Really solid creatively and certainly the most deserving of the label industrial, but not the EN album I would’ve picked for a “must listen.”

No weak or filler songs here. Really well structured and produced. Incorporates elements of psychedelia, glam, and rock but is still fresh and timeless.

Half an hour of jarring harmonica soloes and affected Southern-ness by Californians who are, somehow, even less convincing than Brits like Zeppelin and the Stones when they dipped their toes in the Bayou water. This stuff is why we needed punk rock.

Over forty years old and still sounds fresh.

Layered, spacious, and slightly dissonant. One of the best albums of the ‘10s.

It’s fine.

Not bad, but nothing exciting or terribly interesting.

It’s good enough, but not consistent.

Country-rock with some jazz flourishes, which are refreshing. Definitely a product of its time.

Solid album as always from Queen.

Still a great, consistent album. Not sure it’s their “best” album, but definitely on the short list.

A

Layered, but I think I prefer anything by Swell Maps.

Better than I expected, but not my thing.

Some standout tracks, but not enough of them.

I like jazz, and I know this is a classic, but I just don’t dig it.

Quite good.

Really hit and miss.

Alright for a piano album.

First half is solid, especially since the remaster. The second half gets to be pretty boring.

Has its moments, but Zeppelin did most of this better.

Seems vastly ahead of its time

A couple of standout tracks, but overall pretty uninteresting.

Half an hour of jarring harmonica soloes and affected Southern-ness by Californians who are, somehow, even less convincing than Brits like Zeppelin and the Stones when they dipped their toes in the Bayou water. This stuff is why we needed punk rock.

One of the best albums to come out in the post-Nevermind era.

Delightfully noisy.

Nothing typical of either artist, but nothing particularly memorable, either.

A really solid album. Several really great tracks, and also Vicar in a Tutu.

Well balanced production. A little bit of something for everybody.

Quite good, but more than a little misogynistic.

Pretty excellent.

As always with Mingus, interesting from beginning to end.

“All in all” a bit overwrought and undeserving of its great album status. Not even one of Pink Floyd’s best.

Very creative and quite interesting.

Could be convincingly from any decade since the 1960s.

It’s like a satire of psychedelia.

Certainly not bad, but other than a few high points, not remarkable.

As technically proficient as the instrumental portion is, it isn’t terribly interesting. The vocals ruin it anyway.

Iconic.

Even the deep cuts are solid.

No weak or filler songs here. Really well structured and produced. Incorporates elements of psychedelia, glam, and rock but is still fresh and timeless.

Some of RHCP’s better work, but its appeal is still limited.

So, so boring.

A pleasant enough blend of 60s pop, bossa nova, and Black Sabbath. Definitely wears its influences on its sleeve.

A couple of interesting tracks interspersed with rather boring guitar noodling.

Solid. One of their better albums.

There are a number of albums that are both very relaxed and enjoyable; this is not one them.

Deservedly a classic. Delivers both quantity and quality.

Over forty years old and still sounds fresh.

A pretty standard paint-by-numbers, nü-metal adjacent, late 90s album.

Really infectious.

Really well done old-school country album.

Layered, spacious, and slightly dissonant. One of the best albums of the ‘10s.

At least as good as some of the more well known albums of the time; and it doesn’t seem as self-important.

An unintentional caricature of c. 1968 music. No thanks.

Interesting as a chill-out record, but nothing special as a trip hop record.

Nice production. Drums are bit too low in the mix.

Both nostalgic and ahead of its time.

Welcome to the Machine and Wish You Were Here are great tracks, but the rest is only alright.

Pretty good overall. It does have its moments that drag.

Surprisingly good.

This seems like someone found a reel-to-reel tape of cheesy background instrumentals for grocery stores and decided to lay down some vocal tracks on it. Terrible.

Amazing what can be created from other material.

Decent as background music, but nothing outstanding.

A good bit better than expected, though it definitely leans more towards quantity than quality.

Altogether pretty good, even beyond the big hits. The production is spot on.

Typically solid Kinks album. A bit of a step up from “Village Green,” honestly…

Falls somewhere between Juno Hendrix’s rock edge, Pink Floyd’s atmospheric bluesiness, and CSNY’s harmonizing cheese. But not bad actually.

Really diverse and good. No weak songs.

Pretty decent, but a bit “one-note.”

I like trip-hop, Asian underground, and Hindustani music, but this just not good. Its best tracks were only tolerable, but most were a good bit worse.

Chill, retro synthpop.

Very fast and very technical, but not very interesting.

Really well-written and produced rock and roll songs.

Feels a bit overwrought, but not bad. More interesting than the last several FJM albums.

Long form, layered and impeccably produced.

Mostly interesting because of the industrial elements, but not bad overall. Definitely a product of its time. Perhaps a more hip-hop version of Ministry’s The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste.

I kinda wanted to like this, but it’s just so boring.

A very solid pop album from the 80s, but like so many albums of that era it contains several great singles interspersed among a lot of filler.

I wish I could give it less than one star.

Really solid creatively and certainly the most deserving of the label industrial, but not the EN album I would’ve picked for a “must listen.”

The instrumentation is exceptional, but the vocals really don’t fit. Also, Dave Mustaine is a disappointing human being.

Quite a few excellent songs on here. No self-indulgent noodling or overproduction.

A legitimate classic.

You can definitely hear the seeds of a dozen other albums in this one.

The hits are good, but the rest is very repetitive filler.

Not a terrible album; in fact each song is pretty good. When you put all 16(!) of them together, though, it’s pretty monotonous.

At their core, most of these songs are alright. Unfortunately, they tend to be about twice as long as they need to be (see It’s All Over Now), crammed too full with Americana textures (see the title track), or there’s just too much Rod Stewart (most of the tracks).

What a great album. Not for people who just want their jazz in the background, though.

Good enough for those who like their pop punky or their punk poppy.

Quite good.

Really quite good. No filler; even the lesser-known tracks are solid. And the production is perfect.

Everything besides “The Softest Hammer” is really dull.

In the depths of my misery I checked to see how much of this was left; I lost all hope when I saw I was not yet halfway through.

Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover.

The instrumentation and production are fine, but it’s all just terribly sappy.

A longtime favorite and an all around great album. This is quite close to 5 stars, but is diminished a bit in comparison to the albums that bookend it: Black Celebration and Violator, either of which would get the full 5.

Succeeds at being both chilled out and, at times, heartbreaking. Nothing bad to say about it.

For the love of god Tambourine Man just play him his stupid song so he’ll shut up about it. Some of these songs would be quite good if they weren’t drowned in harmonica and if someone else sang them.

I still think this is their best album.

Your quintessential psychedelic rock album. Not the heavily produced, high concept Pink Floyd that was to come. Still a good listen.

Aside from “Waiting for the Sun,” this album is at best dull and at worst the musical equivalent of watching a philosophy major’s film project. I’m fairly certain it, and a dozen uninspiring albums like it, only get love because they came out in or around 1970.

The lyrics are excellent and heartfelt, while the vocals are diverse and perfect, but it feels like the production is just missing something.

Some really good tracks, and some others that are less impressive, but not bad. Brings in a range of styles and approaches.

Not bad, but not memorable. Like early Radiohead, without the hooks.

It’s pretty good, if you can get past Sting’s voice.

Really quality blend of genres and moods. Every track stand on its own quite well.

Very dull, vanilla rock. It’s almost as if someone made a checklist of rock tropes and these guys just went by that.

