It's genuinely heartbreaking that this album isn't on any streaming services, because it means that De La Soul has fallen out of the conversation of greatest 80s and 90s hip hop groups. This album, their debut, is absolutely brilliant. Funny, corny, listenable. It influenced so many modern artists, and I didn't realize before hearing it how much my favorite albums (such as Wildflower, by the Avalanches) are based on it. I can't identify a favorite song or moment, because they're all so good. This is an instant 5/5 for me, and it's by far the best album on this list that I'd never listened to before.

uncomfortable cafe chairs and sweet coffee, drifting out to sea, classical guitar, folk tale with strings, blackbird but if it were eleanor rigby, crocuses in the rain, lesser harrisong uplifted by flute, ooh jazz!, weird metaphor over beautiful chords, swung mccartney. overall a really beautiful album with a unique vibe — not one i can see myself returning too often, but once every few months when i’m in the mood, i’ll really enjoy this album. feels like a sunday afternoon.

the first reggae album i’ve ever really listened to. i cant super judge it, but i really enjoyed listening to it, and it was super political. felt it dragged a bit on the late first side, but there are some really excellent songs.

this was a real stinker. lyrics were either nonsensical or inane, music was forgettable. just not very good.

the vocals are way prettier than i expected, there’s some really cool stuff here. i feel like it drags a bit at the beginning of the b side and i dont love this hallelujah, but otherwise a really solid record.

a very Joni Mitchell album. honestly dont know how to rate this — really liked some songs, thought others were boring. it didnt feel that cohesive, i guess, though that doesnt make much sense.

really pretty album, especially the nature songs.

not really sure how to rate this honestly, some of the songs were really good, others i just didnt get. giving this a 3 as a baseline, i guess.

sank into this in a really enjoyable way

wasnt expecting orchestral disco, but this was quite good. really liked the b side, especially theme from “mantrap”. the a side had a few songs with awkward lyrics, but overall was fine.

synth pop!

wow i liked this a lot more than i was expecting.

this was very 2000s singer-songwriter, but with meh lyrics and boring instrumentals. very disappointing

ehh. not particularly impressed.

always in for some folk rock, this was quite nice

first song was solid, the rest of it was ehh to bad.

sounds like it was literally recorded in a garage and i absolutely loved it

this is definitely one of the queen albums of all time. some good songs, some boring songs. ehh

this was great tbh, i really want to get more into nirvana and this was a good intro

karma chameleon and the next song were great, rest was ehh to bad

these were some lovely soundscapes

this was great! really good production, really good lyrics, enjoyed it a lot.

this is one of the best rap albums of all time and i love the lyrics, but it also isnt the most relistenable album.

this one just really couldnt keep my interest, i’m not sure why

there were a ton of songs on this album. some were great, but some were bad and a lot were forgettable.

i’m kind of burnt out on punk at this point, not sure i took the time with this album that i should have

i didnt really vibe with the synth-soul stuff, i feel like it didnt mesh really well which is odd bc i’ve heard synthy-soul-y production on rap tracks before and really liked it — maybe a feature of how old this record is?

this was really great! i liked the production more than the other public enemy record we listened to

one of the legendary shoegaze albums, it’s just incredible

i was surprised at how much i liked this. the production is largely simple but good, and T has some real lyricism here.

i’m surprised more of these songs didnt become popular, this album has a distinct radio feel to it. not really my cup of tea, but some good stuff here

not really sure how to rate this so i’m giving it a 3, but it’s an album i could see myself coming back to after i learn more about jazz

ehh. her voice was good, but this just doesnt do it for me

this was fine i guess?

lou reed’s best solo album, this is just excellent — it’s produced by bowie and mick ronson, and you can really tell, they combine with reed’s songwriting incredibly well.

ehh. wasnt interesting to me, didnt enjoy listening

man i just love a ray charles album, this was really nice

heyyyyyyyyy, watermelon man!!!!!’ this album is great.

man these guys really like leonard skin nerd, huh? i didnt like this. the songs were individually bad, and the story of the album wasnt particularly compelling

i thought this was pretty good! not sure if i’m gonna come back to it but it was a fun listen

very good album, didnt love my first listen but it’s really grown on me. feels oddly similar to the avalanches

yeah this album is just incredible

i’m always down for some nashville country, but this album didnt really speak to me. it was fine?

