Not a Beatles fan, but if forced to choose, would say I prefer their later work. This one however is way too long and with too much filler and an abundance of the usual Beatle corny-ness. Stylistically inconsistent, soulless attempts at blues, rockabilly, surf rock are particularly jarring. Second disk better than first, overall a work with potential if only was more focused and trimmed of the fat. Best tracks; While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Helter Skelter.

An OK psych folk album, but there is just no reason to have 5 (!) The Byrds albums on this lyst, considering the criminal number of omissions.

The musical equivalent of supermarket sushi.

People giving this a 1 while criticizing the artist's past transgressions, at the same time handing out 5s to albums with Lennon, Paige, Bowie or James Brown, I see you.... If we manage to separate the art from the artist, we get a lively, upbeat, infectious, dance-able record that serves as the de facto representative of soukous music on the list. I don't know enough about the genre to judge weather it serves as a fair representation, but I do know that Congolese music as a whole is very much worth in depth exploration.

As the title suggests; completely forgettable.

My first Lou Reed album. Really enjoyed the guitars and piano, vocals a bit bland, and overly ordinary, though with interesting and poetic lyrics. Production reminiscent of Stooges meet Bowie, but lacking the edge. Really feel like I'm missing some edge here. Vicious and Satellite of Love are possibly the best tracks. Would be rated higher, but gets significantly weaker towards the back-end.

Not a Beatles fan, but if forced to choose, would say I prefer their later work. This one however is way too long and with too much filler and an abundance of the usual Beatle corny-ness. Stylistically inconsistent, soulless attempts at blues, rockabilly, surf rock are particularly jarring. Second disk better than first, overall a work with potential if only was more focused and trimmed of the fat. Best tracks; While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Helter Skelter.

These queens don't miss, I tell ya hwat boy!

Whimsical, self-assured, undeniably ambitious, features elaborate harmony and melodies. Unfortunately too often grating and irritating. Feels like it's trying to bite early Zappa, but comes up woefully short. A VERY generous 2/5, only for the ambition and the relatively unique sound. Best tracks; Mrs. O'Leary's Cow and I want to say Good Vibrations, but the original Beach Boys version is better.

Solid debut album, catchy, enjoyable post-grunge songs, nothing revolutionary or ground-breaking, but impressive how Dave Grohl played every instrument on this, probably the peak of his post-Nirvana career. Best songs; Big Me, Alone, Weenie Beenie.

If you were to make a movie set in the 70's about a mid-western stripper and her dysfunctional guitar playing, whiskey drinking boyfriend looking to strike it big as a pro darts player, while being on the run from her trucker stepfather, and also dodging the law along the way, breaking up, getting back together, finally riding off into the sunset together, this might be the soundtrack for you.

AC/DC isn't really an album band for me, as every song sounds essentially the same, power chords, basic lyrics screeched loudly, intense guitar solo, back to the chorus with some back up harmony this time. It's fun and it's energetic, but I could easily play "You Shook Me.." 10 times on repeat, and get more or less the same experience.

An OK psych folk album, but there is just no reason to have 5 (!) The Byrds albums on this lyst, considering the criminal number of omissions.

For when the ol' man lets you borrow the Cadillac to take your sweetheart out to the malt shop for a cherry cola, then the local dance (as the cover states, this is suitable for listening AND dancing) and maybe she'll let you get to second base, cause girls were made to love after all.

James Taylor is that guy who brings his guitar to a camp fire, and starts playing just when you're in a middle of a really lively conversation. And of course everyone has to stop talking and listen politely, cause he's pretty good after all, better than any one of us that's for sure, but what we really want to do is drink and talk shit, not feel all sad and nostalgic over cliches like empty country roads and lush green pastures and sunny skies.

Fake British accent aside, a fun collection of catchy pop-rock singles. All These Things that I've Done is the standout.

Starts off really meandering, then picks up for a moment, only to plunge back in to some sort of wistful, breezy cacophony of stupor. And just when I'm ready to write it off completely, seems to pick back up again with a catchy sample or neat melody, only to then throw me back into it's lazy, hazy swamp of synthesizer goop.

They sound like a local garage rock band that you might find entertaining 30 some odd college stoners in a run down bar on a Tuesday night. Which is an awesome and important role to have, but doesn't mean this poorly produced and entirely forgettable album belongs anywhere near a list like this.

Some solid singles interspersed with mediocre filler material and extremely cringy interludes. Red Light Special is the stand-out. Andre 3000 feature on the last song an unexpected surprise.

They call themselves Orange Juice, but this aged like milk.

Excellent production all around. Drive, Man on the Moon - 5/5 The Sidewinder, Ignoreland, Nightswimming - 0/5 The rest 3/5

My first discovery that I've really liked on the generator. Incredibly well-composed synth-pop with passionate vocals and intriguing lyrics, and catchy as hell.