Some of the beats and lyrical flow are inspired, but that doesn’t make up for the absolute garbage lyrics. The takeaway is that c. 2000 Eminem was a man child who couldn’t handle criticism and compensated by threatening to rape women.

Dull, monotonous, cookie cutter rock.

It’s well-written guitar rock that spawned dozens of followers. But it’s a bit monochromatic. Once you’ve heard the first three or four songs, don’t expect anything different.

Slightly more interesting than that Norah Jones album, but still unlistenable. More music to be piped into mall bathrooms.

Amazing to hear how many hip-hop tropes came from this album. A generally enjoyable listen, but I have to deduct one star for Aerosmith’s inclusion.

A bit trip-hop, a bit lofi, and more than a little (dark)ambient. An audio Rorschach test.

Better than expected considering the company she kept. Had to track it down on YouTube since she, understandably, pulled her albums from Spotify.

Not my favorite of Davis’ work for sure, but better than a lot of what was coming out at the time.

The hits are very good, but you’re not missing anything if you only listen to those. Said another way, there are some great stand-out tracks here, but the rest is only ok.

You can definitely hear how he was so influential to Nirvana and Pearl Jam. The raw, live element is great, but NY’s vocals totally overshadow everything else.

Still such a great listen.

Enjoyable, and interesting enough, but not particularly impactful.

As a whole, significantly better than “Smoke on the Water.” You can really hear the seeds of NWOBHM in several songs, and there’s only one crappy blues-rock track.

A bit all over the place, but well put together. Must’ve been refreshing to hear when it came out.

A good range of moods and styles, yet still feels cohesive. Fans of Neutral Milk Hotel should enjoy this.

Really quite good.

This album is why many people think they don’t like Neil Young. Dull at the its best, and grating at its worst.

You wouldn’t think an album with such a dayglo cover would be so dull. Reminds me of Wham! which is not a compliment.

Probably not Davis’ best work, but still very good.

She’s got a good voice and is a solid musician, but the songs are almost cartoonish. Some of them sound like they belong in an SNL sketch.

Delightfully eclectic and well produced. In the Massive Attack ballpark without coming across as just a vanity- or side-project. Probably more reminiscent of Recoil’s Bloodlines.

It was worse than I expected, and my expectations were quite low. Even the best songs on the album are bad.

One of the best albums in hip-hop, but maybe not PE’s best.

Some really good tracks, but also quite a bit of “filler.”

Definitely a step up from most of the circa 1970 stuff on the list, but by no means is it Cocteau Twins’ best stuff.

There are some great, interesting noise albums. This one is ok.

A really good pop album from a time when there weren’t a lot of good pop albums

A good, but not great album with some standout tracks. More important for its effect on rock music than for its content.

Never heard of this album or artist before, but was pleasantly surprised. Jangly, at times moody, and literate much like a more caffeinated And Also the Trees.

Pretty decent, but some of these tracks go on much longer than they should.

Probably the best Jane’s Addiction album, but certainly not great. The first half is pretty solid, though.

Quite the collection of classics and otherwise good songs. The album is, overall, quite a bit too long, though.

A pretty decent, but not extraordinary, psych-rock-pop album from an era absolutely saturated with such works. Capable but formulaic.

An absolute masterpiece. If this book was 5 Albums… “Heroes” should still be in it. Everything from the title track to the more experimental Kosmische tracks stand out as great work.

Some solid songs from a very talented vocalist, but by minute 30 I was ready for it to be over.

Alternates between boring and annoying.

Not bad, but certainly nothing exceptional.

Just about the perfect post-punk album. Should also appeal to fans of punk, new wave, and of course goth rock.

A rightful classic, and must’ve been an absolute breath of fresh air at the time. Would have benefited from some variety in style, though.

The Nirvana songs are good of course, but the really excellent tracks are the covers.

She certainly had a great voice, but this style was being done by plenty of others at the time. There are better, more creative examples with much better production.

Better than I remembered. You wouldn’t know that he had some real songwriting talent based on just his radio play.

It’s… not bad. Unfortunately not interesting or compelling at all.

Just plain, good rock songs. No posturing or fretboard wanking. Songs never overstay their welcome.

A classic. Nice to hear the source material for so much of what came later.

The big radio hits (Them Bones, Angry Chair, Would) are excellent, but so much of the rest is quite forgettable.

A very good debut album. While not Siouxsie’s best, it still belongs in the top tier of the Post-punk canon.

What would hardcore be without this album? Would hardcore even be a thing?

It’s not bad, but not good, either. Everything here was done better by The Who. This is music for boomers in convertibles who want to feel tough.

Pretty good mood music, but difficult to really get into. It’s influence, however, is obviously legendary.

Better than expected given the time period; there are even a few good songs here.

An enjoyable album, but probably not one I could put in heavy rotation.

A bit monochromatic and repetitive, and even the better songs tend to go on a bit long. However, my feelings may be tainted by associating the album with a particularly annoying ex who played it all of the time.

The songs are well done at their core, but the glossy production really detracts from their structure. It’s like Duran Duran meets the worst of Roxy Music.

The best I can say is I don’t hate it. But how this could be worthy of anyone’s bucket list escapes me.

The guy is clearly a talented musician, but I found this near impossible to get into. It’s like someone was trying to make soundtrack for Adult Swim circa 2005. If you stripped away the random samples and strained attempts at servicing someone’s nostalgia (there’s a song with both Kenny Loggins and Micheal McDonald), you wouldn’t be left with much, but it would still be an improvement.

Pretty damn good. These must’ve been real bangers performed live.

Most of these tracks, aside from the skits, are great. Excellent production and beats, with lyrics masterfully delivered. The content, however, is misogynistic and repetitive as hell.

Is this peak REM? It just might be.

Still a great pop album. Dii oh rant sound dated almost 30 years later.

Really consistent and good album, even beyond the radio hits. Creative and experimental without losing structure, and very well produced.

The songs are put together well-enough, and lyrics are quite good. It is a bit too monochromatic, though.

This album is often described as chamber pop, and it is probably one of the best examples of the style. A good, moody album for listening in headphones on a stormy day while polishing off several cups of coffee.

Very much the sound of the 80s, but just not that interesting.

There is a lot to this album; too much to be fully appreciated from one or two listens. Really subtle.

It’s good and comforting in the way mashed potatoes and gravy are good and comforting. Mashed potatoes is a side dish, of course.

It’s alright; if Oasis was slightly more interesting and less whiney they’d probably sound a bit like this.

Different, but in a more annoying than interesting way.

I love Bowie, but this album is not one of his most accessible. It does remind me of his Berlin period, yet it lacks the strengths of those albums. It’s relevance is mostly due to it being the swan song of one of the most important musicians of the last century.

A pretty decent record, but it definitely wears its influences (British folk-rock and Dylan) on its sleeve. I get more enjoyment out of Nick Drake or Steeleye Span.

Generic hard rock at peak mediocrity. Only one decent song (Rock of Ages) and it’s only alright.

There are some really good songs on here, but I suppose with this many songs that is just statistically likely. As a whole, it’s all over the place in terms of content, quality, and mood.

This might be the first one I couldn’t get all the way through. Beyond dull.

Classic in the way the Pantheon is: foundational to just about everything that came after.

Let me say that in general, while I appreciate it as an art form, I do not enjoy blues music. Having said that, there is so much more feeling in this than in any of that boomer blues-rock nonsense that seems to make up about every third album on this list.

It is fairly good; better than I anticipated. But, still fairly vanilla.

Not terrible considering what it is, but still mostly pretentious, self indulgent wanking.

