so clearly as this one. The drum/guitar/organ riff in Drunkship of Lanterns that is the closest thing the song has to a chorus still gives me chills every time I hear it. 5/5
Pulp
1/5
I dislike most things about this album. I don't like the style, I don't like how long it is, and it's not at all hardcore. It almost seems like they're going for a kind of Bowie-ish sound, but they miss the mark by so far. I will actively avoid listening to this record in the future.
Minutemen
4/5
Great record. I never get tired of listening to Mike Watt's playing, and I love the variety across the 4 sides of this album. 4.25/5
Ms. Dynamite
3/5
Not bad. Never heard of Ms. Dynamite before, but there's a nice variety of styles on here and she has a great voice. 3/5
Gang Of Four
4/5
Real good album. Another post-punk band that has been completely off my radar but that I immediately liked. I'll need to check out more Gang Of Four. 4/5
Christina Aguilera
3/5
This was ok, though very long. Maybe not something I'll put on myself, but decent enough to listen to for the most part. I like Aguilera's voice and some of the more jazzy arrangements I liked. 2.75/5
The Triffids
2/5
This album was just ok. It seemed like a blend of folk rock and post punk that just didn't mesh very well for me. I kind of felt like it was too overproduced for both of those genres. 2.4/5
3/5
This was a decent record. Nothing on here got me super excited, but it was a pleasant listen. 3/5
Funkadelic
4/5
This album is a real mood, and a good one at that. Definitely something I could put on and just have on in the background all day, or actively listen to; it fits both of those for me pretty well. 3.75/5
Nanci Griffith
3/5
Pretty good little country album. I remember the name Nanci Griffith from my childhood, but I don't recognize any of these songs. This record is from a time when pop country was still closer to country than pop, which was a good thing in my opinion. 3/5
Killing Joke
4/5
This album is really good. It's very upbeat for a post punk album, and I like the mixture of occasional synths and very reverbed and washed out vocals. 4/5
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
Not bad. This album didn't hook me the same way that Isn't Anything did, but it was still pretty good. 3.25/5
Rahul Dev Burman
4/5
This was real kitchy and fun. I liked the overall 60's/70's feel it had, actually makes me curious to see the film. 3.5/5
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
Not into this really. Go West is the first Pet Shop Boys song I ever heard and I still enjoy it, though I think it's more the Village People influence on the song (male choir parts specifically) that I really like. The rest of the album is just a little too schmaltzy synth pop for me. 2.4/5
Hawkwind
4/5
This album is pretty good, though I don't think I was nearly stoned enough for it. Some of the spoken word stuff was kind of hilarious to me; reminded me of something Jemaine Clement would do. Also heard some stuff in here that reminded me of early Butthole Surfers. 3.5/5
The KLF
2/5
There were a few moments on this album I liked, most of them instrumental, but overall it really wasn't for me. 2.4/5
Steely Dan
4/5
This has some of my favorite Steely Dan songs on it. I'll never get tired of Reelin' in the Years, Do It Again, and Dirty Work. Great album, will listen to again many times I'm sure. 4.25/5
Herbie Hancock
4/5
Love me some Herbie Hancock. Chameleon is my favorite track here, but the whole album is fantastic. 4.4/5
Sam Cooke
4/5
I like Sam Cooke a lot and this live recording has such great energy. I would probably come back to this album before a lot of his studio records. 4/5
Sonic Youth
4/5
Good album; will listen to again. 3.8/5
PJ Harvey
4/5
Only familiar with the track Sheela Na Gig on this one, which I had thought was from a later album, not her debut. That said, this is not my favorite PJ Harvey album, but it's still pretty good and I wouldn't think twice about putting it on again. 3.6/5
Dion
2/5
At least one song on here seems like it could have been inspiration for some of Counting Crows stuff. But I didn't get into this at all; would not choose to listen to again. 2.4/5
Big Star
3/5
This album has some highs and lows for me. Starts off just ok, gets pretty good in the middle with tracks like Kanga Roo (nice, haunting mellotron) and For You (great strings), and then goes back to just ok for me into the end of the album. History of the album is pretty interesting; it sounds like a bit of a schizophrenic recording session, and that comes through pretty clearly. Overall, I would come back to some tracks on here, but probably not the entire album. 2.75/5
Leonard Cohen
5/5
This album fucking rules. I knew the song Everybody Knows from the Pump Up the Volume soundtrack, but everything else on here was new to me. It was not at all what I was expecting and I was always happily surprised. Considering I listened to this 3 times in a row and even highjacked someone else's Sonos to play Jazz Police at a party later the same day, I think it's gotta get a 5.