Ai meu deus, this is not good. This may have been the first fusion album, but it does not work nor hold up well. Sinatra and Jobim sound like they were recorded in different studios. The most basic of bossa nova rhythms arranged with outdated (in 1967) strings do not fit, Sinatra's voice does not fit the faux bossa nova vibe. Overall sounds like an attempt at Brazilian music for gringos.

Ambitious work, but after multiple listens it's just not clicking, maybe it's the overuse of auto-tune or the weak lyrics.

Early psychedelia tinged with sitars and tablas. You can practically smell the daffodils, marigolds, weed, and unwashed hippy feet.

The musical equivalent of supermarket sushi.

Beautiful vocal harmonies. Enjoyed the seemingly random (probably wouldn't seem random if I could understand the lyrics) interjections of laughter, exclamations, rolling r's, small shouts, etc. Wish there were more of that to break up some of the monotony. Interesting, esoteric, unique.

People giving this a 1 while criticizing the artist's past transgressions, at the same time handing out 5s to albums with Lennon, Paige, Bowie or James Brown, I see you.... If we manage to separate the art from the artist, we get a lively, upbeat, infectious, dance-able record that serves as the de facto representative of soukous music on the list. I don't know enough about the genre to judge weather it serves as a fair representation, but I do know that Congolese music as a whole is very much worth in depth exploration.

There's so much going on here musically, I feel this would be perfect for listeners with shorter attention spans. So many different ideas all held together with some epic, aggressive metal riffage. In all, a fun, testosterone fueled, scattered record, though I don't think this is SOAD's best. Standouts: Know, Sugar, Peephole

+2 stars for curing my insomnia, -1 cause I woke up flaccid and depressed.

As the title suggests; completely forgettable.

Had low expectations going into this one, based off the terrible artist name, and the even more terrible album cover, but was pleasantly surprised. Highlights include Across the Great Divide, which plunges you right into this 44 minute jambouree, Up on Cripple Creek is a funky jam ahead of it's time, and the album finishes off strong with the fun and lighthearted King Harvest. The rest of the material is solid and varied enough to keep this hoedown rollin'.

This is arguably the strongest lineup the Family Stone has featured, including but not limited to such big names as Bobby Womack, Ike Turner and Larry Graham. The sound of this album hangs in the air, like a cloud of weed smoke on a hot, humid evening. It oozes soul. It massages your nerve endings. It'll sweep you away into it's abstract vision of a concrete jungle, down alleyways filled with stoners, mothers with infants, children playing, couples making out, hustlers hustling, and all the while demand nothing but a slight bop of your head along the journey.

Not sure what this behemoth of an album is trying to be or what to make of it. It seems to be pulling a bunch of influences from the past, but doesn't do much to move the sound forward. There isn't much coherence or consistency, aside from Julian's lackluster vocals and instrumentation that can best be described as adequate. The end result is an OK album, nothing to be irritated about, but also nothing to get truly excited about. Never heard of Julian Cope prior to today, and I suspect will never hear of him henceforth.

For listeners of 90's alternative radio (already a limited demographic), Screaming Trees would have been a palette cleanser between the songs you actually wanted to hear.

Metallica at their youthful, angry, energetic best. But as others have said this album could definitely use a remaster/re-mix. Guitars have the signature Metallica sound, but the drums are so flat and the bass is m.i.a.

What a strange work this is. Blues inspired pop-rock meets occasional bursts of flamenco, folk, country, surf, and more, spliced with a healthy dose of Monty Pythonesque sense of absurdity and quirkiness that the British love so. Best songs are title track and Wicked Annabella. 2.5/5 rounded up cause it's a Sunday.

Cringy lyrics, annoying vocals, not worth your time.

I think the author of the book took the "before you die" part of the assignment a little too literally.

Generic country music but with some nice orchestral arrangements.

The muffled, whiny vocals are so irritating. Instrumentals are kinda ambitious with the accordions and and violins spliced in, but it feels like they're just there for the sake of some novelty, rather than being a solid part of the ensemble. I'm probably not hip enough for this hipster orgy.

Like listening to a musical mad-libs.

Amazing energy, Chuck D has the flow and the lyrics. Some dope beats and samples. The influence of this album must also be acknowledged. On the downside, it does sound a bit dated 30+ years later, some of the cuts are redundant, and Flav doesn't always carry his weight alongside Chuck D. I would have liked to see a KRS-One album included on the list instead of 2 Public Enemy albums.

Been a while since I heard this. Voice is still nasal and shrill. The singles are pretty catchy though.

Sleepy folksy ballads, although performed passionately. The musicianship is good, but suffers from a lack of direction and arrangement. Found myself tuning out most of the album, with the exception of "The Way Young Lovers Do" which was a much needed pick me up.

I think Sylvester Stallone would love this.

Keep my BRUEGEL off your FUCKING album cover!

