Ah yes, the classic "artist has recently died so let's pretend that their weird-ass, self-indulgent final album is actually a genius masterpiece".

Aimless, meandering, and interminable with an incessant cacophony of nonsense. There are some decent songs buried in there, but you have to slog through so much shit to get to them. Time is decent enough once it finally starts in earnest. And Money is the obvious best song because it's the one most structured like, you know, a song. But even that becomes tiresome by the end. This is an album that I will never understand.

Played in Rock Band 4. My high school calculus teacher once gatekept me for liking this album. I was wearing a shirt with the album art on it and she asked my favourite song on the album. I said Train in Vain (which fucking slaps) and she said "Oh, I prefer the more political songs like Spanish Bombs" as if I was some simpleton. She then proceeded to quiz me on the band member's names. I could only name Joe Strummer in the moment and was embarrassed but looking back, who the hell cares? I just loved every song on this awesome blend of punk, reggae, ska, and disco. It's still the only double album I've ever heard that completely earns both discs.

I'm not a trendy asshole

Exactly my style.

The first few tracks (and Truckin') are awesome but it definitely loses me in the middle when it gets too slow and meandering.

Some surprisingly good basslines! Morrissey's voice is not my jam though.

Fuck "Birdland". So long and aggressively annoying. The rest of the album was a mixed bag. Definitely one that's more important than it is enjoyable.

A couple duds (especially Mother) but overall it was pretty enjoyable! The title tracks are especially good.

The songs were initially pretty fun to listen to but were too long and unfocused, losing my interest.

I feel like someone loaded a blunderbuss with every possible style of music imaginable and shot me directly in the face.

I desperately need some indie video game developer to make a spooky 2D metroidvania using this album as the score.

Easily the most pleasant vocal experience we've had to endure thus far.

Starts and ends strongly but the middle loses me. Leans a little too psychedelic at times (see: Mr. Kite). Within You Without Out is like when your family makes you watch a slideshow of their vacation photos. When I'm 64 sounds like the theme song to a children's show. The title tracks, Getting Better, She's Leaving Home, and Good Morning Good Morning are great though.

It was hard to focus because the weather was aggressively awful while I was driving to work and listening to this, but it think I enjoyed this elevated lounge act a lot!

Lauryn Hill is clearly the standout here but is grossly underutilized throughout, save for a couple of tracks.

I don't enjoy these musical styles at all individually (80s pop, country blues, etc.) but something about this combination really works for me.

Aimless, meandering, and interminable with an incessant cacophony of nonsense. There are some decent songs buried in there, but you have to slog through so much shit to get to them. Time is decent enough once it finally starts in earnest. And Money is the obvious best song because it's the one most structured like, you know, a song. But even that becomes tiresome by the end. This is an album that I will never understand.

Not my favourite CCR (that would be Cosmo's Factory) but there's still a few all-timers on here (Lodi, Bad Moon Rising in particular).

This was surprisingly enjoyable considering my very low expectations. It's a little bloated though; if they had trimmed some of the more egregious hipster indie bullshit it could have easily gotten a 4.

The sitar is not a very pleasant instrument to my ear. And the tracks are just too long.

I like the Beastie Boys, but I think only in small doses (though I do love Licensed to Ill). This is just too chaotic, quickly switching between awesome and annoying, often within the same song.

The singles are of course top tier but everything else rocks just as hard. Electric Funeral and Rat Salad especially were great.

Really dug these funky beats

She's Out of My Life is a horrendously sappy ballad, but everything else is pretty great!

Sounds like a bored Stephen Merchant doing a shitty hour-long SNL sketch. BUT it also has a strange earworm quality to it. I can see this growing on me over repeat listens, but I don't want it to.

I really do not enjoy these long, repetitive, meandering tracks that don't build to anything.

Too long, but some pretty great bluesy rock.

Some good songs, some bad, some meh. A true 2.5, rounded down because it's not my typical genre

Solid jazz, but still jazz

That is some sexy guitar

III will never be my go-to Zeppelin, but this was better than I've given it credit for.