Not bad at all, but not exactly memorable.

Other than “The Court of the Crimson King,” pretty uninteresting; one gets the impression they were just throwing anything against the studio wall to see what would stick.

Not awful but… yawn

I can’t say I’m much of a country fan, but if I had to party at a honky tonk, this’d be my choice in the jukebox.

I really like good metal, but not too many people have ever accused slipknot of being good. A very repetitive, boring album.

Not a style I usually enjoy, but this is so well done, it’s irresistible.

Somewhere between Oasis and Wire. Not bad.

It’s pretty good - it is Marvin Gaye after all - and obviously deeply personal. But it falls well short of Marvin Gaye at his best.

One hears hints of prog-rock, punk, and Bobby Fuller. But the production is hollow, the pace feels lazy, and the choruses are uninspiring. Overall, fine for background music, but there’s not much to draw you in further.

The classic trip-hop album. Headphones are a must for this one.

Not knowing much about Adam and the Ants beyond the later rockstar image of Adam himself, I was surprised with how layered, creative, and altogether competent this album is. A welcome mixture of post-punk a la Magazine, new wave, and pop rock.

The musicianship is quite impressive when it’s doing more than the dull boomer-blues/Americana roots-rock nonsense (see the intro to Maggie May). But even at its best, the instruments are overwhelmed by Stewart’s voice. The result is… annoying.

Good god. I remember hearing a Tom Waits album I liked, but this is clearly not it. Aside from Jersey Girl, this is a regular guy’s cartoonish attempt at being a down-and-out, whiskey soaked, dive bar act. Much of this sounds like it belongs on the Who Framed Roger Rabbit soundtrack.

Me: Mom, can we have Let it Bleed? Mom: We have Let it Bleed at home. Let it Bleed at home:

This is not Hindustani music with rock instruments or Psychedelic rock with a sitar, it is a blend of the two strands, though it seems to lack the improvisation of traditional ragas. The result is a really enjoyable listen that foreshadows much of the Asian Underground that would come more than a generation later.

A great album despite the unavoidable association with Phil Spector.

Just excellent.

When this album came out in the States it was remarkably different from anything else that was on the radio, and it did well partially based on that. I hadn’t listened to it in probably 30 years, but it holds up quite well. She’s a very talented vocalist and the production really gives her voice the space it needs. A decidedly modern album with plenty of nods to Irish roots.

Not bad, and certainly not britpop in the Oasis/Blur sense; it’s more akin to The Clientele. Some strong tracks in here, but on average, not a standout album.

There are a couple of good tracks here, but much of it doesn’t really go anywhere. Not bad, but not enough to recommend it either.

A really solid, if eccentric, album through “All Through the Night.” Then it drives off cliff. Songs like “Money Changes Everything” and “She Bop” are lyrically strong, layered, and well produced. And then there’s “I’ll Kiss You,” which I’m surprised anyone allowed out of the studio.

What a difference a vocalist makes. Di’anno’s vocals are much closer to the punk rock roots of NWOBHM, but the instrumentation is very much the familiar Iron Maiden style.

A good bit more tolerable than Heartattack and Vine, but it still just sounds like someone doing a bit.

I wish I was familiar enough with reggae to make a more informed judgement. As it is, it is not bad at all, but not interesting either.

Downtempo and chill. Decent overall, but it’s fades into the background a bit too easily.

Maybe the quintessential Flaming Lips album, but I don’t think it is the best one. It is good, but not consistently so.

Interesting as an influence for punk rock, but not a particularly good set of tracks.

It’s not bad for a live album, but you have to really like The Who to sit through this, because there’s a whole lot of it.

As someone who enjoys metal, I was hoping to like this. Unfortunately, it is terribly boring. It doesn’t help that the drums are tinny and the bass lacks any presence at all.

Classic “college rock” album. Mascis’ vocal style is a perfect match for their mid-tempo fuzzed out rock. A halfway point between the post-punk of the early 80s and the alt-rock of the early 90s.

A jangly guitar pop album, which is meant as a description rather than a criticism. However, outside “And I Love Her” and “I’ll Be Back” it’s pretty forgettable regardless of who made it.

This one is as hard to review as it is to describe. It moves from Eno-like warm ambience to moody, downtempo pop. About half is forgettable, but the other half is good enough to make it a commendable album.

Classic Maiden. Clearly influenced by The Who, Zeppelin, and prog rock, but dominated by Dickinson’s vocals. None of the songs are bad, and there are several very strong tracks, notably Run to the Hills.

Lydon's work in Public Image Ltd is as influential as his brief time with the Pistols, and far more interesting. This is by no means my favorite PiL work, and frankly, other artists did more with these ideas later (Killing Joke, Magazine, etc), but where would we be without First Issue?

This a good, but not great album. Something of a concept record, much of it feels repetitive. However, it is punctuated by some strong, and familiar, tracks like Lovesong, Lullaby, and the excellent Fascination Street.

It’s like if The Doors were less pretentious and more stoned.

Not a bad listen at all, but nothing memorable.

If Nick Drake wrote songs for Wes Anderson movies…

Seems to lack the energy of the earlier Smiths albums. Not bad, but quite forgettable.

If you like “Mr. Blue Sky,” you’re in luck because there’s a lot more of… that. For everyone else? Weak songwriting dressed up in layers of production and choruses.

It's good, but it's not Kind of Blue good. Certainly interesting from an historical perspective, as you can hear the transition from bepop and related styles to the hard bop more often associated with the late 50s.

The first half is good, but the second half is pretty bland.

What a great album. If there was any doubt that the “quiet Beatle” was the best songwriter, listen to this record.

Somewhere between The Fall and New Model Army. Eccentric in the best way.

The Stones were starting to hit their stride here. Always better as a rock and roll band than as the supposed torchbearers of blues music.

Wow… this is dull. Cheesy organs, unnecessary saxophones, and an allegedly soulful singer. When you think you’re nostalgic for the 80s, just put this on and be cured.

I've always been a bit reluctant to embrace this album as it fails to live up to all the hype. But, to be fair, nothing could live up to the amount of adulation that gets poured over it. On its own merits, it is a very good album that was decades ahead of its time.

At its best it fades into the background, at its worst it's annoying. Might have had some potential, but that was ruined by the harmonica and guest musicians.

Not bad, but not good enough.

The Pogues are always a good time, but this isn’t them at their peak.

Not bad at all. “Dress” is actually quite the banger.

It's a good listen, but it just lacks that something that makes both Are You Experienced and Electric Ladyland exceptional.

THE sound of the 70s. Well done, but not entirely my thing.

I don't know if these songs are any better on the studio albums, but this one really drags. Both dull and self-indulgent. "But the hooks!" No thanks.

Not bad at all, just heavily dated.

Pretty much Metallica at their peak, though I slightly prefer RtL. Well produced without being “slick,” and mature without being self-indulgent.

The production stays out of the way on this one so the vocals take center stage. Despite its age it doesn't feel dated at all. It does begin to get old after Jingling Baby, but that is due to the album's length rather than how long it has been since its release.

It definitely showcases her vocal talents, but the songs, and the album as a whole, aren’t terribly strong.

Another album that is more notable due to who made it rather than the album's own merits. It's fine.

It’s bad y’all. Generic even by disco standards. Songs are highly repetitive and overlong. A well deserved entry on Mt. Ughmore.

If this isn't satire, it is painfully "arty" and pretentious. Like Yoko Ono levels of self-indulgence. The only reason why it is not 1 star is that the instrumentation is pretty good; too bad about the vocals.