A decent assortment of musical ideas ("Stop!" and "Then She Did.." are pleasantly grand and bombastic) performed admirably by a capable band, unfortunately soiled by the steaming pile of doodoo that are some of the laziest lyrics ever sung by what sounds like Screetch from Saved by the Bell.

Rough around the edges (in a good way), an enjoyable listen, although no real standout tracks.

I'm as big a Bob Marley fan as they come. But even I can't justify including 3 of his albums on this list, when so many reggae greats were snubbed. And as wonderful as this album is, of the 3 on this list (Catch a Fire and Exodus being the others), it is probably the weakest one, though still a great intro to the man's music.

A perfectly fine album of perfectly good songs, plenty of originality too, but.. it just doesn't get me excited in any way.

First time listening to PJ Harvey. "Big Exit" was a promising start and had me excited for what was to come, unfortunately, with the exception of "The Whores Hustle..", the rest of the album was a letdown. The songs were either too poppy for my taste, or lacked the energy of the two aforementioned tracks. Not bad overall, but two good songs do not an essential album make.

My mascara started running, I think I got too much hair spray in my eye.

Iron Maiden album covers remind me of the ol' Goosebumps books series, both using the same formulaic palette of not-too-scary cartoonish skeletons and occult imagery that appeals to pre-teen boys (12 year old me would have loved this cover too). The music is predictably formulaic too, but it's a formula that works for them. Still, the guitar riffs and solos are bitchin', and the songs are performed with enough vigor and aggression to keep the 39 minute run time fairly enjoyable.

Can one truly know despair if one has never known happiness? This is my first time listening to The Wall in it's entirety, having only heard snippets before. It is a gargantuan, ambitious work, a rock opera following the story of a young man (rock star?) who proceeds to whine to us about all the struggles in his life. Listening to this album felt like being a shrink with a clipboard, listening to a patient tell their miserable life story. Daddy left me to fight in the war. Teachers at school were mean. Mommy was overbearing and overprotective. My wife cheated on me, while I was out trying to shag groupies. On \"One of My Turns\" the protagonist sings \"Nothing is very much fun anymore\", which made me do a head turn. At which point so far in the album has anything been fun? And so it goes, through suicide attempts, drug induced hysteria, depression, flashbacks of war, flirtations with fascism. Each of these are a brick that get added to the proverbial wall that the protagonist erects around himself to protect himself from the cruel world. Eventually the protagonist is put on trial and forced to take down the wall for the crime of showing human emotion. This must be some sort of commentary on British stoicism. I dunno. Musically, it's a well produced, painstakingly made album. There are some great moments, especially with the heavier guitars on "In the Flesh" which I wish were present more throughout the album, some very nice, emotive guitar solos throughout, and dramatic climaxes like at the end of "Waiting for the Worms". The harmonized ooohs and aaahs really got on my nerves though, and in general the vocals were very hit and miss (mostly miss). Lyrically, we got edgy jams like; "If you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes, You'll just have to claw your way through this disguise", the ever so seductive "Ooooh, I need a dirty woman. Ooooh, I need a dirty girl.", and lets not forget the incredibly deep "When I was a child I had a fever, My hands felt just like two balloons", followed later by "I can't explain, you wouldn't understand." How could we? A child with a fever? The poor soul! Conclusion. There are 2 songs I enjoyed, "In the Flesh" (including the redux) and "Hey You". The album would easily get a 3 for those 2 songs alone, along with the generally excellent instrumentation and production, but there are too many annoying, self-indulgent, boring or at best forgettable songs, and they do bring the score down. For those who want to enjoy a good rock opera, I recommend Zappa's Joe's Garage, released just a month before this, it has a more humorous story, wider range of emotions, much more scathing social commentary, and yes, better guitar solos.

Tracks 1&2 Is he crushing on a mermaid? Track 3 Seems backwards looping tracks were all the rage in the 70s. Oh blimey, mercy me, woe are we. Dig the jazzy horns and bass though. Tracks 4&5 When he said "Nit nit folley baloley", I felt that. Dig the jazzy piano and drums though. Track 6 Is this what the English call 'taking the piss'? Dig the strings, etc. I like the jazzy soundscapes. Lyrically, I can see the influence on modern wordsmiths like Daft Punk and Lil' Pump. Still can't see the dead moles, but I'll try again in a few months.

Good album, not a must hear, not the top of the Pixies discography. Best songs; Cecilia Ann, All Over the World, The Happening

Never heard of Faces, nice album title, shit cover, let's go! Seems this band has two lead singers, the raspy-voiced simpleton sounding Rod Stewart, who strikes me as an asshole by his lyrics (the part about kicking a poodle on the first track didn't go down well, and he never recovered). The second is a mellowed-out dollar store Dylan sounding Ronnie Lane, who honestly should have been featured on more of the songs. The music is (surprise, surprise!) bluesy rock played by a British band. Pretty average overall. Most of the songs needlessly accelerate the tempo towards the end that just turns them into a sloppy mess. Noticed that Memphis is a Chuck Berry cover (who inexplicably is missing from this list, and not for being a sex offender and pedophile, as there are plenty of those on here). Gave the original a spin. My god, they managed to take ALL of the nostalgia out of the song! Tried hard to find a redeeming aspect, but couldn't. Into the 1-star pile you go.