This is an extremely 80s and extremely dark album. Not really my scene but there's some good shit. This Corrosion is weirdly compelling.

The songs with Neil Young singing are my least favourite part (also, today I learned that Neil Young was in Buffalo Springfield). The more guitar-driven songs (i.e., Bluebird) suit my tastes nicely.

I'm not really a folk or acoustic guy, but this really resonated for whatever reason.

I tried getting into Mudhoney several years ago before seeing them open for Pearl Jam. It was a little too raw for me then. But now I have a better appreciation for heavier and rougher stuff, so this was good.

If yoy take away the French, this is my preferred style of rap: a pleasant voice with some upbeat, funky backing music.

I've been craving something heavy lately and this somewhat filled the void. Some good stuff in here, but also a lot of very short repeated loops and annoying background noises that distract from the goodness.

Exactly my style.

Once again, a great rap album marred by unnecessary skits and whatever that 1w minute spoken word outro was. The degree skits were actually kind of fun, but still not what I want from an album. The actual songs were bangers though.

Mostly solid but unremarkable throughout, but the last couple songs are kind of annoying. I absolutely do not want to hear whining children when listening to music, thank you very much.

Decent beats scattered throughout. Glad I don't speak French so I couldn't understand what I assume to be creepy subject matter.

The title track is great! The rest was pleasant enough but inoffensive and unremarkable.

I really seem to enjoy this fellow, though I think I prefer his unaccompanied stuff a bit more.

I don't always love Bowie's voice, but this was mostly pretty great. The trio of instrumentals were interesting, especially Sense of Doubt.

We need more standup bass in modern pop music.

Some great guitar riffs throughout. Savoir Faire was a particularly great instrumental.

That certainly was some chaotic jazz.

Man, Damon Albarn's voice is grating

Every track started out fun and interesting but just lasted too darn long to maintain my interest.

The instruments all sounded phenomenal, but the singing was more hit and miss.

Not enough variation, too many croony ballads (my least favourite type of Elvis song). Also, In the Ghetto is incredibly pretentious, pandering, and borderline offensive. Wild that it's the only hit from this.

I really dislike spacey, weightless, meandering songs that are 6+ minutes long.

Mostly annoying but occasionally catchy.

Perhaps I've been too hard on Radiohead in the past. This was pretty solid, if a little too slow for me overall. Solid 3.5

Just an absolutely perfect album.

Kind of really into this, especially the parts with more melodic vocals.

Ah, high school.

The Bottle is a standout, the rest is fine.

This is fine but I prefer the more refined style of Raising Hell

Loving the funky ska vibes and the frantic bass.

Played in Rock Band 4. My high school calculus teacher once gatekept me for liking this album. I was wearing a shirt with the album art on it and she asked my favourite song on the album. I said Train in Vain (which fucking slaps) and she said "Oh, I prefer the more political songs like Spanish Bombs" as if I was some simpleton. She then proceeded to quiz me on the band member's names. I could only name Joe Strummer in the moment and was embarrassed but looking back, who the hell cares? I just loved every song on this awesome blend of punk, reggae, ska, and disco. It's still the only double album I've ever heard that completely earns both discs.

I only knew a few songs ago in and was a little disappointed by the rest.

There are some great songs buried between a bunch of distorted vocals and a cavalcade of weird noises and samples.

Woe to you, oh earth and sea For the Devil sends the beast with wrath Because he knows the time is short Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast For it is a human number Its number is six hundred and sixty-six

Not necessarily bad, just extremely dull. It was much more interesting reading about this guy than listening to his music.

This is frustrating because the opener, Teenage Riot, is exceptional. But the rest of the songs are buried under a bunch of unpleasant distortion and fuzz. Not looking forward to the other 4 (!) Sonic Youth albums we'll have to endure, since my understanding is that this is their most accessible.

Would have much rather preferred this as a studio album instead of live (and probably would have bumped it up a star or two). This proto-punk sound just doesn't really work live on a first listen for me. The bluesy Motor City Is Burning is about the only effective track in this format, due to its different style.