Yet another middling blues-rock album.

Queen was so good so much of the time, but I always found this album to be tiresome.

It’s alright for what amounts to pretty generic pop.

Whoever included this in the book clearly hates music. Think Sade, but really bad. I’m struggling to get through it. Send help. Possibly the worst thing I’ve heard on this list, and that is saying a lot.

Pretty well done, but just not my thing.

A fun listen, and something of an artifact from the origins of hip-hop. More than a little quaint now, though.

A pretty good album, but certainly not essential.

Pretty generic and… elevatory…

Pretty solid Brit-pop with a healthy dose of glam mixed in. Not bad, not special either.

A solidly good rock album with no small amount of Springsteen influences clearly visible.

Has some of the feel of mid-period Roxy Music but less cheesy and significantly more weird, and instead of Bryan Ferry on vocals it's... Kate Bush, I guess.

Not bad at all, but it just can't live up to the decades of praise it has received.

The man is obviously talented and there are a couple of bangers in here, but overall it’s a bit of a mess.

I was expecting much more spoken word pieces, and they are present, but was pleasantly surprised to find a lot more going on, as well.

In the interest of full transparency, I really do not like ska. That said, this isn't ska at its worst, but it's still really annoying.

Not bad as background music, but if that's the best one can say does it really belong on this list?

My mother loves this stuff, so I gave it a shot. Unfortunately, it is so, so dull.

I really like The Fall, but this is pretty weak for them.

It's a pretty good album, but like so much of their stuff, it only occasionally rises above the level of background or mood music.

As pop goes, this isn't bad. I'm not going to go out of my way to listen to it again, but I wouldn't be miserable if it was on in the background somewhere.

Not awful to have on in the background in a mall salon, but really not compelling at all.

Once you spend some time with it you see why it belongs on this list.

Would be ok to listen to on a road trip somewhere.

There are a couple of alright moments, but mostly pretty dull.

You’ll love it if you like mathy and technical rock, but it’s a pretty decent listen even if you don’t.

Not terrible, but it gets so repetitive that I tuned it out by the time the album was over.

It is certainly better than the hit singles would suggest, but it is still a bit monochromatic in that way 80s op albums often were.

Like John Denver meets Exile on Main Street, but with super cliched lyrics and Dan Fogelberg levels of cheese. The only thing saving it from being a one-star album is Spector’s production.

At times brilliant and at times just weird as hell. The musicianship is fantastic, particularly that of Eddie Hazel.

One of the best and most seminal krautrock albums. Motorik for days.

Sounds like the soundtrack to a cheesy 80s musical film. Not great.

Well, it's alright, not going to seek out again, though. A bit like Elvis Costello meets The The.

Not awful, but really hard to get through. Jazzy but with no energy. Definitely sounds like the mid-80s; would fit right in on a Miami Vice soundtrack.

Really enjoyable; infectious even.

I was not familiar with this one going in, so I had no idea what to expect. It was surprisingly good. Experimental and folksy electronica with a beat. The only negative is that all the songs start to sound the same pretty quickly.

Pretty good and definitely sounds like the era. Should appeal to fans of Vince Guaraldi.

A bit dry and repetitive. Alright as background music, but I found myself checking how much longer until it was over.

It was pretty good at first, but the novelty wears off pretty quickly.

It's not bad, but every song has the same pace, rhythm, and style. The best parts are the brief instrumental solos.

She's a talented songwriter and musician, and should appeal to fans of Tom Petty. However, as much as I appreciate the skill, that style is just not my thing.

To me this is more nostalgia than quality. A decent enough pop album, but nothing extraordinary.

Not bad for midday background music in the neighborhood boho coffeehouse.

This album is good, but nowhere near as good as the hype and it’s iconic status would lead you to think. Probably not even in Pink Floyd’s top three.

I always feel like he was the heir to Nick Drake, and Smith’s work should appeal to most fans of Nick. Such a great album.

It’s a fine album on its own merits, but as it is so frequently labeled “post-punk,” it is difficult to avoid comparisons to superior outfits such as Magazine, Wire, or Gang of Four. This album comes across as vapid and forgettable compared to anything by those bands. As a pop album, though? It’s alright.

I really like classic Bossa Nova, but Sinatra's overly slick voice isn't doing it any favors here. It might make sense on paper, but there is some disconnect between the vocals and instrumentation that really throws the vibe off for me.

It's a pretty solid album until the zydeco tracks. And there's not all that much zydeco... but that's still too damn much zydeco.

Probably the Beatles at their best, and it is a good album.

Delightfully strange, and really pushing the boundaries of what could be called pop. Its either decades ahead of its time, or acts like Richard Dawson and Joanna Newsom are behind.

This is pretty forgettable. As in, I just now finished it and can’t think of anything noteworthy. I guess if you need something playing in the background at your kitschy Gulf coast saloon, you may have a use for it.

It’s good, but it seems the music is primarily just an accompaniment for Cohen’s poetry.

Besides “Someone Like You” this album is pretty bland. Her vocal ability is impressive, but there’s not much else going on.

I really like Billy Bragg. Pleasant vocals paired with rankle-rousing lyrics and acoustic and/or clean electric guitars. Minimalist in the best way.

It’s fascinating hearing what they could do with vaguely familiar beats. A great album even for casual hip-hop listeners.

My one regret, ok one of many, is that I never got to see Motörhead live. At least this album lets me get some idea what it was like.

This isn’t his best album, in my opinion, but even Nick Drake’s second-best is far better than most.

It's alright, but nowhere near is enjoyable as "People's Instinctive Travels..." This one feels a bit more generic.

Meh. If Radiohead had a whiny, unimpressive little brother, he would make this album.

An overall pleasant, but not particularly engaging, listening experience. It is interesting to hear how the 60s folk revival was getting along in the UK.

I think most listeners will be familiar with the mem-worthy Locomotive Breath, which is rightfully a classic and the highlight of the album. As a whole, the album is the midpoint between Fairport Convention and early Black Sabbath.

Well, the instrumental portions of Ramble Tamble are great, so I was cautiously optimistic going in to the rest of the album. Unfortunately, everything after that first track is just the usual CCR swamp-rat wannabe nonsense.

I don’t care much for grindcore, but occasionally ND’s anarcho- and crust-punk influences come to the surface in a brief moment of accessibility.

Not exactly aggressive, but bold and a bit pompous in the best rockstar tradition. The instrumentation is skillful, the lyrics are snide and writerly, and the production is very good. However, too many of the songs sound too much alike. I’d definitely buy this album, but I can’t say it’s essential.

It is pretty good at times, a bit mathy and proggy, but alright. It feels like the band was mostly interested in making something EPIC and IMPORTANT, and sometimes it does, but just as frequently it seems grandiose.

Overall, the tracks on here are hit-or-miss, but the hits are absolute bangers.

A pretty interesting mix of 60s pop, 70s soundtrack, and Indian classical. A fun listen.

Not terrible, but there's not enough that's interesting here to recommend it. Forgettable.

This album will always live in the shadow of Nevermind, but it deserves to be judged on its own merits. It is a good bit more abrasive than its predecessor, which to me signifies that the band were unwilling to compromise in the face of enormous media and public attention. It is as much an “authentic” album as Bleach is.

This is a really solid thrash album and possibly the last good American thrash album of the 80s.

I really like The Fall, but this is nowhere near their angular, snarky best. This album just hints at the greatness of something like Hex Enduction Hour, which was to come in a few years.