It has now been 8 out of 9 albums in a row from the UK. I'll explain below exactly why that's a problem. First, as far this album goes, we have the anthemic title track the album and indeed The Clash are so known for, that sounds VERY different from the rest of the album. What follows are two disks worth of second-wave ska and rockabilly. As others have said, the songs feel samey and different at the same time. For me they range from very good (Jimmy Jazz, The Guns of Brixton) to the skippable (Spanish Bombs, Koka Kola, Lover's Rock). There is enough quality here for an easy 4, but I think this may be a case of too much of a good thing. The second disk just drags a bit too much. Now for the UK problem, I really dig 2-nd wave ska, and indeed 3-rd wave too, but how is it possible that this list completely ignores ANY and ALL 1-st wave? Don't go searching for The Skatalites, they're not featured. Jimmy Cliff? I checked, not here. Toots & the Maytals? Prince Buster? Desmond Dekker? Forget it! A shame, a downright shame.

Now THIS is a great album cover. Sets the mood perfectly for what's about to come. Let's go! After listening, it's a very nice live performance, the couple of blunders that were kept on the final cut where a refreshing touch, something you won't likely see on a modern live album. Particularly liked the slower, smoother numbers like September in the Rain and Stairway to the Stars. Wish there was one or two more emotional songs thrown in, but I guess it would have ruined the mood. Also would have liked the trio to be louder in the mix, especially during the instrumental solos.

A candidate for the best album of the 80's. Instead of writing out superfluous praise, I want to list some of my favorite moments from the album. - The moment Prince sings "It's silly no? When a rocket ship explodes.." on the title track gives me goosebumps - Prince describing being seduced by Dorothy Parker - The opening of "Starfish and Coffee" - The tasteful brass flourishes on "Slow Love" - The canned synths on "Hot Thing" is pure sex - The duet with Sheena Easton on "U Got the Look" is hilarious, especially the "Let's get to rammin'" line - When the kick drum comes in on "The Cross"

Occasionally lush instrumentals with the vocals of a bored crow and the excitement of a lukewarm glass of water.

A depressed man sings 7 in-differentiable sounding melancholic, nostalgic songs (plus 3 instrumentals) while strumming an acoustic guitar to a pretty but generic easy-listening background.

A highly flawed album with redeemable qualities. I'll go through it song by song. Brown Sugar - They are really walking the tightrope here between celebrating rape and slavery, and simply commenting on it. The diehard fans might side with the latter argument, but I fail to see it. A shameful, tone-deaf song that sounds annoying even without the controversial subject matter. (-2) Sway - Straddles a middle ground of mediocrity, a commercially produced, radio friendly amalgamation that can't decide if it wants to go full on soulful blues, or full on edgy hard rock, so does a bit of both half assed, though finishes with a very nice crescendo. (±0) Wild Horses - A very pretty ballad. Nice guitar work. (+1) Can't You Hear Me Knocking - A lively tune about what sounds like a drug addict trying to break into someone's house. Would be a forgettable song on it's own, but the saxophone and guitar solos that follow make it easily the high point of the album. Not a coincidence that it's also the longest stretch we have without hearing Jagger's voice. (+1) You Gotta Move - Mick Jagger is back attempting a molasses paced traditional gospel blues number. Not the worst thing we'll hear today, but not exactly memorable. Props for crediting the original author *cough* Led Zeppelin *cough*. (±0) Bitch - The brass backing on this track is fantastic and lively enough to make this worth listening to, despite Mick Jagger's struggles to stay in tune. Harmonies are annoying. (+1) I Got the Blues - Slower numbers seem to suit Jagger much better. Nice horn flourishes. Organ solo was dope. (+1) Sister Morphine - Once again Jagger proves that laid-back numbers are more up his alley. Beautiful guitar playing, overall an atmospheric song. (+1) Dead Flowers - Thought the album was over, and YouTube auto-play algorithm shifted me onto some generic country. Nope, still the Stones. The worst of them in fact. Fake southern drawls, out of tune harmonies and uninspired crooning. (-1) Moonlight Mile - Shoulda ended the album with Sister Morphine. (±0) Final tally +2

Never properly listened to Brian Eno. Minimalistic cover seems to suggest some minimalistic music, but after another stretch of mediocre UK based boomer rock, I'm just hoping for something different. Let's go! Well this was an assortment of unfinished musical ideas, some more interesting than others. Meh.. on to the next one.

Seems unlike most of the reviewers on here, I haven't heard most of these songs. Fairly boring and almost painfully redundant, like a more glammy AC/DC, but I guess I can see the reason for it's inclusion as a token hair metal album.

