This was my pick for the list. I wanted to choose something completely unique to the list. An operatic singer mixed with symphonic rock/metal seemed a good choice. They have had three different styles of vocals throughout their career. Tarja was more operatic, Annette was poppy, and floor is more traditional metal. I also wanted to pick an artist that had some mainstream success in the US but still obscure to the majority of people. Plus I don’t think there is an artist on the list from Finland. My favorite aspect of the project was to hear music from around the world and see how they approach their story telling through their songs. I didn’t want to just include a widely popular band from when I grew up in the 90’s/00’s. I love all of their discography and have seen them live in concert twice, once with Annette and once with Floor. I would have loved to see them with Tarja. The story telling of the lyrics is fantastic and the music itself is well composed. There are a lot of highs and lows to their songs and I love when there are dramatic swings. I get that to some they might find it boring or dated, but I would implore you to check out another of their albums. They are world class musicians.

Overall this was decent. With all the different voices a couple of the songs sounded straight out of a musical. Some interesting songs.

I really enjoyed this one! Very easy to get into and listen to. Even my 85 year old dad liked it! Pretty cool!

This is the exact reason that I have loved doing this project. I wish that the original book included a lot more diverse music from around the world. This was really cool!

I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

I think there is some potential here that I would like this album. “Need you tonight” and “new sensation” I was already familiar with and consider them enjoyable hit songs. I love the big 80’s sounds displayed in this album.

I have never heard of this group before and was excited to check them out. However from the beginning of that awful auto tune voice began I was pretty annoyed. It made me not want to give a shit about whatever was being sung about. This was pretty disappointing. Sorry just not for me.

I have never heard of this band before and was impressed with how fun and easy to listen to this album was. I’d definitely check out more of their discography in the future.

I’ve never heard of ani difranco before this. I really enjoyed this album and it’s impossible to not notice the similarities to alanis morrisette. I love alanis and this album was really good too.

I have heard of The Weeknd before, but never listened to any of his music. “Blinding lights” is a jam. I might give this a relisten and check out more of his discography in the future. I think he is very talented but there is something about the music that just doesn’t fully resonate with me. I feel like I’m on the cusp of fully enjoying it. I do think it belongs on a list of albums people should listen to.

I'd give this a 3.5. I love a good instrumental and this was pretty easy to listen to and enjoy.

For me, this wouldn't be the album that I would have chosen for Killswitch Engage. I think it's a great album on it's own for sure. As Daylight Dies or The End of Heartache would've been my choices. But having never heard this album before as a casual Killswitch fan, it was enjoyable.

I have vaguely heard of this group before but never sought out their music as it usually isn’t my thing. This album I really enjoyed and has changed my perception of them and I definitely will check out more of their discography in the future.

This is Definitely not music for me. Very minimal lyrics over annoying discordant beats/music.

My first 5 star user submitted album. Just classy and elegant jazz music.

I’ve never heard of this band before and thought this album was decent. A solid 3-3.5/5. I’d be open to listening to more of their stuff.

Never heard of this group before but I found it an interesting listen. I was hoping for a little more range and change in tone from the vocals. But this is one of the rare times I’m going to round up. I’d give this a 3.5 ish. I’d definitely listen to select songs again but maybe not the whole album. Decent

Having grown up during this album’s release, I don’t particularly remember this artist. It is pretty decent 80’s pop music. Nothing to complain about here really. Solid at what it does.

Fun light airy renaissance faire vibes. Very cool

Sounds a lot like Phil Collins and genesis! Never heard of the band before but it was pretty good

This one was ok. I’m happy to check out modern music that I generally wouldn’t know about or listen to. Probably wouldn’t listen to it again but I’m glad to have checked it out.

I’ve never heard of this group before but I found their music to be pleasant and enjoyable.

I like Donald glover a lot and and enjoy some of his other songs as Childish Gambino. I’d definitely give this another listen and bet that I would pick out some songs that I really enjoy.

I love listening to music from other cultures even if I don’t understand what they are singing about. This album was really enjoyable!

Yesss! Bob seger is an excellent inclusion to this list! Very good artist

Overall this was decent. With all the different voices a couple of the songs sounded straight out of a musical. Some interesting songs.

electronic music for the most part isn’t my thing. I think that avicii had a huge impact on the genre. I would say this album was ok to me.