i liked this album, but i’m not really sure about it — this is a high 3, could be a 4 under other circumstances

tbh i was slightly disappointed by this — it’s still good, but i felt it dragged in a couple of places.

the first song i like a lot but the rest weren’t very interesting to me.

i really enjoyed the instrumentation here, which imo made up for some weak lyrics from lou reed.

this was disappointing to me, a lot of the songs felt similar and not very musically interesting.

the fact that two of the guys on this album were also in pavement isnt surprising, but i feel like this lacked something pavement had. didnt enjoy it

yeah this is basically what i expected from a pavement record. it’s fine, not super memorable

this feels like an album i’m gonna revisit in a few months and really like, but right now i don’t really _get_ it.

i really couldnt get into this. i think the mixing is weird enough that it just didnt work for me, i didnt enjoy it

i liked this! i always somewhat drift when listening to electronic music like this so i dont really have specific likes and dislikes, but i enjoyed it

“vapid midcentury rock”

really liked this album, you can see the direction the group is moving in and how they were pioneers of dreampop. this has some flaws, it’s no heaven or las vegas, which is why it’s a 4, but it’s a very high 4

this was really refreshing, i’d never heard any of these songs before and enjoyed the album a lot

this is a legendary album for a reason, i’ll never not listen to it if given the chance.

some real good tracks here, this album is one you can really sink into. didn’t know anything about tim buckley except for his son, going to check out more of his music.

this is the greatest live album of all time. just perfect. i could listen to it any time for any reason and be happy.

i’d heard a bunch of the songs before, but this was my first time listening to the album as a whole. despite some awkwardness, this is brilliant and you can see how it influenced hip hop in the 2010s so well.

i always find myself disappointed by coldplay albums. it feels like there’s a potential for something really interesting there, and then 2/3 of the songs sound the exact same.

i really didnt expect to enjoy a meat loaf album, but this was excellent. it was apparently adapted from a musical, and you can tell — it feels like a movie. some songs (paradise…) were extremely long, but none of them felt like they dragged. surprisingly excellent all round.

this was one of the most prototypical “wall of sound” albums i’ve ever listened to, and i think i understand what that means way more now. it was musically interesting, though i grew a bit bored midway through when it felt like we were getting the same themes over and over again. the lyrics made up for this, they were really funny in places, though some haven’t aged well. i don’t usually notice lyrics at all, so this was a welcome surprise. a fun listen, though i don’t think i’ll come back to it anytime soon.

one of my favorite albums of all time. great lyrics, but genuinely perfect production. i dont think we’ll ever see an album like this again, hold my liquor and bound 2 are top 5 and blood on the leaves is top 1. to get the most out of it, play it over headphones and turn it up until the bass plays through your whole body. this listen i great to appreciate i’m in it a lot more, assassin is so good on his feature, i’m shocked i havent listened to anything of his before. this album is quite divisive, and for good reason, but to me it’s a true masterpiece. my favorite album we’ve heard so far, will likely be in my top 5 for the entire list.

there’s something compelling here, but i found it hard to focus on the lyrics and didnt love the production.

i really vibed with this, something about it just spoke to me.

i’d only heard money for nothing off this album before, and the rest was pleasantly surprising. the instrumentation was excellent, the lyrics were generally good, but there were some really heinous ones which knock this down to a 3. would be a 4 otherwise.

mariah has an incredible voice of course, but the production and songwriting just isnt there. feels like i would get the same enjoyment listening to her perform a book of vocal etudes.

really enjoyed this, great mix of musical styles but was super listenable throughout

this felt like nothing, just overdone synths and label-provided lyrics. i felt nothing new during or after the album.

this is a classic for a reason. it vibes the whole way through, and marvin has an incredible voice. i just didnt feel much emotionally from it, and some stuff felt the same.

this album is legendary, but tbh i dont think i’m going to come back to it very soon.

i love weird albums and this was weird, but the vibes were really good.

oasis is trying to do a beatles-stones crossover thing and they end up being worse than both, but this album is still very listenable. very much of its time, but it’s of its time because it inspired a lot of other people. not my favorite but solid overall

this gets knocked down a point because it’s all covers, but the harmonies were really good

yes. fun and fruity

this one didn’t land for me, not really sure why. giving it a 3 for technically good music, but wasnt my jam

took me two full days to listen to, i kept getting bored and moving on. like the white album, i dont think an album this long can ever be _great_, because there’s bound to be some stinkers on there. this had some good songs and some bad, but if it was half the length with only the good songs it would be so much better

this is just pure fun. cant help but love it

it’s csnl so you’re always guaranteed some quality music, but this wasnt anything special.