Sigh, another Leonard Cohen spoken word album. This time with shitty synth loops. I swear I remember most of these beats from the drum presets on my 80's Casio toy keyboard. I'm your Man was #7. Wanted to give this a 2 for having the ambition to attempt a song in 3/4, but then Jazz Police came on, and it was a wrap. They sentenced LC to 20 years of boredom, and he tried to do the same to us.

I might have gone with Understanding instead of this album, but this here's a tight, solid work, the grooves are fantastic, without a single weak track.

It's alright, decent for a mid-tempo workout, could do without the rapping. Decidedly not a must hear album, but not a bad hour spent if you relegate it to the background.

Delightfully smokey.

If you name your album "Bat out of Hell", then put a naked Fabio on a flying motorcycle decorated with a dead horse head, bursting out of a haunted cemetery, you're not going for subtlety, and your music better reflect that. Luckily, from the opening moment to the final note, the music here goes aptly balls to the wall. No compromises and no disappointments. Best song is the epic Paradise by the Dashboard Light suite

No one brings a song to a climax quite like Nina. Fun fact, she attended the Juiliard for piano NOT singing!

A bit inconsistent and yet redundant at the same time. Songs are all over the place. Not a must listen, but I guess it's ok as a UK garage token album. Best tracks: Rough Out Here and Slum King

A completely inconsequential album. The musicians are fine, and there are even some nice moments, but the lyrics are almost painfully vapid, cliche and shallow, and the singers voice is fine for a song or 2, but too monotonous to carry a whole album. This was gonna be another 1-star, until Mental came on, if they had only pursued the sound they had on this song and maybe pushed it even more, this would have been a much more memorable album.

Everybody is rightfully enamored over the guitar solo on the title track (the best ever post Hendrix), but it must be mentioned how Eddie Hazel absolutely rips it again on Hit It and Quit It and then again on Super Stupid. Just an incredibly talented group of musicians, amazing production and a timeless sound all packaged together perfectly by Dr. Fukenstein, the only physician who could pull off such a creation. More power to the pussy! More pussy to the people!

When I was a kid, I was riding a bike when I got caught in a crooked rain, I ended up slipping and ripping my knee open on the pavement, blood and shredded skin everywhere. Anyway, I'd rather relive that experience than listen to this snoozefest of an album again. "I need to sleep" sings the vocalis on the last song, boy do I have an album for him!

The punkiest of all punk albums. What other band could have this much influence and make this much noise with just a 39 min discography?

A well-crafted pop album, good production, expertly composed, but somehow, the whole thing feels.. toothless. Lyrics are interesting, but need an annotated companion to decipher. Won't be coming back to this one.

Take it for what it is, a collection of club singles to be spun, mixed and danced to, not a coherent album to listen to with undivided attention. Not a bad piece of music, but maybe it's a bit misplaced on this list.

Mr. King brings the blues, the purples, the yellows, the magentas and the salmon pinks. How Blue Can You Get alone is worth the price of admission. Which was probably 20 cents at the time. Only complaints are how they splice two separate concerts together and it impacts the continuity a bit, and also the ending is much too lackluster for an album that kicked off this hype.

Arcade Fire again? Why? WHY? Well I'll give them credit, their music does capture the malaise of suburban life. This album reaffirmed a few things for me. 1) I don't like the suburbs. 2) I don't like music about the suburbs. 3) I sure as hell don't like Arcade Fire

Why does he sing like he's getting his balls stepped on at random intervals?

Talk about a cover and name that don't inspire any confidence or anticipation for what's inside. As most people here I suspect, I haven't heard of this band before, let's go! Track 1 - What in the Eliza Doolittle? We doing satire music now? Have a feeling this is heading straight for the 1-star pile. 2. Identity - OK, this is kinda lively, no idea what she's saying, but there's some kinda toy wind instrument in the background, and at least the adolescents are having fun with this one. Already this is miles better than The Smiths. 3. The Day the World Turned Dayglo - Still no idea what Eliza Doolittle is shouting about, but appreciate the vigor. And the toy wind instrument turned out to be a saxophone - go figure! 4. Genetic Engineering - I think I picked up a bit of German at the beginning there? The sax player (Steve "Rudi" Thomson) is starting to establish himself a bit more, go on then! 5. Art-I-Ficial - This is my second listenthrough, and I JUST realized that the name of the band is X-Ray Spex, and the album title is Germfree Adolescents, thought it was the other way around. Anyway, this song slaps! This is by no means a 1 star album. 6. Plastic Bag - "My mind is like a plastic bag" declares Poly Styrene, the lead singer. OK, I finally pulled up the lyrics, not as dreadful as I expected, this band keeps surprising me. They seem to be complaining about the over-saturation of media and advertising in 1977, are they in for a surprise when they cross into this millennium. 7. I Am a Poseur - Another bop. Maybe the best so far. Wow, this band just keeps racking up stars. 8. I Live off You - He might be closer to a random high school band member than Sonny Rollins, but this song is evidence that a sax makes a great addition to any punk band (see also The Stooges). 9. Lets Submerge - Just when I mentioned The Stooges, Miss Styrene goes all out channeling her inner Iggy. Another star earned? Another star earned! 10. Obsessed With You - This is actually supposed to be the 2nd track on the album, but YouTube seems to have messed up the order, or following a different release version. Oh well, this album will be getting plenty more rotation, in the correct order next time. 11. Warrior in Woolworths - Woolworths is a clothing store? Seems like there's something deeper here than just the surface lyrics. 12. I Can Do Anything - 12 songs deeps and the energy is still high. Not getting tired of this at all. Dig those rolling rrrs, and I think I'm finally starting to understand what Eliza Dool.. I mean... Poly Styrene is saying. 13. Age - Bonus track? Why not! 14. Highly Inflammable - Another bonus track, nice change of pace from the rest of the songs so far. Conclusion - MASSIVELY surprised and impressed by this one. Make sure you find the version that starts with Art-I-Ficial, as that is the original and imo best album opener.