Bjork is just not my cup of tea. I don’t think she’s a terrible artist just not something that I enjoy and that’s ok!

I wasn’t much a fan of this it was a bit too slow and boring.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

This album was ok. Had a big surprise hearing the familiar sounds of “whipped cream”.

I don’t know if dub music is something for me, I just couldn’t get into this one. It wasn’t bad just nothing stuck out to me.

Pleasantly surprised by this one! Very cool

This was interesting, kind of a modern punk music

I wish I could get into this one but I just could not. Slow and boring

Definitely different. While I probably wouldn’t listen to this again, it unique enough to be included on the list.

I feel like this entry requires you to already be a fan of the band beforehand. Not a fan of live albums in general and nothing about this was all that exceptional to me.

I’d give this a 3.5. When I think of pop punk, three name stand out and one of them is blink 182. Pretty good album and I only previously knew the two hits.

A little over the top for me and I’m not sure that I’d like it after multiple listens.

I really enjoyed this one! Very easy to get into and listen to. Even my 85 year old dad liked it! Pretty cool!

I loved this one so much!

Meh I just couldn’t get into this one.

This was decent I think I’d need a few more listens to truly appreciate it.

This album was a lot of fun to listen to!

This was a fun album. It got a few laughs and enjoyment from. I think that listening to this again/multiple times would wear thin and it would become a bit insufferable. But I thought it was a unique addition.

Fun album!

They nailed the classic hard rock song even if it felt like they were playing the same song over and over. I think with multiple listens I’d really like most of the songs on here. I’m impressed so far at least 80% of the user submitted list I’ve gotten are from bands I’ve never heard of. Always love discovering new music!

Not for me, I found it quite boring.

I would give this a 3.5 after an initial listen. I think there is potential here.

Not typically music that I would listen to or discover on my own. I was impressed with this one. It was unique from the albums listed in the book. My initial listen is a 4 but with more listens I might come to give it a 5

With this kind of music I definitely need to be in a specific kind of mood to fully enjoy it. I think it was good. Not something I’d regularly listen to but it was a pleasant listen.

I am down with the funk. This was a fun album!

This was fun and unique, I’d give it a 3.5.

I listened to the song “bat country” 100’s of times when it came out but not the rest of the album. I’d consider myself a casual fan of some of their music. This album was ok if not a bit bland at times.

This is the exact reason that I have loved doing this project. I wish that the original book included a lot more diverse music from around the world. This was really cool!

Primus is definitely one of the most unique, eclectic, and bizarre acts from the 90's on. Frank Zappa and Cpt Beefheart would be proud of Primus' musical experiment. I don't think I would regularly listen to Primus, but they have some songs that definitely slap. (terrible pun sadly intentional) For their efforts they definitely deserve people be exposed to their style and alternative style of musicianship.

I've heard the name before but I couldn't name a single song of theirs. Upon listening to the album, I instantly recognized "The Less I Know The Better" by sound. This would be best described as light, airy, easy to listen to music. Pretty cool!

Interesting!

I’d give this a 3.5. Sounds like some very deep and personal stories told from the artist. Cool insight into them as a person!

I’m Unfamiliar with any of the member’s solo work. The sound and feel of the music is very true to Pink Floyd. Pretty good

A huge and pleasant coincidence that this was generated on my birthday (4/20) and Tool is one of my favorite bands of all time. I’ve listened to this album hundreds of times and it’s so amazing! Perfect choice for this list.

Blink 182 are one of the titans of the 90’s/00’s pop punk surge. Great music overall

I'd give this an easy 3.5, typical classic rock. Don't think I've ever heard of this band before but they were pretty good.

I’m happy that the user generated list has been a lot of artists that I’ve never heard of before. I was dreading seeing a list of every major band from the 90’s-00’s exclusively. Having said that, this album was ok. Nothing really stood out to me but I didn’t hate it. A solid 3 for sure

Having listened to the “middle” hundreds of times, I never did a full deep dive of the rest of the album. It was okay. I definitely want to check out more discography of bands that had huge hits to see what I think of the rest of their music. I did recognize “the sweetness” as well.

I enjoyed this one quite a bit!

I can't say that I was a fan of this one. The pacing of how the vocals are delivered annoyed me. Just not for me.