Moody, tense, and sparse, Seventeen Seconds was the beginning of The Cure's "gothic trilogy," which also included Faith and Pornography. While those are also good albums, Seventeen Seconds is probably the most accessible of the three as it retains a bit of The Cure's early prog-rock experimentation which was mostly absent in the other two.

It is a good album, but it doesn’t rise to the level of excellence one expects from Bowie. There are some bangers here, but not enough.

So, this a great album. Driving beats, thunderous bass, and riffs for days. If you like metal, punk, or space rock, chances are you already know this album. The lyrics though… are unfortunate. For instance, in the opening lines of the song Jailbait (you read that right) Lemmy, who was 35 when this album came out, sings “teenage baby, you’re a sweet young thing, still tied to mommy’s apron strings, I don’t even dare to ask your age, it’s enough to know you’re here backstage…” So an otherwise great album, with inescapably bad lyrics.

There is a lot of love for this album, and it is a well-written, and rather experimental, album. With that said, I just could not get into it like I have with other SW releases.

Both the lyrics and the music are well written and performed quite well. However, Van Morrison has one of those voices that absolutely overpowers everything else. I wish this album was mixed with his vocals lower in the mix so that some of the instrumentation, which is really interesting, could shine through.

It's a really good album with some excellent tracks (Common People, I Spy, Underwear). The production is mostly strong, but errs on the side of too much at times. As much as it is lumped in with the Britpop that was so dominant at the time, this album feels more like T. Rex or 70s era Bowie to me. Close to 5 stars, but there are too many "fillers" in here to detract from the more stellar tracks.

So many great albums came out in the 1970s... but this is not one of those. In fact, if you were to take all that was bad about 70s rock - the cheesy soft ballads, the "blue-eyed" soul, the unnecessary saxophones - and distill it into one album, it would be this album. This album smells like stale tobacco and cracked jukebox buttons.

I had high hopes for this one, but it's... mediocre at best. It sounds more like the soundtrack to a Wallace & Gromit short than an album by a storied composer.

They are quite good at crafting this blend of rock and soul, but it’s just not my thing.

Strong tunes supported by Poly’s fantastic voice. But, who thought this needed saxophone?

Not bad at all, but really generic.

Mostly decent, though I understand why the band were unhappy with the production. This album contains both echoes of the Rolling Stones and strong hints of the Britpop explosion that was yet to come. It is listenable, but nothing special. That this was a major influence to the Gallaghers makes a lot of sense, and goes a long way to explain Oasis' mediocrity.

It's a good album; several really strong tracks, though it can feel a little monochromatic at times.

It's decent, especially compared to a lot of the other circa 1970 nonsense that's on this list.

It’s tolerable and very Miami Vice adjacent, but not very good. This may be treason against my home state of Texas, but when I’m looking for 70s/80s drug-fueled, debauched, power trios, I’d prefer Motörhead every single time.

A good album, but it is more influential than it is excellent. Synthy, and at times even industrial, but with one foot still in Kraftwerk’s kosmische roots.

While this is a decent enough album with some really good songs, some of the other tracks just drag.

As usual with Dylan, the song-writing is excellent, but the performance is so riddled with affectation and obnoxious harmonica that the songs fall far short of what they could be. This is why covers of Dylan songs are usually much better than Dylan's recordings.

Some really strong tracks here; Big Boys, Green Shirt, and Chemistry Class being the standouts. But, there are too many that just fade into the background to give this album more than 4 stars.

The songs are well-crafted, they are skilled musicians, and I like the lyrics. I just found it difficult to listen to more than a couple of these tracks at a time.

Remember that guy in your English class who was “really into philosophy?” If that guy recorded a very self-indulgent album, it’d probably sound a lot like this. The lyrics often rise to Jim Morrison levels of cheese, even retelling the plot to Bergman’s The Seventh Seal at one point.

If you can get past the Goth preconceptions, this a really strong Post-punk album.

Not only a good album on its own merits, but THE primary source of Outlaw Country.

I wanted to like this one, but it’s a bit hit or miss, with too many misses.

I was originally going to say that it is merely tolerable, but I’m afraid even that might be too generous. Even songs with some potential get scuttled by annoying indulgences: see Sail Away’s coda which is a whistling solo (yep). Certainly better than Nora Jones or Steely Dan, but that’s not praise.

A very solid album. Papa was a Rollin’ Stone is the obvious standout, but there’s nothing weak here.

I went into this thinking it would be bad, but decided to approach it with an open mind, and… it’s terrible. At its best it’s boring, but more often the vocals are either mumbled or shrieked and the lyrics are riddled with cliches. The music itself is generic enough to be in the background of a YouTube commercial. Nope.

It has its moments, and might be a better album if some of the fat was trimmed. Overall, just too much that is not impressive.

Like most other Kraftwerk albums, this is a set of good, competently structured songs, but most of them file more like sketches than complete works.

It's a good enough album, but aside from a couple of tracks, I doubt I'll ever listen to it again.

A rightful classic. Even the lesser tracks are solid.

A very good classic country album. And what a voice!

I like this one a bit better than At Folsom Prison, which is also good.

Musically it's pretty good, if a bit monochromatic. Jack White's vocals, however, get old really quickly.

Pretty dull and over-long.

A solid record. One of the more approachable albums of the early grunge era.

When they are on they are really on, but some of these tracks were certainly not on.

Anohni is a talented vocalist and composer, but you can’t help but get through this album with the impression that they have exactly one gear: melodramatic chamber pop.

Background music with occasional death metal vocals I guess. Ok.

Oh look, another circa 1970 Americana/roots-rock album. Is that all it takes to be included in the book? Because this is as dull as the band’s name.

The production, as always with Kanye, is excellent. Everything else though really gets bogged down in self-indulgence.

It's like a well-executed, yet unflavored custard. Pleasant enough but there's no point in eating it.

Significantly better than I though it would be. However, I can't say it rises to much more than background, or mood music.

Most of these tracks are pretty good. Others are self-indulgent and more than a little boring.

Overall a decent album... just really not my thing.

I used to like this one, but honestly only for the opening track. “Beautiful Day” is a banger, but pretty much everything after that is pretty lifeless.

Nonstop grooves on this one. Dude must have been one hell of a showman.

Serves as an interesting document of early American country/folk, but not particularly accessible.

Solid album. A chill mix of r&b, hip-hop, and synthpop. Just get Travis Scott out of there.

After the first couple of songs I was ready to write it off as “Pixies without the quiet bits,” but once you get deeper in it’s pretty clearly more. Hints of Talking Heads and T. Rex at times. Solid alt-rock/pop.

Bowie’s best work feels timeless. Young Americans, however, seems particularly rooted in the mid-70s and it doesn’t benefit from it.

More pretentious yet middling blues-rock courtesy of Morrison & Co. I literally fell asleep while listening to it.

A really decent album. Lots of similarities to the Flaming Lips; the reason is explained in the wiki.

Not bad at all. Like Nick Drake meets Roxy Music, but more forgettable than either.

Man this is a good album. The classic quiet-loud dynamic and the vocal interplay are excellent. Neither of which would matter if the production and mixing weren’t so spot on.

Technically proficient, but boring as hell.

A very pleasing fusion of pop and post-punk. Think a blend of The Clash and Elvis Costello with a healthy dose of Gang of Four mixed in.

Shimnery, noisy, indie pop. Not a bad listen at all.

Yeah, this album sucks. The beats are basic and his voice is whiny as hell. Then you get into the lyrics, and it’s much worse… such as, stories about date-raping 15 year old girls. No fucking thanks.