The Avalanches
4/5
Never heard this before, though the song Frontier Psychiatrist showed up on my radar within the last year oddly enough. I like this album overall. There are a few snoozer tracks, but everything else has a great combination of instrumentation and composition. Definitely something I'll play again. 3.75/5
4/5
I really liked this. There's a lot going on in these songs; listening on headphones revealed all kinds of stereophonic ear candy. The recording process on the wiki was a good read; I had totally thought the string sections in Rivers of Orchid were just synths, but it's a live orchestra that's just been edited all to hell. I listened twice in one sitting and will definitely be listening again. 4/5
The Waterboys
4/5
Great little folk rock album. I feel like it blended some of my favorite things about both genres really well, but also didn't sound a lot like other folk rock groups. 3.5/5
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Another really good Joni Mitchell album. I really liked the compositions on this one, and there was lots of great fretless bass, played by Jaco I was surprised to see, so no wonder it's great. 4/5
Morrissey
3/5
This was much pop-ier than I was expecting, but that's not a bad thing. I liked this overall pretty well. 3.25/5
Todd Rundgren
4/5
Not bad. I think I like the background of the album as much as the music. I always like when someone can use their celebrity to fund/get away with doing creative, experimental things. The soul medley towards the end of the album was pretty fun; wasn't expecting a Home Alone call back on this play through. 3.5/5
Paul Revere & The Raiders
4/5
I liked this way more than I expected to. Even though this has a lot of 60's characteristic sound to it, it seems way ahead of what other rock and garage bands were doing at the time. Definitely a record I would come back to. 4/5
Randy Newman
4/5
Some good, classic Randy Newman. I always forget he's the original writer of Leave Your Hat On. Others have done it sexier, but there's something very humorous about his version. 3.5/5
Scritti Politti
3/5
This feels like so much of the 80's distilled. There's some moments on here I liked but overall I don't think this is one I'll come back to. 2.75/5
Queen
4/5
I really like the theatricality of this album. I think I might like Sheer Heart Attack more, though I can see this album being a 5/5 on the right day. 4.4/5
Sinead O'Connor
3/5
This album really puts the focus on Sinead's voice with how minimal the instrumentation is on most of the songs. I like her voice and technique, but there's times where I wish she would just do more with it. That said, even with the understated arrangements there is something I like a lot about this album. It's kind of an odd juxtaposition of 80's and 90's pop/rock sounds, almost like you can hear the 80's evolving into the 90's, and it works for me. Nothing Compares is a decent track, but it's actually kind of outshined by much of the rest of the album. This is one I wouldn't likely go searching for, but definitely not mad at it if it comes on. 3.4/5
Daft Punk
3/5
I've never really been able to get into Daft Punk. I don't mind it when it's on, but nothing on this record really does much for me, so it's not something I'm very likely to come back to. 2.8/5
Talking Heads
4/5
This album is very whimsical and fun. Good one to put on if I need to lighten the mood or add some pep to my step. 3.5/5
Paul Simon
3/5
This was decent, but it's not my favorite by Paul Simon. Maybe it needs some more playthroughs, but nothing about it really stuck out, where I feel like Graceland and Hissing of Summer Lawns both really grabbed me. 3/5
The Go-Go's
4/5
Super fun album. One of the few on this list that I can say is too short. 4/5
Foo Fighters
4/5
I haven't kept up with the Foo Fighters over the decades, but I used to play this album all of the time in HS. Dave Grohl definitely has a knack for writing catchy pop rock guitar riffs. As polished as their later records are, something about this one always made it sound like it was recorded in someone's garage, so I remember thinking it wasn't too unlike listening to a demo of a friend's band. I still enjoy this record today, at least occasionally. 4/5
Ice Cube
3/5
I don't listen to a lot of Ice Cube, so I don't know a lot other than It Was a Good Day and Check Yo Self, but this wasn't bad overall. 3/5
Incredible Bongo Band
4/5
Wow, wasn't expected to hear the hook from Sir Mix a Lot's Jump On It in the opening track, but it was a pleasant surprise to a delightful album. The bongo's are great on every track, but Dueling Bongos was especially fun. I've found my next go-to for hijacking the stereo at friends' parties. 4/5
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Still can't get over the sound of young Leonard Cohen's voice. I liked this, even if it does kind of have lots of overlap with Songs of Leonard Cohen and Songs of Love and Hate. 3.4/5
Sister Sledge
3/5
If it has to be disco, Sister Sledge ain't bad. 3/5
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
This album had highs and lows for me. There were some pretty interesting compositions and the production overall is pretty great, but as a whole I wasn't super into this album. Definitely wouldn't mind giving it a second listen down the road though. 2.75/5
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
3/5
Not bad. I think ELP pulls too much from classical music in their songs for my taste, but overall a decent album. 3/5