This isn’t really my cup of tea and that’s okay. I’m not a fan of early electronic music although I give it full reverence for the path that it started us on towards today’s music.

I dig the music but I’m not a huge fan of the vocals or the vocal style. It fits together fine, just not what I enjoy.

From doing this project I have discovered that this genre of music is just not my thing at all. I can’t get into it.

I did not know about Joe Jackson before this, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. A lot of Elvis Costello vibes to it and I wouldn’t have minded if one of his albums was subbed out for this one. Very cool!

Pretty solid indie folk music, quite enjoyable! 3.5/5

I really couldn’t get into this one at all, just something about it fell flat for me. It’s definitely unique to the list for sure.

This is just not my kind of music. It’s unique but just not for me.

I enjoy dub music

This album and its music is okay. I enjoy his big hits. A solid 3/5.

It was ok but not really my thing overall. A Unique and an interesting addition to the list nonetheless.

Definitely a very Elvis Costello sounding group. Decent overall.

I have a pretty high standard when it comes to live recordings. There must be something exceptional about it that the studio album does not have. On the original list, I loved loved the live Johnny cash albums because of his natural charisma, story telling, banter with the inmates/guards and the prison announcements over the pa in the background. I’m not familiar with any of their work so I don’t know how they transformed their normal songs into a live performance (if they improvised or had unique solos). The sound recording was ok, but it sounded like a lot of garbled noise to me at times, hard to follow. I may check out their normal discography, but this wasn’t a great first introduction.

There were some interesting lyrics/word play and even though country isn’t a genre that I fully enjoy, this was ok.

For me, jazz was one of the standout genres from the original project and I loved every time I got a new jazz album. This one was also fantastic with a lot of character and story telling.

This is a fantastic live album, I loved every minute of it!

I’d give this a 3.5, this was a fun album. I do think that love/breakups make for some of the most compelling songs. “Bad idea right”, “vampire”, and “lacy” were all intriguing songs to me. I may revisit this one.

I gave it a chance but this kind of music is just not for me. Obviously I’ve heard “such great heights” and I think it’s a fine song. But I’m not a fan of the vocal style, or the indie/electronic mashup.

I’m a 39 year old straight man who does not like most country music, and yet this album is a fucking banger. So many classic songs that were everywhere when this album came out. Definitely one of the standout stars of the genre. One of the best.

He was a very creative and a unique rapper. I just discovered him recently and listened to his mmmm food album quite a bit. A very talented rapper gone too young.

I’d give this one a 3.5 it was interesting at times.

A solid 3/5

this is the second album by this band on the user submitted list and I can honestly say their music is just not something that I enjoy.

I’d give this a 3-3.5 not bad for post punk which was a genre of music that I overall did not enjoy during the original project. This might be one of the standouts for me.

Not my typical type of music, I could see a few of these songs growing on me. 3 or 3.5

This was nice!

A second album from this group on the user submitted list. I think I liked the other one slightly better but this was still enjoyable.

Pretty cool!

Not a fan of the filler songs. The actual music was interesting but not usually my favorite. Possibly some great songs here and there

Looking at the album cover I was expecting a lot worse than it actually was. The music is actually pretty good. Not something that I would regularly listen to but I can appreciate it.

I enjoy some of their biggest hits, but never did a deep dive into the rest of their discography. Some catchy songs on here and the distance is a fantastic song. Overall not bad

An excellent pick for this list!

I’m a fan of weezer, although this album I only knew of a few of their bigger hits. It’s a pleasant experience going back through the discography of bands that I enjoy.

This was pretty unique, I definitely want to give this album another listen. I've never heard of the group before.

I dislike this vocal style and the sound of their voice so much. It just sounded like someone talking over the music with little effort to match the ebbs and flows. The music itself was fine and is the main reason this is getting a 2.

This was very close to being decent to me but just something was missing. Not terrible, just not my kind of thing.

This was my pick for the list. I wanted to choose something completely unique to the list. An operatic singer mixed with symphonic rock/metal seemed a good choice. They have had three different styles of vocals throughout their career. Tarja was more operatic, Annette was poppy, and floor is more traditional metal. I also wanted to pick an artist that had some mainstream success in the US but still obscure to the majority of people. Plus I don’t think there is an artist on the list from Finland. My favorite aspect of the project was to hear music from around the world and see how they approach their story telling through their songs. I didn’t want to just include a widely popular band from when I grew up in the 90’s/00’s. I love all of their discography and have seen them live in concert twice, once with Annette and once with Floor. I would have loved to see them with Tarja. The story telling of the lyrics is fantastic and the music itself is well composed. There are a lot of highs and lows to their songs and I love when there are dramatic swings. I get that to some they might find it boring or dated, but I would implore you to check out another of their albums. They are world class musicians.