I’d heard these guys’ radio hits and liked them well enough, so I was kinda interested in hearing a whole KoL album. It’s not very good at all. It sounds like someone took the small town college frat/party band and put them in a studio and hoped the production would smooth out the rough edges.

Wonder is an excellent musician and songwriter, and that shows here but not in enough of the songs. About half the album seems “phoned in,” almost like someone asked an AI to write a Stevie Wonder album.

Not bad, just basic southern/country-rock; it’s best moments are when it leans towards the rock side. A bit too, long.

While it is a bit indulgent, it’s an overall good album with a little bit of something for everybody, from Bowie fans to Outkast fans.

This is just about peak Laibach, which is pretty great. Does anyone do percussion better?

I never really got into RAtM back in the times, largely because the people I knew that liked them weren’t the kind of people I wanted to associate with: mostly racist wannabe tough guys who totally missed the point of what Rage was singing about. All that aside, this a good album. Righteous lyrics over a banging rhythm section and Tom Morello’s impressive guitar work. Solid.

There are some fairly strong tracks in here, and they’ll definitely be familiar to anyone who went to a club/movie/party/mall shoe store in the late 90s, but there’s way more middling filler tracks and most of those go on several minutes longer than they should.

It wasn’t bad, but it got a bit repetitive and faded into the background.

Not a bad pop-rock album. Some of the songs are a bit long.

It’s pretty good; typical late 60s British Invasion with a bit too much wannabe Blues-man nonsense. The guitar solos and bass are the highlights.

Easy five stars. Something here for everybody, from psychedelic to British Invasion.

Alright as background music. Akin to Portishead, Recoil, or the instrumental elements of 90s era Depeche Mode.

I forgot how popular this trip-hop adjacent stuff was in the late 90s. It’s far better than that other Everything… album but nothing notable. Would be decent as ambience in a trendy coffee shop.

The hits(Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean) are unsurprisingly great, but there’s just too much mediocre filler (Baby be Mine and everything after Billie Jean) to give this 5 stars.

Taken on their own, each track is pretty good. As a whole album, however, you get the feeling that your listening to the same two or three song over and over. It would have been better if they had trimmed the album by about 15 minutes as it is just too much of the same as it is.

The talent is there for sure and I can see why it’s so well liked, but this just isn’t the style of jazz I like. Give me something instrumental by Mingus or Brubeck over this.

Yeah, this is a really good album. The guitar and Love’s vocals are powerful and raw as hell, but I hear as much of The Cure as I do of the Melvins or Dinosaur Jr. And Violet is just about a perfect punk-rock song.

Based on the description, I thought I was going to like this album. And while the musicianship is impressive, I just don’t really dig the Hammond organ as a lead instrument. I felt like I was in that Wallace & Gromit episode with the penguin.

Good album all around. If modern country was anything like this it would have a much larger fan base.

Quite good. Significantly better than some more famous punk albums from that period.

Pretty decent early new wave/art-punk album. Nothing too memorable besides Psycho Killer, though.

Mostly decent songs. Some are a bit repetitive or even annoying.

A lot of talent on display here and should appeal to anyone who is into 70s jazz. But, most of the tracks go on a bit long without adding or building to anything. Would be nice to have on in the background when you have your friends over for dinner.

A very “safe” (read: vanilla) blend of Britpop, Madchester, Elton John, and Williams’ own pop roots. Makes Oasis seem like Motörhead.

Like most of MJ’s work it is well executed. Unfortunately, in this case, it’s just well-executed disco.

Pretty dull. It’s best moments feel like remixes of Depeche Mode b-sides. The most that can be said for it is that it’s not intolerable.

A rightful classic. Springsteen is a hell of a songwriter. However, a lot of this just isn’t my thing.

I hadn’t heard the bulk of this album so I didn’t expect much after Bitter Sweet Symphony. I was pleasantly surprised that much of the rest of the album is as good as the radio hit. Solidly a britpop album without being formulaic.

Very well executed covers of c&w songs, most of which are better than the originals. Unfortunately, the album is just way too long to stay interesting.

Not bad, but leans a bit more towards novelty than I like.

Some of my favorite stuff by Sonic Youth. Very post-punk adjacent; dissonant not unlike Swell Map’s “Jane from Occupied Europe,” but a bit less noisy.

If Robert Plant and Elliott Smith started a band it might sound a lot like this. Fairly eclectic as it is at times folky while at others psychedelic or even grungy. There’s a bit of something for just about everyone.

I’ve always thought that Dylan is at his best when someone else is performing his work, and this album did nothing to change that impression. Well written songs filtered through Dylan’s grating vocals and layered with distracting and unnecessary harmonica.

Given what I’ve heard about them and when this album came out, I was expecting just another Strokes/Hives/White Stripes adjacent product, but I was pleased to find something more original and well executed. It’s a bit of garage rock meets Nirvana, and it works.

It’s a good album, absolutely dripping in Glam rock hallmarks And unsurprisingly we’ll executed.

Just about as boring as hard rock gets… and every song sounds about the same. Volume is no substitute for creativity or passion or whatever else they were lacking.

Wasn’t familiar with this album or band going in, but it was a nice discovery. Reminds me quite a lot of mid- to late-90s Current 93 as the vocalist at times uses that eerie whispered quality and some of the Melodie’s bear similarities to that era of David Tibet’s output.

Like the last album of his I got, it’s not bad at all but it’s very repetitive. Fine as mood or background music, but it really didn’t hold my attention.

Absolutely timeless. Every song on this album is at least good, while most are excellent.

Really didn’t know what to expect, but it was pretty good. Obviously influenced by 70s jazz/funk/fusion but well executed and original.

The music itself is pretty good, but Morrison’s droning and pretentious “poetry” forces the instrumentation to the background. They could’ve been great with a quality frontman.

I said in a review for an AC/DC album that they were about as dull as hard rock gets, but being reminded of KISS’ existence really puts that statement in perspective.

I like English folk and I like jazz, but I’m not loving this blend of the styles. Martyn’s vocals are another low point.

Not bad, just pretty generic c. 2000 alt-rock.

An excellent album. It came out when so many bands were doing the retro-synth thing, and for most it was just an affectation. On this album CHVRCHES built songs that would stand out regardless of the instrumentation.

Pretty decent pop-/post-punk. Very much what one expects from The Jam.

A great punk album with some well played surf rock and rockabilly textures. And you can never get enough of Jello Biafra’s highly distinctive voice and snide lyrics.

I really like this blend of jazz, western, mariachi, and folk rock. Would go perfectly with a sizzling plate of Tex-Mex.

I could take or leave Ozzy, but this is great album.

Pretty much every track is a banger. Is it my favorite Bowie album? Nope, but it is deservedly the entry point for Bowie fandom.

Able playing unfortunately coupled with the most vanilla songwriting.

Post-punk meets new wave and pop and Richard Butler’s very distinctive voice. An early ‘80s classic.

Interesting concept and the production is excellent, but it’s not really anything I want to come back to.

A few tracks are alright, but most are either forgettable or actively annoying.

Pretty solid Afrobeat album, though the production seems a bit flat to me.

It’s like the Platonic ideal of an MBV album without being cartoonish or self-caricature.

If you like a bit of Prog in your Glam, this might be the album for you. A bit like if Boston merged with Roxy Music and started recording songs for carnival funhouses. An interesting starting point, but unfortunately this album seems to have only one gear: frenetic.

It’s not terrible but the whole Psychobilly thing gets old pretty quickly.

