I don’t know how this flew under my radar for so long as it checks a lot of boxes for me. Challenging and discordant in just the right amounts, and if you give it a chance you’ll find some fantastic melodies under the fuzz.

Despite having heard several of her albums, I still don’t feel overly familiar with her as an artist. That said, this is a really strong album and I respect that she was not conforming to the musical trends at the time.

It’s pretty good for what it is, but it’s really not for me.

Despite having heard several of her albums, I still don’t feel overly familiar with her as an artist. That said, this is a really strong album and I respect that she was not conforming to the musical trends at the time.

It’s pretty good and I’m not sure how it’s flown under my radar for so long. Definitely has “Ben Gibbard” starts a Prog band feel to it.

With all respect and appreciation for the person who submitted this one… no way. There are about 90 seconds of decent music on here, the bagpipes at the beginning of “Shoots and Ladders,” and the breakdown in the middle of “Predictable.” That’s it. Not even enough good ideas to put together a whole good song, let alone a hour+ album. For those who enjoy the overall theme here but want something more, check out Ministry’s The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste.

Not my favorite Tame Impala album but it’s still great.

The cover of this album is the perfect illustration of the music: monochromatic, synthetic, and joyless.

Pretty decent indie rock that sounds like when it’s from.

Too many bangers to not be on the main list.

Most of it is pretty good, except for the yacht rock nonsense…

Polished, mathy prog metal with frankly underwhelming vocals. Not bad, but not my type of metal.

Not a bad song on here… ok besides “Brainy” there’s not a bad song on here.

It’s pretty good for what it is, but it’s really not for me.

An enjoyable and well executed album even if symphonic metal isn’t my thing.

I most Americans, including me, have had next to zero exposure to indigenous Australian music, and for that alone this belongs on the main list. But, it’s also just good.

It’s not terrible, but if I’m in that mood I’d rather just listen to Kenny Rogers.

Good solid West coast punk rock, just as you’d expect from Bad Religion.

Started off pretty strong, but quickly devolved into a “we’ve got Elvis Costello at home” situation.

To whoever submitted this one, I’m sorry. I know his music means a great deal to a lot of people, but it just sounds super generic to me.

Soft Rock for people who think Jack Johnson is too edgy.

Somewhere between Nick Drake and Throbbing Gristle.

Lots of loungey atmosphere but it retains that trademark Arctic Monkeys swagger. Good times.

Absolutely fantastic album and near the top of the shoegaze canon, but also has broad appeal from the psyche through the goth communities. Worth 5 stars for “When the Sun Hits” alone, but there’s not a bad song on it. Absolutely criminal that this isn’t on the main list.

Really good modern indie rock album that at times recalls classic Depeche Mode or The Cure. “In the Modern World” is a masterpiece.

I’m not normally a fan of progrock as it often seems soulless and just an excuse to noodle around on your guitar/keyboard/zither etc, but I actually liked this because it was emotive without being melodramatic.

It took me a bit, but I got into it. Would be great for hiking through a dark forest in winter.

I like it. I’d love to hear what some of these tracks sound like fully fleshed out.

The first half of it sounds like something from Miami Vice. The last half is like Wilco meets The Traveling Wilburys. It’s not bad but not my thing.

There are some good tracks on here (“Fairy Mary Mag,” “Dirty Boy”) but, when you’re throwing everything against the wall for 88 minutes, you’re bound to have some decent moments. Edit this down to 30ish minutes and it would probably be pretty good.

Not terrible, but I’m not suitably educated in these 90s-2000s electronica albums to discern anything special.

This style of punk has never been my thing, but they do it well enough here and come away with some legitimately good songs.

He’s really good at making dark synthpop, but I’m not a fan of the more generic pop stuff.

I don’t know how this flew under my radar for so long as it checks a lot of boxes for me. Challenging and discordant in just the right amounts, and if you give it a chance you’ll find some fantastic melodies under the fuzz.

Classic post- sound.

She goes through several gears on here, from angry punk to coffee shop ambience. There are a couple of really good songs, especially “Done Wrong,” but much it isn’t really for me.

First, realizing this album was released over 13 years ago makes me feel old as hell. Second, this holds up as one of the best Folk/Americana albums of the 2010s. So many great songs.

Good indie rock/slowcore stuff. Something I’ll return to in the future.

It seems disjointed and underproduced.

The first half is pretty generic prog, but the second half is less proggy but better as an atmospheric pop album.

The first half is a bit meh… but the second half is pretty good, especially the song with Robert Smith.

Stevens has a tendency for self-indulgence which can make his albums a bit of a chore, but it seems having a collaborator helped quite a bit.

It’s too bad that this is largely unavailable as what I heard of it was quite good.

It’s alright… a bit of a Waterboys vibe. I get the feeling they’re much better live.

I feel like I’m in an old Hill Country bbq joint. This one has as much right to be on the main list as anything by Gram.

It’s at times glammy, and often proggy, theatrical 70s pop. It is well executed but it suffers from being melodramatic and a more than a bit writerly.

If you weren't around in the 90s you might think Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins were ubiquitous back then, but mostly it was DMB along with Collective Soul everywhere. Dave Matthews has never been my thing, but I can recognize he has some talent.

I always liked The Hold Steady. Kind of like a more snide Elvis Costello with a good helping of Springsteen thrown in. They do have better albums though.

I don't know how this flew under my radar for so long as it checks so many boxes for me: Americana, soul, psychedelic- and indie-folk. Thank you to whoever submitted this… it’s phenomenal.

A nice, chill, mostly instrumental album.

Pretty decent instrumental jazz.

Really good bass driven post-punk album, not unlike The Chameleons. I’ll be returning to this one.

Not bad… a bit like Muse. Not my thing though.

I love a good jazz trumpet, and this definitely qualifies, but I could use some more bop.

Glover successfully channels the spirit of his influences (especially Prince) without sounding derivative. Hopefully this will be on the official list once the next book edition comes out.

Really solid indie-folk, Americana album.

I really appreciate musical experimentation, but I don’t generally enjoy it unless it coalesces into an actual song. Unfortunately, these tracks consist of largely disconnected rhythms and melodic ideas which don’t build to anything. The last track is quite good, though. From what I heard of the artist’s other material, it maintains much of the same sound but seems much more developed.