A solid 3 that is borderline 3.5

This was a rough listen. I’m only familiar with “float on” and I think I’ll listen to that album instead and see if I like that better. This was just not for me at all.

This was a fun album.

A solid 3/5 it was okay.

This was alright

How do you give the king of jazz anything but a 5. One of the most distinctive voices ever, he really could play!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one, but I really enjoyed it! Beautiful voice and interesting songs. Normally it takes a few listens for me to fully like an album but I was instantly digging some of them. I’ll definitely be revisiting this one and checking out more of their discography.

Some catchy songs here, a solid 3.5

I was already a big fan of SOAD and this album. It's amazing!

I enjoyed the first song but the rest was very hit or miss

This was interesting, some very tongue in cheek lyrics. I’d give this another listen to fully get all of the lyrics

I couldn’t much get into the lyrics or the vocal style. Music was ok. Not for me

Loved it! Definitely a unique album deserving to be on the list!

I loved this and I speak zero Spanish! This was really cool!

I really enjoyed this one. Occasionally the music drowned out the vocals, but overall this album rocked!

That’s fucking metal! \m/

I really enjoyed this one and definitely plan on listening to it again. This was very easy to listen to and get into right off the bat.

I’m quite familiar with their song “infected” but I never did much of a deep dive into their music. This album was fucking awesome and I will be immediately remedying that and will be checking out more of their discography soon.

This album was a lot of fun and full of nostalgia. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

This album was fantastic!

I enjoyed this one I think it has some potential to be great. I’ll give it a 3.5

I couldn’t get into this album at all. The vocals got drowned out by the music. The music itself wasn’t very interesting to me.

This was eh ok, a solid 3/5. I don't think I would listen to it again.

Decent 3.5

Eh this was ok punk music but not my favorite

Meh not a huge fan of this one

Some really cool songs here that I want to revisit. “With portfolio” gave me a headache though. Very cool album

I grew up during the 90’s-00’s boy band craze and it was everywhere. They were always being played on the radio and at school functions. While it’s not my particular type of music, I do enjoy the bigger hits and I still know the words 30ish years later. It’s hard to ignore the cultural significance from this era of music. BSB were one of the massive stars of this time.

Never heard of this group before but the music was smooth and very easy to enjoy! Pretty cool!

Very interesting album, I enjoyed it. Sad to read about the back story behind the album’s subject matter.

I just couldn’t get into this one at all.

I enjoyed the music behind everything but the vocals and lyrics were pretty lame.

He’s definitely a legendary musician but I’m not sure how I feel about him having another album on the list (and it being a 2 hr live one). Overall this was alright, probably wouldn’t listen to it again.

I couldn’t get into this one.

This was a 3.5, there were a lot of interesting songs on here that I think with time I would truly enjoy! Definitely some possibility here.

I’m a casual MCR fan who enjoys quite a few of their songs. I think they are a unique act that stands out in their genre. I think this is a worthy addition to the list.

This was already an album that I listen to regularly. I would consider TOOL one of my favorite bands. From reading the comments nearly every one of their albums made the user submitted list. While I think they are great, I’m hesitant to see any artist have more than 2 albums on the list unless they absolutely transcend a decade or genre. They are fantastic musicians for sure, but I think variety is what makes these projects fun. I’m not a fan of the filler/skit songs that they do, but the rest of the album is amazing. Still a 5/5 from me.

This album was torture. The lead singer cannot sing for shit and his lyrics were so garbled it sounded like those videos that show what English sounds like to non speakers. The music itself sounded rough. Not good.

This is the second sufjan Stevens album that I’ve gotten. I don’t know if I was just in a better mood or that I just truly enjoyed this second album much more than the first one. Hauntingly sad but beautiful at the same time. I’d revisit this one when the mood suits!

I remember when their viral song “smoko” came out. Overall this is average-below average punk music at best.

Nothing about this album really pulled me in or interested me.