The Cure at their most misanthropic and self-loathing. Absolute darkness from beginning to end. In anyone else's hand this would come across as ham-handed or cartoonish, but after Seventeen Seconds and Faith, The Cure were adepts at this style. While "Cold" may earn the title of most Gothic track ever, it's "Siamese Twins" which wallows in the most misery: "Dancing in my pocket Worms eat my skin She glows and grows With arms outstretched Her legs around me… In the morning I cried Leave me to die You won’t remember my voice I walked away and grew old You never talk We never smile I scream You’re nothing I don’t need you any more You’re nothing" Hard to believe this is the same band who would write "Just Like Heaven" a few years later.

Just Zappa and friends wanking on their instruments for what averages out to over 7 minutes per track. Thankfully, it’s mostly instrumental.

It’s hard to believe this album wasn’t written by 13 year old wannabe edgelords. Music is ok at best and the lyrics and vocal delivery are garbage.

As with so much of VU/Lou Reed’s output it’s probably more influential than it is interesting or good. Not really something you want to settle down and just listen to.

It’s mostly ok, but they’re not offering anything that the Stones or The Beach Boys didn’t do better.

Pleasant enough mood music with topical lyrics. Relevant beyond its genre boundaries.

The Harrison songs + Helter Skelter are very good, but the rest of the album is bland, vanilla filler. If it was trimmed down to about 7 or 8 songs it would be a decent album, but as it is it's far too bloated.

I really like much of her work, but between the child singing and the cheesy sounding organ this album is a pass for me.

If the Nick Cave you know is the Nick of Murder Ballads or The Boatman’s Call, this album may be a shock. However, this album does track with his 2010s work. It’s brooding and absolutely laced with sorrow and dread. A solid album.

It’s like a post-punk David Bowie album, with the mood of a Nick Drake album. It’s good, but not as good as their self-titled album.

This brings back good memories of the before times. A solid indie-synth-pop album.

I went into this thinking I would like it, and the instrumentation and lyrics are great, but Callahan’s vocals really drag it down for me. His voice is very similar to Mark Kozelek’s, which is not something I enjoy. Maybe if the vocals weren’t so front and center in the mix this would work for me.

I was expecting something totally different, and I was happy to be wrong. A bit of Britpop, a fair amount of Madchester, and healthy dashes of Krautock. Makes for a good roadtrip album.

This isn't the worst Tom Waits album I’ve heard, but that is very faint praise. If the Muppets got really into Charles Bukowski and recorded an album, it would sound like this. Pretty tiresome. Even the album’s best song (16 Shells…) wears out its welcome well before it’s over. I don’t know who this is for, but it definitely isn’t me.

This one always pops up on those lists of essential Post-punk albums, and I enjoy much of what is on those lists. This album, though, drags a bit. The instrumentation is good, if a bit repetitive, but many of these tracks go on far too long, and Verlaine’s vocals are pretty grating after a while. Stylistically, it’s pretty closely related to the Talking Heads, with one foot in the glam scene and one in late 70s NYC punk, but the pace is much more languid than any of the above. Not bad, just not for me.

An easy 5 stars. One of Bowie’s best albums and a strong indication of the direction he was heading in the late 70s.

I hadn’t thought about these guys in 20 years, and I suppose I never face them a chance back in the day. This is a really solid album, though. Punk rock with a fair amount of hard rock thrown in.

The cabal who put this book together must think the pinnacle of music is “blues performed by sketchy white guys” because there is a lot of that nonsense on this list. At any given point this album is either dull or obnoxious. The best song on the album, Faith Healer, has been performed better by many others. Enough of this kind of garbage.

It's a really good, though not excellent, rock album. Bowie's presence is noticeable, but not as dominants as on The Idiot. Some really solid tracks, but there are a couple of fairly dull ones.

I get that Hawkwind is a bit of a performance/jam oriented band, and the live recording captures some of that, but the production suffers as a result. These tracks are likely substantially stronger with better production and so the studio versions should be recommended before the live ones.

It's a pretty decent album, but I'm not sure why it's on this list. Artic Monkeys have better albums and there are better and more influential examples of the style.

She’s very direct. Just about every emotion is expressed on this album from adoration to indignation. Not a fan of the blues but she even makes those tracks sound good.

Peter Gabriel meets “Let’s Dance” era Bowie with hints of Duran Duran. Not bad.

It’s very 90s: Seattle-ish angst with a bit of a Britpop dressing. Her vocals get really tiring after a bit though.

Pretty standard Britpop fare. Not bad, but nothing compelling.

The highlights are pretty standard, and well executed, 90s rap fare. However, much of the album is experimental, dissonant, and often sparse creating an almost horror movie atmosphere. Not bad, but hard to get into.

As a headbanger raised in East Texas, I’ve heard a lot of Pantera. The guitar and rhythm sections are pretty decent, but repetitive. Unfortunately, the lyrics are really dumb and Anselmo’s vocals are trash. Which makes sense as Anselmo is a garbage human being.

I like early period Metallica quite a bit, and I also enjoy classical/symphonic music a lot. Together, though, it just doesn't work for me. It feels too sanitized or something.

It’s a pleasant enough album of West African music with a heavy dose of blues.

Very much a “variations on a theme” feel to this album. Some tracks sound like the soundtrack to a sci-fi B movie, and not in a bad way. Others sound like they could’ve been lifted from some motorik album by Neu! or Harmonia. And then there are the ones that could easily pass as new tracks by some synthwave outfit. Interesting enough, but I doubt I’ll come back to it.

Not as bad as Hotel California, but it still sucks.

It's unfortunate how many people just consider this "elevator music." There aren't too many better albums to put on while drinking coffee on a Sunday morning.

I get what they were trying to do, but man is it annoying. No thanks.

Not as bad as I thought it'd be as I'm more familiar with their earlier stuff. A bit more melodic death and even some black metal elements to it. They are technically good musicians, but the songwriting is just... boring.

It's a really solid album. You can hear the transition from 80s to 90s hip-hop styles.

A pretty decent indie-pop album. Production and songwriting is good, but a lot of these songs don't feel like they really go anywhere. Shields is the superior Grizzly Bear album.

It’s Radiohead, so you kinda know what you’re gonna get. Not bad, but nothing really stands out.

There are some pretty decent tracks on here, but most is progrock/art rock silliness.

According to Wikipedia and whoever else this is a “roots rock” album. It’s not; it sounds like every other Randy Newman bit you’ve ever heard except this time he’s singing about hillbillies.

A good, classic country album, if that's your thing. Nothing really stands out.

I'm not terribly familiar with Alice Cooper's work, so what I was expecting was a lot of songs of the title track's ilk. Fortunately, much of the album is a good bit more subtle than that, ranging into glammy and proto-punk territory. Not bad.

Abrasively raw in the best way. There is zero polish on this record but it is dripping in a distilled rock-n-roll ethos.

Not bad, but fades to the background pretty quickly.

By this point in her life, her voice had really begun to fade, though she hadn’t lost her soul. A lot about this album doesn’t suit her vocals, especially the orchestral swells and the soporific pace. It’s really a shame, as there was so much exciting work being done in jazz at this time that would have been a great fit for her.

There’s some alright songs here, but nothing like the timeless tracks of Mezzanine.

Stripped down and noisy, but not raw. Largely built on the rhythm section with the guitar serving a largely textural role. And of course the whole thing revolves around Ian Curtis' distinctive voice. Probably more accessible than Unknown Pleasures for most listeners, but they didn't sacrifice anything for that.

This is much closer to the angular British post-punk of circa 1980 than the New England college rock of circa 1990. Surprisingly good.