there’s absolutely an element of nostalgia going into this review (my mom loves the smiths), but i really enjoyed this. morrissey is morrissey, but johnny marr has some amazing work on this album. every song sounds similar, but they all sound great so i’m fine with it. the meat is murder track is wild, super into it.

i’m probably being harsh here, but i expected a lot more from an earth wind and fire album. this was totally fine, everything was solid, but there wasnt anything that really stood out to me

i can never listen to stuff like this without thinking about woodstock ‘99 and the whole “rock for white dudes only” movement. yes it’s technically good, but man you can really see why grunge was needed right after this.

i dont think i’m ever going to be a metalhead, but this was a fun album. not to my taste, but you can see how it influenced people

really fun, super listenable, this is my new favorite album to listen to while working.

this is one of the easiest 5’s i’ve given so far. just an amazing album in every respect

ehh. very much ehh.

this is a Good Album by a lot of measures but i felt let down by it. still enough to get a highish grade, but not what i remember it being

didnt really enjoy this. i think wilco just isnt for me

i think i’m just burnt out on punk at this point

i stopped midway through. at some point i’m sure i’ll smoke and listen to this, but not rn.

sublimely weird. i loved it

gloriously weird. incredibly fun. a little less than a 5, but a solid 4

i dont think i’d ever listened to a full michael jackson album before this, but wow. the hits are the best, but every single song has something great about it.

i feel nothing about this.

this was fine. didnt particularly care for it.

i’ve never been a fan of u2, and this album signifies why. It’s just not good.

It's genuinely heartbreaking that this album isn't on any streaming services, because it means that De La Soul has fallen out of the conversation of greatest 80s and 90s hip hop groups. This album, their debut, is absolutely brilliant. Funny, corny, listenable. It influenced so many modern artists, and I didn't realize before hearing it how much my favorite albums (such as Wildflower, by the Avalanches) are based on it. I can't identify a favorite song or moment, because they're all so good. This is an instant 5/5 for me, and it's by far the best album on this list that I'd never listened to before.

this is fine. it’s just fine.

i was slightly disappointed by this album, and i’m not really sure why. bowie is always good, and i liked his use of soul music, but there was something missing. i didnt love the beatles cover, even though that seems to be the focal point of the album. it’s a 4, but a weak 4 for me

i found this really fun! there’s an earnestness to it that’s been missing from a lot of the punk from the same era i’ve gotten before. i think part of it could be that it’s a belfast band playing during the troubles, which lends a real authenticity to everything. it can’t be a 5 because it’s musically too simple, but it’s a solid 4.

this was really nice! i dont really know anything about jazz, but i found this great to listen to.

i’ve always struggled with eminem. the production and actual rapping are genuinely brilliant. the lyrics are terrible, and i just really cant get past that. i don’t think i can go below a 3 just because of the technical proficiency here, but with better (less heinous) lyrics this could easily be a 5.

genuinely unlistenable. 90s nu metal was a dark period in history

yeah. whatever.

this was weird but in a great way.

man morrissey really called it. anyways, this album is excellent and i’m always happy to have an excuse to listen to it

short and sweet, just like the queen of country herself.

i didnt really get the concept part of it but individual songs were good

i’m definitely biased here, i’ve never been a fan of the beastie boys. giving this a 3 because i don’t think i can fairly rate it and the technical aspects are solid

this was disappointing. tainted love is of course excellent, but there guys really needed to steal some lyrics for the other songs. boring synth pop

this was my introduction to chic — i found it really fun! lots of great instrumentation, i didn’t really focus on the lyrics so i don’t know what those say.

i kind of loved it? hadn’t heard any of the songs but solisbury hill, and that banged, but i didn’t realize it would be so weird. gonna check out more peter gabriel now

probably my favorite coldplay, but i still just feel almost nothing about it. giving it a 4 because it’s better, but it’s a low 4

listen, it’s sinatra. you know what you’re getting, and it’s going to be great every time.

not my jam. the technical aspects are all excellent, but i just can’t get into these long songs, i felt bored after 2 minutes.