A strange blend of standard country fare with almost Hawaiian-sounding guitar.

This is chock full of bangers: I'm So Bored of the USA, White Riot, Hate and War, London's Burning, Career Opportunities. Some less notable tracks as well, but the highs are very high.

I find it hard to believe that an album without a Wikipedia page is something that I MUST listen to before I die. Especially when it's as bland as this.

This has a lot of that rough Sonic Youth energy to it, but for whatever reason is much more compelling to me. I still don't love the occasional wailing vocals though.

Well that Bond theme comes out of nowhere! Since this is '97, I'm guessing they also approached this guy to do a version for Tomorrow Never Dies but ended up going with Moby instead.

Really leans into that classic 80s thing I hate where the super deep vocals have this weird distorted echo effect layered overtop.

Individual songs are way too long and repitive to be of much interest.

I appreciate Mr. Killah's enthusiasm for explaining the metric system on "Kilo" and his Iron Man references before they were cool.

Okay, so this is obviously obscenely long. But I'm not even mad because it's consistently pretty fucking great.

Any one of these individual songs would be fine as a change of pace track on a more upbeat album. But when you have an entire album solely consisting of one anticlimactic song after the other, each comprised of the same breathy vocals, acoustic guitar, and piano, it becomes an exhaustingly dull slog. When did Swift become allergic to writing hooks? no body, no crime is the only track that comes close to being enjoyable for me. Everything else is just... nothingness.

Rocked pretty hard for being largely acoustic.

Solomon himself has a nice voice but I'm not crazy about the backing vocalists and they are featured heavily throughout.

No.

E Street Band = great! Bruce singing = bad

Some awesome songs with good beats but the vocals were a little grating on others.

The victim complex schtick gets tiring after a bit but there are some great songs and beats on here. Was going to be a 4 but some tracks on the back half (especially Kim) and all the skits bring it down.

The musical equivalent of eating flavourless foam: light, airy, bland, and insubstantial. Maybe it pairs well with something, but on its own is wholly unsatisfying.

Thom Yorke's vocal style and the band's general weirdness are absolutely not my jam.

Not at all my usual style, but pretty darn catchy.

Some songs are good but there are too many slow, long, meandering ones to hold my interest.

Riotously 80s production in the best possible way.

Alice in Chains has never been my favourite of the early 90s grunge acts. I always found their style a little too heavy, a little too sludgey for my tastes. Dirt is easily my favourite of theirs though, as it has some fucking awesome songs (all of the singles and a handful of others). But the deeper cuts remind me of that unique AiC style that doesn't really do it for me. The more plodding, darker tracks don't resonate like the rest.

I definitely preferred this over Exit Planet Dust, but the Chem Bros are still not my thing in general.

This is kind of annoying but also kind of great?

Not at all my usual genre but this is pretty fucking fantastic.

Elevator music. Good elevator music, mind you, but still elevator music.

Ah yes, the classic "artist has recently died so let's pretend that their weird-ass, self-indulgent final album is actually a genius masterpiece".

Fried ice cream is a reality.

Mitch Mitchell is arguably the most underrated drummer of all time. Dude can rival anything Bonham or Moon were doing but Hendrix overshadowed all, so he's rarely in the discussion. Speaking of, it really bothers me that these albums are just credited to Hendrix himself on Spotify and not the Experience. Further minimizing Mitchell and Redding's efforts.

These British sadboys need to have shorter intros and outros. There is absolutely no reason for these songs to be as long as they are.

The songs with the male vocals were so much better than those with the female vocals.

I wouldn't be upset if a lot of these became the go-to standards.

Some good beats buried in there (Lush 3-1 is a bop) but everything is waaaayyy too repetitive and long.

Quite the jarring tonal shift from coffeehouse jazz on side one to delirious 80s synth pop on side two.

Huh, maybe North America really is missing out. This was pretty great!

The songs on this sound fine, but most are needlessly long. Why is Madame George almost 10 minutes long when the last half is just an endless loop?