It's like if Ned Flanders tried to play the blues. Not awful but very weak.

Really good classic punk rock in the style of, but superior to, Never Mind the Bollocks...

It has a couple of moments (Never Going Back Again, The Chain) but it’s mostly pretty dull soft rock nonsense.

Being a Bob Mould project I went in thinking I would like it. Unfortunately it did not deliver. It’s not bad at all, and there are a couple of strong tracks, it’s just very inconsistent overall. However, if you’re ever asked to compile a soundtrack for a movie set in the 90s, and you just need something with “that sound,” here you go.

I’m not even sure how to describe this, but I like it. Quite unlike just about anything else, but “freak folk” seems as good a description as any.

The guitar and rhythm sections are pretty great, but it all gets buried under the vocals. This is effectively a Rod Stewart album.

A good enough blend of electronic, psychedelic, and indie rock. Good, but not sure how it merits being on the list.

After the first track I thought I’d like it, but it wore out its welcome really quickly. Weak, overly repetitive lyrics, forced rhymes, and some of the tracks are so similar I thought they were just continuations of the previous song. The only reason this isn’t lower is because the production is so good.

Probably the most Smiths sounding The Smiths album recorded, but not their best. The Headmaster Ritual and That Joke isn’t Funny Anymore” are strong tracks, but the rest feel like outtakes.

Whenever I see an album tagged as "art rock" or "art punk" I reflexively lower my expectations a bit. As expected, this one shows promise at times, but more often is off-putting, I suspect simply for the sake of being inaccessible. It's a bit like early B52s or Talking Heads, but more abrasive.

It's a really solid early punk record with with overt nods to glam and pop. This one was a pleasant discovery for me.

Cheesy, over-wrought, soft pop-rock in the vein of the Beatles at their least edgy. Even the Gibb's disco crap was better than this. The worst aspect of the whole thing is that you can detect, at times, real song-writing ability, but it's never developed. "Somebody Stop the Music" indeed.

Deep, bassy, dark synthpop. This is a really solid album.

It's pretty good, but I don't get why this is considered peak Beastie Boys.

It’s like a caricature of trite, early 70s soft rock. I can’t find any redeeming qualities.

It's not bad, but it is altogether forgettable.

A fairly eclectic blend of Grizzly Bear, My Morning Jacket, and Zeppelin's jammier moments. Pretty good at times, but there is a fair amount of "filler."

Downtempo Red Hot Chili Peppers. No thanks.

This album is not my thing, but it sure as hell is essential listening.

Video game soundtrack music from one of those channels on GTA 1. It’s fine.

Both highly influential and quite good listening. These guys were doing quite a bit with, by today's standards, limited technology.

Pretty solid, poppy post-punk. Reminds me a lot of The Chameleons.

I’m really getting tired of these “sampledelia” albums, but it wouldn’t be fair to rate this one too harshly simply because it appeared on the list after several others of the type. So, in the interest of objectivity: it’s not terrible, but it wore out its welcome pretty quickly, which is unfortunate as it’s an hour long…

Probably a lot of people’s introduction to Nick Cave and co. Still a lot of that 80s post punk edge. Good stuff.

I grew up when the Pet Shop Boys were on the radio pretty regularly. I’m glad I heard that stuff (Actually, Behavior) before this as I’d have the impression that they are not a good band. It pains me to say it about any of their work, but this is kinda crap.

This was better than expected; not my thing at all but pretty well done. A lot of it sounds like someone distilled the essence of 1970s America into music.

I like industrial music a good bit, but this has very little that I like about industrial music. Not bad, just not my thing at all.

I had only heard the radio singles before this, so I didn't expect much. However, the album is significantly better than those couple of tracks I had heard. Not bad at all.

It was crap then and it’s still crap. He’s at his best when he’s ripping off NIN, which doesn’t happen as often as you’d think. At one point I thought the album had ended and started over, but it’s just that most of the songs sound the same and there was still over 20 minutes left! No thanks.

Very, very generic.

I dig it.

I like a lot of Asian Underground music such as Niyaz and Cheb I Sabba. This one, though, is a bit too atmospheric. Seems suitable as background music at trendy spa.

An album so weak the band members themselves weren’t happy with it, yet someone thought “no, everyone must hear this.” Well, whoever you are, you’re very wrong. No one benefits from hearing this.

Not my thing at all, but it's pretty decent for what it is.

One of those albums you really need to hear through a good pair of headphones. Her vocals have a crystalline quality and give the impression of someone singing in a cathedral. This is over music that tends to float between the motorik realms of Cluster or Garmonia and the more pop oriented Curve and Stereolab. A very happy discovery.

It's a decent blend of very 90s Britpop, Boho Indie, and hints of the Asian Underground movement that was just over the horizon. With all that said, it is not the most engaging of listens.

It’s not bad.

On the couple of occasions when they’re rocking, they’re really on it. But the rest of the time? It’s just not good at all. I wanted to like it, but no dice.

Surprisingly good mixture of country and pop with elements of soft rock, occasionally hurt by overwrought production.

Quite good, if not as good as Figure 8, but definitely more typical of his sound.

It's significantly better than a lot of the copycats you see on this list. His talent is obvious, but it is still not really my thing.

Some of it, such as the title track, I really like, and none of it is objectively bad... but I think I just really don't like the Hammond Organ as a lead instrument.

Albums like this make you realize how good country can be when the artist is talented and actually gives a shit about the music.

So many bangers on this album, but still a bit too much that is middling. If it was trimmed down a bit it would be 5 stars.

I'm not sure I've ever had so much trouble having an opinion about anything. The musicianship is competent and the music isn't bad necessarily, but it just doesn't elicit any feeling in me whatsoever, which I guess is a complaint? Is art bad if it makes you feel like an emotionless robot?

It’s very much what you’d expect from Paul Simon in the 80s. If you like his stuff you’ll probably really enjoy this; otherwise it’s just ok.

It’s like showtunes without a show. No freaking thanks.

Not my thing, but it's objectively good.

DO NOT JUDGE THIS ALBUM BY ITS COVER... it's nowhere near as cool as the cover or album title would have you believe.

Never enjoyed Tom’s later period stuff, but this is pretty good. Like an American Elvis Costello with hints of Fleetwood Mac (but way better than FM).

There’s a lot that’s good here, but there’s also lot that just seems a little out of place, like an unnecessarily ornate frame for an understated watercolor painting.

Lyrically it is pretty strong, but musically it it isn’t anything special. Of course, this is well outside of my wheelhouse so take my perspective with a heap of salt.

Dear god this is bad. Most of the songs are covers of better musicians’ works, but Clayton’s original pieces are even worse. Dull beyond measure.

How much of the Wax Trax/Chicago scene was trying to replicate this sound? Pretty much all of it. Certainly not meant for broad appeal but checks a lot of boxes for me.

It has a few strongish synthpop moments, but a lot is just your basic disco/edm.

Like the Pixies without the quiet parts and with the dissonance turned up to 10. If you walked into any record store in a college town in the mid 90s you’d likely hear this playing.

A bit of a departure from Surfer Rosa and Doolittle, but it's still decidedly a Pixies album. Solid, but not up to the excellent standard of its predecessors.

It’s certainly ahead of its time, has that post-punk quirk, and the songwriting is pretty good. I probably won’t listen to it again, though.

It’s an off-putting blend of the Doobie Brothers, Arcade Fire, and “Exile…” era Rolling Stones. The result is a languid indie-folk/country pop record. Really not into it at all.