Another artist I've never listened to before. The intro was absolutely awful, just all over place, a smattering of scattered musical ideas. Then the shrill vocals came in. We're treated to a multi-part opus about a dystopian world where the citizens are forced to listen to Rush by their religious zealot overlords (or that's how I understood it). With the despotic torture over, we move on to Thailand Express, where the lads demonstrate their acute knowledge of geography as they reminisce about the best cities to light one up. The rest of the songs are mercifully brief (relatively speaking), but no less torturous. Tears being the only exception (see what happens when your singer actually tries to sing instead of doing a shitty Plant impersonation?), just barely salvaging a second star for this slog rock mess.

First time with this album. Some thoughts. Best listened to with a few pints of room temperature English ale and a basketful of gooseberry tarts. Major points for the scathing social and political commentary, that is still very much applicable today, and not just in Britain. Musically a bit too jangle pop for most of the time, I know The Kinks are capable of rocking a bit harder, and I would have liked to see them do that here more. Overall a good album that I don't see myself returning to all too often.

This must be the precursor for those generic 6 hour ambient electronic atmospheric early afternoon morning coffee while you study while you code while you spark a j while you take a shit chill out vibes for late autumn strolling cold winter afternoon at home by the fire meditation yoga contemplating the meaning of life outer space traveling the universe zoning out and finding inner peace mixes.

Here we have a concept disco album by the Swedish band Abba. We follow a tale of a promiscuous high school girl who gets kicked out of school for sexually assaulting her math teacher. She becomes a stripper and is fairly popular with the guys, she tries to have a romantic relationship, but just ends up getting her heart broken, realizing that no one wants a stripper girlfriend. Devastated she quits dancing, but now she is struggling with her bills, alone and broke she spirals into a pit of depression. One night as she's being followed home by a stalker in a tiger outfit (probably a furry), she realizes she's had enough, so she packs her bags and moves to Hawaii, where she meets a man named Fernando, and they live happily ever after. Musically this album is annoying as hell, the repetitive saccharine melodies are particularly painful. The lyrics are stupid. The story is stupid. I hate everything about this. This needs to remain in 70's Sweden. You know those people who use phrases like "someone's got a case of the Mondays"? They're the only ones who listen to this. And only in the presence of others. Because they want to torture you. Abba is shitty torture music. Stay away unless you have masochistic tendencies.

Don't let the absolutely horrible album cover deceive you, the music here is prime Dylan, that is to say, top notch Americana folk-rock. Considering there are 7 total Bob Dylan albums in this book, the fairest way to rate this, is relative to all of the other Dylan albums. Which makes it a solid, middle of the road 3. Best song; Memphis Blues.

Songs are excellent, Tim Buckley's voice is.. well... I was hoping the back up singers would be more prominent. This record is like a buffet, seems to offer a little bit of everything, but nothing that's unique to it. Might come back to it if the mood is right.

An album from a one-hit wonder, and it doesn't even have the hit. Apparently this is the first of 3 Dexys albums on this list! Overkill much? Anyways, the music is alright, kinda upbeat, it's nice that they went with a horn section, but the horns just sound so flat on most of the songs, like, they're missing that spunk. And the vocals, I realize the whiny crying type voice was all the rage in the 80's (ala The Cure, Soft Cell, etc.), it just, one or two songs are fine, but do you have to fucking weep over every song? Even the upbeat ones? I'll wait for one of their other albums where the band comes into their own a bit more to properly appraise them, I really struggle to see what makes this a must listen.

I'd choose Joe Rogan too over this.

To call this dad rock would be an insult to dad rock everywhere. To call this suburban mom who used to be quite wild back in the day rock would be an insult to Queen.