Far too "easy listening" for me

Started out strong, but ended with some weird shit that brought it from a 4 to a 3.

A little Anita will definitely set this party off right.

That guy sure did play that piano

It was a 4 until the awful strained vocals chimed in during the back half.

No one sings like you anymore, Chris Cornell

Don't think I'll ever be a Waits fan, but this is certainly the most listenable thus far.

Aerosmith is one of those bands that's always Livin' on the Edge of greatness and terribleness for me. On any given day, I'll either love or hate Steven Tyler's mewling. Today was a good day for it, but I could easily see rating this a 2 any other time. Also, Pump is notably an album where the enduring singles are some of the worst tracks. Love in an Elevator is fine I suppose, but Janie's Got a Gun is just bad.

Probably The Doors album I'm least familiar with, but it was pretty great!

There was nothing particularly bad about this, it's just not at all my style. Daylight is about the closest to something I'd normally listen to.

The near-constant falsetto is exhausting.

Never listened to QOTSA's debut since it didn't really have any notable singles, but damn is it good!

Mostly fine but too long and not particularly remarkable; mostly just faded into the background.

One of the most obnoxious things I've heard in recent memory.

I was very concerned after the first track that this would be another tedious, drawn out electronic album. Turns out I was pretty into the rest of the album? A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.

It's a travesty that this exercise is flaccid balladry is included on the list but the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack is ineligible since it's not wholly original.

The A-side is perfect but the back half isn't as strong.

Speakerboxxx is a rock solid hip hop album (a 4), The Love Below is an extremely inconsistent mess (a 2). No wonder they did their own separate things for this. Splitting the difference makes this a 3 I guess.

I guess Rod Stewart doesn't always suck?

Kind of disappointing. A lot of long, plodding tracks, which I'm generally not a fan of.

This might be my favourite brand of this shoegaze mumblecore fuzziness style.

Some great tracks, but too transgressive at times.

God I hate post-punk

I'm not mad about it, there's just not really much there.

Surprisingly low energy, aside from the title track.

Some top tier songs (Care of Cell 44, This Will Be Our Year, obviously Time of the Season) but a fair amount of middling ones too.

A true 2.5. Completely faded into the background and totally unremarkable. But at least it didn't actively annoy me?

A bunch of these songs would be pretty good if they were 3 - 4 minutes long. Instead, oh so many of them stretch out to an interminable 6 - 8 minutes for seemingly no reason. Didn't know that Coolio ripped one of these though, that was interesting at least.

I'm not a trendy asshole

Will be good ambience when I finally open up that haunted house.

I don't understand why music critics love Costello so much. It all sounds... Fine. I'm never mad about it but it doesn't ever seem particularly interesting. But apparently there's 6 albums of his on the list. Go figure.

The individual "songs" sounded fine but it was so schizophrenic. Felt like giving the aux cord to that annoying guy who changes tracks after 30 seconds, never letting the full song play.

Is it just me or do none of these songs have choruses?

Bananeira is a bop

https://media.tenor.com/wlZU0JjHqNEAAAAC/thumbs-up-cool.gif

That sax really makes it

Petition for more hard rock flute

Pop perfection

Needed fewer sappy ballads and more Max Martin pop bangers. "E-mail My Heart" is the most late 90s thing I've ever heard.

I like Otis, I really do. But all the covers I recognized were just worse versions of the originals...

Mmm, noise

Damn right

Listened on vinyl

Best live album ever?

The actual tunes are awesome, once you cut through the intros and skits and everything.

They should have gotten this collab for a Bond theme

Hits different after watching A Complete Unknown

Easily my favourite Beastie Boys

Probably a 3.5 without We Will Fall. Absolutely grinds the album to a halt and is virtually a third of the runtime!

The actual songs are great, but the gratuitous ethereal wankery between them drops this down a star.

Why do so many songs have such unsatisfying fade outs? Just have a definitive end to a song!

One of the fun parts of this project is discovering the original samples from other tracks I like. In this case, the main riff in Fuel Injected by Swollen Members comes from this album.