Two thousand twenty two the number, another summer, sound of Public Enemy to kill your slumber, Music hitting half as hard, cause you know it got old, Once dangerous, hey, hey! Now a critics darling y'all, Flav's yappin' while Chuck's rappin', Saying like he mean it, Meanin' when he say it, While Terminator X spinnin', These beats he be killin', Insert generic line here, Insert generic line there, A true relic of hip hop history, But no one's bumping this recently.

If Otis Redding covers your song, there is a real risk that it'll become an "Otis Redding song" for all of history ¹, and you'll need the likes of Aretha Franklin if you want to get it back ². ¹ "Ole Man Trouble", "Respect" and "I've Been Loving You Too Long" are the only Otis Redding compositions on here, the rest are covers. ² "Respect" was infamously covered by Aretha Franklin, and her version is now considered to be the definitive one.

It's as if an AI was tasked to listen to some 90's alternative/brit-pop radio, and then make an album based on what it heard.

Well, well, looks like this album features none other than ol' Robert Wyatt (of the ''nit nit folley balloley'' fame), on 'Submarine' and 'Oceania' no less, still looking for that mermaid you old sea dog? I should have known our paths would cross again, after all, it may be a list of 1001 albums, but it's only like 50 artists. But enough about falsetto Bob, let's get to the star of the show, also known as the human beatbox - Rahzel. Ok, maybe not the star, but on a mostly acapella album, his beatboxing provides some indispensable grounding. The tracks that don't feature him suffer for it. I actually think just an album with just him and the Icelandic choir would have been interesting. Bjork could play the triangle or something. Half kidding. Speaking of the Bjorkster. I've had the occasional pleasure and occasional misfortune to hear her music before, but this album is a first for me. And for the most part it's a combination of pleasure and only occasional uncomfortable squirming (Ancestors stands out in particular). But for 45 minutes of Bjork, it is pretty damn tolerable. I feel compelled to comment on the lyrics. Some are in English, some Icelandic, still others appear to be just gibberish. As I don't speak Icelandic, and Bjork's English prose is of the a million monkeys on a million typewriters variety, it's all equally incomprehensible to me. I'm not sure how to appraise it, I respect the artistry of it, but giving it a 4 would not be consistent with my rating system so far. So a 3 it is, leaving plenty of room for her to impress me with her other work. Best songs: everything with Rahzel (But especially ''Where is the line'', also featuring Mike Patton and the human trombone Gregory Purnhagen).

Some iconic hits, but also plenty of filler. The poetry is indeed stupid, but only noticeably so on The End.

Not this shitty band again. I gave them a generous 2 stars last time, but my generosity has run out. Yeah, they don't sound like any other band of that time, maybe there is a reason for that?

A marvelous sophomore release, on which Badu explores a wide swath of emotions and themes, from closing yourself off to outside ideas on "Penitentiary Philosophy", to self-acceptance in the face of the prevalence of superficiality in society on "Cleva", infidelity on "Booty", police violence and racial profiling on "A.D. 2000", the weight of emotional baggage on "Bag Lady", from pure unadulterated romance on "I'm in Love with You" to jealousy with a touch of self depreciating humor on "Green Eyes". An album that is consistent in it's musicality, well written and understated lyrics and excellent production. Speaking of production, it serves as a good introduction to the producer J Dilla, whose classic "Donuts" is (surprise, surprise!) missing from the list. This one may be a grower if neo-soul isn't your bag, but give it a few spins, it's one of those records that not only has a timeless quality, but also infinite replay-ability.

Lulls you to sleep. Wakes you up with a sudden beat change. Rinse and repeat. Lots of Dust Brothers vibes. "Machine Gun" the only standout.

Whats with the WB logo? Thought this was a movie soundtrack at first. Turns out just more indie pop-rock. Let's see... Wimpy vocalist singing through too much reverb ✅ Ambiguous or irreverent lyrics that purposely lack any emotional depth other than melancholy ✅ Everything awash in reverby synths ✅ Music that's just catchy enough to be accessible, and just creative enough to be called artsy (but only minimally so on both ends) ✅ Yep, this is your good ol' generic indie pop-rock. The only redeeming aspect of this album is some very interesting musical passages and melodies ("The Gash" is best I'd say), but unfortunately the singer really ruins every song. And the lyrics don't help none.

Smoother than Chef's bald head. 4 epic songs that embody the peak of 60's soul. To those complaining about the length, you can't build up to a proper crescendo without putting in the time. And Isaac Hayes crescendos are in a class of their own. Expand your short attention having, Tik-Tok binging minds a little, and just let the music wash over you. Get comfortable. Maybe have a drink. Let the music settle in and seduce you. Think of it as foreplay. You wouldn't cut your foreplay short, would you? Hot take, these songs could have been even longer if it wasn't for the format limitations of the time, and I would have been all for it. Final thoughts, the piano solo on the second half of "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" gets me every time.

bleat [bleet] noun 1. the cry of a sheep, goat, or calf. 2. any similar sound (the bleat of distant horns). 3. foolish, complaining talk; babble (I listened to their inane bleat all evening).

A band that demands to be heard, but ultimately has nothing to say.

"Dad! I want an R.E.M. cd!'' ''We've got R.E.M. at home.'' R.E.M. at home:

Without being superfluous, "Never Had No One Ever" is one of the worst songs I've ever heard. UPDATE, OK, we have a new contender with "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out". The rest of the album, well, it started off better than Meat is Murder, but nosedived pretty quickly after that. A reluctant 2 stars, for the clearly evident attempts at musical variety, and deviation from standard pop formulas. No standout songs though.

A tale of two albums. The first - two disks of roughly 90 minutes of demo material (i.e. songs that weren't good enough for John and Paul, but in actuality would have been improvements over some of the dribble and filler they routinely pushed out) on which George mostly tries to recreate the sound and success of either "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" or "Something". 3 Stars because at times he makes you feel like he just might pull it off. The second (titled Apple Jam) - roughly 30 minutes of bluesy acoustic studio jamming and a truly annoying birthday song. If the first album is full of b-sides, than these are equivalent to f sides. 1 star deducted. Overall, very listenable but hard to make a case for essential.

Well this was a really cool discovery. Nice blend of melodic tunes balanced well with some grit and trippiness. Sounds bit dated sure, but for 1966 very much ahead of it's time, and certainly predates many similar sounding yet much higher acclaimed artists.

This album made me question my comprehension of the English language. These are all words I know, I recognize them, I use them regularly, but strung together by Mr. Tull, what the hell are they supposed to mean? I don't like it when I need Genius to figure out what every song is about. OK, I might make an exception for Bob Dylan and Mars Volta, but these guys are not on that level. They open each side pretty well ("Aqualung" and "My God" respectively), then it's as if they gradually run out of steam, and the music just declines, steadily, linearly, unmistakably.

Just yesterday I typed in my Aqualung review how Mars Volta is one of my exceptions where I can ignore the obscurity and abstrusity of the lyrics. And here they are on my doorstep. What makes them different then? Maybe it's the conviction with which Cedric belts out his cryptic lyrics. Perhaps it's Omar's beautiful guitar work that accompanies the whole thing. Or the fact that they really just throw you into the deep end of their fucked up fantasy world with no life preserver, while other prog bands offer you the occasional respite in the kiddie pool. You either learn to swim and love it, or drown, but you're never going to find yourself surrounded by a bunch of kids with pool noodles splashing and peeing in the water (peeing in the water is my analogy for prog bands that get a little too sybaritic). In other words, I appreciate that Mars Volta have their vision, and go all the way with it, holding nothing back, no subtlety, no pandering, this music is theirs and on their terms. And damn if it doesn't sound great! As much as I dislike this ugly cover, and don't want to see it muck up my flawless summary page, I can't deny that this is as good as prog-rock gets in my book. 5 stars!

Between the cringy lyrics and the sex doll looking woman on the cover, this might be the ultimate incel album. Well, at least my skip button got plenty of action.

A solid debut from an all time great hip hop group. They would come into their own more later on in their career, so I would argue this album is more for the heads than the average fan or first time listener. Still, some very good material on here and no real weakness, other than the absence of Busta Rhymes, who should really be considered an honorary member by this point. Odd to have this album included instead of \"Midnight Marauders\" or \"We've Got It From Here...\". I guess the author has a propensity for listing debut albums when possible, I can understand that. If either of the aforementioned albums were on the list though, that would have pushed my rating down to a 2, but as it stands, a 3 is a fair score for the groups 4th best work.

Love him or hate him, Eminem is honest almost to a fault, and seems to have no qualms about bearing his soul, his trauma, his perversions, thoughts, feelings, fears, humor, no matter how corny or juvenile or primitive, he doesn't hold back, and I can respect that. How does the end product hold up? This is music for angsty adolescents by a man who isn't very far removed from being an angsty adolescent himself. And a man who has clearly been through some shit, but hasn't had a chance to fully mature yet. A lot of the references are very time specific and hence aged poorly. A lot of the humor is corny and redundant. But the classic cuts are iconic enough to validate the entire jumbled mess. And as much as I hate Em's hooks, his flow and lyricism on here are undeniably original and unique. Belongs on the list but doesn't warrant repeat listens.

It puts the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hole again.

Mr. Mediocre and Ms. Monotonous had a baby and gave it a mullet.

Elementary school dance vibes. Had a sudden urge to ask my wife to dance, but inexplicably was too shy and nervous to go through with it. Oh well, maybe next album.

Historic, influential, inventive. Meanders at times but finishes strong.

The tone of his voice is almost the same on every song, regardless of the subject matter. Makes the whole thing sound unconvincing and uneventful. I will give Merle a second star however, because apparently he's an ex-con who actually lived through most of what he sings about, unlike many other artists who talk the talk, but never walked the walk.

We could plant a house, we could build a tree.

This was